Violet Box July 2014

My only beauty box for the month is here!!  Slightly slower postage than normal, don't ask me why, but it's safely here with me.

It's a brand new packaging month.  This is now the outer box, you can clearly see it's a violet box now (which is great for me, i know exactly what i'm getting, but it may also make them more of a target, as others also know what it is). 

VB's are now white with a pretty grey design, and the insert slides out (and there's purple ribbon on one side to help pull it out).  I really like the design, and think they could be easier to reuse now.

Sneak peek for next month-Be a Bombshell eye shadow quad!!

Laqa & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil-RRP $20-full size

This is very reminiscent of Revlon's Just Bitten pencils, right down to the scent.  No idea what colour it is (name, anyway), but it's a gorgeous bright peach.  It goes on smoothly, is highly pigmented, and smells of mint.  It isn't a colour i'd buy normally, but i'm happy to have it.  I buy these boxes to try new things, so a different colour is perfect.

So Susan Flutter Mascara-RRP $32-full size

Applying this to my hand it goes on lovely and smooth.  It's made with hyaluronic spheres which are supposed to give you the 'darkest, curviest lashes possible'.  Keep an eye out, i'll post a full review in the next few weeks.

KMS California Hair Play Molding Paste-RRP $33-sample size (20ml)

My son wants to go as a hobbit for book week, so we'll give this a go then.  It's a great sample size, enough product to give it a proper go.

Skin & Co Truffle Therapy Serum-RRP $75-sample size (5ml)

This sounds interesting.  It smells like coconut, and is made in Italy!  A new brand for me, and for VB.  It's a beauty base serum, and helps reduce fine lines and wrinkle by fighting off free radicals and boosting hydration.

Dr. Hauschka Lavender and Sandalwood Calming Body Wash-RRP $26 ($6 for 10ml)-sample size (10ml)

If you don't like lavender then you will hate this body wash, it smells like lavender oil (strongly too).  I love it though, and i might store it away to take with me when i next go to visit my parents.

Sukin Skin Purifying Facial Mask-RRP $15-sample size (8mlx2)

This is a kaolin base mask, with Aloe vera, Rose hil and jojoba oils, to draw out impurities whilst nourishing.  I love the fact that there are 2 of these, it gives you a chance to try it out more than once.

Finally a bonus sample that isn't included on the card.  A card sample of Killer Queen from Katy Perry.  I have Purr here, and really like it, so i'm excited to try this.

Laqa & co and So Susan swatches

So, that's that.  Only 2 repeat brands (so susan and KMS) that i can tell, 2 brands i've never heard of, and 1 item that is also in a current US bag.  VB keep bringing in new brands, and seem to constantly be on trend.  Long Live VB!!

Look what i have in my hot little hands.......

I think i may have bought the last one in Canberra.  This is Essence Trend Edition Dark Romance lipstick in 01 Red Romance.  There are ACT and surrounds, and i found this in the 5th one i looked in, and there was only 1, so if you are at all interested in this Trend Edition, grab what you want now, i saw varying amounts of stock left in the stores i went to, but a lot are running out of items.

I'm so glad i found this, it is a gorgeous berry lipstick, and like all Essence lipsticks it is beautifully smooth, doesn't dry out your lips and is well pigmented.

I also picked up the other suede look nail polish from the collection, 03 Moonless Night, a gorgeous dark grey-blue creme (sorry for the shocking photo, Master T was 'helping'.  See the lovely blurry hand pictured?)
 
Finally, i was reading about these on another blog, and the nerd in me had to have this one.

 Face Of Australia Dark Side nail polish in Voldemort!!!!  I am Harry Potter obsessed, and most of the nail polishes that have been created around the series are indie ones and therefore slightly out of reach, so being able to get this for $4.95 was wonderful.  It's a top coat, with varying sizes of black and turquoise 'glitter' (it isn't sparkly glitter, though).  Only thing i would change about it is make the glitter green instead of turquoise, it would better fit it's namesake.

