MUA Haul

I have been very bad with updating my blog. I started a new, full time position for the first time a few weeks ago and I've been so busy with it since then that I only find the time to blog sporadically! Working is great - means I am keeping busy, and it also means that my budget has increased considerably. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to go spending it so I do a lot of online shopping - I've actually got boxes of makeup and other things that I buy online that I haven't even had the time to open up, let alone review!

Onto the haul products! MUA had a 50% off sale with free shipping, and clearly I couldn't resist! There was actually a lot more products in my cart but by the time I got home from work and got the page loaded, half the things were sold out (mostly the brushes nooo). I find that MUA products are quite decent, especially for the price you pay for these things. With the discount I think I paid an average of $1.50 per product! Not bad huh?

To be honest, I haven't had the time to try out all the eyeshadow colours, but I have used the primer, lip balm and blushes a lot and I really love the blushes! They are very pigmented and worked out to be 75 cents! How crazy is that. I also got lip liners - something I've never used before but I figured why not try it? They are very smooth and easy to work with, and last quite long. The mosaic bronzer is also quite good, but nothing beats my ultimate favourite Benefit Hoola bronzer :P

Anyways, just wanted to share my MUA products, and hopefully I will have the time to do a more detailed review (with more pictures!) soon!

Priceline Hair Goody Bag!

Just a quick post about the promotion priceline is doing at the moment! If you spend $50 on hair products, you get a goody bag worth $190! I love it when they do these kinds of promotion. It's on til Feb 25th, so get on it! I just went and bought $50 worth of shampoo and conditioner, because you always need shampoo right?! HAHA The most exciting thing in that bag for me was the Argan oil! YAY I finially get to try it. The worse thing about that bag was that my Lee Stafford heat protection mist leaked all over my bag :( I'm so excited to try out all the prodcuts I don't even know where to start!!!

Valentine's Day Swap!

I participated in my first swap hosted by the lovely Jasmine! Thank you Jasmine for organising this swap, and a big thanks to my awesome swap partner, Amber! Amber was the perfect swap partner, and made the entire experience so enjoyable.. she spoilt me heaps too! Without further ado, lets look at all the goodies I received! :)

Everything was in this silver parcel box, and packaged so nicely! Auspost decided to seal off the entire box with the "Auspost Repaired" sticky tape, and it made it such a struggle to tear it open :P 

Throughout the swap, we had a few chats about our likes and dislikes, and Amber really listened to me! I told her the products I prefer to use, and since I don't have much on my wishlist right now, I asked her to surprise me with the things she loved, and everything she got me was perfect! She even wrote these cute little notes explaining why she loved the products so much! 

NAILS:

Loreal Color Riche in Monaco Roses and Perle de Jade

The first thing I happened to pull out of the parcel were these gorgeous nail polishes!l I think she read my mind! I actually saw the stand for this range of nail polishes in priceline, however, it was empty, and I have been searching for these nail polishes for ages! I love the formula and especially love the colours! I couldn't decide which one I loved more so I tried them both out! :)

FACE:

Scentio Raspberry Yoghurt Pack and Honey Facial Mask

One of the things I absolutely love is face masks, and now I have new face masks to play with! YAY :) Amber told me that she first heard of this brand when she went to Thailand, and I'm so glad she included these, because I love trying out new face masks (and I always think Asian face masks are better hehe)! Cannot wait to try these out! The raspberry yoghurt pack is a gel-like face mask with little beads that promise to be moisturising, nourishing and a skin refiner. The honey mask is a super thick cream hydrates the skin! So super excited to try these out :)

Target Naturals Toner

Amber says that this toner is one of her favourites, and so I'm very keen to try it out! I have about a quarter of a bottle left of my toner, so I will start using it as soon as mine runs out :)

EYES:

Essence Get BIG Lashes

I've actually never tried many essence products, but have seen plenty of positive reviews about this brand! This mascara tube is very thick and the wand reminds me of the Maybelline Colossal Mascara!

Rimmel Scandaleyes in Sparkling Black

This product was actually on my to-buy list, since I've seen a few reviews that rave about this product. I love Rimmel eyeliners, and have used the Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Pencil since forever! I can't wait to try this out next time I go out!

Essence Cherry Blossom Girl Eyeliner

I wanted to get something from this range since I saw it in everyones blog posts! I'm so glad she got me the eye liner, and I love the concept of having a thick and thin pen tip. So far, I find this eyeliner to be super pigmented and smudge proof! Not sure about the lasting power, but judging from the swatch I drew on my hand, I think its safe to say that this baby will last all night!

Essence Eyeshadow in Party All Night

Yay for gold eye shadow. Of all the colour eye shadows that she could have gotten me, Amber chose the one colour I don't own! This shadow is super pigmented and sparkly, and I can see why everyone raves about Essence!

