Wednesday, January 9, 2013

New Year, New Mail

In the last days of December, I received an unexpected email from Sue of voyage dans le temps informing me I'd won her blog birthday/Christmas giveaway. This was the second giveaway I'd won that month, which made me feel very lucky indeed. Sue was sweet enough to notify me after I hadn't replied to her initial email to check my inbox (her message was actually sitting in my spam!) and was super prompt with delivery despite the busy Christmas/New Year's period. I rarely ever get parcels sent to my place (in fact, I don't think I've received one in years), so I was introduced to the new parcel pickup close to where I live, which has now apparently replaced the local Post Office. When I made my way there on Monday afternoon, there were about 20 people in front of me and the sun was out in full force, but no queue or blistering heat could've stopped me from waiting in line to retrieve the package!


I hit the jackpot with all the fantastic goodies featured in the giveaway: two individual eyeshadows (Laura Mercier Twilight Grey and Bobbi Brown Black Charcoal 2F), one full-sized Essie polish in Funny Face, the Essie Resort Collection 2011, Red Cherry lashes in #46MOR Emporium Body Butter in Hibiscus BloomUrban Decay Glide-On 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clash and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Charm. Sue even included a Christmas card which was yet another thoughtful touch. Everything but the Revlon lip crayon was new to me, and though I already have Charm, it is my favourite shade along with Sweetheart, so I'm certainly not complaining about having a backup!


l-r: Laura Mercier Twilight GreyBobbi Brown Black Charcoal 2F

Laura Mercier Twilight Grey is a cool, medium to dark matte dove grey. I love these purplish/grey/taupey colours, and Twilight Grey seems perfect for a sultry but sophisticated smoky eye.

Bobbi Brown Black Charcoal 2F is a true matte black. It's one of the best of its kind I've come across, though it did take several swipes to build up to full opacity. I prefer the Laura Mercier matte formula as I think it's overall smoother and not quite as patchy, but the Bobbi Brown is still very good in the scheme of mattes, especially since I've encountered my share of underperforming black shades (Stiletto in the Too Faced Naked Eye palette, anyone?).


Urban Decay Glide-On 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clash is a turquoise/aqua with silver shimmer. The crayon is very smooth, creamy and glides on. The staying power is impressive — I swatched my wrist in the morning, and there's only the faintest signs of wear 16 hours later. I rarely, if ever, wear coloured eyeliner, but Clash seems an ideal place to start, especially as it's such a summer-appropriate shade.


These Red Cherry lashes in #46 came at such an opportune time, as I have lost the last two pairs of lashes I've worn and was looking to buy another pair. For whatever bizarre reason (mainly due to the fact my room is a shameful pigsty with every available surface covered in junk), I keep losing just one false lash out of each pair, making the other one that I still have useless. Kind of like losing a sock. #46 is very full, flirty and feminine, while still looking delicate and refined.



The packaging of the MOR Emporium Body Butter is super pretty, with the floral design that has gilded details, MOR stamp and white ribbon. Hibiscus Bloom is described as "pink jasmine, sweet pea and soft plumeria mingled with the crisp notes of juiced grapefruit, honeyed apricot blossom and a touch of warm musk." I mainly smell frangipani and white flowers — there is a mellow softness but a slight tartness to it as well. The scent reminds me a bit of the kai fragrance, which I've fallen in love with and would totally have in my handbag right now, if the tiny 3.6ml roll-on wasn't $78. I don't use body moisturisers much, but I know that I'll genuinely look forward to using this because of the beautiful fragrance.

l-r (thumb to pinky): Funny Face, Fair Game, Lion Around, Your Hut or Mine?, Da Bush

All these new Essie polishes to my collection are a welcome treat as well. I don't have many Essie polishes and would change that, if they didn't retail for $18.95 here. Funny Face seems to me like a quintessential Sue colour — at least if it were a lipstick!


