Hand cream from daiso- $2.80

Hands down (hahaha pun fully intended), my favorite hand cream of all time. It’s not fancy, not scented and doesn’t come in a pretty package but it makes my hands feel so good after using it that it could turn them purple and I wouldn’t care. The lack of scent is major selling point for me but if you prefer scented creams you could always very easily add some yourself. You only need a little bit to go a very long way and it takes very little effort to rub in. It’s absorbed into the skin very well and doesn’t leave that slimy hands feeling later. I have pretty much zero downsides to this other than it comes in a seriously unattractive bright orange bottle. Can’t say I care at that price though!

Ignore the big acrylic paint stain in the photo below, it just goes to show that I have it on hand so much that I gave it double duty as a palette for some nail art 😉

Eyeliner from Tokuya $3.50 or less if you get it during a sale

I had never been one for pencil eyeliners until now. I hated how hard they were to apply, how they never got in the right places and always just smudged off my face. On a whim I bought a black mechanical liner from Tokuya and it was one of the best make up purchases I’ve made to date. Completely opened up my eyes (so many stupid puns today!) to the world of waterlines and quicky applied smokey liner etc. You don’t get a huge amount of product for your money but considering everything else I still think it’s worth while. The fact that you can twist it to get more rather than needing a sharpener is great and the ability to twist it down and keep in your handbag is a plus too, in fact the size in general is a big plus because it weighs practically nothing. Available in a couple of colours I have tried the black and brown and love both. They apply smoothly but not so smooth as to end up in places you didn’t intend. For me, these last all day which is great, I can apply them and know they are still going to be there by the time I get home.

Eyebrow pencil from Tokuya $3.50 of less if you get on sale

Another Tokuya find, these eyebrow pencils come in a heap of colours including grey which I don’t see too often. As with the eyeliners the application is smooth but not too smooth, it is easily coaxed into place and lasts very well. The amount of product isn’t much but you pay for the portability and convinience. Definitely a big plus. It comes with a lid for travel (which I have already lost). I don’t like how long the plastic part is compared to the amount of product inside, I think it could be smaller but small negative in a lot of positives.

Priceline fragrant talc $2 English rose.

I think fragrant talc reminds a lot of girls of their grandmother’s scented draw liners, which in my eyes isn’t nessecarily a bad thing. At $2 this bottle has lasted me well over a year and I don’t even think I’m half way through. It’s versatile as a body powder, something to quickly add a little scent if you’re in a hurry, to absorb scent off dirty clothes if you’re desperately out of clean laundry and my all time favorite use: as a last resort dry shampoo. While it doesn’t exactly clean hair it does soak up oils and lightens dark roots temporarily. Just shake onto the hair, leave for a few minutes then brush out. It gives hair a thicker more grippy texture which can be useful when styling. Definitely not a replacement for actually cleaning your hair but in a pinch it will do and it smells lovely!

Lipgloss from Daiso $2.80

Berry pink lip gloss which is heavy on the shimmer? Hell yes. The packaging is very plain and scratches easily in my handbag but this is a fantastic everyday lip gloss which doesn’t break the budget. It’s a decent sized bottle and the formula is much less sticky than most cheap lip glosses. They had around 5 or so colours when I was there so a decent range.

The FaceShop and Missha glitter polishes. Between $3.50-4.95 depending on polish and store.

I love cheap nail polish. Cheap nail polishes mean I can buy more colours and make more designs 😀 As far as glitter polishes go, I think Missha and The Face Shop have the best ones. Missha’s glitters are super pigmented (review here) and give fantastic coverage while The Face Shop  has a big range of versatile colours.

The picture below is my all time favorite Face Shop polish, its a sheer pearlish colour with silver glitter. It layers beautifully over any number of colours and has a really beautiful forumla. The only think I hate is the bottle, it’s just hard to get much out of.

Those were the ones I had on hand to photograph but there are so many more that I love so…

Other awesome budget beauty picks:

BYS Shimmer Dust

I’ve posted about that here before including a video of the insane shimmer 😀 Love it! It’s around $4 and a little tub will last you forever

Ulta 3 Polishes

Now if you are looking for cheap polishes you can’t go past Ulta3, they have a huge range of colours and are usually between $2-3. I have it on good authority from my lovely friend You’ve Got Nail that they even have colours which are Chanel dupes. For $2!! I’ve reviewed them here, here and here.

Priceline Lucky Dip

Technically not an ongoing beauty buy (at least I don’t think so) but at the moment Priceline is doing charity lucky dips. They donate products and you give a gold coin donation and pick one. I’ve gotten some really awesome stuff over the last week from there (photos coming) and the money going to charity is an awesome bonus!

First up is the Vanity Box Ameli Soft Primer- $32.50

Find the product here! 

