July Favourites!

I can't believe that it's already the last day of July! I don't normally get around to doing my monthly favourites but I loved these items so much that I had to share :) I'm also using some new backgrounds for my photos and I'd love to know your opinion on them.

July Favourites!

1. Laura Mercier Silk Crème Foundation:

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Foundation

I use this in Bamboo Beige which is a good match for about an NC25-30 (closer to NC25). I love that it's full coverage and covers up a lot of blemishes so that I can use less concealer. I'll definitely have to buy a darker shade for summer though.

2. Bobbi Brown lipgloss in Pink Coral:

I'm not normally a huge lipgloss fan but every. single. time. I walked through Myer or David Jones, I'd ALWAYS stop and look at this lipgloss when I walked past the Bobbi Brown counter. None of the other makeup items really ever got my attention but I could never resist admiring this. I finally bit the bullet and bought it as it's a gorgeous coral pink colour that's a bit pinkish-nude on the lips.

3. Simple Kind To Eyes eye make-up corrector pen:

Holy moly... I don't know what I would do if they ever stopped making this! I found this at Priceline and bought one to try as I can be kind of messy when I apply mascara (mascara gets onto my eyelids alot). It's basically a pen that you use to clean up any mascara or eyeliner mishaps. I also have one in my bag that I use whenever I need to seperate my eyelashes if I've accidently clumped them as it'll take off the excess mascara too. I love this so much that I have 2 in my handbag, 1 at my boyfriend's house and I picked up 4 spare ones this week....

4. Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara:

I was given one of these last Christmas in a Christmas swap with a friend from the US and I never got around to really using it much so I threw it away when it got old. I was really happy when this was launched in Australia (like a year after the US) but I resisted buying it for ages as I already have 2 mascaras on the go. However, Priceline had it on sale for $10 so I ended up caving in and buying it (who can resist Priceline sales?!). It's absolutely amazing. It doesn't give a lot of volume but it lengthens like crazy and it doesn't clump at all! In fact, it's like it coats each lash individually and the best part is that I don't have to curl my eyelashes beforehand as it does it for me :D

5. NARS blush in Deep Throat:

I got this blush about 4 months ago and I was kind of neglecting it until recently. I've been on a mission to use up my makeup so I'm determined to put a little bit of a dent into this before I change blushes. I have to admit that I'm getting kind of bored wearing the same blush every single day but it's such a nice shade that it still made it into my July favourites :)

What were your favourites this month? Please link me to your blog if you did a July favourites post as I'd love to read all about it :)

Melbourne trip and haul!

I went down to Melbourne about 3 weeks ago for a short holiday and I took a few photos to document the trip :) It's the middle of winter here in Australia so it was freezing cold but we had an amazing time! We ate out for every meal and there were some freaking amazing restaurants down there. We didn't get to do everything that we wanted to but I'll definitely be back sometime soon :) I have a separate haul post coming up (I always say that don't I?) as there were just too many photos for this post!

At one of the graffiti lanes

At a graffiti lane

Here's one for you charmed fans! We saw Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty and Brian Krause

Shannen Doherty

Holly Marie Combs and Brian Krause

Lord of the Fries has freaking amazing fries!

Lord of the Fries

 Who lost their purse? :P

Giant purse statue thing

Breakfast at Hardware Societe

Soy latte :)

Eggs and mushroom on toast

Warm rice pudding with salted caramel sauce

Really nice communal tables :)

Sightseeing in Melbourne

One of the many graffiti lanes

Another graffiti lane

Melbourne CBD. Love the bike system they have!

Walked past a spot of REALLY weird naked statues

We went on a hunt for a "secret" Japanese restaurant.
This was the entry.... The name of the place is
Yu-U

Messing around in the hotel room :P

Taking shameless selfies :P

Breakfast at Cumulus

Baked eggs. My boyfriend makes it better :P

Soy latte... wasn't too happy with the way
they gave it to me...

