Travel Make-Up Bag

WHAT'S IN MY TRAVEL MOOK-UP BAG?

Well, I had like, half an hour to pack my make-up bag [to Melbourne for 4 days] and here were the products that I chose to bring with me. Good news is that I did not regret bringing any one of these products! Yay! Some, I did not even use.

My go-to make-up bag is this red bag by The Face Shop. A friend (?) from Singapore had sent me this last year, and it has been my bag since! It's very spacious and pretty, but I need a new one. Which bag do you use as your travel make-up bag?


❶ BASE

Skin has been real good to me, so I didn't bother with the primer and powder. As long as I have my Rimmel London Wake Me Up Foundation ($19.95), a long-lasting foundation with a natural, dewy finish and medium/full coverage. Easy to apply, so it's perfect for on-the-go's!

Brought this along, but never used it -- Face Of Australia Eye Lights Under Eye Concealer* ($12.95).


❷ BRUSHES

Four of these brushes are by Royal & Langnickel's Silk Green Line*. The Powder Brush was once, what it was supposed to be used for, a powder brush. However, it's now my bronzing brush. I seldom powder anymore, with my new foundation!

Then there's the blusher brush, that I use to apply blushers and highlighters.

The next two are for my browns! Small slanted brush for drawing in the tail of my brows and the squared tip brush to fill in the inside of the brows. Its width fits the size of my brows purrrfectly!

Traditional synthetic foundation brush by Nude By Nature*. Nothing special.


❸ PALETTES

Three palettes, or technically 2 palettes and 1 small shade for my brows. I've only brought the Le'lan Vital palette to use the dark brown for my brows.. Eehm. So bulky. I really need a new product for my brows!!

BYS Blusher Trio 'On The Bright Side' ($6.95) was the palette I selected to suit my pink lipsticks. Blushers and lip colours always need to match-up in my beauty world, so only brought along a set of pink blushers/lippies.

I really like the bronzer of Face Of Australia's Glamazon Leopardess Contour & Highlight Kit* ($9.95). It suits my skin much more than my previous favourite, Australis' Jumbo Mineral Bronzer. My FAVOURITE HIGHLIGHTER OF ALL TIME IS STILL The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer, but I didn't want to risk breaking that again, so nah.


❹ EYES

My favourite felt-tip liner, Maybelline Master Precise Eyeliner ($13.95). Long lasting and easy to use, good stuff!

Another item I've brought, but never really used is Australis' Lash & Brow Extender ($10.95). Also needed a brown eyeliner for lazy-eyeliner days, so Savvy by DB's Brilliant Bronze ($7.95) was my pick!


❺ LIPS

No lip-glosses allowed, because I'm always lazy to touch-up. I actually brought 3 products along with me, but one died on the way home, so here are the two left.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo ($12.95), a long-lasting red that I could always depend on! Yes! Then there's Face Of Australia Lip Quench in Peaches & Cream* ($9.45). Many dislike the scent of this, but this is one of my favourite pink shades!


❻ MISC

Other small products and items:

Random eyelash curler, Face Of Australia Sharpener ($4.95), Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm* ($6.95), Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion (sample) and The Face Shop Power Perfection BB Cream (sample).


That's all! Even though I only spent half an hour to collect these, there were no times that I gasped, "ah I should've brought..." during the trip. These were perfect!

Rewind back, I wouldn't change a single thing!

OK. I lied. Maybe more lipsticks..

polls & surveys

Disclaimer: Products marked with (*) were provided for consideration only. 

New On Shelf: L'Oreal, Maybelline, Rimmel, Max Factor, Skin Theory

YES! I changed the title of this launch series.

"Drugstore Cosmetics Launches for Australia" was just too long, and I thought this would rock it better -- short and sweet.

Also compiled the photos with swatch previews. I spent a lot of time doing this, but I'm sure it'll be helpful for you!

L'Oreal Paris
These were October launches, but I thought I'd pop them into this post. It seems like the brand itself didn't really promote these products, so here goes...

Colour Riche Mono Eyeshadow ($19.95/10 shades)
With a creamy and smooth formula, these offer an intense and bright colour payoff. There's only 10 shades though, and most seems pretty neutral.

Infallible Gel Nail Polishes ($12.95/8 shades)
"The first nail polish to challenge a UV manicure", they say. Colour on one end, top coat on one end. The two combined promises 14 day of chip-free wear. I can't imagine storing these with my regular bottled-polishes, haha. I am a freak when it comes to consistency in packaging!

Colour Riche Le Vernis The Whites Collection ($6.95)
A new collection, The Whites, to add to their existing Le Vernis range! All are pastels, very season trendy for Spring/Summer!

