Nails of the Week #3

This week on my nails I'm wearing a really feminine pink duo. I love these two colours together - although in the above images 'Popular' looks really pale (almost white), it's a light, somewhat translucent pink with little glitter flecks in them. I really love Revlon nailpolishes - I find them quite long-lasting. 

What do you have on your nails this week? Do you like glitter nailpolish? Surprisingly, this colour isn't a bitch to get off!



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The Hair-care Series Part One: Organisation

INTRODUCING...

THE HAIR-CARE SERIES. 

For the next few weeks, I'm going to do regular posts related to haircare. I get asked a lot in real life about how I keep my hair shiny and healthy, so I'm going to share my secrets with you all in the form of a series of posts. For the first 'episode' I'm going to cover organising your hair appliances. The apartment I live in has virtually zero storage - the bathroom also has no powerpoints and a tiny, shitty mirror. So you can imagine the issues I have with doing my hair. For ages, my appliances were tucked under the coffee table looking like this:

and although I'm probably the only one who just shoved their appliances under furniture, I bet I'm not alone in battling with the mess that is cords. Why can't appliances be wireless already!? So one day, when cleaning out my bathroom, I noticed I had a bunch of old toilet rolls and realised they would be perfect for cord-keeping:

Just wind the cords up, slip the toilet roll over the top and your cords are instantly organised and immune from tangling! Just make sure that you live a bit of slack where the cord starts from the appliance - you don't want to bend this too much or it will lessen the life of your appliances. 

Now on to storage! My sister gave me this beautiful box for my birthday, and I've used it to now house my hair appliances: 

As you can see, everything fits in there neatly and easily, the cords are free from being tangled with each other and I can easily grab my appliance and go. I also keep my heat protector spray, a round barrel brush and a hair clip in there as well - everything I need to blow dry and style my hair. The thing that works best about this 'system' is how easy it is to maintain - it takes less than 2 minutes for me to wrap up the appliance cord and shove the toilet roll back on when I'm done. 

Just a tip with keeping in sprays / liquids: most packaging of these products will give you the option to 'close' the spray / nozzle. Make sure you do that before you pop it back (especially if it's laying flat) to keep it from leaking / spraying everywhere. 
I've included an image below to show you where to look. Obviously it will differ between products, but it's more or less the same. In the image below the setting is 'closed'. If I were to move the toggle to the slit, it would be open and the trigger would be able to be pulled. 

The best part about using this box is that when I'm done with it I can easily just store it on the shelf and it looks nice and tidy:

So there you have it! That's how I organise my hair appliances! 

How do you organise yours? Are you lucky enough to have drawers and powerpoints in your bathroom? 

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What's in my suitcase!!

Okay, so this is less of 'what's in my suitcase' and more 'what beauty items am I bringing to Dubbo?'
This is probably also the perfect time to tell you all that as this goes live, I am on a bus on my way to Dubbo. *groan*. "Why, Dubbo!?" I hear you all asking. No, it's not to go see the animals at the zoo (although I really want to!) - I'm going to referee for a week at the State Titles tournament. I'll be back home next Saturday, the 29th. I have scheduled some posts for you guys though, so I'll still be around the blog-o-sphere. I may or may not have internet. So I may or may not respond to comments until I get back. But don't let that deter you! Leave me lots of love!

To be honest, I've been feeling pretty anxious about it all week. I'm going to miss J and Rommy terribly and I have a shitload of uni work to do while I'm there. Not only that, but I don't know anyone - I'm the only person representing my association, whereas some of the other associations have a few reps.
Anyway, I spent most of today packing and organising all my shiz, and thought "Hey! My readers would LOVE to know what I'm taking with me". I know you're all voyeurs. 

So this is how I've divided it all up. On the left, I'm bringing my brushes...I've put them in the Real Techniques cases, next to that is my make-up in my Revlon organiser, then misc. skincare in the pink bag, skincare / shower junk in the clear/white case and then dental stuff at the end. 
Let's take a closer look:

Dental stuff. Pretty self-explanatory. Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash. I love this kit and use it every time I travel. I've separated it from my other stuff because I'll keep it in my carry-on bag. I like being able to freshen up. 

General washing stuff. I bought some 'travel containers' from Priceline and have de-potted all my skincare stuff into them so I'm not carrying too much stuff. In this bag I have my shampoo and conditioner, my face wash (I did pick up a travel sized face wash...) shower gel, RHO and my moisturiser is in the little pot. 

This bag was originally just because my Clarisonic didn't fit anywhere, but I quickly managed to fill this one too. Dencorub and Tiger Balm (remember the purpose of my trip...), my Dove moisturiser, washcloth, Clarisonic and then I have some cotton buds and make up pads in the little baggy. 

This is how I'm transporting all my make-up. I'm actually not bringing that much (yes, this is minimal for me). I'll be reffing all day, and we might do stuff at night but I'm not too sure. I don't wear make-up when I'm exercising so I might not even use any of this!

In the top we have my bronzer, NARS Deep throat, tweezers, blackhead extractor, mascara, Garnier Under eye rollerball thing, concealer and brow gel. 

In the middle compartment, I have my Body Shop brow kit, one of my Stila palettes (I'm taking Cloud, Shore, Makalu and Twig in case you were wondering), my Revlon CustomEyes palette, my Stila tinted moisturiser with SPF30+, Lipcote, 3 lippies (a pink, a red and a nude - just making sure I've covered all bases), 2x Maybelline Colour Tattoos in Audacious Asphalt and Bad to the Bronze, and my Maybelline gel eyeliner. 

In the last compartment I have mainly practical items - my eye cream, the nailpolish I'm currently wearing, some makeup remover, primer, sunscreen, my toner, foundation, lip scrub, eyelash curler and of course some of Lush's Ro's Argan Body Conditioner. 