LIPS:

I told Amber that the one thing I love most is lip products, and she spoiled me with SIX lip products!

Kate Lipstick in Rosette

This is the perfect matte pink for me! I am in love (I feel like I've said that so much during this post that it's lost its meaning :S ...but its true love I promise). Perfect pout for going out with the girls!

Loreal Studio Secrets in Nude

This is a lovely nude lipstick, with just a hint of a shimmer. Great for everyday!!

Essence Stay with me Lipgloss

I love lipglosses, and this one is no exception! I love that Amber got me the pinks and nudes, since that is what I've been reaching for everyday these past few months! :)

Essence in All About Cupcake

Ok, I will admit that when I first heard about this lipstick I thought this looked rather drab... it wasn't until I tried it and found that I was proven wrong, because this lipstick gives such a gorgeous, natural pink! I actually already have this lipstick, but now I can carry one with me without the fear of losing it (do you know how hard it is to find this colour?!) I can't get over how lovely this shade is when it is on! 

Hehe couldn't help but swatch the essence All About Cupcake - how pretty is that colour!?

Babylips ♥ Color in Pink Lolita and Berry Crush

I didn't even know the tinted babylips were out in Australia already (shame on me, right?) Haha I loved the babylips range, and I'm sure I'll love these even more! 

I got so ridiculously spoilt by Amber, and I'm so glad she was my partner in my first swap! She made my experience so enjoyable and fun, and I can't wait to participate in more swaps in the future! Make sure to check out her post about what I got her here! :)

January Lust Have It

I finally received my LHI today! YAY :)
I can never resist checking out what other people got, and unfortunately, I got the worse box (in my opinion) combination :( Not only did I receive the dark BB cream ( I need light!!), but I got the box with the sachets and Avene products. As much as I like Avene, I am getting sick of these samples. I really like the kabuki brush though, and actually needed it so it came at a good time. One other issue I had with this box was the lipgloss! I was excited to see a full sized lip gloss, but noticed that it has big chunks of what I assume is glitter in it, which reminds me a little too much of the lip glosses I used to have as a kid!

As much as I complained though, I think this box has great value. It was unfortunate that I got the wrong colour BB cream, and I am hoping to find someone to swap with me, otherwise I will gift it to a friend. Oh and I LOVE the new packaging!

January Favourites

Since I made a new years resolution to start blogging more, I thought I would share my Jan faves with you all!

The picture above is a swatch of my favourite chubby stick at the moment - Chunky Cherry!  It's a gorgeous bright red colour that I love for summer. It's super moisturizing, and I love the packaging of this. I know there are now a lot of lip crayons and lip balms, but I loved the Clinique version the minute I tried it!

 I love the Too Faced Primed & Poreless so so much! I find that it is actually very similar to Benefits Porefessional, but I like this smell better, and it feels much more moisturizing than the Porefessional. However, it has the same texture as the Porefessional, which I love! I'm almost out of this tube so I am using Porefessional again while I wait for this primer to arrive in the mail!

 My absolute favourite nail colour for summer! This is Essie's Bikini so Teeny - I actually have it on in this picture!

 This was a sample I received from Kit since they were sold out of the whitening mask when I went :( This mask is a clay mask that smells amazing - it smells like raspberries!

 My favourite blush at the moment - I've been using this non stop because it gives such a gorgeous pink flush, and it smells nice too!

 This is my ultimate favourite moisturiser of all time! I've been using Clinique's Moisture Surge for almost 8 years now! This is the HUGE limited edition jar (its 125mL!) that my parents brought back for me from their recent trip overseas!

I love the Australis Make-up Finish Spritz so much this is actually the new bottle I just got to replace my old one! It smells so nice (that seems to be a trend haha) and feels so refreshing. To be honest, I don't notice my make-up lasting longer, but it feels nice to spray on, especially during those ridiculously hot days, that I  just keep it in my bag and spritz away whenever I feel too hot! I have always loved facial mists, but the ones I want always cost too much to justify - this Australis one is really affordable, and its pink too! Double win!

OMG I ALMOST FORGOT TO INCLUDE MY ULTIMATE FAVOURITE PRODUCTS FOR 2013! The Body Shop Vintage Peach Body Wash and Body Butter! Wow I can't believe I almost forgot, because I use these products daily! I've actually got a stock pile of the body wash and body butter because I was told by the sales lady that they may not restock these products!! I absolutely adore the peach scent, and I hope they never ever ever stop making these, because if they do, I would be so sad! To be honest, the body wash is quite average as far as body washes go, and I only use it for the scent but the body butter is amazing! I have stupid dry, scaly skin, especially on my legs and the body butter made it disappear!