MAKEUP BAG ESSENTIALS

We're going back to the roots of this blog (circa 2015) with a classic beauty products post! Today I want to share my most-loved, everyday, absolutely essential makeup products! These are my tried and tested, ride-or-die products that I can't live without (figuratively speaking, of course), the products I wear on the daily and will take with me everywhere to keep me looking my best!

Beauty Blender Bounce Liquid Whip Foundation

I picked this foundation up on a whim while browsing Sephora a year ago, it was half price and I'd been wanting to try a new foundation for a while so I thought 'why not?', not thinking I'd love it as much as I do! I've tried a bunch of different foundations, but had been loyal to MAC Studio Fix since I was in high school (and it's still #2 for me), and this was the foundation that finally took the crown from MAC as my new favourite! I have combination skin, and I like a medium-to-full coverage that doesn't separate after a few hours or look cakey and gross - this one doesn't do either of those things! It leaves my skin looking flawless and is a great base for other products - j'adore!

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

I've been using this bronzer religiously since 2015, and honestly it's amazing. It's a cool-toned matte, but still has enough warmth to give you a beautiful glow. I just have the OG shade, which I find perfect for me even with pale skin, but if you're super pale or if you have dark skin then they've also got light and dark Hoola options! It also lasts forever - I've been using mine since the end of 2015 (yeah, I probably should've replaced it by now but it works perfectly still and no irritation sooo)!

Ofra Pillowtalk Highlighter

As a pale gal who loves anything pink, this highlighter is right up my alley! Ofra highlighters came onto my radar back when they were trending with Beauty Vloggers, and I'm thankful they did because I honestly don't know what I'd be using right now otherwise. Fair warning, these are pretty intense (no matter the shade you pick), but if you're light-handed you can easily use them for everyday, and then when you want your highlighter to really POP - this product has got your back!

Colourpop Flutter By Palette

This is literally my ultimate neutral, everyday eyeshadow palette. It's a cool-toned neutral palette, but not so cool-toned that things look grey or muddy. It's the perfect in-between with cool browns, neutral taupes, and some pink/lavender toned shimmers, along with some deeper chocolates and a shimmery wine shade. The shadows themselves are great quality (as usual with Colourpop, in my experience) and easily comparable to much pricier high-end options. I hope they never discontinue this one, because I haven't seen anything that compares personally!

Lime Crime Plushies Soft Liquid Lipstick 'Milk Tea'

This is literally my perfect nude shade - I've got light/fair, neutral-toned skin, and I've always found it SO difficult to find a truly flattering nude lipstick. Most of the time, they pull orange on me, or if I try something cooler it pulls grey/purple - I've gone through so many lipsticks looking for just a nice, soft cool pinky/brown nude (who knew it would be so hard?!), and when Milk Tea arrived, I finally found it! As well as being the perfect shade, the product itself is really lovely - it's halfway between a regular matte liquid lipstick and a lip blush effect, it's easy to blot and layer to get the look you want, and it doesn't crack or dry out your lips! I'm currently awaiting a delivery with a replacement plus some other colours I'm excited to try out!

Lime Crime Wet Cherry Gloss 'Disco Cherry'

The comeback of lip gloss is something I didn't expect but am absolutely happy about, and Lime Crime's Wet Cherry Gloss' are by far my favourites! I love Disco Cherry in particular because it's the most versatile - I can use it when I'm wearing no makeup or just something minimal, or I can layer it with a lip liner or over a liquid lipstick for some extra shine and sparkle! Plus, I love anything glittery and this gloss definitely delivers on that!

Glow Recipe Lip Pop

This lip balm is my all-time fave - it's a lip balm that doubles as a scrub, tints your lips a pretty, plump pink, is super hydrating, and smells delicious! It comes in two flavours, watermelon and blueberry (both smell delicious and are very similar shades), and I honestly take it with me everywhere. It's great for no-makeup days, applied before bed and in the morning to keep your lifts fresh and smooth, or even a little on top of lipstick that's been on a while and drying out a bit!

