Miss Prissypants

Goodbye and... Maybe Hello?

2011-12-18T10:04:00.000+10:30

I've had this blog for a couple of years now, and the obsession with makeup, perfume and making my skin look as smooth as a baby's butt (still trying) for several decades before that, so I think I've said and done all there is to say and do about that stuff for the moment. I've made loads of new friends from it, found some awesome blogs to read, and learned a million new things.

I'm not going to delete this blog, but I won't be updating it anymore. Instead I'm moving on to new pastures, and if you feel so inclined, I would be delighted if you would join me. It's called Year of the Tight Arse (Australian for someone who doesn't like spending money), and I do intend to chronicle my adventures with frugality - not a natural state for me, I should add. However, it's also a sort of anything-goes blog, where I can feel free to write whatever I want without worrying about whether I'm annoying people who just want to look at lipstick swatches. And for those who care about such things (me!), there will still be some makeup mentions and things like monthly empties posts, for I am obsessed with emptying things of late and that shows no sign of abating any time soon.

Thank you to everyone who followed and/or read my ramblings here. It's been lovely. :-)

And as a final treat, here's 5 blogs you should be reading if you're not already.

Beauty Reductionista: Liz is a Canadanian (that's how you say it, right?) who created a blog to chronicle her attempts at reducing a large stash of beauty products. Has she succeeded? It's been hit and miss. Regardless, she's interesting, funny and snarky without being mean. And she posts about some beautiful, beautiful things... even if I don't know what they are.

My Perfume Diaries: Su shares my love of perfume, but goes way beyond that since she actually makes the effort to learn about them, rather than just going, "This one's nice. This one's nice too. This one's nice. This one's nice too..." like me channelling that Melanie Griffith in The Simpsons. She can speak knowledgably without sounding like a wanker (no mean feat in the perfume blogging world, let me tell you), and if you have even the slightest interest in scent she will have you spending up big after you read her hauls and reviews. Hmm, maybe I should stop reading this one...

Dempeaux: Sarah is a whizz at making her own stuff from serums to hair growth products. Annoyingly she won't open a shop and sell it so I can buy it instead of getting off my butt and making my own. I'll keep nagging though. She also has a pet sheep called Lamington, which sounds just like the kind of name my mother (a sheep farmer) would call a sheep, and even a scarf made from his wool.You can learn about being healthy, or just look at pictures of pretty clothes. And both Noodle Arms and I think she looks like Alex from Law and Order: SVU, so we're kind of fans.

The Mustard Jumper: Natalie covers everything from fashion to football. I have little interest in either of those things, but her blog is one of my all time favourites, so I'm not kidding when I say she has something for everyone. Books, blogging, empties, it's all there. She is also responsible for me falling insanely in love with The Inbetweeners, a show I'm 25 years too old for (and probably the wrong gender).

Dresses & Snacks: Amy loves food and vintage/thrift shop fashion, and blogs lovingly about both. There are dresses and there are snacks, and there is also the world's cutest sausage dog (which takes some doing, because seriously - have you ever seen a non-cute sausage dog? I don't even like dogs and they turn me to mush). Oh, and there is also this. I kind of hate her for that one.

50 Book Challenge

2011-12-04T08:47:00.001+10:30

A crushing failure. I have not read more than 10 pages of a book in the last 3 months.I just can't seem to get reading mojo on, and let's face it, it's not likely to hit hard enough in the next few weeks for me to suddenly devour 27 books and get to 50. I am declaring now that I failed at this challenge for 2011. However, in 2012, I'll be going around again, so watch this space. For now, these are the last dregs I've been carrying around in a hopefully pathetic little list on my phone...

21. Bad Haircut - Tom Perrotta. The last of my Tom Perrotta books, and his first. And worst. It was... okay. A group of loosely connected stories about an angsty teenage boy that seem to have been written by an angsty teenage boy.

22. Miracle Cure - Harlan Coben. Extremely dated book about a bunch of people involved in seeking a cure for AIDS being murdered. Stupidest twist ending ever. AVOID.

23. Little Children - Tom Perrotta. Okay, so this is the last of my Tom Perrotta books. This is one of his more recent 'grown up' novels, about a bored stay-at-home mother who has an affair with a bored stay-at-home father. There's a paedophile who has just moved back into the neighbourhood to give everyone something to do as well. Basically, it's about the banality and small-mindedness of suburbia, and when I say it like that it sounds awful, but it's actually pretty good. I tried to watch the movie though, and that was awful.

Books I started but have not finished for whatever reason:
Eating Animals. It's in my desk drawer at work. I've read about two chapters.
Compacts and Cosmetics. Next to my bed, I read it when I wake up in the night and can't get back to sleep. It's really interesting, and I'm about half way through it. Written by Madeleine Marsh, who was featured in the Lisa Eldridge videos about vintage makeup a few months ago. If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend them, they're fascinating. You can watch the first one here and the second one here.
The Lucky Country. In my work bag, for those times when I'm sitting around a doctor's office or something. I've read about two or three chapters.
The Fall. Sitting on a shelf at my desk at work. After the awesomeness that was The Strain, this book is unbearably tedious. I've read about a third of it.
Catching Fire. I enjoyed The Hunger Games quite a lot (and I'm not someone who generally likes YA), but I just couldn't get into this. THG seems like it was originally a standalone story and then someone somewhere saw the snowball effect of Twilight and Harry Potter and thought cha-ching! This seems tacked on and unnecessary, and it takes FOREVER to go anywhere. In fact, it still hadn't gone anywhere when I gave up, which was about 1/3 of the way in.
Last Night In Twisted River. John Irving used to be my favourite author, and he wrote my all time favourite book, but I don't think I have the attention span for his rambling anymore. I read one chapter of this (in my defence, it's a really long chapter), and put it down, intending to come back to it. I can't quite make myself pick it up again.
We Need To Talk About Kevin. I slogged through about a third of this before I couldn't stand another word. Insufferably pretentious wankfest. I probably would have loved it as a teenager.
The Post-Birthday World. I bought this at the same time as WNTTAK, which is why I own two books by this author. Again, I read about a third and couldn't bear any more of it. It's a Sliding Doors 'what if' alternate lives kind of thing, but there is nothing interesting about the characters and the story is just fancied-up chick lit.

So, I'm calling it for the year. Come January 1, I'll be back in the challenge. If you did the 50 book challenge this year, tell me whether you made it or not. Feel free to gloat, I'm tough - I can take it.... *cry*...

November Empties

2011-12-03T18:48:00.001+10:30

The other day I was chatting to Liz from Beauty Reductionista about my growing obsession with emptying things, and how there's probably a reality show in there somewhere - sort of the opposite of Hoarders. She does empties posts when she's used up 10 items, whereas I like to do mine monthly, so there's always a bit of tension towards the end of the month about whether the dregs of something will be gone by the time the month is over. I don't allow myself to cheat and use double the amount of something I normally would or anything like that, but I have to tell you - it's tempting. Yes, I know. It's weird.

This month was a concentrated effort to use up some samples - some I gathered myself, and some that were sent to me by various enablers like Jade and Su. Noodle Arms and I went through all of my samples one afternoon - she chose what she wanted (hair products and body lotions), I chose what I wanted (anti-ageing stuff, hand cream, foundations and primers), we threw out a bunch of things that were of indeterminate age, and sent a bunch of other things off to a couple of people to play with. I won't comment much on the samples as there are quite a few of them, and I've already spoken about the Silk Naturals ones here, but I will say I loved the Paula's Choice Resist Daily Smoothing Treatment, and if I wasn't currently obsessing over Silk Naturals I'd be all over a full bottle of that. It made my skin feel as smooth as a baby's. And Noodle Arms loved the Garnier Body Intensive body lotion - the samples were from Jacquie, who received them in one of those monthly boxes, I think. Noodles definitely has that on her wishlist for Christmas.

MAC Cleanse Off Oil: Yet another cleanser that Jacquie bought and didn't like. It was okay, nothing bad but nothing special either. I accidentally used it on my eyes once and it made them sore and stingy for a couple of days. I'm not that big a fan of MAC so I wouldn't bother buying this myself.
L'Oreal Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover: I think I like the normal one better - I feel like I had to do a bit more work with this one, and I don't like having to rub around my eyes. Also, the packaging is crap - when you try to tip some onto a cotton pad it goes everywhere. Very wasteful. I wouldn't buy this one again, but I'd consider the normal one if they fixed the damn top of it.
Dove Foaming Make Up Remover: Everyone loves this stuff - I hated it. As soon as I put it on my face I could feel it drying my skin, and I couldn't get it off fast enough. It was like paint stripper. I ended up using it to shave my legs, and even then I had to slather them with body lotion immediately afterwards.
La Biosthetique Conditionneur Douceur: Beauty Heaven sent me a bunch of random stuff a while back for no apparent reason, and this was one of them. It was okay, nothing special. I liked the pump packaging, though. I wouldn't repurchase, especially since it's about $40.
Lacura Renew Multi Intensive Serum: This is Aldi's brand, and we don't have Aldi here in Adelaide. Apparently everyone went nuts for this when it was featured on A Current Affair or Today Tonight (judging all of you who watch those shows) and it was impossible to find for ages. Jacquie's mum, who lives interstate, kindly bought this one. It's a really nice moisturiser, but it ain't no serum. It doesn't particularly do anything other than moisturise. But at $10 I'd probably buy it again just for that reason.
Elizabeth Arden Sheer Lights Tinted Moisturiser: This is a chucker - it's probably still 1/3 full, but I've had it for at least 2 years, maybe closer to 3. Time to go. It never did much anyway - extremely sheer and barely any coverage to speak of.
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Line Smoothing Eye Cream: It's not only cleansers Jacquie buys and then decides she doesn't like - she also does it with eye creams. I have at least three that she's passed on to me (score!), and this is one of them. I really liked this, not least because it doesn't have that hideous fake chocolate smell that most Palmer's products have. It's very rich and it felt lovely on my eyes, though to be honest, I don't know that it did any line smoothing. It just felt nice. I'd buy it again but I have tons of eye creams and gels and serums.
Palmolive Naturals Milk and Shea Butter: This is a staple purchase for me, but I'm going to move more towards natural products next year so I might leave this for a while. I have a bottle on the go and when it's finished I'll start checking out some other brands like Sukin, etc.

Haus of Gloi Absinthe Sugar Exfoliant: This is pretty old - it's in one of their smaller jars. As I've mentioned before, I use these little jars of scrub on my hands, and I regularly buy Haus of Gloi ones because they're a great brand with excellent products and even more excellent customer service. The jar isn't empty at the moment because it's got some sunscreen that Jacquie gave to Noodles to sample in it.
A.S.A.P. Gentle Cleansing Gel: This came from Beauty Heaven in the same package as the conditioner - it was a trio of cleanser, tinted moisturiser and scrub. I didn't really like this - it was a bit too soapy.
Dermalogica Clean Start Wash Off: Noodles used to use this line but it stopped working for her, so she has a lot of bits and pieces floating around. She used the face wash just to get rid of it.
Unknown Mascara: Another Noodles one - she got it free with a Dolly magazine. Just some cheapo thing.
Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara: This came in one of the Lust Have It boxes (I cancelled after the third one - there was too much emphasis on tanning, nails and hair, none of which really interest me, and it seemed stupid to pay for samples each month when I already had a drawer full of them that weren't being used), and I wanted to like it because it did make my lashes look longer and thicker but it flaked and smudged like a mofo. It was like the L'Oreal ones all over again.
Silk Naturals samples:

Kiss Cleanser x 2
Apricot Cleansing Oil
BHA Toner x 2
AHA Toner
Vitamin C Peptide
Super Serum
Firming Moisturiser

These are all definite repurchases (as previously mentioned, I've already bought full sizes of most of them).

Me:

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Hilma
Paula's Choice Resist Daily Smoothing Treatment x 2
Paula's Choice Resist Optimal Results Hydrating Cleanser
Paula's Choice Moisture Boost Hydrating Toner
Paula's Choice Skin Revealing Body Lotion
John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shampoo and Conditioner

Noodles:

Primaria Bath of Life for Coloured and Dry Hair
L'Occitane Shine Mask for Dry and Damaged Hair
VO5 Silky Smooth Conditioner
Paula's Choice Beautiful Body Butter
Paula's Choice Comfort Shave Gel
Terax Miele Shampoo
Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion
Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Ultra-Softening Lotion x 2
Palmolive Naturals Hair Repair Shampoo and Conditioner

Awkward Social Encounters

2011-12-02T23:11:00.000+10:30

The Oatmeal

I'm not a social person, really. I used to be, but I think many years of working in customer service and having to speak politely to many, many people all day long has turned me into something of a hermit. I have a really limited tolerance for people, even those I like enormously. At some point when I am spending time with them, it occurs to me that I am over this now and I would like them to just leave.

One of the things I really struggle with is awkward social encounters - those moments where you are forced to interact with someone you don't really know, don't really like, or don't really have anything in common with. These are torture to me, and I do everything I can to avoid them, including - if I have to and I can get away with it - hiding around corners until they have gone.The reason I was thinking about this is because I was telling Noodles the other day about how I constantly get approached for money in the street. The reasons for this are two-fold:

I look like the kind of person who will give someone money (and if I have it, I generally do).
I've worked in welfare for years and a lot of the kind of people who ask for money kind of know me.

Since it was beginning to get to ridiculous levels, I developed a strategy of pretending to talk on the phone whenever I spied someone in the distance I thought was likely to hit me up. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, and I'm sorry if it makes me a bad person, but I generally only have coffee money on me, and I need that coffee, man!

Anyway, that started me thinking about awkward social encounters generally, because I consider the people who 'kind of know me' as an awkward social encounter. They'll do the whole 'Hey, how are you going?' dance before coming out with the request for cash and it's excruciating. Other situations where I become completely unstuck:

Running into someone I know but not very well when I'm about two blocks from work, and they're heading in the same direction. I hate this so much. I don't like chatting to people first thing in the morning at the best of times, but being forced to make small talk with someone I don't really know very well, and - let's be honest here - don't really care to know does my head in. I usually make up some excuse about needing mints or a newspaper and veer off towards a shop just to escape. One time the person came to the shop with me - I still have nightmares.
Running into someone you don't like in a public place, but feeling obliged to speak to them. Doubly painful if you know they don't like you either.
Running into someone whose name you can't remember. This happens to me all the time, because I have the memory of a goldfish. Last year I worked two desks away from a girl for two months, and then a couple of months after that I ran into her in a supermarket and not only could I not remember her name, I couldn't remember how I knew her. She was all, "Hi, how are you!" and I was thinking, "Where do I know you from? Where do I know you from? Agh!" I kept asking questions to try to figure it out, "So... what are you up to now...?" It didn't work, she was vague in her responses. I kind of got the feeling she couldn't quite place me either. It was days later that I realised I had worked near her, and to this day I still cannot remember her name.
When you start off with a cordial relationship but as time goes on you have less and less to do with one another so it becomes more and more strained. Seinfeld did a whole bit on this and it's so true. You start off with little friendly chats every time you see someone, then it's just a quick hi without stopping, then a nod, and then eventually neither of you makes eye contact when you pass each other and you pretend you have no idea who the other person is.
When you see someone you don't know well (or don't like) coming towards you and you don't know whether to just say hi or whether to stop, and then the two of you do this awkward little dance where one seems to stop but the other keeps moving, so the stopped one starts to move again at the same time the moving one notices the other one stopped so they stop, and on it goes... oh, so painful.
The unexpected kiss. I don't expect to be hugged or kissed by anyone I don't know very well, so when it happens I am always really thrown and tend to either jerk away slightly or veer off the path - for example, once Lily's granddad leaned in for a kiss on the cheek and I thought he was going to hug me, so I had my arms out and moved my head towards his shoulder and he missed my cheek and just kind of kissed the air while I was awkwardly patting his back - it embarrasses me just thinking about it, and it was years ago.

So, is it just me? Do you dread awkward social encounters, or are you that person who enjoys getting into elevators and randomly chatting to whoever is in there?

Silk Naturals Swatches

2011-11-29T16:57:00.001+10:30

As promised in my Silk Naturals haul post, here are the swatches of the makeup I received. (I don't know what that dent is in Noodles' arm - she appears to have been leaning on something.) The samples of brow powder and the two freebie samples of eyeshadow came in bags and I just put them into plastic pots for ease. The eyeshadows are swatched over Detrivore primer, and the blushes and brow powders on bare skin.

Earlier, I described 42 as looking like some kind of light brown/taupe colour, but as you can see, it's not at all like that. It's a peachy pink with gold shimmer, and reminded me immediately of Pure Luxe Rose Gold. For those interested in such things, Pure Luxe is one of the companies often accused of repackaging without admitting it - I don't know whether Silk Naturals does this. When I can get Noodle Arms to loan me her skin for swatching again I'll dig out Rose Gold and do a comparison (edit - they're not the same, this one is more pink than Rose Gold). Either way, it's a very pretty colour so I'm happy with that - so often when freebies are sent out it's something I would never wear. It's not as orange in real life as it looks in the picture - there is a lot more pink to it, but I couldn't get it to come out in a photo. Grr!

Okay, the swatches of these are backwards. From left: Petal and Lady blushes, Medium Ash and Light Brunette brow powders. The Petal blush is sheer, but not as sheer as it shows in this picture. It's a really hard shade to get a photo of. Supposedly these blushes are dupes - Petal for Benefit Dandelion and Lady for MAC Dame - but I don't own either of those so I can't say whether that is true. They are pretty, though.

Things to know:

eyeshadows seem to vary slightly in price (no idea why), around $4-4.50US, and they don't sell eyeshadow samples - they explain why on their site
brow powders are $0.50 for samples, $3.50 for full size
blushes are $1.25 for samples, $6.50 for full size (10g), and they also have a few cream blushes for $4.50 but they don't seem to do samples of those either

Adventures in Muesli

2011-11-28T08:49:00.001+10:30

As part of my healthifying thing at the moment, I am trying to make sure I eat a proper breakfast. I am a breakfast person, but I am also a struggling-to-get-up person at the moment, and it's too easy for me to let it slide until I get to work then grab a toasted sandwich with my coffee - white bread, lots of salt, lots of cheese, not much nutritional value, and not even very filling. And frankly, not even that good. Sorry Bean Bar, but it has to be said - you could do better.

Noodles has been slack with breakfast too - unlike me, she is not a breakfast person, but she doesn't have recess at her school until 11:15 (don't get me started), and it's too long a time to be going without food, so I make her have something at home, even if it's just a piece of toast and Vegemite. So we decided to make some muesli, and since we both like different things, we though we'd each make our own tailored version. I used to make muesli all the time, working from a recipe Harriet Archer devised. But as in all things, I got lazy and just stopped doing it. I have to admit, I'm a starter, not a finisher.

The mueslis we made on the weekend are loosely based on this recipe, though we deviated from it quite a bit - I just wanted a starting point.

My muesli:

about 325g rolled oats, dry toasted as in the linked recipe
1/4 cup sesame seeds, dry toasted
1/3 cup almond flakes, dry toasted
1/4 cup shredded coconut, dry toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sultanas
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 cup sunflower kernels

I wasn't going to put coconut in mine at all - it's so high in saturated fat and I don't particularly have a sweet tooth so I don't need something sweet in my muesli to make it palatable, but I made Noodle Arms' first and the smell of her toasted coconut swayed me. However, I only added the smallest amount to mine.

Noodles' muesli:

about 325g rolled oats, dry toasted
bran flakes (didn't measure, somewhere between 1-2 cups)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, dry toasted
2 cups chopped dried fruit - apple and nectarine
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup flaked almonds

She doesn't like seeds in her cereal so she skipped those. The bran flakes were a special request - she has an odd affinity for things she considers to be 'old lady' products, primarily bran and cardigans.

Most of the ingredients for these were pretty cheap - I just picked them up at the local hippie shop in the Adelaide Market. The amount we made will last about two or three weeks each, and I have enough of most of the ingredients left to make at least another two or three weeks' worth, if not more.

Update on Project UIOLI

2011-11-27T09:16:00.000+10:30

I'm halfway through Project Use It Or Lose It (the two week mark), so I thought I'd do a bit of an update. I have to admit, this past week I haven't been wearing much makeup as I've been sleeping badly and getting up late, so for a few days it was just tinted moisturiser and a swipe of mascara. However, on the days I have worn makeup I have stuck faithfully to only using the items from Project UIOLI.

Using it:

I really, really love the eyeshadows in the Clinique Strawberry Fudge palette. The brown is not as dark as I remember it being - it's a bit like NARS Ondine but more shimmery, a sort of plummy brown with a gold shimmer. It's gorgeous. The little ELF blushes are all matte, which I like, and not highly pigmented, which I also like. I've been getting a fair bit of wear out of those, particularly as they're nice Spring colours. The only problem with them is they're so small they're a PITA to get a blush brush into.

The lip glosses are both low key, easily wearable colours and I'm quite enjoying them for days when I can't be bothered with the whole lipstick palaver. Not on the photo are the two Stila lipsticks - Natasha and Sarah. I sort of count these as lip glosses as they're quite sheer and shiny, and they're not really 'proper' lipsticks. They've been getting a bit of use too.

The NYX palette is great. I don't think I've ever really used this before - as I said, I took it from Noodles when she decided she was never going to use it. It's just a good neutral palette with very wearable practical colours. Nothing's too chalky or too shimmery - in fact, they're all quite creamy, and though I'm a raving NYX fan as you know, I'm the first to admit that their palette shadows can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. This is definitely a keeper!

Thinking of losing it:

These two NYX blushes are total disco balls - they're way too glittery and shimmery for day wear and my night life days have been over for quite a while now, so I can't imagine I would get much use out of them. Might be losing those. The Sleek lipsticks are both a bit 'off' on me - they're too frosty or something, they just don't look right. And the Jordana eyeshadow is a lovely colour but it's REALLY powdery and goes everywhere, and it's hard to blend out. You just wipe it straight off again. Also not pictured here is the MAC Naked Paris lipstick. Glitter bomb! Now I remember why I shoved it in the back of the box in the fridge (where I keep my lipsticks) in the first place.

