Review - Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion+

Last year I tried out the Clinque Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel and really liked it. Back then my skin was transitioning from oily to dry, and after a while I wasn’t able to use it because it wasn’t hydrating enough. I moved on to other moisturisers and kind of forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago when I used up the last of the moisturiser I was using I decided to give the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ a go.

It’s a very light consistency, quite unlike most other lotions I’ve tried recently. I like this because it’s easier to apply makeup over a light moisturiser than a thick one. Actually the consistency isn’t too different from the gel, it’s only slightly thicker. It spreads easily and does give a decent amount of hydration. It doesn’t have a terrible scent, it just smells like normal Clinique products. Honestly, that’s the most I can really say for it though. I haven’t noticed it doing all that much for my skin. It hasn’t irritated it or anything, but it also hasn’t improved it in any way.

It’s really just kind of blah. Sure it hydrates somewhat, but you expect something called ‘Dramatically Different’ to do something a bit more than just simple hydration. Especially for the price. The small 50ml tube costs $29. I’ve used other moisturisers that have hydrated and done other things like brighten and smooth. The Aveeno Daily Moisturiser, for example, was one I found to be more effective than this one and it’s $20 for more than double the product.

When I had oily skin and was using the Gel formula of this product I noticed a great difference in my skin. It got less oily through the day and makeup lasted longer. Apart from the fact that it’s a lotion, I don’t know why this one is so much less impressive. I was hoping that this one would counteract the dry patchiness I sometimes get around my chin throughout the day, but it really hasn’t changed it at all.

This isn’t a terrible product by any stretch, but it’s not one I’ll repurchase. If it did a bit more I’d feel differently, but mild hydration isn’t enough to tempt me. There are definitely better products out there.

Review: UD Ultra Nourishing Lip Gloss - Walk of Shame

I have bought a few Urban Decay products recently and this gloss was the first (not including the Naked Basics, which I purchased last year). It was $30 from Mecca Maxima and I picked it up on UD’s opening day at my local store. I gave a few thoughts on it in the feature I did a couple of weeks ago on the opening day, but I thought I’d jump on here and give it a proper review. I’m also planning a new series of posts with a one-brand focus and one of those brands will be UD so stay tuned for that too!

This is by far the most I have ever spent on a lipgloss. Usually I stick to the drugstore brands, but it was UD’s opening day and I couldn’t help myself. It called to me. I have the shade Walk of Shame and it’s just a nice nude pink. It does have a little shine to it, but the shimmer is so fine you can barely notice it, which I like. I can’t stand when glittery glosses are all chunky and you just feel like you coated your lips in shimmer. The packaging is sleek with its shiny gold exterior and peek of the shade at the bottom. I love how the ‘Naked’ part is actually cut out of the gold part too. It just looks so cool and luxurious.

I cannot tell a lie. This stuff stinks to high heaven. It smells more strongly of paint than the foundation does. When I swatched this next to the foundation I just thought it was the Naked Skin making my hand smell. I get the gloss home and realise that it’s the culprit, not the foundation. The foundation actually becomes fairly odourless once it sets. With the gloss though it really wouldn’t have hurt UD to just pop a hint of vanilla or something in the formula to make it smell yummy. Pretty much every other gloss I’ve ever owned has smelled yummy, I thought I could expect that from UD too!

 

Despite the terrible stench it’s actually a fantastic gloss. It’s long-lasting, moisturising and simply beautiful on the lips. It works alone, on top of lipstick or even just on top of tint or lip pencil. Walk of Shame is a classy shade, in spite of the name, and it was the best shade to try as my first gloss from them.

The question then becomes will it be the last. Quite possibly. Although it’s gorgeous on the lips, part of me can’t get past the smell. It stinks so badly and I just truly believe that glosses should smell good enough to eat. You are putting them on your lips after all.

Review: Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara

I was excited to get this from my sister. She got it in a big Elizabeth Arden makeup gift set and never used it. It’s the Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara and it’s the first high-end mascara I have ever tried. Usually I stick to Maybelline. My favourite mascara of all time (so far) is the Maybelline Mega Plush Waterproof stuff. This stuff however does come pretty close.

First of all let’s talk about the packaging. It’s so sleek with its sort-of-matte/sort-of-shiny gold exterior. It’s quite thin and I like that it’s not oddly shaped. It’s just a regular old cylinder which makes it great for travel.

Now the formula. Yep, this review is going to be pretty short! It’s a great balance between being a wet and dry formula. It applies and builds nicely and doesn’t go clumpy on my lashes. I generally use mascara just to add the black colouring back after they get coated with powders and whatnot. I’m lucky have quite naturally voluminous long lashes and I mostly just like to deepen the colour of my lashes rather than add any length or volume. The wand seems to be the fibre-bristled type and is a nice density. I hate the wands that are large and in charge because I’m very clumsy with mascara and without fail always poke myself in the eye with the big wands. I haven’t done that yet with this wand, which is awesome. It’s always a good day when you don’t almost blind yourself with your mascara wand!

It long-lasting on my lashes too, but it also doesn’t fight me when I go to take it off at the end of the day. I’ve had it for a little while now and it hasn’t shown any signs of running out, drying out or generally changing in consistency at all yet, which I love. I hate when mascaras dry out quickly and you have to constantly replace them. I think it would be especially crap when they’re high-end products because no one wants to be always forking out $30-50 for new ones. I just looked this one up on Myer’s website and its $47! That’s expensive! Now I know the price I’m thinking I might tell you that you should only cough up that money if you really want to! It’s a great product, don’t get me wrong, but the drugstore brands make mascaras that are of equal quality, so maybe try them first. 

Review: Models Prefer Retractable Brow Pencil in Dark

I have been struggling with my brows for a little while now. I have so much trouble finding products that fill them in without being too strong. I’ve tried gel, powder and pencils to little or no avail. I have very dark and full eyebrows and honestly it’s only been in the last year or so that I’ve really taken the time to fill them in. Even now I don’t always feel the need to do them. Because of how intense my natural brows can be it’s so very easy to end up with the crazy brows we all want to avoid. I’ve also been a little averse to paying too much for my brow products. The most I’ve spent was the $38 on the Benefit Gimme Brow, which I love and have already repurchased once, but I don’t use it to fill my brows, I just use it to set them.

