I am leaving on a jet plane #

It is almost 4am and I am SO excited, because I am leaving on a jet plane today!! :) I have been counting down to this holiday since booking my trip back in October. This Easter weekend (extra long one for me because am taking Thursday off - woop woop) I will be going to Sydney, Australia. 

Sydney is one of my FAVOURITE cities in the whole world.

I can't wait to go shopping, hang out with my gorgeous friend Emma, party, eat & drink lots of yummy things and just generally have an AWESOME time.

Will share pictures and purchases (think there will be quite a few.....) when I return! I hope you all have a super duper Easter weekend. Mwah xoxo

Knight Divine FOTD

This is one of my regular and favourite eye makeup looks. A soft grey smoking eye using Knight Divine.

MAC Knight Divine is a veluxe pearl eye shadow that is described by MAC as a Black w/silver pearl. I personally feel it more of a blue-ish/grey black. This shade blends beautifully and is perfect for a soft or dramatic smokey eye.  

♥Face:
Revlon PhotoReady Foundation - Shade 008*
MAC Studio Fix Powder NC20
Revlon New Complexion bronzing powder in Sun*
MAC Iridescent Powder - Belightful*
NYX Blush Powder in Angel
* Expect upcoming reviews on these products! :)

♥Eyes:

MAC Bare Study Paint pot (base)
MAC Naked Pigment (all over lid)
MAC Knight Divine (crease & outer V & lower lash line)
MAC Black Tied (Outer V)

MAC Brule (brow bone highlight)
MAC Frost Pigment (tear duct)
MAC Smolder eyeliner (waterline)
MAC Liquid Liner (upper lash line)
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

♥Lips:
NYX Round lip-gloss in Whipped

PS: I think this look is similar but maybe a little softer/lighter version of the Kim Kardashian Smokey Eye Tutorial she has on her website. It's a great tutorial to watch!  

Happy Hump Day %

My very first....

Hi ladies,

I finally decided to do it; my very first....VIDEO TUTORIAL!

The look I created for my tutorial was a simple natural smokey eye using my Sleek Storm Palette.  This is the finished look:

Before the start of the video I had already applied the following products:

MAC Studio Fix Fluid & Powder in NC20

NARS Orgasm Blush

MAC MSF Sunny by Nature Bronzer

Bobby Brown - Natural Brow shaper

So you would like to see how I created this look, please watch the tutorial below :)

I finished off the look with Australis (colour inject, mineral) lip-gloss in "Contemporary". This lip-gloss was a recent drug store purchase (at only NZ$11!) and love it.  Very gorgeous pink beige nude crème shade, plus it has the most delicious lychee/peaches fragrance! I love it when a lip-gloss has a yummy taste :)

Hope you all liked the video tutorial? If yes; I will plan to do more! 

Back in the good books :)

OK Charlize Theron is back in my good books after seeing these pictures of her at the American Cinematheque Awards in Beverly Hills. Stunning hair, makeup and outfit! So gorgeous I might be able to forgive your 2010 Oscars slip up ;) Want try this make up as an inspired FOTD soon!

PS: Charlize wore a Givenchy dress, Stella McCartney shoes and a Jimmy Choo clutch - L.O.V.E!

NYX Angel

NYX Powder Blush in Angel - I have read many reviews on this product and now that I finally have it myself, I definitely think it lives up to its reputation.  Angel is a pretty soft pink colour that seems to work with any eye & lip look it is paired with. There's a slight shimmer to the colour in the pan, but once applied you can hardly detect any shimmer at all whilst still giving a lovely glow to the skin.

Below is the blush swatched on my hand. It was quite tricky to get the true colour to reflect in the photo but I as you can see it's a very natural pink blush that is soft and perfect for every day use.

With it's dirt cheap price, lovely colour & great pigmentation; what is there not to love? Feel this blush will become one of my new faves! 

PS: I have read that NYX Angel is a close "dupe" to MAC Well Dressed blush (which has been on my wishlist for a while) Does anyone have both Well Dressed & Angel and can tell me if they are indeed similar??

Quick & Easy FOTD

Happy Friday everyone!
Today I did a quick & easy FOTD using 2 of my new NYX products from a recent haul.

1 ) NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Nude. Think this a wonderful little powder. The colour is called Nude but I would describe it more as a very shimmery light gold. Very pigmented and lots of shine! It is great as a overall lid colour or can be used as highlighter or for inner corner of the eye. I would definitely recommend using a base on the eyes (like paint pot or UDPP) to get longer lasting power. The powder is beautiful when you foil it too. One negative about this product is its packaging. Think I might need to transfer the powder into another pot because it is so hard to work with from the packaging it comes with!

