FOTD: New Years Eve

Happy new years everybody! I had a great new years eve spent with my closest friends and had fun doing a glam makeup look for the occasion. Here are the products I used to achieve this blue smokey eye and nude lip;

• Benefit Porefessional primer
• Mac Skin Refined Zone
• Estee Lauder Double Wear in 2n1 Desert Beige
• Mac Prolong wear concealer in Nc15
• Nyx Studio finishing powder
• Lorac Behind the Scenes eye primer
• Lorac Pro 2 Palette
• Nyx Frosted Ocean shadow
• Nars Shadow duo in China Seas
• Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume mascara
• Illamasqua blush in Dulcet
• Mac Mineralised Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle
• Elf Studio Lip Liner in natural
• Mac lipstick in Myth
• Glam by Manicare Madonna lashes

I had a blonde moment and left my trusty favourite $1 liquid liner and Hoola bronzer out of the photo! But thats all the products I used to achieve this dramatic look for new years eve. I hope you are all enjoying the new year so far and thank you so much for stopping by my blog!

Monique xx

2015 Christmas Beauty Haul

I had so much fun sharing the beauty goodies I recieved last Christmas so I decided to do it again this year! I feel so fortunate to receive any presents and the last thing I want is for this post to come off as selfish or bragging, so with that being said lets get into the goodies!

About a week before Christmas my besties and I exchanged Christmas gifts, and I excitedly received the Stila Eternal Love liquid lipstick trio which contains a red, dark nude and plum, Mac Lipliner in Brick and Illamasqua blush in Dulcet. All I can say is my best friends know me too well and I have been using all the products like crazy. My sister gifted me the Chi Chi Spices palette, it has wonderful pigmentation and all the colours are beautiful- I have been getting good use out of that too! And Lastly for lip products my partner gifted me the Jefree Star Liquid Lipstick in Redrum. It's such a beautiful red that I wore Christmas day, the formula is fantastic too. 

I joined in two games of Santa Grab over the festive season and funnily enough I received Lush for both, but I'm not complaining! The Butterfly set contains a Ro's Argan oil body conditioner and a Sultana of soap both of which I can not wait to try. I also received a Magic wand which smells so sweet and delicious, unfortunately I don't have a bath but I'll save this one for a night away! 

Now I may or may not have picked out my gifts from the boyf this Christmas but when you reallllly want something it's hard not too! Black Opium by ysl has been on my wish list for so long and when the Christmas gift sets came out I was so excited. The 30ml set came with a free travel sized ysl eyeliner and mascara, the box is too beautiful to throw out too. Another item which has been high on my wish list for quite some time is the Glam glow Youth Mud. I finally got to test it out Christmas day and loved the way it made my skin felt, I can't wait to test it out some more. And being the lash addict I am I was so glad to find the Glam eyes two pack of Gwen lashes in my stocking, they're so full and pretty!

My Mum picked out a beautiful Akin Body moisturiser and hand cream for me this year, turns out she purchased them for my sister and I during the Priceline skincare goody bag sale, so she split up the extra products between us for Christmas which was so nice of her. I received the Australis One night tan, Modelco tan exfoliating wipes, Physiogel daily moisture therapy cream, Swisse Micellar water, original chapstick and the Nip and Fab exfoliation pads, so many new goodies to try! 

And last but certainly not least, I entered Hailey's amazing Christmas giveaway this year and to my surprise I won the Too Faced Le Grand Chateau! The packaging is too die for, and it contains three palettes and a travel size Better than sex mascara, I seriously jumped around the room like a loony person when I found out. Hailey's blog rocks so if you haven't already checked it out you need to asap!

That's all the amazing beauty goodies I received for Christmas this year! I feel like it would also be possible to do a haul post on all the cat items I received this year, I received that many! But I won't become that much of a crazy cat lady and stick to beauty. I hope you all had a really lovely Christmas!

