Inventory 2012: Pressed Single Eyeshadows

This may be my final inventory post. I do have some nail polishes but I got rid of most of them a while ago and they're not something I ever use all that much, so I don't know that I can be bothered photographing those.

Things I have learned from doing this:

1. I have WAY more blushes than I thought I did. 
2. I actually have fewer eyeshadows than I thought I did, though having said that, I have sold or given away a ton of them in the past year or so. 
3. I think I have a reasonable number of lipsticks, but I have a tendency to only wear the same half dozen or so over and over. I might need to do a lipstick challenge or something. 
4. Since taking my mascara pictures I have acquired two more, one from Beauty Heaven and one sent to me by L'Oreal. 

Inventory 2012: Eyeshadow Palettes

I love palettes. I am such a sucker for a bunch of pretty colours grouped together, and it always seems like such good value. The problem is that I usually forget to use them, so a lot of my palettes are sadly neglected. Maybe I need to do a challenge where I use one every day for a week or something.

I did manage to get rid of a lot of my wasted palettes in the past year - I sold off 8 or so Sleek ones, threw out a bunch of crappy Maybelline ones, gave away a few others, and so on. I still have way too many, though. Time for another cull soon.

Inventory 2012: Primers

Primers, eh? Some people love them, some people think they're a giant scam. Then there's the search for the exact right one for you. Me, I'm on the fence. I use them, but I don't really love them. My favourite is Face of Australia Face Base, but it doesn't do a lot to extend the life of my makeup, it just feels nice and adds a smooth base so my face doesn't feel tight during the day. As for eye primers, I'm one of those who thinks good old UDPP is highly over-rated. It does nothing to combat oily eyelids and creasing for me - in fact, I prefer my $7 NYX eye primer, and even that's not so great. I haven't tried TFSI, which I'm told is the bomb. It's on my wishlist - I intend to get some this year. Lately I've been having some luck with Coastal Scents Shadow Worx - it's way better than UDPP for me, and seems to stay the distance pretty well.

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-in-One BB Cream: I hated this stuff when I first used it, BB cream my arse. I thought I'd thrown it out, and when Anita did a post about how she used it for primer with great success, I was all, "Awwww, missed opportunity. Sad face." But then I found it in a drawer (it was the medium one I gave away - early Alzheimer's alert!) - it really is a miracle! It does make a nice enough primer. Terrible, terrible BB Cream, though. Terrible even for a tinted moisturiser, which is exactly what it is.

Face of Australia Face Base 3 in 1: I love the original so I had high hopes for this version with sunscreen included. It's very sunscreeny. That's all I have to say about it. I do use it in summer, though - every little bit counts. (Oh, and by the way - Miracle Skin Perfector - no sunscreen!)

Face of Australia Face Base Primer with Vitamin E and Chamomile: Aaaaah, my old favourite. I've been using this for a few years, ever since a lovely girl on the Beauty Heaven forums (who seems to have disappeared, as I did from there when it kept getting too dramariffic) recommended it. Cheap as chips and gives me a nice base to work over. As I said above though, does nowt to increase the longevity of one's face. On me, anyway.

Benefit The Porefessional: Meh. Super expensive product that in my opinion isn't worth the price. It does initially do some smoothening (it's a word - I made it one ages ago) of the pores and wrinkly bits, but it makes my face feel greasy after a while, no matter how tiny an amount I use. And it certainly doesn't keep my makeup on all day. I use it occasionally around my t-zone and that's about it.

L'Oreal Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer: I was sent this to trial by Beauty Heaven, and I find it has similar issues to The Porefessional. I also really dislike the jar packaging - I hate sticking my fingers in primers and things. It should at least come with a wee spatula like the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch (which this is very similar to) does. No likey.

NYX HD High Definition Eye Shadow Base: Looks, feels and acts exactly like UDPP, but on me lasts a bit better. Not fantastic, but good enough for most normal days.

Urban Decay Primer Potion: Along with Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, one of those cult products that everyone loves but does pretty much nothing for me. I always seem to have at least one around because they come free with palettes and stuff, but I've never bought one.

Coastal Scents Shadow Worx: Surprisingly good! I'm not a fan of Coastal Scents in general, but they knocked one out of the park here. And you only need a teeny bit so it will last FOREVER. I think they come in different formulations (matte, shimmer, etc), but I just have a bog standard one. Definitely my most used.

