Koko Kollection

Ask and you shall receive!

By popular request from you guys, here are my lip swatches of the Koko Kollection from Kylie Cosmetics.

I love every single colour and this pack would be a great start for anyone wanting to try our her stuff - though it is limited edition (Christmas). I daresay she'll be back with them though! TOO GOOD.

Y'all know how I feel about Kylie Cosmetics, so without further ado...

KHLO$

OKURR

DAMN GINA (gloss)

GORG

(TBH probably should have used a liner under this but it worked okay)

Can you guess which was my fave?

Sparkles, naturally 😜

If you managed to get your hands on this beautiful collection, let me know your favourite!

And as always, thank you for your requests, keep them coming.

J x

Deluxe Samples, Mecca Maxima Beauty Loop, & Newbies

Life is short, Buy the shoes!!! (Get this rose gold & white polka dot quote card from Kikki K here)

Happy Sunday!

Incidentally, it's also Mother's Day! In my adventures purchasing a few of my favourite beauty products for my Mum, I managed to score a few freebie deluxe samples from Revlon and Mecca Maxima.

I'll get into the samples in a sec! But first, pictured above are a few new acquisitions:

Essie Buy Me A Cameo - a metallic nude shade that I've been eyeing for a while;

NARS Audacious Lipstick Natalie - you all already know how much I fell in love with Grace, so this was on my hit list this week! Beautiful rosy pink, and super pigmented;

Colette Off Duty Blogger clutch - gonna use this for travelling, probably put my vlogging camera & Macbook charger etc. in there :)

REVLON BEAUTY BAG

I believe it was a AU$39.95 spend to receive the beauty bag at Myer with 5 full sized samples.

I haven't included the free eyeshadow quad & nail polish in the photo, as I gave them to my Mum along with the makeup bag it all came in!

I did purchase a creme lipstick in Pink Velvet (one of my staples which I gifted to Mumma Bear also), and my daily Colorstay pressed powder, so I was well over the minimum to receive the beauty bag.

I kept the Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator, Ultra HD Lipstick 830 HD Rose, and Colorstay Brow Fantasy crayon/gel duo in Brunette. Will post an update on how these products go in weeks to come - I already love the Lipstick shade, but it does have a scent to it which I don't know if I love or hate yet! Ha!

You can shop Revlon at Myer here! Hurry in to get your freebie beauty bag, I'm not for sure when the promotion ends.

MECCA MAXMIA BEAUTY LOOP SAMPLE BOX

This is what I love about member rewards at beauty and cosmetics stores! 

I've not tried any of these products before, but super excited to crack them open:

NARS Light Optimising Primer

Ren Micro Polish Cleanser

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder 

The last one is especially intriguing! Hyaluronic acid finishing powder for brushing over night cream or over makeup. Will for sure be updating you guys on that one.

Head on over to Mecca Maxima and join the Beauty Loop - There are 4 sample boxes per year, and a ton of other cool perks.

Last but not least, a sneaky purchase from Forever New, how cool is this! The glitter moves all around - and we know how much I love my sparkles. 

Countess Sophia Fits iPhone 6, and you can find it here.

Let me know if you see any cool promos happening at the moment that I should be jumping on, or any stores doing awesome loyalty perks! 

And as always, I'll be sharing any I see with you guys on here :)

J x

My first Audacious Lipstick & Rose Gold obsession!

Nars have had the Audacious Lipstick Collection out for a while now but I've not had the chance to pick any up - until now! And let me tell you, these are amazing. I'm hooked!

The colour range excites me so much, and when swatched, you can tell they are extremely pigmented. 

The colour payoff is so strong, and the texture is devine! So velvety and a little goes a long way. 

I'm really hoping to try the shade Natalie next - it was more of a light pink tone, which I already own a lot of (but still not quite the exact same shade, and it was so pretty!), so I opted for this electric pink/red Grace instead. 

