Meet Matt(e) Nude

For a long time I was all about the shimmery eye shadows, and don't get me wrong, they're still my main guy. But in the past couple of months I've been dipping my toes into mattes and I've been enjoying the simplicity of a matte eye look. Matte shadows are few and far between in my collection so I thought I would pick up an entirely matte palette, and I landed on the Balm's Meet Matte Nude.

Meet Matt!

The Meet Matt(e) Nude Palette is a spin off of the original Meet Matt(e) palette by the Balm. However, this palette is much larger than the original, and in my opinion the colours are much better :) As the name would suggest all of the colours are matte. The texture of the Balms' eye shadows are very smooth and easy to blend. The pigmentation is very good and the shadows last all day on me.

Matt Johnson, Matt Garcia, Matt Malloy, Matt Rosen, Matt Wood, Matt Singh, Matt Abdul, Matt Lombardi and Matt Hung

I think that this is one of the best matte eye shadow palettes on the market. Considering that it contains 25.5 grams of product it will last you forever! In Australia you can get this at David Jones, but if you can't find it in person it's available online at feelunique.

Do you like matte shadows?

Mishelle

July Favourites

July was such a busy month for me, but I did enjoy getting away in the beginning of the month. But it's back to Uni next week, and I have a lot to get organised this week so I wanted to go ahead and write my favourites up while I had a spare moment!

The goods

Firstly there have been two lipsticks I have gotten so much use out of this month. The first one is Mac's Hue. I know that I've had this in a couple of posts already but I still can't get over how perfect this nude shade is. The second one is Honky Tonk from Australis, which is a perfect peachy pink.

Mac Hue

Australis Honky Tonk

Sticking with the peachy pink theme, the next two blushes are both so bright and pretty. The first is Mac's Supercontinental, which is a true orange peach shade. This colour would be flattering on any skin tone! The second is Nars' Deep Throat, which is more of a peachy pink shade. I find Deep Throat harder to work with of the two, as it can sometimes enhance the redness in my cheeks, but both of them are equally as lovely in texture and finish!

Australis Honky Tonk, Mac Hue, Mac Supercontinental and Nars Deep Throat

I asked for a sample of the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum and the lady was kind enough to give me four of these sachets. Now I love skincare but I didn't really ever believe anything could work miracles overnight, until I tried this. Oh my goodness. My skin looked so amazing the day after, and the texture improved dramatically by the time the four sachets were used up. I have a full size bottle on the way to me right now! Secondly is this Gentle Exfoliating Toner by Clarins. This was less of an instant miracle worker but I have been using it about a month now and I think it helps to inject more life into my skin, and brighten up my complexion. I use it about every second night.

I had been wanting the The Balm Meet Matte Nude Palette since I first saw it online, and I finally came across it in stores this month. And I can say that it completely lived up to my expectations! I have been using shades from this almost every day since I got it, and swatches will be coming this week, so stay tuned for that post!

I also wanted to mention a couple of nail polishes! The first is Ulta3 Outasight, which is an aweome black glitter top coat! And the second is Ozotic 516, that I mentioned in the Rainbow Tag, which is a pink holographic polish!

Ulta3 Outasight over Covergirl Always Naked

Ozotic 516

So that's it for another month! What has been your favourite product this month?

Mishelle

Sampling Mercier

One high end foundation that has been sung a hell of a lot of praise online is the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation. After reading what must have been the hundredth positive review on it, I decided I wanted to try it out for myself.

So I rushed down to the Laura Mercier counter and got myself colour matched to Rose Ivory. I went home feeling triumphant, and put it on the next day. To my disappointment, once I looked at myself in natural lighting I realised my skin was bright orange. I looked horrific. Taking it off, I forgot about the foundation for a month or so. When I was chancing by a Laura Mercier counter again I decided to persevere with a different shade, and this one was a winner.

I would say that the foundation is full coverage, with a satin-ish finish. It's not entirely matte. The texture is very creamy, and it blends beautifully. I would advise to use a light hand with it as if you put too much on it can appear cakey, and I would also advise cautious application around the nose and eyebrows. However overall I love the look this foundation leaves on the skin. It really leaves your skin looking flawless, and woud be amazing for people with problem skin.

