Indonesian Beauty Haul | Rias Wajah Indonesia

About six months ago, my best friend moved to Indonesia to live there for a time and study. She arrived back in Australia a couple of nights ago, and I went over to her place for a celebratory "HOORAY, THE WORLD IS RIGHT AGAIN!" barbecue. (For the record, it was delicious and I ate a lot of cheesecake.) Amy was giving out presents to her friends, and for me she had a little something extra...

Make-up!

As if that doesn't already prove that she's the greatest best friend in the world, she did her best to try and find things that we can't get in Australia -- she pulled it off, too. Here are the things she bought for me.

NYX Eyeshadow in "Exotic Green" || I haven't actually asked her this, but I'm confident that Amy bought this because my favourite colour is green. It is possible to get NYX in Australia, but our local Target counters are very poorly stocked and it costs twice the price as it does in the US. Exotic Green is a dark, black-toned camo green. It looks slightly shimmery in the pan but it comes off as matte when applied. Even when put over the top of NYX Milk, I found that I needed to touch it up after I'd finished my makeup because it looked like it had faded a little.

Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liquid Liner in "Gold-iation" || If you know my blog, you know that the Hyper Glossy liner is my favourite liner in the whole wide world. I'm in love with it. We are soul mates. You simply cannot imagine how my brain short-circuited with excitement when Amy presented me with this, a gold version! It is the most incredibly gold liner that I've ever come across (especially if we ignore the fact that I've never come across a gold liner before). It looks like someone painted my eye with liquid gold -- and it lasts all day. It is definitely my favourite product in the pack!

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in "Candy Coral" || Ahh! I've seen the occasional review pop up on YouTube, but I haven't really paid much attention -- I guess because we can't get them here! To my absolute amazement and surprise, it is totally bouncy! I hadn't thought of it as a literal thing, I just figured it might make your cheeks look plumper, but Amy poked it and it bounced back! (She also poked it a bit too hard, hence the dent.) This is a cream blush, and so it's not a kind of product that I'm familiar with. I tried using a brush when I put it on and the results seemed so-so; I think I might actually have better luck using my fingers! This is something I'll definitely have to play around on.

NYX Butter Gloss in "Apple Strudel" || This is a semi-opaque creamy peach-pink gloss. It does have a slight "makeup" scent to it, but it's really not too noticeable once it's applied. I already love this lip gloss -- I can see myself staring adoringly at it for minutes on end! It looks very natural on my lips, so it's the perfect summer shade; I've also found it super comfortable to wear.

Swatchin'.

I absolutely loved all of the things that Amy got me in Indonesia. It's going to be a lot of fun playing with them in conjunction with the rest of my collection and seeing how many different things I can do!

Have you seen any of these products?

Sarah xo

Bellabox | January 2015: Kick Start

Before I get stuck into this post, there's been a slight update to the blog that you may or may not have noticed... There's a Facebook button! I haven't really wanted to make one, but then last week I thought to myself, "Why not? It can't hurt, right?" So, if you figure that you might like to keep up-to-date with Diary of a Beauty Padawan while doing all the Facebooky things you like to do, you know which button to click!

Getting back to it.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but for Christmas my parents surprised me with a 12-month subscription to Bellabox! I'd looked at Bellabox and other subscription boxes a few times but I wasn't convinced that any of them were really worth my money, so I'd kind of forgotten about them. This awesome gift was a good reason to look back at Bellabox and see what beauty bloggers and vloggers were saying -- and it seemed to be doing better than I'd heard previously.

My title of my first-ever Bellabox is called Kick Start, and I figure that the idea of it is to help yourself get started in the new year. Given that the boxes arrived three weeks into the new year, it feels a little bit late for that sort of thing, but that's just my opinion.

Wotnot Natural Organic Facial Wipes 5pk || These makeup wipes contain aloe vera, rosehip and sweet almond oil, and claim to be gentle enough for sensitive skin. The Bellabox card claims that they're also good for oily skin, although there's nowhere I can see that on the actual packaging itself. I've just run out of face wipes, so I'll use these for the next few days to see how well they remove makeup traces. A pack of 25 costs $8.40, so this pack is valued at about $1.68.

Garnier Moisture Match Combination to Oily Skin || This is just a little sample sachet worth about 15c (a full-size 50ml product costs $9.99). I can usually get two or three uses from these sorts of sachets so I'll be interested in seeing how well it works. I'm really lazy with things like moisturiser, so I'm actually glad I didn't get much more.

Laqa & Co. Lip Lube in "Bees Knees" || I'm quite confident that everyone got this shade, as its name is directly stated on the Bellabox card. This pretty much looks like a lot of other lip crayon balms on the market, but it has an absolutely delicious candy cane scent that I adore. It's a natural kind of peachy-coral colour that I think I'll get a lot of use out of. The RRP of this product according to Bellabox is $24.95.

Wen by Chaz Dean Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner || It seems that Bellabox might like their mint-scented items, although I guess I won't really know how minty this is until I use it. This is supposed to act as a 'cleanser', conditioner and leave-in conditioner, and I'm hoping the pouch will be easy to handle. A 350ml bottle is valued at $34.99, which puts the 60ml pouch I got at about $6.

