Sneaky nail polish treat...

Well, it's been an exhausting week...but I don't really need an excuse to pick up new polishes, do I? I made a quick trip to Priceline today. I actually haven't had much of an interest in buying new makeup lately, so it's been a while since I've visited Priceline. At the moment, I feel like I've shifted my interest (and money) into buying new clothes and shoes! The Iconic, Myer and Forever New are starting to empty out my bank account...

Anyway...

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Pacific Blue'

Essence Effect Nail Polish 'Baby, you're a firework'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Lightshow'

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

I feel like this shade is pretty well known in the nail polish world. I'm a huge fan of the Xtreme Wear range; if you've been following my monthly nail art posts, you would have seen these pop up quite a bit. This colour doesn't seem particularly exciting from the bottle, but all the swatches I've seen make it look gorgeous.

Essence 'Baby you're a firework'

So I think this is new line from Essence, and probably limited edition too. Of course I went for the pink one :) to be honest, I haven't had much luck in the past with Essence polishes - I've usually been unimpressed with the formula and passed them on to someone else. I hope this won't disappoint, because it looks really pretty.

Sally Hansen 'Lightshow'

And this is possibly limited edition too? How pretty does it look! I'm not a fool though, I know that to get it to look that good on my nails, I'll definitely have to 'fish' for the big glitter particles. I'm not complaining though, this is usually the case with hexagonal glitter polishes! 

Have you tried any of these polishes?

FOTN: Saturday night drinks

Did you read the story behind my last FOTN post? If not, you can check it out here. Anyway, some of you were quite intrigued, so let me continue my story further. I had a few drinks on Saturday night with a new bunch of friends. That guy I went on a date with, yep, I got to meet some of his friends. I'd say that's a good indicator that things are progressing nicely :)

Sleek Blush in 'Pomegranate'

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation 

Benefit High Beam

Benefit They're Real

Face of Australia Liquid Liner

I really did want to use my Elf blush, but variety seemed like a good idea. I actually bought this Sleek blush because it looked like a similar colour. This one is more of a red tone, whereas my beloved Berry Merry leans towards plum/purple. I've only used the Benefit High Beam a few times, but I'm loving it. Also, I just realised I forgot to photograph the lipstick I wore - total blonde moment! But some of you will be able to figure it out from the photo below...

Yep, it's MAC's Girl About Town!

So how was the night? It was great! I had a really fun time. Also, I think we *might* actually be an item now. How exciting!!!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates on my love life ;) xx

Garnier Radiant Boosting Scrub review

How many times have you seen something that you want to try, but you know you shouldn't? My supply of skincare products is certainly not in short supply, but I saw this on sale the other week for $6ish so I thought why not! 

Garnier Radiance Boosting Scrub

On first impressions, I wasn't overly impressed. The gel is quite thick, with the scrub particles being really small and sparsely dispersed. So if you're looking for a more exfoliating scrub, this is not it. It's a bit hard to massage it properly as its so thick, and as a result, it takes more effort to wash it off. However, all is not lost - it smells like a flowery citrus scent that I find super refreshing and definitely does give me a bit of a morning boost. It's a pretty good pick me up if you're hungover, by the way ;)

So, overall, I think this is a nice addition to have in my bathroom, to change things up from using the Clearasil Vitamins & Extracts scrub every day. If you're looking for a very-mild scrub with a refreshing scent, this might interest you.

Have you tried this before?

FOTN: Date Night

Date night? But Sarah, didn't you become single just six weeks ago? Yes, that would be correct. But I am back on the dating scene! I had a date the other night that went really well. It's amazing how meeting someone new can be a huge pick me up. I'm feeling way more positive about myself in general. Anyway, let's have a look at what I had on...

 Elf blush in 'Berry Merry'

Arbonne Perfecting Liquid Foundation

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara

Face of Australia Liquid Liner

MAC Lipstick in 'Sweetie'

A fairly simple and natural look - I didn't want to be over the top. You've probably noticed that the Elf blush pops up a lot, its definitely one of my favourite night time blushes (and in general, too). The mascara is waterproof too, we went to see 'The Fault in Our Stars' which is a bit of a tearjerker, so just in case! (no tears though!). I chose a pretty but simple lip colour, I didn't want anything bold, in case there was a bit of lip action involved (oh, there sure was!). 

Here is the look! I was actually quite happy with how it all came together, and my outfit too (which I sadly didn't get any pictures of). Overall it was a great night!

Thanks for reading xx

MAC's Rebel vs. Ulta3 Sweet Currant

Lipstick time! So I recently caved and purchased MAC's Rebel lipstick. While I had only just bought the Ulta3 lipstick, I desperately wanted to try Rebel after seeing so many gorgeous swatches of it. I noticed that these two looked a little bit similar, so I thought I would compare...

The Ulta3 looks darker in the tube compared to the MAC. But how do they swatch?

