Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Nivea Q10Plus Anti Wrinkle Replenishing Pearls Review


Man what a week!

I started yesterday day running around North Sydney seeing clients before returning to the city for a meeting and headed off to Lakemba for another meeting.

This particular client FORGOT we we had a meeting. Luckily mum prepared some amazing home cooking to make me happy when I got home.

Before I get off track talking about all the food I ate, let's have a look at the new serum on the block, Nivea Q10Plus Anti Wrinkle Replenishing Pearls!




ABOUT NIVEA Q10PLUS SERUM
  • This serum offers a combination of concetrated Coenzyme Q10 pearls surrounded in a deep moisturising hydrogel of Hyaluronic Acid and Creatine providing the highest concentration of Q10.
  • What is Coenzyme Q10?
    It's an enzyme that occurs in all cells of the body and is responsible for the skin's energy supply for skin repair, protection, regeneration and renewal. Q10 decreases naturally with age, allowing our skin to be more prone to stress and damage.  
  • What is Creatine?
    Creatine is another energy booster that is naturally formed in our body. It plays a vital part in our body's energy metabolism and acts during skin's repair and defence mechanism.
  • With each pump, the pearls break in the head of the product dispenser, activating a fresh formula each time the pump is pressed. Creatine will assist with repair, protect and renew, resulting in visibly younger looking skin.

Price: $29.99 for 40ml




MY VERDICT

  • I legitimately looked at the bottle for a good 5 minutes, I love the pearls!!! They look so cute hahah. Cuteness aside, I've been using this product day and night after cleansing and toning every night for the past week.
  • Nivea Q10Plus Replenishing Pearls come in a pump bottle that is extremely easy to use. It is easy to control the pressure of the pump, unlike some of my eye cream bottles, where half a bottle of cream sprays out with one pump. Hygiene wise, a pump bottle is my favourite method of skincare and beauty storage.
  • I think it's amazing that with every pump new pearls are crushed - actually I'm not sure whether it breaks my heart that these cute little pearls are crushed or in awe at  how someone managed to engineer this!
  • Once dispensed onto my fingers, it's a jelly/gel-like texture that is very easy to apply and spread onto my face. The product absorbs fairly quickly leaving my face feeling smooth and hydrated.
  • Although the lines on my forehead is yet to disappear, I can feel a difference pre and post application. I have also noticed that it leaves my face nice and matte, yet maintaining the hydration.
  • I love this product, but it has one exception... the scent. To me, it's a little soapy and very very strong. As someone who enjoys very subtle and fresh scents, the scent of this product is too intense. But I still love the result, so I will continue to reach for it!

WEBSITE
http://www.nivea.com.au/

*This product was provided for editorial purposes, all opinions are my own.


Sunday, April 17, 2016

LET'S CHAT #3: WHY DO WOMEN WEAR MAKEUP?



I have been meaning to write this post for a while, what triggered me was seeing girls getting upset over their partner's comments on how they "don't need to wear makeup". I was shocked because my partner loves make up and loves commenting on the colours.  Today I want to share some reasoning behind why people wear makeup. I know the title indicates "women", but the reasonings below applies to people of all gender.


CONFIDENCE

I discovered eyeliner when I was in 8th grade, I started wearing it to fit the 'scene', my dad hated it and told me not to wear it. During high school I wasn't pleased with my appearance and every girl in my grade looked like barbie while I was hairy and had awful skin. I had no idea that most girls had wore makeup.

I do feel more confident in makeup, for my line of work, I deal with a lot of people who may not take me seriously because they think I look like I just graduated high school. Makeup is like a filter, different colours and different shaped brows can make me appear more mature or younger. I would often wear a bold lip and eyes when facing intimidating clients. Amazingly in that situation, makeup channels a sense of control which changes the way people react to my recommendations.


ACCENTUATING FEATURES

 A lot of people feel that using makeup is masking yourself. I beg the differ, pending on how you use makeup (and yes, it is a fine art), it will greatly accentuate your features. We all want to put our best foot forward, display our vast wealth of knowledge, do our hair to look nice or wear clothes to suit our body shape. So why not take the effort to do the same for your face?  I mean, it's the first thing people look at and often what first impressions are made out of. Why is it that judgements are not passed when people wear clothing to reveal their hourglass curves or a wrist full of jewels. Yet judgements are occasionally instanteously applied towards girls who wear makeup.



