Sleek Haul! Review + Swatches (Part I- Del Mar Limited Edition Palette)

Hi yall, long time no blog. I've been swamped with uni/work/life blah blah the usual! But I have a review for you today, of the ever so popular Sleek eyeshadow palettes.
You've most likely heard a tonne about these just as I have. I was very excited to try them as they're highly recommended by many beauty bloggers and I am a novice makeup enthusiast looking to expand my range.

I decided to pick up unusual colours that pushed my comfort zone as there was a low commitment factor due to the affordable price of each palette. Even if I didn't particularly like the shades, I wouldn't be too devo testing them out as they are great value for money. I wanted to divide the posts up into short and succinct reviews, so here is part 1.

"DEL MAR" Limited Edition 

Del Mar is...
A bright matte dominant palette that verges on the edge of vibrant and lively.

The good:

• Great variety of colours to sample, affordable, generally very good quality.

Standout shades: 

• Blue Marlin- a gorgeous rich matte turquoise with exceptional colour payoff, blendability and staying power.
• Lounge Lovers- satin "baked" style shadow in a unique blue/grey toned gold. Opaque and buttery.
• Chilled Out- non chalky white shade perfect for highlight. Great quality in such an affordable palette!

The bad:

• Overall not too bad, but the lighter colours were a little chalky and the colour payoff was not bad but not as amazing as the deeper shades. Would have to say talamanca looks quite gross on my skin and opening party looked plain tacky on my yellow asian skin tone.
• Not very versatile- colours are difficult to use together. Unless you are a fan of bright looks, it will be difficult to get a lot of use from this palette solely without other neutrals.
• Packaging is surely very sleek and secure, but dummy proof since an idiot like myself constantly has trouble opening it.

And here is a random eye look I played with using Chilled out on the brow highlight, Lounge Lovers as the inner corner highlight, Feel Euphoric as the lid shade and Blue Marlin as and eye line. Excuse the grossness of flash and my uneven discoloured skin and ungroomed brows (It was the end of the day and I was oily and had removed all my day makeup. We're all human hahaha.) I am used to desperately relying on primers to get the desired colour payoff so I was very happy with the shades I used to create this look.

My next reviews will be on the Supreme Palette, the i-Divine Vintage Romance, and Face Form contour kit in "light"!

:)

CLARINS PARIS (Combination Skin) Toning Lotion + Hydra-Matte Lotion Review

Hi everyone! I'm back with what I traditionally started out on this blog, which is reviews! I'm not much of a "beauty" person so I don't usually often have many products to offer my opinion on, but I've been using these two items from Clarins for a while and thought I would share.

They are the Hydra-Matte Lotion (for Combination Skin) and Toning Lotion with Iris (for Combination/Oily Skin). So if you are interested, click 'read more' for the review!

REVIEW: Physician's Formula Eyeliner Trio ++ swatches

Priceline was having a 40% off all Physician's Formula and I couldn't resist picking up something to test out. I've always been intrigued by the brand Physician's Formula, and this is my first product purchased from them. Here's my in depth review with a plethora of close up eye pictures.

I decided to purchase the Eyeliner Trio in the BROWN EYES combo, a set of 3 pencil eyeliners in the shades black, purple and brown. RRP $24.95, and I snapped these up for around $14AUD- a great deal, right?

The website claims include: Hypoallergenic. Fragrance free. Paraben free. Dermatologist approved. Safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.

The eyeliners are in the wind up style and come with small detachable sharpeners that are tucked into the ends of the sticks.

I haven't bought a pencil type eyeliner for ages. I've been dipping into the various ranges eyeliners come in to find what works best for me, as recently there has been an influx in different eyeliners not only in the form (cream, gel, liquid etc.) but applicators (three prong, felt tip, brush, potset etc.).

My eye/lids are: hooded, very oily, watery

My main problems with eyeliners are: smudging

purple-black combo was pretty interesting

My past experiences with pencils have been dreadful- smudging, constant sharpening, breaking and horrible pigmentation. I wasn't expecting much from these eyeliners but I was happy to see that they delivered quite well. The eyeliners are creamy and thick, but still firm so that point of the nib stays in tact using the pressure needed to draw a clean edge.

pretty fine wing and clean edge if you ask me. It's soft enough to look smoky and cool

I was surprised I was able to wing my eyeliner off quite neatly. I have never been able to get such a fine line from other pencil liners. The trio also gives you interesting colours to make use of that I normally would not have tried. I love the effect of the brown and I can't believe I didn't try out brown eyeliner earlier!

brown- exceptionally subtle. And I really like it actually.

As with most eyeliners, they did deliver the obligatory smudge after an hour or too. Though I really am cutting this eyeliner some slack because it's a fourty degree Australian summer right now and even the roads are melting. I can't expect this product to defy the laws of physics, can I?

(please disregard my embarrassing squint in the following picture, LOL. I was trying to show how it creases in my hooded eyelids) 

nothing here.. just awkward lol

The creasing that occurred, may I add, is minimal. There is barely any movement of the product from my eyes, other than the surface layer that comes in contact with my lid. If you can see in the above picture, it does crease under these conditions, but notice how the line hasn't really smudged or moved. This would be a really easy fix if you were out and about, for example. Just wipe off, no need to reapply.

