Belated Christmas Presents

A little while ago, I wrote a post thanking my followers for sticking with me and for commenting on my posts. I really enjoy writing my blog and I love reading other peoples blogs.. I always get so sad and desperate when all the people that I'm following haven't updated in awhile and I have nothing left to read in my blog feed D:

Anyway, I didn't really have anyone to buy Christmas presents for this year as my family doesn't celebrate it. A few close friends of mine and I swapped presents but I wanted to shop for makeup for other people. So... I chose a few of my followers to give a little gift of appreciation to. These are people who comment a lot on my posts or who I talk to on Twitter (follow me if you want to chat! I'm @jjjwei). I really love reading comments and I try to respond to all of them if I can (but I sometimes forget.. I promise I'm catching up on them!). In doing so, I've actually realised that I keep promising reviews but not delivering so I spent the whole of yesterday taking photos for reviews so keep an eye out for them :)

You can look forward to reviews of these products soon!

Essence All About Cupcake Lipstick

Maybelline Mega Plush Volum Express Mascara

MAC Creme Cup Lipstick

So... If your name is Abigail (Shrinking Wallet), Mishelle (Mishelle's Sleepy Time) or Jasmine (Sweetaholic Beauty), please leave me a comment below with your email and I'll get to you about shipping addresses and stuff :) Your comments inspire me to keep writing on this blog so thank you :)

I wish I was able to send a few more people gifts too but I can't afford lots of international shipping fees so.. I stuck with Aussie followers but I have some of you in mind for the next time that I feel like shopping for someone other than myself :)

I hope you're all having a good start to a New Year and don't forget to leave me a comment on my 2012 favourites post about what your favourite item of the year was!

2012 Favourites to take into 2013

There's been heaps of posts over the last few days by other beauty bloggers on what their favourite makeup/skincare of 2012 has been. This post is sort of similar as it's about the makeup that I loved in 2012 but it's also about the makeup that I want to finish in 2013. My goal this year is to use up as much makeup as I can before buying more. I have 3 packages coming from the US and my credit card needs a break... I'm thinking about doing a project pan but I keep failing my shopping bans so I have no idea how I'll survive :P

My 2012 favourites list includes:

2012 Favourite Makeup!

1. Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in shade 8:

I absolutely love this concealer! I've been using it religiously and it seriously covers up everything on my forehead (I have a lot of acne scars). Please excuse my poor photos. I got a new iPhone 5 and for some reason, the camera isn't as good as the one on my 4S. I have no idea where my actual camera is right now...

Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer

2. MAC Watch Me Simmer Lipstick:

I bought this off eBay and paid a ridiculous amount ($36-37). It was limited edition so I couldn't buy it in store. I also accidentally broke the bottom of it one day (the weather was really hot!) so it gets a bit wonky when I try to use it. It's an amazing pink/orange coral colour.

MAC Watch me simmer lipstick

3. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey:

I got this from Abigail from the Shrinking Wallet in our Christmas swap. I love this and carry one with me everywhere. I also have 2 spares at home :)

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey

4. Jemma Kidd Strike A Pose Swivel Palette:

This was also from Abigail (from our Christmas swap). I love the cream blush in it :)

Jemma Kidd Strike A Pose Swivel Palette

5. Revlon Photoready cream blush in Pinched:

I got this last week and I already love it. This is going to be a staple in my 2013 makeup bag.

Revlon Photoready cream blush in Pinched

6. Bourjois Healthy Balance Unifying Powder in 53:

I got this a few months ago and I've used it a few times. I really like it but I've been neglecting it. It's really effective as a setting powder and it's something that I'm going to throw into my bag so that I'll use it more.

Bourjois Healthy Balance Unifying Powder

7. Benefit Hoola and Benefit Thrrrob:

I got these 2 Box O' Powder's recently and I love them to death. I've actually been neglecting my other powder blushes and bronzers for these.

Benefit Thrrrob and Hoola

8. MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze:

I've only used this once but I really liked it. I kind of forgot that I had it as it's been tucked away at the back of my drawers and I've been mostly using the Benefit Hoola bronzer. This one is also being added to my 2013 makeup bag :)

MAC Bronzing powder in Matte Bronze

What's been your favourite makeup item of the year?

Christmas presents and Boxing day haul!

I went Boxing Day shopping yesterday and it was insane! I can't believe the amount of people who turned up as it was definitely a bigger crowd than last year. I only managed to pick up a few things as everything I wanted was either out of stock or not on sale but I still got some good bargains so the day wasn't wasted.

