The Liebster Awards

Imagine how annoyed I was to wake up Easter Sunday with no voice - was it a coincidence that I was seeing my mother-in-law in the morning - we'll never know will we? Yesterday I felt just as bad but at least my voice was on the mend. So last night there I sat in my pjs reading blog posts before to going to bed and I came across something that MADE my day. I had been nominated for a Liebster Award by the lovely Michelle of eat paint sniff glue.

The Liebster Award is designed to bring well deserved additional recognition to those bloggers with less than 300 followers. If you receive the award you link back to the blogger that nominated you and nominate 3 more blogs.

So let me officially and most politely thank Michelle for firstly being a witty blogger who makes me LOL regularly and secondly for nominating my little blog for this award.

Now onto the hard part - there are many blogs I enjoy out there with less than 300 readers so here we go - 

My Perfume Diaries.

Su is one of the first friends I made when I started blogging and her blog is just great. As you would expect Su has a passion and talent for perfume and if you haven't been introduced to her blog then it is my pleasure to do so. Now go and follow her....DO IT!

Miss Prissypants
My own skincare guru and lucky for me she sits next to me at work so on breaks we can talk all things beauty - which of course we find highly interesting.  I love it when she tells me she hates my nail polish colours... but don't tell her that. She tells it like it is (only she will know that is truly an insult coming from me) and if honest, well written and considered reviews are your thing then drop past her blog and let's tip her past the point where she can even win one of these again -and you thought I was being nice in nominating her ;p

Pop Makeup
Now if you need a reason why you should follow Stacy's blog then I quote "I would rather eat a live spider than shop for jeans" lol. In all honesty Stacy does a great blog, lovely simple blog design, great pics (which i always notice because I am so lazy with mine) and a witty banter to go with it all.

I would also like to send some love to a few smaller/newer blogs out there like Tegania's Thoughts, Commander in Chic and Steggers: My LIfe In Random and suggest you look into their posts as well if you haven't already.

In all honesty I could have mentioned another stack of blogs but I figure if you want to know what I read you can look at my blog roll (being self sufficient and all that jazz).

Until next time x

Face of Australia - Mineral Therapy Liquid Foundation

I was gifted a bottle of this foundation in the colour Beige from Dee who tried it first and you can read her review here. Although we both have relatively dry skin the differences are very clear when you find the right product and this is a great example.

Firstly I have to say that until recently FOA was completely off my radar, then they released the Luxe nail polishes. I am also aware that a few bloggers have received items for review and so FOA seems to be everywhere again. I think that's kind of nice as I am happy to support an Australian company that is also animal friendly (yay!) as long as their products make the grade. And my experiences with the Luxe nail polishes and this foundation support the quality of their products. So onto the review -

Where I like to shop - online edition

I thought this post might be a good idea as I offered to create a list of places to buy things for my husband as my birthday is just around the corner. My blog is pretty small so I am not getting anything for free unless it is a gift from family or friends - therefore I have spent some time working out where to get stuff reliably and cheaply.

This list is just a few of the places I have ordered from but is certainly not an exhaustive list - and if in reading this you notice something I have missed please leave a comment below and fill us in.

• Head2Toe Beauty - Nail Polish - China Glaze, Color Club, Essie ($8). They also have Orly but it says for US residents only. They ship quickly - never had a problem.
• Nailsetc - Nail Polish - OPI, Zoya, Essie ($5). They have other brands too but that is what I would/have ordered from there. They ship slower but eventually they arrive.
• CherryCulture - NYX, Milani, Jordana. Check prices between CC and Nonpareill as they vary in who is cheaper. Very reliable and they have a rewards program. Shipping can get pricey.
• Nonpareilboutique - NYX, Milani, ELF and Wet n Wild.  Very reliable, sometimes they will have less products than CC for NYX and Milani. Shipping can get pricey.
• All Cosmetics Wholesale - MAC, Benefit, Urban Decay and some US drugstore. Products and shades vary. Very reliable - watch the shipping.
• Strawberrynet - skincare, makeup, perfume I've bought it all from here. Fast often free shipping (perfume only orders have a small charge) and a good loyalty program. Too many brands to mention but I've ordered more than 10 times from this site alone. Range changes quickly - well the specials do anyway.
• Perfume Connection - searching for cheap perfume? I like to compare this site with My Beauty Spot and Snet. 
• My Beauty Spot -Perfume. As stated above I like to compare this site with Perfume Connection and Snet.
• The Perfumed Court - Perfume - want to sample something expensive, hard to find or just obscure then this is your site. Dip your toe cheaply with different sized decants.
• BoxVoyage - mail redirection site. Used twice when the dollar was crappy so seemed incredibly expensive. 

Tag: This or That?

