Top 5 Favourites of 2012

This post is a bit late, but better late than never! :) Here, in no particular order, are my 5 favourite make-up products of 2012. Due to a tight budget, I tend to buy things that I can wear everyday (as opposed to leaving it in a drawer for a special night out).  Some of these choices might seem a bit boring, but they're the products that I reach for again and again.


Bourjois 'So Lacque' Nail Polish in 'Beige Glamour'

This one was included as a Priceline 'gift with purchase' back in November. I probably would never have bought this shade, as the bottle looks so dull. However, the nail polish is actually a warmer pink colour with a slight brown undertone. (If you apply more than two coats, it does become the dull, greyish-pink colour of the bottle.)  It has such a lovely shine to it as well, which is apparently due to vinyl...? Not only is the colour  very work-safe, but the polish lasts for the better part of a week without chipping and it goes well with everything. You can probably see why this has become my favourite nail polish for everyday wear!


Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in 'Sugar Plum'

I love the Revlon Lip Butters! They're really pricey in Australia ($21 for 2.5g) so I've had to scour ebay for them... but luckily I found sound pretty sweet deals. This is a great hybrid of a lip balm and colour, although the wear time is pretty short (couple of hours max. without eating). The colours do tend to be quite sheer, which makes them good for a everyday look. My favourite shade is 'sugar plum', which is a warm earthy pink that, on me, gives a gorgeous "your lips but better" look.

Sportsgirl Pout About It Lipstick in 'Bombshell'

This is a gorgeous, matte true red lipstick from Sportsgirl. At first, I wasn't sure about buying make-up from Sportsgirl, but this was definitely a pleasant surprise! They have really good quality lipsticks for only $9.95 a tube, and this one is my favourite. The lipstick is highly pigmented and has great staying power - it definitely doesn't start to feather or smudge after just a couple of hours. It does feel a bit drying after a few hours, but I just apply a balm over the top of it and all's well. :) Love, love, love this!

Rose Hip Vital Rose Hip Oil

I received a bottle of rosehip oil as a birthday gift and started using it with some trepidation - 3-4 drops every night after washing my face. It smells a bit like flaxseed oil - a kind of wheaty smell - and is bright orange in colour, although when you smooth it into your skin it isn't visible.

Fast-forward two and a half months later - I love this product! I never expected it to work as well as it has, but I've definitely noticed difference in my skin. For example, I used to get really terrible breakouts all over my face (especially at the time of the month when my hormones were feeling cranky), but now I just get the odd spot. It's also helped to fade some old acne scars and reduce the red patches on my face. My skin just feels all-round smoother. Cannot give this enough love!

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfecter BB Cream for Oily/Combination Skin

This is another product that really surprised me. Not only is it budget-friendly, but it really works! I've started using this in place of a foundation - it is both more lightweight and more forgiving than a foundation. If I'm in a hurry, I can just blend it with my fingers and it doesn't leave behind obvious unblended lines. It lasts the whole day, too - and I'm saying this as someone with oily skin. So impressed! There's SPF 15+ protection, which isn't a lot given the Australian sun... so I just wear another sunscreen underneath. Unfortunately, Garnier has only made two shades of this - one in 'medium' and one in 'light'. The medium one matches my skin-tone, but I bought the light one to use as a highlighter as well. Overall, this is great for everyday use and I will definitely be repurchasing it.

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.. so, those are my Top 5 for 2012. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2013 will bring.

Kitsch Snitch Christmas Giveaway!

One of my favourite beauty blogs is doing a Christmas giveaway to celebrate 200 followers. Congratulations to Kat at Kitsch Snitch!

I've actually been following this blog for a long time, but just couldn't motivate myself to actually sign up for a blogger account and follow it properly. Professional lurker, that would be me.

Kat updates very frequently and is always in the know about new, hyped products. She is also great at giving a heads up when there is a good sale on at Priceline or at strawberry.net. I also love how she takes lots of photographs when testing a new product - for example, lip products will typically have photographs of the packaging, arm swatches and photos of the product on lips (both with and without flash!) ... which is somewhat spoiling me for other blogs, hehe.

Here is the link to the giveaway. It includes some really exciting products, such as an OCC lip tar and a trio of lip butter glazes by Korres. Woot!

Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Polish in 'Taupe Classy'

I picked up this nail polish from Priceline as a New Year's treat to myself. New year, new nail polish, right? I wanted something unique and chic, yet still neutral enough to wear everyday. Luckily, I found this gorgeous dark taupe nail polish by Bourjois. It's the first time that I've tried the 1 seconde nail polish (which, I think, has been recently relaunched) and based on this bottle I will definitely be buying more.

The colour is lovely and while one coat does end up looking a bit streaky, two coats give a glossy, gel-like finish. I love it!

At you can see, the bottle sports a long handle. It also has a very flat brush, which makes it easy to paint an entire nail in one stroke. The bottle claims that the drying time on this is 50 seconds, which is pretty accurate. I love fast-drying nail polish because I tend to mess up the ones that take longer to dry. It's so frustrating when you spend 10 minutes painting your nails, only to mess them up while waiting for them to dry! (#firstworldproblems)

That said, one of the problems with fast-drying nail polish is that they tend to chip faster. However, with this nail polish, I found that it was quite long-wearing. The picture below is of my nails three days after applying the nail polish. As you can see, the tops have begun to chip, but these can easily be touched up. Mind you, I did put this nail polish through a lot - washing my hair, washing dishes, laundry etc. Considering the fact that it's fast-drying, I'm really happy with the lasting power on this one!

 This range comes in an array of beautiful colours, including a baby blue and an orangey-red that I've been eyeing for a while now. I'll have to pick up some more the next time I'm in at Priceline.

Cost: bought on sale at Priceline, $8 for 9ml

Quality: Excellent.

Buy again? Yep.