What's in my Makeup Bag: Stage Edition

Hello! Happy New Year!

This year has kicked off with a bang for me, as I've been rehearsing around the clock for a season of dance performances! So I thought I'd share with you the makeup I wear for stage.

For foundation, I've been wearing Ralo's BB Cream in light, which I apply with a sponge. I like this for stage because it's really buildable and has good coverage. If I have any pesky spots, I cover them up with the Catrice Coverstick Concealer in 020 Natural Beige. I then apply the Healthy Balance Powder from Bourjois in the shade 53 Light Beige with a duo-fibre brush.

For cheeks, I use a combination of Wet n Wild's Coloricon Blusher in Heather Silk and the Love Crush Bronzer from Beauty Treats in the shade 02, applied with a small blush brush.

Moving onto the eyes, I first prime the lids with the L.A. Girl Pro-primer H.D. Eyeshadow Primer (what a mouthful!) in Nude. I like to keep an eyeshadow palette in my makeup bag so that I have some options to play around with. At the moment, I'm enjoying the Wet n Wild Coloricon Palette in Walking the Red Carpet. I particularly love to use the warm brown with golden shimmer all over the lid, the darkest brown in the outer corner and crease, and the white as a highlight (applied with a small shader brush). Next up, you gotta have that liquid liner for stage! So I've got the Paris Collection Liquid Eyeliner in black. If I wear mascara, it'll be the Ralo Brilliant Lash, but on a big stage with bright lights, I'm more likely to wear false lashes (a.k.a. the bane of my existence). Though they're not pictured above, I use the Eylure Naturalites Double Lashes.

Lastly, we have lips. Red lipstick is a must, but I've been into a slightly darker red recently, so I like to apply Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in the shade 01 all over my lips, and then daub a bit of Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry over the top.

If you perform on stage, please let me know what's in YOUR makeup bag!
Until next time xx

Five Favourites

A favourites post? Since when do I do those?! I'm thinking of making them a regular thing.

These are my favourite beauty items at the moment.

I've actually had the Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder for quite a few months now and I've been meaning to give it a mention. Firstly, it smells freakin' awesome (the powder is infused with sharon fruit and yuzu fruit). This powder is so fine and light-weight that it doesn't even feel like there's anything on the skin. It's mattifying, but it doesn't make the skin look flat, so shine stays at bay while the skin still looks really fresh. I wear the shade 53 beige clair.

Next is the Catrice Lashes to Kill Waterproof Volume Mascara. I decided that I needed a waterproof mascara for the summer and this one has stolen the show! The brush is a nice medium size with fibre bristles, while the formula is creamy, but not wet, and super black. My lashes look really full and long with this mascara, and it's easy to double-up coats as the mascara dries (I'd say it takes maybe a minute until it sets). I've done a review of the false fibre extensions version of this mascara here.

The last makeup item is the Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in the shade Sugar Plum Fairy. It's a lovely purple-berry shade and I think it's a great take on a dark lip for spring. The formula is quite matte, so I recommend wearing a lip balm underneath or a gloss on top.

For hair, I've been loving the VO5 Nourish My Shine Miracle Concentrate. This a hair oil with Argan oil. It's got a little dropper that makes the oil really easy to use: I separate my hair down the middle, put two drops of oil in my hand and then rub the oil gently through one half of my hair, concentrating on the ends and do the same to the other half. This leaves my hair really soft, shiny and healthy-looking.

Saving the best for last, I am absolutely in love with the Passion Fruit Body Butter from The Body Shop. We all know how good these body butters are, right? And it legit smells like heaven. I like to apply this all over before I go to bed, and I feel like I go to sleep really happily satisfied from smelling so good!

That'll be all, folks! Care to mention your current favourites?

Until next time xx

Clicks and Dischem Haul

Hello lovelys! So another haul... typical me.

First up from Clicks is this Wet n Wild H2O Proof Liquid Eyeliner in the shade Black Brown (I meant to pick up the black one, but didn't check the label... oops). This stuff is seriously waterproof and needs a good oil to remove. I'm still getting used to the brush, which is like very hard felt.

Then I also saw this Clicks brand duo-fibre Mineral Brush - I've been looking for something like this for a while, so I am really glad that I came across it!

As seen in my previous post, I was seriously attracted to this Wet n Wild Walking the Red Carpet palette (which I think is a fantastic purchase).

 I saw this Beauty Treats Love Crush Bronzer at Dischem and I thought I'd give it a try. It just looks so cute and it was really inexpensive.

After looking for a good orangy-coral for a little while, I finally found the Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid Lipstick in the shade Vibrant Mandarin. I'm soooo excited to try this out for spring and summer!

And lastly, back to Clicks, I purchased two of the Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks in the shades Sugar Plum Fairy (which is a lovely pinky-purple) and Rosebud (a pretty pink).

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday :)

Until next time xx

Wet n Wild Walking the Red Carpet Palette Review

Aloha!