WEAR IT FOR YOURSELF

It is common for people to assume that girls wear makeup for everyone else. But as Joe Lycett had said, when you "assume" you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".

I personally feel that the effect and outcome of makeup is internal - did that even make sense? I put on colours (whether it's blush, eye shadow, lipstick etc) to reflect my mood or how I'm feeling. I have absolutely NO idea what colour other people would like me to wear so how can I be wearing a specific colour/product for someone else?

Even if makeup does boost my self esteem when I'm around other people, well it's still self-fulfilling. See how wearing makeup for other people is a non-linear concept? Unless you HATE makeup and the ONLY reason you wear it is because your partner or anyone else tells you that you should, you must, you need to and you will. But either way, us as humans, we have a choice, there are no altruistic acts, everything we do will directly affect or satisfy ourselves one way or the other.


SEXUAL ATTRACTION

Some people wear it to attract a mate. I remember the initial dates with my partner, I did my makeup differently to the way I'd do it now - that was all for attraction.

Again - I did not wear makeup for him. I wore it because I was single and I wanted to attract a potential mate. If I wasn't, then I probably would try and look as undesirable as possible.

I have read this in many articles, the fact that crimson lips mimick the health and colour of the labia/vagina while the application of blush either mimicks a baby's youthful flush or the simple fact that it looks like we are blushing.. which can mean modesty, shyness, embarassment etc.


FEMINISM

Now many would see wearing makeup as an anti-feminist or patriarchal act. Perception is such a malleable concept, depending on where you stand and how you see things, using and wearing makeup fits into female power as much as anything else.

If men ask women NOT to wear makeup, does wearing makeup for ourselves make it a feminist movement? Think about it.

When it comes to equality and rights, I feel that judgement is more heavily passed onto men who wear makeup. A man can be a feminist, just as both women and men have every right to wear a dress, pants, shave their head, get tattoos, dye their hair, get piercings and wear makeup.


MISC
This is the last and final reason I will talk about today. People who work in the industry will have a lot of makeup. If you have an impressive collection of makeup lying around, you might as well use it before it's time to hit the bin.

Some people may enjoy the process of makeup application and some people like to collect makeup. Just like CD collectors who enjoys listening to music.

Makeup is a form of art... so run wild with your creativity and imagination!


Tell me why YOU wear makeup!


Friday, April 15, 2016

Minxx Lipstick and Liquid Lipstick Set Review + Swatches


I felt that I lived through a series of unfortunate events this week.

On my way to the train station, there was a man walking behind me with very loud footsteps. I thought he was right behind me so I started to walk unsually fast. There's a substantial amount of trees and random little bushlands near my place. As I walked, I heard the loudest crack and thumb behind me. I jumped and realised a part of a tree fell a few steps behind me. I stood there in shock.

On the way back from work, two birds were racing through the air, one nibbed my hair, but if I took a step forward it may have crashed in my head. Wut Wut wut just wut!

When I got home, we had a black out, thanks to the end of day light savings, we sat in pitch dark for an hour.

What a day, when the light came back on, I decided to play with my minx lipstick to help me forget about the day... and to think hard at lotto numbers.

ABOUT MINX
  • Minxx was created by Jo Femia, her aim is to eliminate the struggle of finding the perfect shade of lipstick to suit our ever changing mood.
  • Minxx offers a spectrum of colours, their lip collections will brighten up both moods and lips in a flash.
  • From rich reds and pretty pinks, Jo has created a line of long wearing creme lipsticks and weightless non-sticky liquid lipsticks.
  • MINXX offers 46 carefully chosen shades including nudes and neutrals to orange and purples.
  • MINXX lip products are paraben and cruelty free.