I’ve been interested in the retractable brow pencils for a while now. I have a great dislike for the normal pencil ones because they just make my brows look messy. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing wrong, but I just can’t get them to work on me. The retractable ones were appealing because you don’t need to sharpen them. I’d seen EssieButton on YouTube use the Hourglass one, but it was a little out of my price range. While browsing the Priceline website one night I saw that Models Prefer made a retractable pencil and it was only about $12. I picked one up the next time I was in a store and went home and tried it immediately.

I got mine in Dark and the shade is a warm deep brunette. It’s actually a little too warm on my brows. My brow hairs are black when you look closely at them and because I’m au naturel with my hair at the moment and my natural colour is more golden brown, the warmth of the brow pencil can look a little unnatural. It is a very long-lasting product. I’ve worn it all day on 37 degree (Celsius) heat and it hasn’t budged at all, even when the rest of my makeup was a hot mess. I usually paired it with the Gimme Brow, but I have worn it by itself and it lasted equally as long. I really like the spooly it came with too. It’s quite soft and thick which makes it easy to be gentle as you brush through your brows.

As I type this I have already decided that I won’t repurchase this. In fact, I probably won’t even finish the product. I was lucky enough to receive Mecca Maxima gift cards for my birthday last week and after I bought the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette I had enough left over to pick up the Hourglass pencil without having a panic attack over the cost. So I treated myself to some brow luxury and even though I’ve only played with it a little, I can already tell that it’s much better than the Models Prefer one. If you’re on a budget and can wear the warmer shades in your brows, then I would definitely go for this before I splurged on the expensive stuff. If I’m being honest, I would probably have never bought myself the Hourglass one if it weren’t for the gift card. I would have just put up with the warmer shade made it work. It’s not like it looked awful, it just made it a little fiddlier because adding too much made it look really red. Like I said before, it’s super longwearing. It’s also a really nice texture which helps it glide on smoothly and allows you to only need a light hand. This is definitely not a bad product by any means. As far as ‘drugstore’ brow products go, this is by far the best one I’ve tried so far. If you can find a match to your brow colour, I say go for it!

Review: Essence XXXL Lipgloss

I’ve been getting back onto the lipgloss bandwagon lately and I’m all for finding great drugstore lip products. I don’t own or buy a lot of high-end lip products because I would rather spend that money on my base products. I love the drugstore lip products and most of the ones I’ve tried as just as good, if not better than high-end stuff. Essence is a fantastic low-cost brand that I have loved for ages. I have nearly all the lip pencils from them and I think they are some of the best lip pencils I’ve ever owned, so when I decided to try out a couple of lipglosses I went straight for the Essence stand in Priceline.

I picked up two of the XXXL Shine lipgloss in the shades Cute Pink and Pure Chic. They were super inexpensive and seemed like a decent quality in the store. They are quite thick, but not in a bad way. They spread easily enough across the lips and I think the thick consistency helps you to not use as much product. The Cute Pink one is not my favourite. It’s quite glittery and unfortunately the glitter feels chunky on the lips. In the bottle/tube thingy it is shiny, but doesn’t seem chunky, but as soon as you press your lips together you can feel the glitter coating your lips. The Pure Chic one is far better. It’s a clear gloss with not glitter in it at all. It sits nicely over lipsticks and I’ve even just worn it over a tinted balm and it just made my lips look healthy and pouty.

The wand applicators on these glosses are really cool. They’re the flat ones that are flexible at the top so it curves over your lips nicely.

Overall these are worth the $4 or whatever they cost. I don’t like the glittery one, but I would absolutely pick up the other ones without the glitter. They’re smooth and last well enough as far as glosses go. For such a low price, who cares, as long as they look nice! I’m so glad I added these to my collection!

Review: L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Blush

I love blush. Aside from foundation, it’s my favourite base makeup product. I would reach for blush before I would reach for a bronzer/contour or highlighter. Personally, I feel that on my skin if I can only do one or the other, I think I benefit more from blush than I do bronzer. I used to only really like powder blushes because I had quite oily skin and liked a really matte face when I did makeup. Now however, I have more dry-to-sometimes-combo skin and prefer a more luminous, fresh and natural finish. This change in skin type has led me to discover the wonder of cream and liquid type blushes as well as the cheek and lip stain products. I’ve tried the E.L.F. cream blush stick, the Benefit cheek tints like Posietint and Chachatint (Benetint is on my list of things to try), the Australis cheek and lip stains which are like a cream/stain hybrid. I love all of those things, they all have beautiful finishes. The L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Blush seemed like the perfect thing to try next, so last time I got a points voucher in the mail from the Priceline Sister Club I decided to put it to the test.

I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. The first thing is that there only seems to be one shade. I looked around my local Priceline a bit to see if they had more, but I think there’s only the one. I think it might be one of those products that claim to match any skin tone. The shade is called Universal Rosy Blush. It’s a very bright pink. It seems fairly neutral in tone, but it is bright! The other main negative with it is that it can be difficult to work with. It’s sort of an odd formula. It comes out mostly transparent and as you work with it is turns into its true colour. The problem is that you have to work really fast. It dries fast and acts the same way a stain like Benetint does. I found that I can’t just dot it on and then blend it out like you would with other products, I have to blend it immediately after it touches my skin. It’s also extremely easy to use way too much. The first time I used it I made it so bright and pigmented that I end up having to go in with more foundation to tone it down. I looked absolutely nuts.

Now on to the positives of this blush. Once you figure out how much to use and the best way to apply it, the blush looks so pretty on the skin. It’s almost a gel consistency which makes it quite thin compared to a cream. Because of this it sits nicely on top of foundation. Once I got the hang of it I was able to achieve a beautiful fresh finish with it. It’s not sparkly at all, but because it’s a gel-like formula it really glowy on the skin. It would be absolutely wonderful in spring and summer when you don’t want to wear too many powder products. I personally like luminous products all year round so I will wear this all the time!

