The Parcel - Summer Edit

The Parcel is one of the newest beauty subscription boxes to hit the market. Unlike most of the other subscription boxes out there, the Parcel comes out quarterly and all of the items in it are handpicked by the editors at Marie Claire. 

For the summer edition of the Parcel, I decided to film an unboxing (I know, I know, I said I was going to be taking a break but hey, else can a beauty blogger do when a new subscription box lands on her doorstep>). This is the second Parcel that I have received and so far, I have been VERY impressed with the contents. You can check out my unboxing video here.

If you would like to sign up to the Parcel, click through to their website. I personally think that the Parcel would make a fantastic Christmas present, especially for all those who have left their Christmas shopping to the last minute. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

Dani xo

A Christmas Break

Hello to all my lovely readers,

This is just a very quick post to say that KaBOOM! Cosmetics will be very quiet for the next few weeks as I'm taking a little break from blogging. I will be back in early January with more fabulous new content and fun new videos. That's not to say that I won't post the odd video now and again and my Instagram will probably be as busy as ever (I'm addicted, I seriously need help) but there will be no regular posts until early next year.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me so far in my first year of blogging, it really means more than you know! I've had a rollercoaster of a year and I'm looking forward to a well deserved break to recharge my batteries and prepare myself for all of the exciting new things that 2015 holds (and trust, me, they are going to be VERY exciting!).

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all. If there's anything in particular you would like to see on KaBOOM! Cosmetics next year, please let me know. I'm going to leave you with some of my favourite photos from the blog this year.

Dani xo

Random Beauty Favourites

It's been a while since I did a decent beauty favourites post so I thought I'd break the drought with a Random Beauty Favourites video. You can check out the video here.

I've just spent a bit of time renovating my YouTube channel so please let me know what you think and don't forget to subscribe while you're there!

What have you been loving lately?

Dani xo

Eau de Gaga

You will have to bear with me for my first ever perfume review because I have trouble describing things like perfumes and wines, it’s a real problem! Conversations with me about wines usually go something like this:

Wine drinker: So what do you think of this wine? It’s got a great bouquet

Me: Bo-who?

Wine drinker: No, it’s great! Definite hint of raspberries and oak there, can you taste it?

Me: Yes…..wine….yes….. (slinks off into corner to drink vodka and soda un-harassed by wine connoisseurs)

So you’ll have to bear with me as I enlist the help of Google to come up with phrases better than “ummm …perfumey” to describe this new offering by Lady Gaga.

The Product – Eau de Gaga* $49.00 for 50ml or $69.00 for 75ml

The whole world and its mum knew about Lady Gaga’s first perfume release, Fame, but Eau de Gaga has been kept surprisingly quiet. I saw one ad on the side of the bus for it and actually assumed it was for a new album (yes, I am an elderly person who is out of touch with what the “hip” and “fly” young’uns are up to these days) until I got a press release for the new perfume. While I was waiting for my perfume to arrive, I watched this review by Kat from Kitsch Snitch that made me really REALLY excited to get my hands on it. It is absolutely nothing like Fame and it’s also absolutely nothing like any of the perfumes I usually like but I have to say, I really like it! 

The packaging is much more like a higher end perfume than a typical celebrity (and let’s all admit it, drugstore type) fragrance. It’s very sleek and simple and the weight of the bottle in your hand just feels a like it’s a lot more expensive than it is. It would look very classy sitting in a modern bathroom or on a vanity table…or you could just shove it into your giant Box O’ Perfumes like me, whatevs!

The Scent

Now I am taking most of this next part from various online sources but Eau de Gagacontains white violet heart notes, sparkling lime top notes and base notes of leather. It is actually a unisex perfume (my boyfriend laughed for a looooong time when I told him that but each to their own) and I can see why it might appeal to both males and females. Although it does have a slightly more masculine feel with the leathery base notes (great band name don’t you think? The Leathery Base Notes?), the citrus and white violet keep it quite light. Unlike Fame, this is a much more robust and longer lasting scent and I can see myself wearing this quite frequently! A worded description along cannot describe how unique and unusual I find this perfume. So do us both a favour and go find some to sample and save us both that pain that is me trying to describe a perfume without sounding like an absolute wally!  

