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Beauty

Holiday Gift Guide 2020 – Part One

WELCOME; to part one of my annual Coco and Chino’s Christmas Holiday Gift Guide 2020! This part one edition of the guide features latest holiday releases from brands Tatcha, Too Faced and Laneige, covering skincare and makeup for the beauty lovers in your life. I always get so excited for the Christmas releases, and I would love to share what is included in this first part of the guide.


Products, Textures and Formula
– LE Too Faced Salted Caramel Eyeshadow Palette; features eight shades in a mixture of mattes and shimmers. The shades range from warm tones to dark ones, the matte formula is nicely pigmented and the shimmers are a silky kind that are also decently pigmented. There is a nice light matte cream shade that can be used as a base. The shade names are, T-B & L-R: ‘Oooey Gooey’ – a vanilla cream slightly transparent, great for priming, ‘Golden Sugar’ – a warm shimmery copper brown, ‘Drizzle It’ – a vivid mid-tone matte orange, ‘Caramel Apple’ – a coral brown/red matte, ‘Butter Me Up’ – a shimmery golden medium brown, ‘Soft and Chewy’ – a mustard matte orange, ‘Toffee’ – a shimmery pink with silver shift and ‘Make Me Melt’ – a deep matte brown.

– LE Tatcha Pore-Perfecting and Protecting Set; features The Deep Cleanse 50ml, The Water Cream 10ml, The Liquid Silk Canvas 10g and The Kissu Lip Mask 5g. The Deep Cleanse is formulated with an oil-free gel cleanser with natural exfoliants and clarifying extracts from the Japanese Luffa fruit that gently lifts impurities, unclogs pores and the balances the skin moisture for a healthy-looking glow. The Water Cream is formulated with Japanese wild rose to smooth skin texture and works to visibly tighten pores. It also features Japanese leopard lily which reduces oil production, calms problematic skin and promotes turnover of the skin. The Liquid Silk Canvas is formulated with silk extract fibroin, the inner part of silk that nourishes skin into lustrous and healthy condition, and includes sericin; the outer part of silk which closely parallels the amino acid structure of human skin to hold in essential moisture and minimises flaking and dryness. The silk powder adds a pore-blurring element and helps makeup to apply smoothly and absorb excess oil. The Kissu Lip Mask contains peach extract to soften and smooth, squalane richly moisturises and improves the skin barrier function and it also includes camellia oil with vitamins, oleic acid and nourishing omegas 3, 6 & 9.

– Laneige Hydration-To-Go Kit For Normal to Dry Skin featuring 5 piece Gift Set; Moisturising Cream Cleanser 30ml, Water Bank Hydro Essence 10ml, Water Bank Moisture Cream 10ml, Water Sleeping Mask 15ml and the Lip Sleeping Mask 3g. The Moisturising Cream Cleanser is a cream formulated with plant-derived natural oils to hydrate the skin while it gentle cleanses. The Water Bank Hydro Essence uses a ‘water splash’ formula serum that pops moisture into the skin as soon as its applied. It uses the Green Mineral Water thats extracted via Laneige’s patented Ocean Brew Method, creating a dewy glow for skin. The Water Bank Moisture Cream is also formulated with the unique blend of Green Mineral Water, in addition to vegetable extracts from brussel sprouts, artichoke leaves and lima beans, forming a protective barrier and providing soothing hydration to leave the skin looking radiant and feeling hydrated. The Water Sleeping Mask is an overnight mask that is formulated with evening primrose and apricot extract, and contains the Sleep-Tox technology that purifies skin during sleep. Patented Moisture Wrap helps the skin to retain moisture throughout the night and the Sleepscent which is specially developed for the Water Sleeping Mask as an AmorePacific original, allowing skin to relax and rest during sleep, which boosts it to regenerate. The Lip Sleeping Mask is formulated with strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, arabica coffee bean, blueberry, quinoa seed extracts, shea butter, candelilla wax and carnauba wax.      

Worldwide Prices & Availability
– LE Too Faced Salted Caramel Eyeshadow Palette;
Australia: $39.95 AUD – $41.00 AUD
Available: online at MyQT, and only in-store and subject to stock as it’s LE, at Mecca.
USA: $20.00 USD – $27.00 USD
Available: online at Amazon, and only in-store subject to stock as it’s LE, at Sephora.
UK: £22.00 GBP
Available: only in-store and subject to limited stock as it’s LE, at Selfridges, John Lewis, Debenhams, Look Fantastic.

