The Liebster Award Tag

Another Liebster nomination - thanks to Amy (blondeamy.wordpress.com). It's nice knowing that people are actually reading your blog, and that you are getting to know the person behind the screen as well. Also, what a shock, two posts in one day! Hope you enjoy. 

Rules of the Award post:
1. Answer questions that are sent to you
2. Nominate 11 bloggers who have under 200 followers
3. Ask them 11 unique questions
4. Notify them that they have been nominated

Here are my answers to Amy's questions -
1. Who is your biggest style icon at this moment of time?
This is such a hard question cause I am not into fashion that much, at all, but in saying that Karissa Pukas is a beauty vlogger who has a pretty similar style to what I like and some of her lookbooks are really nice. 

2. Would you rather live without eyeliner or lipstick?
I could easily live without eyeliner! 

3. If you could only buy one brands products for the rest of your life what would it be & why?
NYX products - only because they have nice lipsticks and their foundation works really well with my oily skin.

4. What's your biggest guilty pleasure at the moment?
I've been watching a lot, and I mean a lot, of Geordie Shore... I can feel my brain cells dying.

5. If you had to recommend I buy one hair product what would it be and why?
Tresemme hair oil - it makes your hair feel really nice and gives it a bit of a shine.

6. What shop would you say you have spent the most in within 2014?
Priceline - no doubt about it.

7. You go into Boots to buy make-up wipes, what are you also likely to walk out with?
I don't live in the UK so I am struggling to remember what was at Boots from when I was there a few years ago now. From memory, they sell Benefit at Boots so I would probably buy something from that range - perhaps a primer.

8. Who do you think is the sexiest male celeb?
Let me just leave this here...

9. What is your favourite AW14 make-up trend?
I wouldn't say it is my favourite, but the blue liner look is pretty nice - but lets get one thing clear, they have to get rid of the 'invisible brow' thing because that's horrible!

10. You have $20 to spend, how will you most likely spend it?
Hmm, probably on some cheap makeup. 

11. What would you pair up with a little black dress?

I nominate:
Dry Wine and Skittles
Monique
Tilleloves

WNLBlog

Labels and Lipstick

Lucy the Castle

Life of Faye

Hollypops

Hannah Dolled Up

Little World of Rachel

Satinmilk

My questions:

1. Makeup trend that has to stop?
2. Which 1 product could you not live without?

3. Woman Crush Wednesday?
4. Makeup icon?
5. Favourite High End makeup product?
6. Favourite Drugstore brand?
7. Would you rather go without mascara or foundation?
8. Favourite reality tv show?
9. Favourite summer fruit?

10. Bright Pink lipstick or burgundy lips?
11. Manicure or Pedicure?

Comment on this post when you have completed your nomination so I can suss out your answers!
monnii
xx

October Fabs&Drabs

Fab    -    short for fabulous, generally used by teens or young women who are part of the 'in' crowd
Drab    -   totally useless and boring, describing anything lifeless and boring

That basically addresses the gist of this post... October favourites, and the not so favourites - the fabs and drabs! There isn't really much of list but at least there is a few things I can tell you all about.

Firstly, I will start with my absolute favourite product this month and something I need to repurchase soon. The Original  Source Vanilla and Raspberry shower gel! Oh my god. If you have ever been into a Peter Alexander store, this pretty much smells like the store does as soon as you walk in. So perfect and sweet! It's also a vegan product which is pretty dandy. 

This mascara is my go to mascara now. I love it! Maybelline the Falsies BigEye mascara, it has two little spoolie things and the formula is quite volumising. The smaller spoolie is perfect for lower lashes and, obviously, the larger one for the top lashes. The smaller wand is perfect for separating top lashes as well.

  

The nude basics palette from Models Prefer has lasted me such a long time! Given, I mainly use the lightest colour as a highlight and the darker matte brown to line the bottom lash line - but the colours are really great! They are also long lasting and don't crease which is also a mega plus.

NYX matte lipstick - where have you been this entire time?! I am not a fan of lipsticks but this one has been my absolute favourite and I think if I had bought this ages ago, I would be a bit lipstick junkie. Its the MLS06 Summer Breeze lipstick, and the colour is amazingly pink! Almost like a barbie pink? Anyways, amazing colour and lasts a long time too.



