Review: LORAC Box Office Hit palette & FOTD Friday

Happy Friday Beauties!

I've been so uninspired to take photos lately :( I think I need to get out of the house and do makeup photoshoots in the great outdoors or something. I had been meaning to do this palette for ages, but I just didn't feel like taking photos for some reason.

This is the last of my LORAC haul posts. Every time I think about how cheap the high end make up I bought on HauteLook was, I get happy :D If only they had sales like that all the time.

This was released around Christmas last year, as a limited edition exclusive at Ulta. It is such a cute little palette, the wine coloured faux croc skin oozes chic. It's a good size to pop into your purse and not have to worry about taking any other products (except brushes.. this palette really could have used some brushes!).

The colours are all really wearable, so I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it. The powders all have a slight shimmer, the more neutral shades have barely any but the darker shades have quite a bit.

The powder is quite soft, so you have to be a bit careful not to get too much on the brush or you will get fallout. I am far from being an expert with eyeshadow, so I usually like to keep it simple and these colours are just right for that. They are super-blendable and sheer, but can be used wet for more opacity. The lip shades are also pretty sheer, and go on smoothly. They don’t dry out and leave your lips feeling pretty hydrated, more like a tinted gloss than a lipstick. The soft shades are good for spring and perfect for work or school, or anywhere you want to be a bit more neutral/conservative (Grandma's house maybe? Meeting your boyfriend's parents?). The only really pigmented shade is the pink blush, but it goes on sheer and can be built up to a bright pink pop.

PROS:

• Pretty, soft shades
• Good for neutral looks, work/school/shopping/beach etc
• All in one palette, easy to take on trips
• Great quality, long lasting formula

CONS:

• Not for someone who prefers very pigmented colour
• Soft powder can leave some fallout
• No brushes

TIMESAVER:

Yes, it’s great because you could take it to work or on a weekend trip and you basically have everything you need to create a few different looks. Just remember to take along a few brushes

MONEYSAVER:

Yes. I got this from HauteLook for $15.

WANT/NEED/NO THANKS:

This is a NEED for me. I have used it more since I bought it than most of my other eyeshadows, blushes etc. The neutral look is good for me, since I have the kids.. don’t want to look like I’m going to a nightclub!

This is a really simple FOTD using some of the colours from the palette.

Face

• Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 31
• Avon Smooth Minerals Powder in Shell
• Pink Blush from the LORAC Box Office Hit palette

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
• Highlighter shade, first column, second row from the palette
• Lid shade, second column, third row from the palette
• Crease shade, second column, second row from the palette
• Brown eyeliner from the palette
• LORAC Lashes Volumizing and Thickening Mascara in Brown

Lips

• Natural rosy pink shade, top row, third across in the palette

Do you like to invest in palettes or prefer individual products? Neutral vs showstopping?

Ishah xx

...wow... looking at that photo for a while... I think I need botox in my forehead ;_;

EOTD: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil

It's Thursday, Beauties! Only one more day til the weekend :)

People must think "UHM, you're a stay at home mama, why do you care about the weekend?". One reason, my dears... My husband is at home! I love having family time and it's so nice for the kids to spend time with Daddy. Plus we always try to get out and about and do something fun!

Just wanted to show you me my(omg almost used bogan slang) Eye Of The Day :)

In particular the eye pencil, which is Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Deviant. I LOVE this pencil, it is so easy to use, highly pigmented and the application is very smooth. And once it's on, it does not budge. I'm so excited about the new 24/7 Shadow Pencils too, they look soooo good!

These are the products I used:

Urban Decay Loose Pigment in Asphyxia
Urban Decay Deluxe E/S in Ransom
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Deviant 
LORAC Eyeliner from the Box Office Hit Palette in Black
e.l.f. Eyeshadow Palette in Butternut, lightest shade
Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

Hope you guys are having a great week so far!

Ishah xx

Review: LORAC Lashes Volumizing and Thickening Mascara

Hello Tuesday.. And Beauties :)


My first mascara post! The first blog I ever followed was actually Clumps of Mascara. It's what got me into reading beauty blogs and eventually, starting my own blog :)


This is the LORAC mascara I got in my HauteLook haul. I've never tried a brown mascara before, my tendencies leaning towards dramatic black lashes. The mascara was $4.99 on HauteLook, so I thought I might as well give it a try!

Here's the product description:

Get perfectly defined and separated red carpet lashes with this mild, non-irritating mascara that lengthens, thickens and protects. Enriched with Pro-Vitamin B5 to help condition lashes, this unique formula doesn't clump, run, smudge or flake!

 The brush is quite big, with thick bristles that seem to really catch every single lash. It's not so great for control though. I had a few smudges of mascara on my lid when I was done, but it was easily cleaned up with a cotton bud.

The brown is very close to my natural lash colour, so it isn't as dramatic as my usual mascara look.
This is a more natural looking mascara definitely, but it still gives a nice lift to lashes. The formula is creamy, giving volume without any clumping at all. I was able to do 3 coats and it was still perfectly separated. It volumises, separates and curls, but the curl tends to drop after a couple of hours. It's also very mild, as it states,  my eyes sometimes get irritated by mascaras but this one was fine. Great for those with sensitive eyes :)

Left: 3 Coats of mascara, Right: No mascara

Sorry for my dopey look, I was trying to show the lashes a little better -_-;
I think this is a nice natural look for every day wear. I may start using this on days when I'm just going to a kiddie playdate or shopping, but still want to look nice :)

Do you prefer natural looking lashes or do you like more drama?

I have lots of makeup posts this week, I will be swatching the LORAC Box Office Hit palette and some of the Urban Decay products I have (also from HauteLook).

Ishah xx

Review: LORAC Mocktail Lip Gloss - Lava Flow

Woohoo, it's Friday Beauties!
Time for some R&R with my beautiful family :)

I got this lip gloss from the LORAC sale on HauteLook for $2.99 - apparently they sold at full price for $18 so I'm calling this a steal. They were released a few years ago so they definitely aren't on the cutting edge of beauty products, but for $2.99 I'm willing to make that sacrifice ;)

LORAC on HauteLook.com

Morning Beauties, just a quick post about the LORAC event on HauteLook at the moment.

I just ordered a LORAC makeup palette, mascara and lipgloss on HauteLook and all up with shipping it was $31.16. This is less than what the makeup palette by itself was being sold for on Ulta! HauteLook isn't always such great value, but sometimes they have an awesome makeup sale. A few months ago they had an Urban Decay sale for $2 an item!! Needless to say I was up bright and early for that one.. got about 4 items and paid around $15 total with shipping. You have to be on the lookout for these 'blowouts' as they call them, they usually start at 8am and you have to be on the ball to get something you want. The LORAC sale starts at $1.99 for their Lip Polishes, a cute little lip gloss in a nail polish like bottle.

If any of you want to check it out, my referral link is http://www.hautelook.com/invite/IClay062

You get $10 when someone you have referred makes a first time purchase but even if you don't bother with referrals, it's worth being a member just for the awesome blowouts they have from time to time. I'm not all that fanatical about promoting my referral link, but hey if any of you are going to join anyway, why not help a sister out? ;)

Have you used HauteLook before, or are you interested in checking it out? Are you a member of any other sample sale websites like this?