australis Go Long Longwear Lipstick

Boho (5th hour on lips)

Australis released 8 shades in their long wearing lipstick collection which are all semi-matte & intensely pigmented. Thanks to Heritage Brands PR for sending these to me to overview for you beauty lovers

The cool lip shades supposedly help us seize the day & "go long & strong" with our party hard lips as we pout our way to a YOLO day...well even if we don't have that life motto we can still have pretty lips!

Available at Priceline, Big W, KMART & selected pharmacies for $12.95AU. You can also shop online at www.australiscosmetics.com.au

For those, like myself, that prefer more natural/neutral lips Boho, Preppy & Easy Chic are very work friendly, wearable shades.  Whereas Glam, Ghetto & Uber Cool (mauve) could be used for a night out on the town or for a strong yet still professional pucker.  

Trendy definitely is a lovely bright slightly blue-toned pink that may release that retro chic in some of us but I liked to wear it under some of my mauve lip glosses to soften the look. The luscious red Diva is aptly named & is for those that love a cool berry-pink toned red lip.

I tried wearing Ghetto & Glam but I think they washed me out a little but if you have similar colouring to mine (medium beige/peach undertones) it might help you achieve a "vampish" pout.

The lipsticks definitely lasted through out the day on my lips, even just swatching them I found it a little harder to remove than less pigmented lipsticks.  To help stop them drying out the lips they contain rosehip oil, mango butter, white tea leaf extract & vitamin e. 

The only down side I found to these is that you really need smooth, well maintained lips otherwise the product clings to & highlights every bit of unpolished bit of skin. This is not a good look!

I also have "closer to 40's" lips & they are quite a bit more lined than they were in my 20's so the colour tended to settle in those deeper crevices if I didn't have a lip balm on before I applied the lipstick (but it wouldn't last as long).

Overall, a good long wearing lipstick but you need to be careful to pick a colour you will definitely wear. I find these type of lipsticks I reach for less often than easy to apply glossy lightly pigmented lipsticks that flatter my "don't always lip scrub" (yes shame to admit it!) "older" lips. Of course applying them under lip gloss is a winner if you want to leave the lipstick at home & only take your gloss out!

So beauties for your pucker & pout what lipsticks do you reach for? 

Her Fashion Box

My New Fashion and Beauty Subscription "Love"!

I recently subscribed to Her fashion Box where they describe it so simply in their tag line as the "monthly fashion, beauty and lifestyle boxed up!". It was on my wish list to get after I saw Talia's  (2bfem) video on the April box but once I read a few reviews I decided to take the plunge. A big thanks to Michelle from Michelles Little Beauty Space for the discount code! (It saved me $14 on my first box, so definitely check out her blog if your interested in subscribing).

Like other subscription competitors such as BellaBox and Lusthaveit you receive beauty and lifestyle products but HFB point of difference appears to be the 2-3 fashion accessories that are promised in every monthly box.  

I also like the fact you can choose a style theme as there are three styles of boxes that you can subscribe to: Classic, Feminine and Trendy.  I opted for Classic which is stated as "elegant" and a "natural look with earthy tones and....timeless beauty" which I felt more at ease with over the other two styles.  This is then tailored along with the details from your style profile to provide a more personally suitable box.

Another big point of difference to note is the price of $39.95AU per month which far exceeds the $15 of BellaBox and the newly increased $19.95 of Lusthaveit. Of course the latter subscriptions can offer values of $60+ per month while HFB promotes a value over the $100 mark on their site.  

Also HFB doesn't do the standard little card listing what is in that month's box.  Oh no, they have done a purse size "Her Fashion Magazine" featuring layouts promoting what each style type received, fashion guides and beauty how to's with the products sent out in each box.   

(A peak in May's Her Fashion Magazine)

Well enough of the what HBF is...now to the "what I got" in the May Classic herfashionbox

I came home to find May's HFB loitering about in all it's hot pink glory on my front door step. The cute outer packaging reminded me of the cuteness that Glossybox used to do by having an external coloured and logo marked box.

The actual HFB inside is the simple black and white box which I look forward to using for storing and organising as it certainly dwarfs any of the other samples subscription boxes I have!

I lifted back the layers of black tissue paper to reveal the magazine and all the goodies for the month...

Of course I went straight for the 2 black accessory bags and was pleased to find three fashion accessories to glam up in the cooler months - a pair of silver collar pins, a gorgeous bling gold detailed statement necklace and a sexy black and gold leather cuff which I immediately adorned myself with. 

 The Her Fashion Magazine gives all the details on these little beauties as well as what the other style boxes, the Feminine and Trendy, would've received.  Ooh, they sure look good! 




It wouldn't be complete without some beauty treats and I did a little skip as I got some Ardell Strip Lash glue (honestly I stupidly spurted out a whole lot so I desperately needed more). HBF included some lovely Ardell Lashes and the Classics boxes got the 120 Demi. 

The hair and nails also got treated with new Batiste "flavours" (I got the Cherry) and nail polish from Polished London. The Milky Mocha varnish will take my nails "Classic" look from Autumn into Winter.

