HUGE Combined Makeup Haul: Sephora, Mecca, Beautylish

Its been a couple of months since I did a beauty haul and I have so many things to show you that I've picked up lately. With holiday limited edition products being released as well as end of year exams I've had a lot of reasons to shop - yes exam stress is the best reason to shop!

I'll start off with what I picked up from Sephora! I went to check out the new Sephora Broadway store when I was procrastinating from studying and picked up a few items I've had my eyes on for a while. Firstly is the Cover FX Custom Blot Drops. After seeing Tati's review of this product a couple of months ago I knew I had to have this to try and tame my oily-ass skin this summer. After stalking Sephora in the city so many times I finally found one left in stock at Broadway - hooray! I also picked up the Commodity Cocktail Kit which have ten mini fragrances. I've been spraying myself every time I walked into a Sephora trying to pick which fragrance to buy so I was excited to find this kit so I can try them all! I was also excited to see Sephora Australia had updated their Beauty Pass rewards and are now offering little samples in exchange for points, so I was happy to take home a mini Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara to try.

I also placed an order from Beautylish because by some miracle they had the Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette back in stock and I couldn't wait any longer to get my hands on it! I have another one of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow palettes and the quality is AMAZING! Can't wait to play around with those gorgeous burnt red shades! (So many exclamations! Can you tell I'm excited?! - also sorry friends but it seems to be out of stock again *sad face*) I also picked up the Becca Blushed With Light Palette. I've been meaning to try some of Becca's blushes and didn't want to buy the Jaclyn Hill palette since I already owned Champagne Pop so I was super excited to see this palette released.

 

Finally, I hit up Mecca and grabbed a few holiday releases. Of course, I could not help but get my hands on the Hourglass Surreal Light Palette. I got the ambient lighting palette last year and love it so much! Not only did I want to pick up the palette because I love the product, but the packaging is so beautiful and as a makeup collector I needed to have this in my collection. I also got the Sun's Up Face & Body SPF Duo which is such good value and perfect coming into summer! As a 'translucent white' I need all the SPF 50+ I can get. I also love the little neoprene bag it comes with which will be great for beach days. Finally from Mecca I picked up the Ciate Kiss Collective holiday gift set which includes three minis of their Liquid Velvet lipsticks in the shades Wonderland, Pin Up and Starlet. Unfortunately it is no longer available online but definitely worth seeing if there are any left in store. I love the texture of these liquid lipsticks, they have a moussy formula and are super comfortable on the lips.

So that's my huge *cringe* haul! I'm not planning on picking up anything else for myself, its definitely time to think of presents for my friends and family!

xx Cat

Holiday 2015: My Haul

Everyone loves holiday season, but I bet you that beauty addicts love the holidays more than anyone due to the super exciting limited edition releases.
I've been shopping up a storm recently picking up some of the beautiful products from the Holiday 2015 releases from a range of different brands and I am going to share them with you today!

There were two holiday palettes this year that I knew I absolutely had to get my hands on and didn't hesitate for one second when purchasing them.

The first was the incredibly gorgeous Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette. I was so disappointed to have missed out on the blush palette released for Holiday last year that I wasn't going to risk it with this beauty! Since making the order from net-a-porter almost a month ago I have been getting so much use out of this palette. I love being able to try a variety of the Hourglass Ambient lighting powders and the exclusive highlight shade is incredible! You can also purchase the Ambient Lighting Edit from Mecca Maxima, Mecca Cosmetica and mecca.com.au for $117, but stock is extremely limited.

Top row (L-R): Paloma Contour Duo, Laguna Bronzer. Bottom Row (L-R): Robotic (LE), Blasphemy (LE), Luster, Dolce Vita.

The second palette I purchased is part of the incredible NARS X Steven Klein collaboration. I was so excited to get my hands on the One Shocking Moment Palette because of its amazing value! For $100 you get the contour duo in Paloma, the cult classic Laguna Bronzer (with more product than the full size compact!) and four blushes - two limited edition and two permanent shades. The NARS face powders are amazing quality and if I haven't been reaching for my Hourglass palette I've been getting good use out of this one! I especially love the contour shade which is the perfect tone for my light complexion. The NARS X Steven Klein collection is available at Mecca Maxima, Mecca Cosmetica and mecca.com.au.

Last year I indulged in a few Tarte holiday sets and this year I wasn't overly excited by many of their releases. I have more than enough eyeshadows and I already had the blush palette from last year so I wasn't anxious to get my hands on those. However, on a complete whim I came across the Stroke of Midnight Brush Set when I popped into Sephora to pick up a replacement beauty blender. After one look at the packaging and the fact that I was also impressed with the value for money - 5 brushes for $59!! - I quickly added one to my basket. This is such a gorgeous set and being the brush collector I am, I am super happy to have added these to my collection!

