Rimmel Fresher Skin Foundation in Soft Beige and True Ivory Review

Boy, did this foundation receive a hoard of criticism. I've read the good, the bad, the inbetween and  decided to put this to good use and provide my personal verdict.

Before we start, I'll give you a break down of my skin profile. My skin is genernally dry, dehydrated but I can get an oily T-Zone... I'm not really sure what it makes me. My shade, according to MAC is NC25  or NC30 (during summer) - just for your reference.

Now that's out of the way, let's get on with the review..

ABOUT RIMMEL FRESHER SKIN FOUNDATION

- For combination to normal skin types
- Revolutionary quick-break texture that transforms whilst blending it on skin from a bouncy water-gel to a refreshing cream.
- Lightweight, buildable coverage doesn’t clog pores and lets skin breathe.
- Natural Mineral Powders help absorb excess oil, leaving skin shine-free all day. - Aloe, Chamomile and Sea Algae Extracts help to reduce the appearance of redness and even-out skin tone.
- Available in 8 shades: #010 Light Porcelain; #100 Ivory; #102 Light Nude, #103 True Ivory, #200 Soft Beige, #120 Classic Beige; #303 True Nude; #400 Natural Beige
- SPF15

Price: $18.95AUD

TOP: True Ivory; BOTTOM: Soft Beige

MY VERDICT:

- The product comes in a pot with a white protecting cover, this cover is great in a sense that it prevents the foundation from staining the lid.. and the same time I dislike it because the product goes all over the cover. It's not the most travel friendly foundation. I'm clumsy and I've dropped it a couple of times - it gets messy. I personally prefer a press pump or squeezy bottle.

- Product texture is light weight and spreads very easily. I generally don't have oily skin so I can't comment on whether the product absorbs oil or not.

- The foundation is best applied with a dense flat-top or rounded brush (I've seen a few people recommend a sponge, but I've never actually used a sponge to apply my foundation so I can't comment!). Avoid flat foundation brushes as it will cause streaking. I find the shade to change when applied with my fingers. Perhaps it's the warmth of my finger tips? Although, I did not experience any blotchiness with either shades, but I can see how the warmer shades might subject to blotchiness.

- My pores were still visible, however with one layer of foundation my smaller imperfections were reduced (although still visible) as well as redness around my nose. The product does not feel heavy on my face and my skin looks natural! After a few hours of wear, some of the foundation slipped off my nose - which is not unusual for me.

- With two layers, upon application it's fine. After a few hours I saw a lot of cracks and lines as if my skin was awfully dry, this was particularly visible between my brows, on and around my nose and mouth.

-  I have been wearing this foundation most days for 3 weeks now, with one layer, it is light weight, wearable and I'm happy with the result. This foundation does not have the best wear time. I would not recommend this if you are looking for heavy coverage or a foundation to layer.

*The products featured in this post were provided for editorial purposes, all opinions are my own

Rimmel Moisture Renew Sheer and Shine Lipstick Review + Swatches

As much as I love the hot chocolate aspect of Winter, it's still quite gloomy. I like to play around with different lipsticks during winter to lift my mood. However, I don't always feel comfortable wearing really bold and colourful lips at work or around my clients. Rimmel brought out their Moisture Renew Sheer and Shine Lipstick not long ago and these babies got a lot of use from me!

ABOUT RIMMEL MOISTURE RENEW SHEER AND SHINE LIPSTICKS

• Available in 6 shades
• Enriched with Vitamin A C and E
• Provides a boost of moisture
• Fresh juicy colours with a radiant shine
• Ultra light-weight texture
• Non sticky and comfortable to wear
• 4g per lipstick
• SPF 20

Price: $13.95 ea. from Priceline

MY VERDICT

• This range quickly made it's way into my daily staples. I can pretty much grab any shade, slap it on and for it to be fairly appropriate for work. The lighter colours are very very sheer and the two bolder reds/oranges are quite pigmented.
• These lipsticks are highly moisturising, I love the fact that they are sheer and locks in moisture. I never experience chapped lips with these.
• Scent wise, these lipsticks smell like..... super sweet raspberry lollies...or minty coke bottles. This is consistent with a lot of Rimmel's lipsticks and I can't say I'm a big fan. Luckily, the scent of these lipsticks are relatively subtle and not overly pungent.
• The finish is glossy, texture is lightweight as claimed and non-sticky/comfortable to wear.
• Red-y. Set. Go and Pink Rules have a longer wear time (see video application below). Otherwise the colours would wear off in a an hour or two and requires re-application. However, since this is a sheer lipstick, it's not suppose to have a great colour pay off, so it's fine in my books.
• If you want colour and you want longevity, give this a miss. If you like lip tints or low-key everyday lip colours like me, these are perfect.

