Summer Essentials: Don't Forget to Contour


As Summer is approaching, everyone feels like spending less time on doing their make-up in the mornings and due to the heat and to your sun kissed skin you won't need much anyway. However it is important not to skip certain important steps, like using waterproof concealer (especially if you live on a hot island like I do), a bright fun lipstick, waterproof mascara and contouring your face!!

Why Contour?
Well contouring brings definition to your face, brings out your cheek-bones and makes your skin look healthier over all. If all you put on your face is some foundation, concealer and mascara then the contouring will make you look more polished without too much effort!

Two great products that I use for this purpose are the Sleek Face Contour Kit in Medium and the infamous NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny! You can use them one at a time or in combination as I will explain later.



The Sleek Face Contour Kit contains
a gorgeous deep bronzer and a shimmery highlighter
Although the Sleek powder may seem very dark it applies gorgeously if used with a light hand. This product is a very fine powder that blends beautifully on the skin. Take a small amount on a big fluffy brush and apply to the hollows of the cheek, temples, neck and slightly on the sides of the nose. This defines the important points of the face without too much hassle and if you don't feel like applying eye shadow why not use this to create a slight shadow in the crease of the eye for more depth?

The usual Sleek packaging, classic black!
In the shade Medium.
Swatches for the Sleek Contour Kit

The NYC Bronzing Powder in Sunny
is a very matte light nude shade
The NYC Bronzing Face powder is amazingly great if you are always in a hurry in the mornings and still very sleepy. It requires no effort at all and not too much attention to the detail. Because of its lighter shade it allows you to safely apply a little more than you would normally dare and with no harsh lines. With bronzing powders it is always suggested to start slowly and building up the colour, however with this powder it is very difficult to over-do it! Having said that don't pile it on as this is never attractive.

The powder blends gorgeously on the skin and gives definition without looking like you spent hours doing your make-up. If you have medium skin like me or a lighter skin tone, this works really well but for darker tones I think this shade would be way too light. The product is totally matte without a trace of shimmer in it which I find is essential for contouring unless you want to look like a disco ball!

The NYC Bronzing Powder packaging
is very compact and light, perfect
to carry or travel w
ith
A swatch of NYC Sunny


What are your favourite contouring powders? Have you ever tried these?

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NOTD: Sparkly Blue & New Year Resolutions


What better way to start off the New Year than with a NOTD featuring Essence products. I start off by using the Sally Hansen Power Shield as my base, then applied two layers of Essence Stairway to Heaven, next I applied Essence Addicted to Blue on my ring finger and I finished off by using Essence Quick Dry Topcoat on all my nails.

Sorry for the poor paint job but I had just cut my nails and they are super short, which I like a lot actually. Also excuse my dry hands but the weather has been super cold and I have ended trying a number of hand creams which I might do a review on.

Essence Re-Mix Your Style Nail Polish
The colour is like a deep blue but with some purple undertones :)
The shade is called 01 Stairway to Heaven
Essence Colour & Go
A sparkly blue nail polish with
small and big sparkles
The shade is called 78 Blue Addicted
This is in a smaller bottle, very
convenient and affordable products

I hope you like this NOTD, I adore it
I also wanted to share with you some goals I want to set for myself for the year 2012:

1. Be more Confident
2. Blog more
3. Lose weight

I really hope to achieve these goals this year and I am sure that if I set my mind to them I can do them all! Hope to also keep you  updated on the blog on how I am doing. It might be a good idea to keep an on-line journal of my achievements.

Do you like Essence nail polishes? I am loving the brand at the moment, if you want me to review anything let me know!

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When in Rome...Mini Roman Haul


I know this has been a long time coming but this is my haul from my holiday at the end of Summer in Rome! It is fairly a small haul, this is just the cosmetic part as I did buy some clothes and other accessories too. Let's get started with a closer look at the products:

Sinful Colors Nail Polishes in
(Left to Right) Vacation Time and Bubbly
Gorgeous neutral shades perfect
for every occasion and very classy colours
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Strut

The gorgeous gunmetal shade: Strut
Two H&M brand Face Masks in Raspberry
 and Chocolate flavours
A body lotion in the scent; White Musk and a
Body Mist in the scent; Vanilla
The brand is Project
Two gorgeous products from an Italian brand;
Kiko which I had been dying to try out.
An eye-shadow and a waterproof eye-liner marker
Kiko eye-shadow in shade 114
Random Nail Files from Sephora and the
flowery ones I bought from a random shop
Limited Edition: Labello Mint Magic Lip Balm
I love the Labello lip balms, they are identical
to the Nivea ones :)
Small purchase from MAC, my first purchases!
MAC powder blush in Coppertone and
MAC Creamsheen Lipstick in Modesty
Coopertone
Modesty
I hope you enjoyed my haul! Please let me know if you would like a review on any of these products :)

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Sigma Black Friday Offer NOT to be Missed!!


