Face of the day - IMATS 2015 Edition

Hey guys, I am back with another post from my adventures in Sydney for events, shopping and IMATS! I decide to devote this post to my makeup of the day / face of the day I wore for IMATS! these posts are still new for me and on my blog so let me know what you think? hope you enjoy and its not too rambley! ha 

All Products used for my makeup of the day : 

'The Body Shop- Insta Blur' - My base of choice lately has been this wonderful newish product from 'The Body Shop' "Insta Blur" is described by the brand as an "All in one" & "5 Action Perfecter"  and with that I would definitely have to agree! I find it lightly hydrates, evens out my skin texture and tone, helps to minimise pores, and provides a clean and clear base for even my heavy or full coverage makeup products I choose for the day! I chose to use my 'Too Faced - Born This Way' foundation - for the perfect coverage, finish and also the happy fact that this colour is the best colour match I have ever had! (Thanks Mecca Maxima staff!) I set this as always using my 'MAC Mineralize SkinFinish Natural' as I love beautiful finish and that it helps my makeup stay put for an entire day! 

conceal / highlight / under eye products

The little combination of products above have become my dream team of late helping me look & feel beautiful, fresh faced and awake! 'NYX - Dark Circle Concealer' - another firm fave product I have been depending on lately, I applied a generous amount of this quite heavy concealer under and around my eyes only in areas where a darker tone can be found most of the time on me, to further aid in concealing my unsightly dark circles I chose my 2 fave drugstore / affordable beauty brands concealers 'Maybelline Fit Me - Concealer' & 'Covergirl Ready, Set Gorgeous Concealer' - 

I have been using this combination of concealers under my eyes to conceal and highlight and to conceal any spots on my face for quite some time, choosing a darker shade in the 'Maybelline' brand specifically for concealing and a much lighter shade in the 'Covergirl' range to brighten. To set I have been relying on my 'Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder' - I must say that since using my concealer and highlight combo above and now this amazing product I only very recently picked up my makeup has never looked better! I use this beautiful product to set under my eyes and even with my novice hand, still trying to figure out the perfect brush to use with this product - I am LOVING the effect! 

<3

I really wanted to tie in the colours from my outfit somehow in my makeup, without going too overboard and I was wearing ORANGE of all things so I chose to contour minimally to define my features with my beautiful 'Sephora Shimmer Bronzer' & 'Essence Blush Up' blush!  r I feel it worked out well and was a nice compliment to my outfit, without being too bold!

YES, I am wearing clothes! ha

For eyeshadow I decided to bring out the big guns! I have been LOVING finally using my 'Urban Decay - Naked 3 Palette' this being my first ever anywhere near high end eyeshadow palette purchase, I find the creamy, super pigmented quality formula to work a dream even for someone like me with little to no skill! I have been favouring an eye look featuring : 'strange' as an all over base shade 'limit' as my crease colour or transition shade, 'factory' in the outer v to help my eyes to standout more by forming a frame around my mobile lid where I place 'dust' all over, I find it really stands out with the lovely white base from the first shade in the palette and I love a little pop of glitter! I curled my lashes and applied a generous amount of my current fave mascara - 'Maybelline Lash Sensational' (#LustyLashFiles review to come!) I went minimal for my brows as they had only recently been reshaped and tinted perfectly so I set them in place with 'Maybelline' Brow Drama in Translucent I finished of course with my fave highlight at the minute 'MAC' Soft & Gentle' I didn't go to over board with this product as I normally might because I knew I would be walking around a lot and as I am an oily skin gal I didn't want to end up with too much shine all over my face.

A little lip combo I am loving at the moment

For the lips with quite a bold eye look, for me anyway, I chose 'MAC' Velvet Teddy  my current fave nude lip, I feel goes with everything but for the day I wanted a bit more gloss and moisture because its always a full on day of waiting in line, shopping, socialising and walking at any trade show! so i paired it with 'NYX' Butter Gloss in 'Tirimasu' 

Thanks so much for reading! I would ove to hear your thoughts on this post, the make look I wore and the products used in the comments below! 