Pitt St at 10am... this was before the day
got "busy".

Other side of Pitt St at 10am

 Boxing Day requires a strategy and a plan of action :P My boyfriend and I were going to meet up on the way to Sydney's Pitt St and we were going to start shopping at 8am. My plan was to attack Myer then David Jones then quickly head over to line up for Lush to grab some half price Christmas packs. I also prepared a list of what I wanted to buy.

I got to Pitt St at 8am but my boyfriend was late as usual... so I went shopping by myself. His Christmas present to me was a "guilt-free Boxing Day shopping spree" and he wrapped up his bank card as my present so I could go shopping with it. I felt too guilty as I originally had a LONG list so I didn't really use it at all.

It turned out that all of the Benefit sets that I wanted had sold out before Boxing Day and the YSL set with the makeup bag wasn't on sale which was disappointing as they were the things that I really really wanted. I'm going to wait for the New Year's sales to see if YSL will discount the holiday set as there were quite a few left on the shelves. The YSL sets with perfume in them were all about 30% off.

From Myer, I picked up:

1. DKNY Be Delicious perfume - $75 down to $30.

DKNY Be Delicious Perfume

I've been dying to get this for awhile and almost bought it 2 months ago.

2. NARS Thakoon nail polish in Amchoor - $26 down to $13.

Myer wasn't too busy at 8am so I was able to walk around Mecca Cosmetica and all the other beauty stands freely. Mecca had a small selection of NARS for 50% off. I picked up this as I don't have a yellow nail polish yet and it looks really summery :) I also picked it up in Anardana (a fuschia like pink)  as a present for a girl at work who's transferring stores :(

Kit Cosmetics also had some stuff on sale for about 50% off as well. I picked up a Jemma Kidd Palette for a swap. I've fallen in love with Jemma Kidd since I got a palette from a swap with Abigail (Shrinking Wallet).

My boyfriend joined me at about 8.30 and we headed off into Westfield Sydney which was really empty. We picked up some Laudereé macarons to try as there wasn't a queue but we didn't really like them. He had to finish them :P

Laudereé macarons

From David Jones, I picked up one of the Estée Lauder gift sets. I recently finished my Daywear moisturiser so I needed a new one. I actually ended up getting the Hydrationist moisturiser instead as I wanted to try something new. This was the only beauty item that my boyfriend paid for all day. I wanted to pay for it but he got there first.

Estée Lauder Gift Set

I forgot to take a photo of the inside before I took everything out so I took a screenshot of the set on the Myer website. It retailed for $85 but the gift sets were all 30% off at Myer and David Jones. Myer had run out but David Jones still had about 5 of each set. Lancome also had their Christmas gift sets for 30% off.

Source: Link

I also picked up a Burt's Bees and a Lanolips set for a swap. Burt's Bees sets are 25% off at David Jones and the entire Lanolips range is 30% off. I was also tempted by the Revlon sets as they were either 25% or 30% off.

Chemist Warehouse started their Boxing Day sales catalogue yesterday and all of their Maybelline and Revlon products are currently 50% off. There wasn't really anything I wanted but I did pick up 2 Babylips lip balms for $2 each for a swap and a Revlon Photoready blush.

Revlon Photoready blush in Pinched

I've been dying to try these for ages but they retail for $26 in Australia. This was the last one of this colour on the shelves.

Crabtree and Evelyn started their sales on Christmas Eve. I picked up a set of hand creams for $28 (down from $40). Each hand cream retails for $20 so the whole set is worth $60.

Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Creams

And that's all for my Boxing Day haul. My boyfriend and I went into Chanel to get me some earrings but I didn't like any of them and I couldn't find anything that I liked at Tiffany's either. He's still insistent on getting me something for my Christmas present but I can't think of anything that I want... I got everything I wanted for my birthday!

I also have 2 more things to show you. This is a late birthday present from a few friends of mine.

Signorina by Salvatore Ferragamo

How pretty is the bottle?!?!

It smells amazing! It's kind of like the Marc Jacobs perfumes but it's meant to smell like panna cotta. It definitely smells like vanilla when it settles.

And lastly, a Mimco travel wallet

Mimco Travel Wallet

Inside. It's huge!

Mirror in the middle!

