Here are my favourites for October. This includes two brand new products on the market, one newly-discovered product and an old lover :)
Urban Rituelle Vanilla Eau De Parfum
Loving this! I won a $100 UR voucher and included this delightful fragrance in my order. I'm so happy I did! It's a light, umm, vanilla-ey fragrance that's fresh and pretty. And not one of those strong aromas that gives me a headache. YAY!
Olay Total Effects Cream Cleanser
I used to use this cream cleanser years ago and I don't rememeber why I stopped! It's fabulous and I'm so happy I've rediscovered it. It has such a lovely fragrance and although it's a cream cleanser it contains sparse tiny exfoliating particles that are hardly noticeable, yet give me such a satisfying cleansing experience. Hope I remember to keep buying this. :)
Maybelline Eye Studio MasterLiner Cream Pencil
I was quite impressed with this eyeliner, which I bought in Black. Who uses brown eyeliner, seriously!? I normally dislike retractable eyeliner and stick with pencil ones, but I couldn't resist buying this, as it's quite reasonably priced. The formula is quite soft and creamy and it provides a dramatic line which would be great for an evening look (I wear it during the day, though). It has superior staying power and doesn't rub off or smudge. My new favourite eyeliner. For now. :)
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
I bought this in Fair Clair, as part of my neverending quest to find my Holy Grail concealer. And I'm really loving it. I'm quite particular about my concealers. Even though I have a YSL Touche Eclat, I don't love it because it's a brush-on instead of a wand applicator. I was quite sceptical of a concealer thats concept is to let your natural skin shine through. No, that's what I'm trying to conceal! LOL. But this is a lovely creamy product that DOES cover my imperfections, is easily blendable and lasts all day. Currently my everyday concealer, however the hunt for my Holy Grail product continues.
* Urban Rituelle I won, all other products I bought with my own money.
What products are you loving right now?
rrp $22.99
Aveeno say: "With clinically proven Total Soy Complex to brighten and even skin tone while providing SPF15 sun protection, Aveeno Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturiser contains natural light-reflecting minerals and lightweight coverage that seamlessly blends away imperfections and immediately enhances skin’s natural radiance."
I'm quite taken with Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturiser from Aveeno Active Naturals. I'm using Fair to Light, but it's also available in Medium. The consistency is spot on, not too thick or runny. It applied easily and blended well. The Fair to Light shade is perfect for my pale skin. Normally my shade is Ivory, so I thought this may be too dark, but this wasn't the case. I loved the slightly glowy complexion this gave me, and it really evened out my skin tone. My face looked glowing and healthy after application. I found Aveeno Tinted Moisturiser to be slight thicker with greater coverage than most other tinted moisturisers, and as such it easily covered my blotchy patches. I was very impressed and thought it did meet its claim of evening out skin tone and brightening the appearance of skin.
The pump action packaging is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing, however I did notice when I used this each day, there was a small, dry, crusty bit of product that I had to wipe away to get to the fresh product. This is exactly the type of product I'd use for days I'm staying home and on weekends, as it's quick and easy to apply, yet doesn't give me the confidence of a full coverage foundation (hence I wouldn't really wear it out!). Overall, I am impressed with Aveeno Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturiser and the results it gave me and I'll continue to use this product.
* this product was provided for consideration. This review is my honest opinion.
So I've written myself a new, pared-back skincare routine, with the hope I can actually stick to this one! I'm really going to try and make time to carry this out daily, because I did a proper night-time routine last night and it felt so good. I've changed nearly every product up, so it will be interesting how I'll go.
CLEANSING
Olay Total Effects Cream Cleanser
Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant
DAY (UNDER MAKEUP)
Botani Olive Skin Serum Anti-Ageing Natural Moisturiser
Olay Total Effects Anti-Ageing Cream
Olay Regenerist Eye Lifting Serum
NIGHT
TN Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Recovery Complex
Dr. LeWinns Line Smoothing Complex S8 Double Intensity Night Cream
L'Oreal Dermo-Expertise Youth Code Rejuvenating Anti-Wrinkle Eye Care
* photo taken from the Estee Lauder website
Do you use any of these products? How are they working for you?
RRP $19.99
DB says:
"Eternal Youth Illuminating Day Creme helps prevent and reduce the signs of ageing whilst providing moisture and hydration. The infusions of Q10, antioxidants & peptides helps promote the appearance of younger, fresher looking skin. Leaves skin looking radiant and glowing!"
This pink coloured cream from DB (Designer Brands) has a lovely light consistency and a pleasant fragrance. It feels luxurious to apply, and blends quite easily as long as you don't use too much. At $19.99 for a 50ml jar, this day cream is quite good value for money, since only a small amount is needed each time. Immediately upon application, my skin felt slightly sticky to the touch, however this effect disappeared after 5 to 10 minutes, the time taken for the cream to properly absorb into my skin.
Results
My skin felt soft and smooth and fine lines were less defined. It must be noted, I also used my lifting eye cream in conjunction with DB Eternal Youth, so that would have been a contributing factor. The best effect I saw was that my skin looked brighter and more illuminated after using this cream. I could see a noticeable glow and radiance. Also, Eternal Youth provided a great base for makeup. This is something I always worry about, because you don't want to cleanse, exfoliate, moisturise, then apply your treatment cream, wait for it all to absorb, then discover your foundation smears over the top or you get the dreaded rub-off effect. After applying my makeup, my pores were tight and I could barely see any fine lines.