After all that do I like it? The straight answer is yes. The long answer is yes, but I could definitely have survived without it in my collection. I’m glad that I finally bit the bullet and tried it out, but it’s not something I will repurchase or even miss when it’s gone. For me it was just a little too much effort in the beginning. I know there’s a learning curve with any ‘stain’ type product because they can be quite sensitive and tricky but this was a little too much. It took me at least four uses to get any kind of confidence with it. Honestly, after my first use I put it at the back of my drawer and almost forgot I had it. The time between my first and second use was at least two weeks. I like easy products. I don’t want to have to fight with a product, I just want it to bend to my will. This is a nice product that’s good in theory but there are heaps of similar products out there that I fell are far easier to use. If you don’t want to fork out the cash for the Benetint products (which would be understandable because they’re not cheap!), I think the Australis Lip and Cheek combos are great. I’m fairly certain you can only get Australis in Australia and maybe New Zealand, but if you can get your hands on them, I would recommend them over this L’Oreal one. 

Review: Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation (Shade 0.5)

A couple of weeks ago I uploaded a post covering the opening of Urban Decay at Mecca Maxima here in Australia. Until then I had only tried one product from the brand, and now I’ve managed to get my hands on a few things that I’ll be reviewing over the next few posts. I’m also planning a new series of one-brand focus posts and UD will be included in the brands I’ve got planned so far. The first review, as the title of this post says is for the Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup. A big name, I know.

As I’ve mentioned time and time again, I have a really hard time finding foundations that sit nicely on my skin that also match my skin tone properly. The best one I’ve found so far is the NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia. The first experience I had with the Naked Skin was during a free 45 minute makeup application from Mecca Maxima that I received for my birthday as part of their Beauty Loop membership. The girl did a beautiful job of my makeup, but the foundation end up being a little dark. She used shade 2 on me and by the time I got home I could see how dark it was. Luckily I had got my hands on a sample of the lightest shade, 0.5, a couple of days before so I could try it. Now, I will say that it is not a perfect match for me. I think it might be a smidge dark, but mostly I think it’s just a bit too pink. Usually I wouldn’t even entertain a shade I wasn’t completely satisfied with, but it’s manageable and as you read further down you’ll see why I don’t mind.

My holy grail foundation has been my Sheer Glow for a while now. It’s the perfect match for me because even though it’s really yellow, it helps to counteract the intense redness I can sometimes get. It has great coverage and works for me pretty much year round. The only thing that’s been bugging me about it lately is that it doesn’t seem to be sitting as nicely around my nose, upper lip area and chin. It goes a little patchy after a couple of hours.

Enter the Naked Skin foundation. This stuff just melts into my skin. It sits beautifully on my skin nearly all day. I swear, if I could have the shade of Siberia from Sheer Glow mixed into one bottle with the finish of the Naked Skin I would have my 100% HG foundation and I would never want to try another foundation ever again. Barring that wish coming true I’m happy to mix them. I can wear the Naked Skin by itself, and actually have done for the last couple of days with no real problem, but I really love the way it looks with the Sheer Glow. Because it’s so pink in its undertone the Naked Skin can start looking a bit dark as it starts to show a bit of wear. Once I re-powder it looks fine again, but sometimes there just isn’t time for a retouch. When I pair it with the Sheer Glow the colour becomes nice and balanced and seems brightened.

Now let’s talk about the consistency and finish. It’s very runny (and smelly, but it goes away as soon as you apply it). I definitely recommend giving it a good shake before you use it. Despite it being so runny you honestly don’t need that much to cover your face. Granted, I don’t have particularly problematic skin. I mainly just have redness and a couple of scars to cover. I usually do two pumps to get a medium or one pump if I’m feeling lazy and just want light coverage. When I pair it with the Sheer Glow I’ll do a pump of each. Sometimes I use a pump and a half of the Sheer Glow to really brighten the Naked Skin.

The finish of this stuff, both by itself and with the Sheer Glow is beautiful. It is by far the nicest finish I have ever been able to get on my skin with a foundation. It just looks so natural. It evens my skintone (despite being a little on the pink side) and has great pigmentation.

The positives of this foundation on my skin far outweigh the couple of negatives, such as the bad smell (it’s kind of like paint) and the slightly off colour. I’m just so impressed by this stuff. Honestly, I was pretty sure that I’d never find a foundation I liked as much as I like my Sheer Glow. I also love how well they pair together. If there’s something I’ve learnt in my search for the ‘perfect’ foundation it’s that there’s no such thing (so far), but there’s also nothing wrong with combining two different ones to create the perfect product. 

Review: Hourglass Modernist Eyeshadow Palette in Monochrome

Hourglass is one of those brands that are so luxury that I feel financially guilty every time I even dare to think about purchasing a product, but at the same time everything is just so damn gorgeous that I can’t stay away from the stand each time I go to Mecca Maxima. This Modernist eye shadow palette in Monochrome was no exception. Currently I only own three Hourglass products, but I know I want so many more. They have beautiful packaging and everything is such amazing quality it almost makes you forget the price tag… almost!

When I bought the Modernist palette I actually had intended to pick up the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette, but as soon as I saw the Monochrome one on display I knew it was going to come home with me. Let’s be real, the Chocolate Bar palette would have been the more logical choice. It’s $65 for 16 shadows whereas the Modernist palette was $76 for five shadows. Excessive, I know but I just could help myself. The shades are beautiful pink and purple tones and are so creamy and pigmented! The way they are packaged is amazing too. They’re not in individual pans like normal palettes. As you can see from the photo, they sit all together with a lovely wavy pattern across them. Just divine!

This palette has shades unlike any other that I own, which was my main justification for spending that ridiculous amount of money. My other justification was that it would travel well because it’s so compact.

I literally have nothing bad to say about this palette. I mean, I could sit here and complain about the high price tag, but obviously I think it was worth it because I bought it and here I sit, gushing about it. Yes, Hourglass is expensive, but I’m yet to test out a product that sucks. It’s so easy to see how much time and effort goes into making these luxury item as luxurious as possible. I probably won’t go out and buy all the other palettes because I’m not made of money and Monochrome was the only one I knew was unique for my collection and would get used enough, but if you’ve got a spare $76AUD to spend on a new palette I would highly recommend these palettes. It is one of the best palettes I have ever bought. 

Review: Brut Tattoo Builder

I’ve been meaning to write up a review on the Brut Tattoo Builder for ages but I’ve been trying so many different things and have been so busy with the new uni semester that it just hasn’t happened until now.

