For most people, primers are a grey area. Do you need them, or are they just a waste of money? I personally used to think that primers were a waste of time, and that I didn't need to use them. Now that I'm spending so much time here in Malaysia, I've begun to change my mind. My main concern? Makeup that melts away at midday to reveal my large pores and panda eyes. So really, it's more than one issue. I've experimented with these brands before and have been lucky enough to have received some of these products to trial, so I dragged them out of my beauty stash to test out on my oily/combination skin, in humid weather. So, starting off with the top left corner and going clockwise: 1. Napoleon Perdis Autopilot Primer This one is one of the most moisturising primers I've tried. For this reason, if you have very oily skin, I wouldn't recommend this. However if you have normal/combination skin, then this will be an absolute dream to use. It helps your makeup glide on, and whilst it might not have the best 'filling' capability (to mask the appearance of pores and fine lines), it does make your skin look positively flawless, and keeps your makeup on for hours. 2. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm This beauty has the best filling capability of the lot! It masks everything from fine lines to large pores, and even minimises the appearance of scars and spots. It does give a tiny bit of flashback when it is photographed though, so it's best to skip this one if there's going to be flash photography. To use this, apply the balm and immediately apply your foundation on top of it without letting it dry or set. Letting it dry too much will cause it to ball up underneath your makeup, which is probably something you'll want to avoid. 3. Benefit Porefessional This is my favourite primer for reducing the appearance of my pores. It is my go-to primer at events and for meetings. It is an absolute genius

formulation, and basically fills in those pesky holes to create a smooth, flawless base. Just apply, let it dry, and smooth/buff your foundation over it. It does an amazing job and keeping the makeup from melting off too, even on hot, humid days. 4. L'Oreal Paris Lumi Magique Light Reflecting Primer This thing of beauty is one of L'Oreal's latest primers to hit the beauty market, and one of my favourite affordable makeup primers. Longtime readers of my blog will know how much I love luminous, glowing skin, and this primer gives you just that. It disguises flaws and large pores, and keeps your makeup fresh all day. 5. NARS Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base Next up are the eye primers, and this one came pretty darn close to making the top of my eyeshadow primer list, if not for its price. It keeps eyeshadows in place and really helps to boost and intensify the colours of the eyeshadow - and you all know I absolutely adore intense pigment in my eyeshadows, so anything that can boost that gets a big fat yes from me. 6. Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer I just had to include the Etude House Proof 10 primer - hands down my absolute favourite eye primer. I compared it to the famed Urban Decay Primer Potion, and it actually came out on top! It keeps eyeshadows smack where they were applied, and it keeps them there for hours on end without the slightest smudge.

A lot of people have asked me how to tell what undertones a colour contains. To be perfectly honest, there's no mathematical way to determine what undertone a lipstick's colour contains - you just have to look at it and try to determine which way the colour pulls.

In today's post, I've put together a few lipsticks to show you how to determine when a red lipstick pulls orange - which basically means that it has an orange undertone. In some lipsticks, the colour is quite strong and therefore the lipstick looks strongly orange, but in some, the orange undertone is very slight, but these colours flatter warm and olive skin tones immensely.

This first lipstick is the CoverGirl Blast Flipstick in the number 840, 'Stunner'.


This lipstick barely makes it into the 'red' category, because of its obvious, strong orange pull. In a lipstick like this, it is easy to tell that this colour flatters warm and olive skin tones beautifully. It would also flatter extremely fair skin tones with auburn/orange hair tones.

In case you're interested in this beautiful orange lipstick, it is sold in a duo, with one matte side (pictured above), and a beautiful shimmer side as well, which you can layer on top of the original colour, to create more depth and fullness to the lip (pictured below). It is a little bit dry on the lips, but lasts all day with minimal fading.


In this next lipstick, the orange undertones are a lot less obvious, so the lipstick looks a bit redder than the CoverGirl lipstick above. If you look closely, however, you can still see the orange undertones in the colour.
A way I find quite easy to determine the undertones in a colour, is to imagine a true red paint blob, and try to imagine what colour you would add into that colour to turn it into the lipstick colour that you see.

