Postie+ skincare and cosmetics haul

Recently, I was gifted a whole bag of skincare and makeup goodies from Postie+ and I’d love to show you the haul of goodies!

I personally don’t shop in Postie+ often, but I know they stock some really affordable and known skincare and cosmetic brands that you cannot get easily anywhere else in New Zealand – for example, Boots, W7, Ulta3 and BYS. They also have a wide range of women’s clothing, men’s clothing, kid’s clothing and lots more.

It looks like I’ve got a couple of skincare products from the brand Beauty Formulas, which I have never heard of. Beauty Formulas is a UK made quality range of products at affordable prices. The extensive range across face, body and hair offers a “one stop shop” solution.

Tea Tree Deep Cleansing Nose Pore Strip ($4.00 for 6 strips). I love a good nose pore strip once in a while if I’ve been lazy with masks. My nose is usually the first place to show that I have not been really taking care of my skin (deep cleansing-wise). My blackheads get darker and even bumps up onto the surface that I can feel with my fingertips (ew yuck, I know).

Beauty Formulas Clay Mask with Activated Charcoal ($5.00). I try to do a clay or cleansing mask twice every week to help my skin detox and keep those pesky blackheads at bay. Clay mask usually does a really good job and this one with activated charcoal is just so on trend right now. Activated charcoal is all over the skincare market right now – cleansers and masks. They do a very good job and detoxing the skin, clean out dirt and absorb oils. This clay mask has a slightly gritty texture (like you can feel the charcoal powder) with a moderate scent. It made my eyes water just a little bit when I applied it, but it soon dissipated. After about 10 minutes, the mask dries down to a tight finish and starts to crack, therefore I would not recommend to leave this mask on for too long. Once it’s dried, wash it off, otherwise it will be over-drying to your skin. After washing off, my skin feels clean and almost tightened.

Beauty Formulas Micellar Cleansing Water ($5.00). I’m not a stranger to micellar cleansing waters, but I do prefer my cleansing oil for fast, effective makeup removal. I usually use micellar water if I want to spot remove makeup (i.e. eye, lip, brows, etc.). Basically, when I’m not ready to wash my full face of makeup off yet. I also like to use a q-tip to remove any mascara that has transferred down to my undereye area or lipstick that has gone outside my lip line. This micellar water feels like any other micellar water but with a rather strong floral scent which I find quite pleasant. It effectively removes most makeup, except for not long-wearing and staining lipsticks (for example the BYS lipsticks shown below, which left a really bright stain when I try to remove it with this micellar water), and waterproof mascara.

Beauty Formulas Anti-Wrinkle Eye Gel Patches ($5.00). I have been venturing with eye patches lately so I opened a packet to try as soon as I got this. The patches are wrapped in a pair. The gel patches are stuck on a piece of clear plastic sheet ready to use when you just peel it off. Apply with the gel side down to the skin and it will not fall off unless the gel has completely dried up. It recommends to leave for 20-30 minutes or overnight if desired. The patch feels cooling on the skin and it felt quite comfortable and I just went about the house doing my own thing without any trouble. I left it on for 30 minutes and I can feel the gel patch has started to dry up. It does not leave any residue on the skin so there is no need to rub or pat any product down into the skin. I would not recommend leaving this overnight as it will dry up and dehydrate my eye area.

Beauty Formulas Relaxing & Healing Foot Mask ($4.00). Have not done one of these before and my heels do need some TLC lately (they have been cracking and peeling for some reason). So after I’ve washed and dried my feet, I sat down on the couch with my cup of tea and unfold the foot masks from the packet. The masks are like a fabric on the inside and plastic on the outside. Rip open the top part of the ‘socks’ and put your feet in. The essence inside is almost like a gel-lotion and it smells very pleasant (apples and peppermint). After 20-30 minutes (you can still walk around with these on), you can remove the socks and run in the remaining product in. Otherwise, you can wash them off but they are not sticky at all. Quite a nice foot mask, my feel felt supple and soft afterwards even my dry heels! However, they did not really fix my cracked heel problem fully, it just made my skin feel softer and moisturised.

Next, we have 2 lipsticks by the brand BYS which I have seen before from Kmart but have never tried their products until now.

BYS Lipsticks ($6.00). These 2 lipstick comes in a plastic black bullet with a clear lid which made it very easy to see the shade when I put them in storage. The shades that I have got are Read My Lips and Vamp. Read My Lips is an orangey red shade with a creamy finish, Vamp is a really cool dark plum shade with a creamy finish as well. These lipsticks are super super pigmented and they stain your lips! I swatched these on my wrist and I had the hardest time remove it! I used a micellar water, cleansing oil and cleansing balm. Heck, I even used liquid dish soap! I just couldn’t get all of the Vamp out of my skin.

