{ Review + Swatches } Sleek Eyeshadow Palettes

Hey everyone! Another post for you makeup lovers : )

I got my Sleek palettes agessssssssss ago, sometime last year but of course I wasn't blogging then so here is my late review and arm swatches of the shadows!

I got 4 eyeshadow palettes which retail for $10 each! Super affordable and inexpensive for the amount of shadows you get in one palette. Most of the shadows are very pigmented but tend to be powdery, producing quite a lot of fall-out (as you can see from my messy palettes >.<). I suggest using a good eyeshadow primer when using these shadows. To be honest, I have not used these palettes as much as I'd hoped because I just don't like dealing with too much fall-out and it's always stored in my drawer and out of my view! (I always have my UD Naked palettes out so it's easier to use those everyday instead).

 Starting from top left going clockwise: Sunset, Storm, Bad Girl & Original palettes

ARE YOU READY FOR THE SWATCHES?! :D (Maximum of 2 fingertip swirls around the pan)

Sunset Palette

Reds and oranges! Beautiful warm shades (and a cool blue) although I don't really reach out for this palette as much as the others just because I don't find the colours to be very wearable everyday. All the shadows have a shimmery finish except for the matte black.

Storm Palette

I love the colour scheme of this palette! Beautiful golds, bronzes and navy shades among others. Definitely my kind of colours. Perfect for everyday, especially during the winter and autumn seasons. The Storm palette contains shimmer eyeshadows with the exception of 3 being matte (matte light brown, matte dark brown and matte black).

  

Bad Girl Palette

This is the perfect palette for a sexy smoky eye. It contains beautiful champagne and silver/gunmetal shimmers as well as dark greens, blues and purples. When applied, most the the shades appear matte although they have shimmers in the pan (:S).

Original Palette

A beautiful array of colours. It's the perfect palette for those wanting a bit of everything from a vibrant purple to a gorgeous olive shade. All the shadows have a shimmer finish except for the matte black.

Oh darn you fingerprints ! 

Overall I really do like these palettes and I feel that they are worth the price and quality. It's great for beginners of makeup who want to expand their eyeshadow collection for an inexpensive price. 12 eyeshadows for $10 and plenty of pigmentation is a fantastic deal.

Pros:

• Great pigmentation
• Variety of colours
• Mix of matte and shimmer shades
• Inexpensive
• Not related to the product but great customer service. A Sleek blush I purchased broke while it was being shipped. They were apologetic, quick to reply to my email and sent me another blush free of any charge : D

Cons:

• Some shadows are very powdery
• May not be very good for travelling as the shadows would break on impact
• Fall-out

I definitely will start using these palettes more often now. I need to stop neglecting these beauties! I purchased my palettes on http://www.sleekmakeup.com/ and it took ~10 days for shipping to Australia.

I might do another post on Sleek blushes if you guys are interested? & let me know which palette(s) are your favourites : D

Until next time, have a great week!

xo Laura

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Sleek Makeup. I purchased the products with my own money and this review is 100% my honest opinion*

{ Review + Swatches } Mini Haul : PERIPERA COSMETICS

Here's my mini haul of Peripera Cosmetics! Peripera (페리페라) is a Korean cosmetics brand that I first heard about from Hollyannaeree and Beautifymeeh on youtube (gorgeous Korean beauties!!). I was intrigued after watching and reading a few reviews on Peripera products and I could not resist their cute packaging!

I wanted to try out a few of their products first hence the mini collection although after testing them out, I definitely want to purchase more in the future : )

I bought two of their 'Rose Nail Polish' which are limited edition nail polishes from their fall/winter collection as well as one of their 'My Color Lips' lipsticks.

Nail polishes: PK019 Mod Pink (모던 핑크) and GR309 Mod Green (모던 그린)

Lipstick: 20 Pink Beige (핑크 베이지)

First up, how amazing, cute and pretty is the packaging!! I really love companies that take the time to make their products look fantastic as well as having them being of great quality.

Look at how pretty the lipstick tube is!! Intricate lace and flowery detailing. So cute and girly!

