splurges worth the extra moolah.

Recently I have become enamoured with luxury makeup, or high end brands. I don’t know why but something about these brands is hypnotising. The packaging is gorgeous, the brand itself usually holds some mystifying effect on people, and the ad campaigns make you believe these little goodies are worth the extra cash. So I took it upon myself to try some of these well known ridic expensive brands to see if anything was worth that pricey a tag.

CHANEL 

There’s something mystifying about Chanel. The woman, the myth, the brand, it’s all so wonderfully intriguing. I grew up obsessed with Chanel, to me it was the pinnacle brand. A clothing and beauty house founded by a woman for women. Mademoiselle Chanel is one of the strongest women in modern history. She began a brand in the 20’s and 30’s, a time when women had little, if any influence over the world. And yet she conquered and created one of the most prolific brands in the world.

Everyone and their momma has talked and raved about the Soleil tan de Chanel and it took me almost a year to finally try it out for myself. After months of testing it in store, watching and reading reviews I thought I may as well try this bad boy out. Holy shit am I glad I took the plunge and splurged on this product. The price tag may be steep but I have never used a bronzer with such a beautifully natural finish. As this product is a mousey creamy whirl of deliciousness, it melts into the skin instead of sitting on top of your foundation like a powder normally would. I love using this as an everyday contour product that bronzes up the skin in a really subtle way. I’m sure there’s other products out there that do the same thing but what the hell… I’m gonna use this anyway.

There’s something special about a Chanel lipstick. When you carry one in your purse or the second you apply it to your lips you just feel… sexier. I don’t know why but wearing a Chanel lipstick gives me confidence. The two shades I own are; Rouge Coco in 402 Adrienne (a great everyday pinky nude); and Rouge Allure in 104 Passion (a bright perfect red). As lipsticks go there’s nothing uber amazing or special about these, to be honest my Maybelline and MAC lipsticks do the same thing, BUT they’re Chanel and the colours are amazingly beautiful. I will say these do not dry out my lips or sink into my fine lines. The Rouge Coco especially hydrates the lips throughout the day. If you love Chanel then you have to have these.

Laura Mercier 

The Laura Mercier translucent finishing powder is an epically raved about product on YouTube. I have been using this powder for about 6 months and I love it. It is totally worth the splurge, nothing compares to this powder in my collection. This lovely little container of loose white powder helps to set my under eyes like no other. I also love using this to set my concealer and foundation if I need it to stay in place for a whole night. Although I haven’t tried the RCMA no colour powder… and have been told it is very similar and about half the price and twice the size…. Unfortunately some things are harder to get in Australia.

As highlighters go I love natural finish highlights. Although I can appreciate a NikkieTutorials or JeffreeStar style highlight I feel I can’t wear them with confidence. HOWEVER I love a good natural finish product. My first ever highlighter was the MAC mineralise skin finish in Soft and Gentle (a cult original favourite), so I gravitate to highlighters similar to that. KathleenLights has raved about this Laura Mercier highlighter countless times. I have been searching for it for months but it always seemed to be out of stock somewhere. Until one day I finally stumbled upon the Matte Radiance Baked powder in Highlight 01. It was as if the heavens opened up and dropped this beauty in my lap. Although it says ‘matte’, it is by no means matte. This highlight leaves your cheeks with a perfect natural looking sheen. Be warned this does not swatch well in store, but on the cheeks it is stunning. If you’re into natural highlighters without few bells and whistles than this is for you. It’s probably very similar to the Hourglass ambient lighting powders, but cheaper.

NARS 

I find that people are either MAC lovers or NARS lovers. As it goes I own more MAC products (I mean they’re cheaper), but the few NARS products I do own are wonderful. This little contour duo is the perfect little palette for anyone intimidated by contouring. I found the world of contouring scary, up until now I had only ever used a bronzer to contour or create shape. However this little duo changed the game for me. The contour shade is the perfect cool toned colour for my skin. Honestly this stuff blends so well it’s fool proof, and as contouring goes I’m pretty standard with my ability. The matte highlight shade is great for under the eyes or tidying up your cheek contour.

MAC 

If you’re anything like me then you’re probably scared of MAC pigments. This little tub of colour is the first pigment I have ever owned and I am so glad I chose this colour. The MAC pigment in Melon is pretty well known and I understand why. I use this solely as a bulk lid colour to add a bit of drama to a standard browny/goldy smoky eye. Wetting the brush first with some Fix + or any setting spray will help make this pigment metallic and stick to your lid all day. Melon is made of gold and rosy pink. Usually I shy away from rose golds and pinks but lately I’ve been intrigued by them. As price tags go for the size it’s pretty big, but the quality is totally worth it… plus I don’t think I’ll finish this for a while.

gettin my rant on.

Disappointing products is something I’ve never really wanted to do but I have recently purchased two products from MECCA that I’m just not impressed with. I’m sure people have used these products and had no problem with them but unfortunately I’ve had so much trouble with one of these products in particular. I have never returned a product at MECCA but I am definitely going tomorrow to return these two products.

