Bloggers Made Me Buy It // Issue 1

Bloggers and Youtuber's are called Influencers for a reason, and here's a pile of beauty products they've managed to convince me to buy (and what I think of them). 

Summer Beauty Favourites

Essie The Perfect Cover Up /

While I haven’t been wearing nail polish all too often, when I have been wearing it I’ve been wearing this. It’s not exactly a summery polish but at the moment I really can’t be bothered painting my nails all the time and the dark polish looks great for a long time. 

Le Tan Coconut Lotion SPF 30+ /

After getting my face burnt on a nice hot October day I haven’t gone outside without at least some of this coconut lotion on my face. I’m not 100% sure if it’s even meant to be used on the face or just the body but it’s been working great for me and I’ve yet to burn again. I’d say that’s a success. It also makes my face smell like coconut all day and while I’m not a huge fan everyone else seems to compliment me on it. 

Clinique High Impact Mascara /

While it's not my favourite all time mascara this high impact mascara from Clinique has been great over summer. When you're constantly out in the heat and near the pool the last thing I feel like wearing is a lot of make up, and I'm not alone here right. This elongates and thickens the lashes while not going over the top, perfect for an everyday look with barely anything else.

Baby Lips Pink Glow /

Along with the easy every day mascara I've been loving this Baby Lips lip balm, which you can tell from the state of the packaging. It keeps my lips moisturised while the sun attempts to dry them out while providing a nice sheer colour.

Kmart Makeup Sponge / 
(Not pictured, you all know the ones, the egg shaped sponges)

I’ve avoided the makeup sponges for this long but while in Kmart and having one of those ‘oh it’s cheap I’ll get it’ moments we’ve all had I popped it into my basket. I’m not sure if I’m using it right but I feel like my concealer is going on better than with a brush so it seems like I’m doing it right. Seen as all I've been wearing most days out has been previously mentioned, having my concealer going on like a dream is a real plus!

Soov Bite /

Summer for me equals bites, and bites for me equals huge swelling itchy bites. Is that too much information? Anyway while this may not be strictly beauty it’s definitely been one of my favourite 'body related' things over the summer, I’m currently waiting for my entire ankle to heal from bites and Soov Bite is my saving grace. If you suffer from big reactions to itchy bites I totally recommend getting a tube of this.

Summer isn't over yet but I can see myself using all these throughout the next month or so. I think this has been one of the most enjoyable Summers that I've spent in New Zealand, I haven't got that overheated this time and I've done a fair amount of things instead of being cooped up in my house in a tiny town. What sort of beauty things are your favourites this Summer?

Aesop Collective Product Reviews

Aesop Equalising Shampoo 200ml (AU$29)
After using this shampoo for two months or so I'm not a fan at all. Originally it was for my boyfriend but he wasn't convinced and didn't want to try it, it's meant to balance the scalp and give soft and luxurious hair. Well personally I felt my hair was actually getting oily quicker using this than my regular supermarket shampoo and wasn't really making me feel like I had luxurious hair. The smell isn't great and the cap makes it really hard to get the product out, so in the end I just gave up with this shampoo and returned to my old one. It might be better paired with a conditioner but overall I wouldn't be too pleased to pay this much for a shampoo and not get glorious hair in return, but for free I guess I can't complain.

Aesop Purifying Facial Exfoliant Paste 75ml (AU$51)
Okay so I mentioned loving this back in my October Catch Up post and I really do. I don't remember to use it as often as I probably should, they recommend twice weekly, but whenever I do my face just feels really soft and smooth. The cap allows for nice product flow however I will say the downside is the smell, it's Rosemary and Lavender which I really don't like but ya know it works nicely so I put up with the smell. I guess that's what you get for a more natural plant based exfoliant, I probably wouldn't buy this for myself for that price but it does make a nice gift.

Aesop Jet Set Kit (AU$41)
Classic Shampoo 50ml, Classic Conditioner 50ml, Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser 50ml, Rind Concentrate Body Balm 50ml
I received this for Christmas last year from my boyfriend's uncle and I've only recently got to the last little bits of the body cleanser and shampoo. I only allow myself to use this when I travel and being a student I don't do it that much so it has taken a while. But I do prefer this shampoo to the one above although again I think I do prefer my supermarket products. Obviously only using these while travelling I haven't tested them out for a longer amount of time but they do the job and are all included in a cute mini travel kit. I personally prefer these scents to the larger products but that's all personal preference really, I do really like how they don't have vanilla in as, thanks to my mother, I don't like the smell of vanilla and a lot of supermarket products do have a vanilla base.

