Review: Daiso Volume Mascara

Hey guys! Hope you're all enjoying your Thursday.

I'm finally getting around to doing a review on the Volume Mascara that I purchased from Daiso a while back. There was no specific brand on the packaging.

This mascara has a traditional brush which is slightly pinched in the middle which I like, but that's where the good points end.  Overall, this mascara gets a big thumbs down from me.   The formula is too wet and heavy and so makes my lashed wilt all the way back down as though I hadn't curled them.  That being said, this isn't a waterproof mascara.  I always use waterproof mascaras because it is difficult for my lashes to maintain a curl so I should have expected this result.  However I know that some Asian brand mascaras don't write 'waterproof' on the packaging when they actually are, so I was assuming this was the case here, but it unfortunately wasn't. 

It can clump your lashes together a bit.  I can't really comment on the staying power because the few times I put it on, I couldn't stand the drooping effect and immediately removed it.

Definitely wouldn't recommend this.

Moisturiser Intervention - Update 2 - Clinique & Olay

I've finished some more products from my Moisturiser Intervention. (Click here for the original blog post).

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturizer

I used this as a morning pre-makeup moisturiser.  It's very light and absorbs really quickly.  I do enjoy light moisturisers in the morning especially since my skin is oily, but I think this moisturiser may be a bit too light and not moisturising enough, particularly in winter.  It would probably be better for me in the summer.

As for clearing my skin, I didn't really feel like it reduced my pimples or anything.  That being said, I only had a sample size so I didn't get to use it for long.

Overall I like it, unsure if I will purchase a full size since it is a bit pricey but I am curious to see if it helps with my blemishes.

Olay Moisturizing Cream for Sensitive Skin

I really liked this moisturiser.  I felt like it was a happy medium between the light moisturisers I like using in the morning and richer moisturisers I use after I shower.  I especially liked it during the summer when it was just way to hot to slather a really rich moisturiser on after showering or before bed.

Nothing else to really say other than I like it and would consider repurchasing.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Recent Haul: Shoes and Daiso Makeup

I actually bought these things over a month ago, but didn't get around to taking photos and all that til now.

I bought 2 pairs of shoes from the Tony Bianco warehouse sale in Collingwood. 

To be honest, Tony Bianco heels have to be one of, if not the most uncomfortable and unflattering heels in my opinion. I think their shoes are more catered to those with skinner feet, I have very wide feet. Plus, I find the angle that they make your feet sit very steep and just awkward. That being said...I love these heels. I think the colour and design is SO pretty and they were marked down to $30! Yes, they are uncomfortable and yes, they are very unflattering on my feet but when you are in a warehouse surrounded by other women grabbing at shoes...it does things to you lol.

I haven't worn them out yet and I'm undecided about if I want to keep them or sell them.

I needed some new flats firstly because my current ones are on their final leg and I'll need some for work next year. The Tony Bianco flats I already have are really comfortable so I hope these are too. I thought the big buckles made them more dressy and hence suitable for work and play.

I bought a pair of Basque loafers from Myer while they were having their further 30% off sale prices sale.

I've never really been a fan of loafers. Most of the ones I've tried look odd on my feet and make my feet look even wider. But these come up a bit higher in the front so they are more flattering. They're not my usual style, I call them my grandma shoes lol. Thought I'd give them a go since they were marked down.

Finally I had an itch to try Daiso makeup. I picked up a mascara and some powder. I plan to review these products sometime soon.

Review: Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Mascara (Waterproof)

I included this mascara in a haul a while back and I finally got around to trying it. I have to say, I'm not a fan.

The number one thing I judge mascaras on is its ability to hold a curl. This doesn't at all. My lashes wilt all the way down as soon as I put this stuff on. Another issue I have with this mascara is the brush is too darn huge. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a larger brush, but this one isn't just big, the shape of it makes it feel even bigger, since it doesn't really taper at the end. For comparison, the brush of the Bourjois mascara is larger than Maybelline Colossal. So I find it a bit hard to manouvre. The mascara also smudges on me. No more than most mascaras do on me, so that's fine.

Bourjois (Top); Maybelline (Bottom)

As for the look it gives. It does lengthen and volumise decently. But I really can't get past the crappy curl-holding power.

My first Bourjois mascara and probably my last.

Moisturiser Intervention - Update 1 - Avene Rich Compensating Cream

About 2 weeks ago I finished my first product from my Moisturiser Intervention (Click here for the original blog post), the Avene Rich Compensating Cream.

I used this product as my post-shower moisturiser in the afternoon/evening. I usually try to use a richer moisturiser after my shower. This product did serve this purpose well, it was very moisturising and easy to spread onto the skin. For a richer cream, it didn't take too long to absorb.

