Sunday 30 August 2015

August Favourites!

Natio Ageless Organic Rosehip Oil, MooGoo Acne Cleansing Cream
 It's been a couple months since I've shared with you my favourites, so I decided to because I've been having some really great luck with my products lately.

Let's start off with my skin care:

The Acne Cleansing Cream by MooGoo has been my skin care saviour for the past few months. I even bought a second one to keep at my boyfriend's to minimise the breakouts. It doesn't have Benzoyl Peroxide, which I used back in the day and it just dried out my skin and made it more sensitive. This has natural ingredients that naturally brighten and lighten my acne scars, and it also keeps my oily skin balanced.

I got the Natio Ageless Organic Rosehip Oil at a Priceline sale, and it has been amazing. I've used RHO before by Trilogy and I've never seen such beautiful and glowy results before. I massage this into my skin before bed and it leaves my skin the softest and the healthiest it has ever been.

Thursday Plantation Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Toner
I also picked up Thursday Plantation's Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Toner at the Priceline sale, and I wish I'd tried this out years ago, when my acne was at its worst. Since using this I haven't had a single new breakout. I use it pretty much every time after I cleanse my skin, so 2-3 times a day, and it's amazing how much stuff it gets off (that I didn't realise was on my face to begin with). It also smells so fresh and is a great pick-me-up step in the morning.

Choose Chi Chi Eau De Parfum Persimmon
And last of all I wanted to share my new scent with you; I recently finished Chi Chi's Watermelon perfume, and decided to try another one. I'm not one for owning many scents, just because I know I won't be able to get through them all. So I've been wearing this every day, and it smells so sweet and yummy. It smells like lollies straight up when you first spray it, but after it settles into your skin it turns almost musky and floral. An absolute gorgeous scent that lasts, and I'm in love with the packaging too.

So there you go! Feel free to share with me your favourites of the month, and link below your blog if you want me to check it out!

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Monday 17 August 2015

Sukin Purifying Facial Masque Review

I picked up this mask when Priceline was having a 3 for 2 (along with some other goodies!), and have so far reviewed the Eye Serum, and am yet to review the Micellar Cleansing Water (but stay tuned for that). And keep reading to see my thoughts on Sukin's mask ;)

So the low down: this mask is supposed to purify, refresh and cleanse the skin. I like to scoop some with a spatula onto my fingers and spread it across damp clean skin. I keep it on for 10 minutes, by which time it's dried and is very tight on my face. The mask starts off a pinkish colour, and finishes looking like you've smeared tomato juice all over your face. I wash it off with warm water, pat dry, and continue on with toner and moisturiser.

Ingredients list from Sukin: Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides, Glycerin, Bentonite, Talc, Kaolin, Lecithin, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil (Rose Hip), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Vanillin,  Vanilla Planifolia Extract, CI 77491, Citrus Paradisi Extract (Grapefruit Seed), Linalool,* Limonene.*
* Natural component of essential oils.

As you can see, the ingredients list is pretty amazing, save for talc, which I'm honestly a little disappointed about, and probably wouldn't have picked it up if I saw it when I was shopping.

The packaging is a strange one... I like that I get a big tub of it, but I don't like this sort of packaging because I feel like it's not as sanitary is a squeeze bottle. But considering the thick texture of this mask, having it in a tub makes sense.

As I said before, the texture of this is thick, but rather creamy, and I find it really easy to spread about my face. It's not goopy or drippy, so I don't make too much of a mess when I apply it around.

In terms of performance and whether or not it works, I find it's a decent mask. It's not magic, and I don't see pimples miraculously disappear after one use, but I certainly see some improvement in terms of brightness and skin texture. My redness is always reduced when I wash this off with warm water, and my skin feels incredibly soft. I don't reach for this when I'm breaking out, as I prefer to reach for treatments like tea tree oil, but I think this has a place in my skin care routine... but would I repurchase? Honestly, I would rather give Sukin's other mask a try first.

The price is a very reasonable $15.95 AUD for 100mls, and all in all I would give this a 7/10.

Check out my Sukin Eye Serum review here, and follow me on Bloglovin' here.

