The Summer Edit '16

It's summer again already! Isn't it crazy how fast this year has gone? It doesn't feel like it was a whole year ago since we last put up the Christmas tree! Who has finished their Christmas shopping already? As usual, I started way back in August and was well finished by December, which is good because I got to skip the Christmas rush, but bad because now I have fewer reasons to go shopping. Anyway, what does all of this mean? It's time for my next seasonal guide: The Summer Edit '16!

Oxygen Skincare Review

Oxygen is a New Zealand made brand that contains only natural and organic ingredients and doesn't test on animals. I've seen a lot of YouTubers recommending Oxygen Skincare products before, so I had high hopes for these products, and they didn't let me down! Overall, I found the products to be very gentle, but effective. Read on below for a run down of each product I tried. 

New Releases From Smashbox

I was recently lucky enough to be invited along to the Smashbox Light It Up event, where I got to meet Smashbox Pro Artist Will Malherbe as well as so many lovely bloggers and the PR team. We sipped on delicious Light It Up cocktails, inspired by the new holiday gift packs (out now - I'll tell you a bit more about them below) and heard about other new releases from Smashbox. Keep reading to hear all about them!

Christmas Gift Idea: Savar Travel Minis

Do you know someone who is going on holiday this Christmas or New Years? Or who just loves beauty products? This may be the perfect gift for them! This set of Savar Travel Minis* contains 4 mini products; shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion - all of the essentials. 

Trilogy Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm

The blog has been a little bit neglected over the last two weeks thanks to exams, but I've finally got a bit of time this afternoon to give it a bit more attention, before getting back to the books later! I have only ever used makeup wipes or micellar water to remove my makeup before so the Trilogy Makeup-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm* is the first product of this kind I have ever tried out. Read on to find out what I thought!

Manuka Doctor Targeted Wrinkle Filler

I'm only 22, so wrinkles aren't exactly a huge issue for me at the moment (although I live in fear of them and I am starting to see fine lines appearing!) but, the Manuka Doctor Targeted Wrinkle Filler* is a great little product not only for filling in wrinkles, but also for filling in your pores and as a makeup primer.

Bronx Colors: City of Angels Palette

Bronx Colors have kindly sent me a huge range of their products, which I have been trying out lately. They have recently launched into the New Zealand market and their products are super affordable and cruelty free. I have so many favourites to share with you, but thought I would start with this one, the City of Angels palette*, since its limited edition. 

Johnny's Chop Shop: A Stylish New Range For Men

A lot of mens products are quite simple and unexciting. Johnny's Chop Shop is not like that at all. Johnny's Chop Shop is a super fun and stylish range inspired by 1950's and 60's retro style twisted with modern day trend. The range covers all essential mens grooming products such as skincare, hair and beard products. My boyfriend Vishal has been testing out a couple of products from the range over the last week. I will tell you a bit more about them below and how he found them. 

Bondi Sands New Product Launch

Last Thursday I attended a launch for two new products from Bondi Sands, the Ultra Dark Tanning Foam and the Gradual Tanning Foam - perfectly timed for Summer!

Trilogy Eye Contour Cream Review

As someone who never gets enough sleep or drinks enough water, I tend to always have bags and dark circles under my eyes, so eye creams are another thing I'm always up for trying out. Read on to find out what I thought about the Trilogy Eye Contour Cream*.

The Spring Edit '16

Now spring is here, I thought I would share with you my favourite beauty products for this season! Keep reading to find out what my top picks are and why. 

L'Oreal SCULP Range Review and Swatches

As a part of L'Oreal's latest product launch, they came out with some awesome new sculpting products, including the Infallible Sculpt Contouring Palettes and the Blush Sculpt Trio Contouring Blushes. 

Savar Spa Ultra Nourishing Body Butter

This immediately caught my eye since it is ginger and lime scented and I've been obsessed with anything with lime in it lately! This is the Savar Spa Ultra Nourishing Body Butter*.