I kept seeing ads for this and another similar product from Brut. I think it was called Tattoo Guard. Anyway, I kept seeing ads for them and being the proud owner of a wrist tattoo I was somewhat intrigued by the premise. I will also start off by saying I think I should have bought the Tattoo Guard instead of the Builder, but I’ll explain why in a minute. They were advertised as being treatments to preserve the original colours and crispness of your tattoos.

Here’s why I think I bought the wrong one. From what the packaging says, I think it might be designed more for newly acquired tattoos. I started mine in 2010 and finished it in 2011, so it doesn’t really have quite the vibrancy it did when it first healed. Don’t get me wrong, it still looks beautiful, and if it has faded it’s not all that noticeable because I chose quite muted colours anyway. But basically it’s a few years old now and that’s why I think I should’ve got the Guard instead of the Builder.

With that in mind, I didn’t notice any difference to my tattoo at all. I don’t feel like it was detrimental to its condition but I also don’t feel like it did anything but add temporary moisture to the area. I don’t know what the Guard one claims to do in comparison to this. I might have to pick up a tube and try it out.

As for the application, a little definitely goes a long way. It’s very runny and thin. It feels cool when you apply it, and even though I didn’t like the smell, I wasn’t overly offended by it either. The moisture it adds leaves a nice sheen to the area and until it wears down it does look somewhat vibrant but let’s face it, normal not-ten-dollar moisturiser will do the same thing and will probably last longer.

I don’t know how this will work on fresher tattoos, I guess I’ll have to wait and see if I ever get the chance to get one again. For me personally though, I just don’t really feel one way or the other about it. I honestly haven’t picked it up in weeks. I couldn’t even tell you where it is right at the moment. It’s a very uninspiring product for me, but then again, I might just have bought the wrong product in the line. 

Review: Too Faced HangoverX Primer

I’m not going to lie. I wrote this review a while ago and for some reason I didn’t post it. I could’ve sworn I did but obviously I was wrong. So here it is for you in all its late glory.

I bought the Too Face Hangover Primer a few weeks ago and have pretty much only used it since I got it. It’s a silicone free primer that has coconut water and a bunch of other good stuff for you skin in it. It’s $44AUD. I got mine from the Kit counter in Myer and you can also pick it up from Mecca Maxima. I know $44 is a lot to spend on primer, especially for someone like me who doesn’t really use primer all that much, but I’d heard so much about it in the weeks leading up buying that I just couldn’t resist.

I really wasn’t sure about this primer during the first few days of using it. I felt like it wasn’t hydrating enough for my dry skin, which at the time was crazy dry for some reason. I was expecting this to be almost serum-like because of the coconut water and electrolytes it’s supposed to contain. On my cheeks, nose and forehead it was perfectly fine, but my upper lip and chin areas seemed a little patchy. I was actually considering returning it in its first few days in my care. The only reason I didn’t was because of the longevity it gave my makeup.

I don’t like a lot of primers because I feel like they sit funny and cling to my dry patches. Before buying this primer I really only used primers in my T-Zone when I went to events or knew I was going to be out an about on very hot days. Most of the time I just slapped some moisturiser on and I was good to go. Honestly, priming just felt like another unnecessary step.

After forcing myself to give this a real go and switch up my moisturiser rather than return the primer I realised that the problem was more that my skin needed more TLC and not so much that the primer was crap. I have never used a primer so much in my life. I have pretty much used this every time I’ve worn makeup since I bought it and now I absolutely love it.

It smells amazing and feels so lightweight and fresh when I apply it. It wakes my tired cranky skin up. I’ve actually just put this on with a little bit of under-eye concealer on some days when I just need to pop up to the shops and it worked a treat. The beautiful coconutty scent and the fresh cool feeling it gives the skin is invigorating in the morning when everything feels like too much effort. I put this on and I feel okay about being out of bed and having to get ready to face the day. Seriously guys, it just feels good. It feels more like skincare than a makeup primer.

Once I got the hydration of my skin sorted this stuff works beautifully. I don’t get the dry patches I was getting in the first few days anymore and it’s hydrating elements makes my foundation look smooth and bright. Even when I mattify my foundation it still looks luminous and fresh.

Like I said before, I know that $44 is a lot of money to spend on a primer but I really recommend this one. I’ve tried a lot of primers and that’s why I generally shy away from them, but this one has just about reached HG status for me. I never thought a primer would do that for me, but I should’ve know that if there was a brand that was going to do it, it was going to be from Too Faced. Too Faced are seriously my favourite brand. I think I’ve loved everything I’ve tried from them so far. If you’re like me and you tend to shy away from primers because they cling to your dry patches I recommend at least getting a sample of this stuff, it may just surprise you!

Urban Decay Launch at Mecca Maxima!

It’s official! Urban Decay has finally landed in Australia! Mecca Maxima online store and their stores all over the country launched the brand at 9:00 am this morning. I went to my local store at Westfield Garden City here on Brisbane’s south side and was lucky enough to be able to have a chat to one of the beautiful staff members, Tamara. She was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions and I had a chance to browse and give in to one of the lip glosses (more to come about that in a minute!). Just a warning: this is going to be a long post. Today was a very exciting day for me!

I was thankfully stuck in a uni lecture this morning and missed all the craziness of the opening at the Garden City store. According to Tamara there were over 100 people waiting by 8:00 am. “We had people turning up at about 5:00 am, which was commitment, you know we weren’t expecting people to really turn up until about 7:00 am,” she said. I can’t even comprehend a crowd that big for a makeup brand that is launching permanently. I’m glad that it was far less crazy when I went this morning.

The setup is fairly standard for Mecca stores, but this isn’t to say it wasn’t beautiful. They had everything sorted in a way that made it look shiny, appealing and basically just fabulous. I was very pleased with the range of products they had. I really didn’t know what to expect. Mecca was very good at being coy about what products they were getting. The advertising was heavily focussed on the Naked line. Mecca has most of the things that most people would be wanting to try out. They of course got the Naked stuff like the three big palettes and two Basics palettes, the foundation and concealer, the powders and the Flushed palettes. Bright colour lovers will fawn over the Electric palette. Here’s what Tamara had to say about the Electric palette:

“It definitely can look a little bit scary at first. The colours are beautiful and so workable as well. And you can use it in multiple ways. I’ve used it as a hair chalk. I got to play around with that a little bit and turning them into lip glosses or lip stains. So they’re super pigmented, but used in all those different ways, it’s just amazing. Even taking that electric green, because I know it can be a little scary looking at that, it’s so bright, but it just adds that pop of colour to everyday wear. Lots of people like to use the white in the inner corner, but that green just opens up the eye and just makes it pop. I like it because it’s really whatever you’d like it do. If you’d like to make your own lip glosses or stains, or if you’d like to use it as hair chalk. I mean, even in dark hair it’s so pigmented.”