Not yet used:

These are the products I have not yet touched in my project, so I'll be making sure they get a guernsey during the week.

Silk Naturals Haul

2011-11-26T19:28:00.001+10:30

I wrote about my first dip into the waters of Silk Naturals the other day, and I was so impressed I bought full sizes of everything except the Kiss Foaming Cleanser - and not because there was anything wrong with that, but because Lily already has a massive bottle of Cetaphil cleanser that she is working through and that's fine for now. I also took a chance on a full bottle of the Intensive Moisturiser (without having sampled it) rather than the Firming Moisturiser. I did like the Firming Moisturiser but it wasn't moisturising enough under makeup. I was so excited to get my hands on this haul - I loved the samples, and I hated having to go back to my regular stuff while I waited for the full bottles to arrive. But now they're here! And I've been all over it!

I'll do full reviews when I've had a proper amount of time to test it all, but for now I'll just tell you what I bought.

Full sizes:

Samples:

In addition to that, they have a deal where you can choose an eyeshadow for every $30 you spend, so I got 3 of those. And they also give away a mini version of a different product each week if you spend over $10. The one I received is called '42', which doesn't seem to be listed on the site. I haven't opened it yet, but it appears to be some kind of light brown/taupe colour. My freebies for spending the buckaroos were:

And as if all that wasn't enough, they threw in two more samples - Vineyard and Sizzle.

I ordered on 6/11, it was shipped on 8/11, and I received it on 23/11 - not bad going considering Aus Post has been even more craptacular than usual of late. The shipping for all that lot was about $18US, and the total order, with shipping included was about $116US, which I think is awesome for that amount of stuff. That would buy me one Clarins moisturiser, and not even one Estee Lauder serum.I should also add that I emailed them after my first order to ask advice about what sort of things I could try for Noodles and they were extremely helpful with their advice. So thumbs up for customer service also.

I will do swatches of all the makeup products very soon, but in the mean time I'm planning my next order - essentially, one of everything!

Healthifying: Back on the Wagon

2011-11-25T20:53:00.000+10:30

My healthifying has slacked off in the last few weeks - after dropping nearly 17 kilograms in about 4 months, I've been gaining and losing the same kilo for the last four or five weeks, mostly due to the fact that I am bone idle, and it takes about 20 seconds for me to justify to myself why I am going to lie in bed watching TV and eating chocolate or cheese on toast rather than walk for half an hour and then eat a salad. Being healthy is a boring chore for me. There's meal planning, organising, researching, shopping... ugh. It's so much easier to have a glass of wine and watch Eastenders. This has long been a pattern of mine - I lose weight pretty easily, but I gain it even more easily. In my wardrobe are 6 different sizes of clothing. Can you tell which is the fat chick clothing end?

Yeah, you know it - all those nondescript black and dark dresses. (Don't look at the brown jacket at the other end, I know it's boak but I have a creepy attachment to it.) By the way, the rack is on a lean because I live in one of those houses with 'character' - i.e. desperately in need of restumping. All those nice, light cotton things in the middle are about 2-3 sizes too small for me at the moment, and it wouldn't take much for them to slip out of my grasp forever. A few more nights of lolling about munching on toast, a few more mornings of spinach and feta danishes for breakfast...

Under my bed are 3 boxes filled with too-small clothes. Including one that just has underwear. All those pretties just going to waste.

Anyway, the point of all of this is to state that as of tomorrow I'm back on track - I've done half my shopping (the grocery half), and I'm off to the market tomorrow to get all of my fixin's for salads, muesli, healthy snacks and so on. I'm back on track with making sure I walk every day, and I just bought new batteries for the Wii Fit board so no excuses there.

I'm heartened by the fact that so many bloggers seem to be on a health kick lately - it's nice to know you're not alone, and I'm picking up loads of interesting tips and information. I'm also working on moving both Lily and myself away from commercial to natural skin and hair care, but that's another post in itself.

My Favourite Stand Alone Eyeshadows

2011-11-20T12:16:00.000+10:30

Recently Emily from Beauty Broadcast did a video about her favourite 'stand alone' eyeshadows - that is, eyeshadows you can wear on their own. I've been doing this almost exclusively for about a year - certainly during the week when I don't have the time or the inclination to faff around choosing different colours that go together and then blending them just so. One of the reasons I have gravitated away from colour to neutrals is because with neutrals, you can pretty much get away with using any one of them on their own.

Having said that, I do have some particular favourite 'swipe and go' shadows. I haven't included any of the Benefit Creaseless Creams here, though I do use them often and always on their own. But I've talked about them before, so if you want to see swatches of those you can find them here. For the record, the ones I use most often are Flatter Me, RSVP and Pre Nup.

From left: SMH Cashmere, NYX Volcano, MAC Woodwinked, NYX Iced Mocha.

Volcano is the one Emily is wearing in the video, though weirdly it throws more purple on her - it's a definite bronzy brown on me. It's a bit of a cheat including this one because I find that it tends to make my inner corners dark and shadowy so I lighten those up a bit with Urban Decay Sin when I wear this. But close enough to a stand alone that I'm including it. And it's my blog so I can do what I want. Ner.

From left: Urban Decay Toasted, NARS Ondine, Sigma Indian Girl.

If you have Naked (and who doesn't) you have Toasted. It's possibly my all time favourite eyeshadow, certainly my most often used. These swatches are not the best, unfortunately - it's very overcast here today and the pictures were taken by Noodle Arms, whose photography skills make me look like Diane Arbus. There's a better swatch of this (and a few others mentioned in this post) here.

If you bought Sigma brushes in the early days, you probably also have Indian Girl, as that was their staple freebie for quite a while. It's a really pretty greyish taupe, but the grey/purple does not show up in this picture at all. There are better swatches of it in someone else's blog here, but even then I think the grey aspect just doesn't come out well in photos. Bummer.

From left, NYX Shimmer, Wet'n'Wild Penny, NYX Flamingo, Wet'n'Wild Nutty

I talked about Penny in this post, where I compared to its supposed exact dupe, MAC Expensive Pink. As dupes go, it's pretty damn good, and it's $2US. TWO BUCKS PEOPLE. It's beautiful - a gorgeous peach with gold shimmer. Best thing I've ever spent $2 on.

Flamingo is a purply-pink with gold shimmer, and again this picture isn't doing it justice. It needs a base to bring it out, and these were all swatched on bare skin.

So there you have what has been my eyeshadow wardrobe for most of this year, current project notwithstanding. Do you have eyeshadows you use on your own? If so, tell me what they are because I totally need new eyeshadows. No, really.

This is what tonight's Glee made me think of...

2011-11-16T21:02:00.000+10:30

Project 'Use It or Lose It'

2011-11-13T13:32:00.000+10:30

I've done a bang up job of reducing my stash in the past few months by either selling, giving away or throwing out a ton of stuff. I don't own near as much as I did this time last year - in fact probably less than a quarter. Way less. However, I still have a tendency to just head to the same products over and over each day and there is quite a bit that is hovering around being ignored.

Therefore, I've decided to undertake what I call Project Use It or Lose It. For the next four weeks I am going to use only these products (as colour, still using my same foundations and concealers as always as I don't have any of those being particularly neglected). If after the four weeks is up I don't love the products, or I'm likely to shove them back in a drawer and forget them again, I'll get rid of them. If I do love them, they can go in the regular rotation and I'll make sure I use them. So here are my products for use for the next month (the links are to swatches and/or reviews if I have them)...

Milani Shadow Wear Quad in Exotic Berries. Despite saying in the review that I intended to put this one back into regular rotation, I'm pretty sure that's the last time I wore it, so it's been hanging around for a looooong while. When I first got this I wore it nearly every day. But the love faded, as it does. I'm so fickle.

Jordana Eyeshadow in Pretty Peach. Not nearly as lairy as it looks - this is actually a really pretty, subtle matte peach. I think I've only ever used it once or twice and I'm not sure why because I really like it.

Bourjois Ombre Stretch in 06 Rose Etastique. It's the second from the left in the bottom picture in the link to swatches. This is another one I used to love to death but it was cast aside (that's a shadow, by the way, not a streak of grease or anything - it's very overcast here today).

Clinique Strawberry Fudge Duo. I have had this for years and I used it pretty faithfully up until around the time of that review. What is with that? Love it. Need to get back into it (again - shadow, not grease!).

NYX Runway Collection in Romance. Technically I bought this for Noodle Arms as it was a nice, neutral palette and she was just getting into a bit of dabbling with makeup at the time. But she swiped my Wet'n'Wild Fine Wink and that's all she ever uses, so I took this one back. And then rarely used it...

Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Garden Party. There was a time when this would get a regular run, despite the issues I discussed in my review, but it has been at least 6 months since I last touched this.

elf blushes in Shy, Innocence and Glow. I've had these forever and I definitely haven't touched them since I swatched them last a year ago for that elf collection post.

? Cream Blush in Radiant. This came in one of those Lust Have It boxes, and I've included it because I haven't used it and it doesn't really grab me, so I want to make myself try it and see what I think. I can't remember the brand and it's not written on there.

NYX Blushes in Terra Cotta (agh!) and Pinched. I never did get around to swatching my NYX blushes - must make a note to do that some time. I've never really worn these properly - they're kind of glittery and Pinched is a bit chalky and uneven, though both are quite pigmented for NYX blushes. These will be for the days when I'm feeling zazzy. And oh look, there's my dead Sigma brush. :-(

NYX Round Lipstick in Darling. Why do I keep forgetting I have this? I love it.

Stila High Shine Lipsticks in Sarah and Natasha. There was a time when I was so obsessed with Natasha it looked like it would be the first lipstick I ever actually finished in my life. But alas, like everything else it was pushed aside for something newer and shinier. Well, probably not shinier, because it's pretty damn shiny. I want to see if the magic is still there.

MAC Lipstick in Naked Paris. I'm not particularly a MAC fan and I don't own much of their brand - this is one of only two lipsticks I have (the other is Syrup, which I use regularly). I really like this one but it has sooo much spangle going on that I hardly ever wear it. Time to bust it out and see if I can make it work.

Sleek Lipsticks in Rose Petal and Organza. I bought these during their sale debacle last year, and even though they are really pretty, Sleek annoy me so much that I can rarely bring myself to use the products of theirs that I own. On the other hand, I ended up getting them for free (thanks to their sucktacular service which accidentally ended up going in my favour, unlike most other people), so I could never bring myself to sell them or anything. I'll have a crack at them and if I'm still annoyed I'll just give them away or pass them on to Noodles.

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Smokey Look. A recent purchase I bought on a whim after seeing a picture of someone somewhere wearing it and it looked really pretty. After I'd just culled pretty much all of my lip glosses...

elf Liquid Lipstick in Bark. As lip glosses go (these are totally not lipsticks), I quite like these, and I use the other three I have regularly. Poor old Bark has been forgotten for quite some time though - I think I've only ever used it a handful of times, and certainly not for a long while.

So there you have it - my face for the next month (not all at once... obviously). I'll report back at the end about what I'm using and what I'm losing.

Eat Shit, Jessica - It's Carrot!

2011-11-13T10:06:00.000+10:30

I told you that you would be spammed with random posts this weekend. I was thinking this morning about things that make me laugh (I don't know why - it was just one of those things I think about every now and then), and I remembered this clip of Orlando Bloom on Graham Norton. I know I've posted this on Facebook before, and probably Twitter, but I don't think I have here (if so, it's worth watching again so stop whinging).

Things Everyone But Me Seems To Love

2011-11-12T14:42:00.002+10:30

I'm at a bit of a loose end this weekend because Noodles has gone on a mini-vacation with her father, and it's too hot outside to go and do anything, so I'm just bumming around. Therefore, you may get spammed with random blog posts about random topics. Like this one.

A while back Natalie did a post about things that everyone else seems to like except her, and I've been pondering that idea in my head ever since, because there are many things that I just don't get the love for. I'm not trying to make out like I'm some too-cool-for-school hipster type (I do have a Nickelback song on my iPod. ONLY ONE), but sometimes I'm just baffled by things that everyone else adores. So here's my list of a few that come to mind.

Bronzer/tanners. I don't get them. I just don't.
True Blood. I've tried to watch this, but it's just annoying fake accents and lots of bonking. It bores me senseless.
Dexter. Similarly, I cannot get into Dexter at all, and I've tried several times. Michael C. Hall was the best thing in Six Feet Under, so it's not him. It's the voice-over that bothers me more than anything. I get that the monotone is deliberate because Dexter doesn't 'feel' things, but it's sooooooo dull. I just don't care.
Harry Potter. Twilight polarises people, but the only other person I've ever heard say anything dismissive about Harry Potter is Ricky Gervais (who freely admitted he hadn't even read the books - his derision was directed more towards adults reading children's literature). I've read four of the books and seen a handful of the movies, and I don't get it. The story is okay, but the books are so badly over-written. I tried to read the first one aloud to Noodles when she was little and she got bored. This is a kid who spent her toddler years having Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost and The Selfish Giant read aloud to her over and over (and again - not trying to sound hipster, at the moment she's all about the Pretty Little Liars books and America's Next Top Model, much to my horror). I don't mind the movies - at least the story is tighter - but again, they're just fun children's adventure movies.
Gladiator shoes. HATE THEM. I just dislike clunky, chunky shoes generally, and they seem to have been in fashion for years now. I thought when the Mad Men fashion craze hit we'd go back to the kitten heels and pointed toes (I still have mine, just waiting!), but no such luck.
Kylie Minogue. I just... I don't get it.
James McAvoy. He is so blandly forgettable to me that every time I see his face I have to think for about 30 seconds about who he is.
Ryan Reynolds. See Kylie Minogue.
Dr Who. Another one of those things that seems to be for children but adults are obsessed with. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something - admittedly I've never seen a full episode because I can't sustain interest for more than a couple of minutes.

So there's my list. Feel free to disagree with me and tell me why I'm wrong. And tell me what you don't like that everyone else does.

TV I'm Currently Enjoying

2011-11-12T11:23:00.000+10:30

A few weeks ago I did a post about some of the 2011 pilots I'd watched, and I must say, I haven't continued on with many of them, although admittedly there were a few gems (Suburgatory is a tad hit and miss but when it hits it's awesome).

M~~y social calendar I know it's sad shut up I hate you~~ The US fall season is well and truly under way now so Noodles and I have been catching up with some old favourites as well as picking up some new ones. A habit we started when I wasn't well a few months ago and have now fallen well and truly into is to hop into my bed after dinner (or sometimes with dinner... okay, usually with dinner... okay, pretty much always with dinner lately) and watch our stories until it's time for her to go to her own bed. We're like Charlie Bucket's grandparents (how did they go to the toilet?).

Anyway, these are some of the shows we've been enjoying of late.

I had every intention of giving up Law and Order: SVU this year - without Stabler it just seemed wrong. And I was pissed off that they cancelled the original when the cast of the last couple of seasons was pretty much perfect - finally. However, I was curious about how they would go post-Stabler, so I ended up tuning in after all. Linus Roache was a guest star in the first episode and I got all excited thinking they were moving him over, but it was not to be. Still, he has popped up in one other episode so far so I live in hope... Benson is in uber bitch-mode now that Stabler has gone - it's not like she can't ever speak to him again so I don't know what that's all about. The blonde chick (name escapes me) was front and centre in the first couple of episodes and she was a bit brash and irritating, but then they brought in Danny Pino and she took a back seat. I like him - he's no Stabler but he stands up to Benson and he's a smart cookie. They really should have just made Fin and Munch the main detectives though. Why are they still just lurking around in the background? Highlight this year - Captain Wotsisface going undercover as a man looking for a Russian bride, and tearfully telling the girl a story about his dead wife that is obviously true. *sniffle*

The most genius thing The Big Bang Theory did was create a girl group for Penny. She was a pain in the arse when she was the only girl but once they threw in Amy and Bernadette she was much more likeable. Amy Farrah Fowler is creeping ahead of Sheldon as my favourite character. Her lines ("Thanks to you I was able to make a rhesus monkey cry like a disgraced televangelist") are comedy gold and Mayim Bialik delivers them beautifully. And to think it took me three years to start watching this because I thought it would be crap. Highlight this year: the entire Halloween episode. Genius.

The premise of Grimm is that an ordinary detective finds out that he is descended from a line of people with special abilities to see the monsters of the world. Or something. I don't know - it's kind of flawed and a bit cheesy, but oddly enjoyable. The plots are based on fairy tales - the first episode had a little girl in a red hoodie being kidnapped. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get past the first season, but now we're just rolling with it. Highlight this year: hard to say since there have only been two episodes so far, but I do like Silas Weir Mitchell as a semi-reformed werewolf.

Two fairy tale-themed shows premiering this year. I almost didn't bother with Once Upon A Time - it sounded much too 'ren faire' for my tastes - but Noodles wanted to check it out and it's not that bad. An evil queen has imprisoned Snow White and a bunch of other fairy tale characters in a little town in modern-day America, but none of them remember who they are. The only one who knows is the evil queen's (the mayor of the town in the current era scenes) adopted son, whose real mother is the daughter of Snow White. It is her destiny to save them all and the little boy has to convince her of that. It chops back and forth between the fairy tale world and the real world, and bits and pieces of the story are revealed gradually and cleverly, with a couple of nice did-not-see-that-coming twists thrown in here and there. Highlight this year: again, hard to say in a new show, but I did gasp aloud when the queen brutally murdered 'the thing she loved most' to get the heart she needed for her spell.

Parks and Recreation just gets better and better; it's already flawless but it somehow keeps topping itself. The character of Leslie Knope is probably the best female character ever created. But the rest of the cast is perfect as well, even Rob Lowe - who a lot of people find annoying in this. His relentless, irritating cheeriness is addressed beautifully by 'Ann Perkins' (as he calls her) in the most recent episode. This year's highlight - so, so many, but I think I have to go with Ben in a Batman costume sitting in a mall with Tom and Donna on Treat Yo'self Day, crying because he had to break up with Leslie. Hilarious and heartbreaking.

If it weren't for the fact that I was desperate for something mindless to put on my ipod and watch at night when I was trying to go to sleep I would never have looked at Cougar Town - it sounded like a show I would have zero interest in. The first couple of episodes were a bit clunky but once it hit its stride I was hooked. I'm not a fan of Courteney Cox generally (Friends - totally over-rated), and although I love Busy Phillips the way she talks annoys the hell out of me. I'm not even getting into whatever is going on with Christa Miller's face. However, this show is genuinely hilarious, thanks largely to the father and son team of Jules' (Cox's character) ex-husband Bobby and teenage son Travis, as well as Barb, Jules' rival in real estate and the real cougar of the show - she pops up once in almost every episode to say something side-splitting and then she's gone. I've only watched the first season, and highlight so far: Bobby taking his son Travis 'noodling'. And yes, I did look it up to see if it was a real thing. It is.

Six episodes in and I can already see American Horror Story slowly beginning to unravel (as anything Ryan Murphy touches always does). Consistency is being thrown out the window - in episode five a goth girl talks to Tate about how he held a gun to her head and asked her if she believed in God before shooting her. In episode six we see this happen but he doesn't speak a word. Nonetheless, this is a hugely enjoyable hot mess of a show with so much weird and creepy stuff going on that you just have to roll with it. And that rubber man gives me the heebie jeebies. I've been checking behind my door every night when I go to bed since I started watching this.

I could have sworn I'd written before about why I like The Walking Dead so much, given my general boredom of zombies as a horror genre, but apparently it was only in my head, because I can't find anything. Anyway, essentially what I like is that it's played completely straight - no laughs, no cheesiness, just the relentless tension of long periods of nothing while you're waiting for zombies to appear out of nowhere. I know a lot of people find it slow and boring. It is slow - no question - but that doesn't bore me at all. I find it really absorbing. I have had many discussions about this show with Jacquie (just yesterday we discussed why there were no sympathetic, likeable female characters). I love that it shows the constant tension a situation like that would bring, even when there is nothing going on. I love that they've taken one of the 'good guys' and have him slowly turning into a self-preserving feral monster, while the 'bad guy' - the redneck racist - has become the most practical, logical and loyal of the group. That's the guy you want on your side in a zombie apocolypse.Highlights this year: the highlight for me was Daryl bringing the flower to the woman whose daughter has gone missing, and explaining its significance (and if you hadn't already, who did not fall completely in love with him at that moment). The startling lowlight was Shane shooting Otis and leaving him to die at the high school so he could get away. A brilliantly shocking moment that still makes me feel like I've been punched in the face.

So do you watch any of these? What do you think of them? Anything else I should be checking out?

It Happened Again!

2011-11-09T21:35:00.000+10:30

So a few nights ago I'm minding my business and just watching my stories, as one does. I was looking at youtube videos and happened across one about contouring. I don't contour. I don't use bronzer. I don't do anything brown on my face - it just makes me look like I've got a big streak of dirt on me, or it goes orange. However, a while back on a whim I bought the NYX taupe blush after seeing another youtube video by someone with fair skin talking about how it was a good contour shade for lighties. And contouring was on my list of things to master this year (along with remastering liquid eyeliner, but 25 years of considering red wine a hobby has left me with hands too unsteady for that palaver these days). I bought the blush and then never did anything with it.

So anyway, there I am watching this contouring video and I suddenly remembered I had this taupe blush and thought I'd have a crack at it. I just grabbed the nearest clean, vaguely suitable brush that happened to be around and sucked in my cheeks and got to work. But seconds into it, something weird started to happen...

INORITE! Again???

I know I've had this a couple of years now, but still... it's not a brush I ever used that often and I take good care of my brushes and wash them properly. This is just pants. I really don't rate the Sigma face brushes - maybe they've improved but I'm not that bothered to find out. So far both of the stippling brushes have fallen apart and both my full size and travel size SS150 (I'm old school - don't know what the new numbers are) shed like mofos and the dye still runs when I wash them. Thumbs down, Sigma!

