Priceline 40% off mini haul | what did I get?

Hello lovelies!

I couldn't resist popping into Priceline and grabbing some bargains from their 40% off sale. I intended on getting a new foundation and concealer, and as usual I walked away with a lot more than that!

I didn't go overboard, but I definitely went over my poor uni student budget.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara - waterproof 

I absolutely love this mascara so I decided to grab the waterproof version. Now that its starting to warm up (currently going to be 40 degrees today!) its a good idea to have a waterproof mascara for all of the beach days ahead!

Maybelline Colour Drama intense velvet lip pencil - Minimalist

I have two of lip pencils already and I absolutely love them! Im slightly regretting not just getting them all, but I don't think my bank account would have been very happy. 

These apply really nicely, they are super smooth, nourishing and highly pigmented. 

Its a gorgeous nude pink with a hint of shimmer

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 foundation

Im always on the hunt for new foundation to try, and the Maybelline fit me foundation was all sold out so I decided to give this one a try!

It was so hard to colour match in the store but I think I did pretty well. Could have gone a shade darker for when I tan but this matches my natural colour nicely.

It states it has lasting power of a primer, coverage of a concealer and blendability of a foundation. It does give good medium/full coverage, and is build able. It blends out nicely too. I haven't worn it out all day to test the lasting power so I will do a separate blog post all about it :) but so far, I'm liking it!

Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream - SHANG-HI

Let me just say, that when I walked up to the Australis section I couldn't grab this quicker! I have been wanting this colour for such a long time and its finally mine!

Its such a beautiful rich berry colour. I love the lasting power of velourlips. I will be wearing this colour A LOT!

SAVVY by DB Ultra Matte Lip Colour - Icon

This is a gorgeous bright fuchsia, perfect for warm spring days

I've never owned any savvy products but I'm impressed by this lipgloss so far. It has great lasting power and doesn't feel overly drying on the lips

Covergirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous concealer

I have never found a concealer that I absolutely love, there is always something about it that is a let down. I used the Maybelline fit me concealer and I did really like it, however It is always out of stock! While I was looking at covergirl foundations I noticed this concealer and it looked like it would be great to brighten underneath my eyes!

I have used it a few times. It applies nicely however it doesn't conceal dark circles well. I do have a salmon concealer that neutralises dark circles so I can use that underneath. Its so hard to find a good concealer. If you have an all time favourite, let me know!

SAVVY by DB nourishing lip liner - Natural

Im always in need of a nude lipliner, and these babies were originally around $6 so with 40% off thats a win! It feels really soft when you apply it but it still has good pigmentation. Some nourishing lipliners can be too soft and therefore they don't have as much pigmentation. Im hoping this goes nicely with Mac Velvet Teddy <3

SAVVY by DB Lipstick Kit

I saw this cute little kit of 10 mini lipsticks for only $6 and I couldn't resist!

It has a great colour range and the lipsticks are really pigmented!

Im doing a separate blog post which will be up next week with swatches and a review of what I think.

Im sure people did much more damage than me, But considering I have a pretty tight budget at the moment this was a bit of a splurge. Im really excited to experiment with all of my new lip colours! 

What did you get at the 40% off sale?

link me to your hauls below!

xx Lucy

heart to heart | Why I stepped away from blogging

Hello lovelies!

As some of you may have noticed, I have been a bit absent lately. I try to get a blog post up each week, but with everything that I have had going on at the moment that hasn't been possible.

--

Have you ever felt so incredibly sad that the things that use to make you happy just don't cut it? Thats exactly how I have been feeling for the past 2 -3 months. Its hard to focus on anything when all you want to do is stay in bed and hide from the world.

When you have everything you have ever wanted, and your making all these amazing decisions that will define the rest of your life, Its a very exciting feeling. I was incredibly happy with   everything. Then things started to fall apart.

                                                   --

When someone you love leaves you, it breaks you. When you have done everything in your power to make them happy and it isn't enough, you feel useless. When they turn to someone else for attention, you lose all self confidence.  

I knew I needed to stay 100% focused on uni, so I pushed blogging aside. I was doing really well and I didn't want to lose that. 

