Giveaway time: Win a bagful of notions!

This morning I felt compelled to clean my workspace and guess what, I stumbled across a few unopened goodies! I've amassed quite the makeup collection, it's getting to the point where I need to purge a bit. If there was ever a time to have a giveaway, it'd be now.

Enter for a chance win your very own bagful of notions!

Essence Cherry Blossom Girl

Two L'Oreal lippies and an Infallible eyeshadow in Flashback Silver

Maybelline's Baby Lips in Pink Glow

The Body Shop's The Sparkler x 2

The Balm's Balmbini palette

So what are you waiting for? Enter now!

P.S. be sure to check out the rules below.

Good luck :)

**Update**

The giveaway is officially closed. Congratulations to Diana, hope you love the Essence makeup!

Thanks to those who entered! I’ll be sure to have another giveaway in the near future.

The Rules:

• Enter to win (1) gift bag filled with beauty items from Essence, The Body Shop, L'Oreal, The Balm & Maybelline. These items were either purchased by me or given to me. Estimated prize valued around $150.00+ AUS.
• How to enter – there are two ways to enter! For two entries, leave a comment below and follow me via Twitter @bagfulofnotions -- be sure to send me a tweet and say hello after you follow me! Not interested in Twitter? Leave a comment below for one entry.
• This giveaway is open to adults aged 18 years and older.  Also, this item is up for grabs internationally.
• I will happily accept entries through Sunday, 28 April 2013 by no later than 11:59 PM local time.
• The winner will be chosen randomly via http://www.random.org/. I will then notify the winner via e-mail; you will have 24 hours to claim this giveaway.  Should you fail to contact me within the time frame specified, I will choose someone else again at random.

Essence Circus Circus

After seeing posts of the Essence Circus Circus collection popping up, I've been stalking my closest Priceline for weeks! The fun theme, packaging, and shades drew me in. I picked up 02 My Glammy Acrobat Lip Lacquer; 01 Applause, Applause Lip Lacquer; 04 Cotton Candy Colour3 Nail Polish; 01 It's Magic Highlighter Powder; 02 Raise the Curtain for... Longlasting Eyeshadow; and 01 It's Magic Lip Topper.

Essence Circus Circus swatches

The Lip Lacquers come with a doe-foot applicator; the texture of these is similar to a lipstain, yet it remains shiny on the lips like a gloss. I found My Glammy Acrobat to have a slight cherry scent. My Glammy Acrobat is a vivid hot pink and Applause, Applause is a cool strawberry red. Both are comfortable to wear, but application was a bit tricky since the watery texture made it a bit difficult to get a sharp, clean line.

Wearing My Glammy Acrobat Lip Lacquer

Wearing Applause, Applause Lip Lacquer

It's Magic Highlighter Powder is a fantastic value, 9g/0.31oz of product for less than $6! The texture is smooth, however, it's not as finely milled as higher end products given the price, but I can't complain. In the powder there is a big-top tent embossed that should last through several uses. I swatched it alongside my favourite highlighter, TheBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer; It's Magic is more yellowy gold and a bit less pigmented -- I think it would make a great everyday highlighter because it's not too flashy.

Left - Essence 01 It's Magic & Right - TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer under direct sunlight

Left - Essence 01 It's Magic & Right - TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer

Cotton Candy Colour3 Nail Polish consists of a vivid pink creme on one side and a pink glitter top coat on the other side. The pink creme was surprisingly opaque as I was able to cover my nail line in just one coat. The pink glitter top coat is suspended in a clear base and contains pink glitter which flashes a bright purple shade. So far I've been wearing it for one day and notice no chips or dents, just barely noticeable tip wear on the middle finger.

