The month of August flew by for me. Time keeps disappearing what seems like so quickly and I can't believe my birthday is already almost back around. Crazy stuff!

My August Favourites are a bit of a surprise for me because this time in July I wouldn't have dreamt of many of these products.




  
Last month I wrote a review on all of Benefit's New Eyebrow Products here and a couple of them crept their way into my July Favourites here. This month. a few things changed and I'm back to my beloved Gimme Brow*. But now, I have a new product which I love to use along side it which is Booki Brow's Trio Eyebrow Powder and Highlighter. This powder is the most smooth and luxurious eyebrow powder I've ever used, even compared to my Anastasia Brow Duo. The shade I use is Light Brown / Blonde and the middle shade is my perfect match. I first apply the powder and top it all off with Gimme Brow to set my brows down.

When it comes to lip products, I didn't own any of these products last month. They're all new to my life but I am definitely hooked. They're all liquid lipsticks and I imagined them to be drying, but they aren't. They feel like a comfortable mousse, yet last a long time on my lips too.

The three lip products are NYX's Lip Lingerie in Lingerie in 04 Ruffle Trim, ColourPop's Ultra Satin Lip in Alyssa and lastly, ColourPop's Ultra Matte Lip in Beeper. If I HAD to choose one, I'd probably say Beeper is my #1 favourite for this month when it comes to lips. But, I honestly love all three.

As we all know, waiting for our nails to dry is one of the biggest 'struggles' we have in our beauty routines. I'm usually quite good with not touching my nails but sometimes, I do nothing but ruin them in the space of 2 minutes. I've tried many products before to help my nail polish dry quicker in the past but none have worked quite as well as the Revitanail Instant Dry Drops*.

Unlike other products I've tried, Revitanail's is in what I can only describe as an eye drop packaging style. A couple drops later, I wash off the excess, and my nail is dry! Compared to other brands, the dry drops don't lessen the longevity of my nail polish or make my nails a weird texture. Virtually straight after using the dry drops the first time, I accidentally bumped my nails on the bench in my bathroom and I had no damage, at all.

These two hair goodies have been ALL that I have used. I posted a really large, in depth hair care routine post a couple months ago. Now, this is it. No elaborate steps at all. As soon as I hop out of the shower and slightly towel dry my hair, I apply a pea size amount of the L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil-In-Cream*. When I use heat on my hair, I also add in the L'Oreal Elvive Smooth Intense Heat Protect Cream*. Both of these products have resulted in my hair looking the healthiest it has been in years. Besides that, I can't believe how easy, accessible and affordable they are.

Last up is something that might seem quite random but I am entirely hooked. Welcome to my Bullet Journal. It's a lined diary from Kikki K which I have decked out to fit meee! If you don't know what Bullet Journaling is, have a quick Google or check on Pinterest. Essentially, you buy a diary and you customise it yourself. You know the feeling of when you buy a diary, love it for the first two months and then hate it? This gets rid of that! Instead of being told you have 3 lines to write about your Monday, you can honestly make it one page long or however long you want. It's so much fun and I just feel incredibly inspired and organised.

What were some of your favourites for the month of August?
Have you tried any of these products?
Do you like Bullet Journaling?

*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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July was an incredibly busy, yet fulfilling month for me. I got up to quite a lot at various blogger events and also had a few work interviews here and there. Aside from all of that, I also (of course), discovered and rediscovered some makeup goodies.


I'm really excited to include this product in my favourites because I actually misplaced it for around 6 months and finally found it early July! MAC Cosmetics Cosmo is probably my favourite lipstick of all time. For my olive skin, it's the perfect my lips but better colour. It's such a beautiful brown, pink, mauve colour and the formula of this lipstick is amazing too. I have never actually completely finished a lipstick before but I am certain that I will shortly, and it'll be this.

As you'd know, I love it when products surprise me. One product that I fell in love with this month is the Maybelline Master Fix Wear-Boosting Setting Spray*. If you read my full post here, you'd know why I love it. In a quick rundown, it doesn't have the nicest scent. But, it is amazing for my oily skin and I actually prefer using it over my Urban Decay De Slick spray now.

