blush crush: benefit hervana

benefit hervana blush

Saw this blush a few weeks again and was lamenting that fact that I really shouldn’t splurge. So imagine my excitement when my sister came home with it! Anyway, Hervana (her + Nirvana, eeee) is, an ‘orchid-blossom blush for a heavenly flush of enlightenment’ Sounds cute huh? I think I agree, it’s natural, beautiful and I feel very pretty wearing it!

The product, which was launched in Australia just this month, follows on from Sugar bomb with the swirl of different colours. This one has four shades; lucky shell, divine peach, heavenly rise and berry delight. I love the effect of all four swirled together and there is something about actually swirling the blush around that I love.


The shades in Nervana are quite different from my staple blushes which is a good thing. I mainly go for your more peachy tones or brighter pinks but this one almost has a cool pick, mauve undertone which is really flattering (especially for those pale skinned ladies!). With winter coming up I think it will add a great pop of colour but still with a muted, angelic look.  It has the slightest amount of shimmer but nothing over the top so it’s definitely day time approved.

Onto the packaging. For those benefit blush buffs you will have noticed the lid is not completely removable like most other benefit blushes. This is my first benefit blush with the new box and I am a fan. Hoping they eventually change all the packaging over. Even better is the new brush which although is still not ahhhmazing, it a hell of a lot better than the old one and you might actually want to use it, especially on the go. 

in action 

I am a fan of this little box. It's not like any other in my collection and makes my cheeks feel oh so pretty, hehe. 

So what are your thoughts? Will you be rocking Nirvana or are you going to give it a miss. Personally I am a complete sucker for Benefit blushes!

Blush Crush: Benefit's Coralista

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Hey beauties,

I'm back with another blush crush. This time I'm loving Coralista by Benefit.

Coralista is a gorgeous corally pink. It gives me a bright sunny look (which I need as the weather is unpleasant at the moment!).  There is some shimmer but not too much, just enough to give the cheeks a gorgeous glow. You can build definitely up the intensity but as I'm pale I use a light hand. I really think this is a blush that would be flattering on sooo many skin tones too. Really that about sums it up; it's just a fabulous blush..

Applied heavily on the left & lightly on the right.

Here is this baby in action!

Do you have a current blush crush? I would love to know, I always love blush recommendations!



xxx

Current LOVES

This could almost be a February favourites but I'm too impatient so here are my current favs :)

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder; 

I purchased this stuff before I went to Thailand as I knew I wouldn't want to be packing on the liquid foundation but would want some coverage at times. I also bought it because it has SPF15+ and I ADORE it! It has pretty much become my staple foundation since I got back and I don't know how I lived without it. As it's been summer I haven't really been bothered with putting on much makeup so this stuff is brilliant to quickly apply for a bit of coverage. It applies easily, is not cakey and provides a nice natural finish. Will definitely repurchase this when mine runs out!

Batiste dry shampoo in Blush; 

Total life-saver. I have been so lazy with washing my hair lately so this stuff has been majorly helpful in streeeeeching my washes out. I recently lightened my hair and I feel I can get away with using it a bit more now as it doesn't make my hair look to dull like it can with darker hair colours.

Revlon Photoready Foundation;

I finally jumped in the photoready bandwagon and I'm liking it. I like that it's not to dewy but it's not too matte. Full review to come..

Maxfactor false lash effect mascara;

Bought this stuff a while ago after seeing Pixi2woo talk about. Great mascara! It doesn't clump and gives great volume, nice curl and a bit of length, not sure about the false lase effect though :) I thought i lost it and was so disappointed but found it and have been using it everyday since. I did find when I first used the mascara it was quite wet so i would have to wait ages for it to dry so it didn't smudge but now i've had it a little while I find it's a much better consistency.

Benefit Speed brow;
My eyebrows are pretty bad at the moment and I haven't got around to getting them done again so this stuff is great at keeping them tame until I make it back to the Benefit brow bar for them to work their magic. It doesn't add much colour at all but as I dyed my hair blonde recently it works really well for me at the moment.

