A question for you beauty geniuses - I need help!

I seem to have picked up a bunch of new followers overnight (thanks no doubt to Heather's awesome shout out) and I've hit 100! That is so exciting - I remember getting my first follower and being chuffed to think that someone was actually reading my blather. Hello and welcome, new followers! And hello to everyone else too, I really appreciate you being here. I think I should do a giveaway, but it will have to wait a couple of weeks until I get Noodle Arms all sorted for high school this year. I'll definitely give that some thought and come back to it, though.

Let's just take a moment to look at something pretty

The other day Noodle Arms and I were in Target to buy boring, practical things like underwear and socks, and happened to walk past this dress, which was marked down to $23. It's so pretty, and I love the little peek of netting underneath. Bargain! (I wish it fitted me...)

I probably should have run an iron over it before I took a photo, but in my defence, my iron was packed away somewhere due to the renovations, which are FINALLY almost finished.

Noodle Arms Does Fashion

I'm not a fashion person - I've basically stuck to variations of the same look for 20 years - some kind of dress, some kind of little cardie, twin sets when I'm at the smaller end of my wardrobe (I have clothing in six different sizes - my weight has gone up and down quite dramatically over the years). As for shoes, it's either maryjanes or pointy-toed ones with kitten heels. Basic, basic, basic.

Noodle Arms also has a specific style preference, but she's much more into clothes than I am. Her style through the years has changed considerably, and you can pinpoint in these photos the period where she stopped wearing what I bought for her and started doing her own thing.

A guest post from the famous Noodle Arms

Oh hai! It's me, Noodle Arms.
I am a surprise guest and I hear that my arms are totally amazing for swatches because they are so long. I suppose that's why I am called Noodle Arms.  :D Well I am going to talk about stuff I like in the beauty area. Sooo, I'll talk about perfume and clothes because they are the main things that I like beauty wise.

I really like fashion. My mother says I can get away with wearing anything because I am tall and skinny like models are, oh yah, be jealous ;) I don't really like winter because you can't wear dresses, shorts and skirts unless you want to freeze. I think strapless dresses are really pretty but of course I cant wear them because that would be a bit creepy, so I'll wear them when I am older; for now I will have to wear dresses suitable to my age. I think a lot of dresses on Modcloth are really pretty but Noodle Arms does not have that kind of money. Since I am in year 7 I am going to need a graduation dress so I am going to make mother buy me this Strawberry Queen Dress because that is probably my favourite dress that Modcloth has. I wear shorts with leggings/tights almost everyday because I love them so much, especially really bright coloured ones~

With perfumes....I like fruity perfumes most. My favourite scent is grapefruit so obviously grapefruity perfumes are my favourite. I like sweet smelling perfume but I hate perfumes that are too sweet and make you sneeze because no one wants to smell that when they  are just walking around the street. I prefer solid perfumes because they are not over powering like a lot of ....not solid....perfumes are. I am getting bored now...so....

Noodle Arms away ><

Noodle Arms' birthday presents

It's Noodles' birthday at the end of the month, and she made the following requests (and got them, as you can see - it's kind of turning into a birthmonth really - she's being totally spoiled).

I love this apron so much - I want one for myself now. I bought it from here. Noodles is really chuffed with it.

And then there's the cupcake stand she wanted. Bought this from eBay.

And finally a super cute necklace, from this Etsy shop.

She also wants some more perfume and some makeup brushes, and then I have to think of some small thing she doesn't know about so she actually gets a surprise present.

Man, I wish I got that spoiled on my birthday!

Random stuff #487

How can I get my hands on one of these, I wonder? (It's on my mind because we're going to see Alice In Wonderland tomorrow and I'm super excited about it.)

Damn you, Urban Decay. Why don't you sell in Australia anymore???

In non-makeup related news, Noodle Arms bought herself some cake decorating supplies at the market this morning and spent the afternoon making her first batch of cupcakes. Pretty good for a first try, I'd say.

Aw, bless.

Noodle Arms smells nice now.

Over the past week or so I have been babbling excitedly about my daughter Noodle Arms' new-found interest in girly wotsits, and to my absolute delight, she has taken a fancy to perfume. Because I'm the World's Best Mum, I gave her some to start off her own collection - a few that I thought were age-appropriate (and frankly, age-inappropriate for me - I am way too old to walk around smelling like cake or fairy floss). She was very chuffed, and has been wearing them every day. They smell a lot nicer on her than on me, too. 

My dream come true!

I've always been into girly things, and my two major interests (after wine) have long been makeup (or general primping) and cooking. I've also always loved vintage style and shabby chic. I have a compulsion for painting all furniture white, I own pink Bakelite canisters, and I was watching Mad Men way before most people had even heard of it. (I'm not trying to sound like an early-adopting hipster here - I have evidence. Notice there are no comments? It really was just me back then!)

On the other hand, Noodle Arms - who turns 12 next month - has been a scene kid for several years, with hair hanging in the face, red or black hoodie with the sleeves dragged down over the hands, fluoro jeans, and Chuck Taylors. In fact she's worn pretty much nothing but Chuck Taylors on her feet since she was six. She sneered at anything girly or "old". I wrote the other day about how she's taken an interest in what she called "beauty", and since spending the Christmas holidays with her Grandma, she's mad keen on cooking as well. She made us pancakes for breakfast for the last two Sundays, complete with fresh fruit and home-made sauce/syrup, and she made brownies for me to take to work the other day.  Now she tells me she wants an apron and a cake stand for her birthday, and not just any old apron and cake stand. Pacifically* she wants this cake stand, and this apron:





She found it on Etsy at this shop. It's exactly the kind of thing I like (not to mention the pink fridge behind it, which is a lot like the Smeg fridge I have been coveting for many, many years. And the cake stand is just the kind of thing I would buy too.

She's been reading my Shabby Chic books, and wearing her new perfumes (The Garden Bath Chocolate Passion and Demeter Waffle). Now she's talking about doing the op shop rounds for "old lady tea cups". I can't tell you how much this has thrilled me!

*I am aware that pacifically is not the correct word. I was being ironical**.
**I am also aware that ironical is not a word.

More rambling.

Last night Noodle Arms shyly told me that she has started to "become interested in beauty". Awww. She's so pretty that she doesn't need any help in that arena anyway, but I have to admit, it was a bit of a "Squee!" moment for me, because I do love to mess about with and talk about and shop for makeup, skincare and perfume, and she has never shown the slightest interest up to now.

Today we had a bit of a mess around with some very neutral eyeshadows, a smidge of a subtle mascara, and a bit of lip gloss. I also gave her my new Garden Bath Chocolate Passion roll-on perfume, which - let's face it - I'm too old for. I just love the smell, and I'm happy enough to smell it on her. It's very foodie and doesn't have a lot of sillage. Most of my other perfumes are much too strong for her, but this one is perfect for someone young.  

Her birthday is coming up next month, so in addition to her usual presents, I think I'll get her a little starter kit of her own. A nice beauty case, some brushes, a couple of neutral eyeshadows, a couple of lip glosses. I don't think she needs to bother with any kind of base, and even a tinted moisturiser would probably clog her pores anyway.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? She's only turning 12, so the main priority is subtlety. I don't think it's appropriate for her to be wandering around with shimmery forest green eyes and fuschia lips smelling like 6 am in a desert bordello.