Collective Haul Part 2

Here it is!  The second part of my collective haul.  Just to refresh your memory, here was Part 1.  It took quite a while for all the other parcels to turn up (and then a little bit of time for me to type this up!)  Without any further ado, here are the newest additions to my beauty collection:

Alanna Renee:

As a mentioned in the first part of my haul, I went a little nail polish overboard.  However, I am completely happy with all of my nail polish purchases, especially these beauties from Alanna Renee.  I won't lie, I initially decided to purchase a couple because they were inspired by Harry Potter.  Then I saw if you spent $50, you got free shipping.  As a result, the following happened.  7 polishes (fitting number for Harry Potter though!)

L to R: Horcrux, Chocolate Frog, Butterbeer, Draught of Peace, Reptar, Hedwig, Patronus) 

These polishes are wonderful!  Depending on the shade, you can get away with one coat (Horcrux and Chocolate Frog), two coats (Butterbeer, Draught of Peace, Reptar) or three coats (Hedwig and Patronus).  They all apply smoothly; however, I will note that many of them dry quite rough.  This didn't bother me as I quite like the texture (similar to that of OPI Liquid Sand, but not as intense).  A topcoat would easily solve this issue though.

Swatches from Top to Bottom:

Horcrux- Love.  It's very intriguing, colour wise in direct sunlight.
Butterbeer- I wasn't too sure about this one, but oh wow!  I never thought I would like orange so much. This is one of those rough finish ones.
Chocolate Frog- Love the colours in this.  So easy to apply!
Hedwig- Another interesting polish.  It has white bar glitter, yellow glitter, brown glitter to break up the white base.  It does have a rough finish and I found it a bit hard to make the yellow glitter visible (and get on the brush)

Swatches from Top to Bottom:

Draught of Peace- If you've seen previous NotD from me, you know I love blues/aquas and this. is. stunning.  One of my favourite polishes full stop.
Patronus- I was a bit unsure whether to purchase this one, but I am so glad I did!  I was afraid it would be too white, but no! It is certainly a subtle light blue.
Reptar- Rugrats, a memory of my childhood.  I couldn't pass this up.  I wasn't aware until I bought it that the green colour is actually from the glitter.  The base is milky.  This looks pretty cool, but it does have a rough finish.

Mirenesse, Beauty Bay and Pretty Serious:

I had a $25 voucher from my VIP membership to use, so I had to take advantage of it.  I decided I was going to suspend my VIP membership for a couple months.  I'll have my final VIP kit for you soon.  I decided on the Magic Beads Cleanser.  It's so much fun and makes my skin feel and look great.  I also picked up the Beauty Call Touch Up Palette from their new collection.

Mirenesse Beauty Call Touch up Palette

The packaging is smaller and slimmer than I expected, but still quite practical if you aren't bothered about sticking a brush into the cream blushes.  There are creams and powders in this palette, but so far I haven't had any issues with that.  We'll see how it goes as I continue to use it.  Included in the palette (from left to right) is: concealer/foundation, three eyeshadows, a lip gloss, two lip/cheek creams and a 'contour powder.'  I personally consider the contour powder to be a highlighter.  It is shimmery and light, which I associate with highlighters.  I really enjoy everything in the palette.  The eyeshadows (as always with Mirenesse) are stunning.

From Beauty Bay, I needed to get another Mario Badescu Body Wash.  This is my holy grail body wash.  In summer especially, I get a few breakouts on my chest and back and this did wonders to clear them up.  Plus, it smells really clean!  My partner also loves it, which makes me feel better about spending $11 for body wash.

Edward Bess Back to Basics Palette

When I saw the Edward Bess Back to Basics palette, I had to add that to my cart.  After seeing reviews from Mishelle and Kate regarding this palette, I really wanted to have this.  This isn't the cheapest palette, but it is worth every penny.  All the components are of a superb quality and they work so well together (which you would expect from a palette).  My only issue was that bristles from the included brush got into some of the cream products which was annoying.  No fault of Edward Bess, just shipping.

Stila Convertible Color Blush L: Lilium, R: Gladiola

I have wanted some Convertible Color blushes from Stila.  After seeing numerous reviews on them and swatching them a few times in Mecca, I finally caved and bought two.  Both are fantastic, but I cannot praise Lilium enough.  It's the perfect, natural looking blush for my skin tone.  Love.

Femme Fatale:

To continue my nail polish obsession, I placed an order from Femme Fatale. Originally, I was only going to pick up the mineral blush in Velvet Cupcake.  I had a sample ages ago and decided I really needed it in my life.  However, I hate paying for postage and if I have to, I want to get my money's worth.  So naturally, I need to pick up a couple nail polishes as well.  I chose Noble Garden from FF, which is beautiful green with multicoloured glitter in it.  I don't have enough bright greens in my collection.  I also picked up Hare Polish in Afterglow.  I really want some more Hare polishes, just waiting for a restock.

L to R: Hare Polish Afterglow, FF Mineral Blush in Velvet Cupcake, FF Noble Garden

Bellabox:

I unsubscribed from Bellabox, but I wanted to use my points before I said goodbye. My partner still has his Bellobox, but I wasn't sure if I would lose my points (not worth the risk haha).  We both picked up an item, then I added an ELF eye shadow brush to get up over $20.  My partner picked the OP Therapy Sea Mineral Wash.  He received this in one of his belloboxes and really liked it.  Multi-use products are perfect for him.  I chose The Suigo Ultimate Control Shampoo after reading many positive reviews.

Have you picked up any new products recently?

