NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams - Tokyo and Istanbul

I am probably the last blog to mention this, but NYX has now come to Australia and is available at selected Target stores. I have tried a very select few products from NYX so I was excited to go and have a swatchy time at the stand. Out of all of the products, the ones that stood out to me the most were the Soft Matte Lip Creams, and I picked up two of the colours in Tokyo and Istanbul.

Istanbul and Tokyo

These Soft Matte Lip Creams are supposed to apply like a lip gloss but have the staying power of a lipstick. The product is similar to the Lime Crime Velvetine I have but this formula is much creamier and less drying. As the name suggests, the formula is super soft and creamy and it dries down quite quickly to a matte finish. I usually apply two coats to get the full colour to show up on my lips. 

The formula is easy to apply and they last around 4 hours on me without eating or drinking. The formula is averagely drying for a matte formula. Dryness generally comes with the matte lip territory, I just go ahead and apply some lip balm beforehand. These do settle into lip lines a bit but it's nothing super unflattering. These also smell amazing, like some kind of fresh baked cupcakes.

Istanbul and Tokyo

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Istanbul

Tokyo

(These lip swatches are a little washed out, the ones on my arm are colour accurate on my computer monitor)

The look.

My verdict? I love them! The matte lip product obsession continues! I can't decide which colour I like more, as I love them both. However, I think Istanbul would look flattering on more skin tones, as Tokyo is pretty darn pale. They really feel like a high end lip product.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams retail for $12.95 in Target or $6 online.

What else do you think I should try from NYX? Have you found them at your local Target yet?

Mishelle

NARS Guy Bourdin Promiscuous Lip Pencil Set

My love affair with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl has been documented in the past, so when a set of mini's was released with the Guy Bourdin Collection, I knew this was the perfect way to get my hands on a selection of colours. I believe this set is sold out now, however, all of the colours are from the permanent range so you can easily get your hands on them individually all year round. 

This set comes in a beautiful cosmetic pouch adorned with some glossy blue lips. I would have bought the pouch alone, it is gorgeous. There are four Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in the colours Sex Machine, Never Say Never, Dolce Vita and Cruella, and a Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover.

The Velvet Matte Lip Pencils have a dry-ish matte texture. The dryness isn't uncomfortable on my lips, and it's not moisturizing in any way, shape or form. My love for the formulation has only grown with the addition of this kit to my collection. These pencils look like velvet on the lips and the wear time is phenomenal. These lip pencils will still be lingering even after a long night of drinking and the greasy burger at 3am.

The Velvet Gloss Pencil's texture is... interesting. It kind of feels like a thick balm. I don't know if it's the colour or the formula, but I'm not a huge fan of this one. Can't put my finger on why.

Sex Machine - Nude Mauve

Never Say Never - Rose Purple

Dolce Vita - Terracotta Nude

Cruella - Deep Scarlet

New Lover - Pink with Peachy Gold Shimmer

Sex Machine, Never Say Never, Dolce Vita, Cruella and New Lover

Overall, I loved this set! My favourites are Sex Machine and Dolce Vita.

My favourite place to buy NARS online is HQHair - free shipping and cheap prices for Australians!

Do you like prefer matte or glossy lip colours?

Mishelle

Moisture? You Betcha!

As someone who generally enjoys being Australian, when I find a good aussie brand or product, I do tend to get very excited. I had heard ravings of Aesop from a few British bloggers in the past, but it wasn't until I ventured into their new store in Perth City that I realised that they were an Australian brand! Credit card at the ready, I scanned the shelves with a keen eye and came home with a couple of treasures, one such item being the Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream. And boy is she a beauty!

The Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream is a melting pot of plant oils and extracts. Key ingredients include Camellia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil and Macadamia Nut Oil. It is designed for dry and sensitive skin, but my skin type is "does whatever the hell it wants on any given day of the week".

This moisturiser has a heavier, oilier texture to it. Your skin feels amazingly nourished when this is applied to it. The thing that strikes me about this moisturiser is the fact that despite feeling heavier it absorbs very quickly into the skin. But the best thing about this product is the effect it has had on my skin. It has left my skin feeling softer, my skin tone is more even and less red. I have even noticed since I started using this product that my dark spots from blemishes have faded unusually fast! My skin's texture has improved dramatically and I am loving it.

Would I recommend this product? Oh god yes. I think it would do better on normal to dry skin but if you have oilier skin you could definitely use this as a night cream if you are looking for something a bit heavier. If you are near an Aesop retailer soon, I would highly recommend you grabbing a sample of this. Aesop are very generous with their samples!