These were all gifted to my boyfriend and I from his relatives from Australia however Aesop website does ship to New Zealand if you're wanting to make some luxurious purchases for Christmas.

Spring Lookbook ft. Cotton On

Whenever a new season is starting I always end up shopping the last season sales in all the shops and end up with loads of items I don't really need because they're cheap. I thought this season I would change that, while I have bought an item or two that are more wintery in the past week or so I feel like I'm still going to wear them through spring so it's acceptable. 

Lana Lace Kimono [$11]

My mum's always telling me to cover up my shoulders over spring and summer and I never listen and get burnt rather than wear one of my many black cardigans. So instead of getting hot and sweaty or burnt this year I thought a light white kimono would do the job, I'm not sure if I'll end up getting a lacy print burn or not but I'll let you know. 

Felix Felt Floppy Hat [$16]

Ever since seeing someone wearing one of these floppy hats I've wanted one, but I've never been comfortable wearing one enough to buy one. This year I may do it! 

Walk The Plank Towel [$32]

My current beach towel is a bath towel, so enough said I need a proper one. 

Hustle Single Vamp Heel [$27]

I'm in love with these heels, I'm just praying they're comfortable otherwise they may not make it out of my house. I don't have many summery shoes as I can't wear any shoes that have a toe post so that almost rules out 80% of summery shoes however these don't so let's see how they go. 

Giselle Cotton Shirt [$32]
Another way to cover my shoulders [see mum I'm listening] and it's something I think would be more acceptable as work wear than most of my current spring summer wardrobe so there's a plus!

Flirty Short [$27]
Okay so this one may not be that suitable for workwear - depending on where said work is - but how many floaty frilly summery shorts does one girl need? Answer: plenty.

The Classic Shortall [$43]
I wanted a pair last summer and I still want a pair, similar to the hat I just need to get comfortable wearing them enough to buy them and never stop wearing them. I don't know if I'm girly enough to make them seem girly rather than like a farmer is all...

So there's so many more things I want as well as these, but these are my top choices. Since writing this post I may have bought a few of these items and they're now being shipped to me yay! I'm really excited for the heels, although I had to get back as the blue colour was sold out in my size sigh, having tiny feet is sometimes great but most the time they're just sold out of my size. Anyway fingers crossed I get one of these jobs I've been applying to so I can wear my new more work friendly summer clothes!

World Of WearableArt was WOW

'Cerulean' by Cushla O'Connell | 'Exotic' by Qianwen Hong

I went to World Of WearableArt last month with my Boyfriend's family, his Nan wonderfully bought me a ticket for my birthday, it was incredible! I was the only one of them that hadn't been before and before the show they all kept smirking at me going 'oh you're going to love it you are', and of course I did! I mean who wouldn't love a show that included a giant sparkly bunny rabbit? I've just gotten my hands on some of the promo photos, as of course you can't take photos of the show, and I thought I might give you a run down of what happened if you didn't get a chance to go! My favourite design was the stag Daenerys Targaryen above named 'Cerulean', her wings opened when she lifted her arms.

'Mona' by Kerryta Chau, Wing Lam Yeung and Emily Lau | 'For Annie' by Doreen Helms and Susan Thurner

So if I remember correctly, apologies I do have to track my mind back a month ago, there were seven sections. Children's Imaginary Friends, Aotearoa, Avant Garde, Architecture, Mans Uniform, Other Worlds, and an Open Section. Designers all around the world design for these seven categories and those select finalists make it into the show. There's then a winners presentation at the end and personally I didn't really agree with most of the winners designs but hey I'm not an expert at this field. I've included some of my favourites in this post and they were all either winners or runners up so I'm not that bad! My favourite section was the first one, the childrens section. There were fluffy clouds that lit up attached to the roof and some were swings that kids would sit on, it was all really magical. Clouds would come up through the floor and be attached to wires so they floated up into the sky. While this was going on each design would come out accompanied by a child who would interact and dance with his or hers imaginary friend. It's hard to convey how amazing the whole scene was.

