Oh London

Ever since January 2010 all i have wanted to do was get my behind back to England. I have discussed it a few times with people but never seriously. 

Today i walked past a Fight Centre and i thought stuff it! I went in and got Europe Contiki and Topdeck books. I was walking around the shopping center and found myself at Typo. I love this shop and recently I've been allowing myself to spend money there. I tried to fight it but enough is enough! 
I found really cute journals and i thought i could use them as goal planners. One being for holiday goals the other for personal. I am terrible at keeping journals or anything of the sort (this is about my 7th blog, but who's counting.) It hopefully will keep me inspired.
I have no idea whether going with a friend is an option or if i will have to (and am willing to) go alone. So many decisions.
I also would love to go on a cruise somewhere so i got a little something in honor of that too.

So lets see what happens x

(Also the hidden journal)

M.A.C enCounter

Last Sunday i decided it was time i went to the M.A.C. Counter at Myers. I have been on the website countless times, read umpteen reviews and filled my online cart a million times but i had never actually been properly to the shop. (Except for a brief flirt in Melbourne last year.) I really wanted to have a try of these products before making my purchase and what fun it was!

It was a feast for my eyes lipsticks, shimmer cremes, mascaras, eye shadows, concealers, mineral products, foundations, BB cremes, the list goes on. I have never been so sensory stimulated in all my life. I am so used to shopping at the likes of Target and Priceline, i sometimes go to The Body Shop and get to have a little play but this was just way out. I have never seen so many shades of foundation!

I browsed every section, i think twice or three times before making my purchases. The packaging was so cute! I bought a Lip Conditioner in Petting Pink, an eyeshadow pot Veluxe Pearl in Crystal Avalanche. And an NC15 Concealer. 
Colour swatch of these in order of mention:
    

The Lip Conditioner has the slightest pink tinge which i think just enhances the tone of your lips, it is a little stodgy on but it smells and tastes amazing!
The the shadow is just great very impressed with the pigmentation of this product, i want to double this as a highlighter so far so good. When it comes to the concealer i am not fully decided on this yet. I am unsure if this is a little too light for my complexion, i am quite fair but i think i may not be as fair as i thought. I am also favouring a drugstore brand over this one but maybe we need more time to gel.  

 

My Birthday

I am generally not a fan of birthdays whatsoever, I really don't know why this is. Maybe it's just because i don't have a very big family so they were never that big a deal, or that i'm a little bit bashful and don't like people making a fuss over me. Either way every year it rolls around without fail and every year i dread it a little bit more.

This year was alot like other ones, i really didn't do much at all but i did get some lovely gifts. 
Firstly from my mother i received a big purple wrapped box. It had a white ribbon with black polka dots around it. I unwrapped the gift and found a big gift box with high gloss London city scenes all over it. This was to 'inspire' me to start saving for and planning my next trip to the UK, i thought it was a little cute.

Inside the box were a couple of gifts the first thing i noticed were little purple organza pouches inside these were charms for my bracelet. One was a bow that i already had but that didn't matter because you can never have too many bows right? The next was a little handbag complete with zipper detail that said "born to shop" and had a heart stamped into the back side. I loved it. I don't think she could have found a more perfect charm.

It also had a book in it which was "Naughty Number Plates"

Need i say more?

Later on that evening i went to my bffls place and received even more gifts. I received some lovely apple tealights from her motherand was given yet another charm, it is a small Eiffel tower it is very cute. 

My friend gave me one of the best things i've ever seen in my life and even though i hinted at it i looove it!!

Does it get any cooler?

I'm sensing a theme here i think. I also got a cute little birdcage and a sippy cup.. eclectic no?

I also did a little shopping at M.A.C. Cosmetics and Peter Alexander. I will say the "nightmare" has been rectified and they were VERY apologetic. 

:)

Tangle Teezer

This my friends, is a thing of wonder.
I have had the same hairbrush since i was 11, and let me tell you.. we are talking more than ten years here Eek!
I had a house brand one from Priceline, i got from my mother for Christmas and i loved it, I've always been a bit sensitive with my scalp and hated the brushes with the balls on the end of the bristles - this however had short standard bristles and long plastic ones. It was a dream.
It wasn't until i watched my new obsession Zoe on Blogger & Youtube did i know about the miracle that was the Tangle Teezer. Let me tell you, once you're teezed you will never want to go back to just any old brush.
From what i can gather this started as one of these miracle products people buy into thinking they probably will be disappointed but give it a crack anyway. 
Kind of like the Schticky - Love that ad! 
Anyway i was hesitant at first mainly because of pricing, the Australian stockists wanted anywhere from $30 to $40 dollars for it, and well.. just no. I did however find it on Asos, with free shipping for a mere $17 dollars, and i have never looked back. I find my hair is alot more manageable with this brush and my hair breakage has reduced immensely. It glides through wet hair quite easily. To be fair if you have a feral knot it will skim over it a tad and break a hair or two but ANY brush would. I Cannot recommend it enough, if you don't have one you need it!

update!
I have since purchased another of these, the Compact version in Leopard print as i find the cover on it is great for keeping it in good condition while bashing about the bottom of my handbag love love love these! 

