I've been denting this palette for over two weeks now, so it's definitely time to wrap-up this round of Project Dent and start working out which item I'm going to dent next.

As with the Too Faced palette I dented alongside this, I wasn't expecting to see much progress over a two-week period, and indeed there isn't much but I can see some.


I must have owned this palette for something like six months now, and while I have used it, I haven't used it a lot.

Problem is, I'm always panning something and so many of my products get cast aside for a good deal of the year - which is of course why I started doing Project Dent in the first place. Through this project, I can make sure that everything I own sees some good use every year.


The question is whether I love this palette as much as everyone else does, and I have to say at this point that I'm not sure I do. Yes I like the formula and yes I can see why it's a staple for many, but I personally feel that it's quite a limiting palette despite having twelve different shades.

Indeed, I find many of the shades to be interchangeable on my colouring - which could partly be because I don't wear heavy eye looks, and when you're wearing things lightly, they're more likely to look the same - but I have heard others say that this palette doesn't do enough for them so I know I'm not the only one.

Anyhoo. Here's how the left quad of my palette looked back on 15 April:


And here's how it's looking today, 1 May:


Below I've enhanced the above two shots for clarity.

Two weeks ago:


Now:


Middle quad, two weeks ago:


Now:


Two weeks ago, enhanced:


Now, enhanced:


Right quad, two weeks ago:


Today:


Two weeks ago, enhanced:


Today, enhanced:


So I can see some movement in all twelve shades, but there's certainly not much progress to speak of. Indeed, I think it would take another round or two of Project Dent to get anywhere with this palette, so I may just have to bring it back later on in the year.

Do note that I haven't reviewed it this time around because I want to spend more time with it before I give you my thoughts. For me, a review is more useful if you sit on things for a while after you've bought a product: that way you'll know whether it stands the test of time.

That's all from me for today. All that's left to do now is pick out my next item for Project Dent! 

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

Hello and welcome to another Mecca Beauty Loop unboxing post! 

I'm a bit late with mine because we were away when the boxes came out, so I had no choice but to make an online order and ask my neighbour to sign for it and hang on to it until we returned. Otherwise I might have missed out, and no one wants that ; )

I was a bit nervous about getting mine online, I must say. Reason being, I've only ever ordered these boxes online twice before and both times I ended up getting a dud box. I was worried this would happen again. Thankfully it didn't, and I got the box I'd hoped for.

There's what's in it:


So you get an exfoliant and a serum, as well as a cream highlighter and also a lip gloss.

I'm excited. It's a well-rounded box and I'll use everything in here.

Let's have a quick look at each item in turn.


Urban Decay Hi Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lip Gloss in Naked

This claims to give you high shine without the sticky finish. It should glide over the lips with precise ease, delivering long-lasting, bold shine.

I'm always up for trying new lip glosses so I'm really looking forward to using this. These glosses currently have five stars on Mecca's website, which is always a good sign.

There's the colour we received (looks like we all got the same):


'Naked' looks like a nice, medium pink - and while pink usually isn't my colour, I'll certainly try this.

The sample size is 1ml (the full-size is 7ml), which is definitely enough product to get an idea of whether the formula works for you. Can't wait! I'll just finish the lip gloss I'm using first and then I'll crack this one open.


Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Stick in Champagne Flash

I'm so excited about this one, I can't tell you. I've been wanting to try these since they came out, but because I so rarely use cream highlighters, I couldn't justify buying one. Now I have a mini, which is all the product I would ever need anyway.

According to the product description, these should create an instant flash of glow. They claim to have a smooth, weightless texture that's designed to give you a seamless highlight.


There's the mini packaging above. It has some weight to it, which is nice, so it makes you feel like you're holding an expensive product.

There's 1.4g of product in these (the full-size is 6.1g), so you're getting a decent amount and I can see mine lasting for ages.


There's the colour above. It's a nice champagne shade that should suit a lot of skintones.

I'll be reviewing this at some point, so stay tuned for that if you're interested.


Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment

This is a product I've used and loved for years. I've reviewed it here.

It's indeed an intensive exfoliating treatment so it's not for the fainthearted, but it does work and I personally don't find it to be too abrasive so I can happily use it once a week.

Lucky for me, I was going to repurchase the travel-size of this when my spending ban lifts in June, but I don't need to now: this 7.5ml tube will last me at least six months. Huzzah.


