Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Drama, colour, it's all happening!!

Yay! It finally arrived. My order that is. But anyway, I have a few goodies to show you some from the current Brochure 8 and some are demos which will be released shortly in Brochures 9 and 10.

Super Drama Mascara

This Mascara claims to add volume and length instantly without clumping. Unique brush and formula make every lash fuller, longer and more dramatic! In my opinion it does just that and I am loving it. This mascara perfectly defines my lashes making them look full and long and alluring. When applying it, I start at the base of my lashes and gently wiggle the brush up from the base of my lash to the tip. To get the effect I like, I let it dry slightly then apply another layer. I have found you can go over it a few times before it starts to build up and get clumpy which is great.

What does irk me a little is that in the Avon advertising for the product the "model is styled with lash inserts", in other words, she's wearing false eyelashes, and she probably doesn't need to be. This mascara really does lift, lengthen and volumise your lashes and while falsies can create a dramatic look, this mascara does a damn good job on it's own.

 
 

Precision Glimmer Powder Eyeshadow

Dazzling, crease proof, high-pigment metallic eye colours with powder soft shimmer. Wear alone or combine for shimmering effects. These little beauties were released in Brochure 8 and come in 3 colours Dune, Turquoise and Classic Mocha. Dune is a shimmery Gold powder, Turquoise, as the name suggests is shimmery Blue/Green and Classic Mocha is shimmery medium Brown. They come in a compact little pot that is similar in shape to a liquid liner and have a small spongy tip on the end of the applicator.
 
I tried all 3 of these colours out this afternoon and whilst I was a bit sceptical of their
"high-pigment" prior to purchasing, simply because Avon eyeshadows are not usually highly pigmented. These ones are, and I love that in an eyeshadow. Usually when you apply an eyeshadow it goes on light and you can build up the colour. I found with these shadows they went on quite dark and I had to use a make-up brush to blend the colour out and onto my eyelids. Something like the dual ended eyeshadow brush in the current Avon brochures should do the trick. In the third picture below, you can see the colours on my skin, one line of colour is a straight application and the second line next to it is the product rubbed into my skin a little, demonstrating how well they blend.


The downside, unfortunately there is one, is that they are messy. Once on, they stick well and give you the crease-proof cover they promise but you do get a lot of fall-out in the application process and given the feather light powdery consistency of the shadow it was hard to regulate how much product I got on the applicator. As a result, I ended up with faint, glittery powder all over my cheeks.

All in all, I love these colours and will definitely be making good use of all 3 of these eyeshadows.

 L-R - Dune, Golden Turquoise, Classic Mocha
 
 
 
 

Simply Pretty Transforming Liquid Eyeliner

I grabbed this product as a President's Club Demo so it's not in the brochures just yet, but will be out in the next month or so. It is an innovative clear gel which claims to instantly turn any eyeshadow into a long-lasting liner.
 
I have to confess, I'm terrible at applying liquid eye liners so tend not to use them, however the attraction of turning any eyeshadow into an eye liner got the better of my curiosity. I'm not entirely sold on this product yet, so will report back when I have had more of a chance to play with it, but I found that I wasn't getting much product on the tip of the applicator and so when I would dip it and swipe it through my chosen eyeshadow, the consistency of both the colour and the line thickness I got would get would vary and didn't appear to apply evenly. You can sort of see what I mean in the second picture below. In saying that, someone more skilled in the use of liquid liners may have much more luck than I did. I am nothing if not persistent and am going to give this another go with a few different eyeshadows. The shadows I tried where quite hard, so maybe a softer powder shadow or even a loose powder shadow will have a different effect. I would love to hear any feedback people have once they have tried it themselves.
 

 
 

Totally Kissable Lipstick

The Totally Kissable Lipsticks are due for release in Brochure 10 and are a full-coverage conditioning colour with fruit enzymes and a blend of natural oils that claim to make lips visibly fuller, softer and smoother. These will be available at a special introductory price of just $9.99 in Brochure 10, so definitely grab yourself one (or more) at this hot price.
 
There is ten colours ranging from nudes to dark browns so their is bound to be a colour to suit most people. I have posted a colour swatch below so you can see the colours for yourself.
 
I always apply Avon's Anew Clinical Derma-Full Lip Volumiser before applying lippy and also some of the Lip Plumping Conditioner so this combination always makes my lips appear line free and fuller but I tried some of these lipsticks tonight and they did glide on very easily and made my lips feel very soft. Going forward, I plan on wearing one of these to work tomorrow so I can test it's staying power and will report back my findings in the next few days. 
 
 
 
Well that's me over and out for tonight, but come back soon, because I have a few more products to show you, including some sweet treats for your feet, bubble baths and perfumes.
 
Sleep tight.
 
Jodi x
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Impatiently waiting...

