Don't Blame Me.... a new series

As someone who has only recently become obsessed interested in makeup I have spent the last year or two watching lots of YT vids and reading lots of blogs dedicated to all things beauty.

As a result I have ended up spending money shelling out for products I need must have on the say so of those in the know.... NYX, Milani, Rimmel, MAC... and on and on it goes.

I could think of no better way to celebrate the lovely and supportive community who has shown me where bargains are and what I need to buy right now, than by sharing some of these products with you. Now if - like me - you realise you must have these items (no matter how sick your credit card is feeling)... please don't blame me! lol

BTW if you love this image check out free images available from Dreamstime

 Update: I had hoped to put up my first DBM product already to go with this post but I didn't take a picture on the weekend and I get home when it is dark... a post is coming soon. Sorry for the delay.

Excuses excuses

When I started P10P I stated the following -

As always I make up the rules for my P10P. The purpose of this is to shop my stash... therefore any product that is used up is included - makeup, hair, skin, nails or fragrance. The only exception to this rule is for single use products - while they are easy to clock up it really doesn't seem to fit with the spirit of P10P.

Then I backed out on perfume. I have no issue with perfume and I have purchased 2 bargain bottles from strawberrynet as well as 10 samples from Wyldeivy.

Then I went to the hair dresser on the weekend and picked up new shampoo and conditioner. Now technically I have finished my current products but I do have some David Babaii in the shower gathering dust so I assume this means hair products are out as well

Then a few days ago I woke up to a great Aussie Dollar and I just had to spend on SOMETHING... so placed an order to Head2Toe - the only place I get my nail polishes from (I'm a big fan of China Glaze and Color Club).

At the time of this post I have now finished 9 eligible items for P10P. Here's hoping I can limp my way into the finish line sometime soon.


BTW... I realised today I own only 2 foundations now (finished 2 as part of P10P) -my mineral one and my MAC one I am now using.  I think I'll need to shop after P10P is finished... no eye, lip or blush though!

7 days of Flourish Fragrances

My thoughts and impressions after wearing the following samples from etsy seller FlourishBathBody. I have also included descriptions from the site as well.. Overall I think these are pleasant scents but nothing really took my fancy apart from Applewood...

Moraccan Fig

Honeyed figs, the spicy green scent of their leaves, soft florals and a faint wisp of smokiness in the background. The overall effect is a little sweet, a little fresh, and a little bit mysterious. 

Oh no... not for me at all. I don't know what I was thinking.



Tonic 
An ode to my favorite alcoholic beverage- the Gin & Tonic. Crisp, classic, fresh and clean. Juniper, pine needles, and a squeeze of lime. 

I thought this was a strong and crisp fragrance. It was both pleasant and unique but I spent most of my time wondering if I actually liked it. I'm still not sure. Fantastic staying power.


Pomegranate Rose
 ...blending pomegranate, red berries, and rose petals- with a little lemon zest thrown in to freshen things up. The result is a nice balance between sweet, tart, fruity, and floral.

  A big rose smell with the pomegranate trying to get out underneath. This is an YOUR face rose and feels warm and cosy. After a couple of hours it mellows nicely but to me this smells like a shower gel more than what I would personally want from my perfume (and what a shower gel that would be too). Lasting power is good - definitely worth a try if you are a fan of Rose notes.


Ginger Tea
A spicy, woodsy blend with notes of black tea, charred cedar, ginger, cardamom, pipe tobacco and a drizzle of vanilla-infused honey. A unique and memorable fall fragrance,

Let me start by saying that by this time I was starting to feel guilty for not finding something that I loved. I wanted to love this so much but ALL I could smell was Ginger and Tea. An interesting fragrance but very literal on me.

Applewood
At first this scent seems deceptively simple. The main top note is a sweet red apple- not a syrupy, candied sort of apple, but watery and crisp. But on the skin it's transformed into a spicy blend of rich woods. The apple is still there, but it takes a back seat to mahogany and cedar, rounded out by cardamom, bourbon, and tonka bean.

Disheartened but still determined to soldier on, imagine how delighted I was to put this on my skin... and I could do no better service to this one than to say it smells EXACTLY as described.... a juicy red apple opening and then the woods... in they came. Good staying power.Yum... Love.... Bliss.


Peach Tea
Not a sugary, cloying peach nectar- this fragrance is more reminiscent of the subtle sweet perfume emanating from the fuzzy skin of a just-picked peach on the verge of being perfectly ripe. With a slightly bitter wisp of chilled black tea in the background, and the soft redolence of nearby honeysuckle blooms. Very feminine, very summery.

Hmmm... well on me this was a predictable peach + tea perfume. I find it interesting that both 'tea' fragrances were very literal smells on me. Perhaps worth the sample as it may be a my skin thing. This one was gone completely within 20-40 minutes on me as well. A nice fragrance but again one I would love in a bath/body product more than in my fragrance.


