Ozsale - The Balm Haul - Small Ozsale.com.au review

A while back, probably over a month ago, Ozsale had The Balm products on their site for sale.
I got the news from other beauty bloggers and went straight onto the site to check it out. I've never made purchases from these 'deal' sites so i wasn't sure how they worked. It looked pretty easy and before i knew it, i had over $200 of products in my cart. After i had paid and was offered free shipping for the next hour i ended up spending another $100 *hangs head in shame*.

I'm a little embarrassed to say i didn't really get a good variety of things. I didn't want to spend money on things i wasn't going to use or things that i didn't need anytime soon.
I may or may not have ordered excessive amounts of concealer. I had been eyeing it in store and fascinated by the quality when i had tested it, but i couldn't justify getting another concealer to play with at that price.
Here is what i got :)

I bought a few Nude'tude palettes, these will make perfect gifts! The concealer, foundation, 2 Shade Lady palettes, betty lou-manizer and the mary lou-manizer.

Everything is so soft and swatches beautifully. The concealer is as lovely as i remembered. And the foundation... it is like my beloved discontinued Maybelline dream smooth mousse but slightly thicker and more coverage! Now i'm kicking myself for not getting more since it's such a large product if i was to use it as a concealer instead. But now i have no regrets for buying a second one with my 2nd order :D

I'm lucky that the shades i chose fit me perfectly too :)

Shipping took 4 weeks which is more than the stated delivery time but is how long i expected from what the beauty bloggers have said.

My little review of Ozsale.com.au is 2/5 stars. They have good brands on their site now and then. But how long it takes for delivery isn't very good. Also the products weren't bubbled wrapped at all. They were thrown all together into a plastic envelope and i'm surprised nothing broke too badly. There are dents in the packaging but only one nude'tude palette suffered slightly. The authenticity of the products are questionable as well. I had compared the Nude'tude palette and there is definitely differences. The packaging is a little lighter than the one i purchased in store. Which could be a manufacturing thing. And a few shadow swatch differently. The Ozsale ones do have an extra ingredient listed which might mean they are authentic but TheBalm has changed the formula since?

Fake or not, the Ozsale palette swatches better than the one from in stores... so i'm not sure what to think of that if they were fake. I have high doubts they are fake simply because the website sold the whole range offered by TheBalm including their skincare. I know there tend to be fake copies of popular items but not of every product available from a brand.

I also had an issue with my order, 2 palettes were missing. It might have been due to ordering multiple quantities of a certain palette and they overlooked that. However i had contacted them to request they resend or refund on the missing items. They have ignored my contact for over a week now. I have to go through Paypal to sort it out and am waiting for a resolution at the moment.

Wow strangely enough as i was typing that an email notification popped-up and my paypal case was resolved with Ozsale refunding the amount for the missing items :)

It took them a few days to respond to the Paypal dispute though. Overall if you shop Ozsale.com.au, use Paypal! I called paypal with another Ozsale issue last time and the girl was very helpful and was definitely on my side. I will probably rant about that another time. I have a few more purchases from them. So expect another post soon! Or when i find the time :)

My new Prada 1M0881 Peonia Cardholder :)

Had no intentions of getting this but had a little bit of store credit left over. 

I love it more than i expected. A little too thin but is the perfect size to hold together with my phone in one hand. Love it.

I wish i had time to blog but i'm just too busy to even breathe right now. Maybe after next week.
A few exciting purchases i've made recently to post about!

Bourjois Paris Sucre Spring 2012 Collection

Spotted this collection around 1-2 weeks ago. Although it seems a bit out of place in Priceline because of the way it's set up, the bright colours still caught my eye. Priceline seems to not carry the pink eyeshadow and has 2 different mascaras rather than one.

A little display box with the products sitting neatly inside.

After trying the Anti-choc No-chips polish last time, i am in love with them! They are very pigmented and dry quite fast. Usually 2 coats is all i need for perfection. I'm not a fan of the slanty brush though. I always miss one corner of my nail and i have to go cover the undried parts to get into that corner which leaves potential for clumpy polish.

Currently Bourjois at Priceline has a spend $25 and over to receive a free gift with purchase.

I couldn't say no to the polishes because the colours were too cute. At $13 each they are still pricey considering i can get O.P.I for $12 at ProNail supply. But there was a GWP so it was all justified!

The blush and 2 eyeshadows

swatches!

The blush is very nice and pigmented unlike most Bourjois blushes. It is a very pinky coral with shimmer from what i recall. The eyeshadow pots are super pastel and remind me of macarons!

 Here is what i got :)

The 2 limited edition polishes. RRP$13.00

This is what was included inside the GWP. An eyeshadow palette (pinky brown tones), mascara and nail lacquer in Magenta Show. Valued at $62.

I've used these polishes and they're nicely pigmented as expected. Spread on like a dream. And the colours are way too cute. I think i need to get backups! I hope i find a store that's not sold out. My total for the 2 polishes was $26 which just qualified from the GWP. I might consider getting the blush later too :)

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation Review

Got my hands on this a few months ago but haven't gotten around to using it till recently. And i hate to say it but i absolutely HATE this foundation. It is very thick, doesn't spread and has no coverage at all.
I can always tell how well the foundation spreads by the little hairs above my brows. With the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundations i can't see the foundation on my face when i smooth it all out. But with this Rimmel foundation, there are clumps and dry looking patches on my face.
Not only that, it doesn't spread yet is thick like a cream. I found the best way to use it is to pat it into my skin like a night cream. It clumps up on little hairs on the face and you can add more to fill in the gaps but it feels so thick already so i wouldn't want to do that.
After managing to get it on the skin without it being patchy, i was sad to see no coverage at all. On my freckles i can understand why, but on the minor pinkness in my skin? NO foundation has ever let the redness show through.
In conclusion, this foundation is horrible. It is more like a tinted moisturiser yet worse because it doesn't spread nicely either. It might work better on oily skin i suppose but the coverage is 1/10. It works great if you want almost no coverage and look natural but as i said, it clumps up on fine hairs on the face so you're better off with a tinted moisturiser.
I'm around NC20 in mac and the shade 100 Ivory matched me pretty well. Usually i got for the light-medium shades so i'm pretty surprised 'ivory' suited me. Maybe the Bourjois foundation is just too amazing and my standards have gone through the roof? :)