As a beauty blogger, I sometimes get asked if I'm a Makeup Artist, as many bloggers and influential YouTubers are qualified makeup artists. However, I'd call myself just your regular makeup enthusiast who likes to waffle on about beauty, I am definitely no makeup artist! I understand makeup, I do it pretty well on myself, but when it comes to doing makeup on other people I find it so difficult. It is a totally different ball game, so I have massive respect for those who are makeup artists.

When you're contacted asking if you would like to come in for a pampering facial - you definitely shouldn't turn that down! Last month, Michelle from Rosenthal contacted me asking if I'd like to come and experience her Radiance Facial*. At the time I thought it was going to be your normal facial with products and massaging etc but I was surprised by the technique she used - with no products involved! Read on to hear about my experience and whether I would recommend that you try it for yourself.

If you've not heard of Essence Cosmetics before you are in for a treat. Think affordable, fun, great quality, and did I mention, affordable?! The majority of the range in NZ is under $10, with prices starting at as little as NZD $2.95 for a lip liner. They are often bringing out brand new 'Trend' collections, with the Nauti Girl Collection being at the end of 2015. Because I am a little behind with some posts I hadn't had the chance to get this up sooner and sadly I don't think these products are in stores still. But, I thought I would still share my thoughts on them and chat about the quality and other aspects as you can still get similar products in the range.

Collection is a brand I've been familiar with for a number of years now, back when it was called Collection 2000! In the past couple of years, they have relaunched the brand making it available for us at Countdown supermarkets, and adding lots of new products to their range. A recent addition is the Eyes Uncovered Eyeshadow Palette* range, that has been raved about by UK bloggers.

Earlier this year Maybelline dropped a truckload of new releases here in NZ (see them here) and a lot of them I have been really loving. I was already a big fan of the Color Tattoo line (see my collection with swatches here), but in this new release, they brought out four new shades in the Leather finish*, and these become fast favourites.

I don't know where I would be without eyeshadow palettes - they are makeup essentials. Forget single shadows, palettes are where it's at! As a beauty blogger and someone who is just generally interested in makeup, I own quite a few palettes - MAC, Urban Decay, LORAC, TheBalm, Tarte, Zoeva - you name a brand, I probably own one of their palettes. The cheaper drugstore brands aren't really renowned for their palettes, and here in New Zealand, it's hard to find a good quality and relatively affordable eyeshadow palette with versatile colours. But L'Oreal are here to offer us some more options with the release of the La Palette Nude*. 

I am someone who is constantly painting their nails; pretty much every week I'll have a different colour on. This constant removing and changing can be pretty tough on the nails, so I have a few go-to products to help care for the nails, cuticles and my hands so they are looking in tip top condition.

Micellar Waters are all the rage right now in skincare and I can understand why. A lot of brands are bringing out their own take on the Micellar Water, Garnier being one of them. I always have a bottle of the Micellar Cleansing Water* in my bathroom and I'm here to give you five reasons why you should too.

It's that time again for the Clinique Gift With Purchase*! I thought the last one, that was exclusive to Life Pharmacy, was a good one (see it here), but I think this one trumps it with the gorgeous makeup bag designed in collaboration with Australian artist, Georgia Perry. This one is available exclusively to Farmers (online and in store) and runs from 4th May to 22nd May. All you have to do is purchase two or more Clinique products and this gorgeous 7 piece gift set is all yours.

I am a beauty subscription box junkie. My first ever blog post was an unboxing of one (that sadly no longer operates), and since then I've tried a number of them that are available to us in NZ. Sadly, we don't quite have the options like Australia, the UK or the US have in terms of monthly beauty subscription boxes, but this is where Beauty Review came along. Beauty Review launched the Best Beauty Box Ever service aiming to provide beauty boxes with many full sized products that are readily available for us in NZ. I was sent the Incredible Eyes Box* to try out, and I am seriously blown away by what I found inside. Keep reading if you want to know more about this service and have the chance to win one for yourself!

It's that time again for a beauty box unboxing! The Lust Have It Women's Beauty Box* for April has arrived and it is packed with some interesting products. If you haven't heard of Lust Have It, it is a monthly subscription service for those based in Australia and New Zealand where you receive at least 5 full size or sample products delivered to you. The March one was a bit hit and miss for me (see it here), but this one looks promising!

Each month Estée Lauder bring out a variety of different products across their luxurious skincare and makeup range. Lately, I've been lucky enough to try out quite a few of their latest launches and have been giving them a thorough testing over the past couple of months. These are specifically launches from February and March 2016, and I will have a post about the April and May launches coming soon. In this edition, you'll find the Night Wear Plus Anti-Oxidant Night Detox Creme, Pure Color Envy Sculpting Gloss + Lacquers, the Sumptuous Eye Collection and the Double Wear Waterproof All Day Extreme Wear Concealer.

I can't quite believe it, but it is actually May, which means we are almost halfway through the year. Ok, I might be getting ahead of myself here, but the time is going so quickly! With the end of the month always comes my monthly Empties, here you'll find all the products I finished up over the past four weeks and what I thought about them.