Detrivore Cosmetics Eye Primer: Not really a "primer" primer as such - more of a base. I still need to have UDPP or Shadow Worx or something under it as it does nothing to stop creasing, but it's great for making colours brighter. I use it with any loose shadows as it helps them to stick as well. 

NYX Eyeshadow Base White: Again, a base rather than a primer, and does nothing to stop creasing or fading. It does make colours brighter though, pretty much a pot version of the NYX Milk Jumbo Eye Pencil, but not as thick. I usually use it for swatching and not much else.

So that's it, again pretty much a reasonably sized collection. Don't worry, folks - Crazy Town is definitely on the itinerary. We'll get there soon!

What's Even Better Than Naked Paul Rudd?

It's extremely rare that I would enter a blog giveaway - the only time I ever do if it's something I really want and can't easily get hold of myself. Like, say, Naked 2. J from Just Peachy had a giveaway of Naked 2 a few weeks ago and GUESS WHO WON.

If you said me, you're right. Me me, not you me. ME.
Okay, there is not one of you reading this who has the slightest need for this palette, but I'd bet that most of you either have bought it or intend to buy it some time in the future just because (except Liz). That's how I feel about it. I have neutrals up the wazoo, but eventually I would have ended up getting this when it became more readily available. So I was really thrilled to win it and have been itching to get my mitts on it, and yesterday it arrived!

Not only that, but J also included a ton of other goodies - almost all products I could also not easily get hold of. Everything was wrapped up snugly in layers and layers of tissue paper and you should have seen me squealing as I opened each little wrapped package and saw pretty after pretty after pretty. Thank you, J - AMAZING gifts. :-)

There are Wet'n'Wild Color Icon Shimmer Singles in the colours Platinum, Gold Digger, Trashed and Sellout. I've never even heard of these, and a quick Google search didn't bring up many results so they must be pretty new. I am very excited to get stuck into playing with these as you all know I love WnW eyeshadows. The Glitter Kit palette is a limited edition one from a while ago - they are the kind of thing that never turn up in places we Aussies can easily shop for WnW (Crush Cosmetics, Nonpareil, etc) as they're usually exclusive to one or two stores, so it was great to get one of those as well. So much pretty sparkle!

I've played with the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows in Priceline a few times but baulked at the price of them here, so I was jazzed to get one of those as well - I've looked up swatches of this (Continuous Cocoa) and it's a gorgeous dark chocolate brown. Can't wait to try it out. And of course, Darling Girl has been on my 'must try' list FOREVER, so I'm looking forward to testing out the 3 samples as well. Uh oh, what if I really like them....?

But wait! There's more! I also received a Maybelline SuperStay Stain Gloss in Ruby Indulgence (oo-er!), and a Wet'n'Wild lipstick whose colour name I can't remember because it's down the other end of the house in the fridge at the moment so it doesn't melt into a colourful puddle. Oh, and a mini UD 24/7 pencil that isn't in the photo. So many things I'm forgetting them!

J also kindly sent me a sample of the Silk Naturals Cranberry Passionfruit Cleansing Conditioner, as she reviewed it on her blog a while ago and I mentioned wanting to try it. And she sent me some body butter that she made herself that smells DIVINE - all foody and delicious. I tried some on my arm and wanted to chew it off.

The products that had me squealing the most after Naked 2 were Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows in Bold Gold and Edgy Emerald and a Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Fresh Pink. I've seen Emily talk about these as well as a few other bloggers and vloggers, and aLoveTart did an awesome video swatching all the Color Tattoos.

I have been busting to get some, but according to Suzanne (who got it straight from the PR's mouth), they won't be arriving on Aussie shores until the end of the year. (Apparently they're sitting in some refugee camp awaiting their papers or something.) I mean, COME ON. Why does it take a year for a product to be released here? That's just beyond ridiculous. I was talking to Jade about it the other day and we discussed how there is so much buzz about them now that if they were released, people would be rushing out to buy them at Priceline, even though they will be stupidly overpriced here. As it is, bloggers and beauty addicts won't wait that long - they will be hitting up eBay and their US blogger mates and anyone else they can scrounge up and get them sent over, so by the time we finally do get them here we'll all be totally over it. And the money we would have paid for them here will have gone overseas. Smart one, Maybelline!

Anyway, I just wanted to show everyone the awesome prize and many, many lovely extras I received and say a massive thank you to J for her generosity. Two thumbs up!

*Swatches to follow as soon as it gets cooler - it's too hot here to be poking around in makeup at the moment. :-(