What’s that? More Shopping? More Food?

Wow, I can’t believe how quickly the weekend flew by once again.  I’m completely not ready to head into work tomorrow.  Particularly as last week was such an awful week, and I’m not quite ready to see the people who made it so.  Suffice to say, there was a lot of conflict and minor pettiness from one of my colleagues in particular.  I’ve come to see just how much of a manipulative bastard he is, and in all honesty I would be very glad to never have to see him again.  Unfortunately I shall have to deal with him tomorrow and to say I’m not looking forward to the pleasure is more than an understatement.

Friday was a particularly heinous day and I was so glad to be able to leave early afternoon to begin the weekend early.  I was even more pleased to arrive home to find a few packages awaiting my arrival, one earlier than expected and the other I had completely forgotten about which turned out to be a nice surprise.  Do you want to see what I came home to? Well I’m going to show you anyway.

The Chanel biography was a pre-order from the book depository and the item I had completely forgotten about.  Although I’m excited to read it, as it promises to be a very interesting book.  The rest is my order from Kiss and Make Up NY a US website specialising in a few cosmetics brands (among other things) that ships to Australia for very reasonable rates.  They currently ship worldwide for $9.95 which is fantastic, albeit bad for my purse! I get very excited that I can purchase at American prices as opposed to Australian prices.  Example – that NARS blush I purchased cost me US $28.  The price to buy the very same thing in Mecca Cosmetica one of the Australian NARS retailers? AU $45.

Before I purchased, I googled reviews of Kiss and Make Up NY and as expected it was pretty much a mixed bag.  I can only speak of my own experience though which was a positive one.  I received a shipping notification within a couple of days of placing my order, and the items arrived just under two weeks later.  And the packaging to prevent damage to the items is the best I have ever seen.  To be honest, I have never seen so much bubble wrap in one parcel in my life! The postage satchel itself was also padded, meaning my items arrived in pristine condition.  And as you can see, I ordered a few nail polishes as well and I always worry they will smash in the mail!  I may already be planning my next order with them!

But I digress.  As you can see my order contained a number of items. For a long time now, I have wanted to try the NARS blushers as I have heard fantastic things about them.  After much consideration, I decided to go with the shade entitled “deep throat” which is a beautiful shimmery peachy colour.

I was also wanting to try the Laura Mercier silk creme foundation for days when my tinted moisturiser just doesn’t cut it.  Both of these led me to the aforementioned website, and while I was there I decided I may as well make the best use of the postage costs and decided to try my first Deborah Lippmann polish in the delightfully pretty shade sweet dreams, and the NARS Kuroko mini polish collection caught my eye as well (among other items that will be in my next order for sure).

I’ve had a play with most of these products this weekend, but am looking forward to seeing how well they perform in my regular rotation.  I must confess that playing with my new toys kept me occupied for most of the night, which turned out to be a fairly early one. Partly as I wasn’t feeling the best, but also so that I would be ready for my breakfast catch up in the morning.

One of the lovely forum members from Paging Dr  happened to be visiting my humble little city for a number of family engagements over the course of the weekend.  We took the opportunity to catch up for breakfast and I got to eat at one of my absolute favourite cafes of all time.  I absolutely love their brunches.  As did my dining companions.  Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t have photos of food to tease you with!

Poached eggs on sour dough, with avocado, grilled haloumi, caramelised onion and tomato bernaise added up to one delicious and incredibly satisfying brunch.  I must confess to not eating for the rest of the day as I was so stuffed from brunch!  And the dinner I had was a light meal as I still wasn’t up to anything to filling.  The freshly squeezed OJ I had came out in the cutest little bottle – alas I didn’t think to capture its image.  The brioche french toast with passionfruit cream that the lovely PD forum member got looked amazing – I’ll definitely have to try that one next time.

I whiled away the rest of the day, and then today I decided to stop all thoughts of potential GEMSAS interviews (for some crazy reason it seems to be all I can think about at the moment) wich a trip to the local shopping center.  I walked into David Jones wondering if the new O.P.I. Germany collection had hit our shores yet, and indeed it had.

I couldn’t help but pick up a few colours – a bottle of “Every Month is Oktoberfest” and the Ger-mini mini set.  There are still a couple of colours I’d like to pick up from this collection next time I head into DJs. As I type this I am sporting “Every month is Oktoberfest” and it is incredibly beautiful.  I shall try to get a sunlight photo tomorrow to show you.  I also managed to get a free O.P.I. 3-in-1 base, top coat, and nail strengthener since I spent over $39.90 on O.P.I. products.  I do so love free stuff, particularly when I was planning on buying what I did anyway.  While in DJs I also picked up my favourite polish remover – the pink Sally Hansen one.  For some reason, I cannot find it in any supermarket, priceline etc which meant I had to buy it from DJs.  Luckily for me, it was pretty averagely priced which was a surprise.

