Beauty Verdict

Lunasol eyeshadow - deep beige EOTD

2011-12-06T05:59:00.000+11:00

Yo yo yo

A quick post today. I just wanted to show you my new Lunasol palette! Yep, I have another Lunasol palette which I reviewed here. I kinda went off Lunasol a bit after that. It was enough to stop me from buying another palette anyway - I just thought it was too crumbly, washed out and too dupeable (is this a word?) for me to spring $$ for it. As you know, Lunasol isn't cheap.

I purchased this palette a few months ago actually. When the new Lunasol palette range was released, it got me interested in the brand again. I chose the darkest colour palette (05 Deep Beige) and it looked so pigmented and shimmery - I just caved and purchased it. I got it from Adam Beauty and I think it was around $60 US.

I really like it and I'm happy I purchased it! While I am still wondering if it is worth $60, I think this whole 3 colours in one square thingie is a great idea. I think Lunasol should have gotten rid of the white colour in the top left altogether - the colours look the same and way too glittery for my liking. For this EOTD I only used colours from the bottom two colours.

I also used the newish MAC paintpot in Genuine Treasure. I seriously LOVE some of the new MAC paintpots - I have got 4 newish ones lately and they have rekindled my love for the paintpot. Unlike some of the other paintpots I own, these are darker and some of them, like this one, contain glittery pigments which do not fall out on your face later on in the day. They aren't as good as the Chanel ones, but they are a pretty good substitute and worth checking out. I also have a dark grey one with sliver glitter called For Effect which is available now - it is part of the MAC Christmas line.

I don't think Genuine Treasure is available anymore - it was from a few collections ago. However, your local MAC may have stock and it will probably turn up at a CCO if you are lucky enough to have one in your area.

Enough blathering - let's get on with the pics.

Yep, I also used the tarte smouldereyes I got with my Sephora haul. The smouldereyes kit is a great deal - I'm so glad I got it during the sale.

A quick EOTD. Sorry I didn't take more pictures - it looked okay in pictures but it is look a bit scary below! This was taken about 8 hours of wear and as you can see the foundation looks a bit melty (summer here now) but the eyes have held out okay. That liner looks patchy though. Um..

I might actually do a quick post on the new MAC paintpots I purchased recently. While I am not buying many MAC products anymore, the ones I purchased this year have inspired great love in me!

AND unlike Jill Stuart, these Lunasol colours are glittery (fine glitter/shimmer) and are not prone to fall out. I am really happy I got this!

Cheerios
BV

Purple rain, purple rain... well, sort of

2011-12-03T01:33:00.000+11:00

Hiddy ho beauty lovers

Yep, it is summer here in Oz and I'm getting back into my purples. For me it is one of the few colours I can wear without looking too OTT although my EOTD pics may slightly contradict this. HA. Also, like Prince, purple is my favourite colour. But before your doves start crying, let me get down to business.

I have used quite a few new products (or at least products I haven't really reviewed before) so here is what I used for my EOTD today.

I forgot to list in the picture below - tarte smouldereyes in violet. (I purchased the tarte smouldereyes kit during Sephora's FF sale and I really love it!) I also purchased the Shiseido shimmering eye cream as part of the FF sale. Forgive typos. I only noticed after I finished typing! DOH.

Products used for EOTD - I also used UDPP which I forgot to take a picture of.

Swatches...

With flash

Same products as above - without flash. I added this so you get a better idea of my actual skin tone and to show that these colours are not as shimmery as you might think..

With flash - it doesn't look quite as electric as this in real life - the flash is making everything a bit more Ziggy Stardust than it actually is.

I also purchased a few new palettes as part of my Sephora FF sale. These are palettes I have been wanting all year (but not wanting to spring full price) and luckily I got pretty much everything I wanted. I wanted to get the MUFE Smoky eye palette but this is completely sold out so I got the Highline palette instead. I'm happy about this because the colours are gorgeous.

My Sephora FF goodies:

NARS Danmari palette
MUFE Highline palette
Sephora Moonshadow palettes (in the dark and in the nude)
UD 15th year anniversary palette

I am quite obsessed with baked makeup products at the moment (hence the Laura Geller and moonshadow palettes!). Have you ever noticed though - all baked products appear to be made in Italy?? There must be some factory in Italy which has a complete monopoly on the manufacture of baked makeup!! Strangeness.

Tom Ford eyeshadows are now available at David Jones in Sydney. A friend of mine has already indulged (I asked her to bring them into work so I can check them out!) but I am staying away from the counter as I am on a no buy at the moment. They are $100 AS each in case you wanted to know.

Cheerios!

PS My nails are a sordid mess at the moment. Stumpy nails, dead broken cuticles - it is very ugly so no NOTDs for a while. I am expecting some new nail products in a few weeks so I will do a post then. Hopefully my nails will look a bit better. I have ordered some China Glaze, Zoya, Nails Inc and Ciate! Yay times!

Sunscreens for acne prone skin - Obagi, Kate Somerville, Acnes and Peter Thomas Roth Uber-dry

2011-11-21T22:29:00.000+11:00

Whoa Nelly - it has been an age, hasn't it? My sincere apologies. I've just been a bit lazzeee as well as overworked. Christmas lead up is pretty frantic at work (I'm not working over Christmas as I was super stressed and didn't end up earning much money anyhoo last year) so things are a bit all over the place. Also, I've cut all my nails back and they are super stumpy and silly looking. I'm even going naked nails at the moment (I know - insane right) and it isn't even bothering me much. *shakes head in disbelief*

In keeping with my acne focus, I thought I'd do a post on some sunscreens I have in my stash. If you are acne prone you are probably using lots of products such as retinoids, AHAs, salicylic acid, peroxides etc which all makes you very sun sensitive. Despite my religious application of sunscreen (and wearing a visor when I go outside on hot days!) summer has hit Sydney and I am considerably more tan than I was in winter. Not by much, just a shade or two.

If you are acne prone you know one of the MAJOR problems is that sunscreens tend to break you out. I mean REALLY break you out. What works for me may not work for you - please bear this in mind. I've used loads and loads of sunscreens over the years (Neutrogena, Cancer Council, Invisible Zinc and countless others) and all of them have disappointed me. They all make me break out. Sad but true.

As a starter, some deets on each brand I think.

1. Peter Thomas Roth - Uberdry
Contains 116 mls of product and costs $26 US. I bought mine from www.skinstore.com. This is a thickish white sunscreen and feels incredibly dry on your skin. Probably the driest formula I have ever tried. SPF 30.
Claims to be water resistant, fragrance-free and shine free. Suitable for all skin types. A pretty good sunscreen in fact.

2. ACNES sunscreen
Contains 30 grams of product and costs about $6.50 US. Tiny tiny amount of product. It is tinted (but is colourless on my skin!) and claims to be acne-free. I purchased this from www.sasa.com. It is incredibly runny and actually contains a ball bearing in the bottle - yes, like a nail polish. I would say this is probably the oiliest of the four sunscreens in this review and is probably the worst for my skin. SPF 50 PA++ but this doesn't last long my skin and hence offers poor sun protection for me.

3. Obagi Nu-Derm
Contains 59 grams of product and costs $17 US. Believe it or not, this retails for about $40-45 US so search for a special deal. I got mine from www.amazon.com. Expiry date is long too at 06/13! It is a pretty good deal. Quite thick in texture and is promoted as a physical UV block. (18.5% zinc oxide). Has SPF 32. It contains micronised zinc particles. There is some debate about whether nanonised particles are harmful for you but I stress this is micronised. Good SPF coverage.

4. Kate Somerville SPF 55 Serum Sunscreen
Contains 60 ml of product and costs a massive $45. OUCH. I got mine at Nordies but of course I've noticed that www.skinstore.com also carries this line now. I would recommend you purchase it from there as you get free shipping (low cost international shipping) and they regularly have 20-25% off sales. There is a sale on right now in fact.

Here is a pic of all the bottles plus a sample of each sunscreen on white paper.

Swatches added only to show you the consistency of the products. As you can see, both Acnes and Kate Somerville are very liquid and runny. Peter Thomas Roth and Obagi are both quite thick but easily rub into the skin.

Now, here is a little experiment I did for you. I took another picture of the sunscreen samples after about 45 minutes. You can see how oil free the Peter Thomas Roth product is - it is pretty good! Acnes showing a veritable oil flow with Obagi and Kate Somerville showing some oil around the edges.

After about 1.5 hours - look at the paper! I would say that Acnes is the oiliest with Obagi coming second. Kate Somerville contains some oil (but not much) but there is virtually ZERO OIL coming from Peter Thomas Roth! Amazing huh?

Before I launch into my lowdown for each sunscreen, I just wanted to show you some sunscreens I absolutely cannot use on my face. Cetaphil is the worst offender for me - this makes me break out in huge cystic acne. Terrifying. It isn't cheap either (I paid about $17 AS for this at the chemist) and I now use it on my arms only. I'm too afraid to use this on my neck! The Shiseido product is excellent coverage (damn near perfect in terms of sun protection) but the water proof formula results in blocked pores appearing all over my forehead. I would not call it acne as such, it looks more like milia. I have to exfoliate like a mofo to get rid of the blocked pores and it takes a week or so to get rid of it. Again, I use that for my neck, chest and arms. The Banana Boat product is thick and oily. I use this on my arms only - this leaves a white cast so anyone darker than me will have problems rubbing that into the skin! I do like it though as it is a physical sunscreen and contains 22% zinc oxide.

In terms of sun protection and overall value, I think the clear winner is Peter Thomas Roth Uberdry. The only thing that prevents me from using this product on my face everyday is the fact that the waterproof formula causes blocked pores and results in some minor acne and milia across my forehead. Not a huge amount, but still enough for me to avoid it. It is more successful in winter (I'm less sweaty then and fewer blocked pores) but in summer it is a total no no.

Acnes sunscreen is a complete joke for me. Total oil city. I cannot use this product at all. It is expensive too because although you only pay about $6.50 US the amount you get is TINY. Okay, I know it is the same size as most foundation but still - it stinks. I would avoid this one if I were you.

I think Obagi is okay, but I won't repurchase that. It is a good sunscreen and I don't tan (or tan much at least) with this but I feel the formula is quite thick and I still get blocked pores with this. I don't think it is really worth $17 much less $40. I may repurchase this if it was about $15 and easy to buy.

For me the best sunscreen is the Kate Somerville Serum Sunscreen. I don't want to like it the most, but it is the best for me in terms of non-acne inducing. I don't break out with this. I do get a few blocked pores, but nowhere near as much as I do with the other brands. The down side to this is the fact that it is UBER expensive ($45) and it doesn't offer as much in terms of coverage. The formula is thinner than the rest and I do tan more using this as my base sunscreen. I tan less using Obagi and Peter Thomas Roth. However, since I also use foundations with some SPF in it, I feel that overall it is worth it because it doesn't break me out.

If you have recommendations for me - let me know.

The best thing about having all these sunscreens is the fact that I can still use them! I just use them on my arms, neck and chest. No wastage (or not as much anyway!)

Cheers for now

Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette + Becca Eye Tints

2011-11-07T00:56:00.000+11:00

Hi there

Just a quick post from me. One holiday item I was SUPER excited for was the Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette. A few deets first I think:

Cost = $45
Contains 8 grams of product (each shadow = 2 grams)
- Pink Rose Sparkle Eyeshadow.
- Crushed Silver Sparkle Eyeshadow.

- Black Ruby Sparkle Eyeshadow.
- Onyx Sparkle Eyeshadow.

I actually have Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Black Sparkle. It my favourite Bobbi Brown eyeshadow ever. I missed the Black Velvet shade and other colours released last year (was it called the Denim collection? not sure..) I was determined not to miss out this time, so I leaped on this STAT.

First thing I noticed, this is small. How small you ask? Check this out.

Pretty small huh? Still, each colour still contains 2 grams of product so it ain't all bad. Open it up and this is what you see:

Swatched, it is a bit sheer IMO. I worried a bit that it would not be glittery enough, but don't worry, it is pretty glittery all right. These are dry swatches on dry skin as in the order of the palette shown above.

Like a lot of glittery colours, I would recommend you do your eyes first. I had quite a few fall out issues with this and I had to use sticky tape on my face to remove it. I had a few migration issues where glitter fell out onto my cheeks later on in the night but hey, it wasn't too bad. Still, if you really pushed me, I'd say it was nowhere near as good as Black Sparkle.

Here's my EOTD. Apologies, my face looks very shiny as this was after about 12 hours during Australian spring.

It doesn't look very sparkly really? I promise, it was very sparkly but as you can see from the picture - not too OTT either.

I did also use a base and another darker colour on top because as you can see from the swatches, these colours are very sheer. Now, I can't remember exactly which combo it was. It was either one of the two below.

Yes, I'm sorry about the swatch for Becca Eye Tint in Pewter. It is not that dark in real life but I just put too much on my hand when I squeezed it out of the tube. I'm pretty sure I used Becca Pewter and Armani Lust Red but can't be 100% sure - this EOTD was a while ago.

Believe it or not this retails for $90 AS here so I was happy to pay the $45 US + shipping. While I think this palette is okay, it isn't a winner for me. It only falls into the "okay" category. The colours tend to be a bit samey as well, the first 2 colours being almost transparent.

If I paid about $30 for this, I'd be happier with the palette. At $45 - it probably isn't worth it. I really did want to get this during Sephora's FF sale but this palette was not listed at the time. I'm not sure if it is listed now though but I got mine from Nordstrom. I don't expect this palette to sell out quickly.

As with other glittery colours, this is best applied with damp brush or with slightly dampened finger. Don't sweep the colour along your eyelid with an eyeshadow brush, the fallout will really pee you off.

Final Verdict = 2/5

Only really recommended for die hard glitter gals or peeps who love to collect Bobbi Brown palettes.

Illuminare Eye Color Kit - Dark + Chantecaille 'Palette d'Olivia' Set

2011-10-26T05:52:00.000+11:00

Hey there. Whoa, it has been a while hasn't it? You know, I've just been in one of my non-bloggy moods combined with a strong dose of sheer laziness. I'm also getting into other stuff really, watching BBC shows (I've got BBC iplayer now) and I just get very distracted. I'm very cheeky because I actually still surf the web and read a billion and one beauty blogs (including yours most likely!) but I find it hard to write sometimes.

Sorreeeeee.

Anyway, here I am.

Long time readers know I love cream eyeshadows. No change here. I still love my cream eyeshadows and I am always eager to try more. I think it is truly an addiction really. I have and love Chanel's Illusion D'ombre but you've all seen them right? But here's one product you may not have seen and I love it.

Illuminare Eye Color
RRP: $18 US each
Contains 7.5 mls of product
Has 15 SPF sunscreen (yeah, now can you believe that??)

Now, I purchased the Illuminare Eye Color Kit in Dark which retails for $48 US which I purchased at 20% off at skinstore.com. It also comes with 2 brushes which are okay - not the best IMO. I have put them somewhere (not sure where) so I I didn't include them in this photo. My bad.

I realised after swatching these I realised that they kinda look like chocolate. Or poop. It kinda looks bad doesn't it? These swatches were created using a tiny amount. Seriously, a pinhead sized drop. SO PIGMENTED!!

Flash photo

Has sunscreen, zero creasing, no need for primer potion, super pigmented - I mean, this virtually walks your dog and cleans your house!! What more do you want? This is the George Clooney of cream eyeshadows! The only down side is that it is pretty expensive ($18) with limited colours and it dries a bit quickly. It is actually still blendable so work fast and it is fine.

Now, because I have used this palette in my EOTD, I thought I'd better do a quick swatch of this. It is the Chantecaille Palette d'Olivia Set which is still available from Nordstrom for $135. Yep, it is expensive but if you wanted to buy each colour separately ($30 each) and the palette itself is $48.00. It is a good deal IMO. The colours are cool toned but still very wearable. I used Quartz and Tanzanite (1st row last two colours on the right hand side). I'm sorry if you can't read the lettering!

With flash

Swatches with flash

These colours are pretty sheer I've got to say. I don't mind that really. For my EOTD I used Illuminare Cafe Latte (virtually skin coloured) and Espresso on my lid. This is after about 8 hours. Don't forget - it is spring now (in Oz) and it is getting pretty hot. I layered Chantecaille Quartz and Tanzanite over it with a little bit of Armani Eyes to Kill in Black on the lid.

This is an incredible product. Hands down the darkest quickest drying eyeshadow EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. I have some new dark paintpots (Hyperviolet and Imaginery) and while they are good - this is a LOT better. If I could choose, I'd probably only get Espresso and Cafe Latte but since I could get this kit for a few dollars more, this was worth it.

Final Verdict for Illuminare Eye Color Kit - Dark = 5/5

BV's current Becca base makeup line up

2011-10-13T21:29:00.000+11:00

Yep, I've gone quite Becca crazy lately. But before I launch into this review, I want to say a few things about the colour of my skin and the way I do my makeup. Now, I don't want to bore you experts out there, believe me I don't want to teach you how to suck eggs. However, if you are like BV and a bit clueless, then this might help you.

Covering up the skin with foundation

I've realised something very important about my skin lately. I'm totally humiliated to write about this actually, because it should be pretty obvious. Lately I've been watching a lot of YT videos from Lisa Eldridge. You probably already watch these but if you are like BV and are an older person who has acne prone skin you REALLY need to watch these videos. I have learned a lot about makeup from her, in particular she has done fantastic reviews on how to choose your foundations and, importantly for BV and other acne sufferers, how to cover acne marks. She is a very gifted makeup artist and has about 20 years experience in makeup. She really knows her stuff.

I have a number of issues regarding my skin. Because I am constantly acne prone and have uneven skin with pigmentation from recent acne, in the past i have tended to wear very thick foundations that really covered up all my skin. In all honesty, this hasn't been too terrible either because I have been able to eliminate most of my marks and give the illusion of having much better skin than I do. Even members of my family and close friends have been surprised when they see me sans makeup. They usually don't realise that I am wearing a LOT of foundation and concealer.

But my biggest makeup crime has been the tendency to do the "complete cover up" (thick foundation completely blocking out all my skin) and to go darker than my actual skin colour. I have always found that going a bit more tan than you are helps to disguise any pigmentation issues you may have AND makes you look younger. I am still a believer in that claim and I think this is why so many celebrities go for a more tanned appearance. Also, it makes you look slimmer. I still believe this!

I can still wear a lot of the foundations in my stash but I usually have to also put bronzer or fake tan on my neck. This can be a massive hassle though and some mornings I just can't be bothered. As I am currently using a lot of salicylic products in my acne treatments, I am extremely wary of exposing myself to the sun so as a result I am going paler rather than anything else.

What's all this background information for? Well, it is an extremely long-winded introduction to my current Becca foundation routine.

Becca's 3 step foundation system

Becca has a 3 step system that really follows the advice given by Lisa Eldridge in her makeup video for acne prone skin. Basically, she says you should not cover up all you skin, just even out the skin and cover up any areas that need it.

1. Even out skin tone by using a very sheer product offering little coverage. I use Becca's Luminous Skin Colour Tinted Moisturiser with SPF 25 in Camel. I think probably the Nude shade would suit my skin more as it is less yellow but this is the only shade that was offered online at a discounted price - it works okay for me.

2. Use foundation on the areas you need it. I don't apply this all over my face, just where my skin looks uneven or pigmented. I use Becca's Stick Foundation with SPF 30 in Butterscotch. A friend of mine just gave me her old Becca stick in Brulee, it isn't a bad match actually but it is a bit dark.

3. I use concealer on the areas where pigmentation is still showing through. I use Becca's Concealer in Butterscotch.

4. I apply Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector as a highlighter on certain areas of my face. This contains a SPF of 20. I use the colour Pearl - it is very subtle and natural.

5. After using loose powder on top of all this (I still use my Chanel loose powder) I apply a thin coat of Becca's Mineral Powder Foundation in Bloom. Just for a tiny bit of coverage. Although this does not have a SPF listed, it still has some sun protection as it contains both zinc oxide and titanium oxide. A friend of mine gave this to me and I believe it is a perfect match for my skin.

Yep, it is rather a hassle but the results are worth it. It is overall a bit dewier than I like so I need to use a mattifying primer underneath this. I love that all the products have SPF (I always begin by using acne cream + sunscreen) so it offers optimal sun protection.

Please see pictures of all products below.

Becca products with flash

Becca products without flash

I've recently purchased the MAC Matchmaster foundation in 2.0. I read that this would be suitable for NC25 skin tone (I mean depth of colour). Guess what? TOO DARK! I'm so annoyed. I can wear this but again I have to put bronzer on my neck to match. I guess I would be better off with 1.5 which just seemed too light when I swatched it on my hand. (SO ANNOYING). Another foundation that matches my skin tone is Laura Mercier in Medium Ivory - sometimes even this looks a bit dark for me. It is quite similar to my Becca foundation so I included it below.

Swatches with flash

Swatches without flash

Flash photo to show you the colour of the highlighter - it is an extremely natural looking product

At the moment my skin is a bit more dry than it was before. Partly from these skinB5 vitamins I'm taking and also because of all the acne products I'm using. Therefore the extra richness of Becca is not so much an issue for me.

The only negatives I have about these products are:

1. The concealer is the right colour for me but is lacking in coverage and tends to fade. I prefer to use other concealers (I am testing out about 3-4 new concealers I received lately from a friend of mine who is completely revamping her foundation stash.)

2. The products can be a bit richer than I am used to. Ladies with dry skin might want to go to the Becca counter and ask them for a Becca makeover to test it out. Leave it on for the whole day, check out whether it oxidises or if it feels too heavy or rich for your skin.

Although I am using a billion products (or so it seems) each product is on the sheer side - even the concealer and the stick foundation. The mineral powder is the least powdery/cakey mineral foundation I have EVER used. It is pretty good stuff. Overall my skin looks very natural. It just looks like skin and not makeup. Even if you can still see a little bit of pigmentation through my makeup, it is still not hideous scary and has the benefit of looking really natural.

I am still really happy I got such a great colour match with Becca!! And, I'm very lucky to have received so many new foundations from my friend. I will be testing them all out in due course but I am so happy with my Becca stuff at the moment, I think I will stick with this a while longer.

