Organic eyes thanks to NVEY ECO

The other day I reviewed NVEY ECO organic makeup Moisture Rich Liquid Foundation. Continuing on my foray into the world of organic makeup, today I played around with some NVEY ECO organic eyeshadow.

Just to recap, NVEY ECO is an Australian made, organic makeup range that was founded in 2005. It has achieve great success in Europe, becoming the number 2 organic makeup brand in France within a year. It was founded by Rohan Widdison, who recognised that there was a huge need for natural makeup that did not compromise on performance. Following the huge success overseas, the brand is now being relaunched in Australia.

When it comes to eyeshadow, I love highly pigmented, long lasting colour. I was intrigued to see whether this organic makeup could be as pigmented and long lasting as it's non organic compatriots.

I was given five NVEY ECO organic eyeshadows to play with along with the NVEY ECO Volumising Mascara. The colours used in the following look were 166 - a deep shimmery blue, 160 - a soft pastel mint green with a hint of shimmer and 156 - a rich aqua, also with shimmer (I LOVE shimmer). I have photographed the colours with both the flash on and off to give you the best understanding of the colour.

NVEY ECO eye shadows L to R: 166, 160, 156 (flash on) 

NVEY ECO eye shadows L to R: 166, 160, 156 (flash off)

NVEY ECO eye shadow swatches L to R: 166, 160, 156
(flash on)

NVEY ECO eye shadow swatches L to R: 166, 160, 156
(flash off)

Below is the look I created with these three shadows and the mascara. These photos were actually taken about 4 hours after I applied the makeup so you can see that it has lasted well. I did prime my lids with my MAC paintpot so deviated slightly from an entirely organic look, but in my defense I have oily lids and no organic primer so I wanted to see how the shadow applied and lasted compared to my non organic shadow.

I was really impressed with how the eyeshadow applied. It was silky soft and applied very easily. There appeared to be fallout in the pan but this didnt occur on my face, which was a huge bonus.  I applied the pale green (160) to the inner corner. This colour was quite pale so it took about three applications to get the depth of colour I wanted, but it was still easy to build up intensity. The aqua (156) was applied to the crease and the dark blue (166) to the outer corner. I loved all of these colours and can see myself getting plenty of wear out of them. Pigment wise, I don't think that the colour was as intense as a MAC pigment but it was still veryy impressive and I wasn't at all disappointed.

A few years back I had a massive allergic reaction to my contact lenses and since then my eyes have been extremely sensitive, especially to mascara. I had no issues at all with this mascara. As you can see, my eyes are not bloodshot and I had been wearing the mascara for 4 hours. It applied as easily as any mascara I have tried and did not budge once on. I actually saw my sister off at the airport last night (as she embarked on her adventure to Japan) and I may have gotten a tad misty eyed but the mascara still didn't budge. It removed easily enough with makeup wipes. The best thing about it - it didn't clump or turn my lashes into spider legs. That is a massive pet hate of mine, when it comes to mascara. In these photos, I had two coats on.

 

I wasn't the only one who had a play around with the eye shadows - unfortunately The Crazy Kid also got his hands on them and create his own Face of the Day (well, he did the cheek and nose artwork and I may have helped out with the eyes!). He was rather proud of the final result.

The Crazy Kid also wanted to do a face of the
day with the NVEY ECO shadows

The NVEY ECO organic eyeshadows retail at $29.95 or you can get a palette of 5 for $75.95. The  NVEY ECO Volumising Mascara retails at $29.95. I have found these shadows to be on par with their non organic brothers so you most certainly don't compromise on anything by going organic.

If you would like a chance to try the NVEY ECO organic eye shadows then I have some awesome news for you. They are one of the products in the huge pack of NVEY ECO makeup that I am giving away. Enter here!

Have you tried organic eye shadow before? What were your thoughts? Do you think that The Crazy Kid di a good job of his makeup?


All opinions stated in this blog are my own. I have no affiliation with NVEY ECO and received no remuneration for my comments. This product was provided for consideration.

Perfection in a bottle: Chanel Graphite Nail Polish

I will never own a Chanel suit. It is unlikely that I will ever own a (genuine) Chanel handbag. However, a Chanel nail polish was definitely attainable. Whilst they are ridiculously expensive compared with most other nail polishes ($AU39), they are still much more affordable than the $AU1,000,000,000 a handbag costs (or so I estimate as I have never actually priced one).

After seeing swatches of Peridot online, I knew that baby would one day be mine. The other two polishes in the collection - Quartz and Graphite - did not excite me the way Peridot did. That was until I read this review of Graphite on the Polish Police. Suddenly, Graphite was on my radar. It was stuck in my head like an ear worm; another baby, soon to be adopted.

I argued with myself for about a month on whether to get these polishes or not. Could I really spend nearly $80 on nail polish. It did seem rather excessive to me. Then, Myers sent me a $10 voucher for my birthday and I got a $30 voucher for doing a survey so the decision was made. For $38 of my own money (less than the cost of two OPI's!) I became the proud owner of Peridot and Graphite. Here is my review of Graphite.

Graphite is the most stunningly intriguing nail polish I have ever owned. In the bottle it looks a little bit dull and boring - grey and bland. But on the nail it is completely different. In some lights it is silvery, others a more gun metal grey, and in others it has almost a goldish tone to it. It is super sparkly, yet is not a glitter polish - though in saying that it appears more glitter than shimmer. It is quite opaque. Two coats and you can't see the nail line. In the photos below I have actually applied three coats (plus an addition two top coats of clear) because I was going to a wedding and I wanted it to be perfect. But ordinarily two would be sufficient.

When you apply the first coat there are actually quite a few rainbow sparkly particles in there but they get a bit lost with additional coats. If you look closely they are still there but they definitely don't stand out.

