W7 In The Buff: Lightly Toasted Swatches

This palette is the 3rd w7 palette, and the last Urban Decay dupe. They are incredible palettes. If you can't afford the Urban Decay Naked palettes, I highly recommend these. In New Zealand you can purchase these from Postie, and occasionally the makeup sales also stock w7. They generally sell for about $15 a pop. 

I've previously posted about the w7 palette In The Buff, and will be posting abut In The Night, which is their smokey eye palette. I still have to get the 2nd palette which is called In The Nude.This one is the dupe for Naked 1. The great thing about  these palettes s that the colour of the packaging corresponds with which palette it's duplicating.

So all these palettes come with 12 shades. Lightly toasted leans toward more bronzey shades.

Starting from the left, and because I'm terribly uncoordinated, the shades start at the bottom, I will show the swatches and label them. 

Left Picture from the bottom: Teddy bear, wonderland, cracker

Middle left from the bottom: happy, lady luck, twister

Middle right from the bottom: di di, delilah, magic

Right from the bottom: It's a dream, up in smoke, dawn

The only problem I found with these shadows was that the black wasn't as opaque as the other shades, which i suppose is okay because then theres not much chance of over doing it haha.

Overall, I love these shadows and I can't wait to finish my collection.

If you love cheap makeup, pick these up! Another bonus is that they don't test on animals!

If you have these, let me know how you like them.

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Olay Regenerist Face Brush Review

This blog post has taken a long time to come to life. That is because it is about skincare and I wanted to give it a good go before I decided what I though about it. If you've ever heard of the clarisonic, then you'll know what I'm talking about when I talk about facial cleansing brushes. This one is practically a dupe for the clarisonic, although it doesn't work quite the same. The facial brush I am reviewing today is the Olay Regenerist Face Brush. It is also called the Olay ProX Brush I think.

This is what it looks like:

I'm also going to chuck in a before and after. These photos are about 6 months apart, maybe a bit longer.

This is my before. I had quite bad acne and heaps of scarring. My cheeks were also quite red because of this.

Here is my after. My acne has improved dramatically, and my scarring has shrunken. My skin isn't really red anymore either. I hardly get and proper pimples anymore, except when its that time of the month.

This brush has two speed settings, and an on/off button. It's super simple to use. It also says it's water resistant only, but mine lives in the shower and is still fine. Although in saying that, I don't keep it submerged in water. I have dropped it in the shower before and the battery compartment came flying out and I thought I'd ruined the batteries, but all as well.

In the box, you get the actual hand held device, one brush head and a sample of an Olay face wash from the same range. I didn't use the sample given, but that's mainly due to the fact I already have like 100 face washes on the go. The brush head should be changed out every 3 months. They are sold separately in two packs.

This entire system only cost like $35, I think. In my opinion this is  a much nicer price to pay than the $200+ that the clarisonic is. I do still want to buy the clarisonic, but this is definitely a much more affordable stepping stone for me.

I have found this brush to be a godsend. My skin has never been so clean and clear before, and I do largely amount it to this. I recommend you go grab one of these cleansing brushes, whether it's this one or any other brand.

You can buy these from Farmers and the Warehouse.

I hope this was helpful, and if you've used anything similar I'd love to hear your experiences!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

W7 In The Nude Palette Swatches

To keep going with my new idea of matching up videos with blog post, I am going to do a swatch post!

If you haven't seen it already, this weeks video is a Valentine's Day makeup tutorial. In this tutorial I use w7's In The Nude eyeshadow palette. I picked this one because it's full of pinks and soft romantic shades. There is a link to it at the end of this post.

This palette dupes Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette. So without further adieu, here are the swatches! 

These first three were almost pointless to swatch. They are very pale, light shades used best for highlighting or blending. From the left, even though you can't really tell is Latte, Angel and Venice.

Latte is a pale yellow perfect for a base or brow bone highlight. Angel is a shimmery pink champagne colour that is really good on the lid, especially for halo eyeshadow. Venice is a darker nude pink colour. It's also matte which makes it good for a crease shade.

Next up we have some shades you can actually see. These, from the left, are Marilyn, Copper Pot and Sun Kissed. Marilyn is a lighter version of Venice, and leans more towards the pink side. It's also matte. Copper Pot in the pan looks very pink, but when swatched comes out copper. I would call this shade satin. Sun Kissed in the pan looks like what Copper Pot should. It's a shimmery shade and very bronze looking.

