NEW ON COUNTER (MAR 2017): NATIO, NYX, Australis, Rimmel London, Revlon, Tom Ford, Bourjois, Sally Hansen, Jane Iredale

Third month into the new year (I shall remind you this every month), I hope we're all proud of what we've achieved with so far.

But even if you haven't yet achieved anything, don't stress it. Life is short. Just have fun while you can!

Quick peek of all the fun (and not very fun) I've been gettin' down to this month:

① Hiked to Kelly's Fall -- Tough hike, but well worth it. Highly recommend it, hehe.

② VTINES -- Valentines this year was a hit. Lunch date, aquarium and then dinner. I woo'd him with my card. It listed "6 reasons why you should be my Valentine (or ask me to be yours)". One of the reasons was: Because I'm a 9/10 and you're a 1/10. Therefore, together, we'd make a 10/10!

Call me a love guru. #howtopickupguys

③ Roamed around Spice Alley with bae. It was like Sydney's secret food market! How were we never informed?!

④ Received this doggo plush for Valentines (plz don't laugh, there was actually a really cute reason for it), but who knew that a week later, I would've got a REAL dog?!?!?! Can't wait to show him to you!

❶ NATIO Double-Ended Contour Brush ($17.95)
I always say.... "if you wanna be laid forever, be a double-ended make-up brush"... lmao. The struggles to store these..

❷ NATIO Double-Ended Eyeshadow Brush ($13.95)

❸ NATIO Face & Eye Palettes ($19.95/2 palettes)
These palettes are limited edition. Furthermore, 'Glow' is supposed to help with warming up your complexion whereas 'Illuminate' is supposed to brighten.

❹ NATIO Limited Edition Lip Colours ($14.95/2 shades)
New shades. TWO new shades... Limited Edition.

❺ BOURJOIS Brow Duo Sculpt ($20/3 shades)
A dual-ended brow pencil. Yeap, you've guessed it! One end for highlighting, the other to fill in the brows.

❻ BOURJOIS Palette Les Nudes ($28)
Eyeshadow palette with 8 different nude shades (actually not sure how 'purple' made it as a 'nude shade'). Has a 'melting cream powder formula'.

❼ BOURJOIS Volume Reveal ($23)
Offers volume.

❽ NYX Beauty School Dropout 101 Palettes ($12)
Limited edition palettes featuring 6 shades each. Available in 'Smokey' and 'Nude'.

❾ ESSANO Micellar Soothing Sensitive Wipes ($8.99/20pk)
In simple terms: it is what it is.

❿ RIMMEL LONDON Scandaleyes Bold Liquid Liner ($13.95)
Intense, long-lasting and waterproof. Formulated with rich black pigments, but apparently also has a glossy finish. I don't know anyone ever who wants their liner to be glossy. Do you?

⓫ RIMMEL LONDON Brow This Way with Argan Oil ($12.95/4 shades)
Their glam'd up Brow This Way, but with argan oil to condition and soften yo brows.

⓬ SALLY HANSEN Color Therapy Nail Products 

• Nail & Cuticle Oil ($16.95)
• Nail Polish ($16.95/14 shades)
• Top Coat ($16.95)

⓭ REVLON Ultra HD Gel Lipcolours ($24.95/15 shades)
Ultra-hydrating gel formulated lip colours.

⓮ JANE IREDALE Mystikol Powdered Eyeliner ($50/4 shades)
A smooth, creamy, blendable, buildable, richly pigmented and long-wearing eyeliner. Includes a brush at the top, great for when you're on-the-go.

⓯ TOM FORD Shade and Illuminate Cheeks ($125/2 combinations)
A blush duo of highlighting and shading creams.

⓰ TOM FORD Shade and Illuminate Lips ($90/6 combinations)
A lip duo with a light and dark shade which can be used to create an ombre effect.

⓱ AUSTRALIS Velourlips Metallic Lipcolours ($10.49/4 NEW shades)
I'm sure you've heard lots about these! Reminds me a lot of a few Colourpop metallic shades that my sister owns!

⓲ AUSTRALIS Liquid Strobe Illuminating Drops ($19.95/2 shades)
Basically, illuminating drops to be added to your foundation or as a liquid highlighter.

So many great products, so little money. Ahhh...


Hope you've found the post helpful. Gotta jet!


Speak soon!!


X

NEW ON COUNTER (DEC 2016): Australis, Akin, NYX, Palmer's

I've been out and about this month. As soon as the 4th of November hit (marks the day of my last assessment for the semester), my mum barely saw me at home..

Besides work, I've been out exploring festivals, clubs and many eateries! 

A SLICE OF LIFE

Instagram vs reality (IKEA)

Chillin' at Bondi and passing Stanwell Tops

Getting my #trameatsfatfat feed @ Goodtime Burgers, Left Of Field, Vine & Grind and PappaRich
(coz I don't discriminate)

Still waiting for someone to swipe-right me.. （。-＿-。）

❶ AUSTRALIS BBH Palette ($16.95)

Stands for Blush, Bronze and Highlight. Contains 6 shades as shown, launched last month (woops!).

