My favourite products of 2013!

I couldn't not do a favourite products of the year post. I started the year not giving a crap about hair, and knowing nothing about makeup except for raccoon eyes. Taking a beauty course that included makeup artist training, and now working in a salon has totally transformed my beauty regimes!

So, strap in, because this is gonna be a long post! I've split things into 4 catergories- Hair, Skincare, Makeup and Nail Polish.

Hair

 Davroe Hair Wellness. I was first introduced to Davroe at the Adelaide Beauty Convention in October and oh my god. I am in LOVE. I was gifted their Smooth Senses pack (3 of the 4 products are in the photo above), and the Replenish Hair Balm. The Smooth Senses pack is designed to control frizz, and it has worked wonders! I'll be doing a full post soon.

Skincare

Australian Pure Organics Cleansing Wipes, Sensitive Face Scrub and Sensitive Moisturiser. Another brand I met at the ABC, and again, another hit! The cleansing wipes are AMAZING, I use them daily. The Face Scrub leaves my face feeling so, so clean. And it has a lot of 'scrubbiness' to it, which I prefer. And the moisturiser is thick, absorbs quickly and leaves skin super smooth.

Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser. An absolute staple. This controls my oil slick face like nothing else. Love it, definitely recommend it.

Guinot One Step Cleansing Water. This give a good clean feeling to the face and is perfect if you need to correct any tiny makeup mistakes! Winged liner, I'm looking at you!

Help Me Ronda Pina Colada Cuticle Cocktail and Pamper Me Bath Salts. BEST CUTICLE BALM EVER. Smells amazing, absorbs quickly, smooth as butter and a little goes a long way. The bath salts are so calming. This is my second container! And all handmade! 

Makeup

This is what we're all waiting for yes? :p

Real Techniques Core Collection and Your Eyes Enhanced Starter Set. THESE BRUSHES. Omg I am in LOVE!  Chances are you'll have seen these being raved about all over the net, and they are definitely worth the hype!

Bourjois Volumizer Mascara (brown). An awesome, non clumping, lash extending neutral mascara. Perfect for days when black is too much.

Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain Darling. Totally an out of my comfort zone colour, but I adore it! A light blue toned pink thats non drying and leaves a nice stain. Plus, it smells great!

Lancome Moisture Masque Primer. The back of this product says it's designed for Asian skins, but I have found it to be a very good oil-controlling primer. It has a sheer, shimmery pink colour and is good for evening out skin tones and my foundation lasts forever.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar Black Metal Dahlia. Dark, metallic satin finish liquid lipstick. Gorgeous vampy almost burgundy colour. Will do a proper post soon!

Australis Fresh & Flawless Mattifying Powder, All Over Face & Body Tint and Totes Smokin eyeshadow palette. All Over Face & Body is a light coverage liquid foundation. Perfect for summer. F&F Mattifying Powder is a heavier coverage powder, stays matte for EVER and doesn't cause me oiliness. Full post soon! The eye palette is awesome. Great pigmentation, and all neutrals, that can be perfect night or day!

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Shadow Magic Eye Primer. This primer has been my absolute FAVOURITE beauty product of the year. I cannot get over how good this is. Trust me, you NEED it. Full post soon.

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Kohl Liner Silver, Lasting Finish Lipstick 04, and Lasting Finish Matte Lipsticks 111 and 113. Gorgeously pigmented, super shiny silver pencil liner. A must have. 04 is a dark, dark purple lipstick with a gloss finuish. Not for the faint hearted! 113 is a matte nude, that is the perfect nude shade for my skintone. I have a back up! 111 is my ultimate matte red lippie, in fact, it's my fave red lippie all together! It will suit everyone!

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner, ColorSensational Vivids Lipsticks 906 Hot Plum and 912 Electric Orange. I raved about the liner yesterday, so go see that post for details! The ColorSensational Vivids lippies are amazing. So bright, so pigmented, so smooth, and very long lasting! Bright purple and orange lippies rocked this year.

Couleur Caramel Terre Caramel Bronzer. An amazing baked bronzer, with an easily buildable formula.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. Enough Said!

Essences Lash Mania Reloaded. Super black, non clumping, crazy length-giving BARGAIN of a mascara.

Sleek Acid iDivine Palette. LOOK AT THOSE NEONS. And the metallics! My god, I love this. SO many looks to be made. Full post soon!

EOS Lip Balm Summer Fruits. Another cult beauty product. This balm smells and tastes amazing, is nice and moisturising and a really unique design.

BYS Blusher Candyfloss. A super cute, buildable, wearble pink shimmery blush.

