IndieAna- In Search of the HolyGrail

Start of a new month, time to show you what I used up during the one just gone, August. As you can see, not a great deal... Katy Perry "Meow" - I'm not upset to see this alien cat go. It was a nice perfume, but I didn't love it. Repurchase? No, I'm glad to not have this cat stare at me from my dresser. Skinn Eye Mask - The under eye area is so delicate, it's nice to be able to treat, nourish and hydrate the area. This mask did all that while providing a lovely soothing cooling effect. Repurchase? I already have a back-up. Lumiere "Wild Rose" Blush- This sample baggie of blush lasted for many uses. Being a dusty pink colour, I found that it gave a lovely rosy flush to my cheeks. Repurchase? Lumiere no longer operates, however as nice as the blush was, it's not a unique colour. I know I'd have one similar in my collection. Thierry Mugler "Angel Innocent"- I really like the original "Angel", as t...

The Sally Hansen nail polish "Bride To Be" came to be in my collection because of the price. It wasn't a colour I needed and certainly not unique. But, the 80c price tag was something that I just could not ignore. A silvery pewter. At first I was somewhat meh with this nail polish, but it did grow on me, and I appreciated it's simple beauty.  I did need 3 coats for this mani to be opaque.  I was impressed with the wear time, it took a few days to chip. That's actually huge for me because getting chips in my nail polish within 24 hours is not at all unusual. I can see why it's named "Bride To Be", it is elegant and understated. I hope your Sunday is treating you well :)

I was given "Purr" because it was a perfume my daughter loved the bottle of, but not the actual fragrance. She was on a quest for vanilla based perfumes and this one didn't deliver what she was searching for. I'm always happy to try new perfumes. And if something doesn't take my fancy, I then pass it on to my mother. For me the deep purple of the bottle is the only redeeming feature of this cat from space, lol. Description- " ...top notes of peach, forbidden apple, gardenia and green bamboo with the heart of jasmine, pink freesia and Bulgarian rose and the base of vanilla orchid, creamy sandalwood, white amber, coconut and musk." Upon first spray of this perfume I get sweet peach entwined in creamy florals, not too heady, but definitely strong. During wear the dark sandalwood and musk appear, grounding the fragrance, but not totally taking over the very spring feel of fruity floral notes. It's a fairly simple, girly perfume, yet pleas...

Before I had won this lipstick, thanks to Christina's ( Lovethatlippie ) generous Instagram giveaway, I had never even heard of Elf Matte Lip Color. A fairly simple name for a pretty amazing lip product. Taken from the Elf website- " This convenient jumbo sized lip pencil creates exact colour application with twist up ease so you don't have to sharpen. The pigment rich colour glides on effortlessly and easily to provide long lasting colour."  I like the simple, yet sleek look of these pencils. Great blunt, yet small tip.  A similar consistency to a lip pencil, a soft creamy one. I love that this lipstick pencil is retractable, I hate sharpening makeup pencils! I wasn't keen on the actual packaging, it just feels loose and cheap, oh dear, not the best explanation, but you get what I mean, right? Application is easy. Being a pencil means I have more control, and precision is much more achievable, than say a bullet lipstick.  Even th...

An easy, yet effective nail look is to start with a base colour, a sheer polish is best. Then alternate a few coats with a glitter polish. You can either finish with the glitter or the colour. This is known as a "Glitter Sandwich". This technique gives the look of more depth than just nail polish with a coat of glitter topper. I chose to use Sally Hanson Xtreme Wear "Blizzard Blue" and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "Mermaid's Tale". I will try more of a sheer colour next time, but I love the dimension using this technique gives. Super easy and just so pretty, with so many combinations I now want to try! In direct sunlight this mani comes alive with sparkle being more noticeable. Removal is not so fun, but worth it, in my opinion. Would you try a "Glitter Sandwich"? On your nails! I don't recommend eating glitter no matter how pretty it looks, lol.

Over the years I've only used a face highlighter sporadically, hardly ever, to be honest. I would buy one every now and then, that would only end up collecting dust. With my preference of dewy foundations, I just found it too much adding a highlighter.  I guess with the craze of contouring (which I don't do much of!) I really liked that highlighted cheekbones look, not over-the-top, but a subtle sheen. This also works well with my current less dewy foundation finishes.  My most recent purchase from MUA Cosmetics included "Iridescent Gold" highlighting powder from the Undress Your Skin range. Taken from the website  " MUA's highlighting powder instantly radiates and lifts any complexion. This can be applied all over for an added radiance or applied to the cheek bones and under the brow bone to life an accentuate your natural features."  The compact is very pretty, it's almost a shame to use it and mess up that cute ripple effect. I a...