MAC Rebel

Ulta3 Sweet Currant

The Ulta3 is a lot sheerer, and on the lips it comes out less dark and leans more towards pink than anything else. Rebel swatches as a deep berry shade on me and has more of a vampy look! Rebel is also a little drier on the lips, but seems to last several hours longer than Sweet Currant. I suppose that can be expected when theres such a huge price difference ($36 vs $2.95). I definitely would not say this is a dupe, but Sweet Currant might be a good option if you don't want something as intense as Rebel. Overall, I think I do prefer Rebel, but Sweet Currant is still nice and it certainly isn't a waste of (less than) $3 :)

Have you tried either of these? What do you think?

Essence XXXL Shine Lipgloss

Apologies for my absence this week! It was my birthday the other day, which kept me busy, but the main reason I haven't been able to post is that I've been having major internet dramas and haven't been able to get online. Anyway, I recently purchased two of the Essence XXXL Shine Lipglosses. They were really cheap, as all Essence products are, and even though I don't usually buy lipgloss, I was curious to try these out. 

Big Night Out (top)

Fabulous Fuschia

On first thoughts, these take me back to my younger days. They do smell quite sweet and candy-like. On application, these are non-sticky, smooth and add a nice glossy finish with a hint of colour. 

Fabulous Fuschia

Big Night Out

Big Night Out is a gorgeous peachy pink with a lot of micro glitter. I adore how shiny it looks! You can see a FOTD post of me wearing it here. Fabulous Fuschia, disappointingly, didn't have much colour to it, but was more of a clear gloss with noticeable glitter particles. Bit of a shame, because in the tube it looks like a nice colour. On the lips, it still looks pretty though.

One thing I want to mention is the applicator. I've never used an applicator like this before. It's larger than your standard lipgloss applicator, but it's also flexible so it bends and moves as you apply it to your lips. I actually really like this because I find it helps you apply it more evenly. 

I've been wearing these to work, and also just for casual occasions. Wear time is about 2 hours without eating or drinking, which is fairly standard. 

Overall, I think these are really great for the price ($3ish) and I'll probably pick up another few next time I'm at an Essence stand! 

Have you tried these before?

Winter skin savers (Palmer's appreciation post)

Seeing as winter has officially begun, I've started to round up a few products that will help my skin from becoming dry and awful from the cold. Before I begin, this is not a sponsored post, I just really like Palmer's products because they're of great quality and are very affordable.

Palmer's Cocoa Body Scrub

Palmer's Shea Butter Lotion

Palmer's Olive Body Butter

Cocoa Body Scrub

I've had this scrub for a while now, and I love using it. It's the perfect amount of grainy-ness (sand particles and crushed up cocoa bits) to get a decent exfoliation, and I find that when I use it after epilating my legs, I get a lot less ingrown hairs and bumpy spots. It smells divine, like chocolate-y cocoa, of course. The only downside is that it does leave a mess in the shower. I'm wondering how this would compare to the Frank body scrub that everyones been raving about...does anyone want to share their experiences with it?

Shea Butter Lotion

I love trying out their different lotion ranges. I'm really loving this one because it's hydrating, yet light, and also has a nice smell. I have no idea what shea butter actually smells like, but this is quite perfume-y smelling. Being a lotion, it doesn't have maximum hydration capacity, but I find myself using it after a morning shower before I'm heading out to go somewhere, when I don't really want to use anything too greasy/thick. 

Olive Body Butter

Okay, for starters, I cannot find ANY info on the olive body butter tub anywhere! I can only find product info for the lotion and concentrated cream, no tub in sight! I really have no explanation for this, because I picked it up about a week ago from a pharmacy. Anyway, this mystery product has been my knight in shining armour. The body butter smells interesting, pleasant, but maybe a hint medicinal? Anyway, it's fairly thick, as you'd expect, but spreads and absorbs well. I use this after my pre-bedtime shower as I'm about to jump into bed and my skin feels really soft in the morning. I'm very happy with this body butter, but if I run out, I may never find it again!

So those are some of my skin savers for the chilly season. What products have you been using to keep your skin happy? xx

FOTN: Saturday night fun

Saturday night means time to play with makeup!! Oh, and see friends too, I guess.

 Sleek blush in 'Pomegranate'

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation

Essence XXL Shine Lipgloss in 'Big Night Out'

Benefit High Beam

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Face of Australia Liquid liner

A simple look for a casual evening, but two of these products I had not used before! The lipgloss and highlighter are new-ish to my collection and I finally decided to give them a go. At first, I was kind of unimpressed by High Beam, and the nail polish applicator seemed unhygienic, but I just transferred some of the liquid onto a cotton bud. Once I blended it across my cheekbones, it looked pretty amazing - this might be competing with Mary Lou for my affection soon! As for the lipgloss, I picked up a few Essence glosses the other day, mostly because they were so cheap ($3 something each) and I wanted something semi-neutral that I could wear for a non-lipstick appropriate occasion. 

What do you think? I'm not sure what happened with the flash here, but it looks kinda cool! Also do you guys like my hair? I had red balayage done the other day, I'm loving it so far!! Change is as good as a holiday :)

Thanks for reading xx