Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo

Competition Wall - Photo by Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo

The Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo is a yearly event that also host the Face 2 Face Makeup Awards/Competitions. This year, for the first time, they opened up a new category for Beauty Editorial Photographic. I have been meaning to enter a makeup competition but felt like a live competition was stretching it just a little too far for me and thought that this new category would be a great way to start.

I assembled my dream team for my concept consisting of:

Robert Coppa Photographer
Priya Chandra (hair) - hair extensions provided by Raven Waves Extensions
Daniella Jukic (Stylist/Wardrobe/Fashion Designer)
Simone Luker (Model)

I had had this concept in my head for a while now and I was so excited to finally shoot it and submit it for the competition. The final images reflect my style as a makeup artist and my style of images.
I couldn't have asked for a better team and even though I didn't win I am so happy with the final images (and may even have some big news about them very soon - keep an eye out on this blog :))

So, for those who were curious as to who won, here are the winners (absolutely LOVE 2nd and 3rd place - stunning entries!):

1st Place: Vivianne Tran

2nd Place: Alex Ouston

3rd Place: Kate Robinson

 Other entries that I enjoyed were:

Sheri Vegas

Lara Quinn

Carmelle Watkins

I also LOVE Mary Li's entry and I DO have a picture of it but I won't show it just yet as she has some big plans for that shoot. It is AMAZING though and if you head on over to her facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MaryLiMakeup) you can see the face chart for her entry!

bellabox - July 2O12

Contents:

You, Me & Everybody Shady Lady Daily Face Milk (full size)
Carmex Moisture Plus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm (full size)
Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Eye Cream (full size)
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Night Renewal Cream
Ulta3 Nail Polish in Mulberry (full size)
Almay Get Up & Grow Mascara (full size)
Primaria Nourishing Silk Mask & Bath of Life Shampoo
Givenchy Pi Neo (for men sample)


The one thing that really impressed me this month with bellabox is the amount of full size items I got (FIVE of them)! What an awesome treat this month. The only thing that would've made it even better would be if there was some sort of colour cosmetic in the box (lipstick/blush/eyeshadow).

I absolutely LOVED the Palmer's Cocoa Butter and the Carmex Lip Balm (who doesn't love a good lip balm in winter - it's like heaven!). I am yet to try the face products as I have so many samples floating around my house I might have to start giving some away - lol.

All in all, this was a great box from bellabox and I can't wait to see what they follow this up with in August!

Lust Have It - July 2O12

Contents:

Baby Foot (full size)
Matrix Mix In Shine x2
Mirenesse Velvet Lip Lift Moisture Shine Gloss
Avene Eluage Firming Gel
Avene Rich Compensating Cream
Avene Cold Cream

This month's Lust Have It sample bag was a bit underwhelming as I had received samples of the Avene range before and the gloss and leave in hair shine were nothing to be excited about as there was nothing really that ground breaking or new about those products. However, I was excited about trying the Baby Foot patches as I have heard so much about them and am dying to try it (to date I haven't had a chance as I have been so busy, but I swear I will get around to it and let you know my thoughts on them).

There isn't much to report on this sample box for this month unfortunately, which is such a shame as I had been really impressed with Lust Have It up until this sample for July. I guess I'll just have to have my fingers crossed for the August one!x

Revlon Nail Art

Steamy Affair (top) & Killer Instincts (bottom)

I saw these Revlon Nail Art pens a while ago and had been meaning to buy them for a while now but every time I would go to buy them they were sold out. Luckily, while I was in Priceline replenishing some items for my kit, I saw that they had a whole heap of them AND they were having a buy one get one free special - SCORE! :)

At the moment I am TOTALLY loving orange so I got Steamy Affair (taupe base with an orange metallic shatter) and Killer Instincts (orange base with a metallic bronze shatter).

I decided to do a ring finger accent and used Steamy Affair on the ring fingers (excuse the dodginess around the nails - lol)

 Then comes the shatter :)

Prior to buying these Revlon Nail Art pens I had bought OPI's Gold Shatter and I was really disappointed with it. The OPI Gold did not shatter at all and I had thought that it was due to the fact that it was a metallic shatter so the bar was not set very high at all for the Revlon ones as I had thought if OPI couldn't get it right how in the world would Revlon?

Well low and behold the Revlon shatter turned out amazing and I love that they have a bigger shatter pattern than the OPI shatter range.

The one con about this product is that it is quite awkward to do the polish with my non dominant hand (which is my right hand) as the extra weight of the nail polish acting as the lid was quite an odd sensation. It was only slightly noticeable but I did notice that I couldn't apply the polish as neatly as I usually do.

What I did like was the fact that the colours have been paired up together already so you don't have to think about what you will use as a base colour.

All in all, I would definitely recommend these polishes from Revlon as they are great value for money and have a really great finish.

Now to go into Priceline and buy some more! :)