REVIEW: MAC PRO LONGWEAR NOURISHING WATERPROOF FOUNDATION

I was both nervous and excited when the new Mac Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof foundation was released. Mac foundations and I generally don't get along too well. I tried the Mac Studio Fix foundation because I had heard good things about its longevity on oily skin like mine. In reality though I found that it looked cakey no matter how I applied it and my lunch time it had already become patchy and worn half off my face. The Mac Pro Longwear lasted much longer on my skin but it didn't have quite the coverage that I like.

So although I was skeptical that I could find a Mac foundation that would work for, I had read such good reviews of the Mac Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof foundation that I thought I would give it a try anyway.

Good decision, because I really love this foundation.

Click here to read the full review.

HAUL: SEPHORA AUS - IT COSMETICS, TARTE, BITE BEAUTY

There's a little story to accompany my haul.

A few weeks ago I had a disappointing experience at Sephora. Long story short what it amounted to was poor customer service and I lodged a complaint with Sephora. To be honest, it was very unlike me to bother. It’s probably only the second time I have ever bothered (I have been in customer service and I know that the staff are only human and everything isn’t going to be perfect all the time). What crossed the line for me this time was that I was in incredible pain at the time. I am in the third trimester of my pregnancy and my back was just….. unbearable. I shouldn’t have walked up there. It really is largely my fault. The problem is, I thought at the time that it would be the last opportunity I would have to go to Sephora before the baby was born so I stubbornly made my excruciating way from work to the shop, only to find that it was impossible to get served and to turn around and walk all the way back without buying anything.

So pregnant grumpy me got on my phone and sent through a complaint.

By way of apology, one of the managers arranged for me to have a complimentary makeup session. I didn’t think I would be able to take up the opportunity but as fate would have it I ended up back in the city and was able to book an appointment.

Although it was complimentary and I could have left with a fabulous face of makeup at no cost), of course I just had to spend some money.

I spent a total of approximately $90.00 and came away with three new products and three samples. 

Click on "Read More" for more details about my purchases.

REVIEW: JORDANA POWDER BLUSH

Jordana Powder Blushes are not readily available in Australia. I actually picked mine up at a makeup shop called Cosmo Cosmetics. I know that they have a store in Parramatta and on on George Street in Sydney. They stock a lot of products that aren’t readily available in Australia. I don’t know where they come from and I also suspect that a lot of the high ends brands they stock are likely to be fakes.

I know that they can also be purchased from Beauty Joint.com.

I was lucky enough to purchase 4 of the Jordana Powder Blushes and I really must say that I have been very impressed with these blushes.

Read on for the full review. 

REVIEW: TOO FACED MELTED LIPSTICKS IN NUDE, PEONY, FUCHSIA & BERRY

As with a lot of the products I purchase, I had been watching a lot of rave reviews about the Too Faced Melted Lipsticks on You Tube before I committed to buying them.

In 2014, Too Faced released a limited edition Melted Kisses set that 4 mini Melted Lipsticks in the shades Nude, Peony, Fuchsia and Berry. That did it. After all the rave reviews I had been reading, I couldn’t help but purchase this little set that seemed like such value for money.

I’ve been wearing them for many months now so I have come to know them very well before writing this review.

Do I like them? They’re ok. Although they do have their good features, I haven’t found that they meet the expectations that I have of them after reading and watching so many wonderful reviews.

For the full review click on “read more”.

REVIEW: ANASTASIA BEVERLEY HILLS BROW WIZ

When Sephora opened in Sydney, the Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz is one of the products that I was most excited about purchasing.

Until I purchased it, I had been consistently using the Essence Eyebrow Stylist Kit and was very happy with it (click here to read my review and it will open in another window). 

Nonetheless, I still find the convenience of a pencil brow product very appealing and I had only ever read good reviews of the Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz.

I was a little nervous. It isn’t cheap and my only other experience with brow pencils was with drugstore brow pencils and they are just never quite right.

Fortunately, the Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz has been a great purchase.

Read on for the review.

REVIEW: MILANI COLOR STATEMENT LIPSTICKS IN PRETTY NATURAL, PLUMROSE & UPTOWN MAUVE

I think that I have been watching and reading reviews of the Milani Color Statement Lipstick line for about 2 years now and I have never seen or read a bad review of the line. So of course my expectations were high when I finally made my purchase of Pretty Natural, Plumrose and Uptown Mauve.

It is really hard not to have high expectations of a product when you have been reading such good reviews of them for such a long time. The risk of course is that the product can never match up with those high expectations.

Did these meet my high expectations? I have been wearing them exclusively for two weeks now and I am a little confused by my reaction to them.

I think that the best way to describe my feelings is to say that “the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts”. Aristotle may not have had lipstick in mind when he said that but it nevertheless seems appropriate when I consider my opinion of these lipsticks.

Read on for the review. 

MINI HAUL: MILANI COLOLR STATEMENT LIPSTICKS

Would you look at these beauties! Milani Color Statement Lipsticks in Naturally Pretty, Plumrose and Uptown Mauve. 

I have been watching YouTube videos and reading reviews of the Milani Color Statement Lipsticks for longer than I can remember. In all the reviews I have ever read/seen, people seem to rave about them. Cora from Vintage or Tacky on YouTube claims that they are the best reasonably priced lipstick available and that they are in fact better than a lot of the high end lipsticks that she owns.

That's a pretty glowing recommendation.

