New In: Essence Lippies

Hi Pretties,

I hope you're having a smashing weekend so far?

You may know by now that I am such a fan of the Essence brand, they make trendy and quality cosmetics affordable to the everyday girl, this is the first time trying a lipstick and lipgloss from their range, and I'm so impressed with them!

Essence Lipstick in 52 In the Nude ~ Price approx. R30.00 Available at Clicks:

 

This is an extremely creamy and moisturising lipstick.  I'm a huge fan of nude lips, and I've noticed that you get two kinds of nudes:  one that is pale and can be borderline sickly looking, or one that just enhances the natural nudeness of your lips and can be very close to your natural lip colour.

 

This little beauty is the perfect natural looking nude lipstick, it's very similar to my own lip colour but just enhances my lips to give it a smooth and beautiful finish.  It's highly pigmented and one or two sweeps give a really good colour pay-off.

 

The colour doesn't last very long though, so I had to re-apply it several times during the day, however, it doesn't claim to be long lasting at all, and for the price I don't mind having to re-do my pout ;)  ~ Can't wait to stock up on the rest of the colours, these are also perfect if you want to try out colours you wouldn't normally go for.

Essence Stay with Me Longlasting Lipgloss ~ Approx. R30.00 available from Clicks:

 

Staying with the nudes, this lipgloss gives a high glossy finish with no sparkles or glitters, so if you're not a fan of glittery glosses this is perfect.  It honestly gives that J-Lo glossy pout which she is infamous for, it is slightly pigmented and leaves a subtle colour but mostly a lovely glossy look.

 

I adore this lipgloss alone or for more of a glamorous look over the In the Nude lipstick.  The applicator is easy to use, and I didn't have to use a mirror to apply it, as there is a slight curve in the middle of the sponge-like applicator which makes it really easy to feel where the lipgloss is being applied.

 

With regards to the staying power?  I won't say it's a long lasting gloss as it does come off whilst eating or drinking, so again you'll have to re-apply, which I don't mind.

 

Both of these lippies are not drying at all!  Which is an absolute must in winter, I didn't have to use an additional lipbalm with them.

 

Both lip products swatched:



I hope you like these?  If you have a favourite of the above two please let me know as I'd like to give them a try?

 

Have a fabulously fashionable and relaxing Saturday :-)





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Smouldering Winter Eye Shadows

Hi Pretties,

This is the first time trying out Catrice eye shadows, I'm still on the hunt for shadows to replace my MAC ones, and I think I may have just hit the jackpot here:

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour (Available from Dischem):

Plum Up the Jam

Blackwood Forest

*  Unfortunately I don't have the prices of these, but know they were not more than R50.00 each.

 

At the fear of sounding like a broken record, I wont mention again that I think the packaging on these beauties are just so chic and trendy ;) LoL.

 

These two colours immediately caught my eye, as you can see from the swatches above they're extremely pigmented without being powdery, they are very dark colours so if you're not used to wearing eye shadow a very slight sweep of this will be more than enough.  The formula is fantastic and I love these eye shadows, although I quite like NYX eye shadows I must say that these ones are a bit better as I do find NYX to be quite powdery and messy.

 

There's a slight shimmer in the shadows, but fear not, it's not going to make you look like a disco diva but merely like a glammy goddess!  The shimmer provides more depth and definition than sparkle, what I love about them is that you can wear them together, or as I've done for workdays when I'm in a bit of a hurry is to do a sweep of one colour all over my lower eyelid, which creates a dramatic smokey eye effect that is easily achievable with one colour.  And of course for all my fellow beauty lovers out there, you can play around with them to create so many different looks.

 

I can't wait to stock up on more colours, I'm not afraid of wearing colour on my eyes, never let anyone tell you differently but my fellow brown eyed gals have the perfect palette to play around with lovely eye colours, as most shades compliments brown eyes beautifully, think from forest colours like these to purple, blue to natural ones like bronze and browns.  We're indeed lucky so don't be afraid to venture away from classic nude colours.

 

Do you have any other Catrice products you've enjoyed?

 

:-)

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Love your Lips this Winter

Hey there Petals,

For us in the Southern Hemisphere we're having colder weather and I'm loving it, yes, I know I'm a tad weird but I'm sure my love for cold rainy weather is also the reason why I love the UK so much and adapted there so easily  ~ cold weather also means dry and chapped skin and lips, that is unless you have a lovely moisturising lip product:

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Lip Butter in Dark Chocolate and Peppermint (Price was around R20-R30 from Dischem):

 

Softens and soothes lips, adds a subtle gloss.

 

I've been a massive fan of the Palmer's range, I adore their body butters because it essentially has all the smells that I adore, coconut and cocoa butter which leaves a lovely fragrance on your skin, but more importantly works so well and is a trusted product on my bathroom shelf.

 

The smell is absolutely amazing!  It smells exactly like a peppermint crisp, ermm it doesn't taste it though LoL {I had to have a sneaky lick it wasn't unpleasant or anything}, it helps keep my lips soft and feminine, there is nothing uglier than seeing chapped lips.  I've been using this for going on 2 months now and there's still a bit left, so it lasts a really long time.

 

Normally I don't wear lipsticks, I prefer either a lipgloss or a lip butter/lipbalm, and this is really beautiful because it gives a shiny glossy look (no colour), which is right up my alley.

 

If you've never tried anything from Palmer's I do suggest you try this out :-)

 

Have a fab day!

 

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{Review} Catrice Skin Finish Compact Powder

Hi Lovelies,

I've always had somewhat of a love-hate relationship with my skin, and for as long as I can remember I used to try and hide it under loads of products, it's only really been the past few months that I've started embracing my flaws, you may wonder where I'm going with this LoL and I'll get to that now.

Face powder used to be another layer of foundation for me, like I said, I just wanted to hide behind a mask of prettyness, but luckily I no longer feel that way, and when I saw this compact powder in Dischem I was a bit sceptic to try it out, I've never used a powder that is not a powder and foundation in one:

Catrice Skin Finish Compact Powder in Natural Beige 020 ~ R54.96 (Available from Dischem Nationwide):

 

I'm loving brands like Catrice and Essence, firstly both brands are high affordable and easy on the wallet, but above all, proof that affordable can produce star products, and these are one of them.  I am in love!  This is now a firm staple in my cosmetics case and truthfully I adore it.

 

Okay, let me get straight to business, how utterly chic is the packaging?  It doesn't look or feel cheap whatsoever, in fact it looks like a sturdy, quality product and it certainly is.

 

It doesn't provide a lot of coverage as you can see from the swatch, but it blends in really well with my skin, although I could easily go a shade lighter especially in winter.

 

I've never understood the term satin finish, until I had the first swipe of this powder and it was like a light bulb going off.  It creates such a smooth and matte finish, my face is transformed from dull to beautiful (it's quite extroadinary to see the difference).  I have combination skin (oily t-zone), and usually I have to blot and / or powder within a few hours, but this powder has awesome staying power and now I only blot and powder once a day.

 

In fact, it creates such a smooth finish, that if you're like me and you're quite the blush/contouring fanatic, the blush and / or bronzer literally just glides off LoL, so I apply my foundation and concealer, let it set, then I apply blush/bronzer and blend it in, then apply the powder all over.  As the powder doesn't act as a foundation powder, it just sets it all in without fading your blush/bronzer.

 

This is one of the best powders I have tried, and would highly recommend it if you need a mattifying or satin finish powder that is affordable.

 

Have a fab day! :-)



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