Vine Make Up Video

I posted this on Vine a few days ago but I thought i'd post it here too.

Make Up mentioned:

1. Maybelline Fit Me Foundation

2. MAC Studio Fix Concealer

3. MAC Mineralise Skinfinish

4. MAC Powder Blush in Peachykeen

5. Nars Illuminator in Copacobana

6. Estee Lauder Creamy Eyeshadow

7. Nudes Chi Chi Eyeshadow Palette

8. MAC Gel Eyeliner

9. Lancome Hypnose Mascara

Chanel Blush

My mum bought me back this blush when she went through duty free a while ago. It's one that I use quite often too as it goes nicely with fair complexions. My mum also uses it and she's got olive skin with dark hair, so it is able to be worn by different skin tones and colourings.

This Chanel Joues Contraste Blush is the colour Pink Explosion. It's highly pigmented, so you don't need a lot - hence why mine still looks relatively unused. I quite like the look of Rose Petal too. I might have to purchase that one next.

The blushes are easiest to apply with a large brush. I don't know why my mum hasn't chucked it out, because it's not like we use it.

You can buy Chanel at any leading cosmetic store or department store. I'm not too sure of a place that will ship anywhere in the world for Chanel, but you can have a wee shop around online and purchase it there. It's $43 US dollars on their site, but I can tell you it's about $70 NZ, which is more than the exchange rate. Sigh.

Need Sunglasses?

Yesterday I went shopping with my lovely cousin's girlfriend. She is just adorable and wanted to look at the OPI counter for a nail polish. She wanted one of the new sand ones, and well, I ended up buying a nail colour too.

I do realise that it is the middle of winter. Yes. I do also realise that this is a bright sunshine yellow. Yes. BUT, I feel that in the midst of all this dull weather, we need a little bit of a pick me up. 

This colour is called Need Sunglasses?

Doesn't it just make you happy by looking at it?

Current Make Up I'm Using:

Recently I went out for dinner for my work, and this is the make up that I chose to wear. I'm going to talk you through all the products that I put on my poor face. :) These are ones that I use regularly, that I have bought, and that I consider amazing products. I don't use these every day, but when I go out and want a natural look, these are the products I pick up. Enjoy!

Starting with a base: 

For my foundation, I'm wearing Revlon Colourstay Whipped Creme Foundation. This foundation is light and not clogging. I've got the colour Nude on. I don't generally like colourstay very much, and I probably shouldn't say that as I used to work for Revlon, but I always preferred Photoready. I didn't actually wear a powder over top, just my MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Porcelain Pink. It's my new favourite thing. For concealer, I only ever use one and that's my MAC Studio Finish. You can read the post that I wrote about how amazing it is here. I wear colour NW20. I would never go back to wearing another concealer again, this is top notch.

Progressing to cheeks: 

I have on a blusher, a little bit of bronzer and a highlighter. The blusher that I use most days and I love to death is MAC's Powder Blush in Peachykeen. For a bronzer I use Beyu Magnum Bronzing Powder which I will blog about at one point (someday). It's from this German brand and it's a gorgeous colour. Usually bronzers are too dark for my face, but this one is just right. The highlighter that I've had for years and bought when I was on holiday is Nars Multiple in Coppacobana. It cost me an arm and a leg, but I'm so pleased that I bought it! I hate it when people's face looks 2D, so using a bronzer and a highlighter is a must for me.

Eyes: 

I used a creme base and that was Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in Place Shadow Creme in colour 21 Buttercreme to get the shimmery underlay and for the shadow to stay on all night. I then used my Chi Chi Nudes Palette which I love. The browns and nudes are perfect for a natural eye and incredibly cheap too. To line the eye I used the Estee Lauder Stay-in-place gel liner. Finally, the new mascara I have, which I love, is the Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara. For brows, I have the Elizabeth Arden liner in Sabel. This stuff lasts forever. Honestly, I bought mine years ago, and I've yet to run out.

Lips: 

The lipstick used is a Clinique one. Clinque's colours are quite vibrant and moisturising. The one that I've got on is the Long Last in Watermelon. 

My favourite things of the month of April:

1. Make Up: Kate Moss Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick, colour 111

This I really struggled to fill; not because I am not in love with a certain product, but because I am in love with many. That is always the way with me. But ultimately, I have decided to put in one of the new Kate Moss Lasting Finish Matte Lipsticks from Rimmel. The shade that I bought was 111. It's quite a nice general red for every day or evenings. It's not too dark or too strawberry like (I hate strawberry red lipsticks with a passion). Also it is very hard to find a Matte Lipstick these days so I was thrilled when Rimmel came out with these. Plus, I adore Kate. I immediately bought 111 the day we got them in-store. The lipstick itself is creamy and not drying - another thing I hate with lipsticks. I've yet to try it out to see how long it lasts on a night out, but I'm not expecting extreme results, a lipstick is a lipstick. All in all however, I love the shade and that they are matte. The range comes with 10 shades.