As you can see above, I don't have any active breakouts currently, just dark spots where I have had them. My skin is pretty even in overall colour and texture but this foundation took my skin to a flawless level. 

So what's my verdict? I love this foundation! Once I finish up my bottle of Revlon Colorstay (my previous go to high coverage foundation) I will totally pick up a tube of this. After searching online I did find that there is a lighter shade again than Cream Ivory, and I would like to try that too, as Cream Ivory is still a smidgen darker than my natural skin tone.

Let me know what you think of this foundation, have you tried it or do you want to?

Mishelle

Fruity Delights

I don't know which company first used the term "lip butter" to describe their product, but I feel like it might have been Korres. If you haven't heard of these fruity pots of general delight, well I'm here to fill you in. I guess this goes against a lot of beauty bloggers but I generally don't own more than one or two of the same product in different colours, however for these I made the exception and had to 'catch them all'.

The four flavours that I own are Pomegranate, Mango, Quince and Jasmine. They generally taste and smell pretty much 100% true to the real scent, as opposed to that artificial fruity scent you find in other cosmetics and lollies too. The texture of these is so creamy and buttery, and they feel like absolute heaven on the lips. Even though these are a colour cosmetic, the skincare benefits of these lip butters are that they really give you soft, amazing feeling lips.

Pomegranate, Mango, Quince, Jasmine

Pomegranate

Mango

Quince

Jasmine

As you can see, on the lips they behave very much like most tinted lip-balms that I have tried. They give a hint of the colour, with mango being the most pigmented. Jasmine, being white in colour, isn't really suitable for every day where in my opinion, as it kind of washes out the lips. I tend to neglect this one in favour of the others, for this reason. In terms of flavour my favourite is a tie between quince and mango. But each person will probably like a different one, depending on which fruit you enjoy eating the most! Overall I would highly, highly recommend the Korres Lip Butters. They are my holy grail lipbalms, I only wish they came in a stick rather than a pot (for hygiene reasons).

The Korres Lip Butters retail for $14 on Asos.com. I really want to get the rose one too!

What is your holy grail lip balm?

Mishelle

Collective Hauleeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiooo

So remember that time I was on project pan? Well I gave up haha. I almost finished it mind you, I finished up about 25 products before I gave in! While I was away however and since I've been back I did a little shopping... Warning, there is a lot of nail stuff!

First up they were having a buy one get one free deal on Covergirl Outlast Nail Polish, so naturally I picked up 6 new ones. The colours that I picked up are Always Naked, Out of the Blue, Grapevine, Midnight Magic, Constant Caribbean and Perfect Penny.

After finding a very well stocked Essence atand I decided to pick up three more nail polishes in Absolutely Blue, That's What I Mint and Miss Universe. I also found three new polishes from Ulta3 which are Gossip, Outasight and Xoxo.

After warding away from Seche Vite for about 6 months (due to the ingredients) I decided to go back to it. I spoke with a couple of people who know more than me about science and it all seems pretty safe. Anyways I thought instead of buying the individual bottles I would buy the salon size. I also got Seche Restore to go with it, which is a nail polish restorer. The last bottle is a bottle of Duri Rejuvacote that is supposed to be a life changing base coat. I can't wait to see if it works out well for me!

I also decided to order some nail art bits. First are some nail art dotters in a heap of different sizes and second are some nail art brushes. These were both super cheap off ebay.

I also ordered this nail wheel full of tiny studs! Each shape has both silver and gold studs.

I got a huge bag full of these Fimo Canes, which are used for nail art too. I will do a tutorial on how to use these if you'd like?

More nail art yes, this one is a wheel full of pearls in varying sizes :D

Last nail thing, I promise! I wanted to order some swatch sticks to have a reference of the nail polish colours that I own :) so I have already painted quite a lot of them as you can see, but holy moly is it time consuming.

I have been wanting this palette since it first released and I FINALLY found it in David Jones yesterday. It is the Meet Matte Nude Palette from the Balm. I have been using matte shades a lot in the past couple of months and this colours in this palette really appealed to me :D

The shades in the palette

I have a few last makeup bits and pieces. First are some more Essence bits, a Stay with Me Lasting Lipgloss in Candy Bar and Essence Stays no Matter What Eyeliners in Midnight Black and Smokey Grey. I managed to forget a powder when I went away so I bought this Revlon Colorstay Aqua Setting Powder, because it was $5 in a chemist. The last thing is this Shell Compact Mirror from Colette. How cute is it?

