New 2016 Makeup Trend Already?

So I've heard a lot about this trend already and it scares me.

The new trend is called "Glossy Eyes" and I just can't get on board with it. Places like BeautyHeaven and Makeup Forever have already posted articles and instagram photos about it but in my opinion it looks like a bad case of pink eye. The Glossy Eye can be achieved with some vaseline (and or lipbalm) and some eyeshadow.

Now I loved a lot of the trends from 2015 like the terracotta nudes and the liquid to matte lipstick trend but I don't see myself loving this trend at all. I barely like glossy lips as it is.

So my question is what do you guys think of this trend? Have we gone too far in the makeup industry? Let me know in the comments down below because I'd certainly love to hear your opinions on the matter.

My Makeup Travel Essentials

I'm sure you can all understand why I didn't post on Thursday and Friday as it was a public holiday, hope you all enjoyed yourselves.

For those of you who travel a lot or will be travelling in the future, I have compiled a little list of the best things to take travelling with you that won't break your arm to carry. These products are weight-friendly but also are some of my personal holy-grail products. I guess this is my take on the makeup travel tag? Lets start with the base/face products first shall we?

• First, primer. There are quite a few travel size (i.e. sample sizes) primers like the Benefit Porefessional but the one I'm going to mention is the Hourglass Veil primer, the smallest size is the 8.95ml. While it is a bit pricey, it does the job and it does it well.
• Foundation - There are a few different ways you could go with this. I personally love Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation in the size 7ml but if you prefer something light weight then I would recommend the Gariner BB cream. You can pick up the 15ml tube from Priceline or a supermarket. It is perfect for going to humid places especially if you don't want to wear heavy makeup. Another option you could do is go get a sample of your favourite foundations, MAC do the cutest little samples but you could also go to Mecca and ask for a sample of your preferred foundation there.
• Concealer - There aren't too many travel sized concealers that are also good quality products but I have found the MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer is perfect. I feel like it isn't talked about enough and I prefer it over Prolongwear any day. It's the perfect concealer for any weather conditions and will not hesitate to cover up your nasty pimples in a flash.
• Highlight, Bronzer, Blush etc. - I would suggest getting a small palette or a combination type product, it saves more room than you think, especially with chunky individual packaging. The 3 in particular I recommend are great products, the Nars Orgasm/Laguna duo, the Sportsgirl Bright Young Things palette, and last the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit palette. I'll start with Nars' most coveted products, their famous Orgasm blush and Laguna bronzer. It's perfect for travelling with or purchasing in general if you don't already own them. The Sportsgirl palette was a gift to me and I freaking love it, it seems a little cheap, almost like the makeup kits they makeup for 3 year olds but Sportsgirl surprised me. The packaging looks cute as hell and the products are actually quite nice. It comes with 3 lip colours, a blush, a bronzer, 8 eyeshadows and a big mirror. The palette is a little big but it does come with tons of product. It is on the shimmery side and has more bold/bright colours than neutral but I wouldn't knock it till you try it. My favourite of these three though is the Hourglass palette. Again more on the shimmery side but you can't go wrong with it. With three highlighters, two blushes and a bronzer, you could create tons of different looks with this. Perfect for a long getaway or a wedding event, this is a must bring. 
• Brows - Moving on to the upper half of the face, I'm sure most of you have your staple brow products, mine is the Loreal Brow Artist Plumper. Brow products shouldn't be too much of a problem to travel with, though it would definitely be more efficient to take a brow pencil like the ABH Brow Wiz than a pomade (for example the Chi Chi or ABH one). For me a tinted brow mascara is easiest.
• Eye Primer - Benefit mini's sure are the way to go. My go-to eye primer, Stay Don't Stray, works amazing. I really can't say anything more amazing about it.
• Eyeshadow palettes - Palettes that give you great product, variety while also being size-friendly may be hard but in fact you can get it for cheap from target or Priceline. The Essence palettes. I personally love the Roses palette but there's a palette for everyone's taste, the Chocolates, the Nudes etc. They each have 8 eyeshadows in each palette.
• Eyeliner - my go-to eyeliner to travel with is the travel sized Nars Larger Than Life, Long-wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto. It works amazing for the tightline, waterline and lashline. It works for each of them because it's so creamy. 
• Mascaras - I like to travel with two mascaras but one is plenty for most. The first pick is the They're Real from Benefit, there are plenty of travel sized mascaras from Benefit that you can pick up from any Benefit counter. The last eye product I'll be mentioning is the Too Faced LashGasm mascara, it is the only thing I use for my bottom lashes because of the small bristles and really well texturised mascara (i.e. it's wet enough that one coat coats all of your lashes without looking like black water).

To really cut down on the size of your makeup bag, pack double ended brushes.