Cheers to all

BV's current acne regime + EOTD + NOTD

2011-10-13T01:34:00.000+11:00

Neutrogena has released fairly recently a new line of acne skincare products. I was seriously excited about this range because it contains 2% salicylic acid. This is the same percentage of salicylic acid as the more expensive brands of skincare like Peter Thomas Roth, Dr Brandt and Dr Dennis Gross. It was also reported as being ph balanced so it isn't as drying as your usual acne treatments. I was very eager to try out the entire line.

Unfortunately, in Australia at the moment, only the Neutrogena Acne Stress Control cleanser + scrub is sold. I am completely astounded as to why that is. Of course, I leapt to purchase both the cleanser and the scrub (which is currently in my bathroom) but I ordered the Night Treatment Pads (far left) and the 3-in-1 treatment online on ebay. In the meantime Clearasil had released a Pimples+Marks Lotion (far left) and cleanser in Australia so I got those while I waited for my Neutrogena to arrive.

Clearasil Pimples + Marks products

Clearasil Pimples + Marks Lotion (fighting both acne and pigmentation on skin) is quite mild. I did like that element of it. It also smells like green tea which I found lovely. One the bad side, I found that it didn't really do anything for me and I have actually finished that 30 ml tube (about $13 AS) already. That is now going in the bin, I was just waiting to take a picture of it for the review. Likewise, the cleanser, which has the consistency and look of toothpaste (slightly bluish colour) which is again, quite mild on the skin, to be ineffective for me. It may be okay for someone who has drier skin who is sensitive to harsh products. For BV - it did nada.

Neutrogena Acne Stress Control

Now come on, with the marketing headline of "Make acne one less stress" you know I HAD to try it right? Please find pictured below what I think are the star products of this line, the Night Treatment Pads and the 3-in-1 Hydrating Lotion. I also have the scrub, the cleanser and and toner. I believe the Night Treatment Pads and the 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment deliver very significant results very quickly. I saw acne being diminished overnight and clearing up significantly within 3-4 days. I am impressed with this range.

I still find it somewhat drying which I don't mind too much as my daytime makeup is quite hydrating (Becca). As for my night time regime, I usually use jojoba oil and/or vitamin E oil so the dryness is not an issue for me. My skin also quite oily so it isn't a significant problem for me. It may be for your skintype so please keep this in mind.

If your skin is a bit tougher and can tolerate harsher treatments, I suggest you give this a try. Especially to people who have current acne. It will work really well on normal pimples and less severe forms of cystic acne. People who suffer from severe forms of cystic acne (and I get cystic hormonal acne btw but not as severe as some) I think will benefit from taking medication of some kind. I don't think topical acne treatments alone can help cystic acne. I am not a doctor, I am just speaking from personal painful experience.

Quick digression - I knew that reviewing SkinB5 vitamins was tempting fate. It is with extreme sadness I report that I have about 5 or 6 small pimples on my face. It always happens I tell you. The minute I start thinking - it's gone - YAY - the acne monster strikes again. However, I am fairly upbeat (at this point!) because it is not severe. I feel like I will always be suffering from a few spots. *sigh* I think I am PMSing at the moment so it isn't a huge shock.

The Night Treatment Pads do burn - you will feel heat on your skin when you put it on. So does the toner! However, it doesn't seem too drying to me and is worth trying out. Please be prepared for some redness and some peeling, flaking skin. Clean your skin gently and the redness should disappear in a few days as your skin gets used to the products. I found that my skin adjusted after about a week or so. I did find my skin looking very flaky and gross for the first week at least.

In terms of effectiveness, I found that the Night Treatment Pads really do reduce the size of the pimples overnight. Make sure you eat lots of vegetables, drink water and get good sleep to enhance the results of these products. I did not sleep well a few nights ago (maybe 3-4 hours?) and I've now got these pimples so you know, it all adds up.

WARNING

If you use any form of topical acne treatments containing a high percentage of salicylic acid or benzol peroxide or whatever, you MUST MUST MUST use sunscreen and avoid the sun. I wear hats when it is very sunny outside on weekends. No, for real! You will seriously damage your skin and aggravate any acne pigmentation you have. This is crazily important. People who say the sun cures acne is CRAZY. I bring this up because a kind reader made a comment that some people (in the medical profession for pete's sake) believe the sun cures acne. I grew up in Australia (I mean, it is super hot most of the year) and I write with deep regret that I did not wear much sunscreen when I was younger and that is the cause of my aging issues now. Don't do it!! Just think - you do want to look haggard in about 10-20 years? If the answer is 'no' then please wear sunscreen and avoid the sun.

When I spent six months in the UK as a student (about 10 years ago now I guess) I did not suffer from acne during that time! I think the weather (grey and cold) meant that I was wearing less sunscreen and not sweating so I was just not producing that much oil on the skin. On the negative side, I am unused to central heating and I felt my skin becoming really really dry. Man alive, my legs and arms looked like a lizard. Sorry for that unpleasant imagery! Oh well.

Da Bad News is...

If you suffer from acne you will know (without a doubt!) that sunscreens effing CAUSE pimples so it really does feel like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Right? It is so super dooper annoying! I will do a more in-depth review on sunscreens (I have about 8 different types in my drawer right now!) but the one I favour the most is Peter Thomas Roth Uber-dry Sunscreen. At $26 US it isn't cheap but you do get 118 grams of product and it works really well on my extremely acne prone skin. International peoples, please know you can buy it from skinstore.com here. I love www.skinstore.com (not affiliated with them in any way shape or form) because they always seem to have 20% off sales (many times a year and they are having one now!) and they ship a lot of products overseas (but not all so please read 'shipping information' for each product). They also charge a flat shipping rate of $15 US to overseas countries - which is a HUGE BARGAIN!! (Think of all the jumbo sized goods you could be buying here!)

Unfortunately, everyone's skin is different so what works for me may be completely rubbish for you. I hope you find what works for you! Truly. I feel very touched regarding the comments I got for my last post because it was extremely personal (I hate being that way) but because I suffer from acne and know how psychologically damaging it can be, I wanted to be as open as possible. If you suffer from acne and are feeling really down please know that there are products that can help you and makeup that will help you hide it! BV certainly understands your pain.

Now, as a quite update, here was my EOTD today. Please note the pimple at the end of my eyebrow. Ghrrr. So sad. This was quite a "nude" makeup day for me! Bit weird really. I am using a Dior eyeshadow palette - now discontinued. I am growing increasingly fond of Dior eyeshadow lately which is not good for my bank account. I used an unbelievable 3 products on my undereye area today and while it looks good in this photo below looked very creased up close. *sigh* x 1 million.

Here is my NOTD (now removed) - Zoya Faye (identical to the OPI Serena colour which I also have - DOH) with black konad polish over the top. Sorry - this was just after I painted the design and didn't clean it up properly. I liked this - looked kinda 60s for some reason. Mondrian perhaps? I dunno.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Cheers

Acne solutions - SkinB5 Acne Control tablets + BV's acne history

2011-10-09T05:20:00.000+11:00

I have been suffering from acne for most of my life now. It is DEAD DEPRESSING when you think about it. I suffered horribly as a teen and when I was a teenager I went on antibiotics for a year or so which really really improved my skin. It was amazing really. This was not a permanent solution for me though. Just so you know, here are the things I have tried.

Antibiotics
First course was when I was a teenager - which worked. It significantly reduced my acne. I was so happy at the time. Just so you know, about 4-5 years ago (late 20s early 30s) I went on another course of antibiotics. One of the side effects (which was never explained to me at the time!) was that it can discolour your gums. My gums are now pigmented (although faded a bit now) due to the antibiotics. I will never go on antibiotics for my skin ever again. Lesson learned.

Contraceptive Pill
Diane is a common contraceptive pill they prescribe for hormonal acne. I have taken Diane for years before. However, taking Diane did stuff up my hormones a bit and when I was in my early 20s I discovered I had a lump in my breast. This terrified me because my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her late 40s. She lived a healthy life and died when she was 93 - but she did have a mastectomy on her left breast. Scary stuff right? Well, it was benign cyst so it wasn't a problem for me. You may be interested to know that several years later (after being off the pill for several years) the benign cyst grew smaller in size so you know, the pill isn't the easy answer for everything. There are side effects so make sure you keep all these options in mind before you decide to take it. I am not warning people off taking the pill - I am just saying investigate all the side effects.

Proactiv
This works on the acne but it dried out my skin like no one's business. I believe it prematurely ages you. It never worked for longer than a few weeks and did not keep my skin really clear. Not a fan of this product.

The Regime
I tried this before and blogged about it. Same as Proactive - my skin just got incredibly dry. Terrible stuff. I believe it aged me also.

I have tried countless creams and countless acne systems. Truly, you name an acne product - 9 times out of ten, I've probably tried it. A few months ago I had a huge acne breakout. It was not just a few spots which I always seem to have - it was an eruption of over 20 pimples on my face. I was so depressed because my skin had not been this bad for about 20 years.

I seriously considered going on Accutane (or whatever the new name for this product is - you may know that the company had to close because of all the law suits they received). Accutane has a LOT of side effects and some of them are permanent and quite frightening. They are very reluctant to give this to women of child bearing age because if you are pregnant on this the baby will be born with severe deformities. I knew a friend of my mother's who went on this and she had to sign an agreement saying she would not have a baby while on this medication.

I have heard about this product a lot from derms and doctors I have seen in the past but all of them (without question) told me they wouldn't put me on it because it was for the most severe cases only. I have always thought I was in the "severe" category but I am not. I remember when I was a teenager I asked my doctor if I could go on it and he was so funny. He really told me off! He said:

Look, I know you are upset about your skin and you think you look terrible. But listen, your acne is not severe. I have seen severe acne and it is terrible. I have seen teens with acne all over their face with no clean skin in between. They have it all over their face, back, chest sometimes even their eyelids and lips! You are not in that category! I am definitely not giving you a prescription for that and no other doctor should be doing the same!!

It is with some shame - I admit that he was correct. I am not going on Accutane (or equivalent) now because I am too scared of the side effects. I think a few months ago I would have sung a different tune though.

When I was shopping for some Alba Un-Petroleum (good product btw) at a health store, I came across these acne pills - basically vitamins for the skin. I had extremely low - EXTREMELY LOW- expectations. However, despite the fact that they cost $45 AS - I decided to give it a try. People who suffer from adult acne will know this - you are desperate and will try just about anything. What are the pills called? SkinB5, made in Australia, and they look like this:

Acne vitamin pills are not a new thing. MD Formulations and other brands have their own range. I've never tried them before because they seemed incredibly expensive - more than twice the cost of this SkinB5 thing. I have to take 6 tablets a day (2 tablets 3 times a day) and the tablets are HUGE. See the picture below.

I mean, this is just ONE PILL for pete's sake. They are like horse pills I tell you. I have taken them for about 2 weeks now and I want to give you an initial report on them. THESE WORK!!!

I mean, on the first day (first day!) I felt my skin becoming really dry. So dry in fact that none of my moisturisers seemed sufficient. I am typing this with vitamin E oil layered over argan oil on my face - it is that dry! For the first few days I also seemed to be suffering hot flushes (that's disappeared now) and slight headache (which also disappeared after a week). Even after the first 3 days of taking the pills my mother commented on how well my skin was looking - I was in total shock too. I feel I am experiencing zero side effects now.

I will do updates on this product over the next 3 months. It is just working so well I had to tell you about it! I am praying I don't jinx myself and have this stop working on me. Fingers crossed! I now have to figure out how to get rid of the hyperpigmentation on my face!! Ghrrrr.

I will definitely do further updates on the sunscreens I find best for acne prone skin as well as other acne products. I am still using quite a few acne treatment and acne prevention items! Oh well, it isn't just topical treatments now - treating acne from within the body seems to work.

If you are like BV and suffer from adult acne and it is getting you down - please give this a try. For anyone thinking of going on Accutane - please please give this a try first. You may find that this works.

Cheers

Becca Stick Foundation and Concealer

2011-10-09T04:26:00.000+11:00

Incredible things have been happening for me in the past few weeks. First incredible thing and the subject of this post - I got colour matched at Becca and I believe I have a perfect match for my skin. A PERFECT MATCH!!

Becca is an Australian cosmetics brand I have hardly given any thought to. I have one product from them - Nymph powder - which I got from a friend actually. I don't think I've ever used it! Silly. Still, I often read reviews for their products and their products have a lot of SPF. Good to know for ladies living in hot climates. For example, their Luminous Skin Colour has a SPF of 20 and their stick foundation has a SPF of 30.

These items are pretty expensive in Sydney though. The stick foundation on the left seems a bit small (8.7 gms) for $68 AS and the concealer on the right is 3 grams and costs $58 AS. However, I also got a Bird of Paradise gloss (RRP $48 AS) as a free gift so it wasn't too bad.

Also, it was worth going in store and getting colour matched because Becca has an astounding number of foundations (30 stick foundation shades and 34 concealer shades!). I don't think you should really try and colour match yourself - too confusing I think. It leaves MAC for dead - I think it offers possibly the best range of colours I've ever seen. I've bought some more Becca stuff at a much more reasonable price at DollyLeo Apothecary - a UK online store. You also get a 10% discount off your first order if you sign up for their newsletter. Just FYI. Let's get to the pictures shall we?

Although the pictures of Butterscotch seems quite dark - it isn't as dark as you may think. I also put swatches of the stick foundation next to my swatches of MAC Full Cover Foundation so you get an idea of colour. In MAC shades, although I would definitely be more of a NC shade than a NW shade, the NC range is just too yellow to suit my skin. NW range is too pink. I am seriously more of a neutral gal which is why Butterscotch is just so darn good for me.

You can see from the picture above that Butterscotch is a really great match for my skin.

I love a lot of things about Becca, I love their SPF, their user friendly packaging, their range of colours and their lovely staff! I got served by the nicest person at David Jones! The only problem for me is that Becca foundation and concealer do not offer enough coverage for my skin. I am recovering from a massive acne breakout from a few months ago and it is taking AGES to heal. I have loads of dark spots on my skin and Becca products just aren't cutting it at the moment. My skin is also going through something of a dry patch and Becca is good because I do find their products a bit heavier and creamier than my usual foundations.

If you have regular skin (with few blemishes) I do think Becca is worth looking into. Just be warned - these are definitely on the creamier side. I will do more reviews on Becca as I have other products to review. I'm sad that I didn't try them out earlier!

Cheers

Konad, remember me? It's been a while hey...

2011-09-28T19:17:00.000+10:00

Okay, hold up. I've shocked you. Yeah, I haven't konaded in a million years, right? I was terribly put off konading because some charming young lady post my design on "hot or not". Sadly, it was a manicure I deemed an 'epic fail' so it was doubly embarrassing really. But what the Hell, that's the interweb for you.

This konadicure was insanely easy and it took me about 5 minutes to konad both hands! YES! This design I chose was irregular so the irregularity of the design meant that it was generally quite forgiving regarding the placement of the design.

Zoya - man, this brand has really been delivering this year. I think I have purchased more Zoya polishes than any other brand this year - totally NAILED IT Zoya! (BV loves her puns, yes.) I've been so disappointed with OPI this year... I mean other than I Lily Love You and the Serena polishes, I've thought everything was pretty ordinary. Mind you, I'm getting a whole lot of the Muppets polishes soon (BV LOVES the Muppets!) but I'm pretty sure my OTTing has really been more about the Muppets crew than the colours. We shall see. Digression alert.

Lately I've been doing my ring finger in a different colour for my manicures lately. Yep, every man and his pedicured pooch has been doing that so nothing new there. However, I thought I'd jazz up my mani a bit by doing some konad.

For my mani I used the following polishes:

butter London nail polish foundation
2 coats of Zoya Neeka
2 coats of Orly Rage (ring finger)
konad colour CG 2030 (with plate m66)
1 thin coat of CG Golden Enchantment to bring out some sparkle in my manicure.

Pics below.

This arty 'flowers on a branch' design is what I used for my konading.

It was so easy - a complete piece of cake. I haven't used the m66 plate before so it was good using that. I must try and konad a bit more to jazz up my hands. JAZZ HANDS!

Cheers
BV

BV's take on Chanel Rouge Coco and Dior Addict Lipstick

2011-09-25T00:16:00.000+10:00

Today, I want to give you my honest opinion on two famous high end lipsticks - Chanel Rouge Coco and Dior Addict Lipstick. I generally don't spend a lot of money on lipstick and in terms of makeup, I don't have that many lipsticks. I know I own enough for the average person but compared to the usual makeup addict, I barely have any. Strange huh? Not really. I tend to wear the same lipstick colours, generally nude in fact. I may branch out into a slightly darker colour, but I rarely do that actually.

One important point I'd like to make is that I find my lips get dry very easily. They are slightly sensitive (I've discovered they react badly to OCC lip tars) and I hate dry lips. When I am not wearing lipsticks or just at home, I must wear some type of lip balm (paw paw ointment) as I will suffer terribly from dryness otherwise. This will of course have an affect on my opinion of these lip products. Anyway, enough background info.

Some deets first right?

CHANEL ROUGE COCO HYDRATING CRÈME LIP COLOR

RRP = $32 US

Amount = 3.5 grams

Chanel's description on Nordies website:

CHANEL introduces a modern interpretation of classic creme lip color as an homage to the rich life and legacy of Coco Chanel. New lightweight lip color glides on for easy application, and features a Hydratendre complex to help soften, soothe and condition lips—even boosting their ability to hold in moisture—for a plumper, smoother and healthier-looking appearance. A range of wearable shades with full-coverage finishes, from matte to pearl to soft shimmer.

Dior Addict Lipstick

RRP = $28 US

Amount = 3.5 grams

Dior's description on the Nordies website:

A lipstick. An attitude. A state of mind. Inspired by the cutting-edge Dior runway fashions, this hydrating and volumizing formula adorns lips with a veil of color and spectacular shine. In catwalk-inspired shades.

Now I purchased these lipsticks from strawberrynet and SASA for below RRP. So watch out for sales and you could strike it lucky.

Here are the two colours I'm reviewing. Chanel Rouge Coco in Legende and Dior Addict Lipstick in Nude. (Pictured below). I don't think Legende is a great colour for me actually, being a bit too cool toned for my skin. It isn't horrible or anything, not just the usual colour I'd wear. I'd probably layer a nude lipgloss over it in fact.

Chanel Rouge Coco Legende and Dior Addict Lipstick Nude with flash

Now here is a close up of Chanel's promo picture for Chanel Rouge Coco. In this picture Vanessa Paradis is wearing Mademoiselle - I actually own this colour too. On my lips it takes on a slightly coral tone but it's okay as a colour. Better than Legende pictured in this review I guess. But as beautiful as Vanessa is, take a good look at her lips. Now, do her lips look like they've been given a "plumper, smoother and healthier-looking appearance"? Be honest - I don't think so! Her lips look really dry IMO.

Here are my swatches.

Generally, I do not like adding pictures of my lips on my blog. Mainly, I'm quite horrified with their appearance. They tend to look wrinkled and very dry - I don't want to spring that on unsuspecting readers. However, I wanted to show you why I like or don't like these respective lipsticks. Please note that I am aware my application is not perfect - I did a really quick application of these lipsticks just to show you the colour. I know it looks a bit smudged in these shots.

I used the same lip liner for both lipsticks - Edward Bess Lipliner. I know this only comes in one colour so that's the one I used. I quite like this product btw.

Top picture = Chanel Rouge Coco in Legende and below = Dior Addict Lipstick in Nude

Now, back to the review.

Chanel Rouge Coco Lipsticks

I don't like these lipsticks. I find these seriously drying on my lips! You can see that in the top picture above - every single wrinkle and line on my lips are emphasised. I do not find this flattering. I personally don't think it looks particularly flattering on Ms Paradis either. The lipstick makes her lips look really dry - which is how I find these lipsticks.

I can't believe Chanel promote these as "moisturising". Having said that - these lipsticks are raved about by many ladies out there. I do not understand it. Before you say it might just be the colour, I own Legende, Mademoiselle and Perle. All have the same effect on me - drying. I find these lipsticks dry out my lips more than my NARS Velvet Matte lip pencils. Bizarre. Like a lot of dry lipsticks, this does last longer on the lips. However, I have to wear a lipgloss when I wear these or layer another sheer lipstick over the top of it.

Final Verdict = 1/5

I'm giving this one point because I can still wear these lipsticks. I have to be really careful with it and layer another gloss on top, or wear it mixed with another colour, but it isn't trash worthy. But seriously - I don't think it is worth $12 (what I paid for my Rimmel lipsticks!) let alone $32. Yet, many rave about this lipstick. *BV shrugs* Go figure.

Dior Addict Lipstick

Hydrating? HOLY TOLEDO BATMAN. This is one seriously good lipstick. I did not expect the love to hit me on first application - but it did. Look at the second picture - my lip wrinkles and lines are seriously diminished. It is like a Angelina Jolie injection on my lips - my lips look full and plump. Unlike a lot of "lip plumping" formulas out there, there is no stinging, no burning, no smells or flavours. It is just extremely hydrating and comfortable. The lasting power isn't too bad either. I have this in one other colour - Beige Dandy and I have ordered another called Londres. This is even better than my Urban Decay lipsticks (I have about 8 of these because, prior to this, UD was my fave lipstick) - although it is more expensive, it is definitely worth the money. I hope that Dior never stop making this - I can understand why this is truly "addictive". LOLz.

Final Verdict = 5/5

Hope you enjoyed this review!

Cheers

BV's favourite bronzer - Canmake Bronzer 01

2011-09-20T01:30:00.000+10:00

One thing I rarely blog about - bronzers. I don't know, I've tried a number of bronzers over the years. I currently own about 5-6 other bronzers and while I like them (one I truly despise as it is too dark and orange for me - MAC Golden Lariat) none have come close to the deep love I have for this simple cheap number from Canmake - Canmake Bronzer 01. As an Asian person I find it hard to find something that is golden (and not orange) and fairly reasonably priced. Canmake fits the bill nicely.

I discovered this when I lived in Japan (2006-2007). At that time the Australian dollar was on par with the Japanese yen so it was about $10 AS back then. Now it is $12.50 AS (maybe about $13 US). Not a huge leap really but I find it VERY DIFFICULT to get my paws on this.

According to Canmake, this can be used wet or dry (I've NEVER used this wet btw!). See the full deets for this product here. Here is Canmake's promo picture of this product. Colour 01 is the colour at the top and gives a "natural tan" look for fair to medium complexions. Note this is a Japanese product so they probably mean tones between NC10-NC35. It comes with a terrifying gold overspray (it is completely and utterly OTT Goldfinger) but it very quickly disappears so don't let it put you off.