Essence Circus Circus Colour3 Nail Polish in 04 Cotton Candy

Essence Circus Circus Colour3 Nail Polish in 04 Cotton Candy in direct sunlight

Raise the Curtain for…Longlasting Eyeshadow is a shimmery taupe cream eyeshadow. The texture has a little bit of slip like a mousse product and when I applied it I had to pull my finger across my eyelid to deposit colour instead of patting my finger like I do for most cream eyeshadows. I wore this over a primer and it lasted all day without fading and experienced just a tiny bit of creasing, which is not bad considering I didn't set it with a powder eyeshadow. It's almost as if Maybelline's Colour Tattoos in Audacious Asphalt, Bad to the Bronze and Tough as Taupe had a baby.

Essence 02 Raise the Curtain for...comparisons

It's Magic is also the name of the Lip Topper, a glittery gold lip gloss. It comes out of the tube looking quite yellow, but it adds a nice golden shimmer to the lips. It's especially pretty when applied the to centre of the lips to create a fuller look.

Wearing It's Magic Lip Topper + Applause, Applause Lip Lacquer

As with any Essence Trend Edition, I recommend going to check them out sooner rather than later as the products fly off the shelves quite quickly! The Circus Circus collection is exclusive to Priceline. The Lip Lacquers are $3.50, It's Magic Highlighter Powder is $5.95, It's Magic Lip Topper is $3.95, Colour3 Nail Polishes are $5.50, and Longlasting Eyeshadows are $5.50.

Essence is cruelty-free :)

This or That: Beauty on a budget

On my quest to find the perfect shade of turquoise eyeliner, I narrowed the field down to two opponents.

Swatches of Savvy by DB (left) and Essence (right)

Both pencils present with similar qualities:

Retractable pencil - no sharpening required

"Long lasting"

Similar in style to far more expensive brands, e.g. Stila, Chanel and Lancome

Appeared to be waterproof in the absence of such claims

Subtle fallout

Turquoise

Wearing Essence's Tu-Tu-Turquoise (left) and Savvy by DB's Turquoise (right)

Essence's Tu-Tu-Turquoise

Essence's Tu-Tu-Turquoise is the cheaper of the two (retails for $2.95 AUS) and in an ocean of blue, Tu-Tu-Turqoise hovers at the top. Application was easy -- the colour appeared almost immediately with a glimmer of sparkle. This formula stays as promised, however, fallout occurs during application; be prepared to clean up a few flecks of colour before walking out the door.

Savvy by DB (retails for $6.99 AUS) is a deeper and darker turquoise shade, it's more like the deep end of the ocean. Application was just as simple, yet took a little longer. The pencil needed to be warmed in order to get the colour party started. As with Tu-Tu-Turquoise, Savvy by DB's Turquoise also requires clean up. Don't worry about a dance party in your crease either, once applied Turquoise falls in line.

Which turquoise pencil came out swinging?

Points go to Essence for affordability and availability; it's also my personal favourite. For a more sophisticated turquoise eye, Savvy by DB is the pencil for you; Australian ladies can find this shade at their local Priceline. For the International set, Stila's Peacock appears to be a close, albeit more expensive, dupe.

Christmas Inspired Mani

Christmas mani

Christmas is nearly upon us! I love painting my nails for holidays and other special events and I decided to do a Christmas manicure. The more I look at my nails, the more I can see it also working for a Chinese New Year manicure (it reminds me of the red envelopes that children receive!) I used two coats of Essence's Nail Polish in 01 Snow White from the Snow White collection topped with one coat of Australis' Nail Glitter Top Coat in Eureka.

Snow White has a flat, wide brush that I'm not yet accustomed to using; I made quite the mess around my nails and cuticles. The formula was good -- it was almost opaque in one coat, but had a bit of a visible nail line so I decided to paint on a second coat. The finish on its own is quite shiny and almost looks like a jelly polish but isn't as sheer as other jelly polishes. Eureka was easy to apply; it wasn't thick and distributing the glitter particles evenly was not a problem.

Essence's Snow White

Australis's Eureka

I purchased Snow White from Target for $2.62. Essence is available at Target as well as select Priceline stores.

I purchased Eureka from Priceline (on sale) for  $4.95 (full priced it is $7.95). Australis is available at Target, Priceline, Kmart, and Big W.

Both Essence and Australis are cruelty free :)