Tag: Face of Australia | Lab Muffin Beauty Science

Face of Australia Precision Brow Pencil review

20 March 2016

Having undyed East Asian hair means your brow pencils need a strong grey tone to make sure your brows don’t look like face paint. I’ve been using The Face Shop’s Love ME:EX Design My Eyebrow pencil exclusively because it’s next to impossible to find a brown brow pencil in-store in Australia that’s affordable and doesn’t pull red (Korean brands have some affordable and nicely coloured brow pencils, but shipping takes a while). I was super excited when Face of Australia launched their new Precision Brow Pencils, which are are based on a similar concept to The Face Shop’s version.

These are wind-up pencils with firm triangular tips that you can angle to draw thin lines, or fill in large areas quickly. They also have a spoolie on the other end which lets you groom your brows, rub out mistakes, soften dark parts and blend out harsh lines.

There are two shades available – Blonde (left) and Taupe (right).

I was most excited about the taupe shade, which was a brown colour that didn’t pull too red. Here’s a comparison with some Asian “Gray Brown” brow pencils:

Face of Australia Glamazon Contour Kit review

8 January 2016

face-of-australia-glamazon-contour-palette

Face of Australia’s Glamazon Contour Kit is back and is joining the permanent range! I wasn’t really into contouring when this contour/highlight duo first came out, but as I got into subtly sculpting my cheekbones and jawline and trying out different products, I discovered that the brown shade in this kit is perfect. It’s cool-toned, which is important if you want a natural looking shadow, and it’s sheer and smooth, which is important if you’re not absolutely amazing at placing the shadow exactly where you want it.

Compared to the old Glamazon Leopardess Contour Kit (launched as a limited edition around the end of 2013), the contour looks slightly darker in the pan and the highlighter looks slightly paler, but on the skin they blend out to be almost indistinguishable. The ingredients lists are identical, so I think there’s just a slight batch difference.

I’m not much of a highlighter person, since my skin is oily and provides its own highlight 10 minutes after I apply makeup, but I’ve been using the warm champagne shimmer on the tip of my nose and on the tops of my cheekbones, as well as mixing it into my everyday powder to add a subtle glow all over.

MAC Twig Dupes and Comparisons

8 August 201728 April 2015

I’ve always been a fan of the brown/rose/mauve family of lipsticks, so when I got my hot little hands on the much-loved MAC Twig, I wasn’t surprised when I loved it. Then I realised that I had an embarrassing number of lipsticks in my collection in the same colour family…so why not do a swatch comparison post?

(This is only about a third of my pinky-browns. Like I said, embarrassing.)

MAC Satin Lipstick in Twig* – This is a lovely pinky-brown colour that’s great for my-lips-but-better looks on darker girls i.e. “Kylie Jenner lips”. It smells pleasantly vanilla. The formula is a bit drying on my lips, but my lips are very prone to dehydration (fat lip life) so most people will fare better. The colour payoff is magnificent, and it’s opaque with one swipe, with a not-quite-matte, not-quite cream finish.

Marc Jacobs Lip Crème in Infamous* – Close colour dupe. This is a tiny bit little pinker than Twig, but has the same sort of finish. It’s very creamy and moisturising for a satin lipstick, with nicely opaque colour payoff. The packaging screams luxury, with a cool magnetic closure that snaps shut with a satisfying click. It’s practically fragrance-free.

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Sultry – Close colour dupe. The crayon format of this lipstick makes it very easy to apply, and I love the matte metal detail on the twist-up end, although I’ve found that these Revlon lids crack very easily and then slip off in handbags. The colour is a bit redder than Twig, but it’s pretty damn close! The colour payoff is great. Like other Revlon crayons, this has peppermint oil which gives a minty scent and a weird tingle.

ulta3 Matte Lipstick in Rose Bloom – Close colour dupe, slightly matter finish. It’s almost the same shade as Revlon Sultry and the colour is fantastically long-lasting. This is an excellent budget option – the main drawback is that the packaging feels flimsy, and the bullet is a bit wobbly in the packaging. Its floral scent also hangs around for a bit, which won’t be to everyone’s liking. It’s a bit drying as well, but for the price it’s hard to complain too much.

October Favourites

3 October 201530 October 2014

I’ve been trying out a lot of products lately – these are some of the ones I’m really loving that I thought I’d give some mini reviews for. Face of Australia Gentle Make-up Remover* – This make-up remover is everything I want in a make-up remover – gentle, efficient, doesn’t leave an oily residue. Mary Kay Cream Eye Colour in …

Cloud nail art with Pretty Serious Undercover Mermaid

21 November 20187 August 2014

I haven’t been painting my nails much lately, but here’s some nail art I recently did with my Pretty Serious collaboration shade, Undercover Mermaid. The base is Undercover Mermaid, the black shade is Skinfood Black Stone and the purple/green duochrome is Face of Australia Magneto from the new Dark Side collection. As you can probably tell, I’m really in love …

My Skincare Regimen (in excessive detail)

21 November 201823 July 2014

A few people have asked me about my regular skincare routine, which I described briefly in my interview with Beautiful With Brains – here it is in more detail. I generally use the same steps, but I often substitute in different products. It gets pretty complex, but I hope it makes sense! I’ve included a summary chart at the bottom, …

Fact-check Feature: How do cleansing oils work?

17 December 20209 July 2014

If you’ve been around the beauty scene for the last few years, you’d have run into a few cleansing oils (as opposed to the oil cleansing method). The most famous is probably the Shu Uemura range, which has kick started a whole new category of cleansing oils, which go on and melt make-up like oils, but wash off cleanly with …

Face of Australia Lasting Looks Lip Creme swatches and review

17 January 201520 May 2014

I’ve had these beauties banging about in my handbag for a while, but haven’t gotten around to showing them off until now! Cult Aussie drugstore brand Face of Australia released these excellent lipsticks near the end of last year. The Lasting Looks Lip Cremes are vividly coloured, smooth as butter lip products with hardcore moisturising power, thanks to vitamin E …