Australis Velourlips

What's this? What's this amazing offering that I am giving a review of today? I love matte make up. I love a matte face, matte eyeshadows and especially matte lips. And, while I can't get my hands too easily on the famous NYX Matte Lip Creams or the Sephora equivalent (can't remember to name off the top of my head, lip cream stain?), I was enticed to look into the Velourlips Matte Lip Cream by Australis after I watched a favourites video by Sharon Farrell.

These come in five different shades, but I picked up the nude shade (PAR-EE) and the fluoro-pink shade (MAL-I-BOO). I first got the nude shade, but then I fell in love with the finish and the lasting power and the scent and the price, oh god, just everything really. So I had to pick up another one, of course. I wasn't feeling the bright orange too much, nor the red; I already had a pretty purple matte cream lip product. Well, I love pink, so why not go fluoro, right? The tube is a nice size that comes with a doe-foot applicator, but it doesn't dispense too much product which is a tendency of a number of lip lacquers. The scent (that I've already said I love) is somewhat fruity but still makeup-y. I don't know, there is something about it that I like. 

MAL-I-BOO

PAR-EE

left to right, without flash: mal-i-boo, par-ee

With Flash

This product is fully opaque in one swatch. It dries completely matte, but somehow has this slightly weird texture where it's a tad sticky but it's not drying and doesn't make your lips flake. The lasting power is absolutely fantastic too; I really don't need to touch this up at all. I mean, I go to touch up out of habit and then find myself maybe dabbing on a half millimeter of product. It even holds up pretty damn well through eating too, and it a tad tricky to take off at the end of the night as it does stain a bit. However, I suppose that is a bit to be expected considering the amazing opacity and lasting power. 

God, I can't praise this Velourlips enough, I've even recommended them to my sister-in-law (possibly picking her up a couple for Christmas!). The texture, finish, colour payoff and lasting power is just fantastic, hitting all the points that you really want in a product. I never really looked in to Australis because it was a "drugstore" brand, and Australian which was incredibly foolish of me. I always preferred to use Asian cosmetics and mostly US, but how can you say you love makeup without giving it all a go? I've actually starting looking more into other products from Australis as well as other Aussie brands. Go homegrown. 

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil

I have an undying love for bronzer. I used to think that I was too tan for bronzers, but they really do add depth and warmth to even tanner skins. (I don't get as tan as I used to, but in high school, I could get brown as a berry). As such, I'm always curious about whatever bronzers are on the market. You've got to have been living under a rock to not have heard about the Chocolate Soleil bronzer by Too Faced. It comes in two shades, the regular one (don't know the shade name) and the deeper one I own, medium/deep matte bronzer. 

Nice, cute-looking, bronzey-gold packaging with the brand name embossed on the front. It's made of plastic, however, so it takes the classiness down a peg (gold plastic? A bit ostentatious, no?). The clasp is pretty average, but it holds nicely, and the mirror inside is of comparable size. There is no puff or brush included, which makes me wonder why the packaging is so bulky considering the product itself is only 10.0g, the pan filling maybe half or a third of the packaging base. Of course, I can't go further without commenting on the gorgeous chocolate powder scent. I say chocolate powder as it reminds me more of the powder you use to make hot chocolate, rather than creamy bars of chocolate itself. 

left to right, without flash: heavy swatch, single swatch, blended

With Flash

This bronzer is completely matte, there are no shimmers or hidden glitters, just a straight up matte product. I suppose you could build it up a bit, but it really doesn't go too dramatic at all: a nice, easy, everyday bronzer. But my main qualm with this is, although it looks lovely and somehow glowy when I first apply it, somehow it wears off unevenly. That is, it looks a tad patchy or blotchy. It doesn't ball up and I've tried a number of ways of applying it (although, how many ways are there really to apply a powder bronzer), the wear time isn't too fab.

This product could be so good, in fact, a lot of beauty enthusiasts love this bronzer too (but more go for the milk chocolate one, I think), and I wish I could love it too. It smells wonderful, looks great on first application. But for the time being, I just can't seem to get it to work for me and stay looking good.

Shu Uemura Lip and Cheek Tint Fun-tasy

It's so undeniable how clean and chic the look of the products that Shu Uemura offers, so when they teamed up with famed anime artist Takashi Murakami for their Christmas range, it was too cute to resist. As much as I loved the 6hearts Princess palettes, (and that gorgeous traincase too), what I really wanted from this collection were the Lip and Cheek Tint Fun-tasy: a cream to powder product in a cute tube that can be used on both the lips and cheeks.

