Summer Beauty Must Haves ♡ ft. ColourPop, xoBeauty Lashes, Charlotte Tilbury, Etude House, Urban Decay All Nighter, BeautyBlender Blotterazzi & Too Faced

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Today I am sharing with you 12 summer beauty must haves that I have been loving this past summer and just incase that you're wondering, it is currently autumn in New Zealand and winter will arrive next month. The weather has been not so good and it is getting colder day by day, so I want to cheer up my blog by sharing with you something summery.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur is one of my favourite and most reached for primer, it is described as a lightweight cream that provides multi-filtering effects for instantly refined and smooth skin.

I haven't worn foundation at all during this summer and I have been keeping my makeup natural during weekdays for work etc... I find that the Etude House Face Blur does a great job at brightening my complexion and it smooth out my skin as if I was wearing foundation.

My favourite things about this Face Blur is that it covers pores, hides imperfection and make my skin look flawless, also, for people like me that just hate the sticky feeling of sunscreen on the face, this primer provides some sun protections as it has SPF33/PA++.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow consist of a bronzer and a highlighter. I use both of them equally, but for the summer beauty must haves, I will only share with you my love for the bronzer as I have used the ColourPop highlighters a lot more frequently.

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar bronzer is the shimmery type, but it doesn't look like chunks of glitters on the cheek and I love that it slim, sculpt and it gives you that natural, sun-kissed look.

ColourPop Super Shock Highlighter in the shades Lunch Money (soft white gold), Monster (light pink with opalescent duo chrome) and Wisp (golden champagne with gold pearls) are my most used highlighter this summer and I love them because they are good quality with an affordable price tag.

I find that Lunch Money and Monster is perfect for lighter skin tones as the colour shows up almost white with lots of shimmer, and Wisp is more suitable for those with medium skin tones. I am between a light and medium and if I have to choose one shade only, I would pick Wisp because it just gives that perfect summer glow.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Blush in the shade Luminous Flush is described as a champagne rose and I seem to reach for this blush all year round.

Luminous Flush is such a beautiful colour, the blush is pigmented when doing arm swatches, but when it goes on the cheek, it is buildable as you swirl the colours together, it's not powdery and the blush looks very natural on the cheek.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette literally screams S U M M E R! The palette includes 18 eyeshadows in peachy pink shades and the best thing is that it smells like peaches, sometimes the scent can get a little too overwhelming, but I still like it.

I am aware of the recent drama with the brand, but let me just say that if a brand hasn't done any bad to me personally and/or if I've never had a bad experience with their products then most likely I will continue to buy and use their products. Not to mention that I do actually like Too Faced and I have enjoyed using most of their products.

Also, as you may (or may not) know, I am not an eyeshadow person and I only wear eyeshadows on special occasions or when I blog a MOTD etc, so I was actually quite surprised at how often I have reached for this palette this summer.

My favourite shades from this palette is Just Peachy (shimmering peachy pink), Candied Peach (matte coral with violet shimmer) and Summer Yum (matte gingerbread).

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

xoBeauty "The Romantic" False Lashes were designed for the girly girl who likes a bit of flirt, a bit of length and a bit of volume; and this is the perfect pair of falsies to wear out in summer either worn day or night.

Although I don't wear falsies regularly and it is only a special occasion thing, when I do wear falsies, xoBeauty is the brand that I always buy from. They have all types of false lashes from the super dramatic ones to the daily wearable types and the one that I buy repeatedly is The Romantic. I love that The Romantic gives the perfect volume without being too thick and fake looking, the quality is not stiff and it wears comfortably for hours.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Etude House Dear Darling Soda Tint in the shade PK003 Sweet Sugar Soda is my #1 SUMMER FAVOURITES! It is from the Wonder Fun Park Collection that was launched earlier this year and it was the only one that caught my attention out of the whole collection.

ColourPop Ultra Satin Lipstick in the shade November is described as a warm peachy pink and it is part of the Kathleen Lights collaboration.

As I was preparing this post, when it comes to the lips category, these were the only lip products that popped into my head. I was surprised as I do own a lot of lip products and I have tried a lot of new ones in the past months, but then when I think hard, I am not that surprised anymore as these two were the only ones I kept reaching back for.

