Outfit of the day: a preppy hoot

This past Thursday we celebrated ANZAC day here in Australia, it's the equivalent to Memorial Day in the US. I spent some time with Scott and caught up with a few friends for lunch; Scott and I may've even grabbed a couple of the cocktails at The Everleigh as well. This time of year it's wise to layer, because it could swing from cool to hot and back in an instant. It is, after all, Melbourne -- four seasons in a day...

Shop my closet!

I tried to find similar items for you to contemplate over ;)

• Sweater from J Crew Factory
• Oxford spotted on Urban Outfitters
• Jeans from the Gap
• Boots by Steve Madden
• Bag tracked down on Farfetch - wish my version came with an adjustable/detachable strap!

Lipstick on the cheap: Gorgeous Cosmetics

A few weeks ago I splurged and picked up five lipsticks for $25.00 when I attended Salon Melbourne. You read that right, I picked up five for $25! Normally, Gorgeous lipstick retails for $35.00/tube -- I took this as a sign to try something new.

Out of the five colours I chose, I was only happy with how well two performed. The other three, while pretty in hue, were disappointing. Hey, we can't win 'em all!

The chosen few

Swatches from left to right: Berry Intense, Innocence, Brigitte, Inspiration & Warm Mauve

Working from love to loathe, here are a few "tasting" notes I took down while test-driving all five colours.

Wearing Berry Intense

Gorgeous Cosmetics' Berry Intense

Berry Intense is the star performer out of the bunch. The formula was creamy, the colour wore evenly and lasted for well over eight hours. By quitting time, I had to scrub my lips in addition to washing my face. Berry Intense is another true red within my lip collection and most certainly passes for a dupe of Giorgio Armani's Rouge d'Armani 400. Pick this colour up before it sells out!

IMG_2018

Innocence is a muted rose red with subtle purple undertones. After four hours of wear it still managed to hold onto its glossy finish; hour eight marked colour dry out. Unfortunately, Innocence is sold out, check your local stockist for availability.

Wearing Brigitte

Gorgeous Cosmetics' Brigitte

Brigitte, a soft pink with a touch of frost, wore unevenly over eight hours of wear, was drying and even emphasized flakes as the day progressed. While Brigitte is a beautiful colour, my gut's telling me there are better performers out there. Give Brigitte a miss.

Inspiration was less than inspirational. A tawny pink with orange undertones, Inspiration lasted six hours and sucked all the moisture out of my lips; I made it a point to scrub my lips in the ladies bathroom and start fresh with a random lippie in my purse. A definite skip in my book.

First off, let me start things off by saying Warm Mauve has to be an insult to "old lady pink" lipsticks. Warm Mauve is the worst of the worst. It was difficult to apply, drying from the start and didn't even last two hours. When I removed Warm Mauve last Friday, I think I also removed the top layer of skin on my lips. Bin this baby.

In the end I walked away with five colours for less than the price of one; reason being these colours have been discontinued as Gorgeous Cosmetics have released 30 new colours. The darker shades were the best performers and the most interesting -- they performed as good as, if not better than, Giorgio Armani and Burberry. My biggest hope for the newer colours is consistency in terms of wear, feel and overall performance.

Each colour has a personality of its own and adds a bit of flare to the day; I just don't want to have to worry about my lips looking like joke, because they are my pride and joy.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Gorgeous Lipstick:

• Five for $25.00 AUS on this occasion, however they normally retail for $35.00 AUS / $25.00 USD. Discontinued shades are now selling for $12.95 AUS until they sell out.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 10 out of 10 bags for Innocence and Berry Intense
• 6 out of 10 bags for Brigitte
• 4 out of 10 for Inspiration
• 1 out of 10 for Warm Mauve

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• Jelly Bean looks good enough to eat!

