REVIEW: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Inside this tiny tube of wonder lies the very first eye primer I ever tried. Generally speaking, my other beauty firsts have not been anywhere near as successful - think frosted blue eyeshadow circa 1985 courtesy of my beloved Grandma.

This stuff ladies, kicks butt.




You only need a tiny amount & it will dry clear in a matter of seconds. While you wont notice the primer, what you will notice in the evening is your eye colour in exactly the same place as you left it at 7am.

I totally get the bottle, all potion-esque and completely impractical. When you think you have run out, try cutting open the botle & you'll find about 50% lying hidden in the curves of the bottle, away from

Urban Decay Primer Potion is a tricky one to find in Australia. It is available from Urban Decay online and Sephora for US$17

REVIEW: Korres Cherry Full Colour Lip Gloss

One of things I like about Korres is that they don't have 500 different but slightly similar shades. Ironic considering my 500 shades of pink lipgloss, but moving on...

Korres Cherry Full Colour Lip Gloss comes in a small, but rounded range of colours that are non-sticky, so there is less chance of having a fistful of hair stuck on your lips. The colour stays put for hours and wears off evenly.

While the product name says 'Full Colour' they couldn't actually call themselves that - sheer is probably a better description. I have read that some of the other colours are a bit more opaque, and it could come down to how much you apply.

Left to right: Light Pink 11, Light Purple 23, Beige Pink 32, Nude 33

Just like their Mango Butter Lipstick, it leaves your lips feeling soft and you barely notice it on your lips which is a major plus.



My only gripe is a personal one, I REALLY don't like the smell of cherry oil. It reminds me of some kind of horrid medicine I had as a kid. Thankfully, once applied, the smell dissipates quickly.

Otherwise, a well priced lipgloss with good coverage and a lack of tackiness - a perfect summer staple!




Korres Cherry Full Colour Lip Gloss is available in 11 colours for AU$34.95 from Kit Cosmetics

Designer Bubbly

Eight female fashion designers have collaborated with Coca Cola to help raise money for the victims of the Italian earthquake by putting their own designer twist on the iconic Coke bottle.


Italian fashion designers Donatella Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Anna Molinari for Blumarine, Veronica Etro for Etro, Silvia Venturini for Fendi, Consuelo Castiglioni for Marni, Angela Missoni for Missoni and Rossella Jardini for Moschino, have each created a one of a kind design reflecting their unique fashion style.




Now if only Coke always looked this good.

There are also some crazy catwalk pics available over on Eternally Cool.

Source

Choc It To Me

I've been thinking about nice things I could do for The Boyfriend to thank him for the most awesome holiday ever. Since I figured I couldn't compete with Hawaii, I would do something small that I know he would love.

What I came up with was combining two of his loves; coffee and chocolate. There are quite a few places in Sydney where you can have a gourmet chocolate experience, so I started investigating.

My top three picks were The Lindt Chocolat Cafe, San Churro and Max Brenner. I'd been busily scouring their websites when I came across this at Max Brenner:


Max Brenner Brazilian Brown Sugar Cane & Cocoa Nibs Body Scrub AU$22.95

My first thought was that it was rather odd having a chocolate company making body products, but then I began thinking of all the chocolate scented beauty products available out there today.

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the cocoa/chocolate scented products as I am not a big chocolate eater, so you wont find many of them in my house. I do have a good memory for things that I should avoid though, so here are some of the products that all you chocaholics might want to get your hands on for a low calorie sugar fix.


Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula 250ml, around AU$5.95 from your local chemist - this also comes in an unscented variety.



The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion 250ml, AU$21.95


Philosophy 'Just Because' trio in White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate & Dark Chocolate AU$55 at Mecca Cosmetica


Sephora Espresso Chocolate Body Collection US$12-16, at Sephora


Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer AU$52.95, at Kit Cosmetics

What are your favourite choc-scented body products?

Hawaii Haul #2

Part 2 of my beauty haul:


SEPHORA!

Pretty sedate huh?

Hawaii Haul #1

I bring you part 1 of my beauty haul:


All products purchased from Korres online. Some are new products and others are second or third purchases that are replacing loved products I am almost out of.

In Australia, Korres is available at Kit Cosmetics.

WANT: Sparkles & Shine

I've just found out that my love of all things shiny stretches to crystal covered beauty products. Go on, pretend to be surprised.


Kim Kardashian received these crystal covered beauties and I've got to say I'm a tad jealous. How much fun would it be to whip these out of your handbag to give you a midday boost?

The products are Garnier Anti-Puff Eye Roller AU$17.75 and Maybelline Great Lash Mascara AU$15.95

I wonder how much it would cost to bling out my kit?

Holiday Roundup #2

Before Sephora had even opened, I had pressed my chubby face up against the glass to get a peek of what I would be in for.


The first thing I spied was the Kat Von D for Sephora range right up the front of the store. I had been looking forward to seeing these products since the moment I read about them on the Beauty & the Blog website (Sephora's blog), so after I downed my Jamba Juice, we made a beeline back to Sephora.

