Flashback Beauty Friday 96: BeneFit Glamourette

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Last week I shared a now discontinued product by Australian brand, SugarBaby (Glamour Puss), if you missed that. I'm hoping to blog every day in the run up to Christmas with special 'Holiday' launches past and present, as I did last year. I realised I have absolutely loads of limited edition Christmas releases, so can definitely manage another year of it, so that will replace our Friday posts during December. Today, I have one of my most treasured makeup items, something that makes me feel very nostalgic as I wanted this so badly.

Flashback Beauty Friday 88: BeneFit Gloss

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A quicker post today after the mammoth Hard Candy Eye Shadow Quartets last week. I had the optician's the other day, my first time out of the street in 2 and a half years and the first time I've been outside since a dentist appointment in January (exciting life I lead eh?) and I wore the HC Moody palette. I've fallen in love with those palettes all over again, so I couldn't resist. The green is so pretty; a soft muted colour but it has this sheen and brightness to it that make it stand out without being garish.

Flashback Beauty Friday 72: BeneFit Black Orchid Eye Shadow

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My FBF posts have been quite lengthy in words and/or pictures lately, so I'm keeping it short and sweet this week. Last week was the beautiful Olympia Le-Tan highlighter from their second collaboration with Lancôme, definitely worth a look if you missed it.

Flashback Beauty Friday 66: BeneFit Shangri-La Sheers Lipstick

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I've been unintentionally posting eyeshadows for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd change to lips, with a really lovely limited edition piece from BeneFit. The Unicorn Tears liquid eyeshadow from Too Faced was my trip down memory lane last week if you missed that.

20 Must See Beauty Advent Calendars for Christmas 2021

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For Christmas 2021, beauty advent calendars are back! During the pandemic last year, for many reasons I would assume, a lot of brands didn't launch calendars for Christmas. Between shop closures, restricted numbers in stores, shipping delays and likely just the general mood (though to be honest, I could've done with some extra sparkle), we missed out, but I've put together a list of 20 beauty advents that I think need your attention, starting with "the big one" launching today!

Flashback Beauty Friday 28: BeneFit Some Kind-A Gorgeous

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Something a bit different this week for our trip to beauty products past. If you missed Flashback Beauty Friday last week, it was the very colourful MAC Manish Arora collaboration from 2008 and I think this product today, launched a couple of years prior to that, before being discontinued a while back.

Beauty Lately...

So, a few weeks ago Mum and I went out for lunch (if an ice-cream sundae qualifies as a meal!) and I'm making a point of wearing makeup when I leave the house now (rare occasions, but I'll take that). I didn't have long to get ready but used a few new things and thought I'd share my thoughts, alongside some other new items I've been playing with.   

PHP's Beloved Beauty Bits (May/June)

