About 3 months ago, a friend of mine was organising a Sephora haul, and I asked her to pick up a few things for me. Due to unforseen circumstances, it took a little longer to get here than we had planned, so my parcel arrived yesterday. For Christmas, I was given an Urban Outfitters gift card, and I deliberated on what to buy until about a month ago, when I placed my order. It arrived this morning. Last night, I was the guest of Fashion Weekend Sydney, and I picked up a few small things.

I normally don’t post hauls here on Makeup Utopia, but when everything arrived all at once, I asked on twitter if anyone would like to see a haul, and the resounding answer was YES! I’m here to serve, so here we go!

Sephora

I am a little bit of a Urban Decay groupie, and they are without a doubt my favourite brand for eyeshadow. When the Naked Basics palette was announced, I could barely contain my excitement, so this was number one on my list. I got it from Sephora, but if you’re outside the US, try Beauty Bay.

I’ve always loved the story of the Wizard of Oz – I’ve read all the Oz book, and seen the Judy Garland movie more times than I can count. I loved the prequel that was released earlier this year as well, and picking up these 2 limited edition palettes was a no-brainer. The Glinda palette is really pretty, but the Theodora palette is incredibly practical.

The Theodora Palette (Mila Kunis) is sold out in Sephora, and not available on Beauty Bay, but at the time of writing, the US can still pick this up at Macy’s, and if you’re in the UK, try House of Fraser.

The Glinda Palette (Michelle Williams) is sold out in Sephora, and not available on Beauty Bay, but at the time of writing, the US can still pick this up at Macy’s and in you’re in the UK, try House of Fraser.

Fashion Weekend

Last night I was the guest of Fashion Weekend at their VIP night, and I was stoked to find a retailer stocking Lime Crime!

I picked up their Carousel Gloss in Candy Apple – it’s more of an ultra glossy liquid lipstick, jam packed with red microglitter.

I also couldn’t resist grabbing their Red Velvet Velveteen – a matte finish liquid lipstick in a stunning blood red.

I picked these up from the Fiebiger Shoes stand, but I can’t find any Lime Crime on their website. They can be a bit tricky to find online, but try the LimeCrime website.

Urban Outfitters

After really enjoying the Lime Crime Palette D’Antoinette, I wanted to try another one, to see if it was just as good, so I grabbed the Aquataenia Palette when I saw it on Urban Outfitters.

I picked up these cute little gingham bow lashes because they reminded me of a Makeup Forever collection from a few years ago. Sadly, they’re no longer on the website.

That’s all the makeup that I hauled in the last 2 days, I hope you enjoyed seeing it. Let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see reviewed.

If you’d like to check out the fashion and homewares I hauled, you can check out my personal blog “This is not a Beauty Blog.” – hopefully I’ll see you over there!

P.S. everything mentioned here was purchased, and a couple of the links are affiliate links.

Unless you’re a supermodel, or blessed with perfect-features and great self-esteem, putting photos of your face on the internet can be a very scary thing! I recently read this blog post by Makeup Utopia member Lizzi discussing her feelings at posting her very first “FOTD” (Face of the Day). Her words really struck a chord with me:

“in the mirror, my makeup looked cool and I looked human, but as soon as I tried to take a picture my face, seemed to become completely out of proportion, my giant eyes even more so, my eyebrows at different heights (which I’m not so secretly sure they are) and also 1 eye bigger than the other, basically none of them did my makeup justice and it was all really pissing me off”

Oh Lizzi, I can totally relate to how you’re feeling about seeing your face in a photo! When I did my very first Face of the Day post, I HATED how I looked, and it wasn’t about the makeup. Suddenly I realised that my eyes were two different sizes, my eyebrows were completely different shapes, my lips are not even close to symmetrical and I have a deviated septum i.e. a really crooked nose. It really can be so confronting seeing pictures of your face up close and personal!

