Estee Lauder Corporate Shop

So turns out heaps of ladies know about this store - you need some kind of invitation to attend usually from staff who work with Estee Lauder, or at David Jones etc. But it's not that hard to get your hands on one apparently. Thanks to my good old high school friends I moseyed on down ready to spend monies I don't have for spending and went a little cray cray. Mostly with foundation.

So this is everything I bought, the Estee Lauder compact foundation was for my mum and I ended up giving away the Mac Pro Longwear foundation (the moussey stuff) because I was a complete idiot and picked up the wrong shade (NW20), when I thought I was holding onto a NC25. I spent around $180/$190 or so, which is obviously a huge saving but a massive splurge at the same time.

I never thought Aveda products were expensive. But they are. I have so many problems with my hair and scalp (tangly hair, oily and itchy scalp), I thought I would treat my hair a bit, since I usually buy myself cheap shampoo and conditioners (except the Paul Mitchell ones which were $12 each). I love the smell of them, it's like a combination of Aesop and Perfect Potion. The scalp remedy worked really well the first couple of times but I think it might be losing some of the effect. I decided I'll only use it every now and then, not every two days so I can get maximum use out of it. Needless to say, neither of these products makes my scalp itchy which says a lot - only head and shoulders doesn't make my scalp itch (but it's loaded with chemicals...)

This was my biggest splurge - I have been wanting Jo Malone stuff for sooooo long, especially just the scents Earl Grey & Cucumber, Wood Sage & Sea Salt and Nectarine Blossom & Honey. The store didn't have any of the scents I wanted in a perfume, but had this one as a lotion. It was half the original retail price so... I snagged one and use it sparingly - the scent lasts a while like a perfume so I totally scored.

I've rarely tried Mac products, let alone foundations. Aside from the Pro Longwear foundation (which seemed to have nice coverage when I tested it) being an accidental purchase, the Studio Careblend Pressed powder was completely worth the money. Shade blends well with my foundation/skin, it has a tinsy bit of coverage when I dust it over like a setting powder. So it's great for using with ultra-light foundations for a basic everyday look, but also matte at the same time. (Since matte foundations tend to have higher coverage.)

So the shade is "Light Plus" - it was the lightest shade there. I thought it was too pale testing it on my hand but after I tried it on my face it seemed fine. I've been using it almost every day now!

The Invisible Fluid Makeup was for myself, and it was a reduced item which I think is due to the shade - it was N1, the lightest shade. I thought it would be too pale, but turns out it actually works really well with your own skin tone and blends in seamlessly. It says on the packaging that it sorta blends with your own skin tone. I'm pale, but I'm not usually the palest shade in foundation, but it worked out well anyway. 

So this is the "base" using a combination of the Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid, the Mac Studio Careblend, and the Clinique foundation which I got MUCH darker than normal on purpose - to use as a contour powder. (It has a more ashy but not overly grey colour, so it looks more natural to use for contour vs. a bronzer or an actual contour powder.)

The Invisible Fluid is super watery, lightweight and has a light coverage. Take note of the patchiness and discolouration
of my skin on my hand because the end result actually looks like it has decent coverage.

You can see how lightweight it is when I blend it in!

Once fully blended, it leave a very sheer and dewy finish on the skin.

I topped it off with the Studio Careblend Pressed Powder, and viola! It all feels incredibly lightweight and has the perfect
amount of coverage I want for everyday makeup.

So this Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions foundation is in the shade vanilla - I would say is 2-3 shades darker than my natural skin tone. It works really well as a contour because of the perfect balance of
orange and grey tones - since it's meant to look like darker skin, AND IT'S COMPLETELY MATTE! Yay no more sparkly bits on my face! Because it looks weird when your contouring is sparkly...

It look s tad darker on my face than it does on my hand.

Excuse the shoddy lighting - that's the finish of my skin after the 3 products I've used. Looks like no makeup doesn't it?!

Figuier Osmanthus Eau De Toilette by L'Occitane - A Dupe?

A few days ago, I saw a blog post  by A Model Recommends about Roger & Gallet and L'Occitane's new 'fig' fragrance launches and FleurDeForce talking about the Roger & Gallet one as well. I'm not that familiar with Roger & Gallet because I have never seen them in Australian stores, but I didn't realise the L'Occitane one was available in stores right away in Australia as well (since we're pretty slow in getting anything in, if not at all), and working right next to the L'Occitane store, I gave it a sniff.

First things first, I really like woody, musky and greeny scents that fig scents have - if you have ever eaten a fresh fig you will know what I mean when it say it tastes/smells like some kind of sweet tree nectar. Apparently most fig scents out there are predominantly woody smelling (well, that's literally what a fig smells like to me). And so, this new scent is supposedly meant to be a girlier and fruitier version of these strong, woody, fig smells.

The one and only thing that came to my mind when I first smelled it was Jo Malone's Nectarine Blossom and Honey perfume. I HONESTLY thought (and I still think it's pretty damn close) this was a replica of the very pricey Jo Malone perfume - it was uncanny because this literally smelled like peaches/nectarines. I don't know if it's just me.

At the first spritz, you can definitely smell the green woody fig scent, which disappears into this peachy-osmanthus scent (I also think osmanthus flowers smell peachy! And you can really smell if you have ever had osmanthus tea).

According to L'Occitane:

The fragrance opens with soaring notes of bergamot and blackcurrant, paired with a ripe,fruity fig.
The heart reveals another facet of the fig through its green leaves,
heightened by apricot tinted notes of the Osmanthus flower.
A warm base rounds off this delicious scent and leaves behind a woody trail of cedar and musk.

I had a little look online comparing these two perfumes, and turns out they both have a blackcurrant top note and an apricot/nectarine middle notes. I think 'Nectarine Blossom' comes pretty close to the osmanthus scent.

It smelled a lot girlier/fruitier than I thought, because I was really wanting a musky woody fig smell. But, I still really love it because it's not one of those sickly sweet smells, a little bit girly but also a little bit musky AND it actually lasted quite a few hours on my skin. And of course, the Jo Malone perfume smells wonderful as well, so being pretty similar this one smells amazing too.

Lo and behold what I think is an excellent dupe for the Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom and Honey perfume! The new fig & osmanthus perfume is $40 for 30ml, vs $90 for 30ml from Jo Malone. That's more than 50% off the price of Ms Malone's version!