Holy smokes, it's a mask-off

Well, if I'm honest, it's more like a mask symposium.

Facial masks that is - I'm sorry, I know you were all having Jim Carrey flashbacks and preparing to reincorporate 'Smokin'' into your vocabulary - but no, unfortunately for face painters specialising in green, today I will be gabbing on about none other than the humble face mask, its varieties, uses, and how it likes its eggs cooked after a long night of doing the bus stop in a disused underground car park (sunny side up, of course).

Now face masks can have a myriad of different uses, and depending on your skin concerns you can pretty much find one (scout's honour) that will enhance the effectiveness of the products you are already using to treat said concerns (eg. purifying) or that will help you out with naughty skin issues that might be seasonal (eg. hydration) or ageinal (not a word in the English-sense sure, but I'm rolling with it) (eg. firming). Or you could be like me and have such dry, clogged, and un-even skin that you need a thick combination of all three applied weekly with a trowel by a hairy tradesman named Bob (just kidding - his name's Ken).

A mask of the purifying variety that I have been using for quite some time now is the Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask ($8.99), which looks suspiciously like this:

I have been enjoying the texture of this mask (as much as one can enjoy a texture - ie. a butt-load), the only mildly weird thing about it is it's smell which reminds me of cough medicine just a touch, which surprisingly enough isn't such a pleasant smell to smear all over your face. Looking on the bright side however, what's 10 minutes of being a citizen of weird smell-ville (which incidentally was voted Australia's tidiest town in 1994) compared to the way in which this mask leaves skin looking extremely clear whilst also decongesting pores something fierce (the mask contains kaolin clay which apparently is a bit of a whiz kid when it comes to pore cleaning). And for the meisly sum of $8.99 this product has thus far lasted me months and months - which makes it a major winner in my book (entitled Major Winners, A History).

A firming mask that I have nearly run out of due to its undeniable awesomeness-factor is the St. Ives Timeless Skin Mineral Clay Firming Mask ($9.99), which in its current emaciated state looks like this:

Now this little multi-tasking mad man does an excellent job of deep cleaning the skin and telling blackheads to take a hike (it too contains kaolin clay) but it also leaves skin feeling noticeably firmer and more perky (if I may be so bold). The texture of this product is really lovely, if your idea of lovely is smearing a light, greenish, clayey type paste on your skin (which mine naturally is). The mask does become quite dry on the skin but after it is washed off, leaves skin feeling very soft and (more importantly) looking much clearer and firmer. Winner winner chicken dinner I would say (if I used such expressions).

I have used hydrating masks in the past (one of my favourites is the Clarins HydraQuench Cream-Mask ($62.00) which although it is quite the pricey little number, it is very good to skin that is in dire need of moisturisation (STAT!)) but in recent times I have found that a DIY-mask recipe of egg white mixed with honey is very effective when it comes to giving skin a bit of hydration. And hey, if you get a bit peckish during your pampering you can always just give your face a bit of a lick (joking, joking - I much prefer to put it on toast anyway).

So anyway, do you like any of these masks? Hate them with a passion? Have others that you would like to share with the group? Share, share away!

Vote for me!

I do apologise if that sounded like a demand, it was meant more as an excitable suggestion.

As I'm sure many of you beauty savvy so and so's are aware the beacon of all beauty-related knowledge, tips, trends as well as the occasional Lancome Juicy Tubes-coated pig-in-blanket (they're all the rage, apparently) Primped is currently holding a competition to find a lucky-as-a-pig-in-mud (wow, lots of pig references today) beauty reviewer from each state to basically get free products and review them. That's right, FREE products, for FREE (ie. none of that pesky money has to flee your precious lady wallet in order for you to get lots of awesome beauty loot), and all you have to do in return is review the lovely things they send you.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well you'd be wrong wrong wrongity wrong, I said a-wrong wrong wrongity wrong (a-wrong wrong wrong) - How I Met Your Mother anyone? No?

