Hi Divas!

Last week I reviewed the Benefit Stay Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation which you can read here. I mentioned in that post that I mix an Essence foundation with the Stay Flawless one to get my perfect shade, as the Benefit one was a little too golden toned for me. I purchased the Essence Stay All Day foundation at Clicks for about R80 ($8). Can you believe it, a foundation for such a low price? Well believe it because it's so true! I was really excited about this budget friendly product so I decided to give it a try. The foundation comes in five shades, which is pretty disappointing, as the range does not cater to a wide variety of skin tones. I bought the shade 15 soft creme, a light yellow toned shade to lighten up my Benefit foundation. If I was using the foundation on it's own I would have probably gone for the shade 30 soft sand. I do have to mention that for this review I wore the foundation on it's own, without mixing it in with the Benefit foundation,  for two days to give a proper review of the product. The product comes in a 30 ml plastic bottle with a pump. I really like the packaging as it is compact, travel friendly and the nifty little pump makes applying foundation more effortlessly.

The foundation claims:
- Long lasting and lightweight makeup
-Provides a flawless silky complexion
-Easy to apply
-Lasts all day, up to 16 hours

The texture of the foundation is very soft and creamy. I love to apply it with a makeup sponge or my Real techniques stippling brush for a flawless finish. The consistency is a little thicker than the Benefit foundation so buffing it in with a brush or sponge works best. It blends smoothly into the skin and one pump is enough to cover the entire face. The coverage of this foundation is much more than what I expected. It covers and evens out my complexion very well. I would say that this is a light to medium coverage foundation. If you were to apply two pumps your face would definitely have a medium coverage. I love how natural it looks on the skin. You can't tell that you are wearing foundation when you wear this. The skin definitely looks flawless and silky smooth.


As far as the staying power is concerned, I think the foundation held up pretty well throughout the day. It did not rub or flake off around my nose or forehead. I wore this foundation for around ten hours before washing it off and it still looked pretty good. However I did experience some oils seeping through around my nose and cheek areas at the end of the day and the foundation did oxidize slightly even though I wore a makeup primer under it. If you have very oily skin this product would probably not keep you matte throughout the day. The only real con I have with the foundation is that it does not contain SPF. This is perfect if you are taking pictures with a flash but horrible if you are going to be out and about in the sun all day. I always wear a moisturiser with an SPF underneath it when I go out during the day. For those who are sensitive to scents, the foundation has a sweet powdery smell which is quite unusual. It is not unpleasant but a little strange for a makeup product. It doesn't bother me at all but thought I would mention it in case certain scents bothers you.



Hope you found this review helpful.
Lots of love.

Have a beautiful day Divas!

Xxxx

Hi Divas

Since Benefit will be reaching South African shores again soon, I thought I would do a foundation review from the range. I bought this foundation at Sephora in Qatar earlier this year. I usually do not buy foundations as I prefer BB creams and tinted moisturisers for a light coverage. What attracted me most about this particular foundation is that it is described as a light to medium coverage that brightens your complexion creating a ''your skin but better look''. The foundation is meant to give a luminous glow and has vitamin C and E derivatives to brighten the skin and give a youthful appearance. The box states that it is oil free and has an SPF 25 as well. The foundation comes in 9 shades ranging from Ivory to Nutmeg. I do have to say that I find the naming of the shades a little confusing. I usually buy sand or honey in a foundation shade. With this product the shade beige is much darker than the honey shade, which is very weird because beige is always known to be lighter than honey in the conventional shade range. Anyway there are two types of beige shades in the range and I picked up the lightest of the two which is Beige,''I'm all the rage''.

