Look - Glamazon

 Bored and sick at home today I thought it was about time to do an adventurous, creative look (as well as get out of bed). Don't even ask where I got the look name from, had my new Estelle Deve necklace on and my hair in a bun and felt quite jungle-esque (freak).

 Anyway for this look I used the following products;

• M.A.C 'Cult of Cherry' - Tempting Quad eyeshadow in 'Sharp' (A 'Satin' Frosty bright yellow-green)
• Coastal Scents 88 original palette (various greens)
• M.A.C White eyeshadow in 'Gesso'
• Smashbox 'Goldmine' palette for highlight over browbone and highlighting cheekbones
• Blend of M.A.C 'Harmony' contouring powder blush with a few various browns in the Coastal Scents 88 original palette
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover Camouflage Foundation in Shade 11 - Very light, stippled on with M.A.C 188 stippling brush and blended with Manicare sponge blender (dupe of Sonia Kashuk blending sponge)
• M.A.C Studio Fix Powder in N4
• Australis liquid eyeliner
• Too Faced Lash Injection mascara
• NARS white eyeliner in 'Iceberg'
• eBay false lashes applied with DUO Lash glue
• M.A.C lipliner in 'Currant'
• OCC Lip Tar in 'Hoochie' and a bit of 'Feathered' for cupid's bow and centre bottom lip
• M.A.C Tartan Tale 'Dashing Lassies' Quad eyeshadow in 'Showstopper' and M.A.C Fluidline in Black track for eyebrows 

September Product Haul

As mentioned from my previous post I went a bit crazy on allcosmeticswholesale.com, these are the products I purchased,

• Smashbox Gold Mine Palette $7.99
• Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara $10.99
• Nars 'Iceberg' White Eyeliner $13.99
• Dermablend Cover Creme in 'Chroma 1 - Rose Beige' $9.95
• NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors Lipstick in 'Orange Soda' $4.00
• Stila Primer $1.99
• OCC Lip Tar in 'Feathered' (White) $13.00
• OCC Lip Tar in 'Hoochie' (Magenta) $13.00
• OCC Lip Tar in 'Tarred' (Black) $13.00

(Please note prices listed above are in USD as listed, conversion for AUD was obviously cheaper with exchange rate)

All up my order came to 109.90 inclusive of the $22 shipping.

I cannot stress how happy I am with most of the products. Shipping was prompt (took about a week from the US to here in Melbourne).

Thought I'd give a run down on each of the products although, I'll be uploading a few looks and swatches including them shortly, I'll add an illuminating look for pale skin after this post.

Smashbox Goldmine Palette

Seriously could not be happier with this product, Smashbox really hit the nail on the head with their illuminating products, having owned Artificial Light illuminator by them I did have high expectations for this palette. But seriously, for $7.99 I was over the moon, I would admittedly pay ten times the price. It comes with two compartments, one part lipgloss and cream illuminator (perfect for brow bones) and the second compartment powder illuminator perfectly for highlighting/contouring looks or anything you want to enhance.

Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara

I have always heard incredible things about this mascara, probably the most hyped up mascara I know of. Although I wasn't too happy to be honest, as it is 'Extreme thickening, tube building mascara' I think it might be too harsh on my lashes personally (I have ridiculously long lashes) and it kind of just builds up too quick with a small layer and goes astray looking too spider like. Although I do love the wand, and I think it's very smart of them to formulate the scent of an orange juicy smell in it so people can detect its longevity and be able to know when it has gone off. Would recommend for people with shorter, sparse eyelashes but probably not the best for myself, was very happy with the size (13.5 mL) for the price although!

NARS 'Iceberg' White Eyeliner

Absolutely fantastic! Then again what can NARS possibly do wrong? Very pigmented in comparison to other white eyeliners I have used, sharpens well (doesn't break and fall apart in other words ha) And lasts on your waterline! Opens your eyes up tremendously. Recommended!

Dermablend Cover Creme

So so. I don't think I've played around with this too much as I favor a few concealers but I think I prefer my Ben Nye concealer palette a bit more due to the user friendliness. The Ben Nye is a bit easier to work, the cover creme is a lot drier. I did expect a lot more due to hearing this is incredible for all skin conditions, but I no longer have acne so I can't really state my opinion on the coverage over lumps and bumps etc also when worked well it does cover freckles and redness.

NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors Lipstick in 'Orange Soda'

I do love the colour of this, it reminds me of a bit more sheer nudey Limecrime 'Cosmopop' (hence why I bought it) I'd been hearing good things regarding NYX but never really purchased anything from them, I think I may have a purple eyeliner floating around somewhere but didn't really use it. The coverage isn't fantastic and it doesn't really last but hey, what can you expect for $4. Although seeing as I have very dry lips a lot of lipsticks tend to flake, this didn't at all. You could see the dryness underneath although it kind of just sits on top. Pretty colour although!

Stila Hydrating Primer

Only used this on my lids so far, I keep forgetting about it and putting my foundation on then kicking myself for forgetting. This is only a tiny sample size, I don't expect anything too great also, just seems like moisturizer for me. But on my lids I do rate it (my eyelids are the driest part of my face). This was so cheap due to the SPF being expired in the formulation but the actual primer itself is not off. For $1.99 who even cares!

