I’m going for a short vacation back home over the Christmas holiday period to attend a family wedding and spend the rest of the time with family and friends! Wish I could go back for longer, but unfortunately, that’s all the annual leave I could get. Normally I’d go back for a month at least! December’s the busiest period for us at work and 5 annual leave days was all I could manage to squeeze in! Oh well, better than nothing I guess! 5 annual leave during Christmas period is the best coz you get 10 days out of it for free!

Anyway, I will be back on Jan 4th, postings will resume then. Have a safe and fantastic festive season ahead and take care!

Stay indulgent, stay fabulous!

In lieu of the festive season fast approaching us this week, I’m hosting my own giveaway to coincide with the gift giving spirit and all!

Let’s welcome 2010 with a giveaway at Indulgent Reviews, shall we?

I’ve got a MAC Miracles Happen Viva Glam Lip Kit to give away to ONE lucky winner!!

This lip compact features a dynamic trio: Viva Glam V and VI Lipsticks and Viva Glam V Lip Gloss.

From left to right:

Viva Glam V – Neutral Pink with Pearl

Viva Glam VI – Warm terracotta plum fusion with subtle pearl

Viva Glam V – Neutral Pink with pearl

Rules of entry is as usual very simple.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Email me at with the subject line: Let’s Welcome 2010 Giveaway.

The contest runs until January 3rd at midnight local Melbourne, Australia time (UTC/GMT + 11 hours).

To obtain extra entries, you can:

a) Blog about it – link back please, and email me once you’ve done so

b) Twitter or Facebook about it – email me once you’ve done so

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Both giveaways are open to ALL readers worldwide.

2. You can enter regardless of whether you’ve won other giveaways on this blog before.

3. Please use a valid email address as this is how I’ll contact you if you’ve won. If no response has been made, I will draw another winner after 24 hours.

4. Please only submit your entries via email.

5. I will randomly pick winners using a list randomizer and it will be announced here on January 4th at 8 am local Melbourne time.

Have a joyous and safe festive season, girls!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Hope you’re all having an amazing weekend!

It’s been a relaxing one for me as last week was extra stressful for me hence I truly needed some well deserved R&R.

Anyway, enough about me, its Giveaway Time again!!

For some reason, list randomizer on the web didn’t work – the page refused to load after a gazillion times trying, so I had to do it the manual and old-fashioned way! I popped all the entries into a box and drew a winner!

Thank you to all of you who participated. This contest had 53 entries all together, and the winner is…………….

Sara from Australia!!

Congratulations, Sara! Please contact me with your details within 24 hours and the package will be on your way! Have a Zuii Christmas and hope you’ll like the package!

Again, a wide big thank you to all of you who participated!

Lip Tint: While delivering a high shine finish, Zuii Lip Tint is more than colour with a unique blend of Organic Rose, Beeswax and Aloe Vera that moisturizes and nourishes dry or chapped lips.

Lipstick: The creamy organic formula is soothing and nourishing, rich in colour and long lasting, reinforced with Jojoba, Sunflower and Aloe Vera.

I had previously reviewed the Lipstick in Mandarin, which I absolutely love. The nude-ish shade is absolutely appealing and I absolutely heart it.

I have now been given the opportunity to review two more products from Zuii – a liptint in Seashell shade and a lipstick in Butterscotch shade.

I’ll start off my review on the liptint. The Seashell shade is a coral colour and is perfect for the natural sun-kissed look. Zuii’s liptint is free of flavour and is quite shimmery. Not too shimmery that you’d hate it, but just enough shimmer to add that extra juice and shine to your lips. It lasts a while – a decent enough time. It isn’t sticky and feels great to put on.

As you already know from my previous review of their lipstick, I absolutely love the Zuii lipstick range. Its creamy and moist, rich in colour and absolutely flattering to put on. It is also long lasting. I tried the Butterscotch shade this time and I must admit I’ve never been one to like pinkish shades, but this one stroked a chord in me, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The pink is just right and suited my lips perfectly, even against my honey coloured skin. I continue to be impressed with Zuii’s lip products and I absolutely love them.

