A drugstore foundation haul.

While in the USA, I thought I should stock up on foundations, because even drugstore brands are really rather costly in Australia. 

I was going to lump together all the face makeup I got in this haul post but if I did that it would go on forever so this post will be foundations; and concealers, primers, powders, and bronzers (the other face-y stuff) will be in a separate post. 

I only bought liquid foundations (because that's the only type I normally wear) and there are four of them so let's get into it already!
Note: All of these foundations were purchased at Target or Walmart.

1. Revlon Colorstay SPF 6 (300 Golden Beige)
I like the staying power, the finish, how it doesn't transfer and I should have got another one! This was just under $10.

2. Revlon Nearly Naked  SPF 20 (160 Fresh Beige)
I love the light consistency and its easily buildable coverage. I think this'll be great for summer. This cost me a bit over $7.

3. Rimmel London Match Perfection Light Perfecting Radiance Suncreen Foundation SPF 18 (240 Soft Beige)
I haven't tried this very many times so I don't have much to say about it yet. I picked it up because Tanya Burr said it was good and it was only $4.99 at Target in the US! In Australia this foundation is $20+.
CRAZY!

4. L'Oreal Paris True Match Lumi SPF 20 (n4 Buff Beige)
I tried this foundation for the first time today... it was a little too dark for my skintone but I mixed it in with my Benefit Hello Flawless liquid foundation and I liked the overall effect. Can't really say much more than that though. I bought this for about $11.

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Got any foundation rec's, drugstore or premium, for a girl with oily skin with blemishes?
Leave 'em in the comments, I'd love to know because within my interest in beauty stuff, I'm always on the lookout for amazing face products... especially foundations.

A nail polish haul.

When I was holidaying away in the United States of America, I planned on getting a whole load of nail polishes, yet I only returned with five! I think the main reason was my mother's (wise) complaints that I had enough of them already. I don't, but I do agree with her in that I need to stop buying nail polishes. Not because I think it's a waste like she does, but because I'm not earning any money yet. :P

The first three I bought from Duane Reade (a pharmacy they have in New York) and the last two are from Target.

1. Nailtini "Millionaire"

My sister spotted this glittery shade and told me it was quite popular. I was at the time already wearing Penny Talk by Essie on my nails so I put a coat of the Millionaire tester on top of one of my nails and I loved the effect so I bought it. Nailtini is one of those pricier brands and I don't know if it's available in Perth.

Check out the flash photo on the right for a slightly better look at the different colours of glitter. My best description of it would be pink glitter with loads of gold confetti-sized glitters and some blue/green confetti-sized glitters. I thought it would be perfect for celebrating the New Year.

2. Essie "Carry On"

I tried to fit in with the winter theme with this deep purple shade... in hindsight I probably should have remembered that I already own so many dark purples in my collection and opted for a deep red shade instead (which is one colour I don't really have any of). But I know I love Essie and I know I'll probably wear this a lot anyway.

3. Essie "Penny Talk"

Penny Talk made it to my January Favourites, which you can check out here.

I don't have a nail polish even remotely like this metallic-y rose gold, so it was a very worthy purchase in my opinion. By the way, the photo's really not doing it justice, go check out the picture of it in the other post!

4. Sally Hansen "Double Duty strengthening base & top coat"

In need of a base coat quite desperately, I found this at Target for like $3.99 so I decided WHY NOT? and got it to try out. I really like the brush, it makes application really easy.

5. Revlon "Quick Dry Top Coat"

I heard good things about this top coat in the beauty vlogisphere, and I'm a big believer of top coats (especially when doing nail art). So far I really like the formula. 

But now that the weather has changed and I'm about to be back at uni, I'm feeling an urge to wear less vibrant/obvious/bright, paler shades and more nude colours on my nails. Unfortunately though, I don't really have any nail polishes that fit that description. 

So a certain type of outing (shopping, shhhh!) might be in order very shortly.

My favourite American Fast Foods.

Delicious "chicken sandwiches" (they mean burgers), yummy waffle fries, good service and the best condiment I have ever tasted in my lifetime. Honey Roasted Barbeque sauce. So good.
I order a #2 or #8 with waffle fries and extra honey roasted bbq sauce.