I enjoyed using this product since it left my skin feeling nice and soft. It didn't do anything miraculous for me, but how many products do? lol. I wasn't expecting to like it since it is designed for dry to very dry skin and I have oily skin. I thought it was going to be overly greasy and way too moisturising for me, but it wasn't. Which makes me wonder if it would be enough for a person with dry to very dry skin.

This cream was given to me as a gift. I won't be buying myself another jar since it is expensive, priced at $59.99 at Priceline. Still a good product but I'm sure I can find a product that works just as well at a cheaper price.

Priceline Skincare Haul

If you are in tune with Priceline promos and catalogues, you would have known that they had 40% off all skincare brands on 30-31 July.

I really didn't need anything...but I couldn't pass up 40% off.  So I bought a bunch of stuff as spares for when I finish my current stuff.  I went a bit crazy at first chucking so many items into my basket but then I came to my senses and gradually cut back to the essentials.


I bought:

• Olay Foaming Face Wash - Sensitive
• Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips - Ultra
• Sukin Hydrating Mist Toner
• Sukin Facial Moisturiser
• Garnier Intensive 7 Days SOS Repairing Hand Balm
• Swisspers Aloe Soothing Eye Cream
• Nivea Lip Butter - Vanilla & Macadamia (forgot to include in photo)

The Garnier hand balm and the Biore pore strips are the only products I have used before.  So it'll be exciting to try all the others.  But I'm definitely trying to stick to my "don't open anything before I finish something" policy lol.

HG makeup remover: Garnier Clean Sensitive 2 in 1 Gentle Make-Up Remover

This is my absolute favourite makeup remover and I can't imagine finding anything better particularly at such an awesome price.  I'm on my fourth or fifth bottle now (I've lost count) and I have two backups stored away. 

This makeup remover is the kind you have to shake up to combine the 2 layers.  It removes all my makeup really easily including waterproof mascara.  (I only ever by waterproof formulas.)  It doesn't feel oily or leave a gross residue.  It's really gentle and doesn't sting my eyes or skin at all.

I've tried Neutrogena, Nivea, Inglot and Bioderma, none of those match up to this in quality or value.

Priceline sells it for $9.99 for 200ml.  That itself to me is amazing value but they always have promotions like 30% off or buy-2-get-1-free which is when I stock up.

If you've never tried it, you have to. That's all I have to say lol.

Nails of the Week: Flower accent with Ciate Vintage & China Glaze White on White

I started playing with my dotting tool over the weekend which I bought from Daiso a while back.  After a whole lot of experimenting, I settled with a basic flower.  Love it.  So cute and delicate.

The base colour is Ciate Vintage which is a creme deep grey with a blue undertone.  It is practically opaque in one coat.  For the flower, I used China Glaze White on White which is a basic white creme.

Review: Lush Mint Julips lip scrub

I'd been eying the Mint Julips lip scrub for ages but was reluctant to buy it.  Eventually I gave in when I was in one of my spending moods.

Since most DIY lip scrubs are made with honey or olive oil, I was under the impression that this scrub would be all sticky and inconvenient because most of the time when I feel the need to exfoliate my lips, it's just before I apply my makeup, so I would not be bothered to have to wash all the oily residue off.  Call me lazy, but that was one of the reasons why I was reluctant to buy the scrub.

My impressions were totally wrong.  It is not goopy at all.  It's actually quite dry and so easy to just wipe off when you're done.  If some of the scrub falls in your mouth, it tastes so good!  Chocolatey minty goodness.  The scrub is really gentle and doesn't irritate my lips.



It costs $9.95 for a small tub.  It will probably last me ages since I don't use it everyday and you really don't use much each time.

Thumbs up for Mint Julips lip scrub from me.

May & June 2013 Beauty Haul

Good afternoon!

Just a short post today sharing a bunch of things I've bought over the last couple of months.


Nivea Pure & Natural Milk & Honey lip balm
A friend of mine who is a lipbalm fanatic recommended this to me as one of the best cheap lip balms she's tried.

Lush Mint Julips lip scrub
I seem to be developing a habit of buying lush products when I'm in a crappy mood lol. 

Daiso nail dotting tool

Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night CreamYes, I know I'm on my 'Moisturiser Intervention' but the moisturiser I've been using for night time is almost finished, so I bought this to replace that.  Don't worry, I won't open it until I've finished the other one =P

Lancome Tonique Pure Focus toner
There was this random pop-up sale on Bridge Rd so I picked up this toner.

