News: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette to be released!

Video review: Jen, From Head To Toe

It's confirmed! Urban Decay will be releasing the second palette for the Naked series, the Naked 2 palette. This time around it includes a much cooler selection of shimmery and matte neutral and taupe shades and also includes a matte cream colour and a matte black.

Although I do not have the original UD Naked Palette to compare it to, I will be purchasing the new Naked 2 palette when it comes out. I feel like the second palette is much more suited to me, as I prefer cool neutrals and taupes/charcoals rather than warm browns and bluish plums. 

I'm super excited that this palette is coming out, and I'm sure like the original Naked palette, it will be a very difficult to get your hands on this product early.

Disclaimer: Video is not mine, if you want more extensive information, Please visit Jen from From Head To Toe.

My Clarisonic Mia has arrived!

I was so excited yesterday when my Clarisonic Mia came in the mail yesterday afternoon. I had already purchased an adaptor for it to be used in Australia, since I purchased it from the US. I left it to charge overnight, but before that I did play around and tested it out a bit. It was working even though it hadn't be charged yet. On the box and on the Clarisonic website, it states that the initial charge should be for anywhere between 18 to 24 hours. However, I had it charged since 3-4PM in the afternoon yesterday and it had finished charging by 9-10AM today, so it was much less than I had expected it to be.

If you haven't heard what a Clarisonic is and what it does, it essentially is a sonic skin cleansing system (sort of like an electric toothbrush, but for your face). It claims to do all sorts of things like cleanse your skin 6x better than manual cleansing and helps reduce oily and dry patches and blemishes, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and is ideal for all types of skin including very sensitive skin.

The Clarisonic Mia is the smallest version in the Clarisonic family which is ideal for travelling, and differs from the rest by only having one speed. It came with a travel-size refreshing gel cleanser from Clarisonic, which I will not use, because I have read numerous reviews from different people stating how bad they thought the cleanser was. The Mia also came with the pLink charger for international use and a sensitive brush head.

I will do an extensive review most likely after a month or several weeks of using it, just so I can see and tell you if it's really worth the money and if it really works.

The Clarisonic Mia in white is now available in Australia at Myer and David Jones stores (as the website claims) but you can read more about it on the Australian website. Visit Clarisonic Australia.

Bottom Line: I'm really happy that my Clarisonic is here and I can use it, and will do an extensive review in the next several weeks.

The beauty holiday wishlist!

I love creating wish-lists when it comes to special ocassions such as birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. Not that I expect to get these things as presents (because I will end up buying them for myself eventually) but just so I can always prioritise the things I want and the things I need.  In a way, they are gifts to myself! This is my holiday wish-list this year, and I've found myself to be surprisingly less high maintenance with beauty related products than I was last year.  So here's the list:

1. The Clarisonic Mia in blue RRP $179AU. The Clarisonic Mia is a facial brush cleansing system that vibrates to cleanse the skin more effectively than manual cleansing. I think that the Mia is only out in white in Australia at the moment or is due to officially be in all Myer and David Jones stores by December 2011. I have spoken to Clarisonic Australia before and they have told me that the Mia was released a couple of months ago in Australia but I have never seen it in store or on their online stockists. I'm not sure if it's out in the other major cities, but so far I have not heard anything.

Luckily for me, I ordered mine online last week from a US website kissandmakeupny. I'm glad I have satisfied this wish early enough so I would be able to order it from online, or else I would have had to wait for the Mia to come out in Australia with the appropriate Australian adaptor, and like other US online stores they may not allow international shipping for the device any more. (I will post a first impressions and extensive review after I receive and test out the Mia for a few weeks)


2. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-3, RRP $49AU. Thanks to Lisa Eldrige, this little number has been on my wishlist for the longest time, but I never seem to make the leap of buying it. However, this holiday I am determined to get my hands on it. It is a heavy-duty concealer meant for all over face to conceal discolourations, redness and blemishes, although you can use it for under eyes, since I don't have problems with bad dark circles (thanks to my Jurlique Herbal Recovery eye cream) I won't be using it for that and just sticking to a illuminating pen eye concealer.

3. Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in 37, L'Exuberante, RRP $52AU. I came across this lipstick just because I was showing one of my best friends' a colour of a lipstick similar to it that I was planning to wear to a party. I tried on this lipstick and absolutely fell in love with the colour, texture and finish! It is a velvety-matte finish but is non-drying and acts as a long-lasting stain of the colour. So although it is a bright hot fushia lipstick, it is not very high-maintenance at all, which is why I absolutely love it!

4. Trish McEvoy Voyager Collection, RRP $85US. I'm a frequent online shopper. I just can't help myself but look at pretty things and want to buy them constantly. I definitely fell in love with this travel palette set after reading Sabrina's from thebeautylookbook post about it. It doesn't look very small in the picture but it as Sabrina describes it is so small it can fit into the tiniest purses! It comes with 8 eye shadows including neutrals and darks, a bronzer, a blush, a lipgloss, the medium concealer and 4 brushes (1 face brush, 2 double ended eye brushes and one lip/concealer brush) all compact in a silver quilted case! Definitely would be most handy to take on holidays and small business trips.

5. Trish McEvoy Ultimate Beauty Organizer, RRP $85US. I've been in need of a travelling beauty case to fit ALL of my essentials in. I usually carry a small makeup case and then either my full-sized products or have them squeezed into travel bottles if I really need to. But they are always separate and scattered all over the place in my bag. Which if I were really on holiday, would not be so good. I find it really hard to come by effective beauty product organizers, just because Australia does not have as big market for it as maybe the US or Asia does. I especially love Trish McEvoy's beauty organizing cases and palettes. If I were to splurge on some, they would definitely be from her line.



Bottom Line: There's probably more to this list than I can think of at this moment. But these items are definitely my high-end beauty wants and needs for this holiday. What is on your beauty wish-list this holiday?

Jurlique Herbal Recovery Eye Cream review, photos and swatches

The Herbal Recovery Eye Cream was not something that I initially wanted or ever thought about getting. Yes, you can never have too many eye creams but I did not intentionally buy this product. It was actually given to me in a gift with purchase set from Jurlique if you had purchased any two of their face products. I had bought the Herbal Blemish cream (after using my sister's repetitively and really enjoying it) and also the Daily Exfoliating Cream (which I thought I would use a lot, but I have barely touched it). 

I was pretty thrilled with this set. I obviously haven't opened the Balancing Day Care Cream or the Love Balm, I have way too many face creams and lip balms in action at the moment, so perhaps after I finish those I will do reviews of them also. As a gift with purchase set, this is very good value for money in my opinion. The Balancing Day Care Cream 40mL/1.4oz. RRP is $50AUD, the Herbal Eye Recovery Eye Cream retails for $52AUD and the Love Balm retails for $15AUD, so all up the value of this set is $117. 

Now to the main point of this post. The Herbal Recovery Eye Cream is a light-weight, hydrating eye cream with anti-aging, anti-puffiness and brightening effects. Its main ingredients include: arnica, eyebright, cucumber, safflower oleosomes, soybean and chamomile; all which work together to deeply hydrate, reduce puffiness and calm the skin around the eye area. This is definitely hands down, my most favourite eye cream that I have used so far, although I am not quite sure about the anti-aging part, it is a very good basic hydrating and brightening eye-cream. 

A couples of weeks ago, I was cramming for my final exams, which were all in the first week and in consecutive days, and I struggled to sleep for 5 days in a row. Usually when I'm in those situations, my face becomes extremely pale and the purple/blue under my eyes are really emphasised, no eye cream has really helped  before. However, this time I used the Herbal Recovery Eye Cream in the morning and night everyday, and it made me look like I always had at least 8 hours of sleep the night before. To me that was putting this eye cream through the ultimate test and it definitely passed.

Again it is a light-weight formula, which normally people would think that it wouldn't hydrate that well, since other eye creams are usually much thicker in consistency than face creams. But this makes it easier for the skin to absorb the product without it taking more than a couple of minutes, unlike other eye creams that may just sit on your skin and not do anything for you. As the name describes, it has a herbal (flower) scent, which I find pleasant since I enjoy using natural/organic products when I can, but if you aren't into that, then this eye cream is probably not for you. 

Bottom Line: I really love this eye cream and I would definitely purchase it if I don't come across something better. It hydrates, brightens and reduces puffiness, and since using it I have not needed to use any under-eye concealers. It has become a staple in my skincare routine. 

