Outfit of the Day: You Rock my World

Hi Pretties,

Here's wishing you a relaxing and fun-filled weekend!

I adore blazers, from boyfriend to structured ones, and needless to say I got super excited when I saw this fabulous one in Foschini.  The detailing on this is impeccable:

 

 Look at Mrs Grumpy today ~ Haha just kidding I wasn't really grumpy but the sun and I had a staring contest and it won ;)

 

 

 

Jacket:  Foschini

Skinny Jeans:  Sissy Boy

Studded Pointy Shoes:  Fashion Express

Necklace:  Cotton On

Clutch Blag:  Mr Price

 

I want share the funny story of our "behind the scenes" taking my outfit photos ~ I'm really lucky that my hubby takes most of them(obviously neither of us are professional photographers), I have a photo inspiration book from other bloggers, which I always show him and tell him how I should be posing or what I want to do that day, and he must direct me because I can't see what it looks like through a lense.  He doesn't like the fact that outfit photos "should" be more serious, so when I do the looking downward or staring into the sky no smile ones, he tells me to smile LoL, and no amount of protest from my side is going to change that, so now you know why I rarely have fashiony blog photos ;) but I do hope you still enjoy them.

 

Okay, back to the purpose of this post, blazers for winter and summer is a must have.  I have a few different ones in various colours and patterns, but obviously black is the most versatile.  They go with everything, therefore it helps to have a variety of styles, from cropped to boyfriend to structured, patterned and plain ~ wear them with dresses, leggings or jeans, over slogan t-shirts or jumpers and even pretty blouses or tops.  There is a blazer to fit every age, body shape and style preference.

 

I felt a bit like Michael Jackson in this blazer, and if I knew any awesome moves I'd have done them ;) I wore a plain white vest underneath and for a bit of colour I wore these cobalt blue shoes from Fashion express, the height is perfect and easy to walk in (aren't they darling?) and a fab bright pink clutch, the only pop of accessories is this gorgeous black stone necklace and a few dainty rings.

 

A simple smokey eye with pink and greys with a peachy cheek rounded off this look perfectly, and I had my hair in wavy curles which I'm really loving at the moment.  I also wanted to show you the after effects of ombre'ing your hair.  About 2 years ago (way before the ombre trend hit South-Africa) I ombre'd my hair, since then I've had my hair coloured loads of times, and still the ends of my hair fades first into a very blonde shade, the only way to get rid of ombre is to cut it off which I'm not going to do until it's way longer.  Although I loved it and I don't mind it too much, one doesn't realize at the time just how harsh it is on your hair, it's not healthy to bleach it.  Just a piece of advice if you're considering having it done.

 

How are you wearing your blazer this winter or summer? 

MAC Pigments Dupe - Essence Pigments

Hello Petals,

If you're a cosmetics lover like me ... You'll know very well about the highly praised MAC pigments, BUT I managed to find a great cruelty free dupe for them hoooorrayyy!

 

 

 

Essence Pigments ~ Available at Clicks:

 

-  Be my Brightsmaid

-  Strawberry Smoothie

-  Box of Chocolate

-  Smell the Caramel

 

These are highly pigmented, with the tiniest of glittery sparkles, these pigments are truly so beautiful!  As you can see from the swatches they give such a dramatic and colourful look, I actually wore "smell the caramel" over the entire lower eyelid, with "be my brightsmaid" in the corner of my eye, and used a darker brown just on the outer corners the other day, and was asked by one of the girls at the counter of a shop what eyeshadows I'm using :-)

 

With these you'll be able to create so many different looks, from subtle to dramatic, and they're also perfect to use as a liner, just spray a bit of make-up finishing spray on your hand, dip an angled brush in it, dip in the pigment of your choice and use as a lower and / or lower eyelid liner, subtle but dramatic enough to get you noticed!

 

PS:  Wanna know a little trick when applying pigments or glittery eyeshadow without messing all over your made-up face?  Tilt your head forward, looking downward and using a mirror to dab (not sweep) shadow on, you'll notice fall-out on your mirror instead of on your face, otherwise you can resort to either doing your foundation last or applying a good dusting of lose powder underneath your eyes {which I don't recommend for mature skin because a lot of powder accentuates wrinkles around the eyes}.