– LE Tatcha Pore Perfecting & Protecting Set;
Australia: $84.00 AUD
Available: in-store only and subject to limited stock as it’s LE, at Mecca.

USA: $68.00 USD
Available: only online at Yorkdale.

UK: Unfortunately it has sold out most places. Some items are available separately on London Loves Beauty and Amazon UK.

– Laneige Hydration-To-Go For Normal To Dry Skin Kit;
Australia: $36.00 AUD
Available: online and in-store at Sephora and Adore Beauty.

USA: $29.00 USD
Available: online and in-store at Laneige and Sephora.

UK: £18.50 GBP
Available: the exact kit isn’t available in the UK but there is a Hydration kit and it is available at Selfridges.


My Thoughts & Reviews
– LE Too Faced Salted Caramel Eyeshadow Palette; the powders in this palette blend quite nicely and have very little fall out which I really liked. Each shade is pigmented well and even the cream matte is decently pigmented, perfectly used as a primer underneath or to shape the brow bone. The scented powder really does smell just like salted caramel and is quite delicious, it isn’t too strong and it’s quite nice to smell as I apply the shades. I love the mini size tin case the palette is packaged in, it is very handy to take traveling, and I am enjoying the combination of the colours.

– LE Tatcha Pore Perfecting & Protecting Set; I feel like this is the perfect set to try out if you’re new to the brand and especially if you have dry skin. With your face, lips, under eyes and prep for makeup all taken care of in this kit, you can’t really go wrong. The Water Cream is an all-time fave of mine, it is so hydrating, soft, fast absorbing and never leaves the skin feeling oily or dried out. Highly recommend this set or ones like it from Tatcha.

– Laneige Hydration-To-Go For Normal to Dry Skin Kit; this k-beauty skincare brand is fast becoming my favourite skincare brand! The water-based formulas is a science my skin is absolutely loving. I really enjoy the water bank moisture cream, it is soft, buttery in texture and always soaks so easily into my skin, leaving it feeling hydrated and soft each application, the magic is that it lasts so long! If you follow my page on Instagram, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of the multi deep cleanser, well this kit has a terrific moisturising cleanser as well and it always leaves my face feeling so supple. If you have normal-to-dry skin, I highly recommend this.


Thank you for reading and checking out my part one of the Coco and Chino’s Holiday Gift Guide 2020. Stay tuned for another part to the guide and a further post on these featured products for a more in-depth look.

Beauty

Jo Malone London: Peony & Blush Suede – August 2020

Jo Malone London: Peony & Blush Suede – August 2020

Introducing one of my favourite fragrance scents from the popular Jo Malone London. This is the first fragrance that I ever tried from JML and I am hooked! It is such a stunning mixture of notes and it’s clear to see why it is one of the top sold scents from the range. If you haven’t already tested out this one and you get a chance to, I highly recommend it. In this blog post, I wished to talk about the finer details of this beauty, including the note range, inspiration behind it, all the way down to the packaging.


Let’s begin talking about the notes, starting with the top down to the base. There is a lovely floral section that is so soft and pretty, the select flowers are perfect together. There are so many things I love about this fragrance, and yes, I am already planning on a back up. My current bottle (one seen in this blog post) is now only half full, it is my go-to and I wear it everywhere.

Top; crisp red apple
Middle; jasmine, peonies in fresh bloom, carnation, gillyflower and rose
Base; luxurious blush suede

It’s that type of fragrance that has to be smelt in person to truly understand how delightful the mix of these notes are. The blend is stunning and spectacular! There is a reason this fragrance has 215 reviews for 5 stars, it is such a gorgeous one that will be forever loved I feel. Let’s start talking about the other finer details.

Product & Packaging
– Jo Malone London Peony & Blush Suede 50ml; the fragrance is housed in a clear, smooth glass 50ml bottle with a beige cream bordered labelling on the front. The font is black text clearly written with the title at the in the centre. The lid is a shiny silver round knob with an embossed edge design, it is absolutely stunning and the simplicity of this design is perfect. It is a spray spritz cologne, so the silver top has a nozzle it easily can be pressed and sprayed out of. I love the secure lid that clicks as it goes on and it’s quite perfect to take traveling with as well. I find the 50ml is a great size as it’s not too heavy or bulky, as the 100ml can be sometimes, depending on your situation. The product is made in England and ‘Jo Malone London’ the brand also originates from the UK, as you can tell in the title ‘London’.


