It's been a while since I've done an empties post. I don't have a whole lot of finished products this time round, and even these took me months and months to collect (which probably tells me I should stop jumping between so many different things), but let's keep it short and sweet! ;)
Lancome Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector
This combined with Lancome Genifique is the ultimate skin corrector duo. Within the first few weeks my skin was brighter, smoother and more radiant. Now don't expect dramatic, life-changing results - the effect is only subtle - but it's a great little booster if you often wake up to dull skin like me. I do feel that half way through the bottle the results were becoming less and less visible, probably because my skin was getting use to the formula (or the dosage of chemicals). I still loved this formula up until the last drop, but for the time being will try out something different.
Repurchase? Maybe.
Michael Todd Intensive Organic Cream Eye Treatment
I use this eye treatment both day and night, and it nicely moisturises without wearing too thick or oily. The lightweight formula absorbs quickly into the skin, and has worked well for me during the warmer, more humid, seasons here in Sydney. However building up to the colder months, I feel that I need something slightly heavier - like Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment - as my skin can get very dry and flaky. I would recommend this all year round if you have oily skin, it doesn't wear greasy and hydrates very well!
Repurchase? No.
Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 103 True Ivory
This just fell short on my top 5 list (see here), but drugstore-wise, it's only second to my much loved Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation. Rimmel Wake Me Up appears quite shimmery when you initially pump the product out, but as you blend, the foundation leaves a soft radiant finish which does not wear shiny or oily on the skin. Despite the creamy consistency the coverage is light, but can also be easily built up. It's a very natural wearing foundation, so it's ideal for everyday use!
Repurchase? Yes.
Lipgloss edition! In a bid to stop myself from buying more makeup - which despite many failed attempts, I will continually keep trying - I've set a mission for myself to rediscover my ever-growing, forgotten stash. Instead of using the same old everyday products, I've been switching things up on a daily basis the past few weeks, and happened to stumble upon these buried goodies - so I thought I would spread the love!
I know both of these look practically brand new, and truthfully, were very rarely used despite sitting in my makeup drawer for some time now. It's actually quite satisfying to add these back into my 'favourites' or 'currently loving' list, because at least for the time being I don't feel the need for new gloss! And I've mentioned this many times before, but when it comes to lip products I'm partial to lipsticks, but once in a while I do crave that lip plumping shine that only comes from a gloss!
I purchased NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Beige sometime last year after hearing nothing but great reviews about it. I did like it at first, but wasn't as wowed as I though I would be, so after 3-4 uses I stashed it away. But after rediscovering it, I'm loving Beige a lot more than I ever did before. The formula sits very comfortably, and does not draw attention to lip lines which often happens when I wear gloss. The pigmentation is not too intense, allowing your lip colour to faintly seep through to give a more natural finish. The only thing that I dislike, which I find with a few NYX products, is the sickly sweet and artificial cherry scent, but it luckily does not transfer onto the lips.
Zygomatic is a blush I knew I would love even before purchase, or before I actually swatched it at the counter. It's a GORGEOUS pinkish beige, one of those shades that seems to suit any and every given occasion. It wears on the more natural side, and gives my skin a soft touch of colour without ever over doing it. I'm completely obsessed with how beautiful this is, but I'll let the swatches speak for themselves!
Illamasqua makes absolutely amazing blushers, and I'm especially a fan of their cream based products. Before stumbling upon this, I never really 'figured out' cream blush, all the other ones I've tried had a tendency to apply unevenly on my dry and dehydrated skin. But Illamasqua cream blusher applies like no other - it's ridiculously smooth and blends out effortlessly without looking patchy or uneven. I do generally use a stippling brush, but it wears just as well when applied with fingers.
Sorry for being MIA lately, I have contractors in the house doing renovations and they keep knocking out my internet lines!
Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel is nothing that new (I believe the range was released a while back in the states), but since these polishes only very recently hit our Australian shores, I thought I would post about them anyways!
I'm not the biggest fan of Revlon's nail products, but what initially caught my attention is the packaging of these - I really like the rectangular bottle design with the round knob at the top, it definitely stood out against the regular Revlon nail polish bottles! More importantly though, the formula is simply amazing! I only need about 2 coats to achieve a full opaque finish and it applies with no streakiness. It also wears a good week before I started to notice some very minor chipping, and I think I could have gotten away with 2 weeks if I was a little more careful.
Wintermint - from swatches I've seen in the blogging world, this seems to be a very close dupe to Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream (which I don't actually own - so correct me if I'm wrong). I like the pairing of the mint green with the blue glitters, though it's not something I would usually go for.
I have to admit I've never been big on scented nail polish, the concept still seems strange to me, but I guess it's a thing now! Wintermint, as the name suggests, definitely carries the scent of mint, and as for Italian Leather...it honestly does not smell like leather - I don't know how to describe it though! The scent does linger on about a day or two after the formula dries, but it's not noticeable unless you have your nails real close to your nose, so I don't mind it so much.
I've been wanting to give this a go for a while now, so here it is! I only have a good handful of products this time round, but it's bound to be a growing stash (unfortunately). I guess that's the life of a makeup addict! :P
(Please note that these comments are based on personal preference and skin type, so the following products may react completely different for you.)
NARS Night Series Eyeshadow Palette
I don't think I gave this a great review when I first purchased it, as much as I adore NARS, this palette is one of my biggest makeup regrets (considering how much it cost). More than anything it is WAY too glittery, and though I love me a good glitter eyeshadow, too much of it does get out of hand. The dark shades in the palette also wear all too similar (i.e. black and almost black), so there's not a great deal of versatility in looks you can create with this, at least not to my experience!
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation
It's frustrating with this one, because a lot of people seem to love the formula but it just does not agree with me. I have dry/combination skin that can often get dehydrated, and I find the foundation accentuates every dry spot on my face, drawing attention to unwanted flakiness and lines. It doesn't wear particularly long either, and disintegrates on my skin well before the end of a normal workday. I think Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua is probably more suited to people with normal skin, though I'm still holding out that I can make it work somehow - it's such a waste otherwise!
Physicians Formula Bronze Booster
I actually thought this was quite cool at first. I don't have anything against the shimmery bronze pearls, but the fact that they are packed into this shallow tub makes it somewhat difficult to use. I know I lost about 4 pearls just on initial use! The pigmentation is also more on the subtle side, so you really have to stick your brush in there to load a good amount of product and I make a mess every time - but then again it could just be me and my clumsiness!