Maybelline The Falsies Lash Lift Mascara

As someone who is too lazy to apply falsies often, and scared to get extensions (sensitive eyes/skin, not to mention the cost), I like to have a good mascara that gives me the biggest, lushest lashes possible. This mascara does just that! I've been using Maybelline mascaras for years and they're definitely some of the best on the market, and while I do change things up occasionally, this is the one I seem to keep coming back to!

xx Chontelle Louise

Colourpop Monochrome Eyeshadow Palettes | Blue Moon, Just My Luck & Ooh La La

Playing around with eyeshadow is one of my favourite things to do with makeup. I have a few palettes already but they're mostly pretty neutral, besides my Huda Amethyst Obsessions (which is actually pretty much an everyday palette for me), so I've been really wanting to pick up more colourful palettes. 

A few weeks ago I finally caved and purchased these three beauties - Blue Moon, a blue palette; Just My Luck, green palette; and Ooh La La, the pink palette. They also have yellow and orange palettes which are colours I just don't suit, and a purple palette which I don't need since I've already got Huda Amethyst.

This is my first time trying Colourpop eyeshadows and the brand in general, and I'm pretty impressed with the quality. The shadows are easy to work with, blendable and pigmented. The only criticism I have is that there is a fair bit of fallout during application, more so from the shimmer shades, so I'd recommend doing your eyeshadow before the rest of your makeup! Other than that though, these are great palettes to add some colour to your collection and super affordable at only $12usd (about $17.30aud) each. I've taken some more pics and swatches below:

Blue Moon

Until very recently, this was the newest addition to Colourpop's monochromatic palettes, and was what finally convinced me to make an order. Blue is having a proper moment right now, and I'm all for it. I feel like the colour suits all eye and skin colours, and can be soft & cute or bold & edgy.

Just My Luck

Considering I'm like, a quarter Irish (both my parents are half, so?), it'd be wrong not to support the luck of the Irish with this gorgeous green palette. It has all the green's I'll ever need, all in one place!

Ooh La La

Of course I had to pick up the pink palette, gotta stay loyal to my ~aesthetic~. There's a good mix of both easily wearable pinks and brighter pops of colour. This one is great as a standalone but also pairs well with my Huda Amethyst Obsessions and New Nude palettes, and my Naked 3.

x Chontelle

Dying My Hair Pink At Home | Adore 'Pink Rose' Review

I've wanted to have pink hair for the longest time, but no matter how much I've talked about it and researched dye's I never actually did it. I was always kind of nervous about having unnatural coloured hair - I didn't want it to turn out bad or ruin my hair. However for ages now I've been sick of my balayage and wanted a change. Around this time last year I went brunette again to cover up old balayage, and as usual it was too dark for me (my hair is naturally a light mousey brown nowadays and I was blonde as a kid so I've always suited medium to light hair best).

I didn't want to make the same mistake this time around, and I'm wanting to grow out my natural hair colour for the first time in probably 10 years. So I figured while I've got the blonde and I'm not in any job that restricts hair to natural colours, now was the time to go pink - and I'm so glad I did because I absolutely love it!

This was my first time putting a bright/unnatural colour in my hair, so on my first attempt I actually used Adore Petal Pink, which is more of a light pink/almost pastel pink colour. It did take to my hair but wasn't very noticeable or what I was going for, so I decided to take the plunge and go for a deeper and more vibrant pink - Adore Pink Rose.

First attempt with 'Adore Petal Pink'.

Adore was recommended to me by the girl working at Price Attack when I went in originally to buy a Manic Panic dye. I hadn't researched it before but I figured I'd give it a go, especially as it was $10 cheaper than Manic Panic at $16.95. 

The dye process was super easy and straight-forward, I just had to give the bottle a shake and then squeeze it into my hands and apply it directly to my hair - the hairdresser recommended applying it to recently washed and dry hair so I followed her instructions. I had some plastic gloves already from past box dye kits which I wore during application. I left it on for about an hour, which is longer than what the bottle says but I wanted to make sure the colour really took - and it did!

