Brand Loving: Too Faced Cosmetics

Too Faced products continue to amaze me. Every single time I try something new from them I'm always pleased. I wanted to write this post so I could recommend you all some of my favorite Too Faced products that you might want to try out for yourself! Too Faced products are all cruelty free and a list of their vegan products can be found here. This is going to be a lengthy post so maybe sit down with a cup of tea and a snack to keep yourself going!

Before we get started I just wanted to mention how much I love the Too Faced packaging. Sure, some of the packaging is quite bulky and a little awkward if you want to take things travelling with you, but other than that the packaging is seriously beautiful.

Cheek Products:

Starting with a long-time favourite of mine the Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush blush. I've had my first Sweethearts blush for just under a year now and I will definitely be re-purchasing when I finish it up. These blushes are highly pigmented and you really don't need much at all to get the perfect amount of blush. Like I said, I've been using one of mine for just under a year and I've only just hit pan! The two shades I have are Candy Glow and Something About Berry. Both of these shades are within the 'pink' realm of blushes, though Candy Glow sits a little more within the peach boundary and Something About Berry resides a little more within the hot pink side. I think both of these shades would suit a range of different skin tones and are very easy to wear on a daily basis. They both have quite a lot of shimmer to them (when you swirl all three colours together) but the shimmer isn't too glittery or over-whelming.

The next product I want to mention is the Full Bloom Powder Blush. Tayla actually bought this product which was lovely as I'm usually the one to buy make-up! We have the shade Sweet Pink which is basically just a very sweet, highly pigmented, shimmery pink. This shade almost reminds of the shimmery pink in Something About Berry.  Just like the Sweetheart Blushes, this blush would suit a range of different skin tones and has incredible lasting power. Whilst I'm not too fond of the other shades of this blush, this shade is really just a perfect pink blush. 

Another cheek product from Too Faced that I've had for quite some time is their Candlelight Glow Duo highlighting powder. This is one of those products that you can use on your entire face or just as a highlighter. I personally prefer to use this just as a highlighter because I think it's a little too shimmery to use on the entire face. The colours within the duo are both beautiful on their own and when mixed together- one shade is a gold shimmer while the other is what Too Faced calls a 'rose shimmer'.

Eye Products: 

The Too Faced Shadow Insurance is a product I'm sure many of you may have used before. There isn't too much to say about this other than it's an amazing eye shadow primer. It's a very lightweight product and I barley even notice when I'm wearing it. I'm happy to say that this primer ensured my eye shadows and eye liner stayed in place on one particularly tearful night which was a nice surprise considering I expected to look quite panda-like by the time I returned home. Eye shadow simply glides over this primer and it blends very easily, especially using the Too Faced eye shadows.

Now I'm not one that can easily work a smokey eye on a daily basis, but every once in a while I like to whip out this Too Faced Smokey Eye eye shadow collection palette! This is another purchase of Tayla's that I love to borrow when the occasion calls (the benefits of having a twin sister). This palette is all you need when mastering the smokey eye. The eye shadows are all creamy, easy to blend and highly pigmented and this palette even comes with some easy steps to follow when you want to create your own smokey eye.

One of the most amazing palettes I have ever bought has been the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Collection palette. When I first saw all the promotional pictures for this palette I just knew I had to get my hands on it! This palette comes with 16 amazing eye shadows including two larger highlight colours. These eye shadows are pigmented with "pure, antioxidant-rich cocoa powder" I'm not sure about the science behind the use of cocoa powder but all 16 of the eye shadows are incredibly pigmented and creamy. These eye shadows are so easy to apply and blend out and they also have pretty decent lasting power. I'm not going to go into details about the shades in this palette (swatches etc) because this post is already long enough, so if you want a full review on this palette just let me know in the comments!

