reviews

Face of Australia (FoA) mini haul!

Well peeps I thought I might be able to handle 3 blog posts in one evening (as I have a lot I want to write about! :)) but I think 2 is my limit LOL (overambitious me huh?!).

Back onto the topic of beauty…. 🙂

As of Thursday last week a local discount department store (Big W) slashed $3 AUD off of ALL of Face of Australia‘s products that they stock… I think tomorrow may be the last day of this sale. (If you’re wondering “hey why didn’t Sarah tell me about this?!” I did – on my Twitter and Facebook accounts for the blog – visit my Contact page to find the details for these if you haven’t signed up already! 😉 ).

To date I’ve found Face of Australia‘s stuff to be very good and good value for money; I’ve already reviewed their primer here and have also tried and loved their liquid eyeliner (first bought it a couple of years ago and when needing to repurchase keep going back to it!). So when I saw this sale come up I thought I’d treat myself (not that I need much convincing to go shopping!)…. 🙂

Here is what I bought….

I got all of the above for UNDER AUD $12 (ohhh yeah I was excited about this! :)).

The Nail Polish Remover: acetone free is a good product. I’ve used this one before in the past and particularly like the soft vanilla fragrance it leaves on your nails, rather than that harsh chemically odour you get with most other nail polish removers on the market. I’d give this one the following Beautiful Rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5 (hell it was <$1 how can one go wrong?! :))

The Lip Quench SPF 30+ moisturising lipstick is a real treat. I’ve seen that many other bloggers are talking about the Lychee Crush shade but that doesn’t suit my skin tone, so I picked out a nude shade instead (Nude Satin). Applies well and I love the fact it’s SPF 30+, but staying power is not great. I’m also not particularly fond of the frangrance but I love the colour! On the 3 occasions I’ve worn it so far I’ve had to reapply it many many times throughout the working day or evening out. The Nude Lip Definer pencil I bought to go with it performs fairly well but is quite a dry formula. I would buy the Lip Quench again ($5.84 AUD usually $8.84 AUD at my local Big W) but not the lip liner ($3.something AUD usually $6.??). Lip Quench – Beautiful Rating – quality 4/5 (love the SPF and the colour), value 4/5. Lip Definer – quality 3/5, value 3/5 – found this product pretty average.

Some swatches of the lippie etc…

natural lighting & no flash - top the liner, bottom lipstick

liner + lippie, natural light no flash (hmm didn't line my bottom lip well here!)

natural light, flash

I then went back the next day (LOL huh?!) to pick up some more of the lipstick in Malibu Barbie (how awesome is that name for a lippie?! :)) and Power Surge. Sorry guys took these two pics in a hurry but they give you a good idea of how lovely and bright these two are (both pics with flash, taken at night):

L: Malibu Barbie. R: Power Surge

top lip: MB, bottom: PS

I would give these two shades the same rating as I did the Nude Satin. 🙂 Of the three I think Malibu Barbie is my favourite, which is interesting as usually bright pinks are not my preferred lipstick colour!

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Oops…Can’t believe I forgot to mention this earlier! I was lucky to have the opportunity to catch up with other Adelaide based beauty bloggers on Saturday. 🙂 We had dinner at Wasai which is a pretty nice Japanese restaurant, however the service wasn’t so good! (Even delivery of our bill was slow…)

Fellow blogging attendees included:

• Stacey of Add to Cart
• Sakura of Sweet Days of Girly
• Kitty of Miss Kitty Charms
• Indigo Kir Royale
• Steph (aka Jen) from Jeneara
• Cally from Australian Beauty

… and last but not least a special mention to Celeste of Becoming Beautiful who had organised the event but unfortunately couldn’t make it in the end due to illness!

Nice to see everyone on Saturday and look forward to the next meet up! 🙂

Hmm… Not so keen on nail foils/stickers! Kiss Nail Dress Review

Hi everyone! Phew it’s been a busy first week back at work for me and, well, I’m pretty exhausted! At least it is Wednesday, so I’m on the downhill slope to the weekend! 😉 How has everyone’s week been going so far?

I’ve been invited to attend a wedding on Sunday; I am still planning my outfit! So, when I saw some nail art stickers on sale I thought I would give them a try. (I’ve tried small nail art stickers before – such as flowers and stars – but not the full nail foil like stickers.) I like to look after my nails and experiment with classic and more funky looks, so I picked up the following design from Kiss (you can check out their website here):

Price: currently on sale for $11.99 AUD @ Priceline; standard RRP $13.99 AUD (they retail here for double what you would pay in the USA, which is where the brand Kiss originates!)

Where can I get it? Priceline

They claim that their stickers will last on your nails for up to 10 days. One packet contains 28 different sized stickers as well as a nail file (you need to lightly file the ends of your nails to trim the excess sticker off the end of each nail).

