Review & Swatches : Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Pop

M for Monday...itis!

But hey, I'm fully recovered from my bout of Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (thank you to baby germs!) so I ain't complaining!

M is also for Maybelline!  They recently sent me a few of their newest products and I immediately gravitated towards the Baby Lips Electro Pop Lip Balms.  (Okay, so they aren't new in the US of A but they are new to Australia.)

I am already a major fan of Maybelline Baby Lips but these Electro Pops are the sexier and more colourful elder sister (I'm only saying that because I am the eldest of 7, haha!  Sorry sibs!)

Basically, Electro Pops are awesome moisturising lip balms with a sheer tint of punchy colours.  I like the packaging of these more than the original Baby Lips because I like the longer lids which make them look more sophisticated like lipsticks.

• Pink Shock is Watermelon flavour
• Oh! Orange! is orange flavour
• Berry Bomb is berry flavour.

I have been wearing all 3 babies non-stop, but I think my favourite has to be Oh! Orange! but seeing as they are only $3.95 a pop, just buy them all! :)

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Five French Favourites featuring Uriage, Nuxe, La Roche-Posay, Gatineau & Bioderma

Today's letter is brought to you by the letter F.

Yes, it is Friday.

F yeah!

And also, I have Five French Favourites { featuring Uriage, La Roche-Posay, Nuxe, Gatineau and Bioderma } that I am really excited to share with you.

Clearly, the French do it best - French fries, French accents (mais, oui, eet eez zo zexyyy!) and French skincare - ooh la la!!!

1.  Uriage Xemose

When I was pregnant last year, I piled on 55lbs and most of it was due to my giant belly bump.  To keep my belly moisturised, I knew I needed something non-irritant, non-scented and highly hydrating.  Enter Uriage Xemose (Merci beaucoup to the lovely Emilie) and my bump was happy.  What is super awesome about this moisturiser is that it absorbs quickly without leaving an annoying greasy residue.  I got my Husband to moisturise my belly when it grew too big for me to do it myself and out of all the lotions and potions I used, he loved this the most because of the reasons I mentioned.  Added bonus was that his dry hands got moisturised too so they were well prepped for when baby popped out.

2.  La Roche-Posay Redermic [R]

I was only introduced to this infamous French brand earlier this year at the launch of Redermic [R].  This is a lovely retinol-based product which targets those dreaded wrinkles.  I am a big fan of retinol because it is a scientifically proven potent skincare ingredient.  Redermic [R] only contains 0.1% retinol and 0.2% retinol lineate so it is not as intensive as the concentrations that I have used before.  That said, I had stopped using retinol whilst pregnant so it was a gentle product to ease my skin back into retinol use without stripping it dry.  Fantastic for retinol skincare virgins.  There is also a Redermic [R] version for use around the eyes - I must get my hands on this!

3.  Nuxe Merveillance Expert Enrichie Jour Rich Correcting Cream For Visible Lines

With the changing seasons, my skin can go out of whack easily.  This is a fantastic ultra-hydrating day moisturiser which will keep very dry skin ladies like moi very happy.  It is a day moisturiser without SPF which is actually a good thing in my opinion because it forces you to apply additional sunscreen.  A lot of people skip sunscreen because they think that SPF 15 in their day moisturiser / makeup / BB cream is adequate - listen up ladies, it is (usually) NOT effective enough!

4.  Gatineau Activ Eclat Flash Radiance Serum

If you want beautiful glowy skin, get this pronto!  This just adds that special 'je ne sais quoi' radiant touch.  I have been mixing a few drops with my foundation and it just transforms my skin.  Love it!

5.  Bioderma Atoderm Nourishing Cream

Bioderma is famous for its micellar water but there are also some outstanding products in their range and this is one of them.  As a newbie mum, I only want the best skincare products for my baby's delicate skin.  Bunty's poor wee face was suffering from a rash (teething? weather? allergies? not sure...) and I tried 2-3 different creams but this Bioderma Atoderm Nourishing Cream was the only one which worked in calming down the redness and flakiness.  Now, we use it every night after her bath.  Not just for her face but all over the body too.  Major thumbs up from me!

Merci for reading.  All the products mentioned were provided for editorial consideration but I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't like them.  Je t'aime beacoup.  Au revoir!

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DKNY MYNY : Love At First Sniff

Well...I think the title of this post "DKNY MYNY : Love At First Sniff" sums up my review so let's just gaze at the gorgeous bottle instead...

Haha, just kidding...read on to see why it is such a delicious scent...

When this first arrived in the mail, I removed the packaging and plastic before I saw the bottle, but already my nasal senses were excited.  And then when I saw the heart-shaped bottle with the modern architectural lid, it was instant *heart eyes*.

Even though I can dissect the stench from my baby girl's nappy, I am not an expert at describing perfumes so I will let the experts do the talking...

Top notes :  Raspberry, galbanum, pink pepper
Middle notes :  Egyptian jasmine, freesia, oris
Bottom notes : Patchouli heart, vanilla absolute, creamy musks, ambergris

Together from top to bottom notes, DKNY MYNY is a fantastic concoction.  It is not overly sweet, the right amount of musk and it is all kinds of sexy!  Don't forget that the bottle looks gorgeous on your dressing table too!  This is guaranteed to escalate into your MUST-HAVE LOVE LIST!

Disclaimer :  Thank you to DKNY for providing DKNY MYNY for editorial consideration and for making me smell oh-so-damn-good!
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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
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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 :)

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