Top Red Vegan Lipsticks - Part 1!

The main question I get when it comes to vegan makeup is lipsticks and even more specifically red vegan lipsticks so I thought today I would share with you some of my absolute favourites from a range of different prices, brands and finishes. I have so many more in my collection that I wanted to include or I just forgot about so there will more than likely be a part two to this!

Australis - Velourlips Matte Lip Cream | Shade: NY-CEE | Price: $9.99
Let's start with what I think is my all time favourite lip product! A very pigmented, long lasting and matte red shade that applies super smoothly, doesn't dry my lips out and is really creamy in formulation. Velourlips are incredibly affordable (I actually don't think the other shades suit me but this one rules!) and they can be found at priceline. Also another great dupe for Lime Crime's velvetines!

Shanghai Suzy - Semi-Matte Lipstick | Shade: Miss Hannah/Blood Red | Price: $12.95
I'm sure you've read me rave about these lipsticks before and this is just another shade that I love. Shanghai Suzy lipsticks are all very opaque, smooth and long lasting with Miss Hannah being no exception and living up to the expectations. You can read another review I've done on these lipsticks here!

Australis - Colour Inject Lip Gloss | Shade: Bollywood | Price: $11.95
Another Australis lip product that you can't go wrong with! These are often on sale at Priceline and I usually pick up a couple then. Bollywood is quite pigmented (not opaque) and can be worn both on it's own or over the top of another lipstick to add some glossiness!

Aromi Beauty - Liquid Lipstick | Shade: Flamenco Red | Price: $17
Are you sick of me talking about these lipsticks yet?! I've recommended these to every person I know and two shades were recently in my favourites post here! This applies as a lip gloss and quickly dries to a very opaque matte lipstick that is absolutely beautiful! It's a cool, blue-toned red that I can guarantee will look great on almost everybody!

Silk Naturals - Vegan Lipstick | Shade: Vroom! | Price: $5.75
This is a brand I've only recently gotten into after finding and falling in love with their eyeshadows, I then picked up a whole bunch of lipsticks because they looked incredible and you can't go wrong with those prices! The only negative I find with these lipsticks is that it's in a very weird packaging and the application can be tricky but it's usually fine and the formulation of these are great! Vroom is described as a crimson red and it has absolutely no shimmer and is extremely comfortable to wear!

Too Faced - La Creme Color Drenched Lipsticks | Shade: Stilleto Red | Price: $22
This is similar in shade to the Silk Naturals Vroom but this feels and applies more like a lip cream than a lipstick, it has good pigmentation but can be worn sheer or built up with a few small swipes. Another very comfortable product to wear!

Too Faced - Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipsticks | Shade: Melted Ruby | Price: $21
I recently picked this up with 3 other shades and I absolutely love them! The melted lipsticks are suppose to be a liquid lipstick that has shine similiar to a lip gloss and leaves a lasting stain and I feel they are exactly that. Melted ruby is a beautiful red, slightly deep pink shade that smells delicious and looks even better when applied! I'll be doing a full review on all 4 melted lipstick shades I have in the future!

Anyway! That's all of them! I was planning to do swatches on my lips but after attempting that twice and ending up with very sore lips, the pictures just did not work out at all. Hopefully you found some new lipsticks or shades that you want to try out and there will definitely be a follow up to this post with more.

As always, thank you for reading! XO

Petit Vour May 2014 - Products & Reviews

Hello friends! I'm here with a review on Petit Vour which is a monthly subscription service that comes with mini and full sized samples from a range of wonderful brands and all products are cruelty free and vegan. I was very kindly sent this May box to try and after testing out the products for a week or so, I'm ready to share them with you!

Firstly, I must say I love the packaging of the box itself and it comes with a card with details about each individual item inside which I appreciate. This month's box came with two full sized items and two mini samples.

Paula's Choice | Resist C-15 Super Booster | Full-size: $45
This claims to repair visible signs of aging and provide smoother, brighter and firmer skin. I'm not sure I'm looking any younger but my skin has noticeably felt a lot more smoother since I started applying 2 drops of this to my face each morning and night for the past week. I don't find it to leave any residue on my face like a lot of oil/serums I've tried before and it (thankfully!) doesn't have a distinct smell. I'm not convinced if I'll buy the full size product yet but we'll see when I finish the bottle!