A Lazy Person's Tip for Organising Healthy Lunches

2011-11-06T11:27:00.000+10:30

As I mentioned a while ago, I've been healthifying for some time, and it seems that everyone and his dog is doing it these days too, so I thought some of you (non-vegetarians - warning veggies, pics of raw chicken follow) might find this useful. I'm generally a pretty healthy eater, but I do get slack if I'm not organised, and one of my most dangerous slack-off points is lunch. If I don't organise my own lunch and it's filling enough to last me through until a (healthy) snack late afternoon, I will be invariably finding an excuse to hit up the sausage rolls and baked potatoes, or even a big chunk of some fat-laden zucchini slice while kidding myself it's healthy because it has zucchini in it.

I don't know about you, but I need protein at lunch, and that's what makes it hard for me. It's easy enough to throw together a green salad or a pasta salad but on their own they're just not filling enough. I could add cheese, but I try to limit that due to the saturated fat. I could add hard-boiled eggs but I have to cook them the night before and I always forget. I could add tuna, but I don't want to be that person who stinks out the office with tuna...

Eventually I hit on the perfect idea - chicken. At first I was buying chicken breasts, cutting them into 100g-ish size tenderloins and freezing them, then cooking up a small amount each night for my salad the next day. But then I'd forget to take it out of the freezer, or I couldn't be bothered cooking it, or it seemed like such a palaver... so finally I had an even better idea: cook it first and then freeze it. I am a genius. No, really.

When I do my market shop each week I buy enough chicken breast for lunch for Noodles and myself for about a week - there's a bit over a kilogram in that picture, I guess. I bring it home, cut all the scuzzy bits off, then put it in a ceramic dish (easier to clean than a metal pan) with some lemon and some whole, unpeeled garlic cloves. The lemon is to keep it the 'm' word (I can't say it), and the garlic just adds a bit of flavour. Lately I've also been sprinkling it with some salt-free seasoning as well for a bit more zing. You could do whatever you like, really.

Throw it in the oven until it's cooked through - how long and what temperature is hard to say, you know your own oven better than I do. You can cover it with foil if you like (I don't). For thick breasts it usually takes about 35-40 minutes in my oven at 190 degrees, but my oven is pants, so if you have a decent one you're probably looking at about 30 minutes or so. Once they've cooked, put them on a plate in the fridge to cool down.

Once it's cooled you can chop it into chunks or slice it thinly and then bag it up in zip lock bags in whatever amount you like. I usually do bags of 80-100g, depending on what I'm planning to do with it. Then put the bags in the freezer. All you need to do is take one out and defrost in the fridge overnight and then in the morning throw it into your salad or make your sandwich or wrap or do whatever you want to do with it and there you have it. Protein for your healthy lunch!

Things you can do with it:

add to a salad (as above) to make it more filling
slice thinly and add to a wrap with whatever you fancy - Noodles likes to do that with multigrain tortillas and add baby spinach, capsicum, grated carrot and snow peas
make a pasta salad with cooked macaroni, capsicum, red onion, peas, corn, olives (whatever you fancy) and add a bag of the chopped chicken
throw it into an omelette with some mushrooms and cherry tomatoes

So that's my tip for organising healthy lunches with minimal effort. What's yours?

Silk Naturals Skin Care: First Impressions

2011-11-05T09:53:00.000+10:30

A while ago I read a review about Silk Naturals skin care on someone's blog - and I can't for the life of me remember whose it was (if you're reading this can you speak up because I've been trying to find that post again!). I know it was someone Australian, because they talked about international shipping... anyway the point is that the post interested me enough to want to try the line myself, despite the fact that I have skin care products up the wazoo.

In fact, having skin care products up the wazoo is the problem - I'm constantly chopping and changing and trying something new for a review or whatever, but what I really want to do is find a line I like and stick to it. I'm sick of all these whizz bang products with stupid made-up ingredients in them, and I'd like to find something clean, effective, and with as few bells and whistles as possible. So this brand sounded like it was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to have a go at.

I don't remember when I ordered and received it, but from memory it was about three weeks from go to whoa - not bad considering that it's probably made to order (I don't really know, but most of the products have a limited shelf life, so I would assume so) and post from overseas has been DEATHLY SLOW of late. A lip balm order I did from Etsy was shipped on 7/10 and I didn't get it until Thursday. A MONTH. Either Customs or Australia Post are playing funny buggers. Probably both.

But I digress. I bought samples of all the products I wanted to try, and for most I bought two samples, assuming they would just be those one use sachets. However, they came in little dropper bottles and most had a good three or four uses in them (some even more) so I had a chance to have a really good try of everything - happy with that! And the samples were only $0.75 - $1.50US, so I was able to get a load of things to try and including shipping it was less than $25US. They send out a free sample with your order that changes each week - the one I got was an eyeshadow called Sunny. Meh, it's yellow - I'm not a yellow eyeshadow person. That will go as a freebie to someone next time I have a blog sale, I suspect. There was also a little sample of a lip product, but Noodle Arms took it and I never actually saw what it was.

So here is what I bought and what I think of it - it's a long list, so get set for some reading!

Apricot Cleansing Oil: I love cleansing oils and I use them all the time, so of course I wanted to try this one. However, it didn't occur to me until after I'd ordered it that this might be just the ticket for Noodles as well. She has problems with acne and we've tried a few things, most of which seem to work for a little while and then stop (Paula's Choice acne range, Dermalogica Clean Start, etc.). She's been begging me to get her ProActiv, which I really want to avoid because I think it will be way too harsh (and I believe it's similar to the PC active ingredients anyway). Her skin doesn't actually seem to be oily, so a lot of the redness seems to be more to do with the crap she puts on her face to try to get rid of the acne than the actual acne itself.
I bought two samples of this, and once I realised how big the samples were I only tried it once myself (which was all I needed to see whether I liked it and whether it effectively removed makeup - I do and it does) and then gave the rest to Noodles. She's been using it morning and night for about a week and a half, and of course being an oil it purged her skin and brought all the gunk out first, which sent her into fits of panic despite my constant assurances that that's what it was meant to do, but it finally seems to be settling down and it looks like it is helping her skin. The blackheads in and around her nose are definitely reduced.

Kiss Foaming Cleanser: Again, I only tried this once to see if I liked it and then gave the rest to Noodles. It's very gentle and doesn't make the skin feel tight afterwards, which is my big beef about foaming cleansers generally. Noodles has been using this after the cleansing oil. For the past few months her routine has been washing with Cetaphil cleanser and then applying Cetaphil moisturiser (or sunscreen if it's day time), so she's a bit annoyed with me for adding all of these extra steps... AND MAKING HER FEELINGS KNOWN. However, as I've explained to her, if we can find a skin care line that works for her skin, the extra steps will be worth it. SO SHUT UP NOODLES.

Pore Refining Toner: I just bought the full bottle of this one, as it was only $5 anyway, and a toner is a toner for me - it would get used even if I wasn't thrilled with it. As it happens, I really like it - I've been using it every morning and alternate nights. Noodles has used it a few times, but mostly stuck to the BHA toner. I'm not really sure how 'pore refining' it is - like I said, all toners are the same to me, but I do like to use them.

2% BHA Toner: This one was just for Noodles, and she's been using it most of the time day and night. I think it's really helped with reducing the blackheads. I think when I buy full sizes I'll get her to alternate with the Pore Refining Toner more regularly because this apparently increases sun sensitivity and we're heading into summer here...

8% AHA Toner: Wow, this packs a punch - it reminds me of Alpha-H Liquid Gold without the stink. I've been using this on alternate nights and it stings a little at first but subsides very quickly. Loving it.

Vitamin C Peptide Serum: I bought this for myself, but as with the cleansing oil it occured to me later that Noodles could benefit from this - a lot of the reviews on the site talk about it being good for acne-prone skin. It stinks a bit (as Vitamin C always does) and when I first apply it, it feels a bit tight but a few hours later my skin is super soft and smooth. I am convinced it's helping to reduce the redness in my cheeks too, but that could be any one or a combination of these products in reality.

Super Serum: I couldn't decide between these two serums so I decided to try both. I've been using them on alternate nights and I still can't decide. Like the Vitamin C serum, it feels tight at first but soooo soft and smooth later on.

Firming Moisturiser: Again, this made my skin feel a little tight at first (as all 'firming' moisturisers seem to do on me), but the wow factor later on makes it worth it. Unfortunately, it's not moisturising enough to wear in the mornings under makeup - the couple of times I did try it my makeup felt dry and tight all day. I'd definitely use this as a night cream though. I wish I'd bought a sample of the Intensive Moisturiser as well to see if that would be any better for day use (I thought I had but I must have gotten excited and forgotten).

All in all, I'm really pleased with this line and I intend to buy full sizes of pretty much everything, and try out some more stuff as soon as I can make a decision about what to get. I saw and felt almost immediate results on myself - my skin feels smooth and soft and look less red, the pores seem less noticable and overall it just looks healthier.

With Noodles, I could see that her skin was purging, and I'm sure that it will start to really help now - it has looked better the past couple of days. Convincing her is another story, of course, but I've asked her to try it for a couple of months and if it doesn't work I'll buy her the damn ProActiv (fingers crossed, I REALLY don't want to get that stuff).

For Those Who Care About Such Things...

2011-11-04T13:04:00.002+10:30

This is a generally pleasant blog - I have the occasional rant about something trivial but I don't like to get all super angry and sweary here because it's not really the right audience. However, I do like to get super angry and sweary about things sometimes, and I have a more appropriate place for that. So if you're interested in reading something I'm super angry and sweary about, you can do so here. Feel free to comment there if you want to tell me I'm right, wrong or an idiotic bleeding heart lefty.

Sampling Samples

2011-10-30T21:57:00.000+10:30

Since it's Sunday and I have nothing better to do other than clean the house (and who wants to do that!), I thought I'd kill a bit of time testing out one of the many foundation samples I have. Today I am trying out Estee Lauder Individualist Natural Finish Makeup.

As usual the sample is slightly too dark for me (the colour is 01 Fresco*, so if that's the lightest then pale chicks won't be able to get much use out of this one), though once it's blended in I could probably get away with it if I had to nip down to the shops for milk or something. It's quite liquidy and applies lightly, but you can build it up to get a good coverage. It sets fairly quickly and is quite matte, so I didn't feel like I needed a powder of it. Which is good, because I'm not overly jazzed with powder in general and it's one of those things I use with slight resentment because I have a shiny T-zone.

As you can see it does a pretty decent job on the redness in my cheeks, though I did use a couple of layers in that area. On the other hand, I would normally have concealer under that and I don't here, so I'm pretty happy with the coverage.

Unfortunately, what I didn't like was the feel of it. It's one of those foundations that I am aware I am wearing. It feels a bit... 'masky'. I get about the same or more coverage from Chanel Mat Lumiere and Revlon ColorStay and neither of those feel like that on my skin.

On the whole, I don't think this is a foundation I would buy, though it did have its good points. It retails in Australia for $68AUD (!!), but you can probably get it cheaper on Strawberrynet.

*Regarding the colour, it would seem that Fresco is the second lightest as on the Australian website it's called 2C2 Fresco. But only three colours - really Estee Lauder? You think there are only three skin shades in this country?

October Empties

2011-10-30T10:48:00.000+10:30

Not much happening this month. I made a bit of an effort to use some samples since I had a drawer full of them, but I forgot to keep the empties of most of them. I used up several different Paula's Choice cleanser samples - I bought a bunch of them ages ago when I was buying acne stuff for Noodle Arms, and just forgot about them. I like her cleansers, but I don't think they're much different from Cetaphil, which is cheaper.

Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Cleanser: This is a cream cleanser for 'normal to very dry skin'. It's nice, but I don't think I'd buy it. It doesn't beat my holy grail cream cleanser (Clarins).
QV Hand Cream: Crap. Pretty much your typical supermarket hand cream. I don't really know why I expected it to be any different.
Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara: This is the weird one that has the oscillating wotsit. What a stupid gimmick that is. I bought this in Priceline forever ago when it was half price and started using it a couple of months ago when I had worked through all of my other mascaras. I hated it but it was the last one I had left so I was determined to grit my teeth and use it up and then legitimately buy a new mascara out of need, then Harriet Archer sent me an Elizabeth Arden one she'd received free because she's a sensitive flower who can't use EA products, and Lust Have It sent a sample Lancome one in their monthly box thing, so I bit the bullet and chucked this monstrosity.
Cellugen Cleanse: This came with my Skin Physics thing and I hated it, but it was a small tube and I was determined to just finish it. Finally done and now it's gone. Hurrah!
Sally Hansen Hand Resurfacer: A scrub for hands. This is my second tube and I quite like it, but I've taken to using those little sample jars of scrubs from places like Haus of Gloi on my hands, so I don't think I'd need to repurchase this again - at least not for a while.
Fekkai Glossing Shampoo: Okay, technically there's about an inch of product left in the bottle, but it's been sitting on the floor of my shower for at least a year, if not longer. It's not gonna happen - I'm calling it. I bought this because it seemed to be a nice, clean shampoo that wouldn't leave residue, but it's actually kind of thick and I never really liked it much.
Jo Malone Dark Amber and Ginger Lily 2.5ml sample: There are a few Jo Malone fragrances that are really pretty, but many of them just have that generic 'walking through the perfume department of Myer' smell and this is one of them. Also, her products are ridiculously expensive and last about 5 minutes on me, so I would definitely not buy this in a full size. I just bought it to try after reading a review of it somewhere, I think.
Demeter Creme Brulee 2.5ml sample: I don't know if Demeter has gone to the dogs or if my nose has just become more sophisticated (ha), but all of their perfumes smell really chemical-y to me these days. This is no exception. I bought this because Noodles wanted to try it and then she didn't like it so I used it as a room spray a few times just to get rid of it.
YSL Cinema sample: Stefanie sent me this very generous sample a while back and I really liked it. If it weren't for the fact that I am actually trying to shed myself of perfumes rather than collect more, I'd probably buy a full bottle of this.
Lostmarc'h Lann-ael 1.5ml sample: This smells like porridge with milk and grated apple, which is exactly what it's supposed to smell like. Honestly, I just bought it out of curiosity. I wouldn't buy a full bottle - I'm not that keen on the smell of apple.
ASAP Daily Exfoliating Facial Scrub with AHA: This was sent to me by Beauty Heaven ages ago with a whole heap of random stuff like Ulta3 lipsticks and a Dove cleanser and whatever. I've never heard of this brand before. I used this sample on my eyebrows for a couple of days after waxing to avoid ingrown hairs. What can I say? It's a scrub - they're all the same to me.

The Perils of the Grey Market

2011-10-29T11:29:00.000+10:30

Personally, I love Strawberrynet - I know people have had bad experiences, but in the 30+ orders I have done with them over the years, I can only think of one or two duds. Today I'm going to show you one of them.

I'm a big fan of Benefit Creaseless Creams, but I buy them on Strawberrynet because in Australia they cost $34AUD, which is effing ridiculous for ONE eyeshadow.The first ones I bought cost me about $17 each (plus my 10% loyalty discount) well over a year ago and they're still going strong. That price is about what they cost retail in the US (maybe slightly more now).

Clockwise from top left: Flatter Me, RSVP, Honey Bunny, Tattle Tale.

These are all still creamy and smooth, and not coming away from the edge of the jar. I store them upside down as that is supposed to help keep them longer (though I don't really get why).

Now these next two I bought around this time last year, and they were on sale - I think they were about $10AUD each.

From left: Get Figgy, Strut

Look at that. Get Figgy has just fallen apart completely and is dry and pretty much useless. Strut is usable but takes a lot of work as it's also dry and has come away from the edge of the jar.

So the lesson here is, don't buy cream eyeshadows from Strawberrynet when they're on sale, because the reason they're on sale is in that picture above.

As an aside, the only thing I ever really avoided on Strawberrynet was sunscreen, because it has a limited lifespan and you never really know how old their stuff is. However, the other day I read an article about the expiry times on products with active ingredients, so I think from now on I'll be a bit more careful of the skincare I buy from there as well. I'm pretty safe with my Clarins cleansers and toners and whatnot, but I probably wouldn't get anything that had retinol or salicylic acid or the like.

So peeps, are you a fan of Strawberrynet or are you one of those with a horror story about them? What do/don't you buy from there?

I'm Not A Hoarder, But...

2011-10-16T14:42:00.001+10:30

I'm a pretty savage declutterer - every 6 months or so I go through the house and throw out a bunch of things. Every few years I think, "Gee, I wish I hadn't thrown out that 1960s tartan mini that belonged to my mum when she was young", or "Gee, I wish I'd put all my nice shabby chic stuff into storage instead of getting rid of it before moving interstate", but that's the consequence of being a declutterer - sometimes there are regrets. Generally speaking, though, I think of it as "just stuff". It's replacable.

However, there are a few things I've held on to for many years for reasons that baffle me, and a couple of weeks ago I decided to go through and throw out everything in the house that I didn't either really love or really need. I thought it might be fun to show you some of the weird things I have been clinging to. I apologise in advance for the blurry pics - Ben has "his" camera (the one that I like to think of as "my" camera) for a family wedding, so I had to use my phone, and it's pants. But you know, it's not swatches or anything where it needs to be clear, so you'll get the gist.

Probably the most recent of the "why do I have this" items, I bought this in a Myer Fat Chick sale a couple of years ago for about $20. I've never worn it - it still has the price tag on it. I hate the print, and I hate cowl necks. So yeah...

Six weeks after Noodle Arms was born I had to go a wedding. None of my pre-pregnancy clothes would fit me, and I felt like a huge, frumpy blob. So I spent a ton of money on a huge, frumpy blob dress. Again, it is everything I hate - shapeless, layered and with an asymetrical hem. I think the only reason I have been hanging on to it is because it was expensive. I've never worn it other than to that wedding, and I really, really hate it.

$5 on the Crossroads throwout rack. I don't know... maybe I was drunk.

I think this might be from about 2000/2001. I have to admit, I still have a bit of a fondness for it, but I'm never going to walk out in public carrying this bag again, so it has to go.

This goes right back to the very early 1990s - a mohair cardigan that I paid about $3 for in an op shop. I wore it with hand-dyed petticoats and Doc Martens. Only every time I wore it I had to take it off after a while because it was so damned itchy.

When did we get the RuddBucks? 2009? That's when I bought this - I went to a DFO with Harriet Archer and spent a few hundred on frivolous things. Including this shiny Olga Berg monstrosity, which I LOVED in the shop. I kept going back and looking at it and then finally I bought it. I was so pleased with it, then got it home, looked at it again and decided I hated it. I've used it a couple of times, but felt really embarrassed.

I don't know where this came from - I didn't buy it, and I think it's hideous. But for some reason I've held on to it for well over 10 years.

A Catherine Manuell laptop carrier back from about 10 years ago. It was expensive and I loved it at the time, but it's really dated and of course, huge compared to laptop bags of today. It serves no purpose other than to store my old, huge, no-longer-working laptop, but I can't bring myself to part with it.

This is the oldest item I have - a pencil skirt I wore to work in my first proper job 26 years ago when I was a secretary in the Ministry of Education. The waist is TINY. I would have to lose 30cm off my waist to be able to fit back into that. It's from Myer Miss Shop and has buttons all the way up the back. I love it, and regardless of the fact that I will probably never get into again, it's the one thing I will never, ever throw out.

Movie: Crazy, Stupid Love

2011-10-16T10:59:00.000+10:30

I only recently started watching the US version of The Office, having been a long time holdout because of my worship of the flawless original. I had seen an episode here and there in the past as my ex was a fan and watched it regularly, so I knew it wasn't a bad show, but I was surprised to find when I finally watched it from the beginning how much I liked it. And having seen the first few episodes of the latest series, I think I've realised why I liked it so much: Steve Carell. This is a man who can do sadness like no other. As annoying and obnoxious and sometimes downright hateful as Michael Scott is in The Office, when his feelings have been hurt or he is upset about something, it is heartbreaking - thanks to the talent of Steve Carell.

He brings this talent to the fore in Crazy, Stupid Love, where he plays Cal Weaver, a man whose wife of 25 years (Julianne Moore) suddenly announces that she wants a divorce. After spending several nights in a hip local bar talking loudly and sadly about how his wife slept with a man at her work, he is taken in hand by a young lounge lizard called Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who teaches him to "get his manhood back". Bring on the clothing change montage! In the meantime, Jacob falls hard for a girl (Emma Stone) who has rejected his smooth patter once before, and Cal's teenage son is constantly declaring his love for his babysitter, much to her discomfort.

Crazy, Stupid Love is nothing more than a sweet, funny movie about three relationships, but I really enjoyed it. I've never thought much one way or the other about Ryan Gosling, but he did well as a superficial charmer who doesn't know what to do when he finally falls in love. The only thing I was confused about was that if he (and later Cal) were constantly picking up one night stands in the same bar, why did they never run into those women again? But maybe I'm just overthinking it.

The Manufactured Drama: I Iz Board Of It

2011-10-16T10:38:00.000+10:30

Q: How to write a blog?
A: Do what you want, but if you want people to like you, don't be unnecessarily rude.

Q: How to comment on a blog?
A: Do what you want, but if you want people to like you, don't be unnecessarily rude.

In Which I Watch Some 2011 Pilots

2011-10-11T18:28:00.000+10:30

This year's new crop of TV shows has been a bit... unexciting. We haven't really had a bumper year for cool new programs since Community, Glee and Modern Family all popped up three years ago. And they're all looking a bit stale now, so maybe Americans should start taking some cues from the Brits - short seasons, a couple of Christmas specials, get out while it's still sharp.

There have been many new programs I haven't even bothered looking at - that Sarah Michelle Gellar one, for example. I'm sorry, but she can't act for shit, and Buffy was over-rated. YES I WENT THERE. Even Ioan Gruffudd isn't enough to tempt me (as pretty as he is to look at, he can't really act either).