As for brushes, I'm taking mainly RT brushes: the entire 'Eye Starter Set', as well as my Ecotools slanted brush and eyelash groomer (and my eyeliner is shoved in there too). For face makeup, I'm taking the Stippling Brush, the Contour Brush, the Foundation Brush and the Buffing Brush. I'm bringing them in the cases, and although I do like them because they'll keep my brushes protected and can be used as a stand I think I might buy a brush roll simply because I can then carry them all together. 

So that's what I'm taking to Dubbo! 

Do you normally bring this much makeup / this many products with you when you travel? Do you have any tips for homesickness?

 

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My Week in Pictures #9

1. My sister graduated on Monday! I headed back to my old high school and watched the graduation assembly.

2. I took her out to lunch afterwards at The Post Cafe. 

3. Headed into the State Library to get some much-needed uni work done. Got there and realised I left my pencil case sitting at home. Asked the information desk if I could borrow a pen, and they gave me a blunt pencil instead. 

4. Got suckered into buying this. Damn you Body Shop salesperson! It was the hand massage that got me.

5. Bought some travel sized containers to empty all my lotions and potions into for when I travel to Dubbo.

6. Rommy helping me out with the washing

7. Taught myself this move this week. I have no idea what it's name is. 

8. This is a Mermaid. Have been doing it for a while, but I think it's really pretty. 

9. Went out to dinner with my Dad, sister and J on Friday night. Bruschetta for an appetiser. 

10. Dad's lamb souvlaki. J and I shared the meat platter, but the photo didn't turn out that great. 

11. Went to the filming of Gruen Planet on Tuesday night!
12. And ran into Kirryn from Teacup Grunge!!! Not even kidding, this was probably the highlight of my week. Kirryn is super friendly, and is moving to Sydney so I'm really excited to hang out with her even more! It's kinda super weird meeting people you know from the interwebz; you know all about them, yet that's the first time you've met them? Strange. Anyway - Kirryn, if you're reading this: it was so nice meeting you!




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Review: Sukin Purifying Facial Masque

I'm going to start off this review by telling you first about Sukin - probably my favourite skincare brand. 

Sukin are an Australian owned-and-made, ethical, vegan, carbon neutral company and their products are affordable. And! They actually work. 

So it's a pretty big claim, but I'm going to say this facial masque has changed my life. 

What They Say:

"A gentle treatment to help cleanse, tone and de-stress your skin.

A purifying base of gentle Kaolin clay combined with soothing aloe vera and antioxidant rich rosehip oil will leave skin feeling refreshed, nurtured and completely clean."

Ingredients:

Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Caprylic/capric Triglycerides, Glycerin, Bentonite, Talc, Kaolin, Lecithin, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil (Rose Hip), Tocopherol(Vitamin E), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Simmondsia Chinensis(Jojoba) Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Vanilla Planifolia Extract, CI 77491, Citrus Paradisi Extract (Grapefruit Seed), Linalool,* Limonene.* 

How to Use it:

Apply to your dampened face, leave for 15 minutes and then wash it off!

My Experience:

'Terracotta' is the best word to describe the colour of this masque, and I'll admit I was kind of nervous the first time I used it because of how coloured it is; the above photo really does not capture it well. Rest assured though, this absolutely does not stain your skin. It's easy to get out of the jar and applies smoothly on my skin. I can easily apply a thin layer if I wanted, or a thicker one.  I would normally use this masque once a week, maybe twice if my skin is really congested, and afterwards I find that my skin is clean. The clay helps to draw out impurities, whilst the inclusion of aloe vera, shea butter and rosehip oil helps to nourish your skin. 

One thing that still amazes me every time I use this product is the way it dries on your skin - it literally dries to the touch and that is it. No pulling on your skin, and it doesn't crack when you smile. 

This past week my skin has been really congested, and the pores on my forehead, nose and chine were incredibly clogged. After this masque they have pretty much been non-existent since. Amazing, yeah? 

Citrus is listed in the ingredients, which is a phototoxic essential oil. This basically means it makes you more susceptible to UV rays, so keep that in mind when using this product. If you're like me though, and wear sunscreen on a daily basis you shouldn't have an issue. 

Have you ever used Sukin skincare products before? What's your favourite deep-cleansing mask?

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My Week in Pictures #8

This Friday was J's birthday! Thinking it would be a fun idea and a nice surprise, I headed out to Woolworths to buy a pack of 40 balloons. I was planning on putting them all over the apartment for when he got home. Firstly, I seriously underestimated what 40 balloons looks like, and to get the effect I had dreamed up I probably would have needed about 100. Now, if you don't know - I'm asthmatic. And as someone with dodgy lungs, blowing up 40 balloons was probably a bit over-ambitious. So when I realised at first how difficult it was, I sought out another means of blowing them up and came across my bike pump. Note: this does not work and caused the balloons to blow up in my face.
Anyway, it took me about an hour but I blew them all up and tied them by hand (the labours of love!)

So last night we went to see "Super Villain" - a comedy show by Seizure Kaiser, and it was on at the Factory Theatre.
The show was seriously hilarious, and if you're in Sydney and you love comedy, he'll be back for the Sydney Comedy Festival so I highly recommend checking him out.

We finished off the night with cake and takeaway Thai. 

And some other snaps from the week - 

1) Rommy discovered the fish tank, and enjoys spending his time sitting on the chair watching them. 

2) Choice of essay questions for my politics and the media class. It really pains me when university lecturers have poor grammar. Proofread, anyone?

3 and 4) J bought some new fish for his birthday. There's a couple more than these two, but on the left we have a butterfly fish and on the right are two tomato clownfish. They're a breeding pair so soon we'll have baby clownfish!

What did you get up to this week?

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