Has Eau de Gaga caught your eye (or nose) yet?

Dani xo

*This product was provided as a PR sample but as always, my opinion is my own.

Top 5 Summer Essentials: Blog Swap

Today is your lucky day folks because the lovely Angie from the maquillage has taken over KaBOOM! Cosmetics to let you in on her Top 5 Products for Summer! If you head over to the maquillage, you can find out what my Top 5 products are too. Now over to Angie:

Yep, Summer has officially arrived, and with my favourite season comes long sunny afternoons, Christmas and New Year fun, and a whole lot of attempting to stay cool when the temps really get cranking. Beauty-wise, it’s a time when I embrace a fuss free, fresh faced look, favouring multitasking products to ensure the least amount of makeup possible is on my face – all the less to sweat off! Let’s get into my Top 5 Summer Essentials…

pureTAN Pure Bronze Ultra Light Feel Facial Tanner, $19.95

First things first – achieving that bronzy summer glow, the non-baking-yourself-in-the-sun way. I apply this facial tanner to cleansed, exfoliated skin as the last step in my skincare routine the night before I want to look my bronzed best. The lotion is not at all heavy or sticky on the skin (crucial in summer), the formula is enriched with cold pressed coconut oil to nourish and hydrate, and the result is a natural, healthy glow – no getting tangoed around here. Oh, and bonus points for the scent. Delicious!

Alpha-H Multi-Perfecting Skin Tint $59.45

When the temps really hit the roof, the last thing I want to be doing is coating my skin in layers of base. The trick is finding a complexion all-rounder which is light-weight and long lasting no matter the temperature, but will also provide good coverage in the places you need it. Alpha-H’s Multi-Perfecting Skin Tint ticks all the boxes, and it’s a base I’ll be reaching for on a regular basis for the months ahead. The compact packaging makes it perfect for throwing in your beach bag, and the built in concealer and mirror in the lid are pretty handy as well.

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, $34.00

While we’re on the topic of things not sliding off in the heat - when I want to know that the tricky eyeshadow look I spent 45 minutes in the morning isn’t going to disappear by lunchtime, I’ll pop a layer of this eyeshadow base on first.  I can then be rest assured all that blending action ain’t going to waste any time soon. I’ve also been giving this prod a double use by applying it under my eyes before concealer, to keep those dark circles under wraps all day long.

NUDESTIX Eye Pencil in Stardust and Lip and Cheek Pencil in Whisper, $29.95 each

Yes I’m being cheeky here and sneaking in an extra fave, but I couldn’t help myself! NUDESTIX are a range of multi-purpose crayons new to Oz, and these two babies are utterly perfect for creating effortless, fresh makeup looks for the summer months ahead. The Eye Pencil in Stardust is a gorgeous shimmering champagne shade, which can be used all over the eyelid as a pearly wash, around the tear duct to brighten to give that wide-awake look, and as a highlight on the cheek and brow bones. The Lip and Cheek Pencil in Whisper is a beige-pink shade which blends out to a warm flush when used on the cheeks as a cream blush, and creates the perfect summer nude on the lips.

theBalm Cindy-Lou Manizer, $34.95

It was only after I shattered my last Cindy-Lou that I realised how often I use it, and the idea of not being able to reach for it during summer was a no-go. It’s just that good. The peachy gold tones work more as a blush rather than a highlighter on my fair (read: pale) skin, but it gives the type of healthy warm glow makes you look like you religiously eat your greens and get your full 8 hours. It often gets a double use as an all-over-and-go eyeshadow for when I’m running out the door, or on those lazy weekends when minimal effort is required. And I’m going to be all about those lazy weekends this summer!

 

Hope you enjoyed my Top 5 Beauty Essentials for Summer! Let me know which products you’ll be reaching for during the summer months!

RANT! St Ives Green Tea Scrub

Today I got mad, so I filmed a rant video!...Well that's not technically true, I've been angry about this particular topic for a few months but have only just got around to filming a video about it.