Monique xx

FOTD: Bold Lashes And Soft Lips

I really enjoyed my makeup last night for a 21st so I thought I would share as the photo lighting was just too good not too. I decided on lashes so big I could almost fly away and soft pink lips, here are the products I used to achieve this look;

• Benefit Porefessional
• Mac Skin Refined Zone
• Mac Studio Fix Foundation
• Mac Prolong wear Concealer
• Elf Under eye Setting Powder
• Nutrimetics Satin Finish Powder
• Benefit Hoola Bronzer
• Nars Blush in Orgasm
• Becca Skin Perfecter in Moonstone
• Hard Candy Lip Liner (which I took out with me and lost)
• YSL Rouge Volupte Perle 108

• Nars Eyeshadow Primer
• Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Too Cool
• Lorac Pro Palettes
• Urban Decay Black Liner
• Favourite $1 Liquid Eyeliner
• Benefit They're Real Mascara
• Anastasia Brow Pomade
• Australis Clear Brow Gel
• Glam By Manicare Madonna Lashes

As crazy as the lashes are I actually became obsessed with them and I plan on grabbing a few more packets! I hope you're having a nice day, thanks so much for stopping by.

Monique xx

FOTD: Spring Night Time Look

I admit I'm pretty slack as It's been a while since I have posted a face of the day, but last night my partner and I had a date night so I decided to play around with a little colour to embrace the warmer weather. Here are the products I used to achieve this look;

• Benefit Porefessional Primer
• Mac Prep and Prime Skin Refined Zone
• Bare Minerals Bare Skin Foundation sample
• Mac Prolong Wear Concealer 
• Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel
• Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
• Benefit Hoola Bronzer
• Too Faced Love Flushed Blush In 'Justify My Love'
• Becca Moonstone Skin Perfecter
• Australis Velourlips in 'Lun-Dun'

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer sample
• Maybelline Colour Tattoo In 'Fierce and Tangy'
• Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
• Nars China Seas Duo
• Nars Long-Wear Eye Liner in 'Gratis'
• Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in 'Zero'
• Favourite $1 Liquid Liner Found Here
• Benefit They're Real Mascara
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade In 'Taupe'
• Lash Control Clear Gel

My hooded lids usually distort any eyeshadow pictures I try to take, but hopefully you can see the contrast of orange on the lid and the beautiful Nars Gratis on the lash line. I really enjoyed wearing this makeup look and I have been adding bright colours to my lash line a lot lately.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and here's a little reminder that It's only 2 months until Christmas today! I'm way too excited and started wrapping Christmas presents yesterday… Let me know If you are prepared for Christmas or not!

Monique xx

FOTD: Warm Eyes and Nude lips

It may be a boring Sunday In for me but I said what the heck and decided to create a random FOTD and post it, as it's been far too long since I've shared my face (that could be a good or a bad thing). I decided on warm eyes, and came up with a nude lip combo that actually suits my fair skin, hooray!

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Maybelline Colour tattoo in 'Fierce and Tangy' all over the lid
• Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette
• Jelly Pong Pong liner/shadow stick in water line
• Revlon Colour Stay liner in tight line (Thanks Kats!)
• Elf Liquid Liner
• Rimmel Wonderful Mascara - I couldn't for the life of me find this when I was photographing the products haha who knows where it is
• Unbranded Lashes

Face

• Mac Fix Plus
• Jane Iredale Pressed Mineral Foundation
• LA Girl Pro conceal
• Anastasia Brow Pomade in Taupe
• Face Of Australia Contour Kit
• Mac MSF in Soft and Gentle
• Ulta Three lipstick in Sandal Wood on the outside of the lips
• Mac Myth lipstick on the centre of the lips

I feel a bit silly with lashes and all on now when I'm just hanging out at home, but hey there's no harm in looking fabulous while I read my book. Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Monique xx

Birthday Beauty Haul

So I've been super slack on the blogging front as of late, and I leave the country tomorrow so I figured I better get my but into gear and put up the post I've been meaning to blog about for a while now. My 21st was earlier this month and I was very fortunate to receive some amazing gifts from family and friends, quite a few of them beauty related so I thought I would share with you all what I got!

I was super excited to receive some Lush goodies this year and in particular the Snow Fairy shower gel and Godmother soap. Both these scents are so sweet and delicious that I don't ever want to use them up! Another EOS lip balm was an awesome surprise as I'm loving the one I received for Christmas, and I also received a Tony Moly Caviar Face mask which I can't wait to use! I honestly wear red nail polish 95% of the time so when I was gifted the OPI nail polish in 'Got the blues for red' you can imagine my excitement, I'll be rocking this colour all year round.

Perfume obsessed me was so overjoyed to receive this Versace Bright Crystal perfume set. It came with the perfume, a body lotion and shower gel that all smell amazing. The box itself also came in super handy for makeup storage (which I definitely need more of after this Christmas and birthday).