Coin/Receipt slots

I got this from the 2 friends who also got me my iPad mini for my birthday. I saw this about 2 months ago and I really wanted it but I didn't want to spend $300 on a wallet that I wouldn't use too often. It went on sale for $199 but I still couldn't justify the cost. I was shopping with them last month and I mentioned that I liked it so they went back and bought it for my birthday. But then they decided to get me an iPad mini so they saved this for my Christmas present. I freaking love my friends sooooo much :)

And this post has been long enough so I'll leave you with a photo of the lines at Gucci. The lines were insane and snaked around all day.

A big thank you and Christmas presents

I wanted to say a big thank you to all my followers. I started my blog a few months ago as I didn't really have a "hobby" and I'm an absolute shopaholic. I also wanted a space where I could be held accountable for all my shopping and to force myself to finish up my makeup and skincare (for empties posts) and to review products as I myself rely heavily on other blogger's reviews before I buy anything.

I know that the majority of my followers started following me due to my giveaways. I wanted to say a big thank you for sticking with me even after the giveaways you entered had wrapped up. Whenever I do a post, my google stats show that the majority of you guys are reading my posts and I hope that you like them :) Let me know what I can improve on so that I can write better posts for you guys!

I want to say an extra big thank you to the people who actually comment on my posts. Whenever I read another blogger's posts, I always make sure to leave a comment with my thoughts and I actually bookmark the page so that I can go back and see if there are any replies from the blogger. I do this because I love to read comments on my blog and I'm sure that they love to read comments on theirs.

Now, I'm sure that I've mentioned a few times before that my family doesn't celebrate Christmas. However, I absolutely love Christmas... I work in retail and it's an insane time of the year. I love shopping and you can find amazing deals as most companies make holiday sets or discount their stuff like crazy!

Last year's Christmas tree at a friend's house

Our mini christmas tree

So... I want to join in on the Christmas present buying fun and what I want to do is to send a small Christmas present to some of the people who consistently leave comments on my posts. I know who you are and I want to say a huge thank you to you as the comments are what motivates me to keep this blog alive :)

As I said earlier, Christmas is an insane time of the year so I'll update this post in a week or two and let you know if you're someone that I'd love to send a (late) Christmas present to. I need a little time to go shopping :)

Thanks again for reading my blog and you guys are amazing!

On a side note, can you guys please recommend me some bloggers to check out? :)

Lush Ocean Salt Review

The last time I was at Lush, Ocean Salt was recommended to me by one of the sales assistants as I was after a body exfoliant/scrub. Ocean Salt is actually a facial scrub that can also be used for the body.

It's a thick scrub full of 2 sizes of (pretty large) salt crystals and has lime, coconut, grapefruit and sea salt in it. It's a vodka based face scrub that's absolutely amazing. It doesn't need to be refrigerated like some of the Lush face masks.

This is what it looks like when you first open the pot. I can't put my finger on what it smells like.. but it's very "fresh".. a bit like the beach? Salt and lime?

Lush Ocean Salt

It's freaking blue! and so so pretty :) All the salt crystals sit on the top and you need to mix them in into the base before you start using it. I used a spoon (you can use a fork or knife as well.. it doesn't really matter) and gave it a few swirls to mix it all up.

After 2 uses

I first used Ocean Salt on my whole body in the shower and I didn't find it very effective. I think a loofah or one of those shower puff things with some Palmolive or Johnson & Johnson could do the same job. It's also really expensive to use as a body scrub. Ocean Salt retails for $20.95 for a 120g pot or $35.95 for a 250g pot. I picked up the larger one as it was definitely a better value.

Ocean Salt is amazing as a facial scrub! You have to make sure that you rub it on your face gently as I found the larger salt crystals to be a bit scratchy if I rubbed it in too hard. It makes my skin feel so clean and fresh. I swear my skin also looks brighter :)

This is seriously a holy grail of mine. My Dermalogica microfoliant isn't cutting it (as it doesn't feel like it's actually doing anything to my face) and I find the St Ives apricot exfoliant to be too harsh. Ocean Salt sits perfectly in the middle :) Not too harsh yet it actually feels like it's exfoliating my face.

Lush should make Ocean Salt without the chunky salt crystals in it and market it as a cleanser as I would buy tonnes of it! The pretty blue colour gets me every time :)

Repurchase? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Birthday Presents!

My birthday was last month but I received 2 late presents last night from some friends who had ordered them online and they only just arrived recently :)

I was super excited when I got them as I was going to get them for myself for Christmas. One of the things has been on my wish list since FOREVER and the other one was recently released and it was something that I wanted but didn't need.

