Notable mani's of January 2014

If you're following me on Instagram, you'll know I'm always doing something with my nails. ALWAYS. There's never a bare moment. So I think I'll do a monthly series where I showcase my notable mani's of the month. These pictures are mostly taken from my Instagram account (username: chocolate_squeeze), so those of you who are following me may have seen these photos before.

Mint Leopard Mani

I created this using a tutorial by Elleanddish. I absolutely love her tutorials, they are so creative and easy to follow. Definitely check out her channel if you're a nail junkie :)

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine in 'Lustrous' 

Revlon in 'Newly Minted'

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 'Caramel Cupcake'

Sally Hansen Gem Crush in 'Big Money'

Marc Jacobs Inspired Mani

Again, another tutorial by Elleandish!

Polishes used:

Ulta3 in 'Lily White'

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 'Caramel Cupcake'

OPI in 'Goldeneye'

Revlon in 'Gold Coin'

Glittery mani

Polishes used:

Butter London in 'Henley Regatta'

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 'Green With Envy'

Shellac mani

Using a shellac polish called 'Cheeky Pink' from the Epic Nail shellac kit! Review to come verrry soon ;)

I hope you enjoyed this post. Follow me on Instagram if you'd like to see my nail adventures :)

Target beauty haul

Another day, another haul...

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Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion

Nivea Soft Rose Lipbalm

Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion (sale price $5.59)

I'm a bit late to the shower body lotion party. I received some samples a while back and absolutely loved them, so after seeing it on sale today at Target I thought why not!

Nivea Soft Rose Lipbalm (sale price $2.76)

I have probably owned every single variation of the Nivea lip balm possible, so I couldn't pass this one up.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in 'San Paulo'

Essence Lipliner in Cute Pink

NYX Soft Matte Cream (RRP $12.95)

Ohh, NYX has finally made it to my local Target! My local store has a very small range, but I was also eyeing off one of the illuminators. I was immediately drawn to this beautiful colour and can't wait to try it out. I have only tried 2 NYX products in the past and they were okay-ish. Hopefully this is good.

Essence Lipliner (RRP $1.75)

I have one of the red lipliners and it's fantastic, but these days I am more of a pink lip gal so I figured a pink one would be good to own too. I can't believe how cheap Essence products are, it's rare to find anything decent under $2 these days.

So that is my mini haul of the day! I am actually planning to do a 'beauty no-buy' for the month of February to try and curb my beauty spending. I go back to uni next week which means I'll be working less, meaning less of an income. So if you see any haul posts in Feb...give me a virtual slap on the wrist! Although I still have the rest of the day...

Have you spotted NYX at your local Target store? What products have you been buying lately?

MyNewSkin Herbal Skin Balm Review

I was offered to try a sample of MyNewSkin*, a new skin balm that is chemical free and 100% herbal based. There are two types, Olive and Lavender, and Olive and Lemon Myrtle. I am reviewing the Olive and Lavender version. Basically it is a type of emollient (moisturising) balm that can be used anywhere on the face/body and is made of different types of herbs and essential oils. More on that later.

All the herbs are Australian grown (in QLD) and are processed within several hours of picking! So it's a completely fresh, natural and organic balm!

Outer cardboard box

Now seeing as I made a fuss about the ingredients being natural, why don't we have a look at what they actually are?

Ingredients list

If you're like me, then you love reading ingredients list and knowing what each thing actually does. So I'll give you some information about some of the ingredients...

Olive Oil (extra virgin, cold pressed)

Helps to keep moisture in the skin. Vitamin A and E also help with soothing and replenishing of sensitive skin.

Burdock Leaf

Contains Vitamin B and E to remove toxins from the skin and promote circulation. It also has antibiotic properties that can help in skin problems such as eczema and dermatitis.

Chickweed Leaf

Contains Vitamin A, B and C as well as minerals to help soothe skin irritation. It is also an astringent, which constricts outer skin layers to improve tone.

(adapted from the Media Release)

And much more! If you're curious about what the other ingredients do, feel free to ask in the comments below! 

Ok, now that we know the ingredients, lets see what it is actually like...

