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

Happy 2013!

Hello lovelies,

I apologise in advance for literally being the worst blogger ever. I really should be more prepared for times like these when my creative juices just aren't flowing. So instead of boring you to death with some lame and boring story about my life and why I just can't seem to write a blog post these days, I thought I'd share with you some of my new year's resolutions. Now, like most people, I generally don't stick with these all through the year, the novelty wears off after a little while and I totally forget. But alas, here they are. Let's see how long I last this year. My first new year's resolution really should be to keep my new year's resolutions, oh well, maybe next year. 

1. Read more books. I already do read an okay-ish amount, but I'd love to broaden my knowledge and capacity and read more. 
2. Drink more tea. I love tea! And I love tea cups! So I definitely want to drink more tea this year, green tea in particular. 
3. Eat healthier. I know this is a relatively standard resolution (or also 'lose weight'), but I really need to monitor the junk I'm eating and opt for healthier options when I can, instead.
4. Be nicer. Let's be honest, we can all be pretty bitchy sometimes, so I really want to work on that for me, and try to be nicer to people and have nicer thoughts.
5. Laugh more and cry less. I spent a lot of 2012 crying, so I definitely want to flip it around and spend a lot of this year laughing instead. 
6. Spend more time with my family and friends. A lot of the time I'll stay huddled in my room rather than hang out with people, purely because sometimes my anxiety gets so so bad that I feel I have no other option. This year I want to work on not letting my anxiety get me down, or hold me back from doing things and experiencing fun and exciting things.
7. Enjoy life more. This one is closely linked with the one above. Basically I just want to say yes to more things and really live. I don't want to always be cooped up in my bedroom because of fear of judgement. 
8. Learn something new. I most definitely want to learn something that will really help to expand my knowledge and brain capacity. I want to experience awed wonder and delight after discovering something amazing for the first time.
9. Help others. I feel like I can be very self-focused sometimes (can't we all!), so this year I want to try and help others more when I can. 
10. Get organised. Now, while my room is almost always very organised, other areas of my life are not. So, I need to work on organising those too and then maybe I'll be a little less stressed. 

A few more little things I'd like to do this year are: blog more, fall in love, go on many road trips and adventures, challenge myself, say yes more, exercise more, plant seeds and harvest them. Really, the list is quite endless of things I'd like to do. And now that the challenge has been set for myself, hopefully I will be able to meet some of the expectations that I've made. I shall let you know how this goes once we get to the end of the year. 

What are some of your resolutions for 2013? Have you ever managed to keep a resolution all throughout the year? Let me know below.

Much love xo

Lil bit Christmassy

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing you a very merry christmas my beautiful readers and followers.

It's now officially Christmas Eve! Whaaaaaat? I honestly cannot believe that it has come around again so quickly. Now sadly I don't really have anything interesting to blog about for today's post, so instead I decided to take some christmas themed photos and edit them for you on here. There are quite a few, but I do hope you enjoy them. I really do hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and get everything you hope for! Don't forget to really spread love and joy and have the most amazing day. Much love!

♥

Garnier Dark Spot Corrector | Review

Hello everybody! *insert wave here*

Sooner or later I knew I would crack onto reviewing products for you, and I have decided to go with the sooner option, rather than later. So, without further ado, the product that I am reviewing in this blog post is none other than the Garnier Dark Spot Corrector. This is a daily moisturiser which promises to correct discolourations on your skin caused by sun spots, age spots and blemish marks and is for all skin types and complexions.

I picked this up from Kmart about a month ago for about $15 or $16, and it was cheaper there than anywhere else at the time. It contains highly concentrated (5%) pure vitamin C which is known for its antioxidant and brightening properties which helps to fight against the appearance of dark spots on your skin and restore skin's natural radiance. I bought this as I was in desperate need of a cream that brightens blemish spots because my skin is annoying and whenever I get a blemish, a red mark is left for sometimes months after the actual blemish has gone. It is super annoying to say the least so this was a product that seemed to be right up my street. I have been using this product almost twice a day, everyday, for the past month. Now I'm not silly and I am aware that it can sometimes take a month of two for serious results to be seen, so I wasn't expecting this to solve all of my problems overnight. I think I can say with confidence that it has begun to brighten my dark spots and create a more even skin tone, but I'm definitely not fully fixed just yet. 

It comes in a quality bottle to protect the pure vitamin C, and the nozzle at the top allows for you to squeeze out your perfect amount, without any wastage. You get 50ml and you only need a little bit each use so it seems to be a long lasting product. As it is a unifying moisturiser, I use it in place of my regular moisturiser, but if I'm going to apply make-up I use my regular moisturiser as I find that my make-up applies much better over that rather than this. 