My Beloved Beauty Bits took a bit of a break during May, because I felt I didn't have enough items for a post. I found I've been using a lot of the same things and doing the same looks (makeup wise) for two months, hence the lack of products (especially those I haven't already reviewed). So I've combined this post for May and June. The July one I can already tell will be bursting, as I've bought and tried lots of new products. It just shows how I can go through phases. I apologise that this one is coming so late in the month, but I've just been feeling totally unmotivated lately. I have half written posts and so many photos I've taken (so I've done all the hard work), there's just something stopping me getting on with it. Completely procrastinating! Anyway here we go.
Three products in this post have actually been my favourites to achieve the one look. You may have noticed that almost every single day for the past two months (and even this month), I've been smudging eyeshadow around my lashline (both above and under the eye), rather than taking it up to the crease or beyond. You can probably see it better demonstrated in the second photo above, as with my eye wide open (first image), it looks like I have taken the colour up to the crease. I don't know what started me on it, but I seriously love it. I don't want to say it looks "natural", because really how many people do you know with dark grey or bronze lashlines? Hmmm! However it doesn't look too 'done' or like you really tried that hard. It's quick to do and also seems to really make my eyes sparkle (more than if I'd worn the same colour up to the crease).
My favourite way of applying it, has been with my Pout Blender brush (above). I used to use this to apply a darker colour into the crease and also along the lower lashline, but it's proved invaluable for this look too. The rounded, dome shaped brush has short bristles which pick up enough colour and there's no art to it, you just pull the brush along the lashline and you get a thick line of colour. Once I've applied eyeliner, I then go back with this brush and smudge the two together, so the liner doesn't look too defined. I don't think a finger or regular eyeshadow brush would work the same way, so I've been overjoyed with this little tool.
Speaking of eyeliner, I've had to ditch the YSL pencil for this look, because a sleek black, solid line is going against what the eyeshadow is trying to achieve. Some people who perhaps already have quite defined eyes, could skip the liner part altogether, but I'm someone that really needs it. Before purchasing Benefit's Bad Gal, I envisioned this blacker than black, bold liner. It's in the name right? In reality it's actually not very black at all, so it's perfect for this (although at first I'd been disappointed). It also smudges very well. So I apply it and then go back over it with the blending brush, smudging it into the eyeshadow and lashline to make it look a little smokey.  It gives me enough definition without looking solid.   
It's a chunky pencil, so if a thin line is more your thing, you'll struggle to get that unless you constantly sharpen it to a thin point.
The third product I've loved for this look has been my ArtDeco pearl eyeshadows. The two newest colours I got were 05 Grey Brown and 18 Light Misty Wood and I've had the two on rotation since I got them. Light Misty Wood is probably my favourite of the two, if I had to pick.  It's a beautiful bronze which surprises me, as I'm not usually into that type of colour, but it looks awesome with my green eyes.  The pearl finish lends itself to the 'not too perfect' line I'm trying to achieve and both are nice neutral colours for this look. I also don't get a transfer line above my crease from my eyeshadow line when my eyes blink/open (although I always use primer anyway).  You can find swatches of these eyeshadows here.  
I've mentioned previously that I've fallen for highlighting and contouring the face. Well the love affair was a little short-lived! Although it's reasonably quick to do, it can still be a little time consuming when you're already pushed for time and it can involve a lot of products/tools. Plus I wasn't quite sure if it was even making a difference-if I was using the correct products and all the tutorials I've ever seen feature girls that already look Kim Kardashian-ish! I've got a wee chubby face and that aside, it's the lightness of my skin that's proving difficult with this technique. It's damn hard to find products lighter than your already pale skin for highlighting and although there's then a plethora of darker products for contouring, it's finding that balance of making an impact yet looking reasonably natural. So I've been more sporadic with my HaCing, but have still been on the lookout for items to help. I want something fuss-free and think I may have found it with the Benefit Eye Bright pencil.
It's much like the Bad Gal liner in size and is a pinkish shade. I kinda wish it weren't so pinky and was a straight white or even ivory colour, but the texture and application are winners for me. I can just apply this directly to my face (around the lips, down the centre of my nose, under the eyes, centre of my forehead and then the tops of my cheekbones) and either blend with my finger or whichever brush I'm using to blend the contour stuff with. It doesn't settle into lines, even under the eyes and is a great brightener. I find I use quite a lot of it each time and usually need to resharpen every application, so I can see me needing another one of these soon.
Now, I've made no secret of how much I love and have been lusting after YSL's Manifesto fragrance. My love for it was rekindled after I got a couple of samples and I just had to buy the full-size (a huge discount on Escentual helped as it is rather pricey). I like to call this my 'sensible, grown up' fragrance (step away from the Harajuku Lovers dolly bottles)! There's something very addictive about this and it was a bit of a 'grower' on me, but there was that special something, that had me going back for more. I think it's a really unique scent blending Jasmine, Blackcurrant, Green Notes and Vanilla. Along with Tonka Bean, which according to Pagan beliefs can boost the immune system, chase away negative thoughts, cure the soul and relieve symptoms of depression, when crushed in tea. It's also been said that holding the bean whilst making a wish, makes it come true! I like that little story and if any of those things occur as a result of a little scoosh of perfume, it is money well spent ; ) You can also find the bean in Thierry Mugler Angel, Coco and Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, Dior Addict and Lolita by Lolita Lempicka, among others.
Next we have the Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer or at least the powder part from this kit. Inside the compact is an undereye brightener and concealer and above that a little tray of powder. I haven't used the concealers for some time, but the powder has been getting a lot of love.  When I first bought this, I was hugely impressed with the colour as many 'translucent' powders these days are actually not all that translucent. This one is very, very light, actually looking white in the pan.
It's not until recently that I got really into using this and realised it wasn't only the colour that was impressive. As it's small, it's obviously great for touch-ups throughout the day as it's very portable and discreet if you have to apply in public. What I like is it doesn't feel heavy on the skin or look powdery.
Yet it does an excellent job at mattifying. Usually I discard small applicators that come in compacts, but I've actually found the tiny puff to be a handy applicator. Obviously it's not ideal that you have to buy the whole trio of products for one you really love and/or the one you use is likely to run out long before the others. I am wondering if the powder in the newer One Heck Of A Blot is the same or similar. You get a giant 9g in that compared to 2.5g in this. I asked S&G a while back but they never got back to me. I'd certainly like to give it a whirl, because I really love this pressed powder.
Finally, a product that I've owned for ages and I actually think it was one of the first things I was ever sent to review when I started blogging. It's called Powder Punch by Clynol and I was rather confuzzled when I first got it. It's a tiny little tub with a non-removable sifter and you are supposed to shake some powder out and apply to the hair for root lift and mega volume. The powder is fine and when applied to your palm you have to be careful not to exhale in that direction or it would all be gone! I couldn't believe that this little powder pile could do anything, because it doesn't feel very substantial.
Once applied to the hair though, although it's quite difficult to manipulate (you really need to make sure you apply it, where you want it), it actually does do something. If my hair is looking flat and dry shampoo isn't doing much for it, then I'll apply some of this, just to the roots, right in the centre of my head. It feels a little sticky (actually a lot sticky) and you just rub it in, then the magic seems to happen. Va va voom!
It makes the hair look matte, full of volume and because of the stickiness, you're able to tease the hair into a style or restyle as you wish. The only downside is the stickiness, it makes hair feel like it needs washed, even the day after application. It's a small price to pay though. I guess I was a little reluctant to include it here, because I like the products in my BBB's to be perfect or near perfect and this one feels rather random to me. I'm not sure I'd buy it again, heck I don't even know if they still make it (google search proves yes they do, although it's completely repackaged), but it's certainly been handy to have and something I've been using more and more these months.
So that's my little lot this month.  The July BBB's are still being compiled and I'll try to get that post up in a couple of weeks time.  I actually cannot believe August is next week, how did that happen?  Have you tried anything here or want to?  Has anyone used the S&G powder and can enlighten me if it's the same as the little one?

