January Ilovethisbox

So I never got around to doing a post on the December Ilovethisbox. Bad blogger, I know! But January's box arrived today, and I'm already all over it! The January box has an Australia theme going on, and to celebrate the fact that it's Australia day this month, they've put in all full size products!

I like the Australia theme idea, but the fact that they haven't put in all Australian products seems odd,  but anyway, here it is!

1. ILoveThisBox angular eyeshadow brush, $19.95: ILoveThisBox are creating their own line of make-up brushes, and this one and others will soon be available in their shop. I believe you can never have too many make-up brushes! I haven't got an angled eyeshadow brush, so I am glad to have this.

I like the fact that the handle is really long, (don't ask why, I just like that), and the bristles are very soft. But I think the bristles may almost be too soft, I don't think they would be too good at blending, but hey, that's what blending brushes are for, right? I'm also not sure that I would pay $20 for one eyeshadow brush, I mean if I was I would go all out and get MAC or Sigma or something, but it does feel like a good brush, so I will reserve final judgement on that until after I have used it a few times.

2. Linden Leaves aromatherapy synergy 'Absolute Dreams' body oil $24ish?: The boxes this month got different Linden Leaves products, I got this body oil. There is some kind of plant type thing inside the bottle. I don't know if it lavender or what,  but this intrigues me. This is meant to be used after showering in place of moisturizer. I don't know how I feel about body oils. I haven't liked them in the past. But if I ever get around to using this I will post back!

3. Olive by Langlois Flovoured Lip Balm $7.95: I have a bit of a lip balm obsession. My lips are prone to dryness and cracking, so I have a lip balm, (often several) on hand at all times. I can't be without, not being able to re-moisturize my lips when they start to dry is really uncomfortable for me!

The flavors that went into the boxes where: Vanilla, Musk, Lavender and Strawberry. I got vanilla. It smells nice, and goes on very smooth. It's quite balmy, but doesn't feel thick on the lips. I feel like it's going to sink in and wear away very quickly, but it remains fairly moisturizing, probably not enough for those with VERY dry lips though. For anyone who has the Simply Organic lip balm from last months box, I prefer this one. I have alot of lip balms, and I think this one will be going into regular rotation for a while.

4. Revlon Nail Polish $13.95: I saw on another blog the other day that they got a dust pink kind of colour in their box. Secretly I was hoping I didn't get this colour as it didn't seem very appealing. I was really happy when I opened the box the see that I got RED! Yay! I like red nail polish. Alot. Any kind of red won't really disappoint me. Number 740, Get Reddy, is your standard medium red colour, but with gold shimmer! That's why I was happy to get this, I already have plain reds, this is a bit more interesting. I'm sure it's not the only similar kind of colour out there, But I haven't got anything like this, so I am glad to have it. I'll have a review on this up soon.

5. Revlon Luxurious Colour Eyeliner $23.95: I have to say I don't really use eyeliner pencils anymore, they don't usually work for me. But I will try to make an exception for this one. The colour I got is Burnished Amber, which is pretty much a medium brown, although upon close inspection, it seems that this also has some goldish shimmer in it! I'm kind of glad I didn't get black, I need to experiment more with natural/brown/gold colours as this is just what colours work best with blue eyes. This pencil also has a smudge tip on the other end, based on other eye pencils with smudge tip ends this may or may not be useful, we shall see.

So thats the January ILoveThisBox! Great products, and definitely worth the $15 dollars a month!

Ozotic Elytra #530 nail polish

Just a quick post on the Ozotic nail polish that came in my December Bellabox, complete with admittedly very dodgy application and photographing.

Firstly, I would like to say that the application of this is really really good. It goes on smoothly, and builds up really well. It has a nice glossy finish, even with all the glitter in it. It's a bit of a pain to remove, but thats just what glitter is like, isn't it?

This is basically a clear polish that has glitter in it, glitter that shifts colour as the light hits it, from orange to purple to green. Even though it's meant to be worn over black polish, I have gone ahead and swatched it by itself.

The picture above is 1 coat. See how it is nice and glossy even though it is a glitter?