 Now, I have a few items that aren't beauty related but that's no big deal, I have been loving these things a lot this past month, or two. Firstly, Yankee candles. I found a place on the Coast that actually sells them and I need to buy more. I currently have the vanilla cupcake one and it smells so good! I find myself burning it all the time, I am obsessed! My last favourite for this month are these beautifully written books by Beau Taplin (beautaplin.com). I finished Hunting Season and The Wild Heart the other week before the latest book, Playing with Fire was released and they are just perfect. I strongly recommend these books.

 I only have one product that I didn't like this month - the Protane Moroccan Argan Oil Hydrating shampoo. I bought it for, like, $4 at Aldi, thinking the moroccan argan oil would do wonders for my hair. Well, was I wrong. Even though it's a hydrating shampoo - it dried out my hair? A little confusing, right? So basically, it made my hair feel horrible, I only used it maybe once or twice before I got rid of it. Although, the conditioner that came with it is really good, and my hairdresser said my hair has been really good since I used it, so I'm not really sure what is going on there.

Do you suggest any products that I can try out this month that could possibly be added to the next fabs&drabs list?

monnii
xx

Brush Day

Well, the day has come for a new post! Going to start getting back into posting once a week, hopefully, so let's start off with how I clean my brushes. This is probably pretty boring/basic to some of you, but I have a super awesome product that makes my brushes look new after I clean them.

To start off, I run the brush under warm-ish water and try to squeeze out as much product as possible. Usually, I just swirl the bristles in my palm for a bit before I add any soap or shampoo to the brush.

Before I found the 'miracle product' I was using just any ordinary baby shampoo because it is gentle and won't damage bristles, but now I use the Puff and Sponge cleaner from Daiso. I add the smallest amount of the detergent to the brush and swirl the bristles, again, in my palm until the water runs clean. Same goes for my beauty blender/sponge, except I add the detergent directly onto the dirty areas and squeeze the product out.

Once the water runs clean, I squeeze out any extra water and then sit the brush somewhere so that the handle is tilted upwards and the bristles face down so that any water that's left behind doesn't soak into where the bristles are glued to the handle.


Incase anyone is wondering, I have a few different brushes, the ones that are gold are Jessup brushes, the pink/orange/purple handled brushes are Real Techniques and the rest are just brushes that came in my brush roll from school.

monnii
xx

Sorry I've Been M.I.A

I haven't posted any new content in such a long time! Thankfully, everything is back on track and I am hoping to be a little more active and post lots of new reviews and tutorial things.

Also, new name thanks to my wonderful friend Jess!

Everyday Skincare Routine

I have come to the conclusion that I am horrible at sticking to a schedule thus resulting in a late post, sorry! I thought I would show you guys my 'skincare routine' although my skin isn't really at its best lately hopefully sticking to this regime will get it back on track. If you want to know what products I've been using (I will try and add links where I can) and loving then keep reading (:

Let me begin by letting you know the products that I have been using (L to R): Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, Dove Protective Moisturising Lotion, Bioré Pore Cleansing Scrub, Bioré Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser and Manicare face brush. I've only recently purchased the Micellar cleansing water and the charcoal cleanser - but so far they are very good products. The only downside is that the cleansing water stings my eyes so I recommend that you don't use it to remove eye makeup, however, it takes all the makeup off my face with ease every time.

Morning Skincare

During the morning I usually start out using a cleanser.
The charcoal cleanser has been pretty good at cleaning
my skin and leaves my face feeling quite smooth. I love this
product because whilst it's on your face it has a cooling, tingly
feeling that just feels really nice in the morning. Then every 3-4 days I use the face brush to just buff my face with the cleanser. Although the brush is gently enough for everyday use I refer to use it once or twice a week because I scrub at night.

Nighttime Skincare
Usually before I wash my face at night I use the micellar cleansing water to get off any makeup - avoiding the eyes - or use face wipes. Because I've been wearing makeup during the day I like to use a scrub at the end of the day just to exfoliate and buff my skin clean. It's an oil-free scrub which is great because my skin is oily/combo and it doesn't dry out my face either.

After Cleansing/Scrub
Both in the morning and at night I use the cleansing water as a toner substitute and just to soothe my skin. I let it air dry while I do my makeup or brush my teeth and once it's dry I use the Dove moisturiser just to, obviously, add moisture to my skin. Like I said previously, my skin doesn't dry out that much but because it is Winter in Australia I like to use it as an added barrier before I put on my makeup. At night, I don't fully rub it in, I just let it soak into my skin because I usually have a really hot shower at night which draws out a bit of moisture from my skin.