Top: Lipstick in Icing || Bottom: Liquid Lipstick in Idol


MY VERDICT
  • MINXX Lipstick in Icing $28.50: The first time I swatched the lipstick it glided on beautifully, amazing colour and creamy texture. I couldn't wait to use it. The following day I decided to wear it to work as a pick-me-up, I noticed a change in the texture it wasn't as creamy and dragged on my lips a little. Nonetheless, the colour was still beautiful, pigmented and I only needed one swipe for a full colour coverage. It lasted for approximately 5 hours until I decided to take it off for lunch (I'm not a big fan of eating my lipstick). It was non-transferrable on my hands, however did transfer onto my tea cup. My lips did feel a little bit dry as the day went on.
  • Day two, I loved "Icing" so much that I wanted to use it again. I went to apply the bullet on my lips and noticed a funny scent, a very heavy plastic smell. I'm guessing that the product had gone off since the pungent scent was not previously noticable. Needless to say, I was very disappointed, but at least I still had the liquid lipstick
  • Liquid Lipstick $32.50: I personally feel that this product is more glossy as opposed to a liquid lipstick. On it's own it gave a brilliant shine and glossy finish. There is also a rather opaque colour pay off. I feel that this product works better in top of a lip colour, for me anyway, I have shakey hands and often find it difficult to evenly distribute glossy lip colours across my lips. The product itself has a strong fruity scent, it's non-sticky and fairly lightweight as per product claim. Maybe it's just my skin, but I didn't feel that the gloss sad on my lips too well.
  • Overall: I love the fact that MINXX is paraben and cruelty free. Sadly, I don't think the two products worked out for me, although I would have liked the lipstick if it didn't go funny. But of course, it's impossible for me to love every single product I try and test.

Lipstick in "ICING"


Liquid Lipstick in "IDOL"

WEBSITE
http://minxx.com.au


Have you tried products from Minxx? I would love to hear your thought!


Disclaimer: These products were provided for editorial purpose, all opinions are my own.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Rimmel Magnif'eyes Double Ended Shadow + Kajal Liner Review


Where did all the time go? The first quarter of 2016 just swiftly slipped by, I swear time goes faster with age. The one dominant fear I have in life is the result of ageing, when I was 16 I thought youthfulness ends at 30. Oh how wrong I am, I'm not 30 yet but at mid 20s, I recently got asked if I was a med student while completing series of physical exmination for a bunch of blokes. At the time, I wasn't sure whether I was offended or happy.

Regardless, makeup will keep me forever youthful! I could barely contain my excitement when I first heard the launch of Magnif'eyes. I have never owned an eyeshadow stick/crayon, nor have I ever tried Kajal eyeliner. The fact that it's duo ended made me even more excited. I can now carry one product instead of two.


ABOUT MAGNIF'EYES

  • Used to highlight, sculpt and accentuate
  • Rich and highly pigmented
  • Dual tipped pen features a shadow at one end and a 24hr Kohl Kajal liner at the other
  • Can be used on both lash and waterline
  • Creaseproof, transferproof and waterproof, your eye looks will stay put and look fresh all day
  • Comes in four strong shade combos in matte, shimmer and pearl finishes
Shades:
  • #001 Back of Blacks with a black matte liner and a high pearl with glitter gun metal grey shadow stick
  • #002 Kissed by a Rose Gold with a brown low pearl liner and a rosehold medium pearl shadow stick
  • #003 Queens of the Bronzed Age with a high pearl with glitter gold liner and a bronze medium pearl shadow stick (Reviewed in this post)
  • #004 Dark Side of Blue with a matte cobalt blue liner annd a low pearl dark grey shadow stick (Reviewed in this post)

Price: $16.95 from Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, Target, Kmart Big W, selected pharmacies and selected Coles/Woolies.