Glam Matte Lip Glosses ($21.95/5 shades)
Hefty price tag! These are bright, bold matte colour lip "glosses", or maybe lip lacquer would be a better way to put it. They do, however, look more like lip glosses than anything though. Will look for them at Priceline next time!

Brow Artist Plumper ($18.95/3 shades)
Tinted brow products seems to be finally making a hit. A lot of brands has been coming out with brow products lately! Eggciting!

True Match Liquid Foundation ($29.95/1 new shade)
Not a new launch, but +1 new shade called C2 Rose Vanilla! Yay!

Colour Riche Le Vernis ($6.95/1 new shade)
Another new shade to their existing Colour Riche nail lacquers -- Orchid. Photo included below!

Infallible 2-Step Lip Colour ($29.95/5 new shades)
Urgh. Hefty price tag again! $30 for a lip colour, that's almost 1 MAC lipstick? These must work really well. Has anyone tried them?

Glam Bronze Eau De Soleil ($19.95/1 shade)
Wa wa. Looks like one of their foundations... This is LIMITED EDITION, yeap. A limited edition bronzing foundation with a lightweight formula, enriched with gold micro-pigments for a natural, light reflecting and bronzed look. Lmao. The whole description sounds like a hot mess, to me. I wonder what it's like!

That's all for L'Oreal. Whew! A handful, and some of these products are a mouthful... lol. On to the other brands, hold on tight!


Maybelline SuperStay Megawatt Lip Colours ($18.95/5 shades)
Yay!! More lip products! Maybelline usually rock their lippy ranges, fingers crossed that these will be something good! The range features a long wearing and highly-pigmented formula with a creamy consistency and opaque coverage. Only available in 5 shades though. A tad less if you're a follower of Maybelline's.

Max Factor Colour Elixir Gloss ($19.95/5 shades)
These glosses claims to go on smoothly [without the stickiness], combines mineral oil, candelilla wax, shine enhancers so hence, offers high pigmentation. Pigmented enough to wear alone, and lightweight enough to layer over a lipstick, they said.

Bourjois Volume Glamour Effect Push Up Mascara ($22/?)
Reminds me a lot of Benefit's Push Up products, heh. With an uplift brush, specifically designed for quick and easy applications, it's suppose to plump up and offer thickening (rather than lengthening, I assume). Buildable formula that won't weigh down and will last up to 16 hours, they said.

Ulta3 Advent Calendar ($24)
Nothing to add onto this except: Yay!!!!!!!

Rimmel Provocalips 16HR Kissproof Lip Colour ($17.95/8 shades)

I've swatched these here. Kiss proof, transfer proof, high impact colours, long-lasting lip colours. Comes with a lip gloss to seal. Double ended product.. Cute packaging though!

Skin Theory

Colour Theory's completely new skincare range. Quick mention only, I won't go through the details, okay?!

• Daily Moisturising lotion with CoQ10 ($10/100mL)
• Exfoliating Polish ($10/80mL)
• Gentle Cream Cleanser ($10/100mL)
• Eye Cream ($12/15mL)
• Night Cream with CoQ10 ($12/50mL)
• Gentle Foaming Skin Cleanser ($10/100mL)
• Total Care Anti-Ageing Cream with CoQ10 ($12/50mL)

Ahhhhhhhhh. That's all for this month! As per usual though, fill this poll:

survey tools

I'd like to try Rimmel's Provocalips.. and Maybelline's Superstay Megawatt. I will definitely look out for a nice sale to snag a few of the Provocalips! 

Saturday's Swatches: Rimmel Provocalips 16HR Kissproof Lip Colour

UPDATE: Full review, face photos and more swatches here >

This post wasn't supposed to happen, but made it! Hasn't even ticked Sunday midnight yet, so ya. A bit late, but will do.

I dropped down to Priceline today to see what sales were happening. No good sales, but I spotted new products by Rimmel! Yeap! They've launched their Provocalips range ($17.95/8 shades).

I've been so out of the beauty blogging community, but I believe that we're not too late on these?!

I'm usually not into these 2-ended products, especially when it comes with balms, or glosses to top off the lip colours. Mainly because they look tacky and don't work. However, I was really impressed with the staying power when I swatched these!

These are described to be kiss-proof, transfer proof and food proof... and it did seem that way. When I swatched these at Priceline, they took about 5 minutes to dry down to a semi-matte finish (still had a slight visible sheen).

(Grainy as hell, but I wanted to show you what it looks like when freshly applied)

Although it was only my arm, the weather was damn hot and I was outside being a sweaty gardener in the sun. Yet these stood on, and they also stood on in the shower. I was really worried, because I actually got a body scrub to scrub over it and it didn't budge (⊙…⊙ )

(1st-5th) Dare to Pink, I'll Call You, Little Minx, Play With Fire, Skinny Dip

(All 6) Little Minx, Play with Fire, Skinny Dip, Make Your Move,  Kiss Me You Fool, Kiss Fatal

It did eventually come off with an oil-based make-up remover though (as claimed by Rimmel), so twas' all good.