How beautiful is it?! I could not resist. I feel that although it is a spring/summer shade, it could easily work in autumn/winter if you wanted a pop of colour to brighten your spirits in the colder months :)

It seems I've become a bit obsessed with rose gold!! 

I also picked up this awesome rose gold Alpha Votive Candle Holder from Dusk, which is working well with my rose gold clock I previously got for my room.

These cute bow rose gold & dement earrings at Forever New (you know me and bows, let alone rose gold!)

And this rose gold & white watch from Valley Girl (a bargain and pretty cute!)

Have you seen any rose gold pieces you think I will love?
What's your favourite Audacious Lipstick shade from Nars?
Let me know :)

J x

Massive Beauty Haul! - Mecca Maxima, Kiehls, Sephora

The stash pre-unpackaging!

The wait is finally over - I checked out Mecca Maxima's Urban Decay launch!

(Did not get first 100 freebies - devastated!!!)

Also took a trip to Kiehl's, and been saving my Sephora Sydney mini haul for this blog post.
Check out what I've picked up this month:

-The Line Up-

We were treated with free water, museli bars and reading material.
First 100 in the line got a makeup bag with deluxe samples - I was number 106! Cue frustration.
I ended up with 2 deluxe samples with purchase, though - Perversion mascara, and the usual eye primer that comes with Naked purchase.

 -The Haul-

I deliberated whether to get Naked or Naked 2 (already own Naked 3), but the colours in the original swayed me.
I feel like I will probably get Naked 2 at some point in time though (who could resist). Same deal with the Naked Basics range, I loved the matte shades in Naked Basics 2.

No swatches of the Naked palettes, as I'm sure there are a hundred on the internet somewhere.
I did swatch my lip products though (sneaky Too Faced purchase happened), photo below!

The original Urban Decay Naked Palette

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2

Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick Sheer Streak

 This UD lipstick colour caught my attention and I could not say no! So. damn. pretty.
Texture reminds me of Maybelline Whisper range, or the Revlon Lip Butters but more durable. So, it does have that gloss factor to it.

Seems like a hydrating flush of colour - pretty keen to take it for a test run! Standard packaging, but I'm loving the signature UD purple.

Also picked up Too Faced Melted liquid lippy in Melted Velvet.
Have been wanting to try this for A G E S.

So many tempting colours, but I picked a Winter shade so I can play with it in coming months.

The squeezable, doe foot applicator could get messy, but I'll give it a go!

I'll keep you posted on the outcome of these two lip products, as I'm sure you're intrigued about the hype as much as I am.

Oh - got two lip liners on a whim as well. Nothing exciting, just for staple purposes - details in the swatch below:

L-R: UD Sheer Streak, Too Faced Melted Velvet, Rimmel Lip Liners in 004 Indian Pink & 049 Natural.

 -Kiehl's-

Wanted to try out two skincare products I cannot stop hearing about (Zoella, I'm looking at you)!

Midnight Recovery Eye gel, and Blemish Control Daily Skin-Clearing Treatment.

Sales woman also threw in samples of the Creme de Corps moisturizer, and Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser.

Again, will keep you posted on the outcome!

 

-Sephora, Sydney-

Obsessed with masks lately, picked up a Honey Mask from Sephora.

Got overwhelmed with the product range, panicked, and ended up picking up Sephora blush Pink Flush, and Sephora cheeks & lips Brilliant Jumbo 04 Vintage Pink.

Not really sure if I love them, but I'll see how they go haha!!!
Was super overwhelmed, and had a friend waiting so didn't take my usual time swatching, etc.
When in doubt, go for the subtle, neutral tones!

 

Did you check out the Urban Decay launch today?
Or got any favourites from Sephora Australia?

Let me know :)

J x

Mecca Maxima Gold Coast

Mecca Maxima opening week, Robina Town Centre, Gold Coast

It's not exactly Sephora, but it's a pretty good substitute until Sephora comes to Australia.