Canmake Bronzer - retails for 980 yen

This contains a huge 11 grams of product and has an SPF of 30!! I mean, can you believe that?? It is a great product. For Japanese readers - here is the back of the product. Like a lot of Japanese products - it has a handy little picture on how to use it. I've owned this for a few years and it looks very battered.

I think the no flash picture on the left gives an accurate colour. The flash makes it look darker than it actually is. Yes I have hit pan on this - but I have used up about 5-6 of these during the past 4 years. The year I lived in Japan - I used up 2 of these bronzers. I wore it every single day!

Same bronzer - Canmake 01 - Left = no flash - Right = flash

For comparison purposes, I added MAC's Refined Golden Bronzer. This only contains 9 grams of product and costs $23 US. I only have this because I got it as part of a set about a year ago. As you can see - I have only used it about 10 times. The MAC product is okay but it can look orange on me, especially during the winter months. I would certainly look like a Oompa-Loompa if I wore this all over my face.

With flash - Canmake Bronzer 01 - MAC Refined Golden

Swatches over dry skin. As you can see, the Canmake Bronzer gives a really natural looking finish. I also have the Edward Bess Daydream bronzer which is similar to the Canmake, only lighter. I cannot recommend the Edward Bess to you as a 'must have' because it costs $48 US and contains 8.5 grams of product. It is a lovely product though with zero orange!!

Swatch with flash - Canmake Bronzer 01 + MAC Refined Golden

The Canmake Bronzer is slightly shimmery (very slightly) but mainly looks matte. It can safely be used all over my face but I usually just do simple contouring with this product. It kills me that I can only buy this for about $20 US on ebay at the moment. KILLS ME. I hate paying that much for something that only used to cost me $10 and was available everywhere! I miss Japan sometimes.

The only negative about this product is that it is powdery. This means that you tend to use this product up a lot faster than other brands, the pan itself can get a bit messy and you really do need to tap off the excess powder on the brush before you apply it to your face. But seriously folks:

it only costs about $13 US
contains 11 grams of product
has an SPF of 30
has zero orange and won't look too dark on your face! (for the really fair I think it may be a bit orange for you - I'm not sure there!)

It may not appear on your skin if you are much darker than NC35 though. I think I was about NC35 while I was in Japan (I was cycling as a means of transportation and I was outside a lot more) and this bronzer appeared on my skin - so maybe NC40 or NC45 may have difficulty.

The only thing stopping me from using this product everyday is the fact that I find this impossible to buy online except on ebay. If anyone has any suggestions for me - please let me know in the comments. I find some products from Canmake to be not so good but a lot of what I've tried is quite good for the price. I don't like the eyeshadows I swatched from the brand so I never bought those. I do like the concealer (very much in fact) and this.

Hope you find this review useful!
Cheers
BV

BV Purple Glitter franken

2011-09-19T14:38:00.000+10:00

When I purchased the Deborah Lippmann's Let's Get this Party Started kit I really fell in love with Candy Shop - Lippmann's Happy Birthday in pink base. You can see the pictures here. This kit is pretty expensive so I thought to myself - I wonder if I can franken a similar colour?

Now, if you are a long term reader of this blog - you know that I love my purples. I wondered if I could franken something in a coloured jelly base using Milani's Gems (knock off of Lippmann's Happy Birthday). I have not one but two backups of this colour (seemed a bit ridiculous!) so I used that to make this purple glitter colour. I am tempted to call this Purple People Eater (cos I think that's a song isn't it?) but I think a better name is The Artist Formerly Known as Love Symbol - after my pint sized sexy fave - Prince. Some pictures first.

2 thick coats + seche - no flash

2 coats + seche with flash

Excuse the patchy application on the first finger there. I used the following colours.

L-R: LA Girl Hustle, Orly clear, BV franken + LA Girl (can't remember the name the label fell off!) + MIA Milani Gems

I forgot to take a picture of Milani Gems but if you know this polish it is a dense glitter polish in a clear base. Not as nice as Lippmann's Happy Birthday but I bought this for about $4 so it is a lot cheaper. It doesn't have as much yellow and orange as Lippmann's polish - and the various shapes aren't there either.

My favourite cheaper polish brands are definitely LA Girl (which I always call LA GIRLS for whatever reason!) and Milani. They both perform well for a cheap polish and sell for around $3-4 US at www.cherryculture.com. That's where I got all my polishes anyway. They regularly have 20% off sales - I only purchase during sale time and they ship overseas. They've increased their shipping fees lately so I definitely haven't been buying much from them in the last few years.

An approximate ingredients list:

60% Milani Gems
20% LA Girl Hustle part of the Disco Brites collection (this has a jelly finish btw)
5% LA Girl pink polish (from the Rockstar Collection) label fallen off so I am unsure of the name!
15% Orly Clear

If you can get your paws on an even cheaper polish, this will be much more economically viable for you. For me, it is difficult to put a price on this - maybe about $10? I'm not sure.

As you know, I don't have steel ball bearings but this isn't a huge problem. I just stuck an old cuticle stick (I was going to throw out anyway!) and mixed up the colours in the bottle. You could just use a toothpick or something - a lack of balls should not be an impediment. *guffaw*

I hope this post inspires you to try other color variations!

Toodles
BV

Edward Bess - BV's foray with a new brand

2011-09-10T00:09:00.000+10:00

The first thing to say about Edward Bess is that this is a brand you cannot buy in Australia. How did I buy this? I emailed the Edward Bess website. Major props to all Edward Bess customer service peoples - because the results were SPEEDY.

QUESTION: Can I order some products and have them sent out to me in Australia? (About an hour later.)

ANSWER: Yes, you can, please call Bergdorf's counter in NYC and shipping will cost $12.95 US.

This is the most insanely cheap deal you could hope to get in terms of shipping and service. Don't forget, I have to pay my postal agent a service fee and a high shipping fee in order to have items purchased for me - this was a really great deal. I waited until 1.30 am Australian time and called the Edward Bess number. One week later, I had my first Edward Bess haul. Wonderful. The lady I spoke to at the counter (I can't remember her name - my bad) was lovely.

I didn't know the first thing about Edward Bess - the makeup guru. I did read some random quote in a magazine from Courtney Cox saying that his products suit everyone - but no offence to Courtney Cox fans but I don't really hold her in high regard stylistically. Oh, come on, you know Jennifer is the stylish one! Okay, digression.

Of course, google being my best friend, not only did I come across numerous swatches and rave reviews about Edward Bess products, I found out more about the man in question - Edward Bess. First of all, he's a very young man (25! BV feels very ancient) and gave up modelling at the advanced age of 18 to pursue his dream - to create his own cosmetics line.

Check out Mr Bess below - this wunderkind is crazily beautiful to boot. This is a screenshot from his YT channel which you can access online. Please check out this YT vid for the man himself. Yes, I feel like an old washed up hag when I read about him. HA. I seriously love his brows.

Screenshot of Mr Edward Bess + model - I believe this was the winter collection this year. I could be wrong about that.

Okay, confession time. In the distant past, BV was a massive fan of Fruits Basket. Okay, I feel terribly embarrassed about this because Fruits Basket is an extremely silly (but strangely enjoyable and addictive) manga + anime. Edward Bess instantly reminded me of Ayame (Yuki's brother) who actually owned a cosplay store. I never thought people like Edward Bess (bishōnen 美少年) existed outside of manga/anime or an Elven village out of LOTR. BV is glad to stand corrected! If you watch the YT link in this post, you will see that Mr Bess' idea of perfect make up is a very natural look.

NOTE: This is not an insult btw! BV's fave LOTR characters are elves. Have you ever noticed that everyone else in LOTR kinda looks like they would smell bad? I reckon even Hobbits would be on the nose. I'm not actually joking here, I'm serious. Think of those hideous hairy feet for a start. I hope you aren't eating something right now. For non-Fruits Basket fans - I offer the following screenshot from my Fruits Basket DVD.

Let's pretend that this isn't Ayame and Tohru and imagine instead that this is Edward Bess taking BV on an ultimate shopping trip! hehehehehe

I purchased a number of Edward Bess products (I wanted to get an overall feel for his products and I also wanted to make the most out of shipping costs) and one thing I definitely knew I wanted was his eyeshadow trio in 02 Soft Smoke. A few quick deets for you:

1. Trio contains 4.5 grams of product in total.
2. Costs $60 US - this isn't cheap.
3. Comes in very classy black plastic palette and is housed in a cosy little velvet pouch. I love how moulded the plastic protector is which is why I've included this in the picture.
4. Velvety smooth product - I have never used an eyeshadow that did not leave powder particles on the surface of the shadow when I sweep an eyebrush over it. Insanely good texture.
5. These smoky colours are brown based. Yes - this would look good on people with warm skintone (like me) as well as your cooler toned people. I think Courtney Cox might have a point about this (although this is probably a first - *snort*).

Edward Bess Soft Smoke Trio - no flash

Edward Bess Soft Smoke palette - with flash

Swatches on dry skin - with flash

Swatches on dry skin - no flash

The first thing you will notice about these swatches is that these appear on the matt side (with the possible exception of the middle shade). Also, these colours are on the sheer side. In fact, when I first swatched them on the skin, I felt a bit disappointed. Yes, disappointed. Not with the finish (very non-powdery and very easy to blend) but I kind of felt the colours were a bit boring and too matt. I guess I am a bit spoiled for choice. Also, all throughout my teens and my 20s and now my 30s, I have always been a massive fan of darker shades. As many people have pointed out to me - I do not differentiate between night and day and I love my glittery shimmery shades. I know - I don't really do nudes all that much.

But let's face some hard cold facts. I can't look like this forever - BV has to now start toning it down. Shameful to admit it - but sadly true. One of my secret fears is that I will one day emerge as a white haired Asian Barbara Cartland. Not a look I was going for to be frank.

If you want neutrals - this Edward Bess palette fits the bill nicely. It is pretty dark and smoky - but still okay for day time and does not look ultra vampy, glittery or crazy. This may look a bit too dark and smoky for paler ladies - but for me this is just a slightly darker nude look. I do really like this! I'm very glad I got it.

In the EOTD below (with flash) I am wearing all 3 colours from the Soft Smoke palette + Edward Bess eyeshadow in Nude. Just because I felt it was not dark enough (at the last minute really) I put a bit of theBalm's feisty felicia on my lid. I don't think I blended that colour out very well so please ignore slightly patchy application.

Yes - I'm glad I got this. No creasing at all after 8 hours of wear. Of course I did use UDPP as a base (can't help that as I have a gigantic tube that will take me about 15 years to finish) but it stayed fresh looking all day.

I have a lot of neutrals and quite a few smoky palettes but this is truly exceptional. The brown tones of this palette are really flattering - no ashiness on the skin. It is kinda nude and natural for me (now come on - you've seen my previous EOTDs!) but still dark enough to make me feel like me.

I look forward to purchasing more Edward Bess products and will gradually acquire further palettes for my collection. I would love some more eyeshadow trios so hopefully a few palettes will come out for the Christmas period. (Massive hint to Edward Bess!)

Every aspect of my purchase has been smooth sailing. Fantastic that they would ship to me in Australia, lovely SA in Bergdorf, super fast + cheap shipping, all beautiful wrapped so everything arrived in PERFECT condition. I mean, what else is there to say?

Edward Bess you wunderkind - I salute you!

US ladies - you can buy Edward Bess at Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf Goodman. I believe you are also able to buy directly from the Edward Bess website.

Toodles to all

PS Actual hilarious conversation I had with the NYC SA (really lovely lady btw).

SA: So, what colour skintone do you have?

BV: Oh, I'm Asian... so... I don't know... NC25 to NC30?

SA: Um... would you say you are about the same colour as Lucy Liu?

BV: Oh no, I'm darker than that!

SA: Oh, maybe J-Lo?

BV: Oh, not that dark!

SA: Well, I have the same colouring as Kim Kardishian and I wear that eyeshadow, it isn't too light for me so it will work well for you.

Could I even make this up? Hilarious. She was so sweet and went that extra mile to help me out which was very nice of her! I feel like an idiot because I didn't remember her name - but BV is like that sometimes.

Strangebeautiful Volume 5 - partial swatches + NOTD - pic heavy

2011-08-30T23:01:00.000+10:00

My greatest failing as a blogger is the fact that I am tediously slow. Oh, so so so SLOW. Think of a snail who has just sprained some organ vital to movement (equivalent of snail's ankle - whatever that might be!) who is deliberately coming last in a race - that's BV. I rarely buy items "hot off the shelf" as it were and added to that is the fact that I am generally slow to post items on my blog! Think lazy snail then. Hehehehehe.

But wait, this is one time where I think I might be able to offer some insight! I only say this because when I tried to find reviews of this product I came away painfully disappointed. If you do find any other reviews - please let me know. Surely my googling techniques are still up to scratch right..?

Anyway, long time readers will know that when this set was released earlier this year - I wanted this bayyyyyd. See my lemming alert here. Oh you clever mathematicians - you aren't mistaken. This was a ridiculous 7 months ago!! Let me explain.

I ordered this from Luckyscent with a friend at work. I wanted this - she wanted some more perfumes - we wanted to split the shipping costs.  My friend at work is the one who introduced me to Luckyscent and strangebeautiful polishes (they ship o/s). She is also a fellow beauty freak + nail head. We have heaps in common of course. She is really into perfumes (I think she has like hundreds of the suckers) whereas I'm not hugely into fragrance - at least not in the collecting sense like her. Major digression.

We ordered in February - one month later no response from Luckyscent. My friend came over to my desk in a huff and told me that the polishes I wanted were sold out with no future release date given. She cancelled her order and returned my money to me. Oh, I was GLOOMY about it. I was also slightly confused about a future release date info - cos aren't these suckers limited edition?? Anyway, I left it in the hands of the beauty gods and got on with my life.

About 2 weeks ago I saw that strangebeautiful Volume 5 had returned and within the blink of an eye I ripped out my credit card and bought this product. I did note that the price had increased from about $75 (cost of my previous sets) to $85. Bit weird I thought but that's life for you. Oh, the jubilation was extreme - dancing, singing, laughing, cheering etc.

BV is an idiot really. Take a look at this product closely.  There are 10 polishes here. Look at those shiny caps. Something was amiss.

BV aka Miss Marple then went back to her original post in February and saw the picture. Do you see the bottles? There are 8 bottles of polish (standard number of polishes in strangebeautiful set) and then the new set below. This is not the old set that I wanted - this is a slightly altered reissue set.

Believe it or not, BV has been very carefully collecting all the strangebeautiful nail polish sets. This is part of the reason I wanted to order Volume 5 in February - I just wanted to complete my set.

Just a quick word on bottle shapes

The strangebeautiful nail polishes I have are all rectangular in size and are COMPLETELY IDENTICAL to the bottles for American Apparel. Yep, identical but for the writing on the bottle and the steel brushed plastic lids.

I think they must have their polishes made at the same factory because I swear to you the formula between the two brands seem identical. Formula is excellent (generally - there are exceptions of course) and like RBL kinda smell less like nail polish and more like acrylic paint. I know that you hardcore nail heads will know what I'm talking about.

I am really POed that the new bottles don't look like my previous sets. It is so silly - but true. I really wish I got the original set - curses. This new set, whilst having 2 more bottles, is about half (or less) the size of the previous bottles. I think it is probably about 8 mls of product each - originally they had 15 mls of product each. I could be wrong of course but it doesn't say on the box, nor the bottles, nor on the Luckyscent website nor even on the strangebeautiful website. A lot of "nors" there don't you think? Um..

Swatch time

I did a quick skittle over butter LONDON's nail foundation. I knew these were kinda transparent so I wanted more of a skintoned base. Here are the first 5 colours in the set. These are 2 coats with no top coat. I did not find these streaky nor did I find them very transparent. They are just like jellies I suppose. The colour of the baby finger (kind of dark blue) was opaque at one coat. I don't understand this at all.

With flash you can see that the most transparent polish is the green (middle finger) below. Even then, I am not seeing anything really transparent. These are just relatively streak free jellish polishes. I do remember with the original set there were a few complaints re: the streakiness of the polish. Perhaps this was fixed for this reissue set..? I'll never know! You'll note that the colours are less like the swampy, murky, dirty and mouldy types and more like standard nail colours. This is also a bit sad. I'm still wondering which colour had the "moody rust of menstral blood" - not this pink I'd say!

On my fingers I've swatched the first five colours on the left - I've yet to do the ones on the right.
Sorry, I only got this set today.

The thing that annoys re: sizes are the box shapes now in my drawer. What does this look like to you huh? It is way longer and skinnier... the lids are no longer the same colour.. I mean it is difficult to squish in there! I seriously wish strangebeautiful would label their boxes and their polishes. I may have inadvertently gotten some of the shades mixed up - possibly even received duplicates of the same shade in different sets. Annoying if you ask me.

Okay, here are my list of complaints. I'm sorry - but I gotta do this.

1. Is this really "limited edition"?

We know how hard it is to risk missing out on a "limited edition" right? We have to then pay some enterprising soul some outlandish price on ebay to satisfy our lust for limited edition products. Part of the original lure of strangebeautiful was the "limited edition" tag.

The words "limited edition" are still used to describe all 5 volumes of strangebeautiful polish - yet I know for a fact that some of these must be reissues. Volume 5 as an example, but even the other sets I own must be in fact a 2nd edition or 2nd batch or products. I prefer it when they companies are clear about limited edition products - eg saying things like "limited to X units" and once sold out bring out another "permanent" set of colours that are still different to the limited edition numbers. I mean, don't draw us in with the "limited edition" carrot (inspiring urgency and desperation) when in fact that isn't the case.

2. Is this really original?

When this first came out a couple of years ago - this felt very new, very different. I still love all the descriptions and I love like 90% of the colours. I even give them credit for the colours themselves - muted, dirty, grey toned colours. Zero shimmer btw - I don't have a single shimmer amongst all my sets. I still love the palette concept. However, these types of colours are just so prevalent now, you can find dupes at much lower prices. American Apparel is cheaper than these polishes - with what I feel is the exact same formula. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm also feeling camo overload now. I still don't feel that there is a colour that could dupe RBL's No More War - I still find this one colour more original than all 8 colours in my camo set from strangebeautiful.

3. Consistency of product - labelling and identification

Not labelling the boxes or even numbering the shades is a big mistake. I am still not 100% sure if I've got all the right colours in each set or if I've received duplicates of the same shade across different boxes. It is really hard to tell and I'm sure I'll never be able to find out.

Final comments

Despite my bitching, I still am glad I got this Volume 5 set and all my previous sets. I am not sure if I will keep collecting the other sets though. The increase in price, inconsistency of "limited edition" message and the labelling issue will keep me hesitating to buy once more. Like a boyfriend who also says he'll call but he never does - he's got me POed. It's going to take quite a bit of work to win me over. Yeah, you know I'm harsh.

Sorry for this mercilessly long post. I hope it has been informative for you!
Cheers
BV

PS Here is my NOTD - sorry my nails are in shocking shape and dreadfully short. Lippmann's Forget You - no flash. I really like this but I'm still wondering whether I like this more than Candy Shop.

Toodles

Ben Nye eyeshadows + quick note on depotting

2011-08-28T00:20:00.000+10:00

Did you know, I've had this blog almost 3 years or so? I'm amazed it has been so long! HA. I've improved somewhat over time but not by much. I've just been looking over my old posts and it is pretty hilarious really. Hehehe. Some of the earliest posts I have ever done on this blog were on Ben Nye products. Years later I still get the odd comment and email from someone about this brand. In case you don't know (you probably know this already!) this is a theatrical makeup company started the man himself - Mr Ben Nye - who was an early Hollywood makeup artist. He was also the makeup artist for the original Planet of the Apes movie - I'm pretty obsessed with that movie btw.

Ben Nye is one of those makeup brands that is harder to buy. It isn't sold at major department stores or anything like that. It is readily available online and on ebay - even for me in Australia. I got my Ben Nye stuff from the US - I believe I paid about $15 US/AS (inclusive of shipping) for each eyeshadow but you know, I can't be sure of that. It might have been slightly less actually, I really don't know. I think these standard colours are about $6-7 US each and these are really huge. I think 4 grams each.

I learned about this brand from one of my fave YT gurus Julia aka MissChievous. I noticed that she still uses her Ben Nye eyeshadows in her tutorials and I am glad that I Single White Femaled her all those years ago because these shadows are very good.

Here are some swatches of 3 neutral colours in used in an EOTD recently.

With flash - colours marked 1-3 in the pan shots below

I have a confession - I don't use matte eyeshadows all that often. In fact, I haven't used this palette in a year or so. (My bad). I thought I'd use this palette because someone asked me how I depotted my Ben Nye eyshadows. I had a quick guffaw to myself because I am the world's worst depotter. The Ben Nye colours (round colours only) in my MUFE palette below contains only one eyeshadow I depotted... can you guess which one? Yep, the one that looks totally ravaged. I actually depotted my Tarte eyeshadow palette and half of them look completely decimated as a result. I have learned that BV + depotting do not mix. My only advice for a novice depotter would be to try and depot using some cheaper shadows you don't mind losing. There may be tears otherwise. Just saying.

So, if you are interested in purchasing Ben Nye eyeshadows - know that it is cheaper (and easier) to buy them as "refillable" colours. Note that I put a number just under the colours I used.

With flash depotted Ben Nye shadows + Tarte shadows

These pictures are making me giggle a bit. The picture below really shows what a shocking job I did at depotting these!

No flash - same palette as above

These EOTD are of the same eye, with the same makeup. It kinda reminds me of some mythical Greek beast actually. HA. I also used NYX Nude which has a satin finish - that is why there is some noticable shimmer in the pictures below.

With flash - all 3 Ben Nye shadows

Without flash - all 3 Ben Nye shadows

Despite my crappy pictures, believe me when I say these shadows are easy to use, pigmented and blend easily. It has been so long since I used matte eyeshadows, I had forgetten how a simple matte eyeshadow can make you look more professional and polished.

I find that when I typically use matte eyeshadows over UDPP (as I have in these pictures), even matte shadows which are more exxy than the usual from either MAC or UD, the shadow can grab at weird places and look all bizarre. You know what I mean right? Patchy and uneven. It can be really difficult to blend out - esp over UDPP. But guess what? I had no problems blending these, even with the "grabby" nature of UDPP.

