BYS Blusher Review*

If you reside within Australia, you should be fairly familiar with BYS (Be Your Self) cosmetics. You probably have seen them at a GLOSS store and/or selected pharmacies/stores.

Many have wondered if BYS is somehow comparable for the well-known American NYX. I'm not entirely sure, but here's my review for the BYS blusher that I own in #4 Candyfloss.

BYS Blushers comes in 6 different shades (as far as I know of) in a simple black squared-plastic packaging, which looks quite cheap I'd say. But as it's only $3.95 each, you couldn't ask for more.

The bottom of the blusher locates the name of the shade, barcode, packaging details and the ingredient list.

#4 Candyfloss is a light pink with a luminous finish which I'm not sure if this [finish] runs through the range. As for the pigmentation, I do think it's not that fantastic as it does apply quite sheer. Its long-lasting power is actually not that great also as I do find that it fades within the day.

Altogether, it's a cheap, sheer, short-lasting-and-containing-talc blush which has a lovable luminous finish.

Would I repurchase this product?
I might in the purple shade, but besides that, I wouldn't.

Hope you Aussie girls find this review helpful!


Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. Product(s) were bought by ME and this review is of my honest opinion as all other reviews are, however, keep in mind that products which may/may not work for me may/may not work for you as we share different conditions.

Newbies' guide to formal make-up

I'm unsure when is it 'prom-season' in other countries, but formal here in Australia would be coming up in a few months, so therefore... you need to start considering your make-up for prom!

Why? Because it's not something you could pick out just a few days before the big night. You need trials to see what works and what doesn't and not to mention that your skin conditions might change unexpectedly. Who knows?

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PREPPING AND PRIMING

#1 Know your skin

To look flawless on the night, you'll need to be prepping and priming your skin first! You SHOULD be taking care of your skin already, and if NOT, start taking care of your skin NOW! I recommend at least two-three months before the big night because to improve your complexion means less to stress about! You can read about my suitable skincare products for your skin here.

#2 Moisturize your lips

Start moisturizing your lips at least 2 weeks before your big night. Whether your lips are dry or not, prevention is the key. Any lip balm would do, but if your lip is disastrous... I recommend Blistex Lip Conditioner which you can purchase at your local pharmacy.

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FACE PRODUCTS

Now.. onto the cosmetics and please note that the products recommended below may OR may not work for you.

# Primers helps whatever you slap onto your face stays on for longer and the application easier, I recommend primer for all skin types/conditions. Budget-friendly primers can be found by Face Of Australia and Australis.

# Correctors are essential if you have really dark shadows [usually around your eyes] and/or acne and/or red acne scars. Green concealers are used for correcting redness which most of the time includes acne and acne scars. Pink concealers are used to correct purple tinges on the face which includes bruises and/or dark purple under-eye circles. Maybelline has some Cover Sticks which are very affordable.

# Foundation is a hard one and is a MUST. You can read about basic foundation guidelines here, but I DO recommend Revlon ColorStay Liquid Foundation ($17-$37) as they have two lines targeted for both dry skin and oily skin and stick to your skin like no tomorrow [but smells disastrous]. It is a tad pricey, but you cannot go wrong with it. The only thing you can go wrong with when choosing a foundation is the shade.

# Concealer is definitely also a must if your imperfections are STILL shining through even after correcting. I'm unaware of any cream concealers from lower-end brands which are reliable, but in general, you should opt for stick concealers and/or cream concealers for heavy coverage.

# Powder-ing is necessary and the product should be with you at ALL times (even during the formal event). Whether you have oily skin or not, it's still recommended as it makes your make-up last longer and prevents shine in your photos which will last forever. I recommend transluscent because it doesn't cake your skin and some translucent powder such as Australis Ready. Set. Go Finishing ($12.95) powder even tops it off with a flawless photogenic finish! However, it CAN be a tad messy to bring along so you can always opt for Revlon's PhotoReady Translucent ($34.95) powder which is quite pricey but neat.

# Blushers are used to add colour to the face. However, you can just use any eyeshadows of your shade and finish preference as a blusher, if you already have.

# Bronzers and highlighters, I don't think are essential. It's something you can skip because contouring and highligting the face is only used to perfect it to an oval shape and fake facial planes. You ARE trying to look like you.. not somebody else. However, like blushers, you can also replace bronzers it with any warm-toned brown eyeshadows [with a blue base, rather than pink] and highlight using a shade lighter foundation OR a lighter-than-your-skintone eyeshadow.