Lip Products:

If you follow me on instagram you will know that I love a good lipstick. Naturally I had to try the Too Faced La Crème Colour Drenched Lipsticks. As the name would suggest, these lipsticks are creamy and very pigmented. I have bought the shades Marshmallow Bunny, Nude Beach and Naughty Nude. Whilst I love the consistency and pigmentation of each of these lipsticks, I ended up buying both of the nude shades for my mum as they're both a little too brown for my skin tone and I'm yet to wear Marshmallow Bunny out. My natural lip colour is fairly dark so Marshmallow Bunny looks quite weird on it's own and this particular shade sticks to all the dry bits on my lips (so attractive). I'm currently looking for a matching lip liner for Marshmallow Bunny so I can test it out again but for now I can just marvel at the beautiful colour and adorable name. 

Brushes:

Last but not least for my very first brand loving post is the Powder Pouf Brush. Not only is this the brush of my dreams (it's so pink and cute!) but it's so lovely to use. This brush has soft, lengthy bristles that feel like a dream. They pick up just the right amount of product so your powder/bronzer/mineral foundation doesn't look too heavy. If you're wanting to splurge a little on a powder brush, this is the brush to go for! 

That's it for my focus on Too Faced Cosmetics. I hope you all love these products as much as I do! For my fellow Australians, I have purchased all my Too Faced products from Kit Cosmetics and Mecca Maxima so follow these links instead of the ones linking to the Too Faced website as they don't ship to Australia yet!

I would love to hear your feedback and thank you for reading!

Love from Maddie xoxo

Seasonal Favourites- Summer

So these posts aren't going to be a regular thing here on this blog, but for you beauty junkies (such as myself) I've decided to do 'seasonal favourites' so you'll only be seeing these once every three months. Summer has finally come to a close here in Australia so without further ado, let's get started! (Just so you all know- links have been added for each product mentioned so you can check them out and possibly purchase them for yourself)

 1. Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-crease eye shadow primer & Hourglass Cosmetics Veil Mineral Primer

As you could probably guess, living in Australia during Summer can get incredibly hot and humid. As a girl that likes a full face of makeup all day long these two primers managed to get me through the intense heat of our summer days (without my 'face' melting off that is). I've used both products practically everyday for the past two and half months and I'm yet to find anything I dislike about them. You literally need the tiniest little dot of the Too Faced shadow insurance and your eye shadows and liners will stay put all day long with out creasing. I have slightly oily eye-lids (tmi, I know) and this has been a life saver. I think the best thing about the Hourglass Veil is how seriously light the formula is. I really didn't want a silicone based primer (something like Benefit's Pore-fessional) because adding on another reasonably thick layer on my face during this heat did not sound appealing to me at all. When you apply this primer it feels as though you haven't put anything on your face, which is perfect for me during the summer! It settles in very quickly and foundation and concealer really just glide over the surface of your skin which feels (and looks) pretty amazing in my opinion. 

2. Clinique City Block Sheer SPF (25+)

Now being as pale as a ghost probably isn't so bad if you live in a country with a little less sunshine and a little more rain, but here in Australia it is possibly one of the most annoying things ever. As I'm sure you could imagine, stepping out on a normal day without sunscreen (at least on my face) is a big problem for me. My freckles darken like crazy and I'm guaranteed to get sunburnt within half an hour or so. The only sunscreen that seems to work with my sensitive skin is the Clinique City Block Sheer SPF (25+). It hasn't irritated my skin at all (I'm allergic to most sunscreens so I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this a few years back and no irritation appeared!) and I find it to be quite light once it has settled into the skin. I personally like to apply this after my moisturiser, let it settle into my skin (waiting 5-10 minutes seems to do the trick) and before any makeup or primer.

3. Lime Crime Liquid Eyeliner in the shade Reason

We all know I'm a Lime Crime lover (who can resist the amazing colours of their lipsticks and the lasting power of their Velvetines?) but this is a fairly recent discovery of mine. About a month ago I decided to get a little creative with my eyeliner (thank you to the Chanel Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show for a little bit of makeup inspiration) and this beautiful silver caught my eye. The formula of this eye liner is very pigmented, shimmery and smooth. The packaging is adorable as always but I'm not too fond of the applicator brush. I prefer to use my own brush for a much more precise application but I think the product would be a little more amazing if it were incorporated in the 'felt tip pen' applicator style. Besides this, the product is really wonderful and I'm looking forward to trying and testing more of the incredible colours!

4. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the shade Vanilla

My Maybelline Fit Me Concealer finally came to the end of it's long life recently and I wanted to try something new. It just happened to be the day after pay day and I was stalking the shelves of Mecca Maxima before work looking for something that was pretty similar to my previous concealer. Soon enough I made my way to the NARS section and the selection of radiant creamy concealers caught my eye (the colours all lined up together look so beautiful). I have a feeling that Maybelline may have gotten a little inspiration from NARS to create their Fit Me Concealer as there is a resemblance in both the packaging and the formula of the product, so I simply had to give this NARS concealer a try. In short, I seriously love this concealer. I thought the Fit Me concealer was amazing but then I gave this a try and everything has changed. This covers EVERYTHING! I really don't find this heavy or cakey at all. From dark circles to freckles to redness and blemishes. It's got them all covered (hahaha, please tell me I'm not the only one to laugh at my humour).

5. The Body Shop Aloe Lip Care (for sensitive skin)

I'm going to complain about the heat again, but my lips have been drying out like crazy every time I step outdoors- even when I'm not wearing other lip products. No lip balm or salve was doing me any good until I came across this bad boy (thank you Estèe from Essie Button for the recommendation). This hydrates my lips like crazy and has no horrible scent or taste to it. I like to apply this at the very beginning of my makeup 'routine' to let it sink in before applying other lip products (such as a lipstick) and just before I go to bed every night so I can wake up with lovely hydrated lips. 

6. Bare minerals Marvelous Moxie lipliner in the shade Electrified & the NARS lipstick in the shade Scarlett Empress 

These last two items are a match made in heaven. I stumbled upon the NARS lipstick a few months ago and instantly loved the amazing colour and formula. I wore it a few times on its own before deciding to vamp it up a little more with a dark lip liner. I couldn't choose a lip liner that matched well enough from the selection of NARS liners so when I asked for some help from the sales assistant she instantly recommended me the Bare Minerals Lip Liners. She swatched a few before coming across the shade Electrified which was a beyond perfect match for Scarlett Empress. The lasting power of these products when paired together is pretty amazing and the colour is simply stunning! I've never been a lip liner kinda girl but I've already begun thinking of the next few shades that I want to add to my collection from the Marvelous Moxie lip liner range!

That's it for my seasonal favourites! Even though it's just been over a week since I last posted it feels like a life time! Now that I've started university (I'm sure I'll do a blogpost on that in the coming few weeks) hopefully I will get a little more used to my timetable and can manage a blog post every other week (Tayla and I might alternate weeks or something like that). 

Anyways, thank you for reading this post! 

~Your feedback would really be appreciated~

Love from Maddie xo

Feeling a little bit Too Faced ♡

So recently, I posted a picture of this lovely little blush by Too Faced on instagram. Most of you seemed quite interested so I decided to write a little review/recommendation on this product! ♡

This is the first Too Faced product I have had the pleasure of buying and trying. I already love it! Obviously, I need to give you guys some of the details, so here they are! This is the Too Faced 'Sweet Hearts' Perfect Flush Blush. This was a Valentines day limited edition blush, but I managed to jump in and buy one before they were taken off the shelves! I believe these are still available on beautybay.com so be sure to jump on there before it sells out! 

On the back of the box, this blush is described as "One Shade Glams All: This trio of shimmering shades blends to create the perfect flush for any skin tone at any age, year-round". I could not think of a better description! The three shades chosen perfectly compliment each other so you can wear them alone, or mixed together like I do! 

Sweethearts all over the world should really try and buy this blush if possible! It has such a lovely natural glow, that anyone could wear it! Of course, I also love the packaging of this, even though it may not be too practical if you wanted to travel with it because it is made of cardboard. This however, is no problem for me,  so it's a go from me! 

Thank you for reading everyone! Love from Maddie xx