Bellabox Makeup Pouch || I imagine some people will get use out of this and some people will not. A few years ago, I might've given this to someone else or thrown it at the back of the cupboard to gather dust and cobwebs, but I think I can make this work! I could easily throw a few lip products in, but I tend to keep them in pockets in my handbag, so I think I'd be more likely to use this for pens for uni. Bellabox values this at $7.95.

SkinnyMint 6 Day Teatox Sample Pack || This definitely interests me. I'm definitely not a tea drinker by way of hot teas -- if you've got a sweet, fruity iced tea, you can throw it my way, but hot tea? No. Despite this, I have seen a couple of celebrities use products similar to this on Instagram, and I have to admit, I've been a little intrigued. This sample pack from SkinnyMint has nine tea bags which are supposed to somehow last six days -- I'm sure it works out somehow, I'm just not sure how. It claims to have an amazing taste, and I seriously hope so, because I can see that the morning tea bags have green tea in it. Green tea tastes like the devil's soul. A 28 Day Teatox costs $54.90, so is my math is right this sample pack is $11.79.

Price: $15
Bellabox Product Value: $52.52

I think this was an interesting box to start the year -- I'm glad there aren't any tanning products, because that's something I have absolutely zero interest in. While it's filled mostly with brands and products that I don't recognise, I'm appreciative of them because they're things that I likely wouldn't have thought to try if I hadn't gotten them in this box.

Would you like me to do individual reviews on any of these products? Let me know!

Sarah xo

Product Review: The Green Mask by Maskd

A little while ago, I was approached by Carlie from Maskd and was asked if I'd like to try out The Green Mask. Although it's not a regular feature of my already questionable skincare routine, I do enjoy busting out a mask every now and again, especially if my skin is experiencing some turbulence. The Green Mask is currently the only product available by Maskd, but I have heard (see also: I asked like a nosy parker) that they're working on some new products with a tentative launch date of 2016.

Look at me trying to get fancy with the camera.

I feel that the main selling point for this product is that it is made entirely of natural Australian ingredients. I'm not talking about things like "unsanctified woodbark from a 5000-year-old didgeridoo" or "extract of Victoria Bitter" (which, by the way, would be terrible), but stuff that wasn't first created in a science lab, such as stearic acid, which is naturally found in sugar cane, and malic acid, which is found in apples and pears. Maskd is clear about what is in The Green Mask, providing a list of ingredients when you scroll down on the home page. It does note, however, that you shouldn't use it if you're allergic to salicylates.

 

Something that may concern some people is the fact that it contains parabens. A lot of people are anti-paraben because of its purported health risks -- opinions appear to be hotly contested, with many saying that you should avoid parabens altogether, and others saying that the health risks are minimal to the majority of people. Parabens are used as antibacterial preserving agents, so that microbes and other nasty little pests don't start festering in your cosmetics; they are supposedly safer than other antibacterial agents, as they are less likely to cause irritation and don't release formaldehyde. If you're not fussy about parabens, then you won't care at all about anything that I've just written; if, however, you prefer to steer clear, then this product might not be for you. It is worth noting, however, that the parabens in The Green Mask appear at the very bottom of the ingredient list, meaning that it contains a very, very small amount.

The Green Mask claims to "smooth lines and wrinkles, soothe damaged skin and reduce scarring, permit fresh, glowing skin, allow natural oil flow, moisten dry skin, reduce blemishes, and improve the application of makeup". It also talks about a "sting", which Maskd promotes by asking "Can you handle the sting?" and then stating, for those who might be concerned that they're about to feel the cosmetic equivalent of a bitch slap, that it's actually not that bad. They claim that it varies from person to person and that it lessens each time you use it -- I believe it to be true to an extent, and I'll touch on that a bit later.

So, using The Green Mask works like this:

1. You slather a thin layer onto a clean face.
2. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Wipe it away with a wet washcloth.
4. Follow it with your favourite moisturiser.

As far as application goes, it's obviously very easy. It's not a thick product -- think Glamglow, which is relatively thin, as opposed to Origins, which can be thick and creamy -- so it's easy to spread it thinly across your face, whether you prefer to use your fingers or a flat brush. While the product is definitely green, it doesn't look like you're smooshing an avocado all over your face; it's a pale mint that can sometimes look white, depending on how your lighting is. The scent is similar to menthol or eucalyptus but not quite -- my younger brother and I weren't able to put our fingers on it, and neither was my mum when she tried it.

Clean face, pre-mask

As far as The Sting goes, the website is more or less dead on. The first time I used it, I felt an almost barely-there burning sensation across my cheeks -- this isn't too surprising, as I can get a bit of congestion there, but it was so light that I was almost disappointed. Where was that sting? To be fair, my skin was in unusually good condition, and my cheeks were better than they had been for a while -- so there wasn't too much for the mask to sting. I tried a thicker layer the second time around, just in case I had been too light, but the result was more or less the same -- a light burning sensation across my cheeks and upper lip.