Desserts from Burch & Purchese

Eating at Chin Chin's! I normally don't like Thai but this place blew me away

Chin Chin's

Corn fritters

Fried rice

Curry!

Another curry!

Yay you made it to the end :P Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Recommend 10 blog swap follow up

A few weeks ago, I did a "Recommend 10 blog swap" with Abigail from The Shrinking Wallet. I've since had a chance to use most of the things so I thought that I would do a follow up on my original post. If you haven't had a chance to read my original post, the concept of this blog swap was that Abigail and I gave each other 10 things that we loved and recommended for the other person. She actually got me 12 things! You can see what I got for her here.

1. Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum

Physicians Formula

Abigial gave this to me because: 

• It's very pigmented and easy to draw a thin line. It also doesn't smudge and the lip makes a satisfying click when the pen is being closed. She recommended that I stored this upside down to prevent it from drying out.

My experience:

• I loved how easy it was to draw thin or thick lines. It dried fast without smudging everywhere. However, I have super oily eyelids and it doesn't last more than an hour or two without primer. I still love it though and carry it around everywhere in my bag :)

2. Bath & Body Works Daisy Dreamgirl Shower Gel and Body Lotion

Bath & Body Works Shower Gel and Body Lotion

Abigial gave this to me because:

• She loves loves bath & body works. She also likes sweet smelling shower gels but was worried that I wouldn't like the sweet smell.

My experience:

• I love any nicely scented shower gels so this was a winner! I seem to buy really bad smelling skincare and haircare (I never smell things in store) so it was really nice to get to use something that actually smelled good!

3. Maybelline Pure BB Mineral BB Watergel in 02 Medium Beige

Maybelline Pure BB Mineral BB Watergel

Abigail gave this to me because:

• She saw this in a video and showed it to me and I really loved the concept of it. The BB cream has water in it and if you do a swatch, you can actually see water particles in the BB cream.

My experience:

• I haven't had a chance to wear it yet but I did swatch it and it seems to be a good match for me :) I did swatch it though and it's so blendable!

4. Etude House LUCIDarling Fantastic Rouge Lipstick

Etude House Lipstick

Abigail bought this for me because:

• She's used Etude House products before and loves their range so she got me a bright pink lipstick :)

My experience:

• To be honest, it wasn't a winner for me as it seemed to have a bit of frost in it which doesn't suit my skin tone. I gave it to a friend to try who loved it so it wasn't wasted!

5. Nexcare Acne Patch

Nexcare acne patch

We had a conversation on Twitter with Sophie from Born To Buy and since you were interested in trying it out, I bought a twin pack for you! As I said on twitter, it works on some pimples - especially the ones that are white and so tempting to burst. They work by soaking/sucking up the oil and gunk overnight. The sticker should turn an opaque white in the morning. When you peel the sticker off, the pimple should be quite flat.

Abigail bought this for me because:

• She introduced these to me and I was really keen to use them. They're patches that you put over pimples that are about to burst and if you leave them on overnight, they suck out the oil and gunk from your pimple.

My experience:

• Can I just say that I need more of these?! They only work on the pimples that are about to burst (the ones that are so tempting to squeeze) but I love that they can also soothe the pimples that really hurt. When I take these off in the morning, the pimple gunk seems to come right off my skin with the sticker so it's a lot more gentler than when I want to just squeeze it (I know I'm not meant to!). Obviously when the pimple gunk comes out, there's a mini crater on my face which isn't that nice :( but that's the nature of pimples.

6. Etude House Oh m'Eye Lash Petticoat

Etude House Oh m'Eye Lash Petticoat

Abigail bought this for me because:

• She found this in Singapore and loved it so much that she went back to get one for me. It's good at lengthening and thickening eyelashes.