Obviously, through practice I have overcome these poisonous feelings of self doubt. I post one Face of the Day per week here on Makeup Utopia, and last year I posted 30 FOTD’s in 30 days. Here’s a few tricks I learned along the way-

1. Take lots of photos. And when I say lots, I really mean it. For most of my Face of the Day articles I take upwards of 30 photos. This may not sound like a lot, but when I first started I quite literally took HUNDREDS! Not only did this vastly increase my chances of finding one or two photos I was satisfied with, but it taught me the best angles for my face, and how to really highlight my best features and hide the things I perceived as flaws.
2. If you watch the “Next Top Model” franchise, you will know that the smallest details can make or break a photo. Try making very small changes in your facial expression with each picture. Try relaxing or adding tension to your mouth, your eyelids, your forehead. Even clenching or relaxing your jaw can make a huge difference to your finished photo.
3. Shooting with your camera slightly​ higher than eye level can help you to look slightly leaner, if this is a concern for you. Don’t hold it too high though, this can sometimes look like the dreaded “MySpace photo”.
4. Shooting your face from a slight angle rather than full frontal can help to disguise any asymmetry in your face.
5. Try and have fun with it, and accept that like anything, it gets easier over time.
6. BONUS TIP: Please don’t ever do a duckface pose in your Face of the Day. You might think it makes you look like you have plump, pouty lips and razor sharp cheekbones, but really, it makes you look like this.

I think publishing a Face of the Day is a really healthy thing. When done regularly it teaches you acceptance and self-love, and provides a great record of your improving makeup skills (because believe me – when you do it regularly, your makeup skills WILL improve!)

Have you ever published a Face of the Day on your blog, or even on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook? Did you find it a challenge?

I wrote about some of the makeup used in this look last week, and I felt inspired to create a pretty, girly look using some of my new toys.

This is the look I ended up with. What do you think?

I was really happy with the finished look, and got quite a few compliments when I went out to dinner that night.

Products Used:

Face:

• Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream*
• Rimmel Stay Matte Translucent Powder
• Le Metier De Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope
• Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Disobey

 Eyes:

• Smashbox Brow Tech to Go in Taupe*
• Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight
• Too Faced Powder Eyeshadows in Vanilla, Cut the Cake, Framboise and Coffee Bean
• Benefit “They’re Real!” Mascara*

Lips:

• Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids x We Are Handsome in Vivid Rose*

 Hair:

• Remington Styles Unlimited 5 in 1 styler*

Products marked with an * were provided for editorial consideration.

CC Cream (Colour Correcting Cream) is supposed to be the next generation of BB Cream (Blemish Balm or Beauty Balm). Where BB Cream is generally marketed as an all-in-one facial cosmetic product to replace serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation, and sunblock, a CC Cream should by definition, offer all these benefits, as well as the added benefit of colour correcting your skin.

What does this mean? Some brands have created products with a green tint, meant to immediately reduce the appearance of redness, while other brands have added additional skincare ingredients meant to permanently reduce hyperpigmentation and skin discolouration.

Smashbox claims that their CC Cream is the ultimate color-correcting cream, proven to fade dark spots.

Smashbox’s Camera Ready CC Cream is packaged simply, in a lightweight, easy-squeeze tube.

The product itself is a relatively thick formula that is more of a cream than a lotion in texture. It’s quite robust and not at all runny.

This CC Cream is quite workable when first applied to my skin, and allows me plenty of time to blend it out thoroughly. When blended, I find this product gives a light to medium level of coverage, with an extremely natural satin finish. It does initially appear to be quite a dewy finish, but in no time at all, it dries down to mimic almost perfectly the texture of my skin.

In the below images I have applied Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream to the right side of my face (the left side of the image).

You can see here that my freckles are still visible, although not prominent, and most of the redness in my skin has been neutralised.

In the image above, you can see that this CC Cream does a very good job of disguising my pores. It’s also worth noting that I waxed my eyebrows 10 minutes before taking these pictures. There is noticeable redness on the side that I have not applied the CC Cream, and this redness has been completely neutralised where I have applied the product. (How scary do I look here! I’m all like ‘I’m watching you..”)

