International swap

I've been so busy with work and studying for uni exams that I haven't had the time to do any posts :( I won't be completely free from uni until the end of November, so I might not be able to post the reviews that I've been promising until then. However, once uni exams are over, I'll be consistently reviewing the products from my hauls.

Let me know in the comments which products from my hauls you'd like to see me review first and I'll make sure I get those done first.

This is just a quick post about an international swap I did with someone in the US. We had a budget of $50 (not including shipping) and she sent me a box of mostly lip products and blushes which I absolutely loved. In return, I sent her Aussie products from brands like Face of Australia and Australis.

Lots of makeup from the US

I'm absolutely loving the EOS lip balm and the NYX blush. I think I want to start a collection of NYX blushes :P

The products from this swap is going to join the LONG list of products that I need to review. If there's anything from here that you're desperate to get a review or swatch of, let me know and I'll try my best to do them sooner rather than later :)

By the way, don't forget to enter my giveaway! There's only 2 days left!

Enter here: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/50-followers-giveaway.html

Shopping Ban Fail Haul Part 2

This is part 2 of my haul. I didn't do so well on my shopping ban and you can see part 1 here: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/shopping-ban-fail-haul-part-1.html

I made an order on the Benefit website 2 weeks ago and I bought way too much stuff so that I could qualify for the free shipping (free when spending $125 or more). The prices on their website are the US prices so I didn't have to pay the outrageous Australian prices (which I'll list in the descriptions). Benefit is going to feature in my next giveaway ;) but don't forget to enter my current one! I can't wait for it to end so I can start the next one :)

Enter giveaway here: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/50-followers-giveaway.html

So onto my Benefit haul - (Warning: lots of photos ahead!)

Package

Opening the package

There was some really nice wrapping paper inside :)

Wrapping paper

How I save money when buying makeup

As everyone knows, the markup on makeup in Australia is HUGE but we all like to save money where we can. Mishelle from Mishelle's Sleepy Time recently did a post on some examples of the markups that we fork out for if we pay full retail price here in Australia.

(Read here: http://mishellesleepytime.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/makeup-mark-up-usa-vs-australia.html)

Whenever I want to buy something, I work out how much I'd save by buying it online from a US store and having it parcel forwarded to me. Parcel forwarding is also good for getting products that you can't get here in Australia like Urban Decay.

I use the company PriceUSA which is run by Carolina in Melbourne and her US partners in Oregon. I've used them a number of times and as a disclaimer: they haven't asked me to write this review about them. I was requested to do this post by Sophie from http://dontstopbuying.blogspot.com.au.

How it works is that I'll fill out the order form on their website, letting them know what I want and where to order it from. Shortly afterwards, Carolina will email me a quote of how much she estimates my order will cost and if I want to go ahead, I pay a deposit into one of the PriceUSA trust bank accounts.

One of Carolina's US partners will then purchase the products and ship it to themselves. When they receive the order, I get emailed a final quote and I pay the rest of the balance before they ship it out to me. My estimates have generally been spot on or $1-3 short.

I save a lot of money by using PriceUSA as my parcel forwarding company (they don't charge fees unless you use Paypal or a credit card to pay them). As an example, I recently ordered 5 MAC items from the US and saved almost 50%.

Price comparisons

I hope that helps! If I've been a bit ambiguous, let me know and I'll try my best to explain it a bit better.

Shopping Ban Fail Haul Part 1

I went on a shopping ban a few weeks ago but I broke it almost straight away :( I've cut back a lot and the haul that I'm showing you was bought today when I went into Sydney for an eyebrow shaping appointment (I recommend Martha Bedggood in Surry Hills - She has no appointments left for awhile though as she's booked solid in the lead up to Christmas).

Part 2 will be coming soon and that will show you my Benefit haul that I did 1-2 weeks ago and has just arrived today :)

I don't know if I'll do part 3 yet. I'm not very good at taking photos so it takes me ages to get half decent ones to show you here. I received a MAC and Urban Decay order from the US but I'm not sure if you guys want to see it or not.

So onto Part 1:

I went into Lush today at QVB as I wanted to buy a bottle of snow fairy. I've heard a lot about it and it's limited edition so I decided to buy a medium sized bottle ($14.95 for 250mL). I couldn't resist picking up a bottle of Twilight as well ($14.95 for 250mL) as I'd seen it on someone's blog the other day.

