Shopaholic strikes again!

I'm at it again. Buying things I don't need. Buuut... sale. So why not? Here are my latest purchases:

Kookai dress - $40

Kookai top - $50

Guess dress - $149.95 (I had 20% off)

Guess top - $79.95 (I had 20% off)

Flannel shorts - $150

Today I actually spent my time packing up some clothes and shoes and transporting it into my storage unit... only to refill the space I made with these new purchases. Go figure. Here's some pictures from Snapchat of my day (follow me! "luvrin"):

Day to Night Eye Makeup Look

Last week was my birthday and I have been going out more than I usually do. This means I've had no time to redo my makeup for my night outings, so I've been doing the same day to night eye look each time.  Here's a breakdown of what I did.  I will possibly film a video at a later date, but for now here's some dodgy photos and what I used (I hadn't planned on doing this post so the night time eye photos were taken at the end of the night)!

Day look

Products used for day:

Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Lid: Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in #82 Emerveille

Crease & outer corner: NARS Ashes to Ashes single eye shadow

Eyeliner: NARS Pandora eye shadow duo (black)

Mascara: Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes in black

Night look (with worn out eyeliner)!

For my night look, I simply added a little bit of NARS black eye shadow from the Pandora duo to my outer crease and patted a tiny bit of the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in #82 Emerveille to the center of my lids.  Then I lined both my waterline and tightline with Chantecaille Gel Liner pencil in Jet (black).  I ran some black eyeshadow over the bottom eye liner to smoke it out a little.  I should have used the NARS Larger than Life eyeliner because the Chantecaille one obviously doesn't have much staying power, even though it claims it does. Hmpf!

I didn't reapply mascara because I didn't want it to clump.  But I should have applied some false lashes.

A better angle of my night eye look.  The lighting made me look like I hadn't blended my foundation.  I look half dead, lol.

OOTD with my night makeup.  I think I was going to see a movie in gold class but it was completely booked out, so we just went to a regular cinema.  Usually I don't bother doing makeup if I'm just going to see a non-gold class movie.

So that was my simple day to night eye makeup look.  If you want a more dramatic night look then more black eye shadow can easily be added, as well as more mascara and false lashes.  Switching the bottom liner to something other than black (such as purple or teal) would also give the eyes a fun pop of colour.  In the future I think I'll give the colour pop a try.  So what do you think?  Should I bother attempting to film a tutorial or does this post explain how to do it well enough?

Busy Me + Wedding Snaps

I have been so busy this week.  I rarely ever say that I'm busy, because let's be honest, I don't do much at all on a day to day basis.  A few things I did this week are; secure an appointment/interview for a potential school, get my son into childcare and have my patch test.  Tomorrow I'll be working, and on Friday I'll be meeting up with a friend for lunch and going to hospital.  It might not sound like a lot to someone who studies or works full time, but believe me, when I say I do nothing I literally do nothing all day.  So this week has tired me out somewhat.

Here's what I wore and the face I did to the wedding I recently attended.  I was sick and didn't have the energy to attend.  In my mind I had already cancelled but my mum called to tell me of the travel arrangement and I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't going.  So I did get myself ready, but my heart wasn't into it and I was just too sick to care about how I looked.

Dress from Pilgrim.  I wore my new nude peep toe heels with it

I did a neutral eye with a smokey liner

False lash application needs a little work, lol!

I had to do my own (terribly uneven and bumpy) french mani :(

Ma mère et moi :)

Mon père, ma mère et moi :)

I didn't get a chance to take a lot of photos but I did say I'll post my outfit and face, so there you go.  Once I get the results from the patch test, I'll write a post on it.  And depending on how the school meeting interview thingy goes, I'll blog about that too.  Oh, I was also gifted a lovely, brand new camera so quite possibly will be doing some videos.  What say you?  Yay or nay?

I have patches on my back right now and oh my lord is it itchy!  I really wish I could just give it a scratch.  Argh!

So how is your week going?  Are you someone who works and studies?  Or are you a bum like me?

Hello, Sun Damage!

During the long Australia Day weekend, I went to Venus Bay with my family and a family friend.  Can you believe that a few weeks before "the big event" I go out and get sunburnt?  No?  Well surely these photos will paint a clear picture in your mind for you.  I bet you can even feel the pain!

Now, I wish I had taken photos of the day, but unfortunately I'm not the kind of person to take snaps every ten seconds.  (Serena took some photos on her phone, maybe I'll bug her for them...) Once I'm somewhere, I just enjoy the moment without worrying about capturing it on film.  So sadly, there will be no photos of the day so I won't talk about it.  I'll just talk about my sunburnt back.  I will mention that it was a very clear, hot day.  Mid 30's, I believe.  I caught 3 pipis.  Go me!  And I discovered a new hobby: body boarding!  So fun!