For all US people today is Black Friday, meaning there are massive sales on most US websites and stores. Sigma are offering an amazing offer, FREE SHIPPING for today ONLY! So don't miss the great opportunity to buy from Sigma if the Shipping fee has always made you hesitate!



Happy Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for all of you who read my Blog. I am so sorry not to have posted in such a long time, but promise to be back very soon :)


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Summer Favorites: Cream Eyeshadows


In Summer time the last thing you want to do is spend hours blending away on your eye makeup. Cream eye shadows are a great alternative to the powder ones. They offer you a fast and easy look with one swipe and long lasting color all day. These are some of my favorites that I have used all Summer long!

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liner
The Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liner are great products. They give you a great selection of shades to choose from and they last all day on your eyes even without a primer. If you have oily lids and want to use a primer than the staying power is guaranteed. I have these in 3 shades; Tattle Tale, Sippin' n Dippin' and Bunny Hop.

From Left to Right: Bunny Hop
Tattle Tale, Sippin' n Dippin'
They come in these cute little pots
containing
 4.5g/0.16oz
of product
Benefit's Bunny Hop
Swatch of Bunny Hop

Benefit's Tattle Tale
Swatch of Tattle Tale

Benefit's Sippin' n Dippin'
Swatch of Sippin' n Dippin'
A little goes a long way with these products. They are easy to blend, they give you enough time to distribute over the eyelid and then they set to a near powdery finish. They can also be used as a base under your eye shadow for a more intense look. You can apply these with your fingers or using a synthetic brush.

Next are the Rimmel Colour Mousse 8Hr Eye Creams. I have these in only 2 shades, both wearable and gorgeous shades. Glitz and Sassy are the names of the shades.

From Left to Right:
Glitz and Sassy
These have a very cooling sensation on the eyes and they apply with a metallic sheen which I love. They also set to a lovely glossy finish that lasts for a long time on the eyes. I have tried these both with and without eye primer underneath and they last all day on me both ways.

These are slightly larger pots
containing
5ml/0.17oz of product

Rimmel's Glitz
Swatch of Glitz

Rimmel's Sassy
Swatch of Sassy
As you can see the consistency of the Rimmel Cream shadows differs from the Benefit ones. For longevity they are pretty equal in my opinion. The price differs a lot between brands as expected but I love them both nonetheless.

If you haven't tried any cream eye shadows for fear of creasing, I urge to try some and I am sure you will not regret it. They have been my favorites this Summer and I'm sure they will continue to be in the other seasons too.

What are your favorite cream eye shadows? Do you like Rimmel and Benefit?


Want more chatter? Follow me on Facebook and Twitter :)

P.S. I have just returned from my Rome holiday! So expect a haul soon!

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MAC MSF Dupes!! NYC Chroma Face Glow Review




Recently I was browsing through an online makeup site and came across the NYC Chroma Face Glow and they immediately reminded me of the MAC Mineralize SkinFinish. They were available in two lovely shades; Sunstone and Moonstone, and obviously I had to get my hands on both of them. Sunstone is the corally/warmer shade and Moonstone is a pinkier/rosy shade.

The products come in very simple but
sturdy packaging which allows you to see the product
without having to open the case which can sometimes be a little
bothersome. From
Left to Right: Sunstone and Moonstone
The products have veins in them that provide great
effect in the Summer. They are both
not overly pigmented and
very shimmery
. These products work great for a very sheer blush or
as a highlight shade
! I find these perfect to apply on tan skin for that sunkissed look 

NYC Chroma Face Glow in Sunstone
A gorgeous corally shade with veining of brown and mint,
gives a glorious dewy finish to a tanned face together with a
bronzed or warm eye look
You get 0.36oz/10.2g of product
I got mine from The Cosmetic House for
2.25 pounds
I love how the back of the packaging is so fun and bright!

NYC Chroma Face Glow in Moonstone
A delicious pinky/rosy shade with plum and gold veining
Gives a nice light shimmery sheen that goes well with light shades on the eyes
You get 0.36oz/10.2g of product
I got mine from The Cosmetic House for
2.25 pounds

From Left to Right: Moonstone and Sunstone
I find that once applied to skin they may look very similar,
however it also depends on how I use them.
If I use the product just as a highlight shade then the difference is not very noticeable,
but if I just use bronzer on the face and a touch of the NYC Chroma Face Glow on the
cheeks the product color shows up more
I love how this product although it gives a gorgeous sheen, doesn't have big glitter chunks that end up all over the skin. The product is not too powdery either so that it doesn't end up all over the face and makes you look like a disco ball. The sheen as you may notice is really amazing and on the face the effect looks even better. If I were to recommend this product I would say that you can get away with just getting one shade, however I really love this product and for the price I am really glad to have gotten them both. You really end up using a small amount of product so I am sure these will last a long time!

Have you tried the NYC Chroma Face Glow? How do you think it compares to the MAC MSFs?


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