2) NYX slim eye pencil in Cafe. Very creamy liner in a sparkly brown colour. Because of its very cheap price this liner is quite good value for money but think the staying power could be better. It doesn't fade too quickly, but it also doesn't stay bold and vibrant after a handful of hours. Probably would last longer when set with eye shadow.

♥Eyes:

MAC Bare Study Paint pot (base)
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania - Nude (all over lid)
MAC Crochet e/s (crease for a bit definition)
NYX Slim eye pencil - Cafe (upper & lower lash line)

MAC Brule (brow bone highlight))
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

♥Lips:
MAC Lovelorn lipstick

On another note, check out my shoes of the day - aren't they just awesome!? :p

Went to the movie Shutter Island tonight, was expecting it to be scary but it wasn't at all! More mystery drama type of film. Not amazing but not bad either. 

Oh how I love Friday nights, 2 days of sleep in ahead :) Night night!

Victoria Secret Inspired FOTD >

Just like many girls out there, I secretly dream of becoming a Victoria Secret Angel! Haha well a girl is allowed to dream right? ;)

Some of my all time favourite VS Angels are Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, Tyra Banks & Karen Mulder and Doutzen Kroes (both fellow Dutchy's!)  They are all so gorgeous!

I love watching the VS Fashion shows. The other day a repeat of their 2009 Fashion show was on TV and was just admiring all the stunning models with their big wavy hair & their dewy and sparkly-looking pink makeup! Check out  these images of Miranda & Doutzen at the 2009 Fashion show for a better idea of their make up. 

I really wanted to try to copy this look. 

So here it is my Victoria Secret Inspired FOTD :)

♥ Face:

MAC Studio Fix Fluid & Powder NC20

NARS Orgasm 

MAC Bronzer - Refined Golden

MAC Belightful Iridescent Powder

♥ Eyes:

MAC Bare Study Paint pot (base - all over lid)
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Milk (base inner corner & tear duct)
Sleek Storm Palette - Light brown/taupe matte colour (all over lid)
NARS Hula Hula Duo - strawberry pink with gold particles (crease & blend to just below brow bone)

Sleek Storm Palette - Light champagne/white colour (inner eye & tear duct)
MAC - All that glitters (lower lash line inner to mid)
Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette - mix of silver &  more muted grey (lower & top lash line)

MAC Dazzlelight (brow bone highlight)
NYX Jumbo Pencil - Milk (waterline)
CS Gel Liner - True Black (thin line on upper lash line)
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

♥ Lips:
NYX Mega Shine Lip gloss in Smokey Look

I really love this look !! It is soft and girlie but sexy, glamorous and sparkly at the same time! All I need now is my Angel Wings :p

Happy Hump Day %

Perhaps a good one to print and keep in your

wallet for one of those night's out? ;)

Have a great day everyday! Count down until the weekend is ON!

Elephantastic Pink

NOTD is OPI Elephantastic Pink 

Great texture, long lasting and I applied 2 coats with no streaking - Perfect!
Absolutely adore this pink polish. It is a bright carnation pink that almost has a tiny touch of a neon feel to it. Super girly and vibrant...wearing it makes me feel a bit like Barbie ;)

"I'm the King of the world!"

Or ehhh....maybe Queen? ;)
Thought I would give you all a quick update on my weekend road trip. Well I did it, I completed the Tongariro Crossing!! We ended up doing it in about 5 hours (including stops to re-fuel). 
Speedy Gonzales we were :) 

This is me on top of the mountain by the blue crater lakes. Stunning! (the views that is) haha!
Back at work today with sore legs and bottom, but it was fully worth it. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend too :)

Sleek "Storm" Palette

Sleek MakeUP is a UK based lower budget cosmetics brand and is mainly known for their range of 12-colour i-Divine Palettes. You can buy the Sleek palettes at Superdrug in the UK or if you live out of Europe you can get your hands on one of these palettes online, either through EBay or other online cosmetic websites. I got my palette through Crush Cosmetics.

This is my review on the Storm Palette. The palette contains 12 mineral-based eye shadows in gorgeous jewel tones. There are three matte shades (a light brown, dark brown and black) and the rest are highly shimmery, beautifully rich and pigmented shadows. They are slightly smaller than a MAC shadow, and the texture of them is quite different. Although they are pressed powders, they are almost creamy in texture - which gives a lovely metallic finish

Colour descriptions:

Top Row L-R: shimmery pale gold, shimmery light 'champagne' gold, matte light brown, shimmery dirty gold, shimmery light pink, shimmery 'cranberry'.
Bottom Row L-R: shimmery bronze, shimmery grey/blue, shimmery green, shimmery dark blue with hint of purple, matte dark brown, matte black.

Swatches

PRO's

- Great pigmentation and true to the colours as what you see on the pan

- Great selection of colours, it has both neutrals and dramatic colours.

