Lemming: Clarisonic Plus

Yes, I know it looks like a kinky bedroom device, but.....'all I want for christmas is', the Clarisonic Plus System and Spot Therapy Kit for Face and Body retailing at USD 225 (AUD 230).

I had *heard* about this beauty device through YouTube, blog posts and MUA for almost a year now - quiet mutterings of 'a solution to acne' and that 'beauty therapists use this on their clients and charge big bucks for it'. Now, I don't know if this is true....but I have been sucked in and this *preciouuuussssssssnessssss* will be mine....

....And of course, it is not available to buy in Australia (surprise, surprise *laden with sarcasm*)

But, I still have hope.

Hope in the form of....Skincarerx.com (which ships internationally).

Their promise,

"Clarisonic sonic skin cleansing is the essential first step in an ultra-clean skin care ritual. Gently gliding while cleansing deeply, our Sonic Skin Cleansing Systems deliver a professional-caliber sonic micro-massage that feels good and makes your skin look great. The sonic action gently clarifies and revitalizes the skin without the harsh chemicals or abrasion you’ll find in microdermabrasion and other treatments. By cleansing daily with a Sonic Skin Cleansing System, you’ll remove dirt and oil better than with traditional manual washing. Even makeup is removed six times better than standard cleansing. And skin is left so clean it actually absorbs products like serums and moisturizers better."

There are people who SWEAR by this device. No amount of manual cleansers are able to get rid of all traces of makeup and those who have thought so, have then tried finishing off their cleansing routine with the clarisonic and yet, more dirt was found on the brush. Ewww, if i think about how much makeup i put on everyday and it just piling and piling in numerous layers on top of my skin.....ewww, no wonder i have blocked pores, congested skin, spots and blackheads!

However, I have been warned - that although this device is AH - MAZING, it's not a miracle worker. It tightens skin, makes blackheads smaller, promises and delivers less frequent breakouts and improves the skin's general appearance, it does not make you look like Miranda Kerr (iz disappointed :P).

So, buying this kit gets you the Cordless Clarisonic Plus, which has three different speeds and controlled minute beeps to remind you to move to another area of the face/body to cleanse. Both sensitive face and body brushes come included as well as samples of Clarisonic's own range of skincare: Refining Skin Polish (2 fl. oz.), Gentle Hydro Cleanser (1 fl. oz.), Nourishing Care Cleanser (1 fl. oz.) and Refreshing Gel Cleanser (1 fl. oz.).

It also states, "it is perfect for removing dry patches, firming areas prone to cellulite and preparing the skin for self tanner".

Sounds so good doesn't it, I am literally going to use this ALL - OVER :P

Now for the best piece of news yet, use the sale coupon code on skincarerx.com 'TS5HM2F' for a glorious 25% off!!

Right, off to buy.......

HS item: MAC Pro Longwear SPF 10 Foundation

Rumours all a flutter, I heard many great things about this foundation - but unfortunately, I was hugely disappointed. *Sigh* - maybe, I should just stop believing....believing that the perfect foundation exists out there.

Where do i begin....

CONS:

- Yes, Mrs Oompa Loompa I became. Normally, I am well colour matched to olivey-yellow MAC SFF NC30, but NC30 in MAC PLW was more orange than well,.... orange. Absolutely horrible colour selection MAC (get it right for goodness sake, isn't colour what your brand is all about!?!), because even though NC25 was lighter, it was....still, Dale Winston-like (an orange TV presenter who must have been 'Fanta'D' in a previous life).

-And if looking orange wasn't bad enough, MAC decides to make your face and neck even more 'fashionably' uneven with the foundation oxidising to a lovely (ah-hem) Snooki colour.

- Cakey on the skin. Actually maybe I looked more like.....

....an orange cake.

- Streaky sheer to medium coverage.

- Very sticky at first but then atleast that disappeared as the liquid sets. It felt very heavy on that i couldn't wait at the end of the day to cleanse my face.

