April Favourites | The Lipstick Hub

Here are my makeup favourites for the month of April, these were a little hard to choose because some of these products were supposed to be in March's favourites and some items didn't arrive until yesterday. Though May's favourites are going to be amazing because so many more products are arriving.

1. Violet Voss Holy Grail Palette - This was the product was supposed to arrive in March but that's a whole other story. Anyway this palette, is amazing! What really caught my eye was the Wine N Dine shade, it's such a beautiful shade and watching Jeffree's video on it made me really excited about this palette. The palette was quite expensive to get my hands on, you could only buy one, the palette retails for $52 (though it's $42 with the code HOLYGRAIL10) and shipping is $35 so it's $87USD for the entire kit and kaboodle. The palette has 20 shades in there and the names are awesome. As someone who doesn't do neutral looks very often, this palette is very appealing to me.

2. Bobbi Brown University Eye Palette - This palette is definitely a costly one, retailing at $99 at Mecca. That's a lot for a palette with 12 eyeshadows and the pans are also smaller than the Violet Voss one. I did pick this palette up for the shadows Antique Rose and Black Plum (there is a little bit of a colour scheme going on here). The shadows aren't the most pigmented but they do blend out easily and create a seamless look. The colours aren't what you'd expect to find in a palette but I like that, it's great for travelling when you can create so many different looks with taking multiple palettes.

3. Bhcosmetics x Shaaanxo Lip and Eye Palette - I was so excited when Shaaanxo started showing this little beauty off on her channel. This palette is such a creative idea, it's double sided, one side has 9 eyeshadows and the other side has 9 lipsticks. The palette itself looks beautiful, the pink tint with the lights from her background. The eyeshadows are more on the neutral side, there are 3 mattes and the rest are shimmers. One shade in particular is a duochrome shade, it reminds me a lot of MAC's blue brown pigment. The lipsticks are a little bit more pink based, though you do get a lot of variety with the palette, a red shade, a burgundy shade and some neutral mauve shades. This palette is a win for me especially seeing as it's only $14.50 USD. It's so cheap and you get tons of product.

L-R Swatches: 2 from Shaaanxo's Palette, Wine N Dine and So Jelly from Violet Voss, and Black Plum and Antique Rose from Bobbi Brown

4. Benefit Hoola - This product is a holy grail product for a lot of people, including me. The reason why it's in this months favourites is because it's personalised with my name on it. It also comes with a personalised brush as well. Other than that, it is a great bronzer or contour shade depending on your skin tone. It's buttery and so easy to blend out.

5. Rimmel Sculpting Palette in 002 Coral Glow - This is new to Australia, and I'm in love with it. It has 3 compartments, a highlighter illuminer, a contour sculpter, and a blush colorer. It's part of the Kate collection. The packaging is quite nice, with a copper bronze edge around it. The highlighter isn't intense but it gives you a lovely glowly-sheen to your skin. The contour shade does have shimmer so it might be more of a bronzer for some people but it's a great shade for pale people. It doesn't go cakey and it's not too dark, though don't go heavy handed with it, it's quite pigmented. The blush is also lovely, its really a peachy-pink colour that isn't too pigmented but you can definitely build it up.

6. Girl Scouts Lip Smacker Tasty Trio Collection - My inner child screamed out to me when I saw this pack. It includes a Lip Smacker in Chocolate Peanut Butter, a Liquid Lip Smacker in Thin Mints, and a Lip Smacker Lip Pot in Coconut Caramel Stripes. The first one, the Chocolate Peanut Butter, smells amazing, it really does smell like a Reese's. The quality is like any other lip smacker, I do use them more for novelty, taste and smell rather than actual hydration and treatment but it's cute nonetheless. The Thin Mints lip gloss smells exactly like a Thin Mint biscuit, not just mint but mint with chocolate. I feel like it would be perfect as a lip plumper as well because of the mint which gives you that tingly feeling in your lips. The last one, the lip pot, looks so freaking cute as the packaging is a cookie. I can't put my finger on what it smells like but it smells amazing.

7. Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayon in Cafe - This colour is so pretty, it's a pinky brown nude. I don't know if this is a permanent colour, though I think it is, because I got it in last year's Bite Beauty Christmas pack. The formula is beautiful, its a creamy matte formula, so it doesn't drag on the lips and the colour stays on all day. I've already talked about these quite thoroughly so I'm not going to go into detail too much but you should definitely check these out.

8. NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Pink Lust / Passion Rose - NYX always seem to get it right with their lip products. The liquid suede lipsticks are incredibly pigmented and neon in colour. These are really creamy but they do transfer, however when they do transfer they leave a stain on the lips which looks beautiful. They dry down to a semi matte when dabbed with a tissue or something along those lines.