I only discovered the deliciousness of Chipotle at the tail end of my time in America, but you only need to go once to experience how YUM it is! It's cheap and super filling.
I get a burrito bowl with chicken, no beans, no cheese, no sour cream, no hot salsa but everything else. Including guacamole.

It's better than In N Out, better than Shake Shack - if you haven't tried a Five Guys burger, you NEED to add it to your bucket list. Five Guys burgers are AMAZING! All the toppings are free, and they call a hamburger a "Little Hamburger", so their "Hamburger"s are actually double burgers. Like, two times everything (except the bun).
I order a hamburger or little hamburger with everything except mushrooms and onions and add relish.
It's so delish.

Starbucks!
Yes, the drinks can be super fatty - but we just don't have the sweet luxury of White Peppermint Mochas or Vanilla Spice Lattés in Perth. Also, the pumpkin spice loaf slice is soooo yummy. Oh, and don't forget the green tea frappucinos. Why doesn't Perth have Starbucks yet? 

Silver Linings Playbook.

Oh my God. 

I just came home from watching Silver Linings Playbook. 

I can't even. 

A pretty profound realisation came into my head on the drive home and I immediately went up to my room to write a journal entry. 

A JOURNAL ENTRY! 

I hadn't done one of those in years.

Anyway, at the end of it I did a little word ramble of my thoughts on the film. 

Here's a picture snippet of it.

It's a very, very rare film in which I instinctively desire to watch it again, immediately after seeing it for the first time. In fact I don't think I have ever had that feeling before. Not even The Hunger Games (and there was so much excitement built up inside of me for that movie). 

If you haven't seen Silver Linings Playbook yet, go watch it in the cinema. 

The cast

The direction

The acting

The soundtrack

The editing

The producing

The soundtrack

The direction

The cast

It's amazing.

An organising sort of morning.

Look! I set up my nail polish collection again! They're in colour order but it's hard to see when they're sitting in so many rows. 

And then I needed to get started on my makeup... 

What you see on my bed isn't even all of it! 

All this was happening while a lovely Bath and Body Works candle was burning away. 

Cranberry Pear Bellini. Smells so good!

By the way, last night I finished unpacking all my clothes! My wardrobe has never been so packed. 

I need to organise it better - put all my winter clothes away and whip out the summery stuff! 

It's been 40 deg Centigrade in Perth, maybe even hotter. BLURGH! 

January Beauty Favourites.

Hello! Today I'm going to show you some of the beauty products I really, really liked using/used a lot of during the month of January! 

Let's start off with.... 

LIPS

1 LUSH sugar lip scrub in Mint Julips

I love the pepperminty exfoliating goodness of this lip scrub, not to mention it's made of sugar so it tastes delicious too. I've been needing to use this quite a bit last month due to the American winter drying out my skin. No one likes flaky, dry lips!

2 Smith's Rosebud Salve

I picked this lip balm/salve thingo up in Sephora when my sister and I were in New York before Christmas. I was thinking of getting the same product in the pot packaging but then I thought the tube would be more hygienic. I love that it is colourless (unlike my Korres lip balm) and I also like the faint rose scent to it. 

NAILS

3 Essie nail lacquer in Penny Talk

                                                                                                       Penny Talk is a lovely rose gold shade that I wore a lot when I was in NYC last December. I picked it up from Duane Reade. The thing I like most about Essie nail polishes is the incredibly fast drying time. I actually painted Penny Talk on my nails whilst in a car full of people driving to Vancouver. It was that easy.

FACE

4 MAC Cleanse Off Oil - Tranquil

                                                                                     The very helpful guy at the MAC store in Times Square told me the blue version of MAC Cleanse Off Oil is for sensitive skin. My previous oil-based makeup cleanse off thingy was Bio Oil, and in comparison, the MAC one washes off the skin much easier. You massage it all over your face (when the skin is dry!) and it melts away every bit of makeup. Waterproof mascara, GONE! No panda eyes for me when I get out of the shower. 