OCC Lip Tars

So I purchased the much raved about lip tars in 'Feathered' (White), 'Hoochie' (Magenta) and 'Tarred' (Black). I haven't really tried feather alone as I primarily bought it for mixing but it works so well for mixing to lighter colours and accentuating your cupids bow/highlighting to make your lips look fuller! Hoochie is incredible. Such a bright, in your face colour, I got so many compliments whilst wearing it. The smallest bit goes a long way with these. You only need to apply a dot with a lip brush/angle brush (keep in mind your lip line as it does bleed excessively). I would highly recommend a lip liner in either a colour to suit the lip tar or a clear waxy one to stop the bleeding as mine bled quite a bit outside my natural lip line. I had it on from 7am til 3am and I didn't have to reapply once throughout the whole day working, eating and then socialising that night which is incredible for me! 'Tarred' is just your standard black, you do need to work it a bit more/use more product than the colours but all blacks generally need a bit of building to get the most opaque pigment possible. Still super impressed with the products! Will swatch soon!

But seriously, upon saying all this, I do really recommend allcosmeticswholesale.com especially if you're in Australia like myself and products are three times the price. All amazing brands at incredible prices, some just because they have 'tester' stickers but have never been used... prepare to spend a lot but still save yourself a bunch!

xo

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

 Having heard the brand 'Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' pop up a few times on youtube, blogs and word of mouth, a friend of mine had bought recently and could not stress enough how impressed she was with the quality of their products.

 Trusting her judgement I decided to grab a few Lip Tars of my own to try out, if worse comes to worst they'll just land in my kit either way but I can't wait to try them after reading online and not hearing a bad thing about OCC.

Here are the Lip Tars I purchased off allcosmeticswholesale.com

OCC Lip Tar in 'FEATHERED' - Pure, opaque white.

OCC Lip Tar in 'HOOCHIE' - Super bright, true magenta.

OCC Lip Tar in 'TARRED' - True opaque black.

 A little goes a long way with this products, the smallest drop will provide amazing coverage for your whole lips as they are extremely pigmented. 

 Here is the description of the product from the OCC site;

A stunning new innovation in lip color, OCC Lip Tar combines the longevity of a lipstick, with the ease of application of a gloss. Goes on slick and moist, and dries down to a satin finish. Ultra-saturated in color, Lip Tar contains an unprecedented amount of pigment - a little goes a very, very long way! An intense yet featherweight layer of color that stands up to the scrutiny of Hi-Def Video and Digital Photography, without ever looking (or feeling!) heavy. Meant to be mixed, Lip Tar comes in concise array of colors for a limitless selection of shades made by you!

Like all of our products, OCC Lip Tar is 100% Vegan and Cruelty-Free, and is also free of parabens and other harsh preservatives. A simple, elegant formula that contains Hemp Oil, Peppermint Oil and Vitamin E, OCC Lip Tar feels as good on the lips as it looks!DIRECTIONS: Apply the tiniest bead of Lip Tar with an angle brush for complete, opaque coverage, either mixed with other shades or on its own. Applying too much product can result in feathering outside the lipline, so remember: a little goes a very long way!

 Reasoning as to choosing these colours (despite me starring at my computer screen for an hour trying to pick), needing a good white paint like consistency lip colour to lighten lipsticks into the perfect shade, as goes for the black to dark shades, and who can go with with an amazing magenta colour? I could never have enough purples...

I purchased these from allcosmeticswholesale.com for $13 USD (less AUD with our dollar currently being stronger), they are although the same price on the OCC site, although I did purchase quite a few other branded items (which I will also post about upon the receiving of my package!)

As soon as I receive these products I will definitely swatch!

xo

Welcome

 So I'm finally getting around to doing something I have wanted to do for ages, my own personal makeup blog. I have started this for many reasons, and even though I am not qualified I believe I can still provide a valid opinion on products, dupes as well as tutorials etc.

 I am a self taught makeup artist from Melbourne, Australia, studying my diploma of specialist make-up services in 2012. Therefore I will be fully qualified by the end of the year and finally in an industry in which I have worked towards for so long.

 Ever since I could remember I have always had a passion for makeup. It wasn't until I was finishing school and been accepted into fashion that I realised fashion design wasn't the industry I was 100% passionate about, it was makeup. I knew I still belonged in the fashion industry, but involved in a completely different way, as my creativity was blooming in other areas.

 Ever since I can remember I have been wetting Faber-Castell watercolour pencils like the loser I am and applying them on my eyes and lips (no joke either).

 Even before I was old enough to be wearing makeup on an everyday basis, I had a never ending collection in which I had hoarded from my mother, and purchasing myself with pocket money. The idea fascinated me endlessly, whether or not it was appropriate for my age group at the time.

 Being on stage from a young age introduced me to the practicality of makeup and has taught me that as much as people assume, it is not all to do with materialism.

 I'm sure others can agree, but when explaining what I wanted to do when I was older, I was often shunned by others, put down by the materialistic matters that makeup comes with. Either way, I'm determined to make something a bit different seeing as growing up in Australia, we are limited to brands that we see by those on international makeup guru channels and blogs etc.

 So here goes nothing, hope you guys get something out of it like I do :) xo