Now if your thoughts are to skip  Flourish at this point PLEASE PLEASE visit the lovely Miss Prissipants blog to see how she raved over the Vanilla based fragrances. Vanilla is not my bag and even I loved the smell of Woodsmoke + Vanilla.

And I'll definitely keep Applewood on my full size wish list.

Burberry Brit Sheer - a review

This has been reposted from my livejournal...

Earlier this year while in Melbourne I discovered the Perfume Connection. They do a fabulous deal where you can buy a 15ml atomizer and fill it with pretty much any fragrance they have for $15. I purchased three and have finished my first one just today - it was filled with Burberry Brit Sheer.

I should preface my review by saying that I personally prefer lighter fruity fragrances and that what I know about perfume could fit on the back of a postage stamp. I find oriental scents cloying and often they will irritate me to the point of feeling unwell. That being said... I like what I like and I like this fragrance very much.

Firstly let's start with the packaging - it's pink and white plaid in a rectangle shaped bottle...hmmm... nothing special there... just very Burberry. It's not offensive but neither is it a Lolita Lempicka or Marc Jacobs Daisy that might inspire a purchase by looking at the bottle alone.

I couldn't find this perfume on Burberry's website so I found a description of the fragrance notes on fragrantica. According to that site the notes are pineapple, litchi, mandarin orange, yuzu, white musk and resins.

What that all means to me... when I first spray this perfume it definitely hits as both fruity and floral. I agree with other reviews that there is nothing unique in this that stands out as the most defining note but it is entirely pleasant. Mostly what I notice is that it really doesn't change on me... what I spray on is what I can smell for hours... and this lasts for hours. Now that I know the notes I think I can smell the mandarin orange as well as the white musk... perhaps that is why it smells both fruity and floral simultaneously to me... or perhaps it's all in my head. lol

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a light smelling perfume that lasts all day. Obviously there are a large number of fragrances in this fruity floral category... what makes this one unique for me is that the more I use it the more I like it... my personal experience is usually the opposite so that is a BIG DEAL (to me). As such I just lashed out and got myself a 50ml bottle from Myer.

My only concern now is that because it isn't listed on Burberry's website that it was limited edition or they have stopped making it -eek!

An update on P10P Round 3 and a little sister challenge

This has been reposted from my livejournal account.

Ok let's start with an update on P10P Round 3. As of today I have made my way through 5 products with another couple to be finished soon. I imagine that this one will be over by the end of the month for sure.

To my complete frustration my covergirl foundation refuses to end... it's either a tool of the devil sent to try me or a total bargain. I shamefully confess I used excess pumps this morning in a vain hope that the end of the bottle would appear. I wont do it again... think of it more as a helping hand... this bottle's suffering must be eased. It almost makes me feel sick to put it on my face now but I know that's just my brain saying "you need new stuff.... go buy MAC foundation...." Shut up brain - you don't know me!

Anyway enough of the window into the crazy bat shit world that exists in my head... and onto the sister project challenge.

Recently the most lovely Makeup BFF D and I went into together in a perfume sample order from the etsy store Flourish. Today I was presented with my samples and those the nose of BFF D and her beloved daughter noodle arms rejected. I thought it would be a fun challenge for the rest of September for me to wear a different fragrance everyday - weekends off - to try and work my way through the samples and finally figure out exactly what it is I like.

Updates to follow.

EOTD - Green sparkle

 This has been reposted from my livejournal

So I am ending my blogg-a-thon of the last couple of days with an Eye Of The Day or EOTD for those in the know... I had to figure it out for myself. Now I am known for being a neutrals queen - Makeup BFF D often ribs me for having eye shadows and lip sticks all the same colour lol.

After turning 35 this year I have decided I need to be more adventurous and here was an attempt at that. A sweet work mate by the name of Nat gave me a sample of a green MAC pigment which had been sitting in my makeup drawer loved but unused for the best part of 6 months. Then bravely one day a couple of weeks ago I took it out and this was the result.








I'm sorry I don't know the actual name of the pigment but it's gorgeous.
The highlight is an Inglot colour -already in a palette so no way to know what the number of that one is
Mascara - Maxfactor False Lash Effect

Products I loved - August 2010

This has been reposted from my livejournal

This month I have been loving the following:

1. MAC Tech Foundation
2. MAC All that Glitters eye shadows
3. MAXFACTOR False Lash Effect Mascara
4. Brit Spears Perfume in Midnight Fantasy - shh don't tell anyone but I still get compliments all the time
5. Lancome Benefit Multi Vital Moisturiser - my mum said my wrinkles were diminished when she saw me - and she wouldn't lie
6. Nivea Lip Balm in Star Fruit

This month I was totally over

1. Covergirl Advanced Radiance Foundation - be empty already
2. Lip Gloss apart from my ELF Hypershine - too hard it's winter and I feel like crap.