Pink Beige on my lips! (and wearing Mod Green on my nails)

No.20 Pink Beige swatched on my arm:

I adore this lipstick and it's totally my kind of lipstick colour. It's a beautiful peachy nude shade that is so smooth when applied. Great pigmentation and is probably my favourite scent out of all my lipsticks. IT SMELLS LIKE ROSES! Very subtle scent which is great and not over-powering at all. It leaves a pretty glossy shine on the lips and is moisturising.

Nail polish in Mod Pink:

Nail polish in Mod Green:

I've been searching for a really wearable pretty pink nail polish and I think Mod Pink might be the one! It's a gorgeous light dusty rose colour and super wearable. It would be great for any occassion especially for some workplaces where you want to be a bit more conservative yet you want some pretty colour on your nails : )

I've been really into blue/green nail polishes lately so I had to pick up Mod Green! I first saw it on Angel from Beautifymeeh and it looked so pretty on her! A perfect green for the winter and fall months. I would describe the colour as a green with greige undertones. It's a subtle wearable green perfect for those wanting to experiment with green polishes but not wanting a colour that is too striking and bold.

I love the flat brush tip which makes it easier to apply as it covers most of your nail. I needed around 2 coats of each polish to get an opaque cream finish and applied my Seche Vite top coat. This nail polish lasts for about 5 days before I started to notice some chipping.

I purchased the lipstick and nail polishes on Ebay (found it to less expensive overall) although you can also find them on their website:

(US site)

http://www.periperaus.com/

(Korean site)

http://www.peripera.co.kr/

Oh and another plus of purchasing it on Ebay.....free sample goodies! : D

Check out Peripera reviews from Holly and Angel! I also love this review from Lili : )

Have a great week!

xo Laura

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Peripera cosmetics. I purchased the products with my own money and this review is 100% my honest opinion*

{ YUM! } Lazy Sunday : Cantina 663 & Yuki

Nothing better than being lazy on a Sunday <3 Chillin' and eating yummy food all day.

Started off with a casual lunch with the girls at Cantina 663. Menu here.

My best friend. It's amazing to have someone you can share precious and random memories with <3 !!

Here come the food snaps! 

I ordered this house corned beef sandwich with pickled cabbage, rocket, cheese! Absolutely delicious and so much flavour. Love the bread...so fresh and crunchy!

Pan fried gnocchi

Duck liver parfait and onion jam. I highly recommend this one too along with the sandwich! What a generous slab of duck liver parfait. The parfait was so creamy and soft and when topped with the onion jam...perfect combination! 

Baked eggs. This looks so yum too...I might try this one next time!

Overall a really nice brunch/lunch place although I found the service to be a bit slow. Will definitely return though!

Then for dinner we went to try out Yuki Japanese Restaurant. Menu here. I saw it was rated quite highly on Urbanspoon and I was craving salmon sashimi!

Had soba noodles and assorted tempura for my main. Delicious but rather pricey. I think it was around $20-ish.

Raw salmon sushi. Just like any other salmon sushi. Nothing special but as I said before...I was craving it!

Chicken udon! Huge bowl and very tasty.

Definitely will return to Yuki. Service is great and prompt and staff are super friendly. All-in-all simple and tasty traditional Japanese food.

Hope you all have a great week ahead! : )

xo Laura

{ NAILS } China Glaze : For Audrey

In love with this colour. China Glaze's 'For Audrey' nail polish is from their Something Blue collection which is a Tiffany-inspired gorgeous blue shade. It was made in honour of Audrey Hepburn and her role in the timeless classic, Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of course this is not an exact match of the iconic Tiffany blue as that colour is protected as a colour trademark by Tiffany and Co.

'For Audrey' with my favourite top coat, Seche Vite

This is my first polish from China Glaze and I am loving the formula!! You need around 2-3 coats to get a nice opaque creamy finish and it is super long lasting! This is what my nails looked like after around 7 days... (the worst chipping is shown here)

The longevity of this polish really blew me away! I couldn't believe that there were only a few minor looking chips after 7 days of wearing the polish. It could've easily lasted a couple more days before I REALLY had to change my nail colour. You may be thinking that it lasted this long because of the top coat but believe me, other nail polishes I've worn while using my top coat have never lasted a week or more.