As an aside, I wanted to use a different eyeliner as well and decided to use a liquid eyeliner. I used MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner. Man, I hate that product. Just personal preference I suppose but it made my eyelashes stick together and although I thought I had fixed it up, these pictures say otherwise. Grrrhhhhh. It also tends to crack and flake on me too btw. What a waste of money that was.

So, even though I keep reading about theBalm's Meet Matt palette and Too Faced's Matte Palette, I am just not interested. I still really like my Ben Nye shadows - a lot more than the Tarte shadows pictured above and I even sometimes contemplate getting an extra colour or two.

Take it easy + have a brilliant weekend all!

Cheers
BV

HG Alert - Clinique Advanced Concealer - pic heavy

2011-08-26T22:51:00.000+10:00

WARNING: This post contains scary pictures not suitable for younger readers and may offend some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

Okay, did you read the warning? I have some extreme closeups of a rather bad cut on my arm later on in the post and they are quite off putting. Consider yourself warned.

Funny how I came across this. I was putting in a Nordies order and was looking for a product that would take me up to free shipping. Basically I wanted to spend about $15-$20 US more than I had in my basket. It was actually quite a hard thing to do you know. Most things are over this price range. As you know, I suffered from a really bad breakout a while back and when I saw this item I HAD to get it. It has excellent reviews on the Nordies site with some ladies having used this product for 20+ years or so. Sounds good right?

Here's the low down on this product:

Price = $15 US
Amount of product = .28oz or 8 grams
Made in Belgium

According to Clinique via Nordies:

Long-lasting, intensive camouflage. With daily use, helps firm and smooth. Matte, powdery finish.

I just had a chuckle to myself then. Firm and smooth? I haven't seen any signs of that and I've been using it daily for the past 2 months! HA. I'd say ignore that claim.

This is made in 2 shades... yep - 2 SHADES!! Bit weird IMO. The colours are:

01 Matte Light
02 Matte Medium

I cheerfully went down to my Clinique counter here in Sydney - and guess what? They don't have it!!! I mean, seriously right? I don't think this is sold in Australia. Much weirdness. I went out on a limb and said yeah, I'm pretty dark, I'll get 02 Matte Medium. Wrong again. It is way too dark, as you'll see in the swatches below. I had to go and order 01 Matte Light to mix. This is seriously the story of my life - I am constantly in-between shades.

With flash - 02 Matte Medium on top, 01 Matte Light on bottom

With flash - swatches of 01 Matte Light and 02 Matte Medium with MAC Full Coverage Foundation in NC20 and NC30 for comparison purposes

No flash - swatches of 01 Matte Light and 02 Matte Medium with MAC Full Coverage Foundation in NC20 and NC30 for comparison purposes

I wanted to try and show you how well this product worked. I didn't want to use it on my face which has heaps to cover up because as you know I value my privacy. However, I did have a healing cut on my arm (excuse how hairy I am in this! I'm scaring myself here) so I thought I'd use that instead. These pics are definitely icky so please bear this in mind.

With flash - I have to use a ratio of 75% 01 Matte Light + 25% 02 Matte Medium

No flash - same ratio as above

With flash - excuse the shiny appearance - product not 100% dry yet.. believe me this is matte.

TADA - no flash shows the true matte finish - scar still raised but most of the red and brown is gone.

As you can see from my swatches, it is slighly peach toned. I don't mind this because I think it helps counter the red and brown pigmentation but it is something to be aware of. I have found sometimes things are slightly ashy for my skin like the Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover for example. I think it is the titanium dioxide in that but I'm not sure. Go figure.

There are many GREAT things about this product. I'll list them below:

It covers really well. It is thin but opaque. Yes, it is a lot better than the Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover foundation I reviewed in a previous post.
It is peach based but the colour is not too far off my own skin colour. It is the closest match I'm likely to get.
It lasts. Oh man, it really lasts! Most concealers/foundations fade really quickly on me. It is because I have oily skin. Not this product! After about 6-8 hours, it is still there. A bit of fading but not much. Better than any concealer I've ever owned re: lasting ability. Believe me when I say I have purchased a lot in my time. I have about 10 of them in my concealer drawer right now in fact.
Relatively inexpensive. I mean, $15 isn't really going to bankrupt you.
I do like the tube container. It is hygenic AND you can get out about 98% of the entire product. I have had many concealers done in the traditional lipgloss format (tube, doe foot applicator etc) and I don't like it. I feel it isn't as clean and I feel you waste more of the product as you can't really use up every last bit of it.

Not so great things about this product:

Why isn't this available in Australia?? I think that part is ridiculous. Maybe it is available actually... well I don't think it is anyway.
8 ml is not a lot of product. I just checked my MUFE Full Cover and it is 15 ml. MUFE is technically cheaper than this product. As an aside, I have the MUFE Full Cover in number 4 but for whatever reason it is too yellow and kinda looks ashy on me. It does not cover as well as the Clinique Advanced Concealer and although the MUFE product is meant to be waterproof, it fades quite a lot of me, and pretty quickly to boot.
Colour selection is terrible. I am pretty lucky because I can usually find shades close to my skin colour in most foundies/concealers. But what about people who are darker than say NC40? They are completely cut out here! I think that is crazy because Clinique is a HUGE brand (doesn't get much bigger than Lauder does it?) and I think it is silly to cut out a large part of the market like that.
Doesn't really work as under eye concealer. Yep, you have to use something else for that! I actually mixed some with some eye cream and it worked okay but it will be too dry otherwise!
The matte finish is great for flattening out blemish marks - but not great for dry skin or any flakies you may have. I am not sure if people with dry skin will like this product. I mean, I used it with Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation (very satin finish for my taste) and it looked pretty good, but I have oily skin so I don't know if this is suitable.

Despite the long list of negatives, I am pretty confident I have got my HG concealer now. I feel much more confident going out and about now. I don't think I'm setting the world on fire or anything, but at least I don't look as if I've just survived the pox with all these dark marks on my face!!!!

Yes, I have since purchased back ups and will buy another when the Sephora FF sale comes around. I note that this concealer is available from Sephora - FYI.

Hope you found this informative!
Cheers
BV

BV Franken of Zulu

2011-08-24T20:46:00.000+10:00

I always admire ladies who franken. I have so many unwanted or dupes that I keep thinking I should probably give it a go. I have tried it in the past and failed miserably btw. One of my major frankening barriers has been that I find it hard to buy cheap bottles and I still as yet have not managed to find ball bearings to put in the polish bottles. I have seen them on ebay but then, I don't franken much and so the ball bearings seem like a bit of a waste.

One of my all time lemming wants was NARS Zulu. Sound familiar? Yeah, lots of people felt that way. A year or so ago, NARS reissued Zulu and BV was all over that like the world's greatest rash. Major props to NARS for the reissue. I can't begin to tell you how I felt, basically like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It sounds absolutely RIDICULOUS but it is true!

I only became aware of the frankening craze after becoming an addicted reader of Dr Frankenpolish. The darling Dr has been on hiatus for about a year or so but I still love reading her old posts. In particular, I have always been meaning to try out her Jackie Green Kelly - a Zulu dupe. Even though I have Zulu now, I am so weird about running out that I keep "saving" the polish. It is full on ridiculous I do that, particularly as I have only worn this polish twice since purchase. Lame, I know. I keep doing that with my limited edition polishes which is stupid crazy given that I have a lot of nail polish. I'm chuckling away here typing that. So silly really.

Anyway, as I did a small haul at Transdesign a while ago (supplies + finally purchased Misa's Dirty Sexy Money!) I decided to order a couple of extra things just for frankening purposes. Here's my line up - the franken on the far left.

with flash - Zulu franken on far left

I used the same green recommended on Dr Frankenpolish - New York Summer in Amaranth. It has the advantage of being very cheap too - I believe it costs $1.50. I don't have any clear nail polish (except top coat and I wasn't sure that would work!) and I used Orly clear. I'm not happy with this polish btw - it was very runny, almost like water. Weirdness. Not very shiny either. Still, that had the advantage of being $3 or so. The empty bottle cost .68c. Heh.

no flash - franken on far left

I basically did the same ratio recommended by the good Doctor. Half Amaranth, half clear with gradual drops of black polish. I originally used Essie's Licorice (I don't like this polish btw) but that just seemed too liquidy and not pigmented enough. I decided to use American Apparel's Hassid (my most favoured black polish) instead. I used maybe about 5 drops of the Licorice then about 5 drops of Hassid. No, they aren't identical twins - these are not doppelgangers. But they are very closely related and from a distance it is pretty hard to tell the difference.

with flash

I am delighted with the results - I just wish it was a tiny bit more jelly than it turned out to be. The number 3 polish above is actually my frankened polish at 2 coats with no topcoat. Weirdly, it turned out looking like some of the Orly and Chanel polishes I have that are supposed to be matte. It doesn't look matte per se, more like vinyl? You know what I mean right? Kinda rubbery. I know all you nailheads will be digging my vibe.

no flash

If you enlarge the pics - take a look at the very top of the nail. You can see that the colour for NARS is more of a forest green, the franken I made is just a touch more teal than that. Weirdness right? It is very close though.

NOTE: Because I have no balls (you know what I mean!) I just kept shaking the bottle for about 3 days. It ended up mixing together pretty well despite having no balls. HA. That just sounds so funny.

If you are Zulu mad, I recommend you try the franken above cos it is pretty darn cool IMO. Yep, NARS is the better product as it is glossy and slightly more jelly - but at a fraction of the cost, can you really complain? Thank you Dr Frankenpolish!!!!!! I missssss youuuuuuuu!!

Toodles
BV

Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscope Eye Kit - Penelope + Splendid Frost - pic heavy + long...

2011-08-22T21:37:00.000+10:00

Hi Guys

You know, I'm trying to go into a new direction with my makeup. I am definitely intending to buy a lot less stuff for the rest of the year - and for the rest of my life in general! I figured that instead of just buying the latest shiny new thing that comes dancing along, I am going to be more discerning in my purchasing selection. I intend to buy things that are probably a bit more expensive but only if I read a lot of positive reviews, test it in person (if possible) and will use it quite a bit. I have lots of things I barely use or have only used a couple of times. It really seems like a waste IMO.

NOTE: this brand is not available in Australia.

As you know, I have reviewed the nail polish kit from Le Métier de Beauté here. I wasn't impressed.
However, I've just read so many positive reviews of their Eye Kaleidoscopes that I felt that I just HAD to have them. I have read heaps of reviews online and seen quite a few tutorials on YT. Google it peoples - it is a pretty interesting read at the very least. I don't think Le Métier de Beauté is a brand that is everywhere. I got my products online at Nordstrom (these items are no longer available) but I believe these are also available at Neiman Marcus. I haven't seen any items on ebay either. Just a bit of FYI here.

The cost of these is a bit extreme and the high cost of these items put me off them for the longest time. I have been eyeing these products online for about a year or so!! The containers are the same size (identical) but the amount of product you get inside is different. Here's the lowdown.

Le Métier de Beauté - Penelope
Cost = $95 US
Amount of product = 14 grams or 3.5 grams per colour

Le Métier de Beauté - Splendid Frost
Cost = $95
Amount of product = 8.5 grams or 2.1 grams per colour

That is a big difference IMO and I think Le Métier de Beauté should be a bit more consistent with the amount of product they give you. They also sell individual eyeshadows that cost $30 US each - same price as Chantecaille shadows (which contain 2.5 grams) but Le Métier de Beauté is a lot bigger at 3.8 grams per shadow. Please note that this is more than twice the size of a MAC eyeshadow (retail about $14 RRP?) so in terms of value for money, it isn't too bad.

A bit of bad news to start....

These Eye Kaleidoscopes have a mirror at the top which snaps shut with a magnetic closure. The magnet in my Splendid Frost was SO STRONG that the 2 colours at the very top lifted up and out of the container and became scratched and damaged before I even got to use it. I had to superglue those suckers back in so I could continue using it. The first colour in my Splendid Frost looks like it has gone through the wars. Annoying IMO and a quality control issue to be aware of. If you buy these in person, maybe open the item at the counter and check it is okay before you leave. You may (like me) be slightly bummed out otherwise.

Enough blathering - let's get onto the pics.

Le Métier de Beauté Penelope - each colour opens up very neatly - nice design

Le Métier de Beauté Splendid Frost - sorry you can't really see the blue - it has red sparkles in it! Pretty groovy.

All these swatches were done over UDPP and the ones for Penelope I did with a slightly damp finger (using makeup remover wipes to get rid of Splendid Frost swatch) so it is a bit darker as a result. Pigmentation for Splendid Frost is actually better than Penelope I think.

The brown is the first colour - the blue the last.

I have been using these colours all week - yep all week! I believe this is the first one I did with Penelope but it may have been Splendid Frost. Sorry - my bad. I used ALL the colours in the palette over UDPP but it was basically too sheer so I started using bases. I am also using Chanel's Illusion d'ombre in Mirifique on the lid (this product is AWESOME!) so that explains the black sparkles at my lashes.

I can't remember what I used in the next two pictures. I believe it is Penelope again but I used either MUFE Aqua Cream as bases (black and taupe colours) or Chanel Illusion d'ombre in Mirifique and Illusoire.

Le Métier de Beauté Penelope - no flash - thise is the exact EOTD as the flash pic below

Le Métier de Beauté Penelope - with flash

Chanel Illusion d'ombre in Mirifique and Illusoire as bases in the pics below.

Le Métier de Beauté Splendid Frost - with flash

Look, I just don't think my EOTDs are doing this product justice. Even my mother commented on how nice she thinks my eye makeup is looking lately - and she rarely compliments me on this!! She usually says things like "oh, that's too much for daytime" and "why is everything so dark?" (Unlike me, she isn't fond of heavy eye makeup looks! *snort*) so this product really does look good on the eyes. In person I think it looks really good indeed. No, I promise I am not conceited. I don't think my looks are great - I just think the product looks exceptionally good.

Check out this very cute YT gal called Kayla doing a review/tutorial using Penelope. There are quite a few tutorials on YT but if you really want a more dramatic look you must use a darker base. When I did my first look (first EOTD) I didn't like it because it looked too neutral! I starting adding coloured bases underneath and I liked it a lot more. But yes, if I worked in a conservative office, this product would be perfect as is with no base.

Weird thing is - all these colours blend seamlessly together. You think they might not go with one another - but they do work very well together. I didn't think some of the cool colours would work on me - I thought Penelope might be too cool toned for me - but they do work. These products have really surprised me. You can blend them over the top of one another or use each colour separately on different areas of the eyes - they still blend beautifully. I have never used an eyeshadow that is so damn easy to blend. A lot of eyeshadows I own (both exxy and cheap ones btw) are difficult to blend. Not so with these.

They are on the sheer side - and that's important to note here. If you have a paler skintone, this might not be a bother - but if you are darker toned like BV you may keep this in mind. If you are looking only for shadows that are heavily pigmented - these aren't it. Maybe the darkest colour at the end of the Kaleidoscope might suit - but the others might not.

I am more than happy with these products. I wish I wasn't so late jumping on the Kaleidoscope train because there are a lot I've missed. I will be buying more of these babies in future.

Aside from the faulty design of one of my products - and the fact that I think these should all consistently contain full-sized shadows - I have no negative comments to add. I think the cost is worth it (you do get 4 colours after all!) and if you live the in US and near a Le Métier de Beauté counter - check these out! I am ignoring so many of my newish purchases just because I am obsessed with these at the moment. That's how much I love em.

Final Verdict = 5/5

Nfu Oh 59 and Dior Czarina Gold - pic heavy

2011-08-14T00:13:00.000+10:00

I am very excited this weekend because I am expecting rather large haul of goodies from my postal agent. Some boring stuff like nail supplies (I know!), ELF brushes (having 50% off sale!) and finally, stuff from Nordies I got during their beauty blitz last month. I tend to buy small things in batches and send them all together to save money. Waiting stinks but I do save $$ on postage.

In the meantime, some NOTDs I've been wearing this week.

First up - Nfu Oh flakie No 59. It is a dark red jelly base with red duo flakies. It goes from red, copper to green. Not sure if my pics capture this.

The polish is thick and this was 2 coats over 1 coat of American Apparel's Hassid. I actually have about 10 American Apparel polishes and I don't think I've reviewed them on my blog. They have a great formula - Hassid is my go to shade as it is a smooth black one coater. I often layer my glitters over them.

I really love Nfu Oh 59 - I'm very glad I got this.

With flash - Nfu Oh over American Apparel Hassid

I think you can kinda see the glints of green on this. Amazing colour.

Nfu Oh 59 over American Apparel's Hassid - no flash

This is a polish I bought last year around Christmas time. It is Dior's Or Tsarine (Czarina Gold). After being disappointed with RBL's Anne last year, this is a massive YAY polish for me.

I must say though, I find the Dior brush hard to use + I don't like getting only 10mls of polish. I want to get at least 12 to feel like I'm getting value for money. Ha. It is a rich brown shade with tons of gold shimmer. Now this to me feels like brocade!!

Dior Czarina Gold - 2 coats with flash

Dior Czarina Gold - no flash - 2 coats

I had to put in the bottle shots because this colour looks amazing in the bottle.

Look at that bottle now - now that is one heck of a rich shade! With flash

Even with no flash, Dior Czarina Gold looks totally awesome

I unfortunately did a bit of an experiment over the top of this on day 2 of wear. I layered one coat of OPI's Turquoise Shatter over Czarina Gold. Guys, I give up on shatter. The only shatter that really worked well for me was Barry M. All the other shatters I have are too dense and block out the colour I wear underneath. This kinda looks fug but I like to post my fug tests as well as the non-fugs.

This might have been okay if only I got the darn thing to shatter properly!! It's official - I give up on shatter! As an aside, I really don't like William Shatner. That just popped into my head just now! Hehehehe.

Here's to Monday!

Have a brilliant weekend all!

Le Métier de Beauté Rock n' Romance mini set

2011-07-29T23:41:00.000+10:00

Long time readers will know, I love to try new brands of nail polish. Despite it's French name, I believe Le Métier de Beauté is a US brand that has been around for a few years. As far as I know, it hasn't arrived in Australia but thanks to my Nordies addiction, I was able to purchase a few products from this company. From their prices, they are a high end brand and try to market themselves to the same ladies who buy Chanel and the like.

Stay tuned in the new few months while I play around with many new products. Then there will be the longest driest spell in the history of my blog as I have determined not to buy anything else this year. Or very few at least! Let's see how that goes!

This mini set has been getting a lot of rave reviews so I was happy to buy this kit for $25 US at Nordies - apparently this set has a value of $40 US. It is definitely NOT WORTH $40 so let me say that straight up.

First things first - these bottles are teeny weeny tiny. I mean, these are large... FOR ANT PEOPLE!! For homo sapiens, these are miniscule. What am I raving about? I took pics of these next to my other minis (I don't have many cos I don't like minis very much) from NARS and Bobbi Brown. NARS and Bobbi Brown contain 7.4 mls of product - Le Métier de Beauté - contains a mere 4 mls. I think you might get about 3-4 manis out of this!!

Yes, the colours are beautiful - they look beautiful in the bottle, no?

Now, I thought it was worthwhile doing the nail wheel for these because even in my (relatively) smallish collection, I was able to find dupes. I think the nail wheel explains why. Please click on the wheel for better res.

3 coats of each colour

The good thing about this product is the formula. Good formula for these. I could get away with doing one coat of Heat of the Night but I needed 2 or 3 for the other colours. Despite the tiny brush, the brush is easy to use.

The best colour for me was Midnight Rendevous. It contains a more complex shimmer (slightly bluish holo particles that reminds me of Jill Stuart eyeshadows) and that is the only colour I'd want a full size bottle of. I don't think they sell these in bigger bottles so I'm barking up the wrong tree there. You see, you can't get it even if you want more! You'd have to buy another set and although I'm quite crazy I'm not so crazy I'd pay $50 for 8mls of one really good colour.

I think Chrome Passion is extremely similar to OPI My Private Jet which was quite old news now. Heat of the Night, while being very pretty and all, is similar to a lot of glowy dark red shimmers. I don't really like True Romance (I like the movie - not this polish) very much and it seems a bit brushstrokey like a lot of frosts out there. I don't like sandy beige browns so I don't have many dupes for this but I think a far better colour is butter LONDON's All Hail McQueen which I've put on my wheel.

All in all, a big disappointment for me. You know I hate being disappointed.

Final Verdict = 1/5

Yes, I'm harsh I know. But for the size and the price, I expected something more, a lot more. The four colours just amount to 16 mls which is one Orly bottle. The one point I've given is really for Midnight Rendevous which is actually a very good colour indeed. But so teensy, it ain't worth it. You know what minis are like - after 2-3 manis, it is hard to do more because the polish starts going really thick. Yes, I know you can thin it out - but is it worth it for one just more mani?

For me, this set was disappointing. It is getting a lot of rave reviews online so you know - it might just be me. If you are interested in getting this set think about what other colours you already have in your collection and whether you really like or need these colours.

Hope this helps!
BV

butter LONDON - wallis + khaki shimmer comparisons

2011-07-28T15:48:00.000+10:00

Since Wallis by butter LONDON blew me away in my initial swatches - I thought it should be my next NOTD - here tis. I really love this colour. It is glittery with no bumpiness, dries quickly and looks foily. It is a murky greenish gold but the gold glitter really picks it up and makes it look really cool.

As an aside, I don't blog about it often but I actually like butter polishes and own about 15 colours at this point. Good polishes - a bit pricey but nothing too crazy. ($14 US and $20 here in Australia) Generally, the polish line has a good formula and I like the bottles + lids. This is sold at Nordies (where I got mine) but this is also available in Australia if you look for it.

Despite being called butter LONDON these products are made in the USA. One product of butter's that I really like is Nail Foundation - I use this a lot and have gone through an entire bottle of this already.

Enough rambling, onto the pics.

2 coats + seche - the bottle is BB Couture Grenade

2 coats + seche - sorry the bottle is BB Couture Grenade

One person who does excellent comparisons and colour wheels is Karen from Frazzle and Aniploish. I loved Karen's color wheels so much that I bought my own wheels from ebay and was determined to make a colour wheel outlining my entire collection. Guys - this takes a LOT OF WORK so of course, I had to ditch that idea. Don't worry, Karen still does all this work on her blog so make sure you check her out. She also has beautiful nails.