Let me know if you're tried out any Sukin products, and suggest some for me to try below! Also, what are your favourite face masks for purifying and cleansing the skin?

Friday 14 August 2015

I Heart Drugstore Makeup Tag!

I've been a little MIA lately, but the good news is I'm back with a little post on my favourite drugstore makeup.

On another note, I decided to swap some points on beautyheaven, so expect a post on my random box of goodies soon!

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand?


This is a hard one, because I like a lot of brands... my favourite is probably Nude by Nature, although I'm not sure if it's considered 'drugstore', because it's not the most affordable brand, but it is stocked at Priceline. A more affordable brand that's surprisingly nice is Essence, but I do appreciate NBN's ingredients way more.

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products? 

I've raved about the Nude by Nature Mineral Cover Powder Foundation and Natio 's Mineral Bronzer in Sunswept before, (click on the links to check those posts out), and my favourite lippie product right now is the Burts Bees Beeswax Lipbalm, which I'm also trying to 'pan'.

3. Least favorite product?
Beauty Essentials lipgloss - I got this in a bargain bin, and man is this stuff frosty! It makes my lips look practically white.

4. What is the best makeup bargain?

W7 Absolute Lashes - $5 AUD for a mascara that is crazy defining, separating, lengthening and curling.

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

Natio Mineral Bronzer, it's massive, talc-free and a gorgeous bronzer. I also want to do a special shoutout to the Dusty Girls' Earth Cream, not available at as many places as typical 'drugstore brands' like Maybelline, but it's an amazing product for your skin and for coverage, and I'm actually seeing MooGoo/Dusty Girls pop up in more pharmacies now.

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?
I think the whole Nude by Nature range is a little overpriced, but I guess that's what you have to do for quality ingredients.

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!
I don't own the They're Real mascara by Benefit, but apparently Absolute Lashes is a dupe for it. I also love the Nude by Nature blush in Virgin and I think it's in the same colour family, and probably gives your cheeks a similar effect.

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?
Revlon Colorstay... I know this is a cult favourite but I don't actually think the coverage is that fantastic after you buff it out properly. Especially because I had scarring and pigmentation, I found I had to really layer up the product, and this stuff is thick and I don't like the heavy feeling of makeup. Not the mention this stuff stains all your sponges and brushes, and is equally hard to get off your skin and out of your pores.

Have you done this tag? Link it below so I can check it out :)

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Monday 3 August 2015

Sukin Eye Serum Review

In my last makeup and skincare haul I mentioned I wanted to review these two products by Sukin, and I've been testing and trying these for a couple weeks now. The reviews turned out a little lengthy so I've decided to split them up. I'll update this post with the link for the face mask review soon.

Let's start with the Antioxidant Eye Serum:


One full pump: enough to cover the whole back of my hand
Ingredients list from Sukin: Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Ceteareth-20, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil (Rose Hip), Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Borago Officinalis (Borage) Seed Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Arctium Lappa (Burdock) Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol.

The ingredients list is very natural and organic, I like how they write the common name for most ingredients so people can actually understand what goes into their skincare. I was surprised to see Aloe as the first ingredient, although I imagine it would help depuff the eye area.

The packaging is sleek and I like how there's a pump because it's sanitary, although it dispenses a little too much each time. I just put the rest on my forehead where I have more texture and call it a day.

The formula is a lightweight gel-serum. It's hard to describe, but Priceline has testers so feel free to get a feel of it in store. I appreciate it's not too running, meaning it doesn't get into my eye because I've heard it stings a lot if you accidentally do.

In terms of performance, I think this is an average eye serum, and geared towards people like me, who don't have terrible eyebags unless they didn't sleep all night. They definitely do depuff and lighten the eye area (like immediately, it's kind of wild), and I feel a slight tightening of the skin so it may be good for wrinkles (I don't have any, luckily). I'm not sure about the moisturising part of the serum, because I don't feel like it very hydrates but it does smooth out the area. I don't apply under eye concealer on a day to day basis, but I imagine it's very nice under makeup.

The price is also very reasonable ($19.95 AUD); I find eye creams and such are always waay overpriced, and for such decent ingredients I'm very happy with Sukin's pricing.

All in all, a solid 8.5/10!

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