Becca Beach tint in Peach;
This is my new best friend. I absolutely love Becca products and finally got around to buying this.  You only need a pinsized amount and it provides a gorgeous healthy glow. I'm a sucker for anything peachy or corally so this is totally up my alley. The finish is great too; not too dewy and seems to stay put most of the day. It is ridiculously overpriced for a teeny tube but i do like it and it's especially perfect for this time of year.

What have you been loving lately?

Orange Crush

Hey everyone, 

I'm loving orange at the moment! I think it's really great for the hot weather. I'm not sure if orange suits me as much as other colours but I love it anyway! Some days I like to steer clear of pink and orange is a perfect substitute.

So here of some or the orangey toned  products I am loving. Some of them are probably more coral toned but for the purpose of this post i'm considering the to be orange :p

Benefit's Sugarbomb, Ulta3 polish in watermelon, Revlon lipstick in 24K orange, OCC lip tar in cha cha, Revlon polish in tropical temptation, Mac peached blush, Mac virgin isle cream colour base, Innoxa lipstick in rockmelon

Occ lip tar in cha cha, Revlon lipstick in 24k orange, Innoxa lipstick in rockmelon, Benefit's sugarbomb (just the orange section), Mac virgin isle cream colour base, Mac peaches blush

 

Without a doubt my favourite product here is Mac peaches blush, after a long search it was one of the first Mac blushes I ever bought and absolutely love the pop colour it adds. 

I'm thinking I might have to invest to Mac Morange lipstick - now that's an orange lippie!

Are you an orange fan?

:)

Current Loves ♥

So as the title suggests this post is going to show the products which i am really enjoying at the moment. 

 ♥ Coralista by Benefit - Ever since I bought this I have been in love!  It's a beautiful coral blush which has great pigmentation and a nice amount of shimmer. This has been my go to blush for the last few weeks as I find it really brightens up my face adding a nice pop of colour. It is pricey but I think it is well worth it. This will definitely be a summer staple blush.

♥ Lucas' Pawpaw Ointment - This stuff is amazing. It's a multi purpose ointment which is fab. It's kind of like Elizabeth Ardens 8 hour cream in that you can use it in heaps of different ways for heaps of different things but without the horrible smell. I mainly use it as a lip balm but i also love it for my cuticles and dry skin. I think this would be about my 10th tube and I can't say enough good things about it. 

♥ Revlon polish in Lilac Pastelle - This is a fairly new addition to my nail polish collection and I love it. It's a great purple pinky colour which applies beautifully. I have been wearing this loads lately.

 

♥ MAC cream colour base in Pearl - This is stuff is amazing. It has been my absolute favourite highlighter for the last few months. I would highly recommend this to everyone as it blends so easily into the skin giving such a gorgeous natural glow.

♥ MAC Face and Body Foundation - I've had this for a while and rediscovered it the other week. I had sort of forgotten about it but really do love this stuff. It gives a light coverage which I find applies easily and has a nice dewy finish. If anyone is wondering I have it in C2 and am normally a NW20 in Mac. Now the weather is warming up this will no doubt become a staple again. 

What are your current loves?

Battle of the Corals

While reorganising my makeup the other day I discovered I have a growing collection of coral blushes. Coral toned blushes are definitely my favourite (obviously!) I just love the flushed natural glow they give.  

So without further ado here are my favs; 

Here are descriptions they give on their websites; 

Mac Stereo Rose - Coral with golden/bronze shimmering nuances

Benefit Coralista - A warm coral cheek powder for a 'tropical flush'

Mac Dainty - Light yellow pink with gold pearl 

Nars Orgasm - Peachy pink with shimmer

 Without Flash: Left to right - Mac Stereo Rose, Benefit Coralista, Mac Dainty, Nars Orgasm

 With flash left to right - Mac Stereo Rose, Mac Dainty, Benefit Coralista, Nars Orgasm  

Ok onto my thoughts;  

♥ Stereo Rose is the bronziest of the 4, I only did a post recently raving about it. It has a bit of  rosey tone to it (hence the name!) and is probably the least corally out of the four. It makes me look really fresh and like lots of the good Mac mineralize skinfinishes gives a beautiful sheen to the skin. 