Etude House PK003 is a rosy pink packed with gold shimmer, it has a semi-opaque colour payoff and it wears for 4 to 5 hours. Although the gold shimmers doesn't appear as big chunks of glitters on the lips, it does stay on hours after the actual rosy shades disappeared.

ColourPop November is a peachy pink that looks absolutely gorgeous on light to medium skin tones. I have always been a big fan of the Ultra Satin Lips formula as it is very comfortable to wear, the formula doesn't dry to a full matte and it's not transfer-proof, but it also doesn't smear all over my chin during the days. November does fades into the lip lines look after meals, but it is quite long-wearing because I only needed to touch-up once after my meal, during my 12 hours out and about.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray is my most re-purchased makeup products, I have been using it for years and I use it all year round. I love that it works like a breeze on oily skin and it literally keeps your makeup on all day during those sweaty, summer days.

It seems that Urban Decay has recently changed the packaging of this product and the one shown in my photo above is a travel-sized which is purse friendly.

Summer Beauty Must Haves 2017

BeautyBlender Blotterazzi is a blotting sponge that is made of the beautyblender material and it's like a replacement of blotting papers, for beauty touch-ups on the go.

When BeautyBlender announced the release of Blotterazzi a long time ago, all I wanted to do was ask them what is the point of this product?! Like, why would anyone spend so much on two sponges when you can get such affordable blotting papers.

Then my thoughts towards the Blotterazzi changed completely when I begin to use it regularly and now I am obsessed with this beauty tool and seriously, it is the best thing ever for oily skin girls, especially in the humid summer weather.

Comparing Blotterazzi and regular blotting papers, I find that blotting papers runs out so fast and it seems that I had to blot my face so often even though most of them claims to be so matte. On the other hand with Blotterazzi, you can wash it as many times as you like, and I literally feel like I only needed to blot my face twice at the most throughout the day.

Also, Blotterazzi comes in a compact with a mirror for easy touch-ups and it is so handy! If you were to use blotting papers, you would have to carry a seperate mirror.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my list of Summer Beauty Must Haves! All of these items are my favourites and regularly used products, and I would highly recommend them, especially for those with oily skins.

have you tried any of the products mentioned?

what is your must have beauty products for summer?

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter ♡ Swatches & Before + After Application Comparison

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter was first released in 2013 as part of The Holidays Collection, it was a Limited Edition product that Charlotte Tilbury occasionally brings back as a 'back by popular demand' item. 

I bought my Bar of Gold Highlighter from Nordstrom in 2015, at the time of my purchase, this product was marked as a Limited Edition item with limited quantities and it made me think that if I don't buy this, it will be gone forever. 

As you know, I buy majority of my makeup based on the packaging and the Bar of Gold Highlighter is one of those products that I must have in my collection because the packaging is to-die-for, or at least I think so at the time of my purchase. I admit that I haven't give this highlighter much attention since my purchase because it's not as amazing as expected, but I have recently started using this highlighter again and I find that I actually quite like it. 

So today I am sharing with you an overall review of the Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter, I feel that the packaging isn't as luxury as expected, but the product quality deserves a mention on my blog. Plus, I love Charlotte Tilbury and I want to review as much of her products on my blog as I can, after all it's my all-time favourite beauty brand!

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter features a light-reflecting ingredient that lift dull skin and sculpt your cheekbones to perfection. It claims to create a radiant, glossy complexion in just five gentle strokes across the cheekbones, temples, nose and cupid's bow with its delicately-fine, softly-glided formula. This highlighter is idea for lifting and illuminating dull skin and hides imperfections with its' luxurious pure gold pearls.

As mentioned earlier, I bought this highlighter purely for the packaging and it turned out to be a huge disappointment as the actual product looks nothing like their promotional photos online.

In Charlotte Tilbury's promotional photos, the highlighter looks like an actual bar of gold, it looks luxurious and I imagined that if it's not made in a glass material, it would at least come in a plastic compact like all her other products; but the highlighter arrives in a cardboard box type of material, it didn't even come with an outer packaging. The gold packaging looks expensive, but the overall feel of the product felt very cheaply made.

