Empties #17

It's empties time again! I'm a wee bit overdue this time around so I have a lot to talk about! It feels good to be finishing up products. I also did a wardrobe AND makeup declutter this past week so I'm feeling extra good about myself haha! I got rid of a tonne of makeup that I just wasn't using (or was super old) and my collection is a lot more streamlined. That being said, I still have a huge collection and way more than I actually need... haha. :P Anyway, let's dive into products I've actually finished!

My Summer Essentials

It took a minute, but summer is well and truly in full swing in Brisbane! The sun be swelterin' and the sweat be drippin'. I figured now was a good a time as any to share some of my essential products for combatting the hot weather (or rather making it more bearable!). 

Empties #15

Time to empty the trashbag into a dishevelled-chic flatlay! Probably the last empties of the year and I'm proud that I've gone through so many products. Enough with the preamble, because I know this post is going to be rambly as ffff!

Empties #14

Another quarter, another empties. As usual, I've gone through quite a bit of skincare and body products, but pretty much no makeup! I'll keep this intro short and jump right in because we all know these posts can tend to get quite long!

In the Spotlight // Lush

Lush products have been a mainstay in my collection for years now, whether it be their body or skincare products! Their products are fun - and effective - and I love the ethos behind the brand. They're all about fighting animal cruelty, their packaging uses recycled plastics (and they have a great recycling packaging program where you can get a free face mask if you bring in your empty packaging) and they are handmade and use a lot of great ingredients. Among many other reasons, they're just a really great brand altogether and their employees are helpful and energetically bubbly (which can sometimes be overbearing, but hey, it's their job!). They have such a huge range of products and while I haven't tried all of them (not even close!), I do think I've tried enough to write up a brand spotlight post! I actually mention them quite a lot on my blog - mostly in empties posts - but haven't ever really devoted whole posts to them! Sidenote - this is my 400th post! Wowheee! 

Empties #13

Hellloooo... is this thing on?! Long time no see peeps! I'm back from my longer-than-intended hiatus! The past month or so has been absolutely hectic for me and I seriously had no time to even think about blogging, let alone actually taking photos or sitting down and writing a post! I've been absolutely slammed with assessment (it's been my biggest first half of semester ever), not to mention it was my sister's wedding on the weekend! It was a very DIY wedding so the days leading up to the wedding were super busy setting up the decor and the venue (and then cleaning up after!). I did her makeup on the day - along with mine and my other sister as we were bridesmaids - which was quite stressful but still super amazing! I do plan on doing a post on the products I used because I was really happy with how it turned out - I'm just waiting until the professional photos come in! Anyway, I'm coming at you today with an overdue empties post. I was going to do this a few weeks ago but I realised I didn't actually have a lot of empties, but a lot of things were aaaalmost finished so I used those suckers up! I've got a lot of products to go through so I'll try and be as brief as possible!

Biology for the Body

I'm always on the lookout for burgeoning Australian brands to try, so I was super excited when I was introduced to some products from Biology, an Australian-made brand that utilises natural ingredients for clean formulas, are cruelty free and environmentally friendly. They have a range of hair, body and spa products with ranges for sensitive skin, as well as ones that utilise aromatic essential oils for a therapeutic, spa-like experience. I was very kindly sent their Ultra Hydrate Body Butter* and Skin Smoothing Body Buff*, and they've pleasantly surprised me indeed.

Empties #12

It's empties time again, and I'm happy to say I've made it through quite a few skincare products! I'm really trying to focus on actually finishing (skincare and body) products before opening new ones, and so far it's working well. It also means I've been sticking to a consistent skincare routine which my skin is definitely thanking me for! Let's dig in, shall we?

Empties #12

I don't know how I didn't realise it, but my empties bin has been piling up rapidly! An empties post was long overdue and I have a lot of products to go through that I've finished in the past four months or so. Feels good to get rid of all this clutter! I'm pretty sure I've talked about most of these products on the blog before, so I'll link relevant reviews where applicable! I'll try to make it snappy as I've got so much to go through! If you have any questions on any specific products, hit me up in the comments ;)

Empties #11

It's been a hot minute since my last empties! I try to get one of these up every quarter, but sometimes I just forget or keep putting it off until I finish a certain product because I'm sooo close. Anyway, this is the loot that I've come up with this time around!