As a Mecca Beauty Loop club member from the former, smaller Mecca Cosmetica, I was treated to a free Nars blush during the Mecca Maxima grand opening week at Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast.

I got myself a Soap & Glory Hand Food moisturizer (shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow) as well, because it smells amazing! Will definitely repurchase! Keen to try some more Soap & Glory products.

Inside this little bag of joy was a mini Nars in Deep Throat (yes, we all know the shock factor of Nars blushes). 

In case you can't imagine the adorable size of this sample product, I've sat it next to the standard sized Nars blush in the picture below. SO cute!!!

Normal Nars blush on the left, and the teeny tiny free sample on the right. Adorable!

A great handbag addition, and fortunately one of my favourite Nars blush colours. Super versatile and great for wear in all sesasons of the year. Pinker in pigmentation to its cousin Orgasm, and a little less shimmer for a more subdued look. Win win!

Thanks Mecca Maxima! You'll see me soon for sure.

J x

Fingr'rs Nail Makeup Review

I was fortunate enough to be sent a few nail products by the kind people at Fing'rs Australia via a social networking competition (yay, thank you!).

These goodies arrived for me promptly, and needless to say I was excited! I am a self confessed nail product addict and I love delving into anything fun and creative to make life a little more interesting in the nail department.

This afternoon I decided to change things up on my tired, chipped, post-holiday polish and give the brightest, most eye-catching Fing'rs product in my stash a go.

Introducing Fing'rs Nail Makeup.

22 ready to stick, pre-designed decals, that according to Fing'rs makes it "easy to swap out and change your designs instantly". 

These babies retail at $9.99 AUD.

 

The first thing you need to be aware of is that these are decals. In other words, stickers, designed for temporary wear and easy removal. So you aren't going to get the same result as using a nail polish strip or transfer (eg. Sally Hansen or Revlon).

Regardless, I found the stickers to be made of quite a durable material that I am guessing will probably last longer than expected. So kudos in the durability department!

The design that I received is called Hollywood and I love it! But if you aren't pink-crazy like me, they do have quite a few others to select from.

Application was easy enough, very similar to the application you would need to do for a nail polish strip (peel strip off, place onto nail, file excess off).

 As well as being durable however, being made from plastic rather than polish does have its limitations, and I found this to be the case during application - there is hardly any room for adjustment (eg. stretching out the strip like you can with polish strips) and filing the ends off was kinda tricky. 

Overall, I would say these are a cute and fun way to brighten up those fingertips of yours, but don't be expecting the same quality and result as a nail polish strip. Nail polish strips seem easier to work with to me, last a couple of weeks, and have a more professional finish.

For what they are though (a temporary and removable sticker decal), they do a great job and I expect it to last at least 2 days which is pretty good if that's what you're after.

I would probably recommend these to parents as a gift for younger girls who are just beginning to take interest into beauty and nail products. These Nail Makeup strips are just as bright and colourful, take less time to apply than liquid polish + no dry time, they look just about the same as polish, but you have the freedom to simply peel off  if a change is wanted or boredom occurs (and what tween doesn't want constant change and excitement these days?).

I would purchase these again, mostly because I'd love to try out a couple more of the cute designs available. I think these would be great to use on accent nails as well, because they're so easy to apply and give that little something extra to your manicure.

If you would like more information on the fantastic work Fing'rs are doing to encourage us all to beautify our nails, then head on over HERE.

Fing'rs Nail Makeup - great end result

J xx

Mini Shopping Haul and Elf Cosmetics Arrives At Kmart!

Firstly, can I just say how irritating iPhone's have become since the iOS 7?

I am included in the pool of people with a long and growing list of problems ever since the update. No sound from the speaker, woke up one morning with all my contacts deleted, and the latest - WiFi no longer functions on my iPhone 4S. If you're having these problems too, let me know!

This all leads me to the fact that yesterday, I was trying to conserve as much Optus data as I could, as without WiFi I am going through my data FAST. 