A couple of weeks later, my skin had decided to let a few demons break loose, so I tried it again -- and this time the results were comparatively different. The burning sensation, while not unbearable, was more pronounced and took a little longer to subside than it had the first couple of times. I have to admit, I was quite pleased! There's nothing I like better than knowing I've got skin problems that are being fixed. To see if it was my skin causing it or a random coincidence, I tried it on my younger brother, whose skin is much more problematic than mine. He remarked on a cooling sensation all over his face rather early on, but didn't feel any burning or tingling until a bit later on; my mother, whose skin is practically perfect, felt no cooling, burning or tingling whatsoever.

The Green Mask comes with a cute white fibrecloth for that very purpose -- you wet the cloth, and wipe away the mask! What I was surprised to notice was how much dirt and makeup came off when I did -- of course, your face is supposed to be clean before hand, and I have used a face wash to do so before using the mask, but the cloth still manages to take off traces that it missed. I haven't noticed this as much with other masks.

We meet again, white cloth.

The first thing I noticed when taking off this product was that my face appeared much cleaner, and my blemishes were slightly less red. The product claims to promote natural oil flow and moisten dry skin -- as someone with oily skin, this isn't a problem that I have, so I was worried that it might cause my skin to go into an oil-producing frenzy and make my face glisten like an oil slick. This wasn't the case. When I normally take a mask off, my skin feels smooth and polished -- but almost unnaturally so, prompting me to occasionally break my innate skincare laziness and apply some moisturiser to make sure no havoc is wreaked overnight. With The Green Mask, what I instead felt was that my skin was smooth and soft -- even though they say to apply moisturiser afterwards, I honestly didn't feel the need to. I don't think I'd felt so impressed with the finish since I first tried GlamGlow.

Both my mother and brother remarked that their skin felt smoother, and the reddening on my brother's face had lessened a little. He's not sure that it did too much to improve his skin overall, but sometimes the worst thing about face demons is the redness -- and he's only used it the once. For me, I feel like this is a gentler version of the Origins 10 Minute Mask to Rescue Problem Skin, a product that I love but try not to overuse for fear making my skin dry out. I don't feel like The Green Mask cleared up my blemishes as quickly as the Origins mask, but once it did I did notice that my skin remained clear for longer than normal (#win). My makeup also went on a little easier and lasted a bit longer, something which my mother also experienced after using The Green Mask.

Fresh clean face!

At $49.95 for a 50ml bottle plus $5 flat postage, this product doesn't exactly run cheap -- but then GlamGlow is $75 for a 50g tub (remember when it used to be $95?). I have the Supermud Clearing Treatment, and I feel like The Green Mask is actually a great alternative -- on me, they both achieve the same results. Maskd also hails from Brisbane, so if you're feeling more conscientious about the economy, etc. (of which I personally know very little), you could buy The Green Mask knowing that you're supporting an Australian business. If you're still not sure if you're ready to commit, I do believe you can get a sample sent your way -- Maskd's Facebook page has those details.

And in conclusion...

I think this is a great product. It'll last me a while, it's Australian made and owned, and it definitely delivers on results. The results will vary from person to person and the sting is subtle enough that I think even those with sensitive skin will be able to handle it like a boss. Would I purchase this for myself? Yeah, I reckon so. I don't usually buy products online because I prefer to protect my bank account go into a store and stare intensely at a product while pestering asking the shop assistant questions, but I think I'd bend my rule here. Sure, it's on the pricey side, but if I'm willing to fork out $60 for a mascara, I'm sure I can save and do the same for a decent face mask such as this.

Padawan Product Rating: B+

How much do you enjoy using a mask?

Sarah xo

This product was sent to me free of charge for my honest consideration. It's been reviewed in accordance with my Disclaimer Policy, because life's short and I have better things to do with my time than lie.

Boxing Day Haul!

One of the highlights in the Christmas season isn't about Christmas at all, but Boxing Day, where retailers go mad and people shop with one of two kinds of money: the money they don't have, or the money they got for Christmas. I'd been saving up in anticipation of the Boxing Day sales, as I've wanted some new clothes for a while and I knew I'd inevitably get some cash for Christmas.

Seriously, I needed new clothes. Some of the pieces in my wardrobe were five or six years old.

As it happened, it was also a great time to grab some makeup, and how could I not? Nearly everywhere had everything on sale, and I'd been so good for weeks before...

My first stop was to Myer. They were having 25% off all Chi Chi products and, after watching a video by Shaaanxo, I was prepared to go in and buy ALL the Chi Chi things! Eye shadows, eye liners, glitter liners, I was going to get it all. As it happened, my local Myer had next to absolutely nothing -- what is wrong with the world? Next came Priceline, where I planned to buy a heap of CoverGirl nail polishes as well as a few Maybelline lipsticks -- and did they have the colours I was after? Nope! The day after (so, technically not Boxing Day, but whatever), I went to Chemist Warehouse, which was having one of its 40% off makeup sales. It may have actually been 50% off, given that it was Boxing Day, but I just can't quite remember...

What's that? You want me to stop nattering on and show you what I bought? Why didn't you say so earlier!

L'Oreal Paris Skin Perfection Correcting Day Moisturiser || From Priceline, I already have the serum that is part of this line. I had a sample from an issue of Marie Claire, and when I tried it with the serum, I was delighted by how soft it makes my skin! I don't really use it for any "correcting" properties, I don't notice any difference in my skin.

