My Daily Face Routine

Hi everyone,
I love reading these types of things on other people's blogs, so I thought I should have a go myself.  This really doesn't change much on a day-to-day basis, although I might add in a highlighter or a more shimmery blush if I'm going out, especially at night.

I always start my routine by moisturising.  I'm very pale so I like to use something with SPF to protect myself from the sun.  At the moment I'm using Natio's Daily Protection moisturiser which is SPF 15.  On days when I know I'll be spending a long time out in the sun, I use a 30+ sunscreen as well: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen Lotion.  This gives a nice, matte, non-greasy finish but the formula is quite thick, so I usually mix in some moisturiser to make it blend more easily.

Back: Neutrogena Sunscreen, Natio Moisturiser; Front: Red Earth Primer

Top: Neutrogena Suncreen; Bottom: Natio Moisturiser, Red Earth Primer

Next step is primer, although if I wear sunscreen I don't wear primer as it can get a bit cakey if I layer too many products on.  I usually go for a silicon based primer to help absorb any oiliness throughout the day.  At the moment, I'm using the Red Earth Mattifying Makeup Base (although I think Red Earth has been discontinued from Priceline, so I'll have to try something else once this is finished).  I cut the tube open to get the remaining dregs out of it (this is a great tip for saving on beauty and skincare products and I do this for anything that comes in a tube, including hair conditioner; I can usually get an extra weeks worth of use out of them).  I usually leave around two - three minutes after applying both moisturiser and primer to allow them to soak in.

The next thing I do is colour corrector.  I tend to have very dark under eye circles, so I use yellow and/or orange corrector to correct them.  At the moment, I'm using this corrector palette, also from Red Earth.  I use the pink as a general concealer, mixed with a bit of orange to give a normal skin tone shade and the green if I have any redness from breakouts or around my nose.

Red Earth Colour Corrector Palette

Red Earth Colour Corrector - swatches

For foundation, I use a mixture of Bourjois Healthy Mix in shade 51 and NYX Liquid Foundation in shade 01.  The Bourjois foundation is a bit too sheer in terms of coverage and the shade is a bit dark and yellow toned for me.  The NYX foundation is a bit heavy, too light and too pink, so mixed together, they give quite a good match for my skin, with the amount of coverage I want.  I'm bad and normally just use my (clean) fingers to blend.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, NYX Liquid Foundation

NYX Liquid Foundation and Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - swatches

Then I do a light dusting of loose powder to set (at the moment, I'm using Face of Australia in Outback Translucent) and a bit of blush (I'm working my way through a Maybelline Mineral Power Blush in Soft Maueve currently), concentrated on the apples of my cheeks and blended up just a little towards my temples.

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush, Face of Australia Loose Powder, The Body Shop Cream Blush

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush in Soft Mauve, Face of Australia Loose Powder in Outback Translucent

And that's it!  If I'm going out, I sometimes like to use a Body Shop cream blush in Golden Pink for a bit of a shimmery glow and maybe a bit of a highlight on my cheek bones.

The Body Shop Cream Blush in Golden Pink, unblended on the left, blended on the right

 Hope this was interesting for some of you!

Project 20 Pan items 6 - 9

Hi everyone,

In the past few weeks I have finished off a few more items for my Project 20 Pan.

Covergirl Olay Primer, Ralph Lauren Romance Perfume, Maybelline Coversitck Concealer and The Body Shop Touche Lumiere Concealer

Covergirl Olay Primer - this is a silicone based primer and gives a good matte surface for your makeup.  I really liked this and will repurchase after P20P is over, however, priced at around $25, this is one of the pricier "drugstore" primers so I would tend to wait until this goes on sale.  Also, this primer is good for absorbing oil from your skin throughout the day to prevent your foundation from sliding off, however it was not the most moisturing of products (I use a moisturiser underneath) so I would probably not recommend this for people with dry skin.  Don't be alarmed by the opaque, completely white colour of this, it blends in nicely and won't make you look like a geisha!

Ralph Lauren Romance Perfume - I gave my thoughts on this in my Perfume Collection post so I won't bore you by repeating myself!

Maybelline Coverstick Concealer - this product was ok, nothing special but does what it is supposed to do.  Sometimes I like to use a cream concealer (as opposed to liquid) on days when I have more to hide (e.g. pimples, very dark undereye circles etc).  I like the idea of a stick as I think it is probably a little more hygenic than a pot that you stick your finger in everyday.