Basically, if you've got stubborn dark spots like I do then I say give it a go. It's reasonably priced I suppose, and has the signature Garnier scent to it. It does a pretty good job of moisturising, and in a few months time I shall report back again to let you know just how well it did at brightening my dark spots. 

Have you guys used any products to lighten dark spots? If so, leave a comment below of what they were and how well they worked.

Much love. 

Favourite Products of the Moment...

Hey guys! 

I just thought I'd share with you some of my favourite products of the moment. These products are basically anything beauty related. Hope you enjoy and find this little post interesting/useful. 

Hair Products.

I'm really loving the Hydra Care moisturising foam, which is a product of NAK. This foam, which comes out like shaving cream, leaves my hair feeling softer, detangled and smelling amazing! I normally use it once a week or so after I've shampooed and conditioned my hair and towel-dried it. You can buy it from 'Hairhouse Warehouse' for about $12.95 for 250g/270ml. 

Face Products.

I recently purchased the little tub of Rapid Action Pads (contains 65 pads) from Clearasil at the recommendation of a friend. She swore by it and said that it was a fabulous product and that I was to give it a go. So I went out and bought it. Unlike a lot of Clearasil's products, this one doesn't burn or irritate my skin, and the only time it does burn a little is if my skin is open anywhere (e.g. the blemish is open), and it only hurts for a second or two and then the pain goes away. It does smell quite chemically upon application, but once it's dried it actually smells quite nice. I normally use it at night time after I've finished my normal skin care routine, and when I wake up in the morning any spots I've got have reduced in size and redness and clears up much faster than before I was using it. You can buy it from any supermarket for about $15.46 for 65 pads.

I'm the kind of girl that is obsessed with lip balm, and I always need my lips to be moisturised otherwise it drives me insane! While I use a lot of different lip balms, my favourite of the moment is Smooth Operator Paw Paw from Sportsgirl. It smells so lovely and summery, and really moisturises my lips well and helps to protect them from the wind etc. It has paw paw extract, vitamin e and shea butter in it, amongst other things, and really does wonders for me! You can purchase it from any 'Sportsgirl' store for $4.95 for 15ml. 

Make-Up Products.

I've been on the hunt for a really good foundation for what feels like forever, and I have finally found one that I am happy with and it is Advanced Radiance from Covergirl in shade 120. This is the best liquid foundation I've used thus far. It is so easy to apply, has a handy pump top, the coverage is great, its SPF 10, and looks good on my skin, and is easy to remove at the end of the day - what more could you ask for! So if you're on the hunt for a new foundation than I highly recommend this one. You can buy it from any supermarket, and other places such as Priceline, for about $21.59 for 30ml (that's how much it's advertised for on the 'Coles' website, but I'm pretty sure I didn't pay more than $20 for mine.)

The next product that I have fallen in love with is the Loose Face Powder from The Body Shop in shade number 02. I apply this over my foundation and it really seals it off well and gives a really nice matte finish on my face. It evens out the colour and just makes it look nice and not too overdone. It's just a wonderful product and another that I highly, highly recommend! Purchase it from 'The Body Shop' for $29.95 (promise it's worth the price!) for 14g. 

The last make-up product which has made the favourites list is the She Bangs Blush from Chi Chi. I really love the colour of this blush and find that it blends really well with my other make-up products and looks great on top of my loose face powder. Overall, I don't have lots to write on this product, other than that I just really like it and it has a handy mirror in its little compact thing. I was given this product and have tried searching for where to buy it from and have had no luck, sorry. I do know that 'Target' stocks Chi Chi make-up, so maybe have a look there? It's net weight is 3g. 

Hand Products.

I'm a huge lover of hand creams, I have so many!, but my favourite one of the moment is the Lemon Zest hand cream from Nutrimetics. It contains shea butter and smells so fresh and juicy! I love anything that smells like lemon so that is probably why I love this product so much. It leaves my hands feeling really moisturised and smelling delicious. 2 thumbs up from me on this one! This is another product that I'm not entirely sure where to buy it from as it was also given to me as a gift, sorry. But just hop onto google and hopefully you'll be able to find it. It comes in a 75ml tube. 

Other Products.

The last item on my favourites of the moment list is the Invisible for black and white deodorant from Nivea. Basically this product protects against stains on black and white clothing (which actually works) and smells really lovely whilst providing 48hour protection. You can buy it from 'Coles' for $5.41 for 150ml.

And that concludes my 'Favourite Products of the Moment' blog post :)
Sorry that I wasn't able to provide where to purchase each product from on some of the products, but if anyone knows where you can buy them then feel free to leave a comment below. Hope you found it interesting and I do recommend buying them for yourself if you're on the hunt for some new beauty products.

Much love!