It comes in a 50g tub. It's quite a handy size, I'd be able to easily stash it in my handbag. But, in saying that, be careful because it has to be stored at room temperature...otherwise it will turn into an oily melted mess!

To me, it looks a bit like an ointment in a jar! At first I ran my finger over the top and got an oily residue, but don't worry, its not just oil! It's a greasy balm that melts up with the warmth of fingers. As you would expect, it has an oily formula because it does contain a lot of oil based ingredients.

 A little goes a long way so you only need a small amount. It does feel like you are applying an oil but it absorbs quicker than I expected. It is very rich and moisturising with its moisturising power lasting quite a long time. However, if you overdo it (which I did at first), you might be feeling a bit too oily!

Seeing as I have the Lavender version, it does smell strongly of lavender, which I don't particularly like, but it doesn't seem to linger too long. I have been using this mostly at night on drier areas such as my heels (and popping on socks before bed!), elbows and also on my stretch marks. I have also found this to be excellent to use after epilating. After I epilate my legs, I get a lot of red spots everywhere so this really helps to soothe the skin. It's also great for that day 2 post-epilation itch from when the hairs begin to grow again and my legs itch like CRAZY. 

I am really enjoying using this balm and would recommend it if you're looking for an all natural balm that is super moisturising. I haven't tried anything quite like this so I'm glad I got the opportunity to try it out! 

Does this sound interesting to you? If so, jump on the MyNewSkin website for more info! It is priced at $24.95 for the 50g tub which is an excellent price for a great product with amazing ingredients. 

What are your thoughts on herbal based skin products? Have you tried MyNewSkin before?

*product was provided for consideration and has been reviewed in accordance with my Disclosure Policy

January 2014 empties and cull

The month is already over! I swear it wasn't that long ago that I was celebrating the end of 2013. Anyhoo, I have a few things to show you for this month...

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Sally Hansen Nail Polish Remover

Nivea Pure & Natural Night Cream

Melrose Organic Coconut Oil

Aveda Foaming Gel Cleanser and Hydrating Creme samples

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo

Nivea Lip Butter in 'Caramel Cream'

Bioderma Sebium sample

Sally Hansen Polish Remover

This is a very good remover, but I wish the opening was smaller! I always find myself spilling it everywhere. I have repurchased 2 bottles of this because they were on sale :)

Nivea Pure and Natural Night Cream

Probably the most exciting empty of the month! I was so excited when I finished this - I finished a whole jar of cream! This is really good for dry skin and I loved it. I'd repurchase it eventually, I've got a few other creams to get through first.

Melrose Coconut Oil

Not quite empty, but I am throwing it out because its starting to go icky. Probably the best $10 I have ever spent! It lasted me well over a year. I love using this for my hair and removing eye makeup. Have repurchased.

Aveda samples

I got these from a Lust Have It! box. They smell too herbal and liquorice-y for my liking. That aside, they were decent products but they didn't blow me away or anything. I wouldn't buy full sized products because they are sooo expensive and I didn't find them to be particularly special.

Herbal Essences shampoo

This smells gorgeous and makes my hair shiny and silky. I would like to try out some of their other ranges, so I won't repurchase just yet, but I'd recommend it if you're after a budget shampoo that suits dry hair.

Nivea Lip Butter

Another sample I was excited to finish. This tub is huge and it lasted me ages. I love how yummy it tastes and its a great lip balm too. I have purchased the vanilla version because I want to give that a go but I'll probably repurchase another caramel one soon!

Bioderma Sebium sample

This is a nothing product, in my opinion. What does it even do? Is it a pre-moisturiser? It was nice to use and absorbed into my skin quickly but to be honest, it doesn't have much of a place in my skincare routine.

Swisspers Cotton Pads (not pictured)

They are good, repurchased. Not much else to say!

Phew. Now moving on to what I am culling from my collection...

I have been cleaning out my room slowly in an attempt to redecorate and declutter. As a result, I've stumbled across some ancient products that need to meet the bin...

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Savvy by DB Nail Polish

Starry Lip Glow

Wet n Wild Natural Blend Lip Balm

Nair Hair Removal Cream

Models Inc Nail Polish

Maybelline Forever Strong Nail Polish

BYS Eyeshadow palette

Savvy by DB Polish

This is old and unusable.