This pic is 2 coats on the left and middle finger, and 3 coats on the right. Like I said, it builds up nice and evenly, with a good distribution of glitter. The colours do shift in the light, and are really pretty, but very hard to photograph.

Now onto the black polish! This is 2 thick coats of the Ozotic over 2 coats of Ulta3's Black Satin. The glitter shows up really nicely over the black polish. Although it's mostly the orange/goldish tones that are showing up in these pics, the other colours are there as the light hits the nails at different angles.

So my final verdict is that this polish wins for both formula and colour. For those people who really like this or who really love their glitter, Ozotic does have two other colour shifting glitter polishes in the Elytra collection.

You've Got Nail has a great post of all 3 polishes HERE, with much better pics of this one. I love the look of #529, it looks like the galaxy!

BellaBox December

Does everyone know what BellaBox is? For those who don't, it's pretty much a subscription service where, for $15 a month, you get sent a monthly package that contains 4-5 beauty/make-up samples, (some full size items).

Since I have a great love of getting to play with random beauty items, I have signed up to the BellaBox, as well as another pretty much identical service called Lusthaveit. So, without further ado, here is the contents of the December BellaBox.

First thing I have to say is that the packaging is really cute! Nearly worth having just for the box!

I haven't tried any of these things yet. (only opened the box tonight!), so I will do proper product reviews when I use them. I will list each of the products in the box, along with the cost of the full size products.

1- Ozotic Elytra nail polish #530, $14.95: This is a full size polish. It's a really interesting glitter that manages to be gold, pink and purple all at the same time. It was a little difficult to photograph this! The description with the box says this is best worn over a black base coat. I'm looking forward to having the chance to wear this, no nail polish allowed at my work :(

2- One pair Eylure Naturalite Intense Lash false eyelashes ($11.95): I'm pretty glad to have a pair of false eyelashes, it's only recently that I've decided maybe this is another thing I need to add to my routine, (I really need to stop having these sorts of thoughts).

3- 3x 3ml Phytomer Souffle Marin Energizing Oxygenating Serum, ($63.00): There are 3 small samples of this stuff. Apparently this helps the skin better defend, oxygenate and regenerate itself.

4- 3ml Elemis Pro Collagen Quartz Lift Mask ($117.00): It says the mask is an at home facial that works to instantly uplift the skin. I think some boxes got an Enzyme Peel instead.

Those last two products are pretty expensive, so I'm keen to use them, I very rarely use really expensive skin care.

5- Savoir Faire Concealer Pack, ($35): This look like a really interesting (full sized I think) product. The top part has 2 shades of concealer, and the screw off section on the bottom has a finishing powder. I suspect that even the lighter shade may be too dark for me (without fake tan at least), but I like the look of this! I will do another post when I have used it.

So, thats everything in the December BellaBox! I'm really happy with this stuff, and the things are easily worth the $15 price of it. So if anyone is wondering if they should sign up, I think you should!

Australis Liptricks & Lip Travel Case gift sets

You know one of the best things about Christmas? Make-Up gift sets! Now, I could buy these as presents for other people, or know, just for myself. I saw these in Target today, and since they were REALLY cheap, couldn't resist getting them!

So, first one is the Liptricks one, which is essentially 8 of the Colour Inject Mineral Lipsticks in pan form, in a palette.

This was taken with flash, but is actually quite close the actual product.

Most of these shades are currently available as full sized lipsticks, which cost $12.95 each. This palette is only $10! So even though there is a fairly small amount of each product, this really is cheap. Now, I haven't used any of the Colour Inject lipsticks before, so am not sure if this is the exact same formula, in pan form, or if it is slightly different. They do feel more like thick lip gloss/balms, but each shade does look the same as their tube counterparts, albeit a little more creamy looking in the pan.

It does take a little bit of effort to get a good colour payoff from these, but the pigmentation is there. The palette does come with a double sided lip brush. It, well...it gets the product from A to B. But you could easily fit a different lip brush in there. I just used my fingers for the swatches. All in all, this is a really good lip palette for only $10!

