Epic Nail Foils - Where I Tried To Get A Bit Festive

Ok, so I may be a little late with getting this post up but you could also look at it the other way where I am just super early with getting in with the Christmas themed stuff for next year :-)

A little while ago I was approached by Epic Nail to try out their new Nail Foils and being a bit of a nail junkie I just couldn't resist saying yes.

I was lucky enough to be sent the Kaleidoscope kit which contains 6 gorgeous foil colours. There is Date Night (purple), Bonfire (red), Irish Flair (green), Karat (gold), The Deep (blue), and All Dolled Up (pink).

The kit also contains some instructions on two methods to try out using the foils (as above) as well as some glue and cuticle sticks.

I have never used nail foils before but love some of the effects I have seen others get when using them. I have to admit that it took me quite a few goes to get used to applying the foils and I found that it was best to wait around five minutes for the glue to dry before applying the foils even though the instructions say to wait around 1 minute.


Here is a look I decided to do for Christmas this year using Irish Flair, Karat and Bonfire:

Out of all of them Karat seemed to be the easiest to apply and it was also the most spectacular gold I have ever seen! Irish Flair applied a bit patchy but it was hard to tell if you didn't know because I used a similar green polish as an undercoat. 

Bonfire was also a little bit patchy but again I used a red polish underneath which made it hard to tell it wasn't all that even.

It is recommended to apply a top coat over the foils to give them a longer life but I tried out all four top coats that I own and every single one of them kept removing the finish from the foil and ruining the look. I did read somewhere that a water based top coast is recommended to stop this from happening but I obviously don't own one of these. I ended up opting for no top coat but unfortunately this meant the foils only lasted around 24 hours before started to show a lot of wear and tear. 

These foils are definitely a fun way to jazz up a regular manicure and you could get heaps of applications from each foil roll. To find out more about Epic Nail Foils you can visit their website here.

As a special treat for my dear readers, if you use the coupon code 'BLOGSPACE' prior to checkout you can get free standard shipping on all orders with a product spend of $30 or more. This offer will expire on the 31st of December.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Michelle xx 

November 2013 Favourites

So, I usually don't worry about posting about the products I used the most during a month because a lot of the time I mix things up so much that I tend to forget what I have loved more than others.

But, the month of November was just so hectic that I don't even really remember much of it and I found myself really using the above products practically every day because it meant that there was less for me to try and think about when I was getting ready.

Anyway, here is a break down of the products that kept me sane during the month of November.

Face
* Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation in Vanilla - I have had this foundation tucked up in the back of my makeup cabinet for ages and finally cracked it open last month and instantly fell in love. I can't believe how gorgeous and lovely the texture is of this foundation and the coverage is perfect for my skin.
* Nude by Nature Soft Focus Illuminator - I found this to be the perfect partner for the Bourjois foundation when I wanted a bit more of a glow to my skin.
* Savoir Faire Cconcealer in Light - I've been really needing a bit more coverage under the eyes lately as sleep has been eluding me and for some reason I've had a lot of breakouts around my chin area since the weather has warmed up. This concealer blends perfectly with my skin tone and gives just the right amount of coverage.
* MAC Blush in Formal - This was a recent acquisition during November- in the Stroke of Midnight Lip & Cheek bag I reviewed a few days ago and I've just loved how versatile this pink is and how well it blends onto my cheeks to give a nice healthy glow.

Eyes/Brows
* Elizabeth Arden Colour Palette - I think I have shown this before a very long time ago. I always seem to break this old faithful out when I'm in a hurry because the two Graphite and Platinum eyeshadow shades gives a great quick and easy eye look that goes with practically everything. The blush in Sunblush makes a great bronzer too when I really want to get out the door quickly.  
* Calvin Klein Intense Eyeshadow in Aqua Shimmer - I seem to gravitate towards green eye makeup when the weather warms up and I just love this shade blended into the crease lightly to brighten up the eye area when I really feel like just going back to bed.
* Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara in Black - This is one of my favourtie all-time mascaras and I always break it out when I want one that I can rely on without wondering whether it will be halfway down my face by the end of the day.
* Mirenesse Inside Out 27Hr Eye Kohl in Osiris - I love the shade of this eyeliner as it's a dark gunmetal grey and therefore not as intense as black. These eyeliners are great and I have every shade but I don't recommend using them on a very hot day as they can get extremely soft which makes them a bit harder to apply accurately.
* Ardell Brow Defining Kit - If you saw my recent review of this product it won't be any surprise as to why this has become a daily necessity for me. I just love it.
* Models Prefer Brow Highlighter - I've been using this mostly as a highlighter for the inner corners of the eyes to wake me up a bit more and it's definitely grown more on me for use as a brow highlighter too when I'm in a hurry. It also makes a great cheekbone highlighter in a pinch too.