- Difficult to blend

- Appears semi- matte but with its cakeiness it was very ageing.

- Doesn't stink of paint like my MAC SFF but it doesn't smell like a bed of roses either.

PRO:

- Lasted 8 hours (but so does my ELDW)

- It has a pump - woop-diddy-doooooooooo :(

CONCLUSION

Four words = Don't. Waste. Your. Money.

MUFE Rouge Artiste Intense Lipstick No.37

Summer lovin' had me a blast, Summer lovin' happened so fast.....

...and I have fallin' quick-step in love -on this BRIGHT shiny day- with a gorgeous BRIGHT (on the scale of MAC VV Toxic Tale) more pinky than coral lippie....Oui, merci beaucoup MUFE Rouge Artiste Intense Lipstick No. 37!

L to R: MAC LE Toxic Tale (VV), MUFE RA No. 37, MAC Ladydanger

As you can see from the swatch above, it's more pink than Toxic Tale (TT) but as opaque and vibrant as both TT and Ladydanger.

So, because I think the colour is so fab, I think it deserves (yet another!!) pic.....

This is the first lipstick I have bought from the Rouge Artiste line. I believe it is a new addition to the collection and has only recently released. Here are my thoughts on it's quality....

PROS

- The colour is INSANELY beautiful on my NC30 skin

- Almost Fragrance free

- Lasts 2-3 hours

CONS

- Not moisturising

- It's not very creamy so you have to work the product-in to get the stand-out factor and therefore it drags...

- Expensive AUD 27 (and that is after a 20% MA discount)

CONCLUSION

Well it's not perfect but it's good enough for me -as a pink lippie princess- it ticks all my boxes and is a nice twist on the summer bronzed look paired with golden eyeshadow and MAC LE Hipness blush.

Hmmm....*ponders*, i might do a FOTD this weekend with it on to show you the FULL EFFECT....

The Damage

Hereby peruse the damage from today's haulage.....

Ahhhh.... it was so nice to go back to my old makeup school for fresh supplies - MediaMakeup, Rundle Mall Arcade in Adelaide. Lovely Bec, Briony and Corey provided the customer service that only old friends could provide. I needed (yet!) more brushes - these are specific to the makeup academy and are of excellent and superior quality, not dupeable and extrememly robust. For the quality, they are a bargain and I got a whole 14x brush set for AUD 250. I still have my old ones from two years ago and they are still going strong, but this was just my excuse to stock-up (iz lazy about washing my brushes tee hee :P).

This is the only place where one in Australia can buy MUFE (order on-line with shipping to Aus and NZ only, link: http://www.mediamakeup.com.au/store/). I bought MUFE HD foundation #127 for AUD 60, MUFE Full Cover concealer in No. 6 AUD 38.40 and Rouge Artiste Intense Lipstick in #37 for AUD 27.

I had to stop there....no more spending for me for a while (well, just for a teeny while anyways).

(eeek.....)

XX

My Makeup Info -Face

Skin

As I have a combination to oily skin with a yellow undertone and I am pretty much neutral, I suit both warm and cool colours. So when I am pale in Winter, I like silver/ cool taupe browns e/s with a cool pink lip and in Summer (like in the pic above), I go for warm golds/ bronze/ apricots/ coral-pinky colours.

Foundation

I am a foundation hoor and my drawer of foundation bottles is just ridiculous. I always try and justify it by telling myself I am an MA but I hardly do jobs anymore because I am just too busy with my full-time job.

So I am pale in Winter and I have found the best matches to be: MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC20, NARS Sheer Glow in Deauville, ELDW Bone, MUFE HD 117-120

In Summer avec a bit of St. Tropez mousse: MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC30, NARS Sheer Glow in Stromboli, MUFE HD 127

Concealer

Currently I double conceal, when I am pale Cle de Peau (CdP) in Ivory and set with MAC select cover up in NW20 and when more tanned CdP in Beige with NW25.

Highlighters

I love my Dior Amber Diamond!

