Mario Badescu Cleanser Review and MORE!

As a teenager I combated acne, not severe acne... but acne. I was very self conscious and tried to rid of it as quick as I possibly could. My parents purchased almost every acne and pimple treatment products that were hyped about. So, I ended up washing my face every so often with clearasil and consumed lots of fruit, veggies and large amount of water. Eventually it reduced. 

Range of Cleansers and Exfoliants I've used over the years

Now, being 19, and still prone to break outs by heaps of products including popular products every makeup fanatic raves about, I still need to maintain and good skin care routing. I've tried a lot. Now though, I'm pretty happy with my skin care routine. From Garnier to Clinique, and Clean & Clear to Lancome... nothing compares to my Mario Badescu cleanser and PHisoex cleanser topped off with my 'The Face Shop Aloe Oil-Free moisturiser' or 'Lancome Hydra Zen moisturiser'. 

While shopping at MECCA, the helpful sales assistants told me that Mario Badescu products are great for skin care. Hesitant (because almost every other product I tried did no good for me), I though 'what the heck let's give it a go'. So I did. 

On days where I don't use MB Cleanser, I use PHisoex and moiturise with 'The Face Shop Aloe Oil-Free Moisturiser' or 'Lancome Hydra Zen Moisturiser'.

MARIO BADESCU Glycolic Foaming Cleanser ($23 AUD at MECCA)
Pros

• Perfect cleanser! That is all. 
• It has unclogged my pores leaving my skin feeling refreshed
• Reduces the amount of tiny bumps all over my skin 
• Pretty cool looking bottle

Cons

• Very trying on the skin IF you use it more than the recommended usage. That is, 2 times per week. Any more and you'll be peeling your skin off!

PHisohex Anti-Bacterial Wash ($10-$20 AUD at Chemist Warehouse)

Pros

• Does not dry your skin 
• Light and makes your skin feel fresh and hydrated
• Great value! Not too pricey and you get heaps! 
• You can basically use it as a back wash or anywhere else you have acne

Cons

• You should use it at least 3 times a day

HG Cleanser and Toner

HG Moisturisers

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer Review

Once upon a time, I was in love with MAC's brightening serum primer.. that was, until it broke me out and caused little bumps all over my face. Combine that with MAC Studio Fix Fluid on my sensitive, WOW. That didn't go so well! Unless it was applied once in a while then that's a different story, but since I'm asked to wear foundation to work, I have to maintain a better foundation routine for my sensitive combination skin. So one day, I went to Smashbox at Sydney Myer and first of all, the sales assistants are great! If I can recall their name it was... Becky and Fiona? Anyway if you're reading this ladies, thanks heaps! 

So I was deciding on a good face primer for my really, really sensitive skin and combination skin. When I say sensitive, I mean sensitive! Benefit Hoola broke me out, Studio Fix Fluid, Brightening Serum my gosh, even some face washes!! So if you have sensitive skin like me I would highly recommend this primer. Also, in some areas my dry skin tends to flake. I chose this one over the other smashbox primers because again, I wouldn't risk applying it on my skin. My holy grail primer. I wish I could wear brightening serum everyday but... we know the effects of that. So I only wear that on very special occasions :P 


Price: 4/5
$63 AUD at MECCA Cosmetica.
Considerably cheaper compared to MAC's brightening serum.

Longevity: 3.5/5
It's decent. I wouldn't say that it lasts for the entire day because it doesn't. But it does last for majority of the day and even when you're busy, out and about it's still there.

Pros

• Great for dry skin. If your skin tends to flake this will prevent that. It really does hydrate your skin and to be honest, I noticed an improvement in my skin after a couple of uses. 
• Oil-free
• Is not too thick on the skin and doesn't feel like I'm wearing any thick primer at all
• Does not clog my pores AT ALL
• Does not leave a white cask in photos
• Smooths the skin and creates a better canvas to work on 

Cons

• Does not stay on the whole day
• A couple of hours later it can leave shine and a slight oiliness... ew. But not to worry, just keep your blotting powder handy.

Overall: 4/5
Since I have some dry areas during winter AND summer, this is perfect for my skin and doesn't leave any flakes. Also, for my sensitive skin it has not broken me out. Although I wish it wouldn't cause too much oiliness during the day, I still love this. 

Ben Nye Blush Swatches

Hello hello! 

I can't stop raving about my ben nye blushes, I absolutely love it! Although i'm not so fond of their range of shades because I wish they have much more variety, eh what can I say? Great price, great quality! So I purchased this at IMATS Sydney 2012 at the Scotty's makeup booth and my oh my they were $10 each! What a bargain! So I swatched some on my arm and I actually chose 3 - one to go with different makeup looks. So, I ended up purchasing 'DR-162 Pink Bliss', 'DR-12 Pink Blush' and 'DR-61 Victorian Rose'.

Overall, I love them so much!

Price: 5/5

$10 at IMATS for 3.5 grams 

Longevity : 3.5/5

I find that this blush doesn't have the best of staying power... let's say 3.5/5? It will last for a max of 6 hours on me, I wish it could last a little longer but what hey, the price, the quality... i'm in love!

