Review: Revlon Highlighting Palette

Hey Guys!

A few weeks ago Priceline had a 50% off Revlon cosmetics sale and I had to take advantage. I don't own a lot of Revlon products (the colorstay foundation is an exception) as I have always considered Revlon to be a little out of my budget for drugstore makeup. I have been crushing on the Revlon Highlighting Palette since seeing it on a lot of UK blogs a while back. I waited patiently but still could not justify spending $26.95 on essentially a blush/highlighter. 50% off came around and I knew that I had to own one of these. I was deciding between the Rose Glow shade and Peach Glow, can you guess which one I picked? Peach Glow of course! 

Peach Glow is a stunning five shades set in one single palette and can be used separately or blended together. Personally I just swirl my blush brush in this and apply as a highlighter/blush/bronzer. This creates a stunning peachy shade that looks gorgeous on the face. This is really pigmented which is something I wasn't expecting so you have to be seriously light handed when applying this. You could also use the shades separately as eye shadows. 

The packaging is simple, black plastic with a clear plastic window showcasing the palette. The whole thing is fairly reminiscent to the Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks. I do really love this highlighting palette but I am not 100% convinced on whether I would have spent the whole $26.95 on it, fortunately you don't have to as Chemist Warehouse currently has 50% off all Revlon cosmetics. If you have been eyeing this up I would definitely recommend picking it up whilst on sale!  

Love Liz xx

Review: Clarins Bronzing Duo SPF 15 Mineral Powder Compact

Hello Everyone

I have another oldish product to review for you, a sample version of Clarins Bronzing Duo SPF 15 Mineral Powder Compact that I received in a gift with purchase from the Myer Clarins counter around Christmas time last year. At first I really didn't want to use this bronzer because I absolutely adored the packaging and it is a really cute compact. Sleek gold reflective surface with a large mirror inside the compact. It is also quite a decent size for a sample, 3g of product whilst the full size version is 10g. 

This bronzer as the name suggests comes with two shades sitting together in the compact, one lighter matte shade and another darker shimmer shade. Clarins suggests that you can either wear the shades separately as your tan deepens or lightens or mix the shades together, I typically just mix the shades together as I find this looks best on my skin. 

This looks quite natural on my skin and not orange or too dark, medium is the best shade choice for my skin most of the time. Whilst there is a bit of shimmer on the darker side of the compact, I don't think that this shows up too noticeably on my skin, it doesn't accentuate my pores or anything horrible like that. I find that this is really good quality and does apply really easily with my real techniques contour brush. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the brand though and so far they can do no wrong!

L-R; lightest shade, darker shade, both shades mixed.

Unfortunately this retails for $58 here in Oz and I cannot afford to purchase the full size, if you can afford it I would definitely recommend purchasing this for a lovely sun kissed look. 

Love Liz xx

Priceline Haul

So yesterday I visited Priceline to purchase some items during their infamous 40% off cosmetics sale which ran on Tuesday and Wednesday. I can never resist a sale and cosmetics is one of my (huge) weaknesses. I wanted to buy almost everything but I was restrained by my friend, I however managed to make her buy a lot of things (sorry!). I ended up with 8 items from 4 different brands. I will only quickly go over what I purchased as I plan on reviewing the items again once I have had time to test them out!

Revlon

Revlon Colorstay Combination/Oily Skin Foundation

This is probably my third or possibly fourth bottle of this stuff, I have tried other foundations but I always come back to this. It is high coverage and will last forever on my oily skin, the only issue I ever had was the smell (still not fixed but can't complain too much) and the fact it didn't have a pump. We'll guess what it finally has a pump! It has had a pump for a while now actually, but because I always purchased online I was always sent the old version, it was well worth the extra few dollars to purchase the one with the pump however! This retails for $34.95 AU but the sale price was $ 20.97 AU.

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Polish

I have been dying to purchase one of these scented nail polishes by Revlon for a long time and I decided that at 40% off it was the best price I was going to get for a while! I was planning on getting a nice dark winter shade, perhaps a royal blue or brown. But I could not find one that I particularly liked and the other shades were similar to ones I already own (damn having such a large nail polish collection) so I chose shade 040 Wintermint which is a lovely aqua blue that has gold flecks and blue glitter particles running through it. I have not smelled it yet as my nose is completely blocked so it'd a bit pointless, but regardless I am happy to own this shade which is unlike anything else I own. This retails for $15.95 AU but was on sale for $9.57 AU.

Maybelline New York

Maybelline Lasting Drama By Eyestudio Gel Eyeliner

I have not used a gel eyeliner in a really really long time and I decided that my pencil eyeliner just was not cutting it lately, so I quickly threw this in my basket without having seen any reviews or really giving it a second thought. I purchased this in the shade 950 Blackest Black and it comes with a brush and a pot of gel eyeliner. This retails for $16.95 AU but was on sale for $10.17 AU.

Maybelline Express Remover

I have been dying to get one of these pot nail polish removers ever since I had seen a Bourjois one featured on a lot of UK blogs. Surely enough they trickled into Australia and I now finally own one! This is a pot that contains sponges soaked in nail polish remover and the idea is that you twist your finger in the sponge and it removes your nail polish. I am sometimes a little slack and can take a while to remove chipped nail polish but I am hoping with this little addition it will make it a lot easier. This retails for $9.95 AU but I picked it up for the sale price of $5.97 AU.