Thoughts:

I am not an expert on primer as I’ve only just started using it recently but this one has worked better than any of the others I’ve tried so far. The texture is very different to others I’ve tried, rather than being runny and kind of like a thin moisturiser this one is more like a gel which is a little sticky. I think it works so much better because of the slight stickiness so when you put other products over the top, it grips them super well. I’ve been trying out wearing blush and without the primer it rubbed off very quickly, with my FOA primer it lasted around 6 hours, with this it lasted maybe 8-10 before needing re-application so I was quite impressed. It goes on very smoothly and feels very velvetish. As far as the smell goes, it is scented very lightly with something fresh and a little floral but mostly it just has that “expensive cosmetics” smell. At $32.50 it’s fairly mid range as far as price goes, the bottle is about average so I think it would last around 3 months of every day use.

VERDICT: Grips products very well and locks them in, pleasant but not overpowering scent, mid range price but reasonable value for someone wants long lasting make up. DO WANT.

Ameli Eyeshadow pots- #61 Orange Skin- $13.00
Find the product here. 

Thoughts:

I have 4 different colours to review on these pots so firstly some general thoughts on them. The pots are made from a shiny dark silver plastic, they look quite sleek and are very light so you could take them in a handbag if you needed. That said they are pretty damn big so if you wanted to take more than one colour it probably wouldn’t be much use. They feel fairly sturdy to use and are easy to open and shut (even with long nails). Some of them came with round foam applicators. I threw those away because they were the diameter of the container and so seemed too big to be used on the eyes with much precision.

Ok thoughts on this specific colour, I have always hated oranges so I was worried when I got this that I would automatically dislike it. I gave it a try though and it’s kind of growing on me. I still hate oranges in general but I managed to wear this in a way that I didn’t feel weird so I’m going to experiment with it more and see if I can overcome my fear. The colour itself is what I would describe as teracotta, it has a very smooth consistency and while being fairly pigmented it’s still quite subtle and easy to blend. So nothing to fault about the actual shadow, I just am not good with this colour XD

VERDICT: Not my colour, good quality shadow, large amount of product justifies the price if it’s a colour you use all the time. DO WANT (but not for me)

Quick swatches of all 4 colours left to right: Dress Killer, Orange Skin, Arabian Night, Pink Spot

#176 Dress Killer Shadow- $12.50
Link to product. 

Thoughts:

Depending on the light this is either a nice dusty pink or purple. It has a slight blue shimmer to it which creates a really pretty effect in different lighting situations but can only be seen if you look really closely. Again it goes on very smoothly, blends beautifully and feels very light on. This is the kind of eyeshadow that feels like you’re not wearing anything. The colour is something I would wear very often and I think it’s quite versatile because you can wear it plain for a natural look or dress it up with lashes etc.

Verdict: Great quality, nice colour, versatile and lasts well through the day. DO WANT.

#511 Arabian Nights- $16.50
Link to product. 

Thoughts:

Very interesting colour combination, it’s a very deep purple with a silver shimmer to it but the base appears to be a brown. It blends really well with the other colours in the range and they all compliment each other nicely. Very pigmented but I found it was much easier to get the base purple/brown to stick to my lids than the actual shimmer so I had to pack on quite a bit to get the shiny aspect. Fantastic as a dark colour to blend and give a little pop of light but if you’re looking for something super sparkly this probably isn’t it. Other than being a little harder to apply, this has all the same positives as the other colours: smooth, stayed on well and blended nicely.

VERDICT: Just like the others it’s a good quality shadow. Not as shimmery on as it looks in the pot, great for blending and adding depth to other colours. Good as a complimenting colour. DO WANT.

#503 Pink Spot- $16.50
Link to product here. 

Thoughts:

ZOMG SHINY. Yes that was my first though! This one is for serious glitter lovers, it is a super shiny highly pigmented and sparkly Barbie pink. I can see this making some serious 80’s music video themed outfit appearances. I think a lot of people would be put off by the intensity it has in the jar but when it’s actually on it blends beautifully and can be thinned down to add just a touch of pigment and sparkle. When it’s thinned out a bit it’s more of a pastel baby pink with shimmer. I like this a lot because it gives you a lot of options while still being cute and sparkly. For a shimmer this intese it’s very smooth and just like the rest in the range it blends well and last all day.

VERDICT: Great quality, very versatile colour, the brightness in the pan might be a bit off putting which is a shame considering how wonderful the shadow itself is. DO WANT.

All in all I was very impressed with the quality of everything and I think it rivals some much more expensive brands in terms of cost to product/quality ratio. Now here are some shots in action!

I’m wearing the Orange Skin all over my lid, the Dress Killer on the outer 1/3rd in a C shape and Arabian Nights along the lash line.

Quite a pretty natural look!

I’m still not completely sold on the orange but what do you guys think? ^_^
If any of you are interested in purchasing from Vanity Box they have some special offers for my readers below:

1. Get a store credit worth $5(valid on sale items too) for a limited time of 2 weeks, if you head over to the post here and fill out a 6 question survey.

2. Buyers that leave constructive reviews once they’ve received the item (members that register on the site can leave reviews on product pages) are eligible for store credits worth $5 or $10 . This is available for up to 10 reviewers a month and this is an ongoing offer.

3. For the next two weeks orders over $35 qualify for a free plat lip colour of their choice, normally worth $9.50. Just quote the code “Violet LeBeaux” and choose the colour you want in the Vanity Box checkout comments box.