The next one is the Lip Travel Case. This is 5 mini sized Colour Inject Mineral Lip glosses. This actually has individual mini tubes, unlike the palette form of the Liptricks.

The shades are: (Left to Right) Lambada, Contemporary, Bellydance, Jazz, and Bollywood. These are also available as full sized tubes, for around the same price of the lipsticks. The shelf price of this was also $10, but the sticker price was only $6.83, so even though these are only tiny 3ml tubes, it's a total bargain!

So my final verdict on these is they are pretty awesome! Especially the fact that they are actually the same shades from their current line up of products, as opposed to random cheapos. So anyone who like the Australis Colour Inject range, or wants to try a lot of the shades for cheap, should get these!

Outfit Post: Lace Bodysuit

And the Black Milk love continues! This is the Lace Spartan bodysuit, with the Supre mullet skirt and aforementioned and super awesome Jeffrey Campbell Back Off boots.

I have decided, that I really need to stop spending money! Well, not entirely because that would never work, but I need to starting increasing my savings again. I'm having a serious case of Deja Vu right now, have I said these exact same things before?

Outfit Post: Booty shorts leggings!

Newest Black Milk order has arrived, yay! These are the Sheer Bootleg leggings. They are quite awesome! They're like leggings and hot pants combined. The other thing that finally arrived is my Lita Spikes! About 2 months after pre-ordering them, they are mine!!

These are leggings that definitely need a long top with them, well outside of nightclubs at least. The sheer blouse I'm wearing I bought from Supre today, mostly with the intention of pairing it with Black Milk leggings. And it was only $30!

I don't really have much else to say right now.

But more posts tomorrow :)

Outfit Post: One Of These Days...

One of these days, I'm totally going to wear this somewhere. I was just chillin and looking through my wardrobe when I came up with this. I wish crop tops would become 'cool' again this summer, I need to get more of them, I am starting to see alot of sheer tops I want.

Anyway, so here I am wearing my super beloved leather jacket from Azuki, (this is seriously the most worn piece in my wardrobe), a black crop top from Ice, the aforementioned and much loved Jeffrey Campbell 'Back Off' boots, and the Supre 'Mullet Skirt'. I don't know if it is actually called the Mullet Skirt, but I feel the name is fitting, you know, short at the front and long at the back?

And you know what? I'm not wearing anything from Black Milk! Usually all my decent looks feature pieces from them. Speaking of Black Milk though, I got 3 things from the new collection, so there will definitely more Black Milk posts to come!

FOTD: Again with the winged eyeliner.

So I really think that I am developing a 'thing' with winged eyeliner.

My Cherry Culture package FINALLY came today! Perfect timing, as I was feeling quite sorry for myself until that point. But I am happy now :)

I can't really be bothered doing a proper haul post, but what I got was:

2 L.A Girls felt tip eyeliner pens, a thin one and a thick one.
2 Jordana Matte Red lipsticks
An Amuse light pink Matte Lipstick
NYX light pink lipgloss
Amuse supposedly plumping but not really lipgloss

Yes, I am fake tanned. Yes, I pull ridiculous faces when I attempt to photography myself. Yes, those annoying lines on my forehead make me look old.

I did the eyes with the 2 eyeliner pens, with some black eyeshadow over the top to set. Lips are the aforementioned supposedly plumping but not really Amuse lipgloss. I originally did this look with bright pink Barbie lips, but I have to work tonight and theoretically my make-up can only be natural. Ha.

I am wearing the Garnier BB cream again. Still not sure if I like it. It looks pretty eh in these photos. I have to powder over the top to combat the grease factor, and I think it kind of ruins it.

FOTD: Red Lips and Attempted Winged Eyeliner

Have I ever done a FOTD post on here? I don't think I have! Today I somehow found the motivation to organize my make-up collection. Since I don't study anymore, I have decided to turn my desk into my little make-up area. I will put up pics when I finish decorating it.

In the process of this, I decided to attempt to do winged liquid eyeliner. Winged eyeliner is something I have been wanting to be able to do, but have never gotten around to attempting. It's hard, ok! I also put on a red lipstck, because, you know, red lips and winged eyeliner is a ridiculously awesome combination.

