Christmas Goodies

Here is a quick look at some of the presents I got for Christmas along with some photos from Christmas Day.

Nail polish stand - though need a bigger one!

Panettone 

I hope you all had as good a day as I did.  With this being my fourth Aussie Christmas I am starting to miss having a cold one.  Maybe next year!

Merry Christmas

Wishing all you lovely bloggers a very Merry and Happy Christmas.  I hope you all had a fantastic day.  I spent most of it opening all my gorgeous presents followed by a day at the beach soaking up the sun, eating copious amounts of prawns, lobster and drinking till the cows come home!

I look forward to seeing all of Christmas pictures and presents from Santa.

Nectarine, Blossom & Honey Perfume.  My all time fave from the boy.

Mini haul

As you should know by now, nail polishes are my guilty pleasure.  However while away my nails started to flake pretty bad and deep down inside I will always be a closet nail chewer.  I then proceeded to bite all of my nails off during a moment of madness.  All I can say is now I am well and truly gutted.  I now have stumps for nails again. 

So back to the drawing board with Stop and Grow and any other strengthener I can get my hands on.

Before all of that happened my lovely Mum brought over from the UK some polishes for me (which will now have to grace my toe nails)

From left to right we have.  OPI Meep Meep Meep, Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy with it.

Meep, meep, meep is a beautiful shade of a raspberry red with hundreds of small flecks of silver.  This looks amazing on your toes and especially when the sun catches them. Sparkle sparkle.  Revlons Facets of Fuchsia has become a bit of a cult on blogs and youtube.  I gave it a road test and I find you do need several layers to get a good amount of purple sequins on there.  Not don't get me wrong it looks great once it has been applied, just its a bit of a hassle having to apply about 5 coats.  And last is OPI Gettin' Piggy with it from the Muppets collection.  

I actually painted this on top of a red colour I already had on my toes and it look fabulous.  In fact a looked a bit silly as everywhere I walked I was looking down at my toes!  Idiot!

Then we have these little stunners which I ordered from Office in the UK a good few months ago now.  

They are a beautiful egg shell blue and have gorgeous detailing on the buckles.  My Mum said they look a little like grandma shoes but hey they are comfy and look amazing on so they are a winner in my eyes!

Any finally was this really naughty purchase the other day.  I had just been paid and you know when you have that 'i'm buying all these Christmas pressies and nothing for myself' feeling...well I splurged on this (and no I wont divulge the cost of it).  Now its not very forgiving on the hanger, esp in my bathroom.

But it looks so so cute on.  I will be wearing it to a BBQ this weekend so will try take some snaps for you.

Right now this probably will be my last post.  I hope you all have a fantastic, wonderful Christmas wherever you are in the world and an awesome New Years.  I look forward to seeing everyones blog posts and youtube videos of what you got from Santa. 

xx

Glossy Box #2

My glossy Box has arrived just in time before Christmas.  

I've had a bit of a full on week with work, buying presents or working out what to buy people and not to mention the busy shopping malls.  Bondi Junction is a nightmare during the day so at this time of year I am the 10/11pm shopper.  Not so hectic and its mostly guys frantically trying to get last minute things for their girlfriends/wives etc.

Off on a tangent there sorry.  So my Glossy Box.

As always it came beautifully wrapped and in its trade mark pale pink box.

Enclosed was:

* Tigi Haircare ~ Manipulator by Bead Head ( $23.95 - 57ml)

* Gorgeous ~ Lip Pencils ($25.00 per unit)

* CK ~ Forbidden euphoria ($60/$90/$120)

 * Clinique ~ Turnaround overnight radiance moisturizer ($90 - 50ml)

* John Frieda ~ Go Blonder Lightening Spray ($17.99 - 103ml)

First is Tigi's manipulator.  I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to my hair.  It's pretty simple during the day and if I go out in the evenings then i'll add some curls and volume.  This product smells like bubblegum which I love but it also looks like it too.  It's a pale blue colour and it so so sticky and gunky.  It looks like bubblegum when you have it stuck to the bottom of your shoe!