After hearing her thoughts on the palette my thoughts are cemented in my desire to have it in my life… and soon!

 Until today I’d only ever tried one UD product and that’s the Naked Basics palette which I got last year. It’s one of my favourite palettes of all time though. It’s just amazing, so I knew I was in for a treat with any products I bought in the future! I asked Tamara what her favourite products were. Understandably it was a very hard choice! “I love it all! I’m excited to try the foundation. I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, so that’s one of my must-tries. I’m loving the Naked 2 palette and also the All-Nighter setting spray. Just using it multiple ways as well. It’s definitely a setting spray for 16HR wear, but I also like to spray my eyeshadow brush and then go in with my shadow and it just makes it more pigmented and really just lovely and creamy to work with,” she told me.

I personally wasn’t overly excited about the Naked palettes. I know, I know! How could I not be?! Honestly, I was all about tracking down the original one for ages last year, but then I found the Chi Chi Nudes palette and I lost interest in the UD one. The Naked 2 and 3 didn’t interest me all that much either just because I didn’t find the shades to be ones I would use regularly. Cut to me checking out the real life palettes in-store today. I was right about the Naked 2. I just wouldn’t use the shades, but the Naked 3. Can we just stop so I can take a moment to picture it again in my mind. It is exquisite. It’s filled with rosy and rose gold-y shades. I never imagined that I would love it so much, but now I desperately need it in my life!

 

Let’s talk about pricing. I know Australia has become notorious for having ridiculously price makeup, among other things. This is why I’m happy to see that Mecca has made UD reasonably priced. It may seem expensive at first glance, but when you compare it to U.S. pricing and factor in the exchange rate it works out fairly even. “It’s somewhere from I think maybe a $2 to $6 difference and with some products it actually cheaper. When you think about having to buy it online and then you have to think about shipping and the exchange rate, I know it’s a struggle sometimes. You can’t even get shipping to Australia sometimes and you have to use external shipping. It can become super expensive just to have it shipped here. It’s nice to be able to give our customers a nice easy way to shop,” Tamara said when I asked for her view on the pricing. Check below for a little list of UD products and pricing from the Mecca website.

Eye look using 24/7 Pencil in LSD

The products I got today were: Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipgloss in Walk of Shame, 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in LSD (sample size) and a sample of the Naked Skin Foundation in the shade 0.5. I’ll do a first impressions on the foundation sometime next week, when I get the time, but I was able to try out the gloss and the pencil this afternoon before I head back to uni. The gloss, which I purchased myself, is a beautiful peachy/coral shade. It’s not completely sheer, but it just gives a nice flush to the lips. I wore it on the top of my nude Essence lip pencil. I’ll write up a full review on it over the weekend once I can wear it a little more. The eye pencil is a great colour too. It’s a deep dark blue with lighter blue shimmer through it. I really loved how it looked with the eye look I did. I swiped it across the upper lashline, smudged it out and then added a little bit of Crave from the Naked Basics palette over it. This colour pencil has helped me fall in love with blue/silver eyeshadow looks again!

Finished look with Pencil and Gloss

My last question for Tamara was about which product she would recommend to a newcomer to makeup. This is what she had to say:

“Honestly, I’d probably start them off with one of the eyeshadow potions, purely because it makes such a difference. And for someone just starting out and learning how to do their eyeshadow it just makes it so much easier to work with. It just creates a really blank canvas. Some of the potions, like Sin, which is beautifully champagne and pigmented then adds that colour without you having to do a lot to the eye look. So, I think starting yourself out with one of the eyeshadow potions is great because I think your going to find it easier to work with, really simple to build you confidence as well and just to see that longevity and have it stay there all day makes it a good one to start off with.”

Overall it seems like the UD launch at Mecca was a success. Mecca has done a great job in their advertising, pricing and in obtaining a fantastic variety of products. I want to say a big thank-you to the girls at Mecca Maxima at Westfield Garden City for always being so helpful and kind. And a massive thank-you to Tamara for taking the time to talk to me on such a crazy busy day! You were absolutely beautiful to chat to and I really appreciate it!

If you live in the area pop in and check out UD at Mecca Maxima Garden City and say hi to all the wonderful staff members! If you don’t live near a Mecca Maxima store there’s always the internet. You can check out UD and all Mecca’s other awesome brands at: www.mecca.com.au

Here’s a list of some of the products Mecca launched today!

Naked 1,2 & 3 palettes - $78 each

Naked Basics 1 & 2 - $42 each

Electric palette - $70

Naked Skin Foundation - $56

Naked Skin Concealer - $36

Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion - $30

All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray - $44 (4.0 fl oz.)

Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipgloss - $30

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil - $30

There’s a ton more products to check out on the site and in-store!

What are some of your favourite products or some of the products you’re dying to try out? Let me know! 

+Mecca Maxima 

February Favourites

Welcome to a slightly belated February Favourites! Please forgive the lack of photos in this month’s post. If I’m completely honest, I’m typing this at 11:18pm and really don’t want to get up and set up the little corner I use to take the pics. I’ll be more prepared next time. Scouts honour!

Let’s get into the good stuff!

NARS SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION (SIBERIA):

After trying quite a few different foundations over the month I came to truly appreciate Sheer Glow and the way it treats me. This foundation doesn’t ever fail me. I can apply it however I want. Sometimes I’m lazy and just use my fingers, other time I like a dense buffing brush, then there are the times I like a looser brush and of course we can’t forget the almighty blending sponge (both the Beauty Blender and the RT Miracle Complexion Sponge). I just love this stuff. I’m now onto my second bottle and the couple of months I went without it sucked. I’m just glad I finally realised my true feelings for this little bad boy before I wasted more money on others that will never measure up.