So, there you go, a couple of the items i've desperately wanted and have finally found!

Hello Fresh!

Hi All!

I think by now nearly everyone who subscribes to an Aussie beauty box knows about Hello Fresh, right?  For those who don't, Hello Fresh is a meal 'box' (for lack of a better word) that sends out a box of meal ingredients.  You can choose to have 3 or 5 meals delivered, for either 2, 4 or 6 people, and you'll get a box with recipes and everything needed to make them.  A 2 person, 3 meal box is $64 (that's for the Classics box, there is also a vegetarian box which is $59), which isn't exactly cheap, but everything you get is great quality and is fresh.  The delivery area is small, but if you're in Brisbane/Gold Coast, Sydney/Central Coast, Canberra and Melbourne you should be fine.

Anyway, a mum from my online mother's group uses Hello Fresh regularly, and was offered a few to give away to friends, and i gladly took her up on the offer.  My Classics box was delivered this morning, and i thought i'd show everyone exactly what Hello Fresh was all about.

 This is how it arrives.  I opted to have mine left at my front door, and i came home to this waiting for me.

 Inside the cardboard box looks like this.  All the veg/herbs etc are on one side, and a styrofoam box holds a cold pack and my meat/cheese.

 All my ingredients.  As you can see the boxes come with plenty of food, and everything is provided, down to the onion and garlic.  The only things i can see that you are expected to supply are things like olive oil and salt/pepper.  The meat looks amazing, and the vegies are all as fresh as possible.

Finally my recipes, a welcome booklet and a couple of discount vouchers for other businesses.

My recipes for the week are Oven Baked chicken with grapes and brussels sprouts, Pork Cutlets with asian slaw-fry and Roasted vegetable quesadilla, the 5 meal menu also included Salmon with moroccan couscous and Winter pasta bake.  The recipes are short and sweet, very easy to follow, and are supposed to take under 30 mins.  They really look fool proof!

If our family was smaller, or we didn't have kids, i'd certainly continue with this subscription, unfortunately it doesn't work for us atm.  But it is definitely worth trying out.

If you are interested, using the code 9889FV will get you $30 off your first box!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  Are you interested?

More Essence......

I know, right, more Essence! 

One of my local Pricelines had chucked some different Limited Editions in to their clearance bin the other day, and i managed to grab some.  I originally went in to buy some of the current edition (Dark Romance), so ended up getting more than planned.   FYI Dark Romance seems to be flying off the shelves, if you are at all interested i'd hurry up, i'm on the hunt for 1 of the lipsticks, and so far the Pricelines i have been to are sold out.

What i originally went in for.  I managed to grab the Velvet Mousse Blush in 01 Painted Love and the Lipstick in 02 Painted Love (there's a darker red available in both).  The packaging is beautiful, the blush has a lovely lace pattern around the bottom of the tub, and the black is matte black.  Both feel sturdy as with all Essence makeup.  These are both a pretty red, the blush almost looks like a watermelon colour, and lipstick is a pinky-red.  The blush is extremely pigmented, but blends out easily (you only need the smallest amount, though).  The lipstick is the same quality as all my Essence lipsticks, nicely pigmented and non drying.  Both are unscented.

I can't wait to give this blush a proper go.  It feels amazing on my hand, very soft and light.  The lipstick will also get a workout, it's the perfect red for me.  By memory the Blush retails for $4.50, the lipstick for $3.50.

Velvet mousse blush both blended out and unblended, lipstick

2 of my clearance items, Metal Glam Blush in 01 Glam-me and Lipgloss in 03 Glam-me.  The blush is a gorgeous shimmery coral blush that is a nice smooth liquid (unscented, easy to use so on so forth).  The lipgloss is a champagne-y coloured sheer lipgloss, blackberry scented and easy to use. 

Metal Glam was one of the LE's i wasn't overly fussed about when it first came out, but these are both lovely products.

