Review: Colour Pop eyeshadows

If you have Instagram, then I'm sure you've seen this brand in just about every second post. Especially if you follow the likes of Nikkie Tutorials, Chrisspy, Desi Perkins, Lustre Lux, etc, you get the drift. Basically all the "cool girls" of Instagram (doesn't it just take you back to high school...).

ColourPop are a new brand, out of California US, with interesting products. They sell 3 different types of products for only $5 each! That is CRAZY!!

* Lippie Stix: a lipstick style "pen" in funky colours that come in neutral, bright or "out there" shades, with a mix of different textures/ finishes eg, matte, glossy, satin, pearlized and hyper glossy.
* Lippie Pencil: these are corresponding shades to the Lippie Stix.
* Super Shock shadows: you can really only understand these by owning them. They are a soft, creamy, mousse style eyeshadow. Again, these come in neutral, bright and "out there" shades. They are described by Colourpop as a long wearing Creme powder eyeshadow.

They finally launched in Australia and New Zealand in December, after longing to try these for months, I finally was able to get my hands on some of their products. They really are so intriguing, most of that intrigue is definitely from other people's explanations and descriptions. Then it's the colours. Oh my, THE COLOURS, THE COLOURS!! I bought So Quiche, Girly and Tea Party as a starting point (I also bought some other stuff but I'm reviewing just the eyeshadows today).

So Quiche is a metallic finish and also a duochrome. I would describe it as an olive with purple glitters and "duochrome-ness".
Girly is a pearlized finish and reminds me of MAC's Pink Opal, but in pressed form. It is a white pearl base with subtle pink shimmer/ glimmer. It has no big glitter sparkles as the other 2 I purchased do. It is perfect as a brow (or whatever) highlight!
Tea Party is also a metallic finish and is a very light peach shade. The glitters in this, I would also say are a peachy, silvery colour.

The biggest yay (other than price of course), is the wear! OH MY! No creasing. Yup, you saw that right, absolutely no creasing at all. On first wear, I did one eye with MAC Painterly as an eyeshadow base, and one eye without anything before application. They looked basically, exactly the same as each other and as when first applied. The only slight difference was the eye with Painterly on, looked slightly more pigmented of the colours than the other eye. I could only tell up really close to the mirror and knowing that one eye had a base and one didn't. If you don't tell anyone, no one is going to know. I also have slightly oily lids, especially after 6-7 hours or so, so the fact that these didn't crease is beyond amazing and crazy. I am actually VERY surprised. I wouldn't get this with high end products. They also wore right through until I took them off with minimal fading. 

L-R: Tea Party, So Quiche and Girly.

Unfortunately, Tea Party was the sheerest when applied. It was just glitter on me with a very subtle wash of peach. The glitter in both So Quiche and Tea Party are very fine though, no chunky glitters here at all. I definitely agree when they say with the application, to use your fingers (clean them first of course *cough hygiene cough*). It definitely helps to get them packed on. Blending is smooth and reasonably effortless. I did find that when I blended out Tea Party, there was a lot of glitter and it definitely isn't a crease shade and would definitely be better suited to lid play. In saying that though, all of the shades (well the ones I have), you do lose pigment in blending them out. When using your fingers, they are easy and smooth to apply. 

Price: Holy crap, $5 EACH! I DARE you to find something this good, with this price tag....

Packaging: Everything comes in nice white packaging with holographic labelling of "Colourpop". It's sleek, simple and clean. The eyeshadows can be hard to open if you've done them up tightly though, so my advice is do them up tight, but not "too tight".

Postage: It cost me roughly an additional $13USD to ship here to Australia via USPS and it took a week and a day from when posted, which you can watch its progress through the USPS website.

Would I repurchase?: Hell yes! I am kind of waiting to see what eyeshadows shades are going to be released with the Kathleen Lights collection and go from there. I definitely want to pick up some of the crazy Lippie Stix shades like Raw and Bunny, and some more of the eyeshadow shades such as Animal and Ibiza. I am actually SO excited to have more of this brand. However, I wouldn't recommend Tea Party due to its sheerness, when so many other shades perform so much better. 


Are you looking to try these? What shades most intrigue you?  

Colour Theory

Ok, so some of you may be aware that I have a makeup certification so I thought why not educate you guys rather that just review/ show products...

This is what a colour wheel looks like (or a variation of). You can pick one up at any art/ craft store. 
This applies to pretty much anything makeup related and is the backbone to learning and understanding colour including base. I do believe it was basically the first thing I learned about at makeup school. 