The Body Shop Touche Lumiere - I like to think of this as a rip-off of Touche Eclat (which I purchased earlier this year, but am yet to try out).  It's a liquid undereye concealer in one of those automatic twisty brush type contraptions.  This has a peachy orange tone which is good for cancelling out the blue/purple tones of undereye circles, which I often have.  I'm still searching for the perfect thing to cover them and I have my eye on a few products from Benefit, once P20P is done...although I think the perfect solution would probably be to get more sleep, but I don't have time for this!  Touche Lumiere has good pigmentation and covers discolouration quite well.  As far as I'm aware, this product has been discontinued.

I'm now almost halfway though, how exciting!!  I have been tempted a few times, but so far I have managed to resist.  A few items thus far have been skincare, perfume and lip balm.  It was part of my original plan to include these, however I think I will add a clause to my Project 20 Pan.  As I think that makeup items are really what I have too much of, I have decided that as part of the 20 items which I use up, a minimum of 10 items must be makeup items.

Thanks for reading!!

Favourite Lip Products

Hello everyone!

Today I'll be sharing with you some of my favourite lip products!  I'm honestly not a big wearer of lipstick, I just don't really like the feeling of having something sticky on my lips.  Plus I hate having to reapply it all the time.  Having said that, I have made an effort this year to try to appreciate lip products more and use them more often in my daily routine.  I do use lip balm obsessively though, haha!

So here are my favourite products:

Lipglosses and lipsticks:

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses and Revlon Colourburst Lipsticks

Tinted Lip Balms/"Sheer" Lip colours:

Revlon Beyond Protective Liptint, The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colours and Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm

Thoughts and swatches:

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses - I generally don't wear gloss as I just don't like the sticky feeling, however these are not too bad.  They are quite pigmented so you only need a thin layer and they don't have that awful grainy feeling that some glosses do.  Glossy Rose is a deep pink with gold shimmer, Peach Petal is a a light peachy pink creme.

Left: Glossy Rose; Right: Peach Petal

Revlon Colourburst Lipsticks - there was a lot of hype surrounding these when they were first released and I think it is well deserved.  They have a nice texture, glide on smoothly and evenly and come in a good range of colours.  They are at the pricier end of "drugstore" lipsticks, but if you can get them on a buy one get one free deal they are good value.  Smooth Nude is a creamy nude colour which I like to use to town down the natural pigmentation of my lips without getting that "concealer lips" look.  Blush, for me, is a nice "my lips but better" colour - a neutral pink with a hint of frost.  Mauve is a purply blue toned pink.  This is about as extreme as I go with lip colours (I've never been able to rock a bright red lip).  If I wear Mauve, I would tend to keep the rest of my face fairly plain.  Peach is a nice bright coraly pink which will be perfect for summer.

Left to right: Smooth Nude, Mauve, Blush, Peach

Top to bottom: Smooth Nude, Mauve, Blush, Peach

Peach looks quite orange swatched on the skin, I think it looks nicer on the lips.  It goes nicely with the Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal.

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Peach

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Peach with Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal over the top

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Mauve

Tinted Lip Balms:

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint - these are discontinued which is a shame because I think they are really nice.  A moisturising lip balm with a sheer colour pigmentation and light berry fragrance.  These are perfect for days when you don't want a sticky feeling on your lips or would prefer a light wash of colour without that heavy "lipstick" look.  They are also SPF 15+!  I bought these at Priceline on sale for $5 each after they were discontinued but you may still be able to find them on eBay or similar.

Left to right: Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Pink, Rosy, Nude and Berry

Top to bottom: Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Pink, Rosy, Nude and Berry

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Nude

Revlon Beyond Natural Protective Liptint in Berry

As you can see from the lip swatches, these are quite sheer, but you can build the colour if you prefer a more solid colour.

The Body Shop Sheer Lipcolours - these are also discontinued, I think they have been replaced by the new Delipscious Sheer Lip Shines, which I will probably look into when my spending ban finishes.  The sheer lip colours are, like the Revlon Liptints, great for getting a nice sheer wash of colour and a bit of shine onto your lips without the stickyness and heaviness of lipstick.  They also have a berry scent.  I'm not sure of the names of these colours, but the numbers are 01, 02 and 04.  They do look quite dark in the tube (especially 04) but as you'll see in the swatches, the colour goes on quite sheer so they can still give quite a natural look, or be built up for a more dramatic look as you prefer.  I also sometimes wear these like a gloss over lipstick as they do have quite a nice shine to them.

The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colours in 01, 02 and 04

Top to bottom: 01, 02, 04

This is 04 swatched on the lips - as you can see, it's not as dark as it looks in the tube.