'Kaleidoscope' by Tess Tavener Hanks | 'One for Sorrow' by Gillian Saunders

Another really cool part was the transition from the Childrens section to the Aotearoa section. During the children's section the clouds would appear beneath this large sheet but when the scene ended a guy came down from the sky, attached the sheet to a hook and it then rose up from the ground to form this huge volcano. It was then when projectors transformed this volcano shaped sheet into an actual snowy mountain that soon started to erupt pouring lava down it's sides. The Aotearoa designs then came out of the mountain.

It's just so amazing and makes for a great night out, I totally recommend going next year if you can afford it! There's music and performances, it's not just the creative designs - there was also two very talented trapeze artists who were seriously amazing! It's also a great excuse to dress up all fancy! You can check out the highlights reel here, let me know your favourites and if you went.

* All images courtesy of World of WearableArt's media centre.

iHerb Haul #3 ft. some extras

Basically this haul was mainly to acquire more brushes seen as I don't have a huge range of brushes and some are getting rather shabby and my spoolie brush just really needed replacing. But before that I got a few little things as a bonus for myself, as well as iHerb including a nail file for free which I actually really did need!

E.L.F Eyebrow Kit in Light $3.00
Of course I had to get this, everyone and their cat has this eyebrow kit so I just had to try it out. Unfortunately the last time I tried on iHerb and in store in Kmart neither had the light version so I just had to wait until it was back in stock. I have it now though and I'm loving it, especially as I got complimented on my brows the other week I've finally began to accept my slightly bushier brows.

Madre Labs Unscented Hand Cream 10c originally $7.95
I didn't know anything about this product at all apart from the fact that it was on sale at an incredible discounted price that I just had to throw it in my basket, you always need hand creams though right? Since then I've seen a few good things about it and have enjoyed using it so far. Although does anyone else think it smells weird? It's meant to be unscented but it just smells weird to me... still works nicely though!

E.L.F Angled Contour Brush  $3.00
I was wanting some smaller brushes as the only ones I really had were face brushes, a liner brush, and one average eyeshadow brush so before finding the ones below on ebay I thought this ELF one seemed pretty good! I read up on the reviews and found it was more of an eyeshadow brush size than a bigger contouring brush so thought it could have a few uses! It's not as soft as the below ones so I'd totally recommend them more.

Spoolie Brush 14p
I needed a new one and for 14p with free shipping how could I say no? Plus it's actually a nicer quality than my previous one and much much cheaper. You can probably see some brow product in there already, I couldn't wait to use it after seeing how bad my old one looked next to this new one.

Eyeshadow Brushes $2.84
You never know with Ebay but I've only had one bad product before and these aren't it! They're a really nice quality for the price, seem much nicer than the ELF one, but I guess only time will tell which will outshine the other. A nice range of shapes to suit a range of tasks for only a couple of dollars, why not?

If any of the products are total winners I guess you'll have to wait and see in a upcoming favourites post, when I get round to having enough things to do one! Let me know if you've got anything good recently, I'm itching to go buy more. Also use CTP518 to get $10 off your first order!

Daily Make Up For a Small Dollar

Okay first of all before I even get onto the topic of this post I wanted to point out that my eyebrows are not ginger. I don't know what happened from my face to the computer screen but no matter what I did they wouldn't stop being ginger and I didn't want to over edit the photo. Now we've established that we can move onto the rest of my face! Something that I wasn't really able to do during the last week or so while I was busy getting all my uni work up to date and handed in was my make up. I piled on a heap of concealer to attempt to cover my huge A1 sized dark circles and a little mascara and on I went. Normally however I wear pretty much the same thing everyday, besides lip colour, if I'm not doing anything special. 

I never wear foundation, if I want extra coverage I use a BB cream but I rarely use that, I'm pretty lucky with my skin and feel comfortable without it. I do however have a love for concealer, seriously if I could only wear one product it would be concealer (and mascara cough), just because I always have awful dark circles. My favourite is the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer and I've currently been trying out the Essence Match 2 Cover cream concealer which I've found is perfect for the odd spot or two. On top of that I use the E.L.F pressed powder which is so much better for my dryer areas than the L.A Girl powder I used before but still not perfect if you have any suggestions. If you haven't already noticed I'm not a huge spender when it comes to make up, I find I'm not talented enough to splurge and I manage fine covering/accentuating what I want with cheaper products. I do however have the Real Techniques powder brush and expert face brush to apply this all with.