Drunk Elephant TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum

This is apparently a cult-favourite. It's described as a powerful blend of AHAs and BHAs that refines and resurfaces like no other for your smoothest, most radiant complexion yet.

I can't wait to try this. The sample is 5ml in size, which isn't bad for a serum, and it's had some amazing reviews on Mecca's website so I reckon that it'll be good.

Problem is, it costs more than I would typically spend on a serum ($132 AUD for the 30ml full-size), and I'm unlikely to buy it at that price.

In sum

Not a bad box!

I can't wait to use all of these and I'm happy with everything in here.

Do let me know in the comments what you received in your box and whether you're happy with it.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

Hello and welcome to my April Project Pan update.

As mentioned earlier, I'm a few days late because we went up to Noosa for ten days so I wasn't able to take photos and post until I returned, but we're here now so that's the main thing.

As you can see above, I've finished four more products: my Alpha-H and Peter Thomas Roth masks, as well as two lip products from Alpha-H and NYX.

There's the marker sheet for the NYX product:


The marker sheet also shows my progress on the Savvy brow pencil, as well as my markers for the new items I'll be introducing below.

As for the rest of my list:


Here's what's left:

  • J.One Jelly Pack
  • Chantecaille Just Skin Anti Smog Tinted Moisturiser SPF 15
  • BareMinerals BareSkin Serum Concealer in Medium Golden
  • RCMA No Colour Powder
  • Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in Bronzed
  • Laura Mercier Baked Powder in Highlight 01
  • Savvy Eyebrow Pencil & Wax in Light
  • Skinstitut Enzymatic Micro Peel
  • Elizabeth Arden Fragrance in Green Tea
  • Revlon Uniq One Hair Treatment
  • Hair Nutrition Tamanu Oil Serum
  • Revlon Balm Stain in 001 Honey
  • NXY Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in Castle
  • Alpha-H Absolute Lip Perfector
  • Jurlique's Love Balm in Rose
  • Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch Primer
  • Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask
  • Alpha-H Balancing & Pore Refining Mask with Jojoba

So I finished ten products this month. Woot woot! That's up there with one of my best months ever (twelve products finished), and it leaves me with eight items total so I'll introduce two more below.

Let's have a quick look at each item in turn.


Above is how my Urban Decay bronzer looked when I introduced it to my list during April.

And here's how it looks at the end of April:


As you can see, I've made some reasonable progress on this already - even though I was only using it on my body (focusing on denting an Hourglass bronzer for my face) throughout most of April - so I'm starting to think that I may just be able to pan it by my next makeup inventory post at the end of June. We'll see.

Note that the left side of the product has lifted off the pan (you can see this in both photos above), which means that whenever my brush hits that side, chunks flake away from the pan. Annoying. And extra annoying because this bronzer is relatively new and it's still well within expiry. Erk.

I suppose this will help progress move faster, but I'm not happy that I'm not getting quite as much value from this as I should: those chunks often fall on the floor and I can't use them.


Above is how my Laura Mercier highlighter looked last month.

And below is how it's looking now:


Hopefully you can tell that there's now a flattened area across the centre of the pan. Indeed, the product has become a bit softer now that I've moved past the surface layer, which means that it's moving faster.

Do note that once I've used more of this, I plan to retain a small amount to store in my Franken-palette for future swatch comparisons (perhaps 0.5g), so although I'll be panning most of it, I'm off the hook for that small amount.

This will likely last out the whole year, however, so there's a long way to go.


Next, my RCMA setting powder. I've been using this daily since I introduced it, but the line of powder hasn't changed so I haven't marked it again. I think this is because when I shake some out into the container I'm keeping it in, this unsettles the powder and more air gets trapped between the grains so the powder 'puffs up' and the level can sometimes look even higher than my original marker was. This makes it hard to judge progress but there's nothing I can do about it so I'll just have to hope that I get through it eventually (!).

My Savvy brow pencil: there's only a week's worth of use left in this (if that), and I almost considered including it in my empties for this month but decided to keep it going a little longer. There's not much time before it becomes impossible to hold, use and sharpen, so expect to see it in my empties soon.


The BareMinerals concealer I haven't bothered to mark again because I don't think the product has moved any further this month, even though I've used it almost every day. It may be that more product has moved down the side and settled at the bottom (which would explain why the marker hasn't shifted), or otherwise I can't see how much I've used through the tube. Both are possible. I'm going to occasionally use this as a foundation from now on, in an attempt to get through it this month. It's getting old now so it's time for it to go.