I will probably mess around with this before my hair is due a wash so I can practice with it and not end up with stiff hair pointing out in all directions!!

I've said in a previous post that I've been a bit apprehensive when it comes to lip liners/pencils.  This one from Gorgeous is such a beautiful shade.  A raspberry/pink/red if that makes any sense at all to you and it's such a soft pencil that I am rather tempted to give this one a go instead of giving it away.  Just need to find a lippy to match it....but that might have to wait until after Christmas.

Now I'm going to confess.  I am a bit of a Clinique virgin. So when I saw this little moisturiser making an appearance I was delighted.  It looks and sounds wonderful giving your skin a radiant glow after being left overnight.  I have a feeling my Mum might be borrowing this also!

Then we have CK Forbidden Euphoria and John Frieda's Go Blonder spray.

I've never really been a massive fan of Calvin Klein perfumes.  There is something about them that just doesn't sit right in my nose!  Don't get me wrong they are not awful scents, just not what I think is me.

I was a little stumped when I saw this.  I mean yes it sounds awesome but I don't have blonde hair (I don't have dark brown hair so this could work on me)  The instructions are to spray onto towel dried hair and to style as normal.  It also says the more heat used while styling the greater the lightening effect is.  I might try this on the ends of my hair to see what happens.  They are slightly bleached from my holidays anyway so whats the worst that can happen.?  Wake up bald probably!

If anyone has tried this or any of the other products above I'd love to hear your thoughts on them as most are pretty new to me.

Lust Have It #3

Once again in my mail box I had two parcel notifications indicating some exciting little packages that needed picking up!  One of which was my Lust Have It box.  I got an e-mail the other day from Lust Have It informing us that this would be their last beauty box as they are undergoing a massive re-vamp and signing on with new products.  You can expect to see the new outcome early next year.  I'm pretty excited to see how it's changed and will keep you posted.

I was really surprised with this months box.  I loved everything in there and think this is one of the best ones I've had from them so far (I know I've only had three but still!)

On to the ingredients of my last Lust Have It.

* Glasshouse Fragrances ~ Marceille Fragrant Body Bar (RRP $12.95 - 250g)

* Evo ~ The Great Hydrator Moisture Mask (RRP $29.95 - 150ml)

* LimeLily Cosmetics ~ Waterproof Eye Pencil in Jet (RRP $18.00)

* Kosmea ~ Purifying Cream Cleanser (RRP $34.95 - 150ml)

* Last Republic ~ Last set & glue ( RRP $25.00 per set)

* Moxie ~ Regular Tampons ($4.39 - pack 16)

First up is the Glasshouse soap bar.  It smells divine, very outdoor like.  They have said 'like a coastal village vibe' which I quite like that description.  I am more of a body wash girl myself so this might be a gift to my Mum as she loves soaps and smellies.

Next is this little bad boy, Evo's Hydrator Moisture Mask.  It's to hydrate hair (obviously) and sooth coloured, dry fizzy hair which can be mine after I was it and when it's humid!  The name Diana Ross springs to mind!  So this little gem sounds fantastic and right up my street esp as Christmas Day is looming I cannot have frizz on the breach!

Then we have the Moxie Tampons.  A bit of an odd thing to add into a beauty box I thought but hey ho.  The packaging it super cute and they come in a little stripped tin.

I've been looking for a new black eyeliner pencil so this LimeLily one arrived in good time.  I'd want it for more of an evening look with a slight smokey eye so I will see how this will go.  

Kosmea is a purifying cream cleanser which can be used morning and night to remove any left over make up or impurities.  It also suggests to use their Muslin Cloth.  I'll see how this little bottle goes and if it does the trick then I will certainly purchase the whole shebang...(though nothing will beat my good old Liz Earle)

And finally is Lash Republics eyelashes, style Catwalk.  As I have crazy long eyelashes anyway I try and steer away from the massive thick falsies as they just make your eyes look really heavy....well mine anyway.  These are fine and delicate and uber feminine.  These would be great to add a bit of length to my outer and inner lashes.  Perfect for the evening and during the day.