This is what happens when you think you're being clever and apply sunscreen all over your body, except the one place you can't really reach very well: your back!  I didn't purposely leave my back unprotected, I had actually forgotten to apply sunscreen there each and every time I reapplied!  How does one forget each time?  I'm pretty sure my brain was reacting to the sudden surge of ultraviolet rays which it rarely ever experiences due to me being a homebody.

Before I got to Venus Bay and stripped off, I had made sure to apply my sunscreen all over my body, including my back.  Once I got there and reapplied my sunscreen, I just completely forgot to do my back.  I got an offer from someone to do my back, but I declined because I didn't think that he would do a good job. Ironically, I then forget to do it myself (was too busy talking about astrophysics and astronomy) so maybe I shouldn't have rebuffed him!

Nearly a week has passed, and my back still stings a little.  It's still quite itchy but it is no longer red.  It is now extremely dark brown.  Not a good look!  Have I learnt my lesson?  Yes!  If somebody offers to apply sunscreen to your back, TAKE IT!  Because you'll probably forget to do it yourself :(

Here's a photo I took of my younger son on the way back home.  He's asleep in his speedos, lol!

My Friday Night + Glasses FOTN

 

I no longer have anymore pairs of contacts to wear, so I have been wearing glasses.  I hate wearing glasses on top of makeup, but last night I was forced to do so for my dinner date.  I kept my makeup extremely light.  I also had only half an hour to get ready, so I very rushed for time.  In the 30 minutes I had, I needed to do my makeup AND hair!

Obviously, my hair wasn't looking too hot but I liked how my makeup looked: very natural.  I didn't bother with any primers, I just slapped on NARS sheer glow foundation with a damp sponge, brushed NARS deep throat blush on my cheeks then quickly did my eyes (using NARS pandora + Lancome e/s).  Of course, I couldn't find my favourite black eyeliner so I just used the black e/s from the NARS palette to line my upper and lower lash line.  Then I curled my lashes and applied Benefit Bad Gal mascara.  I wish I had had the time to apply false lashes, I would've felt much better about my eyes.  I didn't bother with any lip product, as I was going to be eating anyway.

I had a great night.  I had dinner at the Lobster Cave.  I ordered my usual pork belly dish and had a few glasses of... well, some kind of pink wine.  I always forget the name!  But, according to my date, it tastes like "lolly water".  Ha, I guess that's why I like it!

I have a headache (I'm writing this on Saturday at 12pm but am scheduling it to post on Sunday morning).  I can't really stand to look at my computer screen anymore, so I'll just finish off with some photos from the night.

We got seated next to the wall.  This was my view!

My yummy pork belly.  Oink oink!  Picture does not do it justice.

Been here several times but never noticed that the toilet had a chandelier!

Cam whoring in the toilets of Lobster Cave.

Cam whoring at home!  How to turn a boring outfit sexy: hitch it up and take off your pants. Haha I was a little intoxicated. 

Bye Bye Beer Belly!

Let me show you something that no one has seen before... well, not for a few years, anyway!  Say hello to my little friend, my beer belly.  Isn't she so pudgy and cute?

Say hello to my little friend... my beer belly!

This gut is due to too many guilty food pleasures and not enough exercise.  Giving birth twice may have had something to do with it, but even if I had never given birth I would still have this beer belly.  Why?  Because of my sheer laziness.  I eat whatever takes my fancy and only get out of bed to make meals for my sons and I.

There's only one way to get rid of belly fat, and that is to sweat (from exercise) like there's no tomorrow.  For the most part, the rest of my body I can deal with.  My thighs do touch, but it'll stop once I start exercising.  My arms are quite muscular and bulky looking due to pole dancing lessons I took a few years ago, but I guess that's a good thing?  I hate how it looks but I hope that the muscle eats up all my fat, lol.  I have an OK body, my friends are always harping on about how tall & skinny I am (which I'm not!  I'm only 5'5 and weigh a whopping 60kg) but I must admit, I've been very lazy and not taking care of myself as a woman should be.  So I'm... well, rather frumpy looking these days.

I hate my belly.

That up there is what I look like every day after eating.  My gut size fluctuates depending on how much I've eaten.  In the morning I have only a tiny little bump.  By midday, I'm starting to look a little pregnant, and come dinner time, I look like I'm overdue to give birth.  Ok, slight exaggeration, but it does get bigger by the end of the day!  I don't like it very much.

Belly from the side.  Maybe I'm pregnant and just don't know it?  And if I'm pregnant then damn, that was one very immaculate conception!

