Road test - Red Cherry Lashes

 Road tested, so you don't have to:

I normally prefer a fuller, less spidery strip lash with criss-cross or flares, but I still felt pretty glam in these. Good length without being OTT.

At $9.99 a pop from My Cube Brisbane, they're cute and won't break the bank. The band didn't budge in these, though I have tried the #747S Primrose that fell off. I may have just done a bad job gluing that day though - Sephora grand opening got me a bit cray cray...

Notable to mention the #505 Ricky lashes shown above are 100% human hair too (am I the only one who gets the heebyjeebies from this lol, let's just ignore the ick factor for a sec and remember they look + feel more natural).

Keen to try some more. Have you tried Red Cherry?

Check out Crush Cosmetics for the full range.

J x

Also wearing:

Urban Decay - Eyeshadow Primer Potion: Original

theBalm - Nude 'Tude Eyeshadow palette

Bobbi Brown - Long Wear Gel Eyeliner pot: #1 Black Ink

Urban Decay - Perversion mascara

Duo eyelash adhesive - Clear-white

Napoleon Perdis - Auto Pilot

Innoxa - Cover & Correct Cream Concealer Face Palette

Too Faced - Born This Way foundation: Sand

NARS - Creamy Concealer: Ginger

Rimmel - Wake Me Up Concealer: #030 Classic Beige (highlight)

Becca Cosmetics - Shimmering Skin Perfector: Poured, Moonstone (highlight)

NARS - Laguna Bronzer

Benefit - Hoola Bronzer (contour)

NARS - Orgasm blush

Hourglass - Ambient Lighting Palette: Dim Light & Radiant Light (highlight)

Kevyn Aucoin - The Precision Brow Pencil: Brunette

Kylie Cosmetics - Lip Kit: Exposed 

Kylie Cosmetics - Lip Gloss: Koko K

Ellis Faas Liquid Gold

You've all seen Chloe Morello lose her sh** over these Ellis Faas products, but here's a better look at the E303 Metallic EyeLight she couldn't quite get to work.

I had this used on me for the first time during a makeup lesson and I have to say I also lost my sh** - albeit for a different reason.

This stuff is legit. It's like pouring liquid gold over your eyelids, and once dry, it will not budge.

Opening up the lid, you're greeted with the brush applicator.

You've got to twist the end to get the product up to the brush, and this is where all hell breaks loose. I've only used mine three times, but on all occasions I had the same problem as Chloe (and I know many others). It's like waiting for the cork on a champagne bottle to pop, and it never does. Sad times.

I was told on purchase to be patient, that a few twists was enough and the product would spout from the brush in due time. Idk about you, but I'm impatient af, and even moreso when I'm applying makeup in a rush. Just. Get. The. Damn. Eyeshadow. Out. Please.

When it does finally appear (I'm gonna say at least 3-5 mins) it's like a surprise, explosive volcano and you've got quite a lot to work with. Somewhat good, at least it's not stingey. But somewhat bad, seems wasteful to have that much come out at once.

Nevertheless, if you can look past this packaging flaw, the results are worth it.

This shadow glides on, you hardly need a primer, it's quick to dry and the liquid is heavily pigmented. You will not want to touch any other gold eyeshadow after this, it's that good.

It's definitely on the luxury high-end scale price-wise, so this isn't something you're going to be purchasing all the time, but it's a unlike anything I've ever used before. I'd definitely say it's a must-try for hardcore makeup lovers, only because of the quality and colour payoff. It's so low fuss in those departments, it kind of makes you forget it took you half an hour to get it working ;)

So: get it if you can afford it + are looking for something new & amazing to try. But I wouldn't say it's an essential part of your beauty life.

Aussies, you can find it here at Mecca Cosmetica, along with the four other metallic shades.

Ellis Faas E303 in action with Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette.

J x

MOTD - Shopping day

"Choose a lover who ruins your lipstick - not your mascara"

MOTD:

Face:

Moisturiser - Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture Combination Skin

Primer - Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot

Foundation - Mac Studio Fix NC35 

Concealer - Rimmel Wake Me Up (cannot remember colour *argh*)

Setting powder - Mac Select Sheer NC30

Contour - Nars contour duo in Paloma

Blush - Nars blush in Orgasm 

Eyes:

Primer - Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot (lazy way out)

Urban Decay Naked Palette 

Base lid, Inner corner - Half Baked

Crease - Buck

Outer corner, upper lash line, lower lash line - Smog

Mascara - Benefit They're Real

Eyebrows:

Billion Dollar Brows - Universal Brown Pencil

Etude House darkest powder shade - Perfect Brow Kit 

Billion Dollar Brows - Brow Gel

Brow bone - Urban Decay Naked Basics 2, Stark

Lips:

Liner - Too Faced Perfect Lips, Perfect Nude

Lipstick - Nars Audacious Lips, Vera

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

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