LIP SWATCHES

Please ignore everyone walking in the background, they wanted a piece of this blogging action!

Disclaimer: Products featured in this post were provided for editorial purpose, all opinions are my own.

Rimmel Volume Colourist Mascara and Precise Liner Review + Swatches

Ahh Sunday night we meet again. We have had a massive weekend of food.... from degustation to tasting some of the finest patisseries at the Savour's Patissier of the Year. I am ridiculously bloated and will only eat veggies, fruits and liquids for the rest of the week (hopefully I will stick to my plan).

I was actually a paragraph away from finishing off this post until I some how managed to delete the entire post, pictures and all.. the control+z button doesn't seem to work too well on Blogspot *sigh*... so here we go again!

RIMMEL VOLUME COLOURIST MASCARA

• Tapered brush that will wrap around every lash with blacker than black pigments
• Making lashes fuller and longer
• Through overtime use, this mascara will tint your lashes with natural colorant
• Gradually darkens the colour of your bare lashes within 2 weeks onwards of continuous usage
• Non permanent tint will wear off gradually after the last usage
• This mascara is easy to remove with regular makeup remover

Price: $18.95

MY VERDICT

• I quite liked the brush, it's small(ish) which was great for my lower lashes and corner lashes which are difficult to reach. Unfortunately, I found the formula to be quite dry - I'm not sure if I got a dud mascara.. did anyone else experience this?
• This mascara did add volume to my lashes, but the formula made my lashes look relatively thick and clumpy. A little bit of lift and length was noticed.
• After a couple of hours of wear I noticed some smudges from my lower lashes. It's not a huge amount of smudge, but it is noticeable (in person anyway!)
• My lashes are jet black already, so I can't tell you whether the tinting formulation is effective or not!! Overall, I don't feel that this mascara is very suitable for me! 

RIMMEL PRECISE LINERS

• Soft, tapered, felt tip applicator that delivers control and precision
• Easy to use calligraphy styled format enables super thin to thick lines
• Wears up to 24 hours, smudge proof and sweat proof.
• 3 shades of rich and highly pigmented colours: Black #001, Blue #002, White #003

Price: $13.95

MY VERDICT

• I can't express how much I love these, the colours are as stated, intensely rich and pigmented. The liners are fairly easy to apply with small strokes, and yes, it will last ALL DAY with no smudges and no transfers. I am absolutely amazed by the formula.
• Oh and the colours won't fade either, after a long working day, the colours will remain as intense as when you first applied it.
• The liners can be easily removed under lukewarm water with cream cleansers or makeup remover.
• The only issue I had with this liner was the tip, I found the tip to dry up a little with increased use. I'm not sure why but the formula can't seem to reach the tip quickly, the tip also started to bend a little, I'm concerned that it might fluff up. I guess I just need to be more gentle!
• I cannot stop talking about the formula, it is amazing, I hope Rimmel will use this formula for all their liquid liners!!

PROGRESS PHOTOS

Blue Rimmel Precise liner with purple shadow along lower lashline

Rimmel Precise Liner with Colourist Mascara

7 hours later, mascara smudges noticed

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

Rimmel Instaflawless and Kate Sculpting Highlighting Kit Review

A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month!

I recently got back from my holiday (a post will be up soon-ish!) and I am absolutely exhausted, 2am flight back to Australia in extremely uncomfortable plane seats was a bad idea. I barely got any sleep. Even though I've slept for many hours today, I still feel extremely fatigued and weak. Good thing I pre-wrote most of this post (that's not cheating is it?) and edited a few dot points in my verdict as I took the sculpting powder to Singapore with me.

Alrighty, lets have a look!

ABOUT KATE SCULPTING AND HIGHLIGHTING KIT IN CORAL GLOW

• Powder blush for colour and definition.
  
• Shimmery powder to contour the sides of the nose, jaw line and hairline.
  
• Soft shimmer powder to highlight the cheek bone, browbone, forehead, center of the chin and bridge of the nose.
• Currently only available in 1 shade which is Coral Glow, but I am aware that there is a palette for those with darker skin tones.

