My Current Skin Care Routine

Hello hello, 

Sorry I have been a little bit absent, I was just in a rut and did not know what to blog about! I’ve always been a little hesitant to write up this post because I don’t have the most perfect skin. I am still searching for those magical products that do the trick, but I’m not too sure whether I’ll ever find them. In the meantime, these are the current products that I am using on my skin at the moment. To be totally honest with you, I am not completely happy with them all. You will notice that I use a lot of different products, and perhaps that could be my problem! I have oily/combination skin and these are the products that I am currently using. You may notice that you use some of these as well, or perhaps you’ve used them before and they didn’t work for you. I’m just posting these because I love to know what other people are using, so thought you might be curious as well. 

To start with, my basic three-step routine:

T.N. Dickinson's Toner and Cetaphil cleanser.

Cleanser

I use this cleanser twice a day, morning and night. I have tried numerous different products from all different brands, and I am quite happy with this one I am currently using. It is the Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser. This product was actually recommended to me by a doctor a few years ago. I used it back then, but then for some strange reason I stopped. Then a month or so ago my friend Lauren posted her skin care secrets on her blog and I noticed that she used this cleanser, so I decided to give it another shot. 

Toner

I have been a bit funny with toners over the years, and I know that they are the sort of product that some people say you need to use and others say you don’t. I for one benefit from using a toner, particularly because of my oily/combination skin type. The toner that I am currently using is T.N. Dickinson’s All Natural Witch Hazel toner. This is another product that Lauren recommended, and something I really like about it is that it is all natural! Your skin will probably love you a whole lot more if you stick to more natural products rather than those filled with chemicals. I do have to admit that I’m not a massive fan of the way it smells, but as a toner, it is great! 

Innoxa moisturiser, Re-gen cream, Garnier dark spot corrector.

Moisturiser

For starters, let me just break the myth that people with oily skin shouldn’t moisturise! You definitely still need to moisturise, no matter what your skin type is! You will recognise my moisturiser as it featured in my April favourites post. It is the Innoxa Skin Clear Anti-shine Blemish Control Lotion. I do quite like this moisturiser, and I only use it in the morning because it contains SPF 15 and there isn’t much point of wearing sunscreen at night. Plus this moisturiser is a little too heavy for nighttime, I think. Basically I just really like this product and I love the way my foundation applies on top of it, plus my skin is a fan of it as well! 

At night time, when I am not using my Innoxa moisturiser, I am either using my Re-gen cream or my Garnier Dark Spot Corrector (you can read a review of it here). I do quite like both of these products because they aim to correct dark spots caused by blemishes. Neither product has done a miracle working job, but I have noticed a difference, it just takes a while. 

The next three products are the little extra things that I use on my skin to help keep it happy and as clear as possible. 

Alpha H liquid gold, Formula 10.0.6 mud mask, The Body Shop lotion.

Spot Treatment

I use The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion on those bad days when I break out terribly. Tea tree is a natural antibacterial which helps to soothe and clear breakouts. This isn’t the most hands-down amazing product ever, but it is pretty good. I will generally use this at night time and my skin normally looks a bit better the next morning. 

Liquid Gold

I do admit to jumping on the Alpha H Liquid Gold bandwagon. I was a bit hesitant to spend more than $40 on this, but in the end I did. To be honest with you, it hasn’t worked wonders for me just yet, but as products normally take a long time to actually work on my skin, I haven’t given up hope just yet. After a few more months of using it I will write a proper review on it to let you all know what I thought. For now, I will continue to use it every other night, and pray that it does work a miracle on me like it does for everyone else! 

Face Mask

This product also featured in my April favourites post and it is probably my most favourite skin care product out of all the ones I use. It is the Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox mud mask. As you would have read in my previous post I honestly love everything about this product. Whenever I’m feeling stressed or my skin is particularly bad, or I just want to treat myself, I pop this face mask on and let it work it’s magic. This product truly lives up to all that it claims to do and that is why I love using it so much. My skin always looks so much brighter, clearer, happier after every use. If there was one product I would really recommend buying it would be this one! 

So they are all the products I use on my skin, but here are some extra things I use as well to aid in reaching the goal of clear skin.

Lemon water and Twinings green tea.

Lemon Water

It’s no secret that if you drink the recommended amount of water your skin will look nicer, so I like to do that bit extra and add lemon to my water. This makes the water high in antioxidants as well as so good for your health in many other areas. It improves weight loss, boosts immunity, helps your body absorb calcium, clears your skin, works as an antiseptic, cleanses and stimulates the liver and kidneys, and many more! Just go and google it and loads of results will come up. Plus, water can sometimes just get a little bit boring, so putting lemon in it makes it more exciting! I always notice such a difference in my skin when I’m drinking lemon water on a regular basis.

