The Monthly Roundup || March

So this month my saving plan went through the window. Priceline had 40% off, so duh I brought stuff. We also are in the middle of a small skincare change up, so I 'needed' a few purchases. I haven't tested them out for long enough for them to be incorporated in the favourites list, but can usually tell straight away if I love or hate a makeup product. Here's what found their way into my heart this month:

March Favourites:

The Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream steals the show this month. Never have I encountered an under eye concealer which is so perfect. It does an awesome job at ridding my eyes of shadows whilst remaining crease free all day. You need it in your life now.

Another new favourite product is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded. It's been a daily addition to my everyday makeup look, departing a wash of shimmery colour. It's subtle enough for daily wear, but I expect it would look great with a bold lip at night. 

I ran out of hydrating toner earlier in the month, and I'm not loyal to one so I thought I would try the Calendula Redness Rescue Toning Mist, a new release from Jurlique. It smells divine, think cucumbers, and leaves the skin feeling hydrated and calm. It's cool and quite refreshing, I think I will be going through this at an alarming rate, considering its $55 per bottle. Ouch.

I've really started to enjoy watching Reign this month. Reign is all about Queen Mary of Scott's' early life at the French Court. It's my ideal TV show with a blend of romance and historical fiction.

This month in blog posts:

I started off with a bit of a slow start to the month, I think there was about two weeks’ worth of posts missing. Uni has been crazy recently, with assignments coming out of my ears. I've got three due this week!! 

I started off by showing you my evening beauty bits and my other skin care post this month was looking after the décolletage. 

As mentioned above, Priceline had a sale, here's what I brought. 

I took a moment to review my New Years Resolutions, I'm pleased to report that most of my goals are on track. 

The beautiful Love Birds Collection from Napoleon Perdis made its way into my hands, here's a full review.

What products have you been enjoying lately? 

X Suzy

The Weekend Pamper || A Priceline Haul

Ahhhh Priceline, the Australian equivalent of Boots, filled with cheap bits of beautiful makeup and some superb skincare finds. A couple of weeks ago Priceline had 40% off all makeup and cosmetics. It was only natural that I picked up a few things. I've since used a number of these products, so I'll give you a little bit of a review when I list them.

The first thing I grabbed upon entering Priceline was the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded. I've been longing for a daily wearable eyeshadow, something low key and natural looking. Barely Branded fits the bill perfectly, distributing the right amount of shimmer on my lids in a beautiful Champagne-y colour. It's just perfect for everyday wear.

I was hoping to pick up the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, but there weren't any in my colour. Instead I thought I would try the 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream. Holly cowl, it's amazing. I've been using this every day to conceal my eye bags. It's not the highest coverage concealer, so if you're after the Kim Kardashian look, this isn't for you. It does everything I want it too, without looking too concealed and fake. It also doesn't crease. At all.

Essie's Master Plan also made its way into my basket, upon ravings from Anna (link). Although I like the colour, I found myself bored of it after a while, craving for a colour with something more. I've got a feeling that it would look fab with a matte topcoat. The wear time is the standard 5 days-ish that comes with all Essie nail polishes and the finish is super shiny. A good colour to have in your collection, but not a staple.

Although I don't wear winged eyeliner as much as I used to, I've grown tired of the Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, so I picked up the Maybelline Hyper Glossy liquid eyeliner. After only a couple of applications, it certainly lives up to its name, it is super glossy. Which I love! I'm yet to form a proper opinion however.

Another product I picked up was the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder, something I had been thinking about for a while. I wanted a powder for my handbag, it had to be translucent, pressed and mattifying. Stay Matte is just perfect for what I wanted and it truly is matte. I wouldn't want to use it every day, the ingredients are AWFUL! Parabens, silicones and even mineral oil. How ironic, a powder with oil in it.

A couple of boring bits follow, I picked up three different makeup brushes: a cream eyeshadow brush, a fine eyeliner brush and a traditional foundation brush. I've been desperate to try the very popular L'Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray and I just finished off a different brand. My old nail file snapped a couple of weeks back so I picked up a new one. 

Quite an extensive haul don't you think? 

X Suzy 

The Monthly Roundup || January 2014

Wait, what? January is over? I can't be the only one who can't believe that 2013 is over, let alone January of 2014 is over. For me, January brought a lot of sunshine (and sunburn), swimming and celebrations (New Year’s Eve, my birthday & Australia Day). Next month both Uni and a new job start up so this is my last week of relaxation.

January Favourites

My most loved product of the month is the Eau Duelle fragrance from Diptyque. I got this for my birthday, and I love it so much. I'm going to attempt to describe the sent to you, but I strongly suggest reading other reviews online for a more accurate review. To me it smells of holidays in Bail, it's got quite a beautiful incense smell to it, combined with vanilla and musk. It's everything I look for in a fragrance, long lasting yet not overpowering.

Another present which I got for my birthday comes in second place on my favourites list. The Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers were gifted to me by my sister, and not one morning I have gone without them! The difference is quite amazing, some days I feel as though I've over done the eyes for every day wear (a very good thing).

The YSLRebel Nudes Glossy Stain in the colour Naughty Mauve (107) is next up on my favourites list for January. Whilst I haven't had that many opportunities to wear it, it gives my lips an amazing colour. I would describe it as a "my lips but better" base colour with the most lovely purple sparkles and sheen in it. Don't let that scare you, the purple sparkles are subtle enough for casual nights out. And let's not forget to mention the longevity of these stains and their weightless formula. 

