Showing posts from February, 2014 — CassandraMyee | NZ Beauty Blog

Showing posts from February, 2014

MOST LOVED | February '14

The second month of 2014 has again flown by, so here are all the products, music + TV that I have been loving during February. This month I finished up my summer job and have now started back at my final year at university. I am looking forward to being back and really love the papers that I will be doing, and of course, fitting in time for lots of blogging!

INSTAGRAM ROUND UP | February '14

February really hurried along, perhaps because there isn't so many days, or I was just doing lots of fun thing [not really] but my Instagram feed was packed with photos - a total of 31 to be exact. There isn't even that many days in February, but I obviously found many Instagram worthy moment, so here is the Feb Round Up.

001. Yes, it is summer and yes, it was cold enough that a bar had the fire going // 002. A lovely friend [thank you!] brought me back a few goodies from Sephora

NEW ADDITIONS #004 | Gemstones + Minerals

I am an avid collector of gemstones and minerals and not only find them aesthetically pleasing, but very interesting as well - who would think such beautiful and unique little gems could come from the Earth?! This post carries on in a series [for lack of better name] called New Additions. You can see past posts here - #001, #002 and #003 and view some others I have added to my collection.

RIMMEL | Stay Matte Pressed Powder - Out With The Old...

I feel like this powder has become a bit of a cult beauty classic; if you don't have it, you need and if you do have it, well, I'm sure you share the same love for it like me. Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder takes me back to my very early makeup days when I didn't really have any idea what I was doing and I brought this pressed powder. I'm pretty sure I would just wack it on my face without even having put any foundation on before hand; I admit I was pretty clueless. Now days I have a mad appreciation for what a good pressed powder can do to a made up face, whether it be setting foundations [and other bases] or getting rid of unwanted shine during the day, this little compact is a staple in my makeup stash, and hence why as soon as it got low, I instantly repurchased.

REVLON | Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamels in Lime Basil + Bordeaux

It is always exciting to see brands experiment with packaging and changing up their look. Revlon nail polishes have been in the same bottle for years and years with hardly any changes, bar a logo update. These newly released Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamels, not only smell good but the bottles are adorable! Farmers was having a sale on (as they often do) and they had 2 for $20 on all Revlon polishes, and surprisingly even on these brand new ones. They normally retail for $17.50 - $18.99 each here in NZ.

NOTD | Barbie Pink + Dots feat. Essie + OPI

I went for something a little different on the nails and experimented with a some dotting techniques. I'd seen Lily Pebbles nails once and she had one small dot right in the centre at the base of each nail in a metallic polish. The effect was very chic and just gave something a little extra to what I normally wear on my nails.

SAMPLE BAR | Haul from the Glam Store + Mini Reviews

Sample Bar, a monthly subscription box service, has unfortunately closed down completely but before they did I used up some of my collected 'glam points' in their online store and brought a few things as I had racked up quite a few points. I am bit disappointed however, as I was supposed to receive a Limited Edition Wedding Glam Pack that was an extra box of goodies they had on sale for $15 (down from $40), and it never turned up and now I have no way of actually contacting them or getting my money back! There was also an incident with a broken palette... more on that in a later post. But all negativity aside they threw in a couple of extra sample products that was a nice surprise and I love the things I brought and I wanted to share them.

JORDANA | Haul from 2Cheap [NZ] Review + Swatches

If you are in NZ, you might not be too familiar with the Jordana brand, it's not stocked at Farmers, pharmacies or department stores - the only place you can find it; $2 shops. Yep, I bet many people walk past the Jordana stand while they go into find cheap dress up stuff and take no notice of it. At first I thought that these products can't be any good and was generally very dismissive of them, but after hearing rave reviews about their lipsticks in particular, on various makeup groups on Facebook, I did my first order of Jordana from Cherry Culture, which you can see my post here (includes swatches, links and all that good stuff). I was super impressed with the products, so the other week when I was walking through the mall, I stopped in at 2Cheap in Northlands Mall to find a heavily stocked Jordana stand, and yes, naturally I got very excited about it all and grabbed a few items costing me under $25!

NEUTROGENA | Free Samples Gift Pack + Reviews

Everyone loves free samples right!? Well if you are in NZ you can get your own custom for your skin type set of Neutrogena minis through their Facebook page here to test out. Brands are so smart to do this and the set your receive is very generous, packed with some of Neutrogena's best skincare products. I have used Neutrogena products for years, and they were some of the first one I used when I was younger and starting a skincare routine. I had already used a couple of these samples I was sent, but the other 3 were new to me, so I thought I would give a run down and review of what I thought about each individual one.

TYPO | Stationery + Home Sale Haul

Every time I go into Typo it's safe to say, I always tend to walk out with at least one thing. I am an absolute sucker for stationery and cute homeware type stuff, so when Typo had a big Boxing Day sale (instore and online) I went a little loco on the online shop (easier then battling the herds of people in the mall, that's for sure!) I know this is a much belated post, but I had to share some of these items I got as they were an absolute steal!

