Monday, September 22, 2014

Q&A







1. What's the last thing you took a photo of?
Above is the last picture I took from our weekend wine tour in the Adelaide Hills. This view reminded me of a the picture I have of myself and friends visiting Neuschwanstein Castle outside of Munich (though the Adelaide Hills are considerably smaller). Perfect weather, great wine and the best company. 
It's days like that I feel very very lucky to enjoy such a lifestyle. A friend of mine recently had something awful happen to her and I am feeling very grateful for the health and happiness of those closest to me, 

2. What's your favourite meal to make at home?
I've become quite good at making a vegetarian phở noodle soup, and tom yum soup. I also love having lots of dishes to choose from, so I'll make a coleslaw, beetroot and lentil salad, pan fried potato and sweet potato and some vegetarian schnitzels. This was a bad question to ask, because I could talk about food for days...

3. Do you play any instruments?
Sadly no, I learned to play piano in primary school and once asked Pete to teach me to play guitar but never cared enough to become skilled at playing either. 

4. Inside or outside?
As much of a bookworm as I am, I love the outdoors. With this gorgeous weather, I need to be outside, exploring my local area, visiting farmers markets, going on wine tours, walking on the beach. I especially miss surfing. 

5. Favourite season and why.
Summer, all the way. Adelaide summers can be so punishing, but I absolutely thrive on it. Going to the beach after work, long hot nights hanging out with friends and drinking beer, cute summer dresses, road trips, tans, iced drinks, salads, Christmas, NYE. 

6. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Was that enough?
I got my eight hours sleep, though unfortunately woke up with a cold. 

7. Current favourite TV show.
I really dig The Block to get decorating ideas for when I eventually own my own home. I am also working my way through Season 3 of Fringe, and last night watched the first ep of a new Aussie drama called The Code, which has me very interested! 

8. What's one thing on your bucketlist?
Travel, always. I'd also like to write a novel. 

9. Best way to cheer yourself up.
Shopping. Coffee. Sunshine. Reading. 

10. Put your music player on shuffle... what's the first song that plays?
Probably something by Elliphant or Evian Christ 

11. What was the last thing you spent money on?
Dinner with the family. Wine tour. Photobook for my wedding pictures. 










Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tunesday

As a fan of Joy Division, I'm really digging Expensive Dog by Total Control:


Also on high rotation is Jonwayne's Cassette 3: The Marion Morrison Mixtape:



And one of the best film clips I've seen in a long time, Smooth Sailing by Queens of the Stone Age:


Saturday, August 9, 2014

MAC Novel Romance Collection

You guys, this is amazing. MAC have taken those fantastically cheesy romance novels as inspiration for their Fall 2014 collection (for the US, of course), and the results are perfect. Check it out:

image via Refinery29

image via Refinery29

image via Refinery29

image via Refinery29

image via Refinery29

image via Refinery29


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

41 beauty hacks




                       An absolutely brilliant list of 41 beauty hacks from the good folks at Buzzfeed.

Friday, May 30, 2014

New products - Bellabox & Maybelline

I ordered my first Bellabox this month. After hearing about it and seeing it advertised to me constantly on Facebook, I decided to give it a go as the first one only cost $10 and $15 per month thereafter. I like the no pressure, cancel any time subscription, as I feel that this is something I will decide to keep or not keep depending on what I receive. 


Firstly, I have to say that I am very impressed with their service. Having recently received less than ideal delivery service from a particular fashion website, I was very happy to receive email updates from Bellabox about when my package had left the depot and when it would arrive. 

The packaging is lovely, and I'm sure I can reuse all boxes I'll be getting as gift boxes, etc. 


For this month I received: 
  1. Yes To Grapefruit facial scrub and serum
  2. Wen sweet almond cleansing conditioner
  3. Appelles Apothecary lemon myrtle vegetable soap
  4. Invisible Zinc tinted daywear cream
  5. Anastasia clear eyebrow gel
  6. Swisspers facial wipes
I was very happy to receive the facial wipes, as I had been meaning to buy some. 