Monster High Monday: Swim Class Venus

Hello! A sunny day today, so I was looking for a bright and cheerful look. This one was sooo tricky though! The application was simple, but finding the correct eye colour was so difficult and in the end I just had to make-do with something as close as I could get. I own a lot of greens, like hundreds, so I never expected to run into trouble colour-matching.
The main problem was that Venus has this bold, intense colour but with no shimmer. 99% of green eyeshadows or at least in my collection are frosty, shimmery or glittery! The majority actually have quite a strong gold sheen to them, so in certain lights this made the colour totally change and look nothing like the doll. The hue itself was also hard to match because my shadows either leaned too green, too lime or too olive/khaki. Venus seems to have a combination of all three. In the end I had swatches all over my hand, my wrist and I'd started moving towards my elbow when I decided I'd spent long enough trying to match!
The lips I thought might be difficult to colour match, but I literally pulled out the first two lipsticks I could think of and their combined shade was spot-on. Funny how that happens.
So starting with my base, I applied BeneFit The POREfessional under Lancome Teint Miracle foundation in 005. I used Dainty Doll concealer in 001 under the eyes (with YSL Touche Eclat in shade 2) and 002 on blemishes. I finished with a light dusting of ELF Studio High Definition Powder in Translucent and applied a little MAC Fleurry blush with Don't Be Shy over the top for a pinky-peachy cheek.
I applied Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base and combined Stila Kiwi with the green shade from MAC's Suedette 6 Intense Eyes Palette. Both do have shimmery finishes, but Kiwi made the MAC one that little bit brighter green and actually slightly toned down the sheen.
It looks very pale in the photo above just because of the light and no-flash, but it was much brighter in person. Venus has this huge flicked liner look, but Monster High eyelashes are usually pretty exaggerated too, so it kinda looks like she has this two-prong liner deal going on (which you can see when she's turned to the side). I decided to emulate that with a two-flick liner approach! I used YSL Waterproof Eye Pencil for the thick line, then Lancome Artliner for the flicks. On my lashes in YSL Baby Doll mascara.
For the lips, she's wearing a purple-pink, almost dusky or mauve toned. So I used Kiss Australia Lip Liner in Cashmere and mixed MAC lipsticks in Purple Rite (Frost) and Naughty Saute (Cremesheen). The latter is bright, bold pink and the former a frosty purple, so they combined to form the perfect colour.
As if I wasn't clashing enough, I decided to wear turquoise and peach today! Yeah...someone didn't think that one through! This look totally grew on me, even halfway through I thought it was going to be a complete disaster but it turned around in the end. Who knew finding an eyeshadow this shade would be so tricky though? Can anyone think of a similar one in their stash?

