Lush 'Confident' Liquid Lipstick!

I was so excited when Lush sent me 'Confident' liquid lipstick, because despite being a huge Lush addict, I'd never tried their makeup before! Shower gels, soaps, cleansers, masks, bath bombs, yes, but a complete makeup virgin! Here's the Lush philosophy behind Confident:

"Your CONFIDENT nature shines through today. People admire you all around for your self–belief. Some may feel irritated by your assured manner, as they might not be feeling so great themselves. That said, your focus should be on your certainty as it is making you strong. You might need a little bit of self-belief today, and that is why your subconscious is asking you for some confidence. Wear this colour to give you the assurance you may need at this moment, and let it remind you of what you require as you continue your day. Feeling CONFIDENT is key, and you have this in spades. What a talent to possess today! It can help you achieve anything! Stay bold and great things will come of it."

Confident swatched on my arm

You can see in the arm swatch above, Confident is a beautifully rich, deep, earthy wine red. It's called Marsala and it's the 2015 Pantone Colour of the Year. I found this colour to be very pigmented and quite full-on! For me, it's too dark for daytime wear, but I would feel great wearing it on a night out. I found that it looked best against my palest foundation, so I'd say it would suit those with fair skin tones. It really stands out and makes quite a statement (perhaps that the wearer is Confident?). I felt more comfortable wearing it blotted, and you can see the difference in the two lip swatch photos below.

Confident lip swatch, unblotted

Confident lip swatch, blotted

Formula-wise, this liquid lipstick applies like a dream. It's super-smooth and so wearable and comfortable on. There's no stickiness and it feels somewhat like a lip cream. The ingredients include jojoba oil, rose wax and candelilla wax, which are all very softening on the lips. The little glass bottle that houses the product is pretty cute and small enough to easily pop in your handbag for touch-ups throughout the day (if you dare wear it in daylight hours!). The screw-top lid means no worrying about spillages in your handbag, either. I love the spongetip applicator, although application took a little getting used to since most products have longer wands. Since the handle is short though, you can get a precise line around the edges, which I was definitely seeking with a colour this bold!

Lush suggest on their site this can also be used as a cream blush, and if you want a more subtle look, you can apply it mixed with a lip balm. Alternatively, blot it down until you get a nice stain, like I did! This product is vegan and can be purchased from Lush here.

Disclaimer: This product was provided for consideration. This review is my honest opinion. This is a non-sponsored post.

Alpha-H Goodies!

OK, so this purchase happened! I've been trying to curtail my spending lately, and it was going pretty well. Until a problem presented itself; my beloved Liquid Gold was down to the last few drops and I really wanted to get another one. Facial Co had a Gift With Purchase (free 30ml Liquid Gold Rejuvenating Cream and 30ml Liquid Gold Anti-Ageing Cleanser) with a minimum spend on Alpha-H products. I was in! Admittedly, Adore Beauty were having a different Alpha-H special at the same time which I was also considering, but the Facial Co one sounded better value for money.

Uh-oh, spaghetti-oh!

On a positive note, this gives me a chance to try a few different products from the brand for the first time! I loved the sound of the Balancing and Pore Refining Mask, so added that to my cart to reach the minimum $80 spend. So I got another bottle of the amazing Liquid Gold (mini-review here), which I swear by, a mask I'm probably too excited about, the 30ml rejuvenating cream and anti-ageing cleanser, together valued at $66, two free samples (Daily Essential Moisturiser 5ml and Micro Cleanse 5ml) and two Mentos mints. I also received a copy of The Face Beauty Book (not pictured, I forgot about it!) in with my order.

I get my best skin ever when I use Liquid Gold. Have you tried it? What's your favourite Alpha-H product?

Disclaimer: All products were purchased with my own money. All thoughts are my honest opinion. This is a non-sponsored post.

Bourjois 1 Second Lavande Esquisse Mani!

I actually had a seldom-experienced 3-4 days polish-free recently and my bare nails were all like "what the hell colour do you call this!?" so I covered their nudity with the elaborately-named Lavande Esquisse from the Bourjois 1 Second gel texture range.