We spent about an hour wandering around Sephora. OK, less wandering, more methodically planning row by row what I wanted to go back and look at. I quickly ducked into the bathroom and after seeing my sorry face with serious dark circles, greasy hair that needed a comb and my less than fresh clothes, I figured that maybe now wasn't the best time to be shopping.

We jumped in the car and headed towards our first hotel of the trip - Turtle Bay Resort. It is on the North Shore of Oahu, which is basically the complete opposite side of Oahu to Waikiki. We didn't want to stay somewhere too busy as our main aim for the holiday was to relax. The Boyfriend picked the most perfect hotel. It has a range of accommodation options from 4 bedroom villas, to standard hotel rooms as well as private accommodation that you can book that is not part of the hotel (good if you want to live privately and use either of the two golf courses attached to the resort).


We stayed in a Beach Cottage that are about 100-200 metres from the main hotel, which means that there are even fewer people around that area so it is super peaceful (we saw about a dozen in our 6 days). Each cottage has a view of the beach & ocean, along with a private verandah (called a lanai) where you can sit in the shade and have your meals.


Check in wasn't until 3pm, but by the time we got there (it is an hour from Waikiki) it was about 12:30pm and we were exhausted. The staff were amazing and found us a room that was ready, despite us being early.

I have honestly never stayed in a hotel that had such warm and lovely staff. They were happy to assist with just about anything and every one of them greeted you with 'Aloha!' when you passed them, no matter how busy they looked.

I know a lot of service staff in the US are nice because they survive on tips, but the staff at Turtle Bay were simply lovely. You can normally tell those who hate their job and have a fake smile plastered on their face to survive the day, I didn't come across this there. My only gripe out of our whole visit was my trip to the spa, but that is a story for another day.

By the end of the second day, we had already decided to cancel our other hotel booked in Waikiki as we wanted to stay here for as long as possible.

When we were leaving, we found out that it is a bit of a celeb hot spot due to it being so secluded. They also film a lot movies & TV shows including the TV show Lost at the resort, along with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Drew Barrymore's 50 First Dates. That may appeal to you, it doesn't to me - quite the opposite. Celebs = papparazzi = millions of people. Thankfully, we didn't experience that.


Despite being a 441 room hotel and being fully booked, I was surprised at how few people there were. There was always plenty of deck chairs at the pool, the beaches had only a smattering of people and the lobby only had a handful of people. I suppose when it is an 880 acre resort with half a dozen restaurants, stables, surfing school, kayaking, helicopters, tennis, a spa, two golf courses and more beach than Waikiki, there are a lot of places to hide!

Turtle Bay Resort is situated on the North Shore of Oahu at 57-091 Kamehameha Highway Kahuku, about an hour from Honolulu airport. Prices start from around US$300 a night up to over US$1000.

Holiday Roundup #1

The very first thing I did when I got off the plane was drag The Boyfriend to the nearest mall (hey look at me with the American lingo). Ala Moana has got to be one of the biggest shopping centres in the US. For a state that has just over a million people, that is pretty amazing. It turns out that they do a roaring trade with Japanese visitors and a lot of their shops cater to this.

There is a great write up of the Ala Moana Center here

Now back to shopping. It was about 8:30am after we had passed through customs and picked up our hire car. I'd already scoped out the best place for beauty brands with the help of the very gorgeous Sam from SassiSam.com and we were heading straight for the Ala Moana Center.

Turns out that Sephora, along with the majority of shops don't open until 9:30am, so I was sitting outside Sephora like an addict waiting for her (beauty) fix. Not wanting to look like a massive nob, we headed to the food court where I found my second love of the trip. Jamba Juice.

Despite flying business class, I still can't sleep on a plane, which means that by this time I haven't slept in over 30 hours. I was becoming the crankmeister that only comes out when I am getting low blood sugar from lack of food. The Boyfriend sat me down and disappeared, promising to bring back something quick that would bring me back into the land of the living.

While he was waiting I looked around and began to grasp what I had forgotten since my last US trip - Americans eat completely different to Australians. I'll post about my scary supermarket finds later, but I found it strange that at 9am, all the food court stores were open and everyone seemed to be tucking into what we would normally have for lunch. Steaks, Kebabs on a stick, Panda Express (don't eat there BTW, blurgh). It was all very odd.



Soon, The Boyfriend was back with a Strawberry Energiser from Jamba Juice. It is simply lemonade, strawberries, passionfruit-mango juice, lime sherbet, orange sherbet, 3G Booster, Energy Booster blended. The first sip almost knocked me off my chair. It was super sweet but delicious. Who would have thought to put sherbet in a drink? Brilliant!


I felt ready to take on Sephora!!

Honey, I'm Home!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. I swear I have a good excuse though. You see, I was sunning myself in Hawaii.


It was a terrible time, all that sun, gorgeous weather and outstanding makeup shopping.


So now I'm back, I'll have to start earning my keep by posting about all the lush finds I picked up on my trip.