FOTD - Spring peach

I'm so glad to have time to be back blogging and sharing my new favourite looks and products with you all. I've missed blogging so much, so I'm going to definitely be making it a priority again! 

I will definitely be posting more shots of my 'face of the day' and some tutorials for my favourite looks. Make sure you leave any requests in the comments below for any looks you'd like to see! 

I recently took a trip to Adelaide and the hotel we stayed at (The Minima Hotel in North Adelaide) has these amazing murals on each wall behind the bed. Each room has a different mural from a different artist. So beautiful and unique! This is what you can see behind my head in these images. :)

I've also just recently dyed my hair a light peach as I'm sure you've noticed in these shots. My hairdresser wanted to experiment with some new colours that she got into her salon, and knew I would be a willing participant. I actually really love the colour! It'll be great for summer. I've found myself adjusting my makeup to suit my hair colour as it changes (it was blue before this, hehe) and to reflect that lately I've been using a lot of peach in my makeup to compliment it. 

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: M.A.C. - Eyeshadow in 'Bamboo'

Eye crease/outer lower lash line: Stila - Eyeshadow in 'Whim' from the 'In The Moment' palette 

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 Ardell (my box is mixed up I can't remember the number sorry!) 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: Nars - Blush in shade 'Orgasm'

Highlight: M.A.C. - Soft and Gentle

Lipstick: Lime Crime - Opaque Lipstick in shade 'Coquette' 

This look was easily transformed from day to night by adding a bolder lip for when I went out later that night. I often will do my makeup early in the day for activities later that night so I don't have to do my makeup twice. Hehe. 

Hope you like this look! Is there something in this look you love, or now want to try since seeing this post? 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

Lime Crime Haul! Utopia Velvetine and more!

When I saw that Lime Crime were releasing another new Velvetine colour I knew straight away that I would be making an order so here is a few snaps of my mini haul from them!

In the end I decided to order straight from the Lime Crime website even though there are a lot of certified re-seller's in Australia including Crush Cosmetics. I was making quite a large order, and a couple of friends bought something too so the International shipping rate of $10.95 split between a few of us was super cheap! It also meant that almost everything I wanted was in stock. 

This time around (yes I will keep repurchasing from Lime Crime. So much love for this brand!) I purchased the following: 

• Lime Crime - Velvetine in new shade "Utopia"; a long lasting liquid to matte lipstick in a 'blue based orchid'.
• Lime Crime - Fantasy Eyeshadow palette in "Alchemy"; a beautiful duochrome palette with extremely high pigmented eyeshadow colours!
• Lime Crime - Opaque Lipstick in "Airborne Unicorn"; 'medium purple with a neon note' and a highly pigmented colour payoff on the lips.
• Lime Crime - Opaque Lipstick in "Coquette"; 'pale peachy nude' - but not too bright which I love.
• Lime Crime - Zodiac Glitter in "Aquarius"; 'deep midnight blue with a marvellous purple/turquoise shift'
• Lime Crime- Eyeliner in "Rhyme"; 'bright metallic gold eye liner'! 

As you can see in the swatches the colour payoff really is great in all of the products and that is something I love about Lime Crime. I have not yet been disappointed by anything!

The lipsticks have a really cute limited edition packaging at the moment for their 6th anniversary, little details like this make the brand different for me. So cute. 

I had a quick play around with the shadows and created the pictured look with the shadows "spellbound" as the base, "Love potion #9" in the crease and a little pop of "divination" in next to the crease which really gave it that Mermaid look! The lipstick in these photos is the new Velvetine in Utopia. 

At first trial I am loving EVERYTHING that I purchased. I have previously purchased Lime Crime Velvetine's in "Wicked", "Red Velvet", "Seudeberry" and "Pink Velvet", as well as the Opaque lipsticks in "Babette" and "Geradium" and the "Blue Milk" liner so it's not a big surprise that these are just as great.

I'll have more updates and details once I give the products a longer run. I'm definitely looking at doing some comparison swatches of lip products soon - like Babette vs. Coquette. :)

Have you tried anything from Lime Crime? What's your favourite Lime Crime product?

Wishlist #4

1. Urban Decay - Electric Palette

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills - Brush #12

3. Anastasia Beverly Hills - Dipbrow Pomade

4. Too Faced - Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick

5. Glamglow - Brightmud Eye Treatment

1. I will admit that my palette and eyeshadow collection is getting rather large, but these colours are just so different to everything that I already have! These are described as pressed-pigment shadows with a super intense colour payoff. I've been trying to play around a bit more with colour lately, so I think this would be great for keeping with that challenge. 

2. I was recently in Hawaii and meant to pick this up when I was in Sephora, but forgot! I did buy it for a friend though and she absolutely swears by it. I use something very similar at the moment, the MAC 266 small angle brush, but this one is specifically designed for brows and has the handy spooly on the end too!

3. I also wanted to pick this up in Sephora when I was there but it was sold out in my colour. :( I've heard great things about this product though, and after purchasing and loving the brow powder I definitely need to add this to my collection too. I only ever use powder for my brows so this would be super interesting to play around with.  

4. I've seen these Too Faced Melted liquid lipsticks everywhere lately, so of course I want to try them! The colours are super intense and you can never have enough long lasting lip colours. ;)

5. I absolutely love the Glamglow Youthmud face mask so I would love to have this to pair with it! I love that these are in single use packets too which means they should store and last really well. 