A huge thank you to Sue for holding such a generous giveaway! I always enjoy reading fellow Aussie bloggers and Sue is no exception. I can always count on her blog for helpful, detailed and honest beauty reviews, a glimpse into her personal life and social outings, and some seriously drool-worthy food pictures. Happy birthday to her blog and here's to another year of blogging ahead!

54 comments:

  1. These are such amazing and lovely things to win! You are very lucky indeed! <33

    XO,
    http://rosychicc.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. you are so lucky and Sue is such a sweetie! ^_~ All the goodies are super nice! congrats on winning and the products and uh-MA-zing!!!loved them too =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my lord! Those are some really nice goodies! I suck at winning giveaways :( if you want to try your luck at another giveaway then im having an international giveaway which features little goodies from victorias secret, revlon, wet n wild and elf!

    www.nayabloves.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lucky! The eyeshadows should be fun to play with! And you of all people would appreciate the nail polishes! :) x

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an amazing prize :) Everything looks lovely :)

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh wow what great prizes you won! A nice post Christmas treat!

    Leanne @ Leanne-Marie | Beauty, fashion & lifestyle. xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm officially adding "enter more giveaways" to my new years resolutions list. I might win something, who knows. The stuff you got is all high quality and amazing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. the nail polishes are so cute! x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooh, nice prizes. :D It's cool that you've got to try a few high-end eyeshadow singles to test out the quality; both seem great. :) Love the nail varnishes too xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oooft! Lucky thing! What a lovely wee suprise! Eyeshadows are gorge! x

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow what a great lot to win xx well done xx
    www.imitationisthegreatestformofflattery.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just adore the packaging on the first photo and love the idea of hibiscus body butter! x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow you got amazing things! Congrats Lena, enjoy it all hun ^^ xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. You got some pretty neat stuff!

    I am loving the Funny Face Nail polish!

    xx Christal xx

    LipstickAndPonytails.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations! Looks like you received a fantastic package of beauty products! I love those lashes you got.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Essie set looks great, love the Laura Mercier eyeshadow too! :) ♥
    http://abeautyromancee.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh girl what a great picks.... <3 I am so wanting charm... but here it was out of stock :).. love the laura mercier eyeshadow enjoy the goodies.. :) and do share reviews

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow lucky you! Those are some fantastic products!

    xx Louise
    A Little Beauty Luxury

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jealous! Those are all awesome things. Especially that Essie, I love that color! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. oh you lucky girl!! lovely stuffs you got there! The MOR body butter is so beautiful, I am in love with the packaging and I would love to smell the scent as well!
    have fun with your new babies! ^^

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is such an amazing giveaway!! You are one lucky lady :) And thank you for giving me a new blog to follow :)

    Aimée Xx
    dress-it-up-6.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, what a prize!! you are a lucky girl indeed!

    http://mymakeupcompulsion.blogspot.com.es/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Congrats on winning such an awesome giveaway! :D TWO eyeshadows, damnnn gurl.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Essie polishes look really nice, as does the Revlon Balm Stain! I'm not entirely sure if we have that one over here in the UK, I've not seen it if we have.

    Lovely post, congratulations on winning :)

    Amy xx
    http://alittleboatsailing.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a great giveaway! Love that blue pencil, and the polishes are gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Lucky girl! That is certainly an amazing giveaway to win! The Essie polishes look beautiful...actually everything does! :)
    x

    ReplyDelete
  27. You lucky girl! Those prizes look great :)
    That Urban Decay eyeliner looks AWESOME I love the colour.

    ReplyDelete
  28. what a lovely package! I'm also in love with purplish greyish shadows. you should take a look at nars' lhasa! :) happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  29. What an amazing giveaway to win! The products all look lovely. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Gorgeous nails shades! They're all so soft and pretty and spring like...I love the shadow pencils, they look great and that shade looks awesome. I'd love a taupey shade from UD! Then I'd put that LM shadow over! Its such a solid shade!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Lucky girl!! Beautiful products :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow two wins in one month! That's wonderful! I love receiving packages, it makes me so excited. It looks like you did hit the jackpot. So many great items!