Then the eye area woo! After slightly filling my brows with a (not ginger) eyeshadow from a Maybelline Palette not featured here oops I shove some brown eyeshadow on my lids with a brush also not featured, very technical! Liquid eyeliner is a very new thing for me, when I say new I mean I tried it every so often and failed and threw it across the room in rage. Then I got this W7 Automatic Eye Liner Pen a few months ago and haven't looked back, I've pretty much used it every day since (if I have time unlike uni stress times mentioned above) — I normally only tight line my upper lid. Finish it off with a bit of mascara, my fav is Maybelline The Falsies mascara but currently using the Falsies Big Eye version and while not bad I still prefer the falsies which shall be bought when this one needs replacing.

End it with a babein' lip colour, currently loving Topshop Beguiled & Jordana Taupe, and you're ready to strut into uni looking hot (or at least not as tired as you were looking half an hour ago)! I think I'm going to stick to regular lifestyle posts now, I feel I'm not good enough at makeup to post this stuff I don't even use blush let alone contour etc cry but this is what works for my face! Also how you beauty bloggers take the face photos all the time is beyond me, big pat on the back to you all!

(Yo I bought the linked items above off iHerb, if you want 10% off use this code woo love ya > CTP518)

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

I'm sorry I've been a bit MIA recently there's just so much going on. Pretty boring stuff like uni projects getting so much more intense and getting ready to move house. But yes I thought the #BlogGreatness theme for this week was a perfect time to try get back into the swing of things and update you a little bit too!

Now the theme this week is Square which I've used in the respect of good old Instagram! Since I've created a new Instagram account to use for this blog I've gotten back into instagramming so I thought I'd share some latest posts and update you on what's been happening.

While at home I used the time away from people I knew to try out something I've wanted to do for ages. I dip dyed the ends of my hair turquoise! It came out a gorgeous bright bluey green and I loved it. Unfortunately I didn't think about how it would fade and it turned rather green, however now it's a nice pale green that's hardly noticeable. It just wasn't that nice having to return to uni with green hair haha!

The last weekend of the six week holiday was Brads Brass Band Competition in Rotorua. Due to it being close to home this year my parents came along and we enjoyed the weekend listening to music and bonding with Brads family even more. This included a great brunch of the waffles above, gosh they were nice! Brad and his band managed to win the A Class competition which makes them to top brass band in Australasia, and Brad himself won the best soloist in the test piece which is a big thing too! There was heaps of snow on the way home too so we of course stopped for a snowball fight!

Since then it's pretty much been constant work for uni. Being only a few months until my fourth and final year starts my assignments at the moment are basically mini versions of the fourth year projects to get us ready and eager. Unfortunately this means I have so much work to do for all of my classes and it's proving hard to leave time to blog. I'll hopefully get used to it and get back into a nice system seen as my usual system of blogging on a thursday night has kind of been ruined now I have class 9-4 and just crash as soon as I get home (and then do more work for fridays class). Fingers crossed I get back into the swing of things as this blog has really taken a back seat over a couple of months so I really need to pull it forward and get back into it.

But yes how have you been?

Perfect Winter Polishes

I used to be obsessed with painting my nails with wacky intricate designs which you can actually see some here on my nail art tumblr. I used to spend every sunday night painting a new design for the new week but since starting uni I've gotten less and less interested and it's gotten to the point where I don't actually paint my nails all that much. However I still love having my nails painted I just don't have the time, so when I do end up painting them it's even more fulfilling! A lot of the northern hemisphere are blogging about their favourite spring/summer polishes and it's just making me want to pull out my favourite pastel teal polish but it's just not right. My collection (check it out here) is mainly filled with colours like the pastel teal that suit spring and summer and although I have a couple of khaki greens and greys I was really happy to recently upgrade my collection with these two beauties. 

