Bio Oil Review

Hey guys,

Today I am going to be reviewing the Bio Oil (PurCellin Oil). Bio Oil is a special skincare oil that helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks and uneven skintone. Bio Oil is also very effective on dry, dehydrated skin and ageing skin.

Bio Oil is formulated with special plant and vitamin extracts, it contains a breakthrough ingredient called PurCellin Oil which makes the oil, light and non-greasy. They recommend to use it twice everyday for 3 months to see results. 

I have been using this for about 2 months religiously every night and I honestly have seen a difference in my skin. I have a lot of old acne scars on my cheeks and after using Bio Oil I have seen them lighten over time. I have also started using it on my body for stretch marks and will see how well it performs on that. All I need is one-two drops and I massage it over the face and neck. This bottle will definitely last me years.

This is a product that may or may not work for you and I know a lot of people who have not experienced any difference by using it but that is because everyone's skin is different. I have found Bio Oil has helped my scarring fade away. It is a product that I will continue buying for a long time.

Yes, it does work slowly and you have to wait months to see results but I don't mind that.

You can buy Bio Oil from leading pharamacists like Priceline in Australia and it retails for $ 14.99 for 60ml. 

What do you use for lightening scars and stretch marks?

L'oreal Infallible foundation Review

Hey guys,

I picked up the new L'oreal Infallible foundation a few weeks ago when they were on sale at Priceline and have been using it religiously since then. I have tested it a lot and think I can give you a really honest review about this foundation now. (Warning- Pic Heavy)

L'oreal - A make-up with superior hold and moisturising comfort for 24 hour flawless coverage, no touch ups required. Fighting imperfections and shine without compromising on moisture,  skin is left truly infallible.  With the added benefit of Hyaluronic fresh complex, skin is kept refreshed, hydrated and flawless with a foundation that lasts all day without ever caking or drying.

RRP $31.95

I am in the colour 150 Radiant Beige and this foundation comes in 7 shades ranging from the lightest being Vanilla and the darkest being Honey. I am an NC 37-40 in MAC and this shade suits me perfectly.

This foundation claims to have full coverage and ingredients to give a flawless hydrated base. I completely agree with the claims L'oreal have made, as this foundation is pretty darn impressive. I have very uneven skin with a lot of acne spots. By applying multiple thin layers, I can achieve almost full coverage (for my liking) with only this foundation. If I want to look completely flawless I will add a tiny bit of concealer but most days its only this foundation on my face. 

Left- Unblended, Right Blended over green vein In Shade.

Left- Unblended, Right Blended over green vein In direct sunlight.

I have used this foundation with multiple products and I am going to tell you what my favourite combo is. We will start with primer, I found that using a water based primer opposed to a silicone based one works really well and helps blend the foundation into the skin better. With a foundation like this it is very easy to have too much on your face. I have tried multiple brushes, sponges and my fingers but the best applicator I found for this foundation is the Real Techniques Buffing brush. Also use thin layers instead of putting on two pumps in one application, or else it cakes like crazy. Another thing I found with this foundation was using a loose powder to set it gives a flawless look, but using a pressed powder completely ruins the look. 

As you can see in the above pics I have blended the foundation over my wrist which has some veins showing and this foundation really covers the colour pretty well with just one this layer.

My favourite primer to use under the L'oreal Infallible foundation is the Australis Primer and I like setting it with the Australis Ready Set Go finishing powder. All these three products go really well together.

FOTD Wearing the Infallible foundation.

I do work long hours and have tested this foundation for 11 hours after application. It does emphasize dry patches so make sure to exfoliate and moisturize really well. First of all it oxidises so it is safe to go a shade lighter than you normally would. Secondly, you have to set it with a powder if you have oily/ combination skin or else you will look like a grease ball in 6 hours. Even with a powder I find that close to 7 hours I get a tiny bit shiny but blotting it with a tissue seems to fix the problem. After 9 hours there is some patchiness around my chin and nose. At the 10 hour mark it faded away from my forehead and cheek but not drastically. It didn't last 24 hours as it claims because I haven't tried it for that long but 10 hours is pretty long too so I am not complaining.