Now, I really love colours like this - I realise this isn't everyone's cup of tea. In fact, it is quite difficult to get colours like this. I thought I'd whip a few out from my collection and do a comparison for you. My pictures stink but I hope you can read the little labels. For your benefit, here are the colours listed:

China Glaze - Wagon Trail - the first murky greenish olive gold colour I ever purchased. Instant love.
BB Couture - Grenade - I noticed my bottle of this has become a bit thick so I must remember to thin it out a bit with Zoya Renew.
RBL - Anne. I went completely nutty pre-purchase as this was meant to be a "brocade" like finish. Shimmer is strong in the bottle but not on the nail. Bit disappointed with my Tudor polishes.
NARS - MASH. As a Korean person I've gotten MASH jokes all my life. I STILL get the odd clown making cracks about me meeting Hawkeye and Hotlips. Dudes - this is OLD - get over it. I'm not even joking. It is the one show my mother refuses to watch because she thinks it is really racist and it offends her. Especially worth noting is that the Korean people they do get on the show are not Korean - or at least can't speak Korean - and what they are saying on the show is completely unintelligible and it is just annoying. Okay, I've gotten that out of my system... HA. This polish, despite the name and its associations - completely rocks. I ADORE this polish and I love it a lot more than Zulu. Yep, that's right!
butter LONDON - Wallis (subject of this review)
Chanel Peridot - haven't worn this as a mani yet - looks awesome in the bottle - I'm not too awed by it on the nail as yet.
butter LONDON - Dosh - a gift from a friend - a murky pea soup colour. I shouldn't have added this but I thought some of you might be interested in this shade so chucked it in there.

Click on this pic for better res picture

Phew - that took ages!!! I may do comparison shots if people are interested but given how long this took, unlikely to make a habit of this. How do ladies do this all the time for their blog?? That's dedication for you! Sorry, my pics didn't even turn out that great. Next time I'll make the res a bit better for you.

toodles

Quick swatch + NOTD Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop

2011-07-26T21:58:00.000+10:00

I know a lot of people who visit my blog are nail heads and I really haven't offered much of interest to you.... don't worry, I haven't gone completely cold turkey on painting my paws just yet.

Partly due to sad nail length and lack of time plus motivation, I haven't really been too nailed up. In fact, I have weeks where I don't wear anything at all - I go nude nails. Shocking for me, but true. The state of play is that I seem to have reached some kind of saturation point. For the past few weeks or months really, I have been suffering from nail polish fatigue. I keep thinking I have seen everything before and you know, nothing is really rocking my boat.

I did a rare nail polish haul (I don't do this often because of the extremely high shipping fee) and I got some stuff at Nordies + Fabulous Street. I got quite a few things at Nordies and I finally got my mitts on several Nfu Oh colours I had been lemming for years. Yes, YEARS. Quick and dirty swatcherella. (I also got a few other things but I admit I haven't swatched them yet...)

Chanel - Peridot (greenish molten gold)
Nfu Oh - 51 (purple jelly with duochrome flakies + fine red glitter) this is sheer
Deborah Lippmann - Candy Shop (Get this Party Started set - $42 from Nordies)
Deborah Lippmann - Forget You (same set as above)
butter london - Wallis (green gold glitter) - that is the bottle I'm holding in these pics btw

2 coats - no top coat - no flash

2 coats - no top coat - with flash

The color that impressed me the most was butter London - Wallis. Sorry, I accidentally dented it on the side of the bottle... doh. I fell in love instantly with that colour. Chanel Peridot did not wow me much because it is quite brush strokey and frosty. I don't think it is as nice as Wallis!! Strangely I decided to go with Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop for my NOTD. Weird, not sure why I did that actually. Here are the pictures - more comments to come.

2 coats + seche with flash

2 coats + seche - no flash

You know, I've got to eat some humble pie here and BV don't like the taste of this dessert I can tell ya. When I first saw Lippmann's Happy Birthday I thought "oh yuk, clown vomit" and stayed away for a considerably long time. Then I finally got it and you know, I was kinda lukewarm and not loving it completely. I talked about it here and here. You can tell, I really warmed to it. As the bottle got older and more used up, the glitter started becoming more dense which I loved.

When I saw the promo pics for Lippmann's Get this Party Started I knew I HAD to have it. It has a full size bottle of Happy Birthday and 2 different versions of Happy Birthday - one in a pale pink base and another in a black base. I wear Happy Birthday over black a lot - I mean a LOT peoples. But yes, this is better. And yes, I love it.

I was shocked when I first swatched the Lippmann's because:

the glitter colours seemed different - there is more yellow, orange - it is generally more multi coloured than my original Happy Birthday. I think this is an improvement - it looks brighter and more cheerful. The dominant glitter colour was previously silver - not so much now
the glitter was a LOT more dense (thank you Deborah!!!) which meant I didn't have to put layer after layer on my nail...
the polish was considerably thicker than Happy Birthday - pretty gluggy in fact but I had no problems with application
no VNL which was a big plus... a more careful application would mean better coverage than I have in my pics...

Okay, this is a big thumbs up from me. Yep, if you were a clever frankening cookie you would get Milani Gems and franken yourself a copy of each of these. I am tempted to try it when my next seche bottle becomes empty as I love both Milani Gems AND Happy Birthday. Do you want to know what I think...?
Milani ripped off Deborah's Happy Birthday but they made the glitter more dense.... then Deborah ripped off Milani and made her formula more dense as well! And put less silver glitter in the bottle than the original formula to make it different from Milani Gems! Am I a conspiracy theorist? Well, I can't tell you who killed JFK but I've got some thoughts on that...

I will give you this - I love my glitters and my favourite glitters of all time are from Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe, Ruby Red Slippers, Bad Romance - I could go on. (Notable exception Glitter in the Air of course.) Now, if only someone would rip off Chanel's Illusion d'Or....

Toodles to all
BV

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Eye Shadow # 14 + Guerlain Khol Kajal

2011-07-20T01:18:00.000+10:00

Quick review of two products that I have been loving lately. I have been doing quite a lot of lovey dovey posts lately haven't I? Bizarre that! I wonder if there are any products that I have been using lately that I hate?? I'll get back to you on that.

Guerlain 'Terracotta - Terra Inca' Khôl Kajal - Black Frida

This is a product that I have been dying to try out for years. Yep, for years! This is a Guerlain Khol Kajal stick. It came out again with the Guerlain Terracotta collection and while I think this has a RPP of about $50 in Australia, I purchased this for $36 at Nordstrom online. It contains 0.1 oz which equals 2.8 grams of product. Seems quite a lot to me as most eyeliners (including UD 24/7) contains a mere 1.2 grams of product or 0.04 oz. BV is also a massive Frida Kahlo fan and I have been since I was a teen (a very long time ago!).

I have been using this product for about a month or so now (I think - maybe 3 weeks..?) and I really really like it. I think the real test of this product will be in about 6 months time when the stick changes shape from constant use. I'll do a review once that time arrives! Okay, here is Guerlain's promo picture. It is in a tube with a ribbon at the end of a plain black plastic tube. Like a lipstick container I guess.

Guerlain Khol Kajal - image owned by Guerlain

Here it is with my Armani ETK in colour 14 - Gold Spirit. More on that in a bit, let's focus on the kajal first. NOTE: I have not fully unwound the tube there. Sorry about that.

Armani ETK #14 Gold Spirit + Guerlain Khol Kajal

Now, long time readers will know that I have also tried L'oreal HIP kohl eyeliners. This was 3 years ago people!! OMG I'm shocked that this blog has been going on for this long! I noticed that my picture taking ability has not really improved over that time. HA. Anyway, the L'oreal numbers were copying the Guerlain's powder kohl which is also available now with the Terracotta collection. I decided to get this kajal stick instead because the problem I had with the L'oreal HIP eyeliners were that the powder often migrated from the waterline and gave me a charming panda look. Of course, it wasn't so much charming panda as it was Courtney Love after a 3 day drug bender (drugged panda look maybe?). Basically, it was not a good look.

In a recent review of my Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner I said I preferred the twist up plastic pencil eyeliners because I don't have to sharpen the pencil and therefore waste a whole lot of product. As you can see from my EOTDs, black eyeliner is a serious staple for me and I go through a lot of product over a year. The Guerlain Khol Kajal cuts out the middle man even MORE because the product is just there - unadulterated - waiting for use! It adds a beautiful dark black smokiness to any look. I apply this in the Eastern method (putting the tip in the corner of your eye, closing your eyes and sweeping the product along your eye rims - YT it - it is easy) and then I use the tip of the product again on my waterline to add the extra darkness. Not too much cos I am worried about making the end of the product blunt.

My cons list

1. It isn't waterproof. You know I live for waterproof right? I can still use it - I use it on top of my Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner for added intensity.

2. It is pretty expensive. However, it will last a long time (much longer than standard eyeliner!) so it does offer value for money.

3. It is limited edition. IMO Guerlain should make this sucker permanent.

4. What happens after extended use..? Will I be left with just a tree stump with no point? If that happens and I have to use a brush - I will be seriously bummed out. It is just so easy to use with this shape, I don't know if I can be bothered doing that. Food for thought.

My pros list

1. If I apply quite a bit of this over my Colorstay eyeliner, it does smudge a bit during the day. HOWEVER, this is not a charming panda or a Courtney Love drug bender smoky. Nor is it an Avril Lavigne loaded up, faux-punk black smoky. (Please do not take offence Lavigne fans.) It is truly a subtle smoked out look. I have never been able to smoke out my eyeliner using standard products without looking OTT so this is a huge PLUS. Revolutionary in fact.

2. It appeals to both my gadgety side as well as my ethnic love side. I know that there are many such stick products in India - but that is hard for me to get in Australia and I know that Guerlain performs pretty well. It is actually my mum's favourite brand of makeup/cosmetics.

3. It is soft (but not overly so) and very easy to apply. It is a matte black shade which I really love. It is darker than my Revlon Colorstay eyeliner.

CAUTION

I have used this just by itself and it has looked bad. Think Courtney Love drug bender bad. However, an application of this with my Revlon Colorstay really works well. I have ordered a back up of this - that's how much I love it.

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill - Silk Eye Shadow # 14 - Gold Spirit

How on EARTH did I miss this product?? Yep, I am so behind the times... It isn't a cream/powder formula btw. It is a tightly compressed metallic powder that seems almost moist. Little to no fallout during application and certainly no fallout during the day. Highly pigmented, metallic and rich looking. I purchased this for the ridiculous price of $47 AS in David Jones but the others colours I wanted were sold out. I also want to get #6 (ordered from Nordies for a more reasonable $32 US) but I also want to get the black/red colour + purple colour. Sold out in US and AS from the look of it. Yeah, you know this must be a good product for that craziness to occur - right?

Here's a quick swatch on dry skin. Look at that! It actually reminds me of the MAC metal rich pigments (is that what it was called?) which I missed out on at the time and subsequently bought samples online. The texture of that product while good is no where near as good as ETK. As it should - this stuff is really expensive. Contains 4 grams of product btw which isn't that much if you think about it.

swatch with flash - Armani ETK # 14

It looks scary Liberace in that swatch - but you don't have to use that much of it. You can go really hot and heavy or keep it light and casual. Heh. I love my puns people. Some EOTDs for you.

Quick product run down:

Face - Temptu system in #5 Beige. No powder.
Eyebrows - Anastasia Brow Powder in Ebony + Anastasia Brow Gel.
Eyeshadow base - Lancome Aqua Base
Eyeshadow - Armani ETK # 14, Urban Decay Loaded, NYX Nude
Eyeliners - Revlon Colorstay in black, Guerlain Khol Kajal in Black Frida, UD 24/7 in Mildew
Mascara - Sana EXTRA LARGE Mascara, Etude House Dr Mascara Fixer in Perfect Lash

EOTD with Armani ETK # 14 - just applied

EOTD with Armani ETK # 14 - after 8-9 hours

As you can see from the "later" photo - the choice of not powdering my face was not the best decision. I should have powdered in retrospect. It looks like I have some creasing (maybe my base?) but nothing major. Certainly, nothing looked bad in person, it just looks bad in the photo. HA.

This is an unbearably long post. Thank you for reading it all the way through - if I haven't lost you already. Both are 5/5 products for me. I just remembered some crappy products I have in my drawer - maybe I'll review them next in case you think I've lost my ability to judge!

Toodles
BV

Instant tan techniques - Maybelline Mineral Power + Banila Co The Secret...

2011-07-17T03:10:00.000+10:00

When I first started this blog, I believed I was NC25 to NC30. I still don't know about that. For the longest time I thought I might be NC35... now I believe I'm back to NC25ish as I am seriously very pale. I mean, pale for me! It is winter here and for whatever reason, I am super dooper white. My neck in particular seem to be excessively white, it is super annoying because now all my foundations seem to be too dark for me.

Anyway, I thought I would tell you two products that are absolutely indispensable to me nowadays. Banila Co Highlighter, The Secret in color 02 Moon. I just love the name of this.. The Secret... sounds mysterious no? I think this is around $12 US and I purchased this on Gmarket. It is aping the Benefit product (I can't remember what that is called!) only about half the price.

I found the Maybelline product in a discount bin at my chemist. I has a very long name Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Bronzing Liquid Veil. Phew what a mouthful. It only cost me $7.50 AS/US for 90 grams of product and I can't leave the house without this on my neck!! Unfortunately this looks like it is discontinued which is a shame as it is a great product. It is basically a transfer proof instant tan product - a dark gel which dries to look like tanned skin. This definitely dries very quickly so you have to work FAST. Once it is on, even shirts with white or pale collars have zero stains! It washes off with soap and water. No horrible fake tan smells either although the product is slightly perfumed.

Banila Co The Secret - 02 Moon + Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Bronzing Liquid Veil

Here's what the product looks like on the skin. The Maybelline looks more liquid than it is in real life. It is a gel - a consistency similiar to antibacterial hand gel products.

Banila Co - 02 The Moon + Maybelline Natural Bronzing Liquid Veil

You want proof? Here tis. My arm with natural skin on the left and a very thin coat of Maybelline Liquid Veil on the right. Look how bloody pale my arm is folks! Geez. I usually use about 2 thin coats of this on my neck because it isn't dark (it is the Medium shade). I think it looks really natural - not orange at all.

I use the Banila Co product (light cream highlighter) to mix with my foundations to give my skin a more luminous finish. The below picture is Estee Lauder's Doublewear foundation in Sand (which is now too dark for me btw and I must tan the neck for this as well!) with highlighter and without.

In terms of ratio - the above picture was about 50% highlighter and 50% foundation. This becomes too shimmery IMO and was used to illustrate the different finishes of the foundation. I would not recommend you do this because your skin will look too shiny - esp in photos!!

I think Estee Doublewear can be a bit thick and can go cakey. If I just use one pump of foundation (MAC pump as this foundie does not come with a pump!) I'll mix a small dot of the highlighter. This makes the foundation less thick and easier to apply on my face. Also, it adds a luminous quality to my face which looks really quite good. No, not greasy - just luminous. Not quite as good as the luminous quality of my Chanel Teint Innocence, but pretty close. This way I have the durability of Doublewear (IMO the most durable of all the foundations I have ever used!) with the finish of one of my other faves - Teint Innocence.

I love both these products and would recommend them to you. I have the Banila Co product in pink as well (01 Star) but I think the darker tan color is better for me. Yep, another 5/5 from me!

Toodles!
BV

Chanel Byzance Palette - Topkapi

2011-07-10T16:58:00.000+10:00

When I was last at the Chanel counter at Myer (this is the Chanel Makeup Boutique or whatever they call it) I wanted to ask them when the new Fall Chanel nail polishes were being released. (Apparently OCTOBER wtf!!???) Anyway, while I was there I spotted the Topkapi palette. My Chanel loving friend at work was telling me about the very exclusive Chanel Byzance Lumiere palette which was extremely limited but of course they didn't have that palette.

Chanel has recently impressed me quite a bit. I am very fond of their foundations (Teint Innocence and Mat Lumiere) and I really love their loose powder. Unfortunately, I am not too impressed with their lipsticks (Rouge Allure + Rouge Allure Laque) so it isn't an all round favourite brand with me. Whenever I've swatched their eye palettes in store I've been very disappointed with both the finish (powdery) and pigmentation. However, when I swatched the Topkapi in the store, I pretty much felt I had to get it. Smooth not powdery with very good pigmentation. I loved the colours too.

This costs $100 AS in Sydney and $65 US at the Chanel website. It contains 4 grams of product so it is 1 gram each of each colour - very small amount if you ask me. I have complained about service at the Chanel counter before so let me tell you I got served by a charming gentleman (who I've seen before) who was simply lovely. He even asked me if I wanted to buy 2 palettes because it would soon sell out and I might want another - what a lovely guy! In case you are wondering - no I only got the one and as I've already seen this palette for $100+ on ebay - I hope this is still available.

With flash. Topkapi palette.

Dry swatches with no base underneath. Very pigmented IMO. The darkest shade (bottom left) is quite matte.

Swatches in order of palette. With flash.

Quick EOTD. I did not do a great job with application actually but I know you'll over look that! I used all the colours in the palette except the gold colour.

Products used: Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Ebony (I always use this btw), Anastasia Brow Gel, UDPP, Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner (waterline/lashline), MAC Powerpoint pencil in Engraved, Sana EXTRA LARGE mascara with Etude House Dr Mascara Fixer. I think I used Stila Chinoise as highlight - not sure about that.

EOTD Topkapi palette

Personally, while I think the palette is beautiful, I don't think it is too wildly different to the colours in my UD Naked palette. This is an EOTD I did using my favourite colours from the palette: Half-baked, Smog and Darkhorse. I used the same products except the mascara (here I used Covergirl Lashblast) which you can see makes my lashes look substantially shorter!

EOTD UD Naked palette

I have a number of more expensive eye shadow palettes that I don't think are worth the extra money. I have Dior palette in Earthly Harmony, a few Guerlain palettes and others. I don't think I like them anywhere near as much as I do my Topkapi palette. I am still happy I bought this! However, if you don't want to spring for the extra money - I recommend either the UD Naked palette or even the Sleek palette in Storm which has very similar colours to this.

Final Verdict = 4/5

Not a 'must have' but a 'very nice to have' palette. I am hoping to completely use up the palette this year! At 1 gram per colour - that shouldn't be hard to do. Considering how disappointed I am usually with Chanel palettes (that I have swatched as opposed to own!) I'm very happy with this.

Cheers

PS I am looking for 'wet shine' eyeshadows... does anyone have any recommendations?

Deborah Lippmann - Glitter in the Air

2011-07-08T19:25:00.000+10:00

I haven't done a nail post in a while so I thought I'd do a quick review of Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. This came out several months ago and this is the second time I've worn it. The first time I wore it, I really didn't like it. Seriously - I had buyer's remorse - big time! The second time round, I don't really dislike it that much. I am still unsure how I feel about it actually. Recently I've begun to feel a bit flat about nail polishes - it is hard to get excited about new colours. So many things feel like I've seen it before and there is just such a sameness about it all - it's hard to fall in love with anything new... I think it is called NPF - Nail Polish Fatigue. I am not sure if other people feel that way - I just do at the moment.

Anyway, whenever I read the name of it - Glitter in the Air (is that a song btw? I don't know it if it is...) I think of Feel it in the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. LOL. That song is one of those extremely daggy but enjoyable songs. Digression. "I remember, I remember don't worry... how could I ever forget.." You know how it goes!

The thing I like about this polish is that it is really streak free. You could easily wear one coat of this - if you wanted to. I also like the fact that this is incredibly unique - I can't think of another colour that could pass for this.

The bad things are - and there are several - it is SO SO SO SO SHEER!!! And you get so little glitter on the brush each time, it is really reallly hard to build it up! This NOTD took at least 4 thin coats - possibly 5 coats plus Seche.

If I had any frankening ability at all I would just stick some glitter in some wishy washy thin base (Essie Ballet Slippers or something) and get a good likeness I think. For you adventurous sorts I recommend this to you!

With flash. About 4 or 5 thin coats of Glitter in the Air

I like the fact that this is grey blue base. It gives a greyish cast to the nails which I enjoy. It guess it does look a bit like glitter floating about in a smoky room... but I am still not sold on this. A friend at work called this colour "insipid" I'm a bit less harsh - I would describe it as "wishy washy". A neutral pink loving colleague wanted to buy this polish immediately - I guess it is all just personal preference.

No flash shot. Again, about 4-5 coats

While I think it is pretty and unique - it still seems a bit wishy washy to me. Too subtle perhaps. It is winter here in Australia (seriously freeziing ATM) and I think I might wear some darker colours soon. I think vamps might be the go. Anyway, I'll probably keep this in my stash for now - not sure if I will wear it again though!

If you like your neutrals and just want a lift - give this a go. If the idea of putting on 4-5 coats of polish drives you batty - steer clear of this one!

Take it easy

Potential HG alert! shu uemura uv primer, Revlon Colorstay eyeliner + Chanel Universelle Powder

2011-07-06T21:43:00.002+10:00

Given that I have so many fails lately, it is SO nice to report that I think I have found some new HG products! Thank God, I feel so relieved... phew.

Here are the HG candidates:

1. shu uemura's uv under base mousse

I purchased this as part of a small kit with shu cleansing oil for $38 AS/US at shu uemura in Sydney. It is in colour beige and contains 30 grams of product. The full size version which contains 50 mls (or possibly more..?) costs $54 AS/US. I thought it would be a massive waste if I purchased that (and hated it!) but to my surprise I love this primer.

It has the consistency of hair mousse (seriously, exactly the same!) and you only need a small amount for your whole face. It feels very sheer when you apply it and as a warning, it makes your skin a teensy bit lighter than it actually is. It doesn't worry me because sans makeup I'm about NC 25 which IMO is pretty damn pale. This product is only slightly whiter than that and of course when you put your foundie over the top it doesn't really matter anyway.

The BEST thing about this primer is that it lasts ALL DAY, has supreme oil control (big plus in my book!) AND the best thing IMO is that it really evens out the skin - even some of my turtle like skin on my forehead. It is really amazing for hiding/concealing fine lines. My face is entirely full of fine lines - seriously. You know, I don't own this book anymore so I wish I could quote it properly for you. It is from Mishima's Runaway Horses. In it he describes the face of an older woman who is a bit of a Monet, far away she looks okay but up close her face is full of tiny lines - like rice paper. I feel that is the texture of my skin btw - rice paper or turtle - both will work! Sad. I digress.