• Lucky last, Lipsticks - Again you have multiple choices. For small lipsticks that fit perfectly in small clutches, for a wedding maybe, my best options are the Savvy minis or the Kat Von D minis. You can only get Savvy minis during the holidays at Priceline. It comes in a 10 pack and the colour range is amazing. I don't know how easy the Kat Von D studded kiss lipsticks are to get but I've managed to get my hands on a few of them, as Sephora samples and in one of her latest holiday kits. Another option for a quick weekend holiday is Covergirl Blastflipstick, a double ended lipstick. I've seen a few different shades but overall I think it's a really cool concept.
• If you're coco for liquid to matte lipsticks just like me, then you can't live without them. Some of the only travel sized liquid lipsticks I've seen are the Australis mini Velourlips, I used to hate these but I've since turned a new leaf with these. The mini's have 5 in a pack and have two packs available for the holidays at Priceline.

One more quick tip, I'm sure everyone knows it but once you've finished a perfume, say your Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black 7ml rollerball, why not fill it up with another one of your favourite perfumes that might not come in a travel size.

Btw I wasn't affiliated with any of these brands, I just genuinely like to travel with these items. 

Bite Holiday Lip Set 2014 vs 2015

Last year the Bite holiday lip set came in a small red matte tin with 4 High Pigment Pencils in Winterberry, Rhubarb, Sable and Pomergranate. The name speaks for itself, they are highly pigmented. I love the high pigment pencils hence why I got the set. The colour range is okay, it's not that broad but it's alright. In the set you get two nudes and two reds, both are different shades from each other. The reds aren't the same but it does fit with the holiday theme.

As for the 2015 holiday lip set. It comes in a slightly larger shiny red tin. This time instead of high pigment pencils, we got 4 matte creme lip crayons. The shades included were Aubergine, Cafe, Coulis and Torte. The colour range is highly similar to last year's range except it falls a little bit more into this years 'on trend' lip colours for the holidays. The nudes are extremely similar to last years, the only difference is that this year's are matte. The reds however are more darker and vampy. Aubergine is quite literally the colour you'd expect, it's a dark purple-red, perfect for the fall, not quite an Australian summer shade but the nudes are perfect.

To wrap up, if you missed out on last years lip set you didn't miss out on too much. However if you have last years set and were thinking about buying this one, I say go ahead. The colours are ever so slightly different but you are getting a completely different finish and product type.

On the left side is the 2015 set and on the right is the 2014 set.

Oops forgot to post it earlier but here are some swatch comparisons:

On the left is the 2014 set and on the right is the 2015 set.

Chi Chi Boxing Day Sale Haul

I'm not really one for the Boxing Day sales, especially trying to find a parking spot which is damn near impossible. For those of you who don't live in Australia, Boxing Day is like Black Friday without the violence. I saw that someone posted on a facebook group that Sephora had the Lolita mini set in stock but as soon as I got there, there was literally no sign that they were even there. I made a little Chi Chi wish list of some of the gift sets that I wanted. I do believe Myer's had most of the sets for 30% off.

I ended up getting the Paris nail polish set, fragrance collection, glitter eyeliner set and the glamorous makeup collection in 'Summer'. I've already used some of the nail polishes in Going Round In Circles At The Arc De Triomphe and Taking A Selfie At The Eiffel Tower. Let me just say holy crap they are pigmented. I did two coats but you could absolutely go with just one. I do prefer the mono colour as opposed to the 'confetti' type but both are beautiful. They have an almost gel like finish and are scented. Each nail polish is scented with something that's listed on the box, not on the bottle. The price for them was $14 for 8 bottles, not that bad of a deal if you ask me, especially seeing as an Essie nail polish is $17 for one. The shades it comes with are Strolling Down Champs Elysees, Window Shopping In The Marais, Visiting Mona At The Louvre, Crepes Suzette In The Latin Quarter, Frogs Legs Anyone?, Climbing The Steps At Notre Dame and the other two I mentioned. The entire range are all pastel type colours.

Next up is the fragrance collection. I love the Chi Chi perfumes, I think they smell delicious and aren't too heavy. Chi Chi have very fruity and sweet type scents, so keep that in mind. The scents the pack came with are Warm Vanilla Sugar, Coconut and Lime, Pink Grapefruit, Blueberry, Tutti Frutti, Vanilla Spice, Berries and Cream, Strawberry and Violet. They are sample sizes (10mls) but they aren't rollerballs, they have pump sprays. My favourite scent in the pack is Pink Grapefruit though is was really difficult to choose. This set was one of the two that wasn't on sale, I got it for $25 which I think is still pretty cheap. One full sized bottle is 50mls for $19.95 whereas the pack comes with 8. If you couldn't be bothered to do the math, you'd need to buy another 4 packs to get one full sized perfume of a singular scent. In the end you'd be paying about $15 for a full size. The reason why I really wanted this set was because it is absolutely perfect for traveling with. I'm going on a trip soon and this was the perfect thing to get for it.

