My Hawaiian Haul!

I know it has been a while.  Life has been pretty amazing as well as full on.  I am back from my Hawaiian wedding adventure and I have a few posts that correspond to the trip.  I had a fantastic time sight seeing, shopping, snorkelling and off course getting married.

Waikiki Beach shortly after sunrise

The majority of my time was spent on the Big Island of Hawai'i, but I spent a few days in Waikiki.  I spent quite a few hours shopping the first day we were there and happily entered Sephora and Macy's again for the first time in ages.  To the say the least, I dropped in a couple more times during the trip.

Unfortunately, I had to get rid of all the packaging to make our luggage allowance on the way back.  Some of our wedding guests missed the memo about no gifts.  In addition to the packaging, I also left behind a dear, worn pair of Sperry's.  We had to cut about 7kg of luggage (we crammed a lot of it into our carry on items and hoped no one would weigh them!).

My lovely haul

Here is just a glimpse of my haul.  I may have went a little overboard (my husband has certainly said so in not so many words), but I saved a lot to purchase all my items.  Most items I had researched and lusted for for a long time, but some were certainly impulse purchases as I walked to the counter.

It was quite a lot, but the prices were so much better than Australian ones, which also aided my conscience in purchasing everything.  I will try to give impressions on the items as I use them; however, if you spot anything in the pile that you would like a review on, let me know!

NARS Haul! Foundation and Concealer

**I kind of forgot about this post (opps!).  Work and life have been so busy that I've become such a poor blogger.  I really wanted to share this because I would love suggestions how to control oil for this foundation!

After an innocent trip to the mall, I left with an unintentional Nars haul.  Well, kind of.  For me, it's really that simple.  During the school holidays, I decided to go to a nearby shopping centre to do some browsing and maybe pick something up.  I didn't really plan on spending anything.

Mini Nars Haul

While there, I decided to go to Mecca to swatch some products.  I was eagerly waiting on my Stila Convertible Color blushes (see haul here) and wanted to look at them.  Again.  On a whim, I asked if I could get matched to the Nars Sheer Matte Foundation so I could purchase it online.  I was quite confident I was going to be Mont Blanc, but I wanted to be sure.  The sales associate (who was amazing!) decided to try the Sheer Glow on one half of my face and Sheer Matte on the other side to see how they compared.  I thought the matte would be best for my oily skin, but the sales associate said that the Sheer Matte doesn't sit as nicely on some skin and she was so right!  The difference between the two foundations was astounding!

Sheer Glow Mont Blanc

With the pump!

Sheer Glow looked flawless on my skin.  Sheer Matte appeared to seep into my skin and to be honest, just didn't look that amazing.  Certainly not $68 amazing.  Seeing how lovely the Sheer Glow looked and the outstanding service I received (taking off my makeup, putting serum, moisturiser and primer to prep my skin, foundation, concealer, powder and blush) I purchased the foundation from Mecca.

Radiant Creamy Concealer in Light 2, Vanilla

The concealer, the new Radiant Creamy Concealer, is what I have been looking for!  It's long lasting, full coverage, a perfect skin match, great for under my eyes and on spots.  I did not walk away with this the day I got my makeup done.  I bought it the next day.

The applicator

I have had two main issues with my purchase of Nars Sheer Glow.  The first was fairly easily resolved, but it took some effort.  The pump.  Why this foundation does not already come with a pump is a mystery, especially considering the price.  Why Mecca is not supplied with adequate stock is another one.  The Mecca store I bought the foundation didn't have any.  I went into the city the next day and they didn't have any.  They offered to check the two nearest stores.  Nada.  The following day I called the last store in Western Australia and after checking and re-checking their stock, they found one.  ONE! I asked them to put it on hold and I drove 35 minutes to retrieve my prize.

The second issue has been oil control.  Sheer Glow is by the far the worst foundation I own at controlling oil.  I can feel my skin getting oily, which I honestly cannot stand.  I've tried different setting powders designed for oil control, different primers and blotting papers, but every two hours or so I have to touch up my face.  Does anyone have recommendations to help?  Especially if you have oily skin yourself?  The Nars primer felt nice, but I don't know if that would help with oil any more than Porefessional or Models Prefer Mattifying Primer.

Overall, I love the look of this foundation, but I really need to make it work better for my skin.  On the other hand, the concealer is just perfection.

Collective Haul Part 1

For the first part of the year, I did really well not spending money on things I don't necessarily need. The only lapse was an intended one that I posted about here .(I really did need that foundation).

I am getting married in less than three months now, which means I need to crack down on any superfluous spending. To get set for this extreme ban, I allowed myself some last minute spending. Anything I bought prior to the three month cutoff was okay (I decided this with a day to go) and any items I bought for my birthday. I need to gift myself, right? The one thing I didn't expect was the Priceline 40% off sale. I did indulge, but not too bad. That is at least what I keep telling myself.

