Monday, May 30, 2011

May Lovin'

Hey ey e
Hey hey, 

It's the end of May which means 2 things, it's my mum's birthday and it's time for a favourites post! So here are the things that have been floating my boat over the past month or so; 

  We have -  
Lush Dream Cream,
Orly Cuticle Oil
Revlon Matte lipstick in Pink Pout
Mac Nylon eyeshadow
♥ Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner
Mac Well Dressed blush 


  
Lush Dream Cream - First up we have Lush Dream Cream. I bought this stuff after hearing numerous rave reviews and I would now have to agree with them. I have terribly dry skin and with the cold weather taking over I thought this would be a great product to have. It's a great moisturiser that leaves my skin soft and smooth. I lather it on after my shower and find it really calms my skin, especially after shaving my legs. It's not too sticky or thick but still has enough oomph to get the job done. This will be a definite repurchase.

Orly Cuticle Oil - Bought this stuff on a whim when my cuticles were going though a shocking stage and it has worked pretty well. I have been applying it the evening and it leaves my cuticles softer and moisturised.


Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout  - I have had this lipstick for ages but only recently rediscovered it. I have been going through a bit of a light pink phase with my makeup and this has been getting quite a bit of use. I like that it's not way too pale yet not too bright. It's sort of a lilac toned pink. Looks great by itself or with a gloss!

Mac Well Dressed blush - I did a whole post dedicated to this blush a while back (check it out here if you're interested) and I am still loving it. As I said I am going through a light pink makeup phase and this is perfect. Gives my cheeks a great pop of colour and glow.


Mac Nylon eyeshadow - As you can see by the picture this shadow has been through the wars, it just shows how much I love it! The most perfect inner corner colour I have come across. It is a beautiful shimmery white/gold toned highlighter which instantly brightens the eyes. I would recommend this to everyone!

Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner - I was going on holidays and wanted a cheap liner to take with me so I picked up this one and have really liked it. The colour is definitely a true black and it has a really nice creamy texture which applies smoothly. Long lasting too. I own both Mac and Bobbi Brown gel liners and I think this one is up there, especially when you consider it's a drugstore product.

Swatches! Left to right: Revlon Pink Pout, Mac Well Dressed, Mac Nylon, Maybelline Gel Liner 


And that's it. What has been on your love list this month? 

Imogen 
x




Friday, May 27, 2011

NOTD: Neo Whimsical


Good Afternoon lovelies, 

This has been my NOTD for the past week or so which is a long time for me! It's Essie's Neo Whimsical from the Art of Spring Collection and like all this other colours from this collection this one's a winner too.

I loooove this colour. It's a beautiful pastel pink shade with a hint of lilac and totally up my alley. It is a bit more pinky toned than the shows, for some reason it looks quite lilac in the picture. I think this is a great colour for pale skin tones.



It is a bit difficult to apply and it did require 3 coats. However I don't mind because I love the colour and think it's worth it plus with a coat of Seche Vite it lasts for ages.


x



Monday, May 23, 2011

Product Rave: Lush Buffy


This is a massive product rave for the one and only Lush Buffy Body Butter!
 


Buffy is a square body butter bar that is a mean exfoliater and moisturiser all in one. The bar is made of cocoa and shea butters, lavender and lemon oils along with rice, aduki beans and ground almonds which are the exfoliating pieces (and boy do they pack a punch)

I have incredibly dry and sensitive skin which is horrible in winter and this is one of the few non-prescriptive products that has been able to keep my skin in tip top shape. This is a definite winter staple. I just run it over my body in the shower, wash it off a little and pat dry, it leaves my skin feeling amazing –soft, smooth and hydrated.  

It does leave the skin feeling a tad greasy but no more than lotions or moisturisers and I find that it absorbs into the skin with ease and unlike some of the moisture provided by lotions this actually keeps the moisture in my skin. I’m sure most people don’t wouldn't use a moisturiser afterwards because it does leave a layer on the skin but I still often team it with my Dream Cream as my skin is incredibly dry.
 

This product is not for the weak! The exfoliating particles in Buffy are quite abrasive so keep in mind that this is a scrub and its aim is to scrub away the dead skin! Also use the product in the worst of the dry skin areas and steer clear of the more sensitive areas like your chest and tummy if you are not an exfoliater junkie. Having said that I have super sensitive skin and have no trouble with abrasion but I wouldn’t and don’t use this product on a daily basis.

