By Kimberly Nissen, Local Contributor – Australia

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Kimberly started her working life early at the tender age of 15. For most of the past 10 years, she has worked for some of the biggest media corporations her sunny country has had to offer. She always wanted to become a writer, but with no training and never having finished high school, it didn’t look like it was going to happen, but then she created The Plastic Diaries and The Styleless Diaries. She also co-founded the first niche-specific blogging event in Australia, the Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend.

The Best of Face of Australia

Australian beauty brands are different to the rest of the world. While striving to make the perfect product is a universal goal, I feel the Australian approach to beauty is simplistic. In general, we like easy to use, understated, realistic beauty. We live an outdoor, active lifestyle and we want to look good without interfering with it. One brand that I believe encapsulates the Australian beauty culture is Face Of Australia.

Face Of Australia is an Australian owned and made brand of color cosmetics. Their philosophy is to make products specifically designed for Australian consumers, who want a high quality, innovative range of cosmetics at an affordable price.  Being an Australian beauty lover can be difficult due to our lack of access to international brands and their high price points. Like most women, I wanted to stay on top of color trends and try products containing the latest ingredients and developments. Face Of Australia is one brand that consistently brings on new products that are often better than the luxury alternatives.

Discovering their products changed my life not only in bringing me the products I wanted, but also restoring my faith in the Australian color cosmetic market. Because of them I started to try more Australian brands, and I have never looked back. Plus, they are 100% against animal testing and that means a lot to me.

The Products

I couldn’t leave without telling you my top 3 products by Face Of Australia. I have already mentioned a couple of these previously but they are that good they deserve another mention.

1. Liquid Eyeliner (AUS $8.95 rrp) is my holy grail liquid eyeliner.  The brush head is super fine and the long handle makes controlling the application extremely easy. Once dry, it doesn’t budge.  It’s available in four shades:  Black, Brown, Charcoal, and Navy.
2. Face Base Primer (AUS $11.95 rrp) is my favorite primer to date.  The oil-free formula is hydrating and leaves my skin feeling soft and supple. It does all the things a great primer should do, but why I like this one is that it is fragrance-free and doesn’t clog my pores.
3. Lip Quench Moisturizing Lipstick SPF30+ (AUS $9.45 rrp) is beautiful range of lipsticks that has one key factor that makes it a standout to me:   SPF30+. The lipsticks are nourishing, the colors are gorgeous, and they don’t have that icky ‘lipstick smell’ but all of that is just icing on the cake to the fact they provide broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection.  Available in 13 shades: Malibu Barbie, Forbidden Fruit, Pink Champagne, Nude Satin, Lychee Crush, Iced Almond, Ruby Delight, Power Surge, Pink Ambition, Pure Plum, Silver Rose, Sweet Nectar, Cocoa Cherry.