I also regretted purchasing

1. John Frieda Luxurious Volumes Shampoo and Conditioner - too dry and no body
2. Baptiste Tropical smelling dry shampoo - coconut smelling dirty hair made pretty again... better idea in my head rather than in reality

Second Impressions - a review of Rimmel's Glam'eyes Mascara

This has been reposted from my livejournal

I obtained a tube of Rimmel's Galm'eyes mascara as part of a freebie deal Rimmel were offering at the time. I tried it once - ended up with mascara all over my eye lid and promptly labeled it a dud... no wonder it came as a freebie.

Well today... inspired by finally starting to feel better... I decided to look at it again. Firstly I noticed the bush - it has two long sections (like a comb) and opposite those it has two short sections (this part looks like a lash blast brush). Ah-ha.... I think I realised my first mistake... twirling the brush around on my lashes = big mess.

This time I used the longer sections to coat and lengthen my lashes - a good result. I then tried to use the shorter section but again more practice may be required here.

Anyway all of this to show you what happened to my lashes.... pretty pretty.

I should also note I put some of Sassy Minerals Pixie Sprinkles all over my lid (oh I heart this eye shadow).



And now with eyes open....



And the brows... I know... a job for next weekend.

Mixing It up... an experiment with Lip sticks

 This has been reposted from my livejournal

So I currently own about 6 MAC lipsticks and 2 of them are really not for me. Lovin It and Beigeland are colours I would not repurchase again. Lovin It is too dark for me despite being a lustre while Beigeland is a frosty nude that is too light. ho hum...what to do... well today I mixed them together and got this... something better

Winter blues and Sassy Minerals

This has been reposted from my livejorunal

I am presently at home with a cold -sore nose, throat and ears.... so pretty! So you can imagine how excited I was to get my first package from Sassy minerals today containing samples of eye shadows that caught my eye and a couple of foundation samples as well.

Firstly can I say I am impressed by the packaging - samples at 75 US cents sent in sample jars - I am very anti-baggie let me tell you. I immediately swatched the eyes shadow samples on my hand -bare hand -and the colours are stunning. I went for shimmer colours - mattes just emphasise my dry eye lids (ewwwww).

I am yet to give these a really good go but first impressions count for me and here are mine so far:
1. Website design - fabulous
2. Sample Price - outstanding
3. Eye Shadow Colour Range - excellent
4. Shipping charges - reasonable
5. Shipping speed - again very reasonable.
6. Samples in jars - WINNER


I have since recovered from my cold and am feeling much better. More to come on my love for Sassy and Mineral Makeup to come.

My MAC shadow collection.

MAC is (in my opinion) overly expensive in Australia. The same eye shadow that US residents can buy for $14.50 US costs me $32 AUD. Don't get me started on this issue that is a blog post for another time.

Having said that they have some gorgeous colours and some awesome staff working for them... the lady I see in DJs Adelaide is so brilliant I am happy to hand over fist fulls of $$$. Good customer service should be rewarded!

ANYWAY... (gees I do tend to ramble)... I thought it might be nice to share my MAC eyeshadow collection (lol it's a bit small to be called a collection). I currently have 8 eye shadows with a number on my wish list. Let me introduce you to the following beauties...

left to right: All that glitters, Gleam, Bold & Brazen, Steamy.

The swatches below are in the same order in natural light without any primer:

left to right: Naked lunch, Wedge, Woodwinked, Tempting

The swatches below are in the same order in natural light without any primer:

You might notice a heavy lean towards the neutral side... and that's because I love them all. I covet Urban Decay's Naked Palette which I hope will be mine before the end of the year. Oh excitement!

If  I had to choose my favourite's from what I already own I would pick All that Glitters, Woodwinked and Steamy. I need to play with Bold & Brazen more before putting it in with my favs

Nail Polish and a Sunny Afternoon

Today is one of those gorgeous days after the long winter where you actually get excited that summer is coming. Presently my backyard is full of lillies (yet to die off in the heat of summer) ...

What I love most about these flowers is that we haven't planted one... and every year they come up with more and more beautiful flowers. One of my cats has even been tempted outside for an inquisitive look around...

Meet Madison... she's as gorgeous as she looks... but I am biased of course. Anyway... none of this has to do with makeup so I'd best be onto that now... Sex on the beach...the china glaze colour (of course) is a gorgeous shimmering peach colour. (Inserting bottle shot now...)

This is clearly an earlier effort for China Glaze but I love the summery feel to it. It's pink, it's peach, it's gold and I assume universally flattering as a result. It's a colour you wear when you care what's on your nails but not if anyone else does. Despite it's lame (in my opinion) name it's a winner. A subtle winner... for the less adventurous of us out there. Here's a pic on my skin tone below...

I removed the background as I had ugly garden hoses in it. Forgive me if the image is not up to scratch.

Let's start at the very beginning...

So how does a person as ordinary as me decide to start a blog? Good question and I can't help feeling a little pretentious for having a blog at all except
1. I like to talk and
2. I find myself incredibly fascinating.

So here's to a place where I can bang on about everything that is completely fascinating to me and if sometimes that's also interesting to you then feel free to leave a comment below... and if not ..well that's cool too.

Now I'm off to work on something to post later on.