A few months ago, St Ives changed the formula on the Holy Grail of all facial exfoliatiors, the Green Tea Scrub. I was devestated! It was the best exfoliator in the world and nothing else even came close. Click through to YouTube to hear all about it!

Also, pretty-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top don't forget to subscribe! I am only 10 subcribers from my first triple digit number and I would love to make it before the end of the year.

Dani xo

Rimmel Provocalips

You may have seen the blogosphere blowing up over Rimmel’s new Provocalips range recently. There was a LOT of effort put into the advertising campaign for this new range including Kiss Lists on Instagram with $100 ASOS vouchers up for grabs and send outs to every beauty blogger in existence (not that that’s a bad thing, I definitely am not complaining)! I had actually been wanting to try these out for a while after reading about them on Sophie’s blog (she’s based in the UK) and praying that they would make it to Australia. Well the definitely landed with a bang, here’s what I think of the new Provocalips range.

The Product – Provocalips 16HR Kissproof Lip Colour* $17.95 each

Long-wearing lip products are by no means new to the market but I personally haven’t ever gone in for any other long-wearing lippies so I don’t have much to compare these to! Provocalips are a weeny bit more innovative in that they are a double-ended product: one end for with your chosen colour and one end with a high shine gloss to lock your colour in. They come in a total of eight shades (more on those later) and once applied, they last for up to 16 hours which means you can eat/drink/kiss to your heart’s content and not have to worry about reapplying your lipstick, Rimmel calls it “lip liberation”!

Using the product

I found these pretty easy to apply. You simply apply the colour using one end of the applicator, wait 60 seconds and then apply the lock-in gloss using the other end. I’ve heard from a few girls who have skipped the gloss and gone for a matte finish but the product is quite tacky and I don’t feel like it would be comfortable to wear without the gloss. I also took a tip from Kat over at Kitsch Snitch (you can watch her review here) who likes to apply the gloss to her finger and then to her lips, rather than using the doe foot applicator directly and risk the gloss getting delightful bits of lip goo in it! 

In terms of longevity, I found that these really did last all day with very minimal peeling and didn’t require any reapplication of colour. However, I found that the gloss dried up within an hour or two, especially when eating or drinking. If you’re like me and aren’t a fan of the feeling of matte, dry lips then this is a definite downside because although the colour still looks great, you end up reapplying the gloss all the time which ever so slightly defeats the purpose of a 16HR wear lip product. It’s by no means awful but I just think that if you can make a colour that lasts that long, why not make a gloss coat to match? I was also a little disappointed in 3 out of the total 8 shades: Kiss Fatal (grunge purple), Skinny Dipping (tan and makes me look like I have no mouth) and Dare to Pink (pale shimmery pink that makes me look very washed out). It might seem picky to say that I don’t like less than half of the total colours but it’s an honest review so there you go!

On the plus side, the other 5 colours are ones that I really like, I have been wearing Make Your Move (dark nude) non-stop since I receive my Provocalips package and I don’t plan to stop any time soon! The other HUGE positive for me is that since I started my Invisalign treatment (more on that here), I’ve found it difficult to wear my favourite brighter lipsticks as they tend to come off onto my aligners and give me horrible looking stained teeth. Provocalips wear so well that I can wear the brighter shades with no fear that they’ve smeared off all over my teeth so that is a mega huge bonus win for me, I was getting quite depressed about it! Another great tip is to remove with an oil-based makeup remover or your lips will be red, raw and very, very uncomfortable!

Overall Score

KaBOOM! Cosmetics gives the Rimmel Provocalips 16HR Kissproof Lip Colours:

Although some of the colours are a bit bland and you do have to reapply the second gloss coat more often than I’d like, I love how well these apply, how long they last and best of all how well they stay on my lips and not my Invisalign! Have you tried the new Provocalips range yet?

Dani xo

PS - This range is also boyfriend approved for those of you with men-folk who hate getting lipstick stains on their faces!

*These products were provided as a PR sample but as always, my opinion is my own