NotD: Starry Night

In my recent haul post, I mentioned that I purchased several bottles from Pretty Serious.  Let me say, I adore this brand!  The polishes are beautiful and apply so well.  Not to mention that they're gorgeous.  I am so glad that I received a bottle of polish in my Lust Have It Eco box; otherwise, it would have taken even longer to try these out.

<3

The nail look I'm sharing today is comprised of BSOD and Twinkling Lights.  How freaking beautiful is BSOD?  Twinkling Lights looks stunning over it.  Twinkling Lights is quite sheer, so it really needs to be layered over another polish.  I will enjoy trying it over other blue polishes I have.

L: BSOD; R: Twinkling Lights

I still haven't tried Viscous Vampire yet, but no doubt I will soon.  Have you tried any of the Pretty Serious polishes?  If so, which is your favourite?

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in 'I'm Pure for Sure'

In my quarterly favourites, you saw how much I love my Missha BB cream and Lancôme Teint Idole foundation. In that post, I hinted at another foundation love and this is it- Benefit Hello Oxygen Wow!

I bought this foundation from the Benefit website without swatching it in person. I will never do that again; however, I chose very well! In fact, I got the shade closest to my skin. Score!

I really like the packaging. Prior to the perfect foundation hunt, the bottles I had did not have pumps. You just poured them out and as a result I wasted a lot. I don't think I would ever buy another foundation without a pump. It also just looks really good.

The shade I purchased was 'Ivory- I'm Pure 4 Sure.' From my research, this was the lightest, pinkest shade. I should note that from my experience, all the foundations lean towards the yellow side. This typically wouldn't be great for me, but it works and I think part of that is because the coverage is so light. I prefer foundations with light to medium coverage; however, lately my skin has been acting up on my chin and sadly this foundation doesn't cover them as well as the BB cream or Lancôme.

I apply this with my fingers. I haven't had too much success applying with a brush, but I also don't feel the need to apply with a brush. The foundation just glides onto your skin. It is quite thin and extremely light weight

It blends in really nicely

This foundation feels great on my skin and it provides a slightly dewy finish. Nothing too extreme though. Even with my combination/oily skin, I only have to powder or blot once (maybe twice if it is a bad day) during the day. I do set it with powder. I also love how it has SPF 25, which is fantastic.

I adore this foundation. It is great for everyday and I think it would suit most skin types. However, if you have really oily skin, this may not be too long lasting for you.

What I Like:
- The packaging
- How light weight it feels
- The shade match (decent range of shades)
- Great for everyday
- Slightly dewy finish

What I Don't Like:
- There really isn't a pink shade among the range
- Doesn't completely control oil

Overall, I really like this foundation. It is very natural looking and I would definitely repurchase this unless I find something better in my quest for the perfect foundation.

NotD: Purple Shine and Sparkle

I wanted to share my love for Australis Glitter Strikes Back top coat. I have paired it with purple hues because it looks so fantastic, but also because it reminds me of the sold out 'Look to the Western Sky' by Smitten Polish.

I chose Revlon Royal Cloak, which is a very nice purple. To be honest, I don't like purples that much, but I really like this one. I put Max Factory Fantasy Fire over the top to give it some added depth (and because I don't use it nearly enough).

Are there any combinations you are loving at the moment? Seriously, this is one of my favourite combos.

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!

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

This is a product I bought on a whim. I wanted a GWP and this got me over the line. I didn't really think I would love this mascara as much as a do.

Certain mascaras I have don't do a great job on the bottom lashes because the wand is too big. However, the wand on this baby is so little and adorable. It does a perfect job getting to those hard to reach lashes. It doesn't make them look dramatic; instead, the lashes look more defined. The formula is quite wet, which I am not the biggest fan of, but it is still easily applied.

This probably isn't a must have for everybody, but I don't think I want to live without it. With that said, I would never pay the Australian price for this mascara. It retails for $10 in the United States, which I think is a fair price to pay for it.

April Bellabox

I received my Bellabox late last week, but I haven't had a chance to post about it until now. I feel I am becoming a broken record when it comes to this subscription box. I will give it one more month....one more month....one more. You get the idea. Once again, I wasn't wowed by my box, but I didn't completely hate it either. Perhaps, my expectations are merely too high.

