I love me a good gimmick. Give me something shiny with a new feature and I’m all over it XD I’ve seen and tried similar systems to this before with mixed results so when Eyemajic arrived in my post office box from their PR agency I was intrigued.
For those who haven’t seen these before, the basic idea is that these little strips apply fancy eyeshadow for you and are aimed at women who don’t know/don’t have time to apply complicated looks. The pack has enough for 2 applications and costs $4.95 or a 5 pack for $10.95 from Miss Lacy.The two pieces come in a little plastic packet which has a peel off back. Each foam paddle thing has 3 colours which are complimentary. Mine was brown, pink and white. You can see that some of the shadow had rubbed off in the corner of the paddle in transit but not enough to make a difference to the finished look.
The idea is that you press it to your eyelid then drag to the side to apply. You can see from the picture that the paddle was a bit small for my eye but after blending it didn’t matter much.
After once swipe most of the make up was on my eye. Though it wasn’t very easy to apply with precision.
The right eye seems to have a lot more of the white than the left and I couldn’t get them very close to the lash line because of the shape of the paddle. Having an upwards curve at the bottom seems like a good idea but when your eye is closed the curve really needs to point down to match the eye shape.
After the swipe:
Nothing was left on the paddle:
After applying the other one, it looked like there was more of the top silver colour on the right than the left, once it was blended you couldn’t tell though.
I used a brush to blend the colours in and distribute them evenly around the lid and this was the result.
So all in all I like the idea and it’s very easy to use. The colours blended well and while they didn’t look good on me I imagine the colours would go well on someone with a different skin tone. For the long term it would be much more cost effective to just buy a palette of eye shadow, a brush and learn how to apply yourself but these definitely have a place. They would be great for girls just getting started in make up or for girls who don’t normally wear make up at all to use at special events. They don’t require any skill to use and provide a nice result but you also lose out on the ability to completely customize a look to the most flattering one for your skin tone and shape so it’s 50/50.
Verdict- definitely have a purpose and would be great for girls who don’t know how to apply make up. Easy to use, applied smoothly and decent result. DO WANT but for my kid sister (if I actually had one ) or to teach friends how to apply make up or if I only had like 5min to get ready. These would be a good back up plan for last minute outings or to keep in your handbag for emergencies 😉
After the fun I had with the last lot of products from Fashion Addict, they were lovely enough to send me some of their make up items to look over and review. I have always loved bright fun make up and so after chatting to David about it for a while we came up with the idea for a peacock themed look. Challenge accepted!!
And here are some pictures of the finished look as well as the test run I did to try it out. I don’t normally wear my make up this bright but I’ve been making myself try new things and I’m loving it!
Close ups:Here’s the video tutorial I ended up coming with:
It’s got a lot going on so if case you couldn’t see from the video or the photos, here is a terrible sketch of the placement of the colours. Of course you should blend them more if you actually try it out 😉
I also did a test run which ended up having more clear photos and while the finished product isn’t exactly the same and I used different lashes you can get the idea!
Now let’s talk reviews!
BYS Shine Stick Eye Shadow $2.95 This is probably one of the standout products in the group that I received. It only costs $2.95but it packs a punch. The colour is a nice bright jade green and it goes on really smoothly. Only problem I had is that if you put this on first and then layer powder shadow over the top it then has a tendency to crease because it’s so smooth. I didn’t notice the creasing when I was wearing it alone though. Super easy to apply because of the pointed tip but after you wear through that, might be better off applying with something like a cotton bud if you want precision. Twist to get more rather than requiring sharpening makes me happy. DO WANT.
Cover Girl Slicks Gel Eye Colour $4.95 Nice thick pencil in metallic ice blue. Goes on reasonably smoothly though not as easily as the BYS one. This one also requires a sharpener which will give more control over the point and how much you use. The outside of the pencil gets dirty really easily, after one use half of the writing had come off on my hands >_< The colour is nice though and it seems really versatile. No major complains about the actual formula. DO WANT.