❷ AUSTRALIS Fake Eye-D Eyeshadow Palette ($24.95)

Also launched last month, a palette with 15 eyeshadows. Mix of mattes and shimmers.

❸ AUSTRALIS Queen C Cream & Powder Contouring & Highlighting Kit ($19.95)

I LOVE the play on names for these new babies! Fun! This kit contains a range of cream and powder shades for contouring and highlighting. Been on counters since last month as well. 

❹ A'KIN Hydrating Antioxidant Day Cream ($39.95/50mL)

I've been getting into the higher-end skincare brands recently. Never felt the need for it, but I've been snatching up so many sale opportunities that I think it's safe to say that I'd much prefer higher-end brands when it comes down to skincare.. especially for moisturisers! Thought I'd feature this one, which is formulated with organic cocunut water and green tea! 

❺ NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Kit ($79/36 shades)

If this was available a few years back, the 18-year-old me would've broke the piggybank and go straight for this kit with 36-minis, no doubt. I still really like the look of this, but I'm not a fan of the formula. Not creamy enough, and slips around too much on the lips. 

If you fancy the formula, then mate, you're in!

(lmao, felt like that was the most Australian thing I've ever said... yes/no?)

❻ PALMER'S Flipbalm ($5.99/3 flavours)

Not sure if anyone has seen these around.. Flipbalms! Haha. Like an EOS lip balm, but flippable. Available in three flavours: Juicy Watermelon, Creamy Coconut and Ripe Mango. 

And that wraps up the last #NOC post of this year. Pretty bland this month.

You'd think there'll be products cluttering hoping to debut for Christmas, but Christmas listings actually launched some time ago. Besides, I absolutely dislike Christmas listings!!

There are so many gift packs containing products that are already made available. Not enough new, innovative products, ya feel?

Definitely will hunt for Palmer's Flipbalms during my next visit to Priceline.

Other products? Meh, not so much. 

I'm off to Jervis Bay for a few days tomorrow, and then a week later, off on a cruise (not sure where I'm going) until the 19th!

Catch you all soon. 

X

Sat-Swatches: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes

Yay! This post is finally going up!

Lippy swatching is one of my favourite posts to do! Why? Because I LOVE lippies, AND I LOVE selfies! Hooray! A bit of a camwhore-r here, if you couldn't already tell!

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes for today's feature, one of my favourite lip products.

It's soft, formula-wise and how it looks like on the lips.

Depending on the shade, the pigmentation may not be one-layer-level opaque. For some shades, it may take two, and for one of these shades, it definitely applies streaky. However, I really enjoy the formula of these. They feel like nothing on the lips and gives a soft look.

Top: Addis Ababa, Amsterdam, Monte Carlo

Bottom: Stockholm, Tokyo, Milan, Antwerp

The downfall: they're only semi-matte and the lighter shades aren't very long-lasting. Perhaps semi-matte because they're labelled to be "soft matte". However, as for their lasting power, the darker shades do stain, therefore will [appear to] last longer.

THE BIG QUESTION!
They wear without drying for the first fewer hours, but after a few hours, you could definitely feel the colour sinking in between the lines~ Only slight touch up is required for the darker hues, but I'm sure full reapplication will be needed for the lighter ones!


OK FUN SWATCHY-SWATCHY TIME! 


Tokyo, let's get this one out of the way! It looks incredibly UNflattering on me. It's my skin tone up against the coolness and paleness of the shade! It's also extremely streaky, for me.

Stockholm is one of my favourite nudes. I used to wear it to uni with subtly smoked out bronze eyeliner. LOVE! It's kinda salmon-toned, so it doesn't take too much effort to pull off. Has never made me look dead anyways.

Milan is one I thought I'd really like since the shade on the packaging looks like it's totes ma thang. But on the lips, it's a tad cool-toned for me. My skintone can still pull it off, however, it's not my favourite pick~

Antwerp, one of my favourites! Never knew I had it until I dug it out from my collection! The colour on the packaging is soo pretty. Such a lovely coral. It goes on nicely, and looks lovely too. I wish it was a tad brighter though. Would add a nice oomph.

Addis Ababa is the most disappointing of the bunch. Not for anything, but the shade. It just doesn't look like its packaging. It applies totally different, extremely toned down! Only looks slightly different and deeper than Milan, methinks.

Amsterdam, another one that I never knew I had! It's warm-toned, like a tomato-red. The brighter of the two reds I own. Will find more occasions to sport this ^_^

Monte Carlo is the shade that I've used the MOST. It's my go-to red for clubbing nights before Rimmel's Provocalips stepped into ma life. Mainly because it's the most long-lasting out of my reds, and the formula stains and is pretty transfer-resistant.

Swatches done! I used to own one more, which I mentioned as part of my top 5 pinks in 2014. Sadly, not too long ago, I found it in my sister's room BROKEN!

That feel when your sibling uses your items and doesn't take good care of it. Urgh. #TFW.

Have you ever tried these Soft Matte Lip Cremes?!

If you haven't you definitely should! I don't think they're worth the Australian RRP, however, their eBay price? Definitely worth it! Just make sure to pick your shades wisely (and do some more research).


Disclaimer: All products were purchased by me.