Snow Fairy and Twilight from Lush

Twilight is a glittery purple shower gel and snow fairy is a glittery pink shower gel.

Purple glitter in Snow Fairy

I love all things pink so I really like snow fairy. I regret buying Twilight though as I'm not a fan of the scent (lavender). I should've tried it out in store.

I've also been looking for a good body scrub and after trying it out in store, I bought the large tub of Ocean Salt ($35.95 for 250g). I think it's ridiculously priced but I really love it. I know that it says that it's a facial scrub but it can also be used as a body scrub. The sales lady said that it reminded her of a martini because of the salt and vodka in it (I rarely drink so I have no idea what's even in a martini).

Ocean salt

The large salt crystals are on top
for decoration.

After Lush, I went to Kit Cosmetics in Myer and picked up a few things:

Kit Cosmetics Haul

1. Kit Hand fresh pear, crisp apple and vanilla hand cream ($23.95 for 75mL). This smells amazing and exactly like pears!

2. Soap & Glory hand food - hydrating hand cream ($5.95 for 50mL): It has a sickly sweet smell so I'm not sure if I like it. I'll keep using it before I make up my mind.

3. Mario Badescu drying lotion ($26.95 for the little bottle): I'm a sucker for anything that says it will help me with acne. I was recommended this by Abigail from http://shrinkingwallet.blogspot.com.au. I absolutely LOVE her blog so head on over and check her out :)

4. Mario Badescu healing cream ($26.95 for 14mL): This is to use in conjunction with the drying lotion.

Part 2 is coming up in a few days.

Acne Treatment

When I was in high school, I had really good skin (except for maybe 1 or 2 pimples) until year 12, when overnight, I noticed that pimples started to appear on my forehead and they haven't gone away since.

Occasionally, I'll also get them on the area between my lips and my nose and on my cheeks.

I have to admit though, I haven't tried very hard in clearing up my skin (I eat so much junk!) but I still get suckered into buying anything that promises to "clear up acne and reduce redness and scarring".

Which is precisely why I bought this the other day:

Witch naturally clear blemish gel

The Witch naturally clear blemish gel promises to:

"Dissolves excess oils and clears pores"

"Gets to work instantly"

"While you sleep the gel gets to work - cleansing your pores"

"Witch Blemish Gel instantly absorbs deep into your pores, cooling your skin and dissolving excess oils. Deep cleanses by tackling the source of blemishes"

It's a clear gel that has a light, fresh scent and absorbs really well into the skin. It doesn't necessarily have a "cooling effect" but at least it isn't sticky or oily. I only started using it last night so there hasn't been any noticeable change yet. It was fairly cheap and I picked it up for $10 at Priceline.

Has anyone had any success stories with acne? I'd love to hear about them!

Crabtree & Evelyn Wisteria Hand Cream Review

Quick review:

I've been using a Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream recently as I've been trying to use up the 5 that I have lying around unopened.

The one that I have going at the moment is the Wisteria hand cream in a small 25 gram size.

Crabtree & Evelyn
Wisteria Hand Cream

It has a strong floral smell that lingers so if you're not a fan of strong smells, I'd stay away from this. However, it's very light and moisturising so I only need a small amount each time to cover both hands.

Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Cream

I find that the lid is sometimes hard to put back on when my hands have been freshly moisturised. The lid is a screw on and if you don't wipe the edges clean after every use, it's very likely that it'll become gunky and gross around the lid area like how the testers in the stores always look like.

Opening of the tube

There's a range of hand creams at Crabtree & Evelyn so if you're not a fan of floral smells, they also have ones like Pomegranate. The price starts from $20 for a 50mL tube but you can also get value packs with 25mL or 50mL tubes.

New blog layout

Hey guys!

This is just a quick post to let you know about my new layout :)

I was getting a bit bored of my old one which was a standard blogspot template so I enlisted the help of Jessica from http://www.jmhunterxo.blogspot.co.uk to create me a new one.

Let me know what you think and if there's anything I should change.

Disclaimer: I paid Jessica for her services. She charges a small fee and it was a fast and easy process (took about 2 days due to the time zone differences). I let her know what colours I wanted and gave her a general idea of what I was after (minimalist, pink, white, grey) and she allowed 3 revisions. Highly recommend her services!