Beauty Blogger Kris Kringle

A little while before Christmas, two bloggers and myself organised a blogger Kris Kringle! I was super lucky enough to receive one of my favourite bloggers, My Beauty Confessional. I recently won a giveaway hosted by her, so I was so lucky to receive goodies from her again! She wrote an amazingly sweet card, too.

All the goodies packaged up. She even wrote little cards and wrote why she picked these goodies for me. It was such a lovely touch! (I wish I had thought of it, oops!) 

Lush Christmas Goodies

One of my favourite things about Christmas is the amazing limited edition products from Lush! Come December, their store is stocked to the brim with Christmas gift boxes and awesome new creations. I was lucky enough to be sent a few goodies to try out, and of course I popped in store and grabbed some extra goodies to try out as well.

Festive Friends Gift Set

I couldn't resist picking up this limited edition gift set. It contained four of the Christmas bath ballistics that had already been previously sold out in my local store, so this was a great deal for me. Although I bought this for myself, this would also make a great gift for anyone who loves a good bath.

Weekly Round Up

Another week has passed; and with less than that to Christmas, things are starting to get exciting! This week felt even longer than last week - I went shopping most days after work to try and get my Christmas shopping done, which left my pretty darn tired for the weekend! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a relaxing Christmas this year. Unfortunately being in a new job, I haven't scored any time off aside from the actual public holidays, but that should be enough to recharge my batteries.

This week I shared some pretty exciting posts, so make sure you check them all out if you haven't already!

The Body Shop Glazed Apple Tin of Treasures

There's something about the Christmas limited edition goodies from The Body Shop that I just love. This year is no exception, with the breathtaking Glazed Apple scent taking Australia by storm. I am so happy with myself as I purchased this Tin of Treasures back in November; as now anything Glazed Apple is practically impossible to find!

This particular set comes in this giant silver apple tin. That's something I love about The Body Shop gift sets; the more expensive ones will also get you some kind of amazing tin or basket that you can actually keep. I'm not sure what I'll keep in this one just yet, but I'm sure I'll find something.

Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin Foundation & Concealer *

My skin is just not that great. I'll admit that. Unfortunately I don't look as amazing as some of these other ladies do without makeup. My skin is pretty red, blotchy and not exactly evenly toned. But hey, that's life and I'm not ashamed of my skin. But, when I find a foundation that helps mask all of that and gives me a flawless finish, I stick with it! That's how I felt when I found the Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin. 

I picked one of the lightest shades (I'm not too sure if it's actually the lightest in the range) and it suted my skin tone perfectly. I love that it's medium to high coverage, depending on how much you like to apply. I like to keep it light so that it's more of a medium coverage; which covers all my redness and spots but still keeps my natural beauty spots showing and doesn't look too cakeface.

The lightest concealer available is a little bit darker than the foundation, which is a bit frustrating. Fellow pale girls will understand the annoyance of knowing that your concealer should be "at least two shades lighter than your foundation" which is practically impossible to find. Where the white concealer at? In saying that though, I actually fell in love with this concealer. With concealer and foundation, you are definitely hitting your full coverage peak without looking cakeface; a look I save for when I need to feel super fabulous.

Christmas Swap with Temporary Princess

A little while ago, I was paired up with the gorgeous Leah from Temporary Princess for a Halloween swap. We enjoyed swapping together so much that we decided to do it again - this time for Christmas. Last time I was crazy spoilt by Leah, so I was definitely excited to be swapping with her again, particularly as she was travelling overseas!

The cute card she wrote me! 

Weekly Round Up

It's Sunday here in sunny Melbourne which means it's Weekly Round Up time! This week has been a pretty long week for me; I started the week off with the flu so I wasn't feeling too crash hot most of the week. I had some pretty amazing highlights this week, including launching a new giveaway just in time for Christmas, receiving an awesome Christmas present early from my boyfriend, and getting an absolutely amazing gift from Benefit Cosmetics. (I'll hopefully share more about that this week on the blog!) I also finally got around to dying my hair this week as well! 

NOTD: Cute Leopard Print | Summer Must Haves

Bespoque Skincare | Her Fashion Box Plated Box

Her Fashion Box "Plated" Box

A little while ago, my subscription with Her Fashion Box ended as my credit card information was out of date, so I had to sign up again. Unfortunately I missed a month, so I have no idea what month we're supposed to be up to, so oops!

This month's box was themed "Plated." I'm not too sure what that means, but okay!

Bespoque Skin Care*

A little while ago, I was approached by skincare brand Bespoque to create my own custom skincare. I was so excited by the idea that of course I said yes, and got started designing some skincare just for me! I was amazed at what a great idea this is, and I imagine this idea will get very popular!

So far, Bespoque has launched in Terry White Chemists, so you can create your ideal skincare in selected stores or online.