This lipstick colour is L'Oreal Shine Caresse in #300 'Juliet'. The L'Oreal Shine Caresse lip stains are long-lasting, and feel quite light on the lips. The feel of them on the lips is unlike any other lip product I've tried - they feel very light and yet have a bit of tackiness to them. Though they dry up a little, they still manage to give your lips a little bit of slip so that when you rub your lips together, you don't feel that uncomfortable, overly matte dryness.
They do stain the lips quite a bit, and last forever, even through eating and drinking. Most of the lip stains in this range are extremely sheer, with the #300 being one of the few exceptions. In the picture below, I layered the lip stain on twice to achieve this opacity.


Finally, to help you see what a red lipstick with an orange undertone looks like compared to another colour, below I've attached a beautiful true red lipstick with a slightly bluish undertone. You can hardly see any orange in this lipstick colour, and you might be able to see the difference this colour makes to my skin. In the above pictures, when I wear an orange lipstick, my skin tone looks warm and orangey. In the picture below, my skin looks a lot pinker, and paler.

This gorgeous lip colour is an Australis Pout Paste. These are a very thick gloss/lipstick hybrid, and are intensely pigmented and feel like a thick lipgloss on the lips. They do dry down to a stain after a few hours, and don't dry the lips out very much. When I say pigmented, I do mean pigmented! The picture below shows my lips only after one swipe of the doe-foot applicator that comes with this tube, and it stays that way for hours.


I hope you found this post helpful, and if you have a warm skin tone, you might want to check these lipsticks out!

You may remember my first ever trial and review of a CC (colour-correcting) cream - the Chanel CC Cream - which I found to be slightly underwhelming. CC cream has become a big thing in Asia, and is just making its way onto Australian shores in the form of the L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique CC Cream.

Today I review this CC cream for you all, so settle into your seats, and let's get on with the show :)

Packaging
L'Oreal has packaged this cream in a tube almost identical to their original Nude Magique BB Cream, with some green gradient accents here and there, which I will explain later on in this post. The dispenser is exactly the same as the BB cream's - a small syringe-like tube opening.


Product
The Nude Magique CC Cream aims to correct and conceal redness in your skin, and as such comes with a green tint - to counteract the redness in the skin - hence the green accents in the packaging. The product itself is reminiscent of the Nude Magique BB cream - the light, liquid texture, the micro-beads, the whitish formula that changes colour when rubbed into the skin.
The formula comes in one standard colour which is supposed to match your skin tone once applied. I found that this was slightly dark for my NW20-ish skin, though it wasn't too obvious. This also leans quite strongly on the warm side.


Performance
I actually really like this CC cream. The very slight colour mismatch actually gives me a little bit of warmth, and the finish is a beautiful dewy texture.


I love the coverage of this CC cream. It provides medium coverage, and covers my pores and acne quite well. I recommend applying it with fingers because a little body heat really helps the product sink into the skin and create a beautiful glowing skin.

It lasts for hours on the skin without melting off, fading away, or sinking into fine lines or crevices on the face. It also does a great job at neutralising redness - the areas around the acne spots that you can see in the pictures above were quite obviously red and spread over a pretty wide area, but in the picture above, the redness has been concealed in most areas.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic effort from L'Oreal Paris. I love the texture, lasting power, coverage and anti-redness qualities in this CC cream, and how (relatively) affordable it is as well.

The L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique Anti-Redness CC Cream is available now and retails for AUD 26.95 per 30mL tube.

As someone with less-than-ideal features, I find contouring the magic solution to creating shadows and highlights where my face needs it the most. Contouring works beautifully in real life, and even better in photography.

The thing is, contouring isn't the easiest thing in the world. For instance, bad blending can make the contour look unnatural and obvious, and the wrong products can make your face look dirty, or end up bringing out features that you wanted to hide in the first place.