This half of the palette is darker than the first half, and make for good crease shades. From the left we have Alice, Bad Manners, and Coffee Cup. Alice is a very mauve, pink, taupe shade and I love using it in my crease. Bad Manners leans towards a more brown shade. It still has pink/warm undertones. Coffee Cup is a pretty explanatory name for this shade. It's almost a true warm brown, just like coffee.

Lastly, we have Mud Slide, Tokyo, and Fashionista. These shades would be best for smokey eyes. Mud Slide looks like a mixture of Bad Manners and Coffee Cup. Tokyo is a darker taupe, with a pink base although in the photo it leans more towards brown. Lastly is Fashionista. In the photo it appears black, but in real life its a dark purple, similar to eggplant.

If you wanna see these colours in action, in this week's video I use this palette to create a summer appropriate Valentine's Day look. Here is the link for that: https://youtu.be/Xjgdw7AK43k

Hope you guys like these swatch posts. I have now completed my w7 palette collection so still have two to swatch if you would like to see them!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Combined Makeup Sale Haul

Hey guys! 

Here is my first proper post of the year! Today I am bringing to you a makeup haul. 

Just before christmas we had two back to back makeup sales so I thought instead of bombarding you guys with a bunch of hauls all at once, I combined them into a big haul.

First up, I got got both these at the same makeup sale. The top one is w7 In The Nude and is a dupe for Urban Decay Naked 3.  The bottom one is w7 In The Mood which is an all matte palette. Both these palettes are amazing and super pigmented. I definitely recommend picking these up if you can. I have swatch posts of other w7 palettes if you would like to check those out!

The blush and bronzer palette I got from the second makeup sale (the same one as the w7 palettes) and the foundations I picked up from the first one. The blush and bronzer palette is by a brand called Profusion. It comes with 4 blushes, two bronzers and two highlights. They are all incredible pigmented and amazing and the only thing I fault this palette on is how powdery they are. The two foundations I haven't used much. I picked up Loreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation in Buff. I wanted a new foundation in a shade that matched when I was tan and this sounded interesting. I've used it once and didn't like it. It applied patchy and was basically non existant on my skin. I do want to give it another go though. The second foundation I picked up was Revlon Colourstay Aqua Mineral Foundation. I haven't really used this just because I'm not too sure how to actually use a mineral foundation. If you have any tips on how to use this, let me know!

The eyelashes and mascara I grabbed from the second makeup sale, and the eyeshadows from the first. Theres not too much I can say about the eyelashes as I haven't used them yet. I'm still learning how to apply eyelashes. The mascara is w7's Absolute Lashes which is a dupe for Benefit's They're Real mascara. I love it. It makes my eyelashes super black and long, and I haven't experienced any clumping with it. The three eyeshadows are Maybelline Colour Tattoo Pigments. I had no idea these existed until I saw these. I picked Downtown Brown, Breaking Bronze and Buff & Tuff. These are such nice eyeshadows. They blend super well and go on so smooth.

The w7 Brow Parlour and LA Girl Powder I picked up from the second makeup sale whereas the two City Colour products I grabbed from the first one. The w7 Brow Parlour has revolutionised how I do my brows. I used to use the Elf Brow Kit, but this has just blown my mind. It comes with a wax, highlight, blonde and brunette powder as well as a brush/spooly and tweezers. My brows have never been more on point. I use this with the City Colour Bold Brow Gel. It was clear but since it goes on my brows it now has a tint to it. The other City Colour product is a dark spot corrector. This looks amazing underneath a brightening concealer. It is a orange based concealer so it cancels out the blue under my eyes. The last thing is the LA Girl Pro Powder. This is a translucent powder I picked up to try out baking. So far so good!

Lastly, my favourite products. Lippies! These all came from the same makeup sale I believe. Firstly we have three Rimmel Lip Lacquers. Aurora, Nova and Galaxy. All of them are just super pigmented lip glosses basically and they're awesome.  I also grabbed two Yes To Carrots tinted lip balms, although in my opinion they're not very tinted at all. They do moisturise well though. The one actual lipstick I grabbed was a Revlon one. It's colour is Hot Cocoa and is a warm brown colour. I'm totally digging the brown lips trend, I'm just too scared to try it out myself. Lastly, I grabbed a lip gloss. This is Maybelline Colour Sensational Lip Gloss in Luxe Lilac. Theres not much to say about this, its just your standard every day lipgloss.