NotD: Revisiting Old Favourites

Just a quick nail of the day using some of my favourite nail polishes: OPI 'Fly', China Glaze 'For Audrey', and Femme Fatale 'Winter Hyacinth'.  My first experience with 'Winter Hyacinth' wasn't easy, but I loved how it looked.  To make the application easier, I layered it on top of similar-ish shades so I wouldn't need as many applications.

I used two coats of each colour, so each nail had four coats of each colour.  I used a Sally Hansen topcoat to finish off the look.  I'm really happy with how they turned out.

My Love for Femme Fatale

After being introduced to Femme Fatale through Kat's blog (check it out here, it's fantastic), I knew I had to order a few of their nail polishes. They also have samples of their other mineral products you can purchase. I highly recommend doing this before committing to a full size product.

I ordered three nail polishes: Winter Hyacinth, A Tisket, A Tasket and Star's Lament. I decided to get the smaller sizes in case I didn't end up loving them. I have only tried Winter Hyacinth so far and I loved it so much, I have already ordered the full size (however, it is horrid to remove). The other two are wrapped under the tree.

The formula is very sheer and this is four coats. You may choose to use a base coat to reduce these. With that said, I do love the layering effect you get when you continue adding layers. This nail polish has a beautiful combination of teal and fuchsia. The fuchsia and red glitter is awesome, but my favourite part is the inclusion of white diamonds and hexes.

In addition to the nail polishes, I also wanted to try their blush and eye shadow. I ordered samples of Archangel and Starcaller (both eye shadows) and Fire Bloom and Velvet Cupcake (both blushes). There were also surprise samples of Amber Eyes and Enchanted (both eye shadows). The samples come in plastic bags which can get a bit messy; however, there is a fair amount of product included.

I will start with the blushes, because I am far more obsessed with them than I am with eye shadow.  Femme Fatale has 12 different blushes to choose from and are quite unique in comparison to the blushes I currently possess.  In their descriptions, it gives recommendations for which skin types (i.e. fair, olive, dark, etc) the blush is best suited for.

L: Fire Bloom, Right: Velvet Cupcake

Fire Bloom:  This is a beautiful rose and coral blush.  It is buildable, which allows for versatility when wearing it.  It can look like a modest glow to a pretty dynamic look.  It has a lot of gold shimmer in it, so if you're not a fan of shimmer, this probably isn't for you.  

Velvet Cupcake:  I love this blush!  It's extremely different from anything I own and it is super fun!  It looks like it will be candy-like than it actually is.  It shows up as a bright pink on the cheeks.  I wore it to the Nicki Minaj concert (see here) because I thought it really fit the mood. :)  It doesn't have any noticeable shimmer, which I think it good considering its vibrancy.  I will be picking this up once my sample runs out.

Femme Fatale has a large range of eye shadows.  They have around 90 different shades available on their website.  I was quite surprised by their eye shadows. I ended up liking the free colours better than the ones I had chosen, which only reinforces the need to sample!

Indirect Sunlight: L to R: Archangel, Amber Eyes, Starcaller, Enchanted

Archangel:  Browsing the website, this was my favourite shade.  I love champagne-looking colours, but this one fell a bit flat.  It didn't look great on my skin and I think that is partly due to its translucent nature.  However, in direct sunlight, you can see the violet shimmer it has, which is pretty sweet.  In the end, I'm still undecided about this one.

Amber Eyes:  I didn't really give this one too much thought, but I am so happy that I received it!  It is my favourite of the four colours and reads peachy.  In direct sunlight, you can see some green and pink shimmer.  The green surprised me and I may purchase this when I run out of the sample.  I love how complex each of these eye shadows is.

Direct Sunlight: L to R: Archangel, Amber Eyes, Starcaller, Enchanted

Starcaller:  This one didn't do it for me.  I didn't look nice on my skin and I just wasn't impressed with it (perhaps, because I liked all the others better).  In sunlight, you can see some subtle pink shimmer, but it didn't do enough for me to like it.

Enchanted: Again, I hadn't really looked at this colour when I was placing my order, but wow!  I like it.  This is a dusky pink with a red/coral duochrome.  I'm not sure how often I would use this colour, but I'm definitely considering purchasing this one. 

Femme Fatale is an Australian small business. I love supporting local brands, especially those who are also Eco-friendly. On each sample it says if the products are vegan or not. Being a strict vegetarian (cheese is the only animal product in my diet. I am too selfish to give it up), this is very comforting. Definitely give them a try!

Check them out here: http://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/ 

OotD: Nicki Inspired

This past weekend I went to the Nicki Minaj concert.  I'm not the hugest fan of Nicki; it's not really my style of music.  With that said, it was pretty amazing.  Her concert was such a spectacle.  The set amazing.  The lighting amazing.  The special effects amazing.  It was a great night and the support acts offered plenty of opportunities to people watch.  I wanted to share my outfit, make-up and nails for the event!

My dress is from Modcloth.  I love its vibrant, primary colours.  Plus it has a bit of tulle underneath to fill it out on the bottom.
My shoes were from Target.  They're a great pair of navy wedges. 

The key features of my make-up were my bright, aqua eye liner and my bright cheeks.  After seeing Mishelle's post about the Australis 10 hour eye liner, I knew I had to get it!  I paired this with Gold Card and Pretty in Mink eyeshadow from Benefit's She's So Jetset kit and They're Real Mascara.  For my cheeks I used Femme Fatale's Velvet Cupcake.  Stay tuned for a more in-depth post.

For my nails, I had to use colours from the OPI Nicki Minaj collection!  I chose my two favourites from the collection, Fly and Save Me.  I have two coats of Fly with a coat of Save Me painted on top.   I really like the combination.

Have you been to any extravagant concerts lately?