Overall I think this is a really good foundation if you are someone who doesn't have the time to touch up during the day and would like a flawless even finish. I do highly recommend this foundation if you can find your shade match which is my only complaint.

Have you tried the Infallible line from L'oreal? What do you think of it??

❤❤❤

Furless Makeup Brushes Review*

Using makeup brushes on a daily basis is something a lot of us do. I still do tend to go traditional sometimes and use my fingers but for the most part, makeup brushes are a must. We all have a stash of brushes that no matter how roughly we handle them, they will still be our best friends. I have a few of such 'friends' from the brand Furless. I have reviewed this brand of brushes before here so you can check that out if you are interested.

Furless was kind enough to send me a few brushes to review and here they are. The brushes I will be reviewing today are 

The Perfectly Pink Stippling Brush $10

This brush is a multi-tasker. I use it for blush and highlighter, sometimes even powder and bronzer. It picks up the right amount of product and blends it into the skin so smoothly. I have washed this brush thrice already and I am so happy that it does not shed at all.  I love Furless brushes for the fact that they do not shed on me at all.

The Bronze Blending Brush $9.95

I already own one of this brush and I was so happy to see another one when my package arrived. This brush is great for blending eyeshadows and even concealer under the eye. I absolutely adore this brush and recommend it above all.

The Purple Concealer Brush $9

I am not a huge fan of this brush as I don't like very stiff synthetic brushes for concealer but this brush is great to apply loose eyeshadows, pigments and even cream eyeshadows. I don't tend to use it very often but its not a bad brush.

L-R Perfectly pink stippling brush, Bronze blending brush, Purple concealer brush.

Furless Brushes are 100% Cruelty free and Vegan. They are really soft brushes and they do last a very long time. I have been using my old Furless brushes for more than a year now and they still look like brand new. They are very affordable and provide flat rate shipping to Australia. There is International shipping available too if you do not live in Australia and it is very reasonable.

Right now they also have 15% off their website. Just add the coupon code "15ME" to your order. 

Have you tried the Furless brushes before? What do you think of them?

❤❤❤

Medusa's Makeup High Pigment Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows Review

Last year in my Halloween Swap with Tried and Tested I recieved this pack of four shimmery eyeshadows from Medusa's Makeup. I had never heard of this brand before so google came to the rescue.

Medusa's Makeup is an American brand of Makeup that sells cruelty free eyeshadows, pigments, lipsticks, brushes and so much more. When I looked at their website for the first time, all I could think of is Sugarpill and Limecrime. Medusa's makeup stocks some really bright coloured products which are great for Makeup Artists and those who love playing with colour. They are a completely new brand to me but they have been in the business since 2005. You can have a look at the products they sell here. They also provide International shipping for those of us who don't live in the US.

TOP L-R Midnight Oil and Headhunter  BOTTOM L-R Liger and Electro Black. The Fix Glitter Adhesive

The eyeshadows I have to review today for you are the High Pigment Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows. I have four very wearable colours but they also have colours like pink, yellow, green and red for those of you who want to go bold.

L-R Headhunter, Midnight Oil, Liger and Electro Black

L-R Headhunter, Midnight Oil, Liger and Electro Black

In my swatches above I have swatched the product as is on the left and then over the Fix Glitter Adhesive on the right. You can see that without a primer they are not very pigmented but over a primer they stand out pretty well. If you do want just a sheer wash of colour you can apply them on their own but if you like the colour to stand out, a primer is highly recommended. They are a little powdery too so you will get fall out if you do not use a primer. I used the shadows on their own on my eyes and they creased in less than an hour. Using my beloved Too Faced Shadow Insurance they lasted about 7 hours on my eyes without creasing. I did try them with the glitter adhesive too but they creased in 5 hours and I found that they were more vibrant with the Too Faced primer underneath them.