A couple of things from BareMinerals finishes of my monthly favourites. I have been head over heels in love with the Original Foundation this month. It looks so flawless on the skin, is super quick and easy to apply and provides the perfect amount of coverage. My only problem with this is the lack of SPF, I'd rather it had none that SPF15. Also from BareMinerals is the Eyecolour in Nude Beach. Another gift I received for my birthday, this shimmery eyeshadow is so lovely. The colour is right up my street, and it's one of those one sweep wonder shadows, where you sweep the shadow on and nothing eels is needed to complement it. 

One non-beauty favourite this month would be my Sencha Mango green tea from T2. It's equally delicious served hot or cold, perfect for hot afternoons. The tea is flavoured only with real bits of mango, so the nutritional benefits of drinking green tea are not compromised.   

This Month in Blog Posts

One of my many New Years resolutions was to post on this blog more regularly. I feel although I'm doing OK, not as regularly as I had hoped. My goal is to publish a new post every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Some weeks I was able to manage this, and other weeks I failed a little.

This month I brought to you my super spot fighter post which details what I slap on when a breakout threatens.

The weekend pamper posts of this month featured my Christmas wish list and my nail careroutine.

My thoughts of the BareMinerals Original foundation can be found here and you can check out the makeup which I’ve been wearing on nights out here.

Finally, I did two posts on “How much my face is worth” each focusing on the skincare side of things or the daily makeup. 

The Makeup || Casual Summer Evening Makeup

On these hot nights my standard evening makeup look which consists of winged eyeliner and a bright lip can look a bit too overdone. A much more appropriate look is a natural looking lip and a bit of smudgy eyeliner. I've constantly been wearing this look for all low key events, and I even wore it on New Years Eve and on my birthday. 

I start of by priming my face with the Nude By Nature Mineral Airbrush Primer and I contour using the MAC Select Coverup Concealer in NW40 with the Real Techniques Duo-Fibre Contour brush. The Bourjois Happy Light Foundation in shade 51 is stippled across my face using the Real Techniques Stippling brush. The MAC Studio Finish Concealer is then used for concealing. A hint of blush and shimmery highlighter, MAC Pink Swoon and MAC Soft and Gentle respectfully, is then applied to my cheeks. A dusting of the Jurlique Citrus Silk Finishing Powder finishes everything of nicely. 

Eyes are next, and I start by filling in my brows with the MAC Eyebrows in Lingering. I take the Real Techniques Duo Fibre eyeshadow brush and swirl it around in the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. I build this up quite heavily to make quite a smokey effect. Once all the edges are blended out I take an eyeliner pencil, namely the MAC Technakohl Liner in Graphblack and smudge it across the upper lash line. Next I take the same eyeliner and line both my water line and my tight line. I smudge a little into my lower lash line to get a super smokey look. I finish up with by curling my eyelashes with the Shu Uemura eyelash curlers and lashings of the Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara.
Finally lips, because I have gone for such a strong eye look, I need a subtle lip to balance everything out. My choice of late is the YSL Glossy Stain in 107, Naughty Mauve. This is the most amazing lip colour, it's nude based but it has a purple shimmer through it. It's impossible to describe with out it sounding gross. Simply put, it's the perfect nude for my lips, with out looking too brown and boring. 

X Suzy

The Makeup || Evening Eyes and Lips

Following on from yesterdays post about my evening base makeup, I bring you my evening eye and lip makeup. This routine is (hopefully) a lot shorter to read than yesterdays. However, it's the one which takes the most time because I like to do a winged eyeliner look, which is notorious for taking FOREVER. 

I start by taking MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle and sweeping this all over my eyelid, right up to the eyebrow as a very subtle eye shadow. The focus is on the eyeliner and the lashes rather than the eye shadow with this look. 

Next I take the Rimmel London Glam'Eyes liquid liner. I draw a thin line as close to my eyelashes as possible. From about halfway along the lash line to the outer corner I draw the line a bit thicker. Finally, I wing the eyeliner out as though it would connect to my eyebrow from the bottom lashes. Then I join the wing to the top lashes. 

Whilst waiting for my eyeliner to dry, I will put the first layer of the YSL Glossy Stain in colour #11. It's important to do this in layers so that it lasts as long as possible. 

Once my eyeliner is dry, I will give my lashes a curl. Mascara follows, which comes in the form of the Maybelline Mega Plush for the top lashes. Only on the top lashes. If I use this mascara on my bottom lashes, I find that it's wayyyy to clumpy. I usually apply 2-3 coats of mascara here. On my bottom lashes, I use the Covergirl Clump Crusher. This is so much better for the bottom lashes because it's clump free. Who would've guessed? 

Once that is done, I will pop a bit of more of the Soft and Gentle in the inner corners of my eyes for an added highlight. Next, I swipe on a second coat of my YSL Glossy Stain.

Eyebrows are next, and I use the Nars Eyebrow Pencil in Panama to fill them in a touch. I also give them a quick swipe over with an eyebrow brush. Finally, I add a third coat of the Glossy Stain and I'm done! 

So there you have it, part two of my evening makeup ritual, hope you enjoyed it! 

X Suzy