Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact Foundation

I haven't really used many cream foundations, generally going for liquid or sometimes gel. But everytime, cream foundations work so well on my skin, and I use them completely up, it's a wonder I don't use them more (although I do admit I like to rotate my face bases). Browsing through the videos on youtube by Chanel featuring Lisa Eldridge, I couldn't help but continually thinking about the Vitalumiere Aqua Compact, so I when I was in the city the other day, I felt that is was due time based on the weather rotation for a new cream foundation. 

My first Chanel foundation ever, and it just happens to be Rae's (from Raeview) favourite foundation by Chanel too! The reason why I like cream foundations is they're so smooth, easy to apply and they're hydrating too. On the downside, if you don't take care of the compact, it can get dirty easily, but that can be fixed with using disposable sponges. As far as the Chanel compact packaging itself goes, it feels relatively sturdy, the mirror inside is pretty average. I've read around that the cover inside has a tendency to pop up which might make for issues of drying out the cream, and I can see where people are coming from. But when the compact is closed, the cover seems to be snug and is helped to be kept down with the sponge included. These are also refillable, at least in certain countries (I didn't find out for sure for Australia though, but I know the UK sells the refills). 

left to right, without flash: one swipe, two swipes, blended

With Flash

Sunlight

This foundation swipes on really creamily. Really creamily. But it doesn't feel too oily or slippy! I got the shade B30 (when I went to Myer, they had run out of my shade, and then the lady tried to sell me the darker shade 40, saying "you don't need a lot and just blend it completely out anyway". .. what is the point of foundation and different shades then?!), which matches pretty damn well. Probably one of the best matches that I've had and it really blends easily into the skin which is most likely what helps it looks like your skin is naturally luminous. The coverage is about medium, but you can easily go lighter and maybe add a bit more coverage. The thing with cream foundations is that it's harder to layer it, but this is in exchange for hydration. This doesn't cling to any dry patches on my skin at all and it does help to make my dull skin look fresh.

Beauty Base Zero

With Vitalumiere Aqua Compact

Finished Makeup

I love the feel of this on my skin and can really see why it's so popular. It feels incredibly light, but evens out my skintone quite well too. It won't cover any major blemishes or anything, but it does smooth out your face and makes a fantastic base. I really think one of the best features of this cream foundation is that it really does blend so easily into the skin, it's the type of foundation that makes it look like you have naturally good, smooth skin. I mean, considering the price though, you would hope it would be. But I've heard that Chanel foundations are heavily underrated, but you put in the pennies, you're going to get a decent product, right?

For a first-ever Chanel foundation, I am really pleased with my pick. My skin is around normal, maybe a tiny bit dry, maybe a tiny bit oily depending on the season, but it's pretty much settled into normal. So I don't get many blemishes, but I have a lot of old acne scars so a bit of a problem with texture and dullness too. So this really helps to make my skin look healthy. The spf15 in this doesn't cause a white cast either, but a low spf in a product is always good. Overall, I'm liking this foundation so far, one of the best cream foundations I have tried too.

I purchased this from David Jones for AU$100.

Em Cosmetics Beach Life Palette: Sunshine Lover

Oh boy, oh boy. First time using the Em Cosmetics Beach Life Palette today, both swatches and for today's makeup! I chose to go for look 3: sunshine lover, i.e. the third quadrant of the palette, as the colours seem quite neutral (going to go meet with the bf's parents for a late lunch) and just happens to contain two gorgeous colours that pulled me in, the orange and the shimmery brown-black.

quadrant 3

Out of the eyeshadows, the rose champagne (mid left), the shimmery brown (bottom left) and the orange fared the best for swatching. These shades were smooth and pretty pigmented, and the dark satin brown fared pretty well too, albeit not quite as pigmented as the others. The shimmery black brown was a tiny bit patchy and a bit dry, not as smooth as the others. What was the worst of the shadows is that damn gold shade (top left). Terrible. And it was the first one I swatched too, so bad first impression! I was scared the shadows were all going to be dry and scratchy and just difficult to work with. The payoff is really bad as well, thumbs down for the gold. Though, the majority of the shadows in this quadrant were pretty good, about medium pigmentation but nothing really too special, but the darker colours were much better than the lighter ones. All of them were not super buttery, but they are smooth enough to use... Apart from the gold.