I'm sure you've all heard about complimenting colours, or heard/ seen youtubers talk about it and may not understand what the hell they're talking about. 

Complimenting shades = the OPPOSITE colour according to the colour wheel. 

To make your eyes stand out these are the eyeshadow shade family to use: 

Blue eyes: Oranges/ Bronzes/ Browns/ Nudes/ Golds

Perfect shades: MAC Bronze, Gorgeous Gold, Amber Lights, Rule and Coppering eyeshadows; Chi Chi Bronzes & Sunkissed palettes

Green eyes: Reds/ Pinks/ Purples

Perfect shades: MAC Cranberry, Expensive Pink, Swish, Parfait Armour and Stars N Rockets eyeshadows; Chi Chi Sultry palette

Brown Eyes: Blues/ Teals/ Greens/ Metallics

Perfect shades: MAC Plumage, Freshwater, Humid, Steamy and Lucky Green eyeshadows; Chi Chi Metallics palette

To conceal: (always use a light hand and under foundation)

Dark circles: an orange/ peach concealer

Bruises: an orange/ peach or yellow concealer

Redness/ acne/ rosacea: green concealer

Sallowness: purple/ lavender concealer 

Sun spots: blue concealer

These brands have amazing colour correcting products: 

Makeup Forever: Step 1 Skin Equaliser (green); Camouflage Cream Pot (comes in green, peach, orange, mauve and skin tones). 

Makeup Store: Cover All Mix (yellow, red and skin tone)

Stila: Set and Correct baked powder trio (green, lavender and peach); One Step Correct (all in one liquid product with primer). 

Maybelline: Coverstick (green, and yellow)

Well that's the basics on colour theory. If in doubt, consult the colour wheel. 

Hope you learned something!! :)

As always, I love your input, so if you want to know anything, please ask. I don't bite and I love to educate people. Knowledge is power! 

Chi Chi Naturals palette winner!

Congratulations to ANNLITTLEFOX!!!

Please email me at melz1586@gmail.com to claim your prize!!

Thankyou! :)

Top 5 highlighters with swatches!

Highlighters - some people are opposed to them and prefer a matte finish. Some people love the glitz and glam feel you can get from them. I'm definitely the latter. I love that delicious shiny, dewy, decadent skin that glows from within. I love that you can accentuate all the glorious high points to your face and all the other good spots with something so simple. 

However, I'm definitely a powder girl vs liquid. Although, I'm not impartial to mixing a liquid highlighter into my foundation for a subtle all over glow, when I do, the liquid I use is MAC lustre drops in Sun Rush and Pink Rebel. 

These are my absolute fave highlight powders, in order, and what I recommend to getting that stunning complexion. 

1. The Balm Mary-Lou manizer
OMGGGGGG!! I actually cannot get enough of this one! It is SO pigmented I HAVE to use a fan brush otherwise I look like a disco ball (look at them shine). It's a pale champagne/ beige and is absolutely beautiful on light to medium complexions (it might be too ashy on darker skintones). Just do yourself a favour and go buy this already.... 

2. MAC Mineralize Sheersheen loose powder in Lucent
I don't know if anyone remembers these, hell even I can't remember when they were released to be honest. My partner did up an old table thing for me to store all my makeup in, and as I was reorganising everything I rediscovered this gem. It's a finely milled baby pink powder with the most gorgeous shimmery sheen I've ever seen! My only gripe is you can't get it anymore (like most good MAC products haha). Oh also, like most of MAC powder products that aren't compacts, you get so much product out of those little holes so you have to use the lid so you don't get too much product on your brush (I use MAC 109 brush). It's not a dissimilar product to Silver Dusk power, so I was thinking "why so much less product?" but then I remembered that (I'm pretty sure) MAC marketed SD as an all over body powder, and who am I kidding, I could use this everyday and still not finish it in this lifetime. I must learn to not be greedy haha. 

3. Bobbi Brown shimmerbricks
OK, cheating a little here, but I love them all. I currently have 14 of them. They're all just delightful and have great pigmentation. As they're little strips of colour, you can use the shades individually or swirl your brush into the whole thing to mix all colours together. Some of the really lighter shades can come across a little frosty if you use a strong hand so use with caution. I feel like they're only now starting to get the hype they deserve, thanks to Sandstone being re-released. They are pricy, BUT they are absolutely worth it. I use a MAC 109 brush to apply these. If you haven't started a collection yet, my recommendation would be beige and pink, then collect them all haha. Occasionally, older shades will get re-released, so if you've seen previous swatches, don't lose all hope. Sandstone, Plum and Nectar have all been released twice. I really need to get bronze, it's the only permanent shade I don't have. 