Essence Colour Arts Eye Base ~ Available at Clicks:

Transparent eyeshadow base especially for the application of pigments, for a long-lasting and luminous effect.

 

I tried this eyeshadow base with the pigments, truthfully, I found it rather messy and complicated, and felt that the pigments work perfectly find on their own, also this base claims to provide a luminous effect but the pigments on their own already provide that.  I haven't tried this as an all over eyeshadow base, ultimately I found that one doesn't really need this especially to be used with the pigments. 

 

Look out for the Essence collections, I know they've released limited edition pigments with some of their collections, can't wait to see which ones they're bringing out next :-)



Nailene Couture Design Nails

Hi my Lovelies,

Following on from my previous post, I got these beautiful nails for the Justin Bieber concert (which I still need to post about LoL ~ I'm trying to catch up on everything but promise it's up soon). 

I adore nail art or funky nails, and am actually waiting for an order I placed on ebay for some amazing bows, fingers crossed it gets here soon because South-African postal services have been on strike and have left consumers waiting for ever for parcels.  Anyway, look at the prettyness....

Nailene Couture Design Nails ~ R89.99 from Clicks:

 

The pack includes 24 nails, with glue, small nail file, cuticle stick and instructions (multiple languages).

 

It has the most beautiful black, grey and silver design, the nails are medium length so not too short or too long and in a square shape.

 

Application:

 

~  Make sure your nails are completely free of any residue or polishes

~  Lightly buff your nails, be careful not to buff it too much, the purpose of this step is merely to reduce shine (oil) on your nails which creates a matte foundation and helps nails to stick {oil or shine could make your nails lift}

~  Push back your cuticles lightly, cut your own nails short and shape

~  Select the right size nail

~  Apply a bit of glue on your nail as well as the stick on nail

~  Immediately apply the nail and press it firmly for about 20 - 30 seconds

 

... and voila!  There you have one nail done.

 

They last a really long time, in fact, they only come off when I soak them, and they look fabulous and natural, and they have several designs to choose from.  Most of the time I go for the french or natural look, which I often paint over anyway within a few days.

 

Note:

Nailene has made a statement to say that they do not test on animals, however, I have checked PETA and they're not listed on any of their lists, so at the moment I am taking their word for it but am a bit sceptic marking it as cruelty free. I tried searching on the internet but there's not a lot of information on it, so if you do actually know whether their statement is true or not, kindly let me know.

Nail Talk: Nailene Artificial Nail & Polish Remover

Hi Beauties,

Something I haven't discussed a lot on my blog *quite shameful really LoL* is my love for stick-on or acrylic nails {I don't like gel whatsoever}, there's quite a few reasons for this but mainly because I don't like my natural nails particularly the shape of them, and also nail polish lasts so much longer on false nails, whether it be stick-on's or acrylic.

Now if you've ever had false nails, you know what a mission it is to have them removed:

Nailene Artificial Nail & Polish Remover ~ R129.95 from Clicks:

Professional Strength

Removes all artificial nails, glue and polish

 

I basically change my nails almost weekly, sometimes I'll leave stick-on nails on for 2 weeks, but by then they would've been painted a rainbow of colours already.  It used to be such a hassle for me to remove the nails, and I would sit out at least 2 hours of soaking them in acetone preferably with an awesome movie or two to help the time go by much quicker, not to mention that awful smell.

 

But now it's no longer necessary!  Soaking nails off in 40 minutes which is a record time and makes my weekly pamper day so much more enjoyable :-)

 

Using this nifty little thing is super easy, you just dip your nail into the brush area, soak for a few seconds and twist around.  Be careful not to soak your nail for longer than 2 minutes at a time, so what I do is soak and twist one nail for two minutes, then rotate to another nail, if there is still residue left on the previous nail, go back and do that one again for no longer than 2 minutes.  Removing stick-on's took just a little less than 40 minutes, but just soaking off nail polishes is about 15 minutes!

 

It's not messy at all, and if you have a pet peeve removing glittery nail polishes, you will love this!  The little brushes help scrub them off, it honestly makes the whole polish or nail removal process so much easier.

 

Just be careful when you do have artificial nails on with nail polish and you just want to soak off the polish, it will actually start removing the artificial nails even if you soak it for a few seconds only ~ this I learned by trial and error LoL.