As for the Chantecaille tinted moisturiser, you can see that the marker has moved around halfway down the tube when compared to where it was, so there's a chance that I may finish it during May. While I think that June is more likely, it's clear that I need to review this sooner rather than later before it vanishes! I do like this product but I'll be glad to finish it so I can focus on something else.


My J.One Jelly Pack: I use this perhaps four times a week and that's enough for me at the moment. I've been panning primers for years and I'm sick of using the same one every day, so I don't mind slowing progress down and having more opportunity to use the rest of my collection. At this rate I'll be panning it for six months, but I can live with that if it means working on other primers at the same time.

The Skinstitut mask is getting more use now that I've finished the other two masks on my list. I expect this to be gone sometime in June, and while I love it and would buy it again, I need to finish it because it's been open too long.

As for my replacements:


I've picked two for May: another lip product and also my Marc Jacobs eyeliner.

While at the moment I'm preferring to pan non-makeup items to give myself the freedom to use the products in my collection, I do have my June makeup inventory in mind so it's not a bad idea for me to try to push out a few more items before then.


The first is my Maybelline lipstick in 555 Naked Coral. I haven't reviewed it yet but I've used this formula before and know I really like it, so I'm happy to pan it until it's done.

It's brand new so there's a fair chance that I won't finish it before my June inventory, but I'll certainly try to knock it out before then. Looking forward!


Last up, my Marc Jacobs eyeliner. I've marked this and the lipstick on my sheet above, and you may notice that there's not a heap of this left, but I only ever line my upper waterline with it so I can see it lasting a good few months.

It's a great formula but I prefer brown liner so I'll be happy to move it out of my collection.

In sum

That's all from me.

I hope you enjoyed this little post, and that you're going well with your own panning projects.

At some point in the next week or so I plan to do a 2018 Project Pan tally post so I can count up everything I've finished to date. I'll be interested to see how we're looking!

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

I introduced this palette to Project Dent back on the 13th of April, and it's the 30th today so it's definitely time to wrap-up this round of Project Dent.

Problem is, despite using it every day during the denting period, I can't see much visible progress! Indeed, it may just be the item that's shown the least progress of all the items I've ever dented.


I've had this palette for two years now, and while I do really like it, it's not a complete palette for me so I tend not to reach for it.

Reason being, it's too warm so I always need to pull in some cooler tones when I use it - otherwise it travels into allergic reaction territory on my colouring.

If you're interested in hearing more on that, I've reviewed it here.


Anyhoo. I introduced it to Project Dent so I could get more use from it, and I paired it with Kat Von D's Shade & Light Eye so that I had some cooler tones to use along with it. 

I took both palettes away with me and used those exclusively for a couple of weeks, so you'd expect to see at least some progress - but unfortunately I can't see much (even to the naked eye).

Here's how it looked on 13 April:


And here's how it's looking today, 30th April 2018:


Below I've enhanced the above two shots for clarity.

Back on 13 April:


And today:


As you can see, it looks like I've barely touched this!

The only shadow that's showing any kind of dip is Peanut Butter Cup (top right), although admittedly it's hard to see that in the above progress shots.

Otherwise all the other shadows look about the same, even though I've used them all frequently during the 2.5 week denting period. Indeed, I've used some of the shades (eg Spread the Love, Bananas and Extra Creamy) every day - but you wouldn't know that by looking at the palette.

I think part of the problem is that I wear very soft eye looks so I'm not wearing much shadow each time, but I guess these shadows are also quite tightly packed so you're never going to see much progress over a short period.

I do plan to dent this again in 2018: fingers crossed for me that we'll see more progress next time!

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

This product was sent to me for review and I was excited to try it because I do have quite a few grey hairs these days but I've been too lazy to dye them.

The problem with dyeing your hair is that you need to wash it, apply the colour and then wait for it to develop before stepping under the shower a second time to wash it out. The whole process takes an hour at least, and I have two toddlers so I have neither the time nor the energy for all that.


Indeed, this product sounded like a god-send and I couldn't wait for it to show up. As soon as it arrived, I sprayed my greys with it at the earliest opportunity.

I'm pleased to report that it works. Problem is, it's dried out my scalp and given me dandruff, so there goes that.

