Brief Giveaway Reminder

Hi all!  I just wanted to send out a brief reminder about the mini-giveaway I currently have open.  It is open to all 18+ Australians.

If you haven't entered, now is the time!  It closes tomorrow and then a luck person will receive some of my favourite items from 2012.

Good Luck!

You can find the giveaway here.

NotD: Audrey Meets Whimsy

For Christmas my mom sent me Revlon 'Whimsical' nail polish and I bought myself China Glaze 'For Audrey' during a BeautyJoint sale.   I decided to combine these two beautiful polishes and I love the combination.  It does appear that I really love similar looks if you look at my other recent NotD :)

L: Revlon Whimsical R: China Glaze For Audrey

Each nail has two coats of 'For Audrey' and two coats of 'Whimsical'.  This photograph was taken after three days of wear and I didn't use a top coat (forgot!)  They're holding up extremely well!

Do you have any favourite combinations or recommendations using Whimsical?  I'd love to branch out a little!

Don't forget out my mini-giveaway if you haven't already entered!

Battle of the Nudes: MUA vs Chi Chi vs Stila

I have three nude eye shadow palettes for you today.  The MUA Undressed palette.  The Chi Chi Nudes palette.  The Stila In the Light palette.  These palettes have some similarities to the Urban Decay Naked palette.  Unfortunately, I do not own that so I can't compare these palettes to it directly.  With that said, now owning these three, I don't really feel the desire to buy it anymore :)

The MUA Undressed palette can be purchased online through their site.  It retails for: £4

It's packaging is simple and sleek.  The case is very secure, perhaps too secure.  Sometimes I have trouble opening it.  It comes with a double ended foam applicator.

As you can see the colours are very similar to the Naked palette (if you're familiar with it).  These really are very versatile colours and are great for every day looks.  All the shimmer shades are quite smooth and pigmented; however, the mattes are pretty crappy.  In the swatches below, shades 3 and 5 are matte and they took a lot of effort to get the swatch.  Several of the colours in this palette have a pinker tone when compared to the other palettes.  This shades in this palette don't have names, but my favourites are 6, 7 and 12.  These are particularly creamy and pigmented.

Next up, Chi Chi.  This can be purchased at Myer and retails for $19.95AUD.

The Chi Chi Nudes palette looks a bit more like its 'idol' the Naked palette with the pans being in similar shapes and in the same layout.  I really like its clear lid.  It comes with two double ended foam applicators.

Again, similar colours; however, there are subtle differences between this palette and the others.  A big difference between this one and the MUA is that these mattes are better.  They're softer, but they still lack some pigment in comparison to the Stila palette up next.  The latter of the palette tended to be quite sheer, which was a bit disappointing.  My favourite shades in this palette are 2, 4, 6 and 7.

Finally, Stila.  I'd heard so many great things about this palette and decided to get it.  I purchased mine from Beauty Bay during their Black Friday sale for $29AUD.

The packaging of the Stila In the Light palette is quite beautiful; however, it is cardboard, which isn't the most sturdiest of containers.  It does have magnets in the lid to keep it closed.  I love that there is a quote on the lid ('believe in the beauty of the future').  Plus, it comes with a smudge stick in damsel. 

This palette only has 10 shades (6 shimmer, 4 mattes) whereas the other two have 12.  The formula of these eye shadows was far superior than the others.  They are all buttery and creamy and wonderful, even the mattes.  My favourites in this palette were kitten (shade 2), sunset (shade 4), champagne (shade 6) and luster (shade 8).  I actually like most of them.

Here are swatches of these three different palettes. 

These shades were all pretty close.  Shade 1 didn't register on my skin very well, but they're quite pretty.   

Stila was quite different in shade 4 (sunset) and 5 (sandstone).  

Again, some close matches.  Please note, shade 9 and 10 have been numbered differently for these swatches only.  What is labelled as 'shade 9' is actually shades 11 from MUA and Chi Chi and ebony from Stila.  The labelled 'shade 10' is shades 12 from MUA and Chi Chi and night sky from Stila.  I did not include shade 9 and 10 from MUA and Chi Chi because there was no match from Stila, but again they're similar differing mainly in tone.

Wow, this has become quite a long post.  To conclude, I think the Stila palette is the best.  It's quality is far better than the other two and it comes with the smudge stick.  However, the other palettes are still pretty good.  If I were to choose between the Chi Chi and MUA palettes, I would choose the Chi Chi.

I hope this has been an enjoyable, albeit lengthy read!  Which palette do you prefer?

Benefit Fine One One

Yesterday, I received Fine One One by Benefit (and yes, I may have a slight Benefit obsession, but it is well merited :)  This is their latest product and was released in December.

So shiny

This product is described as a 'sheer brightening color for cheeks and lips.'  Basically, it's a cream blush.  I'm not the biggest fan of cream blushes, which could be because I haven't tried too many good ones, but I really like this one.  It glides onto your skin and blends really easily and smoothly and totally doesn't mess with your foundation underneath.

Colours from L to R: pink champagne, sheer watermelon and soft coral

Fine One One is made up of three colours: coral, watermelon and a pink champagne highlighter on the top.  When blended together, these colours look amazing on your cheeks and can be built up very easily.  It can also be turned sideways and used on your lips.  I was skeptical whether it would work as a lip product, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It leaves you with a nice coral colour and feels rather smooth on your lips, albeit slightly drying.  I like to use Baby Lips on top of it to give a bit more moisture. 

Swatch: L: swipe, R: blended

It is a bit pricey ($30USD for 8.0g), but I think the design, formula and portability are worth it.

Don't forget about my mini-giveaway.  I'm going to include some additional benefit samples!