Her Fashion Box: September

It's been quite a while since I unsubscribed from monthly subscription boxes. Although I loved getting surprises in the mail each month, I found I wasn't using all the samples I was receiving, so I was essentially just wasting my money. I still have a box of samples on my desk that I'm still making my way through. Maybe once they've run out I'll re-subscribe to the beauty boxes.

In the meantime, I've subscribed to Her Fashion Box. HFB is a mix of fashion, beauty and lifestyle products, delivered to your door every month for $39.95. There's no contracts, and you can cancel anytime. Which is a condition I love, being so fickle and all.

$39.95 is pretty steep, especially since I was paying $30 (combined) for two boxes previously. The difference between this box and others though is that you get a lot more full sized products, thus really getting your money's worth. You get to choose your 'style' as well, and unlike some other boxes that provide the illusion of choice, HFB actually tailors the products you receive to the style you choose. The styles are classic, feminine and trendy. (I signed up to classic)
And if $39.95 is too much, you can sign up to the "Her Fashion Boxette", which is a slightly smaller box at $24.95 per month.

So, I signed up last month, and even though I signed up past the date for September, they sneaked me onto the list anyway, so I got to receive the September box yay!

Here's what was inside:

Black clutch with gold studded detailing (RRP $39.95)

I love clutches, and this one pays homage to Alexander McQueen (only my most favourite designer ever, guys you know me too well!) It's sleek, sophisticated, classic...will go with everything. I'm so in love with it.

'The Midas Touch' Ring (RRP $24.95)

'Androgychic' ID bracelet (RRP $29.95)

Both of these are really cool, real gold-plated pieces of jewellery that I'll actually wear. The ring has little hearts, but is chunky (which is a style that I love, and matches so many of my other rings!) and the bracelet is so effortlessly chic. 

Maybelline Colour Show Nail Polish (RRP $5.95 each)

These are both colours I'll wear, and who doesn't love receiving nail polish? 

Lonvitalite Collagen Firming and Moisturising Facial Mask (RRP $29 for 5 masks)

PureTan Organic Extra Virgin 100% Coconut Oil (RRP $11.95 for 65mL) I received a 15mL sample

I love a good cloth mask, and I especially love moisturising ones given how dry my face is. This mask claims to promote skin renewal to keep 'complexion looking firm, even toned and radiant...smooths fine lines and enhances moisture retention'

I am such a coconut oil lover. Not only is it an amazing hydrating treatment for your skin and hair, but it smells like summer! 

Designer Brands Chubby Lip Crayon (RRP $7.99)

Designer Brands Kohl Pencil (RRP $4.99)

Both of these are soft and pigmented, and easy to apply. I received the lip crayon in the colour 'enchanted rose'. In the booklet that came with the box, it looks like a pretty pinky red colour, but when swatched it comes out fairly neutral. So the colour itself isn't anything amazing, but I'm all about the lips and this is a pretty, neutral colour. I was also in the market for a new kohl eyeliner so I am really happy about receiving this! 

Overall, I could not be happier with what I received in my first month's box. I will use absolutely everything I received, and I genuinely love all of it! I also love that the box comes with a little magazine with details about all the products, and ideas on how to wear and style it all. 

Are you subscribed to any monthly subscription boxes?



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My Weekend in Pictures #38

I spent the past weekend in Mudgee, for a work friend's 21st birthday. Mudgee is a quaint little town, about a 4 hour drive North West from Sydney, in central Western NSW. L (whose birthday it was), grew up here, so took us all up to see her home town and celebrate her birthday. It was such a fantastic weekend; not only was it really nice to just get away from life for a couple of days and spend it with a couple of the work girls, but it was really cool getting to see where L grew up...I finally had an actual image in my head now of places and people she'd talked about. 

We headed down to the markets on Saturday, before returning back to L's to set up for the party. There was lots of cute items here, and lots of homemade food and wine. I also found this awesome vintage camera. Of course I had to buy it. Although the film is no longer made for it, I may be able to use a different sized film...so that will be a fun experiment! 

I picked up some seeds to bring home as a present for J

That night we celebrated L's 21st ... it was an absolutely gorgeous party; lanterns in the trees, fresh flowers and fruit punch adorned the tables, and fire pits to sit next to and be warm. 

Before heading home on Sunday we had lunch at High Valley; a vineyard and cheese factory. 

Where we sat and ate lunch was cute, and the food was amazing...I may have bought some tomato fetta to bring home with me. 

On the drive home we stopped at Capertee Valley and I snapped this photo of the world's widest canyon:

Such a cute weekend getaway; even though Mudgee is a small town there's plenty to explore. Even just looking at these photos is making me nostalgic, and I can't wait to go back again and explore more of it. 