Typo always have great sales and each of these items were under AUD $5.00 on sale (bar 1 full priced notebook). A few of these things I couldn't find on the website anymore, but the sale section is worth a scroll through and some of the Typo shops may still have these in their stock.

TRILOGY | Certified Organic Rosehip Oil

This review has been a long time coming because I wanted to give this a long trail as it is one of those kinds of products that you will not be seeing big results instantly. Trilogy is a highly regarded skincare brand that creates natural products at really affordable prices, I pick up the Certified Organic Rosehip Oil from Farmers for only $23.90 [20ml] and I can see this bottle lasting a long time as you only need a few drops to do the job each day.

MIKI | Eyeshadow Quads in Smokey Neutrals + Smokey Blacks Review + Swatches

Not often you come across super cheap makeup and find that it is excellent quality. I think people see cheaper makeup and presume that it is going to be crap quality (I know I've thought that!) but that has been completely proven wrong with brands like Jordana (which is amazing) and also by these MIKI eyeshadow quads. I picked these up from Postie and I think they were either 2 for $6, or $4.00 each, which is a real steal. I wasn't expecting them to be anything fantastic but thought I would just give them a try as the colours looked great in each quad.

MAYBELLINE | Color Whisper in Lust For Blush Review + Swatch

There are those times when that one lipstick comes along and just sweeps you off your feet.. well not exactly, but it is Valentine's Day (shout out to all the singles!) and I have some mad love to show for this Maybelline Color Whisper in the shade Lust For Blush. I picked this up at Farmers for 25% off a couple of weeks ago (usual price around $15) and I have been wearing it pretty much everyday since.

L'OREAL | Color Infallible Eyeshadow in Tender Caramel

I have to dedicate a whole post to this incredible individual eyeshadow from L'Oreal. This is from their Color Infaillible shadow line and is a semi-pressed pigment in the shade Tender Caramel. I picked this up on a whim a few weeks ago from Postie for only $4.80 (was on sale from $6), and had no idea how great it would actually be!

KMART BE INDULGED | $12 Holographic Clear Makeup + Travel Bags

If you are on the look out for some new makeup bags, you definitely need to stop in at Kmart and check out the amazing range they have there. I was so surprised to walk in and find this set for only NZD $12, for 3 various sized makeup/travel bags. I felt like I had spent so long searching for a clear travel bag and just couldn't find one anywhere - or they were just super expensive. I had to settle for a Kathmandu one (which you can see in my Travel Makeup Bag post here), it did the job fine but just didn't have the aesthetic appeal.

The best thing about these is that they are such good sizes, are clear and are holographic... I mean come on! It's everything I could possibly want in a makeup bag.

QVS | Beauty Tools Haul from My Beauty Store

QVS is a great brand for buying all things beauty tool and accessories related, so when MyBeautyStore had Buy 2, Get 1 free on all QVS it was a great opportunity to replace some much used tools from my cupboard.

RIMMEL | Sale Haul from ASOS

Whenever Rimmel comes on sale on ASOS, I am all about that and was especially pleased that they had the new Stay Matte foundation and Stay Blushed! available online. I wouldn't ever consider buying Rimmel in any stores now, seeing as you can get it for almost a third of the price with free shipping on ASOS. [And I am all for a good bargain!]

NOTD | Essie Butler Please

When it comes to nail polish I reckon the bolder the better, this electric blue nail polish by Essie could possibly be one of my new favourites and is the perfect colour for summer.

THE SAMPLES #002 | L'Oreal, Booty Parlor, Garnier, ROC, The Body Shop + Origins

It has been a couple of months since my first The Samples post, so I dug around the samples draw once again and pulled out a few things to give a try. I feel like I stash away all the sample sachets and never get round to using them, so these posts are great to motivate me to use them up!

BENEFIT COSMETICS | Build-A-Kit - Best of Benefit Custom Makeup Kit

When I decided to finally order some Benefit products, the only right way to do it was using the Best Of Benefit, allowing you to pick and choose some of the most coveted Benefit products, all packaged up in an adorable makeup bag. You pick 1 item from 3 categories; Complexion, Cheeks, Eyes - then a free gift out of another 3 items. They throw in the free makeup case and you get to choose 2 samples all for USD $79.00.

It baffled me why I waited so long to buy some Benefit products; since I received this a week before Christmas I've been using these products pretty much every day and have added a lot more Benefit into my makeup collection [a lot more posts to come!] Rockateur featured in my December Most Loved and They're Real was in my January Most Loved.

EMPTIES | January '14

Each month I am going to have a post dedicated to rubbish; but not just any rubbish, specifically makeup and other such products that I have used all up. These types of posts/videos on Youtube are great as they are a clear indication of things that you use the most, or on the other hand want to get rid of. There is something satisfying about finally use the last drop of a product, so here are a few that I have finally thrown in the bin.