In Theory It Works...

In reality, not so much.

I am today reviewing a few products I picked up in Australia last time I was there.

The situation was thus; I was in Melbourne City (Bourke St). I had $15 (having already bought Cunning lipstick from the Fabulous Felines Collection). I was depressed because I couldn't find anything else I wanted to buy, nor could I afford it. I somehow found myself at a Priceline Pharmacy, and wandered inside. This Pharmacy had a very impressive range of makeup lines, some of which I had never heard of before.

The lucky winner which caught my eye was "Beauty Style". They had these:

DIY quads. I thought, "This is fantastic! I'll get some neat colours and have a little quad I can carry around with me when I go out! This is so cute, and only a fraction of the price of a M.A.C one!" Colours (clockwise);Saddle Brown, Eggshell, Sepia and Deep Pink

And this was true, each shadow only cost AUD$4 and the palette was AUD$5. And the pans are much bigger than M.A.C pans, great value right?

No. Not really. The shadows are not very pigmented, not very smooth and not very nice. The quality of the packaging also feels cheap. I really do not reccomend this brand for the seroius make up enthusiast, however, maybe for someone young (younger than me anyway) or someone who doesn't want to fluff around with makeup every morning like I do (i.e. someone who likes to be on time) it could be a welcome addition.

The only saving grace for this palette is that it has a great big mirror inside which i use daily to do my makeup, and the yellow shade (Eggshell) makes a nice cheek highlight.

I also picked up a lip gloss in the colour Blueberry Pie, which is actually green with blue and purple glitters. To my delight this smelt and tasted really great. Not exactly an event gloss or one for a fashion show, it's pretty stringy and thick, but an easy one to keep reapplying during the day.

This brand was pretty much what I expected it to be, cheap and cheerful, but a little disappointing.

A night out

A night out by jordyella featuring gladiator sandals shoes

Thank God for Polyvore, its just like shopping but without spending any money. And without coming home with bags full of exciting stuff. And that exciting feeling of going through everything you just bought and trying it on .

It kinda sucks actually

Product Review - NYX Eyeshadows

NYX is an incredibly difficult brand to get a hold of in this country. I've come across two pharmacies that stock it, and only in an extremely limited range. We get about 5 shades of eyeshadows, 5 Eyeshadow trios and a couple of lipsticks and glosses.

I decided that I needed the Pearl Pigment in Rust as a dupe for M.A.C's Cranberry Eyeshadow, so I ordered that off eBay. It was a pretty good price, around NZD$7.

I am not exactly experienced at working with loose eyeshadows, so several parts of my carpet are coated in a lovely shimmery rust pigment. Luckily my carpet is bright RED. I do like it though, its a really nice colour. Most people would probably not really consider this as an all over lid colour, but I have found myself reaching for it over and over to dust on with mascara and liner and thats my look for the day. I feel like its a great colour to emphasise my green eyes.

A swatch for ye...

In Australia, at a DFO in South Wharf (Melbourne) I also came across a huge stand of NYX Cosmetics and nearly wee'd myself. So much shiny! I would have love love loved! to get one of everything, but as it was a treat from my mumma I couldn't go too wild. I did however snag two of the square eyeshadows; Iced Mocha (#11)

and Red Bean Pie (#125)
Some swatches of those for ye...

Left is Red Bean Pie and Right is Iced Mocha.

I really like these two colours as well. They both have quite alot of multifaceted glitter/shimmer particles to them. Red Bean Pie is a really dark purple with a tiny hint of grey or silver undertones. It is far darker and more pigmented than the only purple M.A.C shadow I have, Nocturnelle. Iced Mocha is a really cool grey brown with a hint of gold, equally as pigmented as the others, and can be worn either dark or as a light wash.

In my experience, these shadows are as good as I imagined they would be. The glitter kinda gets on my nerves, I really perfer Mattes, but most people would consider it quite lovely for everyday wear. I have also found that the shadows are a bit soft, and tend to have a bit of fallout, especially the loose pigment (how extraordainary!), but still really well pigmented. Im impressed! And slightly disappoined since I wont be getting any more for a while. Oh, I also found the shadows tended to crease over time, but I don't wear any kind of primer/base except foundation so i dont mind too much. Overall, well done me for grabbing these while I had the chance.

EDIT: Both of these crumbled from being bashed around in my makeup kit, hence the rather ugly nature of Red Bean Pie