winter beauty essentials // 2014

Aside from the fact that over the course of the last few weeks my skin has been drier than a desert (lazy analogy, I know...) and I've been mildly sick due to the sudden change in weather, Winter is forever my favourite season. I've always loved the cold and I think visiting the States next year during the Fall to visit my family and my blogging friends will be perfect. In today's post I thought I would share with you a few of my winter makeup essentials as well as some different skincare I've been experimenting with (good and bad outcomes!). Enjoy...

MAKE-UP 

Australis Fresh & Flawless pressed powder in 'Natural' // Essence All About Matt! primer // Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in 'Ivory' // Nude by Nature Papaw ointment // Maybelline Great Lash in 'Very Black' // Nivea lip butter in 'Caramel Cream' ... (best flavour ever!) 

Before I start I would like to point out that all of these products can be bought at your local drugstore, chemist etc, so they're very affordable (majority under $10) and easy to access. We'll start with the powder by Australis. Generally I don't wear powders on their own because the majority don't compare to my Body Shop All-in-One. Yesterday I decided to give it a go at school and I will never be doing it again! It gave me quite an orange look and it was hard to blend into my skin nicely, it settled into my pores (despite wearing a pore minimising primer!) and it just didn't look very nice. However, I really like wearing this powder lightly over fresh liquid foundation just to set it. Used sparingly, this powder is excellent. I think it's about $10-12? I got mine in a deal from Priceline. It rates about 6/10, depending on how it's applied. 

Alrighty, so the primer by Essence. This literally costed $5 I think so I wasn't expecting much, it was kinda an emergency purchase. Anyway, it's quite good as a thin base if you already have fairly good skin. You need quite a bit to cover your face properly though. As for oil control, I'm not sure if I can answer that fairly because the weather has been so windy, dry and the humidity is non existent. It rates about 5/10. 

The Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer was something I had been wanting to try for SO LONG. Overall, the coverage was good and the actual effectiveness at covering up dark circles was quite... average. It definitely lowered my teenager-with-lack-of-sleep obviousness, so that's really all that matters. The consistency was smooth and light and the colour match was good too! 7.5/10. 

Maybelline Great Lash mascara seems to be quite a universal favourite; my mum uses it and a few of my sisters as well as Izzy from Views of Now (one of my best blogger/ school friends), so I repurchased it after not having owned it since I was a preteen.What I like most about this mascara is that it's so... thin? I don't know how to describe the consistency but it's incredibly light and easy to apply and clumps are non-existent. It works really well if you let it dry between coats. What I think is 'ungood' (has anyone here read Nineteen Eighty-Four? Because that choice of wording was subtle referencing... and me trying to be slightly witty...) about this mascara is that if you have a shaky hand, it will go EVERYWHERE. All over your eyelid. So be careful and apply it carefully and let it dry. Great mascara though... 8/10. 

Alrighty, so the last two are lipbalms that I've been wanting to try for a long time. I've had the Nude by Nature papaw dupe before, but they changed the formula and the packaging a little bit and I love it! It's probably my new favourite lip product and would definitely get a 10/10, if it weren't for the smell. I don't like scented lip products very much, unless it's food-inspired. Aside from that it's wonderful though! As for the Nivea Lip Butter, the smell would instantly get a 10/10, because it's caramel and that's self explanatory. The consistency and the product itself is a little disappointing. I didn't really like how applying it turned my lips white and it just wasn't as moisturising as I had hoped. Probably a 4/10. 

SKINCARE

Dermalogica's Clear Start skincare line was sent to me in a sample pack a few weeks ago and after hearing really good things about the brand itself, I was so excited to try it out! Unfortunately, it really irritated my skin. I'm not sure whether it was because my skin is incredibly delicate and sensitive at the moment because of roaccutane, or because it is very dry due to the cooler weather. The face wash left my skin feeling quite tight and the toner didn't really help much with that discomforting feeling. The overnight and day time treatments seemed to help clear existing breakouts a little bit, but there wasn't really a lot of difference. The product that I found worked really well with my skin though was the matte moisturiser! It worked brilliantly underneath makeup and also had a built in sunscreen which was an extra bonus!
I think this product set would work well with people who have very acne prone/ oily skin who have a lot of mild break outs. I don't think it worked for me because my skin is already undergoing acne treatment and it's very sensitive.  

Australian Pure Beauty Face Wash and Moisturiser... and here we have the wonder products out of everything! So I picked up these two organic skincare products from my local grocery store because I had $10 left and needed to buy a new cleanser. I ended up coming out with a moisturiser and a cleanser (they're only $5 each!) and I am so impressed with how wonderful they've worked with my skin. They're natural, not tested on animals and perfect for sensitive skin. The cleanser is brilliant; it removes all of my makeup and doesn't leave my skin feeling tight or stripped of moisture. The moisturiser works really well too, it's hydrating without being too heavy and I find it works best to apply as soon as you wash your face so your pores are still 'open' (? you know what I mean!) and all the goodness can get sucked up.