Hola my little rays of worldly sunshine! Today I've got a rather glowing review for you on a product I never thought would see hit my shores, from a brand I almost screamed about when I sighted in David Jones last month; it's "Down Boy" blusher by up and coming Californian cosmetics brand the Balm. First of all let me tell you I am positively obsessed with this brand and will more than likely be adding more of their incredible products to my collection (I also have the Balmbini Palette Vol. 2 as a free gift with purchase of $24.95+ which I also adore!). One thing that tends to be an issue with overseas brands coming into Australia is that their prices tend to be hugely inflated but this isn't the case with the Balm; on the US website Down Boy costs $21 but over here it cost me $25, the prices are ones I'm more than willing to pay!

Hi munchkins, I have got one of my favourite winter products to talk to you guys about today; the M.A.C Powder Blush in Pink Cult, it's one of my staples for my makeup in the cooler months of the year and with a buttery soft matte finish I can't pass it up! According to the M.A.C website Pink Cult is a limited edition colour, but it was suggested to me by an artist in July of last year and as far as I know it's still a part of the permanent collection.

Described by M.A.C as a "mid-tone dirty neutral pink", I'd say Pink Cult is a silky smooth cool (it appears cool in the pan but applies as a stunning neutral) dusty pink that flatters most fair to medium skin tones but would appear too powdery for women of colour. This is definitely my main winter colour, I own a fair few blushes but I can't resist picking Pink Cult when I'm looking through my collection in the morning. I love pairing it in order to balance out my skins when it has a lot of other dewy elements, I've also found Pink Cult suits any eye design that I have and layers on my skin beautifully. 

As you can see it swatches with very high pigmentation and intensity, but it never ever looks too heavy, cakey or overdone no matter how heavy handed you are! It lasts for around 6 hours on my face and still looks fresh and strongly intact which is a huge bonus, since I often find blush is one of the first things that fades on my face. It's very similar to Coygirl by M.A.C but it's a paler and more neutral version, which quite frankly I prefer.

I believe M.A.C blushes retail for $41 (hopefully less!) as listed on the website and I highly recommend  Pink Cult, I haven't seen a colour like it yet and haven't gone one like it in my collection.

So on saturday I attended an event at Mecca Cosmetica to meet the NARS Global Director of Artistry; James Boehmer. Exciting right? It was a $50 deposit which was redeemable on the day (meaning I could get one product, yay!) plus you got two free miniatures of their best selling items according to the  Mecca Cosmetica Beauty Election Top 100 Beauty Stars in association with Vogue. Ironically, almost all of the products are sold at Mecca, suspicious? Anyways, onto the event!

I have to say I was a little disappointed at first, firstly I got told that all the places for the event had been booked out between 1 and 4 (when James would actually be there) so I went at 10am, fine by me, I like to get things done early in the day. My other issue was that from the information on the website I assumed it would be like a workshop, where you'd go in and be seated and watch an artist apply makeup to an individual, where I could actually learn techniques by being shown them, but I was again incorrect. I went in to the store and I had my makeup applied by an artist, amongst about 5 other women and their artists, and the store is tiny! I mean having my makeup applied is lovely, but having an artist talk to me about how great James' techniques are without teaching me them was frustrating more than anything.

Onto my redeemed product, which I have been loving right now and wearing daily. NARS Blush in Sex Appeal.

My NARS artist who was quite sweet said that she wanted to use a peachy/apricot coloured blush, she used it over NARS Gilda which I also loved! I also own Orgasm (which they gave me a miniature of, so I gave it to my boyfriend's sister instead) but it's nice because now I have Orgasm as my NARS shimmer option and Sex Appeal as a NARS matte/satin option. The Mecca artist told me that they had to take 20% of all of the prices of their NARS products as they were simply too expensive for the current Australian economy (for example, Sheer Glow foundation costs $68, instead of $100) but I believe it's still far too expensive. I didn't bring cash to pay for overflow of $50 so I settled with a $45 product instead.

Like all NARS blushes Sex Appeal has a beautiful unique texture, applies sheer initially but can be built to any depth of colour you want. The shade range is extensive, and suits many skin tones. At first I thought that Sex Appeal would be too pale for skin, but layered onto my cheeks you see the strength of the pigmentation and how beautiful the colour actually is. I'd say that Sex Appeal suits all fair to light skin tones.

I recommend the NARS blushes for anyone who's looking to indulge and spice up their collection, but there are plenty of other perfectly formidable blushes at a more reasonable price range.

As I've said before when I was in UK I was looking for amazing products that were only available then and there, and unfortunately not in Australia. One of the best recommended products that I found on my trip was the Collection (2000) Shimmer Shades Blushalicious Blusher, and I am loving it!

