Does Size Matter? (Or, How Much Makeup is Too Much Makeup?)

Lately, I have been watching a lot of beauty videos on YouTube. I particularly like the ones where the YouTuber does a tour of their makeup collections, so I have been watching quite a few of those. And it got me thinking, how much makeup is too much makeup?

I thought that I had a lot of makeup, but when I started watching beauty vloggers on YouTube and seeing how much makeup they purchase on a regular basis, and witnessing the enormity of their makeup collections, my own collection started to feel very small.

 I am in no way judging these girls, I think their collections are amazing and I don't think there is anything wrong with having a large collection of something that you love. It is just a concept that I find curious. How much makeup can one person realistically use?

There are all kinds of varying "rules" about how long a makeup product lasts for. Some people say you shouldn't keep a mascara longer than six months; and others say three months is the absolute maximum. Personally, I have used certain mascaras for over a year and not had any problems. Creams don't tend to have as long a shelf life as powders, but should we really throw them away just because we've had them for longer than six months? That seems silly and wasteful to me. I take care of my makeup; and if it still smells and looks as good as the day I bought it, I'm not going to throw it away. My makeup collection is carefully and deliberately constructed. I don't just buy makeup because it's there, so if I spend my money on a product, I want to use it until it's finished, not until some magazine or blogger on the internet says I should throw it away.

But in saying all of that, I have to wonder: If a product has been in your makeup collection for three or four years and you blatantly state that you never use it and will probably never use it, is it really worth holding on to? Makeup can carry sentimental value, certainly the red Chanel lipstick my mum gave me for my birthday many years ago holds a lot of sentimental value for me and I still have it. But it also hasn't dried up, it still works, and I still love the colour. But what about makeup that vloggers point out in their collections and say, "I don't really like this product," or "I never use this/will never use this"? Do those products really belong in your collection, if that's the way you feel about them?

In the spirit of not being wasteful, you could give away the products you don't use/like, provided that it's hygienic. A liquid foundation with a pump, a lip gloss you've never, ever touched, and any kind of powder is perfectly okay to be given away to somebody who might love it. I don't recommend giving away used mascaras, eyeliners or lip products that you have used on yourself, though. You could gather all of your untouched, hygienic products and get together with a group of friends for a swap.

I recently purged my makeup collection, cleaned up some palettes and gave a whole bunch of stuff to my mum. I wasn't really using them, or felt like I would never be able to use them all up, so I gave them to my mum. I gave her a bunch of powder eyeshadows, a powder blush, things like that. It was all perfectly safe to share; and they look much nicer on her than they did on me!

The added bonus is the fact that now I have heaps more room for new makeup. ;-)

So, with all of these things in mind, I'm still left to wonder what constitutes "too much makeup." The best I can figure is that it's different for everybody. Everybody who has a makeup collection should be content and comfortable with the amount that they have. I am content to have a relatively small-to-medium sized collection of lovingly collected, carefully selected products which make me happy every time I look at my vanity or open my makeup bags. Other people are content to amass hundreds of products, just because they can, regardless of whether or not they like them. All I can say to that is, it must be nice to have that much money!

What do you guys think? Is there such a thing as having "too much makeup"? What do you consider to be excessive? How big is your makeup collection? Drop me a comment below, I'm curious. :-)

Until next time,

Love and light.

xoxo

New makeup!

Well, I finally went out and bought some new makeup, which I have been wanting to do for a long time now. Unfortunately, my trip to Mecca Cosmetica did not go well at all, because they didn't have what I went in for, so I gave up on that for the moment. Also, despite being the only customer in the shop, once the salesgirl informed me that they didn't have the specific eyeshadow I had requested (Nars Bombshell, which I want quite desperately but cannot find anywhere), she went back behind her desk and that was that. So even though there were a couple of other products I quite liked, I left the shop right away because I felt so uncomfortable.

But then I went to Myer and had a wander around the makeup counters. I passed over Chanel because there was a very snooty salesgirl there and I wasn't interested in being made to feel unimportant. But I did stop for a while at Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, where I did have a very nice interaction with the ladies at those counters.

In the end, I didn't have as much money to spend as I would have liked, but I did pick up two really lovely products. The first thing I bought was a Christian Dior lipstick, in Rose Dèclamation.

Rose Dèclamation

 

 

 I have worn this lipstick a couple of times since I bought it, and I absolutely adore it. It's a gorgeous soft rose-pink and it is quite rich and creamy to apply. It feels very luxurious and it lasts ages on the lips. I have always loved Dior lipsticks and this one is a lovely addition to my collection.