Green Tea

This is my second little skin care secret. Green tea has so many positive health benefits so you should drink it no matter what state your skin is in. As for me, drinking green tea is almost crucial and I really should drink more of it. I try to have at least one cup a day, but a lot of days I forget (whoops). Though when I do remember and consistently do it, I notice such a difference in my skin. Sometimes it really helps to work from the inside out, rather than always the outside in.

Trust me when I say that I am no healthcare professional, I have just learnt some things over the years. That is why I have shared my current products and other little tips with you. I hope and pray that one day I will have full control over my skin and it will really love me, but until then. I hope that you’ve either learnt something new or are inspired to try a new product after reading through this post. Let me know in the comments down below what products you use and what has and hasn’t worked for you, or any other tips and tricks you’d like to share.

Much love. 

April Favourites

It's the marvellous month of May so you know what that means...It's time for my April favourites post!
I started doing the monthly favourites post last month because I needed something to get me blogging again, and it had to be something I could continue on a regular basis, and monthly favourites seemed like the perfect option. Plus I'm an uber nosy person and love to see what everyone else is loving, so why shouldn't I join in too?

I've got quite a few favourites for April, so I do apologise that this post will end up being a teeny bit long and rambly, but oh well. 

The first thing I absolutely loved through April is the Rimmel London Wake Me Up foundation in shade 103 'True Ivory'. This foundation has actually been raved about by quite a lot of people (Zoella and Tanya Burr in particular), and so I just had to give it a go. Even though it isn't a matte foundation, I find that it does have quite a semi-matte finish on my skin anyway. It's SPF 15 which is great, and it smells really nice as well - I'm weird, I know. It definitely does make my skin look and feel really nice and refreshed, and it's just such a nice foundation to use and quickly became my new favourite. I bought mine off asos because it was only $14.33 on there which is much cheaper than buying it in store. I love the fact it has an orange lid and that the bottle is glass because it just gives it that little bit extra. 2 massive thumbs up from me! 

My next favourite beauty product is the Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow Duo in shade 'Barbados' (shown above). I have been lusting over this eyeshadow duo for quite some time now, and it was on sale at Big W a few weeks ago for half price so I had to pick one up. Sadly, the sale has ended and it's back to it's regular price of $16, but I would happily pay full price for it because I am in love. Both shades are perfect when worn alone and perfect when worn together. I just quickly pop this on in the morning and it looks great with whatever look I am going for. This is by far my new favourite eyeshadow and you can find it here. 

I have always wanted to see if I could rock the red lip, and in April I decided to give it a go. The lipstick I tried and fell in love with (thanks to Zoe) was the Kate Moss for Rimmel London Lasting Finish Matte in shade 107 (shown above). Rimmel London is quickly becoming my favourite drug store make up brand, and this lipstick is to die for. The shade is so beautiful, and even though it is quite bold, if you can pull it off it looks amazing. I like to think I can pull it off! The colour is so beautiful and pigmented, and it has such a soft, velvety, matte finish just like it promises to. I bought mine from Big W for around $10, but asos now sell them for $8.75, so if you know which shade you want, get it from there. 

I've slowly begun to expand my make up brushes collection, so I bought the travel size Ecotools bamboo 5 piece brush set off eBay. Don't fret, the seller I bought it from was legit and it was a great price of $9.90 which is what they sell for in America, whereas here they're more than $20 usually. Sadly they sold out, but I'm sure if you look around you can find another seller. For me, the stand out brush was the mineral powder brush (shown above). I use it for blush and bronzer and it is so incredibly soft on your skin, like you would not believe! It has become my new favourite brush, and what's even better is that it'll be super easy to take with me whenever I should need it. 

Now moving onto skin care. In April I came across what is now my favourite face mask. It is the Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox ultra-cleansing mud mask. For starters, this mask smells incredible. It's scent is orange and bergamot, and it just smells so refreshing, without being too overpowering. I love it's packaging (it's orange, hello!) and it does such a good job at detoxifying the skin. My skin always feels so much better after using it. While it's no miracle worker, it is still such a treat to use, and with continued use I have begun to notice a difference in my skin. If anyone is on the hunt for a new face mask I cannot recommend this one enough! It cost me $8.99 from Priceline. 