So that is my everyday skincare regime at the moment, I don't think it will change that much as the year progresses because I have been using most of these products for quite a while now and I really like them.
I know the charcoal cleanser is pretty new so if any of you
have used it, let me know what you think of it.

monnii
xx

Come Play With Me: Wing It Out

My dear friend, Monique, asked me choose the next theme for the Come Play With Me series. I thought long and hard about this one as I didn’t really want to use some generic, cliché challenge. I finally decided to settle on the Wing It Out theme, so basically creating your best or go-to winged eyeliner look. I will be honest, I suck at winging out eyeliner and don't wear it often but I thought everyone else might like to join in and, I may as well practice and push the limits.

I firstly applied my everyday natural look, which you can find here, and added a bit of a nude/natural colour to my eyes on top of an eyelid primer from Elf. The colours I used were from the W7 Naked Nudes palette which I bought from Chemist Warehouse for $5! Also, obviously there is only 4 colours but I needed more natural toned eyeshadows so it was a bargain. The pigment is mediocre, and you have to really layer the colour to get a good build up. I applied this with my Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush. 

The eyeliner I used to create my winged look is the Gorgeous Cosmetics Felt tip Liner, which is honestly the best product I have ever purchased. It makes the neatest line and is a product that is perfect for beginners, like myself. To finish it off I used the Plush mascara from Maybelline, an Essence Kajal white eyeliner on my lower waterline and filled in my eyebrows using the Elf eyebrow kit - which is also a product that I swear by! (After a second look at my eyebrows I think that the colour may be a bit too dark, what do you think?

I'm sorry that this weeks post is super late, but everything will be back to normal schedule on Monday, however, I might have to change the day in a few weeks because Monday is now a uni day and a tafe night so we will see how it goes.

monnii
xx

Face Of The Day (FOTD) - Everyday natural look

My first FOTD! I thought I'd just show you guys what I use everyday as I usually don't go all out for my makeup on days where I'm not doing much. So, this is the makeup look and if you want to know how I achieved the 'natural look' then keep reading.

The base products that I used to achieve this look include the Savvy face primer, and the previously mentioned Maybelline Dream BB Cream in Light. I usually apply my primer with a flat foundation brush but using your fingertips is fine too, and the real techniques multi purpose brush to apply the BB Cream. Applying the base with a brush evenly disperses the products and creates an even base. I also added the Savvy concealer stick to under my eyes and any blemishes and blended it with a beauty blender.

My eye makeup for everyday is very basic. I applied the Gorgeous cosmetics eye pencil in Kohl and the Gorgeous cosmetics Madison Avenue Mascara. The eye pencil was used to tight line my eyes on the top waterline and the mascara was applied on my top and half of the bottom lashes. Tight lining my eyes seems to make my lashes stand out more as I have quite short lashes.

To finish my looks I applied the Australis Ready Set Go setting powder, which happens to be my favourite product at the moment. I focus it mainly on my t-zone as it absorbs the oil there best and then apply anything leftover on the brush to the rest of my face. Definitely sets my makeup for the day and creates a more matte finish. Finally I applied the Gorgeous cosmetics lip gloss to my lips for an extra bit of shine.

I hope you like this look, if you recreate it let me know.

monnii
xx

Monday Rambles

Sorry for the slightly late blog, I only remembered when I got home from work that it was Monday and that I had forgot to write up a post. Because I was unorganised and had nothing planned for tonights post I thought I'd just talk about the past week and what's been going on. Next week will be back to a lot more structure, anyways I guess I shall move on.

I've been trying to pick up a few extra hours at work so that I can afford to go away (and buy concert tickets) but it hasn't really been working, but it's really hard to get another job on the coast so I suppose I'll settle with the hours I am getting. I've also recently joined a gym! Yep, I'm going to, attempt, to get fit before I go away in September. I never realised that I actually enjoyed going somewhere else, like a gym, to workout. I can just put my music and do a circuit and it works well. Another thing that I have been trying to organise is enrolling in a makeup artistry course, which will hopefully be finalised by the end of the week.

Makeup kind of started out as a hobby but I've started to think that it is definitely something I want to work with in the future. Also, many of you wouldn't be aware that I am currently taking part in an Entertainment Industries course at university which will hopefully allow me to book tours/artists and manage bands and all that kind of fancy stuff. At the moment, I'm getting a bit of experience with a Sydney company that allows me to book their gigs that come up to Queensland. So that's a bit exciting.

I recently downloaded the new Ed Sheeran album, X (Multiply) (that came out today in Australia) and I am so impressed with this album. The songs are all so diverse and I guess that's what has kind of hooked me in. I was listening to it at gym today and the song 'Nina' got stuck in my head for the whole day. Overall, I suggest you listen to that album!