This last image was taken in harsh,unforgiving sunlight. I don’t appear to be wearing anything at all, however one side of my face looks noticeably more perfect than the other side.

Ease of Application:

I’ve had quite a significant length of time to trial this CC Cream, and I have experimented with a number of application methods. I have found the most effective method of application to be the good old fingers. I like to take a small amount of product on the tips of my fingers, and dot it onto any problem areas on my skin. From here, I work it into my skin quite thoroughly, almost massaging it in. I then come back and pat a small additional amount of product over any visible redness, darkness or blemishes. 9 times out of 10, I don’t need to apply concealer. This particular means of application uses less product, and blends more seamlessly that any brush or sponge I have tried.

Longevity:

On it’s own, I find the Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream to last around 5 hours before it starts to break down. I can increase this by adding a primer underneath, and a powder on top. I have been using the Smashbox Hydrating Primer under it, and setting it with Rimmel Stay Matte Translucent Powder. This combination easily sees me through a full workday, from 7:30 am to 6pm.

Fragrance:

Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream does have a noticeable but innocuous “sunscreen” smell, but it fades quickly once applied.

Anything else worth mentioning?

To date, I haven’t really been sold on the BB craze. Every BB Cream I have tried has felt like a tinted moisturiser. This is a little different. It’s definitely not a tinted moisturiser, it’s more of a light to medium coverage foundation.

Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream is already available in the US from Sephora. It will be on sale in Australia in June 2013 from Kit Cosmetics and Mecca Maxima.

I love having a sticky-beak into other peoples travel makeup and beauty bags, so I thought I’d show you what I’ll be taking to cover me for all contingencies.

In my makeup bag:

M.A.C Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light: This baked powder foundation will be doing double duty wile I’m away. I’ll use it as a light foundation on the days I’m not doing anything much, and when I’m looking for fuller coverage, I’ll use it to set my liquid foundation.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US | Get it in the UK

Jane Iredale Glow Time Full Coverage Mineral BB Cream: I was recently sent this generous sized bottle of BB Cream for editorial consideration, and let me tell you, this baby is definitely full coverage. I’ll be continuing to trial it while I’m away, but I think it’ll be perfect for a more dressed up, evening look.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US | Get it in the UK

Le Metier De Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope: This baby has 4 incredible cheek products all bundled up in one compact package. It’s the perfect cheek choice for travelling, when you might want a few different options.
Get it Internationally

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Palette: Normally I would opt for a slightly smaller, more compact palette like one of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. The Shadow Bon Bons palette is, however, my new toy, and I want the chance to take it out for a good spin. I’ve replaced the LashGasm mascara that came with it with my Smashbox Eye Brightening Mascara – no point opening another mascara when I have about 17 in rotation already!
Limited Edition: Try your luck on Amazon

Smashbox Brow Tech to Go in Taupe: This Brow Pencil / Brow Gel duo is perfect to travel with for no muss, no fuss eyebrows.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US | Get it in the UK

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Nude: This little pencil is a great multitasking product – stay tuned, because I have an article comin up in a few weeks talking about all the different things I use this for.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US | Get it in the UK

Nivea Lip Butter in Vanilla and Macadamia: I don’t go anywhere without a lip balm, and this is my current favourite.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US | Get it in the UK

Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Grapevine: I love this lipstick for a bold statement lip, so it’ll be my go-to for a night out.
Get it in Australia | Get it in the US

L’Oreal Shine Caresse in 101 Lolita: This is a perfect MLBB shade for when I don’t want to really “do” my makeup, but I want to look a little polished.
Get it in Australia | Get similar shades in the US | Get it in the UK

For my skin and teeth:

Molton Brown Patchouli and Saffron Body Wash: Because it smells yum, and it get’s me clean!