- Has both matte (3x) and shimmery (9x) colours

- Long lasting and doesn't fade easily (when used with base or primer)

- Smooth texture
- Shades are easy to blend, meaning you can control the intensity of the colour
- Very affordable price tag (sells for £4.99 in the UK. I paid AUS$18.95 for mine)

CON's

- A bit powdery so you have to be careful with fallouts
- Shadows are quite soft so could have tendency to break easily when travelling.

- Palette doesn't really have a great brow highlight colour. I personally find the lighter colours a bit too much to use as brow highlight (however great for inner eye highlight!)

Overall I think that if you like neutrals & smokey eyes then the Storm Palette is a fantastic versatile palette to own!  You can easily create a soft neutral eye for the day with the lighter shades or a more dramatic smoky eye with the darker colors.  I can definitely see why the Sleek MakeUP palettes have become so popular. Even though I think that the quality isn't as good as say MAC or other high end brands but for the amazingly low price you get a fantastic selection of colours that are very pigmented and pretty good quality. Good value for money. Expect some FOTD's coming up with this new palette :)

I might consider getting some of their other palette's now like Original or Graphite! Do you own any of the Sleek Palette's? If so which ones and what do you think of them?

Crush Cosmetics Haul

Happy  Friday everyone!

I received my Crush Cosmetics order today which I placed earlier in the week. So happy!! The products I got were:

♥ Sleek iDivine Eyeshadow Palette - Storm

♥ NYX Lip glosses;  Whipped and Sorbet

♥ NYX Orange Soda Round lipstick

♥ NYX Ultra Pearl Mania - Nude

♥ NYX Powder Blush - Angel

♥ NYX Slim lip pencil, Natural & Dolly Pink

♥ NYX Slim Eye pencil - Charcoal

♥ NYX Slim eye pencil - Cafe

♥ China Glaze nail polish- For Audrey

I can't wait to try out these new products and review them!

However, there will be no beauty posts from me this weekend because I am going on a road trip!  I will be completing a massive walk this weekend called the Tongariro crossing in NZ. The crossing passes over the volcanic terrain of the multi-cratered active volcano Mt Tongariro & passing the eastern base of Mt Ngauruhoe.

The 19.4km walk is renowned for its barred yet beautiful "moon like" volcanic landscape, unusual geological features, visible volcanic activity and views of the surrounding country side below.
It should take me and a group of friends about 6-9hrs to complete (yikes!)

I am really looking forward to it but am hoping the weather will be nice and my legs will survive ;) LOL. Wish me luck!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! MWAH xoxo

Mac Pigments +

I love my MAC pigments! I have managed to accumulate quite a collection of colours over the years by buying the small "test" pots online.

What is a pigment some of you may ask? A pigment is a highly concentrated loose colour powder that contains ingredients to help it adhere to the skin. With it you can create a subtle wash of colour or an intense effect. It doesn't streak or cake & is very easy to blend and long-lasting. Pigments are highly versatile because it has numerous uses and is often collected. They come in a variety of finishes varying from matte to a finish similar to lustre eye shadows in loose form. 

♥ How & where can you wear MAC pigments? 

The most common uses for MAC pigments are on the eyes and the lips, but pigments can be used anywhere on the face, décolleté, cheeks, eyes, lips, nails and hair. They can be used as a blush, contour, highlight, to enhance, whatever you want - anything, anywhere.

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments on the eyes?
Using pigments as a loose eye shadow can be difficult, and it's best to use a base to help them adhere. Many products can be used as a base. The most popular are Urban Decay's Primer Potion, MAC Shade sticks, MAC Paints, MAC Cream Colour Bases, Mixing Mediums, water, or saline drops (such as Visine). Anything that is tacky, or helps the pigment to stick to your skin will help. Not only will this help the pigments stay put, but will aid makeup in lasting all day, and night, if need be. You can also combine a drop of water, mixing medium, visine, or other liquid of your choice with a pigment forming a sort of 'paint' which will create a more metallic, satin or smooth finish. Pigments can also be used as an eyeliner, wash, contour, highlight, all over colour, or however you choose to use them.

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments on the lips?

There are a few techniques for using pigments in lip colour. You can mix the pigment with clear or coloured lip gloss in a separate jar, or you can apply a bit of pigment to your lips after putting gloss on, blend, and then add another coat of gloss on top.

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments in nail colour?

You can add pigments to clear nail polish to create your own colour. It is a good idea to use a jar of polish that has the little metal agitator pellet in it. If your polish does not have the agitator ball, you can use a small be-be or ball bearing, which you can generally find at craft stores or hobby shops. Using these metal balls allows you to continue to mix the two elements together. You can also use pigments and glitters by sprinkling them over nail polish before it has dried.

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments as body shimmer?

You can add pigments to body cream by putting a dab of cream in your hand, sprinkling pigment on top and mixing together to create a beautiful shimmery body lotion. You can also add pigments to any foundation or facial cream to give it a pearlescent or shimmer effect.