October's Beauty Box

So I'm already back with another Beauty Box related post, just because as I said in the previous post, it had failed to upload numerous times on my phone during September and I had not cancelled my Beauty Box subscription and so I was sent Octobers one.

I'm kind of glad that I did give it another chance, because I know that they are still new and more brands are beginning to join Beauty Box and other monthly beauty subscription sites.

As you can probably tell I much preferred the products offered in the October Beauty Box than the September's one. It was definitely much weightier than the previous one and had a better diverse range of products.

Products included are:

1. Biotherm Aqua Source Moisturiser: The source of a perfectly hydrated skin! AQUASOURCE oligo-thermal gel - intense moisturisation for normal and combination skin.

2. John Frieda Full Repair full body shampoo & conditioner: A complete hair repair line with lightweight Inca Inchi oil that weightlessly repairs the look and feel of overworked hair - reviving full-bodied style with natural movement.

3. Shiseido Sheer Matifying compact foundation: A creamy-type foundation that provides optimal coverage and highly translucent sheen. Helps minimize the visibility of pores and subtly covers fine lines and imperfections.

4. Garnier Body Intensive 7 days: Intense hydration for up to 7 days. Dicover ultra-soft, nourished skin with Garnier Body Intensive 7 days. Enriched with L-Bifidus and Shea Butter to meet the needs of extra0dry skin.

5. Calvin Klein Fragrance CK One shock for her & for him: Edgy, sexy and impulsive, CK one shock for her is a sensual floriental fragrance and ck one shock for him is a bold oriental fragrance.

I'm really excited to try these all of these products, especially the Biotherm moisturiser and the Shiseido foundation. I'll probably do product reviews of the items that I actually like and would be willing to buy the full size of.

Subscribe to Beauty Box

**All photos are by BeautyandTutu, product overviews are by Beauty-Box Australia**

Beauty Box arrival and first impressions!

* Really late submission of this post due to failing to publish on my phone and I've finally gotten around to posting it and fixing it on my laptop*

Hey sorry I been away from blogging. Its been a rough couple of weeks with uni and my mid semester exams which are still going, but I thought I would share what came through the mail today.
So this is Beauty Box's first box. I cant really say too much about the products since I havent opened any yet. But I will say im quite disappointed with this months package.
I guess what makes me disappointment is that I was super excited when I first heard that was were going to have this monthly subscription thing like the UK and US. But really this doesn't compare. Especially not to their first boxes. And I know that maybe because it' s new and they might have trouble trying to get beauty companies to just join and offer their products, but there are other differences which I prefer Beauty Box take on board.
I really like the, fact that Glossybox and Birchbox promote uaing organic and natural products. Especially local products as well as international ones. I think that if Beautybox tried to do the same, especially if they had more Australian brands that would be really good.
I also think for the first box, this months really isnt enticing. And it makes me think that maybe ill pass on next month's Beauty box.
Ok so here are this months beauty box products:

1. Yve Saint Laurent Beauty Sleep. I haven't tried this product yet.
2. Marc Jacobs Oh! Lola! fragrance. I do quite like this fragrance, something about MJ, he can't do wrong with womens fragrances
3. Sally Hansen Everyday Strength Medium Nail File, is pretty good, I was surprised to see a nail file in the pack
4. Playboy Play it spicy body spray.. haven't and will not use. I'm not a fan of body sprays and the smell is overpowering and cheap to me.
5. Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing oil. I have used Shu Uemura products before, and it really irritated my skin and felt like my face was on fire. I haven't tried any of their products since and I don't think I will anytime soon (except for their eyelash curlers)

Beauty Box - Deluxe Sample sizes for $14.95!

Introducing Beauty Box from Beauty Box Monthly on Vimeo.

I'm so excited to find out that Australia has finally jumped on the bandwagon of beauty boxes. Just like US has Birchbox and UK has Glossybox, Australia has it's very own version, the "Beauty Box!"

Beauty Box is pretty much a $14.95 per month subscription to receiving 4-5 deluxe sized samples of skincare, make-up or haircare delivered to your front door, no contracts and you can cancel any time. It gives people the chance to try products, without having to go into counters and feeling awkward about asking for 'samples' of products they want to test out... something I know I always dread doing myself! It also gives you the chance to try products and brands you normally wouldn't try, especially if the products are usually quite expensive, or if the brand is not readily available to you, you can also try the products before thinking about ordering the full-size on-line.

