Shopping Basket

1. Off the shoulder crop top / 2. Pink skater dress / 3. Khaki Lace Shorts / 

4. Love Moshino Shoulder Bag / 5. Bardot Bodycon Dress / 6. Adorable jumper / 

7. Loverboy flats / 8. Mesh Bralet / 9. Flower Tank / 10. Leopard Print Heels

Online sales have been killing me recently - I can't buy anything since I'll be travelling but oh my goodness, all my online baskets are overflowing! These are a couple of my absolute favourite pieces that I'm tempted to order regardless of putting myself on a bit of a shopping ban

There's definitely a bit of a mix of winter and summer here, all I want to wear is big warm jumpers and knitted hats, but at the same time, next month I'll be up in California so all the pretty summer clothes out right now are calling my name :)

Beanie!

This isn't something I'd usually think to put on here, but I bought my first beanie hat! (I think it's a beanie hat… I'm calling it that anyway). I know buying a hat isn't a particularly interesting purchase, but I actually only own one other hat, and that's just a big floppy thing for on the beach. Hat's just don't suit my face so I typically just avoid them, regardless of how much I love hats

I got this one from valley girl here in NZ, and it came with these gem-flowers all along the front. They're definitely not my cup of tea so I just cut them off as I much prefer it plain as the lilac colour is just so pretty! 

Also, I never realised just how warm hats keep you! Silly I know, but I wore this yesterday and I was toasty warm despite the chill in the air - I get why people love their hats in winter now!

As for make up, I kept it super simple, some eyeliner, mascara, a little bit of pencil in my brows and the amazing collection concealer - done. I was just popping to the library (on a saturday?!) so I just couldn't be bothered doing a full face

Let me know what you think of it - I'm still not 100% convinced I don't look silly in it

Lady Blush

With winter firmly making itself known here my staple summer bronzed look is steadily being replaced in favour of a light sweep of blush (although I have to say New Zealand Winters in the North Island are so much milder than back home so I can't complain too much)

Mac Ladyblush has been in my collection for years, and my love of it is pretty cyclical. I don't think I've used it in maybe a year, but this last week or so it's been making an appearance every, single, day!  It really is just the perfect, natural looking blush, it's not too pink, or too red, or orang, nope, the undertones are super flattering.

I'm not really a huge fan of cream blushes, I always want to love them (I have a weak spot of all cream products I think) but I just find them a pain to apply and blend over a foundation - tell me I'm not the only one that all too often has ended up with patchy foundation because of blending cream blushes! But I've just been dabbing it on with the Real Techniques Stippling blush and blending it out with the buffing brush to get a beautiful, and easy, finish

I kept everything else really simple today, Laura Mercier primer, Lasting Perfection foundation and concealer (a lovely little combo for full coverage), and then my everyday maybelline liner and benefit they're real mascara - I decided to skip eyeshadow since I was in a rush 

Now we get to the real reason for this post, Ladyblush on the lips is amazing. Firstly the colour - stunning, i've actually been wearing it on my lips more than my cheeks recently as its just a gorgeous natural-ish pink-y sort of shade. Not only is the colour amazingly flattering but the finish and texture actually works so well! It's velvety finish that feels amazing on, and I suppose because it's actually a cream blush it doesn't bleed or settle into any lines. 

I've heard a lot about people applying their lipsticks onto their cheeks to get a dewy flush of colour, but putting a cream blush onto the lips is new to me at least. And I can't get over how using one product on the lips and cheeks suddenly makes everything looks so 'put together'!

Today was just a minimal effort day, but Ladyblush really turned it into something pretty! I'm already looking at mac's over cream blushes, as the price is so much easier to justify if you know you can use it as a blush and a lipstick! 

Asian Treats

I keep forgetting to write this post, I've had the pictures taken for weeks and had it on my to-do list for longer than I'm willing to admit. For some reason I always find myself distracted when I come to write this but I absolutely have to share these treats with you!

I picked them up when I was in Singapore, and I'm already contemplating how to get my hands on more when I run out. 

Cure's natural aqua gel is basically a chemical exfoliate, but it works 10x better than any others I've tried. I'll confess I'm a little bit it of a scaredy cat when it comes to these sorts of exfoliants, so I've only really dabbled in them, but this has me utterly looked - forget mircroexfoliants and all those silly beads - this is definitely the way forward!

