Another Nail Fixation with an Essence Nail Polish Haul!

The other day I was at my local Priceline and they finally installed a full shelf of Essence products! Essence in Australia has only been avaliable at Target and usually most of the items there are no where to be found (since they're always out of stock). Priceline now has full shelves of all the Essence products! I grabbed a few things (mainly Essence) and here are the nail polishes which I snagged for $2.55 each! The top coats were $3.45 each. 

Overall, Essence Nail Polishes are pretty good quality. The nail polishes aren't streaky and most of them become opaque after 2-3 coats (which is typical) 

They last a good week the nails (with top coat) and a 3-4 days without. The 'gel look' top coat from Essence actually made my nails somewhat gellish! But it was more of a high gloss top coat as it is depicted on the packaging. 

I am definitely not disappointed at Essence Nail Polishes and especially the brand. It's heaps affordable and cheap as well.

You can find Essence products at either Target or Priceline in Australia and also at Ulta in the US. 

Have you tried any Essence products? If so, what are your favourites? 

Love, J 

Winter: Keeping It Simple

Lately, after being encouraged by the boyfriend and also lack of motivation... I finally joined the gym. I've been going everyday except Thursday this week because I was just lazy and I had my monthlies... That being said, I haven't been bothered with much make up because obviously it's the gym!

I've kept my make up simple when I go to the gym and also out and this is mainly what I wear out for the past week or so considering it's winter. If i'm going to the gym I will only apply my MAC Studio Moisture Tint for that little bit of coverage - considering it's a tinted moisturiser it won't do damage in terms of clogging pores and all. If I'm going to work or just out and not to the gym AT ALL, I will apply my MAC Studio Fix or my Lancome Photogenic Lumessence Foundation. I do try to do without it but I feel insecure with just a bare face considering my face is near to flawless with blemishes and redness (I'm not going to be anymore modest here) but saying that...

I've been using Clinique's Anti-Blemish Solutions (Clarifying Lotion & Moisturiser) after my 'fail' attempt to clear my blemishes with the 3 Step Kit which I reviewed and mentioned in a previous post. Despite how they're miniature and that they are sample sizes they have done much needed justice for me to see improvement. I am so so happy that this Anti-Blemish system actually works! I'm waiting for my paycheck and enough balance in the bank account to actually purchase the kit which is $117. I'm also hoping there a gift with purchase going on with Clinique (fingers crossed it's real soon!)

My current go-to mascara right now is Maybelline's Great Lash Lots of Lashes Mascara. I love it and I shall declare it my current HG mascara. It actually gives me existent lashes and also provides volume and length. I do switch around with this mascara and my Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara as well as my Australis Killer Curves one which I love for a clean simple look.  

As for brows, I've been digging this Essence Eyebrow Designer Pencil in 02 Brown which I picked up at Melbourne for $2.95 at Target. So far awesome eyebrow pencil to finish off the look. 

My NARS Highlighter in Albatross is something I simply adore. Most days it's just highlighter for me. I've been lazy with bronzer for contouring and also blusher so it's highlighter all the way for me. 

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze is a favourite, I've been using it everytime I go out ever since I purchased it from Melbourne. So much love for this product and perfect for any occasion - work or going out! (There will be a guest post on Makeup & Macaroons on my review on this real soon! So keep a lookout!)

The Etude House Baby Doll Puff just to blend out the tinted moisturiser/foundation. Love it! 

My Garnier Roll On Depuffer i'm on my 3rd one of this and I can't live without it. I love this to death and I always have one handy due to the fact that I always get puffy eyes. 

Face of Australia's Sheer Gloss Crayon in Sundae sometimes when I'm in a rush I just apply this chubby crayon on my lips for an on the go neutral lip. Especially for the gym, it acts like a lip balm and colour for me. 

There were some more essentials like my everyday eyeliner and other foundations, but I kept it simplified and also mainly the products I've been reaching out to the most. 

What are your winter essentials? 