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EYE PRODUCTS

# Eyeshadows you plan to use needs to be pigmented, have a long lasting power or can be combined with an eyeshadow primer. I don't use eyeshadows so I wouldn't know what to recommend. You're better off with searching around at BeautyHeaven, and make sure you know how to use the eyeshadows of course!

# Eyeshadow bases/primers are also something I never used. However, I do know that Face of Australia ($7.95) and Australis ($12.95) has eye primers/bases in their range, but if you simply can't afford an extra $7~13, try some concealer as a base for your eyeshadows to stick!

# Eyeliner is a MUST, whether you have big or small eyes. The great thing about eyeliners are the forms they come in: pencils; liquid; gel; and cake. If you're looking for clean and precised lines, you're better off with liquid and gel, BUT they DO take alot of practise to master. Pencils are great for smokey looks because you can multi-use them as an eyeshadow also when they are smudged (perfect for smokey looks)! I haven't came across lotsa great eyeliners, but I DO NOT recommend pencil eyeliners from Australis and Nude By Nature. Ones I love are from an Asian brand called Le'lan Vital.. I love their PerfectWear Eyeliner and ExtremeWear Gel eyeliner. P.S. Make sure your eye products are waterproof!

# Mascaras needs to be waterproof and they are rated by personal preferences. Everyones' lashes are different and different mascaras impact differently... I personally LOVE Rimmel Glam'Eyes for allowing me to adjust volume and length in my lashes!

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LIP PRODUCTS

If you could only pick up two items from the following, I would pick a lip-liner of my preferred shade and top it off with a lip gloss since lip-liners are very long-wearing [but can be drying too].

# Lip liners are okay. Unless you're planning to wear a red or dark colour lipstick or a colour which is contrasting to your skin, then you can possibly skip the lip liners. However, that'll call for applying lipstick frequently during the event as taking away long-lasting power. I don't use lip liners also, so I'm not sure!

# Lipsticks are recommended but you can skip it! They come in different textures and a variety of different finishes. It's a personal preference, but for those who loves creamy textures.. I recommend Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipsticks [for their fantastic formula] and Maybelline's ColourSensational Lipsticks [for their fabulous shade collections].

 

# Lipglosses, like lipsticks are up to you. In fact, all these lip products are up to you but it's recommended as it'll complete your look! I recommend Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipglosses ($11.95), you can read my review here >

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BRUSHES

# Brushes are also a matter of personal preferences, but speaking of quality.. I definitely can tell you which brands to stay away from! One brand I dislike is BYS! The bristles of their brushes are very pokey and the brush itself is so cheap! I have tried their Blusher brush and Foundation brush which didn't favour me. However, their eyeshadow brush is OK. 

Comparing BYS to GLOSS brushes, GLOSS brushes wins by far as their brushes are more dense and great quality for the price! I love their Foundation and Powder brushes, however I'd stay away from their synthetic Angular brush as it's rubbish. 

Ecotools also have great organic brushes which are great quality also! 

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REVISION

Just a recap of what's definitely a must:

• Foundation
• Concealer
• Powder
• Blusher
• Eyeliner
• Mascara
• Eyeshadows (if you know how to use it!)

That's all! I hope you lovelies enjoy this post and of course, apply this for any other formal occasions and just not for proms!  

Yours deerest,

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Saturday/Sunday Steals #9

This haul post is a combination of spare items from last week's and this week's market haul!

These days, I've been spotting and pick up oh SO many nail polishes!

Just yesterday, I picked up 11 Chanel nail polish TESTERS for $28, but while photographing, I have no idea where the remaining 3 took off!

They ARE testers, but they are pretty much the same size of any other nail polishes. I have no idea where the girl got this from..

I also saw this lady who was selling MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus foundations for $25. Apparently, her 'store' closed down so the foundations are all going for cheap.. Weird is that she only have NC20 in stock and it was the 'only' shade left. I checked the packaging, there was a batch code and everything looks authentic, but I didn't take the risk. No money anyways!

My question is.. What store on Earth did she own? A Myers or a David Jones? Is there any other stores which sells MAC cosmetics?

I don't mean to deceive her.. just curious!

And that was all for yesterday.... besides an antenna for $10 which didn't work :'(

*Life of an Asian*

On the other hand, last week, I picked up quite a few things!

I don't remember how much I got these items for but here they are..

Natio's Lipstick in NUDE, Prestige LASHMATRIX Mascara & a used CANMAKE Eye Nuance in #16 Peach Soda

Rimmel Lycra Stronger Base Coat and Rimmel Lycra Wear +10 nail polish in 403 Hypnotise

Sally Hansen Medicated Cream Cuticle Remover and Manicare Cuticle Oil

It's a great bump in a cuticle remover and cuticle oil.. Perfect together and I'm actually running out of them in my kit!! Great buys, I'd say.. LOL!