BYS Kohl Eyeliner pencil in 35 Mint and 34 Electric Blue $3.95 each. While these two come from the same line, they couldn’t be more different. The green is soft, buttery and has a great colour pay off while the blue is hard, pointy and I felt like I had to stab my eyelid to get any colour at all. It sucks because the blue is actually really pretty but not worth the amount of effort spent getting it. Both colours are fairly dark and matte. The green is bright and blends well with other colours, it stretches quite well too. I’d say the staying power is fairly average for both of them. Because of the inconsistencies I would probably want to try them in store before buying, that said at $3.95 it’s not exactly a hefty investment to buy a couple and look for a winner.
Left to right: BYS Kohl Electric blue, Mint, Cover Girl Sticks Gel Eye Colour, BYS Shine Stick
Urban Decay Shimmer Powder in Rockstar $14.95 From the photo on the site I was expecting this to be more of a dark purple shimmer but in real life it’s actually a black powder with a slight purple glitter mixed through. Not what I was expecting but still damn nice. The powder itself lasts ridiculously well and the purple shimmer makes it a lot more interesting than your standard black. Main problem I have with this is the applicator, in short I hated it. Every time I opened the bottle shimmer went everywhere, the brush was very scratchy and stiff on my eyes so I took to applying with a cotton bud. Even though I really liked the powder, I probably wouldn’t repurchase it because of the packaging unless I found a colour that I *really* liked. (swatch is below with the next group.
Exhibit Purple Shimmer $8.95 This little jar is full to the brim with impact and also of actual product, every time I open it I manage to spill it on myself haha XD The colour pay off is really nice and it’s a good medium purple which is versatile enough to be used as the highlight or low light shadow depending on the look you’re going for. It stretches and blends easily and I would definitely look at trying the other colours in this range. DO WANT
I really wanted to love this one! Gel liner is my favorite product and I’ve been using the Bobbi Brown long lasting one which I adore but it’s too expensive to keep going after I hit pan. Consistency-wise I liked it, felt smooth on my brush and left a nice clean line behind but that’s when the goodness ended unfortunately. It takes forever to dry and smudges like crazy. In my routine I put on my lashes then liner then the rest of my make up. With this liner by the time I’m finished everything else it’s still wet and smudging over everything. I tested it on my hand and after 5 minutes it was still wet, I don’t have that kind of time in the morning but if I had longer I probably wouldn’t mind so much. Second problem I had with this is the packaging, not sure if this one was faulty but the lid disintegrated in my hand when I was unscrewing it the second time I tried it. The base is solid but the top is pretty crap so for the moment I’ve covered it in glad wrap before I can decant into something else. For the price you pretty much get what you pay for with this one in my opinion.
Be Yourself Quatro Shimmer Pot $3.95 You guys know I’m a big fan of this stuff, I even wrote a whole post about it here with a video! I had stuck mainly with light bright colours with this in the past so I decided to branch out into a some darker ones and see if they measured up. They did! The performance was as good as the bright ones and the added bonus of having 4 colours in one made me happy. The applicators were useful too, the single ones don’t come with applicators so this was a welcome change as it was much less wasteful. Colours were nice and the shimmer was just as strong. DO WANT.
Left to right: Exhibit Purple, Urban Decay, each of the 4 colours in the Be Yourself Quatro Shimmer Pot
Be Yourself Diamond Shine Lipstick in Mauve Twinkle $2.50 Be Yourself is like the ultimate in inexpensive Australian cosmetics. I can’t remember seeing a lipstick this cheap that didn’t completely suck so this is the awesome exception to this rule. The colour is nice and shimmery and it feels really good on. Doesn’t last overly long but hey $2.50, can’t really complain. I would totally buy more of these, I think they would be especially useful for melting into custom lip glosses or testing which shades look the best with your skin tone without wasting a fortune. DO WANT.
Be Yourself Diamond on the left and Bourjois Sorbet on the right.
Bourjois Eau De Gloss Cosmic in Sorbet Fraise $9.95 Very aptly named because this really reminds me of strawberry sorbet on a hot summer day. While it looks pretty intense in the bottle once it’s on the lips it’s a nice wearable shade, it’s full of gold glitter which will probably limit how nice it looks depending on skin tone though. The bottle is kind of cute and the price is about half of what current bourjois lip glosses are in Priceline if I’m remembering correctly. As with the other glosses I have from this brand it doesn’t have that horrible gravelly glitter feeling that a lot of others do. DO WANT.