The other product I picked up was a limited edition Yves Saint Laurent eyeshadow quad; and oh my goodness. I had told myself that I would finally cave and buy bronze, gold and brown eyeshadows, because I have blue eyes and those colours tend to make my eyes really pop. But I never seem to buy the things that I set out to buy, especially when I go makeup shopping, so I ended up coming home with this:

Wow. What can I even say besides that?

I'm not sure what it is with me and blues, greens, pinks and purples, but the majority of the eyeshadows that I buy and like are usually one of those four colours.

I haven't tried this on my eyes yet (I'm almost afraid to use it because it's so perfect and beautiful), but I did try the colours on my wrist in the shop and I totally fell in love with it. It was very expensive, but then everything is, here in Australia; and it was totally worth it. The colours are stunning and I think they will look especially nice with my new rose pink lipstick.

My two beautiful makeup purchases, all cuddled up in prettiness

I used to have this thing with keeping the boxes for my cosmetics, but I don't do that anymore. I do, however, take pictures before I throw the boxes away! Am I the only one?

I also think the packaging is really gorgeous!

So those are the only two makeup products of note that I have bought recently. Hopefully after Christmas I will be able to do one really big makeup and beauty splurge and have a more interesting collection of products to show. In the meantime, I will post some smaller haul posts and reviews of various products. One of my previous posts, about my makeup collection and the process I was going through of cleaning it out, got quite a lot of attention, so I might do some more posts in a similar vein to that one. If anybody is interested in seeing an update on my decluttering adventures (I have had many!), please do let me know in the comments. :-)

I'm also looking at buying a video camera and starting a YouTube channel, possibly as a combination of books, beauty, fitness and ballet, similar to my tumblr. Of course, that means I will have to get over my hatred of the sound of my own voice, but nevertheless, stay tuned for updates on that front as well!

Thank you so much for reading, goodnight!

xoxo

Mini Drugstore Haul

In the spirit of Halloween, I went out yesterday and picked up a few beauty-related things, so I finally have something to share with you all!

Yayyyy!

L-R: Glam Eyes "Gwen" eyelashes, red face & body paint, She Aromatherapy body glitter, She Aromatherapy dusting powder in "Nymph" and Revlon nail varnish in "Cherries in the Snow"

 

 So obviously the body paint is Halloween-specific, and I will put up some photos of my Halloween makeup looks after the weekend.

She Aromatherapy is a brand that I had never seen or heard of before until yesterday's expedition to Priceline. They are an Australian cruelty-free brand of mineral makeup and natural body products. You can check them out here

The body glitter has a cooling gel texture and an opalescent shine. It contains no alcohol, which is good for me and my sensitive skin. It provides a subtle sparkle and a lovely, ethereal shimmer. I can't wait to wear it. I always loved body glitter when I was younger; and it seems to be very difficult to find in shops in W.A. Maybe Victoria is just more of a body glitter sort of place.

The next thing I bought is the loose dusting powder, also from She Aromatherapy. The colour is "Nymph," which was just so perfect that I had to have it. I like to wear shimmery loose powders when I do special effect makeup, but they can be equally lovely with a neutral palette. I haven't tried this product yet but I'm excited. I will probably wear it to work tonight.

And the last thing I bought was the Revlon nail polish. I have been wanting "Cherries in the Snow" for a long time now; and when I saw that Priceline had reduced the price of all Revlon nail polishes to nine dollars, I just had to snap this one up. It's a gorgeous red which reminds me of Old Hollywood movie stars. I'm excited to wear it.


So that concludes my mini beauty haul, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have tried any of these products or would like to see some proper reviews of the products, please leave me a comment below. Have a wonderful day!

xoxo

Woefully neglectful!

I have been so neglectful of my beauty blog. And what's worse is that I really have no excuse. None whatsoever.

I suppose the major reason I haven't updated this blog is because I have been feeling somewhat disheartened with it. I also must admit that I haven't been buying any makeup or beauty products. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I have been spending a lot of time decluttering and trying to streamline my collection. And to that end, I have recently been able to reduce the products in my bathroom to the point where they now all fit onto one shelf. One shelf!

That was a proud moment in my life.

What I have been buying a lot of lately is books. I have bought oh-so many books. Ridiculous amounts of them. And if this were a book blog, I would have uploaded endless pictures of the books as they arrived (I buy my books almost exclusively from The Book Depository). But this is a beauty blog; and I told myself when I created it that I would try to keep myself as focused as I possibly could. Which I will do!

So, in the absence of any new makeup or beauty products to 'haul,' as such, what I am going to share with you today is my current beauty wishlist! (Yayyyy!)

