Beauté Gazette's Best in Beauty for 2012

1. LIP PRODUCTS
Revlon Balm Stains $17.95 and Revlon Lip Butters $21.95 available from www.priceline.com.au

Both of these products were super hyped prior to them being released in Australia and I didn't want to like them but after trying them out I cannot fault them.
The Balm Stains are exactly that, they go on as a balm and create a soft stain - it isn't a long wear product its just the happy medium between a lip balm and a sheer lipstick. My favorites: Smitten (flush fucshia) and Adore (deep ash red)
Revlon Lip Butters are a highly pigmented lip balm, and they are AMAZING. The colour range is fantastic from nudes to deep berries and reds - any colour you could possible want. My Favorites: Raspberry Pie, Pink Truffle, Tutti Fruiti & Red Velvet.

2. FOUNDATION

Stila SPF 30 Oil-Free Sheer Colour Tinted Moisturizer $55.00 avilable from www.meccacostmetica.com.au

Everything I want in a base : hydrating, blendable, colour corrective and a high spf! This was my go to base of 2012, in winter blotting away the shine with a tissue and in summer leaving it looking glowy and natural. This is a light coverage foundation, and you will need to conceal over the top and powder if you like but it gives everyone a great glow. I kept on coming back to this all year after trying heavier foundations which I found too heavy and suffocating for my skin.

3. MASCARA

Maybelline The Flasies Flared $19.25 available from www.priceline.com.au

If you can get over the hideous packaging this is one amazing mascara! I have been a high-end mascara snob up until now, preferring Lancome and Chanel never being satisfied with cheaper alternatives. The Flasies gives wham-bam lashes, lengthening and thickening with only 1 or 2 coats and is super charcoal black. It is a total dupe for my adored Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara and I unashamedly love it.

4. BROWS

MAC Eye Shadow in Omega $33.00 available from www.maccosmetics.com.au

Rimmel Eye Brow Pencil in Hazel $8.50 available from www.priceline.com.au

Eye Brows have been a really big deal to me in 2012....that sounds superficial and really not that big of a deal at all in the scheme of things. But during my makeup routine over the past year I have not been able to feel put together and 'done' if my eyebrows weren't attended too. MAC's Omega is a matte ash brown which is great for blondes, it blends into your natural brows easily and stays put all day. If I am in huge rush and cant be bothered with whole angle brush and powder I will run Rimmel's Eye Brow Pencil in Hazel through my brows, it is a very warm light brown which doesn't scream 'I AM WEARING A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MAKEUP TODAY'.  I couldn't decided between the two products and both are equally great depending on the amount of time you can afford in front of the mirror.

5.BRONZER

Stila Sun Shade Bronzer (shade 1) $45.00 available from www.meccacosmetica.com.au 

Hello sunshine in a compact, this is a perfecto matte bronzer for lighter skin tones. Something different I have started doing in 2012 is applying my bronzer with a small tapered brush rather than a huge traditional bronzing brush. This gives you more control and a better finish, chiseling out my non existent cheek bones and giving that halo-J-Lo glow.

6. BLUSH & HIGHLIGHTER

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar $86.00 available from www.bobbibrown.com.au

Here is where I eat my words....I had previously slayed this product, after trying to use it with a massive brush and getting it EVERYWHERE. Do not do that. Use smaller brushes and isolate the colours using them on different areas of the face ie: the second colour down is amazing as a highlighter on its own for the inner corners of your eyes and down the center of your nose and the bottom three together are a the perfects rosey blush for the apples of your cheeks blended up onto the cheek bone to give a very 90's Linda Evangelista-Super model look. I want to pick up a few more shimmer bricks because I just cannot get enough of them, how wrong I was. Tsk-Tsk-Tsk!

