The Lazy Girl's Guide to... Wearing red lipstick.

I am a lover of wearing bright red lipstick, and I have far too many shades red for one person.  I am not a lover of worn off lipstick though… You know the look, just an outline of red around the edges and no colour left in the centre… Definitely not ideal.

To combat this, I’ve compiled a lit of techniques, that just might save you from the awkward half on/half off bright lip.

• Prime your lips. – Get rid of all those dead skin cells by using a lib scrub like the Lush Popcorn scrub. It’ll help make your lips smooth and ready to adhere to your lipstick.

• Line your lips. – Using a lip liner helps keep your favourite shade on for hours and hours.  I use  Rimmel 1000 Kisses Stay On Lip Liner in 063 Black Tulip for a more berry red and a Mac LipPencil in Cherry for a brighter red, but if you want an all rounder, invisible lip liners such as the Innoxa Invisible Lip Shaper and the Lipstick Queen Invisible Lip Liner are quite popular.

• Apply, blot, apply, blot. – I’ve found the best way to elongate your favourite red’s staying power is to apply it (over your liner), blot it with a tissue, apply it again, and blot it again.  This helps get rid of excess, which will easily transfer when eating etc.

• Seal. – Not the animal… A product like Lipcote, when applied (and let to dry) will seal your lipstick, which helps it stay on.  (Lipcote is apparently “kiss-proof” … I wouldn’t go as far to say that, but it definitely lasts through eating and drinking.)

• Drink using a straw. – This makes me feel like a complete twat when I’m drinking a bottle of water through a straw, but it works!  Why waste you Mac red on a bottle of water?

Top to bottom: Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil in Cruella, in Damned, Mac matte lipstick in Ruby Woo.

• Matte all the way! – Matte lipsticks, I’ve found, last longer just in themselves. Because they’re not as glossy and shiny, they’re more likely to adhere to your lips. (My favourites are the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils – available from Mecca Cosmetica is Australia, and Mac in Ruby Woo).

So these are some of the tricks I’ve come across along the way.  I hope they’re in some way helpful.

Let me know if you have any more! I’d do anything to not have to reapply.

Beth. x

Liebster Award.

I'm the type of girl who loves to stumble across (and consequently fall in love with!) new blogs. So when the lovely Lauren nominated me to complete the Liebster Award, (where the focus is to find and share not-so-well-known bloggers that you love) I was on board!

To begin here are the rules:

• You have to link back to the person that nominated you.
• Write 11 facts about yourself.
• You must answer all 11 questions given to you by the person who nominated you.
• After completing these questions you must nominate 11 bloggers with under 200 followers and give them 11 questions of your choice.
• You must not nominate the person who nominated you.
• You must let your nominees know that they have been nominated and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it.

Here's my 11 facts!

• I love music... Of all kinds, but mostly Australian, and mostly rock/pop.

• I am a lip product addict.  I have far too many for one person, (especially as far as reds are concerned), but I can't stop buying them!  

• I'm currently studying psychology, and want to one day (hopefully) be a doctor.

• My wardrobe consists of mainly black, white, grey and red.

• I wear my Doc Martens more than anything else.

• You know that band or musician that comes along when you're about 14-15 and changes your life? Michael Paynter is that person for me.

• I went up to grade 5 in singing exams and grade 3 in piano exams.

• I prefer real CDs to buying music online.

• I'm more a dress kind of girl, than a jeans kind of girl.

• The albums that are currently on high rotation for me are 'The Brink' by The Jezabels and 'Five Star Laundry' by Motor Ace.

• Everyone is always disappointed by the amount of movies I've seen, but I have seen most Hugh Grant films. :)

Here's the questions from Lauren!

What is one country that you want to visit?I'd love to go to Greece! The scenery in itself looks amazing! 

What is your favourite book?Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.  It's the third book in the Bridget Jones series, and it's the best one.  It's much deeper than the other two, and more likely to make you cry too!

What is your favourite beauty product right now?My Nars Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella.  Adoration is the only way I can explain my feelings towards this product.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done?I'm not normally an impulsive person, but falling in "love" overseas and then bringing that person back to meet the family was probably the craziest (and also the stupidest) thing I've ever done... It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Who was your first crush?I have absolutely no idea! Maybe someone from the band Five... I was obsessed with them as a child.