CoverGirl XL Nail Gel in "Haughty Lemon" || I absolutely love this colour. It's such a bold yellow, and it applies beautifully -- two coats almost achieves full opacity. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long on me, and seemed to peel off very quickly.

Chi Chi Super Lashes || I bought these from Myer, and I love them. They're not hugely bold, but they give just enough flair that I'll be able to get away with wearing them on a more frequent basis. One thing that didn't impress me was the glue -- it didn't seem to work at all, and I've only just realised that it's because it wants 30 to 60 seconds to set. Ain't nobody got time for that! I think I'll toss it and stick to the glue I already have.

OPI Red Over Heels VIP Set -- "Cajun Shrimp", "Big Apple Red", "Malaga Wine" || I found this reduced to clear from Myer at an absolute steal! The 3-pack sets are normally about $40, but this was going out for $20! There are three full-sized polishes in this set, and they're normally $20 each, so I was happy to pick this up. Myer was having 25% off OPI, and I've heard that this was sometimes applied to clearance items, but I'm not sure if it was in my case.

CoverGirl LipPerfection Lipstick in "Rapture" || I bought this from Priceline in an attempt to add another natural-ish pink lipstick in my collection. While I like the colour, I don't think I quite like the formula or how it sits on my lips. I'll have to wear it a few more times to figure it out.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in "Candy Apple" || I regularly see Danielle mention the Revlon Lip Butters in her posts, and when I saw that this colour was reduced to clear in Myer at half price, I had to pick it up! I love this because it's a full coverage red that isn't too bold, if you get what I mean. It's suited to the everyday look a lot better than nearly every other red lipstick in my collection, plus it feels like a lip balm on my lips. Hallelujah!

CoverGirl LipPerfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in "Blush Twist" || I absolutely love CoverGirl's Jumbo Gloss Balm line, and this colour is no exception. It's perfect for a "my lips but better" look, even if it does contain the tiniest amount of shimmer in it. It is super easy to apply, and leaves my lips feeling nice and soft.

Chi Chi Stay On Eyeliner in "Wanna See Your Peacock" || I had really, really wanted pretty much all of the liners from this range, and yet Myer had absolutely nothing that I could see. Eye liners and lip liners were all mixed up -- it was a real shambles. I refused to leave without this shade if I could help it, and luckily my cousin helped me sift through everything and found it for me!

OPI Nail Lacquer in "Today I Accomplished Zero" || I was so excited to see this on the OPI stands, it was the first time I'd seen them at a Myer store! It's a really pretty black that has red shimmer and red glitter. I think this applies a little unevenly, but I'm going to need to try it again later to properly get a feel for it.

OPI Nail Lacquer in "Coca-Cola Red" || Be still my beating heart! This is one of the most perfect shades of red I've ever come across. It also happens to exactly match the colour of red cigarette lights. I haven't been able to wear it very often and for very long, but so far I believe the quality is quite good.

CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss in "Tickled Pink" || I haven't been able to try this shade yet, but I typically really like the formula of this line. I think they're discontinuing the line, because there used to be a massive range of colours and I've seen next to nothing at both Priceline and Big W stores. I kind of hope they're not making way for the XL polishes, but I generally prefer this formula. This is a great hot pink colour.

CoverGirl LipPerfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in "Berry Twist" || Unfortunately, the balm of this kind of broke away at the base, if that makes sense, so I need to be a little careful when I use this. It's a fabulous berry purple colour, and it's great when I want something colourful yet sheer.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in "Soft Beige" || I was worried about finding a new foundation, but I haven't been entirely happy with the Maybelline FITme! Foundation. I consider myself terrible at colour-matching, and while I thought I might be "Soft Beige", I wasn't entirely sure. How did I check? I swatched the shade I use by Maybelline, then swatched the Rimmel right beside. They matched together on my hand, so I considered it a match for my face! I'm currently testing this out, but so far I'm enjoying this foundation.

W7 Lash & Line Glitter Mascara and Eyeliner || I bought this because I wasn't able to find the Chi Chi glitter liners at Myer. The idea is that this product has a mascara wand as well as an elongated tip for using as a liner. I'm honestly not to sold on the idea of using it as a mascara, although it might depend on how opaque it is. I might be able to make it work.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in "Invite Only" || Okay. So. Here's the thing. This thing is blue. Elsa-freaking-blue. You couldn't imagine my shock and surprise to find such an unusual colour in the ColorBurst Lip Butter line! There was only one of these left, but they did have a tester, which I immediately seized to swatch. It's pretty much clear with a little shimmer, which is a great relief to someone who doesn't -- but may have tried to -- wear blue lipstick. If you layer it on, you can get a very, very sheer icy blue sheen, but that's the extent of the colour. Can't lie, I love it -- and I see it nowhere on the Revlon site. I chatted to a girl at Priceline today and she thinks it may be a deleted product.

W7 The Honey Queen Honeycomb Blusher || I've seen this blush pop up from time to time on Bloglovin' and I'm eager to see what the fuss is about. I was about to use it the other day, but I saw that it does actually have a pattern like honeycomb on it, which is just too pretty to ruin without photographing first!