It came out as a super vibrant somewhat purple-toned pink or fuchsia kinda colour, and I love it! I wash my hair every 2 or 3 days, and it looks good for the first 2 washes before fading - however when re-applying more dye I found that I actually used way more than necessary initially (half the bottle nearly), as on my length to cover my balayage I only really needed maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle. So, that means that with at least 3 applications - once weekly if you don't want the fade - one bottle of this stuff can last me three weeks. That's pretty decent for a temporary fun colour, although I'm still gonna look into brands like Manic Panic and Brite which I've heard last longer as I'm loving having coloured hair!

Let me know if you've tried Adore's dye before, and what you think of this colour!

x Chontelle

My Go-To Lipsticks This Summer

You can count on me to wear lipstick pretty much everyday - or at least every time that I wear makeup. I only really started wearing it back in late 2015, but since then it's been one of my favourite parts of my makeup routine. I love how it can pull together and complete or change a look so easily, and there are always so many fab colours to choose from (too many, really, but I'm not complaining). 

While I wear all of my lipsticks regardless of the time of year, there are definitely a few that are getting some special attention this summer, which I've rounded up and listed below!

L-R: KVD Cathedral, MAC Amorous, MAC Faux, Stila Patina.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in 'Cathedral'

This is my absolute favourite lipstick at the moment, and it's the perfect shade to wear with any neutral or warm toned summer look. Cathedral is described as a 'matte coco rose', which is pretty much accurate although I've found that on me at least it has a bit more of a reddish undertone also which I absolutely love. It looks great paired with bronze or warm brown eyeshadows in particular, which has become my signature look this summer - I'm obsessed. I'm pretty sure this shade is universally flattering, so you can't go wrong!

MAC Satin Lipstick in 'Amorous'
Another MAC lipstick I've been loving for summer, Amorous is a gorgeous shade described as a 'lovestruck cranberry', though I see it as more of a berry toned deeper pink. I find this colour super flattering on my pale cool toned skin, and if you have brown eyes then I definitely think it really makes them pop!

MAC Satin Lipstick in 'Faux'

Faux will always hold a special place in my makeup collection as my first ever high end lipstick. It's the perfect 'my lips but butter' shade for me, a soft pink neutral lipstick that can be worn with any look. The satin formula is super comfortable especially in this Queensland summer heat, and while it reapplies nicely, because it's a 'MLBB' shade you don't need to worry about constant reapplication - low maintenance, perfect!

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in 'Patina'

This was the first liquid lipstick I ever bought and actually liked. I can be pretty picky with liquid lips because I find a lot of them bleed, crack, go patchy, and just feel awful on the lips, but Patina is none of those things. It's a lovely dusty rose pink that is so flattering on my pale cool-neutral skin - deep enough to remain in my comfort zone but still bright enough to 'pop', and it just screams 'Spring/Summer' to me. If you're looking for liquid lipstick in an understated shade that's comfortable and cute, then this is the one for you!

What are your favourite lipsticks to wear over summer? Let me know in the comments below!

x Chontelle

The Blush Edit

Let's be real - who doesn't love a good blusher? Even if you don't wear blush on the daily, I'm sure you can appreciate the beauty of a good blush, and if you do wear it on the daily like myself, well, you'll probably like this post!

I'll start by pointing out that I have quite a small blush collection - though it's also my largest collection of face products! While there's a heck of a lot more that I'd like to try out, for now, I'm truly happy with my little collection - I love and use all of them - and thought it was a good time to put together this 'blush edit' to share my blush collection and why I love them with you.

If that sounds like something you're interested in, read on!

NARS x Sarah Moon 'Isadora'

NARS blushes hold cult status in the beauty community as some of the most gorgeous, highly pigmented, buttery and cheekily-named blushes on the market. While I've never tried the fan favourite Orgasm (yet, anyway), I definitely wanted to see what all the hype was about, so when this gorgeous shimmery mauve-toned blush was released as part of the NARS x Sarah Moon 2016 holiday collection, I snapped it up. Isadora is totally different to all of the other pinky-nude blushes in my collection, which I love. The product itself definitely lives up to the hype, being as buttery and highly-pigmented as reported - seriously, I looked like a clown the first time I used it (even after tapping off excess)! It only needs the lightest tap and you're good to go! This colour really compliments cool skin tones and as the weather cools down I've found myself using it more and more often! A good NARS alternative from the permanent collection could be Sin - more of a berry colour but just as deep and cool-tone oriented.