One of the tricks to using this product is knowing how not to let this sucker melt away in the shower.  I suppose the cocoa and shea butter don’t last long when they are exposed to the warm water so be careful not to hold in the stream on the shower for too long or leave in a wet place. It probably lasts about 5 to 8 full body exfoliations so it is a bit exxy if you let this guy melt away. I was convinced into buying the container for it to go in which is $4.95 but I would say it was a worthwhile investment and makes me get my monies worth from Buffy.

No flaky, itchy, dry winter skin for me. Oh Buffy, I love you.


x


Saturday, May 21, 2011

Runway Inspired: Colour blocked



Hello everyone!  



Today I'm taking inspiration from the runway..




That's right color blocking! Colour blocking keeps popping up everywhere in the fashion world so I decided to jump on the trend and involve it into my makeup. 

I love brights but am no where near bold enough to pull of the whole bright eye and bright lip so I have toned it down to just a bright lip and bright nail. 

 On the lips I'm wearing OCC's lip tar in Anime (amazing colour) and on my nails I'm wearing Orly's Orange Sorbet. 

I have to say a while ago I would have cringed at the thought of pairing hot pink and bright orange but I am honestly loving the combination. I'm thinking orange and blue next time!



Be bold, be brave and rock the colour block!



Friday, May 20, 2011

Aztec Inspired NOTD

.
Hi Beauties,

I have seen lots of gorgeous Aztec inspired nails all over the place lately so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and here is what I ended up with..



I had a lot fun doing it but my thumb was as far as I was going. I have nowhere near enough patience or skill to do my other fingers that's for sure. It was actually reasonably easy and I am really happy with the finished product. When I have a bit of spare time I will definitely sit down and have another play around and see what I come up with.

Anyway if you are curious how I did it the instructions are just below :)

Here is what I used; 
Essie Lilacism
Ulta3 Spring Fling
Ulta 3 Lily White
Essie Lapis of Luxury
Seche Vite
Sally Hansen Black nail art pen
Sticky tape

1. I started off by cutting the sticky tape into small strips and stuck them on my nail creating stripes, with 2 sections of my nail showing and 2 not. I painted the gaps between the tape, one gap with Lilacism and the other with Lapis of Luxury 
2. After waiting for them to dry I peeled off the tape and painted the remaining two stripes on my nail another 2 colours - Spring Fling and Lily White
3. After that dried I used the black Sally Hansen nail art pen to draw the patterns over the nail, this is where you can let your creative side out and do whatever you please!
4. I simply let that dry and applied a layer of Seche Vite over the top to stop the pen from smudging
5. I then painted the rest of my nails with Spring Fling


And there we have it. Pretty simple as long as you have a bit of spare time hanging about.

Have a lovely day!



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Small NYX Haul


Hi everyone, 

Soooo happy about this little haul. The other day I stumbled across a shop selling NYX cosmetics which is amazing as NYX is pretty much unavailable in Australia. Groove Cosmetics is where I picked these things up and they are the only other shop I've ever seen selling NYX cosmetics apart from Charcoal Clothing. I only picked up  few things this trip but don't worry I am definitely going back on pay day!

Here is what I got; Eyeshadow in Luxor, Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Smokey Look, Powder blush in Peach and Powder blush in Mauve.

Peach blush

Mauve Blush

Luxor eyeshadow

Smokey Look gloss

Left to right: Peach blush, Mauve blush, Luxor eyeshadow & Smokey Look gloss

Loving the products so far, especially Smokey Look. Can't wait to have a proper play around with them!

Anyway one of the reasons I didn't go crazy and buy everything is because I wanted to get your recommendations first. I have my eye on lots of things but would love your suggestions!

Thanks :)


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Frivolous purchases


I have been really busy lately so here is a quick post with some random pictures of things I have bought over the last few days...

 Stocking up on polishes for the cooler months

Violet crumble, yum!

 New tweezers, really didn't need them but they were just waaay too cute to resist

My new necklace 

Delicious Mojitos :)

Purple contact lenses - so excited to try them out

New lippies; Revlon matte Really Red, Revlon matte Sky Pink and Mac shy Girl. Post to come on these.

And finally not a frivolous purchase but super cute,  Patchi, the puppy who refuses to look at the camera!

I'll be back with some real posts asap, hope everyone is having a great week so far
x


Thursday, May 12, 2011

Pawpaw giveaway winners (finally!)


So I have moved into my new place and finally getting settled in, yay! Therefore without further ado here are the three random winners for my teeny giveaway....

1. Essie

2. Gaby

3. Cheryl

Hope you enjoy girlies. Can you pretty please e-mail your details and so I can post them out  asap.

Thanks everyone for entering, if I could you know I would get you all one :)


Plus here is a pic that made me giggle; 

Have a lovely day,
Imogen