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments as cheek colour? Apply small dabs of the pigment across your cheek like a football player line, and then blend in with your fingers or a brush. 

♥ What techniques are used to wear MAC pigments on hair?

Take your favourite hair styling product (cream, mousse, gel etc.), sprinkle a bit of pigment over it and mix well. Then streak it through your hair, or use all over for a total effect. If pigments or glitters are just dusted over your hair without mixing with something to help them adhere to the hair, they can spill out causing pigment to be everywhere.

Today I created a FOTD with 3 of my favourite MAC pigments; Naked (fleshy beige with pearl), Tan (muted pinky brown bronze) & Cocomotion (golden light brown with shimmer)

♥ Face:

Studio Fix Fluid & Powder in NC20

MAC Peachykeen blush

MAC MSF Sunny by Nature Bronzer

♥ Eyes:
UDPP (base)
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Milk (inner corner of eye)
MAC Naked Pigment (inner corner of eye)
MAC Tan Pigment (all over lid & lower lash line)
MAC Cocomotion Pigment (crease & lower lash line)
MAC Brule e/s (brow bone highlight)
MAC Smolder (waterline)
CS Gel Liner - True Black (upper lash line)
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

♥ Lips:
NYX Acapulco Lipstick
Victoria Secret - Sensual Strawberry clear gloss

Some of my other favourite pigments are: Melon, Nightlight, Jardin Aires, Subtle, Vanilla, Violet, Smoke Signal & Reflects Antique Gold (glitter).
What are your favourite MAC pigments?

Touch of Mauve

NOTD: Revlon nail polish in Touch of Mauve

Natural Light

With flash/sunlight

This is one of my HG polishes that this elegant and perfect for everyday wear. I think it is more of a dusty nude/pink than mauve but I still love it :)

Happy Hump Day

Woke up this morning to rain and cold weather, yuck!  

Summer pretty please stay around a little longer!

 I hope you all have a wonderful day ♥

MAC Face chart - Bonus Beat =

Today I created a look inspired by the below face chart MAC did for its Heatherette collection.

Because I didn't have all the same products, I improvised :)

Here is my Bonus Beat FOTD:

♥ Face:

Studio Fix Fluid & Powder in NC20
MAC MSF Sunny by Nature Bronzer
Chi Chi - Love Machine (blush)

♥ Eyes:

MAC Rubenesque Paint pot (base)
MAC Grain (brow highlight)

MAC Jardin Aires Pigment (all over lid)

MAC Crochet (crease)

MAC Shale (lower lashline)

MAC Smolder eyeliner (upper lashline)
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

♥ Lips:

L'Oreal Color Riche Star Secret #708
Forever 21, clear lip gloss

I quite like the peachy, gold lid &  purple lower lash line combo! What do you think?

Pump up the volume

Want to pump up the volume on your hair without weighing it down? Then look no further...Aveda Volumizing Tonic is here to help!

The tonic comes in a glass spray bottle, and it can be used on wet or dry hair to add instant volume. 

The problem I find with my hair is that it is quite fine & thin but then I have LOTS of it. Because my hair is pretty long these days, all this hair just makes it flat at the top and weighs it down :(

I have tried many volumizing mousses & root lifting sprays in the past but found they always made my hair so stiff, sticky and dirty!
Aveda Volumizing Tonic is better than anything I have tried before! It gives me great volume (at the roots) & does not make my hair feel sticky at all.

How do I use it? After washing my hair I "rough-dry" it upside down by using a blow dryer and my  fingers until it's about 70% dry.
I then lift sections of my hair and spray the tonic onto the roots. I use a round brush and my blow dryer or hands to further enhance the volume.

And there you have it; beautiful, full, smooth, va va voom hair! Love it ♥

My 5 cents...

Hey ladies,

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend! I didn't get a lot of chance for blogging this weekend because I had my mum's cousins visiting Wellington & staying with me in my apartment. 


OMG so sorry but I need to have a little rant! I know this is probably old news to a lot of people but I finally got round to watching the Bachelor finale where Jake chooses between Vienna and Tenley and proposes to the love of his life.....which is Vienna???!! 

Like wtf that was soooo the wrong choice;  I loved Tenley and thought she was so much better for him than Vienna. I don't think they'll last very long! Haha anyways that was my 5 cents on that, what did you think? 


Also this is just a quick FOTD of my make up on Sunday:

♥ Eyes:

MAC Bare Canvas Painpot (base)

MAC Sweet Sienna pigment (all over lid)

NARS Hula Hula duo - pink  colour (crease & lower lash line)

MAC Shroom (under brow bone highlight)
MAC Smolder eyeliner (upper lash line & waterline)
MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

♥ Lips:

MAC Angel lipstick