A lot of things lead to us breaking up. Some I understood, but others I just couldn't understand. 

I made the decision that I needed some space and that we shouldn't talk for a little while. Although I so wanted to have him in my life even after everything that happened, It just wasn't good for me. Exams were coming up and I didn't need any more pain that what I was already going through. 

Now that university has finished and I have a lot of free time I find myself thinking about everything that happened and its getting hard to stay distracted. Its so tempting to pick up the phone and call him. Thats why I need to start blogging again. Not only because I have loyal readers, but for myself. I need to drag myself out of the state that I am in.

I sometimes wake up and dread the day. It use to happen often, but it's slowly going away. Sometimes I wake up happy, other times not so much. I can usually turn myself around and focus on all of the good things. But when someone was your rock, the person you loved and wanted to spend all of your time with and then they hurt you so much that you don't think you will ever be ok it's very hard to get out of that head space.

I know I will be ok, I don't need anyone in my life to make me happy except myself. It just takes time.

Im writing this more for myself than anyone else. I feel that I need to get it out. Im sure some of you will appreciate me being honest, but I honestly wouldn't even care if no one reads this. Its just things I needed to get off my chest.  

I am going to try my best to get at least one blog post up a week, maybe even two! I have so many ideas and I'm excited to get back into it!

I hope you guys don't mind a different side of me.

If you have ever gone through anything that has made you step away from something you loved, just know that it is ok. Sometimes life needs to be dealt with. It will still be there when your ready <3

xx Lucy

Maybelline Matte + Poreless Fit Me foundation | First Impression

Hello lovelies!

Im back with another first impression post!

There has been a lot of hype about the new Maybelline Fit me foundations, So of course I had to add it to my collection.

I went to my local Coles when they were having a half price sale and got the Matte + Poreless foundation as I find my skin can get very oily, especially when I don't use matte foundations. the colour I wanted wasn't in stock so I went with Sun Beige. Its definitely too dark I, but I have managed to mix it with some of my lighter foundations so I can wear it.

Lets get straight into it!

Product claims

- For normal to oily skin

- Mattifies and refines pores

- Matches natural tone

- Natural, seamless finish 

The packaging is very nice, however I do wish it had a pump.

Application

The product applies really nicely. Its easy to blend and gives medium to full coverage.

I found it didn't try too quickly to give you time properly blend out the foundation.

It felt light on the skin and very comfortable.

7 and 1/2 hours later

I had been at work all day and checked my face just before I was heading home.

I noticed that the foundation had separated on my chin and nose. You could start to see my pores and blemishes.

My skin no longer had a matte finish as the shine had come through, especially on the forehead.

10 hours later 

I left the foundation on for a few more hours once I had been home.

It had completely come off my chin, and my whole face felt very oily and looked super shiny.

It didn't feel thick or heavy, but it didn't look nice.

The verdict

Even though the matte effect of the foundation didn't last all day, I was still happy with the foundation. I loved the way it applied and made my skin look. I have worn this many times since, and after simply applying powder throughout the day to keep the shine at bay really helps.

As the product doesn't state that it lasts for a specific time frame, I can't say this product doesn't do what it states.

For a drug store product, I think its definitely a great foundation. If you had normal skin, I think you would really love it! Considering I got it half price, Im not to fussed about the matte effect not lasting all day. As its too dark, I will wait until it is on sale again to get the lighter shade.

Whats your favourite matte foundation? Id love to do more first impressions so leave a comment down below!

xx Luct

Every day make up look | Tutorial

Hello lovelies!

I usually wear the same style of make up as my "every day" make up look as I go to uni 4 days a week and my job doesn't require me to wear a full face of make up

(Maybelline, Australis NYX, Essence, Rimmel and Chi Chi products purchased from Kmart, Target and Priceline. MAC purchased from MAC store. LA girl purchased from Crush Cosmetics. Duwop lip venom purchased from Luxola. )

(purchased from Makeup Geek)

I really love this style of make up as it is simple and quick to do and its easily changed into a night or more dramatic look by adding in some eyeliner and a bolder lip 

I thought I would share with you how I achieve this look and show you just Just how easy an every day look can be!