The Yes to Grapefruit duo is excellent. The scrub smells amazing and is not too abrasive. I like the serum also, I feel that it may be helping to even out my skin, or I could just be having a good skin week. Either way, I would still strongly consider buying a full size product. 

The soap is also excellent, smells amazing. 

The Wen cleansing conditioner makes your hair smell so good (I feel like almond mint should be the next frappe flavour at Gloria Jeans) and feel lovely. I'm not sure that it's any better than what I am currently using (Tresemme and Organic Care) but I have only used it once, so will see how I go next time. I do like the size of the sample - very generous! 

I feel the Invisible Zinc is ill-timed. I know we're having a fantastically warm autumn, but I would only wear a product like that in summer, when I'm spending a lot of time outdoors. 

I plan on gifting the eyebrow gel to someone who actually has eyebrows and doesn't need to draw them on like I do. If it were tinted, I would get more use out of it. 

Overall I'm pretty happy with this month's haul. As it the point of Bellabox, I've discovered products that I like and will consider buying in store. As long as I get good value for money, I will be happy to continue my subscription. 




On another note, I have recently bought and begun using this Maybelline Master Precise liquid eyeliner. It feels like using a finely pointed texta but has a nice semi-gloss finish like a regular liquid eyeliner. 

It dries a lot quicker than brush-and-bottle eyeliner, so I have to be a little more careful, but I also feel that I make less mistakes because I can control the brush much more easily. It holds really well (I put eye drops in and the liner didn't budge!) and doesn't flake off after being on all day. 

I paid around $13 at Priceline, and I can definitely recommend it as a good, budget option. 


What are your thoughts on Bellabox? Can you recommend some rad beauty products? 

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Rundle Mall AW14 parade

Last Friday, my friend Amanda and I attended one of the free Rundle Mall AW14 fashion parades, which featured clothing from David Jones, Veronika Maine, Seduce, Peter Jackson, and shoes from Wittner and Betts

The stand-out for me were outfits from Veronika Maine. I have never shopped there or considered it to be my style just from looking in their shop window, but I was really impressed with the mix of roll-neck, sleeveless knits; fuller, below the knee skirts; and classic winter coats. 

Afterwards, we were treated to an after party, featuring wines and cider by Sidewood (Adelaide Hills) and delicious canapés. We also scored a goodie bag each, filled with vouchers, samples and lovely gifts. 

Though I am a Summer girl at heart, I love Winter fashion and am keen to stock up on some of those cosy knits, tailored pants and long coats. 





Shoes by Betts - Dunaden and Cooper.






Loved this outfit paired with flats. 

Totally sold on this grey coat. Loved the shoes too.


Anyone is welcome to buy me this jumpsuit...

...and the gold bolero jacket...



At the after-party with Amanda, drinking Sidewood Estate Isabella Rose sparkling - delicious!

Goodies!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Rituals by Noorann Matties

I stumbled across this on Tumblr and thought it was so beautiful:
Via inconnu, by Noorann Matties.
"Investigating the unique interaction with the self that takes place when we engage in a beauty routine.




















Monday, April 14, 2014

Sephora in Oz

Exciting news - major beauty retailer Sephora is set to open its first store in Australia in 2015.


Sephora has more than 1400 stores across 30 countries, and stocks brands such as Make Up For Ever, Smashbox, Urban Decay, Nars and Stila.

When we were travelling overseas, my friend and I would always stop in at Sephora to discover brands we couldn't buy in Australia and marvel over the range of make-up and beauty products. As a big fan of make-up, I am very excited to be able to visit Sephora in my own country.

Sydney will most likely be home to the first Australian store.

Thanks to The Urban Silhouette for the news.


Are you excited about Australia's first Sephora store?

Monday, March 31, 2014

1st Anniversary

Pete and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on March 16. At our wedding reception, we asked guests to write notes and pop them into a bottle for to be opened on a future anniversary.


 The results were funny, beautiful, lovely, kind and as predicted, brought me to tears. I'm so happy that we decided to do it and highly recommend it to any couples about to get married!