4. MAC MSF in Glissade
This is the most perfect prettiest cool peachy pink shade. Because of the veining and the mix of colours, it is so versatile and would work with so many looks with different colours and tones. Again, I use a MAC 109 brush to highlight. 

5. Becca skin perfecting pressed powder in Rose Gold
This is perfect highlight for a sexy bronzed summer look!! The only 2 downsides is 1. this baby is SO hard to find for those in Australia/ NZ and not the liquid version either. 2. the price. Holy Shit $60 + shipping from the Becca site. To be honest, if I hadn't of found a cheaper one, I wouldn't have bought it. This is perfect for medium to dark complexions or someone with a great tan! This is also amazing as an eyeshadow too (I may be pale but this bitch will force it haha. YOU WILL LOOK GOOD ON ME AND YOU WILL LOVE IT!!), it doesn't actually look bad but there are better options for my skin tone. *crazy moment over*
I would love to try Opal next. These do also come in liquid form, so if you prefer a liquid over powder finish, then these would be great for you. The little pack of trio mini's would be perfect! 
Buy it here: $46.20aud activeskin.com.au is where you need to go!! 

L-R: Glissade, Mary-Lou, Lucent, Beige and Rose Gold. 

What's your favourite highlight?

Review: Infallible foundation

I got a sample of this a while ago, and I love to explore new foundations. I feel like "the perfect foundation" is like a pair of jeans. If you're like all* women, you'll understand me when I say it's hard to find the one. The holy grail, the one you can always turn to because it makes you look and feel alive, amazing and fresh. Others may come close, but you'll always have "the one" to fall back on.

I don't believe in hoarding foundations as I feel it's the quickest product to go gross (other than mascara, of course), and foundation can be very expensive, so even though I may try out a few, I'll finish a bottle and never buy it again, (look at me being sensible) if I wasn't completely wowed by it. I'm currently using Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk and I LOVE it! That is my wow, holy grail, amaze-balls product, however, at $90AUD it's nice to have a backup so I don't have to keep getting the most expensive thing on the planet (of foundations). It is a medium coverage so I also like something a little thicker for nights out or whathaveyou as a full coverage base.

The Infalliable foundation applies like a dream. It's not hard to work with, it blends out smoothly and easily. It also doesn't dry out on your hand whilst applying it, as some full coverage foundations can and leave you having to work quickly. You can take your time to apply this one. I use a flat, standard foundation brush to apply (basically a 190 MAC foundation brush). I've recently purchased a beauty blender from beautybay.com, so will see and update once I receive that and test it out, to see if tools make any kind of difference to application and wear. The bottle also lasts for ages. I purchased it about 2 months ago, maybe not quite that long. I wear foundation 5-6 days a week, and as you can see, have barely even made a dent. You only need one pump, maybe one and a half if you want extra coverage.

The Infalliable foundation is just that. It is full coverage but flawless. It doesn't look cakey in the slightest but you know that you're getting the most out of it. This baby claims to last for 24hrs and while I cannot claim that it does that (I'm a nanna and must be in bed ok!), it certainly looks fresh and great after 12-15 hours of wear. It doesn't get patchy or dry in any areas and I feel like it wears evenly on me. I have combination skin, so feel like it is perfect for my skin type. It doesn't sway neither dewy/ oily or matte on me, on initial application or throughout the day/ wear time. If you have dry skin, I think this would still be ok for you, maybe just prime with a really moisturising primer to be sure.

The only thing I severely dislike and L'oreal really need to step up their game, is the shades... I bought this in 120 Vanilla, being the lightest shade there is, I'm a NW20 in MAC for reference, and it was still too dark. I think anyone below a NW/NC30 will need to tan up their body in order to wear this, which is a shame because everything else about it is amazing.

For the price, it's another point to the positive side. It normally retails for roughly $30AUD, but Priceline is always having specials so I got this for about $22, so that makes it a very stellar buy.

Overall, I will definitely buy it again, and use it when I'm tanned up, as it really is an amazing product, and I'm yet to come across a non cakey looking full coverage foundation. If you know of any with lighter shades, let me know!


