Mac's 'Diva' Lipstick | Review

Okay, so I've got yet another Mac lipstick review for you today. I know, I know - Mac lipsticks are clearly fast becoming my downfall, but they're just so good!

As you know, I love my pinky-nude lipsticks. But, I've also always loved deep, vampy reds. After a bad experience with the Australis 'Doo-Bai' Liquid Lipstick looking awful after a little bit, I was scared off of not only liquid lipsticks, but deep red lipsticks (the latter doesn't make much sense, but that was my logic at the time). However with an upcoming late autumn trip to the UK and Europe, and it being the middle of winter at the time, I decided that I'd finally give a deep red lipstick a go.

And I knew just the one. I'd been lusting after Mac's Diva for at least a year or two, it was the perfect deep, vampy, wine coloured red, and I knew it had to be mine. My mum actually bought it for me as my Birthday present (thankyou mum!) so I didn't have any 'financial investment' in it to pressure me into loving it, but alas, I did!

Diva is the most gorgeous deep red lipstick, and I honestly think it's an autumn/winter staple for any makeup lover! I have neutral-warm undertones and pale skin and I think it's very flattering on me, and I've seen darker girls or people with pink undertones look fab in it too!

I will say, the only downside to this lipstick is that because it's such a deep and bold colour, if your lips are dry then it'll be kind of obvious up close where the 'flaky' bits are. But that's super easy to fix, just moisturise your lips and I'd recommend using a lip scrub beforehand as well - Lush has some great ones in the flavours Popcorn, Mint Julip, and a Candy Floss one (I think, basically a sugar-y one)!

As you can see from the swatch, the colour comes up pretty opaque which is great, sometimes darker colours come up kinda patchy and need extra effort to make them look good. Not this one! It's a matte finish, but it still has this beautiful 'sheen' to it that makes it 'pop' that little bit more.

I'm honestly so happy with this lipstick, and I'd definitely recommend you check it out next time you go past a Mac counter! 

Do you own Diva? What do you think of this lipstick? Leave a comment letting me know!

x Chontelle

Outfits of the Week | September 2016 | OOTW

I've been away from Youtube for a while, but I've finally got a new video up on my channel featuring my outfits of the week for September 2016! If you'd like, have a watch and let me know which outfit you like best!



x Chontelle

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in 'Patina' | Review

I've had the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick's on my beauty wishlist for several months now, but I'd been holding off on actually purchasing any because I was hoping for the extremely popular Baci or Caramello. However, a couple of weeks ago I had a bit of spare money to spend and decided 'why not?', picking up my third choice from Mecca on a whim - Patina!

Honestly, the main reason this wasn't in my top two was only because I was worried it would pull too dark on me, like most lipsticks do. However, it didn't and I'm honestly so glad now that I've bought it! Patina is a gorgeous, deep and dusty pink with mauve undertones on me. It leans neutral to cool, which is perfect for my cooler skin tone and pink undertones. However, I really feel like this colour would suit most skin tones, pulling differently to compliment everyone - I have a friend with completely different colouring than me who looks just as good with Patina on, albeit pretty different!

I love the long wear on this lipstick too, it lasts for hours (though I wouldn't necessarily say it 'stays all day')! I wore it to the hairdressers recently, where I had two coffees (cappuccino's with all that foam and chocolate powder so I had to wipe my mouth a bit too) and a biscuit, as well as some water. It stayed on almost perfectly through all of that, which I was amazed (and very pleased) with! It only came off later in the evening when mum and I had an early dinner of steak and chips and Hog's Breath, which was understandable because of the oil and the messy nature of the meal! Still, it lasted a good 6 or so hours and probably could have done longer without that meal!

The applicator is also a plus, it picks up a good amount of product and glides effortlessly across the lips. It's just pointed enough that it is easy to fix up the edges of the lips for a smooth line. Honestly, I am so happy with this product and after trying so many awful liquid lipsticks, I'm glad to have found one that I'm more than happy to use - at last!

Have you tried any of the Stila Stay All Day liquid lipsticks? What are your thoughts? Leave me a comment down below, I'd love to hear your opinion!

x Chontelle

Essence Lip Liners | Review

As you may know, it was my birthday not long ago, and with birthdays come lots of discounts and gift vouchers from clubs and email lists you're signed up to. One of those, for me, is the Priceline Sisterhood Club. I received a $5 gift voucher to spend in store, and since I don't have much money at the moment, I needed to find something relatively close to the $5 mark if I was going to be able to make use of this voucher! After narrowing down my search to either a single use face mask or something from the cheapest brand Priceline stocks - Essence, I went with the latter.

Essence is one of those hit and miss brands, where you'll either love something or hate it. These essence lip liners, which retail for only $2, fall right on top of the love category. I decided to pick out three so that I could use up the gift voucher but also so that I could test out a variety of colours!

The three that I picked out were 11 - In the Nude, which is a perfect browny-nude colour that would be perfectly paired with Mac's Velvet Teddy; 06 - Satin Mauve which is the prettiest, muted cool-toned purple shade; and 12 - Wish Me a Rose, which is quite a bold rosy pink.

All of them glide on the lips so well, I wouldn't say 'effortlessly' but the level of effort required to apply this evenly is minimal.

They also have pretty great lasting power for a $2 product, especially around the actual 'lip-line'. These can be worn either by themselves, or with a lipstick (my personal preference is a satin or velvet finish lipstick as I'm not overly in love with matte on matte).

All in all, I'm pretty happy with these lip liners and will probably keep an eye out for some of the other shades on offer! I definitely think you should check them out too, here in Australia you can find them in your local Target or Priceline!

x Chontelle

Lady Gorgeous by ESJ Organic Skin Care | Review

Recently, I was contacted by the team over at ESJ Skin Care about trying out their popular skincare product for women, 'Lady Gorgeous'*.

ESJ (Emanuel Sam Joseph) is an Australian organic skin care retailer stocking quality skin care products for men and women that have proven results. Founder & Managing Director of the brand Emanuel Sam Joseph has personally suffered from problematic skin, so you know that a lot of time and care has gone into creating a product that will actually deliver results rather than leave you disappointed. I took to google and the ESJ website straight after hearing from the ESJ team, wanting to know what this product was all about and how others who have already tested out the product felt about it. My search was met with an abundance of great reviews from extremely happy customers, which is always a positive sign!

When I received the package two weeks ago, I was in awe of just how beautiful the packaging was! First impressions, people, they're important!

ESJ really has that 'luxury' feel, and upon opening the box I felt like I was at a luxury hotel and spa. There were fresh rose petals scattered throughout the box, and inside were two classic light pink bottles of product shaped like a woman's body.

The product itself is really nice. It can be used on your face and body on a daily basis, and is a really easy two-step process of cleanse and moisturise. Lady Gorgeous is, as the name suggests, the perfect skin care duo for us ladies! You get a cleanser and a moisturiser, so it's nice and simple and you won't be overloading your skin.

Lady Gorgeous retails for $89, which is quite a good price considering you get two 200mL bottles of product. They also have a version of this product available specifically for men, called The Gentleman! If I've peaked your interest in the product then you can read more about it over on the ESJ website here!

Thankyou for reading!

x Chontelle