Australis

Australis Make-Up Finishing Spritz

I have wanted to try an 'official' make up setting spray for a while to compare it to using thermal water in an aerosol can, which is what I currently use. I haven't read any reviews on this product but it contains Aloe Vera and Rose Water which sounds like nice added ingredients. I will see how this goes and keep you updated. This retails for $14.95 AU but was on sale for $8.97 AU for 150ml.

Bourjois Paris

Bourjois Happy Light Ultra-Covering Concealer

I have read reviews on this concealer and it seems like the perfect cream concealer for myself, I also swatched this in store and was quite happy with it. It does only come in two shades and I purchased it in shade 23 Beige. I mainly need this to help my under eye area but it can also be used on blemishes so it is considered multi purpose. I will test this out and do a full review soon. This retails for $19 AU but I purchased it at the sale price of $11.40 AU. 

Bourjois Delice de Soleil Bronzing Powder

This is probably the one product that I feel guilty about purchasing, I think it took me a good half hour to decide whether I should or shouldn't purchase this. Obviously I did decide to purchase this, I had been looking at purchasing a new bronzer for a while. I originally wanted the Body Shop Honey Bronzer but it retails for $28 AU and I have yet to find it on sale. I compromised and picked up this bronzer, in my eyes Bourjois can do no wrong, I have not yet found a product by them that I haven't loved. I have read lovely reviews on this bronzer so I know I wont be disappointed. I purchased this in shade 12 for fair/medium skin, although I typically consider my skin tone as olive/tan I have a darker Australis bronzer which looks way too dark on my skin so I decided to play it safe and get the lighter shade. This retails for $30 AU but the sale price was only $18 AU. 

Nude By Nature

Nude By Nature Natural Mineral Cover

This is just a back up product for my makeup stash. I have been using Nude by Nature for a couple years now and have fallen in love with it. My favourite product would be their finishing veil (but I have a huge amount left in my current one) but I also use their natural mineral cover daily, I have this in shade Light/Medium as I found the medium one left my skin looking orange. I usually dust this over my liquid foundation to provide that little bit of extra coverage. This retails for $39.95 AU for 15g which does last a very long time, I paid only $23.97 AU for this. 

I also saved money by using my voucher that I recently received from Priceline, I had managed to spend over $500 last quarter (eep) and so I received a lovely voucher for $21.08, even the checkout person was impressed (I blame the skincare and cosmetic 40% off sale having occurred in the previous quarter) so I know that I have been fairly naughty with my spending lately. I will be going on another spending ban and so I will be reviewing products I haven't featured on here before and continue doing posts such as weekly loves and the minis, if you have any ideas for posts let me know! 

Love Liz xx

Wishing For #01

While you are on a limited spending budget, you tend to end up lusting over and wishing for a long list of things. I decided to start a post so I can share with you want I have been wanting, maybe you guys will have some insight on whether or not the items are worth it, and mainly just to keep an online list of everything I am after. Now for the wishlist..

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

This beautiful creation is from the Body Shop and is fairly popular with UK bloggers, which is how I discovered the product. This retails for $28.95 AU which I don't think is unreasonable as I expect this product would last me quite a while. I am currently using a sample bronzer I received in a Clarins gift bag, as my other Australias bronzer was way too dark for me. This has been on my wish list for a few months now so I do plan on eventually purchasing this, when I am no longer on a spending ban. 

Revlon Highlighting Palette

This palette has yet to be released in Australia, so I may have to search eBay in order to grab this for myself. It is an absolutely gorgeous shimmer brick style highlighter which looks reminiscent to the lovely offering by Bobbi Brown. In the US it is available in three shades, Peach Glow, Bronze Glow, and Rose Glow (pictured). The retail for $9.59 US on the Target online website, it would of course be a lot more expensive than that if this product is released in Australia. 

Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

I only use a cheap mattifying primer from Loreal currently, I am still not sure whether or not it actually does much to keep my foundation staying longer or whether it actually keeps my skin oil free. I have heard really good reviews and considered getting this primer for Christmas but I already had so many other things I wanted so I left this out of my Christmas wish list. I am really regretting my decision and this has since stayed on my wish list. This retails for $38 AU in Myer but you can get this from adorebeauty for $31.92. 

Korres Mango Lip Butter

I have had this lip butter on my feel unique wish list for quite a while now. It is $16 AU which seems quite expensive for just a lip balm type product, which is why it hasnt been put in my basket just yet. I have heard many good things about these Korres lip butters, they come in a range of flavours, and I would be happy to try any of them, but I just have a weakness for mangoes. The packaging does not really remind me of mangoes but looks very lovely and vibrant nonetheless. This may have to stay in my wish list for a while longer though as I am not quite ready to part with so much for a lip butter. 

I have recently bought a few items that I will be reviewing soon that have been on my wish list, I am excited to test them all out. I just hope they live up to my expectations! I also have a few more things I am wanting, mainly home items as we will soon have some more room in our house so the spaces must be filled with beautiful things. Another Ikea trip will be coming up soon I foresee. 

What have you got on your wish list?

Love Liz xx