Here’s the swatches:

Don’t forget the giveaway finishing up end of this week!

My Xmas haul came in the mail today….:) I am so excited and can’t wait to play with ‘em. My sister ordered it for me through a friend of hers! Thanks Jas!

My very first NARS makeup!!! Woohoo! I got the blush and the lipgloss in the much raved on Orgasm!! Can’t wait to try this out!

I also got a little haul from MAC’s holiday collection – Put A Spell on You Pink Lip Bag which consists of a lipstick, lipgloss and a lipliner!

You can bet that reviews will be coming soon! Its playtime this weekend, girls and I’ll be sure to post a write up one of these days…:)

I went to school today. Makeup school, that is. After years of yearning to go learn makeup application properly, I enrolled myself in a one-on-one session with a Professional Makeup Artist at Gorgeous Cosmetics for a full 3 hour tutorial.

It was amazing! She taught me through a day look and night look. She did half of my face and I would do the other and it’s all done step by step, and she’d guide me through each step of the way. I felt like I really took out a lot from this session, something I’ve never had before although I’ve always had makeovers done by professionals.

I think the difference between going for those makeovers versus the lessons is that this time, I actually know how to correct the mistakes I’ve been making all these years. Best of all, I now know how to apply eye makeup. Although I write a beauty blog, I know nuts about applying eye makeup. She went through simple looks with me and did a smoky eye as well. She even taught me how to put on falsies. I know these may all sound trivial to most of you, and I know I’m practically gushing at something most of you probably already know in your sleep. But, seriously, this lesson taught me a lot.

I have always been a primer-foundation-blush-lipgloss/lipstick-sometimes liner and mascara kinda girl. Today, I got to know the works! I never knew how to apply eye makeup properly, I never knew how to manage eye liner properly, I also didn’t know that my technique for applying mascara wasn’t all that correct. Today, I learnt it all. I feel like I’ve achieved something today going through this beauty school – achieved a sense of confidence to make myself up like professionals can make me up.

The tutorial costs $150, but is completely redeemable against their products. You need to book ahead of course, since they allocate a whole 3 hours for you.

I redeemed my $150 against a primer (finished mine recently), a foundation (a girl can never have too many foundation and powder), a powder, a set of false lashes (never had one, thought I’ll try it out) and a lip liner (liked the feel of it).

I thought of getting eyeshadows and brushes, but then I’ve already got plenty of those and haven’t even gotten much use out of those ones. I know I’ve got plenty of foundations and powders too, but then I really get a lot of use out of those. So I might as well get more. It’s great value too,considering I’m practically getting the primer for free! They have a Christmas pack now: Foundation + Primer + Powder = $140.

To those in Australia ever thinking of learning makeup skills or simply just to update what you already know, invest time in makeup school. I think its great! MAC runs the same too for about $120 I believe!

Description: Medium coverage moisture liquid foundation with a smooth silky finish containing Calendula, Aloe Vera plus Vitamin E and C. A moisturiser and foundation in one. Non comedogenic, soothing and suitable for sensitive skins.

I am so grateful Zuii Organics sent me this for a review. This is a fantastic product! It really is!

This liquid foundation isn’t rich and is quite moisturizing, actually. It works nicely on my skin and doesn’t seem to have that heavy feeling despite having a nice and even finish. The coverage is good, I’d say it functions as it says, as a medium coverage foundation.

My dry skin seems to love it and the foundation stays on nice all day. I was given a Natural Fair shade which is slightly light for my skin tone, however, since I like the product, I go through an extra mile by applying a little darker shade powder on top of it to balance out the tone.

I don’t use much to cover my whole face, so a little goes a long way. The texture of the product is milky creamy but not runny at all, which is great. It also is easily blendable and wearable for me even now when the weather’s starting to get warmer.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with this, and again thank you Zuii.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for an experience with more Zuii products!

Envy Me

Envy me was created for the woman who demands attention. This dazzling blend of sensual peony, jasmine, and pink pepper is melded with notes of sweet litchi and effervescent pomegranate and pineapple, and smoothed with soothing musk, white tea, and warm woods, is guaranteed to make her the object of desire.

