Must-have Drugstore or affordable beauty products! ♥

Drugstore Must Haves

Good morning class,

I’ve had a bit of a mind-blank regarding blog content recently. I’ve been super busy with school, being sick in bed, and preparing to move house that I’ve barely had a moment to think about anything blog-related! Although I did get a nice surprise when I finally checked in to my blog and realized that my blog views had increased daily (and I’ve hit 2,000 overall!).

Anyway, I pondered – “What would my amazing readers like to read about?”. Then it hit me. I speak a lot about products bought overseas or online or products which are expensive. I barely talk about things that we can buy from our local Farmers or Life Pharmacy etc. I know a lot of you are both from New Zealand and probably also not into makeup enough to warrant spending $40 on a Mac lipstick in-store. So, I’ve decided to tell you all about my favourite drugstore products that you can buy from your local mall! (If you weren’t sure what drugstore means,  it’s an American term which is basically referring to affordable products that you can buy at a drugstore (or a pharmacy in NZ)).

In no specific order,

First up, the Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

Rimmel Stay Matte Ivory

This is a new discovery! I mean I’ve had it in my collection for a while now, but I’ve only recently started using it! Don’t even ask why. Anyway, this foundation is amazing! It’s unlike any mousse-like product I’ve used before. It’s the most gorgeous texture, super light and feathery, it blends like an absolute dream and unlike I would’ve expected it doesn’t slide around my oil-slick of a face. Ivory is the perfect colour for me, and it actually lasts all day really well! I set mine with my Australis powder and it’s super matte and fab coverage! (I dewify my face with some highlighter, blush and setting spray).

Maybelline Falsies Mascara 

Drugstore favorites Maybelline Falsies

Maybelline will forever be my go-to brand for mascaras. As much as I love my Better Than Sex mascara, or the They’re Real by Benefit. Maybelline is a brand that I can ALWAYS rely on to produce something super afforable, easy to find and does a fantastic job. I’ve never tried a Maybelline mascara that I didn’t like, and not only that but my first ever mascara was by Maybelline! The Falsies is my favourite because I like my lashes thick and dark – and The Falsies does just that! You don’t need lots of coats of this black magic, one coat and your lashes are thick and dark and mysterious. Best of all, you can usually find this wee gem on special at Farmers or Life Pharmacy or wherever – so keep and eye out and pick one up as a back-up!

Chi Chi Lip liner in “Totally Nude” 

Chi Chi Totally Nude swatchChi Chi Lip Liner totally nude

Okay, I don’t know anything about other Chi Chi lip liner as this one was recommended to me and it’s the only one I’ve tried. However, if it’s ANYTHING like this magic stick then go ahead and buy one right now please in all of the colours. This magic stick as it will be referred to from now on is truely magical. Not only is it THE most perfect nude magic stick I’ve ever met in my life, but it’s also cheap, creamy as a mofo, and it’s WIND UP! Seriously, wind up magic sticks are my life. Ain’t nobody got time to sharpen pencils. I get grumpy enough when children insist on sharpening pencils at school that I couldn’t stand to be sharpening that shizz at home.

All I need to say is – it’s THE most perfect nude magic stick/lip liner ever.

Revlon “Top Speed” nail polish

Drugstore favorites Revlon Top Speed

Another “Ain’t nobody got time for that” moment. I am a lazy being. Seriously, what is the point in wasting time on something if you can do it just as good, quicker, another way. Nail polish is something I’m not huge on. I bite my nails which makes it hard to want to paint them because I’m also semi un-coordinated and can’t paint my wee stubs very nicely. Also my fingers are double jointed and I don’t like to draw attention to them! However, I would say the main reason why I never paint my nails is because I severely dislike waiting for the nail polish to dry. It takes forever, and then you think it’s dry but it’s not and you ruin it completely.

This stuff is amazing. One coat is all you need because it’s nice and pigmented + it dries in like 2 minutes! You don’t have to be waving your hands around like a maniac. It also comes in a huge range of colours (I own two, although I’d be up for purchasing more in the future). $17 fiddy at Life Pharmacy – can you go wrong? It’s probably on special at Farmers too – go and scope it out. My GO-TO nail polish, seriously.

Lastly, I wanted to mention a few products which are cheap and cheerful here in NZ that are also my must-haves, however I’ve already posted about them before!!

The Australis Fresh & Flawless powder is literally the best powder in the entire world full stop. Read about it here.

The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is my favourite concealer ever and it’s super duper cheap! Read about that one here.

The Australis Velour lips are bloody good. Check them out here.

+ there’s a whole lot of amazing skin care which I use EVERYDAY and could literally not live without. The Lush Dark Angels fresh cleanser – legit THE BEST and Trilogy Rosehip oil which makes my face feel like the Queen it is. Read here.

 

Sign off Blog

 

Colourpop update – my thoughts after using the products for two weeks ♥

Colourpop Review swatches

Good morning class,

I have been so obsessed with my Colourpop haul that I just HAD to write another post about the products because I felt like there was so much more I needed to tell you about them.