9. Seraphine Botanicals Carrot + Rose Hydrating Cream - This was something I got in an Ipsy bag, as well as the NYX Liquid Suede. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. It's not a brand I've heard of before but I'm already in love. I'd never thought of putting Carrot and Rose together, but it smells amazing and feels like cashmere. Its not a thick lotion but it's about the same consistency as every other moisturiser. The hydrating cream almost has a blurring affect to it where it makes your face look flawless. I would definitely recommend this.

10. Essence All That Greys Nail Polish in Roaring Red - The last product for the April favourites is the new Essence nail polish from the All That Grey's collection. I really love this collection but in particular, I love this nail polish. It's a pearly matte finish. Its a deep burgundy colour with red reflects. It lasts a really long time and doesn't chip too much. I think it's amazing for such a cheap price. If you're interested in the collection you should check it out before it leaves stores.

New Hydra Matte Liquid Lipsticks by Gerard Cosmetics | The Lipstick Hub

I'm back again and with new products to talk about to you guys! I'm talking about the new Hydra Mattes by Gerard Cosmetics for their spring/summer collection. They released 4 colours though I was only interested in two, 1995 and West Coast. 1995 is by far my favourite lipstick from them so I was super excited to hear that they were making a liquid lipstick version of it. West Coast first interested me because of the name, and its the name of one of my favourite Lana Del Rey songs, then I saw the colour and I was in love, from the photos it looks like a very neon coral pink shade which I'm excited to put to the test.

I'll start with West Coast, it is a very neon shade, so if that isn't something that you're into I would give this a pass. However if you don't mind a pop of colour, this shade is stunning. The Hydra Matte smells a lot like the Lime Crime Velvetines, which I don't mind. It's very light weight and has a very liquid-y consistency, not at all like the Ofra ones. It didn't dry immediately but it still dried down to complete matte. I do think that it's a lot more pink than it is coral but a lovely shade nonetheless.

As for 1995, I think they made a wonderful colour though it's not quite the same as the 1995 lipstick, it comes off a lot darker. Thought if you put the lipstick on top of the liquid lipstick, there is absolutely no difference to the liquid lipstick on its own. I think that they did a wonderful job in making this shade and it was definitely a great idea from a business stand point, but it is darker than the actual 1995 lipstick.

L-R: 1995 Hydra Matte, 1995 Lipstick, 1995 Hydra Matte with 1995 lipstick on top, West Coast

Other than that I have nothing bad to say, shipping time wasn't horrible seeing as it was coming from America. I think the shades are wonderful and I'll definitely be getting a lot of use out of 1995 this Winter here in Australia.  

March Favourites! | The Lipstick Hub

Finally doing a March Favourites, I haven't done a favourites list in a long time so I'm excited. I do believe mostly that I haven't done one based on the fact that I do Hidden Gems which is sort of like a favourites list, but alas, this month I feel like so much makeup just came right at me that doesn't really belong in Hidden Gems because they are well-known makeup products that everyone's been loving this month. So let's jump right into it shall we?

1. Kylie Lip Kit in Koko K
This was my very first Lip Kit that I ordered and I'm so glad that I ordered two because I'm absolutely freaking in love. I can't get enough of this beautiful shade. I'd also like to give Kylie credit for her valiant effort with these Lip Kits. She restocks almost weekly, they smell heavenly and look so freaking beautiful. There are so many swatches and reviews out on these but there was no doubt about it that these were going in my favourites list. To be honest the Lip Kits are probably in my top 5 liquid lipstick formulas already.

2. MannyMua x Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Palette
I know every Youtuber, blogger and makeup junkie has been raving about this palette, but it is for a good reason. This palette is to die for. I literally bought this palette for the shade Mars because I have been wanting a burgundy eyeshadow that is pigmented to hell and isn't too brown based. The rest of this palette was just a prize really. Manny did a fantastic job with the palette and I couldn't be more proud of him. I'm absolutely in love with how versatile the palette is and the fact that it works well on so many different skin tones.

3. Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter
My god this product was hard to get my hands on, and that's coming after the Kylie Lip Kits and MannyMua palette, so that's saying a lot. I've been wanting this highlighter since about mid-last year and I was only able to get my hands on it in freaking March. That's insane. I was disappointed in the packaging, it feels cheap and the magnet is really strong. However the product is beautiful, though pale skin tones can only really use this particular highlighter on top of bronzers because it is golden based.