I do love the flat 'fan effect' brush (shown in the photo below) which allows for easy application and a smooth finish. Aah, this colour is so pretty! And I only needed one coat!

Disclaimer: I won the entire set of Bourjois 1 Second nail enamels. This post is non-sponsored and all thoughts are my honest opinion.

Thoughts on my Pre-Xmas Lush Haul!

It was around the start of December that I really got sick of boring supermarket soap, and wanted a bit of luxury and a sweet-smelling bathroom. I couldn't wait any longer (even though I knew the Lush Boxing Day sale was approaching) and put through a Lush order. My goals were to try products I'd never tried before and to get a few soaps and shower gels. Here's my haul!

* The Olive Branch shower gel
* Happy Hippy shower gel
* Tea Tree Water toner water
* Bohemian soap
* Baked Alaska Snowball soap
* Miranda soap

I'm finding The Olive Branch shower gel to be really subtle and mild, and I haven't really made up my mind about it! It has olive oil, vine leaves infusion and mandarins, and seems like it would be a great unisex product.

Happy Hippy shower gel is an old favourite of mine. I sensed a change and checked the website, only to learn that the 'lemon-to-rosy hue' may be different due to the pink grapefruits used changing in colour. Still, it's citrusy, fruity and a pleasure to use.

I bought the Tea Tree Water toner because my Lush Breath Of Fresh Air toner was nearly finished and I wanted to try something new. This is so refreshing to spritz on my face (especially on a hot Summer day), and I love that it's great for oily and spot prone types, because that's me.

Being a massive fan of zesty fragrances, I love this invigorating lemon Bohemian soap. It contains coconut, rapeseed and lemon oils and is awesome to wake me up during my morning shower. The fragrance makes me happy!

The wedge of Baked Alaska Snowball soap is so colourful and pretty! It smells strongly of lemon myrtle and ylang ylang oil and is fun to use. The shape is a little impractical though.

Disappointingly, my Miranda soap looked nothing like the promo photo on the Lush website! Mine was nearly entirely green, without the pretty red circle bits. Anyway, I liked the kiwi fruit based soap, except for the little black pips which sometimes scratched my skin. I pulled the black seeds out whenever they got scratchy. 

Have you tried any of these? What's your favourite Lush product?

Disclaimer: All products were bought by me. All thoughts are my honest opinion.

Best Dressed at the 2015 People's Choice Awards!

The 2015 People's Choice Awards were recently held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by Allison Janney and Anna Faris from the TV series Mom, and some of the winners were:

* Jennifer Lawrence (Favourite Movie Actress and Favourite Action Movie Actress)
* Robert Downey Jr. (Favourite Movie Actor)
* 22 Jump Street (Favourite Comedic Movie)
* The Fault In Our Stars (Favourite Dramatic Movie)
* The Big Bang Theory (Favourite TV Show and Favourite Network TV Comedy)
* Betty White (Favourite TV Icon)
* Taylor Swift (Favourite Female Artist, Favourite Pop Artist and her song 'Shake It Off' won Favourite Song)

The fashion was interesting! I've picked out my favourites from the night, and here they are!

Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi wore a colbalt blue jumpsuit by Zuhair Murad that copped a bit of flak, but I like this look! It's eye-catching and the colour is gorgeous. I also love her asymmetrical haircut, but then Portia has always had enviable hair!
Photo credit: Getty/Frazer Harrison via Pop Sugar

Sarah Hyland
The Modern Family actress wore this beautiful Christian Siriano dress that was sparkly, sexy, semi-see-through, strapless and stunning! Her tanned skin and beautiful makeup perfectly finished the look.
Photo credit: Getty/Jason Merritt via Pop Sugar

Melissa McCarthy
Melissa has lost a fair bit of weight recently, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in this flattering black suit. I love the jacket with the trimming. I'm not sure who designed this, but it's a fabulous look for her. In related news, Melissa will be launching her own plus-size fashion line this year. I'm such a fan of this talented, hilarious woman!
Photo credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP via Radar Online

Allison Janney
I'd kill to look this fabulous at 55! The 6 foot actress stunned in this sparkly silver, sequinned Rani Zakhem number. Being co-host, she did wear a total of five outfits on the night, but this was my favourite. What a killer figure!
Photo credit: Getty//Jason Merritt via Pop Sugar