What I nearly forgot to mention is that I am also wearing the Garnier BB Cream in Medium. Coverage is ok I guess, for what is essentially just a tinted moisturizer. The only thing is that it makes my skin super shiny and greasy looking.

I have impulsively booked myself in at THD tomorrow for a cut, toner and treatment. My hair is super fried, it's absolutely horrendous how long it's been since my last cut. I should really take better care of it, I believe strongly that crap hair can ruin even the most otherwise fabulous of looks.

Outfit Post: Black Milk + Jeffrey Campbell, no better combination.

So, my obsession with the JC Back Off's continues, and probably will for some time, because these boots are, you know, AWESOME!

But seriously now, they are surprisingly versatile. I am wearing my Black Milk Burned Velvet leggings, I am starting to like these more and more, even though they are not as super bright and attention seeking as the others.

I am slowly starting to compile quite the BM collection. Guess what the awesome customer service girls found for me the other day? GAMER DRESS!! I have been obsessing over this for a while, kicking myself for not getting it when they were for sale!

Also need to save some moneys for the November collection. Why is it that every time I do an outfit related post it turns into some spiel about how much I love Black Milk?

Chi Chi Viva La Diva Matte Lipstick in Bimbo

I have never used anything by Chi Chi before. I have wanted to though, I've just, you know, never really gotten around to it. I have had my eye on their matte red lippie Exhibitionist for a while, but could always find better things to spend $17 on. But since Target is having 25% off all skincare and cosmetics, (if you haven't yet, go!), I decided it was time! But upon swatching Exhorbitionist, I realized it was much darker than it appeared in the tube, and decided against it.

I looked at the others, swatched Bimbo, and BAM!, there it was! A super bright, matte pink lipstick!

I like bright lipsticks, but they have to be matte. Bright lipstick with shimmer, or frost, or sparkle is just to much for me!

Without further ado, I present the pictures:

First thing, the packaging is awesome! I've never paid much attention to lipstick packaging before, but this is so damn cute, I really think it makes a difference somehow.

It's probably a bit brighter than it appears in the pics, we can blame my shoddy photography skills for that. It goes on smoothly, definitely isn't much dryer to apply than most creamy lipsticks I've used. It's quite pigmented, only a couple of swipes and it's very intense. And bright! 

Excuse the dry lips

It is a bit messy to apply, I can't get it super perfect straight out of the tube. It feels quite comfortable on the lips, and lasts as well as most decent lipsticks do. It does seem to come off on glasses though, that being said my application wasn't done as well as I would have if I were wearing it out of the house for a long time.

I will probably by more of these, there were quite a few other colours that I liked the look of! And they all have such delightfully sleazy names, like, Please Tease and Cradle Snatcher.

In non lipstick related news, MY HAIR IS PURPLE!! I have some small patches of hair that are quite porous from being over bleached, but I've never had an issue. I used the Lee Stafford purple shampoo to help keep the colour clean and it's stained it! I hope it washes out.

With the bright pink lips and blonde purple patched hair, I feel like my long suffering childhood Barbie Doll that I attacked with hair mascara, (back in the days when that was an actual product).

Designer Brands cosmetics = surprising awesomeness!

I have, quite recently in fact, collected this little stash of Designer Brands cosmetics. I knew about the brand, but am not overly familiar. Basically their 'thing' is claiming to be of identical quality to high end cosmetics, at a fraction of the price.

Now, I should probably explain how I ended up with all these. Aussie readers will be familiar with a store called Chemist Warehouse? Well, basically they are a discount pharmacy. I was buying some stuff, and they had alot of DB things on sale for about $2-3 each. I impulse bought a mascara, was super impressed, so the next time I was there I got more things. And then more the next time. And again. And that's the story of how I got all these DB things!

All these items were bought for about $2-3 each, but I believe the regular retail is about $6-7 for most these, so it's a pretty cheap brand! But, like I have mentioned before, I love cheap brands that turn out to be good!