I hope you guys liked this new idea of pairing up Youtube videos with a blog post.

Let me know what you think about it.

Here is the video for this blog post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCU2nTt9G0o

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

New Year!

Hey guys,
I know I've been absent for a few months but I've been having a serious case of writer's block, and with the christmas period I was working a heck of a lot and wanted to spend the time with my family.

I'm also in the middle of planning my wedding which is in February! I've just been so busy lately that I've let my blog especially fall onto the back burner.

This year I am back into it. I have got different hours at work now, so I'm working on a schedule type thing to work around that.
Also, in order to keep writer's block at bay, I've been thinking that I'm going to do a blog with every video that I upload. They will be the same thing, so if you prefer the blog there will be a post there but if you prefer the video that will also be there. I think that will be the best way to make sure that every one gets what they like.

If you guys have any ideas or requests for posts you'd like to see, let me know!

My New Years resolutions for my blog and YouTube, is to make sure I keep up with regular posting.
I also want to be more regular with Instagram and Twitter too.

I hope you guys had a great christmas, and a wonderful new year!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

W7 In The Night Swatches

This palette is the latest in the w7 eyeshadow palettes that I have added to my collection. I still need to get In The Nude and Up In Smoke, which I believe is the latest one. In The Night is the first in their 'smokey' collection, with Up In Smoke being the second. Previously they had just done nude/neutral palettes.

Personally, most of the colours in this palette I wouldn't have considered 'smokey' as they are all still quite light. There are also some purple shades which is nice to see. Shakes things up a bit from the normal browns and blacks that generally come in smokey eye palettes. 

The colours are left-right, bottom to top. I'm really uncoordinated and couldn't figure out how to line it up with the palette and on my arm at the same time.

Far left, from bottom to top: Dusty, Wonderland, Summer

Middle left, from bottom to top: Atlanta, Abracadabra, Top Hat

Middle right, from bottom to top: Razzamataz,  Lady Luck, Laura E

Far right, from bottom to top: Party Pooper, Gate Crash, Bologna

As I've only just got this palette, I haven't really had a chance to play with it yet. The swatches make me excited to though, as they all seem quite strong and pigmented. Hopefully this one is just as good as the previous palettes I've tried. 

Let me know what you think about these palettes if you've tried them before.

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

XoBeauty Brushes Review

For my birthday this year, I received a set of XOBeauty brushes. YAY. I had a couple of experiences with these brushes before owning my own set. Not only was I excited to own something created by one of my youtube idols, but I knew that they were awesome brushes.

I got the 12 piece brush set which contains a powder brush, blush brush, bronzer brush, foundation brush, concealer brush, eyeshadow brush, angled eyeshadow brush, lip brush, small blender brush, large blender brush, eyebrow brush and a eyeliner brush.

First of all, I'm going to talk about the shipping. In New Zealand, XOBeauty have a flat rate of $5, so yay for cheap shipping. Secondly, I received my brushes less than 2 days after ordering. I ordered them on a Wednesday night, and by lunch time on Friday they were in my hot little hands. This is was incredible. 5 stars from me on this front.

Now onto the brushes. These are the best brushes I have used. I haven't tried many brushes, but the ones I have tried, although good, do not match up with my XOBeauty brushes. These are so soft and pick up the perfect amount of product. There is only one brush that I don't really use, which is the foundation/concealer duo brush. This is only because I prefer applying my foundation with a beauty blender or my flat top brush from Jessup. 

With these brushes, my makeup applies so much nicer. The powder brush sets my foundation with less product than my kabuki brush, as well as being so much softer and gentler on my face. A lot of these brushes are pretty equal with my Jessup brushes in what they do and how they apply. 

My favourite brushes from this set is the small blending brush and the powder brush. 

If you want to know how I clean them, I have a post and a couple of videos up on youtube that tell you how I do it. I've also found a new way to do it, and all that involves is micellar water, a cup and a towel.

Overall, I recommend this brushes to any one who asks. They are incredible. Super soft, super easy to use, blend well, and pick up the perfect amount of product. 

Thanks for readying guys! Any suggestions for future posts, just hit me up.

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Where Have I Been?

I know its been a few months since a post, but I've been working hard at school. Holidays are  coming up, so I'm getting really organised while I have a bit of time to relax and not worry about any assignments.