Movie Review: Suicide Squad

I have decided to branch out into doing movie reviews now too. And, what better movie to start with than Suicide Squad, after how great it was. 

New LE Lemon Sherbet Tangle Teezer

Tangle Teezer has come out with a bright new fun LE edition, Lemon Sherbet*! It's the perfect combo of bright yellow and pastel pink for spring and summer. 

Botani Skincare Review

Botani is an Australian skin care brand which uses Olive Squalene in their products. Squalene is a naturally occurring substance that your skin actually produces itself. It is also found in olives. What does this mean? Olive Squalene absorbs easily into your skin to deeply deliver the products benefits. 

I was excited to try out a few products from this brand because they tick all of the right boxes. They don't test on animals, the products are vegan and they use all organic ingredients where they can.  

Empties - August 2016

I have decided to do my empties posts as I accumulate enough 'empties' to discuss, rather than doing it monthly. Its just a better way to do it, since some months I might only have one or two empties, and others I'll have a whole bag! Heres what I've used up lately.

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Sneaky Squirrel Body Scrub Review

I have been a fan of coffee scrubs since they first became a thing. Nothing leaves my skin as soft and smooth as a coffee scrub. So, when my friend Jordyn told me the Sneaky Squirrel Body Scrub* was good, I had to try it. 

Lancome Juicy Shaker Review

As soon as I saw these being advertised, I knew I had to get one. This is the Lancome Juicy Shaker in the shade Berry Tale. The whole concept is so cool. The product is packaged like a little martini shaker which is not only super cute but also gets across the message that you have to shake them up before you use them. 

Manuka Doctor Replenishing Facial Oil

I have felt a little bit cautious about using oils on my face in the past since I can get a bit oily and so the idea of adding even more oil to my face seems a bit scary. However, I'm no skin expert, but I have been told that the reason why your skin may get oily is due to it being dehydrated. Your skin producing oil is its own way of trying to rehydrate it, therefore the reason why you may have oily skin is because it is actually too dry (of course there may be many other reasons for why your skin is oily, such as hormones, other products you are using, diet etc.). But using an oil on oily skin may actually help with oiliness, not make it worse.

BH Cosmetics Pride + Prejudice Zombies Palette

I finally made my first BH Cosmetics order! I picked up this palette and the Blushed Neutrals 26 Color Eyeshadow and Blush Palette when they had their "buy one get 60% off a second" deal going. As you probably know, BH Cosmetics are super affordable and so even though I've heard so many good things about them, I wasn't expecting their eyeshadows/blushes/highlighters to be so pigmented. A few shades weren't as great, but overall I am super impressed and this palette has far exceeded my expectations.

Beauty Fails

Awhile back I did a post on all of my makeup fails. But that wasn't nearly all of them. This time, I'm talking about a few of my best (or worst!) beauty fails! Thinking about these again made me cringe. Warning: they're not very glamorous.

Karen Murrell Orchid Bloom Lipstick

I've seen Karen Murrell lipsticks all over the place and had been meaning to try one out for a long time, so I was super excited to have this one turn up on my doorstep! I got the shade Orchid Bloom*. Karen Murrell lipsticks are made from all natural ingredients, which is awesome since on the packaging it says that the average woman consumes nearly two kilograms of lipstick/lip balm in her lifetime! Isn't that crazy?! So obviously you don't want your lipsticks to be full of chemicals. Karen Murrell's tagline is fittingly; "nothing nasty touches my lips". And! It is also environmentally friendly! The whole product is recyclable, from the box to the canister.

Witch Skincare Review

My skin can be quite difficult from time to time, to say the least. I go through phases where my skin is fine and then all of a sudden for no apparent reason it will just decide to go crazy. I was sent these Witch Skincare products at the perfect time - right when my skin was having a tantrum.