Blush and Lipgloss

Finally 2 more nail polishes.  Cherry Blossom Girl nail polish in 04 It's Peach Not Cherry, and Season of Extremes in 04 Just The Nude Of Us.  The Cherry Blossom Girl is a gorgeous Peach cream, Season of Extremes is a double ended nail polish, one end is a nude cream, the other is a transparent bluey-green shimmer (these are designed to be worn separately or together, to create your own look).

There you go!  Hopefully the priceline i'm heading to today has the final piece of the Dark Romance piece i'm looking for!

My New Earrings

Morning all!

I'm taking a slightly different path this morning, and discussing my brand new earrings.  Now, they aren't normal earrings, I have stretched ears (only very slightly, they still look like normal piercings when out), and i bought some new hangies from my favourite body jewellery store a few weeks ago.  They turned up earlier this week, and i want to show them off!!

Firstly I'll tell you about this amazing online store.  It's called Body Art Forms, and they sell almost any body jewellery your heart desires.  They have a great range of economy body jewellery, a range of higher end jewellery, and they have a preorder system, where you can order jewellery to your specifications from top brands (places like Anatometal, Industrial Strength and Neometal).  Along with all this there is a great messageboard, where you can get advice from other BAF shoppers about problems, piercings and jewellery.  They ship internationally, which is great, and shipping costs are reasonable.  what more could you want?

Any way, a few weeks ago a grab bag popped up in the clearance section, and i managed to grab one in my size (There are still a few left at 6g, but none of the others).  3 pairs of organic hangies for US$15.95, most hangies sell for $20+, so even if only 1 pair was to my liking, i was still saving money (oh, it came down cheaper!  I've bought enough to get a 10% saving off my purchases, and i had $2 store credit).  Plus i wanted a pair of big CBRs for a project i want to start.  All up, including postage, my total was US$22.88!  Bargain!  2 weeks after i ordered my parcel was here on my doorstep.

Here's what i received-

 These are gorgeous on.  They're Golden horn (i think), and as you can see from the crappy photo below, they are an amber colour in light (with a gorgeous darker stripe through them).  Golden horn hangies sell for more than $30 normally on BAF, so these make the entire bag worthwhile (none of the styles are still available on BAF, they're all old designs).

These also show up amber under light, but not as clearly as the first pair, so i think they might also be golden horn.  Styles like this are going for around the $25 mark, and they are cute on.  They show up black when worn.

These look to be wooden pinchers.  I'm not overly fussed on them, but they may come in handy some time.

These are the CBRs i grabbed in addition to the grab bag, if the project i have in mind works i'll show them off completed.

So, there you go!  My $15.95 grab bag ended up being worth $60-$80, and i got 2 pairs that i really like.  Score!

June Empties 2014

Late empties post (sorry).

 Last month was a ' use up all those half empty shampoo's/conditioners'  month.  I had a shower full of bottles, so it's nice to have the space back.

Protane moroccan argan oil shampoo-This is from Aldi.  I don't like it, it didn't seem to get right down to my scalp, and my hair didn't feel properly clean after using it (it looked dirty too quickly), plus in combination with the matching conditioner it was too heavy for my hair.  Hubby loves it though.
Pantene-I don't mind Pantene, i know a lot of people don't like it, though.  The ' normal'  stuff is from a box of haircare i was sent a couple of years ago, I prefer the Aqua Light (bought on sale at Priceline, a 3 piece pack for $4.99).
Andrew Collinge-Bah!  Didn't like, did nothing it claimed to, wouldn't touch the brand again.
EVO-i love this, but after looking up the prices online it is out of reach :( 
Aveda hair oil-OMG, I want the full size!  Non greasy, didn't weigh my hair down, and smelt amazing.  Such a tiny sample went a long way, too.
Loreal ever pure-There was only enough for 1 use in these, nice but would need a bigger sample to give it a good go.