I have ideas coming out of my ears at the moment, which was also a bit of a problem and reason why I haven't been posting. I was having the worst writers block!.

So, I thought I'd just write a quick post to let you guys know that I'm still alive. And I'm hoping to get back into it, or at least have ideas written down and ready to go for when I get some spare time to write a post.

If you wanna know what I'm up to, and if I'm not posting too often here, check out my instagram which I'll link down below. I update the most often there.

Thanks for sticking around guys!
Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Outfits of the Week #1

I thought I'd start a new fashion orientated series, where I take photos of my outfits, and then put them in a post. I'll include sizes and where I got the clothing from in case you guys like a certain piece and wanna check it out for yourselves. 

So welcome to my first outfits of the week post. 

Let's get started!

Monday was a lazy home day so I was in my pyjamas all day, so no photo for this one! 

Tuesday I had my first day of work at my new job. My dress code entails I wear mostly dark colours. I wore a polka dot shirt which I got from JayJays, a navy striped jumper, also from JayJays, coated skinny jeans, what a surprise they're from JayJays too, and a pair of combat boots from Rubi Shoes. That same day I wore a necklace set from JayJays too. 

Wednesday was another work day. That day I wore a black polka dot dress from JayJays, a jumper from Supre, 120 denier tights from Equip and the same Rubi combat boots. I forgot to take an outfit selfie for this day, so I recreated the outfit in a (hopefully) artistic way. 

Thursday was my last day of work for the week, as well as late night shopping. I'm on the hunt for a dress for my 21st, so if you have any suggestions for shops or sites that I can check out, let me know! I wore some leggings from Kmart, a top I picked up from SaveMart for $6 and my short black cardigan from JayJays. I wore some black riding boots that I bought from WildPair. 

Friday was another at home day, so no outfit selfie as I was in my pyjamas again all day. If you wanna see my pyjamas then let me knownhaha. They generally consist of pants and a hoodie! 

On Saturday, it was a chill day. A lot warmer than it had been during the week, so I forgoed tights that day. I wore a black floral dress from JayJays and a khaki cardigan from there as well. I wore some small boots that's I got from 

WildPair too. 

Sunday I also forgot to take an outfit selfie, but I helped Blake build a fence so I got incredibly dirty! 

So there was the first weekly outfits post. I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Also, I apologize for the lack of posting lately. I've been so busy with assignments but now I'm on holiday so I can hopefully get back on track. I'm also thinking about altering my upload schedule for my blog and YouTube as at the moment with studying, doing it all on the same day is difficult. If you have any suggestions let me know! 

Shannen xx

Don't forget to check out all my other sites and follow me!

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Estee Lauder DoubleWear First Impression

I can't remember if this is my first first impression or not. But I really like these, and I'm not yet ready for the commitment it takes to film a first impression, so I thought I'd blog about it instead. It's a bit simpler, considering I'm at school all day, so I can just take a selfie instead of filming every few hours.

Any ways, enough of a blurb. I got a free sample of Estee Lauder's DoubleWear liquid foundation. I was colour matched to Ecru. Now as I believe from what the lady told me, Ecru is a neutral shade meaning it isn't too warm or too cool. I am a NW15 at MAC if this helps anyone. I basically have to buy the lightest shade in foundation I can find in the winter time and not many brands carry such light shades. Thankfully DW does.

I'm going to insert photos from throughout the day right now, and then give my impression on this foundation.

Straight after applying it was amazing. It's a full coverage foundation, and it definitely was. Aside from the bumps on my skin, it covered the redness and any flat blemishes I had. It's also the best I've seen my under eye circles, even though I did still wear concealer. It was a very matte foundation, so I added highlighter.

Approximately 5 hours later, the foundation had barely moved. I had some disappear on my nose but thats normal for me coz I touch it a lot. I also got no smudging under my eyes from my mascara or eyeliner either which is a big plus in my book. The only thing I noticed was that my highlighter wasn't as highlightery anymore.

By the end of the day before I took my makeup off, the foundation was still pretty good and I could probably have gone for a few more hours without needing to touch up at all. The only places where it had worn off was my nose and lips, but thats because I removed my lipstick, and again rub my nose a lot.

I'm definitely in love with this foundation. The only issue I have is that Estee Lauder is a brand that still tests on animals, so I am going to have to look for a dupe. If you have any suggestions let me know, I would be keen to try!