W7 Kiss Me Lip Plumping Lip Gloss || I really like this product. It's just a clear, no fuss gloss that is really easy to use. It claims to plumps lips up, but I'm not quite sure if it does that yet. I do experience a minty sensation on my lips when I put it on, and I know that sometimes this can plump up my lips a little, but I don't think I've noticed any huge difference at this stage.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25HR Foundation in "Soft Beige" || I saw this and thought to myself, "When was the last time you had a full coverage foundation?" (It was actually long before I properly got into makeup.) The thing that attracted me to this was that it claims to be transfer-proof -- I'm forever getting foundation onto my work uniform, and this used to be a problem when I only had the one work shirt. I've yet to test this out, but I'm looking forward to it.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Spring by Kate in "16" (pictured) and "22" (not pictured) || I've been after this line for ages -- I've never seen it stocked anywhere! I originally bought three of these lipsticks: 16, 22 and, so I thought, 20. Unfortunately, I got home and realised that somehow I'd accidentally picked up two of 22! I was very disappointed, and even more so because Chemist Warehouse doesn't exchange or refund unless the product is faulty. 16 looks like a really pretty light, coral-toned pink, and 22 is an absolutely fabulous red pink that reminds me strongly of MAC Damn Glamorous.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in "Coral in Gold" || I was really excited by this colour; it's a shimmery orangey-gold coral colour. Unfortunately, so far I'm not a huge fan of the formula, because I've been a big fan of other lipsticks in the collection. It feels a little difficult to apply evenly, although I want to wear it a few more times before I make a final decision.

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel in "Autumn Spice", "Wintermint" and "Beachy" || So here's the thing. I love these nail polishes. They're all in fabulous colours and they smell absolutely awesome. Autumn Spice is a dark golden brown colour, which I think smells a little like cinnamon, Wintermint is a pale spearmint green with dark green glitter (and, guys, it smells like CANDY CANES), and Beachy is a really gorgeous shimmery golden colour, although I can't quite pick the scent yet. I may just need to buy more of these when they go on sale!

That's it for what became the final haul of 2014! I'm really excited about a lot of these products, and I'm going to quite thoroughly test out the ones which may have ended up being not quite so full of star power. Either way, keep your eyes peeled, and let me know if there's something you'd like me to do a thorough review on!

Sarah xo

The 2014 Round-up

I wasn't sure if there was a whole lot of point in doing a December round-up when most blogs were doing a general round-up at the end of the year. The point of this round-up isn't to sum up every post in the year, which is what I've been doing with my monthly round-ups, but to pick out the highlights and share them with you!

March

The month when Diary of a Beauty Padawan was created. It began when there were only a handful of days left in the month, and my first post was a simple introduction. I wasn't sure what to write, and eventually decided that there was no clear template, so it was better to just write something altogether. I also posted a recipe for Impossible Quiche as the first of my Wednesday Weekly series, a segment which has long since gone defunct!

April

One of the busier months of the year! In addition to going to the opening of the first H&M Australia store, I managed to get my paws on some Urban Decay, I went to Supanova (aka Nerd Convention Central -- it's great), as well as a John Mayer concert. I met Freema Agyeman (spoiler alert: she's a sweetheart), Crystal Reed, James Callis, and (I may have even swooned slightly over) Alexander Ludwig! A lot of money was spent, but it was a great month, and I'm ready for it to happen all over again this year. (The Green Power Ranger is coming -- hello, childhood!)

May

 

May, I feel, was a relatively quiet month. The weather starts to chill over, so I kicked it off with a really tasty beef and stout casserole recipe for colder nights. (Fun story: We don't really drink at home, so I had to brave the local liquor store for the Guinness. I wandered around like an idiot for five minutes before asking for help from a guy -- who ended up flirting at me hardcore, despite being probably 10 to 15 years older than me. I was already a scared mouse in a lion's den, I just quickly paid for the Guinness and ran.) I got my first ever Beauty Loop box from Mecca Cosmetica -- somehow, this post ended up becoming my most-viewed post for the year! I posted my first drugstore haul, which contains all of the goodies that a then-relatively small makeup collection needs -- nail polish, mascara, brushes, etc. I bought my first MAC products in my third Myer haul, which contained other goodies that I still love using today. The Origins mask is a skin saviour!

June

Chemist Warehouse has a special place in my heart. When they reduce their major makeup lines to 50% off, my heart sings and my bank account screams. I posted a supermassive haul edition to prove it -- hurrah for makeup staples! It also happened to be the month I turned 22 (yes, Taylor Swift was playing loud and long all day), and I organised a great little dinner with my family and my best friend -- and I posted a FOTD I did inspired by Karlie Kloss' makeup at the MET Gala. I was also in a situation where I needed to stay at a friend's house overnight and pack some makeup with me -- you can easily check out what's in my travel makeup bag, even if it wasn't so much a makeup bag as it was a, uh, shoebox. Literally. Winding up the merry month of June (that's not the right phrase, is it?), I posted a review on Rimmel's Moisture Renew lipsticks, an absolute favourite line of mine that I can't get enough of!

