New Goods - NEW Venus Palette from Lime Crime

There's a new Lime Crime palette in town, and it's a lot more grown up than any of the previous palettes!

If you're a fan of Lime Crime makeup I'm sure you've seen this new palette around the internet already, but I couldn't resist sharing my verdict on the new "grunge" palette Venus too!

I recently stopped into the opening day sale for the new shop for http://www.makeupnet.com.au/ which is the Australian distributor for Lime Crime (meaning everyone in Australia and NZ that stocks Lime Crime is stocked through them)! It's exciting to have a shop so close to me that physically stocks Lime Crime products as I don't always want to take the risk of buying colours from the internet without testing them first, and being the stockist they will always have the stock before anyone else and have the biggest range!

Lime Crime describes the Venus palette as:

"Mash Botticelli's classical painting with the rebellion of the early 90s, and you get VENUS: The Grunge Palette.

In a sea of nude palettes, VENUS emerges with 8 game-changing, unconventional "new-trals" and rusty-reds. Full-sized, recklessly pigmented eyeshadows mesh flawlessly for a nu-grunge look with a soft, painterly finish. Beautiful mirrored box with kitschy artwork makes this palette the ultimate collectible artifact!"

I must say the packaging on this palette (as with most of the Lime Crime packaging) is absolutely stunning! The bright blue mixed with the gold foil makes for a perfect match. It's a little bit of an odd shape, and a little thicker than most palettes I own, but not to the point that it would be hard to travel with. The packaging being a little bit thicker actually makes it feel super secure as the mirror fits tightly in against the shadows meaning there's extra padding.

There are 8 colours in this palette and I think they would all go together in any combination that you try. From what I've tested so far that's definitely true.

The colours as described by Lime Crime are:

VENUS: The color of bruised fruit (velvet matte)
SHELL: Opalescent shell-pink (glow)
AURA: Golden ivory (glow)
CREATION: Rust brown (matte)
ICON: Dirt brown (matte)
REBIRTH: The color of an over-ripe nectarine (matte)
DIVINE: Dusty stone (matte)
MUSE: Deep burgundy red (matte)

The colour payoff on all of the shadows is great! There was a little bit of crumbling when swatching and only a tiny bit when using the shadows for my look, but I always control the shadow going on my eyes with the back of my hand by tapping it into my skin beforehand anyway so I don't think it's enough for it to be an issue.

I love that most of the shadows are matte, with only 2 "glow" shades as Lime Crime describe them which is perfect for highlights and giving the eye more depth.

This palette is definitely not your normal nudes though, and if you're not used to a bruised red colour with your eye you may feel a bit strange at first, but I say embrace it! I love that there is so much more room for experimentation for eyes and lip colours these days. This palette being so popular is another great example of that!

I love this colour palette for my green eyes, but the tones are sure to bring out most eye colours. For a more grunge look I wear the colours smoky around my eyes without a big liner wing, like in the pictures below. I have also used the more brown/peach shades with a big liner for a less grunge look so it's certainly still versatile in that way.

In the look below I've used divine as a base, and rebirth in the crease to warm the whole look. From there I layered Venus and Muse together all around the outside of the eye and finished with a spot of Aura inside each inner eye to brighten the whole look. I finished this simply with mascara and used the 'Wicked" Velvetine (also from Lime Crime) to really bring the look together.

This is the same look as above below but without the lipstick. You can see how you can tone down the look a lot without having such a bold lip. 

This palette retails for $55 on Makeupnet with FREE express shipping, or you can purchase it directly from the Lime Crime website for US$42 and a flat rate for shipping of US$10.95. I have ordered direct from the Lime Crime website before and it takes between 2 - 3 weeks generally to get here. I purchased this palette from the new Makeupet shop in Moonee Ponds so I could get it straight away! I purchased a few more goodies too as they had 30% off so I'll post those up soon too. 

What do you think about the new Venus grunge palette by Lime Crime? Do you think you'll add this one to your makeup collection? x

FOTD - Where's My Coffee? Ft. Coffee, Black by Portland Black Lipstick Co. + a review!

I know a deep coffee coloured brown isn't something I would have seen myself wearing 3 years ago, but I love this new trend of bold lip colours and this is one of the great ones!

I stumbled upon the indie brand Portland Black Lipstick Co. when one of my favourite instagram makeup artists I follow @jessicahazemua posted a few of their shades that she had sampled. After doing a bit more research I decided to make a purchase of a few shades for myself!

After a bit of a rocky start (the order took around 6 weeks to arrive, however I received extra samples as a means of saying sorry, and a lovely email from the company apologising for the delay caused by a backlog of orders) I received the 3 colours I ordered in the full size - Artificial Amethyst (a metallic dark purple), Indigo Bridge (a dark metallic blue bordering on black),  and the colour pictured above Coffee, Black (a very dark brown with warm undertones).