Myself, the lovely Sarah and her adorable assistant Breana in front of the MOR stand.Now prepare for a lot of gratuitous product shots, it was all so pretty I forced James to take photos of *everything*

Perfume with a french crystal bottle and 24 carat gold details, so pretty!

I think these pictures speak for themselves so enjoy!

Did someone say cupcakes?!

Don’t mind if I do! Red velvet and cream cheese icing= win!

They were super sweet and Breana had put together a lovely gift bag of some of the new range for me. Thank you girls! Totally love the bag too, it’s my new laptop bag!

We all went out to yum cha for lunch afterwards and there was lots of girl talk 😀 Sarah lived in Japan for quite a while so we had a lot in common! It was a really nice afternoon and it’s always fun to meet people with so many similar interests. We actually bumped into their graphic designer on the way to lunch and it was wonderful to meet the woman behind the designs that I admire so much. /end gushing

So on to the reviews!

Candied Vanilla Almond Candle

This candle is really interesting, I think it’s kind of like a scented candle for people who don’t normally like scented candles. When unlit the smell is a very nice vanilla but when lit it’s so subtle that if you didn’t know it was on, you would probably just think you were in a really pleasant smelling person’s house XD Even my Mother likes this and she *hates* scented candles with a passion. I think this is the perfect background scent for those who either can’t deal with heavier scents or just prefer a tiny hint.

It wouldn’t be a MOR review if I didn’t talk about the packaging hahaha! The candle comes in a very pretty cardboard box tied up with a ribbon. It’s contained in a glass jar with the logo, once the candle is burned down (and it burns very cleanly straight down because it’s soy wax) you can keep the glass for later, I’m going to store my make up brushes in it 😀 The logo is actually printed on in 24 carat gold… very luxurious *_* The price is $39.95 which I think reflects the fancy gold packaging, quite expensive for a regular candle but considering the reusable glass and the fact that the Emporium Black collection it comes from is all about over the top luxury I would probably splurge if I had unlimited funds. As is I think it would make a good present for someone you weren’t sure what to buy. DO WANT.

Belladonna Lip Nectar Lipgloss

So often lipglosses are overlooked in the packaging department but with MOR I wasn’t surprised that it came in an adorable little box! Again perfectly presented to make a nice gift and at $19.95 it’s in a good price range for that. I couldn’t find a way to describe fragrance of this one so this is from the website:

Belladonna presents a Spring symphony of White Narcissus, Moroccan Rose and Pink Tulips enlivened with a sparkling mist of Meyer Lemon. Finally it is sweetened with a touch of French Cassis, Sandalwood, Vanilla and Musk to leave a trace of tender warmth

No wonder I couldn’t pick it with all of those elements mixed together! When I first applied the gloss I couldn’t work out what I was smelling, my lips were a little tingly and after several minute of sniffing myself like a nut job I realised it was peppermint oil! The peppermint leaves a nice cool sensation but I think it overpowers the other scents a little bit making it hard to get  hold of the overall smell.

The gloss itself has an amazing amount of shine and staying power. It’s super glossy but doesn’t have any real colour by itself, worn over lipstick it looks amazing. It took several hours including eating until I needed to reapply. As with most tube glosses like this it does have a tendency to be very sticky so not a good choice for wearing your hair out on a windy day 😉 For inside though it’s perfect and I do feel like it’s made my lips softer after use.  Being paraben and sulfate free is also a big plus. DO WANT.

Candied Vanilla Almond Hand Cream

Again very pretty packaging on this one, the whole Emporium Black collection has really beautiful design. The price is $24.95. the forumla here was very similar to the other hand cream I reviewed in that it felt very smooth and thick going on but later when washing my hands I got a little bit of a slippery feeling like it hadn’t soaked all the way in. I thought it smelled delicious though, the vanilla was much stronger in this than the candle and while not overpowering, it did linger so every now and then through the day I got a nice reminder of it! Interestingly enough even though James liked the candle, he didn’t like the hand cream. He thinks it reminds him of something but he can’t remember what >_< I like the smell a lot though so… DO WANT (as long as you’re not going to be putting your hands near James)

Marshmallow Perfume Oil

After my last perfume oil I was very excited to try this Marshmallow one. The other one hasn’t left my handbag since I got it XD Again, the bottle is adorable and perfectly handbag sized. The little tube it comes in is also perfect for holding bobby pins in your handbag too! I mentioned in the last review that I wanted to try some of the marshmallow flavours and people replied it was very nice but very much not like actual marshmallows. Now that I’ve tried it myself I would have to agree, it’s a beautifully sweet scent but it’s not marshmallow, it’s more like those little pink musk ring lollies I used to eat as a child. Do they still make them? Every time I wear it I crave the lollies now!

The smell is strong but it’s also not overpowering and it lasts quite well without being annoying. It’s a very sweet fragrance so if that’s not normally your thing it might be one to steer clear of. The bottles last forever too, I’m only 1/3 of the way through the last one and I wear it all the time so I think the value is decent at $19.95. This one has been added to my handbag too, very much DO WANT (but not if you don’t like very sweet musks).

So another lot of products that make me very happy and now that they are being stocked in Mecca Maxima I know I’ll be back soon to try the lip macarons 😀