Tuesday 10 March 2015

lusthaveit! January Unboxing & Review


I may or may not have spent the last few weeks in a mad panic over starting the last year of my undergraduate degree, but if there's one thing that helps stress, it's getting new stuff to try out right? I was excited to find on opening this lusthaveit that some of my favourite brands made another appearance. I've been having a play with some of these over the last week or so and I've got some initial thoughts to share with you.


Urban Skincare Co. Infuse Body Balm was a product I was quite thrilled about getting. I went through my last sample tube within about a week and this one was no exception. The thing I find most interesting about this baby is that it's infused with Vitamin C to help boost your skin's immunity, which isn't necessarily a claim I've heard before. The cream absorbs into the skin within a few minutes and won't leave you with any greasy residue (because having slippery hands after moisturiser application is an every day struggle).  

Colour by TBN Neon Nail Polish in 'Mellow Yellow' basically looks like I drained my highlighter into a nail polish bottle. I will say right away that I'm not a fan of neon polish, so this is the one product I haven't at least tried once. The formula looks to be a little bit on the thinner side, but from having a little play with the brush, it seems quite nice. The bristles aren't quite as stiff as I'd like, but they do splay out quite a bit, so I'd think you could get your nail coated in one or two strokes. 

Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow in 'Mudcake' is an eyegasm. I may or may not have sat and stared at it for a good five minutes, tilting the pot in the light. It's a medium brown with a stunning greenish silver duochrome that just makes me want to put it all over my face. It reminds me a little of a toned down version of MAC's blue-brown pigment. The duochrome isn't as immediately obvious when applied dry, but it looks absolutely stunning when used wet or over a black base. As with other Marsk eyeshadows I've tried, Mudcake is finely milled and easy to work with, although fall out is definitely a risk given that it's a loose shadow. 

Marsk Certified Organic Eyeliner in 'Pitch Black' is your standard black eyeliner. It's not the most opaque liner I've tried, but the texture is awesome. It applies easily to the eye without any tugging or skipping. This would be my pick as a base for a smoky eye, because although it does dry down, it doesn't dry so quick that you don't have time to blend it with a brush. It does transfer slightly on my eyelids after a few hours if I haven't set it with a powder eyeshadow, but I've yet to find an eyeliner that doesn't as the area gets quite oily for me. 

Beaubox Wonder Powder in 'Nearly Nude' promises to reduce imperfections and give the skin a radiant, luminous glow. It claims to be an intuitive mineral powder foundation that also provides broad spectrum protection. I've been loving powder foundations lately so this was the first thing I cracked open. I didn't have any issues blending this into the skin as it's quite finely milled, and I'm also happy to report it didn't break me out. I wouldn't call this a full coverage foundation by any means, but the coverage is fairly buildable before one skates into caky territory. I can definitely see this baby working its way into my everyday makeup bag in the near future. 

Designer Brands Chubby Lipstick Crayon in 'Dollface Pink' because I always need a new lip product in my life. I immediately fell in love with it's wind up feature- I really dislike losing product when I need to sharpen things. I was pleasantly surprised with the pigmentation and texture of this chubby pencil, the colour was super saturated within a few passes without skipping or tugging at all. It is supposed to be formulated with cocoa butter and vitamin E, but I didn't find it particularly hydrating or drying throughout the wear time. One thing I'm not a fan of with this is the smell- it's a little bit like plastic or some sort of chemical. It isn't overly strong and I'm sure I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't sniffed the bullet for argument's sake. 

This month's subscription also contained a discount coupon for Urban Skincare Co. and a $35 gift card for Hello Fresh. Let me know your thoughts on beauty subscriptions down below!

Disclosure: the products in this post were kindly sent for review. All opinions are my own. 

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