FOTD: Featuring the Givenchy Les Mini Prismes Travel Set

Friday afternoon I woke up feeling terribly sick and just wanted to spend all day in bed, but I motived myself to do something productive and got ready to hand out some resumes around locally. Knowing I may be speaking with potential employers, I tried to make myself half decent and tried out my new Givenchy Les Mini Prismes Travel set.

The Givenchy set is made up of a beautiful eyeshadow quad (which I forgot to photograph - doh!) a face powder and blush, which I all used on my face. These products are beautiful and I love the way they look on my skin, If you would like a full review on this set please let me know In the comments below!

I used Revlon Colour stay as my base, an oldie but a goodie. Defined my eyebrows with my favourite elf eyebrow kit in ash, and completed my eye look with a small cat eye using the rimmel waterproof liquid eyeliner and Catalinageo mascara. To pull it all together I used my Face of australia mineral eject lipstick in 'First kiss', the perfect my lips but better lipstick that moisturises and keeps the lips looking good in the cooler weather. 

And here was the finished look, super natural and ready for the job hunt. Not as perfected as I usually like but hey you can only do so much when your nose is constantly running and sleep is the only thing on your mind. Anyway, if you have any favourite products you like to use when your not feeling well please do share! 

Monique xx

Elf Cosmetics Haul

I recently made an order on Iherb using my referral points, meaning I only paid $4.50 postage for all these products (woohoo!). Since Iherb has recently got a huge selection of elf products in I decided I wanted to try some more out. Their eyebrow kit in Ash also happens to be a holy grail product of mine so I guess I set high expectations. Despite using my referral points, everything pictured is priced under $3, so these definitely won't break the bank!

I wanted to get some more brushes so I chose the Elf mineral powder brush, contour brush and complexion brush. My first impression is that these are amazing quality for $3 each! They feel super soft and well made, I guess only time will tell whether they are good or not though. I also bought the lip liner and blending brush duo in 'Natural' a deep nude colour. Another product I was impressed with at first - theres a lip brush attached to end that is so soft and I can't imagine it will blend but it will apply lipsticks beautifully.

With the eyebrow kit being one of my favourite products I decided to try out another brow product from Elf, the Eyeshadow lifter and filler. This is another duo ended product with the brow colour on one end and a light highlight colour on the other. I actually tried this out today and I found the pencil to be far too soft to apply straight from the tube, so I ended up using a brush to prevent looking like I rubbed chunky dirt through my brows. The highlight end was also a bit of a disappointment as it was darker than my natural skin tone despite it being the shade 'Ivory',  so there was definitely no highlight effect.

And lastly I got two face products, the Elf high definition under eye setting powder and clarifying pressed powder. I am excited to use these products as I have heard really great reviews about both! The clarifying powder was only $2 and contains salicylic acid which is interesting, hopefully it performs well, I'll definitely be tossing out the little powder puff that comes with it though. I also really don't understand the point of the little brush included with the under eye powder- thats not even big enough to set a Bratz doll's under eye area.

Anyway thats everything I picked out, If you have any favourites from Elf or want a more in depth review on a product mentioned please let me know!

Monique xx

Ulta 3 Colour Your Week Prize Pack

A couple of weeks ago I entered the Ulta3 Colour Your Week competition, which involved uploading a picture of yourself to Ulta3's Facebook page holding one of their polishes, and stating which colour of the rainbow it matches. Pretty simple stuff right? I hope to never see the picture I uploaded ever again though.. Anyway, last week I found out I was a lucky winner and today I had a parcel waiting for me in the mail!

Peach Sherbet, Vanilla Frappe, Mocha Ice

Inside the very prettily wrapped package contained seven polishes matching the colours of the rainbow, and three lip glosses. The lip gloss names sounded drool worthy so I already busted them open to give them a whiff. Now that I literally have every colour of the rainbow I think Im set for a while, Thanks Ulta3!

Current Skincare Products

Today Im giving you a peek into my shower life, who's excited!

I enjoy reading about what products work for other people, as I myself don't really branch out into the skincare world much, so when I invest money into a product I want to know It's going to work for me. Ive only just gotten into using skincare religiously in last year and a half or so, and these are the current products I'm using.

Dermalogica Microfoliant $69,  Natures Organics Light Moisturiser

I was lucky enough to receive the Dermalogica Microfoliant in my Best In Beauty prize pack I won from BeautyHeaven. This product is a daily exfoliant thats in a powder form, you mix a little bit with water to create a paste and rub it all over your face (obviously). This makes my skin feel super clean and smooth, and you receive a lot of product for the price which is great. That being said $69 is a fair stretch for me, I have already repurchased a travel size though for when I run out. Overall this is quite a nice daily scrub which I believe would suit all skin types.

The Natures Organics light moisturiser is a product I love to use. First of all its cheap as chips, ($3 I think?) has a pump and moisturises without making my skin oily. I use this as my day moisturiser, as I have combination skin usually resulting in a oily T-zone if I use anything too heavy. This moisturiser formula is also 97% plant derived, fragrance and cruelty free- need I say more?

Neway's Balancing cleanser, Olay Regenerist Cleansing system $32.49

To be honest I have had the Neway's balancing cleanser for yonks. My Mum gave it too me back when I didn't give a crap about skincare and I've only decided to use it up recently. Probably gonna die from using it considering how old it is but oh well at least I'll die with a clean face.

Any cleanser I use I will use it in conjunction with my Olay Regenerist cleansing brush. Everybody and their mother have heard about these, and there is a billion on the market now. I really enjoy using this device as I honestly think it cleans the skin so much deeper compared to just using your hands. Ive also dropped this in the shower multiple times, had the cap fall off and the batteries fall out into water and it still works! If thats not water resistant I don't know what is. 

