SAX Eye Delight Eyeshadow Palette

The SAX website describes this as

"Perfect! Fresh, heavenly eyes can be achieved in minutes with sax’s “eye delight” eyeshadow palette. Contour, blend and highlight with silky smooth powders which glide effortlessly on to eyelids, for breathtaking beautiful eyes."

The packaging of the product is similar to NARS rubberized case. The best is that it comes with a huge mirror, a great bonus and perfect to do your makeup on go.

The colors are leaning towards neutral and they apply beautifully. I won't say much, but if you like neutrals and need to take one palette, this is your baby.

I have also posted an EOTD with this palette.

Availibitly : Terrywhite Pharmacy, Online
Price: RRP $19.95 AUD

Disclaimer: Product provided by PR for consideration, but it has no bearing on my views.

Chanel D'Ombre

Thanks to Jen from myfunnyvalentineblog I had a huge lemming for Chanel Illusion D'ombre. I so wanted this that I would have dreams of buying it. And I decided on the color based on a post about Frieda Pinto's makeup where the makeup artist had used Ebloui.
Do you see a pattern ? Reading fabulous blogs can be injurious to your wallet.

Now on to the actual product.

Packaging :

It comes packaged in a jar with a small slanted tip brush. The brush is quite handy and be actually used with the shadows.

 

Color : 

Its a deep burgundy color with multicolored shimmer particles in it. It reminded me of MAC Cranberry although with more brown in it.

Texture :

In the jar, it feels like sponge and when swatched its like a cream eyeshadow.

Performance:

I wore it both all over lid and as an eyeliner.
There was no creasing or flaking experienced even after 6 hours wear.

Would I Recommend It : Yes, definitely. If you want something easy to work with and do quick eye makeup, this is your product. The only sticking point is the price.


Availability : Myer, DJ, Chanel Boutique
RRP : $49 AUD

Update : Since I wrote this post as a draft couple of months ago, I have bought 2 more from this range. I will be posting swatches of them soon.

Face Of Australia : Barbados Collection

Face of Australia (FOA) can be trusted to bring fabulous makeup at very reasonable price. And with Barbados collection it has proved again.

Its a collection which FOA has come up with collaboration of MBBE (Melbourne Beauty Blogger Event). The collection has 8 nail paints and they are Toluene free, Formaldehyde free, Dibutyl Phthalate free.

I got a chance to try 4 nail paints from this collection. They were part of the goody bag from MBBE 2011. The formula is streak free and gives opacity in 2 coats except for Another Daiquiri Please.

Calypso Gold

 Its white with lots of gold shimmer in it.

Bright Lights, Pink City

Its pink with golden shimmer. I loved this so much that I was reluctant to remove it and swatch the remaining collection

Another Daquiri Please

This is a beautiful coral with gold shimmer. The only problem was the visible nail line after 2 coats

Lets Go Scuba Diving

Now, for me this is the winner of the collection. An awesome bluish green with loads of golden shimmer in it. I loved it so much that I wore it again on my wedding anniversary.
The collection is so pretty with great quality that I plan to get more once they hit the stores

Availability : Priceline, Big W
Price: $4.95 AUD

Disclaimer: Product was provided as part of MBBE 2011 goody bag, but it has no bearing on my views.

Review : Ciccone Cosmetics Lipsticks

I read great reviews about Ciccone Cosmetics lipsticks both over twitter and various blogs. This got me curious and I couldn't look past trying them.

Ciccone Cosmetics is an Australian company founded by Helen and Frank in 2001 . Their product range features 8 lipsticks and today I will present 4 of them.

What Company Says

Ciccone cosmetics offer lipsticks that are long lasting, feel weightless on application and glide smoothly with high coverage.

The lipsticks have a quick drying formula that maintain a durable film of color for several hours and will leave your lips feeling hydrated and fluffy

Color

The product range features 8 colors

• Rhea
• Hera
• Aphrodite
• Cupid
• Oceanus
• Apollo
• Voluptas
• Athena

Performance

They are super pigmented lipstick with a creamy formula. The finish is neither glossy nor matte. When I applied it, it felt creamy. Inspite of the creamy formula, it gives a good wear time and color payoff.