Maybeline Expert wear blush in 20 Siamese Pink $9.95 The brush that comes with this is pretty useless but the colours are nice. They arent very pigmented so good as starters for people who are not used to wearing blush. They are caked in very hard so if you want a heavier colour payoff you would really need to dig for it. I prefer the top shimmer to the actual blush because it’s very versatile. I’ve used it under my brows and also on cheek bones as a highligher.
Maybeline Expertwear shimmer powder in 10 Blissful Pink $8.95 Nice and light with very minimal shimmer this works well as a versatile highlighter. Again it’s packed in pretty heavy so if you want a high colour pay off, this isn’t the product for you. The brush again is pretty useless but still worth it as a basic highlighter. DO WANT.
Can’t really see them but left to right: #20 Siamese Pink then #10 Blissful Pink.
BYS Glitter Eye Creme Mix 3 $3.95 I was planning to base most of the look around this palette originally but the first time I did a test run I had a very serious allergic reaction so I couldn’t try it again 🙁 basically they are a metallic base with a very heavy glitter mixed in. It was a bit hard to work with them but once on they weren’t terrible. The glitter is proper thick glitter though so I wouldn’t suggest putting it around the crease because it’s pretty pointy XD For all it’s faults I still really liked the actual colours but I wouldn’t buy again even without the allergy.
Beilizi Eyeshadow Kit 1b $7.95 I adore the colours in this palette. They are bright, a bit metallic and very pigmented. You don’t have to dig for colour either which is good. The applicator that comes with it is less like those cheap sponge ones and feel kind of like a memory foam pillow XD still I don’t really like those sponge applicators so I used a brush for application and they apply really nicely, almost like a cream. There are so many pretty colours here that I could probably use only it for a month and still do a different look every day. If I was to only keep one of all of these products, this would be it hands down! I had never heard of this brand before now but I fully intend to hunt more of it down now 😀 DO WANT.
Peacock accessories
Peacock Feather Earrings $4.95 The earrings are longer and danglier thuan I usually wear but they were so light that I didn’t even notice. I don’t really know why I was expecting them to be heavy but there you go haha! I liked that the hooks came with the little rubber stoppers on the back too because I am forever loosing earrings that don’t have those. The feathers used aren’t exactly the same (one longer than the other) but I imagine it would be almost impossible to find completely matching feathers.
Peacock Feather Pendant $4.95 The necklace is made of a thin dark metal chain with average looking clamps. Again very light material.
Peacock Feather Fascinator Adelaide $24.95 The fascinator was an interesting design, not something that I would usually pick for myself but in the end I really did like the design. I think if I did my hair in a big up do it would suit quite nicely. Quality-wise the feathers are bound well together but the diamantes on the band fell off the first time I wore it, not a very big problem because I could just hot glue it on again but if you were planning to wear one out to a party or anything I would double check everything was secure first.
And that’s everything! Thanks again go to Fashion Addict for providing most of the items I used in the tutorial. I can’t wait to show you guys the pictures Celeste and I got when we were given a tour of the Fashion Addict warehouse, it was like heaven *_*
Well there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed, I’m having fun making these videos so expect more soon! Let me know if you have any requests ^_^ Also after the comments last time I tried to make this video louder, let me know if it was enough or if I should make it even louder next time?
After reading how much I loved their last gift bag, MOR was lovely enough to send me another package with their new Dolce by MOR collection for Target. It comes in 3 flavors: Honey, Sorbet and Pomegranate.
I recieved the Pomegranate flavor which is described as having “a heart of Violet and Jasmine, a burst of tangy Pomegranate blends with sweet Rasberry and Black Currant coulis to top a Sweet Musk vase.”
This whole collection had a really interesting smell because while all of the items had the same ingredients the mediums they are contained in (eg. hand cream or body wash) made different elements of the smell come to the forefront. That said I think I am absolutely terrible at describing scents so it’s probably best if you all go and smell for yourselves!