In actual fact it is completely true, and I suggest if you love all things beauty, get a literary tingle in your nether regions from writing, and love Primped you should really enter RIGHT NOW (oh and you should probably live in an Australian state or territory also - sorry Uzbekistan, I don't make the rules).

Or failing that, (can you sense the impending shameless self-promotion) you could always vote for little old me!

That's right, oh readery ones, you can vote for me (or Sara from SA as I am formally known) and make me one happy little chappy. Or you could just go and get a banana Paddle Pop and forget all about it, but I'd really prefer if you'd vote.

Toning Up

Ahoy there maties,

Thought I'd just write a little something (not about my current Tae Bo-centric exercise routine which you may have concluded from reading the title - is referencing Tae Bo very outdated?) but in actual fact about the recent re-appearance of toning that has popped up quite unexpectedly in my face washing routine.

Now I used to be quite the avid toner, if I do say so myself, toning around the place like a crazy rose water scented fool. I think I had Clinique to blame for this early obsession as their 3-step skin care system cleaned up my pimple-prone teenage butt (and by butt I mean face - or do I? - yes, yes I do) really well until my $5 a week pocket money allowance made all things Clearasil seem much more financially viable (not nearly as kind to the skin though).

I finally gave up on the entire premise of using a toner, figuring that since cleansers no longer contained animal fats and the like that in the olden days (you know, like the time before krumping was socially acceptable) would require the use of a toner such as rose water to remove any residue left on the skin after cleansing, they were no longer necessary. But oh how wrong I have been proven to be, namely due to this little cheeky number:

This A'kin Hydro Essential Lavender Cellular Brightening Mist ($24.95) first caught my eye due to its somewhat outlandish statement that it would brighten my cells - jury's still out on that one unfortunately. Fortunately however, this lovely mist is very refreshing and calming and really accentuates the cleansing power of my cleanser (if that makes any sense at all) by refreshing my face-skin and making it feel as though it is utterly clean but still full of moisture, which is a feeling a lot of cleansers can strip away.

I have noticed that my skin has been much calmer and less prone to freaking out and showing me a very unwelcome face full of red splotches in the morning - oh how I detest a splotchy morning, really ruins my vegemite toast. Thus I think I'll be jumping back on the toner bandwagon for the foreseeable future.

But I am interested to know how others feel about the good old toner. Necessary? Waste of 20 precious seconds? Really yum when sprayed/sloshed/rubbed on pineapple?

Personally, I like it on Hotdogs.

Put a goat on it

Well hello there gorgeous, aren't you looking lovely today. What? No of course I'm not just complementing you to get you to read me more - you're a stone cold fox, you know that.

Anyway, enough about our petty arguments, there are some real issues to be discussed here and some of them even involve goats and whether or not a modern lady should feel comfortable rubbing them on her eyelids. Others of them involve cucumbers and natural yogurt, or maybe that was my lunch, who can really be sure. But I digress...

I have been feeling a tad morally unsure of late, ever since I was given a bonus gift at Priceline of an Australis Eye Shadow Brush Set. As I perused the list of materials I found that two out of the three brushes in the set contain none other than - goat's hair. Now here comes the part of the conundrum that I'm not quite sure about...wait for it...is this weird/creepy/gross/unethical, in a nut shell - should I be concerned?

Here's a picture of the brushes for your observation:

and another after they had successfully escaped from their plastic and cardboard prison (from left - angle brush, fluffy eye shadow brush, large fluffy brush):

So in order to put my concerns in a biscuit tin and toss them off a bridge (or in other words, get rid of them) I had a bit of a search around on the old netty net to find out what most makeup brushes are really made of. Because in all seriousness, what had I thought I'd been sweeping all over my mug? Leprechaun eyelashes?