Stana Katic
The Castle actress wore a black Carolina Herrera ball gown with little flowers on it. Aaah, so pretty! She's accessorising with her People's Choice Award for Favourite Crime Drama TV Actress!
Photo credit: WENN via Celebitchy

Matt Bomer
The ridiculously goodlooking White Collar actor won the Favourite Cable TV Actor Award. He's wearing some kind of suit. I don't care what it is, I just wanted to put these pictures here.
Photo credit: Getty/WENN via Celebitchy

December Empties!

Another round of Empties, and I'm making a conscious effort to finish products lately. I think it has something to do with the huge amount of self-gifting I participated in around Christmas. I have so much stuff, I have ascertained I'll never need to buy makeup, skincare or nail polish ever again (excluding staples). Of course, I still will, but I'm going to try living off my built up stock for as long as I can hold out. Excluding staples. Always excluding staples.

Formula 10.0.6 Down To The Pore Strips
These 'blackhead banishing pore strips with tea tree and kaolin' were no different to any of the other pore strips I've used. They all go on the same, work the same way and do the same thing. I don't even have a blackhead problem really, I just get these (any brand, I'm not fussy) for the fun of pulling it off and seeing all the gross bits come out. Is it just me who gets a kick out of this? I hope not.

Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume
This is my favourite dry shampoo ever, and is most definitely a staple. It gives my fine locks tons of volume and soaks up oils between washes. I stock up when they are on special, because I use this product every day. I've spoken about it before here.

Australis Glitter Polish in Rio Riot
I have a lot of glitter nail polish, and most of the Australis nail glitter varieties (hello Milky Way, Fairy Bread, Glitter Strikes Back, etc). However this bottle was damaged (the inner lid was broken and it didn't screw closed properly) when my online order arrived and I never bothered to replace it. I was able to use it for a while, but then I put it in my vast polish collection and forgot about it. Suffice to say it's now dried up and useless, so into the bin it goes.

Revlon Lash Potion Waterproof Mascara
I was using this and wondering why I was getting a clump effect, then switched to another mascara and the problem ceased. I think this might just be too dry (can't remember when I got it), so I'll toss it and continue with my newer mascaras instead.

Maybelline Age Rewind Treatment Concealer
This is an effective dark circles corrector, and it's another staple in my makeup organiser. I love the formula and consistency, although the foam applicator can be a pain in the arse. I've blogged about it before here.

Australis Eyeshadow Primer
I'm not into expensive eyeshadow primers, and there's no need to be when this cheapie works so well. The white, creamy primer blends in effortlessly and really helps the shadow stay put throughout the day. Don't make my mistake and apply shitloads of bright green, sparkly eyeshadow as an experiment after using this primer, because you will be fucked for the entire day. The only drawback is the metallic pink tube means you cannot see when you are about to run out.

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel
Half of my label has rubbed off, so I must be super aggressive in the shower! This limited edition cult product is only available at Christmas time, hence stocking up often occurs (I still have a huge one from last year I'm madly trying to finish; the expiry date is fast approaching so from now on my son will be having seventeen Snow Fairy bubblebaths per day!). Anyway this is a pretty pink, super sweet candy floss fragranced gel that's fun and lovely. I've talked about it before here.

Disclaimer: All products bought with my own money. All reviews are my honest opinion.

Revlon Tangerine & OPI Gold Shatter Mani!

I picked these two bottles out of my collection thinking 'oooh this will be pretty'. Then the more I looked at the colours, the more I thought 'my nails are going to look hideous'. I decided to go ahead with Revlon nail enamel in Tangerine followed by OPI nail lacquer in Gold Shatter over the top anyway, and I actually think it looks quite pretty.

This is two coats of Tangerine, which contains tiny sparkles, and one coat of the OPI shatter (remember when crackles and shatters were all the rage?), which has a very thin texture and shattered mildly. I've included a photo of the Tangerine alone so you can see what that looks like applied. If I ever dress up as a pumpkin for Halloween this will be my go-to polish.