Packaging : 4/5

Nothing special, just the usual blush packaging. The lid hasn't broken on me yet and it has been dropped several times so it's pretty durable 

Pros

• Amazing price
• Highly highly pigmented 
• Easy to blend

Cons

• Not enough range of colours :(

Overall

A little goes a long way and I must say, this was an amazing purchase. Highly pigmented but again the only downfall would be the range of colours and longevity. But i'll definitely be purchasing more when I get my hands on them!

L to R: 'DR-162 Pink Bliss', 'DR-12 Pink Blush', 'DR-61 Victorian Rose'

INGLOT Eye shadow swatches

Ahoyhoy! So I'll be reviewing INGLOT eye shadow which I did promise to post about on my previous post. So here it goes!
I actually purchased from their freedom system in a 10 square palette at IMATS Sydney 2012 and must I say, I think i'm in love! The wait was totally worth it! Now INGLOT offers a system where you're able to purchase the palette and then you can choose which refills you want to purchase which you can place in yourself.
Inglot cosmetics website: http://inglotcosmetics.com/
Inglot Australia website: http://inglotaustralia.com/

Price (9/10): 
- Usually for a freedom system magnetic 10-palette (no refills): $20 AUD
- Usually for a square refill: $10 AUD
- IMATS price for a freedom system magnetic 10-palette (no refill): $14 AUD 
- IMATS price for a square refill: $7 AUD
- IMATS price for a rainbow refill: $9.10 AUD

Packaging (10/10):
- Magnetic lock in lid 
- Magnetic lock in refill (place it in and it's locked in place)
**Square refill**
- AMC 2.7 g
- Pearl 2.7 g
- Matte 2.3 g
- Shine 3.2 g
- DS 2.5 g

Pros:
- Highly pigmented
- Easy to blend
- Extremely long lasting, doesn't budge doesn't crease
- Huge range of amazing shades!
- Great value, great price! 
- Perfect texture

Cons:
- ZILT

Overall:
- I love love love INGLOT shadows, and I do prefer it much more than MAC! The texture, the wear, the range of shades love it love it love it. 

IMATS: Sydney 2012 HAUL

Note: All products will be individually reviewed very soon so keep an eye out! 

IMATS Pros:

• Heaps of things were on sale, INGLOT had a 30% discount, MAC had a 15% discount
• Very organised 
• Great selection of speakers and informative presentations 
• Some brands allowed for EFTPOS transactions including Royal Brushes and PM Studio

IMATS Cons:

• We waited 1 hour for 3 products from INGLOT. Their service was amazing but there were too many people lining up and it was chaotic. The purchases made up for it though :)
• Some brands stated which were supposedly meant to be at IMATS were not. NYX was unfortunately not there neither was Illamasqua which was a huge disappointment! Hopefully that doesn't happy again!
• If you didn't show up early enough, many things were gone before my eyes! Showed up at MAC to find out one of the things I planned to purchase was sold out

IMATS Advice:

• Before attending, be sure to know what you want to purchase and the estimate cost of each product.
• Set a budget! While also adding your purchases you expect to buy, also add a little extra within the budget in case of impulse purchases! 
• Get there early so that the products you want will still be there

So..

Okay, so smashbox was there but I didn't exactly purchase the primer at IMATS (it was purchased on the same day @ MECCA) and neither was the too faced shadow insurance (it was purchased on the same day @ Kit cosmetics). Also since the MAC stand ran out of the brow pencil I wanted, that was purchased at the MAC stall at MYER.

Although what I did purchase was.....

Inglot (30% discount) - Total: $106

• Freedom system 10 eye shadow palette + 1 more refill: $91 incl. palette magnetic plate
• Inglot primer/eye base: $15 (or was it $20?)

Scotty's makeup - Total: $50

• Ben Nye Powder Rouge DR-162 Pink Bliss: $10
• Ben Nye Powder Rouge DR-61 Victorian Rose: $10
• Ben Nye Powder Rouge DR-12 Pink Blush: $10
• Ben Nye Powder Rouge DC-01 Contour No.1: $10
• Ben Nye Pressed Eye Shadow ES-302 Vanilla: $10

Ben Nye - Total: $0. Zilt. Nothing. :D

• Ben Nye LX-100 Ultra Bright: free sample

Royal Brushes: $50

• Kabuki brush: $15 (best brush purchase ever!)
• Royal & Langnickel Crease C430: $5
• Royal & Langnickel Revolution BX-95: 5
• Royal & Langnickel LG Stippler C251: $15 (terrible!) 
• Royal & Langnickel Pro LG Taklon Foundation 152: $10

What I wanted to purchase

• NYX blush in desert rose, pinky and mocha
• NYX round lipstick in tea rose and thalia
• OCC Lip Tar in Demure
• MAC blot powder and MAC careblend powder 

Final Comments:

I had a great first time at IMATS! Take into account we went fairly early, not as early as other people though. My best purchases made at IMATS were my amazing kabuki, INGLOT palette and my ben nye blushes and the contour no.1. Although I did set a budget, again I didn't follow it. I did pretty well at IMATS but since some of the products I desperately wanted at IMATS weren't there, I decided since I was around the city, I should go to MECCA, Kit or MAC in MYER to purchase them (lots of products were sold out within 5 hours).

These products are going to last a lifetime!