Gemini by Night palette by ColourPop in collaboration with Sonya Esman

Shimmers

Shades (Left to Right): Golden Gate Bridge, The Hidden Hills, Manhattan Coffee Run and Moscow Sunrise

Ultra Satin Lip - Strip (Sample)

The Ultra Satin Lip in the shade 'Strip' was an extra free and happily unexpected surprise that awaited me in the shopping cart. I would describe it as a dark nude with pink undertones (with a hint of brown). Definitely on the warmer side of the spectrum, which I feel will work wonderfully with all skin-tones!

The product has a reasonably thick consistency (not runny at all) and appears quite opaque on the lips on the first application! The formula feels smooth and creamy, and leaves only a very slight tackiness on the lips.

Despite being a satin formula, the product looks completely matte but without the dry and uncomfortable feeling! I would describe the feeling to be similar to Mac's matte lipsticks which appear matte but are reasonably comfortable to wear.

Even though it feels comfortable, the product tends to emphasise the lines in my lips, even when first applying - have a look at the photo below. The creases become even more apparent the longer I am wearing it!

Ultra Satin Lip in Strip (one layer)

I also picked up the Lippie Stix in 'Hotline', described as a deepened peach. I would definitely say this resembles Mac's Kinda Sexy, with it's peachy/apricot undertones. I am obsessed with the colour which is a combination of a peachy nude and fluorescent orange. Any brighter, and it would look extremely drying on the lips! The formula glides on the lips so smoothly and effortlessly and is genuinely one of the most comfortable matte formula's I've tried - alongside Mac's matte lipsticks!

Lippie Stix - Hotline

It does tend to emphasise the lines and crevices in the inner portion of the lips, particularly when layered so I ensure I apply lip-balm beforehand and stick to one thin application all over the lips to reduce this!

Hotline in natural light

Hotline in normal light

Hi beauties!

The Autumn edition of the parcel FINALLY arrived after waiting what felt like years since receiving the Summer edit.

Majority of inclusions in this season's edit - more below!

I had no previous inclination about what the box would entail, other than the lip balm that had been posted on their official social media sites.

Now let's get to what you all came here for—the products.

 The first item is a sample of the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche Skinscent, which retails for $95.00. It's described as "the essence of summer" and contains ingredients such as mandarin, amber, lemon and orange. Personally I find the smell quite pungent in the respect that it smells like a fruity liquor of some kind. If you're someone that prefers a lighter, more delicate scent, then I think stray away from this.

Burt's Bees Lip Crayon - Carolina Coast (423)

Perfection! My eyes lit up when I spot these little beauties in the box. I recently have dyed my hair from a bleach blonde to a dark blonde, but still have glimmers of blonde highlights peaking through from underneath. It's imperative with bleached blonde hair to maintain its crisp blonde colour and detain any brassiness coming through to prolong your next hairdresser visit! The John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Shampoo and Conditioner retail for $17.99, but we're only provided with small sample sizes in the box. These products claim to contain colour-correcting technology to neutralise yellow tones, banish brassiness, and renew blonde colour! So excited to give these a test and I'm pleased they've included the whole set of shampoo and conditioner of this range!

Hi all,

So the Red Earth show bag that I purchased a couple weeks ago from my local Royal Show contained a couple vouchers to spend on the website, so having adored all the products I got to test out from the show bag, I knew I had to snatch up some more goodies, and bought something for a friend of mine too! (Hence there being two illuminating skin fluid's in the photo below)

Secret Potion Illuminating Skin Fluid in Pearl

I picked up the Secret Potion Illuminating Skin Fluid in "Pearl" which is described on the website as a "white illuminator". I have pale skin and didn't want to risk getting "Magician" - the most popular shade from Instagram and the most frequently used in all the YouTube reviews that I located for this product. That one was described as a "soft gold" and I feel it'd be more suited to more medium to dark complexions.

Swatch of Secret Potion Illuminating Skin Fluid in Pearl

Face 'n Glow' Sparking Loose Powder

Another free item (YAY) that came with my purchase was the Classic Line Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in "Steel Brilliance". The colour is a coal black with silver shimmers throughout it which makes it incredibly unique! I was SO surprised with the pigmentation. It was creamy and effortless to swatch.

I couldn't help myself. Although I was slightly dubious about whether my purchase of Candy K and Koko K was worth it, I took the plunge and bought the two Kylie Matte Lip Kit shades I knew for certain I would love.