I really loaded a lot of the product to test it out and I'm pretty sure any eyeliner this thick would smudge, especially in this heat.

UPDATE: totally forgot to add these in, *facepalm*
Swatches. I'm really surprised how well the brown faired. Can't say much for the purple though, it was so smudgy ): Black was decent but yes, brown, standout!

PROS:

+ very clean edges

+ affordable for 3 eyeliners

+ wind up applicator is convenient, as is sharpener

+ nicely pigmented

+ hypoallergenic, fragrance free and all that skin-friendly stuff

+ versatile looks can be created

CONS:

x smudged quite easily on my oily-primed lids

x shape of the eyeliner stick is so that you can't put the lid on the end

x could lose the lids easily

Would I repurchase? They are a really nice, easy batch of pencil eyeliners that I'm glad to have found at around $15. I'm not sure I would repurchase at the original price though. Maybe if they went on sale again, I would try out the other eye duos, but I'm interested in trying out other products.

Now to end this review, here's an obligatory selfie -_-  typical me making a stupid face to avoid the awkwardness of serious selfie-taking, while wearing two entirely different eyeliner looks/colours/wings lmao.

pixels are going to be the hottest makeup trend of 2013

And now for a slightly more serious one..

excuse my horrid skin, Australian Summer's are no friend of mine

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! xx

Mini Beautyjoint Haul! NYX, Elf

 This one came super quickly! Here's my mini haul and a brief review and first impression of the products I ordered, there are only four things.

I basically ordered again because I have my school formal fast approaching and I realised that I needed a few things whereas the huge haul the first time I ordered was more of a splurge for fun with my New Year's money. I wanted to rock the red lippy look but there are so many different red lipsticks and I didn't know which one was similar to the shade I wanted so I went by their shade samples [which unfortunately, were not very accurate ): ] I ordered 2 to be safe, the Matte Lip Cream by NYX in Monte Carlo, and their round lipstick in Elektra aswell as a lip liner pencil in burgundy and Elf's Tickled Pink blush which is a huge hit all over the net.

Lets start with the round lippy.

NYX Elektra

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Of the two products this was the one closed to the shade I had hoped. The formula is delectably creamy and the packaging was very nice and classy for a product that is $2.50. It has great colour payoff aswell. Definitely would recommend!

I was pleasantly surprised by Tickled Pink. It's lovely and a muted light pink shade that would be wearable on my skintones. I haven't tried it out on my face yet, but swatching it, it had a nice matte finish and product can be dispersed and applied easily as alot comes off from a gentle swipe.

This lip cream was probably the worst of the lot. For all the reviews it had been getting plus the $5.70 pricetag that is more than double the round lippy, I had high expectations. Unfortunately the product is a violent red with strong magenta undertones and much to loud for me. I was so disappointed because all the swatches I had seen online were a rich, dark, warm red, which is what I wanted.

Not only this, but the wand applicator does not pick up much product at all and I found myself needing to do a second coat, but the staying power was so bad that when applying the second coat, the first one is wiped off! I would NOT recommend this shade to anyone!

Here are the swatches for all the products:

hehehe I love how my watch matches perfecting with these swatches. Anywaaay. The bottom four are the products mentioned. I've swatched some similar red shades of my other products for a comparison. The jordana lippy doesn't show true to colour, (it's so much brighter) but the others I would say are.

  Fabulous Fig (009) from Revlon's matte line matches the NYX burgundy lip pencil almost to a tee! I'm glad :) Really Red would probably be the most warm shade of red, even though it's the lightest it's still my favourite. I honestly just wanted something in this shade but abit darker (I had hopes for Monte Carlo!) But Elektra I would say is the closest to true red and Monte Carlo is leaning to magenta.

 If you look at the two lippy's, the Matte Lip Cream is even glossier than the normal round lipstick! It's so extremely disappointing honestly. If you want a nice lippy, go for the normal lipsticks. For more than half the price, they have about 10 times more shades too.

MASSIVE EYELINER SWATCH/REVIEW

Here's a pile of eyeliners that I have accumulated over an extended amount of time, and I have used them extensively! For all types of eyes, small, hooded, double and oily, here are my tips and recommendations.

ROUND ONE: Liquid Liner

Elianto glitter liquid liner vs. Face of Australia liquid liner

blobby nib, I see you

rrp: 20rm/6.50ishAUD

eye type: single lid or defined eyes- ideal for small thin, wing

what it's good for: A glitzy night out full of sparkle

pros: glitters, when haven't I found them dazzling? ^3^. A very unique eyeliner that will make you stand out from the crowd. A nice change from normal black eyeliner

cons: the nib is too blunt, I'm not sure if I got a faulty one but it is not tapered. Will also melt off in the heat for oily lids like me.

superrrr thin nib

rrp: around $9 at Priceline

eye type: most non rounded eyes, works well for a sexy elongated cat eye.

what it's good for: jet dark, clean lined look

pros: jet black! Dries matte and is very versatile for all girls. Thin nib is easy for the wing.

cons: the nib is too thin, if you are after thick eyeliner you'll find yourself drawing for yonks. Crackles on dry skin, also not as waterproof as I was hoping.