Love, J

Just Plain Delirious' Favourite's Giveaway! (CLOSED)

BEFORE ENTERING, PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS OR ELSE YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. 

Some people have been entering but have not evidently doing the required instructions. 

ie. clicked 'like' on facebook but clearly have not liked the page or 'follow the blog' and have not followed the blog. 

People who are misleading entries are automatically disqualified. 

So I'm making a favourites giveaway... Why? Because I shall be giving away my favourite items! I'm feeling generous considering that I nearly have 100 Likes (Currently on 85 Likes on my Blog's Facebook Page - Thanks for all of those who have liked my page!) 

Also, the support of my friends who helped me get my business cards together as well as helping me find items with the design and tweaks and etc with the blog. And finally, sharing my passion and also loving the fact that people admiring and also always coming back to my blog. Asking me in person and also emailing/facebooking me about beauty questions! I'm not a guru or professional but I appreciate all the love and support everyone has shown for me! 

Due to the lack of minimal entrants for the last giveaway I decided that this giveaway would be a huge eye opener and also something a lucky reader would love. Obviously, these are my favourite items I reach for nearly all the time! I realised I had some dupes and extras as well as things I got on sale which I would chuck into this giveaway! 

Considering how much I love my followers as well as you, taking the time to read my blog as well as admiring and also keeping up to date with it. This is my present for you!

1st Prize will be my essentials favourite set! 

Worth nearly $60 altogether

Containing:

Sigma Sigmax Brush Set of 2 - F84 & F82 Brushes (mentioned here)

Essence Concealer & Silky Touch Blush (mentioned here)

Lush R&B Hair Moisturiser (mentioned here)

Face of Australia Lip Quench Lipstick in Lychee Crush

Puretopic (Organic) Hand Cream - I don't use this but since I'm not doing anything with it. I'll chuck it in this giveaway 

 2nd Place Winner will get this set of Face of Australia Barbados Nail Polishes (mentioned here)

I bought two of each of these after I blogged cause I knew I needed to do a giveaway with these, so now they come to use!

3rd Place Winner will get these two lovely Essence Concealer and Blush (mentioned here)

Obviously, there will be ONE winner for each of the items listed here. 

The Terms and Conditions are as followed in this Rafflecopter widget. 

YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO ENTER 

and for this entry to go ahead there needs to be 30 Unique Entries or else it's kinda of pointless and not enough people are not entering and etc. 

You can only do 3 of the requirements listed. 

ie. 1 Requirement: Follow This Blog, 2nd Requirement: Comment, 
AND
(CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING)
3rd Requirement: (Tweet, Sidebar Banner, Like on Facebook etc)


People who do not furfil this requirement will be disqualified. So far there have been people who have entered all and only 3 will be selected. 

This Entry Finishes on 31 July 9pm EST (Sydney Time)
This is open internationally. 

~

If you would like to score an extra +3 Entries, Add this Image to your Blog (Sidebar) - It must be visible and will be check or else your entrant for this will be disqualified. 

<a href="http://www.justplaindelirious.com/2012/05/just-plain-delirious-favourites.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p623/jdynamite92/Just-Plain-Delirious-Giveaway-2.gif" border="0" alt="Just Plain Delirious Giveaway"></a>

~

GOOD LUCK

Love, J

Disclaimer: Items that are displayed in this giveaway are either gifted, sponsored, reimbursed or bought with my own money. In no way am I paid to advertise or promote any products mentioned. For more information see my disclosure policy. 

Target Haul: Essence & Target Wipes

So on Friday, before Uni I headed to my local Target store to grab some Essence goodies. I was in search for one blush (which I have now) because it's somewhat a dupe for the NARS Luster one I've been lusting over! Without the $38US price tag (with shipping) for the NARS Luster one, I paid $4.95 for this amazing blush! I've been eyeing a peachy/orangey blush just for an everyday use and I fell in love with the formula of this blush. The packaging is flimsy but it will do. 