Neostrata Illuminating serum-why do companies insist on such small samples?  I couldn't judge anything off this other than it didn't make me breakout.
Solace (i think) coconut and lime body wash-cheap and nasty.  Bought because it came with a gorgeous teddy bear at the after xmas sales. 
Hydropeptide samples-I won a travel kit off Beauty Diary, again they're all too small to tell anything really.
Kosmea Rose Hip Oil-I think i prefer Trilogy, but it was still nice.  The bottle is now full of Emu oil (hence it doesn't look empty)
Mirenesse Mascara-I've only used this once, but i hated it.  It didn't want to dry, it didn't do anything for my lashes, just really yuck.  It's going.

There you go, only a small empties post, although it's nice to see the back of some of the products.

Goulburn Trip Haul!

Hi all!  Long time no blog.

It's school holidays here, so Hubby and i thought we'd take the kidlets on an adventure.  We went by train to Goulburn for the day, and i couldn't help looking through the make up sections in a few shops.  Goulburn has pretty much the same shops as here, but of course clearance bins differ where ever you go.

My haul!  Most of it came from Target, which had a great clearance area.  I ended up grabbing 10 items (the 2 models prefer lip crayons were from Priceline, the 2 pack for $5), although there were plenty of other great items to be had.

Maybelline Color Show in 390 Audacious Asphalt-RRP $5.95-Paid 10c

This is a light grey cream nail polish, very pretty and the perfect basic grey.  I love all things grey, so i had to have this.

B Collection in Zurich-RRP $14.95-Paid 10c







This looks like a french manicure colour.  A translucent beige.

Sinful Colours in Calypso-RRP $4-Paid 10c


This was hard to photograph.  It's a dark green-blue cream.

Essence Show Your Feet LE in 22 Green Lagoon-RRP $3.95-Paid $1



Gorgeous turquoise green cream.  Not as opaque as the bottle claims, though.

Loreal Colour Riche in 112 Marrakech Sand-RRP $6.95-Paid 10c


Really pretty apricot cream.  My favourite of the lot.

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 460 Limealicious-RRP $7.95-Paid 10c


Footy Nail polish!  My team are known as the green machine, so this is perfect.  A bit streaky at 2 coats, but should be good with 3.

 Max Factor Masterpiece in Stardust-RRP $19.95-Paid 10c

This is a bluey-silver eyeshadow.  I tested it on my hand yesterday, and then put gloves on over the top.  Hours later it hadn't budged.  Looking forward to giving it a proper go.

Australis Paparazzi Perfect Concealer in Light/Medium-RRP $11.95-Paid $1


I've read some good things about this.  It goes on lovely and smooth, and it's easy to regulate how much comes out of the tube.

Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in 13 Remember Amber-RRP $2.75-Paid 10c


This is a pretty butter yellow.  Have no idea when i'll get a chance to use it, but it's so smooth it'll be a dream to apply.

Loreal Nudes for Life lip liner in Belle Naturelle-RRP $31.59-Paid 10c


This has a sharpener in one end!  It's quite dark, but will make a perfect base under a too-light lipstick.

There you go!  $109.99 worth of cosmetics for $2.80.  It's mainly all older lines, but still is a great bargain.

Models Prefer Lip Crayons in Black Cherry and Raspberry Ripple.



These were a 2 pack, originally $9.95 but marked down to $5.  They're unscented and go on sheer.  They do apply nicely, but are hard to build on and would make a lovely day colour or on top of a lip stain.

Australis concealer, Masterpiece eyeshadow, Essence eye liner, Loreal Nudes for Life, Models Prefer raspberry ripple/black cherry

Maybelline colour show, B Collection, Loreal colour riche, Rimmel 60 seconds

Sinful Colours, Maybelline, Rimmel, Essence show your feet

There you go!  Everything listed for a grand total of $7.80!  Not too shabby at all.

What's your best bargain find?