7. EYE SHADOW

The Balm Over Shadow in 'If your rich, I'm single' $26.95 available from David Jones Australia Wide

Woahhhhhh! These shadows are super tiny but they are incredibly pigmented and easy to work with, using a small flat brush pack on the shadow in roughly the shape you want and blend out with a fluffy brush. They are shimmer city but have amazing depth in colour and give a dimension to the eyes like you have used multiple shadows and spent hours perfecting your eye shadow. This simple little pot is amazing, I wore this over Christmas to various parties will post a mini tutorial using this shadow soon.

8. EYE LINER

Cover Girl Liquiline Blast Liner $14.95 www.priceline.com.au

I suffer from the most scardy-cat eyes ever, even go near them with a pencil and they twitch and water up, so liners need to be super soft and glide on and be done in under 30seconds. I am so in Love with  these CoverGirl liners, there are the softest pencil I have ever used! They can be used on your waterline or like me if you under packed on a trip and didn't bring a single eye shadow can be blended out with fingers or a brush to create a very quick smudgy/smokey look.

9. CONCEALER

BareMinerals Stroke of Light $26.95 available from www.kitcosmetics.com.au

I have had a switch up with concealers this year getting older my priority changed, I used to just want heavy coverage but now I am paranoid of creasing with heavy coverage and I need a moisturizing seamless concealer. Applied with only moisturizer or on top of a foundation Bare Minerals Stroke of like is amazing at blending in and doesn't crease no matter how much laughing I do - I laugh A LOT!

10. BATH PRODUCT

Korres Shower Gel $22.95 available from www.kitcosmetics.com.au

Korres Shower Gels are heaven, they are almost completely natural I think - they have a speil about how they are free from any nasty things on the side of the bottle. The main reason I like them is the smells....ahhhhhhh they are so refreshing and heavenly, during Winter I was big into the Vanilla and Cinnamon for Summer I have been liking the fresh Jasmine Rose. 

11. HAIR CARE

Organic Care Shampoo and Conditioner $3.60 available from Woolworths

I am a big advocate of organic and nasty free shampoo and conditioner, there is no point in spending heaps of money on it either.....ummm it goes down the drain. When I am in the shower I products which are going to clean and not leave any chemical residue in my hair - because I load enough oils and dry shampoo and hair spray and texturizer after the shower. Organic Care is great, all the different varieties leave my hair feeling the same after being washed but I try to buy the Heat Protect or Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner combos.

12. EYE CREAM

The Body Shop Elderflower Eye Gel $17.95 available from www.thebodyshop.com.au

So this is new, an eye cream. I am about to turn 29 in less than a week *freak out* and for the first time in my life I feel an eye cream is absolutely essential in my night time skin care routine. What I love about The Body Shop's Elderflower Eye Gel is that it is unscented, and super cooling - great for the sensitive skin around your eyes. It has decreased puffiness, dark circles and the little dotty things I get when I am absolutely knackered. 

Hope you enjoyed this mamoth post! Woah! With Christmas and New Years I took a little time off trying to spend time with my friends and family - more regular posting will be happening from now on - promise.

Nella xxx

Please let me know what product you enjoyed over the last year in the comments below... I would love to know about anything I am missing out on.

What's in my bag? Summer Everyday Makeup

My makeup bag changes daily depending if I have had enough time to apply eyeshadow or if I can be bothered with a bright lip.
This is what I have been carrying about in my makeup bag today:

Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle:
This is my perfect brownie nude - finally I have found one! Having a very light and pink toned skin beige-nude toned lip colours look terrible on me, l look absolutely sick. In the packaging Pink Truffle looks slightly mumsy, but on the lips it gives just the right amount on 'my lips but better' with a slight nod to Olivia Palermo.

Real Techniques Contour Brush:
The only brush I have been using to apply blush, it can get into the hollow of your cheek to do a bit of cheek-bone cheating contouring and can also apply your blush perfectly onto the apples of your cheeks. Recently I have been totally into using smaller brushes to apply product and then a larger kabuki to blend out.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar:
Previously I had written about Bobbi Brown Shimmer bricks saying that they weren't worth the hype - I am putting my hand up - I was wrong. The reason I was hating on the bricks was that I was applying them all wrong! Using smaller brushes like the Real Techniques Contour Brush, and using the colours in the shimmer brick separately and only applying to your cheeks not an all over shimmer mess- they give you the sweetest glow to your cheeks.

