make up haul

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation, Illamasqua Matte Veil Skin Primer, Illamasqua Skin Base Mixer, & M.A.C 'Shanghi Spice' lipstick

I had an amazing Saturday out shopping with my girl Clarissa this past weekend and we hit up Pitt Street mall and all around the QVB. Our mission of sorts was to look at make up and I was very keen to get my first MAC lipstick, Clarissa is my make up spirit guide.

We mooched around Myer and other stores, and ended up in Zara where Clarissa got the most amazing tweed blazer with elbow pads and linen pattern lining. She's gonna be looking like the coolest teacher at school.

We hit David Jones because their make up section is second to none, and I had raved to Clarissa about how amazing Illamasqua foundation is, so she went and got colour matched and got some foundation and primer. We hit up the MAC counter and I got the most amazing shade of lipstick- I love how it suits my natural colour palette and make up look. I saw so many gorgeous shades but I wanted something I would be comfortable every day. 

We went back to the Illamasqua counter and I decided I wanted to get my favourite foundation again. The consultant matched me up again and I was still taken aback by how amazing this foundation is. I also had it with the Matte Veil primer, and it made SUCH a difference to how the product felt and sat on my skin, so I decided to grab a pot of that too. Thrown in with the foundation and primer was a skin mixer, which I'm sure will come in handy.

For those of you whom want to try Illamasqua, please keep in mind it is high end brand, which means high price. I'm not usually the kind of person to spend big on make up, I have always gravitated towards drug store brands, and I have come across some great products, which are very affordable. However, when it comes to the needs of my skin, when I find a product that works the way I want it to, I will stick with it. Those of you whom have problematic skin will understand this, when you find something that works, you hang onto it.

Can't wait for the next make up trip.

Catch ups & shopping haul with Emily-May (midgeymay)! | 13.07.2013

Okay so something pretty damn magical happened today- the planets aligned & I finally got to catch up with this lovely lady today!

This is my dear friend, Emily-May, also known as midgeymay. Her delightful blog features reviews, hauls, unboxing & all other manners of loveliness, including her heavenly cat Cacifier. You can experience her loveliness here.

Emily-May & I go to university together- we have been in the same classes for the last semester, trekked the streets of Melbourne together, and amazingly, will be together in the Graduation Show project taking place in the coming semester. She, like me, has spent the last two months of holidays working her butt off, so we were extremely fortunate to have a day off together. Emily-May was very keen to go to the make up counters in the Pitt Street Myer, & I of course would never one to pass up the chance to go into the city, so that was the imminent plan. And boy, what a plan it was. Below is a small snapshot of today's purchases:

We met around lunch time & hit QVB for little bits and pieces- we ended up first buying at Sportsgirl with their awesome accessories & handbags (oh the handbags!) & I ended up getting a black handbag, as shown below:

Madison Push Lock Bag at Sportsgirl

After pottering through card shops, we slowly made our way around to Pitt Street. Emily-May was very keen to check out the MECCA Cosmetics display, & got a bit excited about their perfumes, which, of course, smelt heavenly-

We made our way around to the Illamasqua (don't ask me how to pronounce it, I can barely spell it!) which was a brand I hadn't heard of- but Emily-May, being the English rose she is, mentioned that she had seen someone on Youtube talking about it, & turns out, in true form, is an English brand. Emily-May wanted to check out their foundations after liking what she saw on said Youtube review, & we chatted with the young lady at the counter. She was super helpful & promptly matched Em's skin tone with a very nice foundation on top of a primer. The difference the foundation made, and having a comparison of one side of her face being her usual make up, and the other being the Illamasqua, was amazing-Em's got flawless skin tone and colour, & she was beaming with the way the foundation was sitting on her skin.

I was curious & asked the Illamasqua lady to colour match me, & both Emily-May and myself were amazed at the difference between each foundation. I honestly didn't think my skin could have ever looked as natural and dewy- it has quite a decent amount of coverage without even using a concealer, is very light on my skin & matches my natural skin tones perfectly- and to top this, the foundation and primer, which Em & I both purchased for ourselves, were actually cheaper than most drug store foundations. I'm all for anyone using whatever brands work for them, & that the most expensive products don't necessarily do a better job than lower priced ones, but after having Illamasqua on my skin, I'd be hard pressed to find another foundation that does a better job. The only set back with Illamasqua is that the only make up counter they have in Sydney is at the Pitt Street Myer, so if you wanted to try out their products you'd have to go into that store. Both the skin base foundation and skin primer are shown below:

Illamasqua Matt Primer & Skin Base Foundation in Shade 8.5 at Illamasqua.

Whilst on the coat tails of make up, we went around to Priceline- Emily-May snagged plenty of bargains, & I got the Artiste Professional Foundation/Concealer Brush 50, and the Savvy by DB Perfect Finish Loose Powder in 01 Translucent, both items are shown below:

Artiste Professional Foundation/Concealer Brush 50 at Priceline.

Savvy by DB Perfect Finish Loose Powder in 01 Translucent at Priceline.

& just because we're a huge believer in signs, Em got the both of us a set of these:

Rimmel Instant Art Press On Colour in London Style at Priceline. 

(I will completely and utterly take this as a sign.)

After all this shopping, we called in at Wagamama & got some amazing grub- I managed to take this picture of Emily-May's Chicken Teriyaki before it was 'destroyed'- her words!

Chicken Teriyaki before the destruction!

And lastly, a very sweet gesture from the lovely lady- a belated birthday gift! Emily-May has the most exceptional taste in everything, & she was sweet enough to get me a beautiful notebook with the most seductive paper stock. The cover has got a light layer of pastel squares & it's beautiful:

The beautiful card. 

Papier Tigre notebook at Paper Tiegre.

Quite the big post today! I'm working less this week, so I will be doing a Birthday haul, featuring Emily-May & my good buddy Clarissa.

Stay tuned. x