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

November Empties

December is here! This year seemed to go by so quickly and I can't believe we're so close to Christmas! I wish I had used up more products this year as my beauty stash continues to grow and I'm sure I will be fortunate to receive some goodies for Christmas and my birthday early January, but I still got through a good chunk of products in november and here they are;

1 & 2. Normal Skin Face wipes/Gentle Cleansing Wipes: I'm always testing out inexpensive makeup wipes and I couldn't notice a difference between these two. They removed my makeup nicely, struggled a bit with mascara but overall they did the job.

3. Hydraluron Moisture Boosting Sheet Mask: My skin feels refreshed after using these masks although I wouldn't say they are 'moisture boosting' for my skin, I think these would work better on dry skin types.

4. Nivea Stay Clear Toner: I actually really enjoyed using this toner before putting on my makeup just to cleanse the skin and remove any excess oils/dirt. Now that I've used it up I keep going to use it only to realise I'm out, time to pick up another bottle!

5. Nivea All In 1 Face Scrub: Ignored the 3 in 1 aspect and just used this product as a face scrub. I quite enjoyed it as it had a cooling effect on my skin, as you can see I cut the tube in half to get all the product out so It must've been decent!

6. Mitchum Powder Fresh Roll On Deodorant: Holy grail deodorant, so good for the hotter months and never fails to keep me smelling fresh.

7. Random Ass body Scrub: Random, didn't work well, bleh.

8. Stella Honeyed Milk Candle: I used up my first ever candle! Yay! I received this last Christmas and it had a subtle sweet smell, I enjoyed burning it in the bathroom.

9. Clear Scalp and Hair Shampoo: A pretty average shampoo, It did foam up nicely and clean my hair as you would expect.

10. Schwarzkopf Blonde Toner: I have gone through so many bottles of this stuff that surely it must be boring to see in my empties posts by now, its works great so I'll continue to repurchase.

11. Cedel Dry Shampoo: This doesn't really compare to Batiste, sorry.

12. Lash Control Clear Gel: This served me well for my brows for quite some time so It was definitely time to throw out.

13. Urban Decay Primer Potion: Another product that was due to hit the bin, a great everyday eyeshadow primer.

14. Glo Minerals Pressed Powder Foundation: This was such a great mineral foundation, being pressed it was super easy to apply and It provided a really nice coverage. I would spot conceal and then apply this all over the face daily for work.

15. Too Faced Shadow Insurance & Powder Sample: The shadow insurance is a great eye primer very similar in formula to the urban decay primer potion. It was strange using the powder sample but it was pretty average and unfortunately too dark for my skin tone, I have another one that I plan to use after fake tanning. 

Thats it for my november empties! I hope you're having a great December so far and thank you for stopping by.

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

October Empties

I am over the moon that we are well and truly Into to November already! October seemed to go by so fast but I still got through a decent chunk of products, here Is what I used up;

1. Garnier Pure Active 3-1 Scrub: This face mask exfoliated my skin nicely and had a refreshing scent. It slightly tingled on the skin which was pleasant.

2. Makeup Remover Pads: I have gone through so many of these pads from Kmart. So Inexpensive and I use them daily.

3. Olay Regenerist Cleanser: A simple gel cleanser that came with the Olay Regenerist Cleansing system. It worked nicely with the system but I wouldn't consider It that great without It.

4. Collagen Essence Cucumber Face Sheet: Love love loved this face sheet, It was so moisturising and made my skin look so dewy and youthful. I definitely want to pick some more up for the hotter months.

5. Nivea Q10 Anti Wrinkle Night Cream: I can't comment on the wrinkle side of things but this was a nice thick moisturiser to put on before bed, I am now testing out a more natural version.

5. Veet Sensitive Wax Strips: I was actually really impressed with these wax strips! They left close to no sticky residue on my legs, removed most hairs and were super easy to use myself.

6. Silk Oil Of Morocco Leave In Conditioning Treatment: This leave In spray treatment just wasn't moisturising enough for my dry hair, although I did really enjoy the convenience of being able to spray It In my hair whenever I pleased, and It had a nice scent.

7. Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo. Favourite dry shampoo ever, I just wished It smelt more like cherry!

8. Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Shampoo: Finally used this up, a stock standard shampoo. It had a pleasant scent which was quite strong.

9. Schwarzkopf Ultimate Keratin Hairspray: I really like this hairspray, It kept my hair In place but didn't weigh It down or make It feel weird to touch.

10. Clear Scalp Therapy Conditoner: Ehh Just eh

11. Burberry Body Perfume sample: I really liked this perfume! I have to many perfumes to justify buying a bottle though.

12. Johnson's Baby Conditioning Shampoo: I used this to deep clean my makeup brushes and It works really well. I plan on trying out the Dasio brush cleaner next as I have heard great reviews.

13. Too Faced Eye Pimer sample: This kept my eyeshadow creaseless all night so I was pretty Impressed. I have a second sachet I plan on testing out in the hotter weather.

14. Bare Minerals Bare Skin Foundation sample: A light weight medium coverage foundation that has a nice finish on the skin. I prefer more of a high coverage foundation but I can definitely see why this foundation is popular for so many.

That's everything I got through In October. I hope you are all having a fantastic November so far and thank you 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

Mecca Brisbane Myer Opening Haul

The Saturday just past was the opening of a new Mecca store In the Brisbane CBD Myer store, they had some fun promotions and giveaways happening so my best friends and I headed Into the city early to pick up some new makeup goodies!

The attention grabber for me with the opening of the new store was that If you spent $65 or more you would be able to spin a barrel full of makeup prizes and gift cards up to $500 and pick one out - need I say more? To qualify for the spin I picked up the Too Faced Love Flush Blush in 'Justify My Love' ($38) which Is a pretty pink/berry colour which I can't wait to rock this summer. It's going to be hard for me to use though as I don't want to destroy the adorable little Imprinted bunnies! I also grabbed the Hourglass lighting powder mini In 'Ambient' ($32) as I haven't tried any of the raved about hourglass powders and thought the mini size would also be great to throw in my handbag. With a total of $70 spent I qualified for a spin and win!

My barrel spin won me a Kit Blending sponge (opened It and threw out the packaging before blogging whoops) and although It wasn't the $500 gift card I was still glad as I am yet to find a decent beauty sponge- hopefully this one Is a winner! And funnily enough my partner also came along to the opening (may have forced him) as he wanted to pick up one of my christmas presents and In doing so he also qualified for a spin of the barrel. He won the Mecca 'To Save Face' mini sunscreen which will come in super handy for the hotter weather coming up.

When purchasing our products my partner and I both signed up to the Mecca beauty loop service and we both received a gift box. Thankfully my boyfriend Isn't Interested In makeup/skincare so I scored double - yay! Inside was a mini Ciate nail polish, a Ren Detox Mud sample and some Too Faced samples. While I was there I also asked for a few foundation samples to try, Including the Urban Decay Naked Skin, Nars Weightless and Too Faced Born This Way all which I'm very excited to try. 

Overall we had a great time and I definitely thought It was worth the trip Into the city. Oh and how could I forget, the most exciting part of the day was that they were handing out free lollipops - woohoo! Thanks so much for reading and let me know if there are any beauty products on your current wish list! 

Monique xx