The lipgloss (the shimmery taupe brown) is very sticky, and almost a clear gloss with a bit of sparkle. I can see where the issue of shadows being next to lip products can create an issue, as you can see in the photos, a bit of the previous shade got the tiniest bit in the gloss. The lipstick has a much nicer texture, this one isn't too pigmented, but it swatches like punch and it not too sticky.

The blush is actually pretty decent. Not too pigmented but not too sheer either. Swatches a bit smoother than most of the eyeshadows, it's a medium peachy-brown, more on the neutral side than bright.

swatches going anti-clockwise starting from the upper left shade, without flash

With Flash

So I followed the look designated for this quadrant called "sunshine lover"... Don't really know where they come up with these names, but okay. All the eyeshadows apply A LOT better on the eyes, par, again, for the gold. I seriously hate that gold shade. Maybe if I scrap off the top of it and underneath could be better? But anyway. I love the orange, it applied evenly and pigmented, just so easy to work with. I used the shimmery brown-black as a liner with the included angled brush, and it looks wonderful for lining the eyes. It does kick up a bit of dust though when using the brush, which is particularly an issue as it is so dark and right next to the gloss. Contouring with the shimmery brown was also pretty good, it blended with the orange really well, the colours compliment each other nicely, I think, as did the "pop of colour" rose champagne shade. Why would they even suggest the gold if it is so crap, though, seriously. Even applying with a natural hair brush, it was pretty bad, patchy on the eyes, but you can barely see it anyway. 

No complaints really about the blush, didn't kick up dust and applied like normal. So nothing too special at all either.

The gloss is pretty much clear, it went on a lot more glittery on the lips than in the arm swatch, maybe a bit too glittery for my tastes. It doesn't have a particular scent, besides that makeup scent, and it is quite sticky as I suspected it would be on the lips, but it isn't too heavy.

The Sunshine Lover look

Before

After

Close up of the eyes

So far, my opinion of this palette is not that impressed. It's good that 5/6 of the shadows were actually pretty nice, but none of them were too special or exceptionally pigmented, or exceptionally creamy either. The gold, I will say again, was terrible. The double ended brush that comes with it, however, I quite like, especially the angled brush end. Very thin, precise, doesn't hurt the eyes and works well. The blush is average as well, but I like that it isn't too powdery and kicks up dust. As for the lip products? The gloss is a bit more for parties as a topper, probably not best to be worn alone, I haven't tried the lip stick on the lips yet, but I am so far liking the consistency and colour from the swatch. 

When I want something, boy, will I get it. The Beach Life Palette preview

I was intrigued when youtube guru Michelle Phan announced that she was releasing her own cosmetics line, Em Cosmetics with the iconic item being the Life Palette. A very large, refillable palette with 24 eyeshadows, four blushes/bronzers, and eight lipsticks/lipglosses, all at the luxurious price of US$75. Still, though the palette stuck in my mind, I was unable to order it straight to Australia, as Em only ships to US currently... But the I read Rae's review of the palettes, and so heavily did I start coveting the Beach Life Palette, that I became determined to get my hands on it. So I turned to a forward shipping company, shipito. So I ended up paying about US$140 all up for the US$75 Life Palette, but I am still so happy to probably be one of the first in Australia to own it.

This actually arrived a lot faster than I thought it would, a total of twenty days after I placed my assisted shopping request on shipito, so good lord, when my brother dropped of the package to me, I was so excited. Cute deep bright pink crepe paper wrapped up my order that was surrounded in super big bubble wrap to keep it all safe. And then a handwritten note from Michelle Phan herself. The cardboard packaging for the Life Palette is, to be honest, a bit tacky. The flap is sealed by velcro dots which opens to a clear window to reveal the palette. I mean, the target audience is more apparent here, considering the majority of Michelle Phan's viewers on youtube are younger girls. 

The primary packaging gets a bit better though. Most people say that it looks cheap, and, I get that. The clear acrylic and the white was probably not the best choice colour and texture wise, but the shape is nice and the packaging itself is solid too. The magnetic closure of the palette makes it feel really secure, and it having a magnetized base minimizes the chance of the pans falling out, unlikely though considering the packaging seems really buff. I'm not sure whether I like the "artist palette" layout, but then again, what shapes would really fit all that amount in? And I always love when companies include possible looks into palettes. It just helps you have another option of how to wear the makeup. 

