Nail Art – My First Attempt

I purchased some Nailene Bedazzle (for fingers and toes) today to try my hand at Nail Art. I always love reading/viewing nail art blog posts and one of my favourites are from Cosmetic Cupcake – she does really super cute designs and also has beautiful long nails.

The Nailene Bedazzle pack contains four sheets of nail art stickers - not the best selection of patterns but they were the only ones in the store and would do fine for my nail art experimenting.

Easy to use, I applied each sticker to my nail using tweezers; they are quite sticky so make sure you carefully place them in the desired position as repositioning can cause your nail polish to peel. I chose this pattern as it reminds me of little tiaras on each of my nails.

I purchased Nailene Bedazzle from Big W however Nail Art stickers are widely available at Priceline, drug stores and nail supply stores – just to name a few.

Nail Polish is Eyeko Vintage Polish in Jade Green.

Vitamin Schtick

Following on from the success of the Coca Cola varieties, the creative team at Lip Smackers have now teamed up with 50 Cent and his peeps at Glaceau Vitamin Water to create Vitamin Schtick – a lip balm range bursting with the eight flavours of Vitamin Water.

Containing all the benefits of a lip balm including vitamin E and SPF 20 these little babies have a great assortment of scents and have super cute packaging that resembles a mini Vitamin Water bottle, too cute!!

Being my favourite Vitamin Water flavours, I would love to try the Triple X scent… pomegranate and acai berries – delicious!

I couldn't find an Aussie stockist (maybe they haven't arrived on our shores yet?) but they have been available in the US and UK for a while now.

US or UK readers... Have you tried Vitamin Schtick's? Are they any good or no better than the average lip balm?

Want to Enhance your Natural Eye Colour?

Certain eye shadows can be used to accentuate your natural eye colour making your eyes a stand out feature. Think of the basic colour wheel where the opposite colours are those that are complementing, like red and green, orange and blue or purple and yellow.

For blue eyes, choose earthy tones such as champagnes, taupe or charcoal greys as these colours are known to accentuate the blue making your pretty peepers stand out.

Brown eyes are luckily enough to get away with most colours however it is said that pinks or greens really make brown eyes pop.

Green/Hazel eyes sparkle with different shades of purple or warmer browns with a slight gold or orange undertone.

That being said makeup is a form of personal expression, wear what you think looks best and create make up looks that represents your own personal style….have fun xx

Almay have taken the guess work out of finding the right shadow for your eye colour and created the Intense I-Colour Smokey-I Kit which includes in its range four eye shadow palettes with carefully chosen colours to bring out in best in green, blue, hazel and brown eyed beauties.

Each palette includes a lid, crease and brow highlight colour which makes applying a breeze to create the perfect smokey eye look for your eye colour.

I’m yet to try this palette but would love to see the effect it has on drawing out my natural eye colour. Purchase Almay Intense I-Colour Smokey-I Kit from Priceline for $20.95(AUD).

Order to Apply Skin Care Products

Toner and moisturisers and serums OH MY! Ever feel overwhelmed with all the skin care products you own and when to apply them?

Well, this was me up until recently when I was given a few Chanel skin care samples to try. I couldn’t remember if the lady at the counter said to apply serums before or after moisturising and if this was done before or after eye creams?   

So I hit the net searching for (if there was any) a correct order to apply skin care products.

Here’s what I found…

Dermatologist Dr Schultz from DermTV provides a general rule of thumb when applying skin care products: Lighter skin care products such as gels and lotions or water based products are generally applied first and the heavier ones such as creams are applied second and the heaviest ones such as ointments are applied last. The science behind this rule is that as the heavier products are applied last they have the ability to be able to soak down though the lighter products penetrating into your skin and allowing your skin to receive the benefits of all the products and their active ingredients.

Having done my research this is my tweaked prep and prime skin care routine….

1. Remove traces of make-up by using your favourite make up remover, my faves are Clinique Take the Day off Makeup Remover and the Yes to Carrots Eye and Makeup Remover.
2. Clean your face with your favourite facial cleanser, I prefer the wash off kind – I currently love the Clinique Mild Liquid Facial Soap.
3. Smooth a toner over your skin; again I use the Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2.
4. Then apply an eye cream, I’m alternating between Clinique‘s All About Eyes Serum Roll on and Channel’s Beaute Initiale Eye which are both gel like consistency.
5. Next on goes a serum (optional), I have a sample of Chanel’s Hydra Beauty Serum which feels very light, is ultra moisturising and smells amazing. I apply this to my face avoiding my under eye area where I applied the eye cream.
6. After waiting a few minutes for the products to soak in, apply moisturiser…guess what I use? Yup! Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion.
7. Finally goes on any extra (heavier) products you may be using such as pore minimising creams, make up primers or Illuminators.