Also, if you like first impressions or anything similar, let me know and I'll keep them up!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

DIY Scrubs for Face and Body!

One weekend Blake and I went out, bought a load of stuff and made things with said stuff. I thought I would document the experiment and give a recipe for all my lovely readers to follow. 

This recipe is just for a simple body scrub. You can change it how you please, add or remove or swap around the different ingredients.

The ingredients you will need (in a basic sense) is coconut oil (or any other kinda oil ya like), brown sugar, sea salt, tea tree (if you have acne prone skin) and any essential oils that you like (we used lavender) 

First, chuck some sea salt in a bowl. This amount depends on how much you wanna make.  

Next you wanna put the sugar in the bowl with the salt. You only need about half of how much salt  you put in. so like a 1:0.5 ratio, or something like that. 

 Now blob tonnes of coconut oil (or whatever oil you used) into the bowl. And when I say tonnes I mean like 3 or 4 tablespoons. Measurements don't really matter, you just gotta play it by ear.

 Oh I forgot! You need honey and bicarb soda. The honey is good for skin, and I can't remember why the soda is in there, but I think it helps with exfoliating. Refer to Pinterest for that one. 

 This is where you put your oils in. You only need a few drops of each. Especially if you are using tea tree oil as it can be harsh on the skin if you use way too much.

Now mush it all together! You want a kind of solid, but not much, but kinda pliable mixture. It needs to be solid enough to not slop of your body when you're rubbing it around but you need it soft enough to smoosh it in and exfoliate that beautiful body.

 And voila! Into a pretty container it goes for storage, until the next time!

I hope you guys enjoyed this! We had heaps of fun making these. 

We also made a coffee scrub which is almost the same recipe except you don't use honey or bicarb soda or essential oils and instead you use instant coffee.

Let me know if you gave it a go!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

ModelCo Lipstick Swatches and Review

Not too long ago I got gifted three ModelCo lipsticks. They are the Party Proof Matte Lipsticks. I have got three colours. Disco Fever, Peony and Red Velvet.
Disco Fever is an orange, but quite muted. It also leans a bit more peach than actual true orange.
Peony is a red, but again quite muted. It is also not a true red, being more pink based.
Lastly, we have Red Velvet. This colour is a true red, although a bit darker than most. It's hanging in between neutral red and blue based red.

All of these colours are beautiful and last really well on the lips. The only thing I have to say about them is that they're not matte like stated. Instead I would call them more of a satin finish, maybe even a demi-matte. They still have a bit of shine to them, like you will see in the pictures below. The packaging is well done too. It's nice and simple, with the name of the product on the front. The font is also in the colour of the lipstick, so you don't even have to open the tube to know what colour it is. Another great thing about the packaging is that no matter what way you store it, you're going to know what colour it is because there is a label on the bottom, but the top is see through as well. It's really great. Even though they're not actually matte, they're awesome and they smell great.

 Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

AContour Kit: Swatches and Review

I'm sure you have all heard of the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kits. They're all the rage at the moment, either powder or cream. So today I am bringing to you a cheaper alternative. ABH Contour Kit runs at $40US, this is roughly $50NZ. Since not everyone has a spare $50 lying around, if you can get your hands on it, pick up the Australis AContour Kit. This can be purchased from Farmers for $21.50. That's less than half of what the ABH Kit is worth! I have tried both the ABH kit and obviously the Australis one. I prefer the Australis one. Not only is it so much more cheaper, but I also found it to be a whole lot more pigmented. Both brands don't test on animals either, which is a massive plus in my book!

The only downside about the Australis contour kit is that it only comes in the one "shade". I'm super pale, (MAC NW15) and it still suits me fine. I'm not sure how it would work if you have darker skin.

Heres the ABH Contour Kit versus the Australis AContour Kit:

ABH Contour Kit

Australis AContour Kit

As you can see, they are pretty much the same. The quality is basically the same too, so it just depends on whether you want to spend $50 or $20. You really can't go wrong with either. 

I'll leave some swatches of the Australis kit below so you can see a real life swatch of the colours. 