Contour

I always contour with Benefit's Hoola Bronzer. Yes, it's expensive but I have used that baby everyday for the last 3 months - and not even a dip!?

MAC Venomous Villains Review Part II

So the only product I bought from the Dr Facilier collection was MAC LE Resort Life lipgloss. Wow - i mean - Wowza.....

....check out the swatch!

A gorgeous apricot shimmer-ling sparkilicious number. Perfect for a dab at the top and bottom cushion of (i.e. middle 1/3 of upper and lower) lips to give the illusion of more of a pout. This is a must have IMO.

Right, onto the mineralised eyeshadows (MES). Two were released in the Maleficent collection: MAC LE She Who Dares and MAC LE My Dark Magic and both are very similar to the MES released in the MAC Style Black collection last year. However, you do get more bang for your buck in that you receive 3.2g (versus 2.2g Style Black MES) of product with much, much better pigmentation.

L to R : MAC LE She Who Dares and MAC LE My Dark Magic

MAC LE She Who Dares (first two swatches were not foiled and the last two were).

MAC LE My Dark Magic (first two swatches were not foiled and the last two were).

Aren't the foiled ones gorgeous.....:)

Well next onto the nailpolishes. They look so cool in the bottle and seem so un-dupeable (although I have heard rumours that Orly NPs in the US have great dupes) but *poo* here in Aus I have found no such thing. So, I needed to get my mitts on these and well, to be frank, I am very disappointed. The payoff is basically cr@p and I have to seriously layer the product on to get any opaqueness whatsoever (which means a day and forever for the darn things to dry).

L to R: MAC LE Bad Fairy and MAC LE Formidable

The only blush I purchased was MAC LE Bite of An Apple (Evil Queen). Yes, I know, I am a sucker for hype - thanks to MUA :) But no regrets here because I do not own a similar blush shade in my collection. It is HIGHLY pigmented and looks scary in the pan, but you can tone it down with a sheer layer only.

As you can see from the swatches below it is a matte, more red than orange coral, whereas MAC LE Hipness is more pink and NARS Torrid is similar but with a fine gold glitter.

L to R: MAC LE Hipness, MAC LE Bite of An Apple, NARS Torrid

So, final thoughts are...I actually love all the products save for the NPs and recommend you snap them up ASAP. The Buzz or hype on MUA was for MAC LE Bite of an Apple and I highly recommend both the MES. In Hong Kong, I heard the NPs were sold out quick-stat and in Thailand the beauty powder Oh So Fair. Each to their own I guess, but you need to check these babies out.....HTH

-Fiffi x

My Current Cleansing Routine

So, I wear some hardcore foundations that provide the 'stickiest situation since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun' (as per Blackadder season IV). I am talking ELDW and the newly released MAC prolongwear foundation (review coming up shortly) and I need me some real heavyduty stuff to get rid of it - so here goes my routine.

1. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm (approx AUD 60)

It is a white emollient which, when rubbed between fingers, becomes an oil and dissolves even the most stubborn of makeup. It is fragrance free and the cons are firstly, the unhygienic dipping of fingers into the tub (I use a small spatula) and secondly that it feels like it leaves an oily film on the face so I finish off with a bit of Neutrogena. I would not recommend this product to those with oily/combination skin.

2. Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser (approx AUD 13)

It is a water-based cleanser with a not-so-nice smell but helps get rid of the residual makeup muck left on my face. It does however, makes my skin feel a little dry afterward. And because I am OCD, every night I finish off my routine with a facewipe (just to make sure I am officially facially nekkid of mu:))

3. Neutrogena Makeup remover cleansing towelettes (approx AUD 9)

Soft refreshing facewipes especially lovely after a long day of hard work, leaving my skin prepped and primed for moisturisation.

NOTD

So I have been a bit AWOL recently - and this is mainly because I have had a string of nights over a period of a fortnight as well as my parents coming over from abroad for hols. We travelled to Ayers Rock/Uluru and spent three days there followed by five days of -i kid you not- some *serious* shopping in Melbourne as well as doing the rel-ly (relatives) round. It was fun... but I am exhausted and need....yes you guessed it,...another holiday ha ha ha.