TOO FACED NATURAL EYES PALETTE:

This has been my go to palette since I bought it. The colours are so beautiful and pigmented. I love that it has a great balance of finishes so you can create amazing day-night looks. I’ve even been using the darkest matte brown shade to fill in my brows, which says a lot because I usually prefer the gel method of brow filling. This is just an amazing palette!

TOO FACED MILK CHOCOLATE SOLEIL BRONZER:

Yep, another Too Faced product. This stuff is great. I love the finish it leaves and the colour is spot on for my pale complexion. It’s not too orangy, reddish or ashy. It gives my face colour and dimension without looking like my foundation it just too dark for me. Oh and the smell!! It’s everything something made from cocoa powder should smell like!

TOO FACE HANGOVER PRIMER:

Last Too Faced product I swear! I really like this stuff. I was a bit unsure of it at first (as I’ll discuss in the upcoming review), but I’m definitely enjoying it now. It’s nice and hydrating. Plus I love the coconutty scent it has. It makes my skin feel glowy and rejuvenated.

CIRCA HOME PEAR & LIME SCENTED SOY CANDLE:

I had a sample of this a while ago and after Christmas I use some of my present money to pick a full sized one up. I absolutely love the smell of this. I smelled all of the other ones like this that they had in stock and I honestly didn’t really like any of them. There’s just something about the Pear & Lime that is so yummy to smell. I can’t even describe the scent, mainly because I suck at describing scents, but trust me it smell delicious!

VERONICA MARS BOXSET:

I must have been living under a big fat rock, because up until last month I had never seen even one episode of this show. I’d been wanting to watch the movie for ages, but figured I’d need to be familiar with the show first. Once I finally got around to watching it I couldn’t stop. I’m pretty sure I watch all three seasons and the movie in about two weeks. I was obsessed. Who am I kidding, I’m still obsessed. After all, wasn’t it me downstairs tonight watching all the episodes again with my sister, who coincidentally is now addicted too. I feel like the embodiment of that Big Bang Theory Penny meme. You know the one… Oh my God, I need help!

Review: NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation

This is only going to be a short one today because my relationship with the NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation was just that: short. Sorry about the lack of photo, it wasn’t in my house long enough for a photo-shoot!

I was first given the wrong colour of this foundation, and had to track down the proper shade. It was a rocky beginning. The day after I tracked down the right shade I had the opportunity to try it out.

Guys… I can’t even begin to tell you how awful it was on my skin! It went patchy and flaky. I applied it three different ways. I applied with just moisturiser, with moisturiser and my Too Faced Hangover primer (review coming very soon) and also with my Savvy Smooth Finish primer on top of double the amount of moisturiser and nothing prevented the dry grossness that the foundation created on my face. I wouldn’t even wear it outside. It felt like a mask on my face. Almost like a clay mask. It accentuated my dryness that much. I’ve never had a foundation do this ever. Not even a matte one, let alone one that claims to be luminous like this one.

I read and watched so many raves on this stuff and I was so excited to try it for myself. One of my favourite foundations of all time is the NARS Sheer Glow. It is the liquid foundations that I expect all others to strive towards, so it seemed like a no-brainer that the new NARS one would at least come close. Now here I sit in utter defeat and disappointment.

I can’t attest to whether or not it actually lasts the amount of time it claims to, how it wears throughout the day or anything like that. Like I said, I couldn’t bring myself to go outside looking the way it made me look, so I removed it immediately and went out and bought the foundation I should have got in the first place, a new bottle of the Sheer Glow.

I’m not sure what it was about my skin that cause such a bad finish to the foundation. Honestly I was so surprised and I truly believe that most people will probably love it. I think I just wasn’t meant to have it in my life. I will say this: definitely get a sample of this if you can. It’s one thing to try it on in store with their skincare products, but it’s another to take it home and see how it works with your own skincare and primers, etc. ‘Try before you buy’ is a saying for a reason!

Review: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

I’m not really a huge bronzer girl. I’m far more partial to blushes and highlighters. This is mainly because, with my pale skin, I’ve always been a little afraid of bronzers. Contouring is one thing, but bronzers have a tendency to either run too red or too orange on my basically white skin. I’ve only ever found two bronzers that haven’t given me too much trouble. I have the Bronze Goddess from Estee Lauder. It’s in Medium, so a really careful light hand is needed when I crack it out. The other is the E.L.F. Bronzer in Sun Kissed. Sadly that bronzer met a tragic end at my Grandma’s place over Christmas. It smashed when I dropped my M.A.C. Pro Palette (thankfully is was the only thing). I was going to get another one, but I haven’t been able to find it again. So a couple of weeks ago I decided to try out the Milk Chocolate Soleil from Too Faced.

This is such a nice bronzer for pale skin. I personally have more yellow than pink undertones in my skin colour and sometimes the cooler toned browns look a little ashy on me. On the other hand, being so pale can create some very red or orange tones on me and let’s face it, nobody wants to look like either a tomato or an Oompa Loompa (although that’s just me speculating, if you do enjoy rocking these looks more power to you!). This bronzer, although it looks very warm doesn’t leave any unnatural colours on my skin.

Okay, so the smell. If you haven’t smelled the cocoa powder stuff from Too Faced go to your cupboard right now, find some cooking cocoa and take a big whiff. Don’t worry, I’ll wait…. Okay good, now you know the smell I’m talking about you know how delicious this stuff is. It’s made with cocoa powder and I could sniff it forever. I know everyone says this, but it’s for good reason. The cocoa powder also makes the formula super smooth and gives it a buttery texture. Even though it’s a completely matte bronzer, it in no way looks so matte that it looks unnatural. I’m not one for a harsh contour or anything, especially since I usually just stick to blush, but this stuff has converted me to the side of bronzers. I haven’t done my makeup without it since I bought it.

Overall this is a massive hit for me. I’m so glad that Too Faced expanded they’re Chocolate Soleil bronzer line to include one for pale skin. They’ve earned some serious brownie points from me. It’s why I’m pretty sure they’ve taken out the title of my favourite high-end brand. 

First Impressions: Eve Lom Radiance Perfected Tinited Moisturiser (Alabaster)

Okay, so this was supposed to go up yesterday but I was really lazy yesterday, like taking-a-nap-lazy so I pretty much did nothing. Anyway, the review I'm bringing you today was drafted yesterday, so it's still a 'First Impressions', you guys are just getting it a day late. 