The Body Shop... and other lovelies

Oh my, the trouble i can get myself into at The Body Shop (or just about anywhere else)

On a trip to The Body Shop a few months before Christmas - looking for make up, I discovered the holy grail in skincare. Their Vitamin E range - the moisturiser, cleanser and toner. It is the first thing in a long time that i can get to help control my red, dry horrible skin on my face. I was greeted by a girl who just happened to have a passion for skincare in particular i mentioned to her that i had a dryness problem and she recommended the range and a little circular exfoliating brush. I am quite happy with the results. Nothing is ever going to cure my problem but with persistence on my part this is really helping manage it.

On a more recent trip i discovered their Ginger Scalp Care shampoo, it isn't as effective as T-gel by Neutrogena but it is definitely a nice change and i seem to have an okay result by alternating between the two products.

I Also purchased i think at Target for $16 the Maybelline Juicy Bubblegum lipstick, i find this colour wears off very quickly but it is a lovely blue based bubblegum pink and it makes your lips feel so nice!

Face of Australia nail polish in a pastel pink. I looove the name of this "I'll take you to the candy shop." I love this song and this range, all of the colour's are pastels and they all have amazing names, this polish is something i wear on a weekly rotation with my Models Prefer 'Sugar High' Both are cheap and cheerful and do their jobs quite well, Both can be found at Priceline.

Pictured again is The Body Shop All-In-One cheek colour which i reviewed HERE if you would like to see how i got on with that one.

Lastly is the Rimmel 9 in 1 BB Cream in the lightest shade. In all honestly i hate this product, i find it thick and drying on my already dry skin, no matter the amount of moisture i try and inject into it before hand. I have since given this to my mother to use to get rid of it and i found it to be an utter waste of $15.

My Peter Alexander Nightmare!

It was recently my birthday and i decided to take myself on a shopping trip to the M.A.C. store, more on that and my birthday at a later date.


I spotted across the shopping centre a Peter Alexander store, now I've only been in one of these i think twice in my life, once in Vic with my galpal and once in Sydney i think with same said galpal.

I walked in the glossy pink doors to see what i think was their Valentines Day range, to be honest i have no idea because all i saw was a feast of bows and stripes and nautical cuteness and tunnel vision ensued.

I was drawn to a pink and white striped nightie with a big bow across the top, to my surprise i was able to purchase the S/M which is just... well this never happens.  It would have to be the softest thing i have EVER owned albeit the $50 price tag but i just love it. I wore it for a whole hour on Sunday and then took it off because i was having spaghetti for dinner and didn't want to dirty it, i since haven't put it back on again... for this exact same reason. GAH anal.

Next thing i did was mosey over to a stand where there were MORE bows, there were these knickers with pink and white stripes, blue piping and they came in these adorable matching boxes, as Peter Alexander does. Sadly they were all smalls and i missed out, i did however score a pair of these knickers 

I then found phone covers and that was the end of me, i found about 3 i wanted, for various reasons dwindled it down to the one. I just think its the bees knees. So cute!

 
The downfall here? The Eftpos machine was broken and i had to go and get cash out... no biggie, paid my cash took my bag and headed on home. Then i went to unpack my bag and found this...

Yep, the stupid sales girl left the bloomin' security tag on. Now i have since tried to Google how to get the thing off, to no avail so it looks like i shall be going back to the shop the next chance i get. Lets just hope the next trip doesn't cost me another $75 like the last one
Oops.

One of Many

On one of my last trips to my 2nd fave shop, Priceline i picked up two of the beauties in the photo below, the Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil and Dolce & Gabbana's The One

Now i know just about everyone has tried or is currently using The One, but i spent about 6 months deciding whether or not it was the right one for me. I found it for 30% off and thought why not. I find it to be a cinnamon jasmine scent and feel it is long lasting and quite powerful, but i like that in a fragrance. While i am loving it i have already decided what my next fragrance will be.. stay tuned.

With the Argan oil, i was going to buy the Moroccan Oil branded version at $55 a pop but i know what i am like with stuff like this, i either get bored of it, I'm not disciplined enough or i just don't like it the type of product. I will say i find this to be no different to the 'real thing' and for $25 i am very pleased with the results. I do however have a massive distaste for the lid, it opens into a flat surface with a lipped hole, the oil just dribbles everywhere and this is extremely annoying. This being said i am not about to fork out another $30 to gain a pump bottle so i shall have to deal.

Also pictured is The Body Shop All-In-One Cheek Color blusher in Guava. This is a product with great packaging and its a really nice color but i just find it so hard to get on my damned brushes! While it is quite pigmented on the brush i find it hard to blend on the face and hard to get an even smattering of it. I think i need a little more time with this one and a full face base to truly test it but so far I'm finding it quite disappointing and with a $27 price tag i was really expecting more from this product.

Lastly is the Australis Bronzing Powder. I have a feeling this product is a little too dark for my pasty complexion but i think with abit of practice it could be a great contour powder, this is what i purchased it for. Was it the right type of product to go for? I have no idea as i am learning as i go along, but when i reigned in my usage of it and wasn't so heavy handed i started to get the desired look.