The Body Shop Sheer Lip Colour in 04

And finally, I threw in my HG lip balm Nivea Hydro Care just because I love it so much haha! No swatch of this because it's just ordinary old lip balm.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments section what your favourite lip products are!

Perfume Collection

Hi everyone!  Today I will be giving a brief overview of my perfume collection and some insights into a few fragrances that I really love.  I enjoy wearing perfume and trying out new fragrances and have built up a small collection of different fragrances over the past few years.

Let’s start with perfume oils.  I have three of these, all from the Body Shop, in the fragrances Clementine, sandalwood and tea rose.  These are very concentrated fragrances and you only need a tiny amount so the 15ml bottles will last a long time.  As you can see, I’ve barely made a dint in any of them.  They are fairly reasonably priced at around $18 each, however I think a lot of the scents have been discontinued (at the time I purchased these I think there was quite a large range, but now only four different fragrances appear on the website).

Clemetine (or Satsuma) is a citrus fragrance which is nice and light and perfect for summer when you don’t feel like a heavy fragrance.  Sandalwood is a spicy, woody fragrance which is much heavier and more suited to night time wear.  Tea rose is a nice floral.  It’s hard to say a lot about these as they really are what they say they are!  Whilst each oil has a single fragrance, they can be worn alone, or blended to make up your own customised fragrance.  I personally haven’t experimented with this as I’m not sure than any of the three I own would work well together but I can imagine, for example, vanilla and sandalwood being quite nice together.  They are also very long wearing.

Left to right: Clementine (Satsuma), Sandalwood, Tea Rose

Next up is Vera Wang.  As you can see, I am obsessed with the "Princess" perfumes.  I have just recently finished a 30ml of the original Princess and I have a 100ml in reserve (which I am planning to try to decant into the 30ml bottle).  This is a nice fruity/floral fragrance with strong hints of vanilla.  I wear this as an everyday fragrance.  Then, there is Flower Princess which is similar, but a little less sweet and more floral.  I get more hints of rose from Flower Princess.  This is also great for everyday wear.  I also have Rock Princess which I haven't opened yet, however I am planning to use this as an evening/night fragrance when my current night fragrance has run out as this is a more musky/woody fragrance.  Another thing I love about the Princess series, is the bottle design - it's so cute!!  I have tested Glam Princess as well (the newest addition to the series) and I really do like it - perhaps I will purchase it once I have finished one or two of my current Princess fragrances.

Left to right: Rock Princess, Flower Princess, Princess, empty Princess

Glam Princess - image sourced from www.fragrancenet.com

I have two Gucci perfumes: Flora and Gucci by Gucci.  Flora is a lovely, light floral with hints of citrus and rose, perfect for day wear.  Gucci by Gucci is quite a heavy spicy/oriental fragrance which I only ever wear in the evening/at night time.  The strongest notes I get from this fragrance are musk and patchouli.

Left to right: Gucci by Gucci, Gucci Flora

I couldn't really think of categories for the rest so I have just grouped the rest into what photographed nicely together haha!  So first up are the tall bottles, Hypnose Senses by Lancome and Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture.  Hypnoses Senses is also quite spicy, but I find this light enough for day wear.  Viva La Juicy is a sweet floral fragrance, with hints of vanilla as well.  My sister wears this a lot and reports frequent compliments!  The bottle is gorgeous to look at as well!

Sorry, I couldn't get this to upload the right way up!  Top to bottom: Hypnose Senses and Viva La Juicy

Here we have Young Sexy Lovely by YSL and Romance by Ralph Lauren.  I probably have maybe three more days of wear left in Romance and I probably won't repurchase this.  It was a nice fragrance but I wasn't really crazy about it.  It's quite floral with strong notes of rose.  I use this for everyday wear.  As I mentioned the other day, I did quite like the newest edition to the Romance series, Summer Romance.  Romance Always Yours is also on my perfume wishlist.  Young Sexy Lovely is a very light fragrance with a strong citrus note.  Also for everyday wear.

Left to right: Young Sexy Lovely, Romance

And finally, Chloe by Chloe, Flowerbomb by Viktor and Rolf and Dreaming by Tommy Hilfiger.  This is the newer version of Chloe which was released in 2007 (there is an older fragrance of the same name) which is a nice, light floral rose-y fragrance.  I think this would suit casual use, however I haven't worn it on a regular basis yet.  Flowerbomb is quite a sweet floral fragrance.  I also get a hint of vanilla from this.  I love the bottle design of this one too!  Finally (I can almost hear sighs of relief!), we have Dreaming by Tommy Hilfiger, another sweet fruity/floral everyday fragrance.  I bought this in a 100ml on principle that it is generally the best value for money in terms of ml/$ but honestly, I am sick of it.  It's taking forever to use, so I think in future I will stick with either 30ml or 50ml because I enjoy experiementing with a variety of different fragrances and don't like being tied to a single one.