Like the Ellis Faas foundation, this is a super expensive product ($96) and I was comparing it to one of my HG foundations, NARS Sheer Glow (in Siberia).

11:00 AM:

Unlike the Ellis Faas stuff, I decided to leave the sponge for the day (mostly because walking all the way into the bathroom to wash it. Gross, I know) and use my Models Prefer flat top buffing brush. Mistake. It did not apply nicely with the buffing brush at all. In all the time I've had that brush I've never had a foundation not apply nicely with it. I know the NARS one does. I ended up trudging into the bathroom to wash my RT sponge so I could try to blend out the mess I created. 

I'm not a fan of foundations that aren't versatile enough to be applied by different methods. Sometimes my sponge is dirty and I don't want to walk the 12 feet to my bathroom an wash it. Sometimes I just want to use a brush. Sometimes that brush is really dense, sometimes it's my soft and fluffy. 

So basically it took me twice as long to apply it as it should have because it really didn't like my brush. Not happy so far. 

The finish once it was blended out was okay. I liked it a little better than the Ellis Faas, but it still wasn't great. I will say that the coverage is great considering it's a tinted moisturiser. 

4:00 PM:

Most of it had completely faded off by about an hour ago and now it's really patchy. Honestly there's really not a lot else to say about it. By this time laziness had well and truly set in, so unfortunately I forgot about taking a 'update' photo. Sorry!

OVERALL:

Another miss for me. Something else I noticed about this stuff is the smell. It's not awful, but I didn't enjoy it and I could still smell it, even when most of it had worn off. I know it's a tinted moisturiser, so I have no problem with the fact that it was mostly gone by 4:00, but I do wonder how they can justify $96 for this stuff. Yes, it had good coverage, but so does Sheer Glow. Also I get a better finish when I mix Sheer Glow with my Aveeno moisturiser than this stuff gave me. I was not at all impressed at the fact that it took a wet sponge to blend it out after applying it with a brush. I'm definitely grateful to the girl in Mecca who helped me out and gave me both samples to try, but I think I'm definitely going to just pick up another bottle of the Sheer Glow. It's cheaper, more versatile and most importantly, it's better. 

First Impressions: Ellis Faas Skin Veil Foundation (Shade s101)

I went into Mecca Cosmetica yesterday thinking I was going in to repurchase a bottle of my beloved NARS Sheer Glow. Turns out I was actually going in to suss out what other foundations I could try. I couldn’t help myself. Once I was in the presence of all that makeup my mind went into overdrive trying to figure out which section to check out first. Sheer Glow kind of became an afterthought, after all I’ve already tried it! After my little shopping trip (in which I purchased no foundation but instead opted for the Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil) I came home with three different foundation samples. I got the Eve Lom Tinted Moisturiser, Guerlain Parure de Lumiere and the subject of today’s review, Ellis Faas Skin Veil Foundation.

This was supposed to be a trilogy, with a ‘First Impressions’ each day for three days, but it’s only to be two now because when I swatched the Guerlain on my arm this morning, not only was it a bit too dark, but it also started stinging and itching. Suffice to say I won’t be applying it to my face.

Without any further ado let’s get stuck into the review. I’m going to break it up into three sections to coincide with how often I checked up on the wear of it.

12:00 PM:

I applied the foundation with my Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge, just like I do with most of my liquid foundations. Right off the bat I wasn’t impressed with the application. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t awful, but for $110 a bottle I expected a hell of a lot better. Just so you know, I’m comparing both of the foundations to the Sheer Glow because it’s the benchmark they have to live up to in order for me to even consider purchasing them. With that in mind, as soon as I apply the Sheer Glow it looks amazing, especially when using the sponge. Actually this is the first high end foundation I’ve ever tried that hasn’t made me look instantly airbrushed by using the sponge. In the photos below I have myself after moisturising and primer but before foundation and then after the foundation was applied, and finally after I applied the rest of my makeup.

Like I said, it’s okay, but not great. So far I’m nowhere near as impressed as I was told I would be. I’ve barely heard a bad word uttered about this stuff, and I just don’t get it. Not at the ridiculous price point it’s at anyway. Oh, and just so you know, I know how crap the photos are in this post, but I think it's also because I wasn't enjoying the foundation and felt a little self-conscious about it. Basically I just wanted to take the photos quickly haha! 

4:00 PM:

So the foundation’s been on for about four hours now and it hasn’t really changed in appearance at all, except for one section. Around my mouth and on my chin it’s gone really cakey. I don’t think you can see it in the photo below (in which I'll ask you excuse my squinty eyes, it was really sunny when i took it), but trust me, it was. When I first applied the foundation I had trouble blending it into that section, and I’m pretty disappointed to see it’s gotten worse. As for the rest of my face it’s okay, but I’m still not happy with it.

10:00 PM:

Hour 10 and the foundation is definitely looking worse for wear. I never really expect a foundation to last this long anyway, but when comparing it to my Sheer Glow, it’s looking much worse than the Sheer Glow does as this point. By the 10 hour mark with the Sheer Glow the foundation is starting to go a little bit patchy, but it’s still mostly there and if I were to simply touch up with a bit of powder I think it would be right for another few hours. With the Ellis Faas I feel like to get a half decent finish again I would pretty much have to wash it off and start again. Now, this isn’t a huge problem. I rarely wear makeup for too much longer than 10 hours anyway, but at $110 you kind of want a freaking miracle from the foundation. The photo below shows the state of the foundation at hour 10.

OVERALL:

To this foundation I just say no. It doesn’t apply anywhere near as easily and nicely as the Sheer Glow and it’s nearly double the price. Personally even if I loved this foundation I would have a very, very hard time trying justify the purchase to myself. In a way I’m almost glad it disappointed me. It takes away the angst I would feel if I loved it but couldn’t afford it. I’m sure that the people who rave about this aren’t completely out of their minds. The whole reason I’ve been wanting to try this for ages is because Wayne Goss loves it and gave it such a great review, and since he’s so awesome, I tend to believe him. After all, he turned out to be right about the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick (once I found the right moisturiser)! Unfortunately I can’t jump on his bandwagon with this one. There are so many other foundations out there that are absolutely beautiful which will not require a mortgage, your soul and your first born to be able to afford. 