Bioderma Atoderm Creme: Coming into winter, the skin on my body is about as dry as the Sahara, and this rich but gentle cream was designed to be used on eczema and other skin complaints, so it’s perfect to treat my “winter skin”. It’s perfect for kids as well, so will be pulling double duty for my 4 year old.

Bioderma Crealine Micellar Water: I usually use this as my makeup remover, however I have been assured that this was originally designed as a cleanser! I’ll be putting this claim to the test while I’m away.

Sukin Rosehip Oil: Instead of my usual moisturiser, I’ll be taking a small vial of rosehip oil to nourish my skin in the evenings.

O Cosmedics Mineral Pro SPF 30: This is my daily susncreen of choice, and can easily double up as a daily moisturiser.

Nivea Stress Protect Roll-on Deodorant (not pictured): This has got to be the most hardcore deodorant I have ever used. Perfect for the long day I’ll have catching the train to Melbourne, and running around all day and night.

Nivea for Men Sensitive Shower Gel for Face, Hair and Body: This handy dandy bottle is a guy-friendly 3-in-one shower gel, facial cleanser and shampoo/conditioner.

Oral-B Pro Health: This is my new favourite toothpaste, it makes my teeth feel ridiculously shiny and clean.

For my Hair:

MooGoo Milk Shampoo and Cream Conditioner: I have an incredibly sensitive scalp, and this SLS and Silicone free range is the only one I have tried that I don’t wind up having a horrible reaction to. Plus, it’s gentle enough to use on my 4 year old daughter.

GHD Heat Protect Spray: I use this every time I heat style my hair – it makes it soft and shiny, stops it from getting fried, and smells good too!

Remington Styles Unlimited 5 in 1 styler: I usually take my GHD with me when I travel, but I’m bringing this baby along on this trip. Not only is it a straightener, it’s also a curling wand (and I suck at GHD curls). I like the thought that one simple tool can do a multitude of styles. Hooray versatility.

Klorane Dry Shampoo (not pictured): Dry Shampoo is pretty much my favourite styling product. Of course I use it on second (and sometimes third) day hair, but sometimes I like to use it on freshly washed hair to add a bit of texture and va-va-voom!

That pretty much sums up everything beauty-related that came with me to Bendigo. I hope you enjoyed this little sticky-beak inside my bags.

What do you think – did I pack too much, not enough, or just the right amount?

Have you seen the latest luscious lip product from Nivea? I’ve found them to be thick, nourishing and soothing on my chapped lips – perfect as we in Australia head into winter!

Even better, 2 of them smell like dessert! (There’s an unscented version if you’re sensitive to scented products.)

My favourite flavour is Vanilla and Macadamia – it’s like dessert for your lips!

Available cheap as chips in the US at Target, in the UK at Boots, and in Australia at Priceline.

In conjunction with MBFWA (Australian Fashion Week), Maybelline teamed up with uber-cool design duo We Are Handsome to release a limited edition Color Sensational Vivids Lip Color range.

The We Are Handsome edit has 3 shades in total – 904 Vivid Rose, 906 Hot Plum and 910 Shocking Coral. The limited edition range comes presented in beautiful blister packs bearing some of We Are Handsome’s trademark graphic prints, however due to a mishap in transit, the packaging on my lipsticks was in no fit state to be photographed.

904 Vivid Rose

This shade is a bright, but still very wearable fuschia rose shade. The texture was smooth and creamy with good slip, making it very easy to apply. This shade is not fully opaque on the first swipe, but is easily buildable. I wore this shade to dinner on Saturday night, and it stained my lips nicely. This meant that the need for me to touch up was minimal, as it wore off evenly. I applied it at midday, touched up at 6pm, and felt no need to touch up again after dinner.

Where to buy?: In the US; In the UK; In Australia

906 Hot Plum

906 Hot Plum is a bright, almost neon mauve – an almost purple pink. It was relatively opaque on the first swipe, and I once again found the texture to be smooth and creamy, with just the right amount of slip for easy application. It leaves quite a strong stain on my lips, making it another one of those lipsticks that wears off evenly and in a most dignified manner.