The face was not forgotten with DB Brands Pore Minimising Primer.  Excellent, I have wanted to try another "pore minimiser" and I admit DB Brands revamp of the stands and their new products have been tempting me for months.

Okies that wraps up my May Classic Box from Her Fashion Box and I'd love to her what you got in your box or if you have any questions. If you are wanting to see each product in all its Youtube video glory please stay tuned for my video which I'll link in my next post!

Stay being lovely!

MyBBCream Haul

I hope you all had a great Christmas & are getting ready for a lovely New Years where ever you may be.  

I just wanted to post some things that I got from MyBBCream as there sale of up to 70% off is still running until 1 Jan 2013. 

I purchased four Beblesh Balms and the Chiffon Sponge from Skin79 for a total of $58AU (free registered shipping for orders over $50AU). As pictured above (L-R) Skin79 Dream Girls BB Cream, Misha Vita Matte, Skin79 VIP Gold and the Skin79 Vita Orange Super BB's. 



I also got a god array of samples (BB creams, cleanser & facial mask)

I'm sure many people prefer to get their bb creams from websites overseas (and probably cheaper too!) but I have bought from this online store before and was happy with the service.  Of course if you have a store that you get your Skin79 or Missha from please share this in the comments below.

(L-R) Garnier Light BB Cream (for comparison), Skin79 Vita Orange BB & Skin79 VIP Gold BB

Once I get to try all these BB creams properly I'll do a review and comparison of them but so far my favourite is the Skin79 VIP Gold Super BB Cream (40g) which I have previously used up three of the sample tubes (15ml in total). It has a pink undertone and a grey cast with an SPF 25+.  The Skin79 Vita Orange is an SPF 50+ which has a yellow undertone with a beige cast. 

(Top to bottom) Garnier BB Cream Matte Light (for comparison),
Missha Vita Matte & Skin79 Dream Girls BB 

Although the Skin79 Dream Girls BB is stated for "juniors" and is "not oily", I wanted to try it as my skin has been undergoing a lot of changes and I don't like an extremely dewy finish, i.e. not greasy.  

However, I was interested to see that it actually contains mineral oil (10th listed ingredient out of over 40) and has more of a "lotion like" consistency as compared to all the other Beblesh Balms that I picked up and leaves a "slick" feeling to the skin.  Needless to say although it is more "dewy" than greasy is also goes to show that "not oily" does not mean "oil-free".  Something I learned from the many tinted moisturisers that I have tried.  (Sleek's new BB Cream also contains mineral oil).

The Missha Vita Matte also contains mineral oil near the top half of ingredients listed above the essential vitamin complexes it promotes. Both the Skin79 Dream Girls and the Missha Vita Matte contain parabens.  

Favourite Brands Giveaway Winner

Thanks to those that follow me on my Youtube Channel and took the time to enter the first of my Favourite Brands Giveaway.  I have just announced the winner and I hope to do the next giveaway early next year...I can't believe 2013 is so close! 

Aha, but Christmas is even closer - only 9 more sleeps until the big day! My next blog will be what is on my Christmas Wish List.  Until then stay happy and safe beauties.

Laugh for the Day

Just a quick little post today....

If you want a little chuckle please check out 2bfem's post (don't forget to subscribe!) with the Blindfold Makeup Challenge below.  She invited me to be her model & we had so much fun. Thanks again Talia!

Warning: I am barefaced at the start & not a good profile either ;)

Talia is a lovely lady & a talented MUA that specialises in bridal makeup & I hope to see the challenge where I did her face!

Giveaway Winner

Thanks again to all that took the time to enter my Essence Cosmetics Giveaway

The winner has been drawn from the valid entries.  

So without further delay...

Congratulations to Elizabeth Villa!

Could you please contact me via the email you are subscribed to my blog with just so I can verify through feed burner? (As I couldn't contact you directly through blogger.) Please just PM me through the contact details on my blogger profile and I'll arrange the prize details.

I enjoy doing mini giveaways on my blog so I hope to do another one in the new year.  In the meantime my Youtube Channel Giveaway is still running until midnight AEDT, December 12th!

 Please leave any suggestions about my next blog giveaway - would you prefer cosmetics, makeup tools or dress jewellery? 

Announcing Winner Soon

Hi lovelies...I just wanted to do a quick update on drawing the winner for my recent blog giveaway.  I'm currently going through and checking the entries are valid (i.e. had "entry" in the comment & are actually followers etc - I gotta follow the rules I placed!) before I actually enter that number into Random Org.  

Ok honestly there are only a very small number of entries but I have to be fair to everyone that took the time to enter and that support my blog.  

Anyway I should be contacting the winner this evening (AEDT) but at least the odds are very good for those that had a valid comment - woo!  Of course for those that don't snag it you can always enter my Youtube Giveaway which is running for another 10 days :-) 

In the meantime I hope you are having a lovely weekend.  The sky is just hitting blue In Sydney and I hope it won't be as humid as it was yesterday!