4. Revlon Nail Art Shiny Matte in 530 Emerald Suede
I've already talked about this product in a Hidden Gem but I loved this nail polish duo. The photos in the Hidden Gems post show the colours nicely but it certainly doesn't do them justice. I'll be wearing this again very soon.

5. Savvy Mineral Baked Blush in Coral
This isn't at all a coral colour, its a very coppery-bronze colour. I actually didn't buy this product with the intention of using it as a blush, I used it as a baked eyeshadow during the Mecca x Smashbox event. I haven't used it as a blush so I can't really give my thoughts on that particular use of the product but I can tell you that if you wet your brush, it makes a fantastic pigmented eyeshadow.

6. Makeup Forever HD Foundation (The original formula)
I managed to get my hands on the original formula which I am so happy about because it's a great foundation. I got the shade N115 which is amazing for pale skin tones, I haven't had to mix anything with it which is amazing to me. I love the formula, I wish that they hadn't taken over with the new formula.

7. Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Laguna Beach
This colour is very, very similar to Koko K but it's a bit lighter and a little bit more pink than KoKo K which I wasn't expecting. Though the formulas are very different. The Ofra one is a lot creamier and has a more mousse consistency, whereas Koko K has a more watery consistency. Though I really love these formulas equally.

8. Lorac Pro Matte Palette
This is a little hard to get your hands on if you're in Australia but it's definitely worth the effort. The eyeshadows are so buttery and pigmented. They look stunning, especially for a more nude palette. This is definitely my new travelling palette for when I want a neutral look. Even the feel of the palette is beautiful.

9. Laura Geller Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator in Gilded Honey
While this product looks freaking amazing, it's also just a plain ol' great product. Being a lighter skin tone I can only really use this on top of bronzers but oh my Lord it is stunning. This product makes me want to fake tan so I can really see it's true beauty, but I'll just have to wait for Laura Geller to make ones that are a little more friendly towards pale skin tones.

10. Kmart Body Mist in Just Peachy
I will be doing a Hidden Gem's post on this at a later date but the new Kmart body mists are so nice especially for $4 each. Ever since I started wearing Just Peachy I have been getting tons of complements. It's also incredibly strong so you don't have to use much but offt it stays on for hours.

Unfortunately that's all the favourites for this month, until next. I did have a couple things planned to be in this month's favourites, though it didn't work out so it might have to be in the next month's list.

New Bhcosmetics Products | Haul and Review | The Lipstick Hub

I did a little shop around Bhcosmetics recently and saw that they had some new makeup like the contour palette and the collaboration with Pride + Prejudice + Zombies. I picked some stuff up and I thought I do some swatches for you and give my opinion on the products.

I'll start with the contour palette. The packaging is pretty cheap but I do like that it's somewhat see through, though I generally only need that on an eyeshadow palette, not a contour palette. I like that you have to click a button in for it to open, which makes it really nice for travelling with, though it is pretty wide. When you open the palette, it has 4 highlighting shades and 6 contour shades which isn't too bad. The palette does come with the typical banana shade that everyone loves, but I do like that it includes an orange shade which is something not many other contour palettes include. I did swatches of the contour shades only and they are pretty nice. There's a lot of diversity between the different browns. Some are really warm toned and some are really cool toned. They are incredibly buttery and pigmented. The first contour colour wasn't too pigmented on the first swipe but it's definitely buildable. I'd say it's a great contour palette for darker skin tones rather than pale skin tones seeing as there's probably two, maybe three, colours I'll be able to use. I would say for the average makeup lover, you could probably do without this if you have other contour palettes, but if you're a makeup artist I would say this is perfect. So many different colours for clients and it's perfect for travelling in which the palette won't pop open at any time. Also the palette doesn't have colour names which can be annoying.

The only thing I got from the collaboration with Pride + Prejudice + Zombies collection was the palette, mostly because the only other thing they had was a lip gloss pack and I don't like lip glosses. It's an eye and cheek palette and again it doesn't have colour names so that's a little annoying. Inside it has 12 eyeshadow colours and 3 cheek colours, a mirror and a cute quote by Elizabeth Bennet underneath it. When I first got the palette I mostly got it for collectors purposes but the swatches quickly changed my mind about this palette. I swatched a bunch of random eyeshadows and then three of the cheek colours on the right. They are so pigmented my jaw dropped. The colours are so buttery and bright I'm in love. There are definitely more shimmery colours than mattes colours but that doesn't really bother me. This palette doesn't really speak zombies to me nor does it speak early 19th century to me. So I don't know what it has to do with the movie in anyway but I still think it's an amazing palette, especially since I got it for about $15 AUD.