Where to buy?: In the US; In the UK; In Australia

910 Shocking Coral

910 Shocking Coral is a mid-toned, white-based coral. In the tube the colour is very clean. Of the three shades I have talked about today, it is the least pigmented, requiring quite a few layers to achieve full opacity. This makes it very easy to apply “on-the-go” or to touch up without a mirror – even if you don’t do the neatest application, it still looks good. Being winter, my lips are a little dry, and I felt that this particular shade highlighted the dry patches on my lips. It left a subtle pink stain on my lips, and didn’t wear off in an undignified manner, in large part, I think, because it is not too bright and not too dark.

Where to buy?: In the US; In the UK; In Australia

Anything else worth mentioning?

These lipsticks are quite strongly scented. I ADORE the smell – it reminds me of coconut essence, but if you’re sensitive to smell, it’s probably worth having a sniff before you buy these.

If you love these shades, and want to grab them in the LE packaging, get thee to a Woolworths or Coles before the end of May 2013. If you just love the colours and want to pick them up, I’ve included links to a number of retailers under each shade.

It was my birthday last month, and I received 2 makeup items – the Le Metier De Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope and this Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Palette.

The set is beautifully presented in a gorgeous flocked box resembling an old-fashioned box of chocolates.

Inside it contains 12 powder eyeshadows in a mixture of matte, satin, metallic and glittery finishes.

It also contains a mini Shadow Insurance in Candlelight, and a LashGasm Mascara.

It’s packaged up with a reasonably sized mirror, making it a relatively convenient palette to travel with, although it is quite bulky.

It also comes with 3 suggested looks to create using this palette – Sugared Violet (a purplish eye, using the top row of shadows), Pink Cupcake (a pretty pink eye look, using the middle row of shadows), and Toasty Caramel (a neutral eye look, using the bottom row of shadows).

Here’s a behind the scenes shot of Shrodinger inspecting my little photo shoot (yes, my backyard is basically a jungle).

This was a limited edition palette, and the only place I was easily able to find it online is Amazon. Let me know in the comments if you would like to see a full review of this palette with swatches.

Other than the original Shadow Insurance, I’ve never used Too Faced products before. Are you a fan of Too Faced? What’s your favourite Too Faced product?

Imagine my surprise when I open one of my birthday gifts and find this beautiful little palette from uber-luxe brand Le Metier De Beaute in my hot little hands.

Ingenious packaging, it kind of makes me feel like a secret agent makeup ninja.

There’s a matte peachy neutral shade.

There’s a matte terracotta rose shade.

A super shimmery warm gold shade,

and the prettiest girly rose pink metallic I’ve seen for a long time.

Have you tried Le Metier De Beaute? I just can’t quite bring myself to use this gorgeous palette!

Available from Neiman Marcus and Beauty Bay

*This product was purchased.

Australis has just released the latest addition to their stable of popular lip products – their Go Long Longwear Lipsticks.

Available in 8 shades, Australis claims that these lipsticks last for 8 hours. Here I’ve broken down the 8 shades in alphabetical order.

Boho:

Boho is a creamy mid-tone nude. In the tube, it’s the colour of milk chocolate, and has a faint pink undertone.

Diva:

Diva is a rich and vibrant cherry red. It has strong pink undertones, and is a cool-toned red, so it’ll help your teeth look nice and white.

Easy Chic:

Easy Chic is a straight up cool-toned taupe. Although it fit’s within the spectrum of neutral lipsticks, the cool undertones can make this one a little harder to wear.

Ghetto:

Ghetto is a deep brick red-brown. It’s a little warmer in tone than a traditional red-wine shade. Although I’m not typically a fan of this type of brown-toned red, I found this lipstick surprisingly flattering on me.

Glam:

Easily my favourite shade from this collection, Glam is a deep berry/red wine colour. It’s rich, vampy and perfect for Autumn.