The first picture is of the lipstick case, and I do love how their lids go on a slant. The bright red is a change too. The second photo is the actual colour, the first makes it look more winey, but it's a nice red, not burgundy at all.

2. Skincare: Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

One that I am really liking recently is the Kiehls (believe me when I say that I have to type this word into google just to know how to spell it) Ultra Facial Cream. It's lightweight in texture, but moisturising enough that my skin doesn't feel dry. There is also nothing worse than having a sticky skin from some moisturiser that claims to be super hydrating, and I can safely say that with this gel-like texture you don't get that. A huge big tick for me as far as I'm concerned! It means that I can use it and then put my foundation on immediately. Which is absolutely great for someone as time conscious as I. As a beauty addict and someone who works with skincare and beauty, I am forever trying and buying new products. But this is one that I might actually stick to. It's quickly becoming a favourite moisturiser of mine. The only issue is the price! :(

3. Scent: Thierry Mugler, Alien

For Christmas I asked my parents for the fragrance Alien by Thierry Mugler and I am so pleased that I did. When I work in the Cosmetic department I am often spritzing around fragrances like a little fairy. One that I absolutely adore spraying is this one. It's so feminine. It's quite vanillary I find, which I love since I also love Dior's Hypnotic Poison. The top note is Sambac Jasmine, the middle Cashmere Wood, and the base White Amber. (Suddenly feeling very silly for thinking it's vanilla-ry...) I feel like a woman every time I wear it, which is most days to be honest. I always get compliments on it with people going as far as to say that it is this fragrance they associate with me. This is what I would say is my signature fragrance.

4. Website: The House of Coxhead

I love this website. It's great. They list any up and coming artists that are of interest or relevance at the moment. They also list albums coming out and remixes of songs by DJ's. For any music obsessive person like myself, it is a must. It lets you in on the know of who's who in music and who's done what with what song and who's written it, remixed it, DJ'd it. Believe me, once you scroll through a page, you wont stop scrolling.

5. Song: Where The Wild Things Grow

This song is very quickly becoming a favourite of mine. By the band Violet, with the lead singer Pixie Geldof - daughter of Bob Geldof and a famous British socialite - it has the dreamy voice of Pixie along with capturing guitar playing and sentimental lyrics. Both easy listening and addictive, it has me listening to it on repeat for hours. The song puts me in a dreamlike place and is simply beautiful. I can't get enough of it! Way to go Pixie!

6. Celebrity: Zoella

Somebody whom I'm currently obsessing over is Zoella. I'm not sure if you could call her a celebrity, I suppose in a way she is. She's certainly reached a high level of fame through her blog and youtube. She's just adorable and lovely and always recommends such great products. I love watching her vidoes and reading her blog. It makes me feel that there is hope for people who are shy to receive the recognition they deserve. I too struggle with being in big crowds, and Zoe is an inspiration. Thank you Zoe! :)

7. Book: I Heart London

This is by Lindsey Kelk. You can check out her official blog here. I have read a few of her books, but I've just finished this one. I really enjoyed it. Mainly because, firstly, I absolutely adore London even though I've never been, and secondly, I love anything chick-lit that talks about any beauty, clothing, accessories, shoes etc. Plus, this has the added bonus of planning a wedding! Spoiler alert!

Her blog Lindsey Kelk is hilarious. I frequently read it and love hearing what she is up to in what part of the world. She has a way with words that makes me giggle several times throughout one of her short articles. Utterly brilliant woman! 

8. Purchase: Guess Handbag and Wallet 

So I've been looking for an "everyday" bag that will fit everything I need in it; umbrella, wallet, gum, water bottle, six zillion lip products, phone, headphones etc etc. But I bought this one and I am in love with it. It's a brown taupe colour and I like brown accessories more than black, black can be so harsh and with coloured things or brown flats it just goes. It's just big enough to fit everything in it without looking like I'm carrying a small carryon for a plane. The wallet is a gorgeous peachy colour and opens up each side so there is enough room for all my many cards - I have a card for every shop, I'm one of those. Overall, for the price that I paid for them (there was a huge sale at massively discounted prices so I got it for a quarter of the price it retails at) I am incredibly happy. They are both going to get so much use!