They retail for $8 each and for the price I am a little disappointed. I would definitely get some use out of them since they are shades I normally wear but I wouldn't go out and buy any more of these.

I am very keen on trying out their eye dusts and pigments though because they do seem to be very raved about.

Have you tried any of the makeup from Medusa's makeup?

❤❤❤

The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara Review

A few weeks back I went into The Body Shop to pick up a few body butters and shower gels and the lady at the counter offered to put a few samples in my bag to try. One of them was this mini super volume mascara. 

A range of long lasting, smudge-resistant mascaras that add incredible volume and colour to the lashes  

Lashes appear more volumised 

Non-clumping 

Ophthalmologically tested 

Suitable for contact-lens wearers

The brush is made of stubby fibres and has a spiral design, just like a screw. The product itself is quite a nice consistency, not too dry nor too wet - somewhere in between, which I like. There is a strange smell to it and I am not sure if it is only the one I got or all of them have it. I actually really liked the brush and the way it applied on my lashes. I had evenly distributed product on all my lashes and they were defined as well. 

Then came the part where I blinked and felt like someone sprayed a harsh chemical in my eye. My tears would just not stop. I quickly grabbed some makeup remover and took off all the mascara that was on my lashes. 

Unfortunately, this mascara did not work for me. I was not even able to put it on for a minute, forget a second coat. At first I thought I was being paranoid but I tried this almost four times till date and found the same result.

I really like The Body Shop as a company and their policies but this is not the first product that has disappointed me. I absolutely love their body butters and shower gels and expected a lot from their makeup too. 

This mascara retails for $23.95 and you can buy it from here.

Have you tried this mascara or any makeup product from The Body Shop?

❤❤❤

Too Faced Jingle All the Way Palette Swatches and Review

Hey guys,

I am so excited I got my hands on the New Limited Edition Too Faced Jingle All the Way palette which is out now at Kit Cosmetics for $38.95. I thought of doing a swatch and mini review on the palette while its still available.

The palette comes with 11 eyeshadows, 1 blush and 1 bronzer and is in the shape of an Iphone5. It comes with a case which you can use for your phone or just leave it on the palette. 

The variety of the shadows is pretty impressive. There are a few nuetrals and some pops of colour too. Two basic matte shades are included to make a textured eye look. All shades are very pigmented and super soft. Some dark shades do have some fall out but I don't have a problem with that. 

The blush and bronzer are satin finishes with a subtle sheen. Again very pigmented colours.

Below are the swatches of the first 9 shimmery/satin eyeshadows and then the 2 mattes and blush and bronzer below that.

I just did this quick eye look to show the colour payoff on the lids. I did not use any base for this look not even a primer. 

Colour 1- inner lid

Colour 2- middle lid

Colour 3- outer corner lid

Colour 4- crease

Colour 5- brow bone 

Lined upper and lower lash line with colour 3.

Please don't mind my eyebrows I am growing them to change the shape and thus they look weird.

Overall Verdict:

I love the idea of a mini travel friendly palette with wearable colours.

It is a little overpriced $38.95 but in Australia what makeup item is not overpriced.

The Iphone case is not very high quality but it looks pretty cool.

There is only one colour available in Kit as far as I know. I have seen a pink chevron print case on the sephora website, but not sure if we will be getting that in Australia.

It does not come with a mirror so that might be a disadvantage to many.

Eyeshadows are buttery and smooth with amazing colour payoff.

Eyeshadows lasted 6 hours with a primer.

Blush and Bronzer lasted 7 hours on my oily skin.

I have been loving this palette a lot and Too Faced is slowly becoming a favourite brand of mine. This is a cute palette to gift to a friend or to yourself this Christmas. ;) 

PS: Chichi has a similar palette out at Target for $14.95 which includes two Iphone cases, one for Iphone 4 and one for Iphone 5. Check that out on my Instagram pictures if your interested. But I love this palette and would highly recommend atleast checking it out in store.

