Collective Haul - MAC, Clinique, NYX

Before I get started I wanted to mention something very important.

I think we have an amazing little community and hauls/product reviews have helped me a lot to find fantastic products and learn what to look out for. Now, I am in the great position of being an adult (yeah really!) with a full time job and I have some disposable income that I can spend on treats such as below.

I am very worried though that some younger girls who are still in school or university think they have to follow the latest trends and are prepared to get themselves into debt. That's really not what this is about.

If you are looking for a specific product and want to get ideas - great, go ahead. But please don't go out and buy things that you don't need and that will cause you sleepless nights when your credit card bill arrives...

Ok, with that being said, here are a few things that have recently joined my collection

Jest (Frost) and Naked Lunch (Frost) are very interchangable, both good all over colours or even brow highlights.
Retrospeck (Lustre) makes a great inner corner highlight. Not sure what to do with Electra (Frost) - this colour is out of my comfort zone.

Sketch (Velvet) is great and I'd say a must have for everybody with green eyes. So is Bronze (Frost) actually! I'd say it's a darker version of Woodwinked. Do I need to say much about Satin Taupe (Satin) or am I the last person on earth to get this?

 These two NYX blushes are highly pigmented and as you can see in the picture below also a little crumbly. Applied with a VERY light hand they are lovely for summer though.

Viva Glam Cyndi has already become one of my favourite lip sticks.  It's known as a great "beginner's" red and I'd have to agree. High Tea is just a very easy every day colour. Both lip sticks are Lustre finish.

Sugarrimmed is my first Dazzleglass. It is very sticky so if you don't like sticky lip glosses stay away from this. The colour reminds me a little of my Chanel Galactica - Chanel is less sticky, but also more expensive. Take your pick.

My first MAC eye brow pencil and I am very happy with it. It's quite waxy so it has good lasting power throughout the day and the colour is perfect for me.

Not seperately swatched:

• MAC Skinrefined Zone
  I bought this for its pore minimizing qualities. Unfortunately I have not found them yet. It does however mattify quite well, so if you have oily skin this might be good for you.
• MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Light
  Lovely setting powder, not much else to say really
• Clinique Airbrush Concealer
  I bought this following Lisa Eldridge's recommendations, can't comment on it yet since I have only used it once. Let me know if you want a review in a month or so.

My First... Beauty Tag

I decided to be a little creative and start my (first) very own tag. I realize that this would probably be more fun if I was doing videos but what can I say, life is tough. 

Hereby you are all tagged, so feel free to beat me and post a kick ass video ;)

Alrighty... so this tag is obviously all about beauty and make up, to be more specific it's all about your first experiences... it is meant to unveil the evolution of your beauty preferences and habbits over the years .. :)

1. The first time I wore make up

I think I was about 14 and staying with a friend over the weekend. Her mum was quite loose and allowed her to wear make up and go out and do all the cool things I wasn't allowed to do yet. So my friend slapped some eye shadow and some mascara on me and we hit the local pub. (and we actually got in too)

2. The very first make up item I bought/was given

Green kajal. I have green eyes and for some reason I thought that kajal had to match my eye colour and I was left in this belief for years. I actually still have it - it's by Maybelline Jade (the European version of Maybelline New York)

3. My first high end make up item

I was about 15 and I wanted to learn how to apply eye shadow, so I went to a little beauty boutique and asked them to give me some advice. The sales lady tried a pinky/purple Chanel (!) quad on me. I was too shy to walk away afterwards so I actually bought it and spent like a month worth of pocket money. My mum then called the shop and gave them an ear ful about pressuring a teenager into Chanel, and she also reimbursed me for the purchase. And YES I still have the quad :)

4. My first "going out" look (as a teen, so talking dinner, not clubbing)

Refer to question 2. Even before I ever used mascara or eye shadow or anything I owned a green kajal. So I would pop that in my waterline and done. It made my eyes look really small and I just thought I looked so sexy haha

5. My first make up faux pas

Foundation 2 shades too dark...
Am I the only one who thought the purpose of foundation is to make you look tanned? I mean, if you are a teen and you have pretty decent skin obviously things like "evening out skin tone" don't really mean much to you. But it was awesome how I could make my face look darker... NOT

6. My first favourite beauty brands

Throughout my teens and early twenties I bought mainly LOOK by Bipa, Manhatten, Balea, (all European brands, sorry guys) L'oreal and also Nouba (which reminds me a lot of Nars)

 

7. As opposed to my favourite make up brands now

MAC, Laura Mercier, 

8. My first perfume

Tommy Girl
Actually I collected perfume minis as a child, but Tommy was my first full sized fragrance.