I feel that if Charlotte Tilbury makes the Bar of Gold Highlighter in a plastic casing, it would make a huge difference on the overall appearance because the actual highlighter and the design is beautifully made.

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

I love all types of highlighters, depends on the occasion, I like the ones with a sheer pigmentation that applies with a subtle glow, but I especially love the ones that are very pigmented and applies with a blind-ya-eyez glow on the cheek. My highlighter could be popping or it could be a hint of glow, either way, my only expectation is that it must look natural.

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Glow Highlighter is made with a very finely milled powder that glides on the skin soft and so smoothly. When I swipe my finger across the highlighter, the colour is shown as a super pigmented white gold and when I apply the highlighter on my cheekbones with a fan brush, the pigmentation is very sheer, but you can still see the glow, it looks very subtle and natural.

You can build up the highlighter to add that extra glow on the cheek, but you cannot pack-on the product to get that blind-ya-eyez super pigmented glow effect.

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter

Here is a before and after application comparison of the Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter. I am not sure if you can see the difference on your screen, but on my computer screen, it shows that the right photo has that subtle glow on the cheek.

The comparison photos were taken in-door on a sunny day without flash and please keep in mind that I did smooth out my skin in both photos, but no extra glow effects was added. If you are able to see the glow on the picture on the right, that is the actual result of after applying Bar of Gold.

Overall I love the product quality of the Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighter but I definitely think that Charlotte Tilbury could do better on the packaging because no one expects to get a cardboard box packaging from such a luxury high-end brand. Plus, I just cannot imagine mixing Charlotte Tilbury and bad product packaging together because all her other products, even non Limited Edition ones feels and looks like the price you pay for, all her other products feels expensive, looks luxurious and they are always perfection. Don't you think?!

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm ♡ All 5 Colors Swatches

 Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm

INNISFREE

ECO FLOWER TINT BALM

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm is described as a lip balm with vivid colors that moisturizes and revitalizes your lips. There is a total of five colors available from the range and I bought all of it while Innisfree had a buy one get one free on lip products promotion.

I personally love tinted lip balms and I find that they are such a convenient grab and go beauty product. Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm has a creamy and soft texture that glides on the lips smoothly with a one-swipe pigmentation! The colors are very pigmented, but at the same time it delivers a subtle effect on the lips, they even last through an oily lunch or dinner, which is quite impressive for a lip balm.

In-depth review of the Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm coming soon.

 Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm No.4 Rose

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm No.3 Camellia

 Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm No.1 Azaleas

 Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm No.5 Calendula

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm No.2 Garden Balsam

Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm

MAC Haul & First Impression ♡ ft. Lip Scrubtious, Beaming Blush, Petal Power, Viva Glam II Lipstick & Pink Rebel Lustre Drops

MAC Haul 2017

Today I am sharing with you Part B of the MAC Haul that I have purchased recently and it features the newly released Lip Scrubtious and a few products that has been sitting on my wish list.

I have already shared with you Part A of this haul which featured some new-to-me skincare products from MAC, click here for the post if you have not read it yet.

I am starting this haul with my most wanted product from MAC and it has literally been sitting in my favourites for a year! It is the MAC Petal Power Mineralize Blush and it was definitely love at first site from the first time I saw the swatches online. I have been wanting to try it SO BADLY, but looking into my makeup collection, I already own a lot of blushes that are quite similar and most of them are untouched.

To be honest I don't think I need any of these products being mention in the haul because I already own a bunch of blushes, highlighters, lipsticks etc... in similar colours, but there's just this voice in my head saying I NEED THESE BECAUSE IT'S MAC! Totally not an excuse to buy makeup that I don't need, but I cannot deny the fact that I love MAC and I want to try as many new products from the brand as I can.

MAC Petal Power Mineralize Blush

MAC Petal Power Mineralize Blush

Anyway, MAC Petal Power Mineralize Blush is described as a "coral pink with gold shimmer", it is a blush that builds lightly, layer after layer, without heavy coverage. I find that Petal Power has a semi-opaque coverage that is buildable, but because it has a lot of shimmer, when I layer the blush on my cheek, it just looks like a metallic gold.