The entire Essie Winter Collection* has been a solid favourite of mine in July. It's basically all that I've had on my nails the entire month. The collection is limited edition and will stop being sold in Priceline's after the end of August. Don't worry, I have a swatch post coming very, very, shortly (this Wednesday). If you can't wait until then, my favourite shade is the gorgeous light, pastel purple called Virgin Snow.

Benefit has slayed the brow game with all of their new brow releases. I was lucky enough to get the range sent to me and I have a full review which you can read here. My two favourite products are Goof Proof* and Ka-Pow*. Goof Proof is perfect for a natural, filled in, day time eye brow look while Ka-Pow is perfect for a bolder eyebrow look. The formula of both products is incredible and since having them, I've ditched my previous eyebrow routine.

Last up and the newest product into my life out of the bunch is the NYX Blush and Contour Duo*. This small product should definitely not be underestimated. The brown contour shade is cool toned, pigmented and blends well. The blush shade is gorgeous and mauve. It's the ultimate travel product and I just love how easy it is to use.

That wraps up my favourites for this month.
What were some of your favourites?

*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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This year is definitely a huge one for Benefit Cosmetics. They've released an abundance of new eyebrow products and repackaged their existing ones. I honestly had to pinch myself when I received this package. I feel incredibly grateful to have these babies in my hands and I wanted to be able to give you my thoughts before they officially launch here in Australia on the 22nd of July.

Let's be real for a second. 9 brow product releases is a lot to digest. To make this review post easier for you, I'm going to do my best to categorise the products into how I think they'll best be used. This post is lengthy, so make sure you have a lot of time on your hands and maybe even grab a cup of tea or coffee.

Everytime I've used these products, I have only used the application tools which were provided within the actual brow products themselves. Therefore, I used no other spooleys, tweezers, brushes etc.


One step daytime natural brows
The Brow Conditioning Primer* is exactly what the name suggests. It's a clear brow gel that you can swipe over your eyebrows before applying another brow product, or you can rock it on it's own. The first time I used this product on my bare brows completely alone and quite enjoyed it.

This product is great for those of you who have beautiful brows, and just want to brush or lock them into place. One thing that can be a little annoying about this product is the fact that it is a 'click' product where you have to wind or click the bottom section, until product comes out. It took me around 8 clicks to first get product out and it probably dispensed more than I needed. I'm curious to see how the clicking keeps on going now that the initial product has been dispersed. I guess I should also talk about the applicator. It's bumpy and a little strange. I personally would have liked a normal spooley but I appreciate them trying something new.

For me, I don't really need to use this product underneath other brow goodies as my brows listen to me quite well and one product, or two max is usually enough. However, for the purpose of this review, I did try it underneath a couple of the other brow goodies. This definitely helps add that extra bit of control and allows you to put your brows where you want them to be. You'd also be glad to know that it doesn't crack or get a weird texture when you layer products on top.


I received 3D Browtones* in a shade that was slightly light for me. What I can say is that this product provides your brows with a light colour tint. It basically helps emphasise what you already have, shapes the hairs, and keeps them in place.




If you've read my blog before, you'd know that I can't give Gimme Brow* has been a holygrail product of mine for atleast three years. This is my favourite brow product to use in the day time. Gimme Brow provides the brows with a medium coverage tint and adds volume with little fibres.




Multiple steps but all in one product brows for day time
If you're someone who loves getting the job done and fast, Brow Zings* is for you. This product really impressed me because it has seriously everything that I need. You get tweezers, a foldable brush which has a angled side on one end and a flat side on the other. The product is made up of a wax and powder.

I found it really easy to use. I plucked away a couple strays, used the angled brush with the wax, the flat brush with the powder and I was seriously done. I didn't even need to use a spooley or anything. The finish was really natural, yet put together.

The wax itself looks brown in the pan and you'd assume it to be really pigmented. But, when I used it on my brows it actually comes off almost clear. It only gives a teeny tiny tint and the real power of the wax is to brush the hair into place. The powder is of a medium consistency and is really smooth so it applies beautifully over the wax. I sadly think this product isn't 100% a match for me though because the powder looks a little too warm for my brows. It honestly crushes me!! But, I think I'll still be able to use the wax.