 I have a dream... A dream to get rid of my belly once and for all.  There's only one way to do this: hard work and determination.  And I'm going to start NOW.

Take one last look at it.  After today, you'll never see it again (I hope)!

So here is my plan: eat less junky food and exercise more.  It sounds simple enough, but for someone like me, this is going to take a miracle.  I am probably the most lazy person on the planet and I absolutely love to eat.  But, from this day forth I shall make sure that I eat only food that will be nutritious for my body (but allow for treats here and there, of course).  I'll try to exercise at least half an hour a day, whether that be walking to the shops or dancing along to Yo Gabba Gabba with my son.

Hopefully, by the time the new year rolls in, I'll be a lean, mean, sexy machine (can you say DELUSIONAL?)  My aim is not to lose weight (numbers don't matter to me), but to lose centimeters off my waist.  So why not join me if you need to lose a few centimeters yourself (or kilos) and if you're super slim already, then wish me luck on this endeavour because I'm going to need it!

I Have Eczema + My KP Treatment Plan

Today was the day I finally saw a dermatologist for the first time in my life.  This appointment was made for two reasons: one; the persistent rash on my face/neck/chest that cleared up with steroid cream but always came back, and two; my lifelong skin condition keratosis pilaris (a.k.a hyperkeratosis or chicken skin).

So, firstly, let me show you the rash that I've been plagued with for the past month and a bit.  It clears up with hydro cortisone, but once I stop using it (as you should, because long term use will do more harm than good), it always came back.  Each time it came back, a new rash would appear along with the ones already there.  *sigh*

Dry spot on my forehead.

Small dry spot on cheek, large dry area near ear, rash on neck (plus the hormonal pimples on my cheek and keratosis pilaris on my face... aren't I pretty?!)

Close up of rash on neck.  It itches like crazy!

My dermatologist had a look and after a chat, he told me I had eczema.  Now, this is news to me because I think my skin is pretty resilient and tolerant to a lot of products.  I have experienced rashes on my neck before (always due to perfume or a new shampoo) but it always went away with steroid cream.  I've also had a really bad rash on my face before which I believe was due to becoming sensitive to steroid cream due to long term use (I had chronic swimmers ear and was using steroid drops in my ear).  Every time I saw a doctor about these rashes, they told me it was just a reaction to a product or ingredient.  So, when the dermatologist told me I had eczema, I started protesting and saying no, my skin isn't sensitive, to which he replied that it can sometimes be years before you get it.  Hmmm!

I have been reading a lot of keratosis pilaris forums and the general consensus is that most people with the condition have other skin problems, such as eczema... Ahh, so the puzzle pieces are finally falling into place!  The dermatologist has ordered a patch test for me, which unfortunately costs $300 so I have to put together the money before I can get it done at a specialist clinic... *double sigh*  But I'm willing to do this, to find out what it is that is causing my skin so much grief.  In the meantime however, I am on a skincare buying ban and will only be using what I know will not make my skin break out in a rash.  Seeing as rose hip oil is one of the "newest" things I've been using, I'm going to have to say goodbye to it for awhile.

I will be using hydro cortisone on any rash NOT on my face if I get a bad flair up, but I will try to avoid this.  To treat it naturally, I'll be using good old witch hazel to dry it up and soothe the itch, then using vitamin E oil to moisturise it.  That is how I will be dealing with both my body and facial "rash"... (Am I in denial?  I refuse to call it eczema!)  This won't give me fast results like the steroid cream, but it will benefit me in the long term and be kinder to my skin.  And I have done something similar to this to clear up my previous facial rash and it worked, so this should work too.

For my kp, my dermatologist was very frank and told me that nothing would really get rid of it or clear it up completely.  Cue wrist slashing and wild sobs.  Deep down, I knew it anyway because I have pretty much tried everything and nothing has really helped.  He did recommend what every other doctor has recommended, though: regular exfoliation and daily moisturising using some kind of AHA or urea.  He told me I could go the expensive route; getting regular microdermabrasion or chemical peels from spas or skin clinics and then following up with their pricey maintenance products, or I could just use a chemical exfoliant found in most beauty stores, pharmacies and supermarkets, and use one of the many dry skin moisturisers out there.