I have had a nail polish obsession recently. I often go through phases, but this one may be getting out of hand. I am way behind on the indie nail polish fad, so I think I am compensating. I have had a love for Femme Fatale, but that love has now spread to Pretty Serious and some others. I made an order from Pretty Serious and received my items really quickly. I chose BSOD, Twinkling Lights, Viscous Vampire and another bottle of Mummy Mush for my maid of honour. I will have NotD featuring these soon. BSOD and Twinkling Lights are gorgeous together.

I will have some more nail polishes to share when the rest of my last minute/birthday haul shows up.

Next up are some amazing NARS eyeshadow duos. I chose Portbello and Habanera. These were on my Wishlist for a while as I wanted to use them for my wedding makeup. I bought them now so I could have plenty of time playing with them before the day. I am very close to being 100% happy with my bridal look.

Habanera is really intriguing. I got it for the minty colour on the left because it is fairly close to my wedding colour. I am really happy with the purple shade as it is quite sheer and builds up really nicely.

Portobello looks like a pretty boring duo. That is what I thought until I saw Essie Button rave about it. It makes some awesome everyday looks. The main reason I wanted it for my wedding is because one of the shades is supposed to be similar to MAC Wedge. I only have a 4 pan MAC palette and it is full and I didn't want to have an extra pan or feel the pressure to fill another palette. I don't really need any more eyeshadow.

The Priceline haul. I went in to get a concealer. Recently, my skin has been horrendous and I don't have any concealers that are awesome at hiding these spots. I saw the Almay Clear Complexion concealer with its 'blemish clear technology' and I thought why not. The colour matched okay and I like that it can treat spots as it also covers. I hope these claims hold true.

Along the way, I picked up a Rimmel Stay Matte powder in transparent (I decided whatever I could fit in one hand would be acceptable). This has so much love in the blogging world and I thought, why not? I also bought the Essence lash and brow gel. My brow gel is running low and this has some pretty good reviews. Nail wise, I picked up Essence gel-look top coat as I finished one of mine. I also bought the nail art express dry drops because my OPI ones are half empty and I wanted to see how these compare.

More wedding stuff... The cute little Bourjois nail polishes ($1.20!) had 'Hawaii' on them and I thought they would be great additions to a couple of our wedding welcome bags. I have also been toying with the idea of wearing false eye lashes for the wedding. I am going to experiment with these. I have never tried this brand before.

The one purchase that I slightly regret, but not really, is the Australis glitter top coat in Glitter Strikes Back. I love the colours and the day I bought these, I was wearing coral, yellow and fuchsia nail polish, so I thought it was a sign. I do really love it!

Oz Sale Haul: Revlon Edition

A few weeks ago (it seems like ages) I placed an impulsive order with Oz Sale since they had four or five make-up brands up for grabs (see the first order I received here).  My first order was for a bunch of Revlon products; however, it was the last to arrive.  The others all under my Christmas tree as I felt quite guilty in purchasing all of them.

I haven't had a chance to use most of these products, but I have tested them all to validate my spending.  Up until now, I've only bought one bottle of Revlon nail polish.  I really liked it, but for some reason, I just never purchased any others.  I chose these two colours because I don't have any purple nail polish and Royal Cloak looked pretty sweet (I'm not a big fan of purple).  Black with Envy is supposed to be a pretty close dupe for Chanel's Black Pearl and the swatches I have seen look fantastic.  I adore black nail polishes and this charcoal grey suits me just fine.

L to R: Royal Cloak and Black with Envy

To be honest, I haven't been a huge fan of eye shadows.  I tend to stick with neutrals and neutrals.  Lately, I have been trying to incorporate more colour into my small, but growing collection.  The third colour in this palette drew me in and I'm so glad I purchased it.  The palette is the Revlon Colorstay 12 Hour Eye Shadow in Lavender Meadow.  The formula is smooth and creamy with great pigmentation and reminded me how dry my other Revlon quad is (see post here).  I do believe this product has been discontinued, which explains why it was so cheap on Oz Sale; however, if you come across it, I would definitely pick it up.  The colours are beautiful.

Packaging

Close up of the gorgeousness of these colours

Shades swatched from top to bottom

Now onto the lip products I purchased.  There were a lot of pretty cheap lip glosses and lip sticks and I didn't really know what to pick up.  So I decided to get whatever looked unique and colours that I don't already own. 

