Fashion Edit: Gunmetal

Gunmetal! I LOVE it! It's smokey, it's rock, it's perfection!

Why do I love gunmetal? It's the perfect "inbetween" shade. It's not as harsh as black but it's not a "typical" metal like silver or gold. It's this winters "it" metal and it's easy to see why. It's the perfect accompaniment to burgundy, blue, grey and black. It stands out in an edgy way without being over the top, and one of the biggest reasons I love it, it's different. You never really see this shade around too often. 

Without further ado, here are my gunmetal must haves for this winter... 

Beauty:

* Makeup Store glitter eyeliner in "Showstopper"

$26
Makeup Store and beautybay.com

* Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in "Uzi" 
$30 (mecca), $33 (beautybay) 
Mecca Maxima, mecca.com.au and beautybay.com

* Stila Smudgestick eyeliner in "Triggerfish"
$26
Mecca Cosmetica, mecca.com.au and beautybay.com

* Australis Metallix cream eyeshadow in "Lana Del Grey"
$8.95
Priceline

* Makeup Geek eyeshadow in "Graphite" and "Stealth"
$5.99USD each
makeupgeek.com

Graphite

Stealth

* MAC Extra Dimension eyeshadow in "Legendary Lure" (due for release June/July)

MAC counters, stores and maccosmetics.com.au

* OPI nail polish in "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvellous" (Swiss collection)
$19.99

David Jones, Myer, Price Attack, selected pharmacies and nail salons

* Makeup Store Strass in "Silver Rain"
$28
Makeup Store

What do you think of gunmetal? How do you wear it?

First Impressions/ empties: V2

Another round up of some first impressions/ mini reviews of products I've recently bought, tried or been given samples of!

Stila Coming Clean Revitalising cleanser: (sample)
I loved this from the first go at this. It's freshly scented and feels like a good clean without feeling like you're stripping the skin. It's not tightening and feels quite light. You also only need a small amount to lather. The only thing i dislike is the fact I don't believe you can get this in Australia. 
Re-purchase: Yes, if I can get my hands on it. 

Bondi Sands Self Tanning Mist: (full size)
I really tried to love this. I'm always looking for a good, deep, fast developing tan. Well, this is definitely deep, fast... well, that's where my problem lies. When you apply it (I use the Bondi Sands mitt to go with the tan), it dries faster than I have time to rub it in, leaving lines on my skin. Now, my skin is exfoliated and moisturised. I only do one limb at a time (well lower half leg, upper half leg, you get my point...), it dries TOO FAST. I'm pretty experienced with tanning myself but I just don't get this one. I definitely still love Vani-T tans as my fave. After using this, I really don't get the hype. This is definitely not for novices!
Re-purchase: Nope. I wanna try Loving Tan next. If that is sub-par, I'm back to Vani-T haha.

GHD Heat Protectant spray: (full size)
I LOVE this, but it's definitely a splurge buy. It's no better or worse than the Tresemme spray, which my partner likes. They're the only 2 that I have tried, but I got the Lee Stafford one today as part of the Priceline hair goodie bag they came out with. The smell is inoffensive and subtle, no strong overtones of anything, just like a hair product scent. I also like the sleek stylish bottle because yup, I'm a sucker for packaging (and may or may not have been the reason I bought it *shifty eyes*).
Re-purchase: Yes, once I'm out of Lee Stafford Heat Protectant spray.

Batiste "Cherry" Dry Shampoo: (full size)
This is delish! I love that fake cherry smell, so this was right up my alley. I've tried a few different dry shampoos, and this is my favourite and I keep coming back to it (the brand and the scent). The scent is definitely fake but not overpowering or super sickly. The product itself is fantastic, works very well and slightly volumises as well as take that greasy look away. I feel like you can't spray "too much" and it doesn't "clump" up in your hair like some can. It also doesn't leave a residue on your fingers, again, like some can. I highly recommend you try one of the Batiste dry shampoos. They have loads of different ones to try, like this cherry scented one, tropical (coconut and pineapple I believe), wild, ones with colour (like for brunettes so you don't get that white cast). There is literally no reason you shouldn't at least give this product a try (they also have minis if you feel like you can't commit to a full sized can).
Re-purchase: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Glam Glow Power Mud Dual Cleanse treatment: (sample)
Eh, I used this a few times, and I'm not wowed by it. I didn't see much of a difference at all. I did like the fact it was a mud mask that when you add water, it turns into a cleanser, but I'm a sucker for novelty things like that. I don't see the hype, or maybe the hype is on the black one maybe? I'm not sure. It didn't make my skin any drier, oilier, tight, red etc etc. No change on my skin. For as expensive as this is, I would definitely obtain a sample of this before purchasing full price to see what it does for your skin. I do have really good skin so maybe that's also why. I guess the jury's still out on this one for me!
Re-purchase: No.