Now when you are looking for a shading product, you want a cooler brown tone, to mimic the grey that is naturally present in shadows. Reddish brown tones tend to look unnatural and a little bit dirty on the skin. Choose a contour colour about 2-3 shades darker than your skin, and only use a tiny amount at a time, and slowly build intensity.
When you are looking for a highlighting product, you want something with a more yellow tone, so that it looks more natural on the skin. Pinky tones can look slightly ashy on the skin. When picking a shade, find something about 2 shades lighter than your skin, so that the highlight is quite prominent. However if you are picking out something with shimmer in it, then stick to colours about 1 shade brighter than your natural skin colour.

After trying many, many, many different types of products (and methods, but that is another story for another post) I finally found some products that work beautifully, and I want to share them with you!

Let's start off with highlighters:



1. L'Oreal Paris Light-Reflecting Lumi Magique Concealer
I received #3 Dark, which isn't quite suited to my skin tone, but the light reflecting qualities of this concealer are beautiful. I've used this as a highlight on skin tones darker than mine, and they turn out beautiful, without making the skin look ashy or grey. In fact, it gives the skin a lovely glow when photographed. It also has the lightest texture of all these highlighters, which makes it easy to blend.

2. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat
I use the colour #2, and this is great when you're looking for a subtle highlight that photographs beautifully. The Touche Éclat is a beautiful light-reflective concealer that blends into the skin very well to create a subtle highlight. The light-reflecting pigments in the concealer pick up beautifully in flash photography. Bear in mind that with light-reflective pigments, it is best not to layer too much on the skin, because it might cause a flashback in photos.

For more information about makeup products and how to avoid flashback in photography, see this post.

3. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer
This is one of my favourite highlighters, because it is very obviously lighter than my skin, and is quite pigmented, so the highlight shows up well on the skin. It does not contain light-reflective pigments, and as such can be layered to create a more dramatically contoured look.
This concealer has a more salmon-pink tone to it, so if you have warm-toned skin, I suggest looking for a more yellow-based product to highlight.
One thing to note about this concealer is that it does oxidise slightly on the skin, so be sure to check it out in store first to make sure that you are picking out the right colour for your skin.

4. Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer
This is also one of my favourite highlighters, though I need to get it about a shade lighter so that the highlight is more prominent on my skin. This cream foundation/base product is highly versatile and can be used as a foundation, concealer, or highlighter, depending on the colour that you purchase.
It is quite a bit thicker than the other products I have mentioned above, but so long as you have prepped your skin well (moisturiser, primer if you need it, etc.), then it is very easy to blend into the skin.
Once blended, this product creates a beautiful highlight that stands out both in real life and in flash photography, but that also looks perfectly natural and gives the skin a nice healthy look.


And now on to the shading products!


1. Illamasqua Powder Blush in Obey
This powder blush from Illamasqua is a light, slightly orange-toned powder, more suited to lighter skin tones. I personally do not use this on my cheeks, as I prefer a slightly darker, more cool-toned colour. It is, however, perfect for my crease, and I often use this to tie together a look, no matter what eyeshadow I am wearing. To do this, I simply sweep this slightly above my crease using a fluffy blending brush, blending away the edges of whatever eyeshadow I am using as I go.


2. Sleek Face Contour Kit in Medium
This is a contour colour that I absolutely adore. Though it comes off looking very orange in the pan, it is actually quite natural on the skin, and is easy to apply and blend onto the skin. It is my favourite powder contour, and you'll see me use it in a lot of my videos.
The only issue that I have with this kit is that whilst the shading colour is perfect for my skin (used with a light hand, of course), the highlight colour is a little dark, and doesn't highlight my skin at all.


3. Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate in Intensity One
When you talk about contour products, there is only one product to rule them all, and that product is the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate palette. It is so easy to use, and looks so natural on the skin, it's like magic. Even the most novice of contour-ers (probably not a real word) can use this with ease - the colour comes out subtly, and yet gives you the most beautiful, natural-looking contour you could ever hope to create. Whilst not the cheapest product out there (let's face it, this costs an arm and then some), it is undeniably the best product I have ever used to contour my face.

