Flo's July Favourites 2014

Hello!! Here are some of my favourite products for the month of July :)

1. Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

This is seriously, hands down, one of the best foundations I've tried! I love how it has a thin formula yet it covers super well. It doesn't get cakey and you can layer at specific areas for extra coverage without it looking too thick. I also love to pair it with my damp beauty blender as I feel that it gives the best coverage BUT you need to exfoliate properly before using this as it tends to settle in dry patches! This is definitely my top pick foundation for any event cause it also photographs beautifully :) 

You can read my full review here.

2. Beauty Blender

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that my life will never be the same without the beauty blender!!! I don't know what else can blend ANY of my foundations out like a dream and in such a short amount of time. I don't need to go back and forth blending and swirling my brush in circular motions. All I need is to literally dab dab dab and it blends anything out super evenly. I haven't touched or used any of my face brushes ever since I have this. I do have my days where I wanna use my brushes but I immediately regret and hope that I've used my beauty blender instead. 

You can read my full review here.

3. Stila Stay All Day 10-in-1 HD BB

The other day I went for a Stila liner workshop with Lex at Sephora and the make-up artist was telling us about the Stila BB that Beckham likes to use. So obviously we checked it out and the texture was super smooth! We both got it cause it was on sale haha. Truthfully, I felt like this was just an impulse buy and I didn't expect it to work so well on me. I use this like a primer, and I've used a lot of primers before but never felt that any of them did anything to my foundation. This, though, helps it stay matte and it fills up my pores nicely. The only downside is really that the colour is a tad dark for me :(

4. NUXE Lip Moisutrising Stick

A new lip balm that I've been enjoying to death. I got this at an event that we were kindly invited by our friend Eileen! I love how it's moisturising yet not tacky or sticky. I am a huge fan of using vaseline on my lips before I sleep but I hate how sticky it is and it will smear all over my pillows -_- BUT this one does not leave any of that sort of nonsense and yet still moisturising enough. I love the honey smell to it! 

5. Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner

This was gifted to us after our liner workshop with Stila. I have the oiliest skin ever and of course my lids are also oily. That is why I always stay away from using anything on my lower lids cause I don't want to end up looking like a panda at the end of the day! But this has been working well for me under my lids and I'm very impressed by it. It is super smooth and easy to use as well! A little tip from the make-up artist was that this should be used on bare lids without any primer as it is meant to work the best on bare skin :)

6. Too Faced A Few Of My Favourite Things Palette

YESS!! I found it!!! I'm no stranger to Too Faced products and I've always loved them for their super nice packaging but yet very pigmented shadows and overall good quality products. This set comes with a Lip Injection Balm and a sample size of the Better Than Sex mascara which I love and I've reviewed here. The shadows in this palette are extremely pretty and super easy to work with. The bronzer and blushes are also big big love for me :) I initially wanted to do a full review, but since this is a limited edition set, it's pretty difficult to get it anywhere! So I'll just share the swatches here with you:

AREN'T THEY GORGEOUS!!! 

My favourites are: Moon On Their Wings, Buche De Noel, Tinsel, Bluff and Party Time.

That's all of my favourites in July. I've been trying out a few bunch of new products lately and I hope I can have more goodies to share with ya'll next month! Till then.

xx,

Flo ♡

Review: The Original Beauty Blender

Hi everyone!

Yes, yes, I jumped onto the Beauty Blender bandwagon a few years late. But seriously, it took me a lot of thinking (and unwillingness) to purchase a $30 sponge!!!! (I caved in anyway...)

So, The Great Beauty Blender is an "award winning" make up sponge that says help make make up application fast, flawless and foolproof. It can apply both wet and dry cosmetics with precision and even onto hard-to-reach areas (think around the nose, under eye areas).

Packaging 

The Beauty Blender comes in 3 colours - pink, white and black. Of course me being me, I chose the pink one. It comes in a plastic container that I kept to store my Beauty Blenders on my make up table, so don't throw it away cause it is useful!! Haha.

Application

The best way to use the Beauty Blender is when it is damp. I usually put it under running water while squeezing it to make sure that the water goes in. As you squeeze it, it will grow in size, like almost double of the original size in its dry state:

After that I squeeze the excess water out, and further dry it with a towel before using it to apply my make up. Remember that it is supposed to be damp, not wet! If it's wet, I guess it won't be able to blend the make up well :)

I'll just dab a small amount of my foundation (usually liquid-cream texture, I've never tried it with dry products) on the round side and using a bouncing patting motion, I blend the product onto my face. It really blends flawlessly, and very very easily. I love it! It was a life changing moment for me.

Comparison

In comparison, I really love the Beauty Blender more as compared to a brush or my fingers. I've paired it with liquid foundation, some foundation with creamier textures, and of course my BB creams. They all worked very well together!

Sometimes when I use a brush, there will be streaks of foundation that I still need to blend out. Some hard to reach areas are also difficult to apply since my brushes tend to be pretty big. I would either need a smaller brush or just touch and go with the bigger brush. On the other hand, when I use my fingers some of the foundations go on thicker and not natural at all.

Verdict

I definitely love love love the Beauty Blender! No ragrets at all (You'll get this if you've watched We're the Millers hahaha) even though it is really and I have to emphasise that it is VERY expensive for a sponge.

I've also heard some good reviews about a few cheaper dupes that I'd love to try out if I get a chance to. However, most of them can only be found in the US or UK.. And I'm finding ways to get them. Because I'm *quite* sure I can find other sponges that work the same way as this but with a cheaper price tag. But anyway, I would repurchase the Beauty Blender for sure if I can't find other alternatives and when mine starts to disintegrate but I hope it lasts for at least a year or I hope.. more?

Quick Summary

The great:

• Helps to blend foundations flawlessly and quickly
• Very easy to use
• Builds very good coverage with a natural finish
• Changed my life (for real)

The not-so-great:

• Expensive
• Might waste more products

The Beauty Blender retails for $29.90 each at selected Sasa and Watsons. I bought the duo at $39.90, so I save about $10 for each Beauty Blender. You can also get them from Luxola :)

xx,
Flo♡♡