How do you apply your skin care? What order works for you?

Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid

Lanolips is described as “An ultra rich and creamy whipped lanolin lip treatment with organic lemon oil to naturally exfoliate, leaving lips fresh, soft and moist” and I couldn’t agree more.

Lanolips, as the name suggest contains Lanolin (over 70% medical grade to be in fact). Lanolin is an all natural moisturiser derived from the greasy coating on sheep wool – sounds very appealing huh? Putting the source of the lanolin aside, lanolips describes it as “nature’s wonder moisturiser”.

When I first applied Lanolips my initial reaction was “wow, this is really moisturising”.  This rich and creamy balm melts onto lips creating an instant smooth and moisturising effect without being sticky. To a apply use a clean finger or lip brush to smooth onto lips and any left over product can rubbed into your cuticles for an added cuticle treatment (it contains natural lanolin, so why not?). 

In the tube, Lanolips is a light creamy colour with slight glitters which applies clear while the glitters sparkle in the light. The scent is of sugary lemon, a scent in which I adore but if your not into lemon maybe give this one a miss.

Lanolips comes in a 12.5g (0.42 oz.) tube and its lettering and cap is finished in gold, quite a fancy touch for a tube of gloss.  

I purchased my Lanolips from Myer for $15.95(AUD) where they had a buy one get one free Lanolips with colour in Apples. A juicy red colour that is equally as creamy and moisturising but gives a subtle red shine to lips – delicious!

Nail It – Berlin

I really love darker nail colours for the cooler months and I just purchased another to add to my ever growing nail polish collection.

Introducing…..

Sportsgirl’s Nail It in Berlin – a wickedly deep emerald green colour with slight silver glitters.

The formula applies smoothly and is quite pigmented however two coats is required to achieve the desired colour as per the bottle.

Nail It polishes retail for $7.95(AUD) and are available at Sportsgirl, get in quick as Berlin is currently on sale for $4.95(AUD).

Battle of the Eye Primers – Urban Decay vs. E.L.F

To the left we have E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow Primer and on the right is Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin.

E.L.F is a sheer ivory colour and is quite thin in consistency however it is creamy to apply and feels almost silky as you work it over your eye lid and dries to a matte power finish.

Urban Decay is quite thicker in consistency (similar to a cream eyeshadow or blush), and applies as a gorgeous shimmery pink colour (just a touch pinker than MAC’s Naked Lunch). It dries and stays put whilst still holding its beautiful shimmer.

L-R: Urban Decay and E.L.F

So to put these primers to the test I applied a base to each eye before my eyeshadow and will

re-assess at the end of the day and see which primer does my shadow justice.

Before…

Urban Decay Primer Potion

E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow Primer

The above pictures are taken just after I applied my eyeshadow for the day, both with the same shadows and same amount of colour. As you can see on the Urban Decay primed eye, because of the shimmer in the primer itself, eyeshadow colours appear so much brighter than the E.L.F primed eye.

So my day begun… a day full of clothes washing, watching my nephew play pre-school soccer (or stacks on the soccer ball), went for lunch and a long walk/jog…

Nine hours later…..





E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow Primer

Urban Decay Primer Potion

The verdict: As you can see there is not much difference as the eye shadows stayed put on both eyes throughout the day with no creasing however the eye with the Urban Decay Primer Potion still maintained its more vibrant colours.  



If I had to choose between to two, I would probably sway towards the Urban Decay Primer Potion even though E.L.F put up a good fight. I really love the pink shimmery colour of Urban Decay and would be satisfied in using this as a base colour on its own, I also love that it really brings out the colours of the eyeshadows and keeps that vibrancy all day (even after exercise).

E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow Primer retails for $11.95(AUD) from Crush Cosmetics or $3.00(USD) from Eyes, Lips, Face and the full size Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin retails for $19.00(USD) from Urban Decay.

DO…..TRY….BUY….

I came across this great little advertorial in the July 2011 Cosmopolitan magazine and thought I would adopt this idea as an ongoing segment within Beauty Soiree.

DO…..

Mix it up a little - experiment with your make up, hairstyle or outfit.. as they say “a change can be as good as a holiday”.

As I’m a neutral eye kinda gal I have been slowly introducing colours in my EOTD looks. One of my current favourites is a neutral base with a pop of colour to the top lash line. Subtle…I know but it does give a pretty effect especially in the sunlight.

TRY…..

Smart Skin Cleansing Wipes, I picked up these wipes from my local Woolworths for a mere $1.50! The wipes are quite soft, are a decent size and as they are very moist they are fantastic for removing make-up or cleansing the skin and don’t leave you feeling like you have left over residue after using them.