L to R: Colorburst in Rosegold and Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet

I don't own too many lip glosses because many I've tried tend to be thick and sticky, which I cannot stand.  I didn't look up any reviews of the two lip glosses I chose, I just took a chance.  (If I didn't like them, I was just going to send them to my mom :)  The first one I chose was Revlon Colorburst in Rosegold.  To start with, I really really like the packaging.  To me, this is a great nude.  It has the right amount of pink mixed in with nice bronze shade.  I wasn't sure if I would like the shimmer it has, but it is quite subtle unless in direct sunlight.  The formula is fairly thin, but it definitely leans towards that thick-ish consistency I'm not fond of; however, it is really smooth on my lips.  I really like it.

The other lip gloss I selected, ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet, isn't really a lip gloss, but rather liquid lipstick and that it truly is.  It lasts quite a long time and stained my arm when I swatched it (see swatches below).  First impression, wow!  It is super thin, super lightweight and super pigmented.  Plus, it dries super quickly, so be sure to fix any errors otherwise they will be there for a while.  The colour is a bright burgundy, but is not too bold for those who are weary of red lipstick.  Again, I'm very pleased with this 'gloss' as well.

L to R: Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, Lip Butter in Cherry Tart, Moon Drops in Goldmist Bronze

The next products I chose were the Lip Butters.  I know, I am so behind on this trend.  I was totally never going to buy them at Australia prices so I had resigned myself to waiting.  However, when I saw them on Oz Sale, I decided to cave and get two, Tutti Frutti and Cherry Tart.  I knew I wanted Tutti Frutti because I love orange coloured lip products (so great for sumemr).  I debated for a while whether I wanted Cherry Tart or Candy Apple and I ended up doing eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide.  (I've asked my family who are Stateside for Candy Apple.)

The other lipstick I chose was Revlon Moon Drops Frost in Goldmist Bronze.  I'm not entirely sure who named this lipstick, because I don't think it is anyway 'gold' or 'bronze.'  As you can see from the swatch, it is a fairly bright fuchsia, pink.  I think my favourite part about it is the smell.  It reminds me of my grandma's lipsticks and playing with them as a kid.

Swatches, L to R: Colorbust in Rosegold, Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet, Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, Lip Butter in Cherry Tart and Moon Drops in Goldmist Bronze

Have you received any sweet hauls in the post or in-store?  Leave a link, I'd love to check them out!

Recent Hauls: Part 2 Benefit

So, I have fallen in love with Benefit.  The packaging.  The product names.  And now the quality.  However, the prices here in Australia are beyond ridiculous.  If you like Benefit, do not buy anywhere other than their website.  They ship to Australia and if you spend $125, you get free postage.  $125 in Australia will get you two, maybe three items.  The haul below cost me $126 (which granted is quite a lot, but so much better than anything I would have paid here).

Opening the box!!

All my goodies

I haven't had a chance to try out everything, so for now I'm going to show you what I bought.  There will be review posts up soon.  Especially for POREfessional (so so good).  Most of my products were sample sizes, which enables me to try out as many products as possible before purchasing full size.  However, I do already know a couple full size products that I will definitely buy.

Finding Mr Bright Kit

She's So Jetset

Sexy Little Stowaways (No idea why the image uploaded strangely)

Sugerbomb (it also came with a deluxe sample of Posietint)

b.Bright skincare products (freebie--I got these and two additional samples)

To say the least, I have a lot of stuff to play around with and try and I am looking forward to it.

What is your favourite Benefit item?

Recent Hauls Part 1: Priceline and Target (and Myer)

Recently, I have been spending far too much on beauty products.  School holidays and online shopping the main culprits to blame.  I am thinking about a spending ban, but I don't think it can be cold turkey; there have to be clauses and loop-holes, so stay tuned for the outcome of that.

A week or so ago I went to Priceline and Target just to browse and pick up some red hair dye.  However, I ended up with this:

Here's the break down:

Priceline:

- Bourjois Blushes in 34 Rose d'Or and 16 Rose coup de Foudre (30% off--can't resist that!)
- L'Oreal Prefernce Hair Dye (necessary for my Amy Pond outfit for the Ramble)
- Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 12 and 16 (Buy one get one free)
- Face of Australia Nail Polish in Mystic Iris
- Australis Nail Polish in Fairy Bread (I have done a NOTD with this and Iris here)
- Cedel Blow Dry Faster (This was on-sale and it is AMAZING! Stay tuned for a review)
- Cedel Dry Shampoo (On-sale and I've been dying to try a dry shampoo)

Target:

- Rimmel Nail Polish in Disco Ball and Wine (I really wanted Disco Ball and it was buy one get one 50% off)

Myer:

-Lancome Foundation Teint Idole in 010 (This was a free sample and so far, I really like this!  I'm not sure if I can justify spending so much money on it.  Maybe the next time I'm in America)