Obviously, as the palette is refillable, and the purpose of the Life Palette is so you can have the option of customizing a selection that you need for the time being, it's really nifty that included is a little depotting tool. It kind of looks like an embossing pen, but smaller and all you do is place it in the little divot in the shade you want to pick out and pop it out, then pop it into the travel palette (which I got free with this purchase!). It might take me a bit to get used to this tool (already made a dip in one of the lipsticks when I played about with it), but I've never depotted anything before. The Life Palette also comes with a double ended brush, one side is a regular shadow brush and the other is a flat angled brush. Again, though the brush part itself seems pretty okay, the plastic holding seems a bit cheap. On the positive side, the travel palette actually has a really nice mirror in it and does seem fit for being banged about in my bag. 

See, this is why I chose the Beach Life Palette out of all the options. I love the colours, and it seemed (to me) to have the most variety. A selection of pinks, some warm neutrals, halloween-y feel shades and, of course, aquatic colours too, I reckon I could get a damn lot of use of this palette. I don't go too dark for eyeshadow looks, so this palette works out nicely for me as it has more medium and lighter tones shades. So far, what has caught my eye are more shades from the third quadrant, I love the orange and the shimmery dark brown black shade.

While most people alike were interested in the palette, (and of course other items in her line), it's unfortunate that most of the focus went straight to the price. But consider this, in Australia it costs AU$65 for the MAC Veluxepearl palette, so comparing six shadows just to the 24 eyeshadows, it doesn't seem too bad now. In fact, it works out to be just over US$2 per shade. I'm super excited to start trying out this palette, so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts about this palette! I really want to give this one a really nice thorough try, I've heard a lot of mixed reviews, so, the best way to know about a product is to try it out yourself.

I purchased this from Em cosmetics for US$75 (shipping only available to US residents), through using assisted purchase from shipito to ship it to Australia.

NARS eye paint in Tatar

The newest item that NARS has released called Eye Paints only very slightly caught my interest when I heard about it. But as I was in the city today, I saw them available in stores in Australia now, so I swatched some... And ohhh, they peaked my interest. It comes in a little glass pot and works not only as a gel liner, but you can also use it to make a smokey eye. There are four matte shades and four shimmery shades, and I humbly picked out only one Eye Paint in the shade Tatar which is a black/violet base with purple shimmers. 

It comes in a nice sleek packaging with the same rubberised lids that NARS always uses. I am quite a fan of the black rubberised lids/caps to be honest, they feel nice and look sleek, all you need to do is wipe them down with a wet cloth to clean them. Anyway, the first thing that happened when I took it home and took the eye paint out of the box was... Drop it. But that sturdy glass packaging! No shattering, no movement of product inside, not even a dent! Kudos. The jar is quite small though, you get 2.5g of product inside compared to the 3g you get in the MAC fluidlines. Which, considering that I paid AU$40 for it, it comes at a pricier point. But you pay a premium price, you should get a premium product, right?

left to right, without flash: swatch with finger, swatch with brush, swatched again with brush

With Flash

Sunlight

tatar as liner

Super pigmented and creamy (actually very quite soft, but not oily or greasy), it's very easy to apply. I've only tried it as a liner so far, as it is quite the shade for nighttime looks. But this eyeliner/cream shadow/eye paint does not budge. At all. I had this on all day, and it didn't even smudge. I guess then if you're using this as a shadow base or as a smokey eye, then you would have to work fast before it dries and sets because it will not move from where you place it. The shimmer in Tatar is not so super obvious, which I quite like and it's quite a bit darker on application rather than in the pot. So you have to keep that in mind if you're looking for a brighter violet shade. 

This is quite the nifty little glorious pot, but considering the amount you get and the price, it is quite the splurge. While it is pretty damn good at its claims of being luxuriously creamy, pigmented and super long lasting, I'm not super sure I'd happily empty my wallet out for another one. Perhaps for a present to myself after exams? I'm still finishing of my fluidlines, so I might splurge on a plain black one after I finish those up. 

I purchased this from Mecca for AU$40. (Not yet available on the site, as of publishing this).