Review! Sally Hansen Magnetic Effects Nailpolish

You may have noticed that nail art has been huge lately – it’s everywhere especially on instagram, facebook and blogspot! As you know I love love my nail polish! But my skill and patience to recreate nail art looks is pretty much non-existent lol.  If you are on the same boat, lucky for you the clever minds at Sally Hansen have come up with an innovative product: magnetic effects nail polish!  Below is my review of the Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Silver Elements.

Pros

* polish applies on very nicely, very opaque with two coats

* creating the magnetic effects is super easy and little chance of ruining your nail art work thanks to the built in magnet on the cap

* unique, on-trend effects! No two nails look the same

* reasonably priced and available at Priceline for A$16.95
* easy to take off

Cons:

* there is a slight chance of accidentally touching the wet polish with the magnet – if this happens just apply another layer of polish and try again

* personally I love opaque creams rather than metallic colours on my nails. The hubby even said my nails reminded him of Magneto. Nice.

Overall rating

4 out of 5 stars, only because I am not a fan of metallic polishes.  If you are crushing on the nail art trend and have a thing for metallics - this product will not disappoint!!

Thanks to beautyheaven for providing me with the product for free to trial and review.

Review! L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream

I was super excited to trial and review this product (provided by Beautyheaven) and I wasn't disappointed! As you may know, BB creams (blemish/beauty balms) were initially introduced in Asia and they are marketed to be very beneficial, providing benefits of a moisturiser, primer, foundation and sunscreen in one!  The L'Oreal Nude Magique BB cream is a white formula that has micro-capsules that contain pigments which will oxidise and match your skintone.  In Australia, the product is available in two colours, Light and Medium and retails for $26.95 at Priceline for a 30ml tube.

Background:
I have never used a BB cream before, currently I use tinted moisturiser with SPF for everyday and I only use foundation on special occasions.   I applied the BB cream initially using my fingers and absolutely hated the texture and finish of the product on my skin! The product felt very grainy (due to the micro-capsules) and was quite streaky on my face.  I tried applying it the second time with a foundation brush and it worked wonders.  For a demo of how I applied the product, please see the video below.

Pros:
* Matched my skin tone with a slight bronzy/glowy look (hurray! This is no easy feat)
* The finish / texture of the product looked really natural/glowy – the first day I wore it, I received compliments on my skin
* Light to medium / full coverage – you can adjust the coverage to whatever level you want without looking like you caked it on. The BB cream provides excellent coverage for a “non-foundation” product
* Easy to apply – use a brush! I haven’t tried using a sponge though.  Let me know what is your preferred method of applying this product!
* Felt hydrating, did not dry my skin out. Note it is winter time in Australia so the product did pretty well
* Stayed put for a whole day, i.e. 8 hours +
* Contains SPF 12 – yay for sun protection
* Reasonably priced - A$26.95 at Priceline

Cons:
* Slight sunscreen smell but this didn’t bother me at all and the smell goes away once applied

Overall rating:
I admit I was a bit skeptical trying out a drugstore BB cream as I typically prefer 'scientific' skincare (i.e. MD Formulations) and for some bizarre reason, I’m not a huge fan of products that can multi-task. That being said, this product did a pretty amazing job and performs as well as any medium to full coverage foundation you can find in the market. 

I think I would definitely be wearing this during the day where I would like additional coverage than what a tinted moisturiser can provide.  I am also really really loving the fact that the BB cream provides a glowy/healthy look to my skin! The only test would be how it would stay put in the summer.

My rating is 4.5 stars out of 5!

Birthday Snaps :)

Honestly I can't believe how quick this year is flying by... we celebrated my Dad's, Mum's and my birthday on Friday night at Nok Nok in Darling Quarter.  The food was superb. Definitely one of my top Thai restaurants in Sydney! I really recommend the Moo Pings :) We finished off the night with desserts and hot beverages at Guylian cafe.

Lavender and homemade burgers

What I'm loving right now: lavender nailpolish! This is by Etude House that I bought in Malaysia :)
What I ate for dinner today: homemade beef burgers

It looks like I cant assemble a burger properly but we did have avocado, tomato sauce, dijon mustard, beef patty, mesclun salad mix and cheese in that burger. What a feast! Delicious :)

Review! Dove Sensitive Skin Nourishing Body Wash

I am really enjoying doing reviews - as they are opportunities to test the new products introduced in the Australian market and more importantly gives me and idea of the things I love and the things I don't love.

I received the Dove Sensitive Skin Nourishing Body Wash from beautyheaven to trial. Now I had a phase with Lush where I would watch YT videos of girls raving about Lush and it instantaneously landed on my wishlist.  But really, its just a soap - seriously. Now I am content with just using Palmolive bar soap from Coles - it does the job and doesnt burn a hole in my wallet.

So anyway I trialled the Dove product with an open mind for about 2-3 weeks.  And here are my thoughts.

Pros
* Scent - personally I do not like overpowering smells.  As expected, Dove bodywash smelled like any other Dove product out there, clean, fresh and simple. I like it!
* Price - very affordable, only $8 for a 375ml bottle!
* Easy to use, just open the bottle and pour some of the contents onto a lathering/body puff. You can buy a body puff just about anywhere, chemists, priceline, etc
* I felt very clean immediately after my shower and also felt quite soft and moisturised

Cons
* The bodywash claims to be super moisturising and nourishing. Honestly I did not find the product to outperform my Palmolive bar soap. I don't think it performed beyond my expectations. It's Dove.
* My body was quite dry and scaly the morning after.  Now this is after I put on sorbolene. There are a couple points to note: a) It could really be Sorbolene's fault, b) it is freezing and dry in Sydney at the moment, c) I am prone to dry and scaly legs (sigh) so it might take a litre of moisturiser to keep my legs supple and soft, d) who bares their legs during winter anyway?

Overall rating!
My overall rating is 2.5 stars out of 5.  I thought the bodywash was very average and it claimed to be moisturising and nourishing, yet my skin did not feel hydrated. Would I repurchase? No :(

Note - the pictures above are my first official photos on this blog using my new DSLR! Do you like? It was an early birthday present from my hubby and I love it!! :) Expect more pretty photos coming up!

Collective Haul! Topshop, Sportsgirl, Priceline and more...

Happy Sunday everyone :) Hope your weekend is going well! I do not want it to end!!! We came back from our Singapore and Malaysia trip earlier in the week and I wanted to share my haul with you plus some other pieces I bought during my time off. I've also included some of my favourite moments during the trip :) We loved the food and exploring new and different countries! I want to go back to KL to visit the islands!