The polish is so easy to apply. It doesn't streak, the formula is gorgeous. In fact, as tough as it is to say this, I think this polish is probably worth $39. I am up to day three with this manicure and still no chips, though that may have something to so with the multiple coats and top coats I applied. When I did a Peridot manicure I did two coats without any top coat and it chipped the second day.

I am in love with this colour. It is both funky and classy. It matches anything. It is striking without be gaudy. It is perfection in a bottle.

I have tried to capture Graphite in as many different angles and lighting situations as possible to show off all of her personalities. The only thing I didn't manage to capture were the rainbow particles. I caught them in one photo, but it was completely out of focus so I couldn't bring myself to post it - it made me dizzy to look at. But you should be able to get an idea of all her other looks!

Quatz, Peridot and Graphite

Have you succumb to the lure of a Chanel nail polish?

What a stingy bugger...my free sample frenzy!

I love a freebie - who doesn't! But I often find myself a little bit embaressed to go and claim free samples from the Myers or DJs cosmetics counters. Its silly, I know, but I hate the judging look some of the sales assistants give me. Don't get me wrong - there are some fantastic sales assistants out their who are so passionate about their brand and are just dying to share their knolwledge and allow you to try a sample in the hope that you fall as head over heels with the product as they are. But then there are the sales assistants who, when they look at you, have 'what a stingy bugger' written all over their faces. Those are the ones that I am scared of!

However, I had recently won a competition from Instyle Magazine that required me to go to the Shiseido counter at Myers to pick up the prize - a personally designed Jayson Brunsdon cosmetic bag with a Shiseido lipstick and lip liner (see pic to the left) - so I thought that I may as well check out Joy's blog (BeautyBargainQueen) to see what other freebies I could pick up whilst I was at it. The Shiseido prize was quite nice. The make up bag is really a small purse, about the size of a CD, so good for keeping a few essentials in your handbag. The lipstick was gorgeously cream - it spread on so easily; however, it is probably a bit bright for me so I passed it on to mum. Though, I swatched it before giving it away and now looking at my swatch I am thinking that I might have made a mistake giving it away - it is actually quite a gorgeous colour and not as bright as it seemed when I was wearing it. I usually wear tinted lip gloss so perhaps that is why it felt so bright.

Shiseido Perfect Rouge Lipstick swatch

I had heard that the Limited Edition BENEFIT b.right! Radiant Skincare Trio was a really cool sample to get so headed to the Benefit counter after I had picked up my prize from Shiseido. It certainly was a great freebie. If you have a look at the pic below, it is the box to the right. In it was a 10ml sample of the new Triple Performing Facial Emulsion moisturiser, 10ml Foamingly Clean Facial Wash and a 3ml sample of the It's Potent Eye Cream. The Benefit sales assistant also did a demo of the products on my hand. The smell amazing and did leave my hand feeling lovely. I have not yet tried the b.right range as I am trialling some other products at the moment but will put a review up once I have taken them for a test drive.

I then hit the Estee Lauder counter to see if I could get a sample of their Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick that I had seen advertised on Facebook. I was in luck! I received a card (top right in the photo below) that contained samples of four of the new shades. I have swatched the shades below. I must say that i was ver impressed with this sample. Each little square of lipstick would give you at least five wears of the lipstick - more than enough time to fall in love with a shade!

I had also downloaded a couple of Biotherm vouchers from BeautyBargainQueen for a fragrance and a blemish balm but at 10.00am there were still no staff at the Biotherm counter so I gave up and went home. Below is my haul from my free sample frenzy. I now have a bunch of new products to play with, without having spent a cent! Totally worth the 'what a stingy bugger' stares I got from one the sales assistants!

My super stingy haul!

Swatches from the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick sample card.

Swatches of each of the colours on my hand
L to R: Lilac Lover, Crystal Coral, Blushing and Scarlet Siren

I also decided to do some lip swatches. Before I go on I need to apologise. It was not until I started photographing myself did I realise just what a lopsided smile I have. I had previously noticed it in photos but hadn't paid much attention. It wasn't until now, when I wanted a nice symetrical smile did I realise just how impossible that is for me. When I was a kid, maybe three or four years of age, I remember asking mum how do you smile. Even now, 27 years later, I still remember her reaction. She looked at me as if I was a bit special and told me that you just lift the conrner of your lips up and smile. Ok, so maybe I don't ctually remember her reaction after all this time but I definitely remember asking that question and that is how I would react if a kid of mine asked a weird question like that! So, for a few years until I really worked it out, I have the most stupid smile in photos - its not actually a smile - I was just showing my teeth. It has defintiely improved over the years, though I guess it is still a little unique. Please don't let it distract you too much from the lip stick colours!

Scarlet Siren (Creme) - a very bright red. Too bright for me.

Estee Lauder Scarlet Siren (71) Creme Pure Colour Long
Lasting Lipstick

Blushing (Creme) - this was my favourite. I love it and can see myself wearing it quite often. It is a very natural and flattering pink.

Estee Lauder Blushing (55) Creme Pure Colour Long Lasting
Lipstick

Crystal Coral (Creme) - this came out nearly clear - it had next to no colour on my and defintiely no hints of coral. If anything it added a slight pinkish hue to my lips, but I wouldn't have described it as coral.

Estee Lauder Crystal Coral (11) Creme Pure Colour Long
 Lasting Lipstick

Lilac Lover (shimmer) - on the card I though that this would be my favourite, but it is actually quite sheer. I didn't mind it, and could definitely see myself wearing this as a day time colour but the colour was a lot more sheer than I was expecting. It is a very natural sweet pink.

Estee Lauder Lilac Lover (34) Shimmer Pure Colour Long
Lasting Lipstick