Looking Naturally Pretty with Rimmel: Review & Swatches

I recently tested out three Rimmel London products. Read on for review, swatches and a how-to on achieving a "naturally pretty" look!

Rimmel London 9-in1 BB Cream SPF 25
Claims: It primes skin, moisturises, minimises the appearance of pores, helps protect against environmental damage, conceals, covers, smoothes, mattifies and brightens.
RRP: AUD$12.95
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Review: I truly am impressed with this BB cream. At first, I thought its claims of being able to 9 things was just a marketing gimmick but I quickly discovered that I was wrong. Its texture is very much similar to most primers and it has a matte finish. Most BB creams are light coverage. This one can be built to medium. I find its coverage so good that I don't apply any foundation or concealer over it.

This product makes my face look flawless. The only thing that doesn't completely work for me is that it's pink-based. I need a yellow-based version. Other than that, I'm very happy with this BB cream. It has simplified my makeup application process by a lot. It's the epitome of a multitasking product!

I know it doesn't appear very pink in this photo but when I apply it onto my face, the contrast is quite stark. I think this is a really good shade for many Caucasian women.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder
Claims: Goes on smooth to even out skintone. Offers a natural, matte finish.
RRP: AUD$12.95
Packaging: 4.5 out of 5
Review: Tanya Burr raves about this powder a lot. I've noticed that this is also a favourite amongst other Youtubers. I was really keen to test out this product and I'm happy to report that it is worth the hype. Well, first off, it's really affordable for a "hyped product". Secondly, it does what it says! My skin does not look like it has been powdered with this product. It helps keep foundation/BB cream on, making them last longer. My housemate tested this product out as well. She has oilier skin than I do. She also used a foundation that's poor at keeping oils at bay to test this product out. She was very impressed. This powder was able to keep oils from surfacing and made her foundation last longer.

I really like using this powder with the BB cream (above) because it is more yellow-toned, matching it to the rest of my body. The only reason I gave the packaging a 4.5 is the screw plastic cap. When I am in the hurry in the morning and my hands are covered in BB cream residue. It's a bit difficult to grab hold of the cap and unscrew. It would have been nice if they made it a flip top. But I think if they did, the price would have been compromised.

I hope you can see the swatch!

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner
Claims: Glides on easily and precisely for a flawless, defined line. Its soft and creamy formula also boasts rich pigments to make sure that colour is sleek and stays put.
RRP: AUD$9.95
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Review: In my opinion, this is the most luxe-looking "drugstore" eyeliner that I've ever come across so far. It's creamy and glides on smoothly as promised. It's not soft to the point where it breaks apart upon applying pressure. The Nude shade is the perfect waterline colour. I've tried white and pale pink eyeliners and they look fake on my waterline. This eyeliner subtly opens up my eyes but makes a huge difference to my entire appearance.

The one thing that it has not managed to achieve was to stay put on my waterline for more than an hour or two. It's okay though. It's understandable. Eyeliners fade very fast on my waterline. The only thing that has remotely stayed was a waterproof gel liner. I think I am so happy with the colour that it has compensated for the fact that it has poor lasting power on my waterline. I can't wait to get my hands on other colours and it try them on my lids.

Now, on to the mini tutorial! This is for those who are time poor in the morning.

1. Apply the BB cream all over your face and some down your neck with your hands.
2. Using a brush, apply the Stay Matte Powder onto your T-zone and pat some onto your cheeks last so that the powder is least concentrated there.
3. Curl your lashes.
4. Apply mascara if you have the time (I tend to be slow with this step).
5. Draw the Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in Nude onto your waterline.
6. Apply some lip balm.

Done! You're out the door within 5 minutes looking naturally pretty!

Have you used any of these products? What do you think of it/them?

Triple S: Essence Eye Pencil and Lipgloss Reviews + Swatches

It's finally here! The review(s) that I promised. Sorry it took so long.... Anyway, let's jump right into it!

Essence Kajal (Kohl) Pencil in 01 Black 
Retail: AUD$1.95 for 1g

Packaging: 5 out of 5

Review:  We may not have affordable cosmetic brands, such as ELF or Milani, like they do in the USA but we certainly have Essence here in Australia to make up for it. Apart from being affordable, this eye pencil is of relatively good quality. It is very pigmented and its creamy texture glides on smoothly. You don't need to press down hard to lay on the product; it transfers onto skin quite easily. This product smudges but that can be used to our advantage. It is perfect for making a simple black smokey eye. Line your upper lids thickly with this pencil and smudge upwards with a blending brush and voila!