Prime Suspect
Yet another American remake of a British show, with Maria Bello taking the place of Helen Mirren. A lead character who is a brilliant, lone-wolf cop. Brash, prickly, angry, moody, socially awkward and with a giant chip on her shoulder, haunted by something that happened in the past. Dad is an ex-cop, so the blood runs blue. And she's quirky because she wears a hat and chews gum all the time in an attempt to give up smoking. Gee, we've never seen any of that before. I may have been able to tolerate all of those tired cliches, but the jerky camera just killed it completely for me.

Suburgatory
Loved it. Jeremy Sisto moves his teenage daughter (and you can see the casting meeting now: "Get us an Emma Stone type!") from hip Manhattan to the suburbs. It's like a cross between Awkward and Desperate Housewives. Highlights so far: Cheryl Hines as a warm-hearted but taste-deprived suburban mom, and Allie Grant (Isabelle from Weeds) as a neighbour who doesn't fit into the Stepford Wives environment any more than Tessa, the Manhattan transplant.

Up All Night
Arrested Development excepted, Will Arnett cannot pick a winner. A couple of hard-partying thirty-somethings (Arnett and Christina Applegate) accidentally get pregnant and become suburban parents while trying to cling to their cool, yuppie lives. Christina works for an Oprah-esque TV star played by Maya Rudolph (who for some reason I can't put my finger on always annoys me). There is nothing new here - oh, Oprah (or whatever her name is) turns up in the middle of the night with champagne because she doesn't understand that parents can't party all night. Hilarious! The couple are jealous of the young, artistic hipster neighbours. So original! This is just... crap. I would not be surprised if it has already been cancelled.

2 Broke Girls
Oh, Kat Dennings - you can do better. The laugh track in this show puts the one in The Big Bang Theory to shame. A joke about smooth, luscious chocolate in reference to an octogenarian black man seems to set off gales of hilarity. Every line, no matter how unfunny (and almost all of them are unfunny), follows with HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. It's excruciating. The premise is one of those never-ending 'odd couple' plots - poor but sassy waitress is saddled with previously rich girl who has no idea about the real world. And she has a horse! And they keep it in the backyard! Because the poor but sassy waitress' crappy apartment has a back yard. In New York. No, really.

American Horror Story
This show is created by the people behind Glee, so the fear is that the spectacularly effective pilot will degenerate into a soupy, inconsistent mess, and let's face it, previous experience indicates that this is exactly what will happen (see also: Popular). However, I loved this, so I'm willing to go along for the ride. Ostensibly a story of a haunted house, there is nothing original here - it borrows (okay, steals) heavily from any number of horror classics: The Shining, The Amityville Horror, The People Under The Stairs, anything David Lynch has had anything to do with and so on. Even the opening credits look like a Nine Inch Nails video. This is a creepy, sometimes terrifying mystery that is obviously only going to be revealed bit by bit, so settle in. I could live without seeing so much of naked Dylan McDermott, though.

Homeland
Another one that has some potential. A soldier previously thought to be dead (Damien Lewis) is found alive after years of being held captive in the Middle East. He comes home to a hero's welcome and a wife who had moved on to another guy (awkward!), but a CIA agent (Claire Danes) is obsessed with the idea that he is an enemy operative. I found this interesting enough to get past my general dislike of Danes, so it must have something going for it.

Pan Am
You can see the exec discussion that started this one - "We want something like Mad Men, but with chicks. What did chicks do in the 1960s when they weren't housewives? I know - air hostesses!" I spent most of the show trying to figure out how Christina Ricci's long, beatnik hair in the first scene she was in transformed into a neat bob half an hour later when she was decked out in her hostie's uniform. So far it's all style and no substance. If you're a fan of all things retro, it's a fun 40 minutes looking at The Way Things Were. I actually enjoyed seeing the airport scenes - remember the days when people dressed up to get on a plane? No, me either - I'm not that old. It seemed like a good thing, though.

Whitney
I can't really give an accurate opinion on this one - I watched 7 minutes and couldn't stand another moment of it. I don't know who this woman is, but I assume she is bonking someone pretty high up to have been given a TV show. She appears to have no discernible talents that are apparent on the screen, that's for sure.

A ramble about studying

2011-10-09T09:06:00.000+10:30

When I was feeling super-stressed out about my health and obsessing over what terrible things might be wrong with me, my doctor made me go and speak to a psychologist a few times (we get sessions free through work), which turned out to be quite useful. I don't have anything other than First World Problems, but you know how sometimes you're banging on to someone and even as you hear yourself speak you realise what the solution is? That's what I tend to do when talking to someone like that.

Anyway, one of the things the psych suggested I do was look into study - I can't remember how we got on to that. I'm a pretty smart person, but I'm not highly educated. I've attempted university a couple of times and quit each time. The main reason I've never gone back and tried again is because I don't really have any ambition. There's no career path I want to follow that I need a particular qualification for, so I have no incentive to study other than the desire to learn something. Therefore, I have no interest in completing a degree - I just like studying bits and pieces here and there. I like learning for its own sake, not to get somewhere in life.

I looked into some short courses at the WEA, and then at some TAFE stuff, and there was nothing that grabbed me. So I decided to have a look at Open University, where I can just pick up and study whatever units interest me, and not have to work towards anything. When it comes to edjumacation, I have three main areas of interest:

1. Sociology
2. Literature
3. Ethics/Morality

Literature is out - Open Uni has nothing in their literature units that grabs me, and I'm never reading bloody Wuthering Heights again as long as I live.

Ethics is broad - I could study something in the Philosophy area, I suppose, and I would probably enjoy that, but I'm more interested in ethics around food and its production and manufacture, both on a local and global scale. I can't really find anything that quite fits into that, so maybe I just need to keep reading books and watching docos on that particular subject - it seeems too specific for a tertiary unit.

Sociology is my main interest and always has been, but I'm put off by the fact that it seems to be that subject that is studied by everyone whose parents made them go to college/university even though they weren't that smart, or they were smart and really wanted to do Forensic Psychology but didn't realise it was so competitive because everyone else and their dog watches CSI and reads Kay Scarpetta novels as well. It's kind of a junk subject, you know? On the other hand, do I care if it's a junk subject if I just want to study something I enjoy?

I haven't studied in many, many years and though my job involves writing, it's a very different kind of writing to what I'd have to do in a university atmosphere, so I want to take on one unit first and get myself into it slowly. I have about half a dozen I'm considering - the problem is just to decide which one.

Or, you know, I could just buy a crossword puzzle book.

NYX Matte Lipstick: Angel and Perfect Red

2011-10-08T11:07:00.000+10:30

No matter how much beauty crap I have, and no matter how much I swear that I am not going to buy anything no matter what for the next 25 years, I cannot resist a new NYX product. Actually, that's not entirely true - I have little interest in their face products (foundation, primer, concealer, etc). I cannot resist their coloured products - lips, eyes, cheeks. So even though I've been on my alleged No Buy for some time, when I was idly checking out Cherry Culture with no intention of buying anything (why do I do that?) and saw that NYX has new matte lipsticks, I had to try them.

From left: Angel and Perfect Red

As usual, the swatches on the site are pants, so I Googled around and found one that looked like my kind of shade - Angel. Unfortunately, the swatches I looked at are either not true to life, or my computer screen has gone awry (more likely explanation), as it's not quite what I was expecting. The colour reminds me a lot of their Round Lipstick in the shade Fig, which I always wanted to love but could never quite make work on me.

I deliberately chose a red shade for the second one, even though I don't wear red lipstick (my lips are too thin). That sounds ridonk, but I find that matte lipsticks are good for applying a 'stain' so I thought it might be a nice way to get away with a red shade on my angry little Nelly Olson mouth.

These are modelled (as usual) by Noodle Arms - for reasons outlined above.

Top - Angel, Bottom - Perfect Red

I wore Perfect Red around the house on the weekend to test out the feel of it and the staying power. Like all matte lipsticks, it is a little drying, though I didn't find it too bad - I've definitely had worse. It's got great staying power - it even lasted through brushing my teeth!
Aussies can buy these from the US via Cherry Culture or Nonpareil Boutique (and as always with those two stores, I recommend waiting for one of their many sales to get more bang for your buck and make up for the shipping a little - the next one will no doubt be Hallowe'en). Most of the range is also available at Crush Cosmetics, if you want to pay more but get them faster.

Movie: Oranges and Sunshine

2011-10-06T18:02:00.000+10:30

In the early 1990s a mini series called The Leaving of Liverpool was shown on Australian television. It was a huge success, and brought to light something that very few of us (myself included) were aware of - that for over 100 years, British children were being shunted out of orphanages and sent to Australia with the promise of a fabulous new life. For many, the truth was something else entirely. They endured years of abuse, were treated as slave labour, and were then cast out at the age of 18 to fend for themselves. Not surprisingly, a great number of them floundered in society and went on to have great difficulty functioning. There are scores of stories of these children growing up to become adults with drug and alcohol problems, struggles in maintaining connections due to abandonment issues, difficulty obtaining work due to little education, and so on.

A few years later I was in a bookshop and saw a book called Empty Cradles, which was about the same topic. The mini series had really stayed with me - I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that this was happening right up to about 1970. I could dismiss that sort of thing going on in 1890, but in the latter half of the 20th century? I devoured the book and then over the years have hunted down whatever other information I could find - there is a particularly good (but apparently out of print) book called Orphans of the Empire by Alan Gill, which tells many of the personal stories of these children.

Oranges and Sunshine is based on the book Empty Cradles, written by social worker Margaret Humphreys. Unlike The Leaving of Liverpool (a fictionalised account), the film does not deal with the stories of the people as children, but as adults, and their efforts to track down whatever family they may have left. Margaret, who was instrumental in setting up a trust to help these people, also experienced a lot of barriers from both the British and Australian governments and the Catholic church (who sponsored many of the children and were responsible for much of the abuses meted out to them). From being tangled in red tape to outright death threats, Margaret persevered and was eventually awarded an Order of the British Empire and an Order of Australia for her efforts.

Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys' initial contact with a child migrant trying to find her family (in the film she is approached in the street, but in the book she was sent a letter in her role as a social worker for a local council). This spurs her on to find out more about what happened, and eventually in to setting up the Child Migrants Trust. One of the most shocking aspects of the deportation of these children is that many of them were not actually orphans - it was common for parents in poverty to place their children in orphanages for periods of time while they got themselves on their feet, or give them up for adoption and the hope of a better life. The children were told that their parents had died or no longer wanted them, and that they would be better off in a new land. The parents who came back for their children were told that they were gone and that was the end of it. It was routine to lie to insistent parents about which country their child had been sent to, lest they somehow acquire the means to track them down. Part of Margaret's job became finding the parents and siblings who were still alive so the children could be reunited.

The film focuses on her work, and also two adults who had been sent to Australia as children. Len, played by David Wenham, is obnoxious and wealthy, having found success as an adult in his new country. He donates money to the church farm where he was raised, but hides a bitter anger at the way he and the other children were treated and also towards the mother he feels rejected him. The second person, Jack, is played by Hugo Weaving, and it is his performance that makes this film so utterly heartbreaking. I find him annoying at times because he can be a bit of a ham, but he underplays this role beautifully and his character's story is just shattering.

This is not an easy film to watch - from early on I was viewing through a haze of tears. It's baffling to think that this practice continued for so long, and that when someone finally made the public aware of it, both country's governments tried to sweep it under the rug. The child migrants did not receive an official government apology from either Australia or Britain until 2009, and the church to this day is still shuffling its feet. There are a couple of pointless, clunky scenes such as an awkward sex scene between Margaret and her husband, and a jolly sing-a-long in a car that appears to only be there to lighten the mood briefly. However, overall it's a film that is worth seeing - just make sure you've got your tissues handy.

Collective Haul - Oops, How Did That Happen?

2011-10-03T12:23:00.000+10:30

This year I've been feeling increasingly uncomfortable with consumerism for consumerism's sake - there's a level of greed in parts of the beauty world that disturbs and - yes, I'll just say it - disgusts me. Nothing is ever enough sometimes, and when the freebies come out, the seagulls swoop. I'm not saying everyone's like that - I'm just saying I've seen enough of it to find it offputting. I've always had a lot of makeup, but for most of my makeup life, I was 'on my own' so there was a limit to what I knew about, and therefore a limit to what I bought. Since I've discovered beauty blogs and YouTube tutorials and the US dollar's dropped enough to make it far more worthwhile to shop online from overseas than instore here, I've found that my cosmetic (makeup, skincare, perfume) collection has grown to ridiculous proportions and is more than I can possibly use up in the rest of my lifetime. It makes me feel a bit sick, actually.

Therefore, I've attempted not to shop much this year and have been trying to reduce my collection (I hate that word but I can't think of a better one - I didn't set out to 'collect' makeup). If you asked me what beauty products I'd bought in the last six months I'd answer off the top of my head, "Nothing, really." However, I was thinking about it this morning and pulled out everything I could think of that's been a purchase in that time. That's the picture above. Hardly 'nothing, really'. Having said that, it's not even a quarter of what I would normally purchase in any given six month period over the last, say, five years, and it doesn't count things that have been given to me, either for review or by friends who bought things and didn't like them. So, while that may not look like much, it's:
a) nothing I need
b) nothing I don't already have a dozen variations of

But there it is, anyway, so I may as well go ahead and show you what I've bought in the past six months in the 'nothing, really' category...

L'Oreal Youth Code Serum, Night Cream, and Day Lotion. I was sent some of the Youth Code Day Cream, Concentrate and Eye Cream a while back to review and I really liked the products (aside from the eye cream, which I wasn't too jazzed about). I saw these on sale somewhere (Priceline, maybe?) for about $22 each - normally they're about $40 each - so I bought them. I've had them for a couple of months and just started using them last week. I'll do a proper review when I've used them for a while, but so far: like the serum, love the night cream, not keen on the day lotion.

I flat out refuse to buy anything from the Sleek website (or review any of their products), and if you care to know why you can read all about it here. However, they do come out with some annoyingly cool stuff, so I can't bring myself to boycott the line entirely - luckily everything is easily available on eBay. I had begun to collect all of their eye shadow palettes and got to 9 or so before realising that many of them I would never, ever use. I sold about half of them in a blog sale and kept the ones I really loved and would definitely use. I've since only looked at buying ones I thought I'd use rather than just buying for the sake of it, and Oh So Special is the first one I've picked up for ages - probably the first one this year. It has a lot of wearable colours in it, and I think it's really pretty in a low key way.

Cherry Culture 20% off sales are perfect for those times when you have something in particular you want to try, because they happen frequently enough that you can get a bargain without having to wait months. In this case, I wanted to try the NYX Matte Lipsticks after seeing them... somewhere. I can't remember now. However, to make the postage worthwhile I needed to throw in a couple of other things so I thought I'd have a crack at one of the newest Milani blushes, and I bought two NYX eyeshadows (Smokie Mountain and Volcano) because I'd seen swatches of them somewhere and thought they looked really nice.

Like Cherry Culture, Nonpareil has a lot of sales, and also the advantage of carrying the Wet'n'Wild line. I wanted the limited edition eyeshadow trio The Gilded Age (third from the left), and again had to throw in some extras to make the shipping worthwhile. Note that not one of these products has been opened, and I bought these about three months ago. Yep, totally needed all that...

I picked this up on Strawberrynet when I was stocking up on shampoo for Noodles and myself. Reason? I've seen the Pixiwoo girls use it a lot and their word is good enough for me. I don't need a concealer - I have loads of them.

I've bought quite a bit from Haus of Gloi in the last couple of years, but I'd never tried their body lotions, and it seems like EVERYONE has been talking about them lately. They've just exploded on to everyone's radar in the past few months, so all the talk finally tempted me in to giving those body products a go. I wasn't super fussed about what scents I bought - I really was more interested in formulations - though in hindsight I wish I'd gone for scents I had matching perfumes for so I could have layered. These are all minis - I buy their mini scrubs occasionally because I like to use them on my hands.

Solstice Scents has always been on my radar but I've never bought anything from them before. From memory I think their website used to be really busy and annoying and I went there a couple of times and then couldn't be bothered trying to navigate through everything (for the record, if that is the case they have updated it, and I may be imagining all this anyway). Then a few weeks ago someone (can't remember who for the life of me) did a review of some of their perfumes and I was really taken by the sound of one called Manor, so I did a tiny order of three samples (you get one free). I haven't really tested any of them yet as I have hay fever which is really messing with my perfume-wearing capacity, but I've sniffed them all in the vials and they smell beautiful. I will definitely review them as soon as I am able to.

Right, so that's everything, though I am sure I've forgotten about some impulse buy that is stashed away somewhere and forgotten. I also have some lip balms on the way from Etsy (legitimate purchase - I need lip balms and I don't like supermarket ones).

My goal between now and Christmas (which is less than three months away - eek!) is to buy nothing that isn't 100% necessary. So let's see how that goes.

Recent Empties and Chuckers

2011-10-02T10:42:00.000+10:30

Hello, people! Yes, I'm still here and still struggling with my blogging mojo and my makeup mojo in general. I wore makeup one day last week and it was the first time in three months! I've been keen to get back into perfume but am hampered by hay fever. Never mind, I'm slowly working my way back.

These are empties from throughout August and September, and see that little jar of House of Gloi Twice is Nice Sugar Creme? I realised after I took the picture that I actually finished that months ago and mentioned it in another empties post, but I kept the jar around to use for something else and obviously never got around to cleaning it. Ew, feral! Okay, note to self - clean all the empty jars in the house today.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Cleanser: Jacquie has a habit of acquiring various cleansers, deciding she doesn't like them after a few tries, and then passing them on to me. I'm not entirely sure I've actually paid money for a cleanser all this year between her and Beauty Heaven sending me things for trials. Anyway, I didn't mind this but I don't think it did anything special - I used it in the shower in the mornings with my Clarisonic. I wouldn't buy it again - there's nothing about it that jumps out at me.

Radox Muscle Soothe Shower Gel: Noodles bought me this because I've been having muscle pain for the last few months (subsided but has flared up again since I had to move desks, grrr) and she thought it might help. Aww, bless. It's pretty horrible though (she hated it too) - smells all herby and blokey and doesn't do anything for muscles. I don't really see how a shower gel could, frankly. Won't be buying this again.

Garnier Skin Naturals CleanSensitive Anti-Tightness Cleansing Milk: Phew, what a gobful! Another of Jacquie's cast-offs, and I quite like this. I don't really know how much it is but if it's cheaper than my usual cream cleanser (Clarins Cleansing Milk), I'd consider repurchasing this during periods when I'm a bit povo.

L'Oreal EverStrong Deep Replenishing Masque: This was from a Beauty Heaven trial and Noodles used most it, as I'm not one for hair products generally (I like to keep it simple), and she loves messing about with her hair. Plus there's that whole jar in the shower thing I'm always bitching about (hate that!). Interestingly, I was watching one of jodik76's youtube videos the other day, and she talked about the annoyance of jars in the shower too, SO IT'S NOT JUST ME. I tried it a couple of times and it seemed just like hair conditioner in a jar to me. Meh.

Perfumatory Kiss of the Vampire Shower Whip & Shave Cream: Again, thing in a jar - what is up with that? I reviewed this a year ago so it's been hanging around for a while. I just kept forgetting to use it, but in the end I made a supreme effort to use it for shaving my legs and got through it. As I said in the review, gorgeous, gorgeous scent, but I'm not sure I would buy from them again given the lacklustre customer service. I believe the company's gone back to Canada now anyway (where they came from originally).

Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant: I mentioned in my last empties post that I had two of these little trial size products and I was undecided about whether I would repurchase. I'm going to go with no - it's a nice scrub if you like scrubs. I don't really like scrubs.

Mirinesse Purify Melt & Vanish Face Makeup Remover: Another cleaning product from Jacquie - wait, is she trying to tell me something? This was a trial size and I used the whole lot one day when I was trying to find something to clean long-wear foundation off my foundation brushes. It was okay, not fantastic. It took a couple of gos for the stuff to 'melt & vanish'. I wouldn't buy this.

Boucheron by Boucheron 1.5ml spray perfume: I bought this from The Perfumed Court after reading a review of it in Perfumes: The A-Z Guide. Meh, it's not my thing.

Cutex Strengthening Nail Polish Remover: I'm sure there would be those you are shocked I would put a supermarket nail polish remover on my nails, but I rarely wear nail polish, so it doesn't bother me. I've bought this one a million times and will probably continue to do so when I need nail polish remover.

L'Oreal RevitaLift Rejuvenating Cleansing Smoothing Toner: Man, who comes up with these names. I like toner, but they're all the same to me. I buy this one when I'm a bit povo and a Clarins one when I feel a bit more flush. I would (and no doubt will) repurchase this - it's probably my fourth or fifth bottle already.

L'Oreal EverStrong Hydrating Conditioner: From the same Beauty Heaven trial as the hair masque above. I tried this but it was too heavy for my hair so Noodles used it. It was unimpressive, and pricy for a supermarket conditioner ($15). I wouldn't repurchase it.

Terax Crema: HOLY GRAIL CONDITIONER. I don't know how many of these I've bought in the past, but I will continue to buy it, particularly now that Noodles has fallen in love with it as well.

CHUCKERS
I'm in decluttering mode at the moment, but my energy hasn't caught up with my motivation, so I've just been sorting little bits and pieces here and there. I had a mini clean-out of the bathroom cabinet the other day while I was waiting for my hair to dry or something, and decided to throw a few things out that had just been hanging around for too long.

Cherry Culture Bubble Gum Lip Balm: This is the one they send out free with all their orders. I don't like lip balms with petrolatum and chemicals in them (INORITE! I'M TURNING INTO A HIPPIE!), so I'm not using this.

Body Language Soaps Black Licorice Lip Balm: I reviewed this a long time ago so I've had it for ages - there's nothing wrong with it (in fact it's quite nice), but I found it under the couch and there were bits of fluff stuck to it and it had melted and was generally a bit 'ew' so out it goes.