The Balm Sexy Mama Transulesent Powder:
By 10am my forehead is shining like its just won a logie during summer, translucent powder is my best friend. Tinted powders give me too much coverage and look cakey but this powder is just right.

Lancomes Hypnose Drama:
With such a neutral face go I BIG with my lashes, like 8 layers of thick spider lashes.

Dr Jart+ BB Water Fuse:
Being out and about this doubles as my sunscreen, if I am going to have lunch outside or going to appointments I will re-apply this to make sure not to get burnt. The formula is light enough to be build-able and blends easily with fingers.

Bare Minerals Stroke of Light Concealer Shade 2:
I picked this up over the weekend and already it is a new favourite, giving good coverage for under eye concealing with slight light reflecting shine not as much as YSL's Touche Eclat. It is also a very affordable at $26.95 compared to other higher end brands concealers.

Loreal Brow Stylist in blonde:
Wow this is great, it is such a soft wax pencil and glides onto brows rather than pulling. The colour isn't that amazing - but it does the job.

Sportsgirl Travel Kabuki:
Such a soft brush - I love it for applying translucent powder throughout the day.

So that's it - probably my most restrained makeup bag ever.
What's in your summer everyday makeup bag? Is there anything that you cannot leave the house without?

Beauté Gazette's Work Out Face

After a week's recovery from being ill and feeling like death becomes her, I have rejoined the world. This morning I attempted some exercise which I was dreading after laying on my bum all week - I felt like anything but fit and healthy.

To pep myself up I decided to apply some products which are exercise proof, meaning they are not going to run down your face at the gym or if you decide to go for a spontaneous dip after your run you aren't going to freak the poor kids in the wading pool out with your panda eyes.

Revlon Grow Lucious Waterproof Mascara $18.70(On sale)

One of my favorite youtuber's Chelsea (Chelseawears check her out!) uses this mascara all the time, and I have always been suspicious of it because Revlon mascara's in the past haven't impressed me BUT seeing this on sale at the discount chemist - like an obsessed bargin hunter- I picked it up and now love it! The packaging is awful, but it is a really good mascara for those days you need natural lashes not spider eyes.

Available from Chemist Warehouse www.chemistwearhouse.com.au

Ella Baché Sunguard Foundation 30+ $46.00

This is the thickest goopiest foundation sunscreen ever, but it covers like no other you can sweat, rub, swim and it won't budge. This is great for across your nose if you are out doors in summer, it's like grown ups zinc.

Available from Ella Baché www.ellabache.com.au

Bobbi Brown SPF15 Lip Balm $42.00

If you are exercising outside in the sun protecting your lips is really important, the last thing you want is sun spots on your lips. Ewwwww

Available from David Jones Stores www.bobbibrown.com

Becca Beach Tint in Watermelon $42.00

This is adorable, not overly pigmented it is very much a tint - not a blush. When applied with fingers on the apples of your cheeks it leaves a dewy glow mimicking a radiant post warm up jog glow. 

Available from www.beccacosmetics.com.au 

Smashbox Brow Tech To Go $38.95

Groomed eyebrows can change your face, even if you are sweating up a storm on the cross trainer at the gym and your hair is a mess, having groomed eyebrows will still make you look composed. If your gym crush happens to be lifting weights across the way he will be able to make out if you are giving him a cheeky wink, and you're not just freaking out that the cross trainer went up to level 8 resistance.

Smashbox available from www.kitcostmetics.com.au

Almost dying trying to get back into soft sand running this morning on the beach.

Don't Believe The Hype : #1

Everything on this blog is my personal opinion - apart from if its a specified spiel from a giant cosmetic company claiming that they can make your lips bigger, get rid of you wrinkles and make you 10 times more beautiful by tomorrow.