And finally... POLISH!

2013 was the year of the Aussie Indie. So many brands have blossomed and it's so great to see this brands getting recognition. It was hard to narrow down favourites, and all but two have been on the blog before so I won't describe. 

• Sayuri Galaxy Magic and #012
• Peita's Polish I'm a Chatterbox and Pocket Full of Posies
• Deadset Babes Atlantis to Interzone and Gunshot Glitter
• Lilypad Lacquer Zombee and I Am Miss Haughty Taughty. 
• Shades of Phoenix Poseidon
• Alanna Renee Black Cherry
• Celestial Cosmetics Galactic Holo
• MckFresh Nail Attire Shattered Dreams
• Femme Fatale Keeper of the Grave and Mana Ruby
• Pretty Serious Haddonfield
• Gloss 'n Sparkle The Lotus Eater and Boogeymans Briefs

The Indie brand of the year for me though, was hands down, Love Thy Polish. Emmas polishes always have the best formulas, and are some of the most amazing polishes I've got. Not to mention the STUNNING holos! Here are some faves:

I Shit Glitter, Magic Forest, Zombie Brains, A Beautiful Mistake, Gypsy and Royalty.

So, if you've made it thus far, congratulations, and have a safe and happy new year!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

 

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner

I love buying new eyeliners. I've been massively lemming Maybelline's Hyper Glossy liquid liner, but my local Priceline was totally sold out, so I grabbed the other one that I wanted and had heard good things about- Master Precise liquid liner.

It's a very light pen style liquid liner, with a brush type applicator. I was glad it wasn't a felt tipped liner to be honest. The brush is ridiculously fine, which really helps it live up to the "precise" claim!

I have the shade Blackest Black. Not going to lie, I've used blacker. It's dark, but also not fully opaque. Thats the biggest downside to this liner. If it were more opaque, it would be holy grail level.

This liner is amazingly easy to use. I haven't messed up a cat eye since buying it! It dries super quickly, and I get a good 6 hours wear before it will start fading. I've just been so into winged liner lately, it's the only way I've worn liner for months! And with this liner, it is SO quick and easy and it looks pretty good (if I do say so myself)!

I love this. Such a good, budget friendly liner! Have you tried it?

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Crows Toes Green Thumb Of Doom

Crows Toes are fast becoming one of my favourite indie brands. They come out with some ah-may-zing glitterbombs, so when I got today's polish, Green Thumb of Doom, I was excited to try my first Crows Toes non-glitterbomb!

GTOD is a bright, grassy green with intense gold shimmer flecks throughout. I absolutely love the base colour of this polish!

This is two coats, with topcoat. Crows Toes are known for their thicker than normal polishes, but this one was perfection! I don't mind the thick bases, I have plenty of thinner for a reason! I loved this shiny, but I had a hunch it would look good matte. And oh boy, I was right...

Matteing this polish intensifies the shimmer, and it just looks stunning this way! It looks better and more noticeably matte in person, trust me on that one.

Ah, I love this polish! Must own ALL the Crows Toes!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Gloss 'n Sparkle Land Of Sunshine

It has been SUPER hot here in my part of Oz this week, so I'm sharing a neon mani to match!

Gloss 'n Sparkle Land Of Sunshine is a newbie to me, and I love!

It's a super pale yellow crelly base, absolutely PACKED with pink, green, blue and purple neon glitters. When I say packed, I mean, this is one coat over white. Phenomenal glitter payoff. It's not thick either, and it's smooth with one coat of Out The Door. I layered one coat over BYS French White, and added a neon green stud to match.

Love this polish, a real winner amongst other white-based neon glitters.

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Pretty Serious Killer Fangirls Collection!

I HAD to do this post tonight, because it's Friday the 13th, and my Pretty Serious sale order came in the mail today, containing (among others) the Killer Fangirl Collection! I LOVE horror movies and these polishes represent 3 of my favourites.

 Elm Street: Freddy Kruger/Nightmare on Elm Street. This polish is designed to resemble Freddys famous red and green striped shirt. It's a blood red base (I see what you did there, PS!) and it has green and red bar glitter in it, along with red micro glitter. It's my least favourite of the three, but I still love it!

 Haddonfield: Michael Myers/Halloween. My favourite, both polish, and movie killer. The Halloween series are my fave horrors, and I am SO glad Rob Zombies versions were brilliant as well! This is a bright orange base, with orange micro glitter, orange holo hexes and black shard glitter. Like a halloween pumpkin!