Lips
* Models Prefer Ultra Lipgloss Pencil in Perfectly Polished - These pencils are so easy to apply when in a hurry and give a really great amount of colour on the lips.
* MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in How Darling! - You would have seen that this was only a recent aquisition for me during November and I have been obsessed with the milky pinkness ever since.

Hair/Body
* Evodia Coconut & Lime Fragrance Roll-On - I thought I would hate this when I got it as I'm normally not the biggest fan of fake coconut scents but when we flew to Tasmania for our holiday I took it due to it being nice and small to fit into my makeup bag and I kind of became a bit obsessed with it.
* Schwarzkopf Dry Shampoo - I received this to trial from Beautyheaven and can't get enough of it. I just love the fresh scent and it makes my hair feel really nice and clean in between shampoos.  

So those are the products I loved and lived with during the month of November.

What were some of your favourites during the month?

Michelle..

Natures Beauty Bag - November 2013

So there's a new subscription service in town called Natures Beauty Bag, and being the subscription junkie that I am I couldn't help but subscribe and see what it was like for myself.

Natures Beauty Bag specialises in organic and natural products which is something that I personally am so excited about. Here is a little bit about them which I grabbed from their website:

'We launched Natures Beauty Bag because we feel that everyone should experience quality natural and organic beauty products.

We strive to provide a variety of beauty product samples which benefit your health, beauty and general wellbeing and we believe in only providing our customers with the best.

We only provide products samples that we honestly and truly take pride in and every product is something that we ourselves would use.'

So, here is what came in the November bag:

1)  Ultra C Radiance Serum - This is a Rosehip Oil based serum rich in Vitamin C, Goji Berry, Co Enzyme Q10 & Chia Seed. I can't wait to try this out!

2) Rebifresh Cleansing Oil - This is a blend of Olive, Citrus and Apricot oils, plus certified organic lemon-scented Tea Tree. I've never had the greatest experiences with cleansing oil but will certainly give this one a go.

3) Australian Bush Essence Intensive Eye Serum - This is an organic eye serum which contains Australian Bush Flower Essences and Rose Stem Cells to care for the delicate tissue around the eyes. I've been paying particular attention to ensuring I am vigilent with applying an eye cream on a daily basis lately so will be interested to see how this one goes.

4) Maeve Mineral Vitality Face Serum - This serum contains regenerative and anti-inflammatory ingredients and is said to be perfect for environmentally stressed and mature skin. That's me in a nutshell so this is definitely on my 'try next' list.

5) Cherry Brown Natural Mineral Lipstick - These lipsticks are made with pure ingredients including apricot kernel oil and extra virgin macadamia oil. They are free from animal testing, petroleum products, palm oil in any form, animal ingredients, chemical additives, parabens, preservatives, synthetic dyes and colours, micronised ingredients and nanoparticles (Phew!) I received one in the shade 'Hot Pink' and it sure is what the name suggests, a super duper bright pink. I'll give a separate review and show some swatches in a future post so stay tuned.

6) Absolutely Gorgeous Organic Lip Balm - I have used a lot of Absolutely Gorgeous products in the past and have always been impressed. This lip balm is 100% organic and is in the flavour 'Coconut & Lime' which isn't too overpowering or sickly at all. I am a bit of a lip balm addict so will definitely get a lot of use out of this.

7) Morlife Greens Rush Bar - These bars contain a serve of Alkalising Greens pH7.3 powder and give an antioxidant equivalent of 5 serves of vegetables and fruit. They come in three different flavours being Banana Tropicana, Pineapple Zest and Cacao Mint. I received the Cacao Mint one and am intrigued enough to try it out soon.

 The list of included products comes on lovely recycled paper as shown above.

There was also a huge amount of product brochures and discount vouchers included as well to give you all the information you could want on the products received.

Overall I'm very happy with the Natures Beauty Bag and will definitely continue subscribing for the near future. It only comes every two months as well which I guess is a bit more practical as you get a bit more time to use each product before being bombarded with more.

Natures Beauty Bag is $29.95 every two months and you can either purchase a one-off bag is you like or purchase am ongoing subscription.

What does everyone think of the Natures Beauty Bag? Has anyone else subscribed to it yet?


Have a great weekend.

Michelle xx 

MAC Stroke of Midnight Lip & Cheek Bag in Pink - The Perfect Gift From a Guilty Husband

So my husband had to go to Macau for a week on a work trip a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately it just topped off a bit of a crappy time where he'd been away an awful lot for work. For any new readers that don't know about me, I work as an Accountant two days a week, run my own Bookkeeping business on the side from home the rest of the week all while juggling the care of our very active toddler. I pretty much work 7 days a week sometimes. 