Its not serious and I usually don't buy things that I really dislike because I am a 'savvy 20 something that knows how to use the power of the Internet for good not evil'.  My friends and family do it love when I get it wrong because I always give away things that haven't made the cut.

1. Loreal Telescopic Mascara $26.80

This was raved about by one of my favorite YouTube girls Vivianna Does Make up, she was banging on about how she put it on whilst on the tube (British). So I bought it. Its crap, well its not crap, she loves it. Its the brush that's not a brush its a comb and the product is really wet formula which just makes my usually naturally curled lashes point out straight and clump. If you can make this work for you, 10 points and please let me know how you do it.

2. Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains $16.00

When the lip stain trend was in full force last year I was sucked into that like a tornado, I was one of the cows in Twister - not Helen Hunt. But I survived with the debris of 15 lip stains cluttering up my makeup draws. Firstly the Revlon Lip Stain has a lip balm on the end - mine snapped off within the first use so I have no idea what it was like. It didn't pack the punch of my other Covergirl lipstains which the stain lasts almost all day and definitely have got more colour pay off and they are also $6.00 cheaper. And one more thing I hate that tacky twilight-esque font on the packaging.

3. Shu Uemura Foundations - $64 Face Architect Foundation  (but in general it's all of them)

I really want to like them because its one of my favorite Japanese beauty brands. The problem is that they do not have my colour, white girl is not in the spectrum of shades. Its such a shame because they have this really cool aerosol can of foundation that's really high tech and I am desperate to have it. Please don't let this put you off the brand it is fantastic and if they have your shade then lucky you! Especially the eye shadows they are a dream and the limited edition collaborations are beautiful especially the Tsumori Chitsato sets  from about 2 years ago.

4. Maybelline Great Lash Curved Mascara $8.99

The curved brush really stabs my eyeballs when applying it and the fall out is really bad it had given me dark circles by 10am. This cult product made me look like I was in a cult.

5. Nars Lip Gloss $39.00

I'm not really a lip gloss girl to begin with, your hair gets stuck in it. The Nars lip gloss is so sticky that its hard to even apply its like putting cold honey on your lips. The colours are really good and they have a new plumping formulation which i will try out to see if there is any improvement to the formula.

6. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks $48.00

These are really shimmery, duh its called a freakin' Shimmer Brick! But its the type of shimmer and opacity which should only be going on in eye shadows. It is so shimmery it casts a white glow to your face from the lightest colours and highlights YOUR PORES!!!! I had a really bad time with this in both colours - yep I bought 2 colours - SUCKER!

7. Kiehl's Penthol Protein Moisturizing Face Cream $22.50 

This is a good moistirizer, just not for my face, its since been de-potted and put in travel size containers for legs on holidays. It gets all in my eyebrows and hair line coating them in white cream making me look like Santa Clause and it's impossible to put a foundation on top of it because it peels off like pilling on a cheap synthetic jumper. 

8. Burts Bees Sensetive Eye Cream ($29.95 N/A)

I did not purchase this -  it came free with a magazine. But I had to include it because the story of my single time using the product is very funny. I packed this eye cream in my toiletries bag when going on the first sexy weekend away with a lover, I thought you know its a small sample size and 'natural' kind off not wanting to pack my massive night cream. After coming back from a night swim and a long shower I moisturized as normal before bed, the eye cream was on the bedside table and I applied it in the dark before going to sleep. Morning came and I awoke to my lovers shocked face on top of mine saying that he could 'call a doctor if i needed', the eye cream had turned into a white flaky crust all over my eyes! It came off with a little warm water and my skin wasn't irritated at all but the shocked reaction caused me to bin the eye cream straight away.

So in total I have wasted $225.30 on these products. It is actually a lot more than this but these are the products that I can remember using and not agreeing with. 

What products have you regretted buying? Or what products have you been talked into buying by a very persuasive beauty counter sales assistant like a sucker?