The Essence Silky Touch Blush in Secret It Girl is my favourite blush colour at the moment. I also picked up Essence Forget It! Concealer Palette and it's pretty good! Essence products never fail to impress me with their quality, formula and also their price! One con I must add is that when I bought these two: Concealer & Blusher - they were sticky taped. I know that it prevents people from damaging and trying out new products in store but it left ugly residue and all... (pictures below) other than that. Love it! 

I also grabbed some nail polishes and yeah, the wipes as well. They're target branded and they're made in europe. The facial wipes were only $2.25 and the Hand Wipes was $1.50.

You can see the sticky tape and the label at the back of the blusher is uneven because I had to sticky tape it back on :(

Also, grabbed some nail polishes for $2.55 each! The green one reminds me of China Glaze's Refresh Mint in a way, but when swatched next to For Audrey - it's lighter. Can't wait to try it!

Also a typical black nail polish that I don't have and will add to my nail polish collection. 

Left to right: 

Swatched - Secret It Girl then Blended 

If you look at the image above for the concealer, pink is for the undereyes, green is for redness and the beige is for blemishes. 

Overall, I cannot stress how much I love these products! 

You can find Essence in Australia at Target stores. They have a very limited range in cosmetics because they tend to run out quick. I found that I had to go to 2-3 target stores to find items in Sydney. 

I might be doing a giveaway with the Blush and the Concealer since I bought one of each today! 

Love, J

Liquid Eyeliners

So I recently bought Essence's Liquid Liner Pen and I gotta say... for $5 it is amazing! Better than anything else I've used and I think I will stock up on more! I've used Maybelline which is great but then when I bought Line Stiletto, I find that it starts cracking after setting after a while. (Dislike) But other than that it has decent staying power. MAC's Rapidblack, I loved it at first because I love how precise you can create lines with it but I found that it ran out way too soon and started drying out and all, which made me sad. LOL. But I don't think I'll repurchase either MAC or Maybelline, for now. 

So right now, all eyes are on the Essence Liquid Liner Pen. It states that it's extra long lasting and it definitely is! I love the tip of the pen and the one thing I like about liquid eyeliners is that it is in a shape of a pen. I dislike Lash Stilettos brush style, even though it is somewhat quite like a pen. I have to try and manoeuvre around with it - I find it gets all over the place (maybe cause I'm a noob) and I just dislike the uneven application. So meeeeeeeh.  

MAC, Essence, Maybelline.

Lash Stiletto, Essence, MAC. 

Overall, liquid eyeliner/eyeliner in general is something you shouldn't go too high end for. If it works and it's affordable - go for it. I use to use Chanel's Waterproof Crayon eyeliner (which I still use from time to time) but I find that as long as another product is a fraction of the price AND is doing the same job. Then why pay the price? 

The Essence Liner is available at all Target Stores. There's a little Essence Stand where all the other make up brands are in the MU section of Target. You won't miss it!

If you're like me and is a bit pedantic and loyal to having high end products due to luxury, experience as well as the assurance that you won't be disappointed. (I hope that really made sense... LOL) By all means, that's you. But for me - as long as it works, it's wonderful and you know you'll have more money in your pocket at the end of the day. Let alone, I will always buy high end foundations - just sayin' 

Hope you find this somewhat useful! Oh, and before I forget. Thanks to all of those I tagged in the 11 Questions. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT! (I don't know if I mentioned this before - I think I did but I'll mention it again for those who didn't see my message)

Love, J.

Elf & Essence Eyeshadow Primers.

So in the mail yesterday from Uni, I got my Elf Eyelid Primer in Golden. It's quite similar to Urban Decay's Greed Primer Potion (from judgement) but I've compared it with Essence Eyeshadow Base which I got from Target a few weeks back.  

 

Elf's Eyelid Primer is probably the size of an Average Mascara. 

The applicator and the packaging looks pretty cheap but... hey it's only $1 in the US - So no high expectations there!