LUSH: New Release Products for 2015!

Newbies, released 8 January 2015!

ALERT! NEW RELEASE LUSH PRODUCTS! 

I was lucky enough to be sent a bunch of new LUSH products to try out. So exciting! These babies will be released on the 8th of January 2015, which isn't long at all. I'm so addicted to Lush it's not even funny. I still have a pre-Christmas haul to blog, and I might have indulged in a spot of soap and shower gel self-gifting at the Adelaide Myer Centre store yesterday (hey, everything I bought was 50% off from the Boxing Day sale, so it doesn't count). Anyway, here's your sneak peek of Lush new release products!

Mangnificent Soap
This is a fruity, predominantly mango soap containing big chunks of fruit! Ripe, juicy and fresh, Mangnificent would be suitable for those who enjoy fruity, zesty aromas instead of earthy, herbal ones. It also contains Sicilian lemon, mandarin and Tunisian neroli oils. There's a blend of fresh and dried mango, and you get a huge hit of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the fruit, including vitamins A, E, C, B, potassium and calcium. I found this to be a family-friendly soap that everyone can use, and a perfect start to the day.

Zest Hair Gelly
I'm not a hair gel person, but my husband is! So he got to trial this "self-preserving orangey hair jelly that gives both your hair and mood a boost". The fragrance is a combination of sweet wild orange oil, pettigrain oil from bitter orange tree twigs and neroli oil. The gelly looks quite runny in the pot, and I was wondering how much hold it would have, but apparently the sugar from the orange juice boosts the holding power, and the addition of carrageenan extract from Irish moss seaweed has a thickening effect and gives texture. Hubby said the consistency was like wobbly jelly and it gave his hair a wet look but did hold it in place.

African Paradise Body Conditioner
Ingredients in this in-shower conditioner include Fair Trade shea butter, moringa oil, aloe vera and ylang ylang. Lush utilise sympathetic buying and the ingredients come from SLush funded projects in Africa. I must admit, I've never used a body conditioner before! So my first thoughts after using African Paradise were 'I've just cleaned my skin and now it has a coating on it!'. It's a strange feeling I'm not yet used to, but if you can get past the initial 'coating' feeling, the after-effects are worth it. After I dried myself, my skin was super-soft and left feeling nourished and moisturised, completely eradicating the need for a body moisturiser. Also, the fragrance of this one is beautifully exotic.

D'Fluff Strawberry Shaving Soap
My husband had a go with this first and reported it was really great and I wholeheartedly agree. I love the mousse-like, whipped texture and the strawberry fragrance is fruity and fresh. My skin felt smooth and soothed after use, and smelled sweet and lovely. D'Fluff contains fresh strawberries, coconut oil, corn syrup, maple syrup, rosehip oil, cocoa butter and egg whites to create the fluffy, mousse-like texture. The fragrance contains Fair Trade vanilla absolute, sweet wild orange oil and rose absolute. A great product you can share with your partner, if you're feeling generous!

Granny Takes A Dip Bath Bomb
This multi-coloured bath bomb, inspired by the Purple Gang song 'Granny Takes a Trip', is almost too pretty to use! I can't wait to take a relaxing Dip in the bath and take Granny for a spin. She apparently produces psychedelic swirls of foaming pepper, lemon and ginger-scented bath water. With lemon oil to uplift your mood and ginger and pepper to boost circulation, this product sounds like the bomb!

Parsley Porridge Soap
I appreciate a good multi-tasker; this green solid soap can be used both on the face and body. I love that Parsley Porridge is great for oily, acne-prone skin (that's me!). The thyme and tea tree oil is antibacterial and the fine milled porridge oats deep cleanse and lift dead skin cells while the aloe gel revives and cools. This soap gives a low, creamy lather and quite an earthy, herbal scent, which I'm finding addictive. I'll continue using this solely on my face, because I have plenty of pretty-smelling Lush soaps for my body, and it's my facial skin which will most benefit from a pimple-banishing deep cleanse.


Which new release Lush product takes you fancy?

Disclaimer: All products were provided for consideration. This is a non-sponsored post and all reviews are my honest opinion.