2013 Quarterly Favourites: Summer Edition

I decided to do quarterly favourites instead of monthly favourites because I was finding I wasn't really enjoying doing the posts each month (however, I do love reading them).  For this post, I have found it a bit difficult to narrow down my favourites to ten (that was the number I set myself), but I feel that means these are all products which are genuine favourites of mine.  They will probably be favourites for many more months to come.

The top ten:

These are products I kept coming back to (mostly) everyday since the start of the year.  There are some recently acquired items and they're pretty special to have beat out some other items.

The Faves

Stila In the Light Palette:  I did a review/comparison post here of this palette.  Stila make some fantastic eye shadows (along with other items :)  I'm definitely keen to pick up another palette, most likely In the Know.

Nars Foreplay Palette:  Love these blushes.  The fuchsia one has been my fave this month.  See review here.

OPI Eurso...Euro:  This is a recently acquired nail polish.  I love the formula.  I love the colour and I love that my partner picked it out.  Check out a swatch here.

MAC Blot Powder Pressed:  I'll have a review on this sometime soonish.  I use it to set and touch up my makeup.  Just know, it gets the job done.  Very well.  Great for oily/combination skin.

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 21: I cannot say enough about how much I love this BB cream.  It's amazing.  I wear this about everyday to work.  See review here.

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H in 005:  If I'm not wearing the BB cream, I'm wearing this or another foundation which I'm currently in love with.  I'll reveal the other foundation at another time.  I struggled for a long time finding foundations that match my skin and now I'm obsessed with finding more (even though I don't need anymore :)  I made a mini review about this here.

Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop:  I love lip butters.  They're my kind of lipstick.  Pigmented and low maintenance.  I've been wearing lollipop a lot this summer.  I'll be posting a FotD soon with this as a star.

L'Oreal NutriBalm Tinted Lip Balm in Nudy Coral: Love. Love. Love.  This is pretty much a lip balm with the slightest amount of colour (emphasis on slight), but it is fantastic!  The subtle colour and shine is great for my work makeup.  I will be writing a post comparing this to YSL Volupte Sheer Candy.

Kosmea Skin Clinic Rescue Balm: I mention when I bought this I loved it as a lip balm; however, I have also seen firsthand it's ability to mend and fade scarring.  My partner cut his nose at work and it has scarred (even after attempts to avoid this during the healing process).  I told him to put the Rescue Balm on it just to see what would happen and what do you know? It has worked.  The scar is slowly, slowly fading, but it is so much better than it was at the start.  I was so mad at him (even though it was a complete accident) because in less than 3 months, we'll be getting married and there will be so many photos!

Finally, Etude House Missing U Hand Cream Harp Seal: This is the most adorable packaging I have ever seen.  I'm obsessed with seals and I couldn't pass this up.  It's supposed to smell like Green Tea (I'm not sure if it actually does, but I also cannot pinpoint what it smells like) and it's actually a pretty good hand cream.  It leaves your hands feeling really smooth.  I will keep this container forever!

Honourable Mentions: 

Okay, so I have cheated, slightly, and included three honourable mentions.  These were products that I have (a) fallen in love with recently, but the blogger world has been loving it forever, (b) loved it for a while now and have used it a lot more this quarter or (c) really like it, but it just narrowly missed the cut.

Honourable mentions

Bioderma: it seems that everyone has an opinion of this.  I thought it was overrated, but after using it for a while now, I cannot see myself without it.

Fine One One: See my review here.  I still love it.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose: The swatch leans a bit too orange, but it is definitely peachy.  I adore peach blushes and this is a great everyday one.  It's really finely milled and applies extremely well.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose

Desert Rose swatch

What were your favourites this month/quarter?

Weekend Haul

I have been so so good to avoid purchasing any beauty items; however, this weekend I decided to reward myself (by justifying the products)!  GWPs are an easy way to justify purchases as well as claiming they're for my wedding makeup.