Worldwide Prices & Availability
– Jo Malone London Peony & Blush Suede 50ml;
Australia: $106 AUD – 30ml, $145 AUD – 50ml and $212 AUD – 100ml
Available: online and in-store at Jo Malone Australia, Myer, Mecca and David Jones.

USA: $74 USD – 30ml, $144 USD – 100ml
Available: online & in-store at Jo Malone USA, Sephora USA and Nordstrom.

UK: £50 GBP – 30ml, £70 GBP – 50ml, £100 GBP – 100ml
Available: online and in-store at Jo Malone London UK, Selfridges, Look Fantastic, John Lewis and Harrods.


My Thoughts & Review
I am in love with this fragrance and I will forever buy it. It is stunning, absolute perfection, I’m the kind that enjoys floral scents as long as it’s subdued and not too strong and this is that. It blends out so perfectly but has a lovely musk after scent that lasts all day/night long. It is such a beautiful concoction of notes and it’s easily been one of Jo Malone London‘s top selling fragrances over the past few years. I am SO glad I discovered it and it’s the first scent from them I had ever tried, as I mentioned above earlier. Now there is three Jo Malone fragrances in my collection and I’ll update you in an upcoming post which other scents I have since added to my dresser. Would I repurchase? – without any doubt! I have already started planning to get a backup for when my current one runs out. It is THAT good and it’s fast become my top favourite fragrance out of all fragrances and it’s my go-to, I wear it everywhere. I hope you have found this blog review insightful and if you were ever curious about this one, I highly recommend checking it out, you might be able to get a sample from one of the David Jones or Myer counters, or even at Mecca too.

Disclaimer; all products mentioned and featured in this blog post were purchased with my own money, and all thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Beauty

Bobbi Brown Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss – April 2020

Bobbi Brown Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss – April 2020

Introducing the coveted new Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss high-shine colours from Bobbi Brown Australia! Now available in 12 shades, the formula is a plumping, hydrating, non-sticky gloss that ranges in tones from nudes to warm bolds. With an ingredients inclusion of avocado oil, jojoba seed oil, arabica coffee seed oil and hyaluronic acid, these are super smooth and ultra hydrating! I’ve been lucky enough to try out a range of the colours and I wanted to share my thorough review and thoughts about the new release.

Swatches & Formula
In the collection, there is a total of 12 high-shine glosses; including the limited edition shades created in collaboration with Yara Shahidi. With a super smooth formula that is hydrating, plumping & non-sticky, this range of glosses can be worn alone or over the top of a lipstick. The shades in my collection are: ‘Hot Streak’ – a bright vibrant red/pink, ‘In The Flow’ – a deep red/burgundy, ‘Slow Jam’ – a deep mauve pink, ‘Spring Bliss’ – mauve medium pink and ‘Forever Chill’ – a mid brown beige. Below, you can see the swatches from each shade in my collection…

This range of high-shine glosses can take you from nudes to bolds with a colour to suit all skin tones. The ingredients is packed with enriched hydrating oils, including jojoba seed oil, arabica coffee seed oil, avocado seed oil and sodium hyaluronate. They’re all free from parabens, sulphites, phthalates, gluten and animal derived ingredients. I love wearing them on their own and also over the top of my crushed lip colour lipsticks.

Prices & Availability
The high-shine Crushed Oil-Infused Glosses are available for $40 AUD each at the following stores & online; Bobbi Brown Australia, David Jones, Adore Beauty, Myer and Mecca Maxima.

Final Thoughts & Review
I love the hydrating, smooth formula and the long length of wear, they last quite a while upon wear. I also love that they’re non-sticky because that can be hard sometimes to find glosses that aren’t and these are definitely not sticky, such a plus! I enjoy the range of colours there is in the collection as well! Would I repurchase? Definitely! I love how the high-shine glosses can be worn both either on top of another lip colour or by themselves as an overall cover. Because they’re slightly translucent, you can build up multiple layers to get a more fuller coverage.

Disclaimer
The products above were kindly sent in to me for consideration of creating content with and writing a review. This does not alter my honest thoughts and opinions in any way.