Base 

 I use the LA girl PRO conceal in Natural and I apply it to the areas I want to conceal, usually the broken capillaries near my lips, and any small spots I might have. I just blend this out with my finger.

I then apply my MAC Studio Fix foundation in the shade NW20 with a flat top foundation brush (rose gold brush set)  from Crush Cosmetics .  I dot the foundation all over my face, and then in a stippling motion I blend it out over my face but avoiding the under eye area. 

Then going in with my Maybelline Fit Me concealer in "light" and applying that to my under eye area, dot on the tip of my nose, in the dent of my chin and in the middle of my forehead in a triangle shape

I then blend this out with my e.l.f stippling brush. Using my Australis Cosmetics AC ON TOUR kit I take the "banana" shade on the small blush brush from the Crush Cosmetics rose gold brush set. I use this to set under my eyes in a dabbing motion. 

Then taking the darkest shade on my powder brush from the Crush Cosmetics rose gold brush set, I bronze my cheek bones in a fast swirling motion. This is similar to contouring but not as defined

Next is my favourite part, the brow transformation!

I have found my holy grail brow product, I literally can't use anything else (so far) that I like as much is the Poni Cosmetics brow dust in Thoroughbred!

(purchased from the 2014 Beauty Expo)

I use a very small amount on the angled eyeliner brush from the same rose gold brush set (can you tell I love it?). I carefully outline my brows, creating a defined arch and square off the beginning of my brows.

Now that I don't feel naked, Its time for the eyes!

I used my new Makeup Geek individual pan eyeshadows Baby Face, Creme Brûlée, Frappe and Shimma Shimma, and the foiled shadow In The Spotlight

First taking Baby Face on the Medium eyeshadow brush from the rose gold brush set, I applied that all over my eyelid and up to my eyebrow. This creates a base for the rest of the eyeshadows to blend out evenly.

Then taking Creme Brûlée on the xo Beauty Round Top Blender and blend that colour on and above the crease line

Once thats blended out, I took Frappe and used that with the blending brush from the rose gold brush set and blended that right into the crease line, being sure not taking it above the crease.

Then on the small eyeshadow brush again from the rose gold brush set, I took Shimma Shimma and applied it all over the bottom lid. I didn't want this to go into the crease at all.

To blend it all out nicely I took the xo Beauty Round Top Blender and blended along the crease line again, using only what was left on the brush. 

Lastly I took In The Spotlight on my finger and dapped it right in the centre of my lower lid

And thats it!

For mascara I used the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, Its my current favourite!

 This is when I applied the highlighter, I like to wait and see how my eyes turn out to do this.

I just dapped Essence Soo glow cream to powder highlight in "look on the bright side"

and on the bone area under my eye.

Next is blush to make my cheeks pop! I used the NYX baked blush in "foreplay" on my xobeauty medium domed face brush and in light swirling motions move from the tops of my cheek bones down into the middle of my cheeks, not taking it too far come to my nose as you just want to define the mid section. 

Isn't it beautiful! I love the pink tones with gold flecks, its pretty much what i use every day!

Lastly, but certainly not least, is the lips!

This is really simple, I just took a nice shade. I chose the Rimmel, Kate Moss lipstick in "Rossetto" no. 38. I lined my lips first with the Chi Chi "It Girl" lip liner and then applied the lipstick. to finish the look off I used a Lip Venom by DuWop to add some fullness to my lips!

and thats it! 

I love this look for work, or when I don't have any thing specific to do and just want to freshen up my face.

Whats your favourite everyday look?

Link me to your blogs/youtube of any looks you have done!

xx Lucy

L'oreal Paris Infallible 24H-Matte foundation | First Impression

Hello Lovelies!

I was wondering through my local Priceline the other day and noticed that the L'oreal products were 30% off! I have been dying to try the Infallible 24h-Matte foundation so decided to grab it.

I am always drawn to matte foundations. My skin has been so up ad down lately, sometimes Its dry other times its oily and its just driving me insane! However by the end of the day no matter how my skin felt in the morning, it's always oily.

I usually like to try foundations out for a while to see how they go in different circumstances, but for this products I really wanted to do a first impressions. Considering I had a 8 hour work shift ahead of me, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.