I won Essie's 'The Perfect Cover Up' on a Facebook competition for Hannah's blog A Lovely Look and was really excited to receive it and finally paint my nails again. A lovely greeny grey colour that's a perfect autumn/winter colour. I also picked up this Sally Hansen polish in 'Jungle Gem' for a whole $3.50 from Farmers, I was 'umming and arring' about whether to get it or not for $5 and mum pushed me into it and as it turned out even cheaper I'm glad she did! A little less grey than the Essie polish it's still a really nice autumn/winter colour. 
I don't really do reds and pinks with nail polish so a gorgeous oxblood colour isn't really my thing so it was great to get these two for my collection especially as they're nothing like what I already have. 
Question is which one do I use first?! No seriously tell me!

What's your favourite autumn winter nail colour? Is there one colour you wear the entire 6 months of the year as soon as it's deemed cold enough?

Silver is a Girls Best Friend

Girls always prefer a certain metal for their jewellery, and for me that's silver. Look at these gorgeous charms though... 

I feel like I've always owned some sort of charm bracelet; when I was christened as a baby I received a small silver bracelet with religious related charms. Growing up I went through a few but the most memorable being one with lots of dangly charms like a blue clay turtle and a purple rubix cube. But now I'm 21 so I felt like I needed a more 'adulty' bracelet and here it is! 

My parents recently bought me this Pandora bracelet along with the safety chain, two clips, and the present charm to symbolise my 18th and 21st birthday. I also received the daisy chain charm from my brother as well for my birthday. These together with the Michael Hill charms* I got to choose from their Emma & Roe range, I'm able to arrange the charms to how I'm feeling. Personally I was unsure about getting a mix of charm brands thinking that they may not work together but they do! Now I can buy charms from both brands woo! 

With the charms I have I put together a few ways I'd wear them as I don't actually like wearing loads of charms at once all the time so it's nice to have a change around. 

Filigree Open Heart Pattern Charm, Teal Matte Murano Glass Charm, Daisies Clip, Silver Present Charm, Darling Daisies Spacer, Sterling Silver Crown Charm, Milkyway Clip, Blue & Gold Sparkle Murano Glass Charm, Filigree Flower Charm.

Do you have a charm bracelet? What charms do you have, I'm thinking about getting a Lion charm next. 

*Michael Hill have kindly allowed me to choose these Emma & Roe charms but all opinions are my own. Just look at them how could you not like them!

iHerb iHaul

Hiya guys I made some sneaky purchases before Easter so I thought I would share. I've also given them all a quick try before posting this so I can give you a little mini review at the same time. Fair warning it's mostly lip products as I was on the hunt to find some lip liners for my collection. 

First of all I got the ELF Lip Primer & Plumper ($3.00), I was a little sceptical of this but thought for 3 bucks I might as well try it out. The primer is basically a concealer but it does a better job than my actual concealer and the plumper is definitely cinnamon flavoured but I'm not too sure at the moment if it does it's job. I also grabbed a ELF Long-Wear Lipliner Pencil in Bitter ($1.99) which is a really nice deep purple colour perfect for my recent Topshop lipstick and glides on smoothly. Another Real Techniques brush for my collection, this time the Powder Brush ($9.99), I never knew brushes could get this fluffy - totally my new favourite brush! The ELF Lip Stain in Berry Blush ($2.99) I wasn't sure about either as the last time I tried a lip stain it didn't go very well but as this was in a pen form rather than a liquid I thought I'd give it a go. It surprised me actually, it goes on lightly but can be easily built up for the desired colour and really does stain the lips staying on all day. I've recently been using this as a base for my lipsticks which makes them more long lasting. I also picked up another ELF Pressed Powder in Porcelain ($3.00) as I've hit pan on my current one. This is my favourite powder so always need a back up! Lastly I bought some chewable iron tablets ($8.99, not photographed) for a bit of a pick me up. 

As my Mum was coming down for Easter I got her to grab me some Jordana products from our local store as they're cheaper than Wellington stores and there's actually more of a variety even though it's a tiny town. I got the Jordana Matte Lipstick in Cafe ($3.00) and although the only other Matte lipsticks I have from Jordana are browny colours this one's a much darker brown and I'm loving it! All the lipsticks are a really nice quality for their price, the colour lasting isn't huge but I find they personally work for me and how long I need it so I grabbed another regular Jordana Lipstick in Blackberry ($3.00). Then we have the couple of lipliners; Jordana Quickliners in Ruby Stone and Scarlet (each $4.00), really nice and smooth to draw with and I find a nice starting point for those starting out with lipliners (aka me) as they're not hugely permanent and can be easily removed and redone. Also grabbed a regular Jordana Lipliner in Chestnut ($3.00) which isn't as smooth as the quickliners but still does the job once it's been used once or twice. 