Monster High Monday: Ghoul's Rule Frankie

What up peeps? Monster High Monday again, after a little hiatus last week because I took a sneaky day off for some much needed rest. Now, I've had this Frankie doll since last year, but hadn't taken her out of the box until last week. I finally found some room for her on my shelf (which is very quickly running out of space). The Ghoul's Rule line coincided with a DVD movie release and was based around a masked Halloween party, so the outfits, hair and makeup were more wild than usual.
In saying that, when I broke Frankie's makeup down, I realised there wasn't actually much to it. I decided against trying to do anything vein/lightening-like which she has on the side of her face and I've never copied her stitched scar before, so didn't intend to this time. There was a lot of icy blue going on, so I felt the veins in particular would have made the look too blue and too Halloween for daytime, for me. I obviously had to mix up a concoction for the lips as I only own blue glosses and none are pigmented enough for this look. The eyes were simple and I had intended to do the black line in the crease, but actually forgot to, oops!
So to start with I applied Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 Beige Ivoire with Dainty Doll Concealer in 001 on blemishes and finished with a dusting of Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder in 00 Transparent Opal. I contoured using ELF Flawless Finish Foundation in Porcelain, setting with The Balm 'Bahama Mama' and highlighted with BeneFit Eye Bright. I applied a little Pout Face & Body Illuminator in Love Glow onto the cheekbones and MAC Don't Be Shy powder blush on the cheeks.
I used Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base and applied the silver shade from Hard Candy Eyeshadow Quartet in Techno from lashline to eyebrow (ooh scary). On the lids I applied Wet'n'Wild Eyeshadow Mono in Mystical (a light blue) and should've applied a bold black line to separate the two but forgot. On my lashes is the new Baby Doll mascara by YSL along with their Waterproof Eye Pencil to line the upper and lower lashlines, with Lancome ArtLiner for exaggerated flicks.
This doll comes with loads of silver glitter under her eyes, so I applied Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eye Liner in Pyrotechnics. It wasn't as glitter infused as I needed (plus contained some multi-coloured pieces and I only wanted silver), so I found an un-named pot of silver glitter and dipped the brush into that too. I was just about to apply it, pot of glitter and mirror in one hand, brush in the other and completely not thinking, inhaled. Yeah full glitter face and chest! I couldn't believe it, I had silver everywhere, mainly my nose, but it was on my clothes, all over my bed and it's a pain to get off! I dusted off as much as I could, but there were definitely stray bits of glitter I found throughout the day.
Then for the lips, like I said, I have several blue glosses. My Paul & Joe or YSL immediately came to mind, but both contained sporadic pieces of glitter and the blue lips on the doll have no sparkles, plus there just wasn't enough colour in either. So I chose to use 17 Eye Dazzle in Goody Two-Shoes, a pastel blue loose powder eyeshadow, mixing it with Lancome Juicy Tubes in 105 Rio Peach on the back of my hand and applying to the lips with a brush. The colour was near perfect (although looks more green toned in these photos), but the finish was a little streaky if you looked closely. It worked for the purpose of this task anyway : ) 
Overall, it's not my favourite look. I think had I been dark skinned, so there was a bit of contrast between the icy shades and my white skin, it would've looked better. It's one look I wanted out of the way though and I think I'll be looking for something with a variety of colours next week! The corresponding The Shoe Girl Diaries post for this should be up tomorrow, but I do have another outfit from last week, that I posted earlier today, so check that out.