 

Note:

Nailene has made a statement to say that they do not test on animals, however, I have checked PETA and they're not listed on any of their lists, so at the moment I am taking their word for it but am a bit sceptic marking it as cruelty free.  I tried searching on the internet but there's not a lot of information on it, so if you do actually know whether their statement is true or not, kindly let me know.

New In: Essence Lippies

Hi Pretties,

I hope you're having a smashing weekend so far?

You may know by now that I am such a fan of the Essence brand, they make trendy and quality cosmetics affordable to the everyday girl, this is the first time trying a lipstick and lipgloss from their range, and I'm so impressed with them!

Essence Lipstick in 52 In the Nude ~ Price approx. R30.00 Available at Clicks:

 

This is an extremely creamy and moisturising lipstick.  I'm a huge fan of nude lips, and I've noticed that you get two kinds of nudes:  one that is pale and can be borderline sickly looking, or one that just enhances the natural nudeness of your lips and can be very close to your natural lip colour.

 

This little beauty is the perfect natural looking nude lipstick, it's very similar to my own lip colour but just enhances my lips to give it a smooth and beautiful finish.  It's highly pigmented and one or two sweeps give a really good colour pay-off.

 

The colour doesn't last very long though, so I had to re-apply it several times during the day, however, it doesn't claim to be long lasting at all, and for the price I don't mind having to re-do my pout ;)  ~ Can't wait to stock up on the rest of the colours, these are also perfect if you want to try out colours you wouldn't normally go for.

Essence Stay with Me Longlasting Lipgloss ~ Approx. R30.00 available from Clicks:

 

Staying with the nudes, this lipgloss gives a high glossy finish with no sparkles or glitters, so if you're not a fan of glittery glosses this is perfect.  It honestly gives that J-Lo glossy pout which she is infamous for, it is slightly pigmented and leaves a subtle colour but mostly a lovely glossy look.

 

I adore this lipgloss alone or for more of a glamorous look over the In the Nude lipstick.  The applicator is easy to use, and I didn't have to use a mirror to apply it, as there is a slight curve in the middle of the sponge-like applicator which makes it really easy to feel where the lipgloss is being applied.

 

With regards to the staying power?  I won't say it's a long lasting gloss as it does come off whilst eating or drinking, so again you'll have to re-apply, which I don't mind.

 

Both of these lippies are not drying at all!  Which is an absolute must in winter, I didn't have to use an additional lipbalm with them.

 

Both lip products swatched:



I hope you like these?  If you have a favourite of the above two please let me know as I'd like to give them a try?

 

Have a fabulously fashionable and relaxing Saturday :-)





Smouldering Winter Eye Shadows

Hi Pretties,

This is the first time trying out Catrice eye shadows, I'm still on the hunt for shadows to replace my MAC ones, and I think I may have just hit the jackpot here:

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour (Available from Dischem):

Plum Up the Jam

Blackwood Forest

*  Unfortunately I don't have the prices of these, but know they were not more than R50.00 each.

 

At the fear of sounding like a broken record, I wont mention again that I think the packaging on these beauties are just so chic and trendy ;) LoL.

 

These two colours immediately caught my eye, as you can see from the swatches above they're extremely pigmented without being powdery, they are very dark colours so if you're not used to wearing eye shadow a very slight sweep of this will be more than enough.  The formula is fantastic and I love these eye shadows, although I quite like NYX eye shadows I must say that these ones are a bit better as I do find NYX to be quite powdery and messy.

 

There's a slight shimmer in the shadows, but fear not, it's not going to make you look like a disco diva but merely like a glammy goddess!  The shimmer provides more depth and definition than sparkle, what I love about them is that you can wear them together, or as I've done for workdays when I'm in a bit of a hurry is to do a sweep of one colour all over my lower eyelid, which creates a dramatic smokey eye effect that is easily achievable with one colour.  And of course for all my fellow beauty lovers out there, you can play around with them to create so many different looks.

 

I can't wait to stock up on more colours, I'm not afraid of wearing colour on my eyes, never let anyone tell you differently but my fellow brown eyed gals have the perfect palette to play around with lovely eye colours, as most shades compliments brown eyes beautifully, think from forest colours like these to purple, blue to natural ones like bronze and browns.  We're indeed lucky so don't be afraid to venture away from classic nude colours.

 

Do you have any other Catrice products you've enjoyed?

 

:-)