MECCA MAXIMA is probably the closest thing Australia is going to have to a Sephora. Sydney opened the first two stores last week in Parramatta Westfield and Warringah Mall. They are a chain to Mecca Cosmetica but bigger and with a wider range of products across 100 brands.
I spent a good half hour just swatching and browsing through the store and picked out a few items that I had always wanted where prices were not as inflated compared to overseas or online beauty sites.
The first product to go into my basket was the GlamGlow Youth Mud which has received a lot of hype due to its apparent magical radiance after just 10 minutes on the face. I haven't used it yet and I will try to write an in depth review for this product once I have used it a couple of times to see if it is indeed as miraculous as Nina Dobrev claims it to be! This was AUD $75 for a jar of 50mL which I don't think is too expensive as they are around USD 69 from Sephora.
The next product that I wanted to try was the BareMinerals foundation. I have seen so many beauty gurus use this product but have always dismissed it as I've never been a mineral cosmetics enthusiast. And powder foundation just didn't sit right with me. But after seeing it used as a make up setting powder which offered another layer of coverage, I was hooked and needed to try it out. Anything light with heavy coverage I will welcome with open arms (and credit cards).
The sales was super nice and we chatted about my pregnancy and her babies. She matched me to the colour W10 Golden Fair which is my current colour. She warned me that it might become a little too light if I planned to get some tan during the summer. But with a newborn coming in the next two weeks, I don't think I'll be hitting the beach too often! I used this over my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (as I did not want a thick foundation underneath this powder) and the finished result is so dewy. Almost too dewy. I'm not sure if its because the Vitalumiere Aqua is so moisture rich that the powder just got absorbed into it or whether the original formula of the BareMinerals foundation is meant to have a dewy finish. (I know there is a Matte version of this powder foundation available). The finish is not too thick at all and have almost a no makeup feel to it which I am thoroughly enjoying. This was AUD $34.95. Which is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Cosmeticsnow.com.au is selling it for $35 and beautybay.com has it for $36 and thats the "on special" price as well!
After trying on the foundation, I thought "what the heck, may as well try out the infamous Well Rested under eye concealer. The sales applied it on my under eyes with a dome shadow brush which puzzled me and it didn't blend out at all. But being a self anointed make up expert (ha.ha.) I overlooked this as I know my Real Techniques setting brush will make it all ok. But to my dismay, the well dressed was out of stock :( I swatched Summer Bisque next to Well Rested and the colour was very very similar with well resteded just a bit more warmer and yellow toned. And I was fine with that. Summer Bisque was AUD $24.95 which again was cheaper than online which baffled me. Had these prices gone down recently?
I haven't used a pen liner in about 2 years. I love how convenient and easy to use/control they are but one thing that bugged me all the time was that eye shadow would transfer onto the tips of the liner, making it 1. blunt and 2. blocks the liquid from coming out of the tip. So I usually end up having to throw away a liner not because there was no more product but because it was no longer making its way down to the tips. Recently I have been using the MAC fluid line gel liner everyday and I'm sad to say it has gotten to the end of it's lifespan. So what better time to try out this Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner. It is very easy to glide on, the colour comes out beautifully and I'm loving the control I have over it. Due to the fact that I have used a brush applicator to apply my fluid line for the past 2 years, I'm not yet used to the pen tip. It literally feels like I'm dragging a sharpie across my lids at the moment. This retails for RRP $18.95 and beautybay.com has it for $17.70 so again not much difference.
Again, as Mecca Maxima is new to Sydney, each customer purchase over $65 will receive a GWP gift. It contains a 30mL Philosophy cleanser (which smells amazing! the whole box smells of this product), a 15mL Clinique Super Primer, a full size Lancome Vintage Rose Lipstick and a Living Proof full thickening cream for hair. Because I purchased a fair bit of products, the sales was kind enough to offer me 2 sets of these which I am dying to try out.
Thanks for reading through my rant. I'd love to hear your opinions on the GlamGlow Youth Mud as I have yet to try it!
xo Kristen