Skin Physics Cellugen Serum and Cellugen Night: These came with the Skin Physics LED wotsit that Beauty Heaven sent me last year. I've never really liked them and they've been hanging around a long time, so out they go.

Nivea Daily Essentials Light Moisturising Day Cream SPF15: Another one from Beauty Heaven (they always send me skincare, never makeup - what's that about?). I used almost all of this just because it was the only day moisturiser I had for a while. It's not really moisturising enough for me, and I don't have dry skin - it's very light and probably better suited to someone younger and hotter weather. I wouldn't buy it again.

Alpha-H Rejuvenating Cream: This was part of a starter kit I bought last year (though it was a full size). I used it for a while, then got bored and moved on to something else. I came back to it a few times but it never really grabbed my attention. There was probably about a quarter of it left and I never loved it so I decided it was time to go.

Joey New York Microdermabrasion Facial Peel: When Joey New York shut down and Priceline started getting rid of all their stuff, Jacquie I bought up whatever we could find, and sadly I only picked up one of these. I love this stuff, even though I am not a fan of scrubs generally. I have about a quarter left and it's been sitting around for close to two years, so it had to go. And I haven't used it for at least six months anyway, so it wasn't all that heartbreaking.

Lunch

2011-09-09T12:12:00.000+09:30

Further to yesterday's post about healthifying, this is what I am having for lunch today, and a pretty typical example of the food I've been eating of late. It's two slices of Burgen bread spread with a little light ricotta, along with rocket, and some mushrooms cooked up in a non-stick frypan with a handful of cherry tomatoes.

*Apologies for the photo quality - my ex has gone to New York for a holiday, and took his camera (which I like to think of as my camera, since I'm the only one who generally uses it). How dare he! He'd better bring me back a Niagara Falls snow globe!

Healthifying

2011-09-08T18:28:00.001+09:30

Bacon mug filled with melted cheese. I'm simultaneously repulsed by it and insanely jealous of whoever got to eat this.

I apologise in advance for the fact that this post is probably going to be a bit of a ramble. I've been writing it in my head for weeks and there are a lot of things I want to say on this topic, so I may try to break it down into separate posts... I don't know, we'll see where this goes.

Recently I've been healthifying (and okay yes, more on that in another post - too long a story), and part of that was going to see a nutritionist. I do actually have a fairly good grasp of nutrition, because it's a topic that has always interested me in the abstract, as I sat munching on my cheezels and drinking my bucket-o-red-wine. I'm also a pretty good cook and more inclined to make something from scratch than use processed food. However, after my health suffered a set back my major issue was cutting down on salt, and I found myself struggling with finding interesting things to eat that weren't full of sodium. Because let me tell you, almost everything is full of sodium!

The daily recommendation generally is 2300mg, about a teaspoon of salt. I read somewhere that most Australians consume 8 times that amount. EIGHT TIMES. I don't know if that's true, but I can very easily see how it would be. I was trying to stick to around 1500mg, and man, it was hard.

The nutritionist was very good at fine-tuning what I was eating, which wasn't bad in itself, but I didn't have enough variety. She gave me some ideas and also what foods I should particularly try to eat in order to get the nutrients I needed (magnesium, potassium, and so on). I've found her really helpful in giving me some guidance and pointing me in the right direction. So a typical day's food for me is something like this:

Breakfast: porridge, skim milk, a banana or handful of berries, a tablespoon of chia seeds, or 2 slices of very grainy, dense bread (I like Burgen) with a poached egg and a mixture of cooked mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach.

Mid-morning: Jalna low fat vanilla yoghurt with berries or banana, sometimes a couple of spoonfuls of Carman's Bircher muesli

Lunch: salad of spinach, rocket, capsicum, cucumber, and whatever else I have (carrot, asparagus, mushrooms), with about 80g cooked chicken breast or a hard boiled egg or a small can of light tuna in springwater, and 2 slices of Burgen bread with Philly extra light or light ricotta.

Mid-afternoon: vegetable sticks with hommus, or fruit, or 4 9 Grain Vita-Weats (the small ones) with light ricotta or avocado.

Dinner: 150g fish or chicken or 100g lean beef with 1/2 cup Basmati rice and at least three different coloured vegetables - ie: sweet potato, cauliflower, asparagus.

Evening: 200ml skim milk with 2 spoons Milo (got to keep the calcium up).

I'm finding I am eating tons more food than I was before, I'm rarely hungry and I rarely go over 1500 calories a day or 1500mg sodium. The plan is based on some simple 'rules':

low-GI
at each meal, have some protein, some starch/complex carb, and some vegetables
try to eat raw vegetables at least once a day
the plate should be half vegetable, 1/4 starch and 1/4 protein
do 30-60 minutes a day of some kind of exercise

That's pretty much it. In less than 3 months I have lost 13kg (quite a way to go - there is a lot of extra me floating about), and I feel a lot better. Noodle Arms does too - she has more energy and sleeps better, and her periods are less painful (TMI!).

I have a real beef (see what I did there) about 'fake' food, which is why I can never seem to get into anything like Weight Watchers. I'm not averse to the occasional jar of spaghetti sauce or a Lean Cuisine, but on the whole, I try not to go too crazy with processed food. Which is probably why despite being a chunker, my heart is in good condition and my cholesterol is excellent.

So if you're serious about getting healthy and/or losing weight, don't make it hard. Here are my tips:

Follow those points above, they really work!
Walk as much as possible. I don't drive so I walk everywhere, another reason my heart is probably in such good condition. In my experience, people who drive have a really skewed idea of what "walking distance" is - it's a lot further than you think.
If you really crave something, don't deny yourself - you'll eat 10 healthy things that will probably add up to be more calories/fat/sodium/whatever than if you'd just had a small version of whatever you really wanted in the first place, and you know you'll still end up eating that as well.
Go to the library or a book shop or get online and read up on what your nutritional needs are - you will feel SO much better if you're getting the right amount of whatever minerals and vitamins you require, and they work much better if you get them from food rather than supplements.
Water, water, water - if you drink soft drink STOP RIGHT NOW. It's disgusting stuff, has no nutritional value whatsoever and can only do you harm. Think of it as poison - it might as well be. I have maybe 3 Cokes a year (usually if I'm really hungover), and even then a small glass will do me and I give away or throw out the rest of the 600ml bottle.
Be organised - carry little ziplock bags of healthy snacks so you're not caught short and hoovering up the charity chocolates in the office at 3pm (don't cry, we've all been there), make your lunch the night before and buy yourself one of those snazzy lunchboxes that has compartments or a little separate bit to keep your salad dressing in so you don't end up with soggy salad at 1pm.
Read Sarah's excellent post on this topic - full of wisdom and commonsense.

Now none of this is new or groundbreaking. I just wanted to talk about what I've been doing and how it's helping me. I'm also going to talk about weight issues generally (a minefield of a topic, must tread carefully), and the ethics of food manufacture in upcoming posts, so if you have any interest in those things, stay tuned!

And if you have any healthy tips, please feel free to share!

Top 5 Tag

2011-08-21T10:33:00.000+09:30

I'm still trying to get my blogging mojo back, so I'll be a bit sporadic and random for a while, no doubt. I decided to do the Top 5 tag that's been going around just to keep my hand in. I think Jade may have started this one off, but it's also been done by Jessica and Suzanne, and no doubt many others.

(Note: stoopid Blogger is not letting me upload any pretty pictures, so it's all reading from here, folks.)

Drinks

1. Water

2. Skinny Cappuccino

3. Thorn-Clark Shotfire Ridge Quartage

4. Claymore Dark Side of the Moon Shiraz

5. Any old dry sparkling wine, they all taste the same to me.

Snacks

1. Brie with Jesus Wafers

2. Smith's Crisps - the plain salty ones

3. Sourdough toast with Vegemite, avocado and melted vintage cheese

4. Baby chocolate eclair from David Jones

5. Roasted chickpeas

iPhone Apps

1. Sleep Machine

2. Akinator

3. Cracked

4. Damn You Autocorrect

5. Weightbot

Movies

1. No Country for Old Men

2. Withnail and I

3. What Happened Was...

4. Singin' In The Rain

5. The Wedding Singer

Books

1. A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving

2. Behind The Scenes At The Museum - Kate Atkinson

3. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

4. Herb 'n' Lorna: A Love Story - Eric Kraft

5. Once More With Feeling: How We Tried to Make the Greatest Porn Film Ever - Charlie Skelton & Victoria Coren

If you're reading this and you haven't already done it, consider yourself tagged!

Award Wotsit

2011-08-20T12:05:00.000+09:30

Once I was sunshine...

Yonks ago Jacquie nominated me for something called a Sunshine Award, and given that she knows me in real life, it's quite hilarious, because though there are many words that can be used to describe me, 'sunshine' isn't one of them. I'm not going to nominate anyone - you're all awesomesauce and you've probably all been nominated by someone else anyway. I'll just do the top 10 favourite products wotsit. But I'm going to do an 'of all time' one, so some of these no longer exist (sob). They are in no particular order.

1. Clarins Cleansing Milk. My number one cleansing product - I've been through tons of bottles of this stuff, and I just love it. Gentle, cleansy (is that a word? it is now), not too expensive considering it's Clarins, and a good thing to stock up on when you need to buy something to get one of their fabbity GWPs.

2. Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation. My holy grail foundation - matte but not dry or cakey, goes on smoothly, lasts the distance, you don't need powder over it, etc. etc. LOVE IT.

3. Chanel Inimitable Mascara. Best mascara ever. FACT.

4. Poppy King lipstick in Indolence. I'm talking the original early 90s Poppy King here. If I'd known these were going to disappear I would have bought 100 of them. I loved them to death. I don't much like her new ones, they're just not the same.

5. Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in Flatter Me. A gorgeous neutral that you can swipe on in seconds. My go-to eyeshadow for when I want a face on but don't have the time to faff about.

6. Miller Harris Fleur Oriental EDT. I can still remember the first time I smelled this - I sprayed it on my wrist in Klein's Perfumery about ten years ago and thought, "Meh", then continued on up the street shopping. After about 15 minutes I sniffed again, and then again, and then again... and then I went back and bought it. It's considered a bit of a 'meh' perfume as Miller Harris fragrances go (and fragrances in general - I don't know many people who particularly like it), but I adore it. It will always be my favourite.

7. The Body Shop Brazil Nut Body Butter. OMG the smell of this stuff! It's like really good vanilla ice cream. I've been buying this since it first appeared in Australia (early 90s?) and in my younger days, when I cared what young men thought of me, I was thrilled by the fact that I was constantly told how good I smelled. Honestly, if you're on the prowl, this is the stuff - it's like catnip.

8. Back To Basics Vanilla Oil. There's a shop in Geelong called Back To Basics and they used to sell a vanilla oil for about $5 that had the same effect on ye blokage that Brazil Nut Body Butter had. It was divine - I slathered it on willy nilly. It doesn't seem to be available anymore, or at least it's not on their website. And when I was in there a few years ago on a visit to Geelong I sniffed it and it just wasn't the same. I don't know whether they changed the formula or I outgrew it, but either way I was a bit sad.

9. Terax Crema. My holy grail conditioner. Noodle Arms has cottoned on to it now as well so it's costing me a bit, since she has a lot of hair and likes to slather it on. I'm going to have to start buying it by the crate. It doesn't smell very nice, but I don't care - it's amazing.

10. Cedel Extra Firm Hairspray. I just love this stuff because it makes me think of old lady hair salons, and I love old lady hair salons. You know the kind I mean - the cane furniture, the 10 year old copies of Women's Weekly, the dusty monsteria in the corner, the decor is dirty cream with that mushroom or salmon pink accent. If there was one around here I'd totally go there, but I live in an area full of ageing hipsters and self-funded retirees, and they wouldn't be seen dead in one of these, not even ironically. Pity.

One (and two) Season Wonders

2011-08-15T12:58:00.002+09:30

Since it's Winter here, my house is freezing and I haven't been well, Noodle Arms and I have lately gotten into the habit of going to bed after (or sometimes with) dinner in my room, and watching our stories on the laptop until it's time for her to go off to her own room to sleep. We're not really into those shows that are easy to find and have a bazillion fans (you know - Two and a Half Men, House, Dr Who, Grey's Anatomy, whatevs), so we're always on the lookout for something fun and a bit different to watch. Unfortunately, we always seem to fall in love with the gems that only lasted a season or two. I've spoken before about the grandaddy of them all of course, and the utterly perfect Freaks and Geeks, and now I'm going to recommend a few more who are looking for something to watch that's a little off the beaten track.

Bakersfield P.D.

I have been looking for this forever, and I finally found it on youtube. A quirky sitcom about an educated cop (Giancarlo Esposito) who moves to a town apparently full of idiots.

Grosse Pointe

A comedy about the making of one of those 90s teen night-time soaps, created by Darren Star, who knows a thing or two about 90s night-time soaps (he brought us the wonder that is Melrose Place and the dreck that is Sex And The City).

Popular

Think Glee without singing. But better.

Undeclared

A college comedy created by Judd Apatow, and featuring a few of his regular stable in early roles (a very young Seth Rogan and a lovesick Jason Segel were two of the regulars). It also starred Charlie Hunnam when he was young and purty (post-Queer as Folk, pre-Sons of Anarchy), and featured guest stars like Busy Phillips, Simon "Wolowizard" Helberg, and the always fabulous Amy Poehler.

Pushing Daisies

Once you suspend disbelief and get past the really quite stupid premise (shy young man can bring people back to life by touching them, but only for a minute or someone else dies), this is just one of the most gorgeous shows ever. Visually, it was a stunning technicolour marvel - you half expect Gene Kelly to come tappa-tappa-tapping through. Lee Pace is the dream man of everyone who likes the sweet, awkward shy type (me me me!), Anna Friel is kind of annoying but has a fabulous wardrobe, Kristen Chenowith sings fairly regularly (yay), Chi McBride is wickedly droll, and Swoozie Kurtz and Ellen Greene steal their scenes as two slightly crazy spinster sisters. There is so much to love about this magical show that I can't even begin to tell you - just watch it and find out for yourself.

Reaper

Young man turns 21 and finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil (Ray Wise hamming it up beautifully) years earlier. So now he becomes a bounty hunter for Hell, along with his slacker buddies Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez). This show lasted two seasons and ended on a really annoying cliffhanger. Grr!

Wonderfalls

Our most recent discovery - I had heard of this but had no idea what it was about. When I read somewhere recently that it was created by Bryan Fuller, the guy who created Pushing Daisies, that was all I needed to hear. An over-educated, anti-social retail clerk (Caroline Dhavernas) finds that inanimate objects start talking to her and giving her frustratingly vague instructions to help people. She is surrounded by her loving but overbearing family, her childhood best friend and a potential love interest bartender, none of whom know her secret and find a lot of her behaviour strange and concerning as a result.

Did you love any of these? What are your favourite one (or two) season wonders?

50 Book Challenge

2011-08-14T09:12:00.000+09:30

Oh man, I'm going to have to do a mad dash towards the end if I'm going to reach 50 books this year. I can't believe how little I've read! Though I recently cancelled my Foxtel and now officially have no television other than what I download, so hopefully the reading will pick up considerably.

17. A Tiny Bit Marvellous - Dawn French.
I ordered this on Book Depository, promptly forgot about it, then bought it a few days later in Target. And it's BLOODY AWFUL. Seriously, it's one of the worst books I've ever read. Although I'm usually suspicious of celebrities who think they have a novel in them, I do love Dawn French - and who doesn't? Have you ever heard someone say, "I hate Dawn French"? But it's woeful - a supposedly 'comic' novel written from the POV of three incredibly annoying people. I just... don't go there. That's all I can say. And to think I bought it twice. Ugh.

18. Food, Inc - Karl Weber (edited)
I have a particular interest in food manufacture and ethical and sustainable eating. I'm not obsessive about it, but as I become more and more aware of what goes on out there, I lean more and more towards ethical eating. Food, Inc is an excellent (and scary) documentary about corporate farming and agribusiness in the US, and this is the companion book. It's a series of essays and factual information expanding on the themes in the doco. Not the sort of book you'd read in one go, but if you have an interest in the subject, it's well worth picking up.

19. The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta
This is my year of Tom Perrotta - I just bought another two of his books on Book Depository, and I think I might actually have all of them now. This one is about a sex ed teacher who gets on the wrong side of the evangelical Christian church that is gaining a foothold in her town, and a burgeoning romance with a born-again ex-drug addict from said church. It sounds grim, but it's not at all. I think it's one of his best books.

20. Trick of the Dark - Val McDermid
Val McDermid is one of the few crime writers I enjoy reading - I'm not a big fan of crime novels, but there are a handful of writers who can keep the pages turning for me. Unfortunately, not in this turgid mess. It was like wading through quicksand getting through this pile of shit. The crime was boring, the characters were boring and preachy, it was awful - almost as awful as the Dawn French one. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Currently reading: Bad Haircut by Tom Perrotta and The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Lust Have It... Yeah, Not Sure If I Lust

2011-08-13T11:45:00.000+09:30

Like many of you Aussie chicks, I received my first Lust Have It box yesterday, and I have to say that opening it was a little like that one year that I asked Santa for a new bike and he brought me a dressing gown. The number and size of products is fine - for $15 it's well and truly a bargain, but for me personally, the actual products themselves were largely meh. I'm not a big fan of Dermalogica, I hate this freakin' bronzer/fake tan obsession THAT NEVER SEEMS TO BE GOING TO GO AWAY, and Mirenesse is not so much 'luxe' in my eyes as 'that crap they try to pass off as classy on the shopping channel'. And I'm disappointed that they sent a men's fragrance in the first box of a product that - let's be honest here - is mostly bought by chicks. Maybe two or three boxes in, sure, but first one? Get the girls in, people!

On the plus side, I did get a full size of the Burt's Bees cuticle butter, which I've been meaning to buy for ages, and that alone would have cost me about $15 I think, so I came out ahead.

I'll give it another couple of rounds and see if it improves - it's only the cost of a magazine or two so it's not exactly a hardship. But so far - unimpressed.

Did you get one? What did you think of yours?

June/July Empties

2011-08-13T11:35:00.002+09:30

Ugh, it's been a while. I just have no motivation to do anything at the moment. I haven't worn makeup or perfume in a couple of months, and writing just seems like way too much hard work. I hope I'm back to normal soon, because I'm pretty much over it. :-(

Anyway, I finally got around to taking a picture of my empties for the past couple of months so I could throw them out. I haven't been using much of anything, so I haven't really managed to work through much.

Dr Lewinn's Anti-ageing Foaming Cleanser
I was sent this in a group of five products to trial, and of all of them it was my favourite - I like a foamy cleanser to wash my face with in the mornings but most of them do make my skin feel tight. This one doesn't at all. Would I repurchase? Definitely, once I've used up the 45 other foaming-type cleansers I have.

Terax Crema
My favourite hair conditioner, and Noodle Arms has discovered its wonders now too so I'm getting through it a lot more quickly than I used to. I'll have to start buying the giant bottles again. Repurchase? Yes - over and over and over.

Vaseline Intensive Rescue Soothing Hand Cream
Meh. You get what you pay for with hand cream. I probably got this at my local IGA one afternoon when I just needed something quickly. It's okay, but it's a $5 hand cream - what more can I say? Repurchase? Probably - when I need something quickly again one afternoon.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
I have owned loads of these, but I'm sure I've only ever actually bought one - it's one of those products that seems to always be included in Clarins' GWPs (they have the best GWPs, seriously). I don't buy into the hype of this stuff at all - it's nice, but it's nothing special. Repurchase? No, but I don't really need to - I think I have two or three more around and I'm sure there will be future GWPs coming.

Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser
Jacquie gave me this because she didn't like it. I'm not really a fan of Dermalogica; I think it's over-rated and overpriced - or at least here in Australia (like everything else). However, I did quite like this - I used it to wash my face in the shower in the mornings, and like the Dr Lewinn's one, it didn't dry my skin out. It worked well with my Clarisonic as well. Repurchase? Maybe - only from Strawberrynet, though. I wouldn't pay full price here for it.

Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant
Another Dermalogica product I didn't mind - I got this as part of a trial kit a while ago and it had been sitting in a drawer unused. I don't generally like to use scrubs and grainy exfoliants but I had some flaky skin happening so I gave it a go. I have another trial size - possibly another freebie from Jacquie, I can't remember) that I'm working through at the moment, but it's lasting me a while as I only use it once a week. Repurchase? Undecided. Maybe if I saw a good deal on Strawberrynet.

Nivea Visage Triple Action Soy+ Eye and Lip Care
I bought this ages ago after seeing Jacie's trial results. It's a damn good eye cream for the price, and I would repurchase, but not for a while since I have about 20 other eye creams to use up first.

L'Oreal Voluminous Masacaras - Full Definition and Carbon Black
Oh, I wanted so much to love these! They give the false lash effect beautifully, but they smudge like a mofo. It's just ridiculous - at the end of the day it's reverse panda eyes all over the place. I'm glad I only paid about $3 each for them online, because L'Oreal mascaras are about $26 here (INORITE). And you can't even get these ones in Australia as far as I know. Why is that? WHY? Anyway, repurchasing is a big fat no, but it breaks my heart a little because for a couple of hours at least they just look freakin' awesome. *sob*

Urban Decay Primer Potion
This one was the freebie that came with the Alice in Wonderland palette. I wouldn't repurchase (I have another freebie that came with Nekkid) because I think it's highly over-rated stuff. It just doesn't seem that fantastic to me. I know lots of people love it and more power to you for finding something that works for you, but it's not my thing.

Checking in

2011-07-21T18:34:00.000+09:30

I'm still alive! I'm hoping to be back to regular posting (and reading) soon, but I'm still recovering from various ailments. I shan't bore you with the details - it's nothing serious, just annoying and intrusive. So, my life in dot point at the moment:

the only time I've worn makeup in the past 6 weeks is when my mother came to visit for a weekend and we went out for dinner
I'm on a health kick due to said various ailments and I've lost 7kg without really trying very hard (woo)
I've watched hours and hours and hours of Eastenders in the last couple of weeks, since I haven't been well enough to do much else
I've also watched hours and hours and hours of The Big Bang Theory
I have nothing else to say - my life is extremely boring at the moment

Hope you're all well!

