Elizabeth Arden – The Original Eight Hour Cream

I purchased this little gem a few months ago after receiving a little sachet sample. I’m always so thankful for samples.

At the time I had terrible skin that was breakout central and the little sample, although I thought it smelt bad and had a funny texture, did a pretty good job of controlling my skin.

If you are a regular reading of my little blog you’ll know that I discovered that I have dry skin so the hydration (or the oil) in this Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream worked well.

It’s in a classy tube with a cute red top. It does have a funny smell sort of like an old lady and it’s more of a gel than a cream in my opinion. The texture is sort of like Vaseline (it contains 56.8% petrolatum) and the colour of quince pate. There is something comforting about using such a timeless product that generations of ladies have used since 1930. You can buy a version that doesn’t have a scent (I think it still does have a scent no matter what they say), but I prefer this one.

It’s a cult miracle product because it can be used for so many things. I used to put it on my face as a night cream so it settled my skin. I also use it on dry skin on my feet and elbows. You can also use it as cuticle cream, lip balm, tame those crazy eyebrows, soothe windburn, minor burns and cuts or even highlight your cheek bones with it. It’s a legendary product.

It isn’t expensive in my opinion and the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant retails on Strawberry Net for about $20.

Have you tried this product before and loved it’s moisturising and protective qualities?

Cleansing make up remover towelettes, perfect for travel! – Neutrogena – Review

When I go travelling there is one thing that is a must in my make up bag. Make up remover and cleansing towelettes. I go travelling on 3 week trips once a year or so. I can’t tell you how thankful I have been for towelettes particularly in sweaty humid climates overseas when my make up has dripped off me and I’ve walked through smoggy streets going back to a youth hostel to sleep. My one little bit of sanity was knowing that in my bag I had cleansing towlettes to wipe aways the days grime.

Simply wipe and throw away. No need to pack a face washer which you then need to carry around to your next destinations half moist and gross. Ughh! Yeah, you can see I have travelled enough to know just what to do.

Neutrogena sent me a pack of their make up remover cleansing towlettes to try and boy was I happy. I love how the pack reseals (you’ll also love this when youre travelling), they smell nice and feel great on my face. Not only do these remove 99.3% of most stubborn makeup, the ultra-soft cloth leaves no heavy residue so there is no need to rinse.

Just wipe your face and then put on your moisturiser. These are your best friend in your bathroom and especially when you’re travelling.

These Neutrogena make up remover cleansing towelettes retail for $7.99 for a pack of 25.

Do you like to use make up remover cleansing towelettes in your beauty routine?

Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief – Review

Holy moley! This cream has changed my complexion like nothing else!

I thought I had better start this post off with what I want to shout from the roof tops to everyone out there who has had dehydrated skin.

Clinique Moisture Surge Gel 50mL normal size next to 7mL free sample size jar

If you’re a dedicated reader of my blog you’ll know that for the past few years my skin has been break out prone and totally stupid. Growing up I had peaches and cream skin and never a blemish.

I noticed crazy pimples and weird things happening to my face soon after I moved offices to a place that had air conditioning and ducted heating. I wrongly thought my skin was too oily and would wash it with foaming face wash every day thinking that would clear it up. I thought wrong.

Long story short, 2 years on I figured out that my skin was just super dehydrated and needed some TLC. I stopped using foaming face wash and swapped to the Clarins routine. I couldn’t find a face cream that made my skin feel smooth and stop blemishes until I discovered Clinique Moisture Surge…. AND THE HEAVENS OPENED AND A RAINBOW APPEARED!

I went to Myer Bourke st in Melbourne and had a chat to the Clinique sales assistant. I asked her if I could try the Moisture surge cream and told her my problems. She asked me if I had tried the Clinique 3 step routine to which I replied I had but the yellow moisturiser (Dramatically Different) that came with it made me break out.

She explained to me that there were 2 types of the Moisture Surge cream. The Gel (Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief) and the thicker cream (Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator) which was new and had just been released for super dry skin. I tried both types on the back of my hand and the gel instantly absorbed and felt amazing. The cream took a while to absorb and felt a little greasy for my liking.

I asked if I could take a sample of the Moisture Surge gel home and she kindly obliged. Let me just say how appreciative I am of brands that do give you little take home samples to try. With products that are expensive and with sensitive skin it’s really important to try it before you invest in it. So thanks Clinique!

The small but very generous sample that the Clinique counter provided me.

I gave Moisture Surge a whirl for two weeks with the cute little pot I was provided with. When it ran out I freaked out a little because it was doing such a great job with my skin. Thankfully Christmas was just a week away and I asked my boyfriend to perhaps consider buying it for me (and I provided him with a link so he knew exactly what to get). Luckily he bought me the large jar of Clinique Moisture Surge and I am surging my way through it. It really is amazing for my skin.

I wake up in the morning and my skin feels soft and flawless. I look in the mirror and it shows exactly how it feels. Flawless!

Even my friends have noticed my glowing skin with one of my best friends constantly calling me “miss beautiful complexion” in messages.

Unflattering post with harsh flash just to show how amazing my skin is.

The gel absorbs into my skin so quickly and I apply my foundation right on top. I generally apply the gel, pat my face with my fingers, do my hair and then put my foundation on to make sure it has settled.

Why do I love Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Gel-Creme?

• Absorbs quickly
• Makes my skin feel super silky smooth
• Moisturises well for extended thirst relief
• Foundation glides over the top with ease
• It’s a pretty pink colour (that’s a cute bonus)
• Fine lines and tightness vanish when they get a little drink of Moisture Surge.
• People say “Oh Belinda your complexion is so beautiful”. Gotta love that!

Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief is $60 at the Clinique online store Australia. I highly recommend that you try this! Let me know how you go!

Benefit Erase Paste – 01 Fair- Review

About a year ago I got into a bit of a concealer spin. I started to think the skin under my eyes was a bit grey and see through and needed to be covered up. I did a lot of research and asked a lot of people about what the best under eye concealer was and I was told by many that it was Benefit Erase Paste or Benefit Boi-ing.

I went to the Benefit counted in Myer after my research and spoke to the sales assistant who also recommended Erase Paste. I bought it.

To be brutally honest it didn’t do a very good job at concealing under my eyes. I found it to be too thick and it sank into my fine skin and made it look wrinkly. I twittered to the Benefit team to ask what I was doing wrong and they told me maybe I was using too much. I tried using less but I still found it was sinking into the wrinkles I didn’t even realise I had there.

I shelved it for a while.

When I started to get dehydrated skin that resulted in pimples I pulled out Erase Paste and tried again on the nasty red spots. BINGO! I think it’s great for covering them up.

Erase Paste came in a cute purple box and a tiny spatula that you scoop the concealer out with and blend with your fingers then pat it onto the skin. I stopped using the scoop as I didn’t find it effective. The best thing I find is to gently dab my pointer finger into the jar (so long as I dont have long nails), then pat that directly onto my skin. It works well.

Let’s see my how well this works on my red ugly pimple.

 

There’s the offender

 

Put my finger in the jar lightly to pick up some concealer then dab dab dab on and around the pimple delicately.

 

Where did the pimple go? Very well hidden and concealed indeed!

The consistency of Erase Paste is thick and kind of sticky so it covers big blemishes very well.

Have you tried Erase Paste? What do you think?

Mirenesse Vibralash Mascara – Review

My lashes are long and pretty well populated but a lick of mascara always makes a huge difference to my face. I’m sure you would notice the difference yourself no matter what your eye lashes look like.

I have had the Vibralash vibrating mascara by Mirenesse in my make up drawer for about a year now since it was given to me at the Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend. My mascara ran out and I thought it was time to give this mascara a try. To be honest the thought of using a vibrating mascara sort of scared me. I pictured it jiggling all over my face and getting it in my eyebrows and things. Oh crazy me.

Press the little black button on the bottom of the lid of the mascara to experience 3 speeds of lash vibration. The first speed is a bit slow, the second speed is best and the third speed is just too fast and weird and ticklish. I feel a bit weird using the vibration and get a bit worried that my housemates must think something odd is going on in my room when I turn it on. The mascara applies well without using the vibrating function but honestly the vibration does help application beyond my earlier concerns.

The brush is a great long brush with sort of short bristles that are made of silicone I assume. They grab lashes well and coat fully. The formula contains organic waxes, panthenol and collagen spheres to help separate and elongate lashes. It sure works.

Taking the mascara off is a breeze. This is a sleeve mascara that comes off very easily with just plain warm water, face washer and a gentle wipe down the lashes. It doesn’t clump and just seems to dissolve off with the water. So nice!

In the first 3 days of wearing this mascara I received 3 comments about my lashes. One asked me if I was wearing fake eyelashes and someone else asked if I had done something different with my eyes because they looked amazing and another asked what mascara I was wearing. You know something is going right when you get comments like that!

This mascara retails at $49.95 from the Mirenesse website. Personally this is wayyyyy to expensive for my pocket just for mascara even though it is very good. Definitely one of the best mascaras I have ever used and worth a shot if that price range is in your budget.

What did you get at the after Christmas sales?

Beauty bargains galore! I’ve just done a quick spin of Myer and got a couple of great packs

Revlon Pack- from $30 to $14

• Revlon lash finder mascara
• Tweezers
• 10x mirror
• Eyelash curler

Clarins Pack- $50 valued at $170

• Cleansing milk (See my review of the Clarins cleansing routine here)
• Toner
• Vital light night
• Beauty flash balm
• Headband

Haven’t opened any yet but I’m excited by the bargains and had to share!

What have you grabbed at the sales?

Beautiful Haircut with Kate Middleton Curls – Biba Camberwell Review

I have very thick and wavy hair. Every since I can remember people have complimented me on it and my mums friends always asked if they could take it and make a wig out of it when I was younger (caused me to freak out and cry wondering why such nice ladies wanted to scalp me)

I have wanted beautiful Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton waves in my hair for a while. I’m pretty bad at styling my own hair I must admit. I just pop it in a bun (if I’m super lazy and haven’t had time to tame these crazy locks) or I straighten it with a ceramic straightening iron.

In my time living in Melbourne I have seen numerous ladies walk out of Biba hair salons with exactly the beautiful hair I have been desiring. Both in Gertrude st and Camberwell Biba Salons. I have never seen women walk out of a salon and look so beautiful. That’s how much their hair struck me. Most hairdressers cut hair and never finish it off well with the blow wave. The blow wave is my all time favourite part of a hair cut and I could tell that Biba took great pride in how their clients looked when they walked out of the salon.

I decided the time had come to see Biba myself and get the look I have always wanted.

Taa-da!

Now all I need to do is learn how to straighten and curl my hair like this myself! I love it! So beautiful! Tania did a fabulous job at Biba Camberwell and was super quick because she knew exactly what to do and cut a series of low layers. This cut cost $80 which is quite reasonable for Melbourne standards I think. Totally worth it for such a beautiful result!

What do you rate this look?