After DJs I just wandered for a while until I saw a Portmans store and decided to head in and check out their dresses. And fell in love with a gorgeous black dress (it has pockets!) that would be perfect if I am lucky enough to get a GEMSAS interview this year.  And since I was feeling pretty lucky, and it was on sale and all, and they had my size it would be completely wrong for me not to purchase this perfect dress.  And so I did.  Now I just need a cute little cap sleeve top and some new shoes and I’ll be set for interview season.  Huzzah! No freaking out about what to wear, since it’s all sorted.

Now, it’s back to the waiting for GEMSAS.  It’s like watching paint dry.  Any suggestions on how I can keep myself busy and out of mischief while waiting?

Lust Have It! July 2012

Late last week, the other beauty sample box I was waiting on made its way to my doorstep. I was quite excited to see the Lust Have It! (LHI) waiting for me after a very tough day at work.  I opened it up to see this:

A beautiful orange Lust Have It! branded make up bag that is a very good size and quite decent quality.  I hope lust have it keep sending these out, I have plans for how I could use more of them!   I don’t know what it is, but lately I’ve been in love with the colour orange – especially bright burnt oranges like the one above.  Picking up the bag, it wasn’t as heavy as this month’s BellaBox (BB), however the bag felt quite full.

I was excited to open it up and see what goodies awaited me inside!  First up, I pulled the card out of the pocket on the inside of the bag to find out that this month I had received the pack entitled “bold and beautiful”, it seems the other pack that went out this month was called the “fun and flirty” pack, and honestly I definitely prefer the one I received!

Taking all the goodies out looked something like this:

So what did the individual breakdown look like?

1. Baby Foot – this product is the one I’m most excited to try.  It claims to remove dead skin cells, leaving you with baby soft feet.  You pop the sock type things on for a couple of hours, it does it’s thing, and over the next couple of weeks the dead skin falls off leaving you with nice fresh soft feet.  Sounds a bit gross, but the effect is essentially a pedicure at home.  And since the incident at the gym and the resultant loss of my left big toenail has curtailed my fortnightly pedicures for the time being, anything that gives the same effect is a winner in my book. Full size product, RRP AU$ 29.95.
2. Matrix Deep Smoothing Shampoo – Designed to smooth frizzy and unruly hair.  I’ve used Matrix hair products before, and have quite liked them.  I haven’t used this particular one before, but definitely sounds like something I may hold onto and test out in summer when my hair can get a little crazy.  50mL sample size, full size 500mL RRP AU$ 29, value of sample AU$ 2.90.
3. Matrix Deep Smoothing Conditioner –  Complementary conditioner to the above shampoo.  30mL sample size, full size 500mL RRP AU $29, value of sample AU$ 1.75.
4. Mirenesse Velvet Lip Moisture Shine – Lip plumping, long wearing lip treatment in a gorgeous glittery pale pink colour.  I do so like shiny things and this is no exception.  1.5g sample size, full size 4.5g RRP AU $39.95, value of sample AU $ 13.30. 
5. Avene Gentle Eye Make-up Remover – A gel formula removal that promises to leave to residue, nor sting and irritate the eyes. I will be interested to try this product, although I do not usually use specific eye make up removers.  I tend to use the make up remover wipes as they do a good job, and are quick and easy.  25mL sample size, full size 125mL RRP AU $22.95, value of sample AU $ 4.60.
6. Avene Ystheal+ Cream Anti Ageing – I can’t say I’ve ever used an anti ageing cream, although I am approaching the targeted age group rather quickly! This is a moisturiser designed to make skin appear fuller and firmer, reducing lines and wrinkles.  5mL sample size, full size 30mL AU $49.95, value of sample AU $8.33. 

Total Value for the month: AU $60.83

Interestingly enough, the value of this month’s LHI is higher than the value of the BB, even though the samples are smaller, and there weren’t as many full sized products included.  I think this is partly due to the inclusion of the full size Baby Foot, but also because the brands included in the LHI box this month fit better into the promise of professional, premium and boutique products than those chosen by BB.

Of the two this month, LHI is by far my favourite box.  It fits my expectation of deluxe samples, and not full size products, with the products higher end than the BB.  I definitely prefer the samples as I don’t feel so bad throwing them out if I don’t like the product.  It is infinitely harder to throw out a full sized product I hate such as the neutrogena foam cleanser received in the BB.  I guess this puts me in the minority, most beauty bloggers seem to love the full sized samples.