At the moment the current brands that offer samples with Beauty Box are:

Biotherm

Bobbi Brown

Garnier

John Freida

Jurlique

Marc Jacob Fragrances

Playboy

Sally Hansen

Shiseido

Shu Uemura

Yve Saint Laurent

Did I tell you I'm really excited about this! I just hope that the Beauty Box is comparable to Birchbox and GlossyBox, and if it is, I'd really be over the moon.

At the moment there isn't too much information on actually contents of the Beauty Box. I guess with more popularity and overtime the website will become similar to Birchbox's.

You can subscribe on the website: https://www.beauty-box.com.au/


What do you think about the beauty box? Would you subscribe to it?

Going local with Alpha-H

I love packages that come through the mail, they always bring you such excitement and joy. Especially if they are beauty related products.

After some thorough research of new skincare products, I decided to test out and purchase some Alpha-H skincare products last week. Alpha-H is a skincare company based in the Gold Coast, Queensland which is very local to me. Although they have some salons and stockists around me, I was really impatient and took a leap of faith and ordered off their online website (all items were shipped to me from their head office at the Gold Coast).

I spoke to an inhouse beauty therapist from the salon who was.able to guide me through the products and really recommend the ones that would be suited for my skin concerns. I ended up purchasing the Clear skin collection which is aimed at teenage to early 20 year olds who are fighting reocurring breakouts. I also got the Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF 30+ and the Essential Hydration cream.

I have started using the products and so far I am quite impressed with the blemish control gel. I've noticed my blemishes have gone down a lot but aren't dried out! I have high hopes for these products and brand, and will keep you updated on my thoughts on them as I continue to use them!

If you're interested in trying Alpha-H products, I recommend that you fill out their skin consultation form before jumping in and buying anything. You should receive a email or phone call from an Alpha-H beauty therapist that can help you choose products according to your skin concerns.

http://www.alpha-h.com/client-consultation-card.html

Clear skin collection RRP $45 AU

Daily Essential Moisturiser RRP $45 AU

Essential Hydration Cream RRP $49.95 AU

All products can be found on the website, they also have links to online stockists national and international.

www.alpha-h.com

Asian skincare review: NARUKO Niaouli & Tea Tree Clay Cleanser

Let's skip the formalities, this is just an overview of some Naruko skincare that I've used and tested over the past few months and my thoughts on each one for my skin type.

If you haven't heard of Naruko skincare, it is a Tawainese brand made by a famous skincare guru
Niuer, who used years of research to produce more natural products to benefit skin's health. The products are usually in plastic bottles and come in boxes that can be recreated into pencil holders and other things.

I first heard of Naruko products from watching a youtube beauty guru at the beginning of the year, but it wasnt until I found the products while on a holiday in Melbourne that I paid any attention to it. The products really work out to be inexpensive for the amount of product that you get... Around $15-25 AUD, depending on what you're after it can be more or less.

It is even cheaper if you get it online. So I ended.up testing out five products from different lines.
Naruko Niaouli & Tea Tree Acne Clay Cleanser: It comes in a simple green squeeze tube which looks cheap, but to be honest.. Im glad that I wasn't just paying for packaging. It is one of the better natural clay cleansers that i have used also. And since the price point was great for the 120mL of product that you get... I dont tend to use it as sparingly. It's nice and clearing, but does have a strong tea tree smell to it, it is anti-blemish and oil control afterall though. The active ingredients are tea tree oil, zinc PCA and Kaolin which is a clay powder substance used together to draw out impurities and toxins to deeply cleanse the skin of excess oil, dirt and other nasty things. The tea tree is an antiseptic that fights further bacteria and the Zinc PCA is used as an anti-inflammatory which calms and soothes the skin from irritation.

I have problematic super sensitive skin and this cleanser works great for me to clean my skin. Now that i am unable to get it again for the moment I'm trying to use it more sparingly as a face mask once a week. Just by applying a thin layer all over my face. It's very cooling so it feels lovely.. I would definitely purchase it again because it really is cheap and super effective.

Naruko products are difficult to find.online if you can't read chinese on their taiwanese website. But the do have a US and Singaporian website as well. You can also find them on asian beauty sites like Sasa.com or privately owned stockists.

Have you tried NARUKO products before?


(Oh! I decided to separate the products for review, since I like to ramble on too much!)