Swatches from L to R: Indigo Bridge, Artificial Amethyst, and Coffee, Black.

I also received samples of Gilded Lily (a gold foil), Pewter Couldron (described as the colour of duct tape by Portland Black Lipstick Co. Haha), Bad Penny (metallic copper), Perfect Foil (metallic silver), and Graey (a light grey). Samples can be purchased of any colour for $2, and I had selected a few but was also gifted with several by the company as an apology for the lateness of the products. I think samples are such a GREAT idea. When ordering very odd lip colours like this especially, it's not likely that you will go through a whole tube of metallic gold lipstick for most people.

As you can see from the wide selection above I was drawn to this brand for their very unique colour range. I had not seen metallic lip colours like this from any brands in Australia, and was excited to try them out.

The packaging on these lipsticks is a little odd. It's more like an old school chap stick than a luxe lipstick, but I believe that's part of the company charm. If you visit their website you'll see what I mean. I definitely use a lip brush to get a neat edge with these, so if you're not familiar with using a lip brush these might be a little tricky. Worth the extra effort though in my opinion.

The packaging is much the same as a "chap stick" and the lipstick within is flat to the tube.

These lipsticks all wear so well. They are incredibly pigmented, rich and moisturising and stay on for quite a while. I'd say they are no where near a long lasting all day lipstick like a velvetine, but compared to a normal lipstick, say a MAC lipstick for instance, these wear longer than that for me. Even eating isn't too damaging to the lip colour. It will however leave a mark on any glass you drink from, and edges must be kept neat unless you have a perfect matching liner (hard to find I think!).

This has turned more so into a review of the Portland Black Lipstick Company lipsticks instead of a simple face of the day post but oh well, it's a 2 for 1 kind of day! Haha.

Products used for this look: 

Primer: Smashbox - Photo Finish Foundation Primer 

Foundation: Nars - Sheer Glow foundation in Mont Blanc

Concealer: Bare Minerals - Correcting Concealer in shade 'Light 1'

Powder: Bare Minerals - Original Foundation powder in shade 'Fairly Light'

Eye Primer: Benefit - Stay Don't Stray

Eyeshadow: MAC - 'Scene' eyeshadow all over

Lashes: Benefit - They're Real mascara

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills - Brow Powder Duo in shade 'Medium Brown'

Cheeks: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush - in shade 'Blushing Bride'

Lips: Portland Black Lipstick Company - Coffee, Black

What do you think of this take on the bold lip? Have you tried any great indie lipstick brands lately that you've loved? x

FOTD - A Fierce Utopia

Determined to use all my new Lime Crime products on a regular basis I thought I'd give this new Velvetine another run! I haven't tried it with my new hair colour yet, so here's a look from when I was still blonde. 

This lip colour is described as a 'blue based orchid' but it is still most definitely very purple! This is another great colour for those with green eyes that want to use the complimentary colour to give their eyes that extra kick. 

This time I decided to pair the bold lip colour with a nice big liner wing, and some pretty pink/purple hues to match the overall look. I added some pretty false lashes to keep my lashes still quite noticable even with the heavy liner which really adds some emphasis and balance on the eyes vs. lips. 

Products used for this look: 

Primer: Smashbox - Photo Finish Foundation Primer 

Foundation: Nars - Sheer Glow Foundation in shade 'Mont Blanc'

Concealer: Bobbi Brown - Corrector in shade 'Porcelain Bisque' for under eyes and highlights and Bare Minerals - Correcting Concealer in shade 'Light 1'

Powder: Bare Minerals - Original Foundation powder in shade 'Fairly Light'

Eye Primer: Benefit - Stay Don't Stray

Eyeshadow base/lid: Urban Decay - Naked palette 1 - 'Sin'

Eye crease/outer lower lash line: Urban Decay - Naked Palette 1 in 'Hustle'

Eyeliner: Kat Von D - Tattoo Liner in shade 'Trooper' for top and "wings" and Smashbox - Limitless Eyeliner in shade 'Onyx' for lower lash line

Lashes: False lashes by Kardashian Beauty - in the style 'Flirt' and Bare Minerals - Lash Domination mascara

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills - Brow Powder Duo in shade 'Medium Brown'

Contour: M.A.C. - Sculpting Powder Pro Palette in shade 'Sculpt'

Cheeks: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush - in shade 'Blushing Bride'

Lipstick: Lime Crime - Velvetine in shade 'Utopia'

Nails: Kit nail polish - Siesta Indigo [Limited Edition] (as seen previously on my blog here)

Have you tried Lime Crime's Utopia yet? What do you think of this look? x

Sephora Haul - sneak peek!