Monster High Monday: Gloom Beach Clawdeen

My goodness, I'm behind with work right now. I've had a pretty hectic few weeks, so want to apologise to all the lovely bloggers that I've not had time to visit lately. I've missed getting to comment on your blogs each day, but am planning a Bloglovin' super catch-up when time permits. I have a couple of The Shoe Girl Diaries posts for you and some beauty hauls (finally got me some pennies, whoop whoop), but for now, here is this week's Monster High Monday.
Clawdeen the fiery little wolf, has a plethora of bright colours for this swimwear line and a lot of purple in her hair which I'm sadly lacking (I just woke up one day it and it was pale lilac!). Not to worry I tackled a freshen-up colour today and gave my hair quite the chop. You know when you just cut off a little bit more to even the sides, then a little bit more and a little bit more, until you practically have no more to cut? Yep, that was me! Less to dye, that's my reasoning! Anyway back to wolfy and I can't say I love wearing pink eyeshadow and coral lips, but I guess I got the colours pretty spot-on. The only thing to note is, Clawdeen's lips are really washed out from the flash in these photos and in real life are the darker shade mine are.
So I'm still into my contouring this week, can't say it's very noticeable when I'm looking at these photos, but I'm still trialling different things and have made a few purchases to help. On the face is Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 with Dainty Doll Concealer in 002 on blemishes and finished with Clarins Ever Matte Mineral powder Compact in 00. For highlighting I used BeneFit Eye Bright pencil and Pout Face & Body Illuminator in Love Glow and for contouring, Teint Miracle in the darker 010 shade. On my cheeks is the blush colour from Lancome Blush Subtil Palette in 01 Rose Flush.

The main issue with the eye makeup was 'is it pink or is it purple?' Well it's an in-between violet shade, although when I zoomed in on the images I took of the doll, it definitely leaned more pinky. I trialled a lot of purples and pinks before finding dupes and my dupes were definitely more pink than purple. So on my eyes is Too Faced Shadow Insurance, over which I applied Anna Sui Eye Color Accent in 303 up to the crease. On Clawdeen there is very little colour difference between the two shades she's wearing, but the lid shade appears to be frosty looking. The Anna Sui colour has a little shimmer so seemed appropriate. I felt it was leaning a little too pink though, so smoothed some of the frosty lilac shade from Milani 07 Wild Violets quad over the top using my finger. It toned down the pink and helped get that slightly pink, slightly purple tone.
Above the crease I applied the deep pink shade from Givenchy Prisme Again! in Purple Emotion 3 palette and also ran it along the lower lashline. My eyeliner is YSL Waterproof Pencil with Lancome Artliner for the flicks and YSL Shocking Volume Mascara on my lashes. I then ran a thin line of the black eyeshadow (called Graphic Garden) from MAC's Graphic Garden Palette following the crease. The line isn't hugely prominent on Clawdeen, but I felt it helped separate the two colours.
I think the colours looked brighter on me because of my pale skin compared to Clawdeen. The lips were a coral shade but with a red undertone and not a 'bright' coral. I used Lancome Color Fever Lipstick in 110 Hot Stuff Rouge, which was actually a perfect dupe when swatched, but looked different on my lips. So over that I applied a sheer, almost neon pink, No7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in 08 Pretty Please and my lipliner was MAC Subculture. I think it helped combining the two shades.
So that's me for another week! Not as much fun as last time, but I certainly got to test the power of my cleansing water to remove this lot! I should have my outfit post up tomorrow and I'll update this post with the link afterwards.