You can buy it online here.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!! 

❤

Couleur Caramel Eyeshadows Review

Hey guys,

About two months ago, I was introduced to this brand Couleur Caramel through Twitter which is a certified organic Makeup Brand. They have a beauty ambassadors program through which we can get 50% off all items for one year. To know more about this program you can visit their face book page here. 

The Couleur Caramel range consists of eyeshadows, cream eyeshadows, eye liners, pencils,lipsticks,blushes, concealers, foundations and much more. 

I wanted to try things one by one so the first products I bought were two eyeshadows. The two colors I bought were Pearly Plum Brown eyeshadow 111044 and Vintage Beige Matt eyeshadow 111117.

All Matte eyeshadows contain 3.3% active plant based ingredients which include organic grape seed oil, organic shea butter, organic sunflower seed oil, karanja seed oil, red tea extract etc. Pearly shadows contain 7.7% active plant based ingredients. 

Firstly the packaging is super cute, it comes in a slim cardboard pack with a see thru window where you can see the colour of the eyeshadow. You can leave them in this packaging or you can pop them out and place them in a Z palette or something. You get 2.5 gms of product for $24.45 which is way cheaper than a MAC eyeshadow where you get 1.5gms of product for $33. Plus you are using an organic product. 

The pigmentation of both the eyeshadows are amazing. You can use them lightly for a wash of colour or pack it on for an intense look. The pearly plum brown shade is a cool toned shimmery taupe colour and the vintage beige matt shade is a light beige great for blending. 

I had put both these colors to test with and without eyeshadow primer. On my oily lids only a few eyeshadows last even with a primer so I was very pleased to see the results. Without primer both eyeshadows lasted 4.5 hours without creasing. With primer, the pearly eyeshadow lasted 7 hours and he matte eyeshadow lasted almost 8 hours which was remarkable. I did use them all over the eyelid and tested them over a few days just to be sure.

Overall I am highly impressed with the quality of the products and the fact that they are not damaging to your skin makes me want even more. I can't wait to try out some lippies and face products from them too.

Have you heard of Couleur Caramel brand before?? What do you think of their products?

BOE Beauty- BigW affordable makeup. Is it worth it??

Hey guys,

How many of you have heard of this brand named Boe Beauty available at BigW here in Australia?? I know many of you have tried these products but I know a lot of people who still have not even heard of these.

Basically these are beauty products sold in BigW for $2 each (LOL Cosmetics in Kmart ring a bell??) These are just like that but way better quality I think. I picked up two of their matte lip creams and one eyeshadow palette to review here. They also have a wide variety of eyeshadow duos, eyeliner pencils, liquid eyeliners, mascara, jumbo lip pencils, glosses, lip lacquers, matte lip creams, nail polishes etc.

The two lip creams I have here are #32 Blush Pink Matt Lip Cream and #33 Shock Pink Matt Lip Cream.

Blush Pink

Shock Pink

Blush Pink

Blush Pink

Blush Pink is a nice nudey pink. It does not look great on my skin tone but girls with lighter skin can pull it off easily.

Shock Pink

Shock Pink

Shock Pink is a bright fuschia violet colour that will look great on light and dark skinned beauties.

As you can see in the above swatches I do find the product not living up to the name. It does not look matte in anyway. They do have a satin shine finish . The colour payoff is amazing, both lip creams shown above are one swipe of product only. They do have a perfumy smell but that does not transfer on the lips. They are not super long lasting but they do last about 5 hours which is really good for a $2 product.

Pros:

Only $2

Available in a few shades

Available at all BigW stores

Lasts pretty well

Does not dry out the lips

Very pigmented

Slim packaging easy to carry

Easy to apply, No lip brush needed

Cons:

Is not matte as the packaging claims

Has a perfumy smell

Bleeds if a lip liner is not used

Transfers if not blotted

I cannot think of any other con as I do find it pretty good value for the price.