I found I liked Smart Skin over Simple as they are moister easier to remove make up and over Face of Australia as the wipes are larger and a little thicker.

BUY…..  

Moroccan Oil (if you haven’t already done so). I have been using this every time I blow dry my hair (and in between washes) since Dec 2010. It makes my hair noticeably softer, shiner, less frizzy and more manageable after every use.

I use the Original Moroccan Oil Treatment suitable for all hair types however I have also discovered the Moroccan Oil Light Treatment for blondes to prevent that brassy look.   

The 100ml bottles retail for approx. $49.50(AUD) and last forever (as less is more) and can be purchased online at Adore Beauty or find your closest salon stockist at Moroccan Oil.

So whats on your do, try, buy list?

Make Love not War

Photo by: Rich Lam a freelance photographer for the Vancouver Sun

Isn’t this the most amazing photograph? Captured by a journalist during public riots in Vancouver, Canada following the loss of a Hockey game, this shows a couple embracing in a passionate kiss amongst all the chaos of the riot.   

My Beauty Diary – Aloe Sheet Masks

I was first introduced to My Beauty Diary Sheet Masks by YouTube’s Missglamorazzi. Being someone who rarely has spare time to indulge in regular face masks or treatments, sheet masks really appealed to me for their no fuss no mess application.

The Taiwanese Skincare brand My Beauty Diary describes their Aloe Sheet Masks as moisturising, repairing, revitalising and nourishing for the skin and are perfect for use on normal skin and recommended for those with dry and damaged skin.

Each of the masks are packaged in individual sachets (with cute little aloe plants printed on them) and the masks themselves are extremely moist with product.

The mask is rounded with cut outs for your eyes, nose and mouth as well as four slits to allow the mask to fit perfectly onto your face. As you can imagine from the picture below you do end up looking like a scary dead person while wearing the mask so best to do this alone or be prepared to receive weird looks from your husband/boyfriend or family.  

To use, simply tear open a sachet and peel the sheet mask away from the plastic backing paper and smooth onto face. Leave for 10-15 minutes and peel mask off leaving any of the left over product to absorb into your skin.

After wearing the mask for 10-15 minutes my skin always feels so hydrated and soft and My Beauty Diary Aloe Sheet Masks are now included in my weekly skincare routine.

I purchased this box of ten My Beauty Diary Aloe Masks from sasa.com for $12(AUD) which is great value for something that is going to last me at least ten weeks.

My Beauty Diary has a vast range of Sheet Masks for different uses and skin types and I will definitely trying out more from this brand once this box is completed.  

30 Day Blog Challenge: My Favourite Nail Polish

Like many of you, I have a rather large nail polish collection… well large for someone that should be saving money and not spending it on more nail polishes.. But I’m sure many of you can sympathise when I say “sometimes I just can’t help it”.

Although I love O.P.I polishes for the obvious reasons (pro wide brush, quality, range of colours and cute tongue-in-cheek names) my current favourite polish colour is White Gold by Sportsgirl Nail It.

This colour is a creamy white with a light gold shine and is one of those colours that can add glamour to an outfit while at the same time be fittingly neutral to wear during the day or to work.

After trawling through my box of polishes trying to decide on my favourite colour for the sake of this post, I found that I own quite a few Sportsgirl Nail It polishes.

L-R: White Gold, Pink (Unknown name), Fruit Tingle, Lavender, Caribbean, Nude, Caramel

I love these polishes as they are affordable ($7.95AUD), come in seasonal colours to suite current fashion trends and they have pretty good staying power – my current mani has lasted four days now (with my O.P.I top coat) and they are looking good for another day.

As I mention above, the Nail It Polishes are seasonal so they come and go along with the fashion trends. I purchased the White Gold last year so unfortunately it’s not available online or in-store. However, always check out the Sportsgirl sale section to grab some last minute colours at bargain prices.  

This post wraps up my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

EOTD - Light Smokey Eye

Primer - Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Lid - Benefit Creasless Cream Shadow/Liner in Busy Signal
Liner (Blended from the top and bottom lash line) - Darkest black from Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette
Liner (Water and tight lines) - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on eye pencil in Zero
Highlight - Whitest white from Coast Scents 88 Warm Palette
Mascara - Clinique High Impact in Black
False Lashes - Eylure Naturalities in Super Full

30 Day Blog Challenge: Photo of Something that makes me go Awww

Awww - I love puppies :)

Image sourced from Google Images

This post is Day 29 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

30 Day Blog Challenge: My Favourite Drink

On my quest to stay slim I have cut down my intake of sugary drinks and try to stick with water when possible however for a treat or during a night out, these are my drinks of choice:

Glaceau Vitamin Water in Triple X

A light flavour (similar to cordial) of Blueberries, Acai Berries and Pomegranate

Vodka Lemon, Lime and Bitters

A yummy infusion of bitter, sweet and sour - I love this drink purchased from bars as I’m yet to find a store brought pre mix that tastes nice.