50 Book Challenge

2011-07-01T08:50:00.000+09:30

I have been sick in some form or another for most of the month of June, and barely a scrap of makeup has touched my face. In fact, lately it's taken all my energy just to wash it. I'm getting better, but now I have a cold (yay!) so I'm moping about and carrying on like I'm dying as I'm wont to do when minor ailments befall me.

I'm lagging terribly behind with my 50 Book Challenge (first post here) - and I would have read loads this month except that it hurts to lie down or sit for long periods of time, so I can't find a comfortable position for hours of reading. WOE IS ME. However, I'm still confident I'll hit 50 before year's end. Just think of me as the hare in that story. Wait, no - the tortoise. Or turtle. Or whatever.

12. Election. I love this book and the movie - there was a youtube clip doing the round recently of the original film ending, which is similar to that of the book. I'm glad they changed it - the movie ending was better. This is a quick, funny read about a teacher who sabotages the school election to stop a student he hates from winning. You've probably all seen the movie.
*Trufax: from the moment I first saw that movie, I've always imagined Natasha Stott-Despoja to be exactly like Tracy Flick. Come on, once you see it you can't unsee it. Of course, you may have no idea who that is, in which case, get a hair cut you young whippersnappers, back in my day, blah blah blah.

13. Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America. I like to read US-centric books like this, because I feel that sometimes we're not that far off following suit (the first of those odious kiddie pagaents hits our shores this month). It's about how forced positivity is actually detrimental to society - and also kind of creepy. Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a great book about the minimum wage workers of the US called Nickel and Dimed. This one wasn't quite as absorbing, but still an interesting read.

14. The Strain. I'm not going to go into my feminist rant about my hatred of Twilight and everything it stands for, but I will say this: vampires are supposed to be SCARY. I'm sick of these wishy-washy 'monsters' in books and films who are all romantic and sappy. I remember reading Salem's Lot when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me. As much as I loved Interview With The Vampire back in the day, I blame Anne Rice for the influx of angsty, emo vampires. That Louis was such a whinger. Anyway, The Strain, written by Guillermo Del Toro and some other guy no one cares about because he's not Guillermo Del Toro is proper horror. Terrifying, evil, soulless vampires who just kill, kill, kill. This is the second time I've read it and both times I was sleeping with lights on in the house for a while after. He'd better make it into a movie.

15. The Wishbones. Another Tom Perotta book. I just like his stuff - it's easy to read, not too deep. Not quite chick lit for blokes, but sometimes dips a toe in there. This is about a 30-something guy who still lives with his parents, plays in a wedding band, and accidentally proposes to his girlfriend. An entertaining, breezy read.

16. The Hunger Games. I had no idea what this was about - all I knew was that it was a YA novel (which, to be honest, would usually have me running a mile) and everyone was banging on about it non-stop, so when I saw it in Big W I bought it to see what the fuss was about. As with most YA novels I've read, it's very over-written (what is it with editors these days - SLASH AND BURN PEOPLE), but the bones of the story is really good. I'll be buying the second one on my next Book Depository jaunt, and I've passed it on to Noodle Arms to read, as I think she'll like it.

*That pile up there is my "next to read" stuff. Trying to decide what to go for next.

Update Blah Blah Blah

2011-06-19T17:03:00.001+09:30

It's been like Chicago Hope (I'm old school) at our house of late - drama drama drama. First Noodle Arms was diagnosed with low iron, and then after three trips to emergency for me, including one overnight stay, it was discovered that I have high blood pressure, high glucose and muscle pain. Fun! The doctor who saw me before I could be let out of the hospital:

Dr: You have muscle pain.
Me: Yes, I've always had it.
Dr: Sore shoulders?
Me: Yes, always.
Dr: Sore knees?
Me: No.
Dr: Really? (squeezes my knees)
Me: OW!
Dr: Sore hips?
Me: No, but I'm sure you're about to prove me wrong.
Dr squeezes my hips.
Me: OW!

Obviously I'm not thrilled to have all this going on, but considering my main fear was whether I was having a heart attack, I can live with it. And it's all manageable with nutrition and exercise. Noodles has upped her intake of red meat and leafy greens and seems much more perky as well.

I tell you what, though - hospitals are the most depressing place ever. I was in a room overnight with a bunch of old ladies and it was just... ugh. I want to get super healthy so I don't have to be a frail, disoriented old woman in a hospital. And the woman in the bed next to me died!

There was one moment of entertainment though - I was in emergency waiting around for some blood test results and I overheard a doctor having a conversation with a guy lying on a guerney. She was asking him questions and he was mumbling, so she was reiterating everything he said to make sure it was correct. At one point I heard, "So you had 12 pints of beer and then a stripper bought you a drink and it all went bad after that?"

7 Hour Tacos

2011-06-15T19:38:00.000+09:30

My house is FREEZING in Winter - the only heater I have is a piddly little portable one and I live in one of those single front terrace houses that has a lot of cracks and gaps and fireplaces and whatnot. Therefore, any excuse to run the oven for a while is pounced on eagerly. And what better excuse than that most awesome of delicious food stuffs, tacos?

I stole the marinade for this from Tyler Florence's Fajita recipe, and the salsa is adapted from a recipe I found on Taste.

TACO MEAT

big piece of beef - I use chuck steak usually, or sometimes skirt steak - about a kilo. Cut off as much fat as you can because no one likes greasy meat. Ew.
juice of 1 orange and 2 limes
2- 4 tbs olive oil (Tyler's recipe says 4, I used 2)
2-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 chipotle chilis in adobe sauce (see below)
handful of roughly chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

These are chipotle peppers - I buy them for about $6 a can in the Adelaide Central Market at one of those fancy gourmet shops. In the past I have substituted fresh chili with a bit of smoked paprika.

Throw everything except the meat into a blender or food processor and smoosh it until it is smooth. Mmm, doesn't that look yummy? Okay, bear with me - it will get better.

Marinate the meat for four hours or so - you could probably leave it overnight, though the citrus juice might start to "cook" the meat. I don't really know if that happens with beef, to be honest. Once you're done marinading place the meat in a casserole dish with a lid and cook in a low oven (about 140-150 degrees celsius) for about 5-7 hours, until the meat is falling apart and can be easily shredded with forks. There will be a period where it just looks like it's turned to rubber, but resist the urge to turf it. You'll get there. The time will depend on your oven - mine is crap, so I usually have to give it 6-7 hours to get it perfect.
Note: You can do this in a slow cooker, though I've found it tends to make the meat a bit too liquidy and mushy.

When it's cooked it will look vaguely like dog food and taste AMAZING. You can serve it with all your usual taco fixin's - we like salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and avocado.If we could fit more things in there, we would.

SALSA

2 tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
1 red capsicum, seeded and finely diced
1 green capsicum, seeded and finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
handful of finely chopped coriander leaves
1-2 tbs olive oil
juice of 1 lime

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 30 mins or so to meld together.

This stuff is so good - I could just eat it by the spoonful, and then feel all smug because it's, like, healthy and stuff.

The blue bowl has frijoles in it, but I'm not including the recipe here because I haven't tweaked it to my liking yet. I'm still playing around with it. The meat and salsa makes enough to feed at least 6 people, maybe more if you don't pile and squeeze as much as humanly possible into the taco shell the way I do. And the best thing about it is leftovers for the next day!

Swatches: Shiro Cosmetics

2011-06-13T14:53:00.001+09:30

Everyone's been talking about Shiro Cosmetics lately, particularly the Intertubes, lip tint/lipsticks named after internet memes.

This isn't a review as I haven't really used any of this stuff properly, I just thought I'd show you the swatches and give my initial impression, which to be honest isn't much.

Bulbasaur, Golem, Budew

Rickrolled, Three Wolf Moon, Over 9000

Pros

Cheap.
Reasonable shipping cost and time (mine took about two weeks to arrive).
Lip colours are nice, particularly Rickrolled.
You can buy samples of everything, including lip colours.

Cons

Eyeshadow colours aren't that highly pigmented.
The lids don't fit back on the jars properly.
The lip colours are difficult to apply evenly.
Three Wolf Moon has cinnamon in it and stings like hell.
There's nothing unique about any of it, with the possibly exception of Rickrolled.

Golem, Bulbasaur, Budew - no primer

Golem, Bulbasaur, Budew, over Detrivore primer.

Over 9000

Rickrolled

Three Wolf Moon

Thanks as usual to my helper Noodles!

SMH Eyeshadows

2011-06-11T15:19:00.002+09:30

I bought some SMH eyeshadows from ACW a couple of months ago and then kind of forgot about them. I happened across one earlier this week and decided to test them out.

From left: Cashmere, Warm & Fuzzy, Sex Kitten

The quality is hit and miss - Cashmere and Warm & Fuzzy are really nicely pigmented, apply well, blend well and have a lovely not-too-OTT shimmer. Sex Kitten is pants - chalky, chunky, and glittery.

When I was messing about with them it occurred to me that they all looked vaguely familiar, so I decided to see if they were dupable.

From left: SMH Sex Kitten, Stila Kitten

SMH Sex Kitten, Stila Kitten (sorry for the light - I took about 50 pics of this swatch, and this is the best I could get)

I thought that Sex Kitten was probably supposed to be a dupe of Stila Kitten, given the name. However, they're not really anything alike, as you can see in the swatch.

From left: NARS Ondine, SMH Cashmere

SMH Cashmere, NARS Ondine

When I tried Cashmere the first thing it made me think of was NARS Ondine. Though they're not an exact dupe I do think they're quite similar. I love Ondine - it's one of my favourite and most-used eyeshadows - but I think I actually like Cashmere better. It's a little more shimmery and has a nicer finish.

From left: Wet'n'Wild Nutty, SMH Warm & Fuzzy

Warm & Fuzzy, Nutty

Warm & Fuzzy is supposedly a dupe for MAC Satin Taupe, which I don't have. However, Nutty is also an alleged Satin Taupe dupe and I do have that, so I compared these two. I think these two are the best likeness, even though they're not an exact dupe.

So overall, I like these eyeshadows, though there are obviously some duds.

There's a good range of colours.
They cost $6US each, so they're a bargain (though ACW can screw you on shipping).
They come in those little clear plastic pans - you're supposed to put them in a palette yourself.
They're the same size as MAC eyeshadows so you can use their palettes too.

Anyone tried any of these? What do you think? I'm curious to try some of the greens and purples but I'm trying really hard not to buy any more eyeshadow at the moment...

I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

2011-06-08T19:21:00.000+09:30

It's hard to describe to someone who wasn't there what it was like to see Twin Peaks the first time it was shown on television. I recently rewatched it with Noodle Arms, who was seeing it for the first time, and she enjoyed it immensely, but couldn't get why I was always going on and on about how groundbreaking it was. Quirky TV shows with mysterious, incomprehensible plots are fairly common these days. It's not the most consistently well-made programme - for quality of writing, casting, plot and story arc I'd give the gong to either The Sopranos or Freaks and Geeks, both pretty much flawless productions. A lot of people would add Six Feet Under, but that whole season with The World's Most Annoying Actress (Lili Taylor) playing The World's Most Annoying Television Character killed that show for me.

Television in the very early 90s was predictable and pretty stale. Cop shows, hospital shows, lawyer shows, and the usual parade of formulaic sitcoms dominated the prime time hours. When Twin Peaks started being advertised, my BFF Christine and I were super excited. We'd already seen Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man, and were fledgling fans of David Lynch (though Dune was pretty bloody awful). She had a "TV room" in her house where we set up camp on Tuesday nights with our drinks and snacks and cigarettes (tut) and were glued to the screen, following intently. We recorded every episode right from the beginning, watched each one several times and took notes. I'm sure that sounds laughable now (Noodles certainly thought so), but this was like nothing we had ever seen. What was relevant? What was just Lynch being a weirdo? Nowadays the second an episode of a fanatically followed show is finished everyone's online hashing it out. We didn't have that luxury in Ye Olden Dayes. It was pen and paper and a VCR.

Twin Peaks paved the way for shows like The X-Files and Lost, where a mysterious plot is dragged out over several seasons - this was previously unheard of. It spawned a host of quirky small-town dramedies like Northern Exposure and Picket Fences. Visually beautiful and strange, supernatural shows like and Carnivàle and American Gothic owe a lot to Twin Peaks. In short, this programme set the standard for inventive, original television, and no one since has really been able to match it.

Pretty much everyone knows the basic story of Twin Peaks - a high school girl is found murdered in the first few minutes, an almost insanely chipper but brilliant FBI agent arrives in a town full of oddballs to help the local sheriff's office investigate the crime, and so it goes on, equal parts weird, scary, hilarious and heartbreaking. Once the murder mystery is solved a third of the way through the second season it kind of falls in a heap for a while, but picks up again towards the end when the story goes hurtling towards its shocking finale.

Surprisingly, David Lynch didn't direct very many episodes, but anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of his other works can pick the ones he did direct. Thankfully, he was there for the major events - the pilot, the pivotal episode where Laura Palmer's killer is revealed, and the devastating final episode. He also makes a few fleeting appearances as Agent Cooper's boss, Gordon Cole, one of the more comedic characters.

Brilliant weirdness aside, one of the loveliest aspects of Twin Peaks is the relationship between Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and local Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean). This is one of the original - and best - bromances seen on the small screen. From the very first time they meet, the two display an enormous amount of respect and trust for one another. Given that a popular - and much overused - plot device in police-based TV shows is that of the conflict between the small town constabulary and the big city plain clothes officer who comes in to take over, the great affection between these two men is endearing and wonderful to watch.

If you've seen it before, you're probably due for another viewing. You will catch a ton of things you didn't notice before, and fall in love with a bunch of characters all over again. If you haven't ever seen it, what on earth are you waiting for?

Note: This was originally posted on my other blog, which I'm now incorporating into this one. I'm posting it here now because Twin Peaks came up in conversation tonight and I was reminded all over again how much I love it.

Wet'n'Wild Mega Last Lipstick

2011-06-07T18:09:00.000+09:30

I'm a fan of the Wet'n'Wild eyeshadows and I decided to branch out a while back and test some of their other products. I bought two of these Mega Last lipsticks from Nonpareil Boutique - 902C Bare It All and 904B Rose Bud. Bare It All was horrible on me - it was one of those nudes that just washed me out immediately. I gave it to Jacquie, as it was much more her kind of colour. So the pictures here are only Rose Bud.

First of all, the annoying things:

the packaging is pants - cheap and flimsy and the lipstick doesn't go all the way back inside the case so you have to be careful not to knock it when you put the lid back on
the colour names are not on the packaging, just the numbers
they're matte, so they can be quite drying, though I find they're okay if you use a lip balm first
the swatches on Nonpareil are nothing like the actual colours, Google for swatches if purchasing

And the good things:

good pigmentation and decent staying power
a good range of colours
cheap as chips ($3US on Nonpareil)

Rose Bud is on the left, the right is Prescriptives Azalea - I just thought they looked alike in the tubes so I swatched both to see how close they were.

This is applied quite sheerly, but you can build up the colour.

Overall, I like this lipstick and I would buy more. MORE MORE MORE!

Television Is Just Like Real Life. Or Not.

2011-06-06T21:21:00.000+09:30

You know how in Law and Order and similar programs the people being questioned always keep doing what they're doing? Someone's walking around with a clipboard ticking off stuff while the cops follow behind them and the conversation's all "Oh yeah, he worked here for a week last month. He was always late, we had to fire him."

Now, maybe people in New York are used to being questioned by the cops, I don't know. But if they came into my work to ask me about something, I would not be sitting there tapping away on my computer and not making eye contact. I'd be all, like, scared and excited and stuff. And probably acting shifty because I always feel guilty when there's police around, even though I never do anything wrong.

Things I love: A Random Series #1 - Magazines

2011-06-06T13:56:00.001+09:30

The bedroom pile

Whenever I embark on a slash-and-burn spending ban (and being a profligate spendthrift, I am forced to do this regularly in order to get back in the black) the first things I try to cut out are those little bits and pieces that don't cost much in themselves, but add up if you indulge in a lot of them - cappuccinos, buying lunch, little cakes for morning (and - let's be honest here - afternoon) tea on market shopping day, and of course, magazines. And it's always the magazines that have me crashing and burning within a fortnight. I am an addict.

The lounge room pile, next to the Tray of Mystery

Ever since I was old enough to spend my meagre early 1980s pocket money on Dolly, I've been a magazine junkie. This was the height of the British New Romantic era (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Japan..) and my English grandmother would send me Smash Hits every fortnight. This was SO cool, because the crappy Australian version was a long way off, so I was the only one of my circle who had the latest news about the British musicians we all loved. I was CUTTING EDGE. I knew everything there was to know about Bananarama, Heaven 17, Human League, a very young Madonna... oh, those were the days.

The kitchen ones are a bit more neatly ordered. All cooking mags, of course.

Eventually I graduated to Cleo and Cosmo, then picked up others here and there depending on what I was into at the time. In the 90s I was a film buff, so I read Empire, Premiere, Movieline, and Neon. Then I built a house and got hooked on Home Beautiful, House & Garden, and a huge number of British home decor mags. I tell you, when it comes to magazines, the Brits do it best. Best Marie Claire, best Empire, best house mags, best knitting mags. We should stop trying to do our own crappy, inferior versions here and just import way more copies of the good stuff.

Random strays that have found their way into the Box of Mystery

I have never been keen on American magazines (too many ads), with a few exceptions. The long-departed Movieline had some great indepth interviews with actors and directors, excellent columnists and the hilariously mean Joe Queenan. Though I've never been that much of a music fan, late 80s/early 90s Rolling Stone was brilliant. And of course, we have America to thank for the best (only?) makeup magazine - Allure.

Noodles has recently started her own little collection. I call her Mini-Me!

These days I've given up trying to give up magazines - I love them too much to ever let them go. What I have done is resist the temptation to buy trashy ones, and limit myself to (my idea of) good quality magazines with plenty of interesting reading.

50 Book Challenge

2011-06-05T09:11:00.002+09:30

I decided at the beginning of the year to do the 50 Book Challenge, and normally it wouldn't be a problem for me to read two or three times that amount in a year, but this year has been a STRUGGLE. It's June and I've completed a grand total of 11 books so far. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm pretty confident I'll get there. I've got a couple more Book Depository orders on the way and I'm raring to go.

Anyway, here's my list so far:

1. The Road. I'm sorry - I know people love this book, but I found it a total snorefest. It's not that I don't like Cormac McCarthy, it's just that for pages and pages and pages and pages and pages NOTHING HAPPENED. It was like The English Patient all over again.

2. A Gate At The Stairs. I bought this after reading a rave about it in some columnist's top books of 2010 list. Again, nothing happened for ages - blah blah blah blah bang massive plot twist blah blah blah blah. Excruciating - it took me two months to finish it, and it's only a couple of hundred pages.

3. True Grit. This was a better read than the other two, but it still took me a while to get through as I was slumping big time. It's highly stylised (not a bad thing), and reminds me a bit of Cormac McCarthy, though not nearly as grim. In fact, parts of it are very funny.

4. Caught. Aaah, now we're cooking with gas. I'm not a big fan of the crime genre - a lot of it is very samey-samey to me - but I do like me some Harlan Coben. He writes page-turning thrillers that almost always have some silly twist ending that relies on a weird coincidence or obscure link between two or more people. But I get a lot of enjoyment out of turning those pages, so I can forgive the dumb endings. This one is about a social worker who is accused of being a sex offender on national TV, and how he may or may not be connected to a missing teenage girl.

5. Copycat. Gillian White is a favourite author of mine from years ago, but annoyingly I never kept her books and now most of them are out of print. I've managed to get hold of three, and I'm still looking for others. Her genre is hard to describe - I call it suburban horror, but it's not OMG MONSTERS horror, or slashers or the like. It's about awful things happening to ordinary people, and the hidden nastiness and secrets behind closed doors. Copycat is about two women, friends and neighbours, and one's obsession with the other, which leads to murder.

6. Sister. A blurb of this caught my eye when I was having a mini spree on Book Depository so I threw it in. At first it annoyed me because it's written in the second person, a style I find insufferably pretentious. I almost chucked it after a couple of chapters but I persevered because I had nothing to do one lunch time and after a while it began to grow on me. It's the story of an English woman who has made a life in America, but comes home when her younger sister goes missing. Once you get past the style, it's a pretty rivetting story.

7. Gone For Good. Another Harlan Coben crime novel, this one is about a man whose brother disappeared years before after allegedly raping and murdering a neighbour. The man finds evidence that the brother - long considered dead - is still alive. I didn't like this one as much as I have liked his other books, but it was still highly readable.

8. The Witch's Cradle. Gillian White again (as you can see, when I get into an author I tend to read several of their books in succession) - this one is about a young couple who appear in a reality documentary about poverty and how they are manipulated by the producers. It has a bit of a silly twist to it, but aren't all twists kind of silly when you really think about it? Sometimes you just have to suspend disbelief and roll with it.

9. New York. Edward Rutherfurd writes historical books about places (London, Russia, etc,) using one or more families throughout to tell the story. This one is about the wealthy Master family primarily, from the early settlement of New York in the 1600s to 9/11. I'd read London years ago and loved it (that one was two or three families spanning about 1000 years), but this one wasn't as good. There were quite a few people who were just left by the wayside when it seemed their stories should have gone somewhere. Ruthless editing, perhaps...

10. Joe College. Tom Perrotta wrote the book Election, on which the movie was based (the Reese Witherspoon one, not the Tony Leung one), and also Little Children, which was made into a film with Kate Winslet. His books tend to be semi-autobiographical coming-of-age kinds of stories, which I quite like. This wasn't one of his best, but it was still an enjoyable and easy read about a guy who hooks up with a girl in his home town he's not really into, while trying to get the attention of another girl at college he really likes.

