Monthly Marvels: May 2014

I've been a little behind in posting on my blog and I've especially neglected the my monthly favorites. Monthly favorites is a great way for sharing my thoughts on a few specific products that I've been loving recently. The products are usually still available for purchase and suit the current weather (Australia) which I think is important for any beauty loving girlfriend. Here are a few of the things I've been loving and simply can't put down in the past month.

Hourglass Femme Nude Lip Stylo in Nude No. 3, No. 4, No, 5 and No. 6

I may have gone a little overboard in choosing my "perfect nude" with Hourglass' Femme Nude Lip Stylos. The idea is to choose your ultimate nude lip colour from a selection of six shades. The lightest two shades were too concealer lips on me for my liking and the rest went into my shopping basket...

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush: Luminous Flush

L - R: Luminous Flush, Mood Exposure, Diffused Heat

If you have read my blog posts up to past the one month mark, you will have gathered that I am in love with the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes which were released here in Australia end of Feb (exclusive to Mecca Cosmetica). I have just been picking them up one after the other and fallen head over heels for the colours, the pigmentation, the texture and the general effect that it has on the skin. 

Monthly Marvels: March 2014

This month has been a hectic month of Drugstore makeup acquisitions and I'm sad to say that not much has made to my favorites for the month. This is one of the risks of buying low-end products as they are inconsistent throughout the brand or even colour selection within the same product range and are a bit of a hit and miss. The brands I can always rely on however, are Tom Ford, Hourglass and Chanel. If you want to dive into the deep-end, these are great brands to jump off from.

Now onto the favorites...

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush: Diffused Heat

If you have read my post on the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure, you will know that I wasn't too keen on this blushes from the beginning. I saw them in Mecca on the first day of their Australian release date and swatched one of the pale colours (Dim Infusion or Ethereal Glow) and didn't see the vibrancy and pigmentation that I usually go for in blushes. 

I purchased Mood Exposure on a whim and also at the recommendation of the Sales who helped apply some to my cheeks. At the time I was tossing between Mood Exposure and Diffused Heat. Only about 15 minutes after my purchase, I thought "what the hell, just buy both" so I went back in. But to my dismay, Diffused Heat was all sold out. It's been quite a while that anything I've ever wanted to buy from a cosmetics brand was sold out, so I was left feeling very empty and zombie-like. Like I didn't know what to do with my life anymore. After this state of shock subsided, I was a woman gone wild. I made it my life's mission to get my hands on one anyway I can. And here it is. After having it for two weeks or so now, I can confidently say, I need more Hourglass blushes.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush - Mood Exposure

I really didn't want to be bullied into buying this range of blushes from Hourglass by the blogger/youtube community. These blushes came out in Mecca Cosmetica in the last week of February and I didn't give them a second glance. I swatched Dim Infusion and my first thought was "just another blush with swirly pattern, it's probably an overhyped product just because the ambient lighting powders did so well." I had this mentality that if a product was too much anticipated due to the success of its predecessor, it will probably have a high chance of disappointing you. So I went home thinking "Ha! Not going fall for this marketing trap!" 

Monthly Marvels: February 2014

Yet another month has gone by. Time really does fly when you have a baby to look after. You get into a routine of feed, playtime, nap, feed, playtime and nap. February has also been a huge month of makeup shopping. There are so many products that I want to get through but I just have the one face and one application per day so there is no way that I could get through all my cosmetics. I still haven't touched a lot of the Chanel, Benefit and Dior products that I featured in a high end haul end of last month. 

Here are the products that I have been thoroughly enjoying throughout the entire month of February.

Mecca Haul

I have been terrible this month. I practiced no self restraint at all. It's shameful! I even shocked myself when I added up all my beauty related purchases from my credit card bill. *cringe* But would I take any of it back? Hell NO!

I've popped into Mecca a couple of times during February and accumulated a few goodies of late. Of course it doesn't help that Mecca is just near where my husband works so every time I meet him for lunch, my credit card also has a date with Mecca Cosmetica.