Another skin care product I've really loved is the Innoxa Anti-shine blemish control lotion. This is a moisturiser which has anti-shine properties in it to help keep your skin shine free and protected (SPF 15) all day long. This was a teeny bit pricey for a moisturiser, I will admit, and cost me $23, but it was money well spent. It promises to reduce breakouts by 32% in 4 weeks, and I haven't used it long enough to tell you if that's true or not, but it didn't cause any so that's a good start! My foundation applies really well on top of this and it's just a great product over all. Although I bought mine from Big W, you can find it at Myer, Big W or Priceline. 

My last, but definitely not least, April favourite is the perfume by Taylor Swift called Enchanted Wonderstruck (shown above). This is Taylor's second perfume (a second addition from Wonderstruck), and smells absolutely gorgeous. It's described as being an alluring scent with an irresistible blend of luscious wild berries and sugar-glazed petals, wrapped in a touch of sensuality for a captivating signature. I just bought the travel sized set because it was on sale at Myer at the time, and I can't get over how beautiful the packaging is. It's so easy to take with me wherever I go and I've just become super obsessed with it over the past couple of months. You can see it here at Myer. 

Well once again that wraps up my April favourites post. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the things that I have been particularly loving over the month of April. Hopefully for my May favourites I'll make a YouTube video of them instead of just a written post, but we'll see how we go. 

Much love! 

All About Me.

Hello again! I thought I'd be a little bit different today and upload TWO posts instead of just one. This little 'about me' post has been sitting in my drafts folder for quite some time now and I thought it was about time I finally uploaded it. I tweaked my answers a little so it's as up to date as possible. Hope you enjoy reading all about me. Oh, and I got this from the lovely Zoella. Much love!

Vital Statistics:
Me: Samantha Lee
Nicknames: Sam, Sammy, Sammy Sparrow, Sam Indigo
Birthday: 13th October 1994
Place of Birth: Paddington
Zodiac Sign: Libra
Male or Female: Female
Occupation: Student
Residence: Sydney
Screen name: Sam Indigo

Appearance:

Hair Colour: Brown

Hair Length: Medium length

Eye colour: Brown

Best Feature: Possibly my 'snow white' appearance - red lips, dark eyes, dark hair, fair skin

Height: 5ft 5"

Braces?: I had them when I was about 14 years old.

Glasses?: Nope

Piercing: Ears and top left ear (cartilage) 

Tattoos: None.

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Your 'Firsts':

First best friend: Meghan

First Award: I cannot remember! Haha sorry.

First Sport You Joined: Dancing - jazz and tap. Or maybe it was Little Athletics...

First Real Vacation: America

First Concert: Hilary Duff! 

First Love: Yet to fall in love.

Favourites:

Movie: Pitch Perfect, Twilight Saga, Harry Potter, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Wild Child, Raise Your Voice

TV Show: Pretty Little Liars, New Girl, Home and Away

Colours: Pastels, blue, pink

Song: Come & Get It - Selena Gomez. That song is the business!

Candy: Almost anything!

Restaurant: Thai Splendid or El Jannahs perhaps...does Nando's count?

Store: Sportsgirl, Topshop, Kmart, Priceline, loads of places!

School: Who has a favourite school??

Book: Looking For Alaska and The Fault in our Stars by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Magazine: Dolly or Girlfriend

Shoes: Don't have a favourite pair actually.

Currently:

Feeling: Excited.

Single or Taken: Single

Eating: Biscuits fresh from the oven.

Typing: This

Online: Obviously.

Listening To: Nothing

Thinking About: Taylor Swift concert that was just announced!

Wanting: Too much stuff :(

Watching: The computer screen

Wearing: My Pyjamas (whoops)

Future:

Want Children?: Of course. I'm excited to have them one day :)

Want to be Married: Yes!!!

Careers in Mind: Most probably something in fashion or beauty, and along the journalism line.

Where do you want to live?: Either here in Australia or England.

Have you ever:

Kissed a Stranger: Nope.

Had Alcohol: Yep.

Smoked: Never.

Ran Away From Home: Once haha

Broken a bone: Well I've fractured my collarbone if that counts.

Got an X-ray: Yep

Broken Someone's Heart: Probably

Broke Up With Someone: Yes

Cried When Someone Died: Yes

Cried At School: Yes

Do You Believe In:

God: Yes

Miracles: Yes

Love At First sight: I don't think so.

Ghosts: No

Aliens: No

Soul Mates: Yes

Heaven: Yes

Hell: Yes

Kissing on The First Date: I guess so...