The packaging of this product is also aesthetically pleasing. It looks like an upmarket glass jar, however it's plastic. Great news if you drop it on the bathroom floor (another thing I worry about with cosmetics and skin care packaging!).
Overall, I'm impressed with the results of DB Eternal Youth Illuminating Day Creme, and would consider purchasing it once my current jar runs out.
** This product was provided for review purposes. This review is my honest opinion.
What do you think of DB products?
I don't know why. But here are six famous ladies in black dresses. YAY!
Dita Von Teese
Dita in a dress she wore in Berlin recently. It's being referred to as a negligee dress but I love it! Her red nails and lips compliment this dress perfectly.
Julia Roberts
Here's Julia at a Fireflies In The Garden premiere. I dont mind the dress but the blazer doesnt really go. I would have liked to see it without the jacket. The shoes look stripperesque but I like them anyway!
Lindsay Lohan
Alleged crackhead hot mess LiLo at a Saints Row event in LA. Hideous. Her foul extensions look cheap and the dress is awful. The pockets don't help. Those (alleged) meth teeth have gotten a lot of publicity this week!
Charlize Theron
I love this Little Black Dress and the shoes are fantastic. Seriously, though, it's Charlize. She'd look good in a potato sack!
Felicity Jones
Felicity is an upcoming actress from new movie Like Crazy (she was also in Chalet Girl). I love this dress! Yes, it's busy but I like that there's a lot happening. Pretty!
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan at this years Emmy Awards in a gorgeous black beaded Eli Saab gown. Old school glamour at it's finest!
What are your thoughts on these dresses? Do you have a favourite?
Another month, another load of empties. I actually really enjoy blogging my empties, because it forces me to use up my products so I've got something to blog about! Today, I started organising all my unused prodz into categories so I can store them better and I am SHOCKED at how much shit I have!
L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss Conditioning Colour in 910 Light Iced Blonde
This was a hassle to use, compared to the home colours I've used in the past. There's a perforated bit where you pop the cardboard box out and you are supposed to stand the container up in it to mix the other stuff in. Sorry I'm being to vague, I've thrown the instructions out and I don't know the names to refer to! Also, after I broke the top off the bottle and squeezed some out, it came out crooked and went near my eye. Not good! I think I just had a bad day with this colour, because I've used a lot of different brands and types in the past and this has never happened before. The result wasn't too bad, not brilliant though, and I do have to use blonde toner or my hair looks a bit orangey. I will be looking to purchase a completely different colour in the future.
Dove Gentle Exfoliating Beauty Cream Bar
Love this soap and have blogged about it previously here
Toni & Guy Volume Conditioner
I wasn't a massive fan of this conditioner. It didn't really seem to make my hair fuller or more volumous. It does take a lot to get body into my fine hair, though.
Clinique Liquid Facial Soap
I quite enjoyed this mild cleanser from Clinique. It was very gentle and did the job although it's definitely not the best facial soap I've ever used.
Guinot Gommage Grain D'Eclat (Gentle Face Exfoliating Cream)
I was so disappointed with this exfoliator! It had an unpleasant aroma, minimal exfoliating particles and left a horrible, grimy residue on my face after I'd washed it off. If I'm to compare fancy French brands, my Payot stuff is winning hands down!
Schwarzkopf Extra Care Liquid Silk Shampoo, Conditioner & SOS Repair Treatment
These mini-sized products were from a travel kit I won and they were just lovely. They almost smelled of fairy floss or coconut ice. I enjoyed the silky smooth results I achieved from these products. They conditioned my hair well, and left it shiny and soft. I'd definitely purchase these with my own money in the future.
** L'Oreal, Dove, and Toni & Guy were purchased by me, Clinique, Guinot and Schwarzkopf I won.
I'd heard a lot about nailpolish brand Ulta3 but had never tried it myself. This all changed when I saw a big container of polishes at the Chemist for only $2.25 each!
I snagged Watermelon and Party Shoes.
Check out my Ulta3 Watermelon manicure below! The first photo is without flash and the second photo is with flash.
What's your favourite Ulta3 shade?
Today, I'm blogging about Urban Rituelle, because my order arrived!
So I've made a SoapHenge out of the Urban Rituelle soaps in my order.......
The vegetable soaps I chose are (from the top left of SoapHenge) Raspberry Spritzer, Vanilla Bean, Guava, Passionfruit and Mango. They smell DIVINE! See a more professional photo below .....
Thanks so much to the lovely peeps at Urban Rituelle for running a brilliant competition, I won a $100 voucher to spend in their online store. SUCH FUN! Below is my order in its entirety......
So in addition to the soaps, here are some of the products I'll most probably review after I've tried them out:
* Beachcomber Pink Jasmine Body Butter
* White Kimono Hand & Body Lotion
* Vanilla Eau De Parfum
* Beachcomber Summer Scents Frangipani
* Green Tea Hand Cream
* Lime Splice Lip Balm
* Beachcomber Pink Jasmine Lip Glamour
* Beachcomber Coconut & Ginger Lip Glamour
* Geranium & Ginger Flower Lip Lustre
They all came in this lovely bag. Urban Rituelle rule when it comes to gorgeous packaging....
What's your favourite Urban Rituelle product?