Price:  $16.95


MY VERDICT

• I have a love hate relationship with this product. I have light to medium skin tone and it doesn't really show up on my arm (as you can see in the pic above).
• This product does show up on my face, when applied with a brush. It gives me a very gentle contour/bronzy glow. The highlighter is very subtle also. Being a minimialist, I actually quite like the result on my face. I did try to build up the contour and the result was not pleasant! You can really notice the shimmer and my face ended up looking rather muddy.
• There seems to be quite a substantial amount of fall outs when I swerved my brush around the pan to pick up products initially, once I used up the top layer of the kit, the fall out was minimal.
• The bronzer lasts all day while the blush disappeared half way through the day.
• I recommend this product for those with pale to light skin tone, you won't get much of a colour pay off if you have medium to dark skin.
• Keep your eyes peeled! I have actually seen this palette with darker and more pigmented shades designed for medium/dark skin online. Let's hope it will be released here in Australia!

ABOUT #INSTAFLAWLESS SKIN TINT

• SPF15
• Natural looking glow
• 24 hour moisturisation
• Primes and perfects
• Available in 2 shades Light/Medium and Medium/Dark

Price: $13.95

MY VERDICT

• Silly me initially thought this product was a tinted moisturiser/BB cream type base. I thought to my self, geez, it's not giving me a whole lot of coverage. I can still see some of my freckles. Later on, I found out it's a primer and my perception shifted significantly.
• During "good skin days" I often wear this product on it's own as it will cover most of my smaller blemishes and minimise the size of my pores pretty well. I feel comfortable going into the outside world with #instaflawless on. I don't know if you can tell from the before/after pics above, but my skin looks smoother after application.
• Recently I decided to use this product as a tinted moisturiser, I personally feel that it's too much under my foundation yet works better than most of my BB creams and tinted moisturisers!! When used independently, the product is not heavy or tacky. It's actually very moisturising and smooth.
• I used 1 coat of #instaflawless for my 3 hour wait and the airport + 8 hour flight, the product stayed put all day and kept my face looking flawless and hydrated. The only con is that it doesn't sit around the corners of my nose too well and I need to really blend it repeatedly. Other than that, I highly recommend #Instaflawless

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

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.

Rimmel The Only One Lipsticks Review and Swatches

Since my hair cut, I've been more and more experimental with makeup, even though am naturally attracted to dull and deeper shades. Colour therapy is effective! I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with work, blogging and struggling to get a hold of companies I am dying to work with. Sleep has been disrupted as I have been getting up at 5-6am to tapper away on my laptop because I have a billion things I need to do at work and I'm so behind! The struggle is real!

Life was getting to me, and lipsticks picked me up.

About Rimmel The Only One Lipsticks

• Vibrant, intense and high impact colours
• Glide on application with light weight texture
• Contains Rosa Fruit Oil leaves and Vitamin E infused moisture
• Long lasting wear with advance polymers to set the formula
• Lipstick is available in 12 shades
• Rimmel also introduced 3 new shades to their Exaggerate Full Colour lip liner range

Price: $15.95

Available from Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, Target, Kmart, Big W and selected pharmacies and selected Coles and Woolworth.

My Verdict

• Three ticks for pigmentation, boy are these lippies pigmented!!! The colour actually look like what's on the bullet, although I found It's a Keeper and Naughty Nude to be slightly more sheer on my lips (possibly because it's close to the shade of my lips?).


• These lipsticks are so easy and smooth to apply, they literally glide on my lips. The formula is indeed creamy and light-weight. It was actually so creamy that some of the product broke off (happened with Pink a Punch in the video below).


• All shades possessed a fairly fruity scent that's quite pleasant and refreshing. I am a scent person and I loved this element!


• I've been wearing these to work, my lips feels super moist upon application, however after a couple of hours my lips start to feel a bit dry. But then again, my lips are naturally ridiculously dry so I had to coat my lips with a balm every now and then. When compared to Rimmel's Lasting Finish Kate Nude Lipsticks, the moisturisation properties are better in The Only One Lipsticks.


• Longevity wise, the brighter shades are longer wearing than colours like Naughty Nude. I wore Peachy Beachy on a day out and to lunch, there was still had a decent amount of residual colour on my lips, I was quite happy with the aftermath.