These days when I am too lazy to line my eyes with liquid or gel eyeliner, I just swipe some of this product on and I'm good to go. In terms of lasting power, it is pretty decent but it does run under my eyes after a couple of hours. But I have to admit that this happens to me with most (if not all) eye pencils. If you experience the same problem, just make sure you pack on some pressed powder under your eyes after you're down with your eye makeup. The reason I gave this product a 5 out of 5 for packaging rating is because I can't find any fault with it. 

Here's a swatch of the kajal pencil. You might be wondering what the swipe of pink next to it is. It's a swatch of an Essence lipgloss. Please read on for the review.

Essence XXXL Nudes Lipgloss in 03 Nude Kiss  
Retail: AUD$3.50 for 5mL

Packaging: 5 out of 5

Review: This is a pretty pink lipgloss with a slight mauvey tone in it. It contains a bit of shimmer, which helps reflect light, adding to its glossiness. I really like this lipgloss because it is not sticky at all. Like most lipglosses it's not long-lasting from being wiped off or consumed during talking and eating. The applicator is long, slender and soft, which makes it fast and easy to cover your lips with product. All it takes is (approximately) two swipes and you're done. Because of it's clever design, I never scrape my lip by accident with the hard angled plastic in the applicators of some lipglosses. The only thing I am not fond of is the scent. It reminds me of some kind of food that I've tried before when I was younger (its name eludes me).

In case you are wondering, this is not a plumping lipgloss. Just putting it out there in case anyone thought it had a plumping effect because of its name "XXXL". The reason I gave this product a 5 out of 5 for packaging rating is because I can't find any fault with it. Plus, I think the packaging is quite appealing and looks of high quality.

 

The lipgloss is sheer like most other lipglosses but it is pigmented enough to give my lips a bit of colour. See photos below. 

Bare lips

With the lipgloss on

 I like these two products so much so they've become my go-to products.

 Have you tried any of Essence's products? Do you like them? Please share in the comments below! 

Triple S: Dramatic Navy Eye Makeup Tutorial

If you've read my post on Beauty on Pinterest, you'd remember how much I love this photo. So much so that it has inspired me to come up with a navy eye makeup look!

Pinterest.com

So here is the look I came up with! I would like to call this Pinspiration Look #1. (P.S. #2 is on its way.)

If you would like to see how I achieved it, just keep reading...

Step 1.  Cut out a strip of magic tape and tape it onto the edge of your eyes at an angle (pointing towards the end of your eyebrows). This will give your eye makeup a nice clean edge. Proceed to filling in your brows if you need to. My brows are horrendously thick and natural-looking, so I didn't fill them in. If I did, it would look horrible.

Step 2. Colour in your lids with a navy eye pencil, stopping just beneath your crease. Make sure you go right up to the edge of the tape. Here I've used my Bobbi Brown's Long Wear Eye Pencil in Black Navy. It is perfect for this look because it's very pigmented and long wearing. It has a slightly creamy consistency so it goes on smoothly. It's a lot easier and faster than slowly packing on lots of powder eyeshadow.

Step 3. Pick up some Naked eyeshadow from the Naked Palette with a fluffy blending brush and blend this into your crease. This will also blend out the top edge of the navy eye pencil to soften up the look.

Step 4. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo for this step. What I did was remove the tape, and using my Bobbi Brown navy eye pencil again, I lined the outer half of my lower lash line with it. I also drew the colour up to join with the top. 

Step 5. With a small flat brush, pat some glittery light sliver eyeshadow onto the centre of your lids. Don't bring it too far up; we don't want any on the crease. The silver glitter will help make the navy colour pop. I used Bobbi Brown's Rockstar Metallic Eyeshadow.

Step 6. Using a black pencil eyeliner, line your top lash line and your top and bottom waterline. It does not have to be perfect, you can just smudge it on with short strokes. Don't make the line on your top lash line too thick. We want the main feature to be the navy colour.

Step 7. Line the (remaining) inner half of your lower lash line with some dark glittery silver eyeshadow. I used Bobbi Brown's Gunmental Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow.

Step 8. Place some of the glittery light sliver eyeshadow onto the inner corners of your eyes to brighten the area. You can also use Virgin from the Naked Palette. I highlighted my brow arch with Virgin as well.

Step 9. Curl your eyelashes. I used my relatively new Shiseido eyelash curler.

Step 10. Load up your lashes with your favourite mascara. I used Rimmel's Scandaleyes mascara in Extreme Black.

Step 11. This step is optional. I put on a set of MAC #32 false eyelashes to make my lashes look as full as possible. They look wonky now because I did not know how to take care of them.

Step 12. Now for the face, put on your favourite foundation/tinted moisturiser. I used my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser.

Step 13. Conceal any blemishes. As you can see, I have tons! My skin is not in its best shape at the moment.

Step 14. Powder your face, especially your T-zone which can get quite oily. I used my Smashbox Translucent Powder.