I don't really have much to say about the Pop Art lipstick seeing as I've already got one but I do really like them. This time I got the shade Zap and I'm in love with it. It's a bright teal-ly green and it's absolutely stunning. It's hella pigmented, I swipe is all you need trust me. The lipsticks can drag a little on your lips but they aren't a really drying matte, more of a satin-matte.

I got two of the liquid lipsticks that Bhcosmetics came out with a little while ago. I got the shades, Serena and Clara, although I didn't order Serena, I actually ordered Princess because Serena was out of stock but I don't mind that I got Serena instead of Princess. I'll just order Princess next time. Both of the colours are variations of nude. Clara is a bit of a dark-ish brown nude and Serena is a more pink and coral based nude. The liquid lipsticks are really light weight, they don't feel heavy on your lips at all and they don't make my lips feel like the Sahara desert. I'd say they are pretty damn good especially for the price.

All in all I'm pretty happy with this haul, the P+P+Z palette really surprised and definitely stole the show. I'm in love with all the lip products I got, and even though I won't be able to use about half of the contour palette, I still look forward to using the other shades.

Mecca x Smashbox Event Night | The Lipstick Hub

On Friday night I went to an event that Mecca held for Smashbox cosmetics at the new Mecca at Chatswood. I just want to say thank you Mecca for the invitation and it was a wonderful night.

The red carpet setup

My makeup for the event

The night started off amazing, we had our photos taken professionally by a photographer and they took our names to let us in. They supplied soft drinks, water, orange juice and champagne as soon as you walked in the door. There were plenty of Mecca girls, not just from the Chatswood store to help you out if you needed it. They had some little nibbles that they brought out, and later on some little desserts.

Homemade Kit Kat

Macaroon

They really encouraged selfies that night and I loved it. They had a professional "Kylie Jenner" selfie light set up, it was a ring light with a mirror on it and a place to hold your phone. It looked so freaking cool and I definitely wanted to take it home. Once you took a selfie you could upload it to Instagram and tag it with #MeccaxSmashbox and they could print it out right then and there for you, it was like a little polaroid.

Rose and I

A little later, Davis, Will and Lori showed up and did a little Q and A, except Will had to speak for Lori because the poor thing lost her voice. They talked about some of their new products and why they started Smashbox Cosmetics. After they finished they called on 5 winners to spend some VIP time with them after the event, I believe. Davis, Will and Lori walked around and socialised with all of us which was wonderful, you even got to take selfies with them.



You got to redeem the $50 entry fee on some products (Just like at the Nars event, which you can read about here). I chose to get Smashbox's new Insta-Matte Lipstick Transformer ($38). It's described as "Smashbox's genius new release turns any gloss into a matte finish. Apply over your fave lip colour and BAM! A new velvet look. Kylie would approve." I definitely agree that Kylie would approve. This product is amazing. It definitely has that velvet feel to it. Will also said that if you wanted to moisturise your lips without having that glossy look, then this is amazing, works wonderfully for guys who don't want to look like they're wearing chapstick but still want to stay hydrated. It really is a multi-purpose product. You can put this on top of liquid matte lipsticks to hydrate your lips without losing that matte look or you can turn one of your favourite cream lipsticks into a matte lipstick. All you need is the tiniest bit and then dab, dab, dab. Keep dabbing till your fingers hurt basically.

I also got the Urban Decay B6 Prep Spray (30ml) because I had heard some really good things about this product, especially from Shaaanxo. So I can't wait to test that out.

As well as getting the redeemable $50, you also got a complementary brush set from Smashbox, which included a paddle foundation brush, a fan brush, an angled eyebrow or eyeliner brush, a lip brush and a eyeshadow blender brush. The brushes come with such a stunning design on them, I'm already in love. They come in such a nice variety which makes them great for travelling.

The night was spectacular, I really do have to thank Rose, all the Mecca girls and Davis, Will and Lori. I can't wait to do this again!

Collective Haul | From Sephora US, Priceline, Mecca and Daiso and Much, Much More! | The Lipstick Hub

Happy Leap Year Day! Get ready for this haul because it's huge. It's basically everything I got in the month of February. Grab some popcorn and put on some relaxing music. I'm going to have to go in order of shops because there is way too much here for one big pile dump, after stating what I got, I'll do a little mini review for you guys.

Forever 21: Two Clear Acrylic 9 Lipstick Holders, a Holographic Card Holder and a Handbag.
The lipstick holders and the handbag are really nice, I do wish that the lipstick holders had levels though so the back ones could be on display as well. The holographic card holder is a little fiddley because it can't hold a lot of cards and it's very stiff. You have to play around with it for a little while. All in all, the lipstick holders are definitely worth checking out and I'm in love with the handbag.