I definitely want to invest in more China Glaze nail polishes. I've been browsing around and there are too many that I want >.<

Oh and I'm also searching for a really nice mustard nail polish colour. Any suggestions? : )

xo Laura

{ Review + Swatches } Revlon Lip Butters

The Revlon Lip Butters have arrived on Australian soil! After months and months of beauty bloggers raving about this product, I was starting to wonder if the Lip Butters were even going to be released in Australia! I contacted a Revlon rep and was told they were going to release it in April 2012. I went to my local drugstores a couple of times in early April but walked out disappointed that they had not stocked them *impatience* LOL.

Couple of days ago my friend messaged me saying she had bought some lip butters which of course I was really excited about. I finally had the time recently to hunt them down! I went to 2 Priceline stores to find 'Strawberry Shortcake' which was the one I really wanted.

I ended up purchasing 4......... =.= (so much for trying not to spend).

An individual Lip Butter costs $21.95. What a freakin rip. I believe it's around $7 in the States...? The good news was that Priceline was having a sale! *throws confetti* BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! YEAHH! *limited time only- I think till Thursday*. So I only paid around $10 for each Lip Butter. I had to take advantage of this sale!

These Lip Butters contain mango, shea and coconut butter and claims to "boost lip moisture by 156%". (they don't smell like mango :( )

PHOTOS FOR YOU : )

L-R: 065 Creamsicle, 095 Creme Brulee, 080 Strawberry Shortcake, 010 Raspberry Pie

Top Left: Creamsicle, Top Right: Creme Brulee

Bottom Left: Strawberry Shortcake, Bottom Right: Raspberry Pie

**UPDATED** Adding 070 Cherry Tart to my collection that was given to me by my bf's lovely sister! thankyouu ^.^

Colour Descriptions:

Creamsicle: Pale creamy nude

Creme Brulee: Nude with a brown undertone

Strawberry Shortcake: Cute bright baby pink

Raspberry Pie: Raspberry deep red (deeper raspberry-red colour in real life than in lip swatch)
Cherry Tart: Sheer juicy red with microglitters although not glittery on the lips (lip swatch above makes it look more orange than it actually is)

The colours are all pretty sheer but buildable although Raspberry Pie is pretty pigmented on first swipe. They apply smoothly although I recommend that you still moisturise your dry lips before application. It gives a nice healthy shine to the lips without it being too over-glossy and they are indeed hydrating and moisturising!

Creamsicle, Creme Brulee and Strawberry Shortcake are all pretty wearable. I LOVE my nudes and pinks! Cherry Tart builds up to such a pigmented true red colour. I surprisingly really like Raspberry Pie. It's such a beautiful bold colour and long lasting. If you lightly dab a tissue over Raspberry Pie it makes such a gorgeous matte raspberry red colour on your lips, like you've just stepped out from the snow! <3

Pros:

• hydrating and moisturising
• buildable colour
• pigmented
• smooth application
• pretty packaging

Cons:

• packaging is cheap- I feel like if I dropped it, the plastic cover would break :(
• another packaging con- the silver lipstick bullet is not sturdy. If you hold the base of the lippy and move the silver case, it moves back and forth slightly. It moves back and forth when you apply the Lip Butter. Grr.
• original retail price is EXPENSIVE!! Nearly or as much as Revlon's Super Lustrous and Colorburst Lipsticks
• because it's so buttery and soft it can tend to melt and misshapen in the tube

I really don't want to be spending any more money but I have my eye on Lollipop and Sweet Tart ;)

What are your thoughts on Revlon Lip Butters? Overrated or do they live up to the hype?

xo Laura

{ YUM! } Nine Fine Food : Modern Japanese

Fine dining & modern japanese food?

I recently tried Nine Fine Food for the first time last night. I heard quite a lot of good things about this place so of course I was excited to try it out! Now, I'm not a hugeee fan of modern japanese food...not too keen on them tweaking traditional japanese cooking and giving it a western influence. Just my opinion although I quite enjoyed my culinary experience at Nine Fine Food.

We ordered the 'Tokutoku' set menu which is a three course menu with entree, main course and dessert. Menu, prices and all that here. We planned on sharing everything anyway so we ordered different dishes.

Entrees:

Sashimi : "9 various tasting size fresh sashimi, seafood and fish, tuna, salmon, prawn, squid & more"

Really fresh seafood and flavoursome condiments. Definitely recommend this one for sashimi lovers!