Step 15. Apply blush to your cheeks lightly. We do not want it to compete with the eye makeup. Choose a more natural browny pink colour. I used my Bobbi Brown Blush in Tawny. First I sculpted my cheeks with it, then I applied some to the apples of my cheeks.

Step 16. Line and fill in your lips with a nude lipliner. You may slick on a matching nude lipstick on top if you like.

Step 17. Apply some pink lipgloss to bring some colour back into your lips, to avoid looking like a corpse!

And there you have it! The completed look.

I also put my hair up into a top bun and wore some silver and navy earrings (to look more like the lady in the picture). I took a lot of photos for this look because I really loved it! It looks really nice in real life. Too bad I don't have a great camera to show its true beauty! But feel free to go through the photo gallery that I've compiled.



What do you think of this look? Love it or hate it?

Wicked Wednesday: Bobbi Brown and Burberry in a Park

I’ve been busy with an exam and assessments so I apologise for my tardiness with today's post. This isn't exactly the most informative or interesting post either and again, I apologise. I promise you I have really good posts lined up for the near future. So please bear with me for now. 

I recently got my hands on a pair of Burberry frames and I have to say that I am in love with them! No, I don’t need glasses but they have become a fashion statement these days. Having said that, I think this provides me with the opportunity to experiment with makeup for glasses. I hope that one day I will be able to post up a makeup tutorial for spectacle wearers. 

Aren't they beautiful?

I have yet to take a photo of myself wearing these glasses yet because I have two massive ugly pimples on my face at the moment. I will upload one once my pimples have cleared. 

 A couple of weeks ago, I had this epiphany for a makeup tutorial (keep your eyes peeled!). I approached Bobbi Brown and requested for one of their products. They were very kind and generous in providing it to me for free. It is a Long Wear Eye Pencil in Black Navy. I thought it’d be nice to give a quick first impression rundown on the product. 

I’m sure I’ve drummed it into your heads by now (for those of you who are regular readers of my blog content). I love Bobbi Brown products. I was really excited to receive it. It brightened my horrible week up a little. 

I really liked how the eyeliner came with a sharpener. For first time pencil eyeliner buyers, this would be very handy. Plus, it means more bang for your buck. According to the product information, this is the pencil version of Bobbi Brown's much loved Long Wear Gel Eyeliner

It's a gorgeous dark blue and here's a swatch of it. 

With direct sunlight

In the shade

After I swatched the eyeliner, I waited a couple of minutes to let it set. Then, I swiped my finger across it to see that if it would budge. I'm happy to report that it stays relatively well. You can see that it has smeared slightly but that is expected of most pencil eyeliners. So you don't have to worry too much if you accidentally rub your eyes (like I sometimes do) when you're wearing this eyeliner. It won't be too big a disaster. 

I know that my blog seems to be chock full of materialism. Please allow me to take a moment to balance some of my narcissism out with the following photo. 

My boyfriend and I had a small picnic in the park today. Hence, the tartan blanket you see in the photos. It was such a lovely day. We were seeing nature at its best. Quality time with him still trumps receiving an awesome beauty product from Bobbi Brown. As the saying goes, "the best things in life are free."

Wicked Wednesday: July Haul

Yes, I know what you're going to say, "Ty, you are waaaaay behind on your July Haul post!" I'm really sorry but I felt that it was more important that I published my previous posts first. Anyway, let's jump straight into it. Remember from my May Haul post, I said that I would not buy anything beauty-related in June because I spent too much in May? Well, if you look through this blog, you will find that the June Haul post is missing. So yes, I lasted through that month without purchasing any beauty products. Hooray! So came July, I treated myself to three. I know, it sounds stupid that I saved in June and I ended up spending in July. But who cares? These products are relatively affordable anyway.

After watching so many American Youtubers and hearing (reading) so many Australian bloggers rave about it, I finally jumped on the Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter bandwagon. I have to say that I'm not disapponinted, in fact I am impressed! The best bit is, I bought it when Target had a buy one get one free Sale. So I got one for myself and one for you (my lovely readers). Expect a review from me soon!

The second product that I purchased is Australis 10hr Waterproof Eye Pencil. I bought it because I've been keeping an eye out for a blue coloured eye pencil to do a duo-coloured eyeliner look. And after hearing from Emily how wonderful this product is, I decided to buy it. I plan on doing a review and a tutorial with it in the near future.

Lastly, I got myself another pair of MAC lashes because 1) My #33 are wonky and out of shape from repeated use and abuse. 2) I was in a bad mood that day and need a pick-me-up and 3) I really like the look of this pair! At first, I went up to the MAC counter asking for #7, they said they've been out of stock for quite a while now. My eyes caught this pair #32 and I knew I couldn't go wrong with them. I'll post up a photo when I get around to wearing them (and when actually remember to take a photo). 

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of it/them?