Beauty

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Luxe & Fortune Collection – February 2020

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Luxe & Fortune Collection – February 2020

Introducing the brand new recently launched LE collection from Bobbi Brown Australia, the gorgeous Luxe & Fortune range! Featuring the Jeweled Rose Eye Palette with shimmer wash eyeshadow & metallic eyeshadow 1.13g each and eyeshadow in ‘Champagne Quartz’ 2.45g, the Luxe Liquid Lip Rich Metal in ‘Pink Crystal’ 6ml and the Luxe Lip Colour in ‘Rare Ruby’ 3.4g. Such a stunning trio of products! Not just the creamy pigmented formula of the luxe lip colour in Rare Ruby or the gorgeous sparkle from the liquid lip Pink Crystal, but the stunning red & gold package design & glow of the Champagne Quartz is out of this world! The whole collection really fits it’s own theme.


 

This beautiful collection was created and inspired in celebration of Lunar New Year. I think it’s such a lovely nod to it. Onto the products; I feel like the lip colour ‘Rare Ruby’ was made for me. The colour is a stunning burnt red-plum tone and is so gorgeous! I could wear it everyday, the texture is ultra creamy & smooth, the one swipe glide on type. I can’t reiterate it enough, the quality of the Bobbi Brown Australia lip products are really in a whole class of their own!

 

The luxe liquid lip in ‘Pink Crystal‘ is a mid-pink with silver shimmery flecks, it has a slightly sheer finish but can be layered up for further coverage. The texture is a buttery kind & the colour payoff really impresses! Check out the swatches of them below. With the Champagne Quartz shadow, I would describe it as a mid beige-gold and it is just stunning! 



Products & Formula
* Limited Edition Jeweled Rose Eye Palette 1.13g & ‘Champagne Quartz’ 2.45g – $70 AUD
– one swipe pigment, warm tones, easy to blend

* Limited Edition Luxe Liquid Lip Rich Metal in ‘Pink Crystal’ 6ml – $56 AUD
– gorgeous pink metallic flecks,

* Limited Edition Luxe Lip Color in ‘Rare Ruby’ 3.8g – $56 AUD
– one swipe pigment, gorgeous matte colour, mid ruby red tone

My Experience, Review & Final Thoughts
I love this entire limited edition Luxe & Fortune collection. The ‘Rare Ruby’ lip colour is the most perfect red and has a glistening satin finish, it is absolutely beautiful. The eye palette is a gorgeous colour story in way of warm tones and neutrals, the perfect shades for Autumn/Fall and could easily be used to create a smokey eye look with any of the shades. The pigment of the shadows is delightful too, the one-swipe kind and they’re lovely to blend too. I’ve found with the Luxe Liquid Lip Rich Metal in ‘Pink Crystal’, its gorgeous worn over the top of warm toned matte lip colours or even on its own as it it can be built up in cover with extra layers. It’s a beautiful bright mid tone metallic pink. I would 100% repurchase this collection.

Availability
You can find the collection available at Bobbi Brown Australia, Adore Beauty, David Jones and Myer.

Disclaimer
The products above were kindly sent in to me for consideration of creating content & a review. This does not alter my honest thoughts and opinion in any way.

Beauty

Meccaland 2019: Sydney, Australia

Meccaland 2019: Sydney, Australia

On May 18th 2019, my best friend Sandra and I met at Redfern Station and headed on our way to the locomotive warehouse where the second annual Meccaland was being held for 2019. From the moment of lining up, we could hear the music playing inside and see all the energy happening around us. A lovely host came and applied sparkle to our faces to give us a huge highlight glow! It was exciting as we got our FUN PASS tickets ready for receiving our wristbands. It wasn’t too long of a wait before we were walking inside. The entrance was filled with bright neon lights that curved over a tunnel.


As you can see, the neon light bars that formed the entrance tunnel were extremely pretty and bright. There was also cheerleaders dancing with pom poms to welcome the festival goers. It was quite evident already, Mecca had gone to a great level of effort for this event and it was HUGE! There were signs everywhere explaining what direction each booth was in, the centre stage and of course, the food!


Meccaland: The 411
Mecca land is a huge beauty festival held by host Mecca Maxima/Mecca Cosmetica, the major retailer of all things beauty in Australia, as you’ll likely know. In this event, Mecca invites multiple skincare and makeup brands to participate. Brands that included Too Faced, By Terry, MAC, Ciate, Clinique, Lanolips, Foreo, YSL, Drunk Elephant, Living Proof, GHD, Origins, Hourglass, NARS, Stila, Tatcha, Go-To Skincare, Bumble, Million Dollar Beauty, Kate Somerville, Lancome, Pathology, Mecca’s own Mecca MAX and many more! By that, it means setting up a booth and showcasing their latest releases and offerings, whilst also sharing knowledge, tips and tricks, advice and performing makeovers or other beauty services to festival goers who’ve booked in. It gives attendees the chance to purchase limited edition product that hasn’t yet officially released in the country. Pretty amazing, right? Wait till you see the setups and booths!