BYS Highlighting Trio ($10.00). I love love love highlighters and when they come in a palette, I love them even more! This highlighting trio is on the champagne gold spectrum with a 3 different intensity. All 3 shades have a nice satin finish that is not too shimmery and not at all sparkly. Picking the product up with a brush does kick up a bit of dust, but it applies onto the skin nicely without being patchy of chalky. It is a buildable formula instead of a highly pigmented formula which is great for beginners or those of you who like a more natural looking highlight. I like to use the lighter 2 of the 3 shades for highlighting and use the darkest shade as a very gentle wash of shimmer when I wear a bronzer or as an eyeshadow. $10 for this trio is certainly a good bang for your buck and a fantastic gift idea.

We then have two lipsticks from Ulta3. I have tried their lipsticks, nail polish and some eyeshadows before and I quite like their lipsticks. They have a wide range of colours and are super affordable.

Ulta3 Lipsticks in Soft Toffee and Sugar Plum ($6.00). I have used Ulta3 lipsticks before and they come in black packaging with a black lid, and a clear base showing the lipstick shade. The texture of these lipsticks are not as pigmented as the BYS lipsticks, but they have a nice smooth, moisturising lip balm texture on the lips. They feel comfortable and has a buildable intensity – simply swipe more to get more colour.

So we’re onto the brand W7. W7 is a British brand created in 2002. Their aim is that every woman should have access to an extensive range of high-quality cosmetics at an affordable price. I have seen this brand many times in those makeup warehouse sales and from makeup groups on Facebook for their really affordable eyeshadow palettes as dupes for more expensive ones. So let’s see what they are all about.

W7 Cover Stick with Tea Tree Oil ($6.00). This is a stick concealer with tea tree oil in medium/deep shade. The formula is really creamy and it glides onto to the skin easily without dragging. The coverage is pretty good and is very easy to blend out. However, the shade is just a little too dark for me even as concealer for my face. I think I will need to give this away.

W7 Shape Your Face Contour Kit ($15.00). This contour kit comes with a synthetic round top brush and 3 powder shades. The lightest shade is a matte beige shade for highlighting, the middle shade is a bronzing shade and the darkest is a contour shade. Honestly, I use these 3 shades quite differently than what it recommends. I use the lightest shade as a setting powder for my under eye concealer and anywhere that I use a highlighting concealer (I personally like highlighters with shimmer/sheen more than matte highlighters). I use the middle shade as contouring but with a smaller brush along my nose and with an angled brush in the hollows of my cheeks. You just need to be very light-handed because it is quite pigmented and it does kick up some dust. The darkest shade however, I can use it as a brow powder or as an eyeshadow. The brush has now become a new blush brush for me.

W7 Colour Me Buff Natural Nudes Eyeshadow Palette ($14.00). This is a very affordable 12 shade eyeshadow palette that comes with a dual-ended brush. The palette comes in a metal tin with a dense black foam inner casing. The shades are almost exactly the same as the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette even down to which shade is shimmery and which is matte. It has a total of 8 shimmery/satin shades and 4 matte shades. When I swatched them, some shades were a little chunky, but most of them are very smooth and pigmented. Brush swatching was also quite good on the skin. The shades blend in very well and there is little fall-out. There are also 6 more different palettes with different colour themes and different finishes.

W7 The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette. A smaller eyeshadow palette by W7. This palette contains 4 natural nude shades with a matte finish. Even though this is a smaller palette which can be quite travel-friendly, however, the shades are just a little bit not inspiring. The 3 lighter shades are very similar when swatched and blended. I think there should be a shimmery shade and either a transition shade or a much darker brown/black as the darkest shade. The pigmentation and intensity was quite disappointing as well, so this one will be a pass for me.

W7 Brow Bar Eyebrow Stencil Kit ($12.00). Initially, I was quite intimidated by the stencils in this kit because I have never used something like this. The kit comes with 3 stencils and there are 3 brow powder shades and a highlighter shade for the brow bone. The small tools would be alright to use when you are on the go or travelling, but at home, I will be using my own brow brush and spoolie. I like to mix the shades 3 and 4 together to get a dark brown shade for the ends of my brows where I am quite sparse. I mix shade 2 and 3 for the head of my brows to create a more natural full brow look.

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