My Favourite Stand Alone Eyeshadows

Recently Emily from Beauty Broadcast did a video about her favourite 'stand alone' eyeshadows - that is, eyeshadows you can wear on their own. I've been doing this almost exclusively for about a year - certainly during the week when I don't have the time or the inclination to faff around choosing different colours that go together and then blending them just so. One of the reasons I have gravitated away from colour to neutrals is because with neutrals, you can pretty much get away with using any one of them on their own.

Having said that, I do have some particular favourite 'swipe and go' shadows. I haven't included any of the Benefit Creaseless Creams here, though I do use them often and always on their own. But I've talked about them before, so if you want to see swatches of those you can find them here. For the record, the ones I use most often are Flatter Me, RSVP and Pre Nup.

June/July Empties

Ugh, it's been a while. I just have no motivation to do anything at the moment. I haven't worn makeup or perfume in a couple of months, and writing just seems like way too much hard work. I hope I'm back to normal soon, because I'm pretty much over it. :-(

Anyway, I finally got around to taking a picture of my empties for the past couple of months so I could throw them out. I haven't been using much of anything, so I haven't really managed to work through much.

Dr Lewinn's Anti-ageing Foaming Cleanser
I was sent this in a group of five products to trial, and of all of them it was my favourite - I like a foamy cleanser to wash my face with in the mornings but most of them do make my skin feel tight. This one doesn't at all. Would I repurchase? Definitely, once I've used up the 45 other foaming-type cleansers I have.

Terax Crema
My favourite hair conditioner, and Noodle Arms has discovered its wonders now too so I'm getting through it a lot more quickly than I used to. I'll have to start buying the giant bottles again. Repurchase? Yes - over and over and over.

Vaseline Intensive Rescue Soothing Hand Cream
Meh. You get what you pay for with hand cream. I probably got this at my local IGA one afternoon when I just needed something quickly. It's okay, but it's a $5 hand cream - what more can I say? Repurchase? Probably - when I need something quickly again one afternoon.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
I have owned loads of these, but I'm sure I've only ever actually bought one - it's one of those products that seems to always be included in Clarins' GWPs (they have the best GWPs, seriously). I don't buy into the hype of this stuff at all - it's nice, but it's nothing special. Repurchase? No, but I don't really need to - I think I have two or three more around and I'm sure there will be future GWPs coming.

Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser
Jacquie gave me this because she didn't like it. I'm not really a fan of Dermalogica; I think it's over-rated and overpriced - or at least here in Australia (like everything else). However, I did quite like this - I used it to wash my face in the shower in the mornings, and like the Dr Lewinn's one, it didn't dry my skin out. It worked well with my Clarisonic as well. Repurchase? Maybe - only from Strawberrynet, though. I wouldn't pay full price here for it.


Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant
Another Dermalogica product I didn't mind - I got this as part of a trial kit a while ago and it had been sitting in a drawer unused. I don't generally like to use scrubs and grainy exfoliants but I had some flaky skin happening so I gave it a go. I have another trial size - possibly another freebie from Jacquie, I can't remember) that I'm working through at the moment, but it's lasting me a while as I only use it once a week. Repurchase? Undecided. Maybe if I saw a good deal on Strawberrynet.


Nivea Visage Triple Action Soy+ Eye and Lip Care
I bought this ages ago after seeing Jacie's trial results. It's a damn good eye cream for the price, and I would repurchase, but not for a while since I have about 20 other eye creams to use up first.


L'Oreal Voluminous Masacaras - Full Definition and Carbon Black
Oh, I wanted so much to love these! They give the false lash effect beautifully, but they smudge like a mofo. It's just ridiculous - at the end of the day it's reverse panda eyes all over the place. I'm glad I only paid about $3 each for them online, because L'Oreal mascaras are about $26 here (INORITE). And you can't even get these ones in Australia as far as I know. Why is that? WHY? Anyway, repurchasing is a big fat no, but it breaks my heart a little because for a couple of hours at least they just look freakin' awesome. *sob*

Urban Decay Primer Potion
This one was the freebie that came with the Alice in Wonderland palette. I wouldn't repurchase (I have another freebie that came with Nekkid) because I think it's highly over-rated stuff. It just doesn't seem that fantastic to me. I know lots of people love it and more power to you for finding something that works for you, but it's not my thing.

