MAC Eyeshadow Palate in Amber Times Nine AKA the biggest disappointment

This should have been the palate of all palates...My first ever MAC shadow, 9 in fact, all in beautiful shades I would get so much use out of and for a bargain (okay, heavy discount) of $65. Yet this palate has been such a huge disappointment. 

We'll start with the good things as this part will be short. As I mentioned, the shades, oh the shades. They are unbelievably beautiful and I knew as soon as I spotted this that I would get a whole heap of use out of them.

The packaging is lovely, and I actually quite like that they are smaller than the typical shadow size as I don't tend to use eyeshadows up terribly quickly. 

The price was an absolute bargain considering that single MAC shadows are $33 each. 9 MAC shadows for $65 seemed like the most perfect way to try out some highly raved about shadows that had been on my wishlist for a very long time.

And that's where all the positives finish.

This is undoubtedly one of the most poorly pigmented palates I have ever come across - I wouldn't pay $10 for it. There are three shades out of the entire palate that are visible on the eyelids; Georgia Peach, Cork and Aromatic. Notice that all of these are matte finishes.

The rest were hopeless. The lighter shades simply didn't show up on my skin tone, though I expect they might a little on darker skin. And then there were the glittery shades, poorly pigmented bases with chunks of glitter reminiscent of a child playing princess with those shoddy lip glosses marketed at 5 year olds. Honestly MAC, I know you must have good shadows because the whole world raves about them, so why did you muck this palate up?!

Furthermore, there were three shadows in particular that I was just bursting to try: Kitties (F), Creative Copper (L) and Don't Tell (L) which turned out to be the three worst shades. In fact, Don't Tell just makes me want to cry in despair for spending money on it. Sigh.

For the photos below, I swatched the shadow 2-3 times on my arm so as to make it as visible as possible.

There's really not much more to say about this palate except simply don't buy it. Perhaps and investment in two single shadows would have been wiser but at this point I've lost faith in MAC shadows. Please please please tell me if you have had any luck with this palate (or one of the other 9 shadow palates) because I really feel I must have received a dodgy one as so many people adore MAC shadows.

Priceline 40% off Haul and Skincare Bag

So as you all know, Priceline had a 40% off sale this week and I couldn't resist!

It had been a while since I last hauled some makeup and a lot of new and exciting things had come out since. Some of these purchases were planned, others impulse, however I don't regret a thing! All the prices listed below are what I paid with the 40% discount, so you can see I really did get some bargains!

Australis AC On Tour Palate - $10.11

This palate took the beauty world by storm and to be honest, it never really captured my interested however with 40% off I figured it would be worth giving it a go. 

Bourjois Aqua Blush in CocoriCorali - $13.80

I'd never heard a whisper about these but as soon as I spotted it I knew it was mine. I have no liquid blushes in my collection and this shade is absolutely beautiful. In summer I really don't wear a whole heap of makeup so this will be perfect for a light and natural bit of colour.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in 02 - $14.40

I've only read positive things about this, and naturally as a lip product it is up my alley! I was totally smitten with this gorgeous shade too.

Essence Liquid lipstick in Show Off - $3.06

I didn't realise how similar a shade it was to the Bourjois one that I grabbed, but I guess that's the colour I'm craving at the moment. For such a good price I'm hoping these liquid lipsticks will impress.

Lanolips Makeup Bag and Lipsticks - $19.99I didn't realise until I got home that this wasn't actually a part of the 40% off sale, so $20 is the regular retail price. I've never tried Lanolips but I've been in desperate need of a moisturising lip product, ideally with a bit of colour, and these seemed to fit the bill. I love the two shades that were included too.

Nude by Nature Brush Kit - $17.97For such a wonderful price I couldn't go wrong with these brushes. Nude by Nature is a brand I always walk past, however these brushes are so soft, and I'm always in need of more eyeshadow brushes. I'm really looking forward to using these. 