Product claims

The packaging states that:

-It is lightweight

-Non-cakey

-24 hour matte perfection

-It is a medium texture

-High coverage

-Matte finish

-Shine control

It is in awesome packaging! It has a squeeze tube to ensure you can get out all of the product and control how much you use. Thats definitely a bonus.

Application

I dapped small amounts all over my face and blended it out with a fat top foundation brush. All up I used about the size of 2 peas to cover my whole face.

I was really happy with the way it applied, It was easy to blend out and definitely gave a high coverage. I didn't use any conceal or primer, I wanted to see the true effects of the product. So I was really happy with how it looked.

It felt light on the skin and looked flawless. It gave off a matte finish as it said, but It didn't feel dry. I just felt like skin!

I did set this with a powder, because I was going to be running around a work for the next 8 hours.

Now that I felt fierce with my flawless matte finish skin, I faced the day.

10 hours later

So I got home from work, and I instantly knew that my skin was going to look oily.

I could 'feel' the product on my skin. It felt oily and when I touched my face and it transferred into my hand. 

It had completely come off my nose. It was separating on my forehead, on the sides of my nose/cheek and on my chin.

It just didn't feel nice on my skin at all.

I was really disappointed. I was hoping that i would come home and my face would still look as perfect as it did when I left!
I had high hopes for this foundation.

The verdict 

-Is it lightweight? Yes, until it starts to lose its matte-ness. Then it feels heavy

-Non-cakey? Again, yes, at first. 

-24 hour matte perfection? No. For me personally it didn't feel matte after about 5-6 hours.

-Medium texture? Yes

-High coverage? Yes. Until it started to separate.

-Matte finish? For the first few hours.

-Shine control? For the first few hours

So. Overall I was a bit disappointed with this foundation. I was drawn in with the fact that it gave full coverage and that it was 24 hour matte perfection. It did do both of these things, but not for 24 hours.

I absolutely loved the way it applied and how flawless it made my skin look when first applied. 

I didn't use a primer, so next time I use it I will definitely be using one. 

Would I use this again? Probably, because I HATE wasting my money. This product retails for $29.95 at Priceline. So its not the cheapest product (for my bank account anyway)

Just because this product didn't work for me the first time, doesn't mean I wont try until I get it right!

Have you tried this foundation?

Id love to hear what you thought! 

xx Lucy 

Scholl foot and nail care | review

Hello lovelies!

I was given the opportunity by Scholl to review some new foot and nail care products!

Because I am on my feet all day, I was really excited! I had a look through their website

http://www.scholl.com.au and found a few goodies to try.

This is what I got

The Velvet smooth Electronic Nail Care System, Velvet smooth with Diamond crystals Express Pedi and the Velvet smooth Nigh Mask

Electronic Nail Care System

My hands needed some TLC so I decided to give this a try on my fingernails.

I was worried that it would be too rough to use on my hands as my fingernails aren't super strong, but the packing states that it is designed for both toenails and fingernails.

It has three individual heads, one for filing the nail (dark blue), one to buff (light blue) and another to add shine (white). It also has 2 speed settings which are easy to switch between

I attached the file head first and set it to the lowest setting.

It felt fine on my nails, it didn't feel to rough to use. You definitely have to apply a light pressure, I found when I pushed down firm it wouldn't work as well (packaging states to gently file).

You can make a nice shape with it, I just found personally that the vibrations of the product made it hard to see what I was doing.

Once I had my desired shape, I changed heads to the buffer.

It states that it evens out ridges and smooths the nail surface.

I do have ridges and my nails tend to flake a lot so I set it to the highest setting as I wanted to give them a really good buff.

The packaging states to use it for a maximum of 15 seconds per nail ever fortnight to avoid overusing.

I glided the buffer over my nail, making sure to cover the entire nail evenly.

As you can see I have bad cuticles, especially on my thumb.

The buffer didn't help much with removing that, however it doesn't state that it removes over grown cuticles, so I removed those myself with a cuticle clipper.

It also didn't help to remove the uneven nail layers that I have due to my nails flaking.