I created my skincare online. The whole process is really easy, it asks you what you wanted included and excluded, it asks what skin type you have, what you want to work on, and a bunch of other simple questions to help create the best product for you. It also gives you the option for a scent, or for fragrance free. I personally went with "Rainforest" although the scent is very subtle and not too noticeable.

Summer Must Haves

Summer has just begun here in Australia (not sure about Melbourne though...) so I thought I might share a few of my Summer Must Haves! I personally dislike summer whenever it's here, but as soon as it's gone I start to miss the warm weather! I'm very sensitive (read: vain) about the way I look, and it can be pretty tough to stay perfect and sweat-free during the warm season!

Just a few of my favourite products to use in Summer! 

NOTD: Cute Leopard Print

It's been so long since I've done my nails, so this nail of the day post is well overdue. Ever since attending the Nail Stars workshop with Trophy Wife and So Nailicious, I've been totally inspired to actually do something with my manicure.

My sister was also been inspired by all the goodies I brought home from the day, so she's actually been practicing (whereas I haven't had time at all, sadly) and she was dying to do my nails.

She chose to do a simple leopard print on my accent nail, which I absolutely love. I really wanted pink nails, so she decided to make it a bit special with that little bit of gold. I really love the way the manicure turned out, it looks so professional but is so easy to actually do.

Weekly Round Up

Since I've started blogging again, I've been trying my best to keep up with a regular schedule. So, I thought I would introduce a new feature to my blog; a Weekly Round Up. If you're anything like me, you don't have time to read blogs every single day. Often I miss amazing posts from some of my favourite bloggers because I've skipped a day or two of reading, so I love it when bloggers have a Weekly Round Up of everything I missed! It means I can pick and choose which posts to go back and read, or if there's any important announcements I've missed.

So, without further ado... my Weekly Round Up!

As I'm only just getting back into blogging, I'm not exactly up to posting every day just yet. So for this week, I've got four new blog posts for you.

November Empties | Sun Protection With Neutrogena
Bijoux Tattoos Review | Memebox Holika Holika

Memebox #67 Holika Holika

For those of you who haven't heard, Memebox is the latest beauty box trend rocking the beauty world. Straight out of Korea comes the best beauty and skincare goodies packed adorably in a big pink box - each box with a particular theme. To make things even more exciting, you can buy them anytime without signing up to a subscription!

When I saw the Holika Holika box, I knew it had to be mine. I'm a huge fan of Asian cosmetics, and I knew this box would be filled with some amazing stuff.

Oh my gosh look at those goodies!

Bijoux Tattoos Jewellery Inspired Temporary Tattoos*

Temporary tattoos are all the trend these days, so I was super excited when the lovely people from Bijoux Tattoos contacted me and asked me if I wanted to try out their brand! I've been seeing a lot of people with the foil temporary tattoos, and frankly I'm loving the trend.

I was lucky enough to receive three design sheets with some amazing designs. I particularly love the black and gold sheet, it would be perfect for a formal event to add a little of extra shine.

Sun Protection with Neutrogena

It's well and truly summer here in Australia, and what better way to kick off the warm season than with a post dedicated to sun protection. As a kid, I actually hated sunscreen. I kind of liked zinc but only when it was colourful and only when my mum got the pink one. (Which was hardly ever!) I grew up in central Queensland; for those of you non-Aussies, that's where the sun is pretty darn nasty. It's dry, it's hot, and it's sunny. Unfortunately some of my family suffer from skin cancer due to lack of protection.

Now that I'm a older and wiser (well, sort of) I've realised how important sun protection really is. Seeing my Nan experience some pretty nasty skin cancer was scary when I was a kid, but it's even scarier now that I'm smart enough to realise it's a very real danger and it could happen to any of us.

One of my all time favourite skincare brands, Neutrogena, have a decent range of sun protection products, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites. These products have definitely made sun protection a little less frustrating from when I was a kid, so hopefully they help you out too.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Clear Face Sunscreen*

Sunscreen on your face is the worst, am I right ladies? There's no way I'm putting that greasy white goop on my face before putting my makeup on. Neutrogena thought of that, and they've answered my prayers. This sunscreen is not only super sheer, it's really light weight and it's oil free, so you don't get any icky greasiness when applying. It's also specifically made for breakout prone skin, so no more breakouts thanks to all the oily sunscreen! This is one of my favourites, and would recommend investing in this one to at least protect your face! 

November Empties

Last month, I didn't finish off a whole lot of products, so I decided to keep any that I did finish off and include them in my November Empties. Even keeping them for this post, I still didn't finish off a lot of products over the past two months.

All the products I finished off across October and November!

Blog Giveaway Winnings from My Beauty Confessional

One of my favourite bloggers, Ebony from My Beauty Confessional was having a giveaway over on her Instagram account (make sure you check it out, it's pretty amazing!) and I was super lucky to actually win it! So a giant thank you to Ebony for sending me out these goodies!

