The Beauty Vine: November 2013

Thursday, 28 November 2013

New on the Vine...Essence Lippy Love!

Perusing the Essence stand at my local Priceline last week during a recent sale resulted in 4 of these lovely new lippys coming home with me. I had purchased one of the shades "Natural Beauty" in the week prior, and was really impressed by not only the gorgeous pinky nude shade, but how comfortable the formula felt on my lips. They remind me very much of the Revlon Lip Butters.

Setting you back a cool $4.10 ( AU ) you simply cannot go wrong! I believe there are 8 shades in this new range, and to my knowledge they are part of the permanent line.

There are 2 pink shades, and one berry shade missing from my line up, but I thought I would show you the little family thus far....

I hope you are having a lovely day/evening wherever you are!

04 - On The Catwalk

02 - All You Need Is Red

01 - Coral Calling

07 - Natural Beauty

06 - Barely There

04 02 01 07 06

I swatched all of the shades quite heavily just to show you how the colour can build up, however the formula is quite sheer. All of these 5 are a cream formula, not a hint of glitter.

With a light hand, you will have a lovely, moisturising light wash of colour on your kisser!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

NARS Blush...Lovejoy

As a general rule I consider myself a bargain shopper, and the majority of my makeup is from pharmacy/drugstore brands. I'm sure, like many others, watching beauty videos on You Tube creates a bit of a monster inside me that will often whisper ( or yell ) in my ear " oh...I need that in my life"

Such was the case with the NARS blush in the shade 'Lovejoy'

After a couple of recent videos from Natalie ( Flowerbomb31) where she professes her love for this shade, I felt compelled to add it to my cart during a recent online order from Mecca Cosmetica.

It is not a shade often talked about in the beauty community, however Natalie's enthusiam and swatches just piqued my interest enough to click on 'order now'! It was one of those moments that I just knew I would love it.

Lovejoy is one of those blushes that just does magical things to your face. It warms...it brightens...it just makes you glow. It is not until you see it on your skin that her true beauty is revealed ( calm down Lou ) and the tan, almost uninteresting shade in the pan transforms into a stunning warm glowing rose.

I'm hooked.

Do you own any NARS blushes? What is your favourite shade? I would love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

On My Nails Today...

Hello!

These two little sparkly numbers caught my eye recently whilst window *cough* shopping a week ago and what do you know??... they end up in a cheery little pink plastic bag and accompany me home! Does that ever happen to anyone else?....

Rimmel London have released their version of the recently popular textured finish nail polish. Opting for the ethereal name "star dust" for their line, I must admit I was enticed by the sparkle and shine that these shades were emitting from their lovely little display.

Without further ado...allow me to introduce to you, "Aurora" 003 and "Moon Walking" 006

Aurora - 2 coats, no top coat

Moon Walking - 2 coats, no top coat.

(Please excuse my old lady hands)

No complaints about ease of application with both of these. The textured polishes are very forgiving, I was probably the most relaxed I've ever been painting my nails! Wielding the same wide flat brush as their sister polishes, they fit nicely against the nail bed and the formula dries very quickly!

Once dry, your nails will feel a bit like a fine grade sandpaper to touch. Both of these shades have lovely reflective glitters, which of course I found hard to translate in the photographs for you.

I have noticed the nail tip looking a little worn and dull after 2 days. I have two options there...you can easily throw on another coat, or just touch up the tips without it being visible ( all hidden by the texture). And there is always the top coat option! Removal is similar to a standard glitter polish, in my opinion less difficult.

Have you tried any textured polishes? Do you have a favourite shade or brand? I have my eye on a few of the OPI liquid sands, in particular some of the Bond Girls collection, and also the recently released Mariah Carey Christmas collection. I would love to hear your favourites, or what is on your wishlist!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings

Lou xo

Savvy by DB - Blushes on a Budget

I have some lovely affordable blushes to share with you today. Another offering from SAVVY by DB, there are three shades in their Classic Blush range which will set you back a tidy $4.99 each. Often on special at Priceline pharmacy, you may even be able to pick them up for less. Bargain!

