Beauty Haul | No. 1

A couple of  weeks ago I had a teeny splurge on beauty, and because Priceline was having a 40% sale on all cosmetics I just couldn't resist! I know it may not seem like I bought too many things, but this was all in a days work and I really should be saving, so yeah...naughty me!

 Essie is a brand that I would consider to be on the more pricier side of the spectrum of drugstore nail polishes, being priced at around $17 a pop, so I made the most of the 40% off deal and picked up three in the shades 'aruba blue' a metallic, mid toned blue, 'bikini so teeni' a powder blue with tinnnnny specks of glitter in it, and 'go ginza' which is a very pale lilac. 

I would highly recommend Essie polishes as they are very opaque and need just 2 coats to reach their full colour, and are very high quality, staying chip free for about 4-5 days without a topcoat. 

The only problem I have is that the brush is pretty small and doesn't cover much of the nail when applying. As a result it makes it a bit harder to apply and looks quite streaky when its first applied but it surprisingly dries completely smooth and seamless! 

SWATCHES...

(Left to Right) Go Ginza | Binkini so teeni | Aruba Blue 

Topshop 'Pillow Talk'  

I have read so many good things about Topshop makeup, so when I was in the Chapel st store I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pick up a couple things to try out for myself. I must say, so far I'm pretty impressed with the quality of this lipstick, it very pigmented and moisturising on the lips, however I found that if you have chapped lips it tends to sit in the cracks which is pretty annoying, but forgivable. Aside from that the colour is a gorgeous pale pink, but was a fair bit paler then what I expected when I first applied it to my lips! None the less it is still a pretty shade. The Topshop lipsticks are a reasonable $15, given their high quality and great colour pay off. Not to mention the undeniably cute packaging which I absolutely love!

Chi Chi 'Say My Name'
I'm still not too sure why I bought this lipstick. Was it because of how well other people can pull of ultra pale lilac lipstick? Or was it because it is called 'Say My Name' which reminds me of  a quote off Breaking Bad, a tv show that I love so dearly? Well I dunno, but it certainly isn't the shade that I would normally reach for! None the less I will try to find somewhere to wear it, even if it's just for a fancy dress party!
 The formula of this lipstick is very matte and doesn't seem to dry out the lips too much, but with most matte lipsticks I would recommend wearing a lip balm underneath to retain a bit of moisture. The smell of this lipstick is probably my favourite part! I don't really know how to describe it but it is so nice and almost smells like a fragrance that you actually want to wear! The packaging I find a bit tacky, but I'm not really too fussed by packaging anyway (apart from Topshop packaging of course) so I'll deal with it. I can't remember the exact price of this lipstick but I think it was around the $10 mark.

Revlon Kissable Balmstain in 'Honey'
Originally I was looking for the new Revlon matte balms after being convinced by many beauty bloggers that it was something that I desperately needed in my life, but after trying to find them at numerous stores, I soon realised that they were completely sold out! (To be honest I'm shocked that people are so on to it!) Instead I thought I would try out the original balm stains, opting for the colour 'honey', as it looked like a nice subtle pinky shade. And I must say, I am surprised by how much I love this! I was a bit sceptical as I don't usually like lip products to be too glossy but this has a kind of subtle sheen when first applied then dries to stain. It is perfect for everyday use and you don't have to worry about  it smudging everywhere when eating which is always good! I would defiantly recommend everyone try this! 

Chi Chi Matte Lipstick -Say My Name | Topshop lipstick - Pillow Talk | Revlon Just Bitten kissable Lipstain- Honey

Topshop Glow in 'Polished'

I have never actually owned  highlighter before, so this is pretty new to me. When browsing through the Topshop makeup I noticed how pretty their highlighters looked so I took it upon myself to give it go and try out the Topshop glow highlighter in 'polished'. I would describe this shade as quite pearlescent, being a shimmery white/silver with glimmers of pink running through. The Topshop highlighters are, I think, a bit on the pricey side being $18 each, and although they are brilliant quality, I still don't know whether it was really worth it. I apply the product to the tops of my cheek bones and the inner corners of my eyes, which gives a nice over all glow to the face. When applying, keep in mind that a little goes a long way as you really don't need much, so I can tell that this is going to last me ages, which is good news because it is a fairly small amount of product!

 SWATCHES...

(Left to right) Revlon Just Bitten kissable lipstain - Honey | Topshop lipstick -Pillow Talk | Chi Chi matte lipstick - Say My Name | Topshop Glow -Polished

NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in 'Blonde'

I have been using an eyebrow pencil by Rimmel in the shade 'Hazel', but I wanted to try something else as I find it has too much of an orangey tone to it. So I decided to try out NYX's Eyebrow Cake Powder in 'Blonde' after seeing a few good reviews. So far i'm really liking it! it includes two pressed powders in light brown shades that are supposedly suitable for blondes,but suites my mousey brown hair just fine, as well as a wax and a little spooly and angled eyebrow brush. I use the darker powder as I find the lighter powder is just too light so I tend not to use it at all, and begin by applying the powder with the angled brush in short stroking motions to fill in the brows. I then I apply the wax with the spooly, brushing through my brows to hold the shape in place, which I think also helps it look neater and darkens up the colour slightly. I think this eyebrow powder is so affordable being priced at around $10, so you don't have to break the bank to achieve great brows!

VAMFF | National Graduate Showcase 2014

Last Saturday Night I attended the National Graduate show, which was apart of the annual Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. I must admit I was completely blown away by the incredible talent and innovation that the graduates showed! The Showcase was sponsored by Target, who will select one of the twelve graduate designers who had their collection displayed, and work with them to create a clothing range that will be sold in Target stores, as well as a $25,000 grant to kick start their design career. This is so exciting as some of the collections shown I absolutely loved and could totally see them be taken from the runway to the streets. 