Sportsgirl: Marble and Rose Gold Phone Case and a Lip Chalk in Fist Date.
The phone case is so pretty, really on trend at the moment which is probably what drew me to it. The Sportsgirl lip chalk is something I wanted to try out since they came out, I don't expect them to be like Jeffree Star's Velour Liquid Lipstick or the Colourpop Ultra Mattes. They do state that it is a matte lip cream, so I expect it to be like the Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams. They do dry down a lot which is nice and don't tend to transfer too much. They also have a very sweet medicine smell. The smell is very pungent so if you don't like fragranced products, stay away from these, otherwise they are very nice.

Daiso: Three Mix Cheek Powders and a Charcoal Peel Off Mask
I haven't yet tried the peel off mask but I really hope that it meets my expectations, this basically the product I'm waiting for Biore to release. The mixed cheek powders were one of my Hidden Gem's in Feb so if you want my thoughts on them you can go to this post.

Colette by Colette Hayman: Cat Ears Headband
There's not much to say about this because it isn't a beauty product but nonetheless I felt it deserved a spot in my haul. It's absolutely gorgeous with the silver sparkles in the gold trim. I definitely feel like these will be making an appearance.

Lime Crime: True Love Velvetine trio and the Bae Bouquet (Perlees trio)
These were Valentine's Day sets so they are limited edition, you can buy the Perless individually. The Perlees that came in the pack were Mirage, Third Eye and Lady. All metallic creamy lipsticks. They are incredibly unique and definitely suited the theme. The velvetine's are limited edition shades and aren't sold individiually at this moment. The colours are beautiful and again are well suited to the theme. Swatches are provided below.

The left column are the Perlees from top to bottom: Mirage, Third Eye and Lady.
The right column are the Velvetines and the Sportsgirl Lip Chalk from top to bottom: Saint, True Love, Cupid and First Date

Dabry St Pharmacy: Mini Australis Velourlips Take Me Travelling Set in Nudes and Pinks
I was so thankful when I found this set because I didn't know it exsisted until after the holiday sets had finished but thankfully I had managed to get my hands on the last set. The set includes Mil-a-no, Hon-o-loo-loo, Ho-Chee-Min, Los-Angel-Es and Lun-Dun.

Woolworths: Montagne Jeunesse Cucumber Peel Off Masque
I've bought plenty of these and have mention these repeatedly, including on Instagram and on my blog, I freaking love this stuff but this one is huge, the normal one I get is 80mls and the one in this haul is 175mls.

MAC: Lipstick in Diva
I didn't want to get a whole lot at MAC, the reason I did go is because of a little blog post that will be coming up soon, so stayed tuned for that. I got Diva because, A. I only really like matte finishes from MAC but I don't mind Satin, B. I wanted a different colour to some of the other colour's I've gotten from them which are a lot of pinky-nudes so I thought Diva was a nice change of scenery.

With flash

Without flash

FB: Stila Eternally Yours Liquid Lipstick Set of 6
So the Eternally Yours set came out around Christmas time at Mecca and I didn't even know that they were out so I missed out on them because they seemingly never restocked them again. But I finally got my hands on the set from a lovely lady on Facebook.

Kmart: Four Body Mists, Love Pamper Face Mask in Peach, Botanical Choice Deep Cleansing Peel-Off Mask, Australis Take Me On Tour Contour Kit, Be Indulged Summer Pop Eye Palette
So apparently I was really into face masks because I bought two more from Kmart. I haven't tried them yet but I'm really excited. I was pretty interested in the eyeshadow palette because the colours are hella neon and I want to see if they compare to some other palettes I own. I got the contour kit because I wanted something that I could just quicky take on the go. The body mists however were amazing, they smell delicious. I've currently got 4 and I hope they release more. Keep in mind they are very strong and sweet smelling so if that isn't your thing, I'd probably stay away. Though if you do like that kind of thing, for $4 each you really can't go wrong.

Sephora US: Cinema Secrets Pro Starter Kit, Too Faced Beautifully Blushed and Bronzed, Kat Von D liquid lipstick in Requiem, also a bunch of samples.
I got the Cinema Secrets makeup brush cleaner pro starter kit because Shaaanxo talks about it a lot and this one comes with a tin that you can use for the cleaner. Speaking of youtubers, I got Requiem because NikkieTutorials always talks about KVD's Requiem and it looks stunning on her. I got the Too Faced pack because it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. It comes with two mini blushes, two mini bronzers and a mini Flatbuki brush which is perfect for contouring or blusher and it's genius. Some little samples I got were the Giorgio Armani lip maestro, Laura Mercier candleglow soft luminous foundation, Smashbox insta-matte lipstick transformer (I can't wait to see how this preforms), Becca aqua luminous perfecting foundation. I also got a little surprise which I wasn't expecting, it was an envelope full of 5 samples of perfume. So that was a cute little surprise.