As usual the packaging was absolutely beautiful. This being their cheaper range for Target I was expecting the quality to be a bit lower but I was pleasantly surprised. It all looks adorable and reasonably sturdy 😀
Candle- $15Firstly I love that the candle comes in a tin with a lid because after the candle has been used up, I have every intention of keeping the tin and reusing it again for a cute storage container. As I said in my last MOR review, having nice packaging is such a big plus for a company because if it’s nice enough, people like me will actually keep it and advertise the product long after it’s run out. The biggest point of smell in the candle is the pomegranate. When lit it provides a deliciously sweet smell but not to the point of overpowering a room. I can comfortably burn it for a few hours without wanting to open a window. It’s subtle but I still found it enough to drown out the delicious smells of next doors curry dinner!! Not sure what else I can say, it certainly burns well and doesn’t let off smoke. I would buy again especially with the tin as a nice bonus. DO WANT!
Hand Cream- $10
The hand cream has a really thick texture and while you don’t need much to cover your hands, it feels like it doesn’t soak in completely. I found that if I used just a little too much it could be hard to actually rub it all in. Even an hour later when I went to wash my hands they turned that slightly slimy texture. I loved the smell though. The strongest smell in this one was the black currant and jasmine. A big plus I give it, is that while it smells nice and strong coming out from the bottle, after rubbing in the smell is just subtle and doesn’t linger for an annoying length of time. I’ve had hand creams before where I needed to wash them off because the smell just lingered and gave me a headache after a while and this wasn’t one of them. Overall I think the size is appropriate for the price and considering how rich it is, the tube will probably last months! TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!
Body Wash- $15
The body wash comes in a nicely sized pump bottle which matches the lotion perfectly. It suggests either use in the shower or as a hand wash, I chose shower but I love products which can do double duty. The smell straight out of the bottle is mostly pomegranate but once water hits and you start rubbing in it turns to black currant, reminds me a ridiculous amount of black currant Soothers, you know the purple ones? The biggest problem I have with this is that the pump itself puts out a small amount of product, not so bad if it wasn’t quite thick and therefore hard work to pump in the first place. It would be a fine amount if you were using it as a hand wash, but should be more for body wash. It lathers well, cleans pretty well and leaves a hint of scent behind. Oh my god the smell is amazing, it could turn me completely purple and I would still buy it for the smell XD DO WANT!
Body Lotion- $15
Same very pretty bottle as the body wash but in white. Love the graphics on the bottle, so pretty! Again the lotion is quite thick though and the pump only puts out a tiny bit at a time so it can be tiring to try to get enough out of the bottle. It’s a nice texture and easy to rub in and absorbs well. Feels moisturizing but obviously being a lotion rather than moisturizer it’s not a substitute for a proper skin care routine. The smell lingers longer than the hand lotion and you don’t need much to go a long way. You can really smell the violets in this one, once rubbed in the pomegranate and black currant remain. Very yummy and I found myself sniffing for hours afterwards. This I would definitely buy again. DO WANT.
I haven’t tried the soap that was sent because I much prefer body wash to bar soap so I can’t really comment on it other than to say the packaging was really cute and it smelled as lovely in the box as everything else in the collection. If and when I do I will update this review.
Overall I love this collection. The prices are decent at $10-15 per item and being stocked at Target means it’s very easily available. While there is some room for improvement in the formulas and packaging, I would definitely put any other items with this fragrance onto my wish list. It’s sweet, refreshing but not too overpowering or sticky. DO WANT.
Following on from yesterday’s post on Face of Australia’s cosmetics, here are my swatches of the polishes I was sent. I’ve done the new collection Molten Metalics and a couple from Luxe which is the previous collection.
From: Priceline, Big W, Kmart (I think they are currently looking for a place to sell online too)
Price: Around the $5 mark from Priceline.
Volume: 13ml
Bottle: Square with a tall, shiny, thin, black lid. Easy to store and stack, no complaints here.
Brush: Average size, maybe a little thicker and very flexible. Some of the brushes had loose/long bristles which I had to trim before attempting to use them which was a bit annoying.
Drying Time: Roughly the same for all of them. Nice and quick drying time.
Colour Name: Beauty Queen
Description: Good old fashioned Barbie pink.