Given my financial circumstances, I won't be shelling out for a microdermabrasion session any time soon.  However, I will go back to using a St. Ives facial scrub as my chemical exfoliant and use a 10% urea cream twice daily (it says to apply three times daily, but come  on!  My life does not revolve around slathering cream on my body!)  I've also thrown pure vitamin E oil into the mix, to give it a bit of extra moisturising properties.  The idea of using a non-natural product scares me, so I want to add that little extra love to compensate.  Here are the products, all from Terry White Chemists:

Invite Vitamin E oil, St. Ives Apricot Scrub Renew & Firm, DermaDrate 10% urea cream

All the products were relatively inexpensive - the urea cream was $22 (for 500g!), and the other products were around the $10 mark.  There will probably be a high turnover, though.  I don't see the products lasting for more than 6-8 weeks with daily use.  And, just for your viewing pleasure (and for my own future reference to see if this helps it) here are a few not so great shots of my kp:

Kp on lower legs.  Looks like I haven't shaved, right?  That's because I haven't... lol!  But even if I did shave, it still looks spotty like that.

Kp on my arms. Doesn't look bad in this photo, but in real life it is dark, bumpy, irritated & just plain nasty

Kp on my thighs.  So is there any man that would still want me?  Hmm... I didn't think so!

I have also decided to try to treat my keratosis pilaris internally as well.  This means that I will be taking 3000mg of fish oil daily, as well as supplements of vitamin A, B group vitamins, E, zinc and a probiotic (D is recommended also, but I tan quite a bit if I take it and I get enough vitamin D from the sun anyway).  Not to mention, I will try to keep my diet alkaline and try to consume less sugar.  All those things are supposed to help kp.  As the weeks go on, I will continue to share my progress (if any) with photos and how I've been coping with the whole diet and skincare regimen.  In the meantime, I'm off to bed to dream of smooth, clear, eczema and kp free skin.  Ciao! xo

Halloween FOTN & OOTN

I forgot to charge my camera, so my photos from the phone are really quite poor in quality, but I still want to show you my oh-so-original outfit for halloween. Wings with a little black dress, how awesome am I? LOL. It was very last minute, I wasn't even sure if I could go out anyway!  Thankfully my mum was able to take the kiddies.  At the time the photos were taken, I wasn't sure what shoes to wear with it, but just before I left the house I decided to wear my black Louboutin pumps, to go with the red and black theme. Smart, eh? Should have worn boots though, because it was quite cold that night!  So perhaps not so smart after all.

Wings I've had for a very long time, since 2005 which was from Bras'n'Things.  Dress by Guess.

It's no secret anymore... YES I am 4 months pregnant.  LOL, jokes!  I just have a fat belly from popping out kids :(

The shoes I wore.  Whoever said Christian Louboutin heels are comfy was a LIAR!  Yes I had to put those things on the soles to make it more cushy, but it still hurt like a b*tch.

My makeup was my typical smokey eye.  What a surprise.  However, it was my first time using Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre (Epatant) and OMG I am in LOVE!  All the hype on that product is true.  I want all the other colours now!  Several hours later, after many tipsy shenanigans, my eyeshadow still looked the same as it did when I first left the house.  In fact, my whole face still looked about the same as when I left, so I'm very pleased with all the products I used.  Especially since there were no touch ups at all, nor did I have to blot my face!  (Or maybe I wasn't drunk enough to ruin my makeup like I usually do, ha).

Eyeshadow from the side.  FYI: I never do my brows, even though I should.  I'm just too lazy, and I always scratch my eyebrows when I'm nervous so I would've looked like a mess by the end of the night.

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Epatant is such a pretty colour!  And I don't do my eyebrows because they're dark and thick anyway :)

Yep, I couldn't be bothered getting rid of the fall out of glitter on my face.  To me, it's the same as trying to remove glitter nail polish: impossible!

This was posted not only to show you my makeup, but is my little cry for help to any surgeon who can fix my ugly nose for free.  Please?  You'll be doing the world a lot of good, because no will have to be subjected to it anymore!

This is a shot of me once I got home several hours later.  Besides the lips, my makeup still looked practically the same as when I left the house.  No touch ups or blotting!  And yes, I am looking a little worse for wear because I am tipsy in this photo.  As if you couldn't tell!

Products used:

Eyes: Rimmel Colour Rush trio in Orion (light brown for crease, salmon colour for highlight) Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Epatant (all over lids, used wet with M.A.C. Fix + spray), NARS duo in Pandora (matte black for outer crease), Urban Decay 24/7  Glide on eye pencil in Zero, Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara in black.

Foundation: NARS Sheer Glow in Barcelona (applied with damp sponge to prevent oxidisation) and a dusting of Bare Minerals original powder in Golden Medium.
Concealer: M.A.C. Studio Sculpt NC30 (undereyes) & M.A.C. Studio Finish NC35 on blemishes.  (Rash is barely visible, thanks concealer!)

Contour: NARS Laguna bronzer

Blush: NARS Deep Throat 

Highlight: NARS Multiple in Luxor

Setting powder: M.A.C. Prep + Prime transparent finishing powder
Lips: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Sex Machine (base), M.A.C. Viva Glam V lipstick