Yourself: Sometimes.

Basic, but yummy, biscuits | Recipe

Hello hello,

It's been a little while since my last post so I thought I'd post a favourite recipe of mine. Now, don't get too excited, this recipe is for quite a basic biscuit, but I'm addicted to them nonetheless. As you can tell, this isn't very beauty or fashion related, but I hope you like it anyway. 
I make these biscuits all the time, and one of my favourite things about them is that I almost always have the ingredients because they're so simple and basic. Without me blabbering on for too much longer, the recipe and photos are down below. Make sure you comment if you make them and like how they turned out, or link me to where I can see how they turned out. 

Recipe

Ingredients

125g soft butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 60g egg

2 cups plain flour

2tbs cocoa powder

Instructions

cream butter and sugar, add egg - combine well

add dry ingredients. mix until combined

grease tray and cut shapes about 5mm thick

bake for 8 mins at 180 degrees celsius 

Happy baking!

My Little Trip to Ikea

Hey there lovelies!

A few weeks ago I made a trip to Ikea and picked up a few things while I was there. You should know, I only intended to buy one thing but came out with some more goodies too that I do not regret buying. To be honest, I wish I could go to Ikea more often but it's a little bit too far away from my house for that to be possible. 

The product that I had intended on buying was this quilt/duvet cover. I saw it online and immediately fell in love and decided it was worth the trip. You can see it here and it cost me $49.99.

'Emelina Knopp' quilt cover set

As I was on my way out to pay for the quilt cover I was won over by the candle/plants section and gave in to my desires. There was a lot more that I could have bought, but I managed to exercise some self control! I am a sucker for candles and as these were only $2.49 each I could not resist. I'm actually secretly wishing I bought more. You can have a look at them here and here. 

'Tindra' scented candles in Rose and Green Apple

I love flowers, and I'd much rather buy fake ones than real ones for my bedroom as they last forever and I don't have to fall in love with them, only to have to throw them out in a few days time. When I saw this cute little pot of flowers I could not resist! The flowers were $3.99 and can be found here, and the purple pot was $1.49 and can be found here. If those prices don't scream 'bargain' to you then I don't know what will! This was the thing that I was most unsure about as I thought I would get home and regret buying it, but I love seeing it on my little table every day, and I am so glad I went with my gut and just bought it anyway. 

White flowers 'Fejka' and purple pot 'Papaja'

I was almost out of the shop, buying more than I had planned already, when the blocks of chocolate caught my eye. For those who have never tried Ikea chocolate before, you are really missing out! They're only $1.29 for 100g and can be found here and are the yummiest tasting chocolate with the best price tag! I bought three blocks (whoops!) but two of them have been eaten already, though I saved this one so you could see. This is another thing that I wished I had bought more of because it is so damn yummy! Good job Ikea, you're doing it right. 

The yummiest chocolate ever!

Aside from grabbing a blue Ikea bag for $1.00 to put all my purchases in, that was all that I picked up from Ikea, and I've already begun making a list for when I go again. I hope you enjoyed seeing my little treats and perhaps I've inspired you to head to your local Ikea and pick up a few things for yourself. As much as I'd love one to be closer by, I honestly think I would be broke if it was. And I guess the fact that it's further away makes it a little more special when I do get the chance to go. I shall speak to you all again soon!

Much love.

March Favourites

Hello hello! 

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I haven't really blogged a lot in the past few months, so I'm going to attempt to blog more often! To kickstart this, I thought I'd do a post on my favourite things throughout the month of March. Now obviously I loved a lot more things that I didn't post here, but as this is a text post I wanted to keep it as short as possible. So here we go...

The first thing I found myself really loving through the month of March are the Maybelline Baby Lips Color lip balms, and I have them in shades 'Rose Addict', 'Berry Crush' and 'Pink Lolita'. Baby Lips are my favourite lip balms hands down, and the fact that they came out with a colour version just made my life complete! I love the colours, they aren't sticky or glossy, but still have that nice shine, they are super moisturising and have SPF in them as well. Basically, they are just the most perfect little things, and at only $3.99 each and I don't see myself getting sick of them anytime soon.

The second thing I really loved through March was the Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation in shade 'True Ivory #103'. I bought this from Priceline a few weeks ago as it was on sale and I needed a new foundation. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this product, and was a little nervous to try it, but I actually really quite liked it and it works well for me. Although the product promises to have up to 12 hours natural shine control, it is nowhere near that in reality, but it gives you a decent couple of hours. I like the shade for my skin tone, and it never made me break out horribly so that's a definite bonus! It generally retails for around the $15.50 mark, but if you know which shade you're after, I recommend you buy it off Asos as it is only $9.95 on there, and they have free postage! 