Empties #10

It's time to check in with my empties bin! My little bucket has been piling up and I thought I better get out an empties post before the year is out! I have to say, I'm pretty proud of how many products I've managed to get through over the year and these posts have been semi-regular every 3 months-ish. Gold star for effort ayy. Anyway, onto tha goodz. Also ignore the weird colouring differences...foil-y metallic background is hard to photograph on!

In The Spotlight // Antipodes

On the scene of green beauty brands, Antipodes is well at the forefront. They're a brand I constantly want to try more from and from trying a few of their products over the past couple of years, I definitely have some favourites! More recently though, I was sent a few of their hero products, as well as a new serum. My skincare routine for the past month or so has been Antipodes-heavy, but I have to say, my skin is looking pretty good! Keep reading for a round-up of mini reviews on the Antipodes products I have.

Empties #9

It hasn't been that long since my last empties, but wow - I've been on a roll! Either a bunch of products just decided to finish simultaneously or I've actually been using them (what a shocker). But yes, I'm trying to (sort of) make more of a conscious effort to finish products! These empties posts always end up being super long and rambly, so imma try and keep it short (ish) as we have a lot to get through!

The Long Night is coming, and the dead (skin) come with it

Gotta love a good ol' Game of Thrones related title eh?!? I was tempted to do 'Winter is Coming' but gosh darn that is so cliche, so I went with a quote from Jon Snow (... :'( ) in the latest season. ANYWAY, it is currently Winter in Australia, and as I type this up, I'm huddled in my onesie next to the warm coals of a dwindling fire (dat imagery). I wanted to do a post about products I love when the weather gets colder to help combat dry skin and other wintery blues, so here it is!

Obsession 2015 Blogger Event

Hey guys! As you may have seen from Instagram and the like, this past weekend was the first beauty blogger event in Brisbane; Obsession 2015! I was extremely lucky to attend, and I thought I would do a post on my experience, and also the ma-HOO-ssive goody bag(s) we were fortunate enough to receive! Please don't take this as bragging, guys! I just thought it would be fun to share what we got, and if you spot anything in particular you would like to see reviewed, please let me know! I'm pretty much going on an unofficial spending ban because LAWD knows, I have enough skin/hair/bodycare to last me the next year + lel.

Collective Haul // MAKIN' IT RAIN

...or at least I think I am. Now that I have a job and a wee bit of spare monies in my pocket, I seem to be spending it all up! Especially that I work at Priceline, I seem to buy something every time I work... (okay, an exaggeration but my 25% off discount is SO DANGEROUS). In my defense, this is very collective and stretches back to boxing day sales, and also, a lot of it was on sale/I only paid full price for a couple of things! There are a few things that I've bought but haven't hauled which I've featured here and here. Keep reading to see what I blew all my cash on... (it's a pretty long-ass post).

The Best of 2014 // Skin & Hair

Happy new year peeps! I hope y'all had an amazing NYE. I had a rather uneventful night, though we had a barbecue with family friends which was quite fun and food-filled! I'm sure yours was much more adventurous ;) Well, today is my first "Best of 2014" post for you all, featuring my most loved skincare and haircare products from the year! I will have my makeup one up next week (probably) :).

Mauboy Approved

As you guys may or may not know, I am very much a fan of the Australian, all-natural brand Vanessa Megan, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to hear that homegrown talent Jessica Mauboy swears by a few of their products too! I was kindly sent a few of Jess' faves to try, and here are my thoughts on them!

Jergens in Australia

As I'm sure you've already heard, Jergens has made its way down under! It's really exciting to see such a popular brand in the US land on our shores. I can only hope more foreign brands will make their way over! One of their more famous products, Jergens Natural Glow* is one I've heard many raves about from our American sisters. When offered the opportunity to try it, I couldn't say no! I was also sent the Original Beauty Lotion* which I was also keen to try.

L-R: Original Beauty Lotion, Natural Glow

Jergens Original Beauty Lotion* (250mL, $6.99)

I am not someone who is fussy with body lotions. As long as it does the job and smells nice enough, I'm a happy chappy. This, unfortunately, did not fit the bill. First of all, the smell is, in my opinion, very unpleasant. It's supposedly infused with "Cherry Almond Essence", but the scent is more reminiscent of that medicinal, cherry scent, but worse because it has a hint of chemical. Now, I'm really not a fan of that particular cherry scent to begin with, so I really quite dislike the scent. Speaking of chemicals, let's take a look at the ingredients. Some sort of alcohol is the third and fourth ingredients. Am I the only one that finds this slightly concerning? I also don't see any typical hydrating ingredients (that I recognise) except for glycerin and lanolin oil (which is quite far down). I think this definitely shows through in the performance of the product. The lotion itself is very light and gel-like. It absorbs quickly and gives instant hydration, the skin does look hydrated and feel soft and smooth (not that much 'glow' though) however I really don't see the long term effects. The next morning my skin will feel dry and I just don't feel like the lotion is hydrating deep down!