I found that it did smooth them out, but I not as much as I would have hoped. I have buffing blocks that do a better job.

Once my nails were buffed, I changed to the third head to add shine. I set it to the highest setting, as I wanted to se just how shiny they could get. It states to apply a light pressure for best results. 

I really liked the way this head made my nails look. It didn't add an over the top shine, just enough to make them look healthy. 

After a few days of using it, my nails are still looking shiny and they haven't become weak from using an electronic file. 

All in all I was pretty happy with the product, however was a little disappointed with the buffing head. 

This product isn't suitable for people with weak, damaged nails. If your nails are in quite good shape then this would definitely work for you.

I have also tested this out on my toes. I used the high setting as the nail are a lot thicker and stronger. Its easy to create a nice squared nail shape on the toes, but I would recommend clipping them down if they are a bit long as it took a while to file them down without clipping them before hand.

Velvet smooth Express Pedi with Diamond crystals

My feet aren't in the worst condition, they get a little dry sometimes but other than that they are ok. 

I would be interested to see how this product worms for someone with extremely dry feet.

This was my feet before using it 

They ant too bad, just a patch of dry skin on the balls of my feet and a little around the heel.

The instructions state that it buffs away hard skin in an instant and that it is easy to use. Gently rotate over hard skin and see dead skin cells disappear. 

Not to be used on wet skin, and no longer then 3-4 seconds in one spot at a time. Do not use on sore or irritated skin and not suitable for people with diabetes or people with poor blood circulation.

So with that all in mind, I turned it on and started from the heel of my foot and gentle glided it in an upwards motion. I did this all over my heel, not taking it too far up as the skin in the mid section of my foot isn't dry. 

I then did the same on the balls of my feet, concentrating on the area below my big toe where I had a patch of dry skin.

This is how my feet looked after

It might look like they are still dry, but I believe this is just due to the fact that it is used on dry, not wet skin. They feel a lot smoother and softer. Once you wash off the excess dead skin cells and dry them, they look much better. I just wanted to show you how they looked instantly after using it.

I really liked this product I think it is an excellent hard skin remover. As I said, my feet weren't in a terrible condition so my results may be different to others.

Velvet smooth Night Mask

The night of using the Express Pedi I used the Night Mask to moisturise my feet after buffing away all the dry skin.

It states that you simply apply and massage into dry clean skin before bed. Works like a moisturiser and there is no rinsing required.

I applied an amount the size of two peas to each foot, leaving a small amount of residue on my feet. I put my bed socks on too to keep my feet warm.

When I woke up in the morning my feet did feel lovely and soft. It states that it provides up to 24 hours of hydration, which means that if you had incredibly dry feet you would need to use this every night. I found that I could use it every second or third night as my feet aren't too dry.

overview

I think that over all these three products work really well together. They are the perfect pedicure set. 

The only two things I didn't like was the fact that it is a bit hard to see what your doing with the electronic file, and the buffer didn't work too well on my ridges. Other than  that i saw no faults with the products and would still recommend them to my family and friends.

Be sure to read the packaging before purchasing these products as there are some contraindications.

I hope this review was helpful to you all!

If you have any questions please leave a comment down below.

Have you ever used any Scholl products?

Id love to hear about them!

xx Lucy

Real Techniques sculpting set | Review

Hello Lovelies!

About a while ago I wont a competition run by makeupwithjenny on Instagram and received the Real Techniques sculpting set! 

I have wanted to try this brand for a long time so I was really excited when I won!

I have been absolutely loving them! I must say that I don't use the fan brush all that much, but the sculpting brush and setting brush have been getting some serious love. 

The sculpting brush is amazing for contouring, it blends product really well. 

Its quiet dense but still soft so it doesn't leave harsh lines :)

I use the setting brush as a highlight brush and it applies the product beautifully.

Its tapered at the tip so it can be used to add highlight product under the brows, or on larger areas around the eyes or forehead.

I sometimes use the fan brush to set under my eyes, but not very often.

The quality of the brushes is excellent, so for $27.44 iherb It is definitely worth it!

What are your favourite brushes?

Comment down below!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! check out my Instagram _thebeautyscoop for daily posts

xx Lucy