CoverGirl Continuous Color in 092 Cherry Brandy and 160 Violet Vamp

XOX Polish #62 and Sportsgirl's NAIL IT! Polish in Midnight

I've seen many and many XOX polishes around for $3 but this was at the markets for 50cents so I figured that I'd give it a try and see how it goes! Not expecting too much from it though...

Last, but not least! These buncha small gift boxes for $1! Yey!! :D Great for organizing lipsticks :)

Hope you like the haul. Drop me a comment. Love you'se all!

Yours deerest,

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NOTD/Review: Australis Paint the Town Nail Polishes in Bun of Steel

I'm a big Australis and Rimmel fan... for particular products of course.

Personally, I love Australis because they have products that other brands don't and even if they DO, Australis' products are much more affordable.

Take for example: Australis has a finishing spritz which other brands don't have; a translucent finishing powder (Ready Set Go Finishing Powder) which is much more affordable than Revlon's PhotoReady Powder; a primer which came out first before most other brands and most of all... Limited Edition lipsticks! I'm lovin' it! They include whacko shades of lipsticks into their range (orange and purple), name me other brands who has such whack colours too please!

Anyways, I'm not here to today talking about how lovely Australis is and all those crap. I'm gonna review one of their Paint the Town Nail Polishes today, in Bun of Steel.

Australis describes this range of 12 shades as a 'super premium professional base nail colour formula which is easy to use' with its 'one-stroke-wonder-monster-brush for fool-proof application'. Huh? What's 'fool-proof'?!

For your visual information, this is what the brush looks like:

The brush is wider than normal brushes and the tip of quite round which I am assuming because perfect nail cuticles are shaped with rounder edges...

I'm aware that many other brands have been releasing their nail lacquer lines with these giant brushes, promising for a one-perfect-swipe application. But you know what? I hate it!

I reckon I spend MORE time painting my nails with this brush, trying to perfect the one coat! I'm not used to using brushes like this and plus, the polish itself doesn't even give me an even swipe of polish over my nails! What do you mean "even 1 coat provides excellent coverage", Australis?

I personally prefer the normal brushes, so thumbs down from me.

On the other hand, the consistency of this polish is perfect. Nor too runny or too thick, though I do find it a teeny tiny tad streaky when applied -- but forgivable.

Australis also claims that this polish is more chip resistant' .. not really. It chips equally as any other nail polishes I own.

Here's swatches of Buns of Steel which is described as a 'silver blue shimmer'.

I'm not a big fan of metallic nail polishes, specially blue polishes too.

I don't think this polish compliments my skin very well [or vice versa], so boo..

Would I repurchase this for $8.95?

Most likely not unless they are on sale. I actually picked up this polish for $3 because it was on sale! Other shades seems interesting though. But if I think more about it. Face Of Australis also have a range of cheaper metallic polishes so we'll see!

Lastly before I let you go... because I don't like this shade very well, I decided to spice it up a bit by adding [my favourite] zebra patterns to it! *smiles*

This is NOT a sponsored post. Products were bought by ME and this review is of my honest opinion as all other reviews are.

Yours deerest,

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Catching up with the galz!

Hello everyone! Holidays has started 3-4 days ago and so far, I've been going out every single day!

Hahahah! On Monday, I went to City to karaoke with acquaintances and then decided that on Wednesday, my close girl group will go for a karaoke session too after visiting our school and eating at a Korean place [Seoulria, I think].

Was feeeling soo sick on the train but everything got much better after food. I think it's because the day before, I only had one meal in the afternoon!! :{

I finished school last year in September and I'm happy to still have these girlfriends around! Though I reckon we should shop more, catch up more often and karaoke more... though Wednesday 3-hours karaoke session was so hectic!

Me feeling sick.... BUT STILL TRYING TO LOOK PRETTY! Teehee!

Getting snuggly! Hehe!

Lmao singing 'Meet Me Halfway'.. if you could see "Moment 4 Life" [by Nicki Minaj] is next on the list HAHAHA!! Challenging myself to sing 'Moment 4 Life'... umm... REALLY?

What was I thinking! *sigh*

My make-up on the day...

Recently, I have been rocking double-eyelid tapes! I love how the eyelids look fake and VERY obvious! It also accentuates my clean eyelining application too hahaha...

That's all for today hunnies! I shall be back tomorrow with a giveaway for Sydney residents so please stay tuned!

Yours deerest,

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