Essie for Spring 2014

Spring is here!

Spring is here?!

The weather in Melbourne has been crazy just like my recent mood swings.  One day it is full-on sunny, "slap sunscreen all over me STAT" and the next day it is raining cats and dogs and hailstones and frogs!  Okay, it didn't really rain frogs!

Anyway, to celebrate Spring 2014, Essie have released a limited edition collection and you may remember seeing a few of them in a previous post, but here they all are in their awesome colourful glory today.

Hide & Go Chic : an almost-denim blue
Truth Or Flare : a dusky greyish blue
Spin The Bottle : beige nude
Romper Room : babydoll pastel pink
Style Hunter : bright fuchsia pink
Fashion Playground : soft minty green (MY FAVE!)

Which shade are you loving?

Disclaimer :  These polishes were provided for editorial consideration
SaveSave

Review & Swatches : Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation & Concealer

This post is proudly brought to you by Maybelline & Nuffnang.

I've had a lot on my plate recently with juggling work responsibilities and parental duties with severe sleep deprivation which translates to tired, dull skin and D.A.R.K. under eye circles and bags.  Bring out the world's smallest violin!

On the plus side, I realised that I was indeed the perfect candidate to trial and review Maybelline's newest range - SuperStay Better Skin Foundation and Concealer.  Bring it on!

Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation

So first up, there's the SuperStay Better Skin Foundation.  It is not like every other foundation because it contains a "powerful vitamin derivative", Actyl-C, which claims to give better looking skin in 3 weeks.

Hello?!  A foundation which gives an all-day flawless finish AND has skin-benefitting properties - slap it on my face pronto!!!

I was an eager beaver to put this foundation to the test, but first, I needed to select the right shade out of the 8 available.

Here is my verdict on Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation :

PACKAGING :  Sturdy glass bottle with a dispensing pump always gets a big tick from me.  However, the clear plastic cap can get mucky if residual foundation is not cleaned immediately after pumping.

APPLICATION :  Very easy to blend into skin using fingers which is fantastic for time poor ladies like yours truly.

PERFORMANCE :  Medium coverage which did a great job at masking my freckles (I hate them!), evening out my skin tone and hiding my pores.  On occasion, I did find it clung onto some extremely dry patches on my skin around my nose, but on the whole, I loved how it made my skin look like I had a good night's sleep - and we all know that I haven't had that for a while!!!  As for improving my skin itself, there haven't been any noticeable changes but at the time of writing, I have only trialled it for 10 days - so maybe it will get better with continued usage?  I'll keep you posted!

Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Concealer

Moving onto the SuperStay Better Skin Concealer; there are only 2 shades available and it's either Light or Medium.

Here is my verdict on Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Concealer :

PACKAGING :  Nice squeezy tube with a slanted tip gets no complaints from me.

APPLICATION :  Like the foundation, I can use my fingers to blend and pat this to cover up my imperfections (and there's lots of that!)

PERFORMANCE :  Just wow!  It was love at first use!  Fantastic at disguising my dark circles and hiding the redness around my nose.  Can't fault it at all.

PS - No, I was definitely not born with it and it definitely was Maybelline :)

SaveSave