I have quite a pale complexion and I am always drawn towards brown, warmer toned nudes as opposed to cool toned pinks and mauves as I feel like they compliment both my skin and eye colour, which is what inspired my recent purchase.

Dolce K
Like I assume many of you would relate, I have been adoring the 90's brown lipstick trend. My younger self would squirm at the thought as her perception was that brown lipstick closely resembled the appearance of rubbing chocolate all over your mouth.
Dolce K was one of the first original releases, and I'm disappointed I was hesitant about purchasing it for such a long time. It's a lovely cool toned light brown, not too dark on my pale skin and contains just a hint of a warm tone so that it doesn't wash me out completely and make me look like a zombie.

Formula
Similar to the review I did on the other Kylie Lip Kit shades I purchased, the lipliner for Dolce K doesn't disappoint. It's smooth, creamy, pigmented, blends perfectly with the liquid lipstick, and is easy to sharpen.

Dolce K Lip Liner

This lipstick doesn't look drying, and doesn't flake, but it can look clumpy and cracked if you apply too many layers. With all these Kylie Lip Kits (including Exposed which I swatch below), I strongly recommend adding one or two very thin layers to the lips and that's all. I have found they look the best and most "natural", particularly if you're planning on overdrawing your lips with the lip liners, which I should mention is very easy to do.

Demo - Dolce K on the lips in different lighting

Dolce K Lip liner and Liquid Lipstick in natural light

Swatches: Dolce K (Left) Exposed (Right)

Exposed
Exposed, commonly described as an orange, warm toned nude is by far my favourite of all the lip kits I have bought so far. As you can see from the swatches below, it comes off more orange than brown, but I find that it's just the perfect shade to not wash me out or look too dark and daunting!

Formula
The product is virtually identical to its predecessors. The great thing about Exposed however is that it does not look dry or flaky on the lips in the slightest which is fantastic as that's typically the case with lighter, matte liquid lipsticks. Therefore it's easy to get away with not applying any lip balm underneath as the liquid lipstick won't dry you out!

Exposed Lip Liner

Longevity
With both Dolce and Exposed, they do come off when eating - I believe this is because I lick my lips constantly when eating (which I ought to stop doing). Even if you don't lick your lips, the product will slide off when eating oily foods.

Demo

Exposed Liner and Liquid Lipstick in natural light

Overall if you'd love to step outside your comfort zone and opt for a brown lipstick and are a fan of cooler tones, then Dolce K will be perfect. On the other hand, if you're pale and love warmer toned nudes, absolutely opt for Exposed as it will be your new favourite liquid lipstick. For darker complexions, the colour is likely to look more fluorescent and brighter but if you like browner/orange toned lipsticks then by all means give it a go.

Hope this has helped you all in some shape or form, and don't forget to check me out on instagram @australianbeautyblog for more beauty related pics!

Lexy xxxx

Hi all,

Recently I went to the Royal Show in my city and for those of you who are unaware, available to purchase are "showbags" which are essentially bags full of goodies sold at a significantly lower price than the price you would pay if you bought all those products separately.

This year, Australian brand Red Earth, released a showbag for $25, packed to the brim with a bunch of unique makeup items that I couldn't resist but to try.

Red Earth pride themselves on the high quality ingredients used in all of their products and promote natural, everyday beauty. I will hyperlink all of the products mentioned below so you can check them out in store (I believe they're sold in David Jones in Australia and on their website)!



Next is the Colour Rush Baked Eye Shadow Duo. I chose the duo called "Green Flash" which is a lovely shimmery olive/khaki green and champagne shade.

From swatching, the olive shade is reasonably pigmented (yet not as good as higher end eyeshadows), but the lighter champagne colour definitely needs to be layered and built up in order to give off more colour. I think this would be an impeccable colour combination for people with brown eyes in particular!
They had run out of black eyeliners, so instead my other option was to grab the Perfect Line Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in mahogany. I didn't object to this as I've never owned a liquid eyeliner other than black!




Lastly, the Lip Wonder High Shine Lip Plumping Pencil in "Candy Love" was another inclusion in this bag. I'm not really a fan of the shade so I think I'll most likely be giving it a sharpen and passing it along to my mother. Nevertheless, I have never seen a lip liner so glossy and shiny and as smooth as this. It's literally like a lip gloss in pencil form.

Go ahead and check out Red Earth's website and instagram for more products because I am REALLY impressed so far and I absolutely love supporting Australian brands!

Check me out on instagram @australianbeautyblog too!

Lexy xx