My nails before  – yes these are my real fingernails 🙂 –

The end result –

I found it difficult to apply these, because my hands and nails are very petite. I found that most of the stickers were way too large and I ran out of the small ones quickly. As such I had to trim some of the larger stickers down to size, which was more difficult than I thought it would be. Due to the size of my hands, the stickers on my little finger nails on each hand have a much bigger pattern to clear sticker section ratio which I think looks a bit funny. 😦

The process was also very time consuming. From start to finish, it took me approximately 45 minutes to apply the stickers to both hands! 😦 If I was doing similar nail art on my nails with nail polish I estimate it would only take me approximately 30 minutes, with a better quality finish.

I don’t believe the manufacturer’s claims that the stickers will stay put for (up to) 10 days… I suspect after a day or so mine will start to peel. The adhesive did not seem at all strong!

Oh-oh, this seems like quite a negative review, doesn’t it? I think I’m so critical because the cost of these is equivalent to a fairly decent bottle of nail polish, which you would get a lot more manicures out of!

Beautiful rating: value 1/5, quality 2/5. There are a lot of cool patterns in the range but I am disappointed with the quality and performance of this product, given the expensive price tag.

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Has anyone else tried full nail foils/stickers? Which brands would you recommend? 🙂

It’s getting hot in here – 2 hot weather essentials!

Hey! How has everyone’s week been going so far? I am a lucky critter to be on holidays this week but of course (knowing my so/so “luck”!) it’s a week when the weather has been extremely hot. In my hometown, when we say that it means the weather is at least +35 degrees Centigrade. Today is forecast to be 37 degrees, I believe, and the hot weather is not due to settle down a bit till at least Monday.

Here are two products I have found to be very effective and helpful in this heat!

#1 – Face of Australia (FOA) Face Base Primer

Cost: $11.95 AUD

Where can I get it? Priceline and other selected chemists and discount department stores (e.g. Big W).

I’m a noob when it comes to primers but have heard a lot of good stuff about them. For those who are also noobs like me (! ;)), primers are now available for your face and also eyelids and lips. They are a type of cream or lotion which forms a protective layer over your skin, and then helps the makeup go on smoothly as well as last longer. Some are also very effective in evening out any fine lines or enlarged pores, so that these are much more hidden once make up is applied.

Laura Mercier‘s primer was recommended to me by friends but I decided that for my first foray into this area I would go more budget. FOA‘s products that I have used to date have been of good quality and so I decided to give their brand’s primer a try.

It has a light gel-like texture and absorbs into the skin quickly. There is no notable fragrance which is always a + for me! (I then know it is unlikely to irritate my skin.) I wait a few minutes after applying for it to kind of “set” before I then go ahead and apply my makeup.

This formulation also contains Vitamin E and chamomile to provide some extra goodies for your skin. I noticed that FOA also has an SPF 15 version of this primer, but I already use a day moisturiser with 30+ so didn’t think that one was necessary for me.

I have tried this product on cooler days, when putting on my makeup in the morning for work (and then having to go out at night straight after work), and also the past week when the weather has been scorching. It certainly works in keeping my makeup on; I’ve also noticed that my face doesn’t get as shiny looking during the day as it normally does (if I wasn’t wearing primer).

The only downside to this one is that I don’t think it does a very good job in camouflaging large pores or fine lines. I have a few enlarged pores and some fine lines around parts of my eyes and didn’t notice much difference on those. But hey, when it’s 37 degrees, if your makeup is not melting all over the place, you’re on to a winner! 😉

Beautiful Rating: quality 4/5, value 5/5 (overall it performs well for a budget product)

#2 – Garnier Deodorant: invisi mineral

Cost: I picked this up for $2.50 AUD when it happened to be on sale, typically it retails for approx. $5 AUD.

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets and chemists.

Yes, it does go without saying that deodorant is essential at any time of year. However, when it is boiling hot outside I want a deodorant that I know will provide super duper protection. Our climate can be so extreme here that I have had experiences where a deodorant that I thought was performing well completely bombs as soon as the mercury hits 30 or so! 😦 (Unfortunately this happened with the Nivea deodorant I have previously reviewed.)

I have been using this one for the past fortnight and find that it is working well so far. I have had a day or two where I did notice that I was sweating but there has been no odour, which was awesome! (However I wouldn’t leave it on for “48 hours non stop” as they suggest, I like my daily showers lol!). I have tried it wearing white, light, and dark coloured clothing and no marks or stains, so that aspect of the product works just fine too.

Additionally, this deodorant is different to many others on the market at the moment in that it is free of alcohol and parabens. However it does contain aluminium and I understand that there is some debate about whether or not that is a “healthy” ingredient to include in deodorants.

Nevertheless, I’m giving this product –

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5.

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What are some of your hot weather essentials? 🙂 To this list I’d also add sunscreen (I’m finding the Coles supermarket brand in the orange packaging to be working well for me and not causing any breakouts), sunglasses, and some form of hat or umbrella. Oh and let’s not forget a bottle of water!