The only negative thing about it is that I live in terror of it causing breakouts. It kind of "seals in" the moisture on your face so I feel that it is potentially pore clogging which as you know can make you break out heaps. I've been using this for over 2 weeks with no significant problems but it may cause problems for others. Once I finish this I will probably repurchase - it is available on http://www.sasa.com/ for about $35 US/AS.

shu uemura UV underbase mousse, Revlon Colorstay eyeliner in Black, Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre in 25 Peche Clair

2. Revlon Colorstay eyliner in Black

Now this has probably surprised you - no? I'm surprised too btw. I use black eyeliner on my waterline/tightline virtually every day. I traditionally use either Urban Decay 24/7 pencil or MUFE Aqua pencil but I find that while these products are very good, you really do end up wasting a lot of product due to the amazing softness of the pencil. Once you sharpen these a few times I feel like 80% of the pencil is gone. Also, these pencils are expensive so it ends up being pretty ridiculous.

I purchased these Revlon Colorstay eyeliners from ebay for $5 AS/US each inclusive of shipping. I find that I never need to sharpen these (one of those wind up pencils) even though there is a sharpener at the bottom of the pencil. It is not as dark as I usually like but it is a magic combination of both dry (important for lasting ability on the waterline) as well as being soft and smooth (but not overly so). I am overjoyed with this product - I will continue to use for waterline/tightline and I am not sure I want to try out anything else.

Quick swatch of some (not all) of my black eyeliners for you below.

Quick colour comparison with some well known black eyeliners

Scary picture I know! It want you to know that this product has the longest wear of any product I've ever used on my waterline. This is me minus eye makeup (I've used makeup wipe on the eye with some mascara and eyeliner remaining) but look at that waterline - it is still there after 12 hours of natural eye watering! Amazing. AND it is cheap and widely available. That's a big plus.

I'd removed my eye makeup but can you seen the waterline/tightline still quite dark? Ignore scary skin + wrinkles under eyes.

Here's a quick picture of the shu uemura product on my hand. It is called 'beige' but it really just looks slightly off white to me!

shu uemura UV under base mousse in Beige - this may not be suitable for ladies much darker than NC 35... it leaves a slightly white cast

3. Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre Natural Finish Loose Powder

Okay, now this is a definite HG product. From now on, I'm not using any other loose face powder! I still have a lot of my NARS loose face powder to go (see earlier review here) but it was emphasising the turtle like skin on my face. I just didn't like the finish of it. Weird cos I did like it when I was a young 20 something kid!

I am using colour 25 peche clair which is perfect for me as it is a slightly peachy beige which means that it neutralises a lot of the yellowness in my foundies. I don't know, it is really quite translucent so unless you are really pale or really dark I think most of the colours in this powder's colour range would suit you.

AMENDED 7/9/2011: See swatches and pictures below.

Added heavy swatch of powder over RMK foundation - about 3 shades darker than my skintone

Even a heavy swatch blends perfectly

See flash picture above - colour is a peach toned beige

Believe it or not this product retails for $52 US (wtf?) and contains 30 grams of product. This is more expensive than NARS but it is cheaper than MUFE which costs about $25 for 10 grams of product.

This leaves NARS and MUFE for dead. Yes, you heard right - FOR DEAD! I purchased this for about $38/AS US at http://www.sasa.com/ btw. So look around - you can get cheaper prices online.

The best thing about this product?? The very best thing?? It is sheer, natural looking AND does not emphasise fine lines. Yes, no caking - not wrinkle inducing - just mattified natural looking skin. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Yes, I will not be looking for any more face powders anymore.

Do I still need to tell you that these are all 5/5 products for me? Not really right?

Take it easy guys!

Over and out

Search for Spock Part IV - the Battle! Clinque, Armani, Rimmel, Neutrogena and Maybelline

2011-07-02T18:06:00.000+10:00

Hi Guys

Just realised it has been over a month since my last post. Whoa Nelly. I didn't realise it had been quite that long. Well, I thought it was HIGH TIME I finished my Search for Spock posts - or my Holy Grail search for a perfect foundie.

Although BV is quite old, BV realises that some of her readers are very young indeed. When I was a teen I used Covergirl, Maybelline and Revlon foundations. Were these the best foundations? No, not really - these were just the only foundations that fit within my price range!

Here are 3 foundations I purchased from Walgreens. All contain 30 mls of product. Prices are in US dollars.

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation - There is an actual mousse version of this foundation which I have tried years and years ago when I was younger. I didn't like the mousse version - from memory the coverage and lasting power was crap. However, I prefer pump bottle foundies and so I thought I'd give this a go. It cost around $10 US.

Neutrogena Healthy Mix Foundation - apparently a dupe for NARS foundation which btw I do not intend to purchase. This was the most expensive of the lot - I paid $11 US for this. Not very expensive I must admit.

Rimmel Lasting Foundation - Okay, I had read zero reviews of this product - I just thought I'd try it because it was reduced to $3.98 US. For $4 - I'd pretty much try anything. LOLz. No, actually, I'm serious. I had forgotten that Rimmel foundies are super dark and this was is a bit dark for me actually.

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse in Nude, Neutrogena Healthy Skin makeup in Nude and Rimmel Lasting Finish in Soft Beige. All contain 30 mls of product

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse

I can't say too much about the lasting power of this product, the coverage was way too sheer for me to give it a go. I will say it gives a lovely satin matte finish and does not settle into fine lines. If you have mature, normal skin with no serious blemishes - this is a good one to try. BV's skin is not good enough to give this a go but it does leave a nice finish. Good for ladies who do not like to wear makeup - this is very lightweight stuff indeed.

I have an extra comment to make about the fantastic packaging for this product. The pump is quite delightful. It is like my MAC foundie pump (purchased for $6 US each!) which has a twist lock with excellent pump control. When you pump this stuff out, it indeed has a mousse like texture and it is not runny or hard. Nice work Maybelline. If I had great skin and just looking for something to even everything out - I would choose this.

Neutrogena Healthy Mix Foundation

Oh man, the worst thing about this foundation is the bottle. Look at this folks...

Neutrogena Healthy Skin has the worst bottle - the mouth on this thing is HUGE

Come on Neutrogena - is this a foundie or a litre of Cola? I'm just saying. LAME. This foundation is tremendously watery too so you really do end up dispensing crap tons more than you mean too when you use this. This foundation has shimmery particles in it which gives the product a luminous finish. I imagine it would easily look greasy on my skin after a few hours. It is pretty close to my actual skintone which is a plus.

However, the coverage is very poor and I have heard the lasting power is equally rubbish. Please see this excellent review of NARS and Neutrogena foundies here. I love this gal btw. Pity I can't say the same for this foundie.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation - Believe it or not, I have actually worn this foundation despite the fact it was way too dark for me. Given that I was actually willing to test it out for a day on my face, of the 3 foundies this offered the most promise! It has a gel like consistency and is perfect with the squeeze tube design. The squeeze tube is really easy to use. Economical too because you can use every last drop.

I did not find the wear on this to be outstanding. For something that is supposed to provide 12 hour of coverage, I found that 5-6 hours later there was a considerable amount of fading. That's a bit lame in my book.

The gel like foundation offers a very satin finish which looks relatively nice when first on and luckily does not sink into lines as the day goes on, but for an oily skinned gal like me - it ended up looking a bit greasy. I have to say that for the price, this is not a bad product at all.

Sad to say all 3 foundations are a fail for me. I think the Maybelline foundation is good for people with clear skin - not sold on Neutrogena at all - and the Rimmel might be okay for people with dry skin or normal skin who are looking for about 6 hours of reasonably good coverage.

Here are the swatches.

Maybelline Nude, Neutrogena Nude, Rimmel Soft Beige. MAC NC 30 added for comparison purposes

Here are the final 2 foundations that I purchased as part of my Spock quest. Giorgio Armani's Lasting Silk Foundation and Clinique's Even Better Foundation. Both contain 30 mls of product.

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk

At $59 US this is the most expensive foundation I have purchased. I mean US prices not AS prices. I think this would probably retail for about $100 AS or more here in Australia. I know, OUCH. There's a lot of talk about this product and the word on the street has been positive. I can report that this is indeed an excellent product but it may cause blemishes for some. I believe this has caused a few blemishes on my skin (not massive breakout but one or two spots) which may have been caused by something else - but possibly this foundation. I'm just putting that out there for anyone who may be interested in this product!

While I thought colour 6.5 would be a good match for me and suitable for NC30 (which is what I think I am now). I don't think this is NC 30 - I think it is darker than that. I personally think this would be at least a NC 35 or possibly close to NC 40. I wear foundies slightly darker than my actual skin tone so that does not bug me too much but this is possibly too dark and yellow for me.

I am tempted (sorely tempted in fact) to get this in 4.5 and mix them because despite the colour being slightly off - this is a very good foundation. It evens things out very nicely, is thin (despite feeling a bit heavy when you pump it out of the bottle) and lightweight - it contains quite a bit of silicone I'd imagine from the feel of it - if this bugs you keep that in mind. It builds beautifully (indeed, I use about 3-4 very thin layers of this!) and lasting power is great. It is almost as good as my Estee Doublewear - I'd say the lasting power is indeed EXCELLENT. Huge surprise for me I must say. With any silicone heavy product, for anyone acne prone please make sure you remove ALL this foundation as soon as you can. Silicone can clog pores and cause spots so keep that in mind also.

Clinique Even Better Foundation

Now, okay, this is a good product as well. Not quite as smooth as the Armani foundation but this comes close. This retails for $24.95 US so it is substantially cheaper than Armani. Lasting power and finish is not as good as Armani - but at less than the half the price it is a very good product IMO and if you can't afford or don't want to cough up the extra money - I'd say this is a close bet.

The colour Neutral looks dark but it doesn't look that dark when you rub it in. It isn't as yellow as Armani 6.5 and I believe this is more flattering for my skin. It is actually lighter than Armani 6.5 when applied on the face.

In terms or repurchasing, I would repurchase the Armani again but not the Clinique. Basically, I am old and anything that reduces the look of fine lines is worth the extra $$ in my opinion. Mind you, if I had a whole lot of financial responsibilities or burdens (single, living at home me = serious lack of financial responsibilities!) I'd buy the Clinique.

Both are foundations that perform very well and I would recommend either one to you - with Armani being the better product.

Giorgio Armani Foundation in 6.5, Clinique Even Better foundation in 05 Nude

You can see from the swatches - both are thicker formula foundies. This does not impact on the ease of using this - both spread well and sink well into the skin.

Okay, this looks CRAZY but both foundations rubbed in look the same colour. The Clinique foundation is marginally lighter but not by much believe me.

Phew - this was rather long. Okay, I'm going to do a few more posts today to catch up on lack of posts from before... I'm also doing a post on some HG products I am now using (thank you LORD I can stop buying different versions of this product now!) and some things I use to make my face look a bit more natural.

Over and out

Search for Spock III - foundation reviews - the Japanese edition - Anna Sui, Lunasol and RMK

2011-05-31T13:47:00.000+10:00

Well, it has been a while hasn't it? Yep, I've been very quiet lately. I've been working on some projects at work that have kept me super busy. I was feeling a bit blue for a while - I seem to be over that now. Being busy does that I guess - it keeps the mind occupied!

I actually thought about shutting the blog down completely. I am still kinda feeling like I should because lately I am a bit fed up with things. Don't get me wrong - I have met some fantastic ladies through my blog. It has been fun communicating with people but lately I have been getting some comments on my older posts that seem as though they are penned by a PR company in disguise basically saying "this works really well and you don't seem to understand that". Well, I only give my opinion on things, you most definitely do not have to agree... I thought this was common sense peoples! Oh well...

And another kind reader pointed out that one of my konad designs was appearing as a "hot or not" item. For a laugh - see it here. It actually turned out that most of the voting comments were kind - I agreed with most of them in fact. However, this is the kind of thing that really puts me off. Don't worry, I realise that by putting it out in public (albeit to a limited number of people) comes with that sort of criticism. I am just wondering if it is really worth it in the end. Anyway, I am bemused for the most part but once it starts getting my goat I will probably just fade away into the sunset. Rant over. Onto the foundies.

Please note I purchased all these foundations from sasa.com. Yes, these items were all discounted so the RRPs are generally higher. RMK and Lunasol seems to be more exxy than this. You will be surprised to know that these cost me less than one bottle of Revlon Colorstay (retails for almost $40 in Oz!) sold in Australia. I know - unbelievable right? The RMK one is no longer available on sasa but you can find them from other places. Notably, RMK is sold through http://www.asos.com/ and comes with free shipping. Just a bit of FYI there.

Please note that all 3 foundations are identical in size - either 30 mls of product or 30 grams of product. All contain some level of SPF. Some pictures first I think.

All foundations purchased from sasa.com - with flash

Due to the strong Australian dollar I have felt quite at liberty to spend up on foundations - as you know I suffered from a really terrifying acne break out a few months back. The bumps have disappeared but the pigmentation remains. It is truly depressing guys. They will clear in time but at the moment it seems very far away!! Sans makeup I look like the victim of some terrifying medieval skin condition. Maybe smallpox, maybe black death - I'm not sure.

Note the different nozzles/bottle mouth for each foundie - sorry that looks messy!

A brief comment on each before I get to the swatches.

1. Anna Sui Protective Fluid Foundation

I am a complete Anna Sui novice. I believe this is the first Anna Sui product I have ever purchased! This foundation is completely liquid - very watery indeed. In fact, like a nail polish, this seems to contain a ball bearing which rattles inside the bottle as you shake it. A bit unusual no? The thin nozzle at the top of the bottle means excellent control when using the product. It kinda reminds me of eye drops.

I am not sure if all Anna Sui products contain this scent - I suspect it is the signature rose scent. Guys, I do not fancy this smell! It is far too strong for my taste - this puts me off it quite a bit. It is slightly granny as well... I don't like it.... I know this is a popular brand so it might just be me.

Surprisingly, this product seems quite matte when first applied. Not sure if it stays matte, but I suspect this might even be too drying for ladies with dry skin.

Despite the runny texture this offers surprisingly good coverage. I would describe this as light to medium and buildable. What is not so good is the colour choice. I am not sure if all of her foundations are like this but this leaves me with a grey cast. Perfect for when I am dressed as the undead for Halloween, but not so much at other times.

Another strange thing worth noting is that this foundation seems to really stick to the skin. Kinda like waterproof foundations. It sticks rather than melts. Same with the Lunasol one also. I cannot review this foundation properly due to the smell, colour choice and stick factor. I may end up giving this away or trying to mix it with something else. Difficult.

2. RMK Liquid Foundation

Despite this being too dark for me, I probably like this foundation the most out of all three foundations. It is a cream that really is quite liquid - more liquid than I generally like. Note the wide mouth of the bottle - you can very easily tip out too much of the foundation. I usually dispense foundations on the back of my hand for application and listen - I have spilled ginormous amounts of this on my hand. Annoying bottle mouth if you ask me.

People do rate RMK highly and I can see why. I actually saw this great English lady applying this on a YT video but I can no longer find it. It works well with the skin and looks natural. It provides light to medium coverage and is buildable. It contains no obvious smell and works really well. It is darker than I expected - most Japanese foundations tend to be on the pale side. This is probably one of the darkest colours I have ever seen in a Japanese foundie! I like it because it is not yellow based. I could easily mix this with some of my lighter foundations for a natural result (maybe Chanel Teint Innocence in 20). It provides a natural finish - more on the dewy side than the matte.

I will be keeping this foundation but unfortunately with my dark spots it does not provide enough coverage for me. Depressing but true. I will be keeping this foundation - it may be the only one I end up keeping from this batch!

3. Lunasol Water Cream Foundation

The first thing I want to say about this product is that the jar is a joke. I seriously hate it. Surely this gel is runny enough to put in a pump or a tube Lunasol? Whatever! This, like the RMK one, generally retails for about $55-$60 US. It ain't cheap. Please see a fantastic demonstration of this product here.

I find it hilarious that the girl in the Lunasol demonstration has perfect skin to begin with. That says a lot about this product! Much like the girl in the Lunasol video, I cannot recommend this for coverage purposes. In fact, it feels a lot like my MUFE face and body foundation in terms of coverage. Baby, this stuff is SHEER. It's one of those "looks like you have no foundation on" products that really only work if you have perfect skin to begin with. Not a winner. Also, slightly pale for my complexion to be honest. However, it is so sheer that I could get away with it anyway.

Okay, more swatches.

Application of product - note the different textures

Foundation spread out a bit. Note the slightly ashy quality of Anna Sui

Foundations rubbed in. As you can see, very sheer stuff indeed

This is not a proper review. None of these offer the coverage BV needs at the moment. I don't have any bumps on my face - just the dark spots. I am at a loss as to how to cover them at the moment - none of these do that job for me.

The only one that is really out for me is the Anna Sui one. Not sure why that looks as ashy as it does on me - is this the range or just this colour on me? - impossible to know! Combine that with the strong smell - I don't fancy it. After I get my projects sorted out I will be having a small giveaway with all my foundation rejects. I hope so anyway. It seems a waste otherwise.

In summary, unless you have pretty good skin to begin with, these products may not offer you the coverage you need. I think if you do have good skin and looking for a sheer foundation... you may wish to try some of these. The sheerest being the Lunasol foundie.

Hope you found this useful! I may give a more in depth review in about 6 months when my skin can take a sheer foundation!

Peace out

PS I have been having difficulty lately responding to comments on my blog. I am also experiencing difficulties commenting on other people's blogs! I have found that if I untick (is this a word?) the "embedded" option in my comments profile this works but I still can't leave comments on other people's blogs. Kat - I can't leave comments on your blog in particular - but I am experiencing this with other people as well. Technology can be so trying. Word.

Aquatic Blue comparisons - RBL Bikini Bottom, Chanel Riva and Illamasqua Nudge

2011-05-11T20:43:00.000+10:00

Hi Guys

Just realised it has been 2 weeks since my last post. What can I say, work is really bloody hectic. I have about 5-6 new foundations since my last Chanel post and I can say that while they are quite good, I can't really test them out at the moment since my face is still recovering from its massive breakout and needs severe coverage! (Chanel Teint Innocence and Estee Lauder Double Wear being used almost daily!)

I am seriously going through a comedy of errors re: foundie colours. I actually starting to fake tan so I can wear a darker foundie without looking ridiculous and guess what? Now my face doesn't match the rest of me! It was looking way too light today. Seriously guys - what a chore! More to come on this topic at a later date. I wish I had perfect skin - I really really do. Anyhoo... onto this.

Have you ever longed for a polish the same colour as the light blue ocean on some pristine tropical island? I have. I have wanted this for a LONG TIME believe me. Not quite a Moby Dick type search (that's more like my perfect foundie search) - I think it was more of a homage to Jacques Cousteau actually. I tried to get RBL's Bikini Bottom during the half price RBL sale a while ago and while I did manage to snag Black Russian - I missed out on Bikini Bottom. Lucky for me, RBL re-released this colour a while back and so I jumped on it!

I asked my nail polish bestie at work to bring in her old bottle and it is definitely a different colour to the older version! - but I am still happy with this. For comparison purposes I thought I would do a comparison with this and Chanel Riva as well as Illamasqua's Nudge. A friend gave this to me a while back and I am SO glad I didn't pay for it. More on this to come...

The bottle pics show that all 3 colours have serious aquatic potential.

With flash

I think the without flash colours are more colour accurate but they just are a bit washed out looking. Sorry guys - I really do suck at taking pictures.

Without flash

This is a real quick and dirty swatch for you. Sorry - that Nudge looks horrific! It was hasty application I guess. Note that my fast and dirty approach did not affect the application of RBL's Bikini Bottom - look how streak free that is!! Illamasqua's polishes - while some I love - I generally find the formula too thick for me. Especially this - it is really chalky and thick and as you can see - quite effing streaky. Riva is streaky as well but not as bad as Nudge. Just to let you know, that dark colour under my nails is defn not dirt. I was wearing RBL Anne today which is pretty dark and I still have some under my nails which is typical when I have short nails + tip wrapping. *sigh*

1 coat with flash

Whoa, sorry about this 2 coat picture. Nudge is put on WAYYYY too thick. (Come on guys - this is quick and dirty remember?) Still, I find that colour quite off putting in that it is a pastel chalky colour. I really don't like it... I feel it is too Pollyanna for me and I generally hate the chalky texture of pastels.

Chanel Riva - well, you can tell that will need another coat to even that streakiness out. It is pretty aquatic but please keep in mind that the shimmer is really only apparent in flash photos. Without flash it is more of a secret shimmer. RBL Bikini Bottom - CLEAR WINNER!! I like the way it looks at 2 coats - I wouldn't do more than that. In the swatch test with the old Bikini Bottom - this newer version seemed more pigmented (not as sheer) and was a brighter blue. The older version seems greyer and more sheer. Just IMO! RBL was the cheapest of all three polishes for me (okay, RRP for Australian peeps don't forget!) and it is most definitely worth $18 US.

2 coats with flash

It is sheer without streakiness. It still has this beautiful slightly grey toned aquatic feel. INSTANT LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!

I give major props to RBL for coming up with the colour and IMO is the PERFECT acquatic blue.

Take it easy guys!
BV

NOTD: OPI Last Friday Night + Barry M Limited Edition B - pic heavy!

2011-04-26T18:41:00.014+10:00

For all you Sydney ladies... Please note that you can still buy the OPI Katy Perry collection at DJs! They have all the colours except Black Shatter. The OPI Pirates collection is also out at DJs but the only colour I was interested in (Silver Shatter) is sold out. Why does this seem to be my constant fate in life?? None of the other colours took my fancy so I guess I will have to hunt down Silver Shatter on Ebay!

I had been umming and arrhing as to whether to fork out the money for the Katy Perry polishes. Personally, I am not into her music (more of a Gaga girl myself!) but the two colours I really wanted from this collection were the 2 glitters - Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night.

Strangely, Teenage Dream (same kind of glitter as Last Friday Night just pink!) is way more dense than Last Friday Night. The sheerness factor meant I decided to layer it with one of the few blues in my collection I thought would go with this colour. I actually thought it was Barry M Royal Blue (which I did own at one stage but gave away to a friend cos this one was very similar if not identical!). It is actually part of a Barry M set I got that was allegedly limited edition - basically it is a royal blue colour. OPI's Dating a Royal would go really well with this but as I haven't used this Barry M polish yet I thought I would layer it with this.