Here are swatches of the abovementioned contour products:


I hope you guys enjoyed this post. If you have any questions, please email me or tweet me (or leave a comment on Instagram), and I will get back to you as soon as I can! I will also be writing a post on contouring methods, so if you want some practical tips on how to contour your face, look out for that post! :)

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and I'm sure you ladies out there want to get your spa on to relax and prepare yourselves! Just to get into the spirit, I've put together a selection of pink-themed products that I thought might be of interest, either for Valentine's Day or just to pamper yourselves in general :)

What a lot of people fail to understand about anti-ageing skincare is that it is about prevention. You need to take care of your skin before it starts to show signs of ageing, not after. A lot of people think that there is no point using anti-ageing products because their skin doesn't see the difference, but that is simply not true!
The best way to use anti-ageing products, as I mentioned above, is to prevent the skin's ageing process, not to reverse it. And when you prevent, not being able to see a difference in your skin is actually a good thing :)


That being said, at what age is it appropriate to begin using anti-ageing skincare?

Some people are of the opinion that if you start too early, you risk rendering your skin immune to anti-ageing skincare products in the future.
Some others think that no time is too early to start anti-ageing skincare, and that starting early can only do your skin good.

I personally believe that the 24-25 year mark is when you should start a routine that includes anti-ageing skincare. Research shows that your skin starts to naturally age in your mid twenties. I think that once you hit your mid twenties, you should start to invest in a good anti-ageing serum and eye cream, as well as a night cream, to take care of your skin and to help it maintain its elasticity.

Some great ingredients to look out for? (Please note that this is not an exclusive list!)

Vitamin A
Retinol, an essential ingredient in anti-ageing skincare, is derived from Vitamin A, and can help increase the production of collagen and elastin in your skin, keeping it supple and firm.

Vitamins C & E
These are amazing antioxidants for the skin. When Vitamins C and E are used together, they can prevent sun damage, and even alone they can reduce wrinkles, smooth and even the skin, as well as reduce hyperpigmentation.

Peptides
When done right, peptides are absolute miracle workers, stimulating collagen production, stimulating antioxidant enzymes, enhancing wound healing and cell repair, and performing a myriad of other anti-ageing processes on the skin.

Ceramides
Ceramides are great for keeping moisture locked within your skin. Ceramides also help enforce our skin's natural defences, which keeps pathogens out, and locks moisture in. Hydrated skin is essential for a healthy cellular turnover, so this is an essential ingredient in anti-ageing skincare.

Some of my favourite anti-ageing products are listed below:


Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Age Correcting Creme
This moisturiser is meant for more mature skins, but is something that you should definitely keep in mind for the future! It has the most amazing skin-lifting qualities, which you can read more about here.

L'Oreal Men Expert Daily Moisturiser
This is a lightweight, easy to use moisturiser for men, with L'Oreal's fabulous Vita Lift 5 technology which performs 5 anti-ageing functions. J is using this at the moment and his skin looks and feels pretty amazing.

L'Oreal Youth Code Luminosity Moisturiser
L'Oreal's Youth Code range is specifically targeted at preventative anti-ageing care for younger skins and their moisturiser and serum are my favourite products in the range. Tiny pearlescent particles are suspended within the moisturiser for an illuminating finish that looks amazing underneath makeup.


La Clinica Anti Ageing Gentle Milk Facial Cleanser
La Clinica's milk cleanser is a gentle cleanser that feels lovely on the skin, and is jam packed with anti ageing ingredients, which you can also find in the rest of the La Clinica Anti Ageing range (their rose hip oil is fabulous!). It cleans without stripping the skin of moisture, and keeps it soft and supple. My parents adore using this moisturiser when they come over. If you have oily skin, I recommend using this in a double-cleanse routine. First, clean any dirt, grime, and makeup off with a makeup remover or cleansing oil, and then follow with this cleanser.


Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
This is my HG serum. It contains Vitamin C and a whole host of other amazing ingredients which work to help your skin repair itself as you sleep. It protects your skin from the damaging effects of free radicals, and helps to lock moisture into your skin. This is also fabulous for preventing acne scarring.