This box's theme was 'Innovative Beauty'. I like the theme, but let's see just how innovative these products are.

1. Cedel Dry Conditioner- I am a fan of the dry shampoo this brand makes, but I am not sure how well this conditioner will work. It is a mousse and my thin hair already gets weighed down and greasy quite easily. Also, this isn't that innovative. Leave in conditioners whether they be sprays or mousse have been around for ages. Calling it 'dry' doesn't really change that.

2. Avene Micellar Lotion- I am in love with the Bioderma version of this, so I will see how it compares. Again, this isn't something incredibly new.

3. Indio Facial Scrub- I love scrubs and I am definitely keen to see how awesome this one is since it retails for $56.

4. Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Kinetic Copper- I don't mind this colour. It will be nice for Autumn. Again, I have seen these around for a while now and I haven't felt the need to purchase one ever.

5. Proplenish Marine Collagen Sachets- I am not a fan of anything I have to ingest. I have passed this on to my partner because he said it looked cool. If I were subscribed to a health box, then I could consider this as a vitamin/supplement, but I'm not. Even though it is good for hair, skin and nails, I don't think it should be in a beauty box.

6. Lash Card- I don't know why anyone would spend money on this. If you struggle that much with mascara, I think you could find something around the house that you could use that would serve the same function.

7. Cellilux Glacial Mineral Gel- if I hadn't seen this is the men's Bellobox, I would have been more excited to see this. I am still keen to use this as I really enjoy masks.

After writing this post up, I feel I was actually fairly disappointed in the box. I am quite sure I will actually unsubscribe this time. I also just signed up for Violet box so it's as good a time as any to say goodbye.

Lust Have It Eco Box: Autumn Edition

It's that time of the year again when I receive my Lust Have it Eco Box.  In case you're unfamiliar with this particular subscription box, it is quarterly and cost $29.95.  I have never been disappointed with these and this is my third box (there have only been three boxes).

The bag

This box came in a hessian bag like the other two.  I'm still not a big fan of the bag.  In the summer feedback form it asked our opinions of the hessian bag, so maybe (I hope) they will change it for upcoming boxes.  However, the questionnaire also brought up the idea of increasing the number and quality of products as well as the price.  Since the regular LHI subscription box has recently increased, I think the same may happen to this box.

The contents

I really enjoyed the contents of the box.  I haven't had a chance to try out all of the products, but I'll give you my initial impressions.

I received some Wotnot Facial Wipes.  I received these in a previous (extremely disappointing) bellabox.  I don't mind these wipes.  I can't say they're my favourite, but they are really good quality.  I don't mind getting these again because I will use them.

There were two colour products in this edition.  Recently, I have seen a fair bit of love for Pretty Serious nail polish.  I was crossing my fingers for BSOD, but I was still very happy to see Mummy Mush.  It's a really lovely colour and I am thinking of getting another bottle for my bridesmaids.  The other colour product was ELF Mineral Eyeshadow in Socialite.  I'm not a big fan of mineral eyeshadow (though I surprisingly own quite a few) simply because it is so messy.  Does anyone have tips for using this type of product?  Socialite is a really pretty colour.  It's a dark grey with brown undertones.  It's complexity surprised me.

Next up is Alfaparf Milano Precious Oil Tradition products.  I received Anti-Frizz Oil Shampoo, Anti-Frizz Mask, and Absolute Oil.  I'm really excited to try these products.  I love getting hair samples because I don't like committing to full size hair products (especially pricey ones).

I really like getting skincare samples as well.  I know we can get to a point where we have too many (and after taking an inventory of my samples in an attempt to use them up, I am quickly approaching that point), but if they're great brands, I'm cool with it.  Apparently the McArthur Complete Skincare Cream is quite popular and well known.  My partner knew about it, but I must have been under a rock.  It's great to get such an expensive product that many people seem to love.  However, to be honest, I'm still a bit unsure how to use it.

Lastly, I received Savi Body Cream Wellbeing.  I love love love the smell of this cream.  I also love the consistency.  It's thin, but sinks into your skin so perfectly.  I will definitely consider purchasing this when this sample runs out.

Again, another LHI Eco success.  This box reminds me how much I love subscription boxes.