Moosehead Grubby Putty
I recently got a haircut and the hairdresser styled my hair all messy and I loved it.  But I didn't really want to buy the product he used on me since it was a pretty big tub and was fairly expensive, and knowing me, I won't be styling my hair everyday.  So I found this little tub and Priceline and thought I'd give it a try.

Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips - Ultra
I always have these on hand.  No miracle workers but i still like them. (Click here for review)

Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Waterproof mascara

MAC Rebel lipstick
I've been wanting this forever!  So I thought finishing exams was a good enough excuse to reward myself.

Quick update:
I've been a bit M.I.A. recently because I was busy with exams and I was just starting to enjoy my holidays when I was struck down with a cold.  Woohoo... So I'm writing this post from the couch under 100 layers of blankets lol.

Enjoy your week!  And if you're in Melbourne, rug up! brrrrrr.

xLoveHappyx Summer Giveaway

Who doesn't love a good giveaway? The always generous Galaxia from xLoveHappyx is having a giveaway for her birthday month of June. She's giving away makeup bags filled with goodies from Smashbox, Benefit and numerous other brands.

What's even more awesome about this giveaway is the more entries she receives, the more prizes she will give away! So get entering!

It's really easy to enter and the giveaway is open internationally. Just hop over to xLoveHappyx for more details.

Latest Purchases: Sportsgirl and SheInside - My geometric obsession

I think it's safe to say that I have a bit of a geometric pattern obsession right now.  For the past few months, I've been gravitating toward anything with a geometric or Aztec print.  Seriously, show me anything with a triangle on it, and I'm there lol.

Statement necklace - Sportsgirl - Original price $19.95    Purchase Price $4.95

Photo from Sportsgirl website 

I'd looked at this necklace on numerous occasions and wasn't sure if I should get it but my sister finally pushed me over the edge plus it was on further discount.  The colours are soft, I love the triangles and it looks a bit like a fox's head which I thought was pretty cool.

Scarf - Sportsgirl - Original Price $29.95    Purchase Price $19.95
I remember seeing this scarf when it was full price.  I really liked the blocked colourful pattern but I thought $29.95 was too much to spend on a scarf like this plus I basically never buy anything full price.  Then when I saw this in the sale section, I made a bee-line for it, but I wasn't so impressed when I saw the price tag.  $19.95 is still expensive in my opinion for what it is, but I really wanted it.
Side story, in store it was always bunched and hung up, so it wasn't until about a week ago when I wore it for the first time that I noticed some of the coloured blocks resembled letters.  I literally ripped the scarf off my neck, laid it flat and discovered the pattern actually spelt out "When in Rome."  It seriously felt like I had decoded some ancient mystery, totally blew my mind lol.

Navy Batwing Long Sleeve Geometric Cardigan Sweater - SheInside - Original Price $55.81   Purchase Price $26.40

Photo from SheInside website

 

I recently discovered SheInside which is an online store.  It has permanent free international shipping and I found a 20% off coupon that also applied to sale items.

This cardigan was on sale.  I LOVE IT!  At first I wasn't so sure of the fit.  A lot, if not all the clothes on the sight are one-size-fits-all, so I was concerned it would bee too big and boxy, but it wasn't.  It's really baggy on me, but in a good way! I've gotten heaps of compliments on it too.

Have a great weekend!

Kiss Goodbye to MS - Wear Red Lipstick

I saw an ad on TV for Kiss Goodbye to MS.  I thought it was a fantastic and creative campaign by MS Australia this year so I thought I'd share it. 


Here's some information about Multiple Sclerosis taken from the Kiss Goodbye to MS website.

"MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young Australian adults. As yet there is no cure. Over 23,000 Australians have MS and most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40. MS affects three times as many women as men.

MS is the result of damage to myelin – a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system. When myelin is damaged this interferes with messages between the brain and other parts of the body.

The symptoms of MS are different for each person. Sometimes they even vary within the same person. For some people, MS is characterised by periods of relapse and remission while for others it has a progressive pattern. For everyone it makes life unpredictable."

To show your support for Kiss Goodbye to MS wear red lipstick on 29th May, World MS Day and throughout 2013.  Don't forget to get sponsored or donate to a great cause.

For more information, go to kissgoodbyetoMS.org/

Nails of the Week: Triangle nails with Essie Merino Cool & Orly Rage

At the moment I have this itty bitty obsession with geometric prints. Whether it be clothes, accessories, jewellery...anything.

I saw this nail design everywhere online so I gave it a go.  It turned out awesome, totally loved it!  Way better than it looks in the photo.  I looked like a weirdo constantly staring at my nails at uni haha.

I applied 2 coats of Essie Merino Cool as a base colour.  The formula of this polish is amazing, so easy to apply and not streaky at all.  Then I used Orly Rage for the triangle.