Starry Lip Glow

Yikes, this is one of those cheapo oily lip balms that you use when you're about seven years old! I remember someone handing them out to people at work at my old job like three years ago. No point in keeping it.

Wet N Wild Lip Balm

Bought this as a 'package filler' on Beauty Joint, never really used it. It's a nice colour and a nice balm in general but it just got neglected.

Nair Hair Removal Cream

This must be about 5 years old. Nothing else needs to be said!

Models Inc Polish

Such terrible quality! It's as effective as painting your nails with milk.

Maybelline Polish

Look at it. It's time has passed.

BYS Palette

This actually isn't old at all but it is a very underwhelming product. The other BYS palettes I have are decent pigmentation but this is just terrible. No colour pay off at all. 

Well my bin is looking pretty full now! I'm pretty happy to be throwing out quite a bunch of things this month. What are you throwing out for January?

The Lipstick Tag

I was tagged by Zoe from Zoe Blogs Beauty (thank you!!) and I absolutely loved her post, so I definitely had to do it myself. I've been really enjoying lippies lately.

1. How many lipsticks do you own?

If we exclude lip crayons/stains etc and just count proper lipsticks...about 26. Not too bad but certainly too many for the average girl.

2. What was the first lipstick you owned?

Umm...it was a sky blue lipstick that someone gave me when I was 5 years old. But that doesn't count, right? My first real lipstick was when I was about 18, it was Rimmel's Lasting Finish in Birthday Suit. I really like this colour and I lost it somehow so I might repurchase it one day!

3. What is your favourite lipstick brand?

I can't pick just one, so I'll pick two. MAC because the packaging is so classy and elegant, and also because they have sooo many colours in different finishes, theres something for everyone. My fave drugstore brand would be Rimmel - excellent quality at a better price point.

4. What is your most worn lipstick?

I'll show you.

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MAC 'High Tea'

Maybelline Mineral Power Lipstick in 'Healthy Rose'

The MAC lipstick is my most used recently, whereas the Maybelline one is the most used overall. You can see that its down to a little nub! This has been discontinued for years but theres still lots available on Ebay

5. What is your favourite finish?

Matte if I want colour/impact. Otherwise, I really like MAC's Amplified Creme formulas. 

6. What was the last lipstick you bought? 

Ramblin' Rose by...MAC!

7. How many lip products do you currently have in your bag?

Not many.

Revlon Lip Butter in 'Berry Smoothie'

Nivea Essential Care Lipbalm

Carmex Lip Balm

These guys live in the front pocket of the bag I take to work. I usually wear the lip butter to work and then end up using the lip balms later in the day when my mood slowly declines.

8. What is your favourite red lip colour?

I don't know, to be honest! Savvy by DB has used to have a gorgeous red shade in their matte collection which I really like. Otherwise, I really like Arbonne's lipstick in Jam. It's not an in your face bold red. It's just a comfortable red.

9. How do you store your lipsticks?

I'd show you, but I'm currently undergoing some changes to my bedroom and makeup storage. Just today I bought a new little shelf thing with drawers, except the drawers are made of little baskets! It's super cute, and I've dedicated one drawer to cheeks, the second to eyeshadows/palettes, and the rest of my makeup is sitting on a separate piece of furniture. Currently, I have one lipstick holder (holds 24) but I am ordering another one to fill with glosses etc. I will show you when everything is all finished up. 

10. Which lipsticks are you currently lusting after?

I had to think about this one. I would love a Tom Ford lippy, they look beautiful. Actually, all Tom Ford makeup does. But it's expensive so it'll forever be a distant luxury. 

Please do the tag if you're interested! Let me know if you do so I can read your post :) 

I tag...

Sunshine from LittleMissSCB

Leah from Temporary Princess

Sarah from Breathe Beauty

Basmah from Lacee & Lattes

Fatima from Lipsticks And Coffee

Happy blogging xx

My Rimmel Apocalips Collection...

Remember when Apocalips were getting SO much hype in the beauty blogging world? Of course I couldn't ignore the hype, but I didn't go out and buy *all* of them at the same time just because they were popular.

