My Sephora/Ulta Holiday Wishlist

Happy holidays everybody!

I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I lost inspiration for blogging then started to actually study to be a make up artist in September and I didn't have the time to blog or do any YouTube videos. But I am back with my *drum roll* holiday wishlist! If you're reading from the US, we do not have Ulta or Sephora here in New Zealand. So whenever my favourite YouTubers bring up holiday gift sets, I basically want to cry. This year I thought it may be fun to create a wishlist, who knows? Maybe I'll dive into the world of Youshop and have a few of these things sent over here for me to cherish. As far as I know these are all holiday gift sets, or at least released during the holidays but they may be permanent. Anyway if you're curious about some awesome gift sets that I have my eye on, please keep reading. These are in no particular order. 

Maybelline Better Skin - Final Update and Gianni Rotti Eyeshadows!

Alright beautiful people!

My final verdict for the Maybelline Better Skin foundation is that it has done nothing to help my skin. Still as many break outs, hyper pigmentation and general flaws. I am sick at the moment so naturally my skin isn't going to look its best, but even before I got sick I could tell it was doing nothing. I've heard from a friend that the skincare benefits work for her, but on my skin, not so much. I won't be wearing this foundation very much because I don't like the way it looks on my skin and I also hate that it's very orange. Because I knew my verdict would be short and sweet, I wanted to add something else to this blog post. So let's talk about eyeshadow!

My Little Haul

Hello loves!

I did a little haul on my channel here and decided to do swatches and everything on my blog instead of doing them in the video! I bought everything from Marlaine, as usual. Often I do really big hauls, but this one included a couple of high end items that I desperately wanted. So let's get into it!

Maybelline Better Skin Update #2

Hello lovelies!

Back again to let you guys know how this foundation is working out for me.

I know the lighting isn't the best, but basically it hasn't changed my skin at all. Because it's that time of the month, I do have quite a few break outs and in general it's just doing nothing to make my skin look better. Still bad discolouration across my cheeks, still just as many break outs as I usually get. Really there is nothing to report. I also still hate the way it looks on my skin when it's on. I figured by now I would start seeing results but I haven't. Really disappointing, honestly. I'm sorry if you love this foundation and you're offended by my opinion, but I'm just letting everyone know how it works (or doesn't, in this case) for me. 

Thanks for reading,

WannabeMUA (Enya) xx

Maybelline Better Skin Update #1

Hello gorgeous!

As you may or may not know, I have been testing out the Maybelline Better Skin foundation to see if it lives up to its claims. If you want to read my first post about this foundation, just check here. I did wear it every single day that I wore make up last week (5 days I believe, I like to give my skin a break). The aim is the 3 week mark so shall we see if it has made any improvement so far?

Urban Decay Ammo palette - Swatches and Review

Hello stunners!

We're back on the eyeshadow palette train and I'm the driver. I recently found out that there is a palette by Urban Decay called the Ammo Palette. It has 10 eyeshadows in it, some you may recognise and some you may not and I got it for about $50NZ on Trademe. Originally I was looking for just the Primer Potion but I decided to buy this instead because I got 10 eyeshadows as well for about the same price! Are you curious to hear my thoughts on it?

Nighttime Skincare Routine

Hello lovelies!

Since I'm doing a little series on the Maybelline Superstay Better Skin foundation, I thought we would talk about my skincare routine too! This is just my nighttime routine, I know you're meant to cleanse, tone and moisturize before putting on make up, but honestly I only use moisturizer and eye cream. But at night, my routine is pretty extensive.

Maybelline Superstay - Better Skin? Let's Find Out!

Hello my loves!

I'm assuming by now that most of you have heard of the Maybelline Superstay Better Skin foundation. I did notice some American YouTubers talking about a new version in a lighter blue bottle, I don't know if that's a reformulated one or just a separate foundation. But here, we are talking about the original in the glass bottle with a dark blue pump.

Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara - First Impression

Hello my loves!

Today I used, for the first time, my Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara. This mascara isn't readily available in New Zealand, unlike most Jordana products, however you can buy it here for $11.90NZ. I bought mine from this wonderful woman for $8. Now after trying They're Real mascara (which I find online for around $40) I was convinced that nothing in the world could make my lashes look that amazing, especially not such an inexpensive mascara, Jordana's sells for about $3 in the US! But I bought this after hearing crazy amazing reviews on it on YouTube. Is the hype real?

LA Girl Matte Flat Pigment Glosses - Swatch and Review

Hello beautiful!

I thought I would shy away from my eyeshadow palette addiction and talk about my favourite lip products of the moment. I am crazy about the LA Girl Matte Flat Pigment Glosses. Everyone's jumping on the liquid lipstick bandwagon and I am no exception. I've only tried a couple of other brands, both the NYX and Collection Cosmetics liquid lipsticks dried out my lips at least a little. I buy my LA Girl ones from this woman who sells them for $12NZ a piece which I think is very reasonable. There are 16 shades in the collection, I own 5 of them and want, well, all of the rest!

Maybelline The Blushed Nudes Swatches

Hello lovelies!

For those of you who aren't subscribed to my YouTube channel I posted a video today with my first impression of the Maybelline The Blushed Nudes palette. This particular palette isn't available in stores yet here in New Zealand, but I bought mine from this lovely woman here for $18, which I think is a very good price. The original Nudes palette from Maybelline got very mixed reviews on YouTube, some people loved it, some people hated it. I personally thought it was fine, nothing amazing but not terrible either. I also own the Smokes palette but that will pop up in a different post. I've been lusting after the Blushed Nudes since I saw it on the official Maybelline Instagram and I grabbed it the second I saw it was available on this Facebook group.

It's a very rosy toned palette, similar to the Naked 3 palette by Urban Decay. The packaging is a beautiful rose gold plastic with a clear window on the top that lets you see the shades inside. Exactly the same layout and design as the other palettes in Maybelline's range. Inside are 12 stunning shades that are overall more pigmented and blendable than the ones in the original palette. The plastic packaging is a bit flimsy and looks somewhat cheap but this is a drugstore palette and we're not paying for packaging. We're paying for pretty eyeshadows.

Review of the Shanghai Nights palette by Cargo Cosmetics

Hello beautiful people!

I'm here with my very first post and it is going to be a review of the Cargo Cosmetics Shanghai Nights palette. Cargo Cosmetics is a high end Canadian make up brand that I personally discovered through Tati, who has a YouTube channel called GlamLifeGuru. She was raving about the Vintage Escapes palette a while ago, then more recently she gave the Summer In The City palette a very positive review. So naturally when I was lucky enough to receive this palette from a good friend/business woman I was over the moon.