I saw this new Wet n Wild palette (#StudentBudget) at Clicks recently and I was a bit indecisive about whether or not to pick it up. I thought some of the shades might be similar to the Comfort Zone palette, which I already have, but the two golden shades and the light matte brown are what convinced me to buy it.

The left-hand column has a matte light pink, matte light brown, a gorgeous slightly shimmery brown and a dark matte brown, all of which are just as buttery and soft as I've come to expect from this line. The pink and light brown shades are lovely for blending out darker colours, and the brown is also great as a crease contour. The shimmery brown is absolutely stunning! It's a great colour for all over the lid and has the most beautiful, subtle sparkle to it that I just love.Then the definer shade is super dark, so it's great for lining the eyes or creating a smokey look.

On the right-hand side, we have a pearly white, glittery yellow-gold, a shimmery copper-golden colour, and rich chocolate brown with golden shimmer. The white is a gorgeous highlight for the inner corner and the chocolate is so smooth and beautiful for placing all over the lid or in the outer corners. These two shades are soft and creamy. The two golden shades are more difficult to work with. The yellow-gold is a bit dry and flaky, so although it's a very pretty colour, it tends to have some fall-out and can be difficult to blend. The copper-gold is more creamy than the yellow one and doesn't have the fall-out problem, but it's also just a little more difficult to work with than the other shades.

The pigmentation of all the shades is really amazing and won't let you down if you're a fan of Wet n Wild shadows. Overall, I think this is a versatile palette that would be a great one to pick up if you don't have these sort of shades already. This is a limited edition palette, so hurry to your nearest Clicks if you want to pick one up! There's also a limited edition purple palette, but I decided not to get that one.

Let me know if you've tried this palette or the purple one! I'd love to know what you think of them.

Until next time xx

Easter Weekend Makeup

I had some fun creating simple looks over the Easter weekend. I really like how they turned out, so I thought I'd share them with you.

 

Good Friday also happened to be my mom's birthday, so we ended up going out for lunch. I was having a pretty good skin day, so I skipped the foundation, put on some of Ralo's Brilliant Lash Mascara, and swiped a bit of the purply-berry Jay Jay's POUTMECRAZY lipgloss onto my lips (the colours of these glosses don't have names! Grr. See the image on the left for this look).

 

Saturday was a chilled day at home (I did lots of applied maths assigments), so I thought to try the red POUTMECRAZY gloss to see how it lasted over a whole day. Once again, no foundation and a bit of mascara (the Wet n Wild Megaimpact this time); this look is pictured on the top right.

We had some guests over on Easter Sunday, so my look was slightly more complicated: I wore a thin layer of Ralo's Long Lasting Liquid Foundation, some of the Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder, the purply-berry POUTMECRAZY, two coats of the Brilliant Lash Mascara, and then I layered some eyeshadows from Wet n Wild's Comfort Zone Palette. I started with the bronze crease shade on the lid and a little under the eye, then added the blue-brown definer shade on top of the bronze on the lid (this look is on the bottom right).

Until next time xx

Current Obsession: Lipstick

So we all know that I've been on a little (or not-so-little) wet n wild spree since the line has been launched in various Clicks stores. I'd been eyeing the megalast lip color in Cherry Bomb for a while, so I decided to give it a go. After all the rave I've heard about these little lippies, I'm not surprised at how much I love this product!

The colour is beautifully rich and pigmented. I like to apply it either totally dark, as above, or gently blot it on and blend it out with my finger to create a lovely, rosy stain. The formula is really long lasting and can therefore be a bit drying, so I suggest applying a bit of lip balm under the colour.

Obviously wet n wild products are very inexpensive in the USA, but I think the R50 price tag is definitely worth it for this lovely product. I will no doubt be trying out more of the colours from this range soon! Let me know if you have any recommendations! Don't forget to check out the wet n wild South Africa Facebook page  :)

Until next time xx

Pick of the Day: Purple Liner

Recently, I have really been loving to wear purple eyeliner. My favourite at the moment is the Wet n Wild Mega Liner in Plum, which I like to wear in quite a think line across the lid with a little flick at the end to help elongate my eyes. I picked up this little guy at Clicks for R39.95. Despite the low price of this liner, I think it's great quality. The colour comes out dark, with a slightly metallic sheen, and the fine brush is perfect for creating that winged-out effect (for some reason, the purple colour picked up better when I had my eyes open).

For a more smokey, evening look, you could always add a bit of liner on the lower lash line or waterline. Don't forget to add some drama to the lashes for killer eyes!

Some other purple liner-ish products to try are

• Smudge Waterproof Gel Eye Liner pencil, from Clicks (about R30 the last time a bought one).
• Wet n Wild Color Icon palette in Petal Pusher, from Clicks (R89.95) - the shadows can be used with a fine, wet brush to create a liner.
• Catrice Absolute Eye Colour mono in Don't Lie, Lac!, from Dischem (about R35) - again, use a small brush to apply this as a liner.

Please let me know what YOU are loving at the moment in the comments below.

Until next time xx