Review :: Teeez Trend Cosmetics (GoodieBox)

Hi guys - it's been a while since I blogged - but I have been actively vlogging over on my youtube channel. Check out my videos here (channel name is RiverofbeautyNZ).

I have also re-joined twitter - you can follow me here.

I recently did an unboxing vlog of GoodieBox. It's a monthly subscription beauty box, and this was my first one. I was really happy with it, and I'm looking forward to my Xmas edition one later this month.

3 of the products in the November box are by a brand called Teeez Trend Cosmetics. I had never heard of them before, and I can definitely say I am impressed.

When you sign up to GoodieBox you fill out a quick questionnaire - questions like what your makeup style is etc. I think I picked adventurous for mine - so I was really happy with the eyeshadow colour I got!

The 3 products were:

Spectrum of Stars Eyeshadow - Indigo Dare
Full retail price - $32.00 NZD
Full Size 2g
High gloss, semi-metallic finish

I love this! It is so, so pigmented. The picture to the left is with no primer underneath too - completely amazing.

It's a gorgeous colour and such a pretty finish too. On my lids in the picture to the left is only Indigo Dare and a tiny bit of a dark blue Claire's eyeshadow in the outer v. 

I'm really happy with this product, and although it is expensive, it is really good quality.

I may need to check out their other colours...

Desert Lush Sheer Lipstick - Bloodstone Burgundy
Full retail price - $36.00 NZD
Full Size 3.5ml
Hydrating, SPF 10

This lipstick is interesting. It is quite sheer, but very buildable. I am actually wearing it on the photo to the right, but it is also swatched in the above. This actually makes it a great lipstick - because you can wear it as light or vibrant as you want.

It feels so moisturising on your lips too. Again, great quality. With the exception of MAC I don't know if I could spend $36 on the lipstick - but it is great quality. 

The colour is alright - I probably would have preferred a nude/pink. I'm not sure what other colours were in other peoples GoodieBox's.

Lastly:

Perfect Eyes Pencil Brush
Full retail price - $28.00
Soft, tapered brush

Nothing too special about this brush. It is really soft, and feels like good quality. Because I don't have another brush in this style/type I will get a bit of use out of it.

Overall I love this products, and glad I got to try them out. A GoodieBox is $29.00 + shipping, so just one of the products alone got me my monies worth.

I will be getting a lot of use out of the eyeshadow...and I may need to check out more colours.

Beauty Review :: Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

I've always been a Maybelline Mascara user. I've tried quite a few different ones, and have never been amazed by them, but always use them as they are pretty good and a reasonable price (well, they are in the USA - not so much here). They are generally about $20-$25 here, about $6 in the USA. So unfair!

My mascara was running out, and after a failed attempt to try a Rimmel mascara, Max Factor was having a special for all mascaras for $20 (usually 32).

I bought the shade "Black" and I usually don't buy waterproof mascara, because I prefer that only for special makeup/events. For everyday I like it to come off easily at the end of the day with my makeup wipes rather than having to bother with waterproof makeup remover.

Packaging: It's pretty standard packaging, nothing special. Nice and sleek, with black and gold.

Application: I really like this applicator wand. It;s very sturdy, and the brush bits are quite small and fine, but there are lots of them to provide good coverage and help you get close up to your eye. Also handy for doing the bottom lashes.

Look: These make your eyelashes look really natural, and that's basically all I want in a mascara. Best of all, it doesn't clump together at all.

Overall:

5/5

I will definitely be purchasing this product again. It's a bit of a shame it is $32, so hopefully I will get it on special again once I run out.

So glad I branched out from Maybelline and tried this!

Review :: Australis - Velour Lips - To-ki-o

On the weekend I picked up a few new products to try. I have had my eye on both Lime Crime's purple lipsticks for a while, but never bothered to order one.

So when I saw this at Farmers, I decided to give purple a go with a cheaper product first.

This is a matte lip cream from Australis. One of my favourite mid-range/affordable makeup brands. I have pretty much always used Australis for my go-to/everyday eyeliners.