I definitely had my eyes on fuschia fun-tasy, but when I swatched it in store, I fell in love with the texture and decided I needed another one, so I also chose Heroine Rose, a shade I wasn't too sure about, but I'm glad I got. Included was also a cute phone charm of the heart flower mascot, so adorable! You can see for yourself from the picture how adorable the artwork on the packaging is, I absolutely love the Christmassy-ness of the tubes too. The lip and cheek tint does not have an applicator wand, it's just a squeeze tube, so that helps with hygiene what with applying for both lips and cheeks.

Fuschia Fun-tasy

Heroine Rose

left to right, without flash: fuschia funtasy, blended, heroine rose, blended

With Flash

I absolutely love the texture of these, so easy to blend. Fuschia Fun-tasy is a bright pink shade, almost pastel which I love on both the lips and cheeks, it especially looks fantastic as a gradient lip which the texture of the product makes it easy to do. Heroine Rose is pretty much the perfect my-lips-but-better, which I found really surprising that I loved it so much. I've never been too big a fan of those type of shades, but this one blended in so nicely, although I do love the slightly faded version of it rather than the full strength pigment. Which brings me to the lasting power: it doesn't really last all too long if you eat or drink, but if you're careful, it can last about three hours, fading pretty evenly so you don't get that weird ring of colour around the edges of your lips (I hate that). They dry matte too, but they don't sink into the lines of your lips which I love too; on the cheeks they give a nice powdery look (but not that bad type of powdery if that makes sense?). It's basically an even flush across your cheeks that can look really natural or built up to be a bit more intense.

To be honest, this is the first makeup item I've purchased from Shu Uemura (the only other thing I own is a fantastic orange-red lipstick I got as a gift). I don't know what took me so long to look into them, it took super cute limited-edition products to get me interested, but from what I've heard, they're pretty consistent. Either way, I'm glad I got to purchase these, because they are selling out fast, and I think may be my new love. I've been using one every single day since I got them!

I purchased these from David Jones for AU$35 each.

The Face Shop Haul

I'm a bit here or there about The Face Shop. I was elated when I found one in Perth and dipped into the Korean products I'd never tried before; I loved them, but slowly as I tried products, they were pretty much... Maybe average with a bit of appeal of Asian skincare being available in Perth. I swore to their BB cream, and I've tried a range of products from both their skincare and from their makeup, and I will admit that some are pretty damn good. But for some reason, I can't bring myself back to that level of fandom I once had. Either way, on the way home, I passed through Piccadilly Arcade and The Face Shop just seemed to invite me in, and give them a second chance.

I only picked up four items: two mascaras (one is a base), an eyebrow powder kit and a face sponge for cleansing, but I always get given chocka samples, and this time, a free toiletry bag too! Lord knows what I was thinking when I decided I needed more mascaras, but those were what I looked at and what I decided I wanted. I had tried out one of their waterproof fibre mascaras before and that was actually fantastically shocking; it gave me dark, full, long lashes with a curl and didn't smudge, but it started clumping pretty quickly which was it's downfall. However, these weren't that much more than drugstore mascaras (in Perth at least, and actually cheaper), so I picked up FACEit All About Mascara Base (01) and FACEit All About Mascara Long Lash (05). They're both fibre mascaras although I didn't actually realise the base was one too until I opened it up at home (it didn't seem like one in store based on the tester), but I like that too. Versatility to use with other not-so-building mascaras. 

More eyebrow products, I know, I know. But I haven't actually had a new powder for a while, and the one I had previously (Benefit Brow Zings) no longer really matches and is getting a bit groddy. The Face Shop one looked pretty nifty, I liked the colours, and I've never tried an Asian brow product, so hey, let's give it a go.  

Finally, I was wondering around the last legs of the store, wondering what else I "needed", and, while I loved the lipsticks, I decided they were a bit too pricey for now and went to look at the nifty tools that The Face Shop had to offer. I was contemplating on purchasing the face cleansing brush (don't remember the exact name), but it was a small, round, flat top brush that you use with your cleanser to help clean your pores better. But then I thought hey, didn't I want a face cleansing sponge for a while? And I found they offered one, so I chose it (probably pick up the brush next time round, it was so cute!) and was good to go. It was actually moist when I took it out of the packaging, I suppose to make it look more appealing being fluffy? But I will have to rinse it out before use because of the slight chemical smell doesn't seem too wonderful.

All-in-all, I'm quite please. Didn't go super extravagant, but picked up some essentials, so I don't think I'll be all that let down either way. Perhaps not a love for now, but a reliable friend?