The venue was held in the heart of the city at the stunning Central pier, Docklands. The event is also sponsored by L'Oreal pretty much every year and so they had a huge L'Oeal tent were you could get a complementary colour match and gift bag. However the line remained ridiculously long throughout the whole night and to be perfectly honest I don't have the patience for such things!!

Sitting at the catwalk, waiting for the show to begin!

Here are a few snaps I took of the models walking down the runway. I know they aren't the greatest photos ever but they were the best I could do given where I was sitting...

[From left to right]

Molly Younger - Her collection was inspired by sculpture and form  involving latex dresses and coats and gloves covered in cracked paint and included very structured and organic shapes . To describe Younger’s collection in one word it was very eerie.

Gabrielle Brown - This collection I loved! All of the pieces were white but Brown had played around with 3D printing to create different textures. She also used different types of materials such as mesh to add more dimension to her designs.

Yan Wang - Wang's collection was focused on menswear that was purely monochrome and included some pretty crazy shapes and collars! I loved the graphic prints which even involved optical illusions!

[From left to right]

Edwina Sinclair - The first two images are apart of Sinclair's collection which draw inspiration from emoticons and pop art. Sinclair presented a range strong in colour and texture, with knitted onesies and matching hats, colour blocking and an amazing ankle-length pastel pink coat which couldn't be more on trend at the moment.

Juliette Booth - Juliette Booth’s designs were created to be worn by men and women, by  removing the darts from her garments to create unisex pieces. The result is a really cool collection of oversized jumpers and hooded vests, in quilted, graphic fabrics, paired with baseball caps and tough, gold hardware. Now this collection was my favourite! It just oozed with edginess and was probably the one I could most see being integrated into everyday street style.

Wing Chiang - Wing Drew her inspiration from Japanese flowers, in turn creating an absolutely stunning collection of delicate designs. She used prints of different types of flowers on all of  her designs and incorporated lightweight mesh materials which added another interesting element to her work. Overall her collection was very pretty and colourful and reminded me of the springtime.

[From left to right]

Victoria Thaniotis - This collection focused on oversized, structured pieces, with bold shapes and colours. Victoria also included some texture in this collection such as embroidering and fabric manipulation.

Another one of Juliette Booth's cool designs.

An example of Edwina Sinclair's bold and wacky knitted pieces!!

Overall I had an amazing night, and totally recommend going if you love fashion as much as I do! This was the second year I have gone to see a fashion show and both times were such different experiences.  I came out feeling so inspired and just generally excited about the whole fashion world.  

OOTD...

Shirt - Glassons

Leather Shorts - Ebay

Blazer - Portmans

Necklaces - Thomas Saboo, Ebay

Shoes - Windsor Smith

Bag - Collette 

Watch - Fossil

Life Update No.1 | Trip to NZ

I know this post isn't necessarily beauty or fashion related, but I have decided to introduce some life updates to my blog  from time to time. I probably wont do too many posts like this, so don't worry if your not really interested in this type of thing, I will only  post one when I do something worth sharing or something big has happened in my life that I want to tell you guys about. 

Anyway  at the beginning of this year my family and I went on a road trip around New Zealand for two weeks! It was absolutely STUNNING and I highly recommend that everyone go at least once in their life. I must say I was pretty excited about going and heard that it was nice there, but it totally blew me away with its diverse and beautiful scenery. 

Here are just a few snaps I took while over there...

(Top row) A beautiful little garden area in Auckland CBD (how pretty are those fairy lights?!) |  Geyser erupting at Rotorua | Maori totem pole at Te Puia, Rotorua 

(Bottom row) Cute little Hobbit hole at Hobbiton | Me reppin' my NZ beanie, sipping a coffee on a cruise through Milford Sound | Standing on a glass window, looking down at the train station below! Felt soo weird! 

(Top row) Fox Glacier | Beautiful view in  Queenstown | Ship container shopping centre in Christchurch (Bottom row) Garden show in Christchurch | Our boat pulling up in Milford Sound | Icy cold lake at Queenstown 

Of course I couldn't take a holiday over to New Zealand and not turn into a complete tourist, buying the oh so kiwi beauty products! In New Zealand they seemed to be very big on manuka honey. It claimed to be good for your health and you could buy it with various UMF levels, which I still have no idea what that means or why its so good, but it sure does sound impressive! It is used in soo many products such as soaps, lip balms, scrubs, lotions and fragrances. I thought I would try out the manuka honey body lotion mainly because I forgot to bring moisturiser with me and my legs were lookin pretty scaly! The lotion has a very sweet honey fragrance that is very distinctive of the manuka honey scent. It's quite nice but its really strong and heavy which I don't particularly like as I prefer lighter and fresher scents for my lotions and moisturisers. The lotion itself is nothing too special but it gets the job done.

Rotorua is famous for its natural hot springs, mud pools and for the whiffy sulphuric gasses that rise up from the ground in patches of steam!  What's really cool is that you can use the Rotoura mud for cosmetic purposes. So naturally I took full advantage of this and bought some Rotorua mud with kiwi fruit (what else?) which makes for an excellent cleansing mask! I have used this a few times and apply a thin layer after I wash my face, leave it on for about 15 mins or until its completely dry then rise. After, my face feels so clean and smooth! 

I also bought a soap that has both the thermal mud and volcanic sulphur as I thought it would be the perfect reminder of Rotorua. It lathers up really well and very quickly which is good, and as far as it goes as a soap it does a good job at cleansing the skin and leaving that clean feeling. Unfortunately the smell is the big down fall of this soap. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it's a pretty unpleasant 'soapy' smell! However it doesn't leave much of a scent on the skin (thank god!), so I'll let that one slide because the novelty of it is just too cool!