• With my light-medium olive skin, I was able to wear all the shades except for Pink a Punch. Best of the Best made my teeth look exceptionally white; It's a Keeper and Naughty Nudes are very similar to the shades I usually wear. Peachy Beachy is outside my comfort zone but it gives me an unexpected boost, wasn't too sure about it initially, but it is now my favourite out of the lot.

Lip Swatches/Application

Website
http://au.rimmellondon.com/

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

Review: Rimmel Super Gel Duo Set 023 Grape Sorbet

About Rimmel Super Gel

• Duo polishes, 2 steps to salon quality nails
• Lasts up to 14 days of gel colour and shine
• Easy application with no UV lamp required: Apply 1-2 coats of Super Gel colour, followed by Super Gel Top Coat to activate curing
• Easy to remove with nail polish remover
• Available in 15 shades

Price: $9.95 per bottle (available in singles) or $14.95 for a duo set (1 x colour 1 x top coat)

My Verdict

• I love the flat shaped brush, allowing the polish to be easily applied with a few strokes. My shade was in 023 Grape Sorbet, a beautiful pearl pink colour. Drying time was more or less the same as other decent colour/top coat.


• My nails did give off a pearlescent shine once the top coat was applied, however the shine did not exceed... or should I say was equivalent to my Sally Hanson and Faby top coats. I've only tried Shellac, so I'm not sure what this "gel" effect looks like. To my naked eyes, it didn't look any different to a coloured polish with a decent top coat.


• Most standard nail polish (Faby, Sally Hansen, OPI etc) will last on my nails for about 5 days without any real signs of chipping. Longevity wise, it lasted the exactly same amount of time. Serious chipping came about after the 6ths or 7th day - unfortunately it did not pass the 14 day test for me, but I still feel it's a good polish set.


• I applied a layer of Ciate's nail sparkles on my accent nail - that prolonged the life of those single nail significantly with very minor chippings.


• A significant difference I noticed is that the top "gel" coat of Rimmel's Super Gel remained on my nails and did not chip separately, unlike my other polishes where the top coat would often come off separate to my coloured polishes.

Progress photos

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3 - Please excuse my awful finger condition

Do you prefer normal polish or gel?

*This product was provided for my consideration, all opinions are my own

Summer Self Tan Picks



Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2016 already. Today is also my last day of holiday before returning back to work tomorrow *Sobs* I was really enjoying all this free time!

Today I'll share my 3 self tan products, as a bronze goddess admirer, I love a good tan. I've been trying and testing several tanning products for the past couple of months, and have made my final picks.

SKINNY TAN Pre Tan Primer

Before you even think about applying fake tan, whether it's wash off or a long lasting tan, make sure you exfoliate to ensure all dead skin cells are off and away from your body. A smooth canvas will allow a smoother and longer lasting tan. I've selected Skinny Tan's Pre Tan Primer - it contains little exfoliating granules and smell like coconuts!

Top to bottom: RIMMEL SunShimmer Instant BB Tan and Trilogy Instant Bronzing Gel

Rimmel's Sun Shimmer Instant Tan BB is perfect for those who prefer not to commit to a long term tan, it's a BB cream/tanner for your limbs! Your legs will look incredibly smooth and bronzey. The texture is similar to a facial BB Cream. When I first applied the product I thought it will turn muddy but it looked very natural  on my olive skin. Be extremely cautious around your knees and toes. The product is completely matte and has a rather floral scent. Your tan will last all day until washed off with body wash and lukewarm water.

Trilogy's Instant Bronzing Gel is my top pick this summer, the drying speed is incredible! I love the elegant shimmer and natural looking tan.This product lasted for approximately 3 days as claimed

Rimmel's Sun Shimmer Mousse is a great easy to apply natural long lasting tan. Avoid applying with your hands as it will stain, I couldn't find my tanning mitt and used a disposable glove - I thought it would streak but came out very natural looking. The tan lasted for approximately 5-6 days on me and is completely matte. The colour developed instantly, although it will warm up a little after an hour. There is a self tan plastic scent once applied, but I really like the outcome so I will continue to use this. I will definitely be throwing out my Model Co fake tan!

Before and After Photos

TRILOGY Instant Bronzing Gel

RIMMEL Sun Shimmer Instant Tan BB

RIMMEL Sun Shimmer Mousse

Do you have a favourite self tan product?

*All products featured in this post were provided for my consideration, all opinions are my own