Monthly Roundup: August & September

Yep. It's that time of the month again...MONTHLY FAVOURITES TIME! I really enjoy writing these posts as a bit of a summary of all my beauty adventures of the last couple of months and sharing some of my favourite products. This post is a chatty one, so grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable :)

You may have noticed in the last month or so my posting schedule has been a little all over the place. I was involved in my university's Law Revue which is a comedy sketch show. This year I was busy choreographing one of the dances. It was a lot of hard work but also so much fun.

Anyway...on to the post! As usual I will start with my beauty favourites.

Some of the skincare products I've absolutely been obsessed with lately are the Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Moisturiser ($9.99) and Hydraluron from Indeed Laboratories ($34.99). These products, used together have completely transformed my skincare routine. As my skin became dryer during the colder months, having a moisturised face makes such difference to dry patches showing up under foundation.

Hydraluron is an incredible serum that "increases skin hydration below the surface". A cult product that I believe is definitely worth the hype. The hydrating moisturiser from Simple is another product that blew me away. It claims to be a 'light moisturiser' but for me it is incredibly rich but at the same time soaks into my skin so quickly it's like a big drink for my face! You can literally feel it soaking in and adding extra hydration. Another skincare product I have been absolutely obsessed with is the St Ive's Blemish Control Apricot Scrub ($9.99). Everything about this is so great - the smell, the perfect amount of exfoliating particles, the effects - and it has made a huge difference to the texture of my skin.

For makeup, I have particularly been enjoying the Benefit Tints and have been reaching mostly for Posie Tint ($55). I am guilty of being heavy handed when it comes to colour on the cheeks and the Benefit Tints are great for overcoming that. Posie Tint is a beautiful light pink colour that gives a gorgeous, natural glowy finish to the cheeks. These tints are really great products - super easy to blend and as a stain, they will look fresh all day.

Finally, I lost all inhibitions when I found out I could get my hands on the new limited edition Rainforest After Dark Palette by Tarte ($54.95) in Australia, through the website www.myqty.com. I pretty much put my credit card details in straight away and never looked back. This palette is absolutely incredible - from the gorgeous AND practical packaging, most beautiful blush colour (which is also limited edition!!) and the combination of both killer face products and eyeshadows. The quality of the products inside the palette as well as the fact that it is a limited edition makes this palette such amazing value - its basically a whole face in one palette. www.myqty.com also has other hard to get cosmetics like the Lorac Pro palettes and Urban Decay.

If you have been following my blog since the beginning of the year, then you may remember I made 'beauty resolutions' for myself to try and achieve throughout the year. Since we are closer to the end of the year now, I wanted to give you an update on how it was all going.

• The resolution I am really proud of achieving is my makeup storage. I absolutely love my set up and it is the perfect size for me. Check out my storage blog post here. Also I am planning to have a makeup collection video up in the next few weeks so you can see some new additions to my vanity!
• Another goal of mine that I feel I've really made progress towards is having a regular skincare routine. My skin has improved so much after having tried so many products and seeing what works for me. I also think I have become much better at paying attention to what my skin needs and taking care of it accordingly. I have to say, most of the improvement in my skin can be attributed to my Custom Oil Cleanser from Pristine Oils. Check out my review here.
• Finally, I definitely need to continue to work on cleaning my makeup brushes regularly. Whilst I've become much better at having my face brushes and sponges cleaned, I'll occasionally reach for a blending brush and stuff up my entire eye look because the brush is so dirty...oops! Definitely need some improvement on that one!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Have a beautiful day :)

xx Catherine

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Making 'Intents Beauty' Better

Since I started blogging in January I feel like I have dived head first into the most wonderful community of beauty bloggers. I never imagined how big the community is or how many bloggers there are out there. Reading so many amazing blogs has inspired me to make Intents Beauty better for YOU!

From now on all my posts will include links to products or blog posts that I mention as well as prices and where to buy. I want to make things easier for my readers to navigate my site as well as improve on the quality of my reviews. I will also post links to my social media at the bottom of each post so you know where to find me! The best feedback I've had on reviews have been the ones that are really clear on the pros and cons of a product, so that will be my aim with every review from now on.

So why am I telling you this?

The blogs I love reading are open and honest about how they run their blog and by doing that have really great communication with their readers. Establishing interaction and better communication with my readers is one of my biggest goals I have for Intents Beauty.

I hope you enjoy the increased accessibility of my posts!

xx Catherine

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*NEW* Australis Velour Lips

I've been following new beauty releases for about a year now and I remember one of the very first products I got super excited about was the Australis Velour Lips. For a drugstore brand, Australis did an awesome job at pushing these out into the market just as the liquid matte lipstick trend was skyrocketing and when they were first released it was almost impossible to find any in stock. In the last month Australis has released another five shades to Velour Lips range, this time the shades are more muted and wearable but still just as pigmented and long lasting. I own 4 out of the 10 shades available, 2 from the original collection and 2 from the new release shades.

L-R: PAR-EE, TOK-I-O, LUN-DUN, MI-A-MEE

While the formula itself does dry down VERY matte and tend to be super drying on the lips, I find applying a layer of lip balm first makes a huge difference to how comfortable these feel on the lips and doesn't jeopardise the pigmentation or wear. However, I do find because they do dry so matte, applying more than two layers can make the product go clumpy and ball up. This isn't much of a problem with most shades as they are very pigmented, however, I did have problems with TOK-I-O, which was the least pigmented and most patchy of the bunch. This shade in particular didn't last as long especially when eating or drinking which was not a problem with the other shades.

PAR-EE 

TOK-I-O

LUN-DUN

MI-A-MEE

For only $9.95 I definitely recommend the Australis Velour Lips - they are amazing value for money. I have been trying these out over the last week and have gotten compliments every time I've worn them!

Wearing MI-A-MEE

Australis is available from Priceline, KMart and Big W. The Velour Lips range is $9.95.

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Products to Pass Up - Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Polish

I am definitely one to fall for the hype of new exciting products, particularly products that claim to do things better. One of the recent products I picked up for this reason - as well as the fact that they were on sale at Priceline - was the Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy nail polishes. I picked up the shade #440 Wild Card as well as the Diamond Top Coat which is meant to create the gel like effect without a lamp.

I was initially impressed with these as the application was fantastic. The applicator has two little brushes so you get a nice even coverage with one swipe. As well as this, the opaqueness of this shade meant that you only needed one coat. Once I applied the top coat my nails dried really fast and the whole process probably took less than 15 minutes. My nails looked shiny and the colour was great, however, by the end of the day I had already experienced chipping.

I was patient letting the polish dry and definitely wasn't doing any strenuous activity that would lead to chipping. Two days after application I had chipping at the top of nearly all my nails and two had completely peeled off. For me, the marketing of nail polishes as being similar to gel leads me to believe they will be long lasting and that's why I was really disappointed.

The price of these is really expensive as well, retailing for $16.95 EACH which is ridiculous. I was lucky to pick up mine 2 for $20 but to pay $10 for a polish and not get results is also disappointing. Other polishes at a much lower price point including the Rimmel London Salon Pro range last much longer even without a top coat and retail for $8.95, nearly half the price.

I know Sally Hansen has come out with a similar product that claims up to 14 days wear, so I'll be interested to try those out and see how they compare.

Overall, unfortunately I can't recommend the Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Polishes. If you were to buy one polish and the top coat, you would be paying as much as it costs to get a gel manicure at a salon, revealing that it is just not worth the price.

All Revlon products are currently 40% off at Priceline.

What are some new releases that disappointed you?
xx Catherine

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