This is a little rushed this post.  I'm waiting for the boy to get home so we can go and meet my parents for dinner.  With Christmas Day being two days away the house looks like a wrapping paper monster has vomited all over it.  The stuff is everywhere!

Hopefully will be able to squeeze one more blog post before the weekend.  Three more sleeps. x

Port Douglas

Last weekend my Mum and Step Dad arrived in Sydney and they will be spending the next three weeks with us for Christmas.  This is their third time they have been to Sydney so we decided in their first week to head up to the far north Queensland to Port Douglas to show them a different part of Oz.  After a flight to Cairns and an hours drive further north we arrived in the hot sweaty tropics.

Everything is green and lush and due to the insanely hot temperatures, warm seas, blue skies and you are more than likely to see a croc while on your ventures.

It was a great week filled with rain forest walking, spotting crocs and snorkelling.  I even conquered my fears of the ocean (and water in general) while there and went snorkelling for the first time....and swam with a Reef Shark.  How awesome is that!

 Here are some snaps of the jam packed week....

Can you see them?

Bird dropping spider - pretty cool aye!

Me with a Sea Cucumber!

Yep vinegar is a regular site at beaches up there and no it's not for your chippies! 

Sting ray on the left and baby reef shark on the right

Christmas cheer

This is a bit of a miss match post, update and ramble. So much is going on at the moment I feel like my head my explode!

My Mum and Stepdad arrive from the UK in about 48 hours.  They are spending three weeks here so it will be there first Christmas in Sydney and I am super duper excited.  So you could say I have been running around like a mad woman getting things organised, buying presents and so on.  As they have been to Sydney to visit a fair few times now we are taking a little holiday next week and going up to Port Douglas in Queensland.  This is one of my favourite places.  Stunning scenery, beaches that go on forever, always sunny and cute little shops to nose around.

However I do have a few things bugging me that I have and need to crack on with.

Things to tick off my list:

* finish assignments

* start portfolio

* apply for jobs

Anyway back to the more fun stuff and mild panic over with.  I have made some cheeky purchases in between buying Christmas presents.  I just can't help myself and it eases my stress, well that's what I say to convince myself.

First is this awesome tee from Tbar.  It's a guys singlet but I love the fit and look when on.  I didn't like the girls version and yes I am a bit of a sucker for dudes tee's!  The design is so different and I was transfixed to it in the shop.  So obviously I bought.

Next is this super cute necklace I found on Etsy. It's of a wish bone, pearl stone and leaf with your choice of initial engraved on it.  Obviously I went for 'J'.  It's so delicate when on and it's fetched so many compliments.  Go check out Beazuness's page she has some beautiful pieces.

Loving Kevin Murphy's color bug.  They come in three colours, pink, orange and purple.  I gave it a quick whizz the other day and can't wait to give it a proper road test....and then of course pluck up the courage to venture out with pink ends.  The good thing about this is that it washes out in one wash.  The product is like a eye shadow/powder consistency hense why its so easy to transfer onto your own hair.  The other product is Easy Rider frizz creme that moulds your curls when your hair is damp and banishes killer frizz.  

Here are some other bits and bobs for you.....

Ready for another gruelling day at work!

Yuuum!

LV's amazing window display.

I hope everyones excited and counting down the days till Christmas.  Mariah Carey and carols blaring out, glowing tree, scented candles and everyone huddled around the fire.  Oh I do really miss a cold Christmas.  I still have no idea what we will be doing on the actual day here in Sydney.  It's not looking like it will be sunny so the beach might be out of the question.  After four years of living down under I'm still not use to a hot Christmas!

Ho ho ho... x