Finally we're done! I totally recommend Jordana and ELF for those wanting cheap make up

You can get $10 off your first shipment with the code CTP518! Have fun :)

Top of my Topshop shopping list

1. Moto Black Short Dungarees - £32.00 2. Kitten Ankle Socks - £3.50 3. Margot Pinstud Boots - £75.00 4. Contrast Bobble Beanie Hat - £14.00 5. Lipstick in Wicked - £8.00 6. Lipstick in The Damned - £8.00 7. Velvet Lace Shorts - £20.00 8. Cat Print Pyjama Set - £28.00

While lying in bed sick with the flu and avoiding the coursework looming over me I took to internet shopping, I did actually make an order on iHerb oops but it was mainly window shopping. Now if you're not from New Zealand or if you've been hiding under a rock you may not know that we recently got ourselves our own Topshop. However seen as it's in Auckland I'm still stuck online shopping so here's some of my favourite things on their site. (Prices in Pounds although the NZ pricing is a little bit more expensive than Glassons for you wondering). 

Following the NZBloggers chat two weeks ago I mentioned I was going to try wear things a little more out of my comfort zone so a few of these items are inspired by that. Now I do love everything on this list but damn those studded boots I need them like seriously need them even though I don't know if they'd suit me and they're hella expensive! 

1. Crepe Sweetheart Crop Top - £20.00 2. Moto Super Ripped Jamie Jeans - £45.00 3. Nail Varnish in Bound - £6.00 4. Nail Varnish in Snow Cone - £6.00 5. Desire Jumper by Religion - £95.00 6. Blanche Ankle Boots - £45.00

Of course I've got me some Jamie jeans on there, they are a Topshop must have! As well as all the Topshop beauty, I've got a few lip products of theirs already and they're excellent so I know I'm going to pick up some more for sure when I get the chance! If anyone can let me know how much the lipsticks are in dollars that would be great! Hopefully I'm in Auckland soon and get a chance to have a look around but otherwise I'll be stuck online for a while. But hey it saves money right? 

Nail Polish Collection

I've had this blog going for a while now and having shared a few insights to my nail polish collection I thought it was about time that I shared the entire thing actually used this post as an excuse to go through it all and chuck out the bad gross ones and the ones I don't ever use. There's a few extras such as top coats, stripers/nail art pens, and gel polishes as well which I didn't include but here's the proper regular polishes! Beware for a very photo heavy post! 

China Glaze Tranzitions Split Perso-nail-ity // Rubi Violets are Blue // Rubi  I Like Pina Coladas // Essie Orange, it's Obvious // Rubi Lady in Red // Mavala Orange Amazone // L.A Colours Transformer // Sally Hansen Chocolate Nut

L.A Colours Seashell // Sally Hansen Lightening // Rubi Yellow Polka Dot Bikini // Rubi  Baby One More Time // Sally Hansen You-Gurt Style // L.A Colours  Mega Watt // L.A Colours  Nude //  Cotton On Body Nude // Sally Hansen Honey Whip

Essie Pretty Edgy // Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Sour Apple // China Glaze Tranzitions Duplicityy // Cotton On Body Green Envy // Rubi Cry Me A River // Whos that Girl? (Lovisa) Pistachio // Sally Hansen Sturdy Sapphire // Rubi Under The Seaport // Kmart Blue Lagoon 

Essie Below The Belt // Sally Hansen White Tip // Rubi When Doves Cry // Sally Hansen Black Heart // Rubi Love is a Battlefield

Kmart Seabird // Rubi Moon Dance // Rubi Fushia Glitter // Rubi Tropical Blue Glitter // Rimmel London Diamond Dust // Rubi Fast Cars

Some of my favourites include Cry Me a River, Orange it's Obvious and Honey Whip. I'm looking forward to posting some nail tutorials in the near future and maybe some 'nails of the weeks' if you're interested in that? 