This cost me $17.50 NZD.

So, let's get on with the review!

Packaging: Just your standard lipgloss tube, black lid, simple packaging. Nothing special here.

Value: As above, this cost me $17.50 and is 10ml. Pretty average. not really cheap, but not over-priced either.

Quality/texture: This product applies like a lipgloss, but dries matte. It does fade a bit, and stays slightly darker around the outside of the lips. It is quite sticky once it dries, but didn't make my lips too dry by the end of the day.

Longevity: This lasted really well with no primer for around 3-4 hours, including eating breakfast and drinking a coffee. After that it did fade as above.

Overall: This is an awesomely unique colour. It's great for a few hours, as it would last well if you had an event to go to, rather than an all day look.

I've never tried a matte before, and I wasn't a huge fan of that - but that could be because I'm used to a more glossy looking lip.

I definitely love this colour on me, and would be keen to try out some other colours from this line.

4/5

Checkout Australis website: http://www.australiscosmetics.com.au/

November / Recent Empties

On the weekend I cleaned out my makeup traincase, which was loooong overdue!

I haven't bought as much makeup in the last year or so, so I never bothered cleaning it out to make room for me.

So that changed today, and I went through and found my empties that I was holding onto.

(Then, of course, I went and bought a few more products...more to come on that.)

MAC - Angel Lipstick

I did really like this lipstick, I probably bought it around two years ago. I don't think I would go as far as buying it again, as it is a pretty generic shade. But I used it a lot when I just wanted a simple (and subtle) pink lipstick. 

It suited with my skintone really well.

Canmake - 

A very upsetting almost-empty. I love this lipstick. It was my go to for almost everyday. Perfect for work, or even with a smokey eye look for going out.

The perfect nude.

Unfortunately I bought this on a trip to Japan, so not sure where I can buy it from now (without going back again!)

Eyebrow Pencil

This was the first eyebrow pencil I owned. Only cost me $15 with a re-tractable pencil and brush on the other end.

It was really good, and just from the mall beauty places. Definitely liked this one, and would buy again, but I'm going to try something different next...

Rimmel - Extra Super Lash (Brown/Black)

Not a fan of this one. Not even sure if it is an empty, or just dried out.

It didn't add much length at all to my lashes and was a bit clumpy - my lashes would stick together.

Won't be re-buying this one.

Clinique - Iced Lotus Blush

I love this colour as a blush. My skin is naturally very fair, so cool blushes suit me more than warm ones.

This one was perfect for me, it was quite pigmented so not really for everyday use. Good with a more made-up look.

I didn't actually buy this one, it was given to me from a friend, so I'm not sure how much it retails for.

I think it is one I would buy again though.

Bare Minerals - Fairly Light Mineral Foundation

This has already been replaced. I love this as a powder foundation.

I first tried it when I bought a Bare Minerals Foundation Kitset from Sephora in Hawaii, and I have been using it ever since.

It's so light on your skin, and gives good coverage.
I have to buy it online from www.wowhd.co.nz or I buy it from Mecca Cosmetics when I go to Australia. A little bit inconvenient, compared to what I can get from the shops, but well worth it.



So I'm sad to see a couple of those empties go, but...that means there is room for new products! As mentioned above, I will have some new product reviews soon.

Sunday / Swatchday :: Purple

Yesterday I went to the races at Riccarton Racecourse, and matched my eye makeup to my dress:

Face: 
Natio Liquid Foundation
Bare Minerals powder foundation
Victoria Secret Bronzer (from the On-The-Go Face Kit) as a contour
NARS Orgasm Blush
Claire's white eyeshadow as a highlight
Bare Minerals Mineral Veil
Lips:
MAC Creme D'Nude

Eyes:
Lime Crime Candy Eyed Eyeshadow Helper
The Body Shop 510 Something Blue/Turquoise Sirene
Claire's Dark Blue eyeshadow (these came in a set, and have no names)
Sephora Engagement Ring
MaxFactor False Lash Effect Mascara
Australis Black Eyeliner 

Dress:
H&M (and only cost me $4.95 AUD!)