I found these two products to be super similar, so I'm going to review them together. Goof Proof* and Precisely My Brow Pencil* are the type of product that's great for creating small, hair like strokes. They provide a lovely medium coverage on the brows! The only way that I could differentiate these two products is their size. If you're someone that's used to a smaller, precise pencil, go for Precisely My Brow. If you want something quicker, that covers a larger space of your brows, I'd suggest Goof Proof. I personally prefer Goof Proof because I find that the angle is more forgiving and the size of the applicator fits my brows perfectly. I'm also not as tempted to apply a lot of pressure with Goof Proof, which I feel like I want to for some reason with Precisely My Brow.








Bold // night time brows
Probably the ultimate, bad ass, loud, perfect for photography brow product of the bunch is Ka-Brow*. Imagine a brow pomade, but of a slightly drier consistency and this is what you get. I felt super lucky to have had experience with brow promades before because I knew to only take a little bit of product. My first thoughts were 'wow this stuff is pigmented'. It applied so easily to my brows and even after using such a small amount, I was still a little worried that I applied too much. The product doesn't dry straight away which is great because you can use a spooley to brush the product through the brows to make them look more natural and blend more cohesively. After brushing through, I was seriously so happy. I think this has overtaken my favourite night time brow product which was the Chi Chi Brow Pomade. Even though I said this is really bad ass, I still think it looks slightly more natural on my brows than the Chi Chi Brow Pomade, but it's still as pigmented. I think it might be down to the formula just blending in more with my natural hairs. But yes, 100% impressed with this one.


Set those brows in place 
This part of the review is making me a little sad because I wish I could say that I love all of the products. Sadly, one product I don't particularly get on with is Ready, Set Brow*. To me, it smells a little like a Sharpie. The smell disappears straight after application, but just a heads up for when you pull it out of the packaging! I also think this product dries a little too well for my brows where it felt a bit crispy.  But, keep in mind that I like my brows to feel a little more free,

However, I think this product can be great for a few of you. If you have really stubborn brow hair that never listens, I'm sure this will keep them in place! I also think that this is a pretty ideal product for those of you that do sports or sweat a fair bit. For me, If I wanted to set my brows with a clear product, I would personally prefer to use the Brow Conditioning Primer on top of my brows instead of this because I find it to have a similar clear, setting effect.





One of the earlier products is going to pop up here again. It's Gimme Brow*! Aside from using it alone on my brows, I love using it to set my brows. It's great ontop of a powder or a pencil to really keep everything in place and it also adds that extra bit of tint and thickness.

Finish up the look with a under brow highlight
Last but not least is High Brow*. One thing that I LOVE doing is applying a light shade of eyeshadow underneath my brows to really add that little something special to my overall makeup. I haven't really used a product like High Brow before so I was quite excited to use it. It's basically a really soft and creamy, light pencil that you pop right under the brow and rub in. It worked into my skin so nicely, really cleaning up and tying my brow look together.



Do you need them all? Definitely not. I think that we all have our own brow preferences and know what we like. Study up and pick products that will fit right into your routine, or I guess try something completely new and different that you think is unique to Benefit. It's completely up to you.

Will I be using all of these brow products? Well, I'll definitely use my favourites which are Gimmie Brow, Goof Proof and Ka-Brow. I also want to also try and get my hands on Brow Zings in another shade because I really liked how the product felt and looked. When it comes to the others, I'm going to keep playing with them. I'll let you know in the future whether they found themselves into my routine.

If that was WAY too much to digest, I am so sorry! This post took me a century and a half to prepare so I do really hope that you enjoyed it.

All of these goodies are available July the 22nd at MYER and Sephora.com.au

Are you excited by the new Benefit Cosmetics brow releases?
What's your current favourite brow product?
*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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One particular part of our makeup routines that differs in a very, very big way, is our brows. We all have our own favourite brow style, brow products, brow colours etc.
None of these products are new to the blog and I love them equally. But I thought it would be great to let you know when I choose to use each of these products, as well as to show you that these are such holy grail items - not just once off review and forget products.
Behold, my version of The Ultimate Brow Routine. 

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