Loads of Lifestyle: Make-Up

, by Mel R

In beauty, Make-Up

BellaBox: October - Spring Racing

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, by Mel R

In beauty, Haul

Quick Swatch: Kylie Cosmetics

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, by Mel R

In beauty, Favourites

August has come and gone and September is almost half way through too.. But this post is better late than never right?

I just want to start with a bit of an update. You guys may have noticed a definite absence here on the blog and across my social media platforms. With work, travelling for work, coaching gymnastics twice a week, the upcoming (already started) silly/social season and my birthday, blogging has definitely taken a backseat over the last month. I am so sorry about that guys. I am going to drop my commitment down from 2 posts a week to 1 and see if I can manage that for the rest of the year! It is school holidays at the moment so I don't have gymnastics for 3 weeks, so hopefully I can get some planning down and get back to it!!

August was an exciting one, because I got to attend a very special event. It was the Benefit Australia Brows On Tour event! It was held at the Benefit Counter at the Brisbane City Myer in Queen St Mall. We got to meet Benefit's National Brow Artist Hannah Terrett. She was absolutely lovely, and so knowledgeable, Hannah told us she has been working in the brow industry for over 15 years. She showed us how to create a beautiful fluffy brow (that is so on-trend right now - aka the Cara Delevingne brow) using all the new brow collection from Benefit - of course!!! We were kindly gifted a few products, plus I couldn't help picking a few extra too! I grabbed a new Rollerlash (my HG mascara), Watt's Up! highlighter and 3D Brow Tones.

That same weekend, I also attended a Hen's Party for my friend Sally! We had a long lunch at Pony at Eagle Street Pier followed by a few drinks there too. We then headed "Johnny Ringo's" a country rock saloon, for a laugh and because they have a mechanical bull! A few drunken girls had a ride on the bull before we moved onto "Alfred & Constance" in Fortitude Valley. Then lastly we ended up at the "Sportsman Hotel" a bar in Spring Hill for a Drag Show! It was such a hoot and I would happily go to another. We danced up a storm inbetween shows and tasted the best espresso martini I've ever had!!

The rest of the month was pretty quiet, thankfully! As the rest of the year is shaping up to be very very busy!! I also had the dreaded flu last month and had about a week off work! Plus another week to finally get over it! I kept it pretty minimal for most of the month make-up wise, but I did pull a red lip a few times..

Faves for August

Tarte - Tartelette In Bloom palette - I am going to say this. Yep. Definitely saying it. HOLY GRAIL STATUS. There. I said it. You have replaced my continuous love for the TF Chocolate Bar palette. I loooove you In Bloom Palette!! xxx

BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop Collection Face Palette - Soooo many goodies, in one palm sized palette! I love love love the mineral blush shade Amaretto, so much so, that I bought a split pan with it and Prosecco Pop in it. I definitely didn't need it, but I still bought it anyway...

Too Faced Melted Matte lipstick in Lady Balls - the best true red liquid lipstick I own. I still need to test it out a little more but definitely loving it, since one of my besties bought it back from the US for me!!

Benefit - 3D Brow Tones in 02 Light - its like a highlighter, but for your brows! What more could you want? It gives your brows a more 3 dimensional look, creating highlights on the brow. If you have darker brows, it is suggested to get the light shade to create highlights and if you have lighter brows, it is suggested to get the darker shade to create lowlights.

Benefit - Watts Up! - I have been lusting over this cream-to-powder highlighter every time I walked past a Benefit stand, and finally caved and bought it whilst at the Benefit event! Oh Em Geeeeee! Such an intense highlight. I have been using this non-stop. Cannot get enough!!

Benefit Mirror* - we were gifted this beautiful mirror at the Benefit event along with some other goodies, and I cannot stop using it! It is such a great sized mirror and the handle moves so you can sit the mirror upright so you don't have to hold it if you are trying to nail your winged liner!! #winning

A few non-beauty related faves:

Rhodia A5 Dot Grid Notebook - In August I got into Bullet Journalling with a few of my fave beauty babes! (I have since given up, but I am getting back into it for October!!) Bullet Journalling is a designed as a analogue system for the digital age. You can read all about the foundations of Bullet Journalling here. One of the beauty babes who (unlike me) has kept it up and now makes it a part of her everyday routine is Kate from The Minted Blog, she recently did a post about starting a Bullet Journal, you can read it here.

Two of my favourite pens for Bullet Journalling are, the Fabre Castel Artist Pitt Pen in Fine and the Tombow Dual Brush Pens. The Artist Pitt Pen, is so fine and is great to use and it doesn't smudge (leftie here!) The Tombow Dual brush pens are absolutely beautiful and I just wish I had prettier hand writing to do them justice. They are beautiful for hand lettering and faux calligraphy. If you can't tell by the name of them, they have two ends. One is a beautiful sturdy but flexible brush tip and the other is a felt tip marker.

Note: Products marked with an asterisk(*) have been sent to Loads of Lifestyle for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

6Comments

, by Mel R

In beauty, Foundation Focus

Foundation Focus: Etude House - Precious Mineral BB Cream Blooming Fit

As many of you would know, my obsession with Korean Cosmetics has been going for a little while now, so when I was contacted by Q Depot to try out some Korean Make-Up, I jumped at the chance.

A Beauty Balm or as it is more commonly known BB Cream have been around for quite a while now. Mainly originating in the Asian cosmetic world, they have since been taken on by most large western cosmetic brands. BB Creams are designed to be a all-in-one product, to be used to replace foundation, sunscreen, primers and sometimes even facial serums.

The Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Blooming Fit gives a shiny and glossy look with mineral pearl ingredients. It has a 3-in-1 formula with Whitening + Wrinkle care + UV protection (SPF30 / PA++) formula.

This BB cream has a medium coverage, and a super glossy/dewy finish. I found it lasted around 4-5hrs on my combination skin (oily t-zone, dry cheeks, normal elsewhere) however it maid my T-Zone look like an oil slick after about 3hrs. Which can be combated with blotting papers or a little extra powder in the T-Zone. It has great packaging, a sleek pastel pink tube with a pump applicator and lid. Which is always handy to distribute the product. I found I needed only 1 pump to do my whole face, however I like to sheer my foundations out a bit more than the usual person. The only negative about this BB cream would have to be the very strong chemical smell. As soon as your pump out the product, you can smell it, it also lingers a little bit after application.

Pros:

Great Coverage
SPF 30+ protection
Perfect for normal-dry skin types or those who love a dewy finish
Pump applicator

Cons:

Nasty chemical smell
Not suitable for oily skinned babes

Overall, I think this is a great everyday face product, that covers you with SPF, plus a bit of coverage too. As long as strong smelling products don't bother you, than I think you would be fine!! And at around $22 ($16 USD) it's a fairly good price point to. I do believe the Etude House BB creams actually come in a few other finishes other than the Blooming Fit, so that might be something to look at for the oily skinned babes out there.

Have you tried any Korean Cosmetics or make-up? I would love to hear your recommendations!!

Note: Products marked with an asterisk(*) have been sent to Loads of Lifestyle for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.