11.Refuge. The third of the Gillian White novels I managed to get hold of - this is about a woman whose son is involved in the killing of a baby, and the repercussions of that. The public's outrage, the attacks on her and her family, and so on. It seems to be loosely based on the Jamie Bulger case (don't Google if you don't already know what that is - you really don't want to know). Again, there is a bit of a silly twist, but it's a good story for 95% of the time, and quite realistic.

I am currently reading Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America and Election.

*This is a revised and updated version of a post I did recently on my other blog.

May Empties

2011-06-04T13:07:00.002+09:30

I'm baaaaaack. Actually, I would have been back about a week ago but stoopid Blogger wouldn't let me in.

It's surprising how much you can use up when you make you make a concerted effort to finish all those half-used products around the house (don't look innocent, I know you've got those). As soon as I took the photo of these I turfed them, so I don't remember the exact names of some of them.

L'Oreal EverStrong Bodifying Shampoo and Conditioner: I was sent these to trial by Beauty Heaven a while ago and at first I liked them, but they have silicones and it created a lot of build up in my hair after a while. I have very fine, limp hair that tends to get greasy on the second day, so I don't like heavy products or anything that coats the shaft (snerk). I would not buy these again for that reason. And besides, they're $15 each for supermarket hair products. I would just throw in a few extra dollars and get something from the salon.

Palmolive Shea Butter Shower Milk Wotsit: I finished one of those last month as well. Ye Olde Staple Producte; I buy it regularly.

Nivea Face Wipes: Three words - crap-o-la. I bought these mistakenly thinking they were ones I liked, but then I realised the ones I like are Neutrogena.

Dr Lewinn's Synergise Toner for Not Getting Old or Something: Another product sent to me by Beauty Heaven. I like toners, but a toner is a toner is a toner - they're all the same. I would repurchase this just because it's not too pricy ($20) and it's convenient (this line is exclusive to Coles Supermarkets), but I wouldn't go out of my way to get this particular one.

Paula's Choice Resist Barrier Repair Moisturiser: Love this - I use it as a night cream and I wake up with lovely soft skin. A lot of the reviews on Makeup Alley complain about it being too strong (it contains retinol), but I never had an issue with it. My only complaint is that you can't see how much you've used. See through packaging please, Paula! I would definitely repurchase this.

Johnson's Baby Shampoo: I use it to clean my brushes. Another Ye Olde Staple.

Nivea CQ10 Anti-Ageing Moisturiser (the white jar): HAAAATED IT.

Estee Lauder Double Wear sample: I don't know... there's a lot of hype around this product and I know it's a HG foundation for many people, but I wasn't overly jazzed with it. It wouldn't sway me from Chanel Mat Lumiere.

Maybelline The Colossal Mascara: This has the weirdest scent - roses dipped in honey. Once you become aware of it, it's very distracting. Why does a mascara need a scent? This was okay, but nothing great. I'd pay US prices for it again, but I'd never buy it here.

Vintage Jovan Musk Oil sample: Ah, nostalgia. Jovan Musk and Night Musk were popular 80s perfumes and the smell of them takes me back to the days of the Blue Light Disco at the Italian Social Club (referred to by everyone rather un-PCishly as 'The Wogs', as in "You goin' to The Wogs Saturday?" "No, I'm grounded for spitting out the bus window with Mark Cromer."). I wouldn't buy the oil again - it's ridonkulously expensive ($7 for 1/2ml). It was nice to briefly go back, though. And I do have a bottle of the EDT that cost me $15 in Chemist Warehouse.

i Promufi di Firenze Magnolia Purpurea 1.5ml sample: Gorgeously pretty Magnolia scent, but as magnolia is a favourite of mine, I have a lot of other similar sort of perfumes, so I'm not sure if I'd buy a full bottle of this. Maybe one day when I'm looking for something to splash money on.

Hilde Soliani Vecchi Rossetti 1.5ml sample: I can't describe this - you can read a rundown of its notes here. If I had the cash to spare I'd definitely buy a full bottle of this. It's just beautiful, and it doesn't smell like anything else I own.

Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille 2.5ml sample: Smells too much like Flourish Woodsmoke & Vanilla, which I already have and love. I wouldn't bother with a full bottle.

The Morbid The Merrier Caramel Apple Lip Balm: I had to rip the label off this to see how much was left, that's why it's just white. As lip balms go (not a fan, necessary evil, yada yada) I really like TMTM ones, (though the last one I bought was slightly gritty). I would repurchase, but not for a while as I have a dozen or so lip balms on hand at the moment and it takes me forever and a day to use them up.

Quickie

2011-05-26T16:04:00.000+09:30

For those of you who like looking at NYX lipstick swatches (and considering that's how most people find my blog, I'm assuming that's quite a lot of you), Baroque In Babylon has swatched a buttload of them here. It kind of makes me want to buy a whole ton more of them even though I just got rid of loads through my blog sales...

Short Hiatus, Possible Reboot

2011-05-23T10:46:00.000+09:30

I'm still not feeling the love for makeup at the moment - I'm barely bothering to wear any, I'm tuning out when people start talking about it (sorry, Jacquie), I'm finding tiny things super annoying. I'll come back - as I said in my last post, I just need some alone time. I have this week off and after today I'm planning on switching off for the rest of the week - no phone, no internet, no emails, no Facebook, no blogs. I'm planning to spend the week reading my recent Book Depository purchases and spring cleaning (my windows and oven are looking mighty sad lately).

I'm also considering expanding the parameters of this blog somewhat - I'm not going to turn it into a 'what I did today' ramble (who cares?), but I have another blog I haven't been utilising and I may incorporate the two. That means you might see some posts about books - my other great love - and sometimes movies, TV, or food. I realise that some people have no interest in reading my thoughts on any of these things and just want to know what I think of X lipstick and look at a swatch of it, so I understand if you feel you need to move on. I won't be giving up talking about makeup though - that will still be my primary focus. I'm just adding some bits and pieces.

Anyway, I'll be back in a week, so we'll see how it goes from there.

When Etsy Goes Bad And Other Annoying Crap

2011-05-14T12:27:00.002+09:30

I'm a fairly solitary person by nature, and once a year or so the pressure of constantly being around people starts to get to me, and everything starts to irritate me more than it normally would (and I've got to tell you, I'm not particularly tolerant and easygoing to begin with...). This causes me to withdraw and become snappish and crabby for as long as it takes for me to snap out of it.

That was an explanation of why I haven't really been writing in my blog of late. A few weeks ago I read an article written by a blogger, purportedly to convince PRs that bloggers were worth dealing with (considering the number of freebies I've seen flying around, I wasn't really aware that was an issue...), but it was so condescending and insulting to the majority of bloggers that I am still pissed off about it to this day when I think about it. And that's just one thing bugging me lately. There have been a million other small things, and then there's this...

My mum loves sheep things. Her partner is a sheep farmer, she's had pet sheep for 20 years, and she collects anything sheep-related. She also doesn't like much else - she doesn't really read, she lives in a drought-stricken area so you can't buy her bath bombs or nice shower gel, she doesn't wear makeup, etc. So when birthdays and Christmas come around, I usually try to find her something sheepish (see what I did there?).

This year, I thought I'd found the perfect thing on Etsy for her for Mother's Day. It was a tote bag made from a fabric with sheep on it, and it looked really cute. So here's what happened.

9 April - I ordered the bag. It was a month until Mother's Day, tons of time to have it sent to me so I could check it was okay, wrap it up and then send it on to my mum. I was excited, because I knew it was something she'd really love, and not just some crappy gift voucher or cook book, which I've reluctantly resorted to in the past in desperation.

23 April - It had been two weeks and the status on my purchase was still showing as 'Paid'. Now I know some Etsy sellers don't change it to 'Shipped' (which is ANNOYING by the way, sellers), but just to make sure, I convo'd the seller and asked if it had been sent yet. I explained it was for Mother's Day so I wanted to make sure it arrived in time - I'm in Australia, the seller was in the US.

25 April - Nearly three days later I finally received a reply from the seller, claiming she'd had no idea she made the sale, that Etsy were not sending her notifications. She had only found my convo because someone else who'd bought something for her had emailed her on her Paypal email. She apologised and offered me a choice of either a full refund or she would ship the item but refund my shipping as an apology for the delay.
I convo'd back about an hour or two after she'd sent hers, saying that I would still like the item as long as she could post it soon. I figured it was still two weeks till Mother's Day - as long as I sent it on to my mum by express post I should just scrape it in.

27 April - The seller hadn't responded to my last convo, and I was getting antsy about whether she'd actually sent it or not, so I found her email on Paypal and emailed her, asking again if it had been sent yet. She did not respond to this email, and by the way, my shipping hadn't been refunded either.

29 April - I was sick of trying to get responses from her, and by this time (I know, I'm a bit slow off the mark), it had occurred to me that although the story about not getting notifications from Etsy was a plausible one, she would also have received an email from Paypal when I bought the item, telling her that she had funds. So I realised it was unlikely that she had been completely unaware of the sale until 25 April. I was super annoyed by then and I just wanted my money back. I had no indication that the bag had been sent and by that time it was too late.

Within HOURS she convo'd me (suddenly she's responding!), saying she was confused about why I had lodged a Paypal dispute, she had explained to me that she hadn't known about the sale, she had then had to make the bag, and it was all packaged and ready to be sent 'tomorrow'.

You'll need to click on this picture to read what it says underneath.
'I picked up this amazing, sweet sheep upholstery fabric and decided to turn it into this tote... I put these small vinyl embellishments on the bottom corners... etc...'

Now to me, that indicates a product that has already been made. Not to mention, there is a picture of it right there. Now she's telling me she had to take the time to make the thing? If there are delays because she is handmaking products to order, why doesn't it say that on her site? Maybe it does now - I haven't looked, but it didn't then - everything about this indicated an already made product for sale that just had to be packed up and sent.

I responded to her convo pointing all of this out, telling her I was sick of getting no response from her, I no longer believed her story about Etsy notifications, and that it was way too late for me to get this in time for its intended purpose, so I just wanted to get my money refunded and be done with it.

3 May - no money refunded. I escalated the dispute. While doing this I noticed in the notes that she had told Paypal that the bag had been sent. What she told me was that it was ready to send 'tomorrow'!

14 May (today). Still no money back, and this is the last day Paypal has given her to respond. I also, of course, have no bag. And now I've been forced to leave my first ever negative feedback on Etsy, which gives me no joy at all.

I'm super pissed off because a) it's been lie after lie with her and I'm fed up with being dicked around, and b) I'd found the perfect present for my mum and I don't have it. Oh, and I STILL DON'T HAVE MY MONEY BACK.

Update: Paypal emailed me a few hours ago and told me they had settled the dispute in my favour, so at least I FINALLY have my money back. I would much rather have had that bag though. :-(

Tag: ABC

2011-05-07T11:33:00.001+09:30

I nicked this from The Mustard Jumper. My makeup blogging mojo is a bit out of whack at the moment - bear with me. Normal transmission will resume.

A. Age: 28. No, really. Okay, not really. 42. You'd never know, though.
B. Bed size. Queen. What a weird question.
C. Chore you hate: Vacuuming.
D. Day: Saturday.
E. Essential start to your day: A shower.
F. Favourite colour: Green.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver, I don't like gold at all.
H. Height: 5'3" or 5'4", depending on which tape measure you believe. Let's just say 'short'.
I. Instruments: None, I have no musical talent whatsoever.
J. Job title: Instructional Designer. Sounds fancy, but isn't.
K. Kids: Noodle Arms.
L. Live: Adelaide.
M. Mum’s name: Ann, aka Aggie.
N. Nicknames: Sparky the Learner Egg (you had to be there), Kay (you definitely had to be there).
O. Overnight hospital stays: Just giving birth to Noodle Arms.
P. Pet peeve: Don't get me started - one at random... people who stand right in front of the door of elevators even though they're going to the top floor and they know people behind them will be getting off first.
Q. Quote from a movie: 'I have a heart condition! If you hit me, it's murder!' - Withnail and I.
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: Two younger brothers.
T. Time you wake up: 6am
U. Underwear: Yes.
V. Vegetables you dislike: Cooked carrot, though I don't mind it raw. Raw tomatoes.
W. What makes you run late: I hate being kept waiting (one of my many pet peeves), so I'm conscious of not doing it to others. The only time I'm ever late is when I'm going somewhere I don't want to go and I'm finding excuses to delay.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: None that I can ever remember.
Y. Yummy food you make: Chocolate and macadamia biscuits. I got the recipe from Delicious magazine, so I can't pretend they're really mine.
Z. Zoo: I like Adelaide zoo because it's small. By the time you get bored with walking around looking at animals it's over.

April Empties

2011-05-04T17:26:00.000+09:30

I've always wanted to be one of those cool kids like Anissa or Natalie who actually use up things - I rarely have empties to show off. However, in the last few weeks I've been quietly making an effort to work through some of the many half-used products clogging up my house, and I actually have enough for an April Empties post!

Thank you, thank you, I'd like to thank the Academy, etc...

MOP Lemongrass Volume Shampoo: I bought this about a year ago when a hairdresser put the hard word on me. I've used MOP on and off over the years, and I do like their products, but I don't think they're anything special. I wouldn't go out of my way to repurchase this.

Garnier Clean Sensitive 2 in 1 Waterproof Makeup Remover: I gave this a slam in a review a while ago, but I've come around to it. I don't think it removes makeup as quickly and easily as a cleansing oil does, but for the price it does a decent job. I would probably repurchase this, particularly as I'm on a pretty strict budget for the foreseeable future.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur Defendue 5ml decant: I bought this by accident; I meant to get Fleur de Corail. It's a nice perfume, but nothing special or interesting. I wouldn't bother repurchasing this.

Miller Harris Geranium Bourbon 1ml sample: I've had this around for ages - going on a couple of years, I think. I'm making an effort to work through my perfume samples and get rid of them. Again, I like this, but there's nothing about it that tempts me to buy more of it. It's nice, but ultimately forgettable.

Palmolive Milk and Shea Butter Moisturising Shower Milk: I'm not one for spending loads on fancy body washes. I just want something that keeps me clean and doesn't dry my skin out, and this does the trick. I've bought it regularly for years, and I will continue to do so. I have a new bottle on the go at the moment, in fact.

Haus of Gloi Twice is Nice Sugar Creme Scrub: This is a sample, but it's a pretty decent size. It's another product I've had floating around for ages,and I have a few of these in different scents. I really like this product, but I wouldn't buy a full size because I find using a jar of anything in the shower a pain in the arse. I use these little ones as a scrub for my hands. The scent is one of Haus of Gloi's delicious foody ones, but not one of my favourites.

Listerine Zero: I was sent this a while ago by Beauty Heaven, and have since found out it won't be on the shelves until July. I'm bummed about that because I LOVE IT. I have a fear of mouthwashes that contain alcohol because of the alleged links to cancer (ironically, I don't have a fear of actually drinking alcohol), and this is pretty much the only alcohol-free mouthwash I've used that feels like it's actually doing something. Back to that crappy mint-flavoured kiddy one until I can get my mitts on more of this.

Clarins Foot Beauty Treatment Cream: This was a deluxe sample/trial size thing that came in a GWP (Clarins have the best GWPs - I kid you not). I used it as a hand cream when my poor hands were feeling particularly trashed (I wash them too often). It's very rich but not greasy, and it works a treat on hands. It stinks though, some kind of citrus scent that takes forever to go away. I wouldn't repurchase it - I was just using it up.

NeoStrata Bionic Eye Cream: My all-time favourite eye cream, I think this was my third tube. I won't be repurchasing for a while though as I have half a dozen other eye products around to be used at the moment, including a Palmers' one and a Dermalogica one that Jacquie handed off to me, and an Alpha-H eye gel that Jen kindly sent to me after it didn't work for her. Those will all keep me going for a while.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair: I bought this with birthday money when there was a really good GWP going on at the same time, so I don't feel so bad about the fact that it's vastly overpriced and - in my opinion - vastly overrated. I would not repurchase this, it did nothing for me at all.

Nair Glide On Hair Removal: One of those stupid gimmicky things I can't resist. It has little holes in the top and supposedly you wind it up and it comes out through the holes and smoothes easily and evenly on the skin. Except it doesn't - it's pants. I wouldn't bother repurchasing this.

Sampling Samples: Revlon New Complexion Makeup

2011-04-25T10:00:00.003+09:30

I have to admit I've not been in the mood to write in my blog lately - I've become a bit disillusioned with it all. I don't really want to go into it because I'll just sound bitchy and sour, but there have been several things I've seen of late that have made my think, 'Ugh'.

Anyway, enough of that. As part of my mission to drastically reduce my stash I've been going through my sample drawer, throwing out what looks like it's years old and using what looks like it might be okay (fingers crossed!). This sample of Revlon New Complexion Makeup looks like it came out of a magazine. Revlon claims it is a 'light as air, oil free formula (that) evens out skin tone and lets skin breathe etc. etc.' It goes on a bit. It also contains 'Dermabreathe'. What do you suppose that might be? No idea, but it sounds all fancy and cosmeceutical, doesn't it?

The formula of this product is very liquidy - I poured it on to my hand and then had to grab it quick and apply it before it ran off everywhere. It's a medium coverage, and buildable, but even with a couple of layers around my cheeks it didn't quite cover the redness (though admittedly that's been worse than usual lately - probably because I've been playing with samples...). The colour I had was #04 Natural Beige, which was pretty right for me. (I'm getting darker as I get older - I used to be in the lightest or second lightest shade of foundations, then I moved into the second or third. Now I'm on the fourth - weird.)

This foundation feels lovely - it's silky, light and easy to blend, and doesn't feel heavy or mask-ish.

Before

After

Despite the fact that I really like the feel of this foundation, it's not for me - it just doesn't have enough coverage. I need a more heavy duty one like ColorStay.

Wet'n'Wild Color Icon 8 Pan Eyeshadow Comfort Zone

2011-04-22T11:19:00.003+09:30

Wet'n'Wild is a brand not available in Australia. On the one hand, that's bad, because they've really stepped up their game - especially with their eyeshadows. On the other hand, it's probably just as well, because although it's a brand that's as cheap as chips in the US, no doubt we'd be paying $25AUD for these 8 colour palettes if they were in Priceline or Target.

I bought Comfort Zone a while back on eBay, and although I loved it immediately for some reason I didn't start using it. It was around the time when we still had a few hot days so I wasn't really wearing eyeshadow much. However, I've been seeing swatches and looks from it in other blogs quite a bit lately so I figured it was time to haul it out and have a crack at it.

The colours are gorgeous - neutral enough for day wear, but with a couple of zingers for when you want to take it up a notch. They are highly pigmented, easy to apply and blend, and last all day with a primer underneath. The one downside is that they're a bit powdery so if you don't tap off your brush before applying you'll probably have to deal with some fallout.

Swatches from the left side (no primer) - that first colour is a bit chalky, the others are excellent.

Swatches from the right side (no primer) - the last one is a MAC Club dupe (see below)

I've been wearing this palette all week and it's really versatile - you can mess about with blending different colours if you have the time, but if you're like me and generally running a bit late in the mornings, there are also plenty of colours you can just swipe on the lid and wear alone.

The last pic is the Club dupe - I just couldn't get a picture at 6:30am that shows how great this looks. It's a reddish brown with green overlay and it's awesomesauce.

Comfort Zone is a beautifully practical, wearable palette and if you like neutrals and greens it's a must have. It's currently out of stock in most places, but it's part of Wet'n'Wild's permanent range so it will be available eventually. You can keep an eye out for it on Nonpareil, where it will set you back about $7US, or Crush Cosmetics for about $15AUD.

Paddle Pop Lion gives this palette two thumbs up.

NYX Lipstick Swatches: Random Ones I Forgot To Include Elsewhere

2011-04-19T18:18:00.000+09:30

These are lipsticks that should have been included in other categories but for one reason or another I forgot. The only one of these I ever wear is Heather, which I quite like - it's a nice shade for Winter.

Rose Bud, Tea Rose, Heather, Aphrodite, Medusa

Rose Bud

Tea Rose

Heather

Aphrodite

Medusa

Thanks to Noodle Arms for swatching all of these lipsticks for me over the last couple of months. You're a star, Noodles!

Goodbye Twitter

2011-04-18T20:49:00.001+09:30

Some of you might be wondering why I deleted my Twitter account this evening. The truth is, I've been unhappy with it for a long time. I see a side of a lot of people on Twitter that I don't like and would prefer not to know about. I didn't get into blogging to sidle up to PR people or get into a clique or hang out with the cool kids.

I got into blogging as an outlet for somewhere to talk about a topic I really like talking about, and to read other people's writing on that topic as well. I don't care about freebies or launches or meet ups or the 'right' way to write a blog. I don't care about who's a guru, or who's a quote-unquote professional, or who's cool or who has a million followers.

I don't judge anyone for setting up a blog for any reason they see fit. I don't judge people for wanting to take it further, and I don't judge them for using it to network or get to try products or do whatever the hell they want to do with it. But I choose not to do those things, and I feel sometimes like I'm being judged for it.

I'm a tiny drop in a big world, and I'm happy with that. I've met some fantastic people both through blogs and through Twitter, and I'm grateful for that. I've found awesome people who share my love of makeup and perfume, and I hope those people are happy to have found me too.

My Twitter may be gone, but my blog isn't going anywhere. I'm staying here in my little corner banging away about whatever crosses my mind. I hope you'll stay here with me.

P.S. This is a rant. I reserve the right to do that too.

How Many Is Too Many?

2011-04-18T15:44:00.003+09:30

For years I've been ragging Jacquie because every couple of weeks she buys a new lipstick, and they almost all look the same colour to me. However, I think we're all probably guilty of buying essentially the same thing over and over. For me it's pinky-nudish lipsticks and taupe-ish eyeshadows.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what 'taupe' is. I've seen it describe variously as brown and grey and a combination of both. My justification for having so many eyeshadows that could fall into the taupe territory is that they are all a bit different, some considerably so. I probably still don't need that many, though.