Thoughts: Nice fresh bright pink. Opaque in 2 coats with a really nice shiny finish. You can probably guess that I really like this one 😉Good for: -Work friendly manicures with a bit of extra pop -Sweet cutesy designs, perfect base for Hime and Lolita -Might be good for konad over light designs as it’s fairly opaque.Bad for: – Non-girly designs. I don’t think there’s a way to un-girly this shade of pink!
Colour Name: Private Jet
Description: Matte dark purple.
Thoughts: I do love matte purples, I have quite a few of them, when I swatched this one I just wasn’t particularly excited by it. It’s not that there’s anything particularly wrong with it, I just think it’s too similar to other polishes I’ve got. Still, looking at it by itself it’s got a nice smooth finish to it.
Good for: -Dark midnight themed designs -Might make interesting konads as it’s pretty opaque and matte konad=win.
Bad for: – Shininess XD Obviously this could be fixed with a top coat though!! -Being the same colour as in the bottle, obviously because it’s a matte shade it comes out a lot darker when it dries.
Colour Name: Summer Spice
Description: Super bright orangey red.
Thoughts: Oh my god this shade required sunglasses to look at for long periods of time!! It’s a nice matte finish the same as Private Jet but I found this one a much more interesting colour. It really smacks you in the face with it’s awesome brightness!
Good for: -Spring/Summerish manicures designed to stand out
Bad for: – Subtlety
Colour Name: Bronze
Description: A redish bronze with gold shimmer.
Thoughts: I really liked this one, I could totally see it being used in some awesomely shiny leopard print designs. It’s a very reddish bronze which I think makes it nice and versatile.
Good for: -Jazzed up leopard print or other animal print designs -Probably good for konad because of the high concentrate of shimmer
Bad for: – Rushed one coat manicures, really needs a second coat.
Colour Name: Verdigris
Description: Greenish gold.
Thoughts: I think this is the weirdest colour I own, it’s not quite gold but it’s not quite green but in other light it’s not quite whatever colour is reflecting off it. I honestly didn’t really like this colour, something about it just didn’t sit right, on my hands it just looked a little sickly. It might look nicer on someone with a more olive complexion? The colour change between the different coats was quite interesting too.
Good for: -Swirly 1970’s themed manicures
Bad for: – My skin tone -Consistant colour
Colour Name: Titanium
Description: Silver with a silver shimmer.
Thoughts: This one is a really intense silver packed with shimmer. Only needs one coat and shines like hell in the sun. No complaints about this one at all, goes on smooth and and is so versatile.
Good for: -Probably konad as it’s super shimmery and opaque -Adding a little bling to a standard design -Awesomely shiny french tips
Bad for: – Natural looks. Seriously it’s not a subtle finish at all.
Colour Name: Iron Ore
Description: Black with a beautiful silver shimmer.
Thoughts: This is probably my favorite of the whole collection. The silver shimmer really gives it an extra edge and the finish is kind of satin-ish. When I applied a top coat it was like looking into the far reaches of the galaxy XD It has a really nice depth to it and while not completely opaque in 1 coat it is still enough that I would wear it with one coat just for a change.
Good for: -A nice twist on gothic themed manicures -Maybe good for konad as it’s pretty opaque
Bad for: – Light girly themed manicures, though if paired with the Beauty Queen pink that could be a really interesting combination!
Colour Name: White Gold
Description: A nice light gold with silver shimmer.
Thoughts: Now pair this with the Bronze and you’ve got yourself a fairly impressive leopard print! By itself though, the colour didn’t thrill me. I’m not one for tans or neutral colours so I think there are other girls that could rock this look way better than me! The finish was really nice though, true to its name it really did look like white gold.
My bad for loosing the photo with the main swatch but you can pretty much see the finish from the bottle. It really does look exactly the same.
Good for: -Natural work friendly manicures with a little punch -Probably another one which is good for konad because it’s nice and opaque which hell of a shimmer
Bad for: -Standing out in a crowd
Colour Name: Gold
Description: Bronzey base with a LOT of gold shimmer.
Thoughts: This is the third colour I would use in my awesomely shiny leopard print of doom 😉 The bottle really doesn’t do justice to how this looks on, once it dries it’s *really* shiny. In the bottle the tan/bronzey base looks like it’s in main colour but once it’s on the nail the gold shimmer works its magic and it’s like looking at foolsgold/pyrite. Opaque in one coat, what more do you need?