    -Lisa
    The Lovely Memoir

    ReplyDelete
  33. CONGRATS!! I have Clash myself but I'm trying to find a way to wear it more often...
    I love the setting power but blendability is slightly meh :P Oh well! Congrats again! x

    ReplyDelete
  34. Congrats on winning! Wow this giveaway prize is amazing - you really did hit the jackpot haha!
    The packaging of the MOR body butter does look beautiful :) x

    ReplyDelete
  35. What a great prize to win! The Essie polish Your Hut or Mine? looks so pretty! The Bobbi Brown matte black eyeshadow looks great too. Such a lucky duck :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Congrats on winning 2 giveaways that month!! Twilight Grey looks amazing! I can imagine it to look lovely on you for a sultry look. Black Charcoal is such a great staple in anyone's makeup collection. It looks super pigmented and I personally like that it's matte. Would like to see how the falsies look on you =)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Awwww what a lovely post to come home to after work!!!! You are so sweet, thank you for all your lovely comments! So glad that you enjoy everything. All the products except the Essie polishes and Revlon balm stain are also new to me so it was great to read this for your opinions. I must say, after seeing your swatch, I'm super jealous I didn't keep the Laura Mercier eyeshadow for myself!!! You are spot on that Funny Face is a perfect colour for me, to be honest I wanted to keep that as well but I have way too many similar shades already :P Anyway I hope you get some great use out of everything, and have fun playing around with the UD eyeliner!

    ReplyDelete
  38. awesome winnings! the nail polishes look so pretty and autumn/springish colors!

    www.twoplicates.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Red Cherry Lashes are amazing, I am sure you will enjoy them a lot! Twilight Grey is such a lovely, essential colour :) congrats on winning lovely!
    x

    ReplyDelete
  40. Man you hit the jack pot!! Great stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  41. That's a fantastic win! Everything looks so lovely :) x

    http://wewereraisedbywolves.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wow, you lucky lady! These products look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  43. The Urban Decay shadow pencil looks so amazing, and I don't even wear blue! I can't wait to see your review on it.

    ReplyDelete
  44. WOW holy mama SUPER CONGRATS! indeed very lucky~! the prize pack for this looks amazing! i definitely love those LM eyeshadows. the nailpolish set is really cute too. great shades. hope you had a happy new year ^o^

    alex @ carouselstreet.com

    ReplyDelete
  45. the nail polish colors are so pretty <3

    Join my first giveaway and win Thboxes accessories of your choice
    http://luchluchcraft.blogspot.com/2013/01/international-giveaway-win-thboxes.html

    ReplyDelete
  46. Olá querida
    Descobri o teu blog e estou a gostar muito.
    Parabéns pelo trabalho desenvolvido.
    Caso queiras visita-me em:
    http://www.neuzamariano.com
    http://www.youtube.com/user/neuzamariano

    P.S.: Já te estou a seguir! =)

    Muitos beijinhos
    MUAH* <3

    * Tenho SORTEIO lá no BLOG

    Neuza Mariano

    ReplyDelete
  47. aw lucky you for winning the two giveaways! I love Sue's blog too, and she's such a nice fellow Aussie blogger :) I love all those Essie shades! <3

    Metallic Paws- giveaway up on my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  48. I spot revlon just bitten and kissable balm stain! my HG! it literally replace my clinique chubby stick for good

    ReplyDelete
  49. what a sweet prize you won! Tons of goodies. Love that Laura Mercier shade. I'm always drawn to purple/grey shade.

    ReplyDelete
  50. You are so lucky! Those are awesome prizes! :D

    www.chochalistas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  51. wish myself as good luck as you, girl :)

    congratulations on having all those to play with!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Oh god, I am so jealous of you, what an amazing giveaway you won!

    xx

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...