Back to work mane but I have a job interview on Tuesday and so felt it was necessary to remove my 'va-cay' mint green nailpolish (Revlon Minted) and replace it with a colour somewhat more demure and 'professionally' acceptable....pffttt!..

L to R: Kit LE Shop Loves Ocean, Kit LE Shop Loves Nude, Kit Move Up

So I thought I might try either middle or far right - middle or far right, middle or far right, middle or far right, oh....decisions, decisions *perspiring*. So I went for.....

Kit nail polish 'Move Up'. A gorgeous 2 coat fully opaque rapidly drying silvery/champagne almost taupe-ish like NP. Hope you like:) I think I like Kit nail lacquers....I might *need* to get me some more tee hee.

MAC Venomous Villains Review Part I

Once upon a time in a Far Far Away Land... lived Princess Fiona who remembers her trips to Disneyland when she was a little girl and loved to dress up in her prettiest pink frock whilst dreaming of marrying her prince. Twenty years on....Fiffi married her gorgeous hubby Shrek in a beautiful castle (uh-hum *clears throat* i actually did do this tee hee) and still loves to dress up in pink and buy lots and lots of make up.

What an anticipated collection - Venomous Villains - they are ALWAYS the COOLEST characters. Dare I mention The Joker (Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the Batman films. Honestly, I haven't been this excited since the MAC 226 brush was released from the MAC Colourcraft collection and I seriously HAULED. I am not going to bother telling y'all the nitty-gritty except to say there were four sub-collections within the Venomous Villains collection: 1. Evil Queen (accounts for most of my purchases) 2. Maleficent 3. Cruella De Vil 4. Dr Facillier (there are so many other websites who have more details - like Temptalia), so why repeat, repeat, repeat (get it?!?) etc?

But what may be useful, is to let you know what I bought and recommend....so here it goes.

Lipsticks

MAC LE Innocence Beware (Cruella de Vil): Sheer pigmentation warm more pink than apricot colour

L to R : MAC Creme D'Nude, MAC Myth, MAC LE Innocence Beware, YSL RV No. 2, YSL Tea Rose No 148, YSL RV No.1

MAC LE Innocence Beware is between Myth and Creme D'Nude, the former being that tad bit more coral-ly, and the latter lighter and sheerer. So you don't need to HAVE this but if you are a pinky nude hoor (like myself)....then why not add an extra limited edition one to your already ridiculous MU hoard...

MAC LE Toxic Tale (Evil Queen): Seriously bright opaque more orange than red coral lipstick

L to R: MAC LE Toxic Tale, MAC Lady Danger

Not a great photo, but Toxic Tale is more orange than the photo above betrays and not as red as Lady danger.

I also purchased MAC LE (Evil Queen) Strange Potion. It is a beautiful slightly opaque pinky coral lipgloss and i love it so much (i have nothing in my makeup collection at home that even comes close to a dupe) so I bought a backup :)

What can I say....wrt to the rest of the lipsticks, I just knew I was not going to wear those colours and I personally, dislike any purple undertones in a lippie for fear that my teeth may look yellow. So, I skipped the other lippies.

Next, is the MAC LE Oh So Fair (Evil Queen) beauty powder. It is a great almost translucent pinky powder that gives a lovely fresh glow. I did not bother swatching it as it would most certainly not show on camera.

Before moving onto part deux, I thought I would just end this post by discussing the packaging. I hate it... fullstop, endof. It's outer covering is shiny black with silly 'almost sticker-like' pictures equating to -IMO - cheap and tacky. They could have done so much more. For example, when opening the beauty powder, one could see a clear outlined picture on the compact mirror of the 'mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all' character. Even the character sketches on the cardboard MU packages could have been a fun 'twist' on the toddler pictures that were produced instead. Well, that is all I have to say about that...Anyhoo, onto part II.

:)