What I like about them

• The feeling of weightlessness on application
• The coverage, it took only one swipe to get max color
• The creamy formula
• The fact that it wasn't drying ( hello MAC Satin)
• It had a good a wear time
• Also, that one of them made me lose weight. Seriously when I wore Voluptas, the first comment I got was " Have you lost weight"

For once a company has described their product as they are.

What I didn't like about them

• The only thing I wished was if the color range was more extensive. I want more!!

Now to the swatches...

Would I recommend it : Yes, in fact I am going to get Oceanus next.

Availability: www.cicconecosmetics.com, Myer
Price: $25 AUD

Disclaimer : Product provided by PR for consideration, but it has no bearing on my views.

Yes, I am faking it

Yes, I am faking healthy skin and you ask why

• cause I am functioning on little sleep
• cause my skincare routine is all over the place
• cause my skin has developed a mind and mood of its own

And, my partner in crime is Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

What Company Website Says

Inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, Skin Base Foundation is a brand new, refined formula unlike anything on the UK market. Easily blendable, it effortlessly creates a perfect complexion, and like the entire Illamasqua foundation range, is undetectable in a professional HD environment. Suitable for all skin types, it smoothes, softens and conditions your skin whilst providing natural, buildable coverage.

Packaging

The foundation comes in a squeeze bottle packaging which releases just enough product to cover the entire face. Being a squeeze bottle means its hygienic and easy for carrying/using without fear of any germs or spillage. The packaging is also sleek enough to be tucked in handbag, to do touch ups if required

Color

It comes in over 12 shades and I was matched to No 12 , for reference I am NC42 in MAC Studio Fix

Performance

The first reaction which I got when I used SBF was "Your skin is looking healthy". This was real big since I had pregnancy pigmentation and dry skin.

I put it to test when I was moving house and wore it with my daily moisturizer. It gave me good coverage resulting in healthy looking skin and yet very natural. The foundation lasted me good 6 hours with no touch ups.

I applied it with my fingers and it has become my go to foundation with its stellar performance

What I Like About It :

• The fact that I fake healthy skin with it
• The coverage it had to offer.
• The staying power of SBF

What I Don't Like About It :

•   I can't think of anything which I don't like about this product

 Would I Recommend It : Of course yes

Availability : Illamasqua counter in Myer

Price : $66 AUD ( Approx)

Review : Australis Double Decker Eye Duo

What Company website says

Rich highly pigmented metallic eyeshadow cream and ethereal, multidimensional loose powder for luxe eye looks. Contains Beeswax that assists in conditioning the skin

Packaging

 As the evident from the product name the packaging consists of 2 decks with the bottom one screwed to the top section.

The top section contains the cream component of the duo while the bottom one has loose powder which works perfectly with the cream color

Color

The cream eyeshadow is a beautiful dark chocolate color with very fine copper shimmer.
The loose powder is copper bronze colored. When the cream eyeshadow and the powder are paired together they create a dark chocolate color with copper/bronze shimmer.

Cream + Powder        Powder       Cream

Performance

What a genius of product!! Seriously one product and you are able to create an easy but yet impressive eye look. It seems Australis has got a genius in their product ideas team. No more counter filled with endless eye shadows, pigments etc.just one item and you are done.

Now to actual performance, its very easy to use and apply and blends quite well.

The only negative which I observed was creasing, but I think if a good primer is used one can get more hours of wear without creasing.

I could get only 2 hours without creasing with MAC Paint Pot

What I like about it :

• Color Selection offered by Australis

• The concept of offering both cream and powder in one package

• Ease of use

What I don’t like                                                                  

The fact that I couldn’t get longer hours of wear without creasing

Would I recommend it : 

Even though with issues of creasing, I would recommend this, simply because its a good concept and easy to use when short on time.