L-R: Complexion Brush, Eyeshadow Brush, Buffer Airbrush Finish Foundation Brush ($48 value!), Fluffy Blush Brush, Concealer Brush.

Finally, I picked up a few limited edition lip products because I cannot help myself when it comes to lipsticks (and pretty packaging!).

The first lip product I picked up was from the MAC Holiday collection, which I was really impressed with this year and managed to be extremely restrained! In the end I chose the matte lipstick in Please Me. I absolutely adore the purple metallic packaging and chose Please Me because pink lipsticks are my absolute favourite (although I was so tempted by all four shades)! Available in store at MAC or online at maccosmetics.com.au.

The second lip product I picked up was from Jeffree Star's holiday collection. I have never been interested in Jeffree Star's lipstick range but when I saw swatches of the shade Doll Parts I knew I had to have it! I ended up purchasing mine from beautylish.com and I can't wait to try the formula!

And finally for my huge holiday haul are more liquid lipsticks! When I saw this adorable Eternal Love Liquid Lipstick Set from Stila I couldn't help myself! I've had my eyes on the shade Beso for ages which comes in the set and I also love both the limited edition nude and deep berry shades that are included as well. The formula of the Stila liquid lipsticks are extremely long wearing, however can be quite drying on the lips so I prefer to apply really thin layers using a lip brush. Unfortunately this set looks like it is sold out online but pop into your nearest Mecca store if you want to get your hands on it.

So that's it for my holiday haul! I would LOVE to know what you have picked up from all of the holiday limited edition collections - let me know in the comments :)

xx Cat

Keeping Up With The Beauty Bloggers: Beauty News March 2015

March is a pretty exciting month if, like me, you are a beauty addict. New releases means more makeup and more makeup means more shopping - YAY! Hopefully I can remember to do one of these monthly/bi-monthly to keep you all up to date.

There's no doubt that Anastasia Beverly Hills has made huge waves in the beauty community. As a brand they have been releasing high quality and on trend products in the last year or so that you should definitely know about. You can now purchase ABH at Sephora in Sydney and their ever so coveted Contour Palettes have just landed in store! I'm sure a lot of Aussie beauty lovers are ecstatic to be able to get their hands on this palette without having to order online. Sephora aren't super open about when new releases will be in store so I recommend following their instagram @sephoraaus.

Everyone knows the most exciting launch in March is Urban Decay coming exclusively to Mecca Maxima! Mark your calendars - March 27th is the day. Mecca Maxima will be stocking the FULL range of Urban Decay products and you can also purchase online.

• FYI the Naked Palettes will be $78

Mecca Maxima are also expanding with a few new stores opening. There will be a pop-up Maxima store in the QVB in Sydney opening late March and a brand new store opening at Liverpool Westfield. I remember this time last year there were only two Maxima stores - one in Parramatta and another in Warringah. Now I'm sure most people in Sydney will have a Mecca Cosmetica or Maxima store less that 10km from their houses. #worlddomination

Image: mecca.com.au

Carisa Janes, the CEO and founder of Hourglass Cosmetics was in Australia recently and a few beauty bloggers shared with us an exciting new release! Two new bronzers will join the 'Ambient Lighting' range in June - again available at Mecca Maxima and Cosmetica. Now you can powder your whole face in light filtering goodness!!

• As a side note I've been super lucky to try heaps of the Hourglass line recently and let me tell you that if you haven't heard much about their products I highly recommend heading into Mecca and exploring their collection. Especially the complexion products... Veil Mineral Primer is life. 

Unfortunately, I have to end on a bit of a sour note but I think it's something that needs to be discussed. I wanted to announce that I will no longer be supporting Lime Crime as a brand. I have two of their lipsticks (both bought from Australian retailers) and will continue to use them but I'm kind of bummed I bought them in the first place. For those who don't know, Lime Crime's brand history is a little shady. I knew all of this before I purchased and it did discourage me for a long time, but to their credit, Lime Crime do stock a decent quality product for the price - nothing too dodgy there. However, In the last month or so a huge scandal including credit card fraud, security breaches, huge beauty gurus publicly denouncing the brand and heartbreaking stories have really made the brand unappealing, to put it nicely. I won't blab on about the whole story because there are so many posts already - so I'll link some really informative resources down below. Basically as a consumer, I have decided not to support a business that acts in a negative and harmful way to their customers.

• search #boycottlimecrime on Instagram
• Reddit Thread
• Boycott Lime Crime rant by Kitsch Snitch
• Oh Dear, Doe Deere! Tumblr page - including company history timeline

That wraps up March Beauty News! Let me know what you think in the comments below :)

xx Catherine

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