My current daily mascara routine - Tarte Light Camera Flashes and Benefit They're Real

So today I wanted to talk about my daily mascara routine and review the mascara I've used. I don't tend to stick with the same brand mascara unless I really really love it. I do have some favourites that I have repeatedly used and one of them is Benefit They're Real which is going to be covered in this post today.

For the last 2.5 months i have been using 2 mascaras, Tarte Light Camera Flashes (small sample tube which I got as a gift from Sephora) and Benefit They're Real (also a sample size from Benefit mascara swap).

So the reason I've been using 2 mascaras instead of just one is because I started out just using the Tarte one and it did give me nice long lashes but didn't give any volume. So after about a month I started using Benefit They're real which I've previously used on its own. The combination of the 2 mascaras gives me long thick lashes. 

Before I apply these 2 mascaras, I always curl my lashes with my Shu Uemura lash curler which I love! I sometimes heat it up using hair dryer to make the curl more intense.

I then apply Tarte mascara first, to the top lashes only and then I apply a second coat with the Benefit mascara. As you can see from the mascara brushes (below) the 2 mascaras have slightly different brushes. 

Below in the first photo you can see my natural lashes without mascara, then the 2nd photo on the top is after applying Tarte mascara. Then as you can see after the 2nd coat (in the 1st pogo on the bottom) using the Benefit mascara I get long thick lashes. It really helps to open up my eyes, especially since I have hooded eyes.

I really like the Benefit mascara as on its own it does give me defined and volumised lashes. The Tarte mascara on the other hand focuses more on lengthening the lashes. I also found that the formula of the Tarte mascara dried out very quickly within the first month. I don't think I would purchase the Tarte mascara especially on its own. If I had to choose between the 2, Benefit definitely wins but using both together actually works really well.

Once I have reached the 3 months use of these mascaras I will be using another mascara, so when that time comes I will post another review.

USA Trip Cosmetics Hauls

So I apologise for being MIA for the last couple of months. I was n on vacation to America. I was away for 2.5 weeks and it was amazing! I loved every second of it. And then after I came back I got sick and then things just started catching up and getting busy so I haven't had time to update my blog.

Anyway on my trip one of the things I loved was the shopping. OMG shopping was so cheap over there. I think I spent way too much and bought way too much make makeup but at the time I thought if I didn't buy I'd regret it.

Anyway here are my hauls from my trip!.

*Just a warning, this is going to be a long post!!*

Before I left for my trip I actually already went shopping and shipped a few things to my accommodation in San Francisco which is my last stop in the trip. Urban Decay had their Family & Friends 20% off sale so I took advantage of that. 

I purchased the double set of Urban Decay Primer Potion in the original colour and Sin, the Smoked 24/7 eyeliner pencil set, Vice 2 Palette and 2 24/7 full size eyeliner pencil in Crash and Lust.

From Sephora I did a few hauls… I purchased a Benefit set which contains travel sets several Benefit Cosmetics products, the Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings, Tarte Amazonian Clay 12Hour blush in Exposed, Korres Greek Yoghurt Primer, Korres Mineral Setting Powder and Benefit brow pencil. And because I spent way too much at Sephora I managed to get some points which I used to get a mini size Clinique Chubby stick.

Now I also went a bit crazy in MAC cosmetics but considering everything was so much cheaper compared to Australia I didn't regret it. All the sales assistants over there were really nice and every time I go there I got a full makeover lol. 

I've been eyeing Ruby Woo lipsticks for a while. I did try it previously a few years ago but back then I was a bit afraid to wear bold red, but this time I tried it I really love it! So I bought it along with the MAC Pro Longwear lip liner in Kiss Me Quick. 

I know it's a bit weird but I actually brought my empty cases from MAC so I could do the Back2Mac over there since in Canberra I can only swap for the Top 20 lipsticks which I already own some and the rest I don't really like. I had 12 empty cases and if I went to the Pro store I was able to swap it for either a lipstick, lipgloss or an eyeshadow. I got MAC Cranberry eyeshadow and MAC lipstick in On Hold with the Back2Mac program. Along with that I also bought the MAC Lip Primer, MAC Lipstick in Lustering, and the MAC Divine Night Collection Set.

When I visited San Diego the Divine Night Collection was just launched and they had a huge launch day with all these dancers and free makeover. It was amazing! I bought one of the sets which contained MAC fluidline, MAC Paintpot, a mascara and a double ended brush in a nice travel bag.

I bought a few Sigma brushes just to add to my brush collection. I got the F20 Large powder brush, F80 flat kabuki, E45 small tapered blending brush and E20 short shader brush..

I also purchased the Z Palette pro, 2 beauty blender sponges and the beauty blender solid cleanser. 

And lastly, on my last day I went to Bloomingdales. I wanted to try out the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation which I have heard good things about. As soon as I tried it I loved it and just had to get it. It feels so natural and light on the face. And it was only $45 so it's definitely a bargain compared to the Australian price which was around $80 I think. Then I went over to Lancome and I saw they had a special promotion going on where if you bought any 1 product from Lancome you can purchase this set with a huge beauty bag for only $60 with a value of over $300. I wasn't going to buy it at first but my temptation was too strong and I ended up getting it. I thought it would be good for hits as well for the products that I won't be using. So I ended up purchasing a Lancome mascara primer for $24 and the set.

So that's it, that's all my Cosmetics haul. I didn't really buy any skin care products because I am still happy with my current routine which consists of Antipodes and Botani products.

I will try to review most of the products that I bought as I use them. I will also do a blog post later on for the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette and provide swatches.