You apply it onto dry skin (which I'll admit is a trifle annoying since I just want to be able to use it in the shower), then massage it over your skin. Almost instantly you'll start to feel little 'balls' build up which is basically the dead skin cells that are just sitting on your face.

I was awfully sceptical about this when I first read about it, assuming the 'balls' were just the product and that it was just some marketing gimeck. But it actually is your dead skin. I only really know this because if I use it too frequently I just don't get the little 'balls' as there's less dead skin cells. It all sounds a little 'yucky' but it's so easy, and stops your skin looking dull completely effortlessly.

I will most definitely be attempting to repurchase this as it's worth every penny - the only problem is trying to track it down! I'm not worrying about that too much though since I only use it once a week and it's lasting really well, so fingers crossed when I do run out it'll be easily available!

I actually bought 3 of these masks while in Singapore, I just couldn't wait to use them though so you only get a photo of one - the snail one is better than the snake one anyway. I figured I couldn't leave Singapore without trying some sheet masks - as they seem to be every beauty blogger's favourite asian product, these were the time sheet masks I tried and Oh My Gosh - they truly work so much better at 'brightening' and rejuvenating than any other mask I've tried. Sure there's a plethora of whitening and lightening masks you need to try and avoid (unless you want lighter skin of course) but in between all of those bleaching masks there are some absolute gems!

I can't quite tell whether this particular brand actually use snail mucus and snake venom, I've tried by best to search around online but the language barrier is proving pretty impenetrable. Hopefully they don't as the snail mask truly works wonders. I tried when I was in Brisbane as my skin was definitely not happy with me putting it through 4 long haul, 12+ hour flights in 1 month, and it made my skin look truly incredible. I just carefully draped it over my face, read a book, fell asleep reading (oops) and woke up to a slightly wet pillow and amazing skin!

I'm not recommending to fall asleep with one on, but they it really does work nothing short of a miracle on tired skin!

Colder Weather

While all you lucky people in the northern hemisphere are embracing the warmer weather, winter is steady creeping in down under. So I'm doing the only logical thing, and piling on the layers - clothes and make up! I just use the changing seasons as an excuse to mix up my make up

I've loved experimenting with Collection's Lasting Perfection Foundation, it reminds me a lot of revlon colorstay as it dries pretty quickly leaving a relatively matte finish but with 100% better packaging, a thicker consistency and minus the smell.

 L'Oreal Brow Artist, Mac Woodwinked Eyeshadow, Bobbi Brown Eyeliner, Benefit They're Real, Benefit Hoola, Collection Concealer, Mac Painterly Paint Pot, Mac Craving Lipstick

The packaging is great - it's literally all you can ask for a foundation container, glass bottle, simple design, and a pump! I don't ask for much in my foundation packaging - looking at you Mac and Nars and every other brand that still sells plastic bottles bottles without pumps!

As far as shades go, it's a little hard. There's only a handful of shades, and they all look the exact same in the frosted glass bottles. The names are also a bit misleading. Mine is 'cool beige' but I'm not entirely sure what's meant be 'cool' since it's definitely got a warm undertone… Anyway I just picked up the number that corresponded to the concealer shade that suits me and I got a pretty good match

I should also say it definitely oxidises a fair bit once it's fully dried, for my shade that works quite well, however it's something you should be aware of when trying to find your shade in store.

 I'm still clinging to the idea of summer and resisting swapping my bronzer for blush - although I have toned down the amount of shimmery bronzers - sadly. I adore Mac Craving Lipstick - although I'm probably going to feature this in another post as I can't wait to ramble about it

Along the theme of transitioning to winter - I always know when winter has come when my breakfasts turn warm. I just can't stand starting the day with something cold when it's freezing outside. My absolute favourite at the moment is this delicious, filling and oh so easy Apple Cinnamon Oats.

It's just some oats, popped into the microwave with water for a few minutes and some yummy slightly cooked apples! I just chop up half an apple, liberally sprinkled it with cinnamon, add a splash of water and cook. I've cooked the apples in the microwave (when I was in a crazy rush) and also in the oven, honestly they taste about the same but using the microwave means less washing up! Oh and I also throw in some extra cinnamon into the oats, but that's just because I love cinnamon

Let me know if you like these posts with a jumble of things in them, I personally love reading longer posts with lots of different elements!