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

 

First Impressions… Benefit ‘Stay Don’t Stray’

Benefit Stay Don't Stray

Good afternoon class,

This week I was lucky enough to get my hands on a well-loved product created by the lovely ladies at Benefit Cosmetics. To be totally honest, I hadn’t heard much detail regarding this product so I don’t really know what to expect. However I am currently writing this blog post as I am trying this out for the first time…

Looking at the packaging I am quite impressed. For a start, I had no idea that this was not only an eyelid/eye shadow primer but it also can be used under the eyes to help your concealer stay as well! That has just made me like really excited. I have found my concealer looking a little cakey and creasing like an old woman underneath my eyes lately so this product has arrived just in the nick of time!

I absolutely love the size! I had no idea it would be this big! It’s ginormous! I feel as if this product will last me for forever. I don’t have a concealer this big and I figure I’ll be using about as much as I’d use of my concealer each day (maybe a little more for the eyelids). Opening it up I see it has a doe foot applicator (is that how you say it? It sounds wrong but let’s just roll with it) which I absolutely love! I love using this type of applicator for concealer because it applies so easily and there’s always heaps on the wee doe foot top part so you don’t need to keep pumping the applicator in the product and getting air trapped inside. I’m finding it a little bit hard to close the lid properly? It’s one of those situations where it doesn’t like going all the way down but I can live with that. Continue reading

Mascara Madness

Jordana Benefit They're Real Collection Does It All Too Faced Better Than Sex

From top to bottom; Too Faced ‘Better Than Sex’ mascara ($29.60AUD), Benefit ‘They’re Real’ mascara ($45 NZ), Collection ‘Does It All’ mascara ($17.49) and Jordana ‘Best Lash Extreme’ mascara ($3.59 US).

Good afternoon class,

Keeping on with the theme of comparisons on my blog currently, I thought I’d chat to you today about my favourite mascaras. Lashes are super important because we use them to flutter at potential suitors, they help us perfect our sarcastic eye roll and personally, I need to compete with some of my students because little boys seem to have the most beautiful thick, long eyelashes (unfair!). I am super picky when it comes to what I’m going to put all over my eye area and especially the concoction I am smothering all over my lashes but these four mascaras have stolen my heart and opened my eyes (literally). Continue reading