LLx 

Sydney Trip / IMATS HAUL 2015!

Hello! Welcome to my SYDNEY Trip / IMATS 2015 Haul Post! I have been saving money for some time for this trip to buy some special makeup items both in the city and at IMATS so here is what I picked up! 

Day 1 : We arrived in Bondi, explored a little and got down to some shopping at 'Westfield Bondi Junction' which is now one of my fave places to shop, it has nearly everything I need!

Day 1 Purchases :

'Miss Shop' large clutch - As much as this was an impulse buy, because it was so pretty and on sale! I was on the look out for a new clutch for the nights out we had planned for our trip to Sydney so it really came in handy to have found and bought this on our first day! 

'Mimco' small coin purse - I have been wanting to start my collection of these gorgeous little coin purses from Mimco for so long and what better way to start than by picking one up in a new holiday destination I was visiting for the first time!? I just know every time I look at it or use it I will remember the fab time I had exploring Bondi / Bondi Junction for the first time. 'Mimco' was also having a sale at the time so it feels good to start my collection with a bit of a bargain! 

'Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder' - many many beauty youtubers/ bloggers I love have spoken about, used and reviewed this product and I have been so excited to pick it up, it has instantly become a fave and I have been using it daily since I purchased! 

I also picked up some staple items such as some black tights at target, always pick them up when I can find them! Some new 'Havaianas' from 'General Pants'. 

Day 2 : We got up early and made a bee line to the CBD to check into our new hotel and hit up Sephora! 

Sephora Sydney

Day 2 Purchases : Sephora

'Kat Von D' Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette - I had decided on buying this palette in June this year when I visited Sydney last, but decided to wait until this trip so I would have more time to read more reviews and practice some of the eye contouring / shaping / reshaping techniques after watching 'Kat Von D's' makeup tutorials and of course putting aside the money to buy it! I'm SO happy I picked up this beautiful palette! 

'Sephora' Let It Snow Holiday Collection Body Moisturiser - I have been swooning over this collection for the holidays online for a while now and once I got to Sephora I decided I had to get something! Lol 

'Sephora' facial fibre masks - I planned on stocking up on these on my trip but there was not many available so I only picked up a couple! 

'Clinique' dramatically different moisturising gel - As we were queuing to pay for our items I was of course taken in my all the little 'grab on the go' minis that line the way to the registers! It was handy to find this smaller size as I had forgotten my full size moisturiser in the frenzy of packing! 

Day 3 : It's IMATS time! I suppose this is a somewhat modest IMATS haul? The lines were HUGE this year & my budget was blown from all the fun of my trip! It was wonderful to see so many people getting into the spirit and some amazing new brands showcasing their goods at this awesome event! 

I waited in line for an hour or so to pick up some goodies from 'MAC Pro' as a priority because I love the chance to pick up some staples and new items all on sale! 

'Mac' Mineralize Skin Finish in Medium - A constant repurchase for me, love the opportunity to get it on sale! 

'Mac' Lipstick / Lady Danger - this beautiful lipstick has been on my 'must buy' list for quite some time so I was thrilled to pick this up on sale! 

'Mac' Lip Liner / High Energy - I bought this stunning lip liner shade, my first ever lip liner! (Look out world!) to compliment my latest 'MAC' Lipstick purchase as mentioned above! 

'Mac' Blush / Melba - on a wim I swatched this colour and decided. YES. I feel like for the warmer weather already upon us here in qld I will be able to use this when I am a little more tanned! 

I waited in the huge line at 'Dose Of Colours' briefly but decided I would rather put in the hours at 'Makeup Net' to see the gorgeous 'Jeffree Star' and pick up some items from his 'Velour Lips' collection! Definitely worth the wait! 

'Jeffree Star' - Doll Parts - I'm so happy that I did wait inline with everyone else to pick up just one of these beautiful lip products! It was so worth the wait and every penny! Such a nice wearable formula, colour and finish! I now feel confident to buy many, many more online! 