Review: NYX Love in Paris Palette (Madeleines and Macaroons)

Today’s review is of a little NYX palette I bought just before Christmas. I got this because I wanted something compact to take on my holiday so I only needed it and my UD Naked Basics palette.

THE GOOD:

The colours in this a really pretty and there’s a good selection, despite it only being a little ‘neutral’ type palette. I like that the packaging is sleek and compact. It makes it so easy for travel. It was also really inexpensive, just like pretty much all of NYX’s products.

THE BAD:

Yep, that was it for the good stuff. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was with this palette. Apart from maybe one or two shades, there is absolutely no decent colour payoff to the shades. It’s pathetic really. You can tell from the swatch photo below that the colours are weak. The worst part is that these swatches were done after I practically created a dent trying to get some sort of colour payoff for the photo. I’m just at a loss for words to describe how much I dislike this palette. I’m so glad it was only about $15 because I would have been really mad if I’d paid a lot for crap quality like this.

THE OVERALL:

This palette sucks. It just sucks so bad. I don’t know if I got a dud or if they’re all like this, and I have no intention of finding out. I don’t think I will ever buy NYX eyeshadow again. Just a big ol’ disappointment for me this time.

January 2015 Favourites

Today I am bringing you my favourite things from January. I’ve decided that this year I’ll have a healthy mix of beauty and random stuff in my monthly favourites since I really want to branch out and cover more stuff on here.

Without any further ado or babble let’s jump in!

MODELS PREFER TAPERED FACE BRUSH:

I bought this a couple of months ago (I think) and it’s really only this month that it’s been getting a real work out. I’ve used it for both blush and setting my foundation. I’ve more recently been using it for setting foundation and I love it. I love that it’s not so huge that powder gets everywhere, but it still covers a good amount of you face in one hit. It distributes my Hourglass Ambient Light Powder beautifully. It’s so soft and glides over the face so lightly that it doesn’t disturb any of the makeup it’s going over.

#GIRLBOSS BY SOPHIA AMORUSO:

I know I have a review of this, so I won’t go into too much detail, but I wanted to mention this because I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I started and finished reading it. She gave such good advice and shared some really important lessons throughout the book. It’s so well-written and so easy to read. I highly recommend it!

M.A.C. OMEGA EYESHADOW:

I love this eyeshadow!! It’s the perfect cool brown crease shade. I wear it all the time. I’ll either wear it just in the crease, with a light shade over the lid or I’ll just slap this baby all of the lid. The other day I wore it over the top of my Bad to the Bronze Colour Tattoo from Maybelline and it looked beautiful. Another way I have been wearing this is as a contour. I find it hard to find a contour that I like, and this guy has been working a treat. It’s great because I can be really light-handed with it and it makes my contour look really natural. It makes me want to bother with contouring, which is very rare.

M.A.C. CREAMSHEEN IN PEACH BLOSSOM:

This is the lipstick I mentioned in my Christmas Haul. I got this when I used my M.A.C. gift card. I’ve worn this so much this month. I don’t honestly wear a lot of lipstick. I usually stick to lip balms and tints. This has changed how I feel about lipsticks completely. It’s so creamy and lovely on the lips. It builds nicely, but it can be sheer as well. It is the perfect peachy nude for the colour of my lips and my skin tone. It looks like my lips but better!

M.A.C. BLUSH IN LOVECLOUD:

Last M.A.C. product I promise. This was the other product I got with my gift card and I literally have not worn another blush since I bought it. It is the perfect pink. Although it is a little on the cooler side, I find it to be more neutral than anything. It’s really buildable and pigmented and has the slightest sheen to it, which gives your cheeks the perfect healthy glow. I just love this so much! It’s as good, if not better than my favourite blush, which is the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Blush in Peach Passion.

BURT’S BEES ULTRA CONDITIONING BALM:

This is the best night time lip balm I have ever used. I get really dry lips and I find that this keeps them nice and hydrated all through the night. No other lip balm I have even used, not even my Benefit ones, do that. I wouldn’t recommend this under lipstick, although I do if I don’t want a tinted one, because it’s the only untinted one I have at the moment, but if you have one that’s a little less moisturising I recommend that, because lipstick and stuff can slip and slide over the top of this balm. It makes your lips look nice and supple. I just love it so much!!!!

THE FLINTSTONES:

This is a really random one, but there is a reason to the madness. I spent the better half of this month with a terrible ear infection. I felt terrible and spent a lot of time lying in bed like a miserable bump. Usually when I’m sick I opt for watching my ‘Star Wars’ collection (yes, even Episode One), but I felt like watching ‘The Flintstones’ this time. So, I cracked out my DVDs. I have seasons one to three, and I like that there’s about seven episodes on each disc, so I didn’t have to get up to change them. I grew up watching this show. My mum use to tape them in the morning for me when I was a kid. She even sat there and took all the ads out, so the VHS was just straight cartoons, no ads. I still love this show (and I’m not embarrassed!) and am glad I had the DVDs on hand.

NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL BY LENA DUNHAM:

This isn’t a shocker. I’ve completely fallen in love with Lena Dunham and this book really cemented that. I’m hooked on her now, and if it weren’t for all the other books on my list to read, I’d read it again and again!

BAREMINERALS FOUNDATION IN FAIR:

I rediscovered this stuff this month while I was sick. There were times when I needed to venture outside and this is the foundation I would slap on quickly. This shade is pretty much a perfect match for my skin tone, and unlike every other mineral foundation/powder I’ve tried, I don’t have a reaction to it. All the others make me red and itchy, but I don’t react at all with it. I did ever so slightly with the matte formula, which I tried first, but the original formula is totally fine. It looks beautiful on my skin, and even in the crazy heat we’ve been having here, it stays nicely throughout the day. I wore it for 12 hours yesterday and it only went patchy at about hour 10 or 11.

AUDREY HEPBURN T-SHIRT:

I got this from K-Mart for about $15 a few weeks ago and have lived in it since. I got a bigger size so it was loose and I could laze about in it. It’s so comfy and it has Audrey on it, need I say more. Audrey Hepburn is my favourite actress of all time, and I admire her wholly. I didn’t even think twice about this shirt. Usually I wouldn’t spend more than a couple of bucks on a shirt I wasn’t going to wear anywhere but the house, but this is different. It Audrey Hepburn!