I used this tutorial by leighannsays as a guide.  I definitely recommend using scotch tape like she suggests because regular tape is just too strong and rips off all your good work (Tip: If the tape does rip off a bit of the base polish, top coat will smooth it out).  I also thought removing the tape in the opposite direction to what she did helped because it gave me a cleaner point.

Hope you enjoyed this nail look.

Another Year Older

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday! I don't really feel any different, aside from not being able to sing Taylor Swift's "22" anymore lol.

My friends surprised me at uni with a cake the day before my birthday. Lucky I went to the bathroom so they could set up lol. You can see the yummy cake above and my "oh-so-glamorous" uni look.

Then on my birthday, my best friend, who is currently staying far away in woop woop on placement, drove 4 hours to see me and took me out to dinner. We ate at a tapas restaurant/bar in Yarraville. We over-ordered (as usual) and were stuffed by the end of it.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a great weekend.

NYX Round Lipsticks - Review & Swatches

These were among the first lipsticks I ever bought. They kind of fell to the back of my collection as I started buying more expensive lipsticks, but I've recently started to whip them out again.

They're really cheap and great if you want to try a bunch of different colours. But the formula for most of them (particularly the cream finish ones), I find quite difficult to work with compared to other lipsticks. They are really pigmented and creamy but go on quite thick, almost cakey, if you apply them in a normal swiping motion. I think they work best if you wear a lip balm underneath and apply the lipstick in a dabbing motion to build up the colour.

Here are the colours I own:


(From left to right)
Pumpkin Pie - Peachy nude with slight gold shimmer
Frappucino - Neutral pinky brown
Milan - Mauve
Tea Rose - Medium pink
Indian Pink - Pinky peach with gold shimmer
Fig - Bright medium pink
Doll - Pinky raspberry
Rose Bud - Cool pink with gold glitter; the glitter feels gritty.
Rose - Bright pinky coral with pink shimmer

My current favourites are probably Doll and Rose.  But when I first bought these years back, Tea Rose was my most used shade.

Have a great weekend!

Review & Swatches: Ciate Cookies and Cream

I love this colour! I am so surprised. I was never into the nude look because I thought it would just make your hands look dead and flat.  Of course it doesn't make your hands look as alive as a nice pink or red would, but it still looks pulled together and clean.

Cookies and Cream is a beigey nude colour with a bit of a greyish tone.  It is a creme polish (no shimmer at all), has a smooth easy-to-apply formula and is opaque in 2 thick coats (pictured above).

Moisturiser Intervention

I'm sure everyone has this issue. Using something, having that itch to buy something new, buying a new item and abandoning the other. I've been having this issue with my moisturisers (amongst other things, but let's just ignore that lol).

Since I keep buying and using new ones, I've ended up accumulating a few that have a little bit of product left in them, but I've just never gotten around to finishing them. My skin type has changed a bit lately so I really want to try some new stuff, but I'm forcing myself to use these up before opening any new ones that I've already bought or going and buying some more. I figured posting this would make it more official and hence make me keep my word.

Here's the line-up:

• Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Combination Skin
• Murad Skin Perfecting Lotion
• Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturizer (sample)
• Avene Rich Compensating Cream
• Olay Moisturizing Cream for Sensitive Skin
• Olay Eye Gel

I'll probably write a short review for each as I finish them.

Holiday to Vietnam & Hong Kong: Part 2

So here is Part 2 of my holiday earlier this year.  Enjoy.

Hong Kong

This was my first time to Hong Kong.  I didn't really know what to expect.  All I knew was that the shopping was apparently amazing (which I can now confirm is true).  On arrival, I was just stunned by how big, modern, clean and efficient the airport was.  So first impressions were a massive tick haha.  Prior to this, I had only been to two other countries in Asia: Vietnam and Cambodia.  Hong Kong was completely different.


We didn't join a tour group and just wandered around ourselves.  We did a lot of the typical tourist things such as riding the Peak Tram, visiting the Madame Tussauds museum, going to the Ladies' and Men's Markets and checking out the spectacular Hong Kong sky line from the Sky Terrace 428.


Now of course I did some shopping. We didn't have that much time though. There were shops and shopping centres everywhere!

Here's a photo of me in Times Square.  Hong Kong definitely lives by night.


We also took a day trip over to Macau a.k.a gambling central lol.  None of us gamble, we just visited a couple of the casinos to see what all the fuss was about.  We visited The Venetian (bottom 3 photos) and Galaxy Casino (top 2 photos).  Hands down, they were way prettier than the casino in Melbourne.


I absolutely loved Hong Kong. Definitely want to go back for a longer holiday and also reserve a lot more time for shopping.