I wasn't going to get the glitter eyeliners but I'm glad I did. It was on my wish list however, for one particular reason. What persuaded me was watching Shaaanxo's recent Chi Chi haul and I fell in love. I know this is the second time I've mentioned her in a row but what can I say? She's influential. I've already experimented with the eyeliners and I'm living for the light blue one. They don't have names, so I'm working off descriptions. I'm already working on something with them for you, a particular look which I think you'll love. This was the other pack which wasn't on sale, it was $20 for 6 eyeliners.

The last thing I got was the glamorous makeup collection in 'Summer', they had another one which I think was called 'Bronzed' but don't quote me on that. If you haven't got much from Chi Chi then I would definitely get this pack, it comes with a jumbo bronzer, a mosaic blush in Pink Peach and a limited edition Summer eyeshadow palette. The pack was on sale for $21 and it's definitely worth taking a look at.

To anyone who wants to purchase Chi Chi but don't live in Australia/New Zealand, then you can purchase Chi Chi from their website which ships worldwide.

I also want to say that this is in no way sponsored, I bought this all with my own money and this is an honest review.

Side note: I will not be posting during certain times in January like New Years, around the 11th and other dates.

Christmas Beauty Haul

Santa treated me more than well this year. Partially from myself but also from others. So far I've tested out quite a few of the products already but I wanted to give you my review as early as possible, as some of these items are limited editions and some have codes.

Pictured above: Kat Von D - Mi Vida Loca lip set, Lime Crime - Limited Edition Velvetine trio, Venus eyeshadow palette bundle, Lush - Home for Christmas set, Vanity Planet - spa set and assorted lip balms.

The Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca lip set was something that I had been waiting for forever to arrive to Australia. My god it was worth the wait, it was also a present from someone. The thing that attracted me to it the most was the white limited edition 'Gold Blooded' lipstick. Isn't she pretty? I have to say that I really do love the Kat Von D mini's as well. The shade range is so good, from bright oranges to lilacs and a sparkly black. I wasn't too excited about the eyeshadow palette but this was right up my Christmas wish list. The formula is the same as the normal Studded Kiss Lipsticks, I don't really have much else to report about them but I suspect some swatches will arise.

Lime Crime: Venus and Venus II palettes, also the limited edition velvetine trio.

I was so excited to see these released, I do believe they were released around Black Friday, though it could have been released earlier. I hadn't previously owned any Lime Crime eyeshadows but my god these rocked my world. I got them in the Venus bundle when it came back in stock for $49 from the website. It's still in stock and it's good value for money. The palettes are highly pigmented, and do kick up some powder. The first palette is amazing if you love the burnt red, burgundy eyeshadow look. The second palette is amazing if you want really unique shades, really unique.

The velvetine trio are freaking amazing. The shades, Peacock (dark teal), Beet It (purple wine shade) and Buffy (brown based nude). Despite people's thoughts, it's Beet It, not Bee Tit. The pack was $44 on the site and is still available. I really do believe that these are unique shades to the liquid lipstick range, Beet It is an amazing holiday shade, or fall shade for you Americans. The formula is the same as the normal velvetine range. This was a gift to myself and seeing as it was the holidays, it was fast shipping too.

This lush set was a gift from someone and it's part of their christmas gift set range. This was the Home For Christmas gift set, the gift set includes the Rose Jam shower gel, Porridge soap, Dream Cream body lotion. The set all together smells amazing, so do the pieces individually. To see actual results I would need to post a review later after I've used the products some more. But currently I haven't got anything bad to say about these products except that I haven't stopped smelling them.

This lipbalms were stocking gifts and I freaking love them. They are cute novelty gifts that are perfect for someone with chapped lips. I've currently tried the normal Mountain Dew lipbalm, its not quite moisturising the same as one that more directed at healing your lips, but if your lips don't need fixing, these taste/smell amazing. I'm definitely interested to see what the rest of these are like but if you're in need of some serious lip repairing, I probably wouldn't reach for these.

I've seen these everywhere, probably the most popular and the most expensive I've seen on the market, are the Clarisonic ones. They typically go for $150-$250, I don't know about you but that is just a little bit too freaking much. This one however from Vanity Planet, is typically $125. It's the Ultimate Skin Spa System, this came to my attention after it appeared in Shaaanxo's video about her night time routine. She had the code 'Shaaanxo' for 70% off, also for every time someone uses that code, Vanity Planet donate to a New Zealand charity. I can't quite remember which one but I do like that about VP. I do have to say this is freaking life-changing, or skin changing should I say. I saw changes in my skin instantly, god it felt amazing. I would definitely check it out.

The last thing isn't a beauty item but I just wanted to share it because I thought it was really cool, another present from someone. The FitBit, Charge HR. One really cool aspect is that if you have it linked up to your phone and someone is calling you, the Fit Bit lets you know. Some other really cool aspects is the challenges with friends, the sleep tracker and the BPM monitor. If you wanna find out more you can check out their website, but they ain't cheap.