L2R: Elf's Eyelid Primer, Essence Eyeshadow Base, No Primer. 

Swatched here is Snakebite from my Naked 2 Palette. 

I'm impressed with the elf eyelid primer. It was roughly $5-6~ from eBay (with shipping and all) and I believe in the US it's only $1 at drugstores... Also, I haven't seen Elf anywhere in Sydney so I had to get it online. I say it's worth it?! Considering it's worth $1 in the US. Only because the amount of product you get is quite little. 

The shadow goes well and I wore it yesterday to Uni and it was intact! 8 hours and it's still there! Though my eyelids were still oily - it managed to last longer than Essence. I suppose it shows up more on my swatch above as opposed to the Essence one which is just plain white. Overall, I would repurchase this product. I love it! And I've read reviews online about Elf's EP and that it's nearly as comparable to Urban Decay's Primer Potion and that it's a fraction of the price! 

I also... bought Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Original. Waiting for it to come in mail the next 2 weeks or so! So excited! Because Urban Decay's one holds up to 24hours (from what I read) so that's a huge plus! And it's the best Primer on the market so... Why not!? 

For me, I'm not a huge/heavy eyeshadow wearer but I do apply black eyeshadow and line my eyes with the other shimmery gold's on my Naked 2 Palette to make a sort of Gradient/Thinner Eyeshadow Application in Eyeliner form if that makes sense. But I do want my eyeliner to last longer so hopefully it will give me that lasting power and also help with the oilyness of my eyelids.

Here is a comparison between Elf & Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primers. I love the golden sheen to Elf's Eyelid Primer which is probably comparable to UDPP in Greed. (There's also 4 different colours I believe - Just like Urban Decay's Primer Potions)  

 

Elf's Eyelid Primer 

L2R: Pearl, Golden, Champagne, Sheer

Urban Decay Primer Potion

L2D: Original, Sin, Eden, Greed 

Here's a comparable swatch which I obtained from Glostix's. 

(Source: Glostix)

I hope you found this helpful and I will probably make a post about UDPP?! I don't know. There's too many out there but let me know if you want me to! I probably might anyways!

Love, J. 

Review: Essence You Rock Eyeshadow Base

So today I went to my local Target store and was browsing around until I saw this new and affordable make-up range called Essence. You can say they're like Australis but way cheaper! From my research, Essence is a European brand. I'm assuming they're all made in Germany, as it says on my eyeshadow primer that I bought today!

I got Essence's You Rock Eyeshadow Base (Primer) for $4.95AUD. Considering us Australians and having a minimal range of make-up brands at prices that are far comparable to the ones in America, This is considered really cheap. I know that the Urban Decay Primer Potion in the US is roughly $20USD, I highly doubt if we were to have Urban Decay here it would cost that much. MAC is highly comparable already for those who know. But enough rambling and onto the review!

Since I've been searching and experimenting with eyeshadow recently, I obviously need a primer to keep the colours in place and also intensify them with a longer lasting power.  I didn't want to splurge on Urban Decay's Primer Potion YET. (As I'm still learning and experimenting) so I wanted to start with something cheap and then work my way up, so this will do for now. 

The first swatch is when it dries out (but i didn't blend it in) - I don't know why I included this in the picture but meh. 

Second swatch is straight from the primer itself. 

Overall, I really like it. It's creamy texture and the ability of drying up fast is great (though apply this, rub it on your eyelids and then you're ready to pack on the colour!) I've already order Elf's Eyelid Primer on Ebay so we'll see if they're the same quality or different. But til then, this is my primer for now! 

I also tried creating this look I learnt from 'From Head to Toe' with my Naked 2 Palette and I achieved it with the help of this primer! I really like this natural eyeshadow look and I love the colours from the Naked2 Palette! 

Anywho, hope this little review is helpful and also great for those newbies starting out with eyeshadow and want to find a good affordable eye primer - this one is widely available and cheap! 

Love, J.