Deep Steep | Hand Cream | Scent: Brown Sugar + Vanilla | $10
I'll be honest when I say I wasn't that excited to try this out as hand cream is definitely a product I usually skip on but it is winter and I thought I may as well take advantage of it and luckily I'm pleasantly surprised! I'm not sold on the scent (vanilla and I don't get along that well) but the product itself is lovely and makes my hands super, super soft. After I run out of this, I'll be looking into the other scents of this.

Harvey Prince Perfume | Scent: Hello | Full-size: $55
As soon as I opened the box, all I could smell was this and was instantly excited. I have literally one perfume in my collection since going vegan and I cannot for the life of me find any that I enjoy or any brands at all really so once I sprayed this in the air and smelt it, I was hooked. I am hopeless at describing fragrances but it smells like warm spring, not too sickly and the scent stays for a really long time. I've finished this little bottle and I've already bought the full-size. I'm in love and finding a nice vegan perfume has been high on my search list for a very long time!

Aromi Lip Gloss | Shade: Rouge | $17
Besides the wonderful smell when I opened the box, I was happy to see this lip gloss from one of my new favourite brands Aromi, two of the brands liquid lipsticks were in my last favourites post which you can read here. Like the lipsticks, the lip gloss applies smoothly, evenly and is very pigmented. This shade does have more of a metallic finish but nothing I can't work with, definitely a fan of Aromi lip products.

And that's everything! As I said, Petit Vour is a vegan beauty subscription service ($15 p/month for Americans and $30 p/month for international) and if you're interested in any of the products I mentioned, you can shop the month here. I'm ready to try more after testing this box out!

Let me know if you use Petit Vour or maybe there's another vegan subscription service I haven't heard about that you can share with me

As always, thank you for reading! XO

A few of my favourite things - no.2

Hello friends! I thought I'd start this Sunday off in a positive light with a small post about things I've been loving lately and my thoughts on them.

Davroe Colour Senses Shampoo & Conditioner - 
After colouring my hair from almost-black to having light blonde to brown ends, my hair definitely needed a stronger conditioning and something to help lock-in the colour so when I stumbled across this brand on veganbeauty.com and I picked these two up straight away. It's a little more expensive than my usual Sukin or Lush hair products but the results are worth it. I've had trouble with vegan shampoos never foaming up the way I like or making my hair feel almost like straw but this foams up wonderfully, I massage it into my scalp and it leaves my hair feeling incredibly clean without being stripped! The conditioner is equally as good, giving (much needed!!!) moisture to my incredibly dry ends and not making the colour dull. Did I mention both of these products smell amazing?! Definitely worth looking into!

Models Prefer Infinite Colour Foundation - Shade: Shell
A vegan foundation that is affordable, easy to buy from the drugstore and has a shade light enough for me?! Give it to me right now! After receiving an email reply from Models Prefer about their glycerin (it's vegetable derived) I headed straight to Priceline to pick up a bottle of this and I have not been disappointed. It provides medium coverage, isn't drying and lasts quite a long time on (although not the full 12 hours that it claims!) - I even wore this to a wedding and it looked great!

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge
I'm already a huge fun of the RT brushes so when I saw this and a few reviews saying it compared to the beauty blender, I picked it up from Iherb.com to try and I love it! I've tried a few beauty blender "dupes" and they've never created the same effect as the original but this Real Techniques one is definitely on par with the beauty blender! It's the same concept, you put it in water until it expands and apply your foundation with it, it has a flat end unlike the beauty blender and I find the tip makes it easy to get into the little places around the nose and eyes. It's a little stiffer than the beauty blender but I enjoy it more and this sponge with the foundation I just mentioned applies beautifully and smoothly. With it being half the price of the beauty blender, you definitely can't go wrong with it!

Elf High Definition Undereye Setting Powder
I love this stuff, a tiny, tiny bit goes a long way and ELF is already more than affordable so you would not be wasting any money testing this out! It does have some shimmer in the powder but I find it to be unnoticeable when applied and it just really helps to smooth and lock in any undereye concealer and help it from creasing!