There is a lot of green based glitter in this so the nail colour looks almost teal like. It looks like Christmas fairy lights! I like this very much.

This is 1 layer of Barry M blue polish + 3 coats of OPI's Last Friday Night + Seche. Even with 3 coats you can see how sheer the blue jelly is in the polish.

Without flash. Very colour accurate.

With flash. Not colour accurate but you can see how blinged out this can be!

For some strange reason, I think this looks very much like one of my Nfu-oh flakies... I don't know if others who own this polish would agree. I don't have anything else like it in my stash so I am very glad I got this. Please see magnified close up. Do you see how blue and layered this looks?

Here are the two bottles. With flash.

To me, these are a welcome addition to my glitter collection! If you are a glitter fan - these are a must have! For those of you who do not like gritty glitter - prepare to be AMAZED. Non-bumpy glitter even without top coat! But you should wear a top coat cos the jelly texture of this dries slightly matt and I think for full blinged out effect you must use top coat!

Non-beauty related news

As you know I became obsessed with Jodhaa Akbar. In particular, I fell totally in love with the two leads - Aishwarya Rai + Hrithik Roshan. Did you know their first movie together was in a movie called Dhoom 2? (NOTE: This also stars Aishwarya's real life husband but I don't think they were married at the time!)

I hadn't watched a traditional Bollywood movie for a while so this movie was full of surprises. I really loved it although if you do not enjoy the genre (dancing, singing, implausible plot etc) you may not like this. Personally, I LOVED it. Hehehehe. It kept me giggling and to be honest I ended up really surprised by this. Interesting plot twists!

I thought I would entertain you by uploading this short beginning clip of the movie. (Copyright owned by Yash Rai films and you can buy this movie from here.) Yes - THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM! It stars Hrithik Roshan as the dancing lead - and guess what guys? He can really dance! I didn't actually know that but now I do! He has heaps of costume changes in this and well let's just say some of them made me SCREAM with laughter!! Just a quick comment - this movie fully utilises all known methods of using a wind machine. Heh.

I thought this intro was an interesting mix of things. Part Zumba, part Rent (the musical), part Mr JT and even a dash of the scene in Footloose where Kevin Bacon is dancing uncontrollably (and inexplicably) in an empty warehouse. If you haven't seen Footloose - YOU HAVE NOT LIVED! Younger people - get it out on DVD IMMEDIATELY!!

Toodles!

Search for Spock - Chanel Foundations - Mat Lumiere and Teint Innocence - pic heavy

2011-04-16T23:49:00.017+10:00

One of the strange things I’ve noticed about many Korean ladies is that they have a tendency to wear a foundation that is slightly too pale for them. It is very weird you know? I mean, it could just be they are wearing a foundation with SPF (hence white cast flash) but still – tis strange. I was reading one of my mother’s Korean mags (by read I mean I look at the pictures!) and there was a famous Korean celebrity who recently got married. To my great amusement her foundie was a pale white mask and listen – she was marrying a seriously loaded guy! The least she could have done was getting her colouring right! *snort*

But you know, I can’t afford to throw stones. Really truly I can’t! One thing I have come to realise that is I don’t know what colour I am anymore. It sounds like I am having a racial identity crisis!! But I am totally serious. I now realise the following:

I’m more beige than I thought I was. Wearing foundation that is too yellow is making me look ashy. Humiliating.

I have more dry spots on my skin nowadays. Maybe cos of all the drying creams I’ve been using to get rid of my acne – well kids it ain’t pretty I’ll tell you that much! Some foundies make me look like I have patches of the Sahara on my face. *sigh*

My fine lines have spread out all over my forehead and I have deepish lines under my eyes. Yes – I AM TURNING INTO KEITH RICHARDS! Nah, I’m just getting old. *sigh*. I have found that my thicker foundations can really fall into those fine lines and they just look worse. I can’t even DREAM of not using a primer anymore. Did I mention I’m getting old?

This brings me to two newish foundations I’ve added to my Search for Spock foundie quest. Chanel’s Teint Innocence and Mat Lumiere. I got one of each in 40 Beige (Intensity 2) and I just wanted to review them for you. Here they are - with flash.

Another picture - without flash. They both contain 30 mls of product. Believe it or not I bought both of these from Sasa. I would say that you need to be around NC35 or more to wear 40 Beige - this is for both Chanel foundations. Both of these are too dark for my skin tone. In a totally non-Asian way I actually like looking more tan. However, I have found out the hard way that looking too dark can look just as silly as looking too light... but more on that later!

Swatches - no flash. You can see Teint Innocence is a lot more fluid and runny than Mat Lumiere.

Swatches with flash. Aha - now you can see that while Mat Lumiere is quite close to my actual skin colour - Teint Innocence is looking way too dark - and orangey! More swatches - spread out a bit.

I’ve mentioned a YT guru team pixiwoo before I’m sure. I love this sister team a LOT. They use all types of foundations but their favourite foundation is Chanel. I have loads of friends also into Chanel foundations and I just never got into it… until now!

I bought both these foundations at www.sasa.com. Believe it or not – they were cheaper than the US AND they offer free shipping. I paid $47 US for the Teint Innocence and $39 for the Mat Lumiere. The Mat Lumiere retails for $52 US at Nordies so that is a significant saving guys. Check it out.

Surprisingly, I really fell in love with Teint Innocence. The first time I wore alone (previously I mixed it with other lighter foundies to make it look more like my actual skintone!) I thought I looked uber tanned and summerish (I am J-Lo I stupidly thought!) and I really loved it! It offers great coverage for something so runny and does not look cakey - does not settle into fine lines and makes my skin look GREAT!!

However, the bad news is that this foundation is too dark for me, oxidises a bit AND it does not last as long as Mat Lumiere. This impacts highly on the day wear/coverage of this product. Unfortunately, as this foundation is in the midst of being discontinued, I went ahead and ordered another 2 bottles of this thinking I had found my HG foundie. Alas, BV was SADLY MISTAKEN.

On my "oh, I'm totally J-Lo day" a work colleague and good friend told me that my foundation was "way way too dark" and it looked terribly unnatural. I did a quick ask around at work and people made comments like "Oh, I never thought you wore much make up before but today I'm thinking - she's wearing a lot of makeup." This was TERRIBLY HUMILIATING because this foundie is really thin and other times I have worn really thick foundations and I had no negative feedback. I am ashamed to say I thought this foundation looked good on me!!!!!! Apparently it just looked too dark and unnatural. They tried to cheer me up by saying "oh, but I don't think you look orange like those celebrities who fake tan too much!". Talk about throwing an old dog a bone!!

The next day, I wore Mat Lumiere (30 Beige), wore my new neck bronzing cream (Estee Lauder Daywear mixed with sunscreen for slight biscuity looking darkness..) and my friend told me I looked very good and natural. Her words "a VAST improvement". Don't get me wrong, the Mat Lumiere is a great foundation with better coverage and wear time than the Teint Innocence but I really love the slightly dewy sheen the Teint Innocence gives me. It is like I am bathed in a soft light as my fine lines and dry patches are very neatly covered up. It does not look greasy either - just glowy. Yes, I felt like Blanche Dubois by candlelight - a lot of flaws were being fixed by this!

Life seems patently unfair!! I have ordered yet another bottle of Teint Innocence in a lighter shade (do you see how determined I am to make this work for me!) for mixing and I have found that mixing Teint Innocence 40 Beige with my MUFE HD in 117 seems to work pretty well for me.

Chanel in Sydney is still selling Teint Innocence ($78 AS/US I believe) but their colours are very limited compared to the US! Their lightest shade is Clair (20) and apparently they have heaps in stock.

I have really been doing a lot of damage to my credit card with all the new foundations I have purchased recently. I have about another 6-7 foundations to come and I still don't know if I have found Spock yet!! CURSES!!

Final Verdict

Mat Lumiere = 4/5

Teint Innocence = 4.5/5

I believe that both foundations perform well - a lot better than I expected. I personally like the finish of the Teint Innocence but it only offers light-medium coverage... and it fades. Mat Lumiere offers medium coverage and lasts longer... but it doesn't have the lovely glow of the Teint Innocence. *sigh*

I believe both these products justify the higher prices... I am super impressed! I am now a bit Chanel obsessed so please expect a few more Chanel products reviewed in the near future!

As a final treat - here is my little girl Wikki in her new autumn hoodie. She is so beautiful she doesn't need any makeup! Lucky darling!

Have a brilliant weekend guys!

Non-beauty related post - Jodhaa Akbar - pic heavy

2011-04-11T00:20:00.020+10:00

Hi Guys

I haven't done a non-beauty related post in AGES right? Oh, part of it was my blues mood (which I am still suffering from but I am getting better) but now I just wanted to post on this FANTASTIC movie I purchased recently. The movie is an Indian film called Jodhaa Akbar. I purchased this movie from Amazon UK - mainly because they have this deal at the moment that if you spend more than £25 (about $40 AS/US) you get free shipping to Australia. I got it here for about $13 Australian. TOTALLY WORTH IT because it is a very long film (3 discs) plus what I totally was not expecting - postcard movie stills!!! They are uber gorgeous. I have scanned them for you below. Okay - now how great does that look? Seriously! The gold jewellery in this was made especially for the movie and it looks GORGEOUS.

According to Amazon:

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century epic romance about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Political success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar (Hrithik Roshan)... The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of Jodhaa - a love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice.

Look at those costumes!! To me, this combines two of the world's best looking people. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. I love Hrithik's subtle guyliner here peoples! Aishwarya - of course - beyond compare!

To me, Aishwarya Rai is seriously the most beautiful woman in the world. (Which she is often called btw!) She is extremely beautiful and innocent in this. Her makeup was very natural and subtle which just made her look more flawless and innocent than ever. I should hate her but I just can't!! See her stills below.

Costumes in this are AMAZING. Look at that jewellery... *swoon*

There's a lot of sexual tension in this. Mainly cos this is an Indian film and they just don't do that. It just makes everything more tense IMO. There's quite a bit of this going on in the film btw... a veil between them...

This movie is seriously EPIC. It is like Gone with the Wind - the scale is IMMENSE.

Here's Hrithik on this golden throne. Yes, he is blinged out to the max - personally, I'm quite a fan of this look. But don't worry - he shows he is very macho also!

Seriously peoples - how gorgeous is he here? Man alive!

Okay, what in this world is more macho than fighting an elephant??

Anyway, I seriously loved this film. It had EVERYTHING I love. Epic, OTT, beautiful, historical drama with costumes with a romantic plot - filled with hunks (Hrithik!) and beautiful women (Aishwarya!) and the all important DRAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At times I almost wished it was a Western film so I could see these guys KISS!! Heh. Hope I didn't sound like a sicko.

I have read stories on the interweb that Hrithik and Aishwarya don't really like each other. You would never know from watching this movie that's for sure! It is a fantastic way to spend a lazy weekend. I'm so glad I got this. Of course, it has kind of ruined me watching other Bollywood films which are always fun but they tend to be a wee bit cheesy at times. Don't worry! Jodhaa Akbar only has the smallest bit of cheese in it.. after all, the whole elephant thing is a trifle cheesy non?

Over and out

Battle of the Eyeliners - Bobbi Brown v Etude House v Stila

2011-04-05T00:04:00.017+10:00

You will know from my previous EOTDs that I LIVE for black eyeliner. I seriously don't feel like me if I don't have it on. Unsurprisingly, I have used quite a few in my time.

Although when it comes to my waterline, I always use a pencil (actual pencil or mechanical pencil) for my actual eyeliner I always use a gel liner. My mother prefers a liquid liner - personally, I think they are too wet (therefore slow drying) and basically require greater hand coordination than I possess. As I am a fan of thick black eyeliner, I find the gel liner way easier in terms of getting a thick line with lasting power. Here are a few in my current arsenal.

Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner - 3 grams - RRP $21 US

Etude House Code B Strong Eyes Cream Liner - (not sure if 3 grams or 2.5 grams actually) - RRP $8.50 US

Stila Smudgepot in Black - 4 grams - RRP $20 US

I also have one MAC fluidline in Blitz and Glitz I think (or something similar) which is black with silver sparkles so I didn't think that was a good one to use for comparison purposes. In terms of texture, I find the MAC fluidline to be very similar if not identical to the Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner.

Swatch without flash.

Swatch with flash.

When I first started using gel eyeliners, my fave was Stila Smudgepot. I liked it because it is much more dry than either the Bobbi Brown Eyeliner or the MAC fluidline, it contained more product and was better value for money. However, as you can see from my swatches above - the Stila product is not as black or intense as my new favourite product - Etude House Code B Eyeliner. Here's an EOTD I did this week. Since I bought the Etude House Cream Liner (about a year ago) - I have been using it exclusively ever since!

Why is it better? (For me at least!) Well, let me list the ways:

1. It is cheaper - even if it is smaller - it is still way cheaper than either the Smudgepot or Bobbi Brown/MAC equivalent.

2. It is DARKER. It is a very intense black matte shade. I love it!

3. In terms of ease of application, I find the Bobbi Brown and the MAC product to be much more sheer and wet in terms of application. I have to go over my eye quite a few times in order for my liner to be "black" enough. I don't have to layer as much with the Etude House product. The Stila product is dryer and therefore a bit more difficult to "glide" on the lid. With the Etude House product, it is creamier and glides better - but is still dry enough to set super fast unlike my Bobbi Brown product.

4. I have been using the product for over a year, I still have about half the product to go with ZERO dry up problems. I have lots of problems with the product drying up with both Stila, MAC and Bobbi Brown - not so with Etude House. I think the formula (as it is cream) does not dry out as fast. BTW this product actually comes with a small brush which was quite good but of course I lost it almost as soon as I got it so who knows where that is now. C'est la vie.

I know you will want to know where I got this. Gmarket of course! Do a search for etudegmark or alternatively see the producthere.

It is actually quite rare for me to prefer a Korean product over all western counterparts but this product is by far the best I have ever used.

Final Verdict = 5/5

There are 3 colours available in this line up - I am using colour 1. Did you know they used pretty boy Min Ho Lee as the "model" for Etude House for this Code B line? It totally made me laugh... (more on this to follow).

The looks you can do with this product. Slightly smoky and dark as Hell - noting of course the dark as Hell is my fave. HA.

Min Ho Lee - if you know your Kdramas - is a pretty young thing in loads of advertisements lately. I saw him promoting other products (NOT Etude House funnily enough but CASS BEER for goodness sakes!) and he was sporting a TON of guyliner. I know he has some silly expressions on his face in the shots below but I actually love guyliner and wish more men would sport this look! He can lose the cheesy vinyl jacket though. Generally, I think it is more acceptable for men to look more ... metrosexual shall we say - than in Australia. The last time my mother went back to Korea she said (and you will know that my mother is truly one of the funniest people alive today):

What happens if Korea goes to war? We will LOSE for sure because all the men there have become girls! When I was a girl people would not have tolerated young men dressing the way they do now. We can't expect these weak-looking girly men to defend South Korea!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love you Mum.

Please see the dorky pic of him for Code B (bottom left) sporting a pink gun and silly look! Etude House - what a failed opportunity to do this boy up in guyliner and really flog this product!

Take it easy peoples!

Search for Spock - Foundation Search Part 2

2011-04-02T00:04:00.027+11:00

Now, as you know, I had a recent massive acne breakout. Thankfully this has settled down but my usual foundations (MUFE HD and Mat Foundations) were not cutting it in the coverage stakes. I felt I had NOTHING to cover up my skin. I was MASSIVELY depressed. I did something I usually do not do. I purchased 3 new foundations in Australia! I know what you are thinking: BV are you crazy? You know that Australian prices are double that of the US? What were you thinking?!! Well...

I was desperate and I needed something NOW not in 2-4 weeks.

I wanted to get colour matched by a SA. More on this later.

I had $200 in gift vouchers from Christmas and my birthday I hadn't used yet.

These three foundies are the subject of my review - I have added other colours in my swatches for reference purposes.

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation - colour Medium Ivory. I bought this in Australia for the outrageous price of $82 US/AS for 35 mls. US RRP = $42. I was colour matched by SA.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Coverage - colour 07 Medium Deep. Again, Australian purchase and I paid $68 AS for this - 30mls. US RRP = $32. SA tried to get me to buy Creamy Tan. Too orangely or pink if I recall. I rejected it even though I knew this one was darker.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation - colour 3N1 Ivory Beige. Australian price $68 dollars ($68 US) with US RRP of $32 - 30 mls. Believe it or not I got colour matched for this. Too dark guys by a shade or two.

Here's the swatch line up. I added the MUFE HD (as my usual suspect for foundie) and the Illamasqua Rich because this one really offers hard core coverage.

Indoors without flash. I have really bright flurescent lighting in my room (my mother insisted on it so I could study easily in my room as a teenager... no joke - how Asian right?) and I effing wish that department stores would do the same thing!!! That ridiculous soft yellow lighting is pathetic for colour matching.

Swatches with flash. Again, I have put it next to my MAC Full cover foundations in NC20 and NC30 for reference purposes. You can see from my swatches that Estee colours are really WAY too dark. I'm about a NC30 at the moment.

1. Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation - Medium Ivory - 35 mls - $82 AS (or $42 US I believe) I actually had an argument with the SA about this. I thought I was another colour (cashew beige) and she really got upset with me,

SA Quote: You are not as dark or as yellow as you seem to think you are! Your current foundation is too dark and ashy!

It was almost funny! I was slightly offended but I knew her heart was in the right place. I still am not convinced it is a perfect colour match but I guess it isn't so bad. You can see it from the flash picture - but it seems a bit orangey to me. This foundation offers good coverage - better than than MUFE HD and Mat Foundations IMO.

Laura Mercier describes this as "a rich and luminous foundation offering full coverage while hydrating and protecting the skin".

I'd call it medium to full coverage. I find it slightly hard to build it up though. Make no mistake - this is a good foundation!! The thing I really love about it is that this foundation melts into my skin. I mean really melts! I love that. The melting moment makes this a far better choice than MUFE HD although this imparts a dewy finish. As you know, I am not a huge fan of dewy as I have oily skin but I don't find it too oily or anything. It certainly isn't the oil factory that my Lancome Teint Idole was. Good stuff. I am thinking of getting my Mother onto this after she finishes the Bobbi Brown foundie she is currently using.

2. Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Coverage Foundation - 07 Medium/Deep - $68 Australian (or US $32) Now, this was a new discovery for me. What else do you call a foundation that is promoted (by Estee of course) as follows:

12-hour staying power. Soothing, natural-looking, liquid-creme makeup for concealing all skin imperfections, including surgical and acne scars, birthmarks, sun spots and varicose veins. Helps protect with SPF 15. Suitable for post-surgery use as directed by your physician. Developed and tested in collaboration with surgeons and dermatologists.

Yep, it covers. Oh boy - this covers!! Don't believe me? Just look at this charming young man on YouTube doing a demo. Yes - this YT video is how I found out about this product. XxLangDuxX‬‏

Unlike Illamasqua Rich Foundation or my Dermablend, this does not feel thick, oily or greasy. In fact, this is a very thin cream that dries matt - very FAST. Unfortunately it comes in 6 limited shades. I have purchased another lighter colour (Creamy Ivory) from Nordies to mix with this. I have NEVER used a product that offers such great coverage in a formula that is so thin and non-oily. I love this - just wish there were more colours. At the moment I'm mixing a small amount of this with my Laura Mercier silk creme foundation and getting a pretty close colour match for my skin. I only use this as a concealer though, not as a full face cover.

3. Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation - 3N1 Ivory Beige - $68 Australian - US RRP $34

I was colour matched for this. Yeah, she was wrong. Heh, she was really kind though and even made a "gift with purchase" for me and my mother - even though there wasn't a standard gift with purchase at the time! Again, I had to purchase another colour from Nordies to mix with this (Sand).

I was afraid this was going to be like Revlon Colorstay which does not work for me. It is similar to the Revlon product but just WAY WAY better. I use this with a damp sponge and it blends well. I am VERY HAPPY with this product. You can easily just go over any imperfections with the damp sponge for a second or third thin coat - this product builds beautifully. The only negative thing is that the bottle has an open neck. I have purchased 2 MAC pumps (which apparently fit perfectly with these Estee bottles) but I think Estee should bloody provide a pump to avoid wastage.

Believe it or not, I have more foundations on the way. So yes, I will do an in depth review on them then. For some great reviews on foundation - please check out the following YouTube videos:

Pixi Woo - Guide to Estee Lauder foundations

Pixi Woo - Guide to Chanel foundations

If you want a heavy coverage foundie - you need a perfect match. This means trial and error. If the SA is willing - take a few small containers and decant enough product for one application. You can try it at home for one day - check oxidation etc. Try to avoid buying in desperation like moi cos you may need to buy ANOTHER bottle of the same product just to get a good colour match. However, since I do love all 3 foundations and their formulas - it doesn't bother me too much. In fact, when I have a HG foundie I usually buy another colour to mix with the other when I am darker.

Hope this was useful - it is a bit bloody long isn't it?

Toodles

The Search for Spock - BV's quest for new foundation - recent failures!!

2011-03-25T23:13:00.006+11:00

As you know, I have been stewing very slowly over the past few months. Basically I'm a rather lethal combo of general malaise and ennui. I really need to snap out of this soonish because I tell you what this cannot be good for my long term development. I think this might even be an early mid-life crisis.

I say "early" cos I am still in my 30s but who the hell knows right? I mean if I make it to my 60s that will be my mid life, no? I suppose I will feel better eventually. Don't panic guys - I'm still okay I just can't get motivated by anything at the moment. I know this will pass. I think I had a similar thing when I was in my mid 20s. Perhaps this is a thing I will go through every decade..? Oh who the heck knows. Enough about me for the moment.

Whilst residing as President of Malaise Mansion I suddenly erupted with the most horrifying case of acne I have had in years. IN YEARS. Terrible stuff. I know this is partly cos of my mood (sombre) at the moment but whoa Nelly. It was like the wrath of the beauty gods crashing against me. Seriously guys - it was like being a teenager again - seriously scary stuff. The acne has more or less settled down but of course I now have to COVER THIS UP and that is proving difficult.