My experience:

• I was so intrigued when she said that she loved it so much that she went back to get one for me that I promptly put this into my bag. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot about it and haven't used it. I'll definitely use it this weekend and let you guys know what I think of it via Twitter :)

7. Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Baby Doll

Laura Mercier Lip Glace

Abigail bought this for me because:

• This is her favourite lip gloss. She loves the baby pink colour, the smell and the fact that it's not sticky.

My experience:

• I'm normally not a huge fan of lip glosses as they can be quite sticky but I LOVED this one. I put it on one day and I was like "hmm... yuck" because I didn't think the colour suited me (and I think I put WAY too much on) but then I let it sit on my lips for a minute and it stopped being streaky and it kind of developed into this gorgeous, versatile baby pink colour and I was like, I never ever want to take this off!

8. Etude House Help My Finger UV Diamond Top Coat

Etude House Top Coat

Abigail bought this for me because:

• She liked how quickly it dries and that it's shiny

My experience:

• What's not to like? Fast drying top coats are the reason why I like nail polish! Abigail got me into nail polishes so it only seemed fair that she shared with me her favourite top coats :P

9. Glitter Guilty nail polish in A Subtle Star

Glitter Guilty Nail Polish

Abigail got me this because:

• She has a similar nail polish and loves it.

My experience:

• This nail polish is SO adorable. It's a baby pink with glitter in it and Abigail is the queen of nail polish so anything that she loves is a winner :)

10. Hare Polish in Rad Cloud

Hare Polish in Rad Cloud

Abigail got this for me because:

• She wanted to expose me to indie nail polishes and liked the colour combination in this bottle

My experience:

• I didn't get to use it as it was missing from my swap :( It fell out of the box in transit.

11. MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen

MAC Shimmer Blush

Abigail bought this for me because:

• She loves MAC Sheertone blushes and loves that she can build up the colour. The shimmer also doesn't make her look like a disco ball.

My experience:

• I think I actually squealed when I saw this as I don't think that I have any sheertone blushes (or at least any with shimmer in them). I was pretty impressed by it and like Abigail, I can be a bit heavy handed with blush as well so it's nice to be able to build it up on the cheekbone.

12. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Blissful

Tarte Blush in Blissful

Abigail bought this for me because:

• Hello..... if you follow her blog, you'll know that she LOVES Tarte blushes.

My experience:

• This is the second Tarte blush that Abigail has sent me and I love them :) I love that they're so delicate and they're such good quality. Tarte is hard to find in Australia (although I believe that there's a store in Whoollara, Sydney that sells it) so I'm super grateful for this :)

I love swapping with Abigail and I hope that she loved what I got her :) If you get a chance, pop on over to her blog and have a look! I promise that she's a much better blogger than I am :P

All photo's are Abigail's and were provided to me to use in her guest post.

What's in my shower? - Mini reviews

I was in the shower the other day and I realised that I have a LOT of stuff in there. I used to keep everything in my room and only take it with me into the shower when I needed it but I would always forget something or be too lazy to take it with me so I bought a second shower caddy and moved everything into the shower.

The only problem I have with leaving everything in the shower is that I live at home and my mum has a philosophy that what is mine is also hers (but no one is allowed to touch her stuff) and she sticks her fingers in everything. I'm a bit of a OCD freak so I've started to rethink putting my LUSH stuff in the shower as I find that she lets water into the tubs.

Anyway, onto what's actually in my shower :)

Yep that's a dirty shower.. don't worry! It's been cleaned :)
It's also really hard to take a photo of a hanging caddy!

The Body Shop Rainforest Volume Conditioner
The Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash

The Body Shop Rainforest Volume Conditioner for Fine Hair:

I don't actually have fine hair but this was recommended to me by the sales assistant who said that it would be good for my thick hair that has started to thin. I've been loosing hair like crazy but I haven't been able to figure out why. I actually hate this conditioner as it's super drying. Every time I use this, my hair is really dry and tangled and feels awful. I didn't want to waste money throwing it out so I mix this with a Herbal Essences conditioner that made my hair too thin and lifeless and the two mixed together make a decent conditioner.

