I seem to have acquired a few new beauty products recently; some repurchases, some beauty vices and just some other rather fabulous things. How does this happen? Treat yo'self 2017 or something like that? Anyway, if you're also excited by beauty, keep reading...

Birthday Balm Dotcom: Ahh Glossier, my vice. My utter favourite beauty vice. This is the latest addition to the Balm Dotcom lineup, in collaboration with Milk Bar. It smells like vanilla cake, delicious and is clear but has slight glitter reflects throughout. These multipurpose salves if you will can be used on your lips but I also like to throw them on my eyes for a bit of the glossy lid look without the thick, uncomfortable texture. 

Milky Jelly Cleanser: This is one of Glossier's hero products and I have heard mostly good things about it. Heck, Anna even cut hers open to get the last of it out and bought several backups. It's a lightweight, gel-like textured cleanser that is incredibly gentle and soothing. I've not used this yet but have tried my friend's and was impressed by it. If I end up loving it, this will not be the last time you hear about it.

Dusk Cloud Paint: Cloud Paints were all over the Golden Globes and Oscars red carpets I believe. It was around that time they launched anyway because I remember seeing some of my favourite starlets and muses, cough Alexa cough, having them used on their complexions. Lisa Eldridge is a fan too so if it's good enough for Lisa... I do not typically go for cream blush but these shades just look so lovely and easy to work with. I could not pass them up. Dusk, a nude-pink is right up my street. Again, if this is love in a painter's style tube, you will hear.

NARS True Story Cheek and Lip Palette, limited edition: This was part of the NARS Christmas 2016 collection featuring Sarah Moon's imagery that sadly isn't available anymore. One of my lovely friends is moving house soon and was having a clear-out of product she'd accumulated so I took this beauty. I am loving these blush colours at the moment and they're all shades I wear fairly regularly. My favourite is Outlaw, the far right. It's actually a permanent colour too which is great if it takes your fancy as well. 

MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Painterly: During one of my ruthless culls, my MAC paint pots were looking worse for wear, i.e. expired. I've been without my ride or die eyeshadow base for months and have missed having a Paint Pot so badly. They just can't be beaten when it comes to priming the eyelids, creating a neutral canvas for whatever's layered on top and even for lazy, slapdash makeup days. I love this colour and won't ever be without one again now.

Simple Kind To Eyes, Eye Makeup Remover Pads: I usually always have some kind of eye makeup remover pads in my bag. It sounds bizarre but they're perfect if you're like me and love to swatch products when you're out beauty browsing and shopping. Or you're like me and forget moments before an interview that there's a bright coral-red lipstick on your hand. Anyway, I grabbed these in Farmers on Friday and they were on special (thank goodness) because full price I think they're a bit expensive for what they are. $10 for reference. Anyway, I like them, they feel incredibly gentle on hands and eyes plus they're a lot friendlier on the ingredient front.

-Have you purchased any new beauty odds and ends recently?

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts but they're some of my favourites to read and put together. January was a bit quiet for new beauty launches but come February and everything starts going crazy. There's plenty to keep everyone happy, from a body moisturiser I'm a little obsessed with, to the lip pencils that rival a fan favourite from Nars. 

The Body Shop Body Sorbet (Grapefruit), Limited Edition-These body sorbets sold out super fast here in NZ but you can still find them online here. I was attracted to this because #1 it smells like grapefruit and I needed a new body moisturiser. These moisturisers are super lightweight and absorb into the skin crazy fast. You're not left with slippery limbs and your skin's left feeling silky smooth. If you can still get your hands on one I'd highly recommend you pick one up.

Taylor Swift Incredible Things Fragrance*-Confession hour: This is the first celebrity fragrance I've owned, with the exception of Glow by JLo. Slightly tropical, slightly musky, this is a much more grown up scent compared to Taylor's other perfumes. This fragrance has been my go-to throughout Summer. In fact, it's barely left my handbag. I love the bottle design as well and its rectangular shape means it fits into the depths of your bags much easier. It's super affordable too so if you're after a new fragrance, check this one out.

Maybelline Color Drama Pencils in Pink So Chic and Minimalist*-These new pencils from Maybelline are being compared to Nars' Velvet Matte and I can sort've see why. They apply just as velvet-like to the lips. I find these are just a tad more drying than their higher-end counterparts though but that is usually the way with most drugstore lip products for me. I love the shade Minimalist, it's a gorgeous nude. Pink So Chic is lovely too albeit deceptively named. It's more of a soft berry red to me than a pink. If you want to see the full range of these check out Liv's video.

Max Factor Excess Shimmer Eyeshadow in Copper-This cream shadow fascinated me when I swatched it. It's very creamy, almost mousse-like and it reminded me of the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre cream shadows. These do dry down matte though and stay put well with a primer underneath. Copper is stunning and I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it in Autumn and Winter.

Simple Micellar Water, available March*-As I said on Friday, it seems we had no micellar waters accessible here and then two are being released within the space of a month. I've been using Simple's for the last week in place of my usual makeup removers so I could give it a fair go. The solution itself gets off so much face makeup. It's not as great on the eyes, especially if you're fond of heavier eye makeup+mascara. One thing to be mindful of is that it is scented. My skin's not overly sensitive these days so that wasn't an issue. I did like this, but I'm not sure I'd repurchase it.

Rimmel Wonder'Full Waterproof Mascara*-The original Wonder'Full mascara launched last year and its waterproof counterpart was recently released. I can't compare it to the original mascara but I was sadly a bit underwhelmed by this one. In terms of longevity it was great, but I just felt like it made my lashes look a bit 'meh'. 

Tanya Burr Everyday Flutter Lashes-Can Tanya Burr do no wrong? Her lashes are pretty awesome. Now I've not worn these half lashes yet but next time I make a video I'll bring them out. Half lashes are meant to be easier to apply than full lashes and designed to not appear as dramatic. I'll keep you posted.

Skinfood Cleans All Cleanser*-This was sent to me by Skinfood a little while ago and I found it in my sample stash and decided to give it a whirl last week. I can't really comment on it much as my skin had a bit of a tantrum, thanks to a rather heavy SPF I decided to chuck on my face #regrets. As a result I reverted back to my one and only cleanser love. I'll try this again though now things have settled so I'll report back if anyone's interested. 

-Have you tried any of these products yet? What did you think of them?

*PR Sample