What the deuce?

How could this gorgeous, gorgeous belt:



come out of this ugly monster of a webpage:






Scary, no?

Lustworthy or dustworthy?

It's pretty difficult to hide an oversized clutch. So difficult, in fact, that they keep popping up everywhere.

WhoWhatWearDaily: Obsession fu jour: Oversized Clutches
Vogue Forums: Oversized clutch bags
Go Fug Yourself: Well Played: Ashlee Simpson?

Pros: Big. Difficult to lose. Holds more than just a teeny coin purse and teenier phone - you can now fit a pack of tic-tacs in! Matches oversized bag. And, as they pointed out at GFY, they're good to smack people with.

Cons: No strap, must lug. around. everywhere. What a pain in the ass. Also, they have the potential to make or break an outfit - wear these babies right, and they will repay you and look freakin' awesome - wear them wrong, and you will be condemned to awful memories of the Day I Looked so Fugly the Abominable Snowman Ran Away from Me.

Check out mystyle.com for tips on how to work the oversized clutch.

xx
p.s. For the record, yesterday's eyeshadow lasted the seven or so hours I was at work, AND the girlies there complimented me on the colour. It's a winner, people.

My first time trying pink eyeshadow

I don't like pink eyeshadow. I always think it makes me look like I have a massive rash - albeit a very pretty, shimmery rash. But in my little bag of freebies I received a pink i.d. bare minerals eyeshadow, so because I'm a very well-behaved girl who does her homework (please, don't laugh TOO loud) I thought I'd better try it out.

Base: NARS The Multiple in Orgasm
Inner eyelid: i.d. Bare minerals eyeshadow in Tropics (the pink stuff - sorry about the crappy lighting)
Midtone: Cargo EyeBronzer eyeshadow
Outer lid: Revlon ColourStay® Copper Spice quad.

The verdict: A very pretty shade - the sort of colour that takes you back to an innocent, cheerful and somehow very girly childhood, full of raspberry spiders... yum.... Er, yes. Anyway. The eyeshadow itself isn't overly pigmented, which is normally what you'd expect from a loose eyeshadow - normally I only use them for eyeliner because they're so strong. But this one gets props from me, also because it gives a soft wash of colour that's easily built up. What's more, it's easy to blend. Which is funny because I used three different types of eyeshadow - The Multiple provided a cream base for the i.d. bare minerals loose powder, the Cargo one is a powder liner and the Revlon eyeshadow is the usual pressed powder. But they all blended beeeeyooootifully, and at least prevented me from looking like I had a rash so bad I need to be taken to hospital before I infect everyone else around me.

Guinea (or two dollar and ten cent)-pig time!

Right, so AFTER amusing myself with that nerdy little joke from today's Column 8 in the Syd Morning Herald...

I've been given my dream piece of homework by some Very Awesome people I work with - to take home a bag of beauty goodies, try them out and review them. Now, after an hour of shouting "FREEBIES!" as a greeting to anyone I've spoken to (mostly my family anyway), I actually tried out the products.

The first was Dr. Lewinn's Puressence Travel Kit for 20-plus skin, and yes, the name is a tad biased for different ages, and if you ask me, doesn't take into account the fact that a) different people at different ages have different skin and b) some people are very sensitive about their age. Also, I'm not over 20, so I don't know if I'm the best one to try this, but hey, it's free, so it doesn't matter, riiiiiight?
So anyway, first impressions are as follows:

Regular cleanser: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser vs. Dr. Lewinn's Puressence Foaming Cleanser
Verdict: DON'T USE THIS TO REMOVE EYE MAKEUP. My Cetaphil one does, but this one STUNG!! But it smelt nice, I wonder if that makes up for it? Oh well, didn't feel like it cleansed that well, because when I used the toner, it seemed like there was a lot of make up left. Either that or this toner cleansed better than the toner I normally use.

Regular toner: Simple Freshen Up Purifying Toner vs. Dr. Lewinn's Purifying Toner
Verdict: Again, smelt pretty. I actually really quite liked this, it really did feel like it was doing something. See above. Also, I much prefer this over my regular toner.
Regular moisturiser: CoverGirl Smoothers SPF 15 Tinted Moisture/ Invisible Zinc Tinted Daywear SPF 30+ (started using this two days ago)/Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 at night vs. Dr. Lewinn's Puressence Day & Night Fluid
Verdict: I thought it would be more like a serum by the sound of its name, but no, it's just a regular moisturiser albeit toothpaste blue. It's easily absorbed by my skin, which is good because I don't need to use much.

And finally, Dr. Lewinn's Puressence Eye Gel
Never having used an eye gel in my life, I don't know what they're supposed to do, much less what I'm supposed to do with it. But I followed the instructions and "dabbed it around the eye area" and nothing happened - I mean, NOTHING happened, my eyes don't feel different, the clocks continued ticking etc... But I think I MIGHT need to wait longer to see results (the gradual slowing down of time... muahahaha! Okay, time to stop reading those wickedly hilarious but dangerously addictive Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde).

So! I shall be abandoning my regular skincare in favour of these FREEBIES! (sorry, couldn't resist) for the rest of the week, and we'll see how that goes...

Winter, already??

It is freakin' hot, humid and sticky outside. This is the sort of weather that is only good for one thing, and that is NOT thinking about what to wear this autumn/winter (actually, the one thing this weather is good for is thinking about ICE CREAM! I [heart] Gelatissimo).