Top Two: Dark Side of Blue || Bottom Two: Queens of Bronzed Age



MY VERDICT
  • I have been using this product for the past 3 weeks, on and off, in between other products in order to reach a verdict. There are both cons and pros, let's start.
  • Shadow Stick: The shadow stays on for longer than most of my eye shadows as my lids are quite oily, everything will crease. With 1 coat, it will last a typical 8 hour work day with some minor creases however it was unable to last an 8 hour work day plus an after work event/party (see progress photos below). With 2 coats, it will last a working day with plus a few drinks, colour fading and creasing became more visible at 12 hours.
  • This eye shadow is smooth and really easy to apply, however, you need to be quick with your bending. Within a few seconds, the formula proves to be difficult to blend. I love the pigmented nature and shimmer to my shadow sticks. Personally, I find the bronze colour to be more wearable than the grey/black.
  • Kajal Liner: This liner is briliant, where has it been all my life!? It has a highly pigmented, creamy texture that glides on easily. This liner is heavy duty and lasted 16 hours on my lids. I loved both beige and blue, although due to my hooded lids, the blue liner did slightly transfer to my lids and stained my lashes. Beige on the other hand didn't go anywhere. I love these so so so so much!
  • Tribute: I LOVE that the liners are derived from Bands and Albums (if they are not, then it's just a beautiful coincidence). As a teen, I was a huge Pink Floyd fan and Dark Side of the Moon was such an iconic album!

PROGRESS PHOTOS



Queen of Bronzed Age: ONE COAT of shadow  + Liner  - after 12 hours

Queen of Bronzed Age: TWO COATS of shadow - After 8 hours



Dark Side of Blue: TWO COATS - After 12 hours



DIFFERENT LOOKS

I had so much fun with Magnif'eyes and created some simple EOTDs.

Queen of Bronzed Age

Dark Side of Blue
Dark Side of Blue (Liner only)


I have a soft spot for shadow stick and anything that's crayon looking. Overall, I feel the that pros out-weighs the cons and thus, I do reccommend Magnif'eyes. It's fun, quite long lasting, versatile and easy to use. I hope you enjoyed this review!






*These products were provided for editorial purpose, all opinions are my own.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

So...? SuperStar Fragrance Review



Remember So...? Fragrances? They were the epitome of my high school years. All the cool kids had a bottle! I still love them as much as I did back then. From the sleek packaging to the easy spray on nozzle, the fragrance restores me to my mental age. It's also great to see such an iconic brand has lasted the test of time and kept it's originality. I mean look at how CGI has taken over some of my favourite childhood cartoons, what happened to Bananas In Pjamas?!

I already own 3 fragrances from So...? my ultimate favourite is So...? Kiss me, but I think So...? SuperStar might be taking over, due to my love fruity and fresh fragrances. Let's have a look at the scent notes.


Top Notes
Passionfruit and orange

Heart Notes
Freesia, lily of the valley and heliotrope

Base Notes
Cedarwood, almond and musk


(Related post: So...? Fragrance Review)



This little 30ml gem is perfect to be carried around in my bag. As with all other So...? fragrances, So...? SuperStar also lasted for approximately 5 hours, which is significantly longer than some of the bigger brands I have been using. I love the sweet, fruity and refreshing scent. This fragrance is very similar to So...? Kiss me (which smells very sweet and innocent with a mixture of citrus and vanilla). I have been constantly reaching for So...? SuperStar on Mondays to prep me for another working week and also to make me feel a million bucks! There is not a single negative aspect I can think of for this product. Love it all round!


So...? Fragrances is available from priceline, Big W, Target and Selected pharmacies

*This product was provided for editorial purpose, all opinions are my own.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Benzac Skincare Range Review



Feeling spotty?

I know I am, I've been quite spotty ever since Easter (which is expected) due to the great quantity of chocolates, tim tams and chocolate brownies consumed during (and still consuming). Ahhh why do I always do this to myself.

So... chocolate and junk food breaks me out like no tomorrow. I've took a couple of Skinb5 tablets to calm my skin, but admittedly I have been very lazy and not following through with my intake. As a result, all my eggs went in one basket, Benzac, the number one acne brand in pharmacy, offering a complete solution for mild to moderate acne suffers with a range of clinicially proven treatment cream, cleanser and moisturiser.


PRODUCTS CLAIM

  • Benac Daily Facial Foam Cleanser will gently remove dirt, oil, bacteria, skin cells and other debris from the surface of the skin and unblock pores. The cleanser will also control the oiliness of the skin without drying.
  • Benzac AC Treatment  possess Benzoyl Peroxide to kill acne bacteria, it will also unblock pores, whiteheads and blackheads. It has a mild peeling effect to help remove the follicle plug. This product contains glycerin to assist with hydration and reduces the risk of irritation. There are 3 gels available based on treatment strength: 2.5%, 5% and 10%.
  • Benzac Daily Facial Moisturiser SPF 15 soothes and nourishes dry skin without blocking pores. It is oil free, light weight, non-greasy and protects against UVA and UVB rays.