Tarte 'Exposed'

I adore this blush. As usual for an everyday blush with me, it's a pinky-nude. I have a type, what can I say? What I really love about this blush is that it's practically fool-proof. Because of the texture of the product (Amazonian Clay) it's quite hard, which means unlike a more buttery powder, you're not going to have to worry about going 'too hard' and picking up too much product. It's easy to build up to the intensity you like, and the product lasts forever!

Rimmel '004 Pink Rose'

I'm 99% certain this was actually my very first blush, and it brings back a whole lotta memories thinking about it. I wore this throughout most, if not all of my high school days! It's the perfect pinky-nude blush, which was great for wearing to school as it helped me achieve that 'no makeup' makeup look. This blush is also super affordable at about $12 full price (however I always wait for sales when buying drugstore products), making it easily accessible for beginners, people on a budget, or anyone who simply likes to have nice and affordable products in their collection.

Nude By Nature 'Virgin Blush'

Another one of my earlier discoveries, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this blush. The shade is gorgeous - a perfect nude for fair skin like mine, and it's highly pigmented and long lasting. However, it's a loose powder, and because of that I rarely use it. I find it's just way too messy and it's hard not to apply too much product. If you're a fan of loose powders you'll love this one, but even if you're not, it's still a lovely perfect nude to have handy in your collection.

Sleek 'Rose Gold'

This blush is said to be the perfect drugstore dupe for the cult favourite NARS Orgasm blush, and at least in the pan they do look pretty much identical. However, I've yet to try Orgasm myself so I can't say anything with certainty. What I do know for sure is that this is such a lovely, shimmery, peachy-pink blush and gives a lovely, healthy flush of colour to my otherwise lifeless complexion. At only $12 (on sale, that is), it's totally worth it!

Tarte 'Exposed', NARS 'Isadora', Nude by Nature 'Virgin', Sleek 'Rose Gold', Rimmel '004 Pink Rose'.

So there we have it - my Blush Edit! I hope you found this post interesting and useful - let me know if you have any of these blushes and what you think of them, or if you have any recommendations of blushes I should check out then I'd love to hear those too!

x Chontelle

NARS x Sarah Moon 'Isadora' Blush Review

If you haven't witnessed the insane hype around NARS products - in particular, their blushers along with the famous 'Laguna Bronzer' - then hello, welcome to the world of beauty blogging, it's nice to meet you!

NARS blushers are frequently referred to as some of the best blushers on the market, but at the hefty price of $44 per a single blush (and they're not huge or anything, either!), it's taken me quite some time to actually splurge on one of these cult classics. What finally convinced me was a combination of having leftover spending money from my trip to Europe at hand, and this particular blush shade being limited edition as part of the NARS x Sarah Moon Holiday Collection.

Isadora is a medium, warm and rosy plum shade with a frosted finish. This is honestly such a gorgeous shade, and perfect for mid-autumn right through winter. It's extremely pigmented - I honestly think this is going to last me for years because you really only need the smallest amount to cover both cheeks. Unfortunately, I learnt that the hard way the first time I tested it out - I'm sure you can imagine some hilarious images of me with a strong, dark pink splotch on my left cheek. *cringe*

I'd definitely suggest being very light-handed with this one, and tapping off the excess. While it's taken some getting used to, I do appreciate the insane pigmentation of this blush.

Once it's on your cheeks, it stays there. This blush lasts all day with little-to-no fading, which I'm certainly pleased about. The colour is super gorgeous, and the interesting mixture of plum colouring (which usually leans cool) with a warm undertone to it is lovely for those of you who, like me, seem to bounce between skin tones.

What do you think of NARS blushers - love them, or hate them? Did you pick up anything from the NARS x Sarah Moon Collection?

Have a lovely day!

x Chontelle