Swatches of the highlight shades

Swatches of the contour shades

I hope this helps you out, and that the swatches help. I really love the Australis Contour Kit, and if you've tried it, let me know how you got on with it!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

W7 In The Buff Pallette Swatches

I bought this palette in a makeup sale a little while ago, I have a video with the haul that these are mentioned it which I'll link below, at $15. A nice cheap palette from a brand I have heard good things about. The first thing that attracted me to this palette was it's likeness for Urban Decay's Naked palettes. This one in particular is a dupe for Naked 2. The colour are pretty much identical. I plan on purchasing the other 2 palletes in this range which are In The Nude and In The Buff: Lightly Toasted. Especially considering how cheap they are and the quality that they are as well. Another awesome thing about w7 is that they don't test on animals! That's a huge deal for me as I'm trying really hard to purchase cruelty free brands.

So as I said, I paid $15 for this palette. I could've got 2 for $25, which I now wish I did. But as I hadn't tried this brand before, I didn't want to spend heaps only to not like it. You get 12 shadows in this palette that range in shades as well as finishes. There are some mattes, some shimmers, and some metallics. It's a nice range to choose from when doing my makeup. As you can tell in the swatches, the quality is incredible. The pigmentation is to die for. They blend really well. Just overall these are great eye shadows. I highly recommend them if you can get your hands on them!

First up we have Buff, Camel and Sand. Buff is a matte yellow white shade that's excellent for brow bone highlighting. Camel is a metallic bronze shade. Sand is a warm white shade that's also a good highlight.

Here we have Dust, Chocolate and Topaz. Dust is a more brown version of Camel. Chocolate is a warm taupe matte shade. This one is my favourite in this palette. The last one, Topaz is a very brown bronze shade, also a metallic/shimmery type of shade.

The next three are all semi matte, satin shades. Theres Earth, which is a browner version of Chocolate. Storm is a dark grey with a olive undertone. Lastly there's Silk, which is a beautiful Champagne colour.

The last three swatches are Wave, Thunder and Onyx. Wave is the darkest brown in the palette, but still quite similar to Earth and Topaz. Thunder and Onyx are the darkest colours in the whole palette, but both are beautiful. Thunder is the love child of Onyx and Storm, but with brown undertones, Whereas Onyx is just a straight up matte black shade. 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you've tried any of these palettes, and what you think of them!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Blog: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com 

Battle of the Cruelty Free Eyebrow Products

As a strong lover of all things makeup, I am trying to build my collection in a cruelty free way. This can be quite difficult as there is limited products to choose from in New Zealand. It's also quite difficult to know who is actually cruelty free, because some sites are not very reliable. So here I am bringing you a post that will help you bring a decent cruelty free brand.

First topic of this maybe ongoing series is eyebrow products. Now we all know that eyebrows are important, they frame the face. So we need good products that will do that, and last.

The first product is a well known brand called E.L.F. I picked mine up from K-mart for $10 and it's in the colour Ash Blonde. This will also be well known as Shaaanxo uses it a lot in her videos. E.L.F. is a famous cruelty free brand, as well as being super affordable.

The second product is Australis Eyebrow pencil. This was about $12 I think, and is also from K-mart. Mine is in Blonde. This is much warmer than the E.L.F. product, but is really nice and easy for me to use if I'm in a rush.

The last product is W7 Brow Twister in Hazel Blonde. I got this from a makeup sale and I technically paid $5 for it. It was part of a 2 for $10 deal. This is my most recent purchase and is also the darkest out of the 3. I wasn't too sure about the status of cruelty free -ness on this brand. I had to do extensive research to find it out, and thankfully it is. It's also a UK brand, which I've been told has very strict rules and regulations on animal testing making it very difficult to actually test on animals.

At the moment, my W7 brow pencil is my favourite. Its not as quick and easy as my Australis pencil, but it doesn't take as long to do my brows if I used E.L.F. and a brush. I use E.L.F. when I have heaps of time to focus on really stencilling my brows on. E.L.F is definitely the perfect match for my brows, but I'm really enjoying the darkness of W7 right now. It might have something to do with me growing my hair out so my natural hair colour appears darker in comparison to the bleach, but I'm not really sure. Australis is too warm for my hair colour in general, but just to chuck it on lightly in a rush does the job, so I'm not going to complain.

If you have any of these products, let me know how you like them. Or if you buy one of them after reading this, let time know how they work for you.

Don't forget to check out my links listed below. If you have any idea how I can get all my links and social media to match my Instagram username, let me know. I've been trying to get them all to match for ages!

Shannen xx

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjNKymrFCLKvcEZ4rqupZQw

Instagram: _shannenlorraine

Twitter: _kaleidocolours

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

For business inquiries: xkaleidoscopecolours@gmail.com