The next thing I picked up is the Boe Beauty Glamour Eyes Palette. This retails for $5 and has 11 eyeshadows. Some are shimmery while others are satiny. The range includes neutrals to bright fun colours.  

I started swatching from the big yellow eyeshadow on the top and went clockwise. The three small colours right below the big yellow are swatched horizontally. All swatches are done by an eyeshadow brush.

Although these shadows were quite powdery I did find them to be quite pigmented (better than the models prefer gift sets I bought recently). The above swatches are only one or two layers of product. I think for $5 that is quite impressive. On the eyes these last well too. I did use a primer and the shadows lasted me 5 hours, without primer I am looking at 3 hours due to extremely oily lids.

Pros:

Cheap and affordable only $5

Variety of colours

Pigmented

Not patchy

Last well for the price

Great gift

Cons:

Powdery

May not last long on the lids without a primer

Cheap packaging

Honestly, for the price I think they are worth it.

Have you tried Boe Beauty products? What do you think about them?? 

Maybelline Color Tattoo Haul and Review

Hey guys,

I was in Priceline the other day and I have been avoiding the Maybelline section for a long time because I did not want to test something and not buy it. But I did cave in and purchased the new Color Tattoo Metal in Electric Blue, Inked in pink and Barely Branded. While I was there I thought I might as well try out the master precise liquid liner which is raved about so much.

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner in Blackest Black :

I bought this liner in curiosity and I probably will never use any other liquid liner till the end of time. It is so easy to work with and you can get a really thin or a thick winged out liner look with precision. It is a must have, especially for those who are scared to use a liquid liner. I am really impressed with Maybelline for this one. 

It is waterproof but not hard to take off with makeup remover. I have used it for 11 hours at work and it did not move. No signs of fading either.

I have finally found my holy grail liquid liner.

Color Tattoo Metal in Electric blue:

This shade is a beautiful royal blue which looks beautiful on its own or used with a shadow on top. 

Color Tattoo Metal in Inked in Pink :

This is a pretty frosty pink colour. Great for an all over wash of colour on your lids.

Color Tattoo Metal in Barely Branded :

This is a  nude champagne frosty shade which is great as an all over base to make your shadows pop. For lighter skin tones you can get away with only applying this colour but for medium to darker skin tones it is a bit too light to be worn on its own.

The texture of all three is creamy and easily blend able. They do not have any glitter in them. All of these shades lasted pretty well on my oily eyelids for about 9 hours without creasing or fading. They did start creasing a little after 10 hours or so. I honestly don't mind that as I don't need to wear makeup for 24 hours. I got them at a half price sale so they were around $6 each. If you are in the market looking for a great eyeshadow base then I strongly suggest you to check these out. 

Till next time,

❤

Models Prefer Blush in Desk to Date

A lot of you may be familiar with the Models Prefer brand in Australia. I had never tried their makeup before but there was a deal at Priceline where I had to buy two products to get a beauty blender type sponge free and I really wanted to try that sponge. So I bought an eyeshadow quad, reviewed here and this blush in Desk to Date. 

 

At the first sight I thought it could be a dupe for Nars Orgasm but this one is more pinky and more pigmented than Orgasm.

Colour: medium pinky peach with a gold sheen.

Texture: creamy, but does have a lot of fallout.

Pigmentation: highly pigmented, a very light hand needed for application.

Price: I bought it for $9.99.

Availability: all Priceline stores that stock Models Prefer.

Longevity: lasts about 5-6 hours and then slightly fades but luckily does not fade unevenly.

Blend ability : easily blend able, does not stain the cheek.  

My thoughts : beautiful blush for under $10. Totally worth the price. Looks better than Nars Orgasm on application, on medium skin tones.

Repurchase : although I will never run out of this but when I do, it is a total repurchase.

Without flash

With flash

Have you tried the Models Prefer make up range? What products do you like the most?