Jergens Natural Glow for Fair to Medium Skin tones* (221mL, $14.99)
This was the product I was most excited to try. Now I'm not really into the whole fake tan thing, my natural skin colour is good enough for me! I do, however, have some pretty horrendous sock and shoulder tans which I really wanted to even out! This gradual tanning product gradually builds up colour over several days. It's built into a moisturiser which I find much better than the Original Beauty Lotion. It has a thicker texture and smells a lot nicer - sort of vanilla, musky? I don't find it immensely hydrating but it does the job well. The colour aspect was interesting. I began to notice slight colour after maybe three days, and it gradually gets darker each day you apply it. Now, the colour looks very natural (no orange-ness at all) however it doesn't match my own skintone which is my fault really. My aim was to even out my tan but while the depth was similar, the colour was a bit off. This wouldn't be an issue if you were just using it normally for all over colour! The shade has a bit more of an olivey tone which I do think looks quite natural. The Fair to Medium is the lighter of the two shades, so I didn't get a tonne of depth from it. I do think it would be amazing for lighter girls! If you used it consistently, I really think you would get an amazing all over shade with it. I think once my sock tan etc fades, I'll use it to keep up my slight tan!

So overall, a hit and a miss. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the Original Beauty Lotion, however the Natural Glow is pretty awesome if you're in the market for something like that! Jergens is available at Priceline.

Have you tried anything from Jergens?

*Products sent for consideration.

Out on a Limb

It's tan time! Lawl jks. But not really, because guiz, I've been experimenting with fake tan. Wot a shocker. I really don't have any desire for fake tan because I'm tan enough for my liking, and diddly damn it seems like SO much effort! I've watched enough useless "Tanning 101s" to know that much. I did, however, want to even out my terrible ombre shirt tan for my formal, so I dug out my sample can of the Le Tan Wash Off instant tan in Bronze. I utilised all the knowledge I had gained from said tanning videos, and went in with some proper skin prep beforehand.

L-R: Breakfast Scrub, Body Milk

Wash Off sprayed

Wash Off blended (can ya even tell)

Soap & Glory The Breakfast Scrub

One thing I do know about tan, is do not try applying it to dry skin. It'll cling, be obvious and just plain ratchet (I'm guessing). So, as a bit of an excuse, I ventured out to purchase a body scrub. I've been wanting this one for ages but could never justify it. It's already made it into a favourites post, so it was a good purchase indeed! This shiz smells divine. Sugary, maple syrup deliciousness confined in one glorious tub that gives a pretty dang good scrub (yaaaass got tha rhythm and rhymes). I thought that this might be messy to use and the sugar bits would just fall all over the shower floor, but actually the stuff hangs together in a gritty paste, and scrubs the skin really well. My skin feels super soft and smooth after use and prep for dat tan ;)

Decleor Moisturising Body Milk*

After I hop out of the shower, I smother this dang thing all over my bod. It's a really lightweight lotion consistency that doesn't feel heavy or greasy on the skin. Definitely lovely for using in the hot weather, and I think good for applying tan on top. You wouldn't want anything too slippery right? It leaves my skin feeling moisturised indeed. It's also got quite a pleasant uplifting scent.

Le Tan Wash Off Instant Tan in Bronze

So clearly I'm not going for any gradual or lasting tan here. I really just wanted something easy, that was going to be a quick fix for the day. I was originally going to purchase Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs but remembered I had this guy sitting in my cupboard. I got it through a company called Pinch Me which pretty much sends out free samples for people to try and answer questions about. You guys know how much I love free stuff. But anyways, this guy fit the bill perfectly! It might look super dark, but as you can see, it blends really easily into the skin with hands, leaving a tint of colour that isn't streaky at all, and really looks quite natural. I'm lucky that the shade is pretty much on par with my natural skintone (they have two darker shades as well), so I could even out my pale-ass shoulders easily. It lasted through a hot night of dancing and shenanigans and as promised only came off with water and soap. Good stuff! Smells pretty nice too haha!

While delving into tan was a fun experience, I doubt I'll be doing it on any regular basis. Special occasions only really! Can you be bothered with fake tan?

*Product sent for consideration.