Aromi Beauty Liquid Lipsticks - Shades: Electric Orchid & Preppy Red
I know, I know. If you've been following me for a while on Instagram or my other blog where I post small posts/answer questions, you would have heard all about these a million times but I honestly cannot recommend them enough. If you're a fan of Lime Crime velvetines and do not feel comfortable supporting the brand, these are perfect for you and of course if you're a fan of opaque, long lasting and smooth lipsticks (who isn't?!), these would be perfect for you too! I've barely worn any other lip products since purchasing these a few months back and I'm constantly receiving compliments when I wear them! Even my boyfriend comments on how long the colour lasts so you know it must be something good if even he is noticing!

Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque
A brand I haven't really tried but have seen absolutely everywhere is Aesop and on top of that, this cleansing masque so finally I decided to give it a try and I'm beyond happy with the results. It's a clay-based masque that is suppose to deeply cleanse and refresh most skin types especially those with dry skin and it does exactly like that, my skin looks and feels noticeably softer and cleaner after I use this and I find it definitely lives up to the claims. It smells delicious (lavender!) and I find it incredibly easy to remove to unlike a lot of masks that you always feel a lot of left over residue.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favourite things, let me know some of yours!

As always, thank you for reading! XO

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Swatches!

 This is an incredibly overdue post but here it is finally, my swatches of the Makeup Geek eyeshadows I own. MG is often compared to MAC, they offer a range of "dupe" colours, are cruelty free with most of their eyeshadows being vegan and are super affordable. ($6 dollars a shadow!) I use these eyeshadows almost 80% of the time (and when I'm not, I'm using the wonderful Silk Naturals shadows I swatched here!) All shades I have are pigmented especially the shimmers which are extreme, they all apply smooth, non-chalky, last without a primer and do not crease on me. On to the swatches and my opinions on them!

White Lies (matte) & Ice Queen (shimmer) -

Perfect for inner corner highlights and under the brow bone
Bling (frost/shimmer)
Vanilla Bean (tiniest shimmer but appears matte on the eyelids)
I use all over the lid almost every look,
Shimma Shimma (frost/shimmer) -
Similar to Bling but is more champagne coloured and intense, another shade I use frequently. ***isn't actually vegan! Beaches And Cream (matte) -
Nice beige shade with peach undertones and nice as a transition colour!
Peach Smoothie (matte) -
Deeper than Beaches And Cream, great for the crease

Cinderella (shimmer)
Purely Naked (slight shimmer)
A frequently used shade of mine
Glamorous (shimmer) -
The name absolutely speaks for itself, this shade is beautiful and incredibly pigmented!
Creme Brulee (matte)
Another nice transition, crease or blending colour!
Cosmopolitan - (shimmer)
Gorgeous rose with gold flecks shade
Frappe (matte)
Another favourite and frequently used shade, perfect to darken any look
Latte (matte)
Like Frappe, great medium brown shade!

Gold Digger (shimmer)
Speaks for itself!
Bleached Blonde (shimmer)
A lot paler than Gold Digger and it looks so good for a night out!
Homecoming (shimmer)
I don't use this that often but absolutely beautiful shade and I love it every time I wear it
Hipster (slight shimmer)
Another good shade to darken any look or in the outer v!
Taupe Notch (slight shimmer)
Same as above
Prom Night (shimmer)
Good for a smokey eye, incredibly smooth with silver/grey reflects

Pretentious (shimmer)
Metallic bronze which I barely use
Brown Sugar (shimmer)
Warm copper brown, another love of mine!
Burlesque (shimmer)
Deep burgandy, so pigmented but also barely used

And that's all of them! I can create just about any neutral based type of look and love these for every day wear especially the lighter shades, I'm constantly reaching for this palette and even the shades I don't use as often, I still absolutely love!

If you have tried MUG eyeshadows, which ones are your favourite?

As always, thank you for reading! XO

Haul/Swatches: Powder Perfect Nail Polishes

Recently I stumbled across this brand through instagram which is Australian, hand-made, vegan, 5 free and has a range of beautiful nail polishes to offer (as well as lipsticks that will be back for sale soon!) and I picked up a couple for myself.
 

The first one I picked out and that I'm currently wearing in the picture (ignore how horribly I painted my nails!) is Raspberry Whorl, a beautiful deep pinky-purple with no glitter and paired with the matte top coat looks great!

Next is Aquitaine from the Troubadour Collection, a light beige shade with a creme finish, perfect nude!

Also from the same collection, I got Tristan a lovely mint green shade with a creme finish and it's my favourite shade of them all. 