In the past few months I have purchased not one - not two - not three - but FOUR new foundations (see how desperate I am at the moment!) and I am completely in a panic. I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME GET A GOOD COLOUR MATCH. For the acne prone gal I seriously think nothing can be harder than getting a new foundation. Are you with me? *sigh*

I have a few that I bought which are quite good indeed (not happy with any of the colours though) but these three are absolute rejects for BV. Onto the unhappy contestants.

Here they are:

1. Milani Minerals Mousse Foundation (colour = 303 Creamy Natural). This contains 15 mls and costs about $9 US

2. Bourjois Bio detox organic (colour = 53 Light Beige). This contains about 30 mls or product and because I got it for some reduced price (at 30% off or something similar) I believe I paid about $22 Australian/US for this. Please bear in mind that this is about $30-$35 US/AS here in Australia.

3. Lancome Teint Idole Ultra (colour = Beige 4W). This contains 30 mls of product and costs maybe $40 US? I got this at Nordies.

As I will probably chuck all three foundies away - it goes without saying that these rate about 0/5 for me. I am only talking for me here - they are probably getting raves from other peeps.

Here are the swatches. In case you are wondering what colour you might be I did a swatch of MAC NC 20 and NC 30 next to them so you can see how these colours compare.

1. Miliani Minerals Mousse Foundation

As you can see from the swatch picture - this is a mousse foundation. Surprisingly this is not one of those quick dry/feel dry mousse textures. It glides on well and feels smooth on the skin. I am assuming it contains quite a bit of silicon from the feel of it.

It is not as cheap as you might think either because it only contains half the product of a standard foundation size (usually 30mls or 1.0 FL OZ). Very tricksy Milani! Please bear this in mind if you are hanging out for a bargain price.

As you can see from the swatch, this is really too dark for my skintone. Having said that I could easily wear this because it is so damn sheer it is like wearing NOTHING AT ALL. Zero coverage. I would say it is like a tinted moisturiser to tell you the truth. Given I have loads to cover up - this does diddly squat for BV. Bin time for this baby.

2. Bourjois Bio detox organic foundation

Now, I just don't know what to say about this. This is really very matte indeed. Too matte even for my oily skin. When I apply it is accentuates every single line and flake on my skin. What's up with that then??

I wore this once and once only. The colour match seemed to leave a slight grey cast and wore off quickly. Not only did this sucker wear off quickly - it seemed to settle into my fine lines and clump together in an unslightly fashion. YUK.

The only positive thing I can saw about this foundation is that it smells very nice. Kinda like watermelon mixed with cucumber if you can believe that. Unfortunately this is a foundation and not a perfume - another MASSIVE FAIL from me.

3. Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Foundation

It is supposed to last 12 hours right? I don't know about 12 hours but it does last a long time with minimal fading. That's the good part. It applies well on the skin and leaves a rather dewy finish.

I have no idea how Lancome can advertise this as oil free foundation - but you know they do!
The bad thing for me was that this stuff was super oily. It is pleasantly dewy when applied and that disappears when powdered but after a few hours my face is producing a huge surplus of oil (more than if I was wearing no foundie at all) and it was not attractive. Seriously guys - it sent my pores into oil rigging mode - like no other foundation I have ever used before. So strange.

In addition to the oil spill on my face this oxidises like a MOFO people. What first went on as a slightly darker foundie (my bad of course but hey it was summer) soon becomes a dark orangey greasy mask. Oh the joys. Having said that I think this will work very well for people with dry skin - just make sure you remember what I said about the oxidising and you'll be okay.

Believe it or not, I have another 4 more foundations to review - these are not going in the reject pile nor do they have the zero rating I've given these 3.

Given the horrible time I've had with colour matching - I hope you find the swatches helpful cos I seriously found it really tough - yes - even after going to swatch them all in person at the counter!!

Hope you are all grooving along nicely. All people affected by the natural disasters in Japan, NZ and now Burma/Thailand - God be with you! I am thinking of you and praying for you. The Earth seems to be going crazy at the moment but I know things will start to settle down soon.

Peace
BV

Dabo - Korean polish + Barry M Nail Effects

2011-03-14T15:05:00.006+11:00

Oh, I've been offline for ages. Lately I have been filled with unbelievable ennui. Both in terms of beauty blogging, beauty products and even my nail polishes. I just can't get excited about ANYTHING anymore. Sad huh? I dunno I'm feeling blue I guess.

To cement my blue mood Japan is in the midst of some terrible natural disasters. Not only suffering from a massive earthquake but tsunamis that have devastated many coastal towns. Then, the nuclear reactor is going funny and may even leak (or worse). Guys - let's keep Japan in our thoughts and prayers. Every day I wake up hoping for good news and things do not seem to be getting any better. It makes me even more sad than ever. (I know it is very cheeky for me to say that safe and sound in Sydney - but still - you know what I mean!)

Okay, onto a new Korean brand of nail polish I purchased last year! It is called Dabo and costs about $3 Australian/US per bottle (inclusive of shipping). Yep, another Gmarket deal. See it here: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=194264705

I think Dabo may have changed their name since I purchased this... weirdness. So sorry about that - I think these are now called NSM and the colours I purchased earlier no longer exist! How utterly weird is that?? It must have been about 4 months ago...?

Anyway, I missed out on the entire Katy Perry OPI collection. It sold out super quickly didn't it? If like me, you missed the collection, I just wanted to show you that you could easily dupe the Katy Perry look using some Dabo polishes + Barry M's Nail effects.

This is
1 coat of Dabo super bright frosted pink
2 coats of sheer pink holo Dabo glitter
1 coat of Barry M Nail Effects + seche

With flash

Without flash

Here are the polishes.

I love the hex holo glitter in particular. It seems chunkier than the Katy Perry polish that is similar (can't remember the name of it right now) but I like it more.

Okay, apologies for lax posting. As I say - the ennui I feel is immense guys. I have just seen some rather great colours from this Dabo replacement NSM so I might end up ubying a few of these instead!

Take it easy
BV

Lilash - a review

2011-02-14T10:57:00.005+11:00

BV has typical Asian eyelashes ie short and sparse. I must admit though, in terms of eyelashes I have unusually stumpy lashes - even for an Asian person. Both my mother and younger brother have lashes that are twice as long and dense as me. Unlucky draw I guess.

For ages I have wanted to try Lilash - eyelash growth stimulant. I have been trying to review this for months but I have extreme difficulty in taking pictures which show the growth of the lashes. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, when I just take a picture with no mascara etc on my lashes - it looks pretty much the same as before - you can't really see the difference. Secondly, my photo taking ability stinks so it is pretty difficult anyway.

The truth of the matter is that Lilash does work. I have been using Lilash since November 2010 (so about 4 months or so now) and I can see a definite result. Although Lilash is supposed to work in about 4-6 weeks - I couldn't really see a notable difference since then - I can see one now.

It basically is a small tube of clear liquid (slightly thicker than water ie slightly jelly or gelatinous in texture) in a small thin brush form - like a lot of liquid eyeliners. I use it at night before I go to bed.

Here are two pictures of my lashes. In both instances my eyelashes are curled at the very root of the eyelash with about 2 coats of mascara. I'm pretty sure I am using my Sana EXTRA LARGE mascara in both EOTDs.

EOTD - August 2010 - Before LiLash

EOTD - February 2011 - After using Lilash for 4 months. Actual growth is only a few mms but as you can see - it can make a big difference.

Even though you are not supposed to use Lilash on your bottom lashes (I don't!) the bottom lashes are a bit longer. Weirdness huh? Here are some Lilash negatives though:

1. Pricey. This costs about $140 US and lasts for about a year. Tis a rather large cost IMO.

2. Length not density. As you can see from my EOTD - the lashes are longer but not thicker.

3. Lack of uniformity in growth. Some lashes are notably longer than others! I have read of people who end up cutting one or two lashes to get them the same size as the rest of your lashes. Bit of a hassle.

4. Product itself. After using this for about a month it kinda takes on this slightly musty smell. It isn't too bad but kinda smells like an old umbrella you haven't let dry properly - you know a bit mouldy? In any other instance I would discard such an item but since it has an expiry of 6 months after opening (and because it is so pricey) I am just using it for another few months.

Apparently you are supposed to stop using it everyday after the first six months and then use only twice a week or something. But yes - it does work!

Hope you find this interesting. Make sure you read the FAQs here.

Cheers
BV

StrangeBeautiful Volume 5 - Lemming alert

2011-02-09T03:33:00.003+11:00

I've posted about StrangeBeautiful before - in particular the fantastic descriptions and colours by creator Jane Schub.

Well, she's done it again with StrangeBeautiful Volume 5. I wants it bayyydd.

You can buy it from LuckyScent which is where I will buy mine! I'm not too fond the the brownish mustardy tones at the end of this set - but the rest really do interest me a LOT.

Okay, here's the description:

Moody, erotic, irreverent and tender, the STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Volume V edition features 8 diaphanous veils of wildly haunting colors, each shade slightly disturbing and yet effortless to wear.

Inspirations and references range from the vampiric gradations of a healing bruise; the moody rusts of menstrual blood [BV:wtf?]; sooty, phantasmal India ink; the profile of a gray blue Heron scooping fish against a background of gooey river runoff and the apocalyptic color palette of Medieval Flemish paintings. Visceral and private, each shade cloaks the finger in an aqueous film of color for an effect that is strange, beautiful, and impossible to forget.

The colours are not opaque either:

Unlike traditional nail polishes, the Volume V shades coat the nail in a gossamer bath of color. Not quite transparent, the effect is fluid and semi opaque, as if the nail itself had taken on a mysterious life of its own.

I'm hoping that like Bikini Bottom (which I do not own but hope to when it is re-released soonish!) is that it will have a watery aquatic effect. In my head I'm already seeing nails the colour of a swampy pond filed with algae with muddy blue/green textures.

I know that this description will put off a lot of people. Me - I'm intrigued! I give credit to Schub for coming up with colours (desciptions at least!) outside the usual five billion reds and pinks that everyone else has.

I hope to see swatches of this online but hopefully I will get my set by March 2011!

Over and out
BV

NOTD - TiNS The Saturn

2011-02-07T21:43:00.006+11:00

As you know, I have been seriously losing my beauty mojo. I just went through and tried to sort through my nail polishes and believe it or not I got quite disheartened. I tried to split up all my polishes and organise them just by colour but alas, it just isn't working. I did discover that I have more greens than blues and I have an absolute stackload of reds. The sad news is that I don't think I've found my 'perfect' reds yet. My god, this is really a Moby Dick experience for me.

I think the ultimate for me would be to find the "perfect blue" and green etc and just end up with a collection of less than 100 polishes that I deem "perfect" in every way. It would appear that I now have over 400 polishes and some days I just don't feel any wearing ANY of them because I am not in the mood for it. Does this happen to other people? I may be so spoiled for choice I keep having a "let them eat cake" type attitude towards my nails. It is really quite sad in many ways.

I just felt guilty typing that because I fear that people will be reading this thinking "but yet I have REAL problems!". LOLz. I digress.

I recently did a swap with a friend and got some old Chanels and other really weird ones which I will (eventually I hope!) get to do a post on. Man, people who swatch and blog all the time I salute you - it is a lot of work!

Okay, getting back to TiNS the Japanese brand of nail polish I discovered through Kaz and her blog Pretty Random.

This colour - The Saturn - for me was like discovering a unicorn. Yes - they really do exist. Why the unicorn analogy? Okay, did you think that any nail polish company would be able to make an opaque black polish with silver + holo glitter without drowning out the glitter? Did you? I didn't think so until this walked into my life.

This is ONE COAT of TiNS The Saturn with 2 coats of seche vite.

With flash (excuse tip wear!)

Without flash.

Yes, I know you're right. The glitter is a bit more subdued than I would prefer and it does take on a rather lumpy lunar surface when dry... but you know - I can live with that! I mean a ONE coater? Oh, bliss!!!!!!!

That's it from me. Ciao ciao kids.
BV

PS Unicorns do exist.

TiNS nail polish - finished products - quick EOTD

2011-01-30T15:42:00.011+11:00

Since I am finding it harder to find time to blog - I thought I'd cover a number of things in one post. Quite a few pics in this one!

I first saw Japanese brand TiNS on Pretty Random. If you are a nail lover you really need to check this out because she has a great selection of hard to find nail polishes and a lot of new brands. Anyhow, I fell in love with her swatch of The Holiday Cheer. OMG - gorgeous huh?

Anyway, I was shopping around for TiNS and a lot of places were really really expensive! The cheapest place I found was on Ratuken (like Japanese Gmarket I guess). I bought my TiNS from Saika (http://search.borderless.rakuten.com/borderless/search.action?l=en&sid=saikanet) and it arrived so quickly I really recommend this seller. I bought about 10 polishes and with shipping and taxes I paid about $15 Australian per bottle. This is still pretty cheap compared to other places - check it out if you are interested.

This is about 1000 yen (about $12 Australian) + taxes + shipping. It contains 11 mls of product.

One really cute thing about TiNS is that the colours are all proper nouns. For example, this is The Neptune. Amazing mid-purple jelly with silver glitter + small holo hex particles. Amazing colour (excuse the tip wear - I get bad tip wear when my nails are short for whatever reason!) With flash it looks more blue but it is a purple colour. This is 2 coats.

Excuse blurriness. No flash - but you can see the holo right? Oh, it is so good.

This is The Foxy Lady. I got this mainly cos of the name - come on guys - The Foxy Lady? So hilarious! This is 2 coats as well... bit sheer still.

Without flash - still really pretty and not too crazy with the bling.

I haven't posted many EOTDs lately. This is a really quick look I did with my Sleek palette - it is called Curious. Not too bad a buy. I am wearing all colours from the Curious palette (3 colours), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Peripera black eyeliner + Covergirl Lashblast.

Do you see how boring that is? This is why I don't do EOTDs anymore - nothing exciting lately I admit.

I finally finished 2 products lately! Banila Co - Let Me Bebe in Nude and Karin Herzog Vit-A-Kombi 2%. I love Karin Herzog - I'm now going to use the 3% now. It helps fight both wrinkles AND acne so it is great for me.

Now this is a picture that proves my dog is really part Ewok. She's had a big haircut lately - but check out my dog Wikki and an Ewok. Can you tell which is the dog and which is the Ewok???Hehehehe this really makes me laugh!

That's it from me!

Have a great week

Dr Bronner's Magic Soap

2011-01-25T22:45:00.007+11:00

Well, it has been a while hasn't it?

Truth was, I was so busy working over the Christmas/New Year period I truly did not have time to scratch myself! I had major problems at work - I actually asked to move teams at the end of the busy period because I just ended up being so damn fed up with it. To all of you people who work over 8 hours per day (I ended up working 14 hours a day at one point!) my deepest sympathies. I would also say to you - the money ain't worth it - find another job!! HA.

In other news, I think I am losing my beauty mojo. I mean, the past few years I've basically spent all my disposal income (and maybe slightly more!) on beauty related products. I have spent more time and money on other things lately which include:

* New ebooks on my Kindle
* New shoes
* New obsession with the Regency period

and just relaxing in general...

I am enjoying my new found lifestyle! I also saw Black Swan (another 5/5 from BV!) and guffawed when I saw the new Zoya polish on Natalie Portman's dressing table!! The colour is tres bland IMO but great plug for Zoya!

But, I finally decided to post today because I have been using a new product lately that I seriously seriously love. I will honestly say this has changed my life... okay, in a beauty sense at least!

For YEARS I have been looking for a soap that is so moisturising that I do not have to use a body lotion afterwards. I have found the soap! Slightly more expensive than other soaps but it is very cheap for what it is!!

This is a product that lives in my shower cubicle: I present to you the BEST soap I have ever used:

Dr. Bronner's Magic Pure Castile Classic Soap

Yes - 32oz or 950 ml (or thereabouts) of Dr Bronner's Magic Soap in Peppermint. I expect this was last me until the end of the year.

Here are some other good (but not as good as Dr Bronner) products that live in my bathroom. Excuse the rather messy appearance of the towel!

I must say that the Bliss body butter is up there as a must have for me now. The lemon and sage fragrance is just the best. The cleanser is pretty good but it isn't as good as Dr Bronner.

This is a smaller bottle of Dr Bronner Magic Soap (about 300ml) I keep near the sink. I use this to wash my makeup brushes and my hands. I LOVE IT. This is the tea tree version. As tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial product - I think it works best on washing brushes and hands.

Personally, I love the smell of tea tree products but I know a lot of people who absolutely hate it.

Why do I love Dr Bronner?

It appeals to my inner hippie...

1. Fair trade and organic product
2. Completely Biodegradable and Vegetable-Based
3. No Synthetic Foaming Agents, Thickeners or Preservatives
4. 100% Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Cylinder Bottles and Paper Labels
5. Provides the thickest, richest lather I have EVER experienced

Look at this ingredients list for the soap:

INGREDIENTS: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut*, Organic Palm* and Organic Olive* Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils**, Citric Acid, Vitamin E

The texture:

To me the soap is extremely runny. To the point where I have accidentally shot what seems like gallons of product out of the nozzle! However, I left the cap off the top of the tea tree oil bottle and was astounded to see clear soft soap appearing around the nozzle. Apparently this does become cloudy in cold weather (hardens) and I think there is a way to make it liquid again. Personally, I do not expect this problem cos Australia is way hot (especially at the moment) and so I'm not worried.

As I say, this offers a very rich lather. According to Dr Bronner it is the coconut oil in the product that offers the lather. It is so rich and thick - it is kinda like shampoo lather - you know small rich white bubbles. I LOVE IT. It dissolves virtually instantly as well so you don't feel really soapy either.

When I first used it I didn't really like it. I thought it was leaving a weird residue on my skin for whatever reason. The reason for the "residue" feeling is two fold.

1. Apparently glycerin is a natural by-product of the soap making process (did you know this - I certainly didn't!). Instead of separating this from the product, Dr Bronner leaves the glycerin in for a more luxurious wash.

2. My skin is more used to using products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate and other detergents. These strip away the natural oils I guess - I am using to feeling a bit more "non-oily" than this.

Now, after several weeks of use, I can say my skin has never felt so soft and good. I can safely tell you that I will not be using any other soap than this from now on.

I bought these soaps from the American Apparel website. I got about 30% off and free shipping but you can get Dr Bronner from other places too.

I do have a small warning for you. Do not use the peppermint soap around the sensitive bits of your body (ie the privates!) because it will sting like a mofo. Just use your head about it!

I think this is also the ULTIMATE product when cleaning makeup brushes because it doesn't foam up in the same way that detergents do (which can be a real bitch to wash out!) AND it doesn't leave the bristles of your brush all hard and dry.

I have seen people on youtube use a combination of olive oil and detergents to clean makeup brushes. I have also used both the Elf brush cleanser and of course the MAC brush cleanser. NO MORE! Dr Bronner is cheaper and works FAR BETTER than any other type of product I've used to clean my brushes and sponges.

This is a 5/5 product for me!

Look, if you are unsure, get a small bottle of this just for your makeup brushes!! Believe me you will not be disappointed. I have vague memories of reading an article where Nars says he uses the peppermint version on his makeup brushes... I think it might be an industry secret!

Over and out
BV

PS Dr Bronner was a true original - it explains the really kooky phrases on the bottle. Check out all the helpful info on Dr Bronner soaps at www.drbronner.com.

PS 2 I can't wait to buy the Rose and Unfragranced versions of this soap!

Catch up post - konadicures (failed + okayish ones) + 2011 welcome

2011-01-01T01:05:00.009+11:00

Whoa - I am truly and utterly behind in posting! I've got about a trillion things I keep meaning to post but of course haven't really got around to yet. Sad but true.

First things first - failed Christmas Konadicure. I posted this cos I actually think it can work if stamped properly. This is a combination of Bundlemonster + Konad plates using Konad white polish + shiny red from Korean brand Dabo.

Kooky huh?

Okay, now this is another Konadicure I did a while ago that I did like. American Apparel's African Violet as base, CG Hi-Tek as stamping colour. I love purple and gold - I may have been a Roman in a past life. LOLz.

Sorry, stamping not perfect! I've been outta action for long tis hard to get back into the swing of it all!

Here's what I used. I think that is plate m78 btw. Pretty cool designs on it.

American Apparel is a newish brand I've been getting into and I seriously love African Violet. It has a grey undertone to it which I truly adore.

Comparisons - OPI Funky Dunkey, American Apparel African Violet and RBL Mismas. Although they look similar - they are in fact different. 2 coats of each. For people who think that RBL is too exxy and may not be worth the price - I direct you to the swatches below. See how opaque and glossy Mismas looks? As you can see the OPI is still a bit sheer with American Apparel coming a close second to RBL.

No flash shot. (How glossy does RBL look huh?)

Other news

I am still working 40 hour weeks with no break until about mid-January. I'd like to wish you all a fantastic 2011 - it is 1 am on 1 January 2011 in Sydney as I type this!

One of my resolutions is to definitely buy less stuff in 2011. I seem to have accumulated massive amounts of makeup in the past year and it is getting to the point where it just seems really unnecesary. I'm going to still look and stalk but not buy as much. Maybe work to a budget this year!

If I am dead quiet for the past few weeks - please know I will blog once I get a bit less busy in a few weeks.

Thanks guys - happy 2011 wherever you are!
Much love
BV

Hello Kitty Konadicure

2010-12-23T23:52:00.006+11:00

Hi Guys

Yes, I am working over Christmas this year so I am pretty busy/tired etc. I am having 3 days off this holiday period so not too many postings I think. I've got a few saved up but not sure when I will be able to post.

I was inspired by The Hungry Asian's Hello Kitty fauxnad mani so I jumped to buy it. I have had quite a few failed attempts at buying this plate so I am very happy.

I decided to do a really cutesy Hello Kitty Konadicure. I am seriously OUTTA practice guys! Whoa - it was hard!

Pink base = Barry M pink polish (no name - it is in a gift pack thingie) - 2 coats
White spots = Konad polish in white + Konad plate (the ones with dots... can't remember which one now)
Silver glitter = Konad top coat with silver glitter

Ring finger = 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow (matte)
Fauxnad plate I purchased from Born Pretty + konad black polish
Kitty bow - red Konad polish (applied with dotting tool)
Kitty nose - RBL Yellow Fever (applied with dotting tool)

I topped everything off with a coat of seche which explains the slight bleeding associated with poor ole Kitty's face! Boo.

Without flash -

With flash -

Merry Christmas everyone!
BV