Tag: I Wish I Hadn't Bothered

This is a tag that Jacquie started the other day, and I struggled with it a bit, because if there's something I really regret or don't like, I tend to just give it away. If I'm not going to use something, I'd much rather it go to someone who will use it. Either that or I just throw it out. However, I had a look around and found a few things that I think fit the tag.

Roadtest: Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer with UDPP

A few weeks ago I did a review of Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer, and found that it did a fantastic job of bringing out the colour of eyeshadow, as well as providing a nice sticky base to reduce fallout. However, it did crease quite a bit after 5 hours or so, and I wanted to try it again with UDPP underneath. I've finally gotten around to doing just that.

Tag: My 11 Most Reached For Products

 
This was a tag I stole from Jade's video, but she tagged anyone who wanted to do it, so I'm doing it!

It wasn't too hard to pick 11 items, as I've been pretty much using the same stuff over and over lately. I have moved right away from my usual greens, purples and pinks and embraced neutral/nude eyeshadows. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that I'm getting on a bit and my eyelids are more hooded than they used to be (boo-urns), but mainly because it's still dark when I'm getting ready in the mornings and the lighting in my house is shite - everywhere. I just don't have the light I need to be able to apply coloured eyeshadows carefully enough. If I'm a bit half-arsed with neutrals (as I often am), it's not really noticeable.

Anyway, blah blah blah - on to my list. I haven't included any skincare or perfumes as I chop and change those a lot and don't have any real go to favourites at the moment.

Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer and - uh - a brief mention of UDPP.

A while ago I was reading a blog post by prettybottles where she talked about some tips for successfully applying mineral eyeshadows. Now you know I'm constantly banging on about my issues with mineral and loose shadows - I love the colours, hate the mess. According to prettybottles, my issue could be that I'm not using the right primer. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy is the one that all the cool kids talk about, but the last few times I've checked the site they've been closed, so I went with another one I've heard mentioned a few times - Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer.

Shopping my stash: my current favourite neutral eyeshadows

I've never really been about neutrals all that much - I like purples and greens on my eyes usually, and sometimes delve into pinks and blues when I have a lot of time on my hands for more-careful-than-usual blending. But lately, I've been running late for work pretty much every morning (thank you daylight bloody savings), and I've found it's really easy to just swipe a neutral colour across one's lid and look a bit less like something the cat dragged in.

Oddly enough, I've been coveting the Urban Decay Naked palette since I first saw it, because it really is beautiful, and I was all set to get my travelling friend to buy me one (assuming they were available) when she goes to the US in November. However, in the last week or so I've been having a really good look at the colours and the swatches, and of all the colours, the only two I really, really adore are Toasted - which I already have in a single eyeshadow, and Sin - which I have in the Alice In Wonderland palette (it's called Drink Me, Eat Me in that one). The rest of the shades I can either live without, or I have something else very similar. So I think I'll give that one a miss - at least for now.

Anyway, here are my current favourite neutrals, modelled as usual by Noodle Arms, and swatched over BeneFit Lemon Aid. These are what I've been reaching for over and over in the last few weeks. Tell me, what other neutral shades are in the "must have" category?

Look what I've got!

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

Of course, the only way I could get one was from eBay and I paid a small fortune for it, but I don't care. It was worth it.

(The weird angle of the first picture is because The Photographer was trying to avoid getting himself photographed in the mirror.)

Swatches: Urban Decay, wee bit of MAC, Bourjois, NARS

A few weeks ago I was sent a wrinkle-filling product to try out from a website I hang out on quite a lot, and today I had to do "before" and "five minutes after" pics. So while I was waiting the five minutes, I did some quick swatches of recent purchases - not much, because I haven't been spreeing as much lately (except for perfume, which doesn't count).

These are the Urban Decay eyeshadows I bought from ACW a while back.  From left: Illegal, Toasted, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Acid Rain, Vert (all taken without flash outdoors swatched over NYX White Eye Base).

And these are just some randoms: From left: NARS Ondine, Bourjois #6 Rose Etastique, MAC Mink & Sable, MAC French Cuff, MAC Of Summer (all taken with flash outdoors and swatched over NYX White Eye Base).

Wasn't that an exciting little diversion in your day?

Random stuff #487

How can I get my hands on one of these, I wonder? (It's on my mind because we're going to see Alice In Wonderland tomorrow and I'm super excited about it.)

Damn you, Urban Decay. Why don't you sell in Australia anymore???

In non-makeup related news, Noodle Arms bought herself some cake decorating supplies at the market this morning and spent the afternoon making her first batch of cupcakes. Pretty good for a first try, I'd say.

Aw, bless.