I found quite a good run down here which informed me that the most common material used for makeup brushes IS goat hair which is medium soft and very good at holding powder, adding to ease of application. Other hairs that are used for makeup brushes include sable, pony (fortunately not of the My Little variety), something called camel (which apparently is not camel at all but rather a combination of squirrel, goat and pony hair), and (you guessed it) squirrel (which is apparently the softest of the hairs, but for some reason just feels wrong). There are also synthetic brushes of course, which might sit a little bit better with the conscience. However, from what I read the hair is obtained through shearing rather than 'knocking off' the animals.

The two goat hair brushes in the Australis set (the fluffy eye shadow brush and the large fluffy brush) do feel very soft and do apply product well, as opposed to the synthetic angle brush which is a bit scratchy and hard (never the best feeling close to ones eyeballs). So in conclusion I'm still not really sure how I feel about them, can I live with the thought of a herd of goats being cold just so that I may have something soft to apply my eye shadow with?

Any thoughts?

Merlin's beard, that's shine-sational!

(Professor Slughorn reference anyone?)

Good day friends, countrymen and fellow ghetto-blaster toting fiends (oh yeah, I walk around with my own personal soundtrack, Spice Girls and Right Said Fred mostly, but enough about my uber-cool life).

Only the other day I was contemplating why on earth they don't make pina colada flavoured lollypops (pineapple growers conspiracy?) when I happened to notice how lovely and shiny my hair was looking. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not usually the type to wander about simply 'noticing' how wonderful I look, far from it in fact, but in this particular instance I was given a bit of assistance in looking quite hair-tastic (in more of a Farrah Fawcett fashion as opposed to Harry and the Hendersons) by a wonderful little product I have come to truly adore. The little beauty in question is the Ginko & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Vitamin Masque ($17.95) brought to you by the lovers of all things natural, Al'chemy, and looking suspiciously like this:

I first gave this hair mask a whirl after I had developed a slight addiction to the Pantene Pro-V 3 Minute Miracle hair treatment masks ($7.99 for a pack of 3) and was rapidly turning into a pack-a-week user. My hair was delighted with the situation but my bank balance was less so, which led me to search for a product with a bit more longevity. My hunt through the Priceline shelves turned up this little gem which as well as being lovely and sulfate and paraben-free also lasts me and my mid-back length, thick as thieves hair months and months even with 3x weekly uses (I know, I know, I have a problem).

The texture of this hair masque (do fancy names make for better products? In a word, yes) is nice and creamy and it's very natural-smelling - like sticking your head in a rosemary field or a mossy wood. The instructions say that it should be left on for 5 minutes in order for the natural goodness to take it's full effect but I find that just a few minutes (or however long I have after my shampoo, conditioner, shower flamenco routine) is sufficiently long for the shininess to take effect. And take effect it does, giving even my lanky, winter tortured locks a nice swoosh and shine.

So, til next time, shine on you crazy diamonds.

Sophisti-glitter

Oh hey there, I wasn't expecting you (just kidding, of course I was. Who else is going to bring me my nacho cheese Doritos? What, you forgot them?! Never darken my doorway again!)

This week I've been quite the little busy bee (whoops, nearly wrote busty bee - awkward) having trades people invade my house and doing exams and such, so I thought I may not have time to (gasp) give myself a bit of a maincure. But fear not oh gorgeous ones, I had a little trick up my sleeve (of wizard-esque proportions) which allowed me to squeeze one in without having to have a big slap-dash mess all over my digets. And what was that little tricky trick you may ask? It was GLITTER!

Now I'm not talking the kind of glitter polish that we all used to rock as 7 year olds (oh yeah, primary school chic) but rather a glittery concoction from OPI (by the name of Extra-va-vaganza ($19.95)) which incorporates amber, silver and greeny coloured glitter particles in quite a wonderful way like this:

And on some weird fingers I found out on the street:

The beauty of glitter isn't only in the fact that it's super fun (although that's probably like 94% of the beauty), it's also that its really easy to paint on (and build up) and if you do accidently paint into skin territory its really easy to just fleck off (yes, that's the technical term). And as someone who is quite familiar with the art of painting your nails so that someone might think that in fact a dog with a slight jitter painted them, glitter is a massively appealing option. Dancing like a maniac on the weekend here I come!

red, RED or rouge

It's Friday yo, and you know what that means - it's time for me to dust off the old wand and invisibility cloak and start up my weekly Harry Potter marathon once again. But before I lose myself in magical wonderment I thought I might just have a bit of a gab about one of my favourite things in the entire world (after raspberry licorice of course) - LIPSTICK!