Such a pretty shop. Sigh.

Today I went to Ballantynes. 

It's an absolutely beautiful shop here in New Zealand and has been around for the last 100 or so years. It sells everything upmarket and I am forever going and window shopping because lord knows I can't afford anything. They have a gorgeous sweet collection, as you can see by the photos below. They also have beautiful displays of all their counters, this one being the Antipodes which I spoke about in my last post here. Their cosmetic counters are to die for. I would kill to have every product from all ranges. There is the sweetest guy working on the Kiehl's Counter. We had a good chat about the Epidermal Re-texturising Microdermabrasion Cream. I want to try it so badly. Apparently that shit is like gold - works miracles. I may as well slather on unicorn sweat all over my face because that is the chance of me ever being able to afford it here at the insane prices everything is in New Zealand. Ugh. Sigh.

These next two photos are from Chantecaille's new collection. It's called The Elephant Palette and I absolutely love it. Not only do I love the little elephant imprints on the eyeshadows, I also love their colours. They're earthy and gorgeous for everyday use. The case is very chic with a lovely ivory colour and then a black elephant with its' trunk raised. On their website, Chantecaille, the palette aims to raise awareness to orphaned baby elephants in Kenya. So not only are you getting a lovely eyeshadow palette when purchasing, you are also donating to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where 5% of all proceeds go.

Even the names of the eyeshadows are lovely; Ivory, Grasslands, Iron Ore, and Red Earth. This palette is perfect as far as I'm concerned. I absolutely want it and fell in love with it when I saw it at the Mecca counter today. It's just beautiful. 

Besides, I adore elephants.

Someone buy this palette and tell me how amazing it is.

Maybelline Fit Me

I work in Cosmetics and have tried many many foundations. But, and I do mean but, I have never found a cheap foundation that I think is on par with those that are more expensive. That is until the Maybelline Fit Me range was released.

Firstly, this is incredibly cheap. I looked at it online and Feelunique has Fit Me for 6.79pounds. I can safely say that it has never been this cheap in New Zealand. The department store I work at retails it at $25.99 NZ dollars. Comparing with Estee Lauder's Double Wear which retails at $80 NZ dollars,  Revlon's Photoready at $45.99 NZ dollars and Clinique's Perfectly Real at $66 NZ dollars, and even Nars Sheer Glow at an absorbent amount here, this is an incredibly cheap product. Let's not even mention MAC's prices in New Zealand, let alone Dior or Chanel, all of which I love. (My mother is a Chanel addict.)

Secondly, the coverage is perfect I feel. It's not too heavy or too light. All discolourations and blemishes on my skin are covered with one light coat over my skin using a foundation brush. I add a little more to my cheeks or my chin sometimes just to get a little more coverage over spots or redness. But overall, the coverage is great for something so cheap. When comparing to Moisture Mist's Beauty Cake - which like the name suggests, cakes - or with Australis foundation's (which are popular here, though they give little coverage) at around the same price of $19-$26 NZ dollars depending on the foundation, and even compared to Maxfactor's Xperience Foundation which I think is very good, the Fit Me is still incredible for its' coverage. I find that some brands can be oily and tend to sit on the skin, but I find that this foundation doesn't do that. The coverage and feel is much nicer than other cheaper brands.

Thirdly, this range comes in eighteen different shades. As a cosmetician, I am aware of how hard it can be to match some people's skin. With eighteen different shades to choose from it should be near impossible for you to walk out of the store looking orange. When choosing a foundation always remember that you can always, always darken your makeup with bronzer, blusher, powder etc. But you can never lighten a yellow or orange face. Think of it like your washing; if you put a black item in with your whites, all your whites will come out grey, but if you put in a white with all your coloureds or blacks, only the white will be affected. So, you can always darken your face, but you can never lighten it so that it will match correctly. If you're unsure, go for the lighter shade. Never buy a foundation wanting to "not look like a ghost", trust me, you will end up looking like an oompa loompa. I bought 125 during the summer, but now that it's winter here the shade is a little too dark for me. I pop on a translucent powder over top rather than a coloured powder because I don't need the extra colour on my face at this time of year.

Overall, this product is very good. Just put on a slick of a simple shadow and a swipe of blush on the apples of your cheeks, and finally some mascara to darken and lengthen your lashes and you're good to go for the simplest of every day make-up.

The other products featured in the picture above are:

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in Place Shadow Creme in colour 21 Buttercreme

MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Peachy-Keen

MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash in Black