I was determined to pick up some 'Sigma' brushes from 'Redefining Beauty's' stand at IMATS and had been monitoring the line throughout the day I was so excited to make my first purchases from sigma! 

Sigma spa express brush cleaning glove, 

Sigma powder brush, Sigma tapered blending, Sigma short shader -

I am so excited to try these brushes, hopefully I can use them to build up my skills with makeup and eyeshadow! 

'Crown Brushes' is always a fave stall to visit for me to pick up some cheap brushes, I was so impressed with these little pink brushes and I would have picked up more but it was just so crowded! 

Day 4 : We had booked our flights home for late afternoon to have the chance to have a final stroll around the city and of course shop! I enjoyed checking out the newish 'H&M' store and impulse buying off the sale rack at my beloved 'Forever 21' more on that later!

Day 4 Purchases : 

No trip to Sydney for me is complete without a visit to 'Priceline' I checked the newest 'Essence Cosmetics' collection and picked up these cute 'Models Prefer Glitterati' brushes! 

Next stop 'Mecca Maxima' to pick up this gorgeous 'Too Faced' Melted Kisses and sweet cheeks minis gift pack! I have had my eye on this for a while as I only own one of these beautiful blushes in a fu size and have never tried the melted lip products! 

One final stop was the 'Amuse Beauty Studio' at Sydney Airport. I like many in the beauty world have been swooning over the brand 'Becca Cosmetics' for some time and even more so since the gorgeous 'Jaclyn Hill' released 'Champagne pop' earlier this year! I swatched these beautiful highlighters at Sephora and of course most were sold out so I jumped at the chance to pick up this 'Glow On The Go' mini pack including the highlight shade 'Opal' 

Thanks so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed seeing all the products I picked up in Sydney and at IMATS! I love reading haul posts! Do you!? 

LLx

Low / No Buy Makeup Month 4 : October !

Hi Guys, thank you once again for joining me here on the blog for another 'Low / No Makeup Buy Challenge' Post! 

'Models Prefer' Eyeshadow Palettes : read all about these cuties here : http://lustylashesbeauty.blogspot.com/2015/10/affordable-beauty-favourites-part-1.html 

'Models Prefer' Contour Palette : 

In line with the rules of my challenge, and as I am collecting MAC cosmetics Lipsticks & LE Packaging Lipsticks, I purchased 3 Lipsticks from MAC this month! 2 LE Collection editions and 1 regular lipstick in a shade I have been lusting after for some time. 

'MAC Guo Pei' shade : Brave Red 

'MAC Magic Of The Night' shade : Evening Rendezvous 

MAC Velvet Teddy 

A few other products from all MAC's recent collections caught my eye but I decided to just stick with lipsticks! 

Even though I did spend some money this month on makeup, I'm still proud to call this month a pass or win! As The only products I picked up that were not 'allowable purchases' were absolute bargains lol. 

I'm also proud to say that this month in a genuine effort to not spend more money on makeup and actually save some money for my trip next month I stayed away from shops for the most part so as to not be tempted, so apart from the usual online temptations I don't actually have any 'What I Didn't Buy' items to share! I still have my eye on a lot of items I wish to purchase in the future (don't we all! Lol) but after 4 months of this challenge I am finally learning to not purchase on impulse every little thing I see on Instagram or beloved beauty blogs / you tube videos! 

Next month and for the next few months, armed with my new resolve to not impulse shop, I will be having a break from my 'Low / No Makeup Buy Challenge' for the most part i still want to try and keep my spending in check, and keep encouraging myself to not buy makeup on impulse or buy products I don't end up using, but my main focus has been in this whole process (despite some slip ups .. Oops) to save money for my November trip to Sydney for some blogging / beauty events including IMATS!

I have a list of things that I have saved for to get from Sephora, IMATS and other favourite stores in the city, so if you're interested stay tuned for some haul posts next month! 

Thanks for reading and for joining me on my challenge adventure! I would love to hear your thoughts on this post and the items I picked up in the comments below and let me know if you bought any items from the latest MAC Holiday Collections!? 

LLx