Now because winter seems to have come around early this year - just like a nosey aunty who just knows (nose?) that you have left the vacuuming until the last minute before her visit - and as such I believe it is in fact minus a bazillion degrees today (celsius that is, it would be minus a squadrillion fahrenheit). Therefore what better time than turn your lips a delectable shade of rouge in order to heat things up a bit. Being a long time lover of a bright lip (perhaps because I am quite the lazy daisy when it comes to doing extravagant eye make up, or perhaps just because it is mega-fun!) I have quite a collection going on at the moment and I thought I might just share with you three of my favourite reds. Hoorah and here we go...

No.1 (the red): Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Soft Rose ($23.95)

Which looks a little something like this:

I know, I know, it isn't exactly red as in 'fire engine' but it is a lovely darker-than-pink but lighter-than-full-on-red colour which is excellent if you feel like doing a red that's not too-red (if that makes any sense at all). It's also a really low-maintenance lipstick which is lovely and smooth when it goes on and doesn't dry lips out at all - excellent all round I say. Now, rather embarrassingly, here it is on some lips which may or may not be mine (but most probably are):

No.2 (the RED): Maybelline New York Moisture Extreme Lip Colour in Royal Red ($14.95)

As seen here in my garden, where it often hangs out:

Now this is a red. And if I'm honest, I probably only wear this when I'm feeling particularly adventurous as it is a colour that kind of smacks you in the face a bit. When I do pluck up the confidence to swipe it on I make sure I go really light the eye make up, otherwise I feel I may stray into clown face territory, which wouldn't be ideal. Whilst not as creamy and smooth a texture as the Revlon lipstick, the price point is very reasonable and the lipstick comes in so many colours, it really is a bit of a champion. Oh yes, and here's me again, looking quite the fool as per usual:

No.3 (the rouge): Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte in #17 ($55.00)

Looking very sexy here:

Amazing. Enough said? No this really is a wonderful lipstick, to the untrained eye it looks very similar to the colour of the Maybelline specimen but it's just so creamy, smooth, rich, silky, other adjectives pertaining to wonderfulness, and it smells amazing - like berries or violets or something equally as delightful, it really is a dream. I bought this little beauty in Paris last year and so it's kind of become my 'very special occasion' lippie, it is a bit on the pricey side but it's so luxurious it's well worth the cashola. I'm sure you're quite sick of my ugly mug by now, but here I am once again and all YSL-ed up:

Have a good weekend!

A tad less excessive

Howdy partners,

I'm not sure if you recall but many millennia ago I posted a little ditty about the fact that whenever I am forced (by an armed guard with a very pointy bayonet, no less) to journey from my humble abode to a far off distant land (in a word, Adelaide), I feel the need to carry with me at least twice my weight in beauty products. A phenomenon which causes my long-suffering bf severe bewilderment, arm-strain and long bouts of uncontrollable swearing. I therefore resolved to cull my ever-expanding travelling beauty stash when I went a-travelling last week, resulting in this:

and from another angle, this:

 
and from a third, more birds-eye-esque angle, this:

(Don't worry, that is not someone sitting on the toilet next to the products in this last photo, it is simply the case of a very unfortunately positioned jacket)

So, as you can see, I have whittled everything down to the bare essentials:

·         shampoo and conditioner (Pantene Pro-V Extra Straight Shampoo & Extra Straight Conditioner ($7.99 each)) - I know Pantene is supposed to be really horrible and stripping (not in an erotic way) and damaging to your hair, but I've never found anything else that makes my hair as shiny and clean and, dare I say it, bouncy as this, I even kind of noticed the straightening effect on my normally terribly unruly locks;