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At Home Manicure...in Minutes!

So here's a poem I wrote the other day:

I love painting my nails. 

I love nail polish. 

I hate waiting for the nail polish to dry. 

I hate when you think the nail polish is dry, then you touch something and it smudges, and the world ends all my hard work is ruined. 

Smudgy nail polish drives me effing mental. I thought I'd share what nail polish products I use to keep my nails healthy, and dry my at home manicures quickly. 

My nail painting arsenal. 

I always start my nail painting by rubbing some of Manicare's Cuticle Therapy into my nail beds. My cuticles and the skin around my nails gets quite dry, which causes wicks (which btw I totally just learnt the "proper" term for them is 'hangnail'....the more you know!) which are painful. So the cuticle therapy is like an oil that you massage into your nail bed, to keep your nails hydrated. 

Once that's rubbed in all good and proper, I apply a base coat. I love Cutex's base coats because they dry relatively quickly. The one I'm using at the moment is their 2-in-1, with vitamins to also nourish the nail. (Not sure if that actually does anything or if that's just a marketing tool) By the time I've finished base-coating the last nail, the first nail I painted is dry. 

Then I apply my nailpolish of choice! 

So once I've finished painting my final nail, I go over the top of the colour with Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat. This is not an "instant dry" formula by any means, but it is fast.
It takes less than 5 minutes to completely dry my nails. If I'm experimenting with multiple colour layers or 'nail art' (I only put that in inverted commas because I'm not that great at it) I'll wait for the next layer to dry and then seal it all in with OPI's Top Coat.

And that's it!

What products do you use when painting your nails at home?



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Napoleon Perdis Birthday Haul

For my birthday one of my good friends, BR, gave me a gift voucher for Napoleon Perdis. (Thanks so much B!!!)
Apart from trying out products from the 'NP Set' when I was a teen, I've never had much exposure to their products. So I was pretty excited to get some fun new things to play with.

I ended up picking out two 'color disks' (does it bother anyone else that despite being Australian, NP spells colour the American way?) which are essentially single eye shadows, and a loose eye dust.

 

The colour disks are so, so pretty and so pigmented. I chose two fairly neutral colours, that I could create a variety of looks with. But I also wanted some colours I could just wear on their own for those lazy mornings. 

 

Left - Green Living; Right - Bronze Age

 

The palettes (containers?) themselves are plasticky, and kind of cheap. They have a teensy tiny mirror in them (smaller than the actual eyeshadow) which makes me think 'what's the point?' The packaging also doesn't have any kind of clasp to keep the lid down, which makes me nervous should I want to travel with them. 

The actual eyeshadows though, are smooth, super pigmented and last for ages on the eyelid.

I also picked up the loose eye dust in Bronze Ambition, which is  a bronzey-golden glitter eyeshadow. The packaging on this one is a million times better than the colour disks. I haven't had a chance to play with this one yet, but I'm thinking of using it for night time, when I want to amp up the colour a bit more.

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My (Last two) weeks in pictures #37

 

Have had a mountain of uni work and assignments keeping me from doing the things I love...like blogging. So this week I will be catching you all up on my past two weeks! 

  

I worked at the election last Saturday, and was super happy to show off my pale-skinned legs. Hooray Spring is here! 

 

I bought some flowers to brighten up my desk space. 

 

I was thrilled to see we are stocking '500 Words of Wisdom' at work, and snatched up a copy straight away. I also enjoyed some tea with my cute new strainer. 

In fitness news...

 

I finally kicked up the nerves to lay back in the Remi Sit. This move is not hard, but extremely owwie. I also ventured out of the house for a run ... my first run since I took a break from refereeing in March. My cardio has a lot of work to go.

  

I played around with some balancing on the grass afterwards.  Words can't even explain my excitement at getting a free balancing headstand. 

   

On Thursday night, I got some drinks and dinner with my bestie. She took me to Tio's..an awesome mexican tequila bar in Surry Hills. We got salted beers and lots of free popcorn. 

On Friday night I went out to Darling Harbour and saw the Blue Man Group at the Lyric Theatre. Amazing, amazing show. So glad I got to see it! 

Saturday was J's birthday, so we headed in to Newtown for Japanese at Iiza. We'e been to this restaurant a few times, and everytime it is amazing. I didn't snap photos of all the meals, because I was starving, but below is a shot of the teriyaki duck and our desserts - creme brulee and a molten chocolate cake. Decadent!

So... I ate out 3 nights in a row. So indulgent! What was the most indulgent thing you did this week?



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