What is your favourite season?Probably Autumn or Spring. The time when the weather is high teens-early twenties.

Do you have a favourite animal?Ummm... Probably cats.  I think I'm a cat lady at heart. (The amount of cat-related things in my wardrobe would definitely tell you I'm a cat lady.)

If you were given $1 million dollars right now, what would you do?Pay off my uni fees, pay off mum and dad's mortgage, buy a new car (for them and for me), buy a few new clothes, and save the rest. :)

What things remind you of your childhood?TV-shows, music, photos, people... Mainly music though.

What is your favourite shop? (It can be beauty related, clothes, home wares ect..)Online I love Modcloth. Beauty-wise I love Mecca Cosmetica. For clothes I like Sportsgirl (their jeans are amazing!) and Glassons.

What is something that you are looking forward to for the future?Finding out if the road I'm going on, is actually what I want to do!That and, going to see Michael Paynter perform again. :)

Here are my nominations:

Tarlie from http://tkavenue.blogspot.com.au/

Marissa from http://faithfullymarissa.blogspot.com.au/

Cass from http://www.cassandramyee.com/

Grace from http://graceedd.blogspot.com.au/

Jade from http://jadewilliamsmusic.blogspot.co.uk/

Emma from http://hmmmmmaybe.blogspot.co.uk/

Sarah from http://seeyoulatersarah.blogspot.com.au/

Alice from http://www.thevelvetblack.co.uk/

Eleanor from http://elesaurusrawr.blogspot.com.au/

Jade from http://myroutinesjade.blogspot.com.au/

Robyn from http://pint-sizedpixie.blogspot.com.au/

And here's my questions for you!

What is your favourite pick-me-up album?

What is a product that you recommend to everyone?

If money was no object, what would you buy?

What is your go to outfit?

What is one thing you would love to do before you die?

Have you ever been in love?

Why did you start blogging?

What would you be doing if you weren't doing what you're doing now (work/school-wise)?

What is your favourite movie?

What do you do to treat yourself?

What is your favourite band, that no-one has ever heard of?

Thanks again to Lauren (http://laurenellen1.blogspot.com.au/) for nominating me!
I hope you guys enjoy this post, and find some cool new blogs to read! :)

Beth. x

Great coat, I love that hat... #1: The Piano Dress.

It's not often that I pull on the heels and head out for a night out, but my lovely friends convinced me that I needed to attend their university ball, (which happened about a month ago).  I obviously needed a new dress for the occasion, so I headed straight to Modcloth online, and found this gorgeous piano dress. 

The dress itself is lovely.  It has pockets (+1000000 practicality points), it fits well, and you don't have to worry about it being to short or too low cut.  It sits just above the knees, so you can dance the night away and not have to worry if you're showing your underwear.

I wore my red London Underground heels which I bought from Polly Shoes about five years ago; I know they're comfy, and will go with pretty much anything. 

On my lips I wore my favourite lip product of all time, the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella.  This product is matte, and so lasts a looooooong time. I didn't need to reapply at all. 

Dress: Me, Myself and Ivories Dress - Modcloth

Shoes: Red heels - Polly Shoes (kind of similar ones here.)

Necklace: Red statement necklace - Diva (similar here, here and here).

Bracelet: Antique fork cuff - Daylesford Artist (similar here).

Watch: Black Swatch watch - Swatch

Ring: Antique teaspoon ring - Port Campbell market (similar here).

Lipstick: Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella - Mecca Cosmetica.

With my gorgeous friends on the night.

An outfit post... A bit strange in these parts, but I hope you like it! 

Beth. x

A photo trail... My London Trip.

It's been more than six months since I returned home after a whirlwind trip to England and France.  I still find myself constantly scrolling through the hundreds of photos reminiscing about the amazing times my friends and I had.

From getting photobombed at Big Ben, to seeing cool cover bands, to cheeky Paris Mac purchases, to Zara pleather jacket purchases, to seeing a bride and groom sliding down a slide, to meeting celebrities... We did it all!

 

Popping by to visit the Dursleys.

Carrie Hope Fletcher was stellar in Les Mis, and the 

loveliest person!

 Brighton was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

As was walking across the famous Abbey Road!

Hope you enjoyed my nostalgic journey through photos. Where have you been on holidays lately? 