·         cleanser and exfoliator (which I could not leave at home as my voyage fell on an exfoliation day - is everyone as anal about exfoliation as me? Not anal exfoliation obviously, although each to their own, but rather a bit finicky about facial exfoliation? Perhaps that's enough about this increasingly unsettling path I'm heading down), currently I am employing Neutrogena's Deep Clean Cream Cleanser ($13.99) - which I have been using for ages and have never found anything better than, it actually contains salicylic acid so I suppose it gives you a mini-exfoliation every time you use it - and Biore's Skin Preservation Even Smoother Microderm Exfoliator ($19.99) - which I'm really liking due to it's fine beads which aren't as rough as other exfoliants can be - to perform these tasks;

·         other products of note in the loot include Al'chemy's Ginkgo & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Vitamin Masque ($18.95) - which is excellent for making hair look (and feel) rather healthy; Formula 10.0.6.'s Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask with orange and bergamot ($8.99) - a really good purifying mask, I usually use it after exfoliating just to make sure I get all the nasties out of those all-consuming pores; Garnier's Fructis Style XXL Volume Restructure Thermo-Active Texturising Spray ($7.95) and Schwarzkopf's Straight & Glossy Heat Defense Zero Frizz Spray ($8.99) - for volumisation (not a real word) and heat protection respectively; as well as Biotherm's White D-Tox [Bright Cell] Moisturiser ($94.00 - a bit pricey I know, but I got it in a pack with a White D-Tox Make-Up Base from Myer for about $100, so there are bargains out there to be had) and QV face's Revitalising Eye Cream ($15.99) too boot!

So I think I have gotten a little bit better, at least I shouldn't be getting back spasms from lugging that lot around anytime soon!

Oil me up, baby

Don't worry, it's not what you think - you cheeky little monkey. This is not a post about natural female body building and my particitation (or lack there of) in it. Hey, whatever floats your boat right?

No, not really - just kidding with your lovely selves. It is instead a post about the rate at which I have lately been slathering my person with oils of differing varieties (ie. a rate of absolute knots!) I'm not sure what first attracted me towards moisturising with a body oil rather than a traditional cream moisturiser, perhaps it was the fact that the near freezing weather down here in the south east of South Australia (wow, that's a lot of south and just a tad of east) has quite rapidly been turning my skin into a gigantic flakey nightmare, or perhaps it was the realisation that I had run out of every creamy moisturiser that I currently have lined up on my bedside table except for the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Natural Bronze Body Lotion ($12.95) which I didn't feel was quite appropriate considering the gloomy grey skies outside.

So, long story short I reached for my trusty Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil ($35.95 for 45mL) which I realise is not strictly an oil designed for moisturising the entire body but I figured it's such a versatile little winner of a product that it would do the trick, and I was indeed (uncharacteristically) right! Yay! Here's what it looks like in my garden if you were wondering:

It did indeed leave my skin lovely and moisturised, or moisture-ful if you will, and as a little bonus the pesky little stretch marks that we all love to hate were noticably less noticable as well! The only problem I can see with using this as a full-time all-over body moisturiser is that after 3 weeks I had nearly finished an entire 45mL bottle (now that's a lot of oil) and at $35.95 a pop it might not be entirely cost-effective for those of us who are on a bit of a tight budget. But you know this rosehip oil will always be a part of my life as it's just such rich, organic, wonderful product.

