The Review: Benefit's Dandelion Boxed Powder

Benefit's Dandelion boxed powder is a product that left me confused. I have always thought of it as a blush and this is largely how it was portrayed in the beauty community, so when I bought it for myself I used it in this way. However, on the box it says it's a "brightening face powder" which is what got me thinking.

As a blush Dandelion is by no means a pop of colour. It's a subtle, rosy pink that leaves natural colour to the cheeks with an added sparkle. It's beautiful and the product that eased me into wearing blush. It was a lot like bright lipsticks, I wasn't sure how much was too much and I didn't want to look too "done up" on a daily basis - but I know now that isn't the case at all! This really is great for beginners or just anyone who enjoys the colour it gives off. Applied very lightly to the tops of the cheeks it just adds something to face.

This is a product I love and I cannot image my makeup bag without it, but I'm also not sure how readily I would repurchase it. In terms of value for money, it doesn't do a lot. It's by no means a perfect formulation full of strong pigmentation with amazing results. However, it is a product that is almost sentimental to me as it was my first high-end purchase - a bit of a weird one, hey?

If you own this I'd love to know how you use it!

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Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Nude-ist!

I have been looking high and low for this shade for what seems like months. The much coveted Kylie Jenner lip is what sent me in a frenzy for this product, and while I could have ordered it online, something about the hunt and satisfactions of finding it in store stopped me.

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Succulent Love

Looking at my last post I feel like my blog is turning into a gardening blog. Don't fear, I just haven't had anything super exciting on the beauty front to talk about the past few days and had a few photos saved up that I wanted to share, especially these ones.

I am succulent obsessed. I have succulents, I am always on the hunt to buy more and I freak out every time I see them growing in a garden and proceed to take about fifty photos of them from various angles. Even my phone background is a picture of succulents. I've always loved them ever since I was a child and my nana had tiny potted ones on her dining table. I love everything about them from their name, to how they look and the colour variance among them - they are just so lush!

It's just dawning on me that I've sat here and typed up an entire post about succulents. I could have done a rambling lifestyle-type post but I decided to share the succulent love! Are you as crazy about them as me, or are you more of a cactus person? Let me know!

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Cherry Blossom Season

Cherry blossoms are known for having an incredibly short blooming period and every year I am equally as surprised when they appear. I feel so lucky to be able to see them and it's so magical, especially in the winter as it lets me know that spring is on it's way. I hope whatever part of the world you're in has cherry blossoms and you get to see them bloom in person.

This week has been stressful for a few reasons, and these were such a nice reminder to quite literally stop and smell the flowers. They line my street, so every morning, afternoon or evening I have something to put a smile on my face. I hope all of your weeks have been good, I just wanted to stop by and share these pictures even though I wasn't too sure what I wanted to say.

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Topshop's 'Depth' Lipstick

I've been obsessed with MAC's 'Cyber' for the longest time. It is such a bold, beautiful and most of all striking shade. I never picked it up because I was worried about never wearing it due to it's amazing intensity. When I spotted 'Depth' in Topshop I knew it was the perfect way to trial the colour as it's a near identical dupe.

The quality of this is amazing, and I love that the finish isn't matte as that's usually all I can find when it comes to super dark lipsticks. It's not insanely glossy, but there is definitely a sheen and I would say that it has a finish very similar to 'Cyber'. When it comes to pigmentation this is on the mark, a single swipe and you have amazing colour payoff. I swatched it on paper so you could see the purple colour, but on the lips it definitely leans more towards being black.

I love this shade and I can't wait to wear it with a cat eye! The only issue is that it is hard to apply neatly, what shade of lipliner would you recommend for lips this dark?

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Tumblr Inspo #7

I had a week off from classes so it was spent relaxing and leisurely catching up on work. I spent a lot of time taking photos for future blog posts so there are some really fun ones coming your way, including a haul. It's been a while since I've done one of these posts and I'm proud of myself for churning out a lot of original content, but today I really just felt like sitting down and creating another inspiration post. I'm definitely over caffeinated so I'm going to keep it short and sweet because I know I'll ramble otherwise.