   

We're hauling makeup by the boxful

After having some extra money left over from Christmas I thought I should really spend it on something I wanted and didn't really need as otherwise I'd just spend it on food and then it wouldn't seem special. So I went shopping for some make up products I'd been wanting for a while.  

First of all I went to the local make up sale which happens randomly throughout the year. I specifically went as early as I could seen as most of the good stuff gets sold quickly, most importantly the EOS Lipbalms which was top of my wishlist. I've heard so many good things about them and being in NZ they're either found at these sales or online for millions of dollars. I got mine in Lemon Drop as Lemon is my favourite flavour in like anything. I also got the new Maybelline Falsies Big Eyes as I went looking for the regular The Falsies but decided to try something new. The Revlon Colourstay Moisture Stain in Barcelona Nights is another on the top of my wishlist however I didn't prepare enough before going and actually got the wrong shade (I wanted Parisian Passion) although the more I've been using it the more I like it. 

As I hadn't spent as much as I thought I would I went online to Feel Unique and splurged a bit on some new lip products. Rimmel Apocalips lip lacquers have been around for a while and I've been longing for one since then and I finally have one, in Stellar to be specific. I've also really been longing after some Topshop makeup and with their recent Christmas products on sale I lept at the chance. I picked up a Mini Lip Bullet in Joyride, and a regular Lipstick in Beguiled which I got after a recommendation from Kate (DollyBowBow) on YouTube. I also got a Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Coral In Gold which is more sheer than the others and for a more laid back make up day. 

I also popped onto the Xtras website and got myself a W7 Eyeliner pen to try out as I've recently been trying to get back into liquid eyeliner. I've been finding this easier to use than my regular liquid brush liner being able to use it as a felt tip and use the thin tip or thick full nib. 

That's all that I hauled in, I may do more of a review of some of the products at some stage once I've properly tried them, if you want any specific ones let me know in the comments. So far my favourites include the Revlon Moisture Stain and the Topshop Lipstick in Beguiled which I totally recommend! 

Bare your claws but don't let them be bare.

Images from my Pinterest

I was always really fond in painting my nails to the extent of my last year of high school I actually painted my nails every week with different designs from patterns and ombre, to well known characters like the Despicable Me Minions. Since then however my motivation to decorate my nails has gotten lower and lower to the point of I cant remember the last time my nails were painted... I think it was December though I'm pretty sure. So I thought while I had some free time before uni starts back up again this year I would get inspired through pinterest and start painting my nails again. For gods sake I have enough polish for my entire year at uni probably so I should really be using it before it goes all gross! I might start doing some more nail tutorials like I used to do on this blog, how would you guys feel about that? What would you like to see? 

Fav 5 of January

 

I haven't done a favourites post in ages, actually thinking about it I may not have ever done one but I feel I have! Anyways January is almost over if you can believe it and I've complied some things that I've been loving as you do in favourites so lets get on with it. 

While I was in Australia I wanted to pick up a few beauty items as they're slightly cheaper than in New Zealand (that or they're just actually available there) but apart from passing up on the NYX sale which I really shouldn't have I never really found anything cheap enough to be worth buying apart from this Real Techniques brush. I planned throughout the holiday if I had enough money left over at the end that I'd treat myself to the 4 core collection pack however when it got to the end there were none left. So instead I got just the one expert face brush which I've been using ever since and loving. Another make up product I got here in NZ after the recommendations of fellow NZ bloggers and YouTubers. The Jordana matte lipstick in Taupe is really good quality for $3 which I like to use either on its own or on top of other brighter shades to tone them down a little bit. I'm really loving this browny nude colour at the moment. 

The other day whilst browsing the sale racks I came across this beauty of a tshirt, I absolutely fell in love with the cactus design, bought it straight away and have been wearing it ever since! (It's been washed I'm not that gross x). I also recently got my 2015 diary in the mail and have been loving using it to plan posts, make lists and note down important dates. It's going to become really useful once Uni starts back up and hopefully I'll be a bit more organised than the last two years. My last favourite for the month has been my Kindle app; over the years I've been competing with my mum to read the most books in a year and I've yet to win. 2015 however will be the year of change!! With the the help of my kindle I've read 5 books already this month so hopefully things will keep going as well as January has. I might do a group book review post soon about these books otherwise it'll be a bit overwhelming with a post each! 

What have you been loving this month?