The 120ml size retails for $67.

Have you tried anything from Aesop? What is your favourite Australian brand?

Mishelle

Sephora Haul - Laura Mercier, Tarte, Nars + Zoya!

Hey guys! I recently placed my first ever order from Sephora! I made the order through Tarazz, an Australian company that forward Sephora products to Australia. I also picked up a couple of other items from Australian stores too so I decided to include them in this post!

Some of the goodies!

Firstly I ordered the Tarte Off the Cuff Blush Palette. This palette is my first ever Tarte product and I am really excited to try it out! The palette comes with a cuff bracelet with a bow on it and 5 cheek products, being blushes in dazzled, dollface, darling and crave, and a bronzer in park avenue princess.

Crave, Dazzled, Darling, Dollface and Park Avenue Princess

The second item was the main reason that I decided to make the order. This is the Laura Mercier Artists Palette. It contains 12 eye shadows in a lot of the colours I have been wanting for ages from Laura Mercier. I am super excited to try this one out!

Next we have another product from Laura Mercier which is the Souffle Body Creme Sampler Collection. This item was released last Christmas and I seriously regretting not picking it up, so I was so glad that they re-released it this Christmas. This set contains four of their scents, and they all smell divine!

Ambre Vanilla, Almond Coconut Milk, Creme de Pistache and Fresh Fig

The next set I bought from Mecca Cosmetica because sadly it came out after I placed my Sephora order. It is the Nars x Guy Bourdin Promiscuous Lip Pencil Set. It contains 4 mini Velvet Matte Lip Pencils and 1 mini Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil.

Sex Machine, Never Say Never, Dolce Vita, Cruella and New Lover

Lastly a lovely lady was kind enough to order me some Zoya polish with her discount so I jumped at the opportunity to try out some their colours. I got Zara, Happi, Ali, Astra, Kimmy, Chloe, Nyx, and Blu.

I am really happy with everything I got! Any of these items would also make great Christmas gifts! Which item would you like to see reviewed first?

Mishelle

Dipping into Dior

Dior is a makeup brand that I had never indulged in until recently. As you are probably well aware, Christmas cosmetic offerings and limited editions this time of year are kind of like my kryptonite. When I saw the Dior Couture Eye Palette in Myer recently, it was the last one left so I felt compelled to take it home with me. There was also a gift with purchase if I bought a second product, so I decided to pick up the Rouge Dior Lipstick in Swan as well.

Dior Couture Eye Palette

The exterior

First up I just wanted to mention the packaging. The look of the quad is lovely, I especially love the Dior plaque on the top. However the pleather they have used to cover the exterior smells awful and plasticy. Not luxurious at all, boo. Inside are housed four eye shadows, which Dior only describe as Base, Colour, Highlighter and Liner.

Base, Colour, Highlighter and Liner

Base, Colour, Highlighter and Liner

The Base shade is a soft beige pink with a satin finish. The texture of this shadow is very soft and pigmented. The Colour shade is cool toned brown with a matte finish. Once again the texture of this one is a very soft and pigmented. The Highlighter shade is a tricky one. This is pretty much a pressed glitter. It is not designed to be used on it's own, but to be layered over the other shadows to add a super sparkly finish. The glitter reflects purple, silver and gold. For a glitter, it has surprisingly very little fallout which I enjoyed. The liner shade is a charcoal black. This shadow is a little dryer in texture than the first two but none the less it is very pigmented, and looks excellent when applied as a soft liner.

Using Base, Colour and Liner

Secondly I decided to try out a Dior Lipstick. The one I decided on was one of the Rouge Dior Nudes in the colour Swan. Swan is a light cool toned pink nude shade with a creme finish. This lipstick is becoming a fast favourite in my lipstick collection. The texture of this lipstick I think is the best I have ever tried. It goes on smooth, pigmented and wears for ages on my lips. Th texture is so comfortable and moisturisng too. My only gripe with this lipstick is that it smells a little old fashioned.

Swan

Swan

Wearing the combination :)

Another day last week where I wore the eye and lip combo

(Before I fake tanned and toned my hair haha!)

A closer look at the eyes

Overall, I am very happy with both of the products. My favourite of the two would have to be the lipstick, just because the formula is so amazing. I think the eye palette would make an amazing Chirstmas gift too. I really want to try more Dior products now!

What are your favourite products from Dior?

Mishelle