Nars Audacious Lipstick in Bette

After hearing quite a lot of rave reviews on the Nars Audacious Lipstick range I took the plunge and purchased the shade Bette ($44). It is a great dark vampy red, definitely a bold choice and not one I will reach for too often but I don't own anything like it in my collection. The packaging is stunning and I love the magnetic closure, Nars embossing on the bullet, and matte black finish.

Nars Audacious in Bette

I do prefer the Audacious packaging to the regular Nars lipstick packaging as it does seem more worthy of the money spent. As I mentioned before, I heard a lot of good reviews on this range and so naturally I had high hopes. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.

Bette swatched

Bette wasn't as creamy and smooth as I had expected it to be, and therefore it applied rather patchy. As some of you may know I suffer chronically from chapped lips and Bette did not help the situation. It clung to all of my dry patches, so I would recommend exfoliating and moisturising them before applying the rest of your makeup. I also found the formula to be quite uncomfortable and drying on the lips. 

Bette swatched on the lips

It's so unfortunate because I really do love the colour and I was looking forward to trying more neutral shades in the range, which got me thinking, perhaps this is just a fault with the darker shades or maybe I just got a dud. Despite all the negativity I've had surrounding the application of this product, I will still use it and I will look into other colours in order to compare formulas. I'm hoping to get my hands on Raquel soon.

This is definitely a disappointing product for me, which shades have you tried and loved/hated?

Dior Kingdom of Colours 2015: Lady

Dior Lady is my new holy grail. It's limited edition and part of their 2015 Spring collection so get it while you still can! Honestly the perfect pink/beige/nude with full opacity in just 2 coats! The formula is so creamy and the brush is slightly rounded which makes for a super easy application. I didn't apply a top coat and so far it has lasted 3 days without a single chip as you would expect from a $39 bottle of polish.

New Bag Thoughts..

I bought this Leona bag in a post-Christmas sale but I'm not entirely happy with it. It's quite high quality and was marked down from $129 to $60 but I felt very pressured into buying it as my mum was encouraging me and it seemed like a bargain. However, once I got home I started to get my senses and I doubt that I'll be keeping it. I do like it, I just don't like it enough to justify spending the money when it could've been spent on something I love. Time to make a trip back to Myer...

Everyday Makeup Items

The products I use for everyday makeup don't chop and change too often. Once I incorporate something into my bare essentials routine it usually stays there for quite a long time, mostly due to the fact that I'm so pale I've never found a foundation or concealer that doesn't look orange so I stick to what I know. And what I know is Asian BB creams.

My love affair with Asian beauty started after seeing images on Tumblr. I ordered a few products online and things just went from there. I haven't found a foundation yet but since July last year I've been using Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream as my daily base. I have the shade 13 which is the palest and it's absolutely perfect for my skin tone. Because it is a BB cream it doesn't have great lasting power or great coverage so I do use a fair amount of concealer and powder to set it in place. It's quite pricey for a BB cream but I'm willing to fork out the extra cash for all the skincare benefits, SPF of 42 PA+++ and the perfect colour match. 

From left to right: BB cream, swatch, blended

For concealer I managed to find one that's as close as possible to my skin tone and it's the Maybelline Super Stay 24hr Concealer in Ivory. Honestly, when it says 'super stay' it really means it. This concealer lasts a long time and gives great coverage but I hate it. The product creases on me, it sets before I have time to blend it in completely and it oxidises throughout the day to a slightly orange tone. Definitely will not repurchase.
I tend to use any old powder, as long as it's translucent. I was using my Revlon Colorstay Aqua Mineral Finishing Powder but then I discovered the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders and it's been a little neglected. This isn't the best product to use on oily skin like mine but it has a nice cooling effect when applied and sets everything in place.

Lastly I have my mascara, blush and lip products. These three things are less permanent and are always being switched around, but the ones I always tend to go back to are the Maybelline One By One Volume Express mascara, my Revlon blush in the shade Softspoken Pink and the NYX Butter Gloss in the shade Tiramisu.
What're your daily must-haves?