One of my friends recently took a trip back to her home in the United States and me being me, I took a little bit too much of an advantage of that and made a huge Sephora order! 

I made sure to order things that I know that I can't get here in Australia, or that were limited to Sephora so I ordered from brands like Kat Von D, Tarte, Makeup Forever, and Anastasia Beverly Hills. Some of these brands you can get in Australia, but are quite expensive to ship in, or things just don't come to Australia like the Smashbox Master Class Palette.

I ordered a lot of things that have had a lot of great hype lately - like the Anastasia dipbrow, and the MUFE HD foundation so I can't wait to really give those a good trial! The other goodies I ordered were mostly to get a few better palette's to add to my makeup kit, and because I've been eyeing them off to try for a while. 

I am super impressed with all the palette's at first glance, and the only thing I've been unimpressed with so far is the Kat Von D studded lipstick in 'Homegirl'. The application was super patchy, uneven, not as pigmented as I expected. It was so bad that I couldn't wear it. Such a shame because it's such a beautiful shade, and amazing packaging. 

I will be doing a more in depth review of these products once I've given them a proper whirl. Stay tuned!

Sephora opens in Australia in December and I am super interested to see which brands they will and won't be stocking (although I have a fairly good idea of most of them at the moment). I will definitely also be interested to see how the pricing will affect the rest of the Australian market! 

Have you tried any of these products? What is your favourite item from these brands? x

Tried & Loved - Origins GinZing Brightening Mascara

When it comes to mascara, I have tried a LOT of different types over the years. From drugstore brands, to high end brands that you would think would have to deliver exceptional results for the price they charge for their products... but quite often I am left disappointed at both ends of the spectrum. I am forever on a search for the holy grail of each product I use on a daily basis, and you know what - I think for daily mascara this might be it for me! Origins Ginzing Brightening Mascara has really impressed me.

Described on the Kit cosmetics website as:
"Thanks to a bold, new brush complete with advanced bristle technology that is exclusive to Origins, GinZing™ Brightening mascara to lengthen and lift glides on easily, coating each lash from root to tip to visibly boost and define even the sparsest lashes. Even after multiple applications, eyelashes appear long, lush and clump-free, never spider-like. GinZing™ Brightening mascara is long wearing, smudge-proof and flake-proof yet is easily removable and safe for contact lens wearers."

For me, I can say that I find all of these statements to be true!

I was suggested this mascara by a friend who works in the beauty industry as it was a new product (around 4 months ago in Australia I think) and she had really liked it herself. At first when I tried it it felt so foreign! The brush is a lot thicker than any that I had used previously so I kept poking myself with it (silly I know!). Because of that I didn't immediately fall in love. I left the product and used it from time to time and after a little while and getting used to the brush I suddenly realised one day - WOW, this mascara is sensational!

What I love about the Origins Ginzing Brightening Mascara is that it really does everything that is says it will on the packaging (lengthen and lift) and in an effortless way. I can get perfectly separated, long dark lashes within moments because the brush coats them perfectly every time. I liked the way this mascara looked so much that I stripped back my daily makeup routine for work to just be a quick coat of eyeshadow, mascara and some blush. It really opens my eyes and makes my lashes long and lush and there's no fiddling with the brush or clumps of mascara to contend with.

The mascara formula isn't too thick, it doesn't clump, it's not too runny. I find that personally I like to wipe off a little excess mascara when I take it out from the tube as the opening is quite wide, then it applies perfectly and prevents any excess on my lashes. When I opened the tube for the first time I noticed that it's super black too, and this is great for anyone that might have lighter lashes, but even mine are noticeably bolder with this.

As far as how long the product lasts I would say Kit have described it perfectly. It's long lasting (so much so that when I have been naughty and worn it overnight it still looks great when I wake up), smudge proof and flake proof (I can wear it all day for work without any flaking, and then wear it to a hectic 2 hour crossfit session and sweat the rest of my makeup off and it still won't smudge - unless I rub my eyes of course which would be silly), and even with all this it's still really easy to remove! Most of it comes off in the shower when I wash my face, and then a little normal makeup remover removes the rest. Superb!

Below you can see it on my eyes. This was just a quick day of makeup for work and it would have taken me about 5 minutes to do all of my makeup for the day, yet my lashes are still looking long and separated! Love it.

I have had my mascara for about 4 months now and it hasn't dried out or changed consistency at all. I'll definitely repurchase this one!

You can purchase this mascara from Kit Cosmetics, or Mecca Cosmetics in Australia for only $26 - SUCH a great price. That's as cheap as some of the drugstore brand mascaras! And on both websites it has a 5 star rating. :)

Have you tried this mascara or anything else from the Origins range? What's your holy grail every day mascara? x