Crystal Lake: Jason Vorhees/Friday the 13th. OMG. THIS BLUE!!! So bright, so blingy, so, so perfect. Crystal Lake is an iconic Friday the 13th location/future crime scene ;). This one looks nice in the bottle, nicer on the first coat and then BAM! in your face on the second. It has a shimmery blue base, with blue and silver hex glitters.

The formula on all three is the typical Pretty Serious formula- on the thicker side, but still 19525725476582% easy to apply. I dunno how they do it like that, but it's a good kind of witchcraft! I used only 2 coats for each polish, with Out The Door topcoat.

I absolutely LOVE this trio, and they are still available, so GO, and buy them all!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Lush Lacquer/Polish Me Silly Blurple and Blue Gypsy

Because our home-grown indies are flat out AMAZING, I rarely indulge in international indies. So when I got around to trying a new brand, I had high hopes.

Lush Lacquer (now Polish Me Silly- they've changed their name) is popular for their neon glitter combos, and I do love a neon glitter!

 Blurple is a mix of transparent blue and purple neon glitters in a mixture of sizes and shapes. I have this at 2 coats over white, and it is a little bit bleed-y and hard to get the larger glitters out, regardless of the fact that I had the bottle upside down for a good half hour.

Blue Gypsy is a light blue base packed with blue, purple and orange neon glitters, large, holo purple circles and small black stars. This one, to be honest, is a pain in the ass to apply. The first coat goes super smooth, but the second coat, the polish becomes thick, gluggy and very, VERY hard to apply- and this is after I'd put thinner in it! So, while this one is pretty, I can't love it. I don't even know if I will wear it too often.

So, thoughts? Have you had the same issues with these? Or, the opposite? I'd love to hear, because I'm about to give up on LL/PMS.

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

November Favourites!

I have always wanted to do a favourites post, but never have, until now! These are my favourite makeup/skin care products from the past month, the things I grab before anything else.

Australian Pure Beauty Sensitive Moisturiser. I got this in a prize from the Adelaide Beauty Convention. It's an all natural, plant based moisturiser. This particular one is enriched with Kakadu Plum and Vitamin E. It absorbs quickly, and smells nice. It is meant to be a face/neck moisturiser, but I find it works quite well on my hands and feet as well.

Australian Pure Beauty Sensitive Cleansing Wipes. Same brand as the moisturiser, and I got it from the ABC as well. There are 25 wipes in this pack, and I absolutely LOVED them. I was sad to use them all up until I discovered I can buy them cheaply at Coles! These are amazing, they cleanse, tone and 'soften' the face, and they take makeup off very easily. The cucumber and vitamin E in these make my face feel so fresh and clean.

Couleur Caramel Baked Bronzer. I have already reviewed this, and I have found that I can't leave the house without this on, even if just lightly. It works perfectly with my skin tone and it builds up and blends really well.

Couleur Caramel Creme Eyeliner. This again, I have already reviewed. It's a really good eyeliner, it stays put nicely and is pigmented. And you get a fair bit of product in the tub too!

Help Me Ronda Pina Colada Cuticle Cocktail. I got this from the lovely Ronda herself a few weeks ago when she visited Adelaide. I. AM. ADDICTED. It smells AMAZING, very coconutty, which I love, and a little really goes a long way. This absorbs quickly, is super easy to apply and all around, really lovely.

Napoleon Perdis Creme Blush. This was a freebie with InStyle magazine, along with a gloss and a mascara. Haven't used the gloss, and the mascara is nothing to write home about. But this blush, is one of the best blushes I have tried. It's pigmented, creamy, easy to apply and blend, and it lasts FOREVER. I have found it to still be on and visible after 8+ hours! And its a lovely rose-y pink colour that matches most skin tones.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. I wear this daily. 'Nuff said ;)

Mecca Cosmetics Lip De Lovely. This is my go to gloss/balm. It's not sticky, it hydrates my lips and isn't thick and gooey. Doesn't smell great, but it's a small price to pay.

Australis VelourLips Tok-I-O. Again, I have reviewed this, but it is so amazing. It smells like grape bubblegum, it's super matte and not drying, and its an awesome bright purple colour. And, super pigmented and long lasting.

OPI Liquid Sand Alcatraz Rocks! I got this in a Halloween polish swap, and I have worn it three times so far! I wore it for an entire week last week, and only had a tiny bit of tip wear! And it's GORGEOUS, dark and sparkly and textured. Oh yes.

Essence Sparkle Sands Me & My Lover and Here's My Number. Cheap, good quality texture effect polishes. Both sparkly and super pretty! Definitely worth the $2.75AUD I paid for them!