May 2016 Empties

I have been making a conscious effort this month to try and use up as many of my half empty products as possible, including LE Christmas products that I was still working through. I am a bit of a hoarder and decided that before I buy anything else, I need to use up some of what I have! Here are my monthly empties.

L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique Cushion Foundation Review

The newest foundation trend is cushion foundations! What is a 'cushion' foundation you ask? It is a sponge in a compact case which is drenched with liquid foundation. You tap the sponge with your preferred applicator and apply. The great thing about this is that you waste far less product and it is a lot less messy, unlike typical liquid foundations that you have to pump out onto something.

Manuka Doctor ApiRefine Gold Dust Firming Serum

Manuka Doctor recently announced their new brand ambassador, Kourtney Kardashian. Anyone who has watched her show Keeping up with the Kardashians, or followed her on social media has probably noticed that Kourtney is really passionate about health and wellbeing (and has perfect skin!), so pairing up with Manuka Doctor is the perfect fit.

Black Chicken Axilla Deodorant Paste Review

This year I decided to try and incorporate more natural products into my routine. Ohnatural.co.nz had an amazing little sample pack on sale awhile back, which I picked up to try out. This 100% natural deodorant paste by Black Chicken Remedies was included. I was especially interested in trying a natural deodorant, after hearing so much about the aluminum and associated risks in traditional antiperspirants.

L'Oreal Paris #beautiesthatbrunch Event!

On Friday I went to the L'Oreal Paris NZ #beautiesthatbrunch event at Gusto at the Grand.  I got to meet some of the amazing L'Oreal team and some of the bloggers I have been following! We watched a demo of all of the new L'Oreal products coming out soon, done by the talented Lisa Matson (@nzmakeuppro) on the gorgeous model, Emily Triggs (@emily.triggs).

What does my blog name mean?

Xnmakeup (ex-n-makeup)

I was thinking about it today and realised that maybe not everyone understands what my blog name means. So I thought I would do a short little post to explain.

Empties April 2016

I was just doing a little clean out of all of my makeup and beauty products, and came across a few empties to share with you! Spoiler: they're all amazing.

Pet Peeves

If you follow me on Instagram (hopefully!), you may have seen my post earlier today about one of my pet peeves - advertisements for mascara using false lashes. Because how are you possibly meant to know what the mascara looks like on, if it is hidden (and their lashes are enhanced) by false ones? It's such fake advertising! And is so blatantly obvious! If a brand doesn't have enough faith in their product to let it sell itself without using other products to make it look better, why would we trust it? Further, if they can't make it look good enough by itself, even with access to professional makeup artists and a model who most likely has super long thick lashes naturally (of course you're not going to pick someone with short little lashes for a mascara ad!), then what chance does your average consumer have of making it work for them?

Manuka Doctor ApiClear Purifying Face Mask Review

So after trying the Manuka Doctor ApiClear Purifying Facial Peel* and loving it, I was super excited to try out their Purifying Face Mask! I have to say, I have been so impressed by the ApiClear skin care line.

My Makeup Fails!

Hello internet friends! So, I got started thinking about all of the major cringe worthy makeup fails I have made over the years, for the most part in high school (thank god that's over!) and I thought it would make a pretty funny blog post. So here you go! Hopefully some of these will make you laugh!

Chi Chi Cosmetics Viva La Diva Lipstick Review

Hey everyone! So, I was at Farmers this weekend and saw they had an amazing sale on, on the left over sets Chi Chi Cosmetics came out with for Christmas last year, so of course I had to get the lipstick set (for only $20 - but! Free because I had a $20 Farmers Rewards voucher!).

Top Tips For Studying

Hi guys! So this isn't my usual kind of post, but since heaps of us have been going back to, or starting uni (university/college), this week (at least in NZ anyway), I've seen heaps of posts around asking for tips for studying and going to uni in general, so I thought I would share my top tips that I've learnt from my 4 years at uni so far!