Benefit Erase Paste

I am determined this year to find a concealer that works well for me. After years of staring at erase paste in stores and hearing people talk about it, I decided to finally give it a try for myself. I went for shade 1 fair. It is a peachy pink undertone to help combat dark under eye areas and brighten the skin. 

Its a thick consistency and is best applied with fingers ive found, to warm it up and pat into place. It does crease a bit, but in all honestly ive never found a product that didnt and ive come to the conclusion that my round eye shape will always cause this. Annoying, but id rather have to pat my under eye a few times then look like ive been given a black eye with no concealer at all. I think setting it with a powder would probably be best. A little goes a long way. If too much is applied, its crease central under your eyes. Not pretty. 

So far ive been liking the coverage of this a lot, but im not convinced its the best thing out there. Im also interested in trying bobbi browns corrector and concealer in the future. Have you tried this and what do you think of it?

Nars Sin Blush

     My first Nars blush and im extremely excited about it. Ive been interested in sin for a while now. Its a beautiful colour for this time of year, a deep berry shade with a slight gold shimmer, which is subtle. The pigmentation of this is great. When I first went to use it I applied way too much, so using a light hand is recommended. 

  The colour is unlike anything I have, and I love the way it looks on my pale skin. I think this is a really nice shade and think I will get a lot of use out of it. Definitely recommend, and I cant wait to try more shades from Nars when I feel like treating myself to a $30 blush.

Favourite Face Products of 2012

Revlon Photoready in Vanilla

Korres Vitamin E Primer

Marcelle BB ream in light to medium

  Revlon Photoready has been my favourite foundation of the few ive tried to date. It looks natural on the skin and the shade vanilla matches me perfectly, which doesnt happen often. I personally dont notice any of the shimmer that people claim to, nor have I been told that I look like a disco ball, so this is a good sign. 

  Korres Vitamin E primer was the first primer I had ever used, so I didnt have anything to compare it to. I dont really feel the need for primers as I dont require a lot of coverage from my makeup that if it wears throughout the day, im usually not too bothered. But on long days, or if im going out after work and dont want to touch my makeup up, I opt for this. 

    Marcelles BB Cream is something I enjoyed using in the summer. Its light and doesnt require a lot of fuss. It leaves a natural look to the skin and is supposed to enhance the skin in many ways. I keep this in my makeup bag so if im staying somewhere and need a bit of coverage, this comes in handy and doesnt weigh my bag down.

   I havent found a concealer that I fell in love with yet, hopefully 2013 will be a better year for fighting my dark under eye circles. 

Song of the Week: Soon Enough

Favourite Blushes in 2012

 Wet n Wild Colour Icon in Pearlescent Pink

Mac Mocha (matte)

Annabelle Rosewood

   Keeping up with my 2012 favourites, today is my fav blushes. I have three, and they may all look basically the same colour. My go to blush colours are berry, pinky peachy toned. Im not going to talk a whole lot about these as ive done separate reviews on all of them already.

   Pearlescent Pink is lovely for spring/summer as its a peachy pink with gold flecks. When the sun reflects, it shows the gorgeous shimmer and gives a nice glow.

   Mocha is an all around great colour for any time. Its a soft berry pink that adds a little bit of colour to the cheeks. Ive worn this a good chunk of the year and think most people would like it/suit it.

   Rosewood a gorgeous coraly pink berry shade (can you tell im not good at describing colours?). Ive been wearing this a lot the last few months of the year. I think its great for winter as it gives a nice pop of colour to the cheeks, which is a must for my pale, dull winter skin. 

Favourite lips of 2012

 Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Charm

Mac Lipstick in Hug Me

Revlon Lipbutter in Creme Brulee

 Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey

Im always drawn to bright, pretty lip colours but in all honestly I do not have the confidence to pull off such bold colours (boo). My go to colours seem to be ones that are close to my natural lip colour and arent very 'in your face'. These are been my 4 most worn and loved for just that reason. 

Revlons Charm is a peachy nude, that when on the lips ( or mine at least) it gives a nice peachy coral tint. Its not highly pigmented, but thats what I like. If it gave me orange lips, id never feel like I could pull it off and it would sit in my drawer with the other bold colours im afraid to go near. 

Macs Hug Me is a new fav. I bought this online and went of swatches so I wasnt really sure how id like it or what it was really going to end up looking like. It looks like it would be a dark colour but actually is basically the same colour as my lips. Its perfect for everyday wear because it perks up my face without even looking like im really wearing anything on the lips. Good for those lazy days when I dont want to wear eye liner or even feel like wearing makeup at all. 