*there is a rare breed of people, where all jeans make their ass look great. If you're one of these people, I hate you (not really, but you are most definitely blessed and should be grateful haha).

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?

November favourites!

Ooohhh am I excited to show you guys what I've been loving this month! I've gotten some amazing goodies lately, some of which you've seen in the MEGA HAUL I posted a few weeks back! I have been eagerly awaiting to show you what I've been loving this past month. Let's get into it shall we?..

Too Faced "everything nice" palette
I CANNOT tell you HOW excited I was to get this palette. I got my girl to cp this for me from the states as I wasn't sure that we were going to get it here in Australia. I had heard mixed reviews on this palette, some seemed to love it, others not so much, so I was a bit nervous I wouldn't love it as much as what I thought I would. WRONG! I have used this palette every.single.day since receiving it. I am SO SO in love with this palette. It has *everything* you could want. Eyeshadows, blushes, bronzer, highlighter and mascara. Everything is pigmented and I have not been disappointed in anything from this palette. If you can still get it at your local Mecca, then I highly suggest you do. I love it so much!
*not exactly everything but definitely the majority of face painting essentials.

L'oreal Infalliable foundation in Vanilla
I tested this foundation out in a sample I got a while ago and loved it, so I bought the full size. To me, this is the perfect foundation. It's medium to full coverage and really does last all day. With the right powder to set (I go between Hourglass Ambient powders and Too Faced Sweetheart beads), my face looks FLAWLESS! My only gripe is, I got vanilla which is the lightest shade and it is slightly too dark, so even lighter colours would be awesome. Either way, I recommend if you're after something with a bit more coverage.




Chi Chi eyeshadow palette in Naturals
I had bought this as a gift for someone who didn't end up wanting it, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought this. I was blown away by the quality of this $22 palette. Chi Chi is a cheaper "drugstore" brand (even though it's stocked in high end department stores), but you definitely shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is any less of a makeup brand for the prices. It is HIGHLY pigmented and very smooth to apply. I will definitely be purchasing more of these palettes and from Chi Chi. This is the PERFECT eyeshadow palette for those just starting out. Plenty of beautiful neutral shades that all work very well together. If you get only one thing from this post of recommendations, this is it! PS. Chi Chi have a great xmas deal at the moment,  get 2 palettes for only $30!


Socialeyes Tease 2.0 lashes
I got these a while back and was actually intimidated by the size of these babies. They're at least twice as long as the lashes I usually use (either Ardell or Manicare ones), but I gave them a go and lemme tell you, they are great! They are so lightweight it's not funny. I expected them to be heavy because they are so huge. These are a half/ 3/4 lash so I do need to give my full strip ones. Try but going off Tease 2.0 alone. You won't be disappointed!

Garnier Micellar makeup remover
This is awesome. I previously has the Bioderma one and for the price, I think I used it pretty stingily, so I wasnt 100% sold. For a fraction of the cost and more than 3 times the amount of product, this is definitely the better option. It works pretty much exactly the same (I didn't see any real different, other than the aforementioned). The bottle is so big you could go swimming in this haha. It's very gentle and doesn't sting my eyes (however, I don't have sensitive eyes/ skin). If you want to try the Micellar makeup removers, definitely give this one a shot.

The Body Shop body wash in Vanilla Brûlée
I love The Body Shop xmas offerings, and this year is no exception. They always do Cranberry and some variation of Vanilla and another random scent. This year it's Glazed Apple. I definitely want to stock up on other goodies for the year, but so far I've bought the Vanilla Brûlée and it is delicious. We all know my battles with Vanilla, and although not my favourite, Vanilla Brulee is a warm, comforting vanilla scent. It's not super sweet, which is also nice and more wearable I think.

What the powder looks like. 

Matcha Maiden tea
If you haven't heard of matcha tea, it is a higher antixoidant form of green tea in a powder. It has many health benefits, same as green tea but intensified (or richer), if that makes sense. I first tried it at T2 with cold vanilla soy milk as a "summer" drink. Or you can have it simply with hot water for a winter tea. Very delicious, and I'm definitely all for antioxidants and getting as much as I can out of anything healthy. If you like green tea, you'll love this. It is quite pricy though, so if you're near a T2, have a sample before you go dropping them $$.
I got mine from matchamaiden.com. 70g costs $25 (including free shipping).
T2 also stock it at 30g for $24.

What have you been loving this past month? Is there anything you recommend I try?