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.

Time to make myself feel better

Yes, that's what resolutions are for. You realise your life is going down the drain, make a resolution, feel pro-active and like you're actually working towards a better you (which is what I'm trying to aim at) before failing your resolutions miserably, and realising life sucks.

But.
This year, I am going to KEEP them!!

No, I don't say that every year. Why? Because I know I'm just going to forget. But I'm actually WRITING (somewhat) them down this year. Yay! :)

Plus, if I tell my boyfriend what they are this year, he'll only be too happy to help out.

1. Make-up ban.
Inspired by the beautiful Voguettes, I will ONLY buy what I need. And not twenty shades of all-too-similar looking blush or lipgloss. Only if I've finished what I've got.

2. Nail polish ban.
The bag that I keep my various nail polishes in is full. I am poor. Therefore, I will only buy new, prettiful colours when I have a) thrown out/finished what I've got in my bag and b) when I actually have money. Always a good start.*

3. Shopping - okay, so this year I tried "only buy things every other week" but it didn't work, mainly because I impulse buy a lot and could never remember if this week was a "shopping" week or not; and if I did, I would also splurge because I knew I wouldn't be able to buy anything until the week after next. Of course, then I'd forget the week after and only ended up spending twice as much money as I would've in the first place. So 2008 will be the year of the ruthless. Where I will realise that it's okay to re-use your outfits. And that mixing and matching is cool. And that I don't need new clothes every week.

4. I won't work so much. No working in shopping centre = less money spent (theoretically. It also means less money gained, but let's just try it first, eh?) Plus, I will be happier, more relaxed, and more likely to act drunk on a cup of red cordial. Boing!

* Also, two of the colours are EXACTLY THE SAME. One's Natio and one's el cheapo brand, but I bought two of the same shades and didn't even notice!! >hangs head in shame<

Oh. My. Gosh. I have found THE party look I want to recreate - pity I'm SICK and can't go out this weekend >curses<
Dishevelled, sexy, funky, glamorous, colourful and just screaming "I'm here to party", the look is also teaching me a lesson - if you want to do your hair and make-up all colourful and fancy, WEAR SIMPLE CLOTHES. Focus on your make-up/hair, or your clothes, or risk looking like a drag queen (something highly undesirable if it's not actually your AIM).

If you want to let loose with with colourful eyes, and more sparkles and glitter than a glo-mesh purse, feel free. I know I do. But just remember to pair it with simple tops, preferably cotton if you're going clubbing so the fabric lets you breeeaaaathe, and either so-cute-I-wanna-eat-you shorts or jeans.

I love: Inglot pigments (like MAC, but cheaper, without losing quality), Sportsgirl glitter eyeliner, either Country Road or Witchery tops and shorty shorts. I'm not much for jeans in a club, I get really hot and I want to take them off but we all know that would be taken the wrong way indeed.

Oh and don't forget accessorizing. I like to stick to plain bangles, Diva have some really hot ones at the moment in blue and silver, and the same set also come in cream and gold but those are on sale, so you'd either have to wait till after January or go to Castle Towers, yayyyy (hear the sarcasm?? hear it?). I don't see much point in spending big on accessories unless there's design I REALLY love, because I get bored of them so easily and anyway, I find Diva and Equip do a pretty decent job of copying Mimco and Dinosaur Designs. Plus, then I can save my money and spend it on CLOTHES :P :P


But sometimes I get a little shy, and start to have psychadelic nightmares that I look like a clown. In which case I wear my shiny metallic clothes that my boyfriend doesn't like, but which I don't give a DAMN about because I like them :P and keep the make-up and hair simple. Metallic fabrics are great, because they make you the life of the party and all you had to do was put the clothes on. Easy. Peasy.

Then you wear some black or brown eyeliner, mascara if, unlike me, you actually HAVE lashes to build on, a bit of blush and some shiiiny lipgloss et voila!

Highly recommended for this second option: Blush - Covergirl TruBlend in 430 Shimmering Sands. It's soft, powdery and lightly shimmery too, and you can build up the colour. I like it because it highlights my cheeks without making me look sunburnt :) unlike their bronzers which make me look like the personification of a dirty orange, but that's another story.

As for lipglosses, my current favourites are Inglot lipglosses because they taste like SUGAR (but, funnily enough, don't last too long), Dior ones because they're moisturizing and feel like silk on your lips, and ModelCo Liplights. The ModelCo ones have a little light that switches on when you open the gloss and a mirror on the side, so you can re-apply on the dancefloor. They're a little sticky, but not, thank goodness, as sticky as MAC lipglasses, and they last long, but the best part is seeing your friends startng at it like a rabbit caught in a headlight, and repeating to themselves "woahhh... it's got a light... woahhh". Heheheh. It's so amusing.

The Road Taken

Yeah, I haven't posted in a while. There aren't any excuses left - apart from maybe I've been too busy at my new job at Country Road? :P

The funny thing is, before I started, I'd been in there only TWICE before in my life - both times to buy those excessively mainstream tote bags, and neither times for me. The customers have serious issues (SOME of them that is - the rest of them are beautiful lovely people who I would serve ANY day) but the clothes are nice and the workers are hilarious, I don't love them yet but I probably will soon.

So that's one thing --> if you're a nice customer, you'll be more likely to get more out of your sales assistant.

The second thing is, because the clothes are so great, and I think to myself *discount! discount!* I spend ALL MY PAY THERE. Seriously. They might as well just dole the clothes out to me, instead of bothering to put it through my bank account, only for me to spend it there anyway. It's even worse in summer because the clothes are so damn comfy in the heat. Arrrgh!

Anyway, so I LOVE LOVE LOVE the flower-print dress in the middle (below) - tunic hem, very cute, also comes in a cami, beautiful feel to the fabric - trust me, I'd know. I also adorrrre the metallic skirt second from the end, but haven't bought it because I have a not-quite-the-same-but-too-similar-to-justify-buying-a-new-one skirt from Blue Juice.

The clear plastic tote on the bottom is SO DAMN GOOD for the beach - and for once, I don't have to be upset when I find a crumby ('scuse the pun) mix of Doritos, pretzels and sand at the bottom of my bad. Or when the sunscreen decides to spill itself everywhere. And with a nice, fluffy towel in there, I can hide my wallet under it when I'm walking, or if I go in the water I just chuck the towel on top. No worries about its transparency. At least I can find everything :P

xx

p.s. Nothing wrong with Country Road bags - if you need 'em. But please don't carry a mostly empty one everywhere, just because it's a Country Road bag.