The POREfessional Agent Zero Shine

The POREfessional Agent Zero Shine (what a mouthful) is a new product from Benefit.

What they say:
Operation shine control! The POREfessional: agent zero shine instantly minimises shine and helps smooth the look of pores. Our invisible shine-control powder joins you in your top secret mission for smoother-than-smooth skin. Pores and shine don’t stand a chance! Just twist, tap & sweep to look fresh-faced, without a trace!

What I say:
It is a mattifying powder, it has a cool name, and quite clever packaging.

How they say to apply it:

Twist off built-in brush from base. Then tap powder into lid and dip brush. Sweep on moisturised skin or over makeup to instantly mattify your complexion. Touch up over makeup during the day…or whenever shine dares to return.

What? They're a brush us there?
Yep.

The brush is actually pretty good, and becuase it comes away from the contained, it is able to be washed with all your other brushes.  Tapping a small amount into the lid and using it like that appeals to the clean freak in me. It makes it far more hygienic that a brush straight into the product, or heaven forbid a brush attached to the product.

As for the performance, it does exactly as it claimed it would.  I applied it mid afternoon over makeup, just as the shine was beginning to come through.  It looked, fine, no colour, not chalkiness or ashyness.  Looked fine.  
It felt weird.  I can't quite explain it, but if you could imagine your nose suffocating, if you have ever work grease paint for any purpose, or full stage makeup, you might understand what I mean.  This did pass, and it still looked OK, but for a while it was almost as if my skin felt even greasier.  If you are someone who wears full coverage foundation, set with a powder, you may not mind this feeling, I however would prefer to have blemishes show, than wear thick makeup.  SO perhaps this just isn't right for me.

I know I need to give this product more of a chance, but it was so off putting, I am delaying it. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will try again.

Sample Challenge Week 3

This week I will use these samples:

Benefit Stay Flawless 15 hour Primer- I do love a good primer.

Dermalogica Skin Refining Masque- not a fan of skin care sample on the whole, so lets just use it up, I do like Dermalogica, so who know.  Specifies it is for oily skin, so I know it is correct for (at least some of) my face.

Finally a perfume sample, Vera Wang- Be Jeweled I have smelled this before, and I know I quite like it, so I won't mind using it up.  Perfume samples, to me are the more useful.  They usually contain more than one application, which is critical for deciding on any product, but especially perfumes, sniffing a piece of card might help tell you what the perfume smells like, but not how you will wear it, what it will smell like mixing with the oils of your skin, OR most importantly, how long the perfume with linger on your skin!

I'm really getting through these samples, and thankfully, not collecting them faster than I use them up.

Make sure you check the Month End Empties post to make sure I kept to my word!

Cargo Costmetics Contour Palettes- Malibu and Monaco

Since being in the UK, I have fallen head over heels in love with Cargo Cosmetics.  The range is lovely, the prices are very reasonable, and the products are great.  Today I bring to you the Contour Palettes, in Malibu and Monaco

The palettes have a sleek brushed aluminium design, it is sturdy, finger print proof, and perfect for travelling.

As you would expect from a contour palette, it has a highlighting colour, a blush and a contour colour as well as a mirror.

Malibu

Malibu: The highlight is a beautiful, soft pale pink champagne colour, the blush is a rose pink and the contour is a plumb based brown.  I wasn't so sure of the contour colour at 1st, but it works.

Monaco: The highlight is a less shimmery, more pink colour, the blush, a rose with just the slightest hint of gold, and the contour is a matte bronze.

The colours in these palettes are subtle, there is no getting away from that, while Malibu is a pretty trio of bubbly colours, Monaco is a refined choice for a more natural look.

I love both of these palettes, the powders and super smooth and blend well, the swatches don't do the colour pay off justice, in fact, the first time I used Malibu I accidentally overdosed on everything by the highlight colour.

The packaging is sturdy and classy but without too much excess.

I often find that contour palettes either have more packaging that is really required OR they are the somewhat useless cardboard variety, these are just right.

Cargo cosmetics are available in the UK from Debenhams and Beauty Bay

In Australia, you can find a good range at Mecca Cosmetica, but at the time of writing not these particular palettes, but you can buy them online at Beauty Bay where this palette is stocked.

Battle of the Micellar Waters.

We all love this:

It needs no explanation, it is a great product, but what if it runs out and you don't have time to order it online (despite now living in the UK, I can not find it locally)

In steps:

B. Pure Micellar Watter

Although the bottle is different, believe me when I say this is just as good.  BUT where the Bioderma solution is £4 per 100ml OR AU$7.32 per 100ml.  The B. Pure solution is a mere £1.64* per 100ml OR  AU$3 per 100ml.  Now I know those prices make Australian wince, because they are a mere fraction of the cost of the price there, but my comparison is here. Sorry...

Anyway, either way you look at it, it's a bargain, making this a definite part of my skincare regime, not just makeup removal.

I do feel bad, Bioderma were the original, and now I am jumping ship to a cheaper 'Johnny come lately' brand, but at the end of the day, the more money I can save on removing my makeup, the more I can spend on putting it on.

*When I bought this product, it was on a 'half price sale' however I have not seen it at full price in the entire time of being here.  I stocked up, just in case.

Sample Challenge Week 2

This week, I'll be using up the following:

Sample one I will be using this week is another from Benefit, The POREfessional primer.
I already own a full size version of this, so using the sample is more annoying than anything,  I don't have any friends or relatives here to give it to (I have friends here, but most of them are male, and probably wouldn't be grateful enough to waste my time)

Sample 2 is a sample of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo, I have heard good things about this, so I picked it as one of my 3 sample with my first ever (direct) order from Sephora, I try not to pick skincare samples because I never like them, and this was one of the few makeup samples available.
I recently had a 'Celebrity brows' treatment, where we worked out my brows are slightly short, and for some stupid reason getting more sparse at the nose end, when they were filled in a little they looked fab, so I'm eager to try this one.

Benefit Big Easy- Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector (A BB cream?) NO, Bigger than BB. (what?)
Blah blah blah, I don't really know what makes this so special, I think it's just a BB cream with a Benefit kitchy spin on it.

I also got this sample with  my Sephora order, and usually I hate complexion samples because inevitably, they are just too dark, but not this one...

The Big Easy has a teeny tiny sample of every colour the product comes in. Bravo Benefit, I can actually trial this product properly, although it is a teeny tiny sample, so perhaps, just trial it on my nose?

How's every one going with their sample challenge? Are you getting through them? Did you at least admit defeat and hand everything over to an unsuspecting friend, your sister or mum? Either way, did you get rid of some of those dastardly samples that just keep accumulating?