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Australis are a brand I've been a fan of for a long, long time. We're talking serious history - a decade ago, when the packaging was all silver, I wore one of the old Moisture Max lipsticks to my sixth form ball and LIVED for the Fresh & Flawless Pressed Powder (which is still in the line to this day!). That powder even featured in my sixth form photography boards!
Australis have been kicking it since 1987 and there's a good reason they've stuck around: they're accessible, trendy and offer amazing quality and value. You can always count on Australis to pick up on the latest makeup trends, from contouring to ultra matte lipsticks, and bring out their own affordable take on it. Their recent new releases are no exception, with the long awaited cream version of the AC On Tour Contouring & Highlighting Kit making its debut, alongside new shades of nail polish and a brand spanking new matte blush formula.
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Show Some Cheek Blush
The new Show Some Cheek Blushes (RRP $15.00NZD) are definitely going to excite my fellow blush addicts! There are five shades to choose from, and they have a smooth, easy to blend formula. Although advertised as matte blushes, Ablaze, which is the shade I have, is more accurately a satin. This is a good thing in my opinion as the minute traces of sparkle don't show on your cheeks, instead helping to give a beautiful, natural finish that flatters skin. I've often found that a small amount of sheen seems to make blush and eyeshadows a lot easier to blend, too.
Australis have kept the lid transparent to make it easy to find the colour you're after and they've included a generously sized mirror in a lift-up compartment. Unusually - but pleasantly - there's no brush included. I say pleasantly because I've not yet found a mini blush brush in a compact that I like! They're inevitably floppy, useless things that seem like a total waste of effort and money to manufacture. A+ for skipping it, Australis!
Ablaze is a warm raspberry pink. The colour pay off is stunning and would show up well on deeper skintones too. It lasted twelve hours on me too, which I was very impressed with!
I'm wearing Ablaze with the Makeup Revolution Ultra Contour Palette and Goddess of Love Triple Baked Highlighter here.
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Cream Highlighting & Contouring Kit
The lauded, the hyped, the sold-out-everywhere-for-months-after-launch powder contour kit earned Australis a whole new legion of fans. It was only a matter of time until a cream version came out, and a year and a half later, here it is.Why cream? It's easy to blend, better suited to dry skin and gives you the sculpted look without sacrificing any dewiness.
The format is the same as the powder versions, including helpful diagrams and instructions on the back to make contouring a breeze for newbies or serve as a refresher for contouring experts. I particularly like that there's a large mirror included now - I don't know if they added a mirror to the powder version of this kit when they relaunched it in light, medium and dark, but my original launch powder kit doesn't have one. The pans are generously sized and all in all I think it's excellent value for the $27.50 RRP.
I mentioned above that the powder version of the contour kit was rereleased in light, medium and dark colourways after its initial launch and I hope the plan is the same for the cream version as it's unfortunately too dark for me! I can passably use the contour shades, but the highlighting shades are just too dark. They do blend out well though, and last very well on my combo-oily skin.
I've used the cream contouring palette here alongside Benefit Cha Cha Tint and MAC Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish.
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Nail Colour
Australis' nail polish has been a firm favourite of mine for years, they're cheap as chips (RRP $6.50NZD), have a great colour range and awesome opacity. They're thick, in a good way. Thicker polishes are my preference as they're often more opaque so you can use less coats - I used two coats for each of these. If you don't like thick nail polish though, it's very easy to add a little nail polish thinner like Seche Restore or Orly Nail Lacquer Thinner to get the perfect consistency for you. Never EVER use nail polish remover to thin a nail polish, it will destroy your nail polish - after all, it's designed to remove it!
There are four new shades of Australis Nail Colour in the latest launch, perfect for the cooling weather here in NZ: Dark & Stormy, Smokin Mirror, and the two below: Holy Kale and In The Buff.
Holy Kale, 2 coats
Holy Kale is a dirty sage green.
In the Buff, 2 coats
In the Buff is a warm medium nude colour. I love it!
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Which of these new releases are you most excited for? I'm betting I can guess :D
Australis products are available at Farmers, selected pharmacies and Kmart in NZ. For Australian readers there's a stockist list here and international readers will be excited to know that I spotted the Cream Contour Kit on Amazon!
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Lani
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