First Impressions: Colourpop!, Fleur de Force and Physicians Formula

Hello beauty lovers!

I am very excited to write this post today as I have been testing some very affordable makeup items and Spoiler Alert: They are amazing!!!

I purchased three Fleur de Force Lip Glosses. They are such a nice consistency, thick but not gloopy, moisturising and so pigmented!! From top to bottom I have Written in the Stars, Seeing Stars and Starlight.

Out of the three, Starlight is less pigmented but still so pretty!! Its an awesomely wearable peach. All of these has a pleasant fruity scent but its nothing too offensive.

MOVING ON!

Colourpop! is fast becoming one of my favourite e-tailer for makeup. Seriously, they are amazing!!!

I don't love all the products but that may be because I have chosen some colours which don't suit me.

First up is my beautiful, gorgeous Where The Light Is palette by Kathleen Lights (a youtuber). I love this collaboration and I can not wait to get the sister quad which is called Where The Night Is. Each of the eyeshadows and lippie stix and lippie pencils are 5 USD each. The blush and bronzers are 8 USD each.

The shades from left to right are Glow (matte), Cornelius (matte), KathleenLights (pearlized), and Blaze (metallic). I am seriously in love with these. Glow is not quite as amazing as the other three (it is slightly harder and drier than the others) but it is still a really great eyeshadow. 

I didn't think I would ever love cream eyeshadows THIS much but I do. These combine the best of both cream and powder eyeshadows. Super strong pigmentation, lack of powder kickup (game changer!!) and stays put for 8 hours WITHOUT primer on my very oily eyelids. 

The lip products that I got are (from left to right) Button Lippie Pencil, Lumiere 2 Ultra Matte Lip, Lumiere Matte Lippie Stix, Frenchie Lippe Stix, and Frenchie Lippie Pencil.

I gotta tell you. I hate Button and Lumiere 2 (Sorry Kathleen) for the colour - they don't suit me and much too dark and I feel like I have aged 10 years when wearing these. Lumiere, and the Frenchies are so so so good. Highly pigmented and comfortable to wear. Thumbs up!

NEXT UP!

Physicians Formula has some of the best bronzers in the drugstore and I have been seeing some awesome reviews of their Shimmer Strips so I bought one on sale in Priceline (AUD 14.95)

It is a nice product, but it won't replace my current highlighters (Becca, Guerlain and Hourglass).

See my swatches below. The shades are quite powdery and I am not a huge fan. So devo.... Even applied lightly, this thing gives you a very strong highlight (almost frosty) effect. I wish the powders were more finely milled. Oh well.

Hope you like my first impressions. I highly recommend checking our Colourpop! as they ship to Australia and they are so affordable.

xoxo,
Cindy

Shu Uemura Shu:Palette - Review and Swatches

So here's the deal. I was really going to post a review of this palette weeks ago but I keep putting it off because the palette didn't wow me. Guys, this palette is good but it isn't AMAZING.

I have such high expectations from Shu Uemura eyeshadows so I wanted to make sure that I was being fair and testing all the shades and did various eyelooks with it.

The palette has varying quality from shadow to shadow. I find that the pigmentation and formulation of the metallics are generally good. But this is true from a lot of brands, is it not? The mattes are nicely pigmented but applies a bit patchy. The light shadows aren't powdery and blends nicely. I think this is a palette that you can not overdo and for that reason, it is perfect for the office.

I think these eyeshadows have that understated quality and works perfectly fine for daily wear. The one thing I absolutely adore about Shu Uemura shadows is that the powder is nicely pressed and you don't kick up a lot of excess when you dip your brush in. LOVE that about it. Keeps the palette nice and clean :)

The brush that comes free with the palette is atrocious. I'm not sure why it was included but it really doesnt work well with the shadows unless you spritz MAC Fix + on it to try and coax the product to get on the freaking brush.

So... all that being said. I'm not sure if I would have purchased it if I knew this was the quality I was getting. It was quite pricey (Over AUD 200 full price!!) and I would probably save that money to get myself two of Tom Ford's high quality quads.


 Swatches are shown below, in half sun and then inside with artificial lighting with no primer underneath.

Comparison with the same shade in the old packaging. 

L-R: Shu:Palette, Single (1st Gen) Shadow 

I also tried to play around with using Mac Fix + to intensity the shadows - to some degree of success.

Love,
Cindy xx

Collective Haul - Makeup and Skincare

Hello everyone! I am finally back on the blogging world and this time around I plan to be a little more regimented in my blog post releases. I hope you have all been well and as this is my first post in 2016: Happy New Year, and Welcome to A Girl's Guide To Makeup v 2.0.

I've been doing a bit of shopping over Christmas and New Year and I have a few things that I am excited to show you!

First up - Skincare

My fellow Australians : PRICELINE SALE!! Oh my. Lets get this post going shall we...

I recently finished my 500 mL bottle of Bioderma Sensibio H2O. My holy grail. My precious! I have strayed to other brands (Simple and La-Roche Posay) and this is hands down my favourite! If you would like me to do an in-depth comparison, let me know in the comments below :)

Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads Extreme. This has both glycolic and lactic acid in it, so I am imagining that it will sting a little on first usage. I'm currently using up my sample of Sunday Riley Good Genes (which is horrendously pricey) so when that runs out, I will be using these pads.

Nuxe Reve de Miel was recommended by Lisa Eldridge in her Favourite French Pharmacie Products video and when I saw it, I got so excited I almost bought two! Don't worry, I came to my senses :P

My colleague recommended that I try Rosehip oil to combat the signs of aging. I am excited to try this but I am sliiiiightly worried that it will make my skin congested. If you have tried this product please let me know. Apparently, this is the rosehip oil that is used by the Duchess of Cambridge... if its good enough for the Duchess, it's good enough for me!

Bioderma Hydrabio Legere was also a Lisa Eldridge recommendation and I am SO GLAD I picked this up. It has a pump, a locking mechanism for the pump and a cap. Seriously! Tick, tick, and tick. The packaging is SAH good for a pharmacy brand and at 40% off - this deal really can't be beat.

I tried the moisturiser today and it was lovely. I can't believe I have never tried this before! Bonus - this product is non-comedogenic. I suffer from teenage and adult acne and have oily skin so for someone like me, this is perfect!

Last but not least, I got myself some sunscreen! The boyfie LOVES to go to the beach and we go through our stash so quickly.

Makeup

Shu Uemura Shu:Palette. If you have followed me for some time, you will know that Shu Uemura is one of my original loves and remains one of my favourite brands. I missed the Maison Kitsune release last year because I found it to be TOO colourful (as much as I like to think myself adventurous, I am not!). When I saw this palette I couldn't resist!

The only item I picked up in the Christmas 2015 release is the Guerlain Palette Ors Et Merveilles. It is an eye and blush palette with both eye and blush applicators. I can't wait to try this and show you :)

What palettes and/or skincare items have you picked up recently? Let me know in the comments below.

Lots of Love,

Cindy xx