Perfectly Poised Mineralize Skinfinish

When you think Christmas makeup, do you think red lips, bronzey eyes, glittery accessories and, of course, that beautiful, glowing skin. And the chance to be all glittery, again. I previously picked up one of the Christmas Mineralize Skinfinish in the shade Divine Night, and if you read my post, you would have known that I actually wanted the MSF in Perfectly Poised originally. And I love the result that I got from the MSF (having never owned one before), and they had Perfectly Poised in stock online, so whatthehey, limited edition, I went and ordered it.

I was a bit skeptical about the way this product looked, as in, the inner part with the outer shell. It didn't look to appealing and then I thought that application might prove difficult too. But it does give you three options of how to use the skinfinish which adds value to the product. Perfectly Poised was just so gorgeous when I swatched the tester in store (why would they put the tester out if it's not in stock, or at least mark that it's sold out like the usually do). It was this gorgeous gold and pink sheen; an amazing rose gold colour that's so nice and subtle. I can see this being a great finish for parties especially. It gives that angelic topping to your look. 

left to right, without flash: inner part, outer shell, mix of both, blended

Without Flash

The pictures really don't do justice. It's shimmery, but not too shimmery, gives a really nice glittery glow to your skin. I would think this would nice applied to the collarbones and decolletage too. I feel super glamorous when I have this very finely milled powder on, the gold pink sheen looks so gorgeous, especially on my tanning skin. I don't really see this shade working for those that are fairer, unless using quite a light hand, but with the Summer sun this MSF really suits the season.

November Favourites 2013

December already! The month of Christmas and I'm already too excited. You might have noticed that I skipped a favourites post for the month of October. To be honest, I only had two items that I would really consider to be "favourites" for the month, so I didn't think it would be worth it; but turns out that those two products ended up as favourites for this month too! No skincare or haircare this month, no new additions, or to early to tell, so just some nice makeup products. 

Stila One Step Correct

I did a review of this product and still love using it everyday, sometimes I don't even feel like putting on foundation (it's warming up, some days a bit too much) and use only this product. Does the slightest bit of evening out the skintone, but it makes my face all nice and smooth and keeps it matte, but not drying. In fact, keeps the level of moisture in my skin pretty prime.

theBalm Balm Shelter tinted moisturizer SPF18 in light/medium

I don't own a whole lot of tinted moisturizers, and to be honest, I have had this one for a while. This gives me probably the lightest coverage ever, and it might smell a tiny bit funny, but for some reason, I quite like this moisturizer. The SPF is pretty poor, but I do love the moisture this, uh, tinted moisturizer gives and doesn't separate like I've found of most other tinted moisturizers I've tried. 

Estee Lauder Double Wear Mineral Rich Loose Powder Makeup in Intensity 3.0

This. I love this. It doesn't look cakey at all when you apply it in a few layers to build up the coverage and is super matte. The lasting power is the best I've ever tried out of any powders, let alone loose powders before. It does fade a bit by the end of the day, but still, it holds up pretty damn well especially with all the sweating from the growing heat. 

Bourjois healthy balance unifying powder in Beige clair (53)

This is a product that was going to be in my favourites for October. Quite a higher coverage powder, I just love the finish that it gives. I don't know quite how to describe it, the finish is somehow very matte, but there's something special about it. It makes my face look impossibly smooth too.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

I absolutely love this palette, I dedicated a post to it already. Just good for on the go, too. Can swipe a wash of any of these shades all over the eye (maybe not the darkest shade), and boom. You look a bit more awake already. And the shadows are so buttery and smooth and easy to blend. 

MAC RiRi Hearts MAC lipstick in Nude (Matte)

Never thought I would love a brown lipstick just so much, but this one is gorgeous. I guess you could probably describe it a bit more as raisin but it just helps me make just a bit more polished. I love the matte finish too, it doesn't feel drying and helps the colour last longer too. The cute packaging helps it be easier to find in my bag when I'm out too.

Hmm, looking over my favourites now, I didn't realise how neutral and light on the coverage I went. But I've quite been loving my makeup this month, so maybe simple is all we need sometimes. I mean, the awful heat too (we're not even in the hottest part of Summer yet, I am just a billion degrees to add), I'm feeling surprisingly confident and sassy with my minimal makeup. 

Divine Night Mineralize Skinfinish

To be honest, I wasn't too impressed by the Christmas range that MAC was releasing for the 2013 year. I thought maybe an eyeliner, a lipstick or two would be all that I would get from the entire line (not even the bags or kits really screamed out to me), but as I went into David Jones the other day before work, I swatched the gaudy-looking Mineralize Skin Finishes from the Divine Night range, and ooh. My interest was captured again. 