July

July was a great month. The lovely Danielle sent me the MAC Maleficent lipglass as a surprise birthday present -- I don't think I've found a red that I've ever loved so much. I also got my paws on what I think was arguably one of the most "controversial" products this year: Benefit's Push-Up Liner. I made the best chocolate cookies you're likely to taste, unboxed another Mecca Beauty Loop box, and discovered the Better Than Sex mascara Too Faced -- also known as the greatest mascara to hit my collection.

August

August saw me nominated for my first Liebster Award, something that I never thought would happen to a little blog like this! If you want to know a liner that should never, ever invest in, you can look no further, because the Bombshell Intensity Liner by CoverGirl was the most appalling thing I've ever had the misfortune to try. My review on Rimmel's Lasting Finish lipstick line was among the most-viewed on the blog -- it provides a great long-lasting colour that doesn't dry out the lips. I also launched my current blog design; if you want to see what it looked like before, you can do so here! I finished it off with the tag I enjoyed doing the most: The Cat Tag. It was a must for a cat lady such as myself.

September

Unfortunately, September was a sad month. My kitten passed away after being hit by a car, so posting slowed right down. I did manage to squeeze out a review on the MAC Novel Romance collection (everybody was going on about Khal Drogo; did nobody else think that the guy looked like Stephen Amell?), which ended up getting the second highest number of views for the year. They had some absolutely beautiful colours, and I reach for them often. I also went to the first-ever Beautiful You convention in Australia -- an event so big, it needed two posts: one for my FOTD, and one for my haul!

October

Things started to pick up on the blog. My brother went to the Royal Melbourne Show and brought me back a jackpot of a showbag, I tried to recreate a look that Keira Knightley had on the cover of Marie Claire, and opened up the first ever Parcel by Marie Claire. I also did the 12 Day Blogger Challenge, which was, as the series suggests, a challenge to do -- and even now I wonder why that didn't give me the hint that Blogmas probably wasn't for me. I shared my favourite quote (one that I still use constantly now), what I was then reading, as well as my go-to springtime look, which I paired with a menagerie of lipsticks -- simply because I love lipsticks.

November

November began with a glamorous evening look that I use all the time when I'm going somewhere extra special -- in fact, sometimes I'll do it as a daytime look if I want to feel extra special, because life's too short to not go outside feeling like you could walk into Jimmy Choo and afford ALL the shoes! I did my first ever beauty swap with Danielle, and it was amazing -- I got some amazing American drugstore products, and I discovered what the hell a Butterfinger was. (Spoiler alert: they are magnificent.) I bought an incredible stash of eye shadow from Makeup Revolution -- more than enough to last this lifetime -- and reviewed some gorgeous shadows by Klara Cosmetics (you'll be amazed by the quality).

December

The final frontier! I proved to myself once again that I'm an idiot who takes on more than she can handle, and decided to participate in Blogmas. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, but it was a hell of a lot of work -- I have so much respect for those guys and girls who churn out content every day. I tried my hardest to do a bit of everything: I created a pink and purple daytime look using the I ♡ Makeup I Heart Chocolate palette, which I then reviewed. I also felt that I had enough cosmetics to write up a high-end Crave & Covet list, which had me singing, "If I was a rich girl, na na na na na na...." I felt obliged to have at least one Christmassy post, so I wrote up the Christmas tag. One of the highlights of the month had to be writing up about my lipstick collection, which is kinda big. And growing bigger.

That was the round of highlights that I got up last year -- it was a great but busy year!

Sarah xo

Product Review: Makeup Revolution Colour Chaos Palette

I first skipped over this palette by Makeup Revolution when I was first on the hunt for a heap of eye shadow to buy -- after all, bright vivid colours? What was I going to do with a palette like that? About a week later, I was thinking about the Urban Decay Electric Palette and my increasing desire to play with new and exciting colours. I decided to take another look at the Colour Chaos palette and, sure enough, it suddenly seemed like an exciting prospect. Bright vivid colours? With a $70 price difference, why the hell not?

I've had a lot of difficulty with opening the Makeup Revolution palettes, but Colour Chaos was the easiest of the lot by far. The casing is plain and black, the same as all of the Salvation palettes. With only a sticker on the underside indicating which palette you're about to open, it's something of a pity that it's not more exciting -- but then again, it would likely add to the cost of the palette, and Makeup Revolution certainly doesn't need flashy packaging to garner attention.

Upon opening the palette, it's so easy to be taken in by the bright array of colours that you might also not notice the incredibly huge mirror -- perfect to see my whole face at once, which is what I like in a mirror. I don't want to have to "zoom out" to see what my face looks like with an eye look, you know?

Then there's the shadow. There are twelve shimmery shades and six matte, but in most cases the shimmer is so faint that I feel like these come off as a matte shade. It's quite interesting, because all of the mattes I've so far used by Makeup Revolution have tended to be powdery rather than creamy -- so I'm not quite why there needs to be such a discrepancy in quality!

Onto the shades themselves. Although I don't own the Urban Decay Electric Palette, I've done my best to find dupes for each of the shades.

Gleam || This feels like an eye shadow made up entirely of glitter. It's the colour of aluminium foil and although it seems to start off sheer, it builds up evenly and well. It's the most obvious dupe for UD Revolt, but this seems a bit less... silvery -- which makes absolutely no sense, because alo foil is definitely silver.