9. My first beauty obsession

Probably lip balms and lip glosses, I was literally collecting them. Also Impulse body sprays

10. My first favourite hair & body items
Nothing in particular really, anything that smelled like coconut. I am still following this behaviour :)

11. My first nail polish

Again no brand in particular, but I wore beigey whitey pinkey nail polishes all the time and I always painted my left pinky blue.. So cool :)

.. the end

Ok I already said I tag everybody but in particular these lovely girls:

PensivePenumbra, MsSparkleArkle, Beautideas, Jade, Vulcanella, CameeLovesKiwi, Ginabinawina99, BarbieWithMuscle, Swatchgirl, AussieTiger29,
Danniibeauty, Gilian, Tara, PlasticDiaries, Cclarebear and everyone else I have forgotten. 

Also feel free to add on questions that you think might be interesting

XX

Crest 3D Whitestrips

I have used a number of different whitening products and am happy to say I have finally found one that actually works for me - it's the Crest 3D Whitestrips. 

On their website you can compare the different products they are offering.

At first I tried the Advanced Vivid formula which gives you a 14 day supply. I was impressed with the results and went ahead and bought the Professional Effects which gives you a 20 supply and I am about half way through that box now. 

Now firstly I want to mention that Crest 3D is a US brand and not available in Australia. I did order my first supply of Advanced Vivid strips of an Australian online shop though because I was very keen to try them ASAP. This was a big mistake though - not only did I pay almost the price (AUD 71) as I would have from US online stores or eBay but they also took a good 2 weeks to dispatch and another 2 weeks to deliver. All up I waited almost 5 weeks to finally try the strips and quite frankly I don't think that's acceptable for a supposedly Australia based company.

The second time around I went straight to eBay - and bought the Professional Effects strips which are actually more expensive (according to the RRP) - but I ended up paying around AUD 42 delivered.

Ok so here are my thoughts on the actual product

PROS:

• I started seeing results after about 3 days, and a very noticable difference after I had completed a full pack
  
• I really like that these are actual strips and you don't have to muck around with trays.
  This means the whitening product itself is actually on a kind of sticky tape that you stick onto your teeth, they nicely cover all areas of each tooth and they don't move. Each day you get one strip for your upper teeth and one for your lower teeth. 
  I hate using trays because I feel that the product starts foaming up in my mouth and I constantly have to either swallow (which I really want to do with bleaching chemicals) or spit it out. I also feel that the product doesn't stay in place with the trays and you only really cover parts of your teeth.
  
• They are fairly cheap - or at least comparable to other products you get at Priceline etc and nowhere near as expensive as a dentist treatment
  
• They come in individually sealed pouches so you don't have to use up the whole pack in one go - if you want to use it to freshen up your colour in between

CONS:

• Not available in Australia
  
• The strips don't cover all your teeth - only the "visible" front teeth. I feel the upper strip is OK but the lower strip is really too short. The Professional Effects strips have a slightly longer lower strip than the Advanced Vivid strips - but it is still shorter than the upper strip, and I don't really see a reason why they shouldn't both the same length

As far as differences between the Advanced Vivid and the Professional Effects formula go - I am not really sure. I have not noticed a massive difference between the two. However, I do like that the Professional Effects strips come with longer lower strips and they also give you 6 more days (20 as opposed to 14) - so for the minor price difference I would say go for the Professional Effects strips. 

I have not had any issues with my teeth or gums since using either product but I have to say that I don't really have sensitive teeth in general. On the box it said that your gums can turn white and will recover over night - but I never even noticed that with my gums. 

So the overall verdict: really like it, would and will buy again

As always if you do buy on eBay please make sure to pick a reputable seller, check feedback, check other items the person is selling and do contact the seller and ask them questions about the product (such as expiry dates..)

I am keen to hear about your experience with teeth whitening, let me know in the comments!