Repurchase? NOPE!

The Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash:

This bottle is actually empty but I've repurchased it already as I love it! It's meant for combination/oily skin and it's really effective at removing makeup and it doesn't make my face feel tight.

Repurchase? Already have!

LUSH Snow Fairy Shower Gel
Dove Fresh Touch Facial Cleanser

LUSH Snow Fairy Shower Gel:

I bought this around November last year and I've only just gotten around to using it now. It has a really sweet scent to it and I know that it can be off putting for a lot of people. I love that the smell lingers in the bathroom afterwards but I probably wouldn't repurchase this again as it was quite expensive.

Repurchase: No

Dove Fresh Touch Facial Cleanser:

To be honest, I've never actually used this. My boyfriends mum gave it to me and I've had so many cleansers to get through that I just left it in the shower. Someone at home has been using it though....

Repurchase: Maybe

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions
Dermalogica Clearing Skin Wash

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing Foam:

I got this a few months ago to qualify for a Clinique GWP and at the time, I needed a new cleanser. Since having this, I've only used it maybe twice as I absolutely hate this cleanser! It pumps out of the bottle like a foam and it smells a lot like chemicals. It also doesn't make my face feel clean. I've been debating whether or not I should persist with it but for now, it's just sitting in my shower.

Repurchase: NO!

Dermalogica Clearing Skin Wash:

I've had a love-hate relationship with this cleanser. When I first started using it, it always made my face feel tight and I hated using it. But then I read somewhere that to use the cleanser properly, you have to massage it in your hands with water until it foams up before putting it on your face. Since I found out how to use it properly, it's been a decent cleanser and I don't mind using it.

Repurchase: Maybe

Crabtree & Evelyn Exfoliating Body Scrub with Fine Pumice
The Body Shop Vineyard Peach Body Scrub

Crabtree & Evelyn Exfoliating Body Scrub with Fine Pumice:

This is the body scrub that I've been using recently and I've found it really effective. It's got fine pumice in it which really exfoliates my body without being too harsh. It can't be used on the chest area though which is a bummer but otherwise, it's a decent body scrub.

Repurchase: Yes, if on sale.

The Body Shop Vineyard Peach Body Scrub:

Holy Moly! This is an amazing body scrub. It smells exactly like peaches and like the Crabtree & Evelyn Exfoliating Body Scrub, it exfoliates my body without it being too harsh. I wish I'd bought backups of it as it was limited edition and not available anymore.

Repurchase: YES! If they ever released it again.

Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser

Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser:

I bought this as everybody has raved that it's a classic and really good for acne prone skin. I bought it thinking that it would really help my skin but all it did was dry it out. I used to have dry skin but in the last few months, it's turned into combination skin and this cleanser made the skin on my cheeks really dry and peel. I've left it in the shower in case someone like my teenage brother could use it.

Repurchase: No

LUSH Big Shampoo and LUSH Ocean Salt Facial Scrub

LUSH Big Shampoo:

LUSH Big Shampoo

I bought this after Jasmine from Sweetaholic Beauty said that it was really good. When I first opened it, it looked like salt crystal suspended in animal fat and I was kind of grossed out but after using it, I'll never go back to any other shampoo again. The salt crystals are really big but I was amazed at how easily they washed out of my hair. You also only need a small amount of this and it foams up like crazy!

Repurchase: YES!

LUSH Ocean Salt Facial Scrub:

LUSH Ocean Salt Facial Scrub

This was recommended to me by a LUSH sales assistant when I went into the store looking for a body scrub. I used it once as a body scrub but I've since been using it as a facial scrub (it's actually meant to be a facial scrub). I did a review on it when I first got it which you can check out here. It's absolutely amazing and I'm almost done with my tub which has lasted me about 7-8 months.

Repurchase: YES!

Is there anything in your shower that you would recommend I try?