Classic Blush 'Silky Pink'

My most recent of the three shades, this is one of those lovely natural blushes that will go with any look. A very versatile soft dusty pink. It does have shimmer, but when blended on the cheeks just gives a lovely glow/sheen to the cheeks.

Classic Blush 'Rose'

Perhaps not the most appropriate name for this peachy pink blush, it is a warm pink, again with shimmer, a gorgeous flush of colour for your cheeks. The brush marks might be a give away that I have had this shade for a while! It really is so pretty.

Classic Blush 'Nude'

A warm toned bronze tan shade, perfect to dust over the high points of your face for a lovely sun-kissed glow. This shade is perfect for a no fuss makeup look, so skip the highlighting and contouring, and dust this lovely on your cheeks instead!

L-R 'Nude' 'Rose' 'Silky Pink'
Swatched in natural light.

As you can see from the swatches above all of the three shades have shimmer in them. Don't be scared! Once blended into the skin you are left with lovely sheen. I don't feel the need for a separate highlighter when I use these blushes.

All three shade are highly pigmented, and will give excellent colour pay off. They are a little powdery when you put your brush into them, so be sure to tap off any excess. In my opinion the texture is smooth and easy to blend, not at all chalky.

If you prefer a matte finish blush then you probably wouldn't like these, but I like to have a bit of glow to help my tired old face look a little more alive!

I would love to hear what you favourite blushes are? What brands do you love? I would really love to try the Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes...unfortunately very hard to get hold of in Australia :(

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

Lips on The Vine - SAVVY by DB Long Lasting Matte Lipsticks

Good Morning!

Giving a bit of lip today beauties! I wanted to share some love for a brand that is exclusive to Priceline pharmacies in Australia, SAVVY by DB. An affordable 'drugstore' brand that offers a great selection of face,eye and lip cosmetics as well as some knockout nail polish shades.

A recent sale in Priceline offered 'buy 1 get 1 free' on all SAVVY by DB lip products, and I had been eyeing off this particular formula for a while.

Today I have two shades of the Long Lasting Matte Lipstick to share with you. Be on the lookout for my next post which will be looking at their Classic Blushes.

Many of the lighter, more neutral and pink shades were sold out at my local Priceline, however I did manage to pick up these two beauties! Love the packaging too!

Left - 'Bali' Right - 'Vegas'

'Bali'

'Vegas'

Top 'Bali' Bottom 'Vegas' swatched in natural light.

Moi in 'Vegas' !

My Thoughts:

As these are a recent purchase I can only really share my first impressions, which thus far are positive!

'Vegas' is a stunning red which leans slightly to the cooler side, and is quite a creamy formula for a matte lipstick. On the lips it is not completely 'flat' as some true matte formulas can be, which I don't mind. In my opinion, it makes it a little more comfortable, and less drying on the lips. I am yet to fully test the long lasting claim, however this shade seemed to wear quite well, and certainly left a stain on both my lips and my arm when I swatched it!! This shade is my favourite of the two so far!

'Bali' is a beautiful deep, vampy berry/wine shade. Definitely a true matte lipstick in application and finish, you will need to exfoliate and apply some lip balm before this one! Personally I would reach for this one for a night out, however the beauty of such shades is that you can make them quite 'wearable' by using them as a stain. I will apply the lipstick as normal, blot, and then use a cotton bud to remove some of the pigment, at the same time as working it into the lips evenly...this is a great way to get some more use out of deeper shades that you might otherwise shy away from! I also enjoy adding a gloss over the top of the stain, another way to change up both the look and colour, and add some moisture!

The Long Lasting Matte Lipsticks retail for $6.99 each from Priceline stores nationally and online.

You can find the website here

Have you tried any of the SAVVY by DB cosmetics? What is your favourite matte lipstick?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lou xo

ASOS Beauty Shopping...

Greetings!

I thought I would share with you some recent ASOS purchases today. ASOS is an online fashion and beauty mecca, and I managed to be browsing on a day when they were having 30% off selected beauty products. Yay for me!

Shipping is free Australia wide with tracking available. I believe I received my order in 4 working days. The products were packed securely and all in perfect condition.

They have quite a few different beauty brands on offer, I recommend a good browse! Many of the items for sale have not yet been released in Australia, which makes it that much more exciting to get your hands on them!

On with the pics.....