Overall, I enjoyed both boxes this month, and am looking forward to seeing what next month brings, especially since next month is the 1 year anniversary for LHI so it should be a fantastic box (If you’re considering signing up to LHI now is the time to do it)! I have decided to give both boxes a three month probation, and decide at the end of that time if I will continue or cancel.

Australian BellaBox July 2012

I warned you there would be beauty posts (don’t say I didn’t) so you still have time to turn back now if you’re not at all interested in anything beauty related.  In a moment of procrastination and intrigue, a few weeks back I signed up to two monthly subscription beauty boxes.

For those who have never encountered the beauty box phenomena before they are monthly subscription boxes that cost about $15  AUD a month including delivery and have only been available in Australia for about a year.   There are various subscription offers available, but I decided to go with the monthly option, which I can cancel any time, commitment issues? Absolutely. 😉

What’s in these boxes I hear you say? Well the sites proclaim that on average there will be about five deluxe samples included each month, from a variety of beauty partners.  Some of the beauty partners that caught my eye? Why Lush, Benefit, O.P.I, Napoleon, and pure fiji to name just a few.  And I really mean just a few.  The list of brand partners is quite extensive.

Often these samples can be scouted out at beauty counters for free, however I am somewhat time poor, and to be honest I love the idea of a random box of goodies turning up each month which will have in it things I may not have thought to try before.  I have to admit, I tend to seek the same brands out so I think this will give me a good opportunity to scout out brands I haven’t thought to try before.  At least that’s was part of the plan when I joined up.

The whole idea of  beauty exploration and adventure without leaving my home is definitely a win for me.  So the two I joined? Bellabox and Lust Have It! (Note, I have no affiliation with either of these websites and have added the links for anyone interested in finding out more).

Bellabox proclaim:

We’ve boxed up cult, classic & covetable beauty and skincare:  Personalised to your profile, at least 5 sensational samples a month delivered to your door, the lowdown on all that is luxe & luscious.

  While Lust Have It! say

Lust have it! delivers a hand-picked selection of 5-6 professional, premium and boutique beauty products delivered free to your door every month!

Both sounded pretty good, and as I was attracted by the different brands both had (as well as the good old “google” a few reviews trick) I decided to join both and see how they went.  My first beauty sample box was waiting on my doorstep when I returned home from work on Friday and to say I was excited to see the bright turquoise box is definitely an understatement.  That box was the July 2012 Bellabox.

So today I thought I’d share with you my first ever Bellabox, and my thoughts on it.  First off, it was decidedly heavier than I was expecting.  I mean, five samples should not weight 0.35kg! (I know how much it weighs because the label on the front tells me so, I did not go and weight the box – my OCD does not extend that far!).  The theme for the month was essential beauty buys.  It came with this nifty little card with information on all the products including RRPs for full size, and where I can find the products themselves should I wish to buy any of them.

Looking at the card, I can see that none of these products are what I would personally classify as luxe or luscious, with the exception of the hair care samples.  That said, most of the products are decent sizes if not full size which I would hardly classify as samples so it seems to be a fair trade off.  And since the theme of the month was “essential beauty buys” I must admit I like that the products included are definitely affordable should you wish to add them to your beauty routine.  I know you’re just dying to see what I got, so when I first opened the box this is what I saw:

I was excited to see a couple of cleansers in the mix.  For quite a while now I’ve been using the clinique 3-step system but have decided that if I were to go back to being a student I would need a more student budget friendly option.  Opening the cute little blue bag revealed the following:

I was excited to see a nail polish in the mix and of course have tried it already.  The colour “Mulberry” was gorgeous and definitely a winter shade.  However it took four coats for a decent non-streaky application, and the formula was a little thick and hard to work with.  Hardly surprising for a cheap polish – you can pick up Ulta3 polishes at your local pharmacy for about $2 AUD.  I do think I might try this colour again, because it really is gorgeous.

Being quite keen to try out a new skincare range, I have used the Neutrogena Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser a couple of times.  Although I’ve never used this product before, the smell was quite familiar and I had to stop and think where I’d become familiar with it.  I have put it down to the clean and clear I used as a teenager! Crazy.  Sadly, this product shall not be replacing my clinique facial soap as it is far too harsh for my delicate, dry skin.  I shall be passing this along to my sister though, who is combination-oily and hopefully she’ll find some use for it!