John Plunkett Gylco Peel $30, Trilogy Rosehip oil $30, Clinique Even Better Eyes  $50

The John Plunkett Gylco Peel is another product I love as it truly works. When I first read 'peel' I was slightly scared, until I used it and realised nothing peels at all. The serum type formula is used before applying moisturisers and removes the outer layer of dead skin. This product is 25% Gylcolic acid, so not recommend for those with super sensitive or dry skin. Me however, I would bath in this stuff! The next morning I wake up and my skin looks so much brighter and blemishes virtually disappear, even my pores are reduced in size. As much as I love it, I stick to the directions of only using it every second week, to give my skin a bit of a rest.

Trilogy is another brand I adore with their Rosehip oil being a staple for me. I use two drops as my night time moisturiser, which covers my whole face and neck. This gives me super smooth skin and has even made my eyelashes longer. I'm also looking forward to the long term effects from using this product as I have already noticed some scars starting to fade.

To finish off I use my Clinque Even Better Eyes dark circle corrector. Another goody I received in my BIB prize pack, and another product I would probably never purchase as $50 for an eye cream is just ridiculous to me. This is a really nice eye cream though don't get me wrong, I especially love the metal tip as when you apply to your eye it creates the most lovely cooling sensation. I fortunately don't have major under eye concerns just yet, but I'll still continue to use this product. 

So thats the current skincare products I'm using, let me know if you're using any of the same and what you think of them! Or if you have any holy grail products let me know as I'd love to check them out.

Monique xx

EOTD: Purple Smokey Eye

Last night was my partner's sisters (geez can I just say sister in law already) Tafe charity event, and I decided to step away from my signature red lipstick and simplistic eyes and go for a little more colour. Wearing a dark purple top, this is the look I went with!

I used the Maybelline colour tattoo in 'Too Cool' to make the colours more vibrant, and the stars of the show were the bright and dark purple in my MUA 'Glamour Nights' palette.

I quite like how it turned out and I think ill be doing colour on the eyes more often! But I don't think I can abandon my red lipstick for long, we go way back. Anyway please Let me know your thoughts! :)

Monique xx

Current Makeup Collection

I don't really like using the term 'collection' as Im not a fan of collecting makeup as such, as I think its something that should be regularly updated and discarded, but hey with the amount of lipsticks I own It's a bit silly to not call It a collection haha. I recently posted photos of my makeup collection on BeautyHeaven so this may already look similar if you're a regular user, but decided I wanted to re- post on my blog. Also I have currently moved into my partners house and the majority of my makeup is packed up! So I guess looking at these photos again makes me feel less makeup deprived. So here we go!

First a general overview of my beauty desk

Lip Products 

 Eye Products

Blushes, Bronzers and Highlighters (and a sneaky elf brow kit)

Face Products

Palettes

Miscellaneous draw full of backups/ new products/ samples etc

So as you can see Im not too much of a hoarder.. haha I am looking forward to seeing how my collection grows/changes over the coming years. If you would like to see any in depth posts about my lipsticks, face products etc then please leave a comment! :)

Monique xx

3D Makeup Printers

Yep you read that right! You may have previously heard of 3D printers, and now thanks to Harvard student Grace Choi, a makeup printer is the latest one to hit the market. At $300 each, the home 3D printer is said to print out any makeup item your heart desires, including eyeshadows, blush, creams and liners all at the click of a button. Grace implies throughout the video that the formulas of each category of product (lipstick, blush etc) are the same, and all you do is select any colour from different pictures/photos of makeup you like to print the product. 

At first I started to think that there will be no need to ever hit up the shops again, but after watching the video I began to doubt the system and how well it will satisfy consumers- how will the formulas of each product suit every skin type? Does the the printer make shimmery or matte shadows? Does it cost more for the pans/bottles/lipstick tubes? Don't get me wrong I think its amazing technology, but at the steep price I wonder how well it would succeed when I know I for one Im a sucker for brand names and quality over having every single colour of product.

You can watch the video and read the full article here, and let me know your thoughts!

Monique xx

The best lipsticks under $5

.. Well in my opinion anyway! If you haven't already heard about these great budget friendly steals then read on!

I first discovered the Ulta3 Matte Lipsticks early last year, and for $3.95 each I have never looked back. These lipsticks have great pigmentation and are true to the colour on the tube. Being matte, the formula is slightly drying on the lips, although nothing that a good lip balm before use wont fix. What has always impressed me about these lipsticks is the staying power, I can apply one of these once and not have to worry about it for the rest of the night - no smudging or smearing with these bad boys! Another fantastic thing about these lipsticks are the packaging! Matte black and simplistic makes them look very 'high end' and would look lovely in anyones collection - No one will know they're $3.95! *wink*

Swatches above left to right: Deep red rose, Plum velvet, Brown sugar, Orange Crush, Sandal wood.

There are colours in the collection that will suit anybody and everybody, I know there's a few pink ones I've got my eye on! Have you tried the Ulta 3 Matte Lipsicks? What do you think, let me know!

Monique xx

New Beginnings

Well, sadly enough It's been close to a year since I last blogged, where you can view here. So I decided it was time for my blog to be reborn - and get off my lazy ass and write some top notch shit. I hope to share thoughts on some fabulous products, post updates about my life (beauty obsession) and overall post about whatever I feel like and hopefully get a few giggles out of you along the way.

It may take me some while to get the hang of Blogger, but if you can bear with me I promise It'll be worth it in the end!

Monique xx