2014 beauty discoveries that blew me away

I was going for the image of Mr Wabbit being blown away but gravity ruined all my plans, and he needed the support of those products

EYE- LIDS, LINE, LASHES & BROWS

Etude House Eye Primer. What the hell do they throw in here, it's magic in a bottle. If I were to paint the exact same eyeshadow look on my eyes, left side with primer and right side without - you'd be comparing a child with a crayon next to Da Vinci.

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Palette. The champagne shade in this palette (far left) imparts such an elegant sheen! Angel-kissed lids is a very accurate representation of what I'm trying to describe. That's not to say the others are useless, just throw that blue & purple on the lid, highlight under the brow bone, cream on the inner corner and you have a perfectly functional night time look!

Maxfactor Wild Shadow Pencil in Caramel Rage. I don't have time to finish a proper shit in the morning, let alone a proper face so with one/two swipes on the eyelid and another swipe on the lower lash line, your eyes will emerge from under the covers of puffiness. It's the perfect taupe/bronze/brown shade that you don't even have to blend because it'll blend itself with its creaminess. 

L'Oreal Le Kohl Pencil in Carbon Black. This is a great, creamy eyeliner. Not completely transfer-proof, giving my lower lash line a bit of smokiness by the end of the day but never raccoon circles. Also also, I discovered how to tight line free from torture, just move your eyeball the other way...away from the pencil and you can still keep your eyes open!

Benefit They're Real Mascara. Now if you have any Asian DNA, you might be so lucky as to have those very straight and very stubborn lashes that point straight down. Where's my cute little feminine curl? (Note: need to buy a good quality eyelash curler, thinking Shu Umera). Even once lashes are curled, some mascaras will not cooperate and the curl is lost again. The first time I tried this I was so excited to have the most beautiful lashes in the world but "omg c'mon". The most popular mascara in the world wasn't working for me. It didn't work so well the first time but once it dried a lil', I could confirm the hype is REAL - smudge proof and so fabulous.

Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Cement (used as brow powder). This product's shade name traumatises and inspires me to be better daily, I imagine brushing this over my brows will cement them in place and they'd set and remain for the rest of eternity. Which is truly terrifying because on some days, my brows are sharp upside down V's and we cannot have that immortalised. However, since it's so light there is hope that my screwed up brows won't be the prominent feature, it's a nice colour.

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in 004 Black Brown. I'll use this on days when I need/want to feel freaking fierce, keeping in mind to do short, quick strokes or I'll be sporting a monobrow. My brows are naturally sparse and light so this isn't my natural brow colour at all but I keep thinking I can make it work - whether or not it looks good on me isn't my concern hey? Strong brows that kill sure lend you a confidence boost YAAAAA.

Gorgeous Cosmetics Brow Fix Gel. If this were a hair gel from 1 out of 10, it'd have 9 in hold because my face can go blalala in the wind but my brow hairs stay put like the guards in front of Royal precincts.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                     

LIP- COLOUR, BALM & EXFOLIATOR

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey. This is Nanoblur (haven't tried it, but imagine those promotional before & after shots) for your lips, well for my pigmented lips at least. 

Hurraw Lip Balm in Black Cherry. I am addicted to applying this like a road rager loves honking his/her horn. That's saying a lot since artificial cherry is the most disgusting scent/flavour to ever exist, whereas real cherries are the most delicious fruit to ever exist (anybody else notice our amazing cherry season? Eat up!). The tinted part is a lie but that hydration isn't.

ELF Exfoliating Lip Treatment. Smells/tastes like sugar because it's made of it. If you crave cupcakes but need to eat clean, use this and be rewarded with Kleenex tissue-soft lips.

FACE

CONTOUR- BRONZE, HIGHLIGHT, BLUSH

Benefit Hoola Bronzer.  A brilliant contour shade to give definition to cheekbones & nose (just recently 'discovered' my nose is kinda fat in proportion to the rest of my face). Life could be so much better if bronzer worked on the entire body too.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch in Shimmering Sand. This is like the champagne shade out of the Lancome Eyeshadow Palette but it's as if the angel was sunbaking then came to kiss your cheekbones. I didn't have to do no frying in the sun, very happy about this.

Benefit Rockateur Blush. I need to get this out of my system. I HATE THE PACKAGING OF THE BOXED BLUSHES. It takes up a ridiculous amount of space in storage, it's cardboard and very very square in shape (sharp corners are a no-no). Yet this blush found its way into top beauty discovery of 2014, it smells good, has nice pigmentation and very very pretty in shade which I am attracted to.

BASE- the only base product I need 

Bourjois CC Cream in Rose Beige. The only product I've ever had a perfect skin match to, it just melts onto my skin and hides what I want hidden. 

I don't bother with primer/concealer because I can't stand to have too many layers on my skin. We can't neglect sunscreen though - my favourite: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch, mine has been rolling around on the beach playing in the sand so it's really not up for taking photos right now but it looks like:

QUICK SKINCARE/BODY CARE LOVES:

Indeed Labs Facial Powdered Exfoliator. Early December: face plagued with pimples that haven't left since early November - til death do we part I guess. Received this before Christmas and it's improved my skin dramatically. By the new year my skin was on the road to recovery. This is so much better than the Dermalogica one because it foams up which is more fun, works faster and is cheaper but be aware of the large hole...I dispensed a copious amount the first time and my chest + arms got in on the foamy, exfoliating action too.

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. Dries the pimples but not my skin, very smart. I think if you use this twice a week, it'd last 6 months. I got it in September and 4 months later with sporadic use, at least 50% remains though it gets harder to reach the pink calamine layer.

Lush Dream Cream. Name says it all, it soothes like no other then helped me treat some itchy/dry skin issues :)

Rexona Clinical Protection Deodorant. The only deodorant that's ever been brave enough to battle the sweat to keep my underarms bone dry. Thank you for making 2014 a lil' more comfortable.

Okay! I procrastinated on this quite a bit but in the end I had so much fun sharing those with you, link me up to your favourites as I'd love to read about things that made your beauty-loving heart happy :) Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015!

If this clever piece of art is anything to go by, 2015 will literally 'kick ass'.

Oh how I've missed the bright orange walls of Blogger

Hello everybody! I apologise for my inactiveness...not a word. Just became one, deal with it & yes, the walls of Blogger are actually white - I miss the Blogger logo I guess? But that doesn't sound as poetic as I'd like, now go dissect my title as you would a poem (so glad to be done with high school English) :P

Like the dude made out of rock formation (do you see him?), I have been ponderin' life too (this is at La Perouse by the way)

So what's been consuming me the past month has been anxiety concerning the future, results came back and I wasn't sure what to do with them. Eighteen year olds shouldn't be put in charge of four-year-long, fifty-thousand dollar decisions without certainty over job prospects or our own personal happiness after making such an investment. That being said, I settled for my interests over the paycheck and I'm a keen bean ready to start uni :)

I've also deleted a whole bunch of photos for the blog accidently (camera memory was full, dunno how I managed to wipe out all my photos, some were backed up, some weren't). The sun will come out soon and so will my camera.

The other half of my time was spent wisely between family (they call it a family tree because when you shake it, all the nuts fall out) and friends, at beaches and on the toilet seat (my water consumption has increased in proportion to my sodium intake).

Mugs like this are brilliant plant holders, well, make sure they're cacti or succulents because there's no draining hole

So I've realised I need a break from things every once in a while to process things and that's fine because I still enjoy doing what I do here. I have a good feeling for 2015!

I'm not making promises but my next post should be up on Sunday, come back anytime xo