Colourpop is actually amazing. The Super Shock Eye Shadows, Lippie Stix and Lippie Pencils are all $5 US each, and the Blushes are $8 US each. Like what!? Excuse me but that is a seriously good price. At first I thought the products would be average because the price is simply so low. I would pay more for these products hands down (not that I want to Colourpop… so don’t get any ideas!). However the products, especially for the price, are (in a word) amazing. There’s no other way to describe them. Ladies and Gents – The hype is real. Continue reading

How I got clear skin! (Finally) ♥

 

Good morning class,

Today I’d like to chat about skin.

I haven’t really done any posts about skin before, and this is due to the fact that I am a self-confessed skin n00b (as they say on the internet). I suck at skin. I hate spending money on it cause it’s not as exciting as makeup and I just don’t “get” skin.

However, after much struggle, research (on Makeup Obsessives) and dreaded chin pimps I have finally found a routine that suits my oil slick of a face. Joy!

Lucky for you I’ve decided to share it with you! I think the time that made me realize I need to sort out my skin was when I started teaching I touched my face all the time and got pimples on my chin quite often. A 5 year old (bless) tried to touch my chin and was like “What are those bumps Miss White?”. Shame. I went to Lush on the way home.

I’ve always used makeup remover wipes to take off my makeup each night, and although I do still use those every second day, I realize they aren’t really ideal for cleansing alone. (I use the Kmart ones – on sale for $2 at the moment! Craaazy!?).

Okay before I start rambling about skin I’m going to talk about my daily routine, show you the products I use and talk about which I use each one for, and show a picture of my skin. It’s not perfect yet, as I am only human, and it’s not suuuuper recent because I’ve got a few hormonal pimples at the moment (I think it’s from a couple of weeks ago). As I say to the kids at school, deal with it.

The Body Shop Trilogy Rosehip oil Lush Karen

 

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Current concealer loves ♥

Swatches concealers NARS Radiant Creamy concealer MAC Pro Long Wear in NC15 LA Girl Pro Conceal Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in Light01

Good morning class,

Wow, there is a whole world of concealers out there that I never knew about! I’d like to chat about a fairly recent beauty item discovery. I say that simply because everyone seems to be obsessed with concealers! Obviously I always knew what they were and what they did, however I didn’t really start using concealer till perhaps a year ago? (What did I do with my life before then!?) So I’m still finding my feet in the concealer world and have been testing out different products over the past year, and now I think I’ve found my faves!

 

And here we have it ladies and gentleman – I’ve narrowed it down… these are my four faves!  The LA Girl Pro Conceal in Classic Ivory (a Shaanxo favourite!), the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in Fair 01 (I probably use this most often), MAC Pro Long Wear concealer in NC15, and the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla. Da Daa! I’m sure you’ve heard of all these before as they’re some of the most popular, but here’s what I think of them + a bit of a comparison.

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The best powder in the entire world ♥ Giveaway! ♥ // Closed x

Australis Fresh & Flawless

Australis ”Fresh and Flawless” powder in the shade “Natural” ($18NZ at Kmart)

Good afternoon class,

Ahhh writing this post makes me feel sort of content and warm and comfortable inside because I am so SO SO incredibly in love with this powder that I can almost hear the wedding bells ringing and I’m just so excited to spread the love and tell you all about it too!

I remember the first time F&F and I laid eyes on each other… it was after hearing rave reviews on the likes of ‘Girl Related’ and ‘Makeup Obsessives’ on Facebook and I immediately went on a mission to K-mart to get my little white double-jointed fingers on this beautiful bounty. From that moment on I knew I’d never try another powder again. Of course I have tried other powders, because you guys know me and you know that I just can’t help myself, BUT they’ve never been as good as the Australis Fresh & Flawless powder.

I remember the urgency to buy another powder when I hit pan, and once they ran out at my local Kmart and I could not even go about my daily life as every second was spent with worry for what I would do when I ran out completely. Now, of course, I’ve got a million back-ups and I order in bulk from Australis’ website. However, they only ship to Australia so I have to ask my uncle very nicely if he can bring my beloved haul back to Auckland. Continue reading

Bangin’ bronze buys

Summer, a time for chillin’ out max and relaxin’ all cool and obviously getting our bronze glow on. Apologies in advance… this post is not about fake tan – although that will be coming soon I promise you. It’s about what I like to think of as fake tan’s little sister – the bronzer. Dun.. dun… duuuun. I am hoping that sounded a little ominous because I don’t know about you, but I used to be a little bit scared of bronzer – and for good reason! Bronzer is scary! Especially for us pale-faced babes, a good bronzer can be hard to find. You can end up looking muddy, orange or if you’re lucky – like a muddy, orange disco ball!

In this post I will be sharing with you my go-to bronzers, the ones I grab for on a regular basis. These bronzers work for my pale skin, but they will also look lovely on other skin tones too.

NARS Laguna Benefit Hoola NYX Taupe Too Faced Milk Chocolate

Top left: NARS ‘Laguna”  ($58NZD), Top right: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer in ‘Milk Chocolate’ ($39.40AUD)

Bottom left: NYX Blush in ‘Taupe‘ ($12NZD approx), Bottom right: Benefit ‘Hoola’ ($53NZD)

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