I couldn't believe how well my makeup stayed on for the whole day. I guess the mineral veil helped!

Anyway, onto this weeks swatches! It's no secret that I love purple eyeshadows. So here are a few swatches from some of my purple eyeshadows.

L to R: 1. Stila - Tie Dye, 2. Bare Minerals - Angel, 3. ME ME ME - 25 Eccentric, 4. Heavenly Naturals - Daddy's Girl

1. I definitely don't use this enough. Tie Dye is a mixed shadow with purple, blue and pink. It looks a lot more blue, but I don't have any other shadow like it.

2. This is a great base colour, is a bit more mauve when applied than it does in the pottle. The pigmentation is pretty good, but not quite as much as I would like.

3. I got given this in a makeup swap. It's nice for a subtle look, and has low pigmentation.

4. This one is beautiful, and again I don't use it enough. It has the perfect shimmer texture, and is reflective. 

L to R: 5. Claire's Dark Purple (no name), 6. MUA - 9 Pearl, 7. MAC - Odd Couple Mineralize, 8. Sephora - 34 Midnight Kiss

5. I got these as a set when I went to Hawaii a few years ago, and I use most of them on a regular basis. It doesn't look that purple in the swatch. It is quite dark, and not my favourite one in this set, but is good when doing a purple look to add in the crease or outer eye.

6. I absolutely love this one. The only reason I don't use it very often is the texture. It's almost like a cross between a powder and a cream, and it just doesn't glide on that well. But I love the colours in it, purple and blue. Perfect for me.

7. I got this from an airport MAC duty free place, and got a discounted price as it was cracked. To be honest, I dont' use this much. I have swatched the purple side of it, the other part is gold. I'm not a huge fan of it, and it's just a bit boring. Not much pigmentation.

8. I bought a set of mini eyeshadows from Sephora also while in Hawaii. I rarely use this one, it goes on okay with a primer underneath. But on it's own it isn't a very interesting eyeshadow. Once again, not a great pigmentation.

Australis - Velour Lips To-ki-o

This one isn't an eyeshadow, but a purple lipstick. On Friday I picked up a few things, and this was one of them. I've had my eye on Airborne Unicorn by Lime Crime, but decided to pick this up first to try out. It's a lipgloss application that dries matte. I will have a review up on this at some stage over the next week.

Do you have any of these products? What are your favourite purple makeup products?

Beauty Review :: Lime Crime - Babette Lipstick

As mentioned in my recent post of Favourite Things Friday, I bought Babette a while ago, but it's a much used edition to my makeup collection.

I now have three Lime Crime lipsticks - Coquette, Great Pink Planet, and Babette.

Lime crime makeup is all about cruelty free makeup that lets you be creative with colour - right up my alley!

Babette is a newer edition to Lime Crime's line, and it is described as a "Pinky-Nude". To be honest, it wasn't quite the colour I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a bit pinker/cooler than the warm tones it actually has.

But, the thing that makes this lipstick one of my favourites is that it kind of changes colour depending the lighting/what you match it with.

Sometimes it can look quite warm, almost an orange tinge. Whereas at other times it looks a lot more pink. It is a subtle colour, and is perfect for day or night time wear.

Packaging: As always, Lime Crime's packaging is great, comes in a cute box and is a sleek lipstick tube with the shimmering unicorn.


Value: This was a while ago, but I think they are around $29 NAZ plus shipping. Ends up being quite expensive, but worth it.

Quality: I notice this seems slightly better than the other two lipsticks I have from Lime crime. With the others, I have noticed they make my lips a little dry. Babette seems a little better, but I still notice it slightly. It can also look a little orange-y once it's come off and drying.

Overall: 4/5 

I love this lipstick. I wish it wasn't quite as warm-toned as it is, but it's great, and I use it probably the most out of all of my lipsticks

I think my next Lime Crime purchase will be Airborne Unicorn or Chinchilla...