Chi Chi: Meet The Girls Fragrance Collection, Soft Matte Lip Cream Collection, Glitter Eyeliner Gift Set, Spices Eyeshadow Palette, Liquid Lipstick Collection, Lip Liner in Glamourama (Not Pictured)
I didn't know that Chi Chi brought out two fragrance collections but apparently the one I got after Christmas was Meet The Girls 2, this is the first one. I will be giving my mum Peach and Mango because it's her favourite but I'm absolutely in love with the others oh my lord. I was so excited when I saw that Chi Chi had soft matte lip creams because they are so much nicer than their liquid lipsticks, they aren't completely matte but if you dab them with some tissue paper they do turn matte and they are so nicely formulated, I definitely need more of these asap. I still got the liquid lipstick collection because while they aren't my favourite formula, I still like them and they're mini so. I did stock up on my Chi Chi glitter eyeliners because they are so nice that I need back-ups incase I run out and they don't sell them anymore. Lastly the Spices palette, I wanted something to use for some Autumn looks  and this definitely speaks Autumn to me, Shaaanxo loves this palette and now so do I. I did forget to include the lip liner in this photo which I apologise for, it's a lovely pinky-red shade that just stood out to me. I've always wanted to get the rest of the Chi Chi lip liners based off the two I already own so I was pretty happy when I saw this shade.

Mecca: Kate Somerville Hydrating Firming Mist, UD Oil-Control Setting Spray, Josie Maran Pure Argan Milk 10ml, Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Palette, Nars Steven Klein Killer Heels Lipstick Set, UD Gwen Stefani Blush Palette, Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lip Gloss in Hypnotist, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Rosa, Too Faced Melted Chocolate in Chocolate Milkshake, Too Faced La Creme Color Drenched Lipstick in Unicorn Tears, 2x Josie Maran Samples and 1 Kate Somerville Sample
Woah that was a lot to get through, so most of the things were stuff that I hadn't tried before but that I wanted to like the Josie Maran stuff, the Bare Minerals lip gloss, the Stila liquid lipstick and the UD stuff. I have tried the All-Nighter setting spray from UD but I wanted the oil-control one for my oily skin. The Kate Somerville mist is a top up because I got a decent sized sample of it from Sephora US and I fell in love with it. I did get all the new stuff as soon as it was released because I'm insane like that apparently

Priceline: Models Prefer Finale Make-up Setting Mist, Savvy Lipstick Kit, Savvy Mineral Baked Blush, Savvy Ultra Matte Lip Colour, Essence Blush Up Powder Blush, Maybelline Color Blur's in I Like To Mauve It, Partner In Crimson and Pink Insanity, Maybelline Super Stay Lip Liner in Rosewood, Rimmel Kate Moss Nude Collection in the shade 45, Revlon Mascara's in Blod Lacquer and Lash Potion, 3x Australis Banana Powder, Face Of Australia Calypso Bay Nail Lacquer in A Mermaid's Tail, Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Love Nails, Essie Winter Collection, Natural Glamour Bronzed and Beautiful Collection

I already did a review on the Natural Glamour Bronzed and Beautiful Collection which you can read here. Model's Prefer actually came out with a couple other things that I also wanted as well but were never in stock so I'll have to see what I can do about that later. The Essie Nail Polishes were absolutely perfect shades for me, I'm definitely digging the white, gold and maroon trends this Winter and Autumn. I was so happy to find the Essence blush because it's been discontinued for a little while and I'm a sucker for ombre blush. Speaking of blush, I totally didn't expect the Savvy Baked Blush to be a blush, I definitely thought it was more of a baked eyeshadow, it's probably what I'll use it for anyway. The Savvy Ultra Matte Lip Colour I've already tried on and I wasn't that happy with it I don't exactly know why, and I'll definitely be giving it another go in the near future but I just can't place why I wasn't happy with it. However the Savvy Lipstick Kit, I was more than happy to get my hands on again because I am in love with the Savvy mini lipsticks and never want to run out on those. I picked up the Revlon mascara's because I heard they're being discontinued and I didn't want to miss out, and almost every store I've been to haven't had them in stock so better grab them while you can! The other nail polishes I got, I got because they are perfect mermaid colours for some up coming events and the FOA one was only $1. The Rimmel lipstick I got because they bringing in other collections and I didn't want to miss out on it, plus again they're never restocked so I grabbed it while I saw it. The Maybelline Color Blur's I was so happy about because I've literally been waiting for them ever since Shaaanxo did a video on them and now they're finally here! I also picked up the lip liner because it looks like that perfect mauve, Kylie Jenner, brown nude shade that I, and mostly everybody else, am obsessed with. Now the Australis Banana Powders weren't intentional but grab what you can right? My family members did help out with those, so I'd like to thank them as well.