This tag was started by the lovely Michelle - if you haven't checked out her blog - get on that peeps!

 Makeup
Blush or bronzer: Always Blush. I only ever use bronzer to make myself look like a less scary/pale daywalker

Lip gloss or lipstick: Lipsticks that have a glossiness to them - MAC Lustres for example. Sticky lip gloss and I do NOT get along.

Eye liner or mascara: Mascara  - I can't do eyeliner unless it's my tightline. I am eyeliner challenged.

Foundation or concealer: Foundation but as I have some redness on my cheeks I need a medium coverage. Light coverage foundations just confuse me.

Neutral or colour eye shadow: Neutral - with some shimmer. A pop of colour is nice but with strawberry blonde hair I prefer the safety of neutral town.

Pressed or loose eye shadow: pressed is my preference but a nice loose mineral eyeshadow or MAC pigment is sometimes worth the effort.

Brushes or sponges: I would have said brushes - and probably would still - buuuuuuut when applying Maybelline Smooth Mousse Foundation it's a sponge (not the one that comes with it) all the way.


 
Nails
OPI or China Glaze: China Glaze - but I also love Color Club and have just started playing with Zoya (more on that to come).

Long or short: Short nails -well groomed - pretty much suit most colours (especially dark shades). I hate the super long fake nail look. I guess my own would fall somewhere in between those two.

Acrylic or natural: Oh confession time. I had acrylics for a couple of years cos I love a glitter tip but the maintenance and the fact you can't scratch or pick things up annoyed me. Plus I can grow my own, I really don't know what I was thinking. I would only get them again now to annoy Dee (LMAO she HATED them).

Brights or darks: Depends on my mood, time of year, hormonal cycle. I loves purples and greens so as long as I can see them I really don't care.

Flower or no flower: WRONG TOWN. Big FAT no to nail art - sorry to those who love it.


Body
Perfume or body mist: Perfume. The days of just using an impulse body spray ARE OVER.

Lotion or body butter: Too lazy for either but when my skin gets really bitchy and dry I like lotions.
 
Body wash or soap: Body wash - the fruitier and more happily offensive the better.

Lush or other bath company: LUSH for convenience.


Fashion
Jeans or trackies: Jeans

Stripes or plaid: Plaid but my mum was born in Scotland so that's a no brainer
 
Thongs or sandals: I really don't care but if you are showing your toe claws how about a wee check to see if they are hideously offensively long or covered in half worn off nail polish hmmmm??? You know what I am talking about.

Scarves or hats: I used to have hats but as I have gotten older I now prefer scarfs

Studs or dangly earrings: I love dangly earrings on others but not on me. It's studs for me.

Heels or flats: Quite frankly heels have become increasingly scary looking (or is that just me) so I tend to stay flat. This was a decision pretty much made for me when I tore a ligament in my ankle a couple of years ago - no I wasn't wearing heels at the time.

Cowboy boots or riding boots: Sorry I kind of think cowboy boots outside of Texas is a bit lame. Riding boots have much more appeal for me.


Hair
Curly or straight: Don't we always love what we don't have... in my case I love curly hair that is well maintained.

Bun or ponytail: I loved a good bun when my hair was longer and thicker but now I love a pony tail

Bobby pins or butterfly clips: Um my 10 year old step daughter wears butterfly clips...so let's just say bobby pins and leave it at that.

Hair spray or gel: Hair spray - in fact sea salt spray too.

Long or short: Mine keeps getting shorter... because it keeps getting thinner - stupid hormones. Either is fine on others as long as it is clean and well cut.

Light or dark: Light... I am a daywalker after all... strawberry blonde, copper blonde - you get the picture.

Side or full fringe: side - so I can get it the hell of my face.


Random
Rain or shine: Rain on a weekend when I can be snuggled up in front of the TV.

Summer or winter: Oh this is hard because I like the long days of summer but the coolness of winter. Winter overall I guess.

Autumn or spring: Definitely Autumn - I love when the lilies come back out in my garden.

Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate.

As always, if you managed to read down to here, consider yourself tagged. Go!

Face Of Australia Luxe Nail Polish

 

A friend who is familiar with my nail polish addiction posted on my FB wall a few weeks ago telling me to investigate Face Of Australia's Luxe Nail Polish colours. I finally got around to it when Priceline had their 20% sale a couple of weeks ago and it has to be said I love supporting an Australian company who makes nice things. I purchased 3 shades (from left to right) -Ocean Villa, Foxy Roxy and Minty Mojito.