If you love sweet perfumes with vanilla notes you have to go try the Beyonce Heat Wild Orchid. I smelt it once in a chemist and fell in love straight away, so I was so excited that my partner picked it up for me for my birthday! I also got some Mac goodies including the famous Ruby Woo lipstick (being a red fan I don't know how this wasn't in my life already) and the blush in 'Full Of Joy', which is a light pinky purple colour- I'm obsessed with it.

I also received this Stefan daily hair kit which includes a sulphate, salt, and allergen free shampoo, conditioner and treatment. I'm usually quite cheap when it comes to shampoo and conditioner so I'm super excited to treat my hair with these goodies!

Speaking of hair, when talking to my twin sister about our birthday gifts for each other I mentioned I didn't really need anything other than bleach and developer. I usually just use box dyes but recently decided to make the switch and save some money in the process. So I was glad to receive these as It will last me a few applications and have me looking blonder than ever!

And last but certainly not least I received the glorious Naked 3 palette. The same friend actually gifted me the Naked 1 a couple of years ago so now theres a joke running that she has to get me the Naked 2 as well (I wouldn't complain Rachel). I'm still in disbelief that I own this palette, it's so beautiful and I can't wait to create so many looks with it.

I was absolutely blown away by the generosity of family and friends this birthday, and tomorrow I finally get to enjoy the present from my family which is a trip to Bali! Thank you all so much for reading and I promise I'll be back into full swing soon!

Monique xx

FOTD: Sunset Eyes and Coral Lips

Its really beginning to feel like Christmas, It felt more real for me yesterday as I had an early christmas lunch with my partners family. Weirdly enough despite it being a family gathering I decided to try out some new colour combinations I wouldn't normally wear.

• Mixture of CoverGirl Outlast foundation and Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation
• Mac Pro Long Wear Concealer
• Australis Fresh and Flawless powder
• Benefit Hoola Bronzer
• Mac Soft and Gentle Highlighter
• Hard Candy blush in Skinny Dipping
• BareMinerals Marvellous Moxie gloss

• Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Fierce and Tangy all over the lid
• Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette in crease, outer V and brow bone
• Revlon single eyeshadow in Sunlit Sparkle as inner corner highlight
• MUA Glamour Nights Palette red shadow in crease
• Rimmel Wonderful Mascara
• Unbranded individual Lashes
• Elf black liquid liner
• Mac Brow pencil in Lingering
• Lash Control clear lash and brow gel

I really loved the way it turned out and think I think I'll be rocking this look a lot in the hotter months! Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope you're enjoying the festive season!

Monique xx

FOTD: Cocktail Party Makeup

It was my partners 21st birthday party over the weekend and the theme was cocktail, so I decided on some glamourous makeup with a hint of glitter, heres the products I used!

I'm pretty safe and boring when it comes to my face products, often using the same things. Although some newbies I have been loving recently is the Stila All Over Shimmer Duo in Kitten, a stunning highlighter that contains a lighter shimmery shade as well as a bronze shade. I love using the lighter shade for a subtle glow on the top of my cheeks and cupids bow. I have also been testing out the Mac Prep and Prime Skin Refined Zone after reading some great reviews on it for oily skin. I have noticed my nose hasn't been going as shiny as quickly although I feel I haven't tested it out enough to give a full opinion on it.

Having oily skin I knew that I needed an excellent base if I wanted to apply glitter onto my eyes and not have it all over my face half way through the night. So what better base could I use other than eyelash glue itself! I did risk losing a few eyelashes although the glitter stuck on fantastically as you can imagine and I found it quite easy. I used the Eyelure eyelash glue and If you have ever used this brand of eyelash glue before you will know that it smells terrible when you first apply it, although I find it to be one of the best eyelash glues on the market so I find the smell is worth bearing through.

The silver glitter I used was only $2 or $3 from the brand L.A Girl available on CherryCulture.com. It has a great dispenser hole that allows you to dip your brush inside, preventing glitter from going absolutely everywhere. I think it's fantastic for the price and I plan on picking up many more colours! Another new product I have been using is the Lash Control Clear Mascara for setting my brows. Apparently its the only mascara on the market that enables you to control the amount of product you use by squeezing the clear tube. I honestly think its a bit gimmicky although it does set my brows nicely. 