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara: (sample)
I got this as a sample with my dearly beloved "Everything Nice" xmas palette. I think this is a pretty nice mascara. Not the best I've had (we'll leave that spot for Lancome's Hypnose), and certainly not the worst. It doesn't bode well for lower lashes as the brush is quite thick and dispenses a lot of product on the brush from the tube, which is probably the only thing I dislike about it. It doesn't curl my lashes, but does give them volume and coats them nicely without looking too spidery, again, due to how thick the mascara is, so it's a good balance. My lashes are difficult to work this, so something with curl probably would be better but eh, this does the job for now. The formula is perfect too. Not watery, not dry, so if either of those things do concern you, this is worth a check, as it's nicely balanced in the middle.
Re-purchase: Probably not, only because I have other loves that are around the same price. 


If you have any requests, then please let me know and I'll give it a go!

Review: Stila Magnificent Metals eyeliner

Ok. So once upon a time I was watching a Chloe Morello video (ya know, the one with the silver eyeliner and baby pink lips that I go on about quite frequently) and I LOVED it. I loved it so much, I rushed to the interwebs to buy the lipstick she was wearing.
I also thought about that eyeliner constantly, but I was confused as to what to do. You see, I had also recently seen this amazing Stila eyeliner on beautybay (the one I'm reviewing of course). So the inner me was having a mini crisis, "do I buy the Makeup Store silver glitter eyeliner because it's so amazing and it goes with the look amazingly", and "but the Stila one is also really amazing, and it's GUNMETAL. It's not 100%, but it has silver glitter and it's GUNMETAL!".
I thought about it for 2 weeks (not kidding), and decided to go with the Stila one.

I was a little hesitant to get the Stila eyeliner, as I had heard some not-so-positive reviews regarding the Stila Magnificent Metals eyeshadow. Heard that it's apparently flakey, doesn't hold, whatever. I was like "well, it's an eyeliner, so I'm only lining my eyes vs colouring my lids in". That was my justifcation. Purchase. made.

Fresh product. See what I mean by how "wet" it looks. 

It took *forever* to arrive (about 3 weeks from the UK).
It is a dark gunmetal colour with, what I would describe, silver metallic glitter flecks.
It seems very *wet* in the pot, but applies dry, if that makes sense. So once you apply, there's no "drying time" to really consider. However, it is nothing like a gel eyeliner. It's not as opaque as a gel and it is harder to work with.

It's very smooth to apply but doesn't leave a lot of the glitter behind so you do need to pack on quite a bit to the brush to get a good coating of the glittery metallicy goodness (what I meant about being hard to work with. I just use a MAC 266). The base is very pigmented though and even just lightly touching it, you get good colour payoff, but it looks like a good quality eyeshadow vs an eyeliner.
The base itself isn't metallic at all, it really is just the "glitter" that makes it what it is.
What it looks like in the pot vs how it applies is completely different. It looks super metallicy, as you can see, but applies like a grey eyeshadow with silver flecks in it.
When packing the product onto my brush and applying, I didn't notice a lot of fallout and once on, the colour stays put. If you wanna do a smokey, this is perfect. Easily blendable. The glitter doesn't move around easily, but as a whole, easily removed with a makeup remover (I use Garnier Micellar cleansing water).

As an eyeshadow, I definitely recommend priming your eyes first as I did find it to crease on me (although I do have oily lids).

L-R: 1 light layer; packed on heavily; 2 strokes. 

That same 1 light layer; that packed swatch blended out. It would
be awesome as an eyeshadow. 

If you're after something very dark or instantly metallic, this is not the product for you. This is beautiful and unique, but I feel like you would have to specifically want this product to really justify this as a purchase. In regards to what I wanted it for, I do like it but I probably would have been better off buying the Make Up Store glitter liner, but I will still definitely use this. I think those who love and regularly do a smokey eye would love this.
I would like to get the eyeshadow version to see how it compares. The Emerald one looks gorgeous!

UPDATE: I used this as an eyeshadow for my New Years look, and it looked awesome. I suggest using this as an eyeshadow rather than an eyeliner.

Purchased from: beautybay.com. Mecca also stock it.
RRP: $37

Have you tried either this or the eyeshadow version? What are your thoughts on them?