Nars Swatches

So I recently made a sneaky purchase on Kiss and Makeup NY, which included my first Nars purchase ever (I know right, I am very late to that party!). I hauled the items on my Youtube channel, which you can check out HERE. For those of you who are unaware, Kiss and Makeup is an online store, which sells all of the aforementioned brands and MORE! Not only, you can purchase these products at US prices. (and we all know how much I just LOVE doing that!).This site also offers flat rate shipping at $9.95 to Australia. As promised on my haul video, here are the swatches for some of the swatchable products I bought.

I finally purchased the Nars Laguna Bronzer and hallowed Orgasm blush and predictably, I am in love. I also purchased another Nars blush in Amour, which I have since realised is very similar to my Illamasqua blush in Hussie.

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Left to right: Nars Blushes in Amour and Orgasm

Left to right: Amour, Orgasm, Laguna

Upon recommendation, and a captivating how-to by Tiffany of Makeup by Tiffany D, I just had to try out some cream blushes for myself. I justified this by resolving that it is Winter here in Australia, and my #1 skin concern is lack lustre-ness. I thought cream blush and bronzer would be an easy quick complexion pick me up. In saying this, despite the in depth tutorial Tiffany demonstrated, I find myself struggling with these a little. I think I need a more purposeful brush than the ones I am currently attempting application with.

Left to Right: Nars Multiples: South Beach and Orgasm

Left to Right: Nars Multiples in Orgasm, South Beach

I also purchased a Nars eye shadow as part of this haul in the colour Lhasa which is a really pretty grey purple. A great purple neautral. At first glance when I opened the packaging, my immediate thought was that is was similar to Shale and Satin Taupe by Mac, both of which I own. The swatch pictures down below prove me wrong, but only slightly. I definitely could have selected a more unique colour, as Lhasa, while not a dupe, is definitely interchangeable with the Mac colours below. (Apologies for this swatch pic, my lighting has made shadows look brown, rendering the exercise somewhat useless)

Nars Eyeshadow: Lhasa

Left to Right: Mac Satin Taupe, Mac Shale, Nars Lhasa (colours did not pick up well on camera)

 I am really loving the Nars blushes in particular, so if you have any recommendations for me to try, I would love to hear about it. I am really loving peachy shades right now.



Jen xox

Online Shopping Guide- Affordable Makeup

If you are anything like me, than you are an avid stalker/lover of the beauty community. I spend countless hours whiling away time watching beauty vlogs and reading beauty blogs. To those of us outside the US, a lot of cult affordable brands which are much hyped by many a beauty guru, are somewhat obscure to us Australians (and otherwise). It is difficult to try and track down such products, which many claim to be of the H.G (holy-grail) variety. Le sigh! Not to worry belles! I have compiled a small (yet succinct!) list of estores which deliver products to Australia! Rejoice! 

Beauty Joint
Stocks: NYX, Milani, E.L.F, Duo, Wet and Wild, Lime Crime, China Glaze and more
This US based online mecca is your go to for cheap chic cosmetics. Housing all of the brands mentioned above and more, this site is truly a one stop shop for your cult beauty faves. An easy site to navigate, my only criticism would be that you cannot search by brand from the home screen. This function is only available once you have clicked one of the subheadings (Eyes, Lips, Face etc).  Be sure to sign up to the mailing list, as this site is always running promotions, making these low prices LOWER! (happy dance!) The shipping on this site is calculated by weight, therfeore the more you purchase, the higher the shipping price will be. Usually this can be offset by various discounts and coupon codes. If not, your money goes a long way here, so a shipping fee is hardly pushing the boundaries. Note that shipping is rather slow on this site. It can take up to 30 working days (read 6 weeks) so be sure to factor that in if you are purchasing gifts etc.

Cherry Culture
Stocks: NYX, Milani, Japonesque, China Glaze, Jelly Pong Pong and more
Cherry Culture is another US based site which is very much like the aforementioned, in terms of prices, promotions and shipping costs and times. A slightly different albeit less extensive product mix, I like this site for picking up bits from NYX which may be sold out on Beauty Joint. Another reason to visit this site- it is currently 20% off. Run don't walk...

Crush Cosmetics
Stocks: Lime Crime, NYX, Wet and Wild, E.L.F, Sleek, Barry M, Love Alpha, Seche Vite, Hard Candy and more
Here is is beauties- your Australian answer for all of the above, just in case 6 weeks delivery does not entice you. This Australian based website houses all of the American cult favorites boasting up to 3 days delivery for those on the east coast and up to 6 days for those in the west. There is also the option of express post and Toll priority if you just have to have it in a minute! There is more good news: all orders over $65 qualify for free ground shipping withing Australia. Hooray! Love me some free shipping! Th only downside to this site is that you will pay a slightly inflated price to the likes of Cherry Culture and Beauty Joint- hey, this is Australia, what else is new? These prices though are still quite reasonable compared what you pay for the big drugstore brands, such as Revlon and Maybelline, so there is still some merit to shopping this website.

iHerb
Stocks: Health and wellness products etc etc etc, oh and Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman brushes. 
While most of this site is actually dedicated to health foods (which actually secretly makes the little vegetarian inside me so so happy), it does also house the Real Techniques by Youtuber Samantha Chapman line of brushes. Developed by beauty gurus, for fellow beauty nerds, these brushes are much revered among the upper echelons of the beauty community (hello Tanya Burr and Miss Glamorazzi I am looking at you!). Extremely well priced and with many a discount code available online, one can access these brushes at an extremely affordable price, at that, a minuscule fraction of what they are currently retailed for at Priceline (Think, less than $10).iHerb is also home to the much hyped Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask and other natural/vegan beauty products if that is your thing. iHerb shipping fees are quite reasonable, offering DHL for $4 flat rate for orders up to $80. The only issue I do have with this site is the fact that upon your first order they deposit a small amount of money into your bank account and you need to confirm his amount before they ship the order. This is all well and good, except they ask you to confirm the amount in US dollars. This leads to a friendly call to your bank to convert this amount, which is the bit that frustrated me. I do not know about anyone else, but waiting in phone queues on bank hotlines, is hardly my idea of a good time. Ah the things we do in the name of vanity!


If anybody else has any great sites they purchase their cult brands from, please let me know in the comments below. I am always looking for new ways to make my purse cry a little harder. What a bully I am!


Jen xox