Review and Swatches: Ombres Perlees De Chanel Palette

Hello!

Today I'm reviewing the Chanel Ombres Perlees De Chanel  palette. This was a palette that came out in Australia in early 2011- it was part of Chanel's SS11 collection. I remember that collection because it was so beautiful! There was so much hype about this palette online that when I got given this as a present recently, I was so excited!

Here it is, all wrapped up.

Here's the palette opened. Those colours look beautiful!

Unfortunately, the excitement didn't last long. So many bloggers gave this incredibly positive reviews that I can't believe we reviewed the same product! I was so disappointed with this product. 

That's why this is a very picture-heavy post- I want you all to see it for yourselves.

Review: Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara

Hello!

In this post I'll be reviewing one of my favourites, Benefit's BADgal Lash mascara. The description for this product is: " The BADgal line of mascaras from Benefit are full of "BAD-itude!" The rich, sexy formula and oversized brush build thick, beautiful and bodacious lashes. BADgal Lash (the original) is like a set of sexy black false eyelashes...without the glue!"

Picture from: http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/product/view/badgal-lash-mascara

Review: theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer

Hello!

I'm back with a review, this time of theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer (it's a highlighter, so very punny).

theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer (isn't the packaging so cute?)

theBalm's Balm Jovi palette comes with a little version of this (called Solid Gold in that palette) but I have my own full size and for very good reason. It's amazing!

Smoky Eye

Hello,

Following on from my review of the Smoked Palette, I've decided to do a version of the classic smoky eye.
I've been in a purple/mauve/pink beauty mood for the last week. Every look I did was soft, pretty and purple-based. Then I saw this picture of Kristen Stewart the other day (below) and I couldn't help but admire her smoky eye makeup.
It's flawless. Smoky eye, perfect skin and a neutral lip. When I do my makeup, I like to add a bit more colour to the cheeks, but that's about it.

Original pic from Just Jared, http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2718897/kristen-stewart-on-the-road-nyc-screening-05/, this version cropped from http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/09/21/kristen-stewart-locket-robert-pattinson-love/

So I decided it was time for a smoky eye!

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay Smoked Palette

Hello!

Today's review is all about the Smoked Palette. This new Urban Decay palette is made up entirely of new formulation shadows and has enough colours to create a range of smoky eye looks beyond the standard black. The palette comes with a full size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion and a mini Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original (not pictured, sorry). It also comes with the Get The Look Book which has step by step instructions on how to create 12 different smoky eye looks.

Review: Maybelline 'The Falsies Volum' Express' mascara

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Another super-fast mascara review, this time on Maybelline's 'The Falsies Volum' Express' mascara. It claims to increase volume by 300% for a false lash look. It comes with the usual photoshopped mascara ad (the model  in this one looks like she's definitely wearing false lashes).

Image from: http://www.maybelline.com.au/products/129/eyes/mascara/volum-express-the-falsies-washable-mascara/blackest-black/0?shadeId=686

Review: Rimmel 'The MAX' mascaras

Hello!

Here's a short and sweet review on the Rimmel "The MAX" mascaras.

For $19.95 (very cheap!), I bought a pack of three Rimmel mascaras:

• The MAX Bold Curves
• The MAX Volume Flash
• The Max Volume Flash waterproof.

All three claim to do amazing things and come with the usual heavily photoshopped mascara ads.

Image from: http://www.rimmellondon.com/au/products/max-bold-curves/

Harry Potter Series_Ravenclaw

Hello!

It's time for my final instalment in the Harry Potter eye look series- Ravenclaw! The House colours are blue and bronze. It took me ages to get around to doing this look, mainly because of my intense discomfort with blue eyeshadow, but also because I just had no inspiration!

Ravenclaw's symbol is the eagle and that conjures up feelings of sharp, strong lines for me. I guess it's the beak. This look similarly contains sharply defined areas.

Image from: http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/d/da/R_final.jpg

Look: Balm Jovi + graphic eyeliner

Hello!

As soon as I got my new Balm Jovi palette, I couldn't wait to try it out. I've also been wanting to give graphic eyeliner a go- it's been trending on catwalks for a couple of seasons now, but I hadn't gotten around to doing a look of my own.
Here it is!

A graphic eyeliner look done using theBalm's Balm Jovi Palette.

Harry Potter Series_Gryffindor

Hello!

I don't know what happened, but somehow, my Gryffindor post was deleted.
 :-(

I've had to redo it all from scratch! 

This look is for my Harry Potter Series and it's for my favourite House, Gryffindor. The colours are gold and crimson. The look I've created is a very bold, theatrical look. I hope you like it.

Image from: http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/7/70/G_final.jpg

Review and Swatches: theBalm Balm Jovi Palette

Hello!

I'm feeling pretty happy about this- I got my hands on theBalm's new palette, Balm Jovi, before it's even come out in Australia!

This palette has 12 eyeshadows, 2 lip colours, one highlighter and one blush. The eyeshadows are named after rock legends and music tempos and sorted into columns as per genre. The Heavy Metal shadows are Metal-ica, Iron Maid-in, Lead Zeppelin, and Alice Copper. The Classical shadows are Adagio, Allegro, Moderato, and Presto. The Alternative shadows are Blink 1982, The Stroke, rem and, Third Eye Blinded. It's very, very cute!

Update: Now with more pictures!

Tips and Tricks: Translucent Powder

Hello!

I recently bought translucent setting powder online, only to find it's a shade too light for me. How is translucent powder too light? It leaves a white cast on my face when applied at levels sufficient to mop up my face's OPEC-rivalling oil production. This is something that's NEVER happened to me- usually I find the lightest shade is too dark! I did figure out a couple of good uses for it, though, and I thought I'd share.

1. Applied with a small powder brush under the bottom lash line, it stops eyeliner/eyeshadow from travelling down;
2. Blended down from the lower lash line, it acts as an under-eye concealer/highlighter in that Hollywood way (not too heavy a hand, please!);
3. It's a great natural, matte highlighter for the area between the corner of the eye and the nose;
• I did a matte eye look recently and wanted to brighten up the area without using an obvious highlighter or adding shimmer and it worked perfectly.
4. Again, using a very small brush, a very light layer of this can be applied around the lips to stop any lipstick feathering out. 

Any other ideas?

xo 

Anna

Series: Eyeshadow Primer Reviews_Lime Crime

Hello!

I'm back, this time with a series of eyeshadow primer reviews. To kick things off, I'll be reviewing Lime Crime's Candy Eyed Eyeshadow Helper. I first heard about this stuff a while ago, and Wayne Goss raves about it as the best ever, so it has quite a lot to live up to.