Acrylic makeup box

One of my friend's got this acrylic makeup box from the Make Up Box Shop for me. I've had my eye on this for a long long time and I always wanted to get it but I already spend too much money on myself :P

This is the mini glamour makeup box that is absolutely adorable. It's the perfect size for someone who doesn't have a lot of makeup or for someone like me who likes to store their makeup in categories (like brands, product type, colour etc). I'll be using this to store mostly lipsticks and foundation :)

Action shot

How cute are the door handles? They're like big diamonds. I think for my next birthday, I'll have hint to my friends that I also need the original sized makeup box so that I can get rid of the monstrosity that I currently store my makeup in. I bought some drawers from Officeworks and stacked it on top of each other to create this. It's certainly not as pretty as the acrylic makeup boxes.

Current makeup storage

The second thing that I got was from 2 friends of mine who had to hunt it down. They called every Apple store in Sydney every day to get hold of it and ended up having to buy it from the Apple online store as none of the Apple retail stores had it in stock.

iPad mini

It's an iPad mini! I wanted it as it's such a convenient size and I use my iPhone a lot for reading the news and visiting people's blogs. I was going to get it for myself for Christmas but now I won't need to :) It's definitely something that's more of a want than a need and I would've felt bad buying it... I need to save money! :P

Did I mention how much I love my friends right now? :)

What's your favourite birthday present that you've gotten?

Beautyblender review and FOTD

I picked up 2 beautyblenders in my recent Sephora haul and got to use them today :) I've skipped foundation recently as I've been too lazy to wash my brushes (I love makeup but I hate that brushes don't clean themselves... first world problems haha) so I decided to kill two birds with one stone by reviewing the beautyblender and doing a FOTD all in one post :)

The beautyblenders were $39.95 including a blendercleanser which can also be used for cleaning makeup brushes.

2 beautyblenders

The blendercleanser is on the right hand side

I first found out about these from youtube tutorials where lots of people used them to apply foundation really really quickly. I love anything that saves me time in the morning! I didn't buy it though as I thought that it might've been overhyped but I caved and now that I've used it, I like it but I also think that you could easily do without it (and it's a bit too expensive!).

Instructions:

To prepare your beautyblender for makeup application you must first drench it using a squeezing motion under water until it expands and is saturated with water. Next, squeeze excess water out and towel dry leaving your beautyblender feeling damp and ready for use.

Pro's:

- No streaking in my foundation

- Makes it really really fast to put on foundation. It took less than half the time it normally takes me with a makeup brush

- Egg shaped so it gets into every nook and cranny of your face

- It's pink!
- It's very versatile. I've seen it used for bronzer and blush as well.

Con's:

- Price. It's a bit expensive considering that $39.95 is the US price.

- Can be unhygienic. I can't figure out how to dry it after washing it. I can't just put it directly onto a table or it'll gather dust/stuff from the table.

I think that if you've already got good foundation brushes, you won't need this at all unless you're looking to cut down on the time it takes for you to do your makeup. If you don't have a good foundation brush, you should think about buying this.

Size of the beautyblender next to my face
and FOTD

I think that I'm going to hunt down my camera as my iPhone 4S camera isn't cutting it anymore. It's great for outdoor photos but not so great for indoor ones (in my house). The photo above looks slightly photoshopped when it was actually just bad lighting...

This is pretty much the look I do when I'm bothered to do anything more than concealer + eyeliner. I love really natural looks with minimal eye makeup (I'm not too good with using eyeshadow as my lids are very hooded).

I'm wearing:

- Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 53

- Make Up For Ever concealer in shade 8

- Maybelline Masterliner in brown

- Benefit Brow Zings in dark

- Benefit Thrrrob blush

- Benefit Hoola

- MAC Bare Again Sheen Supreme Lipstick

Eeek.. time for another eyebrow shaping
appointment!
And no... my hand didn't slip when I put
eyeliner on my bottom lash line.. that's a big fat
(permanent) crease

On a side note... does anyone know how to tame big frizzy wavy hair? I've been slowly cutting my hair shorter and shorter over the last 3 months and now it's 30cm shorter than I started off with! (It just hits my bra strap now). It's also gone from super long and straight to big bouffy frizzy wavy hair that can't be tamed (which is why I cropped it out of all my photos :P)