Good for: -Natural work friendly manicures with extra bling (I’m noticing that’s a theme with the this collection) -Using as a little accent to cute girly manicures
Bad for: – Probably wouldn’t look good with some skin tones as it’s very yellow.
Colour Name: Amethyst
Description: Deep pinkish purple with a silver shimmer.
Thoughts: Another of my favorites from the collection. I do love a good pink/purple and the shimmer just makes it really versatile. It needs two coats to be opaque and it a tiny bit streaky but I still love it because it has a lot of depth.
Good for: -Darker gothic designs -Add a little silver accent and you’ve got something cute and girly too
Bad for: – Probably bad for konad as it’s not very opaque first go.
Colour Name: Flaming Lava
Description: Red with a deep red shimmer.
Thoughts: LOVE this one too. It’s another one that I could spend hours staring at because of the depth of colour. The shimmer really amps up the colour so in the light it’s a little hypnotic. Opaque in one coat is really nice for a red this pretty too.
Good for: -Nice twist on really sexy traditional red manicures -Probably good for konad as it’s nice and opaque
Bad for: – Super sweet designs, this one is just plain sexy.
So overall? A lot of the colours I loved, some were ok but not for me. I probably wouldn’t buy the whole collection but I would definitely buy my favorites individually. At $4.95 each you can’t really go wrong with some of them. Molten Metallics is definitely an interesting collection so I can’t wait to see where Face of Australia go next!
I’ve been chatting on and off with Tina from Face of Australia on twitter for a while now and having used some of their products before I was really excited when she offered to send me a care package. Face of Australia is one of those brands which is completely underrated in my opinion. I’ve used their products in the past and really liked them and I always check them out when I head into a Priceline but you never really hear people talking about them much. Recently they have delved into the land of social media and now everyone is talking about them which is great! It’s really nice to see an Australian brand succeeding and doing social media the right way for a change rather than just begging for retweets.
So on to the reviews! I have an entire collection of polishes which will be up in tomorrow’s post but for now let’s talk make up. It was a mixed bag and some things I absolutely loved while others were nice but not for me.
Pressed Bronzer $11.95 and Instant Tan Bronzer Mouse $11.95 I’m the first to admit I know nothing about bronzers, mostly because I never use them and have no desire to be any shade of tan, so it’s hard for me to really comment on these. I did swatch them quickly on my arm for the sake of trying something new but having nothing to compare the experience to I wont make any judgements!Straight on my arm, pressed bronzer on the left, mouse on the right.
Rubbed in:
SPF 30+ Coconut Spray$12.99 I like the bottle the sunscreen comes in, it’s big but not so big it would be hard to take out with you. It has a nifty little black clicky thing which is attached to the spray part that folds up and down to prevent it from spraying all over the inside of your bag! The smell is quite realistically coconut rather than that generic smell a lot of coconut beauty products have. I personally hate coconut so it didn’t do it for me but James loves it! The spray itself is fairly watery and rubs in nice and easily. While I don’t like the smell, that’s just personal preference so because of the clever bottle I would definitely buy it with a different scent. DO WANT (but for James)Face Base Primer$11.95 I love this primer. It’s oil free, light and has vitamin E and chamomile. My favorite part is how light it is when applied to the skin, it feels almost like silk. There isn’t any strong smell, so it doesn’t compete with other products either. Best of all it works! I could really tell the difference in longevity when I used it on a daily basis. DO WANT.Gentle Make Up Remover.$8.95 Love this too, works like a charm. It’s the typical 2 part solution that you shake together to activate and then press on with a cotton pad and smooth away make up. Doesn’t feel sticky, just feels like water. I think it felt a little more harsh than my Neutroena one but still worked well. One plus (in my eyes anyway!) is that when you shake the two solutions together it looks like the bottle has sparkles in it! The only thing I didn’t like was the tiny opening in the bottle top but that’s just personal preference. Big thumbs up on this one. DO WANT.Anti-Ageing Stick Foundation in Outback Ivory.