I'm egg-cited to see how everyone will love these!

Which shade(s) do you like more?!

My top pick here is Dare To Pink! The rest are shades I already have in my collection, hehe.

Rimmel London Provocalips Lip Colours ❤

I'm sure you've heard much about these, about their out-of-this-world long-lasting formula. OK. That was over-eggxageration, but these Provocalips ($17.95) the most long-wearing lip products I've ever tried!

I've mentioned in my previous swatch post that they did not budge off my arms until I brought in an oily dual-phase make-up remover, but that was just on the arms, right?! Most products tend to do so on the arms, but wearing them on the lips is a different thing.

Well, guess what! These Provocalips lip colours do not budge on the lips either! AND CALL ME CRAZY, BUT I ACTUALLY WENT AHEAD AND TESTED THEIR "16 HOURS WEAR" CLAIM.

Worst day of my life, I hated having to constantly photograph, check-up and having something on my lips for 16 hours!!!

Don't worry about the lighting differences, swatches will be down below! 

6AM: Freshly applied. Sealed it with the gloss. Also over-coloured my lips a tad.

10AM: The "gloss" wore off not too long after, but in this photo, the the lip colour settled between the lines. Didn't feel drying though. I didn't reapply the gloss, for trialling purposes!

1PM: Munched down two packets of instant noodles. Yum! It was somewhat oily, so there's teeny tiny tad of rub-off from the center. Intensity of the shade is still same-same!

4PM: Snacked on a peanut-butter bread roll, downed two smoothies. You can see how it is from the center.

10PM: Alright, 16 hours! The intensity definitely worn off, but the colour is still there! I sneaked in a pie before I took this pic, so that's the result after 3 meals and 2 drinks! Oh, did I mention that I also had a noon-nap and a shower?

Not the most attractive lip photo, desculpa.

Rollover for effect

No bleedings! Hooray!

The weightless formula is impressively non-drying, but [ridiculously] long-lasting. It won't budge unless it meets anything oily, and I'm not kidding. Here's a short snippet of it against Garnier Micellar Water:


It's applies to be extremely pigmented and glossy, but after 1-2 minutes, it dries down to a matte finish. The clear gloss is a must to seal down the stickiness and to have the colour stay in place.

In saying so, one thing that could potentially become a "problem" also lays within the formula. It's like a nail polish. You'll have a fair bit of time to apply and fix, however, once it starts to set, you'd be better off not touching it any more to avoid turning it into a hot mess. Once it sets, it's unmovable. If you need to fix, apply the clear gloss and THEN go over and fix up any bits you needed (don't worry, it won't feel thick).

With this, it means that when your meal is oily, [very] slight retouching is a must. It's not like a lipstick, where you could try to "move" the product around to even-out instead of re-touching. It'll chip from the center.

For the light shades, some layering is necessary, but it's not drying! Don't you worry!

OK! SWATCH TIME!

OH! And if you rollover these images, you may be able to see me with a dose of silliness(I'm a poser, yes I know!!).


I'll Call You
Light pink. Extremely bright on my tanner-skin. Needs to be layered for a full opaque coverage.

I'll Call You
A lot of people like this shade! It's a very easy-to-wear pink-berry shade.

Kiss Fatal 
It looks dark, but it's not "vampy". It's just a deeper mauve that pulls a tad berry-toned. Really strange colour and is definitely not one that I'd reach for often. Reminds me a lot of a nail polish I own!

Little Minx
I'm ALL for the brights, and this one is it! The brightest pink for the collection, but it looks so damn nice on the lips and in photos!

Skinny Dip
Oh my god, this true nude seriously just sinks into my skin-tone. It completely erases my lip colour and makes me look like a zombie. I'm not really one for nudes. Love the name though.

Make A Move
I can't say that this is a MLBB colour for me, but I'm pretty sure it is for some. I like it a lot, just because it seems like one to suit all skin-tones. On Mum, who's much tanner than myself, this looks amazing on her. Instantly lights up her face. Don't let the shade on the packaging deceive you!

Kiss Me You Fool
ANOTHER bright one, but red! This fire-engine red is one of my top picks from this collection!

Play With Fire

Another red, but darker and deeper.

My top picks? Little Minx, Make A Move and Kiss Me You Fool. 

I think this range is really worth looking at if you're after something that will last day and night (don't we all though?). These will surely replace my NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams for the clubbing nights! The shades are limited, but hopefully that will change sooooon.

Your picks?

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in this review were provided for review consideration and has not affected my opinions/comments made.