I've slowly built up my collection and I now have 5. I'm writing this post now because I know I won't buy anymore. The colours I don't have are the ones that don't appeal to me - the paler and/or nude shades.

Admittedly, some of the shades that I have are ones I rarely use, and one of them, Stellar, (also the first one I bought) I've never worn out because it is SO bright and a bit scary.

Without further ado...

 L-R
'Stellar'
'Apocaliptic'
'Nova'
'Solstice'
'Celestial'

L-R
'Stellar'
'Apocaliptic'
'Nova'
'Solstice'
'Celestial'

Now I guess you'd like to see some swatches!

L-R

'Stellar'
'Apocaliptic'
'Nova'
'Solstice'
'Celestial'

I haven't posted lip swatches because when I try to take the photos, they don't turn out very good...maybe someone can help me refine this skill?!

Overall I really do like these lipglosses - the main reason is because they are super duper pigmented! I like that the applicator has a reservoir to hold the gloss, making application easier. You don't need to dip the brush back in because it gives you enough gloss to coat your lips. 

Applicator

As for the smell, it is quite pleasant - sort of rosy like? I have no idea but to me it smells nice. Also, these don't set so they transfer easily onto things such as glasses and people - if this is an issue, blot!
 Now I'll discuss them individually...

Stellar

This is the one I haven't had the courage to wear out. It comes out as a vibrant neon orange-red...not sure if I can pull off an orangey colour on my lips! I've only worn it when at home alone, playing with makeup (we all do it, cmon) and it is VERY bright. It does leave a stain so I think it would be quite long lasting.

Apocaliptic

I adore this colour. It's a deep but still bright fuschia colour. I wear it when I want bold lips. This has good last power as it does leave a stain on the lips. 

Nova

A pretty, girly pink. On me it sort of looks like a Barbie pink but I do like it! It goes well for daytime occasions and casual evenings. Does not last quite as long as the two above because it doesn't quite stain but it looks lovely.

Solstice

Out of all of them, this is my go-to colour when I don't know which one to use. It's a MLBB colour with a hint of shimmer. I wear this one the most out of all because it works so well with many outfits/makeup looks. Similar to Nova in the sense that the lasting power is not as good, and it does leave a trace of shimmer behind.

Celestial

I'd probably describe this as Solstice's less attractive sister. It's a nice watermelon-pink colour, very wearable and, well...nice. I remember my high school English teacher hated us using the word 'nice' because it was such a bland adjective, but it seems to fit here. It looks pretty but it's not really a unique colour in my opinion. If I had to eliminate one from my collection, it would be this one. But don't get me wrong, I still enjoy using it!

And that is my collection. Feel free to critique my thoughts on these colours! Do you also have an Apocalips collection? Which shades are your favourite? Let me know by commenting below!

Dirty Works: Coconut Body Butter

Have you heard of Dirty Works yet? No?  Well, you've probably heard of Soap and Glory. Dirty Works is meant to be a copy-cat version of S&G, exclusive to Coles. I've seen a few rave reviews about some of their products, so I thought I'd do my own investigation...

Meet 'That Fiji Feeling' - the Coconut Body Butter! The tub is huge (300mL)!

On first impressions it does quite well. I love the packaging and the tub seems like a huge size for only $7. 

Ingredients list

I'm pretty impressed with the ingredients list. There are a lot of good sounding ingredients like soybean oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil....yum! Exactly what my skin likes to see. 

But is it all talk? Is the product itself good?

Inside of the tub. I took these photos on a gloomy dark day so I had to go up right next to the window to get a semi-decent pic!

Upon opening, it reveals a white, almost fluffy looking tub of buttery cream. It is quite rich and smooth, applying to skin really well. It smells so awesome, just like a tropical coconut-y cocktail. The smell isn't subtle, but it's not super strong either - just right. I apply this after my night shower because I think applying during the day would interfere with my perfume. It absorbs quickly and doesn't leave any greasy residue. My skin feels sooo smooth and silky afterwards! I've been using this for a couple of days and I think I can safely say that I will use up the whole tub. It is really amazing and very well priced. If you're in the market for a new body butter AND love coconut scents, but don't want to splurge, this might be something to check out next time you do your grocery shopping :) 

Have you seen the new Dirty Work range at your local Coles yet?