5 Smashbox Photofinish Foundation Primer

                                                                               I got a trial size tube of this primer in Smashbox's Try It Kit. You can get it from Sephora, Macy's, and probably other places too. The Try It Kit has 5 best selling products - the face primer above, an eye primer, a lipgloss, an eyeliner and a mascara (which is also featured in this post!). I really like this primer because of its smooth silky finish and it really does its job. Also it doesn't have any smell unlike Benefit's Porefessional.

6 Benefit Boi-ing industrial strength concealer in shade 02

I wasn't sure about this concealer at first because it seemed quite hard and dry, and a little difficult to work with, but when I gave it a second chance it really pulled through for me! I had a lot (like, A LOT) of acne scars all over my face, and then acne breakouts on top of that, so I had a lot of things to hide the past couple of months, and this guy deserves a prize for helping me out so well. I apply it with my fingers or a brush. The only minor downside is the slightly unhygienic packaging. 

EYES

7 Smashbox Hyperlash mascara

                                                                               This mascara also came in the Smashbox Try It Kit. The website says it lengthens, volumises, defines and lifts your lashes, and I'll testify to that. It literally makes it look like I have many more eyelashes than I really do, so I suppose that's the defining/volumising part down. And Hyperlash definitely does a great job of lengthening and lifting too.
Oh, by the way, check out the BRUSH! On one side it has a longer lash comb which helps distribute the product much more evenly and effectively while separating the lashes and making sure it doesn't clump. Really awesome.

8 Benefit They're Real mascara

I've had this mascara for a while now and its quality lies in the design of the brush. The formula is good - it's fairly decent for length and volume, but the bristles and the brush shape at the tip make application a breeze. This is the only mascara I've ever tried that really gets into my corner lashes (especially the outer corner where I want them to wing out dramatically). It's genius.












9 Benefit Erase Paste in fair

I use Erase Paste as an under eye concealer because of its fair shade and salmony pink undertones. It's great for hiding darkness under the eyes and I spread it out further to the top of my cheekbones for a nice highlighting effect. This little pot packs a punch because you only need to use the tiniest amount. I think it will last me years.

10 Bourjois Effet Smoky Pencil in dark purple

I got this in one of my Bellaboxes last year (an Australian beauty box) and it's certainly served me well! The purple shade is a nice combo with my brown eyes and it's really easy to use, especially with the bottom end being a blending brush (which makes it perfect to slip into your bag for on-the-go top ups).
I also realised I like to use this in conjunction with the next product! (Bad to the Bronze)

11 Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

These cream eyeshadows by Maybelline have been all the rage in the beauty vlogosphere. I love this shade because it's kinda duochrome (darker brown in the shadows and a lighter, metallic shade in direct light) and it's also quick and easy to apply. Just get some on a finger and wipe it all over the eyelid! You can always go back with a blending brush or whatever to fix up any mess (but there's rarely ever a mess anyway). I use an lid primer underneath because my lids are super oily & crease a lot, but for normal skin I'm sure these eyeshadows are pretty long lasting.


FRAGRANCE

12 MAC Turquatic

This is my all time favourite perfume and has been for the last several years. I was freaked out at one point because the MAC counters I went to in both Australia and the US told me MAC fragrances were to be discontinued. But then it turned out they just decided to relaunch just ONE of the perfumes, Turquatic - my favourite one! I'm a happy chappy. :)



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Question: What were some of your favourite beauty products for January?

Last Sunday in America.

• Woke up at 6.30am
• Mother made french toast; I also ate regular toast with french onion Laughing Cow cheese on top
• Went to the 8.30am service at Lakewood
• Shook hands with Ps Joel Osteen
• Went to lunch at a dim sum place called Kim Son with the family (minus brother, who is at home in Perth)
• Came home and had a nap (with "Walrus") for like half an hour or so (see photo below - courtesy of my big sister)
• Went to Family Christian bookstore
• Went to Walmart
• Failed to go to Cold Stone Creamery (stupid GPS took us to a building construction site!)
• Went to HEB for the first time (... someone seriously should have told me about the SAMPLES before!)
• Came home and watched Hotel Transylvania while eating snacks and drinking tea
• Went to grab some Chipotle for dinner

Did you have a nice Sunday?

Next post: My January Beauty Favourites!
Here is a sneak peek pic :)