Isolde is a soft pink with small glitters throughout (and my least favourite if I'm honest, I haven't worn this yet so maybe that will change my mind!) 

Lastly I picked up the Mad About Matte top coat which is does exactly as it describes, makes the nail polish matte! I've used it with both Raspberry Whorl and Tristan on my fingers and swatched it with all 4 colours on the nail wheel and it works perfectly.

All 4 shades I picked up are true to colour, opaque in two thin layers and the polishes themselves apply evenly and smoothly, I've worn Tristan (mint green) and Raspberry Whorl (pink/purpley) and they have lasted 2-4 days until chipping slightly and at $10, I think these are definitely affordable, great polishes that are worth buying.

And as always, thank you for reading! xo

Unboxing: Vegan Cuts - Beauty Essentials Kit

 

Purchased: Vegan Cuts

After seeing reviews of Ipsy and Birchbox which is a subscription service where you pay monthly to receive sample beauty products to try, I went on a search for a vegan version and stumbled across this brand. I had seen a couple blogs post about them before (veganbeautyreview.com - one of my favourite blogs being one of them!) and decided to give them a try.

I purchased the "essentials kit" which came with a limited edition makeup bag (not going to lie, the polka dots had me sold!) and 10-15 (depending on the bag) items, just to get a feel on what type of things I would be getting if I signed up for the month-to-month service.

Face products:
- Two cleansing face wipes from La Fresh which was kind of disappointing as a full pack of 10 is less than 6 dollars, I don't think I'll be able to see if I actually enjoy these but oh well.
- Hydrating gel from Lotus moon that I'm looking forward to trying!

Body products!
- Black soap body wash by Soapbox (excited for this!)
- A natural deodorant by Death By Lavender which the smell is a bit off putting but maybe it will end up alright!
- Sunscreen by Sunology
- Hydrating body lotion by Weleda which smells so delicious. I've recently tried a facial oil from Weleda and I'm so in love with it so hopefully the quality of this is good too!

And lastly beauty/hair care products!
- Nail polish from Rainbow Honey cosmetics that I wasn't too keen on in the bottle but it applies so smoothly and the glitter applies evenly, it's definitely a perfect accent colour!
- Creamy lip butter in the shade "Lava" by Pacifica, another brand I've recently tested out and I'm loving. They have a range of candles, lotions, perfumes and cosmetics that is all 100% vegan!
- Lip and cheek stain by The All Natural Face in the shade "Dusky Rose" - swatched nicely and I'll be seeing how it works.
- And lastly, a detangler and shine booster by Nu Style, I have tested this twice and although I'm not keen on the smell, my hair was noticeably softer and shinier so maybe I'll end up purchasing the full size after I've tested this more!

*Not pictured - another soap and a body tonic which has been misplaced somewhere.

My verdict? I'm really glad I decided to try out this company, there's so many brands I hadn't even heard of that I'm now aware of, some brands and products I'm excited to test out and try and only one or two disappointments that could turn end up being great however I don't think it is worth the price I paid and I would have liked to seen a couple more "deluxe samples"! Hopefully I end up loving all the products.

Let me know if you're signed up to a beauty box and what your thoughts out or if you've tried vegan cuts before.

As always, thank you for reading! XO

I No Longer Support Tarte Cosmetics

*Apologies about the picture, posted from my phone.

I definitely did not think I would ever be writing a post like this on my blog as Tarte is and has been one of my all time favourite brands especially since going vegan. I have recommend this brand to anybody that will listen, I personally use most of the products pictured on a daily basis and through my encouragement, a majority of my friends (and followers on my blogs!) have tried Tarte themselves.  However, I say this with an extremely heavy and sad heart that Tarte has been bought out by Kose Corp, a japanese company that tests on animals and although the brand claims they will be keeping their "cruelty free" status, I believe they have lost that and sold out for a higher pay cheque.

I do not and will not ever support a brand that has a parent company that tests on animals as I don't feel comfortable with my money going towards supporting animal testing in any way and that means once I have finished all of these products, I will not be giving a single cent more to Tarte. I highly encourage anybody reading this that feels the same way as I do to email them with your disappointment and boycott yet another brand that has fallen down the same road as Mac, Urban Decay and the likes.

As always, thank you for reading XO