During her trip to the Philippines, my daughter gifted me a few makeup items, including this nail polish. I have never heard of the brand La Belle, but looking at the beautiful purple colour, I couldn't wait to get it on my nails. Deep purple. "Victorian Violet" is so striking and rich in colour. 2 coats gave me the streak free coverage that I desired.  Happy Sunday! :)

Description- " Perfume composed of apple note surrounded with violet leaves becomes sweeter with a glittering start thanks to a splendid bouquet beautifully harmonizing leaving us under the impression of having a real, juicy, ripe apple in front of us. Red Delicious mixes the notes of champagne, lychee, raspberry, apple, rose, amber, musk and vanilla." Upon application, "Red Delicious" bursts with sweet, juicy apples and berries, yet has the perfect floral balance that compliments the fresh fruit notes. The musk and amber emerge during wear, grounding the perfume and giving a more sophisticated touch. I find that there is an aquatic sea salt element that can be detected, but only enhances the summery feel of this perfume. It is a fun, flirty fragrance, yet can easily take you from a casual occasion to a special one.

Do you know just how long I've wanted to try Australis Velourlips?? It had been on my wishlist for so long, but I was on a low-buy that sadly included lip products. Well, that's over, shouldn't be, but it is, and I finally have some Velourlips!! I purchased one, but "Bar-tha-lona" was a shade that I was lucky enough to win, thanks to beauty blogger Christina of Lovethatlippie . The Velourlips is a cream formula. Seriously, that vibrant colour!! As you can see from the lip swatches, it does dry to a matte finish. Matte lips generally mean longer lasting lip colour, but also dryness. However, I don't find this liquid lipstick too uncomfortable. As with any long wearing lipstick, I would suggest exfoliating your lips before hand, just to create a smoother surface. Especially if you have dry lips like I do. I can imagine that this liquid lipstick would not look pretty on chapped lips! I did find the shade remained sticky for some time, b...

I'll start by saying that this was not the mani I had in mind, but, thankfully it still turned out ok. I thought it would be such a great idea to apply nail polish using a toothbrush for a different effect. I assumed I'd get a pattern made up of tiny dots. Nope.  OPI "Passion", Ulta3 gold polish, LA Colors "Live" and Essie "Pure Pearlfection". I thought a natural colour would be a good choice to apply gold and silver over. Using an old toothbrush, I dabbed both gold and silver on my nails. It seemed to give a gold leaf kind of effect to these metallic shades. I then applied Essie "Pure Pearlfection" to tie both shades together. In future, I think I will stick to using my old toothbrushes as little scrubbing brushes for cleaning the bathroom, lol.

A face mask is so beneficial for the skin, but one thing I don't like, is that many of the treatment products I have used cannot be applied around the delicate eye area, because they're more targeted to my combination skin. Underneath my eyes can get so dehydrated that it would be good to treat there, too. Enter Skinn by Dimitri EnergEyes Anti-Fatigue Firming Eye Mask (say that quickly 10 times, lol) Taken from the Skinn website-  " Energize your eyes with green tea, white tea, cucumber, avocado, mango and kukui extract (just to name a few). Infused with today's latest peptide technology giving the perfect prescription to refresh and revitalize eye area each morning." The mask is similar to that of a thick custard in consistency. As recommended, I leave this mask in the fridge. The instant cooling helps with puffiness, and then there's all those other beautiful ingredients to ensure the under eye area has a pampering session of its own....

Seeing as it's hard to find much warmth in this weather, I went for a warm colour on my nails. And let me just say that this shade is sizzling! Ciate "Beach Hut" is a gorgeous golden orange with loads of shimmer. This nail polish colour is gorgeous! I love there's all the shimmer, without the removal woes of glitter nail polish :) I hope you have been having an amazing weekend! 

Out of the Rihanna perfume trio, "Rebelle", Reb'l Fleur and "Nude", I like "Rebelle" best. Description- " ...a fruity floral with strong gourmand chords. Top notes encompass plum, strawberry and ginger, a heart offers heliotrope, vanilla orchid and cocoa absolute, while a base features a trail of musk, coffee, patchouli and amber." This perfume makes for a great Autumn/Winter fragrance. The fruits are more of the heavier kind, with plum being a forerunner. It does have a rich mocha gourmand side, but I find it works to compliment the dark notes of patchouli, amber and musk, sweet, but not at all cloying. The base notes combined with the spice of ginger gives an oriental feel to this perfume. The drydown is my favourite stage. The perfume at this point is sensual with the musk, and remains so rich throughout.

These MUA Cosmetics palettes had me at metallic . The palette contains 3 eye shadow shades and one lid primer. There are 3 versions on offer, I bought 2 of them and thought I would include them both in the one post. "Elemental" I began with the champagne colour in the inner lid, then the gold on the rest of my lid and blue in my crease for something different. I found the blue so pretty applied on my entire lid. For this look, I applied the champagne to my lid, gold in the crease, then lined with blue, using gold on my lower lashline as well.  "Mysterial" Here I used the pale gold on my inner lid and lower waterline, pink on my entire lid and the dark chocolate brown in the crease. I used pink on the inner lid, then the rest was the brown, which applied very patchy and was difficult to work with. Light gold on my entire lid, with the pink used as a liner. As much as I loved the met...