Mind you, I haven't seen anyone else complain about dandruff (see eg the reviews on beautyheaven), so perhaps it's just me.


L'Oreal claims/product details:

  • Perfectly covers grey roots in seconds
  • Perfectly blends in with your hair colour (matches 85% of hair colours)
  • Dries in 1 minute
  • Water resistant
  • No transfer: lasts until shampooed out
  • Housed in a pinpoint micro-diffuser spray bottle for even application
  • Available in five shades, from light blonde to black
  • Free of ammonia, peroxide and synthetic dyes
  • RRP $15.95 AUD for 75ml, but do shop around


Verdict

This product is ideal for those who can't be bothered dyeing their hair or who don't want to visit the hairdresser every six weeks to get their grey roots dyed. That is, it's ideal if it works for you without drying your scalp out, which unfortunately it's done for me.

You spray it along your roots to conceal grey hairs and it does do this, although in my case I need to apply quite a bit to build the colour and get it to cover the grey enough that it's no longer noticeable (I have dark brown hair and the shade I have is Dark Brown).

It's easy to apply but I often wind up with brown dots on my forehead that look like freckles (maybe one or two dots per application), so I need to clean those off and this can upset my makeup. For this reason I've learned to apply this first and my makeup second.

I've seen some people say that this product doesn't last well on them, and while I don't have that problem (perhaps because my hair is dry so it 'clings' to product like this), what I can say is that it has given me a dry, itchy scalp and also dandruff (sorry for that detail) within only a few uses.

Indeed, I have an itchy scalp as we speak so I've had to stop using the product for that reason. Worth noting is that I haven't had dandruff for over a decade now and this is the only haircare product I've changed recently so I know it's responsible. Plus my scalp is only dry and itchy in the areas I've been applying it, which confirms that it's the culprit.

I also don't like the finish this product leaves on my hair: it's like a thick, sticky hairspray and my hair feels yuck to the touch where I've applied it, plus it looks dull and lifeless in those areas.

Overall I think this product works and it's an excellent idea, but it's not perfect and I'll have to stop using it now that I've tested it because it has dried out my scalp.

Not for me.

I actually started denting this product back on the 30th of March, and today's the 29th of April so I've been denting it for a month.

While I normally only let Project Dent run for two weeks, in this case I extended it because I wanted to travel with this palette so there was no point in winding up a round of Project Dent only to take this palette away with me and use it daily anyway.


Do note, however, that even though I've been denting it for that long, I did bring another Hourglass travel palette away with me so for the last two weeks, I've been using both of them. This means that the blushes in this got used daily for the first half of the denting period but not for the second half.

Still, it's had a good run and it's now time to put it aside so I can focus on other things.


If you're interested, my Project Dent intro post for this palette is here.

And I've reviewed it here if you'd like to see that.

Let's get straight into progress shots.

Here's how my palette looked one month ago, when I introduced it to Project Dent:


And here's how it's looking now, after one month of use:


Let's enhance the above shots for clarity.

Last month:


Today:


Ok, so there's been some movement and I can see visible changes in the surface of all six powders - even in the photos (more so in real life).

Both the setting powders, Diffused Light (top left) and Dim Light (top right) are showing visible progress and this doesn't surprise me because I've used them every day. Dim Light especially is looking flatter, which makes sense because I use it over my whole face while I mostly use Diffused Light under my eyes. 

Between those is the highlighter, and that's definitely flatter in the centre of the pan (over quite a wide surface area). You should be able to see this in the photo above. This isn't my favourite Hourglass highlighter so I've mostly been using it on the body and sometimes on the eyes, but I'm pleased to see visible progress nonetheless.

As for the bronzer, I've used so much of this that the surface swirls look completely different. Indeed, if you compare the before and after shots, you'd be forgiven for thinking they weren't the same product! Just looking at how it compares to the blushes (which I've used the least), after one month of solid use I've used perhaps one sixth of the bronzer (if that), so looks like this little 1.3g pan would last at least six months of daily use. Not bad!

Last up, the blushes. I haven't used the purple one much as a blush but you should be able to see that I've used a good chunk of the gold swirl (bottom middle). It's a colour I really love on the eyes. The pink one is showing visible progress in the centre, and that's because I used it quite a bit on the eyes. These blushes will of course be the last men standing when I eventually pan this palette. Blushes usually are.

Overall it's been a good round of Project Dent and I'm looking forward to working out what I want to dent next.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x
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