$11.95 I think this is the lightest shade in this range available but it was way too dark and orange for me, then again the “outback” part in the name is probably a giveaway. I’m quite pale with pink undertones so anything even remotely orangey doesn’t look good on my skin. Texture- wise it’s quite thick and heavy so you could get some really heavy duty coverage out of it. I like lighter coverage so I found that using it as a concealer rather than whole foundation was perfect. Covered my dark circles like a dream and then with my lighter foundation over the top it was able to get the right tone. If it came in a shade that matched me a bit better I would buy again for use as a concealer. DO WANT (but not this colour)Mineral Therapy Liquid Foundation in Ivory$15.95 I found this one much more my style foundation- wise. It was nice coverage without being too weighed down at all. Again this is the lightest shade that FOA makes in this product. I thought the colour suited me when I swatched a little of it but when I did a whole face full in the morning I discovered that this too is a bit on the orange side for me, I could probably get away with it but I just didn’t feel like myself. It’s a pity because the texture and everything about it is wonderful! I love the level of coverage, I love how light it feels and I love it has vitamins c and e as well as jojoba. Again if this was in my shade I would definitely look at trying it again. DO WANT (but not this colour)
From left to right, stick foundation, mineral liquid, mineral powder, translucent powder
Rubbed in:
Mineral Therapy Foundation in Natural Ivory$16.95 Again lots of vitamins and good things in this powder but matching the mineral foundation, it’s just a touch to orange for my skin. Looks fantastic on though because it’s got a pretty intense shimmer to it. Shimmers in foundation are something you either love or hate and while I adore it I know others who will only use this as a highlighter because it’s too intense. The powder itself is very nice and smooth so the only thing preventing me from purchasing is the slight mismatch in colour for my skin. I like the little brush attached to the package as well from a convenience point of view. DO WANT (but not this colour)Translucent Loose Powder in Outback Translucent$11.95 This one I absolutely loved. Perfect colour for me and applies like a dream. It seals in foundation really well and unlike the mineral therapy, it doesn’t have a shimmer to it. This has made it’s way into my every day make up routine and there’s not much of a better endorsement from me! XD A little bit goes a long way and it comes in a nice big jar too so I think it will last forever. DO WANT.Devine Shine Lip Plumper in Lavish Impact$10.95 The colour of this one is more brown than I’m used to wearing but once on the lips it gave a quite nice natural colour. The texture is nice and fairly standard for a lip gloss and I did experience a small plumping of my lips but nothing too crazy. The thing I couldn’t get past on this was the smell. You can really smell the menthol, cinnamon and ginger. To be honest it smelled like euky bear/vaporub *_* every time I applied it all I could do was thinking of being sick in bed drowning in tissues and Vic’s vaporub. That’s just my weird hang up but it was enough for me to not want to use it regularly XD I think it was a perfectly fine gloss but definitely check in store and smell it before you buy. MEH.Mineral Lip Shine in Fairy Floss$12.95 I’ve been trying more nude colours lately so this really appealed to me. The colour is a really nice nude with a hint of light pink and shimmer. It looks very natural on and while not particularly pigmented it’s still very pretty. The fact that it’s not very opaque makes it quite a versatile shade in my opinion, I think it could be worn with a variety of colours. Soft and very moisturing, I would definitely look at getting this in lots of different colours. DO WANT.Liquid eyeliner in Black.$8.95 Hands down this is my favorite liquid eyeliner ever. I’ve been allergic to a lot of eyeliners in the past, one particularly bad reaction left me with red liner burns for weeks. This is the first one I’ve tried in years that gave me absolutely no reaction whatsoever. To top it all off the brush is also the easiest I’ve ever used. It is long and thin which makes it really easy to maneuver into both long and thin lines as well as creating really nice side flicks. It lasts fairly well, not quite as long as my Bobbi Brown gel liner but still pretty good. The only places that really wore out during the day were the inner corners of my eyes. This is another product that has made it’s way into my every day basket, I would absolutely replace this once it runs out. DO WANT.
So verdict? While some things didn’t really suit me due to the colours, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t look at again should they come in different colours. The quality was great considering the prices and I am totally looking forward to seeing what comes out from the brand next.
Do you guys have any favorite product/brand which rocks but don’t seem to get much attention?