From the top: Vorpal from UD Alice In Wonderland, Mushroom from UD Alice In Wonderland, middle colour in Wet'n'Wild Silent Treatment, Jordana Over The Taupe, top right colour from Milani Exotic Berries SMH Warm & Fuzzy, second from top right colour in NYX Romance palette quad,

Sigma Indian Girl, NYX Iced Mocha, NYX Taupe Pearl, Wet'n'Wild Nutty, NYX Root Beer (note: this is the one from the Trio Barely There/Champagne/Root Beer; the NYX single eyeshadow of the same name is a different colour), first colour in NYX In The Woods trio.

So what do you have too many of? Confess!

NYX Round Lipstick Swatches: Browns

2011-04-17T15:42:00.000+09:30

Mars, Hades, B52, Peony

Mars

Hades

B52

Peony

Face of Australia Mineral Lip Shine Fairy Floss

2011-04-17T08:25:00.000+09:30

The Face Of Australia Mineral Lip Shine is one of those products that's somewhere between a lipstick and a lip gloss. It reminds me of the Stila High Shine Lipsticks, without the glitter.

The colour I received (I was sent this) is Fairy Floss, a super pretty, subtle pink that would be perfect for Spring - exactly my sort of colour. It feels hydrating and smooth, and isn't highly pigmented but leaves a nice wash of colour. The lasting power isn't great, but with these sorts of lip products it never is, and that's never a selling point for me anyway.

I've been using this a fair bit lately and really enjoying it. And of course, my lovely lip model Noodles agreed to swatch it for me like the super trooper she is. (Looking at that photo I think she needs a lip scrub.)

You can buy the FOA Mineral Lip Shine at Priceline and some department stores for about $13, and there are 7 shades available. I'm going to check out 'Love Bite' next time I'm out shopping.

NYX Round Lipstick Swatches: Nudes

2011-04-16T14:44:00.001+09:30

Or as I like to call it, The Corpse Lips Collection...

Top: Clio, Honey, Rea

Bottom: Circe, Summer Love, Darling, Thalia

Clio, Honey, Rea, Circe

Summer Love, Darling, Thalia

Clio

Honey

Rea

Circe

Summer Love

Darling

Thalia

Nad's Facial Wand

2011-04-16T09:56:00.001+09:30

My eyebrows are the bane of my existence. In the 1990s I waxed and plucked them into oblivion and now I am paying the price. They look like crap. They're also quite light and sparse, so even what's there is patchy.

Over the past few years I have attempted to grow them back in many, many times to no avail. There's no thickness or body, just random hairs popping up all over the place. It looks like a centipede stood on a land mine. Last year I spent about four or five months doggedly growing them - it looked a mess but I was determined to put up with it for as long as I possibly could. When I finally couldn't stand it anymore, and was hopeful that I could get at least a bit of oomph going with them, I went off to a beautician who proceeded to wax them right back into the skinny lines I'd been desperately trying to get rid of. GAH.

Anyway, since then I just do the best I can and pretty much pretend they're not there. I know they look like rubbish, but there's not much more I can do about it. I just keep them neat and use powder and pencils to add a bit of colour. And then every couple of months when I realise I'm well down the road of yet another failed attempt to make something of them, I set to (not) waxing them back to neatness.

Enter the Nad's Facial Wand.

I don't know what the heck Nad's is. I remember the ads when it first came out and the woman emphatically stating, "It's not a wax!" (She also emphatically stated it was painless, which is bollocks, but it's no worse than waxing.) She would haul her poor hairy daughters out in front of the camera and proceed to demonstrate why she had invented Nad's.

The Nad's Facial Wand has one of those wind-up clicky wotsits (technical term) on the end that pushes the product to the tip, where there's a small hole for it come through. The idea is that you smooth a thin layer on the bit of eyebrow (or moustache or whatever) you wish to remove, then smooth on a little cotton strip that comes with it, and rip it off - exactly like waxing (are you sure it's not a wax, Nad's lady?). It's pretty easy to get the stuff where you want it, and avoid getting it where you don't want it, thanks to the fine tip. Much easier than smoothing on with a stick or spatula.

Before - RIP Centipede. I draw a line along the bottom of my eyebrow as a guide. That's not some fashion thing I do, in case you're wondering.

After - the redness fades within an hour. I still have to colour bits in. Stupid 90s!

The problem I have with Nad's is that it's not that great. It does remove the majority of hair, but it always misses a few, and no matter how many times you go over it, they won't come out. So I still have to get Ye Olde Tweezermans out and start tugging away at the stubborn little dudes who won't move. It's a bit of a palaver.

The hairs start growing back after about three weeks, and you'll need to Nadify the area every 6 weeks or so - again, similar to waxing. Are you reaaaaaaally sure this isn't a wax, Nad's lady?

It costs about $14 in Priceline and lasts a fair while as you don't need much. I think I replace mine every 6-8 months, and usually it's because it's gone a bit gungy, not because I've used it all.

P.S I don't know what the heck is going on with my font and I can't work out how to fix it.

FOA Mineral Therapy Liquid Foundation

2011-04-13T19:01:00.001+09:30

I might as well admit right up front that this didn't work for me at all, and frankly I'm a bit devo. I read a lot of rave reviews about it and I really wanted to love it. Sadly, mineral foundations and I are not meant to be.

This foundation was included in the massive goodie bag Face Of Australia sent me a few weeks ago, and at first glance it looked like it would be much too dark for me; the colour I have is Beige. However, it's not as dark as it seems to be in the bottle, and was quite a good match. It's fairly thin - a little like MAC Face and Body, but not quite as liquidy.

Before

After

The coverage isn't enough for me - although it is buildable, but that's not the fault of the product itself. I'm old, people - my foundations are SRS BSNS.

My main problem with mineral foundations of all kinds is that they immediately sink into my pores and I look like I've got some weird disease that involves tiny white dots all over the face.
I tried it with various primers - Face Base, Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch and Benefit The Porefessional, to no avail. Spotty Spotterson.

Click on the pic to enlarge it and behold the ~~gory~~ glory.

In short, not mah thang. However, I've read many positive reviews, it's a great price - around $15 in Priceline, and it does feel quite nice on.

I've passed it on to Jacquie and she seems to have had much better luck with it than I did. I'll keep prodding her to do a review of her own.

Mini Haul!

2011-04-12T17:55:00.000+09:30

So you thought I'd be putting all the money from my recent blog sale on my credit card or in savings or something, right? Well, some I did. But I had to have a little spendy-spendy, which doesn't count towards my vow to not buy anything until May, because it's found money. Found money never counts.

From All Cosmetics Warehouse:

MAC Studio Finish ConcealerNW20
Maybelline Color Sensation Lipstick Luminous Lilac
Stila Eyeshadow Kitten
SMH Eyeshadow Cashmere
SMH Eyeshadow Sex Kitten
SMH Eyeshadow Warm & Fuzzy

I've never tried SMH eyeshadows before, and this seemed like a good excuse to dip a toe in.

From The Perfumed Court:

i Profumi di Firenze Magnolia Purpurea - 1.5ml spray
Lostmarc'h Lann-Ael 1.5ml spray
Lalique Amethyst 1.5ml spray
Hilde Soliani Vecchi Rossetti 1.5ml spray
Boucheron by Boucheron 1.5ml spray
Oriens by Van Cleef & Arpels 1.5ml vial (meant to get the spray - d'oh!)
Jovan Musk Oil Vintage - 1/2ml vial
Fendi Theorema - 5ml spray

Tag: I Wish I Hadn't Bothered

2011-04-11T09:24:00.001+09:30

This is a tag that Jacquie started the other day, and I struggled with it a bit, because if there's something I really regret or don't like, I tend to just give it away. If I'm not going to use something, I'd much rather it go to someone who will use it. Either that or I just throw it out. However, I had a look around and found a few things that I think fit the tag.

Philosophy Hope In A Jar
This stuff feels a lot like that Nivea moisturiser in the little blue tin, which I hate. It's greasy, doesn't absorb easily, feels thick and uncomfortable on the skin, and does nothing that I can see. It also stinks.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair
Honestly, I think this product reeks of the emperor's new clothes. I have never, ever read a less than glowing review of it. It's okay - it's a nice enough serum that does... nothing. Certainly not worth the $120 or whatever it costs here.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils
I had a few of these, didn't like them, and then bought more. WTF? They crease like a mofo. Enough said.

L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara
I'm a bit sad about this one because I really want to love it. I have Carbon Black and Full Definition, and although they both look awesome on lashes, they smudge really badly. They end up smeared under my eyes and I don't even wear mascara on my bottom lashes!

Urban Decay Book Of Shadows Alice In Wonderland
I've been a bit ambivalent about this for a while now. On the one hand, it's GORGEOUS. On the other hand, a lot of the colours are just way too glittery and/or shimmery. A familiar problem with Urban Decay, though they do make some of the best ever eyeshadows (well hello there, Toasted). I almost included this in my blog sale the other week, but wanted to think about it a bit longer.
Having said that, when I pulled this palette off the shelf for this post, I swatched the colours again and some of them really are beautiful. I think I might give this a bit of a work out this week and see if I change my mind about it.

I'll tag whoever feels like doing this, because I love reading these posts. So drag out your regrets and have at it!

Face of Australia Face Base & Gentle Makeup Remover

2011-04-10T17:12:00.001+09:30

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an enormous bag of goodies from Face of Australia, and I've been testing them out and messing about with them since. That is, all except for a big bottle of Auscreen Coconut-scented Sunscreen Spray, which Noodle Arms absconded with for her school sports day and I haven't seen since. I've smelled it wafting past me a few times, though...

Gentle Makeup Remover
There's an episode of Seinfeld where he talks about how everything evens out for him. My life is very similar. Nothing super exciting ever happens, but neither does anything terrible. And when I really need something, it usually turns up. I had been working my way through a number of half-finished makeup removers and had finally reached the last bottle and was thinking about what I would buy next when this baby turned up.

It's a bi-facil product, the kind that has two separate parts and you shake them together. It's hard to see because they're both clear, but the top section is slightly cloudier. There's no scent to speak of, maybe an extremely faint hint of something floral, though I may be imagining that because my clothes always have the remnants of perfumes on them, so there's generally a faint hint of something around me and my house.

As suggested by Tina, the chickie behind FOA's Twitter, I used it as the first step of a double cleanse, following with a cream cleanser. I don't think this is particularly necessary - it did a pretty bang up job of removing my long-wearing foundation - but I always like to double cleanse anyway. I'm whacky that way. One thing I did find was that it made my eyes sting - not at the time, but the next day they felt very sore and stingy. So even though the product is supposed to be suitable for eyes, I wouldn't recommend it for that. Though having said that, it differs for everyone, doesn't it? I've known people who find Dermalogica preCleanse stings their eyes, but I've never had an issue with it.

For those of you who are concerned about these kinds of things (I'm not), it's oil-free and paraben-free. I don't know the exact price, but it's less than $15AUD for 125ml, and available in Priceline. I found it was really effective at doing its job, and I would definitely repurchase.

Face of Australia Face Base
If you've been around my blog for a while you'll already know that I love this stuff. I mention it whenever I have an opportunity, and I'm sure it's been cropping up on my Top 5 list every year. It's always in my "X Favourite Products" and "What I'm Using Now" posts too - in short, I LOVES IT. And again, like Seinfeld, everything evens out for me. This turned up just when I was squeezing the last dregs out of my last tube and wondering when I'd get time to go to Priceline for some more.

Face Base is an oil-free primer that creates a smooth base for foundation. It doesn't have much in the way of bells and whistles - you won't find it filling in your pores like Spackle, as some primers are designed to do. It doesn't really do all that much for wrinkles, though it does seem to diffuse and soften fine lines a wee bit. I tried to get a photo of that effect with my hands, but although it was obvious in real life, it was really hard to get it to show up in a picture.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you may be able to see that the hand on the right doesn't look quite as lined as the one on the left. Or not. But take my word for it - it doesn't.

I don't have a bad word to say about this product - I've been buying it for a few years and though I do test out other primers I always come back to it. I'm probably on my 5th or 6th tube. It costs about $12 for 50ml and lasts for ages. Awesome stuff.

Roadtest: Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer with UDPP

2011-04-09T10:40:00.001+09:30

A few weeks ago I did a review of Detrivore Eye Shadow Primer, and found that it did a fantastic job of bringing out the colour of eyeshadow, as well as providing a nice sticky base to reduce fallout. However, it did crease quite a bit after 5 hours or so, and I wanted to try it again with UDPP underneath. I've finally gotten around to doing just that.

I used a Sassy Minerals colour called Vixen, and I didn't bother making up my eye properly, so DON'T JUDGE ME. I just applied the primer/s and slapped some colour on the top.

Detrivore alone.

Detrivore alone after about 6 hours.

Detrivore with UDPP underneath.

Detrivore with UDPP underneath after about 6 hours.

As you can see, although there is creasing on both, there's a pretty big difference. So to get the best out of the loose shadows, it's a two step process. UDPP (or similar) first to prevent fading and (most) creasing, and Detrivore (or similar) to bring out the colour of the eyeshadow.

And now we know!

NYX HD Eye Shadow Base

2011-04-06T17:30:00.001+09:30

I have to admit, I'm a bit 'meh' about Urban Decay Primer Potion. I think it makes eyeshadow go on a bit patchy, and it creases on me after a few hours. (I've yet to try Too Faced Shadow Insurance, so I have no opinion on that.) It's one of those products that in my opinion is massively over-rated. However, I use it because I have oily eyelids (how does that even happen?), and I need something to keep the eyeshadow there for as long as possible, but I'm always trying other products to see if they're any better.

I bought the NYX HD Eye Primer during the last 20% off sale at Nonpareil, its usual cost is about $7USD. It's very similar in look and texture to UDPP, no doubt deliberately - NYX seem to be a bit shameless with duping. It has a sponge applicator and the same annoying quality that the UDPP packaging has - it's hard to get to the side bits when you've used up the middle bit.

I tried it with NARS Ondine - again working on the theory that people don't notice if there are minor issues with neutral eyeshadow colours, so if it creased after ten minutes it wouldn't be so noticeable. I applied my makeup at about 6:30am, and it had creased by lunch time. Not hugely, but certainly noticeably (if I closed my eyes).

Here it is at about 5pm (ignore eyebrows - still trying to regrow them!), and you can see it's creased quite a bit. However, for a cheap product, I can live with this. It's not much worse than UDPP is on me, so I'll keep using it until something better comes along.

Tag: My 11 Most Reached For Products

2011-04-03T21:40:00.003+09:30

This was a tag I stole from Jade's video, but she tagged anyone who wanted to do it, so I'm doing it!

It wasn't too hard to pick 11 items, as I've been pretty much using the same stuff over and over lately. I have moved right away from my usual greens, purples and pinks and embraced neutral/nude eyeshadows. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that I'm getting on a bit and my eyelids are more hooded than they used to be (boo-urns), but mainly because it's still dark when I'm getting ready in the mornings and the lighting in my house is shite - everywhere. I just don't have the light I need to be able to apply coloured eyeshadows carefully enough. If I'm a bit half-arsed with neutrals (as I often am), it's not really noticeable.

Anyway, blah blah blah - on to my list. I haven't included any skincare or perfumes as I chop and change those a lot and don't have any real go to favourites at the moment.

Face of Australia Face Base
My favourite primer ever. It doesn't really do anything about hiding pores or lines, but it feels lovely and provides a beautifully smooth base for foundation. It's comfortable and I don't spend the whole day feeling like I'm wearing a mask. It's also cheap - about $12 in Priceline, I think.

Hissyfit Lip Service Lip Balm SPF30+
Never in a million years did I think I'd be including a lip balm in a list of "most" anything, unless it was "Most Annoying Products That You Still Have To Use". I reviewed this the other day, so I won't say anything more about it here.

Palladio Rice Powder
I bought this for $5US from Makeupgeek. You can buy it here from Crush Cosmetics for nearly three times the price (of course - it's Australia, after all). It's lovely and light and sets makeup nicely. I apply it with that big boofy Sigma brush that's a dupe of the MAC #150.

NARS Eyebrow Pencil Ipanema
Perfect brown - not too dark, and no red. I use it when I can't be bothered messing about with powder on my brows, which lately has been daily.

ELF Liquid Lipstick Pink Lemonade
Not a lipstick at all - it's a gloss. Not too sticky, nice subtle colour, easy to apply and cost $1. What's not to love?

MAC #239 Brush
This was the first MAC brush I ever bought, and it's still one of only two that I own (the other is #266). I think it's a "must own" - it's better than any other shadow brush I've ever used. I want more of them.

NYX Cream Blush Rose Petal
I didn't like this when I first bought it, but I think that's because the weather was hot. Now that it's cooled down it doesn't feel as greasy as it did at first. It's a very pretty rose pink colour and it lasts a good while. I apply it with a travel size Sigma #187 stippling brush.

Milani Blush Luminous
Definitely my most-used blush. It's Milani's attempt at an Orgasm dupe, pinky peach with gold shimmer. It's not exactly the same, but it's very pretty and wearable.

NARS Eyeshadow Ondine
Gorgeous shimmery plummy brown - I love this colour so much.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Toasted
Possibly my favourite eyeshadow - it's a shimmery bronze-ish brown. If you have the Naked palette, you'll know this one.

Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick Born With It
The perfect nude pink.

I tag anyone who feels like doing it, and I'd love it if everyone did it because I want to know what 11 products you reach for most!

Lipstick Tag

2011-04-02T21:45:00.000+10:30

I do have a few posts in the pipeline but I need pictures to go with them and I haven't had a chance to do that yet, so in the meantime, here's a lipstick tag I stole from Vintage Makeup.

1. When you were a child, did you use your mother's lipsticks?
No, my mother didn't really wear makeup. My aunt had a lot of those little white Avon samples and my cousin and I used to play around with those.

2. How old were you when you bought your first lipstick?
Probably about 14 or so. Before that it was those Maybelline Cherry lip gloss things with the roller ball.

3. Pink or red lipstick?
I love red but my lips are too thin (SAD FACE), so it's pink.

4. The most expensive lipstick you have ever bought?
Hmmm. I don't buy many expensive lipsticks, it's not really something I think is worth spending a lot of money on. I have an old Chanel one that cost me about $50 - I'd say that's probably the most expensive.

5. And the cheapest?
I bought a Jordana one from Cherry Culture for about $1 just to see what it was like. It's not very good.

6. What's the most bizarre thing you have ever done with a lipstick?
Erm.. nothing. What on earth do people do with lipsticks other than wear them on lips?

7. If you had to recommend a lipstick, which brand would you recommend and why?
Lately I've really been loving the Maybelline Color Sensationals. They're overpriced here in Australia (of course), but I'd say snap some up when Priceline has a sale on.

I tag anyone who feels like joining in!

Hissyfit Lip Service Lip Balm SPF30+

2011-03-21T12:31:00.000+10:30

Those of you who have been around here for a while will know that I really don't like lip balms. Like sunscreen and hand cream, it's a product I use resentfully. I can't stand feeling anything sticky or greasy on myself, and it annoys me that I can't really get along without any of these products.

A few months ago Su sent me a tube of Hissyfit Lip Service Lip Balm SPF30+ along with a ton of other stuff, because she's good like that. I had about four lip balms on the go at the time so I put it in my drawer of "unopened things and things I'm not currently using". I happened across it the other day when I was looking for hair products for Noodle Arms after she came home with a particularly fetching new 'do. Coincidentally, I had very cracked, dry lips after being sick with a horrible - and lingering - cold for over a week.

One of my issues with lip balm is that I don't feel they really do anything other than sit on your lips - I don't think that many of them have any genuine moisturising qualities. However, I am pleased and surprised to discover that Hissyfit lip balm is indeed moisturising. I applied it to my poor cracked lips when I went to bed and woke up the next morning with them almost fixed. After a day of continuing to use this lip balm my lips were back to good condition, with no dryness whatsoever.

The scent is vaguely chocolate, but it isn't strong and doesn't last long, and it doesn't taste of anything much. It doesn't contain any mineral oil so you don't get that horrible vaseline feel - it is quite slick, but not unpleasantly so. It doesn't feel sticky or overly greasy. The tube has one of those slanted tops with a little hole so you apply it directly to the lips. I'm not keen on those, I must admit - they can get a bit messy and it's sometimes hard to control how much product comes out, but what can you do? Live with it, that's what.

I've been using this for over a week now, applying a few times a day when I think about it, and at night when I go to bed. And although I have no shortage of other lip balms to work through, I would definitely buy this one again. In Australia it's available from David Jones and costs about $7AUD.

A confession.

2011-03-20T12:20:00.001+10:30

Yesterday I was talking to one of my Twitter friends about the Wet'n'Wild Color Icon trio palettes, and the topic of Nonpareil Boutique cropped up. Another friend suggested a group order when they have their Easter 20% off sale, and I declined to be involved.

Now let me show you why.

In the first week of December I made a declaration that I was not going to buy any makeup, skincare or perfume products for 12 months except for items I legitimately needed (ie: if I ran out of toner or foundation), or items that were limited edition and I wouldn't be able to get them if I still wanted them in 12 months' time. So how's that been going?

This is everything I've bought since making that statement.

Okay, I know that looks really bad, but in my (weak) defence:

95% of it is cheap as chips US drugstore stuff
60% of it is stuff I bought with Christmas money from my mum, doesn't count
you can see there is only one small perfume oil (a limited edition Valentine fragrance), and no skincare products at all
I have no excuse for the nail polish; it was cheap and cute
I have no excuse for the WnW palettes either

So yeah, not doing too fantastically with my goal of not buying, and also reducing my current stash.

Anyway, now I'm back on the wagon! My birthday is in May and my mum always gives me gift vouchers or money, so my goal now is to not buy ANYTHING until then, and then I can have a little spree if there's something I'm hankering for at the time.

We'll see how that goes...