And this is good stuff.

Firstly, a list of what I have here, starting at the ones standing up at the back, from left to right:

1. Lavish Lip Gloss, in Strawberry Sorbet

2. Moisturizing Lipstick in Magenta Magic

3. Moisturizing Lipstick in Fire Red

4. Beyond Amplifying Mascara in Blackest Black

5. Fine Eyeliner in Black

6. Eyeshadow in Opal

7. Eyeshadow in Bronze

The pencils below are,

8. Lip Liner in Fire Red

9. Kohl Eyeliner in Gold

To the left of those,

10. Fruity Lips Lipgloss in Watermelon

11. Fruity Lips Lipgloss in Red Holographic

And lucky last at the bottom,

12. Powder Blush in Barely Blush

Now, onto the swatches!

In shade

In Sun

Ok, on my hand we have the 2 eyeshadow pots in the middle. I don't use loose eyeshadow alot, but these are nice colours, and quite build-able. The Opal disappears a bit when blended alot though, and the Bronze does look like a bit of a dirt smudge, but they are really nice when layered a few times.

The the left is the Gold Kohl, this is pretty smooth for an eye pencil, and this is coming from someone who HATES eye pencils! I found this to work well, but perhaps the Gold is too yellow for my skin, I imagine getting much more use out of the Bronze shadow. 

To the right of the Opal shadow, is the Blush. Now, I know you can't see it, but it's there! Barely Blush indeed. I don't use blush, but I may be coming around to the idea. I bought this thinking I could use it for contouring, but it's a little on the pink side. And not very visible.

The top two colours are the lipsticks, and I have to say I really like these. Not too much sheen, and apply well straight out of the tube. They do smudge easily though. 

Below that, the red one is the lipliner that I assume is matched for the red lipstick, because they are both called Fire Red. The liner is a bit darker than the lipstick, but when put on together you can barely tell. The liner is smooth to apply and works just as well as any other I've tried. 

Next to that is the Lavish Lipgloss. This is another good one, very shiny, not sticky and good pigmentation. I have not swatched the other two lip-glosses in the squeeze tubes, as they are mostly clear and only contain very subtle hints of their respective colours. The stick one is better by far.

And, surrounding these is the liquid eyeliner. I have not yet mastered the art of liquid liner, but I have found this to be good, and managed to put it on with out too many smudging dramas.

The mascara is the biggest winner here, I will have to dedicate an entire post to fully portray the awesomeness! 

So thats that, I have to urge to buy even more of this brand, for a cheepie it's very good! All of this was on sale though, I'm not sure if I would pay full retail for some of these items. I also remember testing one of the liquid foundations and it was a bit weird...not sure if I should try it or not.

Outfit Post: My JC Back Off's have arrived...yay!!

Finally! The long awaited day, I have received my Jeffrey Campbell Back Off boots from Solestruck. They are awesome! I will do a better post a little later on, but in short they fit well and are quite comfortable.

It has recently come to my attention that In really need to commit to some sort of fake tanning routine, because my pale skin just doesn't like me. Blotchy much! So I will report back when I have found a good one.

Anyway, thats all for now, but I do have some more posts coming soon!

Outfit Post: I'm sleepy and feel like crap.

Not feeling too good today. I'm really, really ridiculously tired for some reason. I just want to sleep. I hate that feeling. I went to the city in the hope that a walk would make me feel better, but it did not!

It has been a crappy couple of days, someone in my family is not doing too good.

Anyway, here I am wearing the T by Bettina Liano dress I blogged about a while ago, one of my most recent Black Milk additions, the Wet Look leggings, and some grey wedges by some weird brand that I got on sale from Myer.

Shameless Ebay Plug: My stash of random beauty products.

I was searching for stuff to ebay today, and came across a rather huge stash of beauty products I haven't been using. Since I am forever complaining that I don't have enough bathroom counter space, I decided to ebay them and make a couple of dollars, which will no doubt be spent on more products (and the vicious cycle begins again).

For any interested person, linkage HERE

I will also be putting up some clothes and maybe some other stuff a little later on.