All Eyes on the L'Oreal Mono Shadows

Sometimes (a lot of the time) for more reasons than one, I dislike living in the Southern Hemisphere. As big a first world problem as it is, makeup and beauty launches 6 months behind everyone else is one of my peeves! I get how ridiculous and vain that sounds, don't even worry. It's just those products you see hit the screen from UK & US beauties and you're like :| need. now.

Breaking Nude, Cafe Saint Germain, Quartz Fume

The L'Oreal Mono Shadows were one of those launches. After the success and my love for the Infallible shadows, I was excited for these. They launched with a couple of different finishes- there's the mattes, lumiere and nude. I picked out one of each and love them all. These, like the Infallible shadows, are super creamy and pigmented and are more like a pressed pigment than an eyeshadow. Worn alone or with other shadows, I've been loving these since I bought them. The only negatives I have are that one of them fell out of the pan after a short drop and the darker shades do have a bit of a fall out but I think you kind of just expect that with a product like this.

Breaking Nude, Cafe Saint Germain, Quartz Fume

The Drawer of Makeup Guilt

I like to think of my blog as a kind of sharing circle where anyone can come and join us in celebrating unnecessary addictions to all things makeup and beauty.. right?

Just smile and nod so this post won't make me feel like I'm alone in this, although from instagram sightings I think I can feel pretty secure that I am well and truly not alone.

The backup/new bits drawer. The ghost that haunts all new purchases while I'm perusing the drugstore aisles, the Mecca counters and department store beauty halls. That little voice in my head that says "think of all the new makeup you have sitting at home waiting to be opened and used. You need no more!" Let's be honest though, that pesky voice generally gets the boot and I gladly hand my pennies over in exchange of something new and exciting that's been launched.

It's all about layers- ogres have layers, beauty obsessive's drawers have layers

So this post is to celebrate the new bits/backup drawers that I know a lot of us have and store (read: hoard) new beauty bits! Let me know how out of control yours is getting so I can share the guilt..

New In | Maybelline Colour Drama Lipsticks

Things have been a tad lip-tastic here at chez Beautylocale, so apologies for two lip related posts in a row but I just can't help myself! I need want all of the lip products!!

The minute I saw these hit my computer screen when watching beauties in the Northern Hemisphere, I had been waiting (not so) patiently for these to hit Priceline's shelves. It would seem I definitely wasn't the only one either because the second the installations were put into the Maybelline stands, every single store I went into had bare slots. The struggle and devastation was real.

Not for long though! I finally got my eager little hands on one shade and then a few store attempts and days later, a second. Boy oh boy these were worth the wait my friends. Beauty bloggers and the like had sort of loosely thrown around the potential for being a Nars dupe and I have one of the matte lip pencils so I don't know if one makes me an expert but I would definitely say these are beyond drugstore quality and their $9.95 price tag.

Fab Orange & Red Essential

I got sooo many compliments at work and everyone was very shocked that it was a drugstore product brought to us by the gods of Maybelline and also that was so affordable! I posted a photo on my instagram showing how it wore from 9am to 7pm and that was no lie (check it out- @beautylocale). These are really creamy, easy to apply, comfortable to wear allll day long and they've brought out some beautiful bold shades as well as pretty nudes.

Maybelline have really hit the mark with this release and I will definitely be expanding my collection when I release myself from this semi makeup ban I've put myself under..

The swatches really speak for themselves, so if you've been eyeing off the Nars lip pencils but don't want to commit to that price point then head to your nearest Maybelline stockist asap!

Bite Beauty Begins Here

Like a lot of other beauty obsessives, the minute I knew I was going to the US, I began drafting my beauty wishlist.. it was a slippery slope let me tell you. At the top of my list was to delve into the world of Bite Beauty and I really wanted to make it to their lip lab in NYC. However in true holiday style, this all went out the window. I did buy the Agave lip mask which I've been loving but after I was given the huge lip set from Sephora from Christmas, I think I felt anymore lip product purchases was just excessive.

Enter Sydney Sephora, a giftcard from a gorgeous gal pal and working in dangerously close vicinity to Pitt St. I braved the lunch rush to check out Bite Beauty specifically and was disappointed by all the colours I had my eye on being out of stock. A week later and a second chance, we had success! 

Of all their formulas it was the Matte Creme Lip Crayons that caught my eye- a beautiful range of shades from nudes to bolds, on first swatch these just glided so easily on the back of my hand. Plus as I've mentioned before, I'm not one to shy away from a good ol' matte lip. Glacé had me straight away- trust. A beautiful dusty mauve, it was well and truly up my alley as a pinky brown tone. Then to even out the spectrum I thought a dark, bold shade would be a nice pairing. My pick- Truffle. A gorgeous vampy, deep brown, perfect for the upcoming Autumn trends and weather. 

Glacé & Truffle

I've worn Glacé all day at work, talking, eating, the lot and it's seriously comfortable for a matte lip and only needs a light reapplication. Now that I've used it a few times, the tip isn't as sharp which is disappointing and something I didn't really think about, because initially it was great for getting a super crisp line. I haven't given sharpening it a go yet but has anyone else found this or tried sharpening them? I don't want to do it and then ruin it entirely because that would just be devastation.

These retail for $30 at Sephora which when you think about it is more affordable than a lot of mid-range brands plus these are made with only good ingredients and are free from a whole lot of nasty chemicals and additives. That's Bite Beauty's aim if you weren't aware so bonus thumbs up from me!