I've been saving up for a while now to go on a massive beauty shopping splurge (to undo some of the hard work I did decluttering, because really, isn't the whole point of decluttering to make room for new stuff?). Hopefully I will be able to do that soon and have a whole bunch of new products to show & tell. These are some of the products that I hope to pick up when I go shopping:

Nars lipgloss in "Angelika"

 

I really like Nars lipgloss; and I love any kind of bright pink makeup, so I think this will be just perfect.

 

Nars eyeshadow in "Bombshell"

 

Very self-explanatory.

Nars Bombshell in "Blondie"

 

I need a new brown/beige eyeshadow; and this one looks just right!

 

Nars Illuminator in "Orgasm"

 

Tee hee.

 

 

Chantecaille Pure Rosewater

 

I don't really know if I can justify the extravagant price tag on this, but it looks and sounds so amazing that I feel like I need to at least try it.

Chanel lipstick in Ingenue

 

Or some other kind of pretty nude colour with a nice name.

 

Because of reasons.

 

 

 

So that's a very small collection of just a couple of the endless products on my wishlist. Hopefully I will get around to beauty shopping very soon and be able to do a little haul for you guys.

 

In the meantime, leave me some comments and let me know what's on your makeup wishlist, what you've been buying lately, and what you would like to see in my future posts! :)

 

 

 

 

xoxo

Samples at the Makeup Counter

Today, whilst out with my mum, I visited Myer and I made a beeline for Estée Lauder, because I really wanted to pick up some Advanced Time Zone moisturiser. I had such a lovely interaction with the girl at the counter, which is really important to me. I don't like to buy things (especially expensive things) from sales assistants who are not nice, or who talk down to me. But this girl was just so sweet. She was friendly and helpful and had a chat with me about non-product related things. It was just generally a very nice interaction. And along with the cream that I bought, she gave me three very generous samples, which really made my morning. Hobbling around with broken ribs is not very much fun, and I certainly didn't look my best (no makeup + big dark bruises under both my eyes), but she made my morning so much nicer. I appreciated that a lot.

My new face cream, feat. samples of Advanced Night Repair and Daywear serums.

The next counter I visited was Lancome, which I have never even given a second glance to. But since animal testing is now banned across Europe, I thought I would have a look. Also, I have been seeing a lot of their serums in Vogue and other fashion magazines lately, so I wanted to check them out. My skin has a variety of concerns, the major one being that it is hypersensitive. But aside from that, there is the slight redness that comes with pale, Nordic-looking skin (God bless you, fake tan) and also I have some pores that I'm a bit shy about. So I went to look at these pore-refining, colour-correcting serums that people seem to be raving about. And not only was I met with two quite rude older women at the counter, but when I asked if I could possibly please sample the serums, one of the women informed me quite rudely that, "We do not give out any samples when we're on gift because we have to sit down and have a consultation. You can come back in two weeks."

Um, how about no.

Okay, fair enough you have a gift-with-purchase promotion. That's fine. But is there really any need to be rude to me? It has taken me six years of shopping at department store beauty counters to even work up the courage to ask for a sample (generally trying something in the shop and then discovering that I'm allergic to its ingredients is very unpleasant. I would much rather try it at home, in private, where my anti-inflammatry products are). I started buying products from the counters when I was sixteen going on seventeen; and I'm twenty-three now. In the beginning, I was completely lost and had to learn by trial-and-error. I was also embarrassingly shy and even now, I have trouble approaching a counter if the staff look unwelcoming. But I'm a grownup now, and I have learned that it is okay to ask for samples, particularly if you are buying something else. I would have happily spent money with them if the products worked for my skin. I have delicate skin, that is not my fault. And just because I look young, doesn't mean I can't afford to buy expensive skincare and makeup. I prefer to buy the brands I know work for me (Dior, Chanel, Estée Lauder, Yves Saint Laurent) but I also like to experiment a little bit.

My favourite beauty counter salespeople have always been the friendly ones, the ones who don't treat you like you're wasting your time, and yes, who give you samples. Samples build customer loyalty. That customer doesn't just remember the brand, they remember you. You, as a salesperson, hold a lot more power than you think you do. I have not shopped at one particular branch of David Jones in about five years, simply because the staff they had the last time I was there, were horrible. And yet, I would drive forty-five minutes out of my way to visit one specific salesgirl at Yves Saint Laurent because the last time I bought things from her, she gave me a whole bunch of samples that I ended up going back and buying later.

When I worked for The Body Shop, I used to give samples to people all the time. And so often, they would come back to me and say, "Do you remember that sample you gave me last time? I loved it."

Samples build repeat business and customer loyalty. In my opinion, at least. I am much more likely to return to a shop, a counter, a salesperson, simply because the experience I had while I was there was so good. I prefer to spend my hard-earned money with people who are nice and who make my day nicer.


What about you? Do samples bring you back to a place?