So, I was of course so enamoured with the moisturising potential of a bit of oil that I went down to my local fish and chip shop and asked if i could bathe in their deep fryer. No not really (oh, so many jokes today), but I did however pop down to Priceline on my weekend visit to Adelaide and pick up a little bottle of Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturizing Body Oil ($10.60). I was actually looking for the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil ($9.95) which is available in cocoa butter and rosehip and you can see reviewed on beautyhaven here, but since it was no where to be seen I thought I'd give the body oil a go, which you can also see here in my garden:

Although it doesn't feel quite as nice as the Trilogy oil it does absorb into the skin very easily (once you get the hang of not squirting too much out and thus ending up in a big oily mess) and leaves it nice and moisturised without feeling like you're all oily. It also smells like chocolate - kind of like a less pungent but more chocolatey version of the smell of the Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion ($7.40) - if that makes any sense at all. So yes, oil seems to be a big winner when it comes to giving the old skin sheets a massive moisture hit especially given their tendency towards winter flakiness. Hoorah!

Ain't she a beauty

Hello lovely readers,

It seems that I must once again apologise for the extended sojourn I have taken between posts, if only there weren't so many butterflies for me to chase and puddles for me to jump in. But anyway, enough about my life, let's get down to the nitty gritty (quite literally) of some lovely products I have been giving a burl for the past few weeks - namely, the highly scrubberific a bit of rough exfoliating salt scrub and the very soothing flutter eye balm from wonderful Australian skincare company that loves all things natural, Ulittlebeauty.

First of all, the a bit of rough exfoliating salt scrub ($19.95):

which is packed with all sorts of goodies like macadamia nuts (not whole ones of course), coffee, jojoba oil and salt - which in truth is less of a goodie and more of a seasoning, but makes the scrubiness of this scrub wonderfully envigorating none the less. Inside it looks a little something like this:

I have only ever really tried 3 body exfoliating scrubs in my time - one which I have previously written about, the Garnier bodytonic sugar scrub, the second was a catastrophic bit of DIY which had olive oil and brown sugar flying everywhere and turning me into a big oily mess - well even more of one, and the third was of course this one which after consideration of the scrubbiness, naturalness and making your skin look really good and healthy after you've used it-ness factors, is a big winner in my books. I really love the natural feel of this product (if that makes any sense at all) and it does make my skin look really nice and smooth after use. The only thing that was a tad annoying is figuring out where to put the tub in the shower to prevent it from filling with water - oh how I envy those with a handy shower shelf!

The other Ulittlebeauty product that I have been rocking around with for the past few weeks is the lovely under eye puffiness and bagginess-relieveing flutter eye balm ($24.95):

At first I was a tad unsure about this eye cream (which includes ingredients such as organic chamomile flower extract, macadamia seed oil, organic aloe, and Kakadu plum extract) as when I popped it on it didn't feel as though it was working as much as my previous eye cream (QV face's revitalising eye cream), but after sticking with it for a couple of weeks I (many apologies for the cliched term) really noticed the difference. There was a definite reduction in puffiness and the darkness of my much loathed under eye circles, I also really love the feel of this cream and with all those wonderful ingredients in it this product must be good for you.

Till we next meet.

xoxo







Excessive maybe?

Hello again,

Long time, no blog - which I am extremely sorry about, it seems that sometimes my laziness knows no bounds. I have lately, however, been flitting about the place graduating from uni and such and because of this I had to trek down to Adelaide for a total of roughly 45 fun-filled hours. What concerned me most about the trip was not whether I would slip and fall on my face whilst walking across the stage to get my certificate though, it was in fact the sheer number of face, skin and hair products that had to make the trek down with me in order to make me look somewhat presentable. Resulting in what was once a bare sink at my parents' house becoming a gigantic mountain of lotions and potions, looking like this:

And from another angle looking like this:

And this:



(Please excuse the terrible photos courtesy of my not-so-technically-advanced phone)

So anyway, the realisation that my bag of products was bigger than my bag of clothes, reading material, hair-styling equipment and shoes was quite concerning, but really I don't know what I could've left out - I depend on all of these products to pull together and transform me from a greasy, frizzy mess to a far more primed and proper version of myself. I mean of these 25 products I rely on the Kosmea Australia Clarifying Facial Wash ($34.95) and Hydrating Rosewater Mist ($19.95) to clean my skin without being too heavy or chemically, I also need the Biore Even Smoother Microderm Exfoliator ($19.99) to give my pores a really good clean out - a spring clean if you will, and the A'kin White Tea & Aloe Vital Hydration Gel Creme ($35.95) to keep my face skin nice and moisturised as well as the A'kin Lavender, Geranium & Jojoba Hand, Nail & Cuticle Creme ($16.95) to do the same for my hand skin, the Formula 10.0.6. Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask with orange and bergamot ($8.99) also does a very thorough job of giving a good clean and would thus be imposible to travel without.