Left to right: FLowerbomb, Chloe and Dreaming

I should probably also mention that both my mother and myself are able to purchase wholesale priced perfumes through our workplaces and as such they are not all that expensive (compared to e.g. Daivd Jones, Myer etc).  I’m aware my collection is not huge by any means but it may be bigger than some so this is just a disclaimer for people who might wonder how a cash-strapped uni student such as myself can afford to buy all of the perfumes I have.  Also, my sister and I share some of these fragrances (we really share all of them, however some are "officially shared" as they were joint purchases).  Some I have also received as gifts for Christmas, birthdays etc.  Another disclaimer: I am aware that perfume doesn't keep forever!  I tend to have one or two on high rotation (at the moment, Dreaming and Romance) so they get used up within a reasonable amount of time.  Also, I store my perfumes in their original boxes and away from heat and sunlight which helps to extend the shelf life and try to refrain from opening them as soon as I get them and leave them in the protective shrink wrapping until I am ready to start using them.

I hope this is helpful/interesting to some people, I know I'm not an expert by any stretch but I did my best haha!

Project 20 Pan items 4 + 5

The fourth and fifth items I have used up for my project 20 pan were a Covergirl pressed powder and a Body Shop Body Butter.

No. 4 & 5 empties.

As I’ve mentioned I’m a uni student on a pretty tight budget so I tend to purchase most of my makeup items from places like Target, Priceline etc.  A major downside of this is that the range of shades is usually quite limited (compared to some department store brands), especially for a fair skinned person like me.  This Covergirl pressed powder is one of the only powders thus far that I have found at Priceline that comes in a shade light enough.  I think Maybelline used to have a shade in the DreamMatte powder that was really light but I haven’t been able to find it recently so perhaps it was discontinued.  I also have a Bourjois mineral pressed powder to try out as well, which looks promising.  Apart from being a good match for my skin tone, I found the Covergirl powder to be really neither here nor there.  I just use it for setting my liquid foundation.  My major criticism is the smell – it’s really heavily fragranced, but an “old lady makeup” smell, if you know what I mean.  I’ve noticed the packaging of this has changed since I bought it so perhaps they have changed the formula as well and gotten rid of the smell– I hope so, because I will probably repurchase this after P20P is finished.

The Body Shop Body Butter was in the flavour (or fragrance, seeing as you’re not supposed to eat them!) Brazil Nut.  I used this as a hand cream as it was quite a small tub and would probably last very long if I used it over my whole body.  I actually quite like this kind of container for a hand cream as I can just chuck it in my handbag without worrying about a tube exploding or leaking all over the inside of my bag, which has happened to me before, and it is such a mess to clean up!  It is really moisturising and leaves my hands nice and smooth.  I have problems with dry skin on my hands due to using alcohol based hand sanitisers at work, which are very drying, but this really does the trick!  The other thing which I really like about this product is the smell – it’s a sweet, nutty fragrance which is nice and subtle and not overpowering – there is nothing worse than using a overwhelmingly fragranced hand cream which completely overpowers the perfume you are wearing.  I plan on purchasing another Body Shop Body Butter to replace this once I’ve finished the Palmer’s cream that I have moved onto, but I think I might try one of the other fragrances just for a change.  Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Australis Liquid Gold

Today's nail polish is Liquid Gold by Australis.  The bottle boasts "Best Formula Ever!" and "Streak Free".  I'm not 100% sure I agree with this - it went on quite gluggy and streaky.  It dried a little better but I think you can still see the brush streaks.  I would describe this as a beige toned gold, rather than a yellow, brassy gold, which is perfect for me as I'm not really a fan of yellow toned gold colours.

Pictures:

With flash - I think this pic looks more yellow than it is in real life.

Without flash (it's getting dark outside so I couldn't get a decent pic, sorry) - this one's really blurry but I think it this is closer to how the colour appears in person.

 Also, good news, another Project 20 Pan item has bitten the dust - a Body Shop Body Butter.  I will include pics and thoughts on this in my next post as my camera died after taking the pictures of my nails. This brings the running total to five items which I means I am one quarter of the way through!

Thanks for reading!