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think? What are you lusting after at the moment?

Innoxa and Ahoy Deer Instagram giveaway!!

I am super excited to announce today that thanks to the wonderful people at Innoxa Australia I will be holding my very first giveaway! 

I couldn't ask for a better way to kick start my return to blogging than to hold a competition to give back to those that are interested in what I have to say about all things beauty!

The competition will be held on instagram, and the details of the competition are as follows:

1. You must be following Innoxa Australia on Instagram: @innoxaaus
2. You must be following my personal Instagram: @onwardprogress
3. You must repost the image for the competition that I have posted on my personal instagram
4. When reposting the image you must add the hashtag #ahoyinnoxa in the photo description so that I can find your entries!
5. You can repost as many times as you like. :)

And it's as simple as that!

The competition will run for 4 weeks, and after that time a winner will be picked at random on Monday 12th May.

The products you will win are: 

[Images and descriptions below from http://www.innoxa.com.au/ ]

INNOXA SKIN PERFECTING 5 IN 1 BRONZING BB CREME 
These amazing liquid illuminators will give you that beautiful dewy radiant glow, whilst helping to promote even skin tone. Formulated with skin correcting pigments and specialised extracts, these illuminators help to promote a smooth, hydrated complexion. It encourages light reflection without looking oily and creates a youthful glow on the skin.

• The bronzing shade can be used to give the face warmth and depth – perfect for that natural sun kissed glow
• Fragrance and Paraben free
• Dermatologically tested
• Can be used on face and body

LIP GLAZE in SHADE 'BERRY'

Nourishing lip glazes with high gloss & shine. Infused with Antioxidants to condition and repair lips. 

INNOXA 2 IN 1 EYE LINER & EYE SHADOW STICK IN GREY

The perfect dual product with eye liner and eye shadow in one convenient stick to make eyes stand out. The patent eye shadow applicator with spring mounted allows for easy application. While the complimentary 3mm twist eyeliner glides on effortlessly to define eyes.

• Ophthalmologically & Dermatologically tested

To win the above prizes from Innoxa please check out my Instagram: @onwardprogress and repost the following image and follow the guidelines stated above. 

I look forward to seeing your posts on instagram, and keep an eye out for a review of some Innoxa products in posts coming up on my blog in the near future.

Have you used Innoxa products before? What's your favourite product from them? x

A year later... but never too late!

Hello everyone!

It's been so very long between posts, and a lot has happened. So many amazing new products, and my eyebrows look a wholeeee lot better! Haha.

I'll be making a lot more posts again so I hope you're still all keen to hear from me. :)

Here's an updated picture of me (just in case you forgot who I am!)

I'm going to be posting a lot more frequently from now, and as a start to my posts again I'm going to be running a little mini comp thanks to the lovely people from Innoxa so keep your eyes peeled! 

Looking forward to sharing all the amazing new products I've started using in the last 12 months, and any new goodies I find along the way. 

If you're following me or just recently started your blog please leave a comment as I'd love to follow you all back! 

Happy Tuesday everyone. x

Ps. The red lipstick I'm wearing here is the Lime Crime Velvetine in 'Suedeberry'! It's absolutely amazing. In Australia you can purchase it directly from their website (linked above), from Crush Cosmetics, and selected retailers too. :)

NOTW - Kit 'Big Bang' with Australis 'Glitter Strikes Back'

 

This weeks nail of the week is from 2 great Australian brands with Kit - Big Bang, and a glitter top coat of Australis - Glitter Strikes Back.

I must say that I tend to steer away from purple generally as I picked it as my "one colour to hate" a million years ago and never looked back, silly I know... until recently. My friend had this colour at her house and I fell in love instantly! The brightness hooked me in, and it is such an interesting shade I ended up borrowing it from my friend and wearing it. Lucky for me, I have great friends and she got it for me as a present a month later. ^_^

This Kit 'Big Bang' nail polish, like all others I've reviewed previously has a perfect strong pigment, is easy to apply, and lasts well (these photos were taken after the polish had been on my nails for a week, so I apologise for the small chips!). The actual colour is kind of hard to capture, I think it's a little brighter than it looks on here in reality.

The Australis 'Glitter Strikes Back' nail polish is a mix of small round gold and purple and large hexagonal gold. It was the first nail polish of theirs that I've tried since their re-vamp of the brand (which I'm LOVING... so many great colours I want/need!) and I'm really impressed. I saw it in Priceline and couldn't resist buying it then and there. 

It was quite easy to apply an even coat of the glitter, and it lays flat on your nail really well so you don't have chunky glitter catching on your clothes etc. I used a top coat of Seche Vite to smooth it all out and last a little longer. This glitter would pop even more on another coloured base coat I think because some of the purple glitter colours blended into the purple of the base. The gold looked amazing though!

You can purchase Kit's 'Big Bang' from your nearest Kit store for $15.95, or you can also buy them online here or check for your nearest Kit store online here. I purchased the Australis glitter nail polish 'Glitter Strikes Back' from Priceline for $7.95 and you can also see their range and order online here.

Have you tried any of the new Australis glitters? What's your favourite glitter and base coat combination? x