Fawning Over Inglot

It's official. I've well and truly been converted. Inglot has stolen my heart.

About three weeks ago I made the silly mistake of tagging along to Chadstone Shopping Centre's 'VIP Night'. What this means is, for one night only, basically every store has a sale (some more impressive than others). I didn't intend to go into Inglot. Really I didn't. I had originally made the decision to stop after picking up a bottle of perfume and a reed diffuser. But the amazing wall of eye shadows lured me in, seeming to say "chooooose me...I'm pretty and oh-so-cheap!" I couldn't resist. After reaching the conclusion that I thoroughly needed some go-to neutral shades, I painstakingly selected three to put into one of their palettes - otherwise known as a 'freedom system'.

Behold!

My Inglot Palette, in all her magnetic-lidded majesty!

Left to Right: 395, 31, 409

The shades in direct sunlight.





The shades I ended up with were:
395: A shimmery white with a hint of peach and a pearl finish.
31: A sandy, golden brown with a shiny, frosty finish. 
409: A dark, bronzed, chocolate brown with a pearl finish.

Here they are swatched for your viewing pleasure:

Top to Bottom: 395, 31, 409

I find that these shades work splendidly together. My favourite way to wear them is with 395 all over my lid, 31 highlighting my inner corner and 409 buffed into my outer corner. Even though they are all shimmery finishes, I don't find that I look like a glitterball wearing them all at once. It's just enough shine for me.

The three Inglot shades, working their magic.

I cannot stress how much I adore these eye shadows. They're soft, easy to work with, and incredibly pigmented. I find that the 31 shade requires a little more building up than the other two, but not to any great extent. In fact, 31 is probably my favourite (and most worn) shade of the bunch. Usually, goldy colours tend to scare me as I'm fairly pale, but I feel like the 31 shade could work for any skin tone, providing just enough metallic sheen without being in-your-face gold.

All in all, I'm really pleased with the shades I picked up. Even though I spent far too long selecting them, and probably did the lovely sales assistant's head in, it was worth it in the end. Now I definitely have my sights set on filling a 10 pan. There were some brilliant greens and blues that I found awfully hard to resist! I may hold off until my visit to London later this year though, as they're a tiny bit cheaper there.

On the topic of price, I do have to give Inglot a big thumbs up for being a much cheaper (and equally as stunning) alternative to MAC. Due to the sale I managed to pay AUD $34.85 for the lot. That was $9.45 for the palette and $8.50 for each eyeshadow. The regular retail price in Australia (for a full 3 pan palette) is $38. Pretty reasonable in my opinion. Especially considering the amount of use I'm going to get out of it.

The two minuscule bits of criticism I have with Inglot are in regards to the shade coding and the magnetised casing. Firstly, I feel like assigning numbers to the shades rather than names, makes it really difficult to remember which shade is which. The only reason I know the numbers of the shades in my palette is because I kept the receipt. For me, names also make the colours a little more complex and desirable. MAC names such as Sable and Nylon just sound way more appealing to me than AMC Shine 31 and Matte 382. Secondly, the magnetic casing, which clicks or slides on and off, works wonderfully on the smaller palettes, but seems to be a little tricky on, say, the 20 pan palette. While I don't own a palette of this size, I can only imagine (having more magnets connected to them) that the larger palettes would require a little more effort to remove the cover, and would run the risk of having fingers sliding into them. That being said, I really appreciate the sturdiness of the lids. They seem practical for travel as I'm sure they'd protect the shadows from moving about and breaking.  

Oh boy, I can ramble! Sorry about that. The moral of the story is: Inglot is fab! Go there. Fall in love.

xx.

My Caudalie Companion & VIP at Chaddy

This post is mostly about my new best friend. She's French, she smells lovely, and she removes my makeup like a dream. Yep. It's the Caudalie Cleansing Water.

Originally, after a gushing review by blogger and YouTuber Fleur De Force, I'd intended to buy the This Works 5 In 1 Water. Unfortunately for me, feelunique.com was out of stock when it came time to purchasing it. So, I decided to take a complete chance on the Caudalie Cleansing Water. What's funny is, I had never heard of this brand around the beauty blogger scene until after I decided to buy it. Then, as it was making it's way over from the UK, Caudalie started popping up all over the place. Favourably mentioned I might add. Still, it was mostly the Beauty Elixir that was making waves, so I wasn't too sure what to expect of the cleanser.

Oooh la la!

As the name suggests, this is a watery cleanser rather than a cream. I really prefer this toner-like consistency over the traditional cream cleansers as I feel that they are more 'eye friendly'. I often find that cream cleansers will find a way of seeping into my eye when applied with a cotton pad. I want a cleanser that is quickly absorbed by the cotton pad so that the product is not just being moved around my skin; risking being pushed into my eye. This one does the trick. Plus it's states on the bottle that it's safe for sensitive eyes and gentle enough for sensitive skin types. I can definitely vouch for that. After trying it out over the past couple of weeks, I've never found that it's irritated me.

As far as removing makeup goes, it's very good. Of course, heavy eye makeup requires a little more time and effort, but I think that's always the case. It definitely works as effectively on the eyes, if not more effectively, than my Garnier Eye Makeup Remover. In fact, the Caudalie cleanser has basically eliminated my need for a separate eye makeup remover. Which saves both time, money and cotton pads. So I'm happy!

I can definitely see how this could suit all skin types. I have normal to dry skin, but I feel as though this would work well on oily skin as well. It's tough on removing dirt and makeup, but still light and fresh enough not to weigh down the skin after applying.

On two completely shallow notes, I love the scent and packaging. It says on the bottle that it contains mint. Which I suppose explains the fresh scent. Although it smells a little like cucumber to me. Which is strange, because it doesn't actually contain any! Also the packaging is a much fancier than the trusty Nivea Cleanser I was using for years. It's a nice, thick, frosted plastic with a sturdy screw-on cap. I never thought I'd be impressed by a cleanser's little home, but I really like this one!

I picked up this 200ml bottle for AUD $22.95 on feelunique.com, which I think is pretty reasonable for the quality of the product. It's also available in a 100ml bottle for AUD $13.77 (perfect for travel) and a whopping 400ml bottle for AUD $27.54. This is certainly something I'll be repurchasing, and I can happily recommend it to anyone on the hunt for a sensitive-skin-friendly, paraben free, non animal tested, effective-as-anything cleanser with a smell that's to die for!

In other news, Chadstone Shopping Centre is having their VIP sale tomorrow from 9am through to midnight. Oh yes! I missed out on it last year, but this year I'll be there with bells on! Unfortunately I have to keep my spending to a minimum because I'm supposed to be saving. Damn, stupid saving! But I simply can't resist 50% off all stock at The Perfume Connection, not to mention picking up some staples at Cotton On for 30% off. Plus a girl can't say no to complimentary champagne and cupcakes! Is anyone else planning on going? I'm looking forward to stickybeaking at some blogger hauls! Oh...and the sale offer list is here for those of you with no will power like myself!