That concludes my haul guys, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know in the comments or on Instagram if you did! I know it was long but if you guys made it till the end, comment "Unicorn Tears" on my Instagram photo of the collective haul photo 😘

Thank you for bearing with me and I can't wait to do another one of these. I do have more things coming in the mail that I'll be doing posts about very soon.

Real or Fake? Korean Beauty Trend, Peel Off Lip Paints | The Lipstick Hub

So you want to buy an Asian beauty product on eBay or maybe on a website that has very little english, how do you know if it's a real or a fake. Here's a few handy tips to figure out if it's a real or a fake product.

1. Look at the brand, Monomola (a brand which I got in my Bellabox) is the real deal. Whereas Romantic Bear, isn't the real deal, you'll find Romantic Bear on eBay or Aliexpress more than anything. Monomola actually have their own website.

2. Packaging, packaging is everything. Monomola came with a box, and has a metallic, reflective tube. Romantic Bear doesn't have that reflective packaging. Romantic bear also doesn't list the product code and expiry date on the top. The fake label also doesn't cover all of the product, it leaves a white line before the lid. There are more packaging differences but these are the main ones.

3. The actual product itself, many of Monomola's reviews are genuine and the product works great. However upon some research of Romantic Bear, there have been many negative cases of reactions on the lips to the product. It is quite gory so if you are sensitive to that certain genre, maybe don't look it up.

4. The price, Monomola's price on Bellabox's website is $10. However you can get Romantic Bear for as cheap as $1. While it is a bargain, lower pricing can give away that it is a fake. The brand is able to put it on eBay for so cheap because it was cheap to manufacture.

These are just little things to be aware of when purchasing products from foreign countries.

Natural Glamour Bronzed and Beautiful Collection Review | The Lipstick Hub

In a recent Priceline catalogue they showed a product that looked oddly similar to the Too Faced bronzer wardrobe, it's by the brand Natural Glamour so I thought I'd test it out. The product retails for $40, though apparently valued by the supplier for $230. I've never heard of the brand Natural Glamour so I don't know how true that is.

The bronzer book has 6 shades in it. Starting from the top, going clockwise, we have Contour and Highlight, Hint of Pink, Radiant Glow, Safari Sun, Sun Kissed Glow and Forever Summer. The shades are beautiful and I do think they would suit a lot of different skin types. The are a little less pigmented than I would have hoped but it is quite buildable. I would probably skip the blush and highlighter when wearing these as they are quite shimmery and a couple are a little pink based. All in all I really do like the product, I've never heard of the brand but I was really surprised by this. If you see this in your local Priceline, give it a go for sure.

Please excuse the FitBit haha. The shades are in the order, listed above.

The New Mini Smashbox Full Exposure Palette Review

In Mecca the other day I saw they had two sets of mini Smashbox Full Exposure Palette. Each of them had different shades in the palette, one was more cool tones and the other was more warm tones. I do have to say that I don't like the packaging, it's great having something so small and slim to take travelling but to me, it has this cheap, plastic feel to it. I just feel like the palette looks and feels like it was made in some cheap-o factory.

The mini palette has 4 shimmer shades and 4 matte shades. I thought this would be a great idea to try out the Smashbox palettes. 

The shades already had fallout everywhere when I opened it for the first time, and you can see on the mirror that two shades have already left an imprint on the mirror. The palette didn't come with a plastic protector over the shadows which kind of annoyed me because I like my brand new palettes to be pristine. 

The shadows were crooked when I opened it which also makes me think that the palette is quite cheap looking. I would think a palette that cost me $35 from a well-know high end brand. The photo above is quite literally how it looked when I first opened the palette. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I've used a couple of things from Smashbox before and haven't had a problem but this was extremely disappointing.

The swatches disappointed me as well. Both the shimmer and the matte shades felt like they were made of chalk. They aren't very well pigmented at all. It took quite a bit of back and forth to get some colour onto my arm.

When wiping the shades away, the shimmer shades pretty much just got moved around on my arm, the colour went away but the glitter went everywhere.