Then of course there's the Kora Organic Rich Body Lotion ($44.95) for an excellent and very organic-feeling (if that makes sense) moisture-injection, the Garnier Body Tonic Sugar Scrub ($11.95) and the Palmer's Shea Butter Body Wash ($5.95) - which I only just started using and have become very impressed with due to it's moisturising nature, very delicious smell and lack of sulphates - which all result in a very well cleaned and moisturised torso.

The Klorane Gentle Shampoo with Oat Milk ($12.95) and Softening & Detangling Conditioning Balm with Oat Milk ($12.95) (which I first discovered in Paris - well they were kind of the same products but I haven't actually been able to find the fabulous Klorane volumising shampoo here in Oz - tragically as it was utterly amazing) are of course essential due to their ability to be used everyday without being to harsh on my little hair folicles as if I don't wash my hair everyday it feels like I haven't even woken up! There's also the Al'chemy Ginkgo & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Vitamin Masque ($18.95) which I use twice a week to make my hair lovely and shine-tastic. Then we also have the Garnier Fructis Style XXL Volume Restructure Thermo-Active Texturising Spray ($7.95), the Schwarzkopf Straight & Glossy Heat Defense Zero Frizz Spray ($8.99) and the TRESemme Salon Finish Extra Hold Hairspray ($7.95) all of which keep my hair relatively voluminous, un-damaged and under control from attack by nasty frizzies.

Lastly we have a bit of Sally Hansen Strengthening Nail Polish Remover for Weak, Thin Nails ($5.45) which has been working quite well thus far, O.P.I. Nail Lacquer in Coney Island Cotton Candy ($19.95) - a lovely light pinky/corally shade, and Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat ($12.99) just to top it all off nicely.

So, as you can see I spend far too much on beauty products. No, I mean karting all of this around for only 45 hours stay does seem a bit excessive but culling it down would be very very tricky indeed, like having a birthday party without animal ballons - even if my bf says I don't need it (trying to save some coin I should expect). The scary thing is - these pictures don't even include my make up!

Until next time...

xoxo

To firm or not to firm?

Hey hey hey,

I must begin by apologising for the delay in my second post, I quite literally created such a monumentously gigantic hairspray-filled up-do on the weekend that my hands have been stuck in it for days rendering me completely incapable of writing this to you all. No not really, I kid. But I did in fact crack out the old hairspray on the weekend as I was feeling a tad disillusioned by the noticable lack of opportunity there is to get dressed-up and made-up and quiffed-up here in Keith (unless walking around with liquid eyeliner and high heels whilst doing the vacuuming is your thing - which, if it is, all the more power to you), so I thought to myself 'what the hell' and I had a bit of a dolling-up session for a quiet dinner at home with my lovely bf on Saturday night - very nice.

So, anyway, enough about me - how are you?

What I actually wanted to chat about today was this little firming moisturiser and scrub combo from Garnier (bodytonic sugar scrub ($11.99) and bodytonic toning and firming moisturising lotion ($8.99) - with seaweed extract nonetheless) that I have been using for a bit over a month now but am still not quite convinced how I feel about it.