Shu Uemura Tsuya Skin Serum
Another one of my favourite serums, this is Shu Uemura's latest offering, and it does a fantastic job at helping your skin maintain its youth. Shu Uemura developed this serum to help the skin regenerate and renew itself. Only one drop of serum is needed per application, so this will last you a long time.

Have you started anti ageing skincare yet? If you did, when did you start; and if you haven't, do you plan on starting anytime soon? :)

'Tis the day before Christmas, and I'm sure you all have some fabulous plans in place this holiday season! With all the partying and celebrating going on, the morning after inevitably follows, and I'm here to help you make sure that your skin is still glowing and fresh for that morning breakfast with the family and loved ones!


I wrote a post a while back about the morning after a big night out, and what products you can use to give your skin the TLC it needs. This post is all about the makeup, and how you can use it to mask your hangover, and to help get that glowing, healthy, wide-eyed look.

Sheer, Dewy-finish Foundation



When it comes to foundation, less is more! Use something that will even out your skin tone and cancel out any redness, whilst still allowing your skin to breathe. I love the cult-favourite Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (RRP AUD 59). It has such amazing coverage for a tinted moisturiser, yet still so light on the skin (plus they have just expanded their colour range, so you can get an even closer match to your skin tone - the secret to natural, healthy-looking skin!).
If you are very fair, I highly recommend the Luview Aqua Essence Whitening BB Cream - it is amazingly light and watery, so it doesn't feel heavy or cakey on your skin. It also has the most gorgeous luminous finish.

Strong, Un-Polished Brows



Fill your brows in with a powder so that they look more natural, and make them nice and strong. For a less polished look, try not to draw a straight line on the top line of your brows. Instead, use light, upward strokes to soften that top line and deposit colour lightly and evenly.
My favourite brow powder by far is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express Kit in Brunette. If you're looking for a more affordable eyebrow kit, try the brand new Face of Australia HD Brow Kit (RRP AUD 9.45), which features two brow powders, a brow wax, a brush, and a pair of tweezers. For international buyers, this product should be available soon on the Fashion Addict website.

Bright Cheeks



Placing your blush high up on your cheeks will lift your face, and really brighten it. Since you are placing the blush so high up on your cheekbones, you can either use a blush with a matte finish or a shimmer finish. My personal favourites are the Tom Ford Cheek Color in Narcissist, and the Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush in Cherub.

Cancel Redness



The morning after unavoidably involves red, puffy eyes. A great way to mask that hangover is to get rid of any redness, especially around your eyes.
A great product to use is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Nude. Its flesh-toned colour blends in well with your skin (a white coloured eyeliner pencil would be too stark) and its waterproof texture allows you to apply the pencil to your waterline with great lasting power.
A peachy toned concealer is perfect to mask any dark circles and eliminate any further redness. Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer is the perfect concealer for the undereye area because it is easy to blend, and a very small amount is enough to conceal unwanted dark circles. I also love using a brightening concealer - my favourite is the Clinique Airbrush Concealer.

Flicked Eyeliner



Applying a jet-black eyeliner in a flick, only on your upper lashline, is a great way to achieve that doe-eyed look. In the spirit of keeping the entire makeup look easy and with minimal need for brushes, I recommend using the Rimme Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Black.

Curl Your Lashes



It is so important to curl your eyelashes when you want to look more awake! They really open up your eyes and make them look so much more feminine and pretty! I stayed away from the Shu Uemura eyelash curler for a long time, but when my sister had a layover in Changi Airport, I decided to ask her to help me get it. It does curl the eyelashes much better than any eyelash curler I've ever used, I have to admit.
My current go-to mascara? The Clinique High Impact mascara. It is a mascara that I have come back to again and again, and is probably one of my favourites next to the Benefit They're Real mascara.

Highlighter



Apply highlighter to the centre of your lower lashline and the inner corners of your eyes to open your eyes up and make them look much brighter. I like TheBalm Mary Lou-Manizer because it is very pigmented and easy to apply.

And that should give you a lovely, wide-eyed, glowing makeup look that's super flattering and perfect for Christmas morning. Thanks for reading! x