MAC Beaming Blush Extra Dimension Skinfinish

MAC Beaming Blush Extra Dimension Skinfinish

MAC Beaming Blush Extra Dimension Skinfinish

MAC Beaming Blush Extra Dimension Skinfinish is described as a "pink that breaks gold", it is a liquid-powder highlighter that gives a luminous, well-defined finish. The pink / gold effect was very hard to pick up on camera, but Beaming Blush is the most beautiful, BEAUTIFUL blush I have ever come across from MAC.

I have been using Beaming Blush with a fan brush and I find that it doesn't matter what kind of brushes I use, it delivers the same subtle luminous effect, but when I use my fingers to apply, it will give me that very heavy glow.

MAC Pink Rebel Lustre Drops

MAC Pink Rebel Lustre Drops is described as a "blue pink with gold pearl" and it is a liquid highlighter that can be used on its own or mix with moisturiser and foundation. I definitely cannot see any blue pink, not when looking in the bottle and not when I squeeze out the product. The colour is more of a champagne with a luminous look when blend out on skin.

I haven't tried mixing the Lustre Drops with foundation, but I have been using it on its own and I find the colour to be quite sheer and the glow effect is quite subtle. The bottle comes with one of those tiny squeezer heads and I like that the amount you need to dispense can be easily controlled.

MAC Candied Nectar Lip Scrubtious

MAC Candied Nectar Lip Scrubtious is a newly introduced product this year and it comes in a total of five flavours: Candied Nectar, Fruit of Passion, Summery Berry, Sweet Brown Sugar, Sweet Vanilla. These are described as a sugar-based exfoliator that gently buffs away dry and flaky skin.

There is this thick layer of balmy / oil when I opened the lip scrub and I am actually quite confused because I am not sure if you are suppose to remove this layer or leave it?! Majority of the Lip Scrubtious photos that I have seen online don't have this balmy layer and when I use the lip scrub, it gets very oily and greasy, so I am totally confused!

Apart from that, I love the Lip Scrubtious! It scrub away the dry skin instantly and made my lips feel smooth and soft, also it smells delicious!

MAC Viva Glam II Lipstick

Lastly, it is about time I buy one of these Viva Glam (non celebrity collaboration) Lipsticks. This is MAC Viva Glam II and it is described as a "muted pink-beige with shimmer" in a Satin finish. Just in-case you are unaware, every cent of the selling price of the Viva Glam is donated to the MAC AIDS Fund.

MAC Viva Glam II looks like a greyish pink on me, it has a smooth texture that glides on beautifully, but the colour made my teeth looks yellow >.< ~ I am having mix feelings about this...

DID I MENTION THAT there was a 25% off discount for MAC Select members when I placed this order, so I got the Petal Power Mineralize Blush, the Beaming Blush Extra Dimension Skinfinish and the Candied Nectar Lip Scrubtious all at a very special price. Plus, the Pink Rebel Lustre Drops was on sale and overall I got such a great bargain! 

ALSO, have you noticed that I am currently having a pink / gold obsession?! Almost all the highlighters and blushes that I have recently purchased are in similar shades and I am excited to test them and play with them more, so I can hopefully review the individual products soon! As I feel like I have been doing too much hauls lately and I am definitely missing the product reviews.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Collection ♡ ft. Sweet Peach Glow Palette, Papa Don't Peach Blush & Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette - Swatches + First Impression

Too Faced Sweet Peach Collection

Ever since Too Faced launched their peach-scented eyeshadow palette, it has been so popular and it is the most talked about makeup products in the beauty world. Everyone was trying to get their hands on that sold-out palette and when Too Faced launched a whole new collection based around the peach theme, every makeup junkies goes crazy and that including me.

Seriously I had no idea why everyone was so obsessed with the Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette until I bought it and tried it myself. The palette has that strong peachy scent that spreads around the room even when you close the lids tightly and it's the same with all the other powder products from this collection. I have been using the Sweet Peach Eyeshadow palette a lot since my purchase, I feel that I have used it more than my Chocolate Bar palette and we all know that I own the Chocolate Bar way longer than the Sweet Peach.

