FIRST IMPRESSIONS: ARBONNE

When we start seeing particular products or brands popping up in our Instagram feed or on our favourite blogs, we know they've got to go on our list of 'things to try'. One brand we recently scribbled onto this list is Arbonne. It's relatively new to Australian shores, so we weren't familiar with their products until one of their friendly consultants reached out to us. Arbonne's entire range is vegan certified, not tested on animals and does not contain any animal by-products, mineral oil, parabens, dyes, acetone or fragrances. Phew. In other words it's a guilt free range packed with skin loving goodness. Sign us up!

TOP: Currant / MIDDLE: Guava / BOTTOM: Magnolia

The first we had every heard of Arbonne was their Smoothed Over Lipsticks. We saw them all over Instagram, swatches and all . It's fair to say that we are suckers for packaging, so the sleek designs of the lipsticks along with their bright colour range caught our eyes. Overall these beauties are amazingly pigmented. You can sheer them out by blending them with your finger, or build up a bold lip by applying straight from the bullet. We do recommend either exfoliating your lips or putting on some lip balm before applying these though as they can cling to dry spots!

Currant

We aren't the biggest fans of bright red lips. We love it on other people, but on us, we've always preferred peaches and pinks. Not to write off the red lip too soon, we were excited to give the Smoothed Over Lipstick in Currant a go. It's a warm red, and smells of bananas! Which may sound odd to you, but we love the scent, and definitely prefer it from the usual strange lipstick scent. Initially we weren't sold on the shade, but the more we look at the picture below, the more it is growing on us! Of the 3 lipsticks, this one is bar far the most pigmented. You don't need too many coats to get a bold finish like we did, which is perfect if you need a quick on-the-go red lip! We were sent 2 lipsticks in this shade, so we gave one to our mum who has worn it quite a few times already!

                                                        

The Arbonne Smoothed Over Lipstick in Guava is a gorgeous fuchsia, something we always gravitate to in the lip department. As we said, these can be built up, but we love the way it looks with just a few light coats. It's also a great one to pair with bold eyes if you still want a little pop on your lips without being overdone.

Magnolia

Nude lips are the new bold brows of the beauty world. It's understated and chic, and has been our go to this season. But finding the perfect nude lip is a mission in itself, especially when you've got naturally pigmented lips. We've only managed to find a hand full of nude lip products that work for us, and The Smoothed Over Lipstick in Magnolia is one of them. It's muted without looking frost-bitten. As you can tell from the photo, we've already used this one quite a lot! It is definitely going to be one of our staple shades this season. 

Since we were given a small tub of Clarins' Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch for Christmas, we have been obsessed with using it underneath our makeup, especially where we place any concealer. We've found that priming our skin really helps to create a smooth base and lock in the concealer. 6 months on and we're half way through our small tub, so we've been desperately trying to hunt down something new to try out. Cue Arbonne's Makeup Primer. The Clarins' Smooth Perfecting Touch set the bar high, but Arbonne's primer sure impressed. It's light on the skin, leaving a nice satin finish which is a perfect base for products. A little but goes a long way with this product. The pump dispenser also gets a big tick of approval!

Mascaras. We have way too many, but we're on an endless mission to find one that does it all- hold a curl, volumise and lengthen. Arbonne's appropriately named It's a Long Story Mascara, definitely does the latter. It lengthen our lashes with just a few coats. But as having drawn the short straw with our stubby lashes,we curl them daily and need a mascara that holds them up in place for the entire day. Unfortunately, this one doesn't do the trick. We found our lashes fell quite quickly. We recommend layering another volumising mascara underneath first before adding length with the It's a Long Story Mascara. We do like this on our bottom lashes though. Also, shout out to the brush! There is something about the old school design that we love.

What makeup brand should we try next?

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♥ M + K

Disclaimer: This post is NOT  a sponsored post and DOES NOT contain affiliate links. The products featured were kindly sent to us for consideration. As always, the opinions expressed in the post are honest ones.