My first stop was Priceline.  I had a voucher from my reward points and I couldn't pass up the Sally Hansen offer on at the moment.  I picked up two of the Complete Salon Manicure polishes: 220 Cafe Au Lait and 675 Mermaid's Tale.  The GWP included a Complete Salon Manicure in 540 Frutti Petutie, Diamond Shine Base and Top Coat, Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener and a Nail Shaper and Buffer.  Such a great deal!!  I also bought another Witch Blemish Stick, but I have to return it because it was dried out.

Here are swatches of the three nail polishes.  The formula is great!!  Frutti Petutie applied so creamy.  The other two were a bit sheer, but built up nicely.  I could have got away with 3 coats of Mermaid's Tale, but the glitter was all clumping at the top, so I added a fourth to make a more equal distribution.  The top coat did burn my finger a bit, which was weird, but it works really nicely.

Top to Bottom: 2 coats of Frutti Petutie, 4 coats of Mermaid's Tale, 3 coats of Cafe Au Lait

The next stop was Myer.  I had a $20 gift card from my Myer One points, plus I had a 10% off voucher for all beauty items.  I stopped by the MAC counter, but the customer service was horrible.  I've never had much luck at the Perth counter, so I end up purchasing items online.  However, the customer service at Lancome has always been stellar.  I've had a few samples of their Teint Idole Ultra 24H Foundation and I decided that I had to have it!  I really really love it because it matches my skin
perfectly.


My shade is the lightest in the range, 005 Beige Ivoire.  This has pink undertones, which I certainly look for in a foundation.  Foundations with too much yellow, make my skin look dirty and orange.  I also love the smell of this foundation!



A lady cut in front of me at the counter, which was lame; however, the Sales Assistant totally saw it and gave me two decent sized samples of some of their skincare products: Hydra Zen Nuit Neurocalm (Soothing Recharging Night Cream) and their well known Genifique Yeux (Youth Activating Eye Concentrate).  These samples eased the blow when I went to David Jones and found out Lancome has a GWP over there when you spend $75.

Swatch of the foundation:

It looks so natural blended in.  

The next stop was David Jones.  I knew I wanted to pick up one of the Mariah Carey OPI polishes and I was pumped when I found out there was an OPI GWP on at the moment.  I've been wanting to try the OPI Drip Dry formula and couldn't pass up the opportunity of receiving one for free.

L to R: 'Get Your Number', 'OPI...Eurso Euro' and Drip Dry

My partner was shopping with me and wasn't too thrilled at all my beauty stops during the day, so I let him pick out my polishes (so he was involved :).  He chose brilliantly!  Of the Mariah Carey collection, he selected 'Get Your Number.'  He also chose 'OPI...Eurso Euro' from the Euro Centrale collection.

Bottom to Top: 'OPI...Eurso Euro,' 'Get Your Number,' and 'French Quarter for Your Thoughts'

These are beautiful polishes and I love the Drip Dry (though, I think the 60 sec touch dry claim is a bit of a stretch).  They apply really nicely and I love the texture of the Liquid Sand.  I highly recommend you trying it out if you haven't already.

I really wanted to pick up the David Jones Sampler Tote after seeing other blog posts about it.  I knew immediately which one I wanted, it was just finding the best OPI Mini nail polish on offer.  In the end, I settled for a grey polish (French Quarter for Your Thoughts--swatch above) and I am so happy I did!  I'm going to have grey nails for my wedding and I have already purchased a grey polish, but I think I may like the OPI one better (at the very least, the formula is better).  I'll be sharing my wedding makeup ideas with you all in the not too distant future :)

The awesome contents!

I'm not going to go into too much detail about all the contents in the bag.  I was excited to receive another Live Clean Argan Oil.  I'd received a sample in one of my LHI Eco boxes and I really enjoyed it.  I'm in love with Kosmea and this rescue balm feels fantastic on dry lips.  Definitely try out this brand if you haven't already.  Their Rose Hip oil is the best I've tested so far.  I'm almost out of my Dermalogica Microfoliant and I was happy to receive another one.  I've been loving the Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream.  This was a brand I always lusted after when I lived in America.  I've used a bit of the David Jones pressed powder and first impression was I really liked it!

If you can, totally pick up this tote!  It's a pretty awesome deal with some excellent brands!

I'm excited to play with these more during my long weekend!

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)