Typo Pencil/Makeup/Misc Case

Umm how cute is this! I've actually had my eye on this one for a while, so I'm so happy to have received it. The other side has the same design except it's hot pink, which is just gorgeous. I can't decide if I'll use this for makeup, or for awesomely cute blogging stationary for when I'm out and about!

Mini Christmas Gift Guide

It's Christmas time again, so time to share my picks for gifts! Today I've decided to get the ball rolling with a really simple mini gift guide to show off a few goodies that you can buy from $50 to $5. I've picked very simple products that are really easy to find and that any beauty lover will enjoy!

2014 Bloggers Kris Kringle

It's that time of the year again, and I couldn't be happier! This year has a been a long and hard one, so Christmas time is the perfect excuse to take some time out and relax - oh, and presents!

Speaking of presents - it's Blogger Kris Kringle time! This year I'm hosting with two gorgeous ladies - Melludee and Quest Jen; so make sure you pop over to their blogs and have a look!

Halloween Swap

A little while ago I hosted a Halloween Swap. I randomly selected people to be matched up, and I was lucky enough to get a gorgeous blogger who I've been following for a little while - Leah from Temporary Princess! I had such fun shopping for her, and I'll be sure to link her post later on, so stay tuned! 

This post is a little delayed due to all the personal issues that have been going on in my life at the moment, she did send it in time for Halloween, I just hadn't posed it! Sorry about that Leah!

All the goodies I received from Leah were stacked neatly in a Lust Have It box! So cute!

Chi Chi Glamorous Gel Eyeliner Collection

When in Myer, I always end up in the Chi Chi section. Although we have Chi Chi in my local Target, there always seems to be more exciting goodies from them in Myer. When strolling through during my last shop, I noticed one of their newest gift packs - the Glamorous Gel Eyeliner Collection. The pack includes 10 gorgeous shades for only $30 - bargain! I knew it had to be mine. 

I own a fair few things from Chi Chi and I have always been impressed, so I had high hopes for these gel eyeliners. I was impressed with the colour selection; ranging from a few neutral colours to some amazing and bright shades that are seldom seen elsewhere in drugstore brands, especially in Australia. Great job, Chi Chi! 

One Direction That Moment Eau de Parfum*

I have a guilty pleasure, and that guilty pleasure is celebrity perfumes. I've had so many of them it's not even funny! Don't ask me why, but I always seem to fall in love with celebrity fragrances!

My latest lust is the new One Direction fragrance; That Moment. This fragrance is a special edition released by the band!

Firstly, the bottle is absolutely gorgeous. The giant diamond that is the lid makes it extremely girly and fancy!  I also love the shade of pink that they have used on the bottle.

October Her Fashion Box

This post is a tad delayed, so I do apologise! I received the October Her Fashion Box a little while ago, however I haven't been able to blog in a little while. My love affair with subscription boxes has been wearing thin lately, as most of the products in the boxes seem to be lacking inspiration and I feel like my money would be better spent elsewhere.

I've always been a fan of Her Fashion Box, however, as it always seemed a little bit different. While I wasn't overly excited when I opened this box, there were still products and brands I had not experienced before; so I won't be unsubscribing just yet.

The theme for this month is Pearlfection.

Body Lotion Favourites

Hi everyone - sorry about the huge delay in blog posts again! I know, I know! I'm terrible. I decided to do something a little different from my usual review posts today. This is basically a battle of the body lotions!

Now that winter is over (ha, somebody please tell Melbourne that?) I thought I'd share my favourite body lotions that I used during the cold seasons.

It was a hard time picking just five to share, considering I have about twenty tubs, tubes, bottles, and jars of body creams, lotions, butters and moisturisers! I narrowed it down to my five most used products though; as they are essentially my favourites! 

Mary Kay Nourishing Plus Lip Glosses *

A little while ago, I received a truly gorgeous pack of new release Mary Kay goodies. Included in this pack was four brand new shades in the Nourishing Plus Lip Gloss line. I practically ignored these when I first received them as I'm not a big fan of lip glosses, but once I gave them a go, I realised what I've been missing!

These lip glosses are extremely cute. While they appear to be small, but the packaging is fairly thick and so you do get a fair bit of product in there. I love the shades, they are all extremely wearable, which is always a plus with lip gloss.

Sleek MakeUP i-Divine Arabian Nights

I'm a big fan of Sleek palettes, particularly the limited edition ones. So when I first saw the Arabian Nights palette, I knew it had to be mine. Before I received the palette, I wasn't expecting anything too special as it does look like a lot of other palettes in my collection, however I was still drawn to it.

Since receiving it, I have fallen in love, so I figured I would share my thoughts!

Once I saw the palette in real life, I was not disappointed. All shades apart from two are shimmery, which was to be expected of such an exotic sounding palette. 

Memebox Scrub Box*

I'm a huge fan of Memebox, and when I received their Scrub Box in the post, I was beyond delighted! Anybody who knows me is well aware that I love scrubs! All types of scrubs! This is definitely the Memebox for me. 

How awesome do all these goodies look?