Rimmel Oh My Gloss in Glossaholic - $8.37

I'd never seen these before and bit the bullet, chucking one in my basket without giving it much thought. I am in love with the shade I grabbed, a beautiful milky pink with no shimmer. It is unbelievably moisturising, in fact so far it ticks all the boxes for my perfect gloss. 

Luma Illuminating Highlighter in Pearl - $14.97

Once again, I'd never seen this brand let alone the product before, but of my gosh is it beautiful. I own no cream illuminators despite them being my absolute favourite product of late, so it was a no brainer to take this home with me. 

Face of Australia Kajal Eyeliner Stix in Horus - $3.47

To be honest I think these eyeliners look absolutely ridiculous, and once you start to use them up would be incredibly impractical, however the stunning bronze shade meant that fell for it. For $3.50 I don't mind if this ends up being rubbish.

So they were all the products I picked up in the sale, and because I ended up spending a heck of a lot, the lovely lady gave me the Skincare bag that has been a part of one of their other deals. I am so grateful to her as it is a really amazing bag!

Housed in a clear black bag with copper handles, it's not my favourite bag ever however the products inside are what take the cake! I'm sure there are a million other posts about this so I'll just list the products I received. Note that some of them I was able to choose with the vouchers that it comes with.

I've listed the prices for the full sized products where possible.

Models Prefer Tan Remove Exfoliate Double Sided Body Wipes
Physiogel Daily Moisture Therapy Intensive Cream - $15.99
Suntivity Hydrating Face Lotion SPF 30
A'kin Pure Radiance Rosehip Oil - $19.99
Swisse Micellar Makeup Remover - $10.99
Le Tan Jet Dry Bronze Instant Tan - $14.29
Proactiv Deep Cleansing Wash - $31.99
Australis Tinted Let's Go Steady Gradual Tan - $19.99
Skin Physics DNA Reset Ultimate Rejuvination Cream - $69.99
SugarBaby Sugar C-Rush Coconut and Raw Sugar Exfoliating Body Scrub - $14.99
Touch In SOL Pure Dew Water Drop BB Cream - $39.99
Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion - $14.99
NIP Fab Skin Dragon's Blood Fix Plumping Serum (Sache) - $32.99
KLARA Reset Instant New Skin - $9.99
Skinny Tan Mini Mitt
Derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub - $29.99
Revo Lip Balm in Cherry
Nip Fab Skin Glycolic Fix - $34.99
Spot Medic - $9.99
Manuka Doctor Purified Bee Venom and Manuka Honey Skincare

Hello, It's me.

Hello hello hello.

It's been months, 7 months, yet here I am.

I have no explanations to give, and I'm not really going to apologise. I have officially completed my first year of a Bachelor of Speech Pathology, I have a boyfriend, I have a car, a job. Life has changed in a way that I never could have predicted.

I have grown up from a child to a woman and it has been amazing. In the midst of all of that, YouReview fell to the wayside. And I'm not sorry about that, I was just the way it needed to be.

But now I have three months holidays ahead of me and I realised that blogging was something I enjoyed, perhaps even missed. I have more beauty products to write about than one could imagine, and even more exciting they are more "grown up" than what little Candice used to blog about.

One lovely thing about this blog is seeing my journey with makeup. To think I used to sing praises about BYS lipsticks and now I'm in the realms of the MAC lipstick club...well, it makes me laugh.

Many of my makeup dreams have been fulfilled (haha) including the acquisition of the NAKED palate, Makeup geek eyeshadows, MAC eyeshadows and lipsticks, and a never ending collection of beautiful and varied lip products.

My oh my do I have a lot to update you on.

To those who stuck around, my goodness, I cannot thank you enough and I hope you enjoy the next couple of months here at YouReview.

And one more confession...since it seems like a fresh start, I have to confess that Candice is a pseudonym. Yep, I have felt guilty about this for sooo long but now I've acknowledged it, I can continue using it here on this blog. There are many reasons I do so and hope you all respect that. It was never to fool anyone or trick anyone...the internet can be a scary place for a 14 year old girl embarking on thing new craze called a blog.

So, welcome back and hopefully you are happy to see me again.

Much love,
Candice