MY VERDICT



Benzac Facial Foam Cleanser $12.95

From my experience, cleansers designed to reduce acne are generally poor at ridding makeup. This foaming cleanser did surprisingly well, I dispensed 1 pump into my hand and used my hands to cleanse my face, as with all foam cleansers I wouldn't go around the eye area. Benzac got rid of most of my makeup, however I double rinsed with a cream cleanser to rid my eye makeup.

It was quite gentle and wasn't too drying, althogh I still needed to spray a mist on my skin following the cleanse. Overall, not a bad foam cleanser.


Benzac Daily Facial Moisturiser SPF 15 $18.95

When I first pumped this moisturiser onto my hand I thought .. Ohh nooo, it was quite thick and reminded me of sunscreen that would leave a white overcast. Once I applied the mosturiser onto my skin it was fast absorbing and non-greasy. The texture was actually quite beautiful and water based if anything. I can definitely see how this can be a great product for people with oily skin, it is very light weight and fragrance free. I love that fact that it has SPF, although 15 is not quite enough for me so I have to put an extra layer of SPF 50 sunscreen over my moisturiser.

Another issue is that there's no night cream in this range - or an SPF free range so I can use it after cleansing on days where I don't leave the house. Nonetheless, I really liked this moisturiser!




Benzac AC Mild Strength $16.95


I have used a few different acne treatmment creams, fluid and gels. This is different to to my Oxy5 cream - which doesn't do anything for my skin and leave little white crusts on my face. Benzac provides a cooling effect, I feel that it helps calm my pimples down, but it doesn't get rid of them per se - for me anyway. I still experienced a build up of pus after using the product maybe my pimples are heavy duty and I need a treatment cream with a higher level of active ingredients! I still experienced redness (probably because I kept touching and popping my pimples which I shouldn't!!). My non-pus filled pimples healed a little bit faster with Benzac and it certainly did not leave any visible residule on my pimples. In addition, I did not experience any peeling effect.




*These products were provided for editorial purposes, all opinions are my own.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Sally Hansen Complete Care 7 in 1 Review


The quality of my nails has diminished significantly from frequent nail polish remover use. My nails ended up brittle, dull and often splits. Sally Hansen's Complete Care 7 in 1 was all the rage online a couple of weeks back. I was excited to try this product and see whether the condition of my nails will improve!


PRODUCT CLAIM

  • Helps restore dry and brittle nails
  • Nails will look shiner stronger, moisturised and brighter with ridges filled
  • Contains avocado oil, sea salt, pomegranate extract and calcium
  • Dries to a smooth, hard finish
  • Can be used alone or with a nail colour as a base and top coat
Price: $19.95 for 13.3ml at Priceline


MY VERDICT
  • I stupidly thought this product would smell like coconuts, for some reason I think all nail "treatment" products would. So took a big sniff of the opened bottle and boy I regretted that. It smells exactly like nail polish.
  • I applied one coat to each nail and as per product claim, the ridges were filled instantaneously. My nails looked shiney and healthy again. I can't even see the split nail.
  • This can definitely be used as a base or a top coat given it's nourishing formula.
  • By the third day my nails look great!!! On the 4th day I noticed chipping around the edge of my nails (see photo below). I did go to a cake decoration event the night before, unless all the cream and custard had some effect on it? 
  • Nonetheless, I think the nail treatment did my nails good, look how smooth and shiny it turned out! Chipping on the 4th day is not too bad considering most nail polish would chip on the third day.

PROGRESS PHOTOS
Day 3

Day 5
Website
http://au.sallyhansen.com/






*This product was provided for editorial purpose, all opinions are my own.

Featured Post

Skin do’s and don’ts this holiday season

So, the holiday season is upon us! However whilst you're out there enjoying the summer vibes, it's crucial not to let your skincare ...

Popular Posts