The Booths
There were so many areas to explore, all split into different ‘worlds’. Named ‘Temple Of You’, ‘The Wildflowers’, ‘Poster Park’, ‘City Of Lights’ and ‘The Queendom’. There was a theme to everything and the entire atmosphere morphed everybody there into a whole new world of all things BEAUTY. I tried to take photos of as many booths as I could, they were all decorated perfectly and had such a high energy vibe! Including the gorgeous ‘House of Drunk’ by Drunk Elephant and the ‘Isle Of Paradise’ swings. It was like one big playground for beauty lovers, including a see-saw near the Foreo booth, the slides at the Too Faced booth, the silk swings at MAC, and the globe swing chair at the NARS booth. The brands got very creative and you can see the amount of effort that went into the whole festival..


The Exclusive Products On Offer
There were many different new and limited edition products on offer from many of the brands. Including exclusive releases just for the special beauty festival. Ciate were releasing a whole new Jessica Rabbit collection and it is so beautiful! Hourglass were also releasing a new blush and lipgloss exclusively for Meccaland. Check out the next few photos for a good look at these special releases..

Stila Cosmetics also had a few new releases on show and they were also stunning. They included a new Heaven’s Hue Highlighter and the Lingerie Soufflé Skin Perfecting Color, they both looked incredible and the highlighter swatched so well! Stila is a company that I really love, I particularly like their eyeshadows and liquid lipsticks. Check out their new releases below..

The Meccaland Decor
As mentioned before, Meccaland had multiple worlds, and a theme for each world. The atmosphere was truly amazing, with lots of bright lights and fun playground featured booths and so many photo opportunities for event goers. There was really something for everyone. Attendees could also purchase exclusive new products before official release and each person who attended the event got to pick up a special edition Mecca Beauty Loop box. I’ll share what I received in mine a bit later below in the post. For now, check out some of the special decor and setups the brands had created for their booths, including fragrance & fashion house brand Maison Margiela and makeup brand Laura Mercier..

As you can see, Mecca went above and beyond! How awesome are those life sized lipstick props? So cool! I really loved all the decorations and sparkly lighting, it added such a high energy vibe to the atmosphere. The day we went there was a A LOT of people also attending so at times it was hard to move around the grounds and get from A to B, but in the end we got there and got to tour around the entire area. I have a few more photos of the decor below including the main stage where the makeup demonstrations happened and guests spoke. There was also so much detail into the entrance of the venue with massive long strands of pink tinsel hanging down. There was also the gorgeous Mecca MAX ferris wheel that went around with event goers able to have a ride on it..

From brands such as Hourglass, Bumble, Lanolips, YSL, Kate Somerville and Ciate, there was a completely unique setup at each and every booth! I kind of went a little mad with the photos I was taking but I couldn’t resist snapping them all of as many booth’s as I could for the perfect photo memories from the event. Every single setup was fun and exciting, showcasing the brands’s NEW products and old classic ones as well. To see what the brands mentioned above had decorated their booths, check the following photos out..

There was also makeup stations fully setup with mirrors, ring lights, makeup wipes and cleansers; where event goers could have new products tried and tested on them, or they could even book services of staff makeup applications or simply swatching new products on their skin. There was a designated area with tables and chairs for people to sit down and have a rest or a bite to eat. And brand GHD had a booth set up for people to get their hair styled using the new GHD products. Westpac were also on-hand to provide the very important task of entertainment, see my photos of their display below, as well as the makeup stations.

Overall you can see that it was a huge event and a lot of people attended. My best friend Sandra and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and loved checking out the new releases on offer and what each brand had done for their booth. It was a terrific event and the 6 hour drive to Sydney from Victoria was well worth it! Next year I have a feeling the event will be held in Queensland, which might be a little too far for me to travel to, however I shall see if I can also make that one. It’s such a great beauty festival that Mecca puts on and all the participating brands. Have you ever been to the event before in either Melbourne or Sydney? What were your thoughts about it? I would to know! Until next time, have a great week ahead and I hope you enjoyed my walkthrough post from MECCALAND 2019.

Where to next?