Haven't heard of Gorgeous Cosmetics? They are a Melbourne-based company with a penchant for the stage, the screen and the runway. Their colours are on trend and vibrant. Recently, Gorgeous made their move to the States and Karen of MBB seems to like what she's tried so far :)

Kiehl's Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream - swatches and review

It's just like saying ATM Machine -- ATM stands for Automatic Teller Machine, so are you going to take a $20 out of the Automatic Teller Machine Machine? A few months ago I learned the error of my ways by repeating the trend and calling Beauty Balms, BB Creams; is it a balm or is it a cream? And how do we even begin to address the CC variant? But I digress.

Recently Kiehl's released their own beauty balm, Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream. Presently, this offering is available in three shades: Fair, Light and Natural in Australia and two shades: light and medium in the U.S. Now that summer's through, I found Light to be the best match for me.

Kiehl's Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream

Light

Flip top

In this 30 ml tube, Kiehl's promises an "Instantly perfecting formula clinically proven to correct skin tone irregularities." What I got was a fairly easy to use beauty balm to help with concealing imperfections. One week later, my skin hasn't necessarily improved and my rosacea has even slightly flared up, I'm not too sure if this is my skin's way of adjusting to something new. The scent is pleasant and light -- it reminds me of Clinique's foundation infused with the tiniest amount of maple syrup.

What else?? Did you notice the sticker on the tube? Underneath it reads "SPF 50 PA+++". So, why did we cover it up? For those who live in the States, if you were to travel to Oz with the SPF you purchased over there, it still wouldn't offer you the same amount of protection. Put simply, there's a huge hole in the ozone over Australia and New Zealand thanks to years of pollution and you can pretty much go from undercooked to crispy in less than an hour. SPF 30 is the minimum requirement in Australia and Kiehl's beauty balm just meets the standard. Want to learn more? Check out my in-depth Bobbi Brown BB review I posted last year.

And what's this nonsense about PA+++? Just think of it this way, SPF helps to protect you from UVB and PA aids with UVA protection. Pretty Gossip breaks things down further for you into terms you can understand and even addresses the '+'. As for the Vitamin C, it's known for its "clarifying" properties.

How well does it last? Last Sunday I applied Kiehl's Beauty Balm around 9 AM and by bedtime, call it 9 PM, I was pretty smitten with how well it still looked.

Swatches of Kiehl's Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream in light

In terms of texture/consistency, Kiehl's Beauty Balm initially dispenses slightly runny and then turns creamy prior to application. To apply I'll grab my liquid foundation brush and start at the centre of my face, making sure to blend and sheer the coverage out as I reach my chin, scalp, temples and ears. A small dollop, about the size of a five cent piece/dime, is all you'll really need. Want a bit more coverage? Dispense a nickel sized amount.

Afterwards, I set the balm with a small amount of powder foundation and Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light. As the day progresses I've found this formula turns dewier than I would like; to take it down a notch, I place a tissue over my face and gently run the pads of my fingers over the trouble spots. This process helps to sop up the shine and re-blend the colour.

Kiehl's BB Final look

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Kiehl's Actively Correcting and Beautifying BB Cream:

• $37.00 USD / $36.00 AUS - for once things are on par!

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 7 out of 10 bags – Not too happy about my rosacea flaring up, but I'll wait it out to see if things really improve.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• I picked up a bottle of Kiehl's Aromatic Blends Skin-Softening Body Lotion in Vanilla & Cedarwood. The feminine and masculine qualities of the scent were extremely appealing for winter. Review to follow :)

Let's discuss: Beauty Brands, Foreign and Domestic

I love reading other blogs and watching videos, because I love to learn new things and soak up as much information as possible. Especially when it comes to makeup. 

Haven't heard of these brands? You can check them out here...

• RMK - Goss Makeup Artist showed off a few palettes in his haul video. I am jealous, btw.
• Rouge Bunny Rouge - I can thank Kate for introducing me to RBR ;)
• We See Beauty - clicked on a story about the brand back in January and I've been intrigued ever since.
• Make-up Designory Cosmetics - a serious stumble upon scenario.

As a side note, I can't wait for the Michael Kors Sporty, Sexy, Glam makeup collection. It hits shelves this August!

What's on your radar? What are you must excited about? And have you heard of something new you're dying to share with the makeup world?