I actually wanted the shade Perfectly Poised, which gave this nice gold sheen with a pink reflect, super pretty shade. But unfortunately, David Jones had sold out of that one, so I went across the road to Myers... Where they also happened to be sold out, and where the lady then started to try push all these other products on me. To which, I decided that Scene to Be Seen was actually quite nice too... And they had sold out of that at Myers as well! Why did she up that particularly product to me when it was also out of stock? And then she started to push other products on me too, that weren't even remotely related. I tailed it out of there saying I had to head to work, and thanked her for her help (why did I thank her). Anyway, I actually went back to David Jones to see if they had Scene to Be Seen in stock, and they did and they were lovely, and this is why I constantly choose to go to David Jones over Myers. But either way, I was able to grab Scene to Be Seen (and later noticed that Perfectly Poised is in stock online, so might pick that up later too... It was just so pretty!), which is described as a mauve with a pink sheen/brick rose with gold reflects.

left to right, without flash: inner part, outer part, mixed, blended

With Flash

I would describe this as quite the plum-toned Mineralize Skin Finish, but a mauvey-pink is quite accurate. I love the result that you get from blending this out on the skin, the pink and gold shimmers look absolutely wonderful, especially on my medium toned skin; and, I assume, as my skin will tan a bit more with the warming weather, this can give that ethereal look. This can be built up to be used as a blush too, but that will take about four layers or so, as this blends like a dream on the skin. I think one of the nifty things about this Christmas range of Mineralize Skin Finishes is that there are essentially three options of shades: the inner part, the outer shell, and mixing it together.

I've never owned a MSF before, and I can really see the appeal of them now. They're so smooth and finely milled, it really adds a nice touch to the skin at the end. This shade is probably best that it came about in the holiday season, I don't see much opportunity to wear this (although I probably will, screw "appropriate" makeup), it will really look nice to give that sun-kissed glow, so that's a nice addition to a summer tan or that "festive cheer" you get from a little bit of bubbly.

Veluxe Pearlfusion in Greenluxe

I never used to be such a fan of eyeshadow palettes. I preferred my individuals, but as I'm starting to accumulate more and more makeup, why not save a bit of space and purchase a palette? I was so keen to get my hands on the Veluxe Pearlfusion Palettes by MAC, they looked just so goshdarn pretty and different to all the other shadows I've ever owned. I mean, I've never really been too big a fan of shimmery eyeshadows, but something about these palette screamed special to me. So much so, that I ended up purchasing the smokeluxe palette while waiting for my mother to return with my first requested greenluxe. And boy was I right to wait for greenluxe; it is quite possibly the prettiest palette ever.

Firstly, I love the packaging, of course. It's the usual MAC palette packaging with the clear front and the magnetic closure; but I really like how the colours are separated into shimmer strips (akin to that of Bobbi Brown) yet are separated by a thin line of plastic. Some people have said that it's difficult for them to get their brush in, but so far I have had no problem, although I do use smaller brushes to accommodate my smaller sized eyes. I was so intrigued by the greenluxe palette, simply because of the nice cool tones and the slightest pink/green tint to it. Pretty much because I thought it contained cute and pretty colours, nevermind that it might not "suit" my skintone too much. I make it work.

All of these shades were a lot more shimmery than I was expecting, I mean, they're veluxe pearl, but at least two of these shades are definite glitters. The lightest shade looks pink with a silver shimmer that turns more silver on my eyes (removal of the pink). The second lightest shade appears to have a green tinge in the pan, but when swatched, it's basically a very pretty, very smooth multicoloured glitter; the photos don't really do it justice as it looks amazing in person. The middle shade is a satiny-taupe colour, good for an all over colour to bring a bit of life to the eyes (I'm also assuming that's what was in mind considering the size of this shade in comparison to the others). The next shade is the darkest in the palette, being a deep brown with gold/green glitter in it. It was a bit hard to swatch this one, and needed a bit more effect to get the colour payoff shown. The last shade is akin to that of club eyeshadow or blue brown pigment, where it is a brown base with a blue/green duochrome. Glad I had this palette which saves me from purchasing club. 

While it probably is that I won't get the most use ever out of this palette, it is quite a good one for the holidays coming up, what with all the shimmery shades; although, I could probably at least use one shade a day in any look to add a bit of pop to my eyes. It really is one of the prettiest palettes that I own, and definitely one of the most unique, so I'm quite glad that I was able to get my hands on it.