♥ Coralista is a beautiful peachy coral. It's quite sheer but can be built up to add a bright pop to the cheek. It's great for my NW20ish skin and it smells really good too! I think this will be my summer stable blush.

 ♥ Dainty is the pinkest of the 4 and has a noticeable shimmer in it which you can sort of see in the photo with the flash, but it's not an over the top shimmer. It is quite a pigmented blush too so I have to be careful not to overdo it on my NW20ish skin.

♥ And lucky last is the famous Nars orgasm. You all know about it. It's a great shimmery coral peach blush which looks great on most skin tones. It has a gold shimmer in it which some days I love and other days I'm no so keen on - depends on the day. I'm sure you've heard it all before but I have to agree that it is a great coral pinky blush.

Left to right - Mac Stereo Rose, Benefit Coralista, Mac Dainty, Nars Orgasm 

And the winner is... 

Ugh please don't make me choose between may choose, it's too hard!

They are all gorgeous good quality blushes and as you can see from the swatch above they are all super similar. If I could only have one of these I think I would go with Coralista. It's a tough choice though.

You might think I would have satisfied my coral blush love but I still do have my eye on a few other corally colours. You can never have enough right!?

What is your fav coral blush?

 

The Second Story

Benefit's Crescent Row second story trio that is. They are the 3 very cute new additions to Benefit's perfume range. The fragrances came out last week and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one at the blogger event a few weeks ago and have been using it ever since.

The 3 new additions are; 
  

Garden of Good & Eva

Lookin' to Rock Rita

So Hooked on Carmella

In usual benefit style they come in very cute packaging each with their own quirky little box. They had the perfumes set up at the blogger event in a cute little stand which was very charming as you can see below.

Photo from Maxted Thomas PR

Blogging about perfume is a funny sort of thing which is actually really hard and I am hopeless at describing scents but will do the best I can! Its top notes are rhubarb, lemon and grapefruit with cyclamen, peony and tiare flower middle notes and vanilla, sandalwood and amber bottom notes. So it's a florally vanillery smell which is sweet but balanced out nicely so it's not over the top. 

The thing that caught my attention (or should i say nose) about Carmella was the fact that it had rhubarb in it. I love rhubarb and love the idea. The scent is really quite unusual and unlike anything i have smelt before. A friend said it reminded her of creaming soda and I can totally see what she means. 
 

Photo from google images

I think this scent is unusual and quite different from other perfumes. I can imagine that it would not be for everyone. I'm not sure if I would buy this perfume again but I am liking it at the moment and will be checking out the others, particularly Lookin' to Rock Rita. I think Carmella needs a next door neighbour!

Obviously you're not going to race out and buy one based on my lousy description but I would recommend you go take a sniff, if nothing else you get to have a peek at the cute display and packaging! 

:) 

Beauty Blogger Event!

Hello hello, 

I was over the moon to be invited by Maxted Thomas PR to beauty bloggers event at Brad Ngata's hair salon in Surry Hills. I took my lovely friend Marianne and had a great day. I somehow managed to forget my camera so i have pinched some from MTPR for your viewing pleasure.

We arrived at the cute salon on Sunday afternoon and were greeted by the happy Maxted Thomas team, name tags, champagne and most importantly masses of makeup everywhere we looked. We were told to head on in and look around the various stations they had set up for each brand so away we went.

Orly - First stop was Orly to get our nails done by the wonderful Orly team. They did their thing - filed, buffed and polished and after much deliberation over what colour (talk about a tough choice - so many gorgeous colours to choose from) i settled on Prince Charming which was a lovely browny taupey colour which was very fitting for winter. Marianne on the other hand went with a bright bubblegum bluey greeney colour called gumdrop which was really cute. I actually don't have much experience with Orly and haven't really seen them around so it was great to have first hand experience with their products. My initial impressions are good - my nail polish wish list has just massively increased!