Notes:

Peony, Jasmine, Pink Pepper, Litchi, Pomegranate, Pineapple, Pink Musk, Seringa, White Tea, Sandalwood, Teakwood, Sensual Musk.

Style:

Daring. Sexy. Arresting.

This is one of my sister’s perfumes which I’ve recently tried. Envy Me is a fresh and floral scent which is quite distinctive somewhat. The notes blend together beautifully, creating an elegant fragrance that is suitable for women of all ages and personalities.

The scent isn’t overpowering, and settles down to a nice, clean and soft scent that will leave you wanting more. I think it’s perfect for the office as it’s just a nice, clean and fresh scent that is light and soft.

However, it is a fairly versatile fragrance that can be layered up if you wish for a stronger scent. Perfect for the summer and spring weather to make you feel fresh and elegant even on the hottest of days.

The scent unfortunately doesn’t linger for too long and seems to disappear after about 5-6 hours of application. However, there is an added timelessness quality to it and I am certainly liking this scent. Being a Gucci, it’s definitely a one of a kind.

Healthy skin naturally repairs itself. But many factors – from the environment to heredity – can negatively affect this ability and lead to severe dryness of your skin.

 

Vaseline® Intensive Rescue™ Moisture Locking Lotion triples moisture reserves in your skin instantly, then fills in the gaps found in dry, damaged skin to lock moisture in all day, promoting the proper environment dry skin needs to repair itself.

 

Key Ingredients

• Glycerin – instantly triples moisture
• Occlusives – help lock in moisture all day

Vaseline Intensive Rescue Moisture Locking Lotion came to my rescue last winter. I’ve always found that most Vaseline products agree with my dry and sensitive skin, and this is no exception.

It is affordable and dependable. The texture is light and creamy. It is also unscented which serves me well.

This lotion claims to triple your moisture reserves and then locks in that moisture all day long. I believe that it did exactly that as my skin felt very moisturized and well hydrated throughout the day.

I have tried many different lotions as I am constantly searching for one that works best for my skin. Though I continue to try new lotions all the time, I often come back to the ones I like somehow at one time or another. Vaseline Intensive Rescue Moisture Locking Lotion is definitely going to be one I’ll come back to in time.

I use this lotion twice a day, morning and at night. It has really helped in hydrating and keeping the moisture in for my skin. It absorbs rather quickly as well and leaves no greasy or heavy feeling. After a few days of applying it, I could see the difference to my body skin, particularly in those really chapped and dry areas such as knees and elbows. They were no longer chapped and dry, and in fact, looks smooth.

I believe that this lotion does an excellent job at restoring and retaining moisture, and at such an affordable price, I’d definitely recommend it!

Why You’ll Love It

A mascara that conditions as it thickens.

• Lash-doubling waterproof formula glides on smooth to build great-looking smudge-proof lashes
• Lash building brush makes it easy to get a full lash look without clumps or globs
• Contact lens safe and hypoallergenic
• Waterproof; also available in washable formula and washable with curved brush

For Best Results

Apply from your outer lash to your inner lash, sweeping brush slowly from root to tip. Do not let dry between coats. Removes easily with Maybelline Expert Eyes Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover.

This is the number 1 selling mascara in the US and continues to be for many years. It also has many raving reviews and everyone who’s tried it seems to love it! What a resume, huh?

The formula for this mascara is really inky which prevents dry clumps from attaching to your lashes. The brush is small but with a spiral shape and the inky mascara formula goes on rather sparingly and incredibly smoothly.

I like this mascara as an everyday mascara as it does not clump, does not dry out and make my lashes weigh a ton and provides a natural look versus the fake eyelashes look. Its perfect for a natural everyday look.

Lashes look very defined with only a few coats and if you want more volume, you can always build on it. It has great staying power too.

Removing this waterproof mascara is easy too and no residues are left once swiped with my eye makeup remover. Overall, a fantastic mascara at a great price – it makes lashes look nice and long and absolutely gorgeous, yet natural at the same time.