I did some tip swatches and the colours are very similar to the bottles -

I have now had a chance to try Ocean Villa on my toes  (it gives an almost Matte finish) and Foxy Roxy on my finger nails (photo coming below) and I have to say I am impressed. These polishes apply well and they dry FAST... crazy fast in the case of Foxy Roxy.  Ok let's have a look at a picture -

 

I really really like this colour now which makes me think that these grey/stone/blah shades do something to your brain. When I first put this one on I thought ewww it clashes. Three days later I love it and put it right back on my nails straight after the first lot was done.  As far as these kinds of shades go I have to say this is really nice.

All pictures were taken with 2 coats - no top coat and in natural sunlight. You'll also have to excuse the marks on my nails - they were the result of a speedy second application, not the formula.

This collection comes in 8 shades and retails for $4.95 AUD. Importantly they are free of nail polish nasties (Toluene, Formaldehyde and Dibutyl Phthalate) and Face of Australia is also against animal testing which gives me a warm fuzzy. My only objection with these nail polishes is that they are apparently limited edition, personally I think FOA should seriously reconsider that because I really like them.

TAG: My 11 Most Reached For Products

 

This tag comes from the lovely Jade and has been done on a few blogs such as Dee's. This was super hard for me because I like to tinker with my makeup when I have time. So think of this as my 11 most reached for things if I am not given a lot of time to get ready. I have to say I was shocked to see how much MAC was in here  - and scared about how much they all were (eeeek!). Anyway on with the fun part - 

Too Faced Natural Eye Palette.

Ok so after lusting unsuccessfully after Urban Decay's Naked Palette for about 6 months I finally went onto ebay and got myself this lovely instead. All up including postage this set me back about $45 which I thought was entirely reasonable. The palette is really solid for being made from cardboard and I just love it.

On the pointless side it has a small drawer with a makeup brush (see pic below). I really wish they had left this out as it would have halved the height of the palette making it even more travel friendly. But including more is hardly a crime lol.

 

The palette also includes small cards with suggested looks on them which is a nice idea for inexperienced users.

 

The mass appeal of this palette is well warranted, I mean look how lovely it is when you open it -

 

Anyway let's get onto the fun part looking at the eye shadows -

 

Shimmer city I know but there are 2 matte shadows - Heaven and Velvet Revolver - and they are lovely. No chalk here. I also love the way it is sorted by looks - each line works moving from left to right. My favourite combination is Silk Teddy, Push-Up and Cocoa Puff which just shows that you can mix and match to your heart's delight. Below I have swatched the 3 highlight shades -

 From top to bottom: Heaven, Silk Teddy and Nude Beach

Then the other shades from left to right:

 

First Row -Velvet Revolver and Sexpresso, Second Row - Push-Up and Erotica, 

Third Row - Honey Pot and Cocoa Puff.

All swatches were in natural sunlight with no base. Can you believe how pigmented they are? In a nutshell - I love this palette and highly recommend for those who like shimmer (not glitter) eye shadows.

TAG I wish I hadn't bothered...

 

The inspiration for this post came from a nail disaster from Saturday night. You know those products you were super super excited to get your hands on but for whatever reason were complete fails in person... this is a tag for those products. Here are 5 I wish I had stayed away from...

1. Maybelline's The Falsies Mascara - Now you know I love my Emilynoel but I hate this mascara. I honestly only purchased it because she said it was so awesome and that was totally my choice so I am not bagging her (love her) or it. This mascara doesn't work for me for 2 reasons... my wand is floppy and the formula is wet. Combine a floppy wand that gives no resistance with a wet formula and what do you get? Well what I got was mascara all over my eyelid and oil slick lashes (you know where they stick together because there is too much product so you look like you have 5 lashes).

2. Essie Nail Polish in Pop Art Pink - again I did my homework before purchasing and this looked like an opaque pink jelly. Now on me it looked like this -

It actually annoys me that this looks better in the photo than in real life. This is also 3 coats - a very clear VNL and it's so streaky. I immediately removed it. Never ever again.

3. Seche Vite - this has to be the MOST hyped nail product going around. So I saved my shekels and got myself a bottle. As far as top coats go, at best it is average. Everyone says "oh your nail polish will last so much longer" well in my experience it's actually the opposite. My polish chips from the edges almost immediately which I find baffling as my nails don't chip easily. Killer shine but overall it's a complete fail.

4. Urban Decay's Midnight Cowboy Rides Again - not even the packaging can save this eyeshadow. Don't be fooled by it's neutral gorgeousness, it's a complete glitter bomb and when I say glitter I mean glitter NOT shimmer. So disappointed.

5. Bonne Bell moisture lip balm with UV filters - so I was having a trip down memory lane in Priceline the other day when I picked this one up. This was my high school makeup item. I have clear memories of my Bonne Bell inside my uniform pocket at school all through years 11 and 12. I have no idea what happened but this tastes like perfume... and not a fresh fruity floral...it's old lady perfume. Yuck.

Now if you've read down to here consider yourself tagged ... I want to know what didn't work for you.