FACE OF AUS vs ELIANTO

Both products offer different things catered for different needs. In terms of wear, both hold up at about the same pace, though Elianto wins by a smidge as I find it smudges a tiny bit slower than the FOA liner.  Both nibs also have their pros and cons, but personally, the short, stubby Elianto nib was slightly easier to use (even though it is bad at getting a fine line) because I had more control. To create the fine wing it was much easier to just wipe away the mistake, whereas the long, fine nib of the Face of Australia liner meant that you would need superb control of your hand, and for my case the wing would always be slightly wonky and I'd have to keep drawing it outward and thus creating a thicker line to get a clean, streamline line. It also took longer to apply because I'd be "colouring in" my line due to the thinness of the tip, and the main problem was the extremely slow drying formula. The matte effect is beautiful, and it is definitely very pigmented but I'd be sitting there for about 10 minutes with the fan in my face for it to dry. If I blinked before that there'd be a horrid smudge.

The Verdict? 

price: Face of Australia

packaging: Elianto

formula: Elianto

wear: Elianto

ease of application: Face of Australia

Bottom line: FOA's slow dry formula is the main fault that makes Elianto the winner even though both products were only average at best.

ROUND TWO: PENCIL LINERS

ltr: in2it 'very black', Rimmel Long wear, Designer Brands Kohl Liner

I'm not an avid pencil user due to their smudgy nature and the extremely oily nature of my lids, but I thought I'd throw this in here too seeing as I've tried a fair few. These 3 are my most used pencil liners.

The Verdict? 

price: Designer Brands

packaging: Rimmel 

formula: In2it

wear: In2it

ease of application: In2it

Bottom line: The winner was pretty clear here. Just judging by the smudge test I did, In2it wins hands down. The other liners aren't opaque and smudge like crazy. I knew there was a reason I had started using pencils again after I bought In2it! It's my HG pencil. Below I am using the In2it very black, apologies for the horrible job as I was rushing. 

ROUND THREE: BRIGHT LINERS

l to r:In2it Aztec Gold&Silver Gel Pencil Liners, DB Silver Kohl Pencil, Models Prefer Innocent White Kohl Pencil

DB'S Silver Kohl Liner

rrp: unknown (really old)

eye type: any eyes

what it's good for: subtle everyday look to brightening the eyes

pros: The subtlety of this silver liner is great for everyday. It really does it's job without being too noticeable. Not only this, but is very long lasting, barely any smudge.

cons: Sometimes the formula can be abit too hard, so anyone who is sensitive or is bad with aim might be seeing tears easily.

Models prefer 'innocent white' kohl liner

rrp: $7/Priceline

eye type: small eyes, very pale skintones

what it's good for: Anyone needing strong definition, stage makeup

pros: the formula glides on very easily and is very pigmented! The pencil comes with a sponge on the other end handy for blending.

cons: Personally the colour is too white for me and is very noticeable and looks silly at times. This liner also smudges like crazy.

In2it Aztec Gold Gel Pencil liner smudged with UD Half Baked

rrp: 16RM/$4

eye type: neutral/yellow undertones, most eye shapes

what it's good for: sexy, glowing night looks

pros: Amazing price! Formula is unbelievably pigmented for a 'drugstore' product and is soft and easy to use for the waterline. It also lines my waterline easily without any smudging or running!

cons: not many, but at times can be very annoying as you have to keep sharpening due to the soft formula you cannot get a fine line with this product.

In2It Silver Gel Pencil Liner smudged with UD Virgin

rrp:16rm/$4

eye type: any eyes, pale-medium skintones

what it's good for: innocent frosty look in winter/ cool edgy eye makeup

pros: the formula glides on very easily and is very pigmented! The pencil comes with a sponge on the other end handy for blending. (same as Aztec Gold)

cons: this is abit different. I'm pretty sure I got a faulty product as the pigment stick wobbles around in its wood casing. It's impossible to sharpen and control but is okay for waterlines as it requires minimum control.

The bright eyeliner battle

All of these products are very good in my opinion. DB is a great everyday brightener, whereas In2it liners are perfect for the special occasion. Models Prefer is probably not suited to me but for others looking for a white liner, it's very pigmented and affordable.

The Verdict? 

price: In2It

packaging: Models Prefer

formula: In2It

wear: DB

ease of application: In2It

Bottom line: In2It liners win by a smidge. I cannot get over their pigmentation for the price!

Here are all the swatches put together for a comparison.

l to r: In2It 'very black', Elianto Glitter (two coats), In2It 'Aztec Gold', Rimmel Long Lasting, Elianto (one coat),  In2it silver, Designer Brands Black Kohl, FOA thick line, DB silver kohl, FOA thin line, Models Prefer innocent white