Next up on my “to try” list was the carmex lip balm.  I have loved the stuff for ages, but honestly I hated the little tub it used to only be available in.  It would get under my nails and such and I hated it so much I never went back and moved onto pawpaw ointment instead.  I must say though, this little tube is super handy, applies perfectly and doesn’t get stuck under my nails! I’ll definitely be repurchasing this one when it runs out!

All my goodies together! As you can see, I’ve still got a few to try out! I’m quite keen to try the shady lady daily face milk with SPF 30+ tomorrow (I spent most of the weekend indoors as the weather has been pretty miserable this weekend), the sensitive skin cleanser and I’m especially looking forward to the Royal Moroccan hair products.   So the complete list of products received?

1. You, Me & Everybody Shady Lady Daily Face Milk, 75mL Full Size, RRP $9.99 AUD
2. Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm, 10g Full Size, RRP $5.99 AUD
3. Neutrogena Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser, 175g Full Size, RRP $13.99 AUD
4. Nutri-Synergy Sensitive Skin Cleanser, 100mL Sample! (full size is 500mL), RRP $15.95 AUD (value of 100mL = $3.20).
5. Ulta3 Nail Polish, 13mL Full size, RRP $2 AUD
6. E.L.F. Essentials Range Lip Defining Brush, RRP $3.99 AUD
7. Royal Morrocan Hair Products:
   • Repair Shampoo, 15mL Sample size, RRP $17.95 AUD for 300mL (value of 15mL = $0.90)
   • Hair Repair Condition, 15mL Sample size, RRP $17.95 AUD for 300mL (value of 15mL = $0.90)
   • Serum Treatment, 5mL Sample size, RRP $ 29.95 AUD for 100mL (value of 5mL = $1.35)
8. Givenchy Pi Neo cologne sample for the Mr. in my life,  RRP $80 for 50mL

And THAT is the list.  Far more than the five samples I was expecting! And packed full of full size products.  The total value of the box was $42. 30 AUD (not including the sample for the elusive “Mr.”). Also, I just realised I received a sample not on my card! The Neutrogena sample sized Deep Clean Gentle Scrub. Since I can’t be bothered calculating the cost on this sample, and it’s not on my fact sheet, I shall leave it out of the calculated value. Neither is the cute little blue bag all the small stuff came packaged in – not the best quality but the perfect size for the storage of all my mani “tools”.

Not bad really for $15 including postage.  I think I’ll stay signed up to this particular box for another couple of months to see what other goodies I may get.  Bellabox, I think you and I will have a beautiful relationship if you keep this up!

Hi, my name’s Selenocentric…

And I have an addiction. To nail polish. This is a recently acquired addiction that I fully realized today after a phone call from my hairdresser. What does she have to do with my realization? Well, she called to remind me of my upcoming appointment, which I almost cancelled purely so I could acquire more polishes. My current collection is rather sad, and needs serious supplements!

Luckily I resisted my urge, and havekept my appointment and polish budget on track. What started this obsession? Well, I think I’ve always had a thing for polish, but I’m generally a pretty lazy person and am generally happy to pay some one for mmani cures and such. I confess to regularly (read once a fortnight until recently) heading to my favourite local nail salon for a pedi and often a mani as well.

What stopped my visits you may ask? Well, a few months ago now I kicked my big toe with considerable force at the gym during a boxing class when I should have being kneeing the bag (have I ever mentioned my lack of co-ordination is rather extraordinary? I mean I often trip on my pj pants orabsolutely nothing) and yeah, it was bad. There may even have been blood wedging my sock to my toe, making removal of said sock rather difficult. I decided I could live with this and continued my pedis until I noticed my big toe nail was uh, rather loose.

I considered removing it myself, but decided it would be best if a trained professional (read my GP) were to do it for me. Alas, I had no time to visit my GP and put it of. So frequently, until my toenail solved my dilemma by falling off itself! Now I have a delightfully attached and incredibly ugly / gross toenail that I refuse to show in public until such time as it has replenished itself (I suppose I’m lucky it’s winter which helps with the whole toe hidey thing). This has not stopped my love of looking at / knowing about prettily coloured toenails (and fingernails) and has led to my purchase of several new colours (I love you eBay).

I have also acquired an addiction to nail polish blogs which feeds my colour wants and it’s a never ending circle really! Today in the mail, the first of many new polishes turned up and I thought I’d share my excitement. The colour? Nude Beach by Essie which is a beautiful sheer creamy pink with the most unbelievably cool green shimmer in certain lights.

It would be perfect for French manicures and I think the green shimmer would show up beautifully over darker colours. I have attempted a photo for you with my ever ready iPhone, showing the lovely green shimmer in the bottle (it doesn’t seem to photograph well on the nail from my phone!). What do you think?