Review of Tigi Your Highness Elevating Shampoo

I bought a new shampoo a few weeks ago, and I used it for the first time today. I tend to shy away from trying new shampoos. I’m really, really, super-attached to my De Lorenzo silver shampoo, but I decided it was time to be brave and try something else as well. This particular shampoo is part of the Tigi Catwalk Collection, and it comes packaged in an ultra-glam black and purple bottle. In true Tigi fashion, it has a fun name that made me smile when I bought it: Your Highness. It is so named because the function of this shampoo is to give your hair volume, body and height. Whoever coined the phrase, “The higher the hair, the closer to God,” must be a big fan of this shampoo.

 

 

Part of the reason that Tigi as a brand appeals to me is because of their sense of humour. It even says on the back of their bottles: “You must have a sense of humour to use our products.” Add that to the brightly coloured packaging and funny/cheeky/suggestive product names, and you, sirs and madams, have won me over. I shall buy your products. It also helps that they do not test on animals (very important to me); and it’s a total bonus that the products actually work.

I jumped into the shower, excited to try my new shampoo and contemplating the fact that pretty much every kind of shampoo I buy is purple or has purple on the packaging. I wonder what that means… But I digress.

The first thing I noticed about the bottle is its simplicity. You literally twist off the lid, and away you go. You can squeeze the product directly onto your hand, without having to fiddle around with a pump (pumps on shampoo bottles drive me crazy. It should not be that difficult to use shampoo!), and you also can’t accidentally squeeze out half the bottle when you tilt it towards your palm.

Another thing I loved about this product was that you don’t need to use very much of it, which makes it super economical. I don’t know about anybody else, but my hair is extremely long and thick (and no, I don’t have hair extensions), so I tend to use up a lot of shampoo and conditioner, just to cover all of my hair. Not so, with this one! I was super impressed with how a little went such a long way.

My favourite thing about Your Highness is the fragrance. I admit it, I am a total girl about haircare products- If it doesn’t smell good, I won’t use it. I don’t care how good it is for my hair, it has to smell good. And oh, how this one does. Your Highness combines jasmine, wisteria, lavender and violet to create one of the most amazing smelling shampoos I have ever tried. Even now, I can’t help smelling my hair (don’t judge me- I know I can’t be the only one who does this) and breathing a contented sigh. It smells like romance, the first flowers of spring and fairy lights.

As I mentioned, I have extremely long and very thick hair, with no layers cut into it, so I have a hard time getting my hair to show signs of life. I long for bouncy hair with lots of body and a sassy attitude, and I have searched far and wide to find products which help me achieve this. Your Highness most certainly does. And so, I bow down before it and praise its magical volumising powers.

Review of Chantecaille Flower-Infused Cleansing Milk

Last week, I ordered some makeup through Mecca Cosmetica online, and one of the samples they sent me was Chantecaille Flower Infused Cleansing Milk.

Sample size- Thanks so much, Mecca Cosmetica! You guys rock.

 

I had never heard of Chantecaille before, but I was delighted to discover that it is a lovely, cruelty-free brand which promotes kindness to the environment and incorporates tons of natural ingredients into their products. So before I even put the product on my skin, I liked this brand.

I followed the instructions on the back of the sample packet and used a cotton pad to apply the cleanser to my skin. I was really impressed (and slightly embarrassed) by how much dirt it removed. This cleanser would make an awesome makeup remover as well.

Gorgeous natural ingredients make this product like aromatherapy for your face!

 

Despite the tendency of some cream cleansers/cleansing milks to be sticky and gooey, Chantecaille seem to have perfected the ultimate gentle texture. Delicately fragranced with rose, jasmine and mimosa, this cleanser is gentle and very soothing, even on my extra-hypersensitive skin. It also contains mallow and chamomile, which are natural anti-inflammatries, so there was no stinging or redness when I used this product.

At no point did I find the texture to be sticky, heavy or clogged and once I washed it off my face with cold water, I felt fresh, clean and springtime pretty. It was really refreshing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I definitely recommend this product, especially to my fellow sensitive-skinned sisters. When your skin is as sensitive as mine, you really do have to be so careful, but this is a lovely cleanser which I definitely recommend to anybody who looks for natural ingredients and eco-friendly, cruelty-free beauty products, as well as anybody who needs a gentle, soothing cleanser that still gives your skin a deep clean. Perfect for springtime, Chantecaille Flower-Infused Cleansing Milk will make your skin glow with dewy, sunshine-y happiness.

 

 

 

If you live in the USA, you can shop for Chantecaille products here: http://www.chantecaille.com

Australian beauties can buy Chantecaille here: http://www.meccacosmetica.com.au/Chantecaille/