Now, I admit that I do love being busy as I get too restless when I don't have much on, but sometimes this means that when hubby has to go away a lot for work I tend to get very frazzled and exhausted trying to keep up with everything that needs to be done on my own. As a way to say sorry and reduce my frazzledness this time my lovely man decided to buy me some MAC as a surprise in the form of the Stroke of Midnight Lip & Cheek Bag in Pink, as well as the Stroke of Midnight Eye Palette in Cool (due to not wanting this post to be too photo heavy I'll be showing this one separately in the next couple of days).

I do think he's a keeper!

Firstly, the bag you get with this set is so fancy looking that it could almost be used as a small clutch for a night out if one was so inclined. I'll definitely be swapping my normal overnight makeup bag for this one next time we go anywhere.

 

Inside the bag is an assortment of goodies as follows:

* Cremesheen Lipstick in How Darling!

* Lipglass in Soft Spoken

* Beauty Powder Blush in Formal

* 129SE Blush Brush; and

* Mirror

First up, I have to admit one dirty little secret........ This is the first time I have ever used any MAC products! Yep, for some reason I have just never bought anything from them before. Mainly because they're not easily accessible from where I live and I never really worried about going out of my way for it.

So, being that these products are my first ever experience with the brand, I have to say that I definitely am impressed.

The Cremesheen lipstick in How Darling! is a lovely shade of pink that is so versatile and wearable for everyday use.

I've been wearing this quite a lot over the past couple of weeks as it's not too drying on my lips and seems to last a good three to four hours before fading away. It doesn't bleed into my lip lines and has a yummy vanilla scent and taste.

The Lipglass in Soft Spoken is a very subtle pink shimmer in a clear gloss base. It doesn't really give the lips any colour but imparts a lovely shine instead and looks really nice when worn over How Darling! It also has a yummy vanilla scent and taste to it.

The Beauty Powder Blush in Formal is a gorgeous rosy pink that looks really natural on my pale skin. It's quite pigmented though so I only need to apply a very small amount but others might be able to get away with a bit more than me if their skintone isn't so pale. It's really easy to blend and lasts an entire workday without really fading too much.

The Blush Brush and Mirror are both very useful, although I wish to mirror had a frame around it as it gets very smudged with fingerprints the way it is. The brush is so super soft and really good for blending.

Last but not least are the swatches....

From Left to Right: Lipglass in Soft Spoken, Cremesheen Lipstick in How Darling! and Beauty Powder Blush in Formal (With Flash)

From Left to Right: Lipglass in Soft Spoken, Cremesheen Lipstick in How Darling! and Beauty Powder Blush in Formal (Without Flash)

So I am proud to say that my MAC virginity has finally been broken and I'm definitely more interested in trying out a lot more from this brand now. I just can't believe it took me so long to finally get on the bandwagon!

Has anyone else bought this set or any of the others from the Stroke of Midnight range yet?

I hope everyone has a great week!

Michelle xx

Ardell Brow Defining Kit - Changing The Way I Feel About My Brows!

Ok, I'll admit it. I've never really been much into defining my brows. It's always something I was too scared to do because of my inbuilt fear of having two big furry caterpillars on my face rather than nicely, defined brows. So, usually I just left my brows as they were with maybe a little bit of brushing into place or I used a tiny bit of pencil to fill them in a bit.

Also, I'm a chronic face toucher. No matter how much I try to stop I touch my face, rub my eyes and lean my chin on my hands all day long when I'm in deep thought. So, having brown smudges around my eyebrow area is a high risk for me.

But, after receiving this Ardell Brow Defining Kit in a previous Her Fashion Box, I've now become a bit of a brow defining convert.

Included in the kit is the Brow Defining Palette, a Wax Grooming Pencil and a Duo Brow Brush.

 The Brow Defining Palette consists of four shades and a small angled brush. The top right shade is for highlighting and the other three are for colouring and defining the brows. I don't think there is any way you couldn't match your perfect shade with this palette, as if one of the shades isn't right for you it's so easy to blend two or three of them together to make a custom shade. The small slanted brush is what I use to apply the highlighting powder.

(No flash)

(With Flash)

The Duo Brow Brush is great. The slanted brush end is what I use to apply the brow powders and then I tidy everything up with the spooly end.



The Wax Grooming Pencil  is supposed to be applied after defining the brows with the powder to groom and set the brows in place. It's not too sticky at all and comes with an inbuilt sharpener in the lid which is just awesome. 

Now, here are some before and after photos of the difference using this kit makes to my brows (please bear in mind that I don't go too heavy handed as I'm still getting over my previously mentioned furry caterpillar fear. Baby steps!)

(No makeup, lots of awful freckles and sparse brows!)

(Defined brows using a combination of the top right shade and the bottom left shade blended together)

So yes, I finally am starting to see what everyone is raving about when they say that a good set of brows balances and frames the whole face. I have received several compliments from family and friends since making the extra effort to use this kit and that's the best motivation ever to add the extra couple of minutes a day to my usual routine.

Has anyone else used this kit before? Are there any other awesome brow kits I absolutely need to try now??