The scrub is ok, actually it's pretty good - it makes my skin all soft and smooth and stuff - it's just that it doesn't really live up to the Ulittlebeauty A Bit of Rough Salt Scrub ($19.95 - but I got it on sale from DJ's) that I was using before it. Which, although it was a bit of a mess to handle as it was in this jar that I didn't really know where to put in the shower and always ended up getting all water in it, I loved it because it made my skin feel wonderful with coffee, macadamia oil, jojoba oil and all manner of lovely things in it which always gave my skin a nice bit of pep. So compared to that, the Garnier scrub was just a bit too artificial feeling and not as peppy - if that makes any sense at all - on the plus side however, it was much easier to handle being in a tubey bottle.

The bodytonic toning & firming moisturising lotion also posed to me a conundrum - causing me to furrow my brow in a very unflattering and wrinkle inducing manner - as it promised me that it would have a firming effect in 7 days and it really kinda did. The only thing was that it wasn't really all that moisture-y and felt a bit like I was rubbing some kind of liquid plastic into my skin. That said, my skin was not dry and it was noticabley firmer, and looking at it from the position of just having finished my first bottle and having previously tried firming lotions such as Nivea's Q10 plus firming body lotion ($6.50 - but I'm pretty sure I got it at Chemist Warehouse for under $5)

which, although it is an absolute gem for the price, wasn't even comparatively as firming as this moisturiser - I'd definitely try this baby again! I might just need to save my pennies and treat my skin to a bit of KORA Organics Organic Rich Body Lotion ($44.95) before giving the Garnier another go however, as too much plasticy feeling stuff all in one go can't be very good for you.

xoxo

Inaugural Post: blue fingers, pink toes

Howdy y'all,

Thank you immensely for tuning into my blog, it's just a little ditty I thought I might start writing in order to document my move from the big smoke of Adelaide to the noticablely littler smoke of Keith in South Australia's South East - a small puff to Adelaide's big smelter, if you will. I must confess I have a possibly unhealthy obsession with all things beauty-related, so I thought I might confide in this blog all of the products I love, love not so much, and the ones that make me sad and angry and disappointed because I had such high hopes for them (you know who you are Biotherm). So I hope you enjoy it, and that I don't come off to preachy, and that a lot of well-moisturised, well-manicured, and well-quiffed fun is had by all.

I thought I might begin by telling you about an illness I came down with about this time last week called 'omg I live 2 hours from the nearest Priceline and so now when I encounter one I go absolutely mental and buy up many many fabulous things that I love but really don't need-itis'. It's a heart-breaking disease, and in myself manifested itself thus:

Well, truth be told I also encountered a Target and thus the amazing polishes that have had me walking around for a week looking like multi-coloured Barbie are Rimmel London's Blue My Mind ($7.95) from the 60 seconds range:

b collection by Bloom for Target's Tokyo ($15.95):

And pulling it all together was the amazing Sally Hansen's Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat ($12.99):

From a technical perspective, the Rimmel polish has some kind of new crazy flat-ish brush that I had never seen before, which did kind of make it easier to put on but as I am a bit of an uncoordinated wonder I found that twiseling the brush around so that the flat bit of the brush was facing my nail was a bit of a nightmare (I'm sure less coordinationally challenged people would find it very easy to use, however). The colour of Blue My Mind was a bit more purpley than expected and on closer inspection I'm not sure it looked very nice against my skin tone, but I had fun wearing it none the less.

The Bloom polish was one of my biggest revelations, the consistency, the colour, and the ease of application were all fantastic. I rarely ever apply nail polish without going outside the nail (uncoordinated as charged) but with this it was an absolute breeze. I think I may have to sneak back into Target whenever I'm next near it and buy the whole collection as this polish is absolutely amazing!

And last but not least, Sally Hansen, you're my hero. I've never had a base & top coat (cheeky little two-in-oner) that allowed me to forget about having to re-touch chips in my nail polish for an entire week! I applyed these babies last Tuesday night and only last night did one of my fingers chip - AMAZING. I've also tried the other Sally Hansen top & base coat in the silver bottle (Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat) as well as OPI top and base coats, but this one absolutely rocks my socks right off.

Till we meet again.
xoxo