Preppy:

Preppy is the closest to a nude lipstick this collection offers. A pale, milky peach, it gives the muted-down appearance of nude lips, without the dreaded “concealer lips” look.

Trendy:

Trendy is a bright, barbie, bubblegum pink, and I felt very “Nicky Minaj” wearing this shade. It’s a good lipstick if you love bright, in-your-face colours, and I’m looking forward to rocking this shade in summer.

Uber Cool:

In the tube, Uber Cool is a creamy mauve. When applied to my lips, it appears much more purple than in the tube. It’s a fun colour, and another one that will be great for summer.

Packaging:

The Australis Go Long Longwear Lipsticks are packaged in a simple matte black tube with a metallic pink logo – very true to the Australis brand.

Texture and Pigmentation:

The Australis Go Long Longwear Lipsticks are quite a dry texture, however I didn’t find them to be especially “draggy” on my lips. Any drag I did experience was easily mitigated by a light layer of lip balm underneath. These lipsticks offer an opaque level of pigmentation, but I found I needed to layer 2-3 coats for smooth, even coverage.

Interestingly, although these do feel quite dry during application, I didn’t experience any discomfort for the duration of time that I wore these lipsticks. I found them to be comfortable and not at all drying.

Ease of Application:

In all the lip swatches above I applied these lipsticks straight from the tube. You can see that I experienced a very small level of skipping around my lipline. This could be rectified by a bit of lipliner or a quick once-over with a lip brush. Because of this, these are not the lowest maintenance long-wearing lipsticks I have ever tried, but they’re certainly not the worst either.

Longevity:

These did not live up the the 10 hour claims when I wore them…. but I didn’t really expect them to. I got a comfortable 6 hours of wear out of these while eating and drinking, and around 7 hours wear without eating, and drinking through a straw. Not too shabby!

Anything Else Worth Mentioning?

These lipsticks are quite strongly fragranced. I personally don’t mind the smell – it’s a very strong floral/sweet smell that attempts to mask the lipstick smell (not entirely successfully). If you are sensitive to fragranced products, I recommend having a sniff of a tester before you buy.

RRP:

$12.95 AUD

Available from:

Online at Australis.

In store at Priceline, Kmart Australia and Big W.

*Products mentioned in this article were provided for editorial consideration.

I spoke to the cosmetics buyer at Target the day the catalogue came out, and she stated to me that these were legitimate M.A.C products sourced from an overseas supplier. This is known as Grey Market or Parallel Importing, and is perfectly legal.

Estee Lauder conducted laboratory testing of these products and found them to be apparently counterfeit, containing ingredients not used in genuine M.A.C products. The sale of counterfeit product is illegal.

What is the Grey Market?

Grey Market, otherwise known as Parallel Importing, is the practice of obtaining products from a source other than the authorised distributor of a brand, and offering them for resale. While sometimes frowned upon, this practice is perfectly legal, in the spirit of fair trade.

What are some of the issues with purchasing Grey Market products?

The most obvious issue with Grey Market products is quality control. Cosmetics have a use-by date, and there is no way to know the age of a product being sold through a non-authorised retailer.  There is also no way to know the storage conditions that product has been subjected to in it’s lifetime – and the storage conditions can greatly affect the life and performance of a makeup product. As an example, I have seen limited edition M.A.C products from collections more than 3 years old being sold through non-authorised retailers in the last month. With skincare, or products containing active ingredients the problem can be much worse. The active ingredient may have deteriorated to the point that it is no longer effective, or worse, it may have become toxic and potentially harmful.

If you have a bad experience (whether it’s as minor as a poorly performing product, or as serious as permanent vision loss) with products purchased through Grey Market distributors you have no real protection. The brand will accept no liability for these products as the product was not in their control.

Please excuse the grubby state of the makeup in the picture – these are all products obtained by me, through authorised channels… and as you can see by the state of the packaging, they are well loved.