The mirror

The shoes are from Target. I'm not sure what they are called but I love the colour and they were on sale for $15.

On the topic of shoes, I also picked up these babies from Betts. I wore them to my mum's 50th and they are actually quite comfortable!

I found these super cheap printed jeans at Katies, on sale for $15 a pair, so of course I got two!

I went shopping with my Nanna and she bought me this necklace, earrings and hair bow from Louvisa. I love the gunmetal with the blue colours, this trio looks so pretty with a plain black dress.

The last thing is this little leather satchel bag. I didn't own a small black leather bag and this was on sale for $50 from Pigeonhole, so I picked it up.

So what have you guys been hauling lately? Let me know if you've picked up any of these items!

Mishelle

Colours of the Rainbow Tag

I recently saw the lovely Dawn do the Colours of the rainbow tag, and I decided to do it to! The premise of this tag is that you have to pick a couple of favourites for each colour of the rainbow. The colours for this tag are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, pink and multicoloured. Let's get to it!

The goodies

I am currently on holiday and my Nintendo 3DS is a must have on long bus/plane trips. I currently can't stop playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf! It is kinda like the Sims except you live in a town with adorable animals! Cute!

You guys are probably sick of hearing me bang on about Nars Dragon Girl, but once again I have to say this is my holy grail red lipstick. If you like matte reds, buy it already! Seriously!

I don't think I have ever read a negative review on the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. This one comes as a part of their core collection set and it is amazing for buffing powder into the skin (use the code GEJ429 to get $10 off your first purchase at the link above!)

I also have to mention my Korres Lip Butter in Mango. These lip balms are among my favourite that I own, my only gripe is that you have to stick your finger into a pot to apply it. But they smell and taste amazing, this one of course being it's namesake, mango!

This gold spiked headband was a recent purchase from Colette Accessories. I love headbands as a quick way to accessorize your outfit, and this one really makes a statement. This one was on clearance but I found one similar on ebay.

I already wrote a love letter to L'occitane Almond Shower Oil in my June Favourites, but I couldn't help but mention it again here. It smells absolutely delicious, and is a beautiful product to treat yourself to.

I know, yet another product I sung praise about in my favouirtes, but Origins Plantscription Eye Cream is a holy grail product for me. If you have tired or dry or wrinkled under eyes you need to pick this baby up, it is a godsend.

I went to try and find Chanel's Moon River Stylo recently and was heartbroken when I found that it was sold out everywhere. As a sort on consolation I picked up this Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Epatant. It is a full on glittery silvery green. Love.

Origins Plantscription and Chanel Epatant

I love this Tiffany Bracelet, and I wear it every single day. The thick silver chain is classic, and I love the blue enamel on the opposite side of the iconic "Return to Tiffany" Heart Tag. 

Since Shell gifted me a Covergirl polish in our swap a while back and I was so impressed with the formula that when they were buy one get one free, I picked up six more. Out of the six my favourite has to be Out of the Blue. I will do a full post of these soon with swatches but it looks exactly the same as it does in the bottle :)

I have had the worst sore throat last month and Difflam has been making me feel so much better. I know this is a pretty random request, but do any of you ladies know of any normal boiled lollies that taste like the berry flavour? They are so yummy haha!

I can't live without my purple shampoo, and my weapon of choice is the Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Shampoo. Now this stuff is seriously purple, I'm just warning you! You may only want to use this once a week or you'll end up with purple streaks in your hair!

My favourite perfume for a while now has been Thierry Mugler Alien. I have never had so many compliments in my life on my perfume! It is kinda... a fresh woody scent?

For pink how can I not mention Mac Party Parrot? This matte pink lipstick is freaking intense. If you can't get your hands on it, you can go for Mac's Impassioned as they are fairly similar!

Too Faced Sweetheart Flush Blush is my current favourite blush. I am going to have to put it away soon, because right now between this and Hervana I haven't touched another blush in a month!

Lastly I will mention this Ozotic Pro Nail Polish, it is so so beautiful. Holographic nail polish is someting I have wanted to try forever ad this one is gorgeous.

Hope you guys enjoyed this tag! Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this!

Mishelle