Monday 30 June 2014

BellaBox Unboxing - June

18:49 2
Hello lovelies!

My June BellaBox arrived JUST in time to legitimately be called the June BellaBox AND just in time for me to film the unboxing before I leave for camp tomorrow.

Hope you like it and please drop by my YouTube channel and click the subscribe button!

Stay beautiful!

Dani xx
Read more...

Sunday 29 June 2014

Benefit Brow Zings

17:00 3
Before last year, I hadn’t even used a Benefit product (shocking, I know!). Now I would say I'm a teeny bit obsessed with Benefit! The first product I tried was the go TropiCORAL cheek & lip kit….I hated it! The colours were all wrong for me and I ended up passing it on. Then last year, I was wandering around Myer and came across the Benefit stand. While the service was pretty awful (I was ignored for about 5 minutes until one of the ladies finally asked me if I needed help) the products looked so good AND they were doing little eyebrow makeovers. 
Now, I am very protective of my eyebrows, left to their own devices, I look like the love child of John Howard and the Yeti. I pluck them myself and have not let anyone near them since an eyebrow waxing incident when I was about 14 left me with approximately 3 eyebrow hairs on each side. So you can imagine how reluctant I was to let a complete stranger near my carefully cultivated brows but the Benefit lady PROMISED that no wax would be involved and she would only fill them in properly for me and so began my love affair with Benefit!

The Brand – Benefit

The Benefit brand was founded by twin sisters Jean & Jane Ford in 1976. Apparently, it was a coin toss between starting a casserole café or a beauty boutique and though I’m sure the casseroles would have been delicious, I’m not sure the world could be without Benefit cosmetics! Their original store was a boutique aimed at quick fix makeup items and it was where the Benetint was born (MA15+ rating advised for the next sentence). It was actually created for an exotic dancer who wanted to make her nipples look pinker! The brand is a definite family business, with Jean’s daughters joining in 2008 and helping build Benefit into a worldwide success. Benefit products are always beautifully packaged and the brand lives with the ethos that “laughter is the best cosmetic”. 

The Product – Brow Zings ($55.00) 

If there is one place you definitely want to get eyebrow advice from, it’s Benefit. When I finally managed to flag down a Benefit sales assistant, she was attentive and full of advice. I told her I needed some brow grooming advice (I had never filled my brows before) and she steered me towards the Brow Zings kit. It contains a coloured wax for shaping, a powder for filling, a mini hard angle brush and a mini blending brush plus some mini tweezers for on-the-go fixes. It comes in 3 shades (light, medium & dark) and your best bet is to head to a Benefit counter to let the lovely ladies to a test first. I have black brows and I'm constantly disappointed by only ever finding brown filler products, the dark shade works pretty well for me but I do wish Benefit would bring out a charcoal shade!
Brow Zings plus the Ardell Brow Grooming Pencil and Brush
Using the products

Brow Zings comes with an instructional pamphlet (which I have lost) but the ladies at Benefit are more than happy to show you how to fill your brows and I find it much easier being shown than reading instructions. It’s very simple, you use the wax first to set all the hairs in place followed by the powder to fill in your browns. That’s it! The powder is easy to blend in case you’re too heavy handed (don’t want to look like you’ve drawn them on with marker!) and stays on all day. I also like to use a spooled brush and some extra wax to comb everything into place, my brows are particularly unruly! It’s amazing the difference filling your eyebrows makes, once you’ve tried it, it’s really hard to leave the house without them done!
Unfilled brows (top) and brows filled using Brow Zings (bottom)

Overall Score
The Good
Easy to use.
Kit contains everything you need, down to the tweezers.
Benefit ladies can show you how it works.
Fantastic results!
The Bad
Not cheap
Only available in 3 shades





KaBOOM! Cosmetics gives Benefit Brow Zings:

Despite the hefty price tag, I feel that Brow Zings do a really good job. I especially like that everything you need is in one little kit. Are you a fan of Benefit? All comments are appreciated and feel free to contact me at kaboom.cosmetics@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions.

Stay beautiful!
Dani xx
Read more...

Thursday 26 June 2014

The Nail Files - Leopard Print

17:00 3

Today I am launching a new segment called The Nail Files (get it?). I LOVE doing my nails, I love buying nail polish, I love nail art and I love getting manicures. I have a drawer overflowing with nail polishes and still, I keep buying them! I also own a UV lamp and occasionally do my own gel nails at home too. So I thought I would start a series dedicated to my various polishes. This  nail look is inspired by Jessica-Anne from Taken By Surprise and her I Scream Nails Masterclass, enjoy!

The Polishes 

Polished London: Portobello ($7.99)
Sinful Colours: Snow Me White ($4.95)
Sportsgirl: The Polish Pen ($8.95 but mine was on sale for $2.75!) 

Both polishes were actually from subscription boxes and the Polish Pen was a bargain from Sportsgirl on Valentine’s Day, when they had a mega sale! Portobello is a bold purple and I think it’s one of the best nail polishes out there. It’s not too thick or too runny, it applies really well, is perfect in two coats and has a lovely glossy finish. Snow Me White is not as great, the formula is a bit thick and quite hard to get on properly but looks great if you manage it right.

The Polish Pen is a nice glossy black and is an absolute miracle for nail art. It’s as easy to use a normal marker pen and the results are just like a regular nail polish. Steps are as follows:

1. Paint 2 coats of Portobello and Snow Me White – I was very naughty and did not use a base coat for this look, I just painted 2 coats of Snow Me White onto the thumb and third finger for a feature nail and did the other three in Portobello.

 

2. Once dry, apply splotches of Portobello over your feature nails – You can either use the nail brush for this or a dotting tool. I used the largest of my dotting tools from the Born Pretty store. Don’t worry about making perfect circles, these are meant to be irregular in size and shape.

3. Once the splotches are dry, outline with the Polish Pen ­– This is by far the hardest part and even then, it’s pretty easy thanks to the handy Polish Pen. Draw on half circles around some of the splotches, not following any particular pattern. You can also add a few half circles in black on their own too. I find it helps to draw little dots and join them up rather than trying to draw a thick line. This is especially helpful when drawing with your non-dominant hand.


4. Finish with a top coat – Once the black has completely dried, finish with a top coat. I used my favourite top coat, Rimmel Finishing Touch Ultra Shine Topcoat.

5. Accept the multitude of compliments that flow in because of your awesome leopard print mani!

Side note: Snow Me White chipped after 1 day while Portobello lasted a good 4 days.
 
I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of the Nail Files and thanks to Jessica-Anne for the inspiration. If you have anything you would like to see here, please let me know in the comments or at kaboom.cosmetics@gmail.com 

Stay beautiful!

Dani xx
Read more...

Follow Us @soratemplates