Before MBBE I had never heard of KMS California but I’m very glad that they included their shampoo and conditioner set in the gift bags because I found something to add to my must-have list.
Out of all the shampoo/conditioner sets that were in those bags, I found the KMS ones to be the most compatible with my hair. If you want to see what it beat out you can see the other items in the gallery here.
Price: I googled for Australian prices and the average seems to be around AU$20 per bottle
If you follow me on Twitter you would have seen me asking for recommendations for hair treatments and products to fix my damaged hair. I’ve been dying my hair various colours for almost 10 years now and while I’ve escaped most damage it does take it’s toll.
The bleached sections of my hair are relatively unscathed but the pink dye is drying out the ends like crazy. If you have any recommendations for non-damaging-not-ridiculously-expensive pink dye available in Aus I would love to hear them! So yes trying to be kinder to my hair so I can keep the pink happening as long as possible. I’ve tried quite a few different hair treatments and with the exception of one which I will review later, these two products have by far improved the texture of my hair the most.
After using consistently for 1 month I can really feel the difference in the ends especially. Less straw and more silk if you know what I mean XD
The texture to both products was quite thick. The shampoo feels substantial and while lathering easily it doesn’t produce so many bubbles that your entire head is engulfed. The conditioner feels soft and silky but not so slippery that it runs off the hair, it grips well to the hair if that actually makes sense. There’s no strong smell which is also a plus in my books.
The only major con I have for these (other than the intensely ugly/generic looking bottles) is the price. At $20 for 1 bottle you really need to be prepared to invest in it. For me personally I don’t have the budget to do that unless I can find them on sale somewhere.
VERDICT: Overall while it’s certainly not on the cheap side, I think this is the best shampoo/conditioner combination I’ve ever used for my particular hair. So if I had the money to make the choice I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them repeatedly. DO WANT.The PR agency for KMS also sent me their Dry Shine Styler as well as the travel kit to test out after I mentioned I have problems with frizz.Name: Dry Shine Styler
Price: $19.95
Basically it is supposed to shine and smooth down all of your little fly away hairs. I’m sure there is all kind of fancy technology employed to do that but that sort of thing you can read about on their website.
It comes in the form of a glue stick XD The idea is that you can take it anywhere and use it on the go. You are supposed to smooth it straight onto your hair, I found that doing that was too much product and too hard to see what I was doing so instead I applied to my hand and then wiped it onto the hair.
It seems like an odd thing glue-sticking your hair but I remember at school when girls I knew used *actual* glue sticks to do this if they were desperate hahaha!
So does it work? You be the judge…
Before. Unbrushed hair first thing in the morning:
After. Applied very lightly on hands and smoothed down, no brushing:
So yes it does work, and it works very well. You would think it would be heavy and oily to get such a dramatic result but it’s really not. My hair didn’t feel greasy and I couldn’t notice much of a difference at all. There is a light plesent scent with it, kind of smells like a hair salon actually XD
I think the biggest fan of this product surprisingly enough was actually James. As a photographer he is forever having to photoshop out fly away hairs from client work, after one use with me he wanted to take mine to use on shoots. I didn’t want to give it up though so now we argue over who can take it on certain days XD I feel almost like we need a lawyer approved joint custody arrangement!!
VERDICT: Love it. Again pricey but you need so little of it to get results that I imagine it would last for a *very* long time and therefore be worth the investment. James says it’s a must for photographers and I would agree that I can tell when I’ve used it/not used it in outfit photos! DO WANT.
Now small bonus with these reviews, from May 1st if you buy any 2 KMS products you get this cute little travel bag as well as a change to win a $1000 travel voucher. Clearly they know how I think because it’s got my travel motto stamped on it:
“I didn’t come all this way not to look good”
Inside it’s got a bunch of little bottles, sprays and jars to put your travel beauty products. Clear case so you can take it on the plane with you and a pocket inside to hold make up. They even were nice enough to print my name and address onto the label for me XD
So summary? I am very glad that KMS put those first products into the MBBE gift bags because if they hadn’t I probably wouldn’t have been introduced to some of my current favorite products.Very much looking forward to trying and testing more from them in the future. Thumbs up from me.
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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