If you were thinking about picking this palette up, I'd give it a miss. :(

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe Review

On the 27th of Jan, Mecca released the Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe. I ran straight there after Priceline. The palette comes with 6 blushes from their Love Flush Long-Lasting 16-Hour Blush collection. The collection itself only has 6 shades, so in total to get each blush would cost you $228 AUD however you can get a third of the blushes each in a palette for only $53 AUD. I'd say that's a great deal.

A lot of people did complain that the size of the blushes were small but they are giving you basically the entire collection for about a fourth of the total price of the full collection. As someone who is a total makeup addict and buys a ton of blushes and never hits pan, this little palette is brilliant. It has some more bronzed, peachy, true pinks and purple toned blushes. It's completely versitile and gives you the perfect amount so I might even hit pan on some of these.

The first thing I notice looking at the blushes is that there are two mattes and the rest are shimmers. So if you love shimmery blushes this would be pretty good but if you live and die for mattes, maybe pass on this and just get How Deep Is Your Love? and Your Love Is King full sized, if you like those colours that is.

The swatches I did of the two middle shades, I Will Always Love You and How Deep Is Your Love?, came out very pigmented. I barely dipped my finger in and the colours came right off. They don't have a lot of fallout and are quite buttery. They feel a lot like the colour pop eyeshadow at first touch. I like both the shimmer and the matte but the shimmer does have just a smidge more pigment.

How Deep Is Your Love? (Left) and I Will Always Love You (Right)

The packaging looks great, in true Too Faced fashion, it's very girly, a lot of pink and gold. I don't mind it at all, it looks great in my collection and perfectly suits the brand. The palette is super slim and very compact. The mirror is nice but I feel its not needed, it just looks pretty.

Mecca Beauty Loop Box 20/1

On the 20th of Jan the Mecca Beauty Loop boxes got released. I was hella excited for these as the last one was absolute perfection. If you don't know what Beauty Loop is, it's basically Mecca's reward programm, I do believe that it was introduced middle last year. The more you buy from Mecca the higher up you go, each level has different benefits but all the levels get something free on their birthday (SPOILERS: I do believe it is a Mecca hand cream) and each level gets a beauty loop box. Basically level one is the basic one, second is a bit better and the third is the best "supposedly."

I'm on level 2 and my god I could not have been more disappointed.

My very first one was a level 1 and it had a mini By Terry mascara, a Kate Somerville moisturiser, a Josie Maran moisturiser and a Ren facial sample. The second box I got was a level 2 and it had a Ren facial sample, a mini Too Faced bronzer, samples of the Too Faced Born This Way foundation in different shades and a mini Nars Larger Than Life Long-Wear eyeliner in Via Veneto. I was absolutely in love with this box. The boxes are a bit of a hit and miss though, level 3 was jealous of the level 2 box because our box was better than theirs.

However this time around the level 1 box was better than the level 2's and level 3 was freaking amazing. It's really confusing.

In my box this year I got a mini Smashbox bb cream in light, a mini Byredo perfume, a Kate Somerville mask sample and a Bumble and Bumble shampoo and conditioner sample. It really pissed me off that we got almost the same sample (the Kate Somerville one) as the one I did in my first level 1 box. I'm grateful for the free stuff, (though can you really call it free stuff when you have to spend a certain amount of money at their store to get this?) but this box wasn't that great. I find sachet samples to be the most annoying things on the planet. Someone did say that these were expensive brands but this just seemed, too random. The perfume is nice I guess but you have to have a particular scent in mind. The bb cream is probably the best thing in the box, but it's a bb cream, which means it has different shades. I don't know if every box had the shade light in it but I felt that was very unfair to all the other skin tones. At least with the Too Faced born this way foundation samples they had different shades. This just didn't seem very inclusive and might have been the only redeeming thing in the box.

I will say that I love the beauty loop boxes, my second one literally left my jaw on the floor, but this one could have done better. I do like that they changed the box though, it used to be a pullout type mechanism but now it's a lid type box. I hope the next one is better!

New ColourPop Liquid Lipstick Swatches

For the holiday period Colourpop released new mini versions of the Ultra Matte Liquid Lipsticks, they had two different packs, one set included all of their best sellers and the other one included new shades. Each pack was $20USD and included 5 minis. The set I bought that included the new shades was called Kitty, and some of the colours looked very similar to other shades, I thought I do some swatches so you guys could see the differences.

From the top down is Bianca - from the new set

Beeper - an old shade

Times Square - new set

Be Merry - new set

Donut - old shade

Last Dance - new set

More Better - old shade

Glitter - new set

The top three nudes are very similar, Bianca is slightly lighter than the other two. More better looks similar to Last Dance and Glitter in the photo but they look a little different in real life. Glitter is similar to More Better but Last Dance is more of a brick red.