In my new-found state of pure iPhone data stingey-ness, I was apprehensively about to turn off my Cellular Data usage. No internet for a week. No Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email, Safari, Uno With Friends.... Scary. But absolutely needed if I didn't want to have a massive phone bill (This dramatic tragedy was almost going to be made into a blog post, but it didn't eventuate. See why below).

Finger on the Off toggle button, I saw that my sister mentioned me in an Instagram post. Just this once, I thought. I'll switch the internet off straight after, I told myself.  (**Side Note** no one will be shocked to know that this lasted a mere ONE day. It is amazing how much we rely on the internet on our phones! I couldn't believe it how weird it felt. Optus gave me a $10 1gb top-up of data for two weeks. Insert sigh of relief. Resumed use of Cellular Data immediately, and tragedy over).

The Instagram picture was a Kmart somewhere in Australia which stocked Elf Cosmetics! I had no idea that Elf was coming into Kmart. I think it was briefly at Target (same as in the US), but they stopped stocking it in Australia. Either way I'm glad it's back.

A lot of the beauty community are aware of Elf, but us Aussies have trouble getting a hold of it except online or overseas. In no way is Elf a high end brand, but from what I have seen and heard, it is great value and pretty good quality for the price.

V, The sister mentioned above, brought back an Elf eyeliner & lipgloss from the US a few months ago for me. I plan to do a US Make-Up Review in a new blog post soon, so keep your eyes peeled (Elf and Urban Decay). I'd say I was pretty happy with both products, not my absolute favourites, but if you're after some decent stuff at an affordable price, Elf is great. Really excited to get my hands on the products and review them!

Elf shelves empty at Kmart

Obviously I had to go and see this for myself, so I went to my local Kmart. Sadly, no stock as of yet, but the shelves were ready to be stocked and had the Elf labels everywhere. I went and asked an employee and she said that it would probably all be shelved by the weekend. My store is in QLD so you may want to check with your local Kmart and find out when/if you will get stock.

Anyway, with no Elf products in hand, I went out and searched for a few things I needed.

Here's my mini haul from today, I managed to get a couple of bargains!

Picked up this cute floral print playsuit / jumpsuit from Myer. I had a $20.00 voucher from Myer One rewards, plus it was reduced to $45.00. Then it was a further 30% off already reduced prices!!! 

I will be going away to Hervey Bay in two weeks for a belated Valentines getaway. So I thought this would go nicely with the location, lazy beach days and casual poolside relaxation.

Store: Myer

Original Price: $80.00

Total Paid: $11.50

Brand: Quirky Circus

IN LOVE with these coral pink sunglasses! Have been looking around for an affordable pair for a few months now. I already have two pairs of standard sunnies, so I didn't want to overspend with these ones, just love the idea of something bright in the Summer and Spring, and I can't go past pink.

These were on sale 50% off. Love me a bargain! Luckily they're also a category 3 lens protection, so definitely bringing these on my mini holiday for beach/poolside eye protection ;)

Store: City Beach

Original Price: $20.00

Total Paid: $10.00

Brand: Karyn In LA

The pens!! Ooooh the pens. I want to be a bit more organised with things at the moment, so I'm using my daily planner a lot more. I wanted a practical pen that was able to do what it needs to do, but something cute and not boring!

Enter White Rabbit Pen and Pencil Pen. 

Store/Brand: Typo

White Rabbit Pen: $3.95

Pencil Pen: $1.95

Pencil Pen is shaped (yep you guessed it) like a pencil, but inside it is a pearly/shimmery pink pen.

White Rabbit Pen's ears can both be pushed down, revealing either a black or blue pen. I love how adorable this is, but I also love that it is a dual colour pen that I can switch between when writing.

Uncapped and Pushed into action!

So that is it for today, I managed to pick up some really good items. Nothing too crazy but all were needed :)

Stay tuned for a blog post from my Hervey Bay Getaway Weekend, the US Make-Up review and many more things to come!

J xx