The darker and more serious issue with Grey Market cosmetics is the possibility of counterfeit products. When you purchase your cosmetic products through a non-authorised retailer, you have no way to verify the authenticity of that product. It may seem strange, but counterfeit makeup is a huge issue, and a multi-billion dollar business.

When it comes to counterfeit makeup products, there is literally no way to know what ingredients are in the product you’re purchasing and using. I was able to find reports of counterfeit mascara containing dangerous levels of arsenic, eyeliner containing 46 times the permitted levels of copper, making it unsafe for use on eyes,  and blusher containing dangerous levels of bacteria. The brands that appear to be most frequently counterfeited are M.A.C, NARS and Benefit.

If that’s not bad enough, the counterfeit industry is said to have very strong ties to both organised crime and child labour. For this reason, as well as the reasons I have listed above, I have made a personal choice to not knowingly purchase Grey Market products.

It’s getting harder to know if you’re buying from an authorised retailer.

In the past, it has been fairly easy to guess if a retailer is an authorised reseller. If you purchase branded beauty products from The Reject Shop (an Australian dollar store) it’s fairly safe to assume it’s a parallel import. If you purchase anything from StrawberryNet, you can almost guarantee it’s grey market. If you purchase your beauty products from the markets or from eBay, I’m telling you now, it’s NOT from an authorised reseller.

As big brands in Australia get on board the Grey Market bandwagon, it can be harder and harder to know who is authorised to sell what. Target Australia was in hot water for selling M.A.C, and Priceline Australia is not an authorised distributor of some of the perfumes they sell. The only real way to confirm if a retailer is authorised is to check with the brand directly.

I don’t want to purchase Grey Market products. Who can I buy from?

I can only share my own beliefs and opinions about retailers here.

For “Drugstore Brands” I shop at

• Target
• Priceline
• Big W
• Kmart
• Asos

But wait! Don’t Target and Priceline both sell parallel imports? Yes, they do, however I understand them to be authorised resellers of brands including Revlon, L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline NY, Rimmel, Cover Girl, Max Factor, Bourjois, Essence, Australis and in the case of Priceline, Face of Australia and Physicians Formula, and I continue to shop there.

For “High End” brands, I shop at:

• Adore Beauty
• Myer
• David Jones
• Asos
• Benefit Cosmetics
• MAC Cosmetics

Have you been stung by Grey Market products before? What did you buy and how did you know it was “not quite right”? Let me know in the comments.

A few months ago I was interviewed by the Australian Financial Review, commenting on the Grey Market Cosmetics industry in Australia, and more specifically offering my thoughts on the current Estee Lauder vs Target court case.

The article was published on Monday the 22nd of April, and if you’re an afr subscriber, you can read the article HERE.

Editors note: We’ve all done it – used a dirty foundation brush, even if only once in a while. I know I’ll occasionally say to myself “what harm can it do?” and I’ll have a skin breakout a few days later….

When Lizzi first pitched this article to me, I couldn’t be more excited. With her background in Microbiology she was the perfect person to investigate if it really is important to clean your foundation brushes. A big thank-you to Lizzi and her lab for running this experiment for the Makeup Utopia community!

Warning: This article is ‘graphic’ if you don’t want to be shocked into changing your actions, I recommend you stop reading now.

I’m a bit of a germophobe when it comes to makeup brushes, I keep them covered, I wash them often, I won’t use a brush for more than one application before washing it. (Why yes, I do have a GIGANTIC makeup brush collection to allow me this luxury)  I have all my ‘clean’ brushes under zip lock bags and I have a special holder for my ‘dirty’ ones.  When people tell me they don’t wash their brushes, it makes me feel kind on nauseated…Never? Not even your foundation brush? Blergh…

With that, I decided to try and show why I know cleaning my brushes often is actually the best policy.

Enter: scientist Lizzi…

I took 3 identical makeup brushes (no seriously, 3 of the same type, colour, size and everything)

Brush 1: Dirty. Taken from my foundation brush jar, used to apply foundation on Friday morning, left upright, uncovered in a cup on my bathroom bench until Monday morning.