I loved incorporating some glitter into the look and thought the cocktail theme was the perfect opportunity to wear it. Let me know if you like to add anything a little extra to your look for those special occasions. Thanks so much for reading!

Monique xx 

Come Play With Me: Wing It Out

My friend Monique chose the next Come play with me theme, and to my delight it was 'wing it out', essentially creating a winged eyeliner look. I really want to go all out with this one, but due to having many errands to run today I kept it fairly simple so I didn't scare anyone in public.

To achieve this 'double wing' I used the maybelline master precise liner which I have been absolutely loving, followed by putting the Mac glitter liner in 'Blitzed' on the base of the wing. I put half baked from the Naked palette on the bottom lash line to add to the gold theme followed by both of the matte browns into the crease.

And of course I used the Benefit They're Real on my lashes. It was so hard to photograph the glitter on the liner and unfortunately my photos didn't really do it justice. In good lighting all the sparkles moved when it hit the light and I just fell in love with the look. It was fun to play around with liner and do something I wouldn't usually wear. So let me know, will you be taking on the challenge?

Monique xx

Mac Alluring Aquatics Nail Colour: Shimmerfish

Everybody and their grandmother have already heard about and seen the amazing Alluring Aquatics collection that Mac bought out recently, but when I was ever so fortunate to win this stunning nail polish from The Beauty In Life's blog giveaway, I just had to talk about it! 

It was extremely hard for me to throw away the box of this polish, I mean come on- is that not the prettiest box you ever saw? Thankfully the polish itself is even nicer to look at, with the little fake droplets of water all over the lid against the metallic teal, it's so stunning! The nail colour itself is a very shimmery (go figure) silver with super fine champagne flecks throughout. This looks absolutely amazing when the light hits it, it sparkles and seems like it almost changes colour at every angle.

Shimmerfish is such a complex shade that just doesn't match up to any other nail polish I already own. It applies opaque after two thin coats which is fantastic, and for longevity? After three days of wear I have minimal chipping, which is a rarity for myself. Now hopefully its not too much of a pain to remove…

Let me know if you picked up any of the Alluring Aquatics collection and what you thought of it, I'm dying to get my hands on some of the lipsticks. Thanks again to Hailey and if you haven't already make sure you check out her blog!

Monique xx

My Go- To Clubbing Look

I rarely go Clubbing these days but when I do I of course want to try and look my best, and hey getting ready before hand is half the fun anyway Right? Heres my go- to look!

I always start off my base with a primer- the last thing I want is my makeup sliding off after 30 minutes of entreating the club. The Elf mineral infused primer works great as a base and is super affordable. When going out I aways opt for full coverage, so the Mac Studio Finish foundation in NC15 is my pick, followed by the pro-longwear concealer to prevent creasing and dark circles under my eyes. The Australis Fresh and flawless is my favourite setting powder so I'll follow by buffing that into my skin to set all my liquids into place and give me the matte finish that I love. In my opinion, nothing is more flattering then using a good matte bronzer to sculpt out the face and Hoola by Benefit is the perfect shade, a must have in my routine. Ill use it to contour the hollows of my cheeks followed by some slight contouring of my nose. I will then add colour to my cheeks using Nars Orgasm Blush and top it all off with a beautiful highlight using Mac's mineralise skin finish in Soft and Gentle.

Moving onto eyes, the Naked palette is a dear friend of mine and my typical look for a night out is a smokey crease with light lids. To achieve this I start off with the Maybelline colour tattoo in Too Cool all over the lid and then work the darkest colours from the palette into my crease and lower lash line. It wouldn't be me without having a thick winged liner so of course I use my Rimmel Exaggerate waterproof liner followed by the fabulous They're Real mascara by Benefit for bold lashes. And how could I forget the brows! The Mac brow pencil in Lingering is a wonderful product and doesn't look to dark for my blonde hair - love it!

And lastly, the finishing touches. Obviously I curled my lashes before applying my mascara, Ill then always apply false lashes to get the thick dramatic look I love. Before applying my Mac lipstick in Rebel, I'll give them a good scrub using the Lush Bubblegum lip scrub (yum!). And to set all my makeup in place I'll give my face a good spritz of the Mac Fix- Plus Spray, and voila! Ready to party.

Heres some photos out and about rocking this look! If only getting a decent clubbing photo was as easy right? If you have any going out rituals or products you recommend for clubbing please do share! 

Monique xx