Getting our nails done :)

Benefit - Next stop was Benefit which was just fab. I love benefit and the benefit girls or benebabes were lovely and so much fun! They gave Marianne and I mini makeovers and did a great job. After the event we were taken to the Benefit Boutique and had our eyebrows waxed and tinted along with false lashes applied. My eyebrows now look amazing - thanks benefit! I think Benefit is a great brand which i really don't have enough of.

Marianne and I (Really should have put the glass out of the snap, oh well at least it was after 12 :P)

Jane Iredale - This is a brand which i was not at all familiar with. They had makeup artists set up doing mini makeovers and makeup demonstrations with lots of their  products on display. Having not heard of them it was nice to have a play with their products. The makeup artist was telling me that they only sell in salons and plastic surgeons offices which makes sense as to why i have not seen them. They are a mineral makeup brand and i love the concept of no harsh chemicals on the skin at the same time as doing a great job of covering roscaea and other skin problems.

Trilogy - I was so exited that trilogy was there. I jumped on the rosehip oil bandwagon about 2 months ago and have been using their rosehip oil religiously since. Seeing as i have been focussed on the rosehip oil i had overlooked their other products. They have a wide range of products from mens to anti aging to sensitive so no one misses out.

 

Nivea - We were welcomed by the nivea team and given a quiz to determine which product was best for us which was a bit of fun. We then listened to a talk by Nivea representatives who actyally gave a really interesting talk. There was a lot of focus on the Q-10 range and a new exciting product coming out soon which i will have to post about. Where would i be in winter without their moisturiser!

Getting the Nivea spiel

Brad Ngata - He was at the salon working his magic on lots of the girls. Can that guy use a GHD, talk about jealous, if only i could do that. One day when i'm not a poor uni student this is where i'm heading!

It was a fantastic day and i would like to thank everyone at MaxtedThomasPR for organising it. Everyone was so lovely and it's great that they have acknowledged the role of beauty bloggers :)

Bad gal!

I know everyone and their Grandma has heard about Benefit Bad gal lash mascara but i thought i would add my two cents worth. 

I really like this mascara. It adds great volume and length and the black colour is great. The brush is huge and coats and separates my lashes really nicely. One of the main things i like about this mascara is that it is one of the only mascaras i have used which never clumps which is a massive plus.

  

I use it as my everyday mascara. I like the look it gives for the daytime however if it's masses of volume you're after i think there are better mascaras out there. It reminds me of Diorshow with the big brush and all, i think i like Diorshow a tad better though. I think Diorshow adds more volume.

The only downside to this mascara is that i find it smudges a bit throughout the day but overall it's a good product. I really like this mascara but i probably wouldn't buy this mascara again straight away simply because there are so many others that i want to try first!

I'm longing for lash extensions at the moment, why do they have to be so expensive!?

What’s In My Makeup Bag:

I always really enjoy these posts, so here we go.

This is my makeup bag. It’s from K-mart and I really like it. It was cheap, is compact and holds heaps. Despite what it may look like I can actually zip it up!



Firstly lips. Like every girl I always have more then enough lip products with me. I suffer from chronic dry lips and do normally have more lip balms but today looks like a tame day. On a day to day basis I use Lucas’s Pawpaw ointment but recently my lips have been really dry bad so I have been using The Body Shop’s Hemp Lip Protector which is good so far. I also have a Mac tinted lip conditioner in fuchsia fix, MAC lipglass in Underage, MAC cremesheen in Crème Cup and my latest purchase Barry M lipgloss in Toffee, which living in Australia I am so happy to have finally got my hands on!



Next is MAC blot powder. I always have this with me to fight the dreaded shine, as well as have MAC Select Cover-up in NW20, Benefit posietint which is good for on the go and Rimmel sexy curves (my one has seen better days.)



And then there are just some random things. Blot tissues, tweezers, nail files, perfume, a mirror, super cute lip shaped band-aids which my mum got for me and dental floss. I used to work at a cinema and would always get popcorn stuck in my teeth so dental hence the dental floss!



And that’s everything :)