Creme Brulee has been a favourite since '11, when everyone was obsessed with lip butters and needed every one of the 20 or so shades. I have 5 and this has always been my most worn. Its a perfect nude- it doesnt make you look dead, it doesnt dry out your lips because its a lip butter and its not a harsh shade on pale skin. 

Honey is the only shade thats a bit more of an actual colour. It again isnt bold and out there, its a mauvey pink that is great for this time of year. Its not a colour that I think could look bad on anyone. My only complaint is that sometimes the 'stain' can make my lips look like they do after youve drank fruit juice or something. But regardless its a nice colour.

Im hoping 2013 will be the year I venture into more colour and actually wear those reds and raspberry colours out of the house.

Song of the Week: Been Better

Been Better // Kyla La Grange 

Favourite Scents of 2012

 
This was the year I got into perfumes. I never really was interested in anything but a body spray before as a lot of scents tended to give me a headache, smelt too strong or just plain werent my taste. But my favourite of the year was Taylor Swifts Wonderstruck. Its a beautiful warm, fruity smell (my fav) that ive recieved many compliments on for being a nice scent but not overpowering.
 
    I still wear this one almost every day, but another one I enjoyed using was Viktor and Rolfs Flowerbomb. This one is different to the usual scents I go for, being more floral. I actually picked this one up on a whim, intending to purchase a Marc Jacobs perfume that day. The bottle is beautiful, and the scent is nice but to me is something more for going out or to wear in the evening as its a little more of a sexy scent compared to wonderstruck.

    I hope to grow my perfume collection this year- ive been eyeing up Marc Jacobs Dot for some time now and think that will be my next addition to my scent collection. What were your fav scents of the year and what would you recommend?

Daily Winter Face

La Roche Posay Hydreane Legere Korres Vitamin E Face PrimerRevlon Photoready in vanillaMaybelline Mineral Powder concealer

   During the winter, my skin gets dry and has flaky patches on my forehead and around my hair line and cheeks. Wearing makeup becomes difficult because I find that some foundations accentuate this and make me look cakey and dull. This has become my go to daily winter face.

   Hydreane Legere is great as a makeup base because its light and sinks in quite quickly, which is a must for me as im always rushing to get ready in the morning and do not have time to wait half an hour before applying my foundation. Next up is a primer. Ive been using Korres Vitamin E, which works well at keeping my makeup on and looking fresh. As for foundation, ive returned to my love, Revlon Photoready. I was using Colourstay for a while but I found it didnt look right on my dry skin and was also too pink for me. I love that this gives a natural look to the skin-I know some people hate the sparkle but I honestly cant tell on the skin. The colour is a perfect match aswell, which is always a plus. For concealer, ive been finising up the Maybelline Mineral Power. It gives decent coverage and is a good colour match, but like most concealers it does crease under my eyes due to my round eyeshape. Ive grown to accept that no matter what I use, I will probably always have this problem. Not a big deal, but it can be a pain in the you know what every now and then to have to pat under your eyes throughout the day.

   Overall, ive found that these together have been giving me a nice natural look to my skin which is a must for me. Id love to try more foundations and see how they work with my dry winter skin, so any recommendations are always welcome.

Song of the Week: Breathing Underwater

Breathing Underwater // Metric

Mac Frankly Scarlet

I get really lazy with my makeup on a day to day basis and tend to go for the same eyeshadows, etc. Blushes are one thing I like to change up a bit depending on the weather, how im feeling that day, so on. I got this colour because it was very different from anything I own. It doesnt show true to colour in the photo as it was impossible to capture, but frankly scarlet is a bright red. It appears like a terrifying colour in the pan, but with a light hand it gives a nice pop of colour on my pale skin. Great for this time of year to warm up a dull, pale complexion. Im sure this would look great on darker skins and be a little easier to wear. If you love blush and arent afraid of a bold colour, this one id great.

Matrix Biolage Exquisite Oil Replenishing Treatment

Over the past year or more I have been trying out many different hair oils. Today im going to let you know about a fairly new one thats come out from biolage. Containing a blend of moringa, macademia and argan oil, this treatment can be used in a variety of ways to leave the hair soft, smooth, shiny and manageable.

Applying prior to shampooing and massaging into the scalp can aid as a smoothing treatment, or left on overnight as a deeper treatment. It can also be added to conditioner for added softness or just applied to damp hair for immediate results. Ive only tried this in damp hair and then styled as usual or left to air dry, using about 2 pumps. It does so as it says; my hair was soft to the touch and shiny. Ive used this in clients hair and theyve mentioned how soft their hair felt. While I dont think this is the best oil ive tried, it is one of the better ones I have used and if you were looking for an oil, this is one id look out for.