Hola my little rays of worldly sunshine! Today I've got a rather glowing review for you on a product I never thought would see hit my shores, from a brand I almost screamed about when I sighted in David Jones last month; it's "Down Boy" blusher by up and coming Californian cosmetics brand the Balm. First of all let me tell you I am positively obsessed with this brand and will more than likely be adding more of their incredible products to my collection (I also have the Balmbini Palette Vol. 2 as a free gift with purchase of $24.95+ which I also adore!). One thing that tends to be an issue with overseas brands coming into Australia is that their prices tend to be hugely inflated but this isn't the case with the Balm; on the US website Down Boy costs $21 but over here it cost me $25, the prices are ones I'm more than willing to pay!

Hi munchkins, I have got one of my favourite winter products to talk to you guys about today; the M.A.C Powder Blush in Pink Cult, it's one of my staples for my makeup in the cooler months of the year and with a buttery soft matte finish I can't pass it up! According to the M.A.C website Pink Cult is a limited edition colour, but it was suggested to me by an artist in July of last year and as far as I know it's still a part of the permanent collection.

Described by M.A.C as a "mid-tone dirty neutral pink", I'd say Pink Cult is a silky smooth cool (it appears cool in the pan but applies as a stunning neutral) dusty pink that flatters most fair to medium skin tones but would appear too powdery for women of colour. This is definitely my main winter colour, I own a fair few blushes but I can't resist picking Pink Cult when I'm looking through my collection in the morning. I love pairing it in order to balance out my skins when it has a lot of other dewy elements, I've also found Pink Cult suits any eye design that I have and layers on my skin beautifully. 

As you can see it swatches with very high pigmentation and intensity, but it never ever looks too heavy, cakey or overdone no matter how heavy handed you are! It lasts for around 6 hours on my face and still looks fresh and strongly intact which is a huge bonus, since I often find blush is one of the first things that fades on my face. It's very similar to Coygirl by M.A.C but it's a paler and more neutral version, which quite frankly I prefer.

I believe M.A.C blushes retail for $41 (hopefully less!) as listed on the website and I highly recommend  Pink Cult, I haven't seen a colour like it yet and haven't gone one like it in my collection.

So on saturday I attended an event at Mecca Cosmetica to meet the NARS Global Director of Artistry; James Boehmer. Exciting right? It was a $50 deposit which was redeemable on the day (meaning I could get one product, yay!) plus you got two free miniatures of their best selling items according to the  Mecca Cosmetica Beauty Election Top 100 Beauty Stars in association with Vogue. Ironically, almost all of the products are sold at Mecca, suspicious? Anyways, onto the event!

I have to say I was a little disappointed at first, firstly I got told that all the places for the event had been booked out between 1 and 4 (when James would actually be there) so I went at 10am, fine by me, I like to get things done early in the day. My other issue was that from the information on the website I assumed it would be like a workshop, where you'd go in and be seated and watch an artist apply makeup to an individual, where I could actually learn techniques by being shown them, but I was again incorrect. I went in to the store and I had my makeup applied by an artist, amongst about 5 other women and their artists, and the store is tiny! I mean having my makeup applied is lovely, but having an artist talk to me about how great James' techniques are without teaching me them was frustrating more than anything.

Onto my redeemed product, which I have been loving right now and wearing daily. NARS Blush in Sex Appeal.

My NARS artist who was quite sweet said that she wanted to use a peachy/apricot coloured blush, she used it over NARS Gilda which I also loved! I also own Orgasm (which they gave me a miniature of, so I gave it to my boyfriend's sister instead) but it's nice because now I have Orgasm as my NARS shimmer option and Sex Appeal as a NARS matte/satin option. The Mecca artist told me that they had to take 20% of all of the prices of their NARS products as they were simply too expensive for the current Australian economy (for example, Sheer Glow foundation costs $68, instead of $100) but I believe it's still far too expensive. I didn't bring cash to pay for overflow of $50 so I settled with a $45 product instead.

Like all NARS blushes Sex Appeal has a beautiful unique texture, applies sheer initially but can be built to any depth of colour you want. The shade range is extensive, and suits many skin tones. At first I thought that Sex Appeal would be too pale for skin, but layered onto my cheeks you see the strength of the pigmentation and how beautiful the colour actually is. I'd say that Sex Appeal suits all fair to light skin tones.

I recommend the NARS blushes for anyone who's looking to indulge and spice up their collection, but there are plenty of other perfectly formidable blushes at a more reasonable price range.

As I've said before when I was in UK I was looking for amazing products that were only available then and there, and unfortunately not in Australia. One of the best recommended products that I found on my trip was the Collection (2000) Shimmer Shades Blushalicious Blusher, and I am loving it!