I bought a total of three items from the Too Faced Sweet Peach Collection, I have the Eyeshadow Palette, the Glow Palette and the Papa Don't Peach Blush. I skip out on the Creamy Peach Oil Lip Gloss as the swatches online shown a lot of streakiness and I just didn't think it would be something I would wear for now.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette is described as a peach-infused, highlighting palette that features an illuminator, blush and bronzer that gives your skin the appearance of being bathed in the most beautiful peachy golden light.

The Sweet Peach Glow Palette retails for NZD $66.00 (I bought mine from Mecca) and it comes packaged in a tin case with a decent sized mirror. The peach scent is not as strong as the eyeshadow palette, but it is still strong enough that I feel overwhelmed every time I opened the palette.

There is three shades included in the Glow Palette and my favourite is definitely the illuminator, it has a good pigmentation and a buttery soft texture, the highlighter is able to deliver a subtle glow and it looks very natural on my cheekbone.

As for the blush and the bronzer, I am not really feeling either shades because the pigmentation is so sheer! They each requires a couple of swipe on the product to at least get a hint of colour to shown on the skin and also I feel like the texture is not as soft as the illuminator and the bronzer is too shimmery to use as a bronzer.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Papa Don't Peach Blush

Too Faced Papa Don't Peach Blush is described as a peach scented blush that features a rich and pigmented shade that provides a buildable payoff. It says to be wearable and looks flattering on any skin tone, it claims to leave a youthful-looking radiance to cheeks for a glided, pink-pearl and brightening finish.

Papa Don't Peach retails for NZD $47.00 (again, I bought mine from Mecca) and it comes packaged in a square-sized tin case with a super cute peach smiley face designed on the lid. It also comes with a decent-sized mirror and it has that overpowering peach fragrance when opened.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Papa Don't Peach Blush

Too Faced Sweet Peach Papa Don't Peach Blush

I thought that Papa Don't Peach and the blush from the Glow Palette looks very similar, but when I swatched both shades side by side, Papa Don't Peach looks more pinky-coral while the blush from the Glow Palette is more orangey.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Papa Don't Peach Blush

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette is the only product that I actually, really enjoy using from the Sweet Peach Collection. Even though I rarely use eyeshadows and I don't wear eye makeup on a daily basis, I have already used this palette multiple times since my purchase (I bought it directly from Too Faced, it retailed for USD $49.00).

The Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette features 18 eyeshadows in peachy pinks, corals, bronzes and purple shades. It also includes a Glamour Guide with three detailed eye looks tutorial that are very easy to re-create even for beginners.

I love that the eyeshadows from this palette blends beautifully on skin, either with finger swatch or applied with a makeup brush. The texture is smooth with hardly any fall-outs. The pigmentation is mostly opaque, even the lighter / pearly shades appears quite pigmented and the matte shades aren't chalky at all.

Just like the two other Sweet Peach products mentioned above, the eyeshadow palette also has a very strong, (VERY VERY STRONG) peach scent. It's sweet and it smells nice, but sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes I get this choky feeling in my throat when I use this palette because the smell is just too strong.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette

 White Peach - matte vanilla cream

 Luscious - pearl peach champagne (love using this shade on brow bone)

 Just Peachy - shimmering peachy pink (favourite ♥︎)

 Bless Her Heart - golden moss

 Tempting - bronzed black

 Charmed, I'm Sure - matte medium cool brown

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette

 Nectar - pearly peachy cream (love using this shade as base)

 Cobbler - peachy pinked bronze

 Candied Peach - matte coral with violet shimmer (love at first sight ♥︎)

 Bellini - glided peach

 Peach Pit - satin perfect raisin

 Delectable - matte smokey amethyst

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette

 Peaches 'N Cream - matte milky peach 

 Georgia - matte peachy pink 

 Caramelized - dark glided bronze

 Puree - metallic dark bronze

 Summer Yum - matte gingerbread (I like using this shade in the crease)

 Talk Derbe To Me - shimmering black violet

SaveSaveSaveSave