Wkd || This really does feel like a dupe for UD Gonzo. This shade is velvety, creamy, buttery smooth and it makes my heart sing to swatch it. It's supposed to be a metallic shade, but there's only a very small amount of shimmer in it.

Tom Tom || At first, I thought, "What the hell kind of name is Tom Tom for an eye shadow?" Then I thought about how much it looked like a tomato-y red and the penny dropped. This felt slightly drier to the touch than Wkd, but still not dry, if you get my meaning. It looks like a dupe for UD Slowburn, but perhaps with more of a reddish hue. This does have a tendency to stain slightly.

Pink Obsessed || This has a really velvety texture, similar to Tom Tom and not quite as creamy as Wkd. This seems to be the closest to UD Savage, but I feel like they'd be somewhat different colours if I compared them side-by-side. Like Tom Tom, this did stain my eyelids a little.

On A Mission || I'm not confident that this velvety beauty is an exact dupe for UD Fringe, but it was definitely the closest in the palette. I think this shade is a bit darker, a bit bluer and perhaps less metallic, but it is still incredibly gorgeous.

Over-bored || Over-bored is, unfortunately, not the greatest shade in the palette. It may feel velvety, but it's actually rather chalky; it builds up okay, but not as well as other chalky shades do. Considering that this is supposed to be a metallic shade, it's surprisingly disappointing. This is the closest dupe for UD Chaos in the palette, but it's a much darker blue.

Needed To... || This shadow is a metallic magenta, holding a little shimmer but not really too much. It's comparable to UD Jilted, but it looks more purple to me.

Me Three || This shade is absolutely beautiful. I would say that it definitely seem comparable to UD Urban, but of course without owning the Electric Palette, I can't tell how much. It is definitely a metallic shade, but it's not overly glittery. It feels quite velvety to swatch.

Do It Now... || Do It Now... is a really delightful-looking apple-ish green, with a bit more of a metallic presence that the last few shades. It's dupable for UD Freak, though Freak may be just a little more yellow-toned.

Toxic Apple-tini || There's no shade in the Electric Palette comparable to this. This tennis ball colour -- not quite green, not quite yellow -- could be Makeup Revolution's answer to UD Thrash, but I doubt it. This shade is supposed to be metallic, but it seems a little more glittery than anything else.

Ammunition || This is a kind of grey-toned purple with shimmer running through it, and it's great to balance out all of the bright colours in the palette. It's nice and velvety to swatch and I find that a little can go a long way.

Deliver Me || This dark metallic camo green is on the slightly drier side of velvety when you touch it, and for that reason, a one-swipe swatch will disappoint. However, it really builds up nicely, and you can get some great pigmentation out of it. Like Ammunition, it's great to balance out all of the bright colours.

Super Y || This highlighter yellow is, like most other matte shades made by Makeup Revolution, is on the powdery side. I think it builds well, however, and when mixed with Toxic Apple-tini, I think it gives off a colour more similar to UD Thrash.

My Demons || This shade was a little disappointing. It looks like a violet purple but comes off as a cool magenta before building up back to a further purple. It's patchier than Super Y -- it builds OK but doesn't blend as well as I'd like it to.

TipX || This works really well as a light browbone highlighter -- it looks really stark in the pan but its sheer enough that you could use a little of it to define and it wouldn't look too much. It also works relatively well as a base, particularly with Gleam.

I Said Go! || This is actually the best matte shade in the palette. It's a grassy highlighter green that swatches evenly and builds well. Despite how bright it is, I actually think it could work really well for an everyday look if you knew how to use it.

Beyond Real || Also a disappointment in the palette, Beyond Real swatches powdery and uneven, but it builds OK. It doesn't blend too well -- I'd prefer to use Pink Obsessed -- but I think it might be alright as a light transition colour.

Calm Me Down || The perfect name for a nude shade like this, it doesn't show on my skin too well because it almost matches it perfectly. I use it on my browbone to clean it up a little.

All up, this truly is a great palette. If you want the Urban Decay Electric Palette on a much cheaper price, I would definitely recommend this as an alternative -- after all, why pay $82 when you can pay $11? To test it out, I recreated the looks done by Emily from Beauty Broadcast in her Electric Challenge to see if the colours in the Colour Chaos palette would work as well together. They all blended together beautifully and they lasted all day -- despite how much some of them contrast, they do seem like they are made for each other! Like with most other Makeup Revolution shadows, I experienced no creasing whatsoever. In fact, rather than separate, over time the shadows seemed to fuse more and blend with each other -- if that makes sense.

I did notice that Tom Tom and Pink Obsessed stained my skin a little when taking the shadows off, but I don't think it's too bad and it's gone by morning. I know that the UD Electric Palette actually comes with a warning to avoid using Slowburn and Savage on the eyes because the FDA (I think) has approved them as safe for use; there's no such warning on the Colour Chaos palette, but the laws in the UK are different and there don't appear to be any such scruples. If you were concerned about using Slowburn and Savage on your eyes, it suffices to say that you may want to avoid using Tom Tom and Pink Obsessed as well.