Brush 2: Clean. Taken from my foundation brush jar on the Monday morning.

Brush 3: Clean. Taken from the zipped case on the Monday morning.

All brushes were cleaned in the same way* prior to use.

For interest’s sake, the jar I speak of is actually a straw dispenser:

I will admit I have never sanitized this holder, but being hard plastic, it would be incredibly easy to do.

Into the lab I went, I’ll try not to get to technical but basically I smeared each brush over 2 plates each, for reliability reasons I included a blank (a plate of nutritious agar with nothing on it to show they agar was sterile prior to me brushing it up!)

The brushes, you can see the left is the ‘dirty’ brush, the middle is the one from the jar, both brushes were placed in brand new (an because its designed for use with food, I assume sterile) zip lock bag for transport.  The right hand brush is in its nifty zip up case.

As you can see, on the far left is my blank, then the ‘dirty’ brush and its plates, the ‘jar’ brush and its plates and the ‘case’ and its plates.

All the plates are then stacked and wrapped in glad wrap ready for incubation.

This is the bundle of plates prior to going in the incubator, the 26 is the date they were to come out of the incubator and of course my name is all over it so if for some reason I forgot them, the awesome micro techs could call and remind me- They didn’t have to, but they are still awesome.

The Results

This is where it gets gross.

First, the blank:

Clear plate, nothing has grown, this means that I can assume there was no contamination of the media (the stuff I’m growing the germs on) either by human error (me sticking my finger in it) or through environmental contamination (the plate, and/or air surrounding the pouring of the media was dirty)

Next the ‘case’ brush:

At the end of the arrow you can see 1 growth, on one plate, none on the other.

Next the ‘jar’ brush:

You can probably try to count these and you will find 8 on one plate and 10 on the other, I expected this (or rather the micro supervisor had told me, I should expect a rude shock), and it’s a good warning that I should sanitize that jar.

In true tradition, I have of course saved the best for last.

The ‘dirty’ brushes:

Yeah, that’s truly gross, that big growth is what is known as a spreader…. yummo, now imagine forcing all that into your face by way of a dirty brush.  I will admit, this is not what is on your brush, this is an accelerated growth of what is on your brush, but all growths have come from the bacteria present.  This was 1 use, and 3 days standing in a bathroom, now think if it was every day use and thrown into a makeup bag, how much worse this could be.

Just for funsies, here are some other shots of those really lovely plates…I put these on the colony counter (a back lit box to allow easy viewing to could the number of growths)

Dirty Brush:

And some really lovely close ups of those brush germs…

So, hands up who’s going home to wash their brushes? And who is never using a brush again???

*I personally wash my brushes with anti-bacterial washing up liquid and then spray with alcohol.  I also tend to rub my foundation brushes with an alcohol wipe-like the ones they use in the doctors, prior to an injection- before using them, I don’t have sensitive skin, so this has never causes a problem, I also find the slight moisture left on the brush aids in the application of foundation, but hey, that’s just me.

Editors note: If you’re all freaked out and want to know how to clean your brushes, check out Lizzi’s great follow up article HERE.

I don’t often post in-store deals, but for my Australian readers, this one seemed too good to pass up. For today and tomorrow only (23/4/13 and 24/4/13) Priceline is offering 40% off all cosmetics in-store and online. Happy Shopping!

Hoopla, Hoopla, the circus is in town! Have you seen the elephants? Have you seen the clowns?

Have you seen the ridiculously cute new collection from Essence? I couldn’t walk past the stand in Priceline without picking up a few pieces.

How could I leave this Big-Top embossed highlighting powder on the shelf?

These lip lacquers caught my eye, and offer pigmentation that sits somewhere between a lipstick and a lip gloss.

There were a few glitter eyeliners to choose from, but this steely gunmetal insisted on coming home with me.

*All product mentioned were purchased by M|U