The foundation comes in a sturdy 30ml plastic bottle with a pump. I actually like the packaging of this product as it is travel friendly and won't break easily if it falls on hard floors. Plus who doesn't love a pump with their foundation? Pump bottles are much more convenient and hygienic. I also love that the bottle is see-through so I can see exactly how much product is left. I usually use two pumps of the foundation to cover my entire face. The foundation is quite runny so I prefer to use my fingers when blending it onto my skin. I then go in with my makeup sponge afterwards to blend the foundation around the edges of my face like my forehead, chin and nose area. The formula of the foundation is very light. It blends easily and looks natural on the skin. If you are wearing your exact shade you won't be able to tell that you are wearing foundation. Your skin will definitely look luminous, glowing and your complexion will be evened out.


Pros: 
-I love that the foundation is very hydrating and breathable. You won't feel like you are wearing makeup when you layer this on. It looks very natural on the skin and not cakey at all.
- The bottle is travel friendly and easy to use

Cons:

-Unfortunately this foundation does oxidize later on in the day. Plus my shade Beige is a little too orange/golden toned for me.I definitely need a lighter shade in this foundation.

- This works best for dry to combination skin tones. If you are oily it will leave your face looking shiny throughout the day.

To solve my shade problem I have been mixing this foundation with a lighter shade foundation from Essence. I will do a review of my Essence foundation soon. I feel that this combination gives a pretty result on my face. I really hope you found this review helpful.
Thank you so much for reading!



Divalicious Kisses.
Xxxx

The Random Asks

Hi Divas

I decided to do a tag on the blog and answer some random questions I found on Tumblr. I thought I would shake things up this week and take a break from doing beauty reviews. These questions are super random and are not tied in to a theme in any way.
Hope you enjoy it. Xxxx

1. Are you tall or short?

Super duper short. Meh!

2. What do you love about yourself?

My eyes and I love making people laugh and feel happy.

3. Do you see yourself differently than other people describe you?

Yes I do see myself differently sometimes. I think I tend to put myself down more. Sigh!

4. What’s something you’re bad at, but love?

I am really bad at painting but I would love to paint pretty pictures and portraits.

5. How do you spend your free time?

I love reading, listening to music, blogging and going out and having strawberry milkshakes and yummy coffee.

6. Have you ever gotten your nails professionally painted?

No. I do my own manicures.

7. Favourite game?

I love Spider Solitaire. I think I am addicted to it. I have the app on my phone so I am constantly playing when I have nothing to do. Lol

8. Do you believe in God?

I do believe in God with all my heart, soul and mind ;-)

9. Does love really exist?

Absolutely! Love is all around us.

10. Are we raised into what we love, or do we come to love it based on how we were raised?

What a question! I think how we are raised definitely influences what we love but ultimately we have free choice and choose what we want to love. Unless you really love something but decide to not love it due to society pressures.

11. Do you believe in fate or destiny?

Yes, I do believe in destiny to an extent.

12. Do we define ourselves, or does our past?

I think your past plays a major role in who you turn out to be but in the end you can either let your past define you or choose to make different decisions and grow from there. So I think you have the power to define yourself and your future.

13. Do humans matter–tiny specs on a floating piece of rock in a solar?

Well when you look at it that way, the answer would be No! Lol. Yes I do think humans matter. I think everything that was created matters.

14. Is there good in everyone?

I believe there is good in everyone. No one is born hating. So again I think the choices you make in life depend on whether you want to be good or not.

15. How do you feel about society, the vague “they” blamed for everything?

I don't blame society. I blame the media! Lol

16. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

I definitely notice their eyes first. As they say windows are the eyes to the soul, so you can kind of tell by someone's eyes if they are happy, feeling down or just plain crazy.

17. Favourite hair colour?

I love black hair. I think it always looks beautiful and shiny in the sunlight.

18. Ideal height?

How I would love to be 1.75m tall.

19. Describe, appearance-wise, what your ideal boy/girlfriend would be like?
He must look like a famous soccer player. Tall, toned, dark hair and light eyes. Hello!!!

20. Could you fall in love online?

I don't know if I could fall in love online but I do believe it is possible. I know of a couple personally who have met on an online dating site and are happily married.

21. How would you introduce yourself on a blind date?

Hi, I am Desle. I like running around in bear and duck costumes. I am a theatre actress by the way ;-)

22. Is lying about something serious as bad as cheating?

Absolutely! You have to be honest and faithful in every aspect of your life.

Thank you for reading. 

XXX

Hi Divas

As I am writing this blog post it is storming outside. It's truly raining cats and dogs in Cape Town. Wow, my city has really hit winter with a bang this year. A big welcome to the month of June. We are officially half way through 2015. How scary?! This week I want to feature my favourite eyeshadow palette of life on my blog. I bought the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette last year at Sephora in Qatar and I can't believe I have not written a blog post about it yet. Let me start by saying that I am a serious chocoholic. I don't go one day without eating a block or bar of chocolate. I love all kinds of chocolate, whether it's bitter dark, sweet or white chocolate, I love them all. It's not only the taste that attracts me to chocolate but the gorgeous cocoa smell of it too. I swear it puts my brain in a state of Nirvana. So obviously when Too Faced released an eyeshadow palette that's all about chocolate this diva had to get her hands on it.

The packaging of this palette is absolutely adorable. As you can see in the photos above it comes in a dark chocolate case that resembles a chocolate bar. The box it comes in is coated in pink and gold colours. The palette has 14 eyeshadows, 6 of which are matte and the rest are shimmer and satin shades. The case comes with a mirror as well, which would make this palette very convenient when travelling. Most of the eyeshadows come in an array of chocolate brown colours ranging from the lightest shades Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate, to the darkest shades Semi Sweet and Triple Fudge which are perfect for the crease. There are also beautiful shimmery browns such as Amaretto a rose brown and Hazelnut a golden brown which can be used as lid and crease shades. Marzipan a satin finish light peach shade and Creme Brulee a deep gold shade are the most perfect lid colours you will ever see. Along with it are two highlight colours which are the biggest pans in the palette; White Chocolate a matte milky shade and Champagne Truffle a frosty pink shade. Too Faced threw in some fun shades too if you want to spice things up and step away from the natural brown eye looks. You could use Candied Violet, a shimmery blue/ purple shade, Cherry Bon Bon a matte pink and Cherry Cordial a deep reddish brown shade for some fun party looks.

I decided to not do swatches of each eyeshadow on the blog instead I wanted to show you how the eyeshadows look on my eyes and work together to create different looks. If you want to see close up swatches of individual shades you can Google the palette because there are pictures of swatches all over the Internet. In the photos above I used Marzipan on my lid, Semi sweet and Milk Chocolate in my crease. Along with White Chocolate as my highlight and Strawberry Bon Bon as my transition shade. I paired the eye look with my Too Faced Melted lipstick in Melted Marshmallow for a sweet pretty daytime look. For my glam night look I wore the lipstick Shanghai Express by Nars and glammed up my eyes by placing the gold shade Creme Brulee on my lid, Amaretto in my crease, Champagne Truffle as my highlight and Salted Caramel as my transition shade.


Ladies, I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my favourite palette of life. I swear to you this is my absolute holy grail eyeshadow palette. Everything from the packaging to the buttery soft and pigmented quality of these eyeshadows make this palette a clear winner in my eyes. I literally use this palette every single day that I even started hitting pan on some of the shades. Did I mention that this palette smells exactly like chocolate? Each eyeshadow is made from 100% natural cocoa powder. Even as you apply the eyeshadow to your eyes you can smell the yummy chocolate aroma. I am truly obsessed with this palette and would buy it all over again if all the eyeshadows run out. If you can get your hands on it, then do make a purchase you won't be disappointed.


P.S. Please be aware of imitations/ fakes of this palette sold on international websites. I advise you to first read reviews of the website or sellers before you make an online international purchase of this palette if you are not purchasing it at Sephora yourself.

Much Love

Divalicious Kisses

Xxxx