Beth. x 

Subscription boxes #3: BellaBox... Again.

So, it pays to take notice of when subscription boxes accept cancellations... Otherwise you could end up with another box, that you didn't necessarily want.

I received another BellaBox - the June Box - and I was much, much more impressed the second time around! (For my reactions to my first BellaBox, check out this post).

This month's theme was "Iconic Beauty."

In the box was:

1. InStyle Magazine - I am loving reading this! It's the 'Women of Style' issue, and there is so many amazingly talented women featured.
2. Herbal Essences Naked Shine Shampoo and Conditioner - Which SMELLS AMAZING, and actually works really well! It leaves your hair feeling shiny and fresh, and doesn't make it greasy, (like some products do for me). I struggle with hair products, but these are amazing, and again, the smell is so fresh and lovely, and lingers. (The smell definitely reminds me of the Wen by Chaz Dean conditioner from last month.)
3. Innoxa Super Smooth Lip Liner - The colour if this is perfect for me, because I love red lipstick, however, the pencil is slightly too waxy for my liking.
4. Cedel Blow Dry Faster - The concept of this seems quite cool, but I don't often dry my hair using a hair dryer, so this one could sit in a draw for a while.
5. VO5 Hot Oil - As someone who has quite dry hair, this was a welcome addition to the box.  I think this in combination with the Herbal Essences products definitely saved my hair.
6. La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo - I wanted to love and use this sooooo bad!  But my skin reacted pretty badly to it, so I had to give it a miss. (See products I can use on my sensitive skin here).
7. Nutrimetics Nutri-Rich Nourishing Masque - Another product that I'm scared to try, because it might cause my skin to react... May have to go to my sister.

This month's box definitely impressed me a lot more than last month, it's a shame I can't use so many of the skin products though.

What subscription boxes have you tried? Are there any out of the ordinary ones I should try?

Beth. x

Soap & Glory-ous.

Living in Australia, sometimes some of the best products are pretty hard to access... Soap&Glory is one of those brands, that is, until I discovered Mecca Cosmetica's stash of Soap&Glory goodies!

I've heard so much about Soap&Glory from various bloggers and vloggers, so when I was in London I had a peruse of the products in the aisles of Boots... But there's only so much you can fit in your suitcase! Enter Mecca Cosmetica (and also Kit Cosmetics), they provide a taste of the Soap&Glory range, (although they don't stock all the products unfortunately).

So what did I pick up?

I picked up the 'One Heck of a Blot' Super Translucent Mattifying Powder, (which Australian stores don't stock). This powder is brilliant!  I use a big powder brush (usually the RealTechniques Powder Brush) to apply this to either: set my foundation, or as a kind of powder primer.  It's completely translucent, so it doesn't affect the colour of your foundation, and it doesn't make your face look cakey.  And as a girl who is very lazy when it comes to touching up make-up throughout the day, this powder helps my make-up last and last!

Now to the Australian purchases... I've heard so much about the Soap&Glory body washes, so I had to give one a go!  I have super sensitive skin (see this post), and so it's often hard to find products that don't irritate it.  I bought the Clean on Me - Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel.  First of all, this shower gel smells glorious!  It has a sweet, yet citrusy scent, that lingers on the skin.  It's also perfect for those of you (like me), who can't be bothered using a body moisturiser, because it leaves your skin feeling soft and nourished.

I also picked up the ever-hyped Hand Food.  Not sure how well it goes in the repairing hand stakes, (it's Winter here, and my hands are suffering majorly), but it definitely smells lovely (a more floral scent), and I definitely can't stop using it! 

So far, I've enjoyed all the Soap&Glory products I've used, the quality is lovely, and the retro packaging and the product names are really cool.  I will definitely have to order more in the future!

Ordering online through Mecca  was an amazingly easy and worthwhile process.  Not only does your parcel arrive quickly, (and beautifully packaged I may add), but you get to choose two samples to try out! 

I chose the By Terry Baume De Rose sample... Which definitely lives up to all the hype! It's so nourishing, and it smells lovely. I'm going to have to save my pennies to get the full size!  Secondly, I chose the Nars Pro Primer for eyes, which I haven't used yet, but am definitely looking forward to!

Have you tried Soap&Glory?  What products should I try? 

Beth. x