Another thing I quite liked through the month of March was a kabuki brush by Sportsgirl. I very rarely buy makeup products from Sportsgirl, not for any particular reason, I just don't. But this brush really caught my eye. As you can see in my photos, it comes in a super pretty hot pink metal casing, and definitely catches your eye. Not only is the casing super convenient because it makes it easier to take it with you, but the brush itself is super soft and just really pleasant to use. It's $12.95, which is a good price for a brush of this sort, so I say go and check it out! 

Sticking with Sportsgirl makeup products, something else I've been really loving is the Get Cheeky Cheek & Eye Shimmer. I have it in shade 'Rose' and have found myself reaching for it quite a lot. It's basically a shimmer blush that can double as an eyeshadow and is really just a little pot of perfection. The little blurb on the back of its packaging says, Just one stroke of GET CHEEKY will perk your complexion up in an instant. The pearlescent, radiant finish gives you a gorgeous glow that lasts all day!, and I agree 100%. It only costs $9.95 and is definitely a product worth buying! 

Last but not least, I recently purchased, and have been loving ever since, a fragrance by Calvin Klein called CK one Shock. I managed to pick this up in Myer while it was on sale for only $12 and it was the best $12 I've spent recently. Not only is the packaging just the best, the smell is so delicious. It's refreshing and addictive and gives you that lovely little boost that you need throughout the day. I keep this in my handbag and find myself using it all the time. Thanks Myer and Mr Klein! 

Sorry that this ended up being a review/favourites post, but I hope you found it helpful and interesting nonetheless.

Much love!

Calvin Klein perfume $12, Rimmel London foundation $9.95

Sportsgirl brush $12.95, Maybelline Baby Lips Color $3.99, Sportsgirl Get Cheeky $9.95

Little Trip to Milton

Hello, hello.

So, this past weekend my friend Lizzie and I drove down to Milton (about a 3 hour drive from Sydney) to visit one of our best friends from school, Ellie. It was such a beautiful drive down there and we stopped in Wollongong for some breakfast and a walk along the beach - and a good ol' chat. It had been years since I was last in Milton so I couldn't remember anything about the town, but I fell in love as soon as we passed the 'Welcome to Milton' sign; it was beautiful. It's the kind of town that has the best of both worlds - beach life and country life. Everywhere I turned was picturesque and reminded me a lot of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. 

The first day we were there we had lunch at this super cute pie shop/cafe down the road from Ellie's house, and Lizzie managed to spill her milkshake all over herself (and this wasn't the only time she did it!). We then went to the beach in Mollymook and just had so so much fun! As I'm writing this blogpost I'm struggling to correctly portray the amount of fun we had, so you'll have to bear with me. Basically we just enjoyed the beautiful water, chat about lots on the sand, and finished off the day with some fish and chips for dinner! 

The next day we had breakfast at the cutest cafe called Coastal Indulgence, and I had banana bread and a cappuccino and it was delicious! We also looked at the shops around the town and checked out the markets in Ulladulla. Each night we played many games with her family, and the stand-out game was definitely Reverse Charades - if you've ever played it you'll know why I loved it so much! For the rest of the trip we just did more exploring around the town, drove through the countryside, watched movies, and just laughed and had a lot of fun. 

It was a teary goodbye and a lovely drive home, and definitely a trip that won't be forgotten. I cannot wait to catch up with Ellie again soon as I didn't realise how much I actually missed her until I saw her again. I suppose that's the one thing I don't like about going and visiting people - the sad goodbye at the end of the visit. I feel as though this was more like a diary entry, but oh well. Below are just a few snaps from the trip for you to enjoy. If you ever get the chance to go to Milton, I highly recommend you do as it is such a beautiful town with lots of beautiful people. 

Lots of love. 

Such a yummy tasting coffee from Coastal Indulgence.




















Yummy banana bread from Coastal Indulgence.

Writing in the sand.

The magnificent view from Ellie's house.

Exploring through the countryside.

More exploring. How breathtaking are the views?!

Its not a sleepover without nose strips! We're using the ones by Biore. Big thumbs up!

Game of spoons gone wild! 

Definitely so attractive!

Nothing like some sun on your skin and sand between your toes.

Hope you enjoyed the little snippet of my trip. What's been some of your most memorable holidays? Let me know xxoo