And finally, Femme Fatale Cosmetics Shadow Magic. Sophie from FFC sent me this to trial before she released it and I cannot rave about this enough. So much to the point where I won't say much, but will do a proper review later this week. Be warned, this is a holy grail primer!

So, those are my favourites for November! What are yours?

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Essence Sparkle Sand Me And My Lover

Essence have recently jumped on the texture bandwagon, and only 2 so far have been released here in Oz so far. Needless to say, I snagged them up as soon as I found them.

Me And My Lover is a pinky-red, sparkly texture. It has a gold shimmer through it as well. These are amazing textures, almost totally opaque in one coat, and they dry quickly to a nice texture. Not too gritty, but you can definitely feel the grit.

This is two coats, with an accent of BYS French White and a heart freehanded with Me And My Lover.

I have the other polish yet to be swatched, but trust me, you need both of these. For $2.75AUD these are an absolute bargain!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Femme Fatale Keeper Of The Grove

Tonight's post focuses on one of my favourite polishes ever, along with the news it's being discontinued. I definitely need to buy backups. Femme Fatales Keeper Of The Grove was a love at first sight polish for me. It's a green glitter bomb, with pale pink hearts, and pink and blue dot glitter.

For this mani, I used 2 coats of it alone on my ring finger, then over a french tip of Picture Polish Cackle, in a gradient.

It's such a gorgeous polish, I am so sad it's being discontinued. Go grab yours if you haven't already. You won't regret it!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Born Pretty Store Halloween Water Decals

I know Halloween is long gone, but I will still rock a spooky mani no matter what time of year! And today, I'll be showing a couple I did recently with some Born Pretty Store water decals.

These decals, #36, are all halloween-y, but you can wear them for themed manis any time of the year.

 There are 5 rows, all with the same 5 images. I used 3 images in one mani, and the other two in another.

The first, I used the ghost, the witch and the cobweb in, along with black rhinestones over Illamasqua Radium. (LOVE this colour btw, will have proper swatches up soon!) And, a close up:

Then, the second mani, I used the bat and the haunted house over Picture Polish Vegas:

 And again, a close up:

Now. These decals. I generally love water decals and have no problem with them. These were a little different. The major issue is, unlike all other water decals I've tried, once you've dunked it in water and rubbed it onto your nail, the image is backwards. To combat this problem, I dunked the image, rubbed it gently to slightly stick it to my nail, removed the backing paper and then carefully flipped it with my tweezers and pressed it onto the nail into place with my finger. So, no big deal really. My biggest disappointment though, is that the cobweb doesn't show up very well. The lines are just a tiny bit too fine.

As always, feel free to use my 10% discount code for Born Pretty's amazing nail art range, AFL91

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

*the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

NEW Orly Blush Collection

AN Monday - The Final Aussie Indie Spam!

Today is the final part of Aussie Indie Month, and it is black/white/gold/silver/whatever day! Once again, all names are on pictures! Enjoy!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Happy Birthday Doctor Who!

It's no secret that I loooooooooooove Doctor Who. And it celebrated it's 50th Anniversary on Saturday. However, because Australia is ahead of England, I had to wait until this morning to watch the anniversary special. And it was AMAZING. If you haven't watched it yet, go. Go now. And, because we are ahead, I had time for a quick (and kinda crappy) Doctor Who mani!

Yes, I am indeed holding a mini Dalek Sec ;) he normally lives on top of my monitor. My mani isn't the best, but I did love it! I used a base of BYS Black Satin, then topped every finger with Emily de Molly Dark Forces. I used BYS French White to do the writing, TARDIS details and base coat for the TARDIS, and painted her with Essie Butler Please.

Nothing fancy, but it did the trick. Happy Birthday Doctor Who! Now, bring on the Christmas Special!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Pink and purple piCture pOlish Mani!

I really feel like I should give piCture pOlish more love. They are a fantastic brand, with AMAZING polishes and they constantly get lost in the depths of my stash.

So, I pulled out two of them, and did a very simple mani with them, that I fell in love with and wore for 4 days straight!

I used Cackle and Watermelon, and then added a dot of Cackle over both fingers with Watermelon. Watermelon might be one of my fave pink cremes! It's bright, and still wearable.

Now, I need to go make a PP wishlist! ;)

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Aussie Nails Monday- Aussie Indie Spam part 3!

This weeks Aussie Indie spam is Reds, Yellows, and Oranges. Sadly, I don't have a heap, but, enjoy! Once again, all names are on the photos!

Hope you like!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec