Benefit Gimme Brow Review

I'm absolutely dying to share this exciting new purchase with you all! It's the Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium Deep! This has had a lot of hype in the YouTube community, as well as the makeup blogging community, so I thought I might throw mine into the pool!

Benefit describes this as:

This innovative brush-on fiber gel adheres to skin & hair... creating brows before where there were none. It builds easily for thick, lushes arches, thanks to a tapered brush for blending & precision tip for shaping.

It is:
> Water resistant
> Long-wearing
> Natural-looking
> Buildable





Firstly can I just say that the packaging is so incredibly cute: it has a parallelogram prism shape, with light pink polka dots on it. Benefit has done it again with the girly packaging that's just to die for. It also envelopes the product instead, so it won't get squished if you have to travel long distances to get home, or if you like having massive purses like I do!
I purchased this in the shade Medium Deep, since I have dark brown hair. The other shade they have is Light Medium, which is aimed for those blonde hair gals (and guys!) out there :)

This teensy little tube is sold at $22 USD, but retails in Hong Kong for $220 HKD. It's definitely not a cheap product but a little bit of an affordable splurge for the average broke college girl!

One Benefit (see what I did there? lol bad pun) of this product is that since it's really tiny, you can easily throw it into your makeup bag, or if you're not bothered to carry one, you can toss it into your wallet without it bulging. From the Benefit website, it teaches you to apply the product in "short pressing motions, stroke brush tip along brow to define shape. Comb through to blend & build brows. For the most natural look, start at the inner edge of your brow and move outward. Repeat to add more volume"

This is definitely one of those buildable products. If you feel like a natural look, you can easily stroke this a couple of times through and you're good to go; or if you're feeling like Cara Delevingne and her famous bold brows, you can keep building to create more volume.

One thing I found with this is that this product looks natural even if it's built up. It's microfibers within the product makes the product act like a mascara for your brows!

If you want an extra oomph to your brows, you can apply a highlighter just under your brow bone to really lift your brows and open up your eyes. I just swipe that under my brows when I apply my normal face highlighter.

The brush itself is a tiny little spooly, with about 5 rungs to it. It's like a teensy little mascara wand, with the little microfibers between each rung so that when you run it through your brow hairs, the fiber-gel will cling to your skin and eyebrow hair.

The conical shape of the spooly is great because it really lets you perfect the shape of your arch without any difficulty, which is awesome for if you're in a rush. Because of this product, I can have my eyebrows done within the minute, which is a lot faster than having to fill in your brows with a powder and having to carefully have the pigment equal on both sides.

I used to neglect my brows because I always thought that it would take ages to fill in my brows every morning, and that it might clog up the pores in my brows and cause my eyebrow hairs to fall off, but so far, it's looking good!

Since this is a long lasting product, I wouldn't recommend scrubbing harshly on your brows when you take your makeup off. I've made that mistake before and lost a couple brow hairs along the way :(

Stay tuned for my post next week about the Benefit Rockateur blush. I only got it yesterday so I don't think a blog post today would do it justice since I have to try it enough times to review it!

Love from Julsie! XO

Nail Polish Favourites: Fall into Autumn!

Hi all,
I apologise for the one week break from blogging that we took; we were both super occupied with our school life :(
Aaaaanyways, back to business.
I've been loving painting my nails recently, and have been transitioning from the bright and bold pastels of Summer to the dark and ominous looking Fall colours.

1. Revlon Elegant

I've always thought that this colour reminds me a bit of Essie's Playa del Platinum, another great nude colour for your nails. I've been loving this, not only because it's a sophisticated "I'm a college student" colour, but a shade that goes with any outfit and any makeup.
It makes me feel sensible when my professors sees my nail colour- it would be incredibly awkward to take a nerdy subject when my nails are BAM bright pink.

2. OPI Sweetheart

This colour will always be a classic in my collection- I've used mine to the absolute pit bottom of the nail polish so I won't be able to upload my own photo for this, but it's super well loved. A classic baby pink- apply one sheer coat for a natural polished look, whereas a few coats will be a girly baby pink.

3. Revlon Ocean Breeze

If you follow me on my twitter, @LittleMJuliana, then you would know that I've absolutely been loving this nail polish. Just because I feel like a mermaid when I wear it. It's a mixture of blues and greens with an irridescent finish, and honestly, I would save this for the weekend/monday for a quick pick-me-up, plus it will definitely distract you in class. I would say to always use a top coat with this, it gives the iridescent glow an extra oomph, plus helps the nail polish stay on longer.
Oh did I mention that it actually smells like the ocean? I swear I'm actually a mermaid.

4. Essie Rock Star Skinny

Since Hong Kong either has a) no Fall season or b) it rolls around in late November, I live my Fall fantasies through other people's Youtube videos, whether it's Get Ready With Me: Fall Edition-s, or Outfit Of The Day-s, or everyone's raves about the Bath and Body Works Leaves candles. And this all happens whilst I'm wearing a skimpy tank top and shorts and the air conditioner blasting in the Hong Kong heat.

5. Essie Chinchilly

Essie Chinchilly just reminds me of warm Autumn days, snuggled up on the couch with a doona, a book, and  mug of hot cocoa, whilst a candle's burning in the background. My mother describes this colour as a "light sesame" colour, whereas I'd say that it's a muted, creamy, off-grey-taupe shade.

I've been so excited for fall, and even more excited for the fall nail polish colours and new Starbucks drinks. But, I just tried the iced Salted Caramel Mocha Frappucino today, and it wasn't as great as I expected it to be.

Anyways, signing off for now, I've got a lot going on the next day, and the rest of the week.

Love, from Juliana.

*Unfortunately, the photos used in this blog post are not mine, I have only been less busy at night, but the lighting was horrible to take a photo..

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain Review

Hi all,
This new discovery have my mind blown, so I have to share it with you all. And lo and behold, it is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. I'm probably really late on the bandwagon, but after
buying it and using it just a few times, I had it stashed in my vanity and forgot about it. But, on a little rampage for a new lip colour in my makeup vanity, I rediscovered this. I bought this in the shade 001 Honey; I thought it was the most natural and something I can pull of on a day to day basis, but intensify the colour for nights out.

My experience with this balm stain is amazing. After a surprise kiss caught me off-guard (I don't have a boyfriend!), I'm so glad I was wearing this balm stain on the day. My lips were perfectly stained, and so moisturized; Nothing is worse than kissing a pair of dry lips! My first thought after the kiss was how incredibly lucky I was to be coincidentally wearing this on the day, and an added bonus, nothing came off on his lips! ;)

The lip stain is in a cute little crayon stick. It really reminds me of the Clinique Chubby Stick, the Topshop Lip Crayon and the Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayon. The foolproof application makes it really easy to control the area and amount that you apply to your lips, and also you can twist it up for more product, instead of sharpening.

Photo taken in natural daylight.

The shade 001 Honey is a warm pink tone, with a slight peachy sheen. It's slightly glossy, but not like a crazy shimmery lip gloss. It's a typical "my lips, but better" shade, and looks really natural.

Photo taken with indoor light on.

As you can tell from the above photo, the amount of product can be controlled. The first swatch shows the application of the lip stain on it's side, whereas the second is swatched on the pencil tip of the lip stain. This makes sure that you don't go outside of the lines of your lips like a little kid! On me, the lip stain lasts for around 6 hours, even with eating and drinking like normal.

Overall, it is a definite must-buy, and I will definitely be buying this in a few more shades! Hong Kongers be on the lookout, someone told me that it's on sale for $68 HKD in Sasa for a limited time only! (Not sponsored or anything, just sharing this amazing deal!). 

I will be wearing this for all my future kisses from now on ;)

Love, Juliana xox