I hope your weeks have been great. What is your favourite image from the ones above?

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Neglected Mascaras

 

 

This little collection of mascaras are the ones that don't find themselves in my makeup rotation. I've enjoyed each of them at different times for different reasons, but ever since purchasing the Revlon 'Grow Luscious' I really haven't found myself reaching for anything else, even my Benefit 'They're Real!" has been pushed to the side. Here are a few reasons why...

I had a love affair with The Maybelline Mega Plush even though I accidentally picked it up in brown instead of black. This was my all time favourite before Revlon's 'Grow Luscious' came into my life. This separates and coats beautifully, but does suffer in the length department, which is why it might have lost it's place in my regulars. Regardless, it is a beautiful mascara and if you already have super long lashes you will fall in love like I did.

I purchased the Maybelline The Falsies just before Mega Plush was released, so this got neglected pretty quickly. The Falsies gives me the length that Mega Plush doesn't, but it has a much wetter formula which I find myself not liking as much. I don't exactly like my mascaras dry, but when the formula glistens I usually don't enjoy it. This is so raved about, though, that I'm throwing this into my everyday makeup bag in the hopes of using it on the regular.

The Rimmel Scandal Eyes 'Flex' and 'Show Off' were gifted to me by my sister who loves long, dark, thick lashes. I naturally love all of these things too, but her formula preference is on the opposite end of the spectrum to mine. Does it make your lashes lush? Yes, but with a lot of work to prevent clumping and sticking together of the lashes. The effect is truly beautiful, but I really like my mascara to be my quickest step, so these are more for nights out where I'm dedicating a large time slot to my makeup. Both formulas are very similar, the wands seem to be the major difference and I think I prefer the Flex.

What mascaras of yours are you neglecting and why? Hopefully this gets you to think and add some forgotten products back into your rotation.

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Your Lips But Better: Mauvey-Toned Pinks

The classic "Your Lips But Better" shade seems to be the colour we all gravitate towards when it comes to lip products. I find myself picking up so many of these slightly-mauve pinks that it's kind of a problem. In a way it's illogical - why would you want a shade that looks like you're wearing nothing let alone twenty? I guess it's the same as taking away the flush from your cheeks to only add blusher, but I'm definitely not complaining.

Featured above are three of my favourite products when it comes to achieving the YLBB look. Rimmel's Exaggerate lipliner in "063 -Eastend Snob", Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in "103" and the Maybelline Color Elixir in "Mauve Mystique." Coincidentally, these three actually work beautifully together, but standalone they are all equally as great depending on what look you're going for.

What is your favourite YLBB colour?

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Rita Ora for Rimmel Nail Polishes

First and foremost, it's story time. These were something I'd been lusting after ever since I saw Suzie from Hello October wear 'Breakfast In Bed' in a vlog a month or two back. Instantly I searched online and found nothing but links to UK beauty suppliers that didn't ship internationally. A few weeks later on a browse through the ASOS beauty department they were spotted and I was so excited, but in the process of finding something else to bump up the $30 free shipping rule I saw an Instagram post from Rimmel AU signalling their impending release. I decided to wait, and a week before the release date I was happily surprised when I saw them displayed.

I finally had in my hands the much coveted "Breakfast In Bed" and I have never had a blue so milky! It is just such a pretty shade, think the effect of Essie 'Fiji' but blue - so perfect all year, but stunning in summer with a tan. It looks so flattering on the nails and I want to wear it forever, basically. Next I decided on "White Hot Love" because all of my white polishes either take 4 coats or chip after a day or two wear. This didn't disappoint in the slightest and has a pearlescence to it that isn't really detectable on the nails, but it definitely isn't as flat as the other whites I have tried.