This was probably one of the best purchases I made from Makeup Revolution, and I can't wait to start properly playing and coming up with new ways to use these colours!

Padawan Product Rating: A-

Have you used the Colour Chaos palette from Makeup Revolution? What are your thoughts?

Sarah xo

The Beauty Padawan: December Round-up 2014

Without a doubt, December has been absolutely the craziest month for blogging I've ever experienced. I made the decision to partake in Blogmas because it sounded like a whole heap of challenging fun -- until I burned through my backlog of posts and was up to 10pm or 11pm each night putting the finishing touches on poems. In hindsight, it really wasn't the wisest decision, but nevertheless I'm glad I did it. Would I do it again? Right now, I'm saying no -- but I have a whole year to forget just how under the pump I was and decide to do it all over again.

I wasn't sure if I ought to do a round-up for the past month, as a lot of other bloggers have simply round-up the whole year; I will have a round-up for 2014 coming, but I'm only going to feature a few posts from each month, so it'll be more concise.

On Diary of a Beauty Padawan, December began with a round-up of November, which was, as most round-ups are, a brief summary of what I'd blogged about the month before.

Then began Blogmas. Day 1 was basically a cheat post, with a brief explanation as to what it was -- back then, I had such high hopes for completing it! Day 2 saw my fifth drugstore haul from Priceline, with several little goodies that I got with a few vouchers. Huzzah for saving money! Day 3 was home to the Me-Time Tag, where I talked a little about what I like to do to relax when I have more time off than I usually do; then was a pink and purple daytime look, which I at first used the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette to do, but then switched to the I ♡ Makeup I Heart Chocolate palette, which I felt was much better suited.

I followed that "tutorial-ish" with a review of the I Heart Chocolate palette, which really is a great palette to have if you're on a budget and don't want to fork out for a Chocolate Bar -- the shades are comparable but not always identical. For something a little different, I followed it up with a post on my ten favourite Australian productions, with some honourable mentions for those that are popular but haven't made their way onto my laptop screen yet. Onto Day 7, and I posted my third Crave & Covet list, which contains more nail polish, lipstick and eye shadow than my collection really needs.

I followed that up with a review of the #Selfie palette from I ♡ Makeup, a little item that I had to pick up because, like them or not, selfies look like they're here to stay. It also contains ALL the hashtags! On the 9th day of Blogmas, I posted a review of the Mecca Cosmetica Ready Set Quick Dry Nail Mist; it's an interesting little product that promises to give you touchable dry nails in under a minute -- but does it?

This blog wouldn't be this blog if I didn't have an incredibly late post related to something that happened a while ago -- and in this case it was an unboxing of Mecca's Beauty Loop box, a little something that comes out every few months as a way of saying thank you for spending your life savings. As if to make up for the three-month delay, I then posted another unboxing of the summer edition of the Parcel by Marie Claire -- also known as, in my opinion, one of the greatest Australian beauty boxes on our shores, especially if you're the kind who doesn't buy everything the minute it comes out.

On Instagram, I'd been participating in the More Than Adored #mtaphotoaday challenge, and so here I posted about the first ten days of that challenge, which was really quite fun. Of course, where I lapsed in blogging, I also lapsed in the photo challenge -- but at least with that it'll be easy to catch up! Then came one of my favourite kind of posts to do: a tag! I haven't really felt the Christmas spirit this year, but I nevertheless felt myself obliged to do the Christmas tag, which is where you'll want to head if you're interested in knowing some of my family traditions or crazy presents I wanted as a kid.

Have I mentioned that I sometimes post late posts? This was truly the latest of them all -- in August I was nominated for a second Liebster Award by Karin of Karin J R, and on the 14th day of Blogmas, I finally got around to posting it! It's got some fun facts, plus some interesting questions -- and I like to think mine are a little exciting too. I followed that with one of my most frequently viewed posts ever: a comparative post of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette and the I ♡ Makeup I Heart Chocolate palette. If you've ever tossed up between the two, I tried my best to take everything into consideration when comparing them, so you can properly choose whichever one you prefer.

I may have mentioned once or twice that I enjoy a good tag post, and that's no different with the Wishes tag, a small one about the past, the present and the future. Arguably the most fun I had with a post ever, I then posted my extensive lipstick collection (which has since grown -- WHY, SARAH?), which has products from MAC, Rimmel, Elizabeth Arden, Maybelline, and many others. Day 18 had a FOTD that I'd had sitting in my drafts folder since the extinction of the pterosaurs, mimicking a really simple look that Jena Malone has in her merchandise photos for The Shoe.

My penultimate post was another one that I enjoyed writing -- all about my mascara collection! I think I have something of an addiction to mascara, even if it doesn't look that way when put next to my lipstick collection. To make sorting them all easier, I categorised them all into groups such as Angelina Jolie, Rosamund Pike, and Rubbish. Last, but not least, was a quick list of my favourite "Christmas" films, by which I mean films that aren't about Christmas but are somehow considered Christmas films anyway. To even it out, I also listed my Top 3 favourite films that are actually about Christmas.

That's it for the round-up of December; keep an eye out for my 2014 round-up, which will be a selection of my favourite posts throughout the year!

What did you get up to in December?

Sarah xo