rubybox Beauty Night Out / RubyRoyals

rubybox has been on a quest to find rubybox brand ambassadors and I am super stoked to have been selected as one of the rubybox RUBYROYALs finalists. Yayyy! How many times can you say "rubybox" in one sentence?! Jeez. Whatevs.

Congrats to all the finalists: (top) Kwena, Lauren, meh, Adel
(bottom) Chante, Farzaanah, Jennifer and Simone 

All the finalists, along with you and your friends, will be at rubybox's Beauty Night Out this Friday, 30 August. I am sooo excited and can't wait to meet all the other lovelies as well as the awesome Rubies who make it all possible. I've emailed them too many times with silly questions, and it's time to put names to faces. I like meeting patient and accommodating people. Haha. Speaking of emailing, we have our own go-to-girl for all things RUBYROYALS. How cool?! I try not to email her every hour, just to check if this is real. Hi, Emma!

I've never been to an event like Beauty Night Out, and super excited to get my glam on. If I could just get my outfit sorted already. I had it all planned out: pretty knee-length dress and heels, but last week my dogs were playing in the house and my laptop was charging. I know what you're thinking. It must have been a superhero game, because then the little bitch thought she could run THROUGH the cords/lead/cables and then I saw my laptop flying off the table in slooooooow-mooooo. I shouted "noooooooooooooooooo" (in slooooooooow mooooooooooo) and ran to rescue my laptop from it's potential death. I hit the floor knees first. I know, right?! KNEES FIRST, like a trained loser. It hurt, a lot. The laptop is doing well, though. As alive as ever. My knees, however, are busted up. I tried to conceal it with makeup, but unfortunately, these knees cannot be concealed and powdered. Knee-puffs, anyone? *cries* So knee-length and above-knee-length dresses are no longer an option for me for Beauty Night Out and my brain is scrambled trying to come up with something better. T minus 100 hours until event. No pressure, Miss B.

It will be held at the Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town, where you'll be treated to Absolut Vodka-infused cocktails, Saxenburg wines and canapes. But wait, there's more. DUH! Who's going to get all dressed up and go all the way to the Mount Nelson for a drink or two? *looks around* *hides*

You can also get pro makeup tips and touch ups from Stila makeup artists and get your hair styled by Scar stylists. I've never been to Scar, but one of my besties ('Sup, Lindsay) has her hair done there and LOVES them. A lot. And she has gorgeous hair, so they are obviously a great addition and enhancement to what God and your parents gave you.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to is the Issahra Experience by WOW Spa. Hand scrub, massage and mani? YES, PLEASE! I'll take TWO.

Sounds super fantastic, right? Why not gather all your girlfriends and make a night of it? You can find out more about the event here and/or check out it on Facebook. You even get to capture it all in your all-glammed-up glory with the Pout or Pose Photo Booth.

Hope to see you there. Since we don't know each other, let's just introduce ourselves to everyone like crazies until we find each other, okay? If you're not into that idea, you could always just look for me. I'm the girl with the busted up knees. I'll be waiting for you.


Miss B

Smashbox Photo Finish Bronzing Foundation Primer

I bought this on Rubybox as a gift to myself. They had a Christmas in July Sale. AAAAAAAHHHHHH.

I've always wanted to try the Smashbox primers as they walk away with most of the beauty awards in their category. I've tried a few of their primers before, in the store, on the back of my hand, just to feel the texture and see the finish. And I could never close the deal because I've justified to myself that hand cream and socks and underwear were more important at the time. As if my face doesn't need underwear, too.

So why now? Because I'm a big girl that doesn't like powder (or even wear proper foundation), so I need a different approach in longer-lasting makeup. According to it's description, it's meant to warm the skin tone, reduce visible pores and fine lines, and even skin tone, making for a smooth application of foundation.

Well, it arrived and I went NUTS! Jumped up and down, did a little booty dance, NUTS!

Until I put it on my face.

Eh. Hmm. Urgh. Meh.

It was like this one time when I was a kid and there were grapes on the table and I was all "YAY! I love grapes" and took a handful, then I bit into one and it was an olive. Or at my matric farewell, when I was so happy there was potato salad and dished a whole BIG spoonful, and saved it for last, and it was a feta salad thing. Who does that?! Seriously.

It has a nice smooth texture and feels velvety. It's also pretty mattifying and has a nice, light scent. I love the black and clear bottle. And that is all that is good for me, friends. Although it comes out a dark, bronze colour, it "melts into" your skin. I wouldn't call this product "bronzing" because it didn't "warm" my skin tone. Also, in case you thought it was luminizing or even slightly shimmery, it isn't. It's very matte. It didn't even appear tinted. I specifically applied it to only half of my face, first, to see the difference. There was no difference. It neither softened fine lines nor reduced the appearance of pores. Nada. If anything, this is a mattifying primer. It feels nothing like any of the Smashbox primers I've tried in the store before.

Have you tried any of the Smashbox primers? Which are your favourites?

Miss B