When it comes to formulation the Rimmel polishes are some of my favourites. I own so many different shades, they are definitely the majority in my collection. The 60 Seconds formula in particular is amazing, not quite 60 seconds since I tend to put on thicker coats, but pretty damn close. These are dry to the touch on one hand by the time you've finished painting the other. With a topcoat they both lasted for the better part of the week, "Breakfast In Bed" lasting the longest on me. I highly recommend these polishes to anyone and the formulation is the best I've found especially for the price.

What other colours from this collection would you recommend? I think I want them all!

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The Playlist #1

1. "One For The Road" - Arctic Monkeys

It was so, so hard to only choose one song from this perfect album. I settled on this because it's one of the ones I listen to most, but honestly, just listen to everything. I am completely obsessed and have been since it came out.

2. "Monte Carlo" - U.S. Royalty

I've had this sitting in my "liked from radio" section on Spotify for ages knowing I must have given it a thumbs up at some point, but I only got around to really appreciating it the past week. What I love about this is that there are a lot of different sounds from the vocals to the music and it's just fun to listen to.

3. "Money Power Glory" - Lana Del Rey

Ultraviolence is art, so much like AM I had a really hard time just picking one song. Lana's voice is really showcased in this song and she sounds flawless as usual.

4. "We Are Destroyer" - Anberlin

Anberlin have been one of my favourite bands since I was in my early teens and seeing them come to a close is heartbreaking, but their final album 'Lowborn' is definitely them leaving on a high note. My favourite song so far is "We Are Destroyer" but I've yet to listen to it through enough to make a concrete decision - watch this space.

5. "Fancy" - Iggy Azalea

This just makes me feel badass in the mornings when I'm getting ready! I'm going to take this moment to own the fact that I can rap the majority of this - badly. 

6. "My Number" - Foals

This song that just puts me in a good mood when I listen to it. It's completely fun and funky and makes you want to dance even when you're feeling a bit blah. There is a lot going on in terms of sounds, but in the best possible way. 

7. "Settle Down" - The 1975

"Settle Down" is one of those songs that feels like it has a story going on throughout it. You can really create your own imagery and make up what you think it's about, which is one of my favourite qualities in music. Plus the 1975 are just allover awesome, another hard song to pick from an amazing album.

8. "Colour Fade" - Funeral Suits

This is one of those songs that pop up and has you hooked from the get go. The opening is something so unique and different to anything I have ever heard and has an almost industrial vibe. This is a lone song by Funeral Suits in my collection but I can't wait to explore further.

9. "Chloroform" - Phoenix

I love everything about Phoenix's sound and they are one of my all time favourite bands. This is the song that hit me when I listening to Bankrupt! when it was released and it continues to be my favourite song a few years down the line.

Do we have some bands loves in common and what has been on repeat for you lately?

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The Review: Maybelline Colour Elixir

This is a product with such a reputation that there honestly wasn't room for disappointment. After going back and forth deciding whether I really wanted to try a gloss when I know I usually dislike them, I threw one in my basket and there was no looking back. This all sounds very dramatic, but hey, they are not cheap here!

Thankfully it was love at first application. I picked up the shade "Mauve Mystique" which definitely does not seem to be the most pigmented shade of the bunch, but it is lovely none the less and tops a lot of my other mauvey-toned pinks perfectly. It is also nice standalone as it is a similar shade to my natural lip colour and seems to just even them out and make them look allover prettier.

When it comes to my usual "I hate glosses!" rant it's due to thickness and stickiness. I am just bothered by things that have a large presence on my lips. I don't want to be constantly thinking "oh yep, there is product on my lips" and with these there is none of that. They are by no means a long wearing product, it hangs around for roughly three hours on me when I'm not eating, and if I were, they would most likely disappear instantly. However, there is no claim to them being long wearing and nothing about the formula would suggest it, so it's not a con just something to be noted.

Overall, I am obsessed with everything about these from the look to the packaging and the scent - vanilla heaven! Even the applicator is lovely with it's tiny taper that is perfect for getting into all those corners. I would highly recommend these to anyone, especially those gloss-phobes like me because I think you'll be presently surprised.

How did you get along with these and what other colours would you recommend pigmentation wise?

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