But somehow Zimmermann has managed to distract me from thoughts of delicious dairy confections and woo me with their gorgeous Winter 08 collection (the fact that it's gotten cooler now may or may not have helped). Reminiscent of 70's boho, foho, soho, whatever-ho, I love the sultry prettiness of it all. The gorgeous fabrics, the cute bows in the hair, the pinky-peachy blush and a general juxtaposition of whimsy and sexiness are all delectable, and look like they'll be suitable medicine for the inevitable bout of winter blues.
I love the delicate layering under these first two, it keeps the vibe, so to speak of the dresses. This next one I'm not so sure about - it's kind a like they looked at the model and thought to themselves, "Crap. This girl's about to freeze to death," and gave her a yummy, warm turtleneck that clashes horribly with the wispiness of the Jap-inspired dress she's wearing on top.
And this dress is my absolute fav! The lines are interesting and again, contrast yet compliment the shape and feel of the delicate yet striking dress. It also comes in a skirt version, but that really does look like something i picked up out of my grandmother's old and musty wardrobe - and that's not exactly the "vintage reworked into a modern trend" vibe I'm going for.

And thank GOODNESS they didn't overdo the make-up! Close up of the first shot:
Unlike Shop Till You Drop this month. Unfortunately, my scanner sucks to high heaven, so I can't upload pics of the mag's "Hot Right Now" feature. Which is good. If you haven't already bought this month's magazine, and looked at that section (if you haven't read it yet, PLEASE skip it) then I've probably saved you a severe bout of banging your head and wondering why Shop picks the WORST pictures of some very stylish girls, where they seriously look like drug addicts, and then proceeds to tell us that they're style icons. Not in those pictures, honey.

The feature showcases Lou Doillon, Vanessa Paradis (the very lucky partner of Johnny Depp), Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tatiana Santa Domingo, and while I KNOW these girls are all very beautiful people, I don't know why they all look Really Ugly in this feature. If your subject is skinny, relatively pale, is wearing bright red lipstick and smudged black eyeliner, has otherwise-beautiful-but-somehow-not-here cheekbones and weird orange spots under their eyes, points their head down while staring up at the camera and then proceeds to be photographed with Horrible Lighting - then yes, the Subject will look like Paris Hilton and Marilyn Manson had a Very Dysfunctional lovechild. Oh, and the bag lady too, although how three people had one child I don't know. Perhaps modern science is catching up quicker than I thought.

But anyway. As I said, they are all beautiful women with gorgeous model-like bodies and cheekbones and eyes and whatever, but unfortunately for them, Shop picked the worst photos in the world and then proceeded to tell us we want to look like that. Thank goodness Zimmermann rescued the boho trend for me.

Oooh and now that I've totally finished my rant, I can rave about Madame Chan's in Balmain! It is one of those really awesome shops that LOOK expensive, FEEL expensive (the clothes, that is) and totally convince you that everything in here is worth hundreds of dollars EACH (which is expensive on a student budget, yes) - but ISN'T!! Beautiful, stylish clothes, with top quality service - the girl was very nice, friendly, chatty but not too pushy - all for under $100. Gorgeous metallic bags too. Definitely worth checking out - Madame Chan's, 317 Darling Street, Balmain, NSW 2041.

The wonders of nailpolish

I have an obsession with colour. No, really. My bedroom walls are lime green, grape purple and white. My diary is predominantly lime green, but not really, because it was red, dark green, orange, navy, light blue, turquoise and white stripes on it. My bedspread has purple, orange, coral and pink arranged in some sort of tequila sunrise.

Yes, colour and I have a very long-lasting, steamy and passionate affair.

Which is why I LOVE nailpolish. It is another one of my strange, pointless yet absolutely important new year's resolutions to Paint My Nails this year. See, because normally I only paint in summer. And I forget/don't have time to paint my nails in the middle of the year, which is sad, because that's probably when I need colour the most.

It keeps me happy. It's bright and uplifting. And here's the best part - I can wear whatever colour I damned well want!!!

As a recent school-leaver (okay, not so recent, but saying "recent" makes me feel young), I know what it's like to have to wear the Same Old Boring Thing five-friggin'-days-in-a-row. At both my retail jobs, there are only a few colours I can wear.

But. There aren't any rules on nailpolish.

Pink, coral, purple, bright blue - heck, any damned colour I want to wear. If I want to wear silver, I will. And no-one's going to stop me.

Love vs. Lust

I thank my stars every day that I have a beautiful boyfriend whom I am in LOVE with, and that I won't have to endure years of relationships with boys who are indeed lust-worthy, but aren't really worthy of my love. That I won't have to enter a relationship with someone based purely on the fact that his muscles are hot (and yes, a friend nearly did that. Me: He's a sleaze Her: But look at his muscles! >sigh<). That I won't grow bored of these men, and suddenly wake up wondering what the hell I'm doing with them.

Which is something I do with my purchases. See it. Lust it. Buy it. Happens more often than Britney Spears enters the news, and happens quicker than Lindsay Lohan's path from sober to trashy drunk.

Then one day I look at it and it's like, What the hell was I thinking? It's crap. It's fugly. And I've barely touched it in the month or so I've owned it. To the Salvos with ye!

But surely, if I've been thinking, dreaming, obsessing about one item for over a month, it's love? (Don't be silly. Of COURSE a month is a long time when you're talking things not people) And that therefore, I am allowed to buy it?

I mean, come ON. Every time I walk past the store, I nip in just to make sure it's there. On Boxing Day, I ran in, heart torn between wishing it was on sale, but hoping it wasn't because otherwise surely it would be gone because it is the most beautiful item ever. I'm POSITIVE that if I don't buy it, soon it will be gone... in the hands of other people who won't cherish it, love it, use it, be as proud of it as me. And it probably won't go on sale, because only ugly things go on sale between now and June. It's one of the Dumb Laws of Retail, of which there are many.

I totally think I deserve to buy this item. Now if only my money manager (aka boyfriend, in effort to curb spending) will let me buy it. What a cruel, heartless male indeed.