Hi all! It's my day off today and I'm impatiently waiting for my latest Avon delivery to arrive. There are some super cool new products in there I'm dying to show you. In the meantime, I am getting re-motivated with my Avon Leadership business. That is, signing up new Avon Reps into my team.

My two latest team members are mothers with young children, at the moment they are just interested in starting small, buying for themselves and selling to their family and friends. And do you know what? That's just fine with me. One of the things I really, really love about Avon is the lack of pressure to meet particular sales targets. Sure, some people thrive under pressure. I'm not one of those people and I don't expect others to be. I am however, a great motivator and full of ideas to help my team build their business however they choose. I just really love that I can help other ladies (and men, should there be any out there interested in joining) find a way to make some money, meet new people and have some fun, all while spending quality time with their families.

Check back soon when I review my latest goodies, hurry up and arrive already!!! Even though only a fraction of my delivery is products for me, every delivery feels like it's Christmas. I'm like a kid in a candy store :)

Jodi x

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Happy Canberra Day!

Hi all! It's a Public Holiday here in Canberra today, our fine city is celebrating it's 100th Birthday, so rather than working, or participating in the various celebrations happening around town, I'm still sitting around the house in my PJ's thinking of all things Avon that I'd love to share with you. Avon has some fantastic new products coming out to add to their existing ones, and so tomorrow when my order arrives I hope to try them out and review them for you.

I am self-taught when it comes to make-up application. I scour the web looking for tips and tricks and watch countless YouTube video's to learn how to create the looks I want. One of my ideas is to post some photos and video of different 'looks', created where possible, with Avon  products. To take this one step further, and I'm really excited about this, I have been talking to a good friend who needs to create a portfolio of 100 different looks as part of her assessment for the beauty course she is studying. She has agreed to team up with me, use my Avon products and make me up to create part of that portfolio. I honestly can't wait to share these looks with you and also hope to pick up some extra tips and tricks from her on make-up application techniques. Who knows, I may even pick her up as a customer or new rep on my team. As a Sales Leader, I share the Avon opportunity with everyone I meet because you just never know who may be interested.

Stay tuned, and I'll be back with more Avon ramblings before you know it.

Jodi x

A Beauty-full Life

Hi everyone. Thank you for calling past to check out my Blog and more importantly, my very first blog post. Despite my existing online presence through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, it is an understatement to say I am more than a little intimidated by the thought of blogging. Why? Well, what do I write? who is my audience? and to what extent are people going to be judging me? These are the questions I need to think about further and overcome.

But, I digress. My first Blog, titled A Beauty-full Life, is aptly chosen because my life is beautiful. I have a loving partner and am mother to a beautiful little girl. I work full-time as a Public Servant and my Avon business is my side project. I have started this blog to predominantly share with you all things Avon and how it fits into my Beauty-full Life.

My story

I started selling Avon around 2 years ago. My Avon representative, affectionately known as 'the Avon Lady', quit. I had been using Avon on and off since I was about 16 years old and I'd lost count how many times this had happened to me. So this time, I decided I would be the Avon Lady, and I wasn't going anywhere!! I have always had a business savvy side, or so I've been told, and I have to admit I saw more than just the opportunity to buy for myself. It turns out, with the departure of our beloved Avon lady, I wasn't the only one left high and dry. I scored myself at least 5 existing customers to help get me kick started, and that was just on my floor at work. And so it began...

I started to build my customer base by sharing my brochures with my family and friends, left brochures in the kitchen at work, as well as the kitchens on the floors above and below me. I created myself a Facebook page A Beauty-full Life and started sharing my eBrochure on it, marketing the page through my own personal Facebook profile and also other pages I deemed relevant, such as pages targeted towards mums, business marketing and shout out pages.

Fast forward one year, my Avon sales were still plodding along, I was pregnant and started to think about whether it would be possible to leverage off my Avon business to make some extra cash while on Maternity Leave. Once bubba was born, I spoke to my local District Manager and took on what Avon refers to as a Territory (a group of streets, around 100 houses, which for the most part were exclusively mine to drop brochures to), in the end, I took on 3 territories, and again, with repeated brochure drops I started to gain more customers. Rather than sit home, I would put baby in the pram, load up the undercarriage with Avon brochures and go walking around my territories doing brochure drops. I got much needed exercise and fresh air and bubs did too. It was a win/win situation.

So anyway, I won't lie, nothing in life is free, and you only get out of Avon what you put in, but with a bit of effort in the early days to build up your customer base, it is a great financial and social outlet, not to mention you can score up to 35% off your favourite Avon products and who wouldn't want that!

Thanks for reading and check back soon for some great new product reviews and make-up looks. I have lots in mind to share with you.

Jodi x


Saturday, March 9, 2013

Check out my new AVON eBrochure!

Check out my new AVON eBrochure!: Hi Everyone! Here's a sneak peak at some of the latest products available in my Avon eBrochure. You can place your order directly to me through this link :)