All images sourced by Google images - Beauty Soiree promotes responsible drinking

This post is Day 28 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

30 Day Blog Challenge: My Favourite Skincare Product

One of the biggest misconceptions about eye creams is that they are only for people with wrinkles or at that stage in life where they are trying to prevent wrinkles. 

Although one of the amazing benefits of an eye cream is to minimise or reduce early signs of ageing such as wrinkles they also work a treat on reducing puffiness, under eye bags and dark circles.

I’m currently using samples of Clinique‘s All About Eyes Serum Roll on and Channel’s Beaute Initiale Eye (alternating between days).

The clinique roll on contains caffeine which assists in reducing under eye puffiness and the Channel gel is infused with vitamins and minerals (even a Yeast extract) that protects against premature ageing and fights puffiness and dark circles.

To apply an eye cream, lightly pat a small amount of cream or serum into the under eye area and lightly work it around into the lid. It is recommended by various beauty gurus to use your ring finger as it’s the weakest finger and avoids any harsh tugging or pulling on your delicate skin surrounding the eyes. 

As mentioned above, I’m currently using eye cream samples and once they are finished I’m really interested in trying the new (well, new to Australia anyway) Yes to Blueberries “Age Refresh” Eye Firming Treatment which claims to be “Made up of blueberries, paracress flower, beeswax and olive fruit oil, the Eye Firming Treatment’s paracress flower has also clinically been proven to help restore and smooth skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in 28 days”.



Image sourced from Google images



The Yes To range is available in David Jones and retails from $34.95 (AUD).  Do you use an eye cream? If yes, what’s your favourite eye cream product?

This post is Day 27 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

30 Day Blog Challenge: An Item from my Wish List

My boyfriend and I are currently house hunting and one thing I’m really looking forward to beside the new found freedom its decorating a house of my very own.

Depending on the house layout and space, I’m still undecided whether to have a makeup room (using one of the spare bedrooms) or take ownership of the bathroom vanity.

Either way, I want display all my cosmetics easily and have them accessible and organized using a storage system that is great to look at – which brings me to an item from my wish list…

An Acrylic Makeup Draw

As seen on the bathroom vanities of the Kardashian sisters, this set of draws is a makeup organization lover’s paradise.

I love the clear design which makes it easier for you to find what you are looking for – I’m forever digging through my collection looking for that one lipstick or gloss, and as its clear it prompts you to keep your make up collection neatly organized at all times.

The above shown makeup draws can be purchased online from The Makeup Box Shop and prices start from $109(AUD) including local delivery.

All images sourced from The Makeup Box Shop.

This post is Day 26 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

30 Day Blog Challange: What I want from Luuux

Luuux is an online community where you post and share information on fashion, technology, beauty, design, sport & fitness, entertainment, places and food and you earn luuux dollars per page views or comments that can be redeemable towards the Luuux online store.

I’m not a member of Luuux however, for the purpose of this post I made a quick visit to their online store to see what I would purchase IF I was an active member and IF I have money to spend.

Best of Bobbi Brown Collection

Sigma Complete Kit with Brush Roll

This post is Day 25 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

30 Day Blog Challenge: My Favourite Food

Sydney is a culinary playground with so many amazing restaurants and flavours to tantalize anyone’s taste buds. I have recently become an unofficial foodie and while there is too many of my favourite foods to name I thought I’d slightly change this post around and do a mini review on my current favourite restaurant.

Criniti’s Ristorante

Criniti’s is serving up authentic southern Italian home style cooking with a modern flair and they do an amazing wood fire metre pizza. All ingredients are fresh and incredibly tasty with generous meal sizes and are served within reasonable time.

Criniti’s is very popular and can get quite busy on Friday and Saturday nights however; staff are always attentive and enthusiastic. The restaurant can be noisy but always has a great atmosphere and is themed to suite the modern Italian.   

The past few times I have been to Criniti’s it has been with a group to celebrate a birthday (in fact, I’m going there on Saturday night for my friends 25 Birthday celebrations) we have always left satisfied and their various priced set menus  do not disappoint as you are provided with a variety of delicious options.  

You can find Criniti's in Darling Harbour, Sydney (as featured in this post) or Church Street, Parramatta.

Sydney-siders have you been to Criniti's?

This post is Day 24 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge; click here to view my introduction.

All images were sourced through Google Images.