For years I have been looking at these online, adding them to carts and then never actually buying them. I think this is partly because I know I have enough lipsticks and partly because I can't help but feel that I would prefer to swatch things myself before I take the leap and purchase them.

Anyway, clearly, I took the leap and purchased them!

It was very exciting to finally receive them in the mail.

I have been very suck recently and haven't left the house, so definitely no makeup for me.

I have however, put all three on my lips just to see what they look like. The colours are beautiful and so opaque. I have only worn it one so time will tell but I think that Naturally Pretty might be my perfect "my lips but better" colour.

I did notice a few negatives that I wasn't expecting - they applied quite patchily. They sort of dragged across my lips and then when I removed the bullet from my mouth there were patches that had no lipstick on them at all. They also have that awful plastic smell some lipsticks get (Rimmel lipsticks - I'm looking at you). I also feel like they are going to have some transfer issues.

But, only time will tell. As I said, I have only put them on my lips once each and they haven't had a test run during a full day yet. So I am reserving judgment until I have tested them properly.

My enthusiasm is still high. I can't wait to take these babies on an outing and give the a proper test run.

BLOGLOVIN'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I have heard about Bloglovin' for a long time but had yet to really investigate what it was.

I first started blogging about 5 years ago on my other blog: Page Turners. If you are ever looking for a good book to read I highly recommend heading over there and checking it out.

Anyway, back in the day I followed other people's blogs just through blogger, which worked fine.

Now that I have started blogging again I found that that particular system just didn't seem to work as well for me. So, I started following other people's blogs on Bloglovin'. I have an app on my phone so that all I need to do if I find a blog that I like, is to hop on the app, search for the blog and start following it. So far it has been working really well for me.

Today I decided that I needed to get my act together and claim my own blog., which I have now done. So if you are looking for an easy way to follow My Red Lips and Freckles you can click on the Bloglovin' link in the side bar and whether you use Bloglovin' on your desktop or on your phone, you will be able to receive notifications whenever I put up a new post. Anything to make our lives that little bit easier, right?

ESSENCE EYEBROW STYLIST KIT: MY BROWS BUT BETTER

Image from the Essence website

I think that the Essence Eyebrow Sylist Kit was the first kit of brow powders that I ever purchased.

I've always been more of a brow pencil kind of girl. Mostly because of the convenience. I always found the pencil faster because you didn't need a brush and more convenient because you could easily just put it in your bag for top ups if required during the day.

The problem was that all of the brow pencils I had purchased were from cheaper brands and the colours were never quire right and the longevity was never quite there.

Not one to give up (and not one to buy a more expensive product if I can find a cheaper one that works), I thought that I would branch out and try the Essence Eyebrow Stylist Kit after seeing it reviewed by Goo Roo Beauty on her You Tube channel.

It is a decision that I never regretted. This is my go-to brow product. I LOVE it.

Read on for the review. 

HAUL: BOBBI BROWN, NARS, HOURGLASS, TOO FACED, COVERGIRL

I have been on a bit of a spending spree lately.

I tend to go through phases. Sometimes, I am just content watching You Tube videos and reading reviews but when it comes to actually buying anything I just feel a bit… meh *shrugs shoulders*. Nothing calls my name.

Then I will somehow enter into a new phase – a buying phase – where I feel an imperative to own everything I see and read about and to hell with the cost (well, not entirely, but you know what I mean).

The last couple of week have been one of those buying phases and the result is small but satisfying collective hall primarily from Mecca Maxima aka makeup heaven.

BITE BEAUTY AGAVE LIP MASK: CHAMPAGNE

I’m just going to come out and say it. I have dry lips. Like, really dry lips. They look dehydrated and can often become a little flaky. Most lipsticks will emphasise the dryness to a certain extent, even long wearing lipsticks don't tend to last too long and it means that I am very susceptible to the dreaded lipstick ring once it starts wearing off.

I do try to use lip balms but the reality is that they rarely seem to have any great impact on the dryness beyond some temporary relief. What I really want is something to help the dryness go away.

In comes the Agave Lip Mask by Bite Beauty.

I think at the time I purchased it I had seen only one review of the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask on You Tube but it was a really positive review that had got me all excited that this might be the product to help me with my dry lip problem. I was also just generally curious about the brand because one of my favourite You Tubers, Emily Eddington from Beauty Broadcast, is always raving about Bite Beauty lip products.

So, when Sephora finally opened in Sydney (yay) the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask was one of the first things that I looked for (once they finally let me into the shop). I was hoping to buy the original but by the time that I got there the only one left in stock was the Agave Lip Mask in Champagne.

Has it fixed my dry lip problem? Is it all that I hoped for?

Yes and no. I think it would be fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with this product.

Read on for the review. 

BOBBI BROWN CORRECTOR

Image from Bobbi Brown website

Thank goodness for this little miracle.

I have dark circles under my eyes. I mean really dark. It’s definitely as a result of genetics thanks to my father’s side of the family. I also have a toddler and am pregnant at the moment which only makes the circles even darker.

For years I had been concealing them with little effect. No concealer ever seemed to do the trick of covering the blue and because of my eye condition anything that goes under my eyes is going to have a longevity problem.

I would say about 12 months ago I started seeing a lot of reviews on you tube for the Bobbi Brown Corrector – a product designed to cover dark under eye circles.

After seeing so many positive reviews I decided to take the plunge and try it myself.

I haven’t regretted it and I can confidently say that the Bobbie Brown Corrector has quickly become a holy grail and it is one of the only products that I can say I use on a daily basis.  

Read on for the review.