Beef Tataki : "light grilled tenderloin beef fillets (rare), truffle mixed yakumi condiments, chilli lemon soy dressing"

Beef was well cooked. Really tender although the dressing needed a bit more flavour.

Mains (these are the daily specials so they don't appear on the normal menu):

Oceans East: "butter sauteed white fish fillets, caramelized freshwater eels, crispy panko coated oysters, light grilled scallop"

Nice overall seafood dish although a bit disjointed- so many different flavours on one plate. LOVED the panko coated oysters...has a great crunch! the white fish fillets had a really nice flavour but was a bit tough. Eel tastes like the usual unagi in those bento boxes. Scallop was well cooked.

Beef & Reef : "grilled tender ridge beef sirloin, lightly fried barramundi fillets, grilled chilli tiger prawn and scallop with spiced creamy sesame sauce"

Like the other main, also found this a bit disjointed- too many elements on the plate! I didn't care for the beef sirloin..got cold quickly and flavour was ok-ish. The fried barramundi fillets were average. Really nice flavour with the chilli prawns though and scallops were well cooked.

Desserts (ordered an extra dessert to try!):

Left: Tiramisu "creamy tiramisu, bitter coffee"
Right: Matcha Brulee "light torched green tea custard brulee"

My fave is the matcha brulee! OMG the custard was so creamy and velvety! Nice green tea flavour though I wouldn't mind a bit more. The caramelized sugar on top...freakin heaven. LOVE the sugary crunch. I recommend this one!

Tiramisu was nice and light. Not too much cream which is good. Silky texture of cream and a good balance of the coffee and rum flavour.

Kuro Goma Gelato : "black sesame gelato, mixed nuts"

Not too keen on black sesame but this gelato was a refreshing and cool end to the meal. Black sesame flavour was good, not too strong. The mixed nuts provided a yummy crunchy contrast to the soft gelato!

My verdict:

Food: 3.5/5

Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 3/5

Would I come back again? Yeah why not. I want to try a few of their other entrees and mains..and definitely for the matcha brulee! Oh and I also just realised they have another dessert =.= "azuki red bean, fresh banana and chocolate in hot spring roll with vanilla icecream" *drools*

Nine Fine Food is located at:
227 Bulwer Street
Highgate Perth WA

Bookings are recommended. They are pretty packed!


Happy eating!

{ STYLE } Go Glam !

A glamorous date night look featuring my killer Lorissa heels !

Colour theme of the night: black, gold & rose gold!

Starting off with my eyemakeup using my beloved Urban Decay Naked 2 palette..<3 I used a pretty rose gold colour called 'Chopper' as my main lid colour, 'Bootycall' as my brow highlight, 'Tease' as my contour and blending colour, 'Verve' as my inner corner highlight and a mix of 'Snakebite' and 'Busted' for my lower lash line.

I know these names won't mean much to those who do not own the palette so I'll just link you guys to an excellent post by one of my favourite beauty gurus, Jen from Frmheadtotoe. She has a review on the palette and the gorgeous swatches!

Alleyway photo sesh xP I wanted to keep the outfit simple because all the attention must be on those shoes!

Dress: Forever New (love my LBD's!)

Bag: Kardashian Kollection (birthday gift from my best friend <3)

Necklace: Boutique in Jakarta (not sure of name)

Shoes: Sam Edelman Lorissa in Spanish Rose Snake

xo Laura

{ KILLER HEELS } Sam Edelman : The Lorissa Shoe

Introducing my new babies....the 'Sam Edelman Lorissa shoe in Spanish Rose Snake'! I died when I saw these online and now that I have my hands on them....I AM IN HEAVEN!! You know me and my love with everything rose gold, bling and shine...I had to get these.

I got these heels for ~$160AUD in a size 6. They fit rather snugly and are true to size.

Description: 'Snakeskin embossed leather peep toe pump with spike, stud and gem heel detail; 5.25" heel.'

*WARNING! PHOTO HEAVY!* <3

The Lorissa heels come in a variety of fun colours including aqua, citrine, black and gunmetal!

DO YOU LOVE?! Will definitely wear these babies out soon! Stay tuned for the photos ;)

xo Laura