So my first ever Clinique purchase of my entire life was the Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector. I had pretty high hopes for this product. I mean the thing is $50AUD so I’d wanna hope this shit works, however it just isn’t working for me. Over the past few weeks I have been using this product religiously and finding no benefit from putting this on my eyes. My circles are still there and my fine lines are still there. The most this seems to be doing is making my skin soft, which my moisturiser does anyway. I don’t know if I’m not giving it enough of a chance but I am definitely disappointed. The only positive about this product is the metal applicator, it soothes my under eye but honestly I could find a cheaper product with that feature or wear a gel eye mask from the fridge.

I just wanna say I fricken love Too Faced products. I find their lipsticks amazing, their palettes beautiful and the blushes fudgin cute as, however I do not love their lip primer. Last week I purchased the Lip Insurance Lip Primer in semi-matte finish. I don’t know if it’s the finish or the product itself but this stuff actually my lipstick feel worse, and I’ve been using this product with actual Too Faced lipsticks. I think I was more upset about this product not working for me than the eye cream. The reviews for it are mixed so that should have been a warning sign however some things can work differently for different people. I wear a lot of lipstick so I was super excited to try out a lip primer that was meant to make your lipstick last and apply easier. BUT this stuff makes my lips feel gross. It applies really patchy and makes my lipstick feel clumpy. All in all I’m so annoyed with this product and it cost $31AUD so it’s going to be a definite return from me.

lips!

I love lipstick. Like a whole f**in lot. Nothing brings me more joy than swatching lip colours in a store and then immediately putting it on once home. I mean it’s not unusual for me to fill my entire hand with colours twice over when trying new colours. Every lipstick I’m gonna talk about is a matte finish. I LOVE matte finishes, they seem to make my lips look plumper than they are. Be warned though ladies most matte finishes dry the shit out of your lips. So if you don’t like that feeling or if your lips are super dry anyway then I would probably avoid a matte finish.

NARS: Lip pencil in matte finish – Dragon Girl and Walkyrie
NARS: Pure Matte lipstick – Volga and Tonkin
M.A.C: Viva Glam III
Too Faced: Melted Chocolate Liquid Lipstick Chocolate Honey
Too Faced: Melted Liquid Lipstick Chihuahua

My very first matte lipstick purchase was the NARS lip pencil in Dragon Girl for obvious reasons. This shade is almost famous, much like the Luxembourg shade this beautiful red lipstick just makes you feel more confident. These matte finish pencils apply much like a satin pencil, they glide effortlessly onto the lips. If you need something that’s a little more satin then these pencil are definitely a winning choice. The regular pure matte lipsticks however are exactly that… super matte. I mean these bad boys will actually drain all moisture from your lips. If you have dry lips or are prone to cracked or chapped lips then avoid these. I always prime my lips with a good lip balm about a half hour before I apply it, then I just wipe off the excess goo from the balm. NARS lipsticks aren’t even advertised as long lasting but they last like you wouldn’t believe. Definitely worth the splurge of $44AUD.
I only own one MAC lipstick, which is horrifying! This lipstick is beautiful and very long lasting. It applies beautifully and makes my lips look Kylie Jenner, like seriously this dark red/brown colour makes my lips look plumpier than ever. Likewise so dot he Too Faced liquid lipsticks. These can bleed so definitely use an actual lip primer or lip liner or else you’ll go outside the lines. These will last for hours and feel amazing on the lips. They dry matte but feel like a satin lipstick.

As you can tell I’m not into bright colours. I need my lips as dark as my soul.

makeup haul… the cheap stuff

So I am known for loving my high-end makeup and beauty products but I love a good bargain as much as the next girl. I mean what sane person can walk past Priceline and not go in for a quick geez? My mission for the day was to find a new concealer and pressed powder and maybe a new brow product… but obviously that’s not what happened. I was successful and did get a concealer and pressed powder so that’s a definite tick in my column. However one thing led to another and I ended up leaving with much more than i bargained for…. Priceline – 1; Sam – 0

Face Of Australia – Glamazon Contour and highlight duo, & Blush in Terra.
L’Oreal – True Match pressed powder, & True Match Concealer.
Maybelline – Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze.
Chi Chi – Eyeshadow palette in Mochas. 

So yeah as you can see I definitely left with more than concealer. AND I accidentally made a quick trip to Target as well. As first impressions go I’m kind of optimistic about these products. The most surprising being the Face Of Australia contour duo, these powders are so highly pigmented I’m so excited to try them out. I mean for $10 I’m not complaining.

The Chi Chi palette was an impulse buy. I’m not really in the market for eyeshadow as I already have three palettes… all from MECCA. I only had a look at these because a few of my friends have used them and say they’re pretty good for the price. The colour selection is really beautiful and they swatched amazingly well in store. For those of you who don’t know, Chi Chi is an Australian brand stocked at Target. They’re pretty cheap and aren’t exactly marketed well, but these eyeshadows seem amazing for the price; $16 for 12 colours on sale! I’m really excited to see how well these wear and look on the eyelid.