Anyways, I mainly want to know what you guys want me to review or check out. I think I will do a post later about my skincare routine and maybe even a favourite/not so favourite items post, so let me know what you think.

Once again, I'm sorry today's post wasn't anything structured - I got really unorganised with gym, work, emails etc. so next week will definitely be more planned and organised.

monnii
xx

Liebster Award

I was so excited to find out that my lovely friend Monique, from moniquekirsten, nominated my blog for a Liebster Award. Thanks Monique x

First off, the rules are;

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you
2. You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you;
3. Pick 11 nominees with under 200 (or 2000 if you want to go with that) followers to answer your 11 questions
4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you
5. You must let the people you nominate know they have been nominated

Monique's questions were;

1. Dream holiday destination?I would love to go back to England - that was my favourite holiday. Plus, all the amazing make up products at really good prices! I wasn't as into make up then as I am now so I would love to go back, however, to choose somewhere I haven't been I would have to say maybe Italy or France.

2. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully, touring the world as a tour manager! Dream big, right. But also doing some sort of make up artistry work as I am about to enrol in a certificate of make up and skincare so it would be good to put that to use.

3. Go -to nail polish colour?
This is a difficult question because I don't paint my nails often but, lately, I have been using the pastel/baby blue that I referenced in this previous post. 

4. Who's your celebrity crush?
Okay, so I am a bit in love with Nev from Catfish at the moment! Just his personality on the show and ugh, everything! But also Zac Efron, puberty did well for him and now he just looks amazing! And I was watching That Awkward Moment/Are We Officially Dating (why does it have 2 different names?) last night, and I'm just thinking of his hot bod!

5. Any tattoos/piercings?
No tattoos, but hopefully getting one when I go to Sydney to see a friend in September - so if you are Australian and know a good tattoo artist in Sydney let me know!
As for piercings, I only have my ears pierced but I want to get my nose done although I think it will hurt a bit.

6. Whats your holy grail makeup item?
I mentioned this in my previous post, but the Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream for oily skin is better than anything! Works well as a base, works well as a full coverage product, covers blemishes, controls blemishes, helps my oily T-Zone, just everything!

7. Cats or dogs?
I have a puppy back home with family (admittingly, he isn't a puppy anymore but he definitely acts like one) so I like dogs but I would have to say cats! I just want a kitten already *sad face*

8. What will be your next beauty purchase?
So, I have been contemplating this for a while and I think I will probably go out and buy some more makeup brushes. I love the Real Techniques brushes but they are so expensive in Australia, so I will probably save up and buy a nice set of those brushes. I also want a Clarisonic Mia - but again, money issues. So if you know of an alternative please comment and let me know.

9. Do you have a horrible hair cut experience?
Not a horrible haircut, but a horrible hair colour experience. When I was maybe 16/17 my mum used to dye my hair and one time we decided that it would be 'fun and interesting' to let her put foils in my hair. No. That was a terrible idea. We washed out the bleach/dye and I seriously had a 'mo-hawke' shaped stripe down the middle of my head, it looked terrible and I made my mum go out and buy another pack of hair dye.

10. What makeup item do you have the most of?
I have a lot of mascaras. Most of them are past their 'use-by' date as such, they probably should've been thrown out a few months back but they aren't clumping or anything so why chuck them out. I own about 4 different mascaras, a lengthening one, smokey eye one, plush lashes one and a fibre extension one.

11. Your guilty pleasure?
Oh man, I love One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer - I know it isn't beauty related but there is something about boy bands that I just kinda, love! Also, 5 Seconds of Summer are Australian and have written songs with Alex Gaskarth (of All Time Low) so they are alright in my books.

My questions are;
1. Do you prefer drugstore makeup or designer brand makeup?
2. What blog do you always check first when you get online?
3. Books or Movies?
4. Favourite beauty Youtuber?
5. Favourite 'out-of-the-ordinary' makeup product?
6. Straight hair or curly hair?
7. The first thing you do when you get in the shower?
8. Do you have any 'before bed' rituals?
9. iPhone or Samsung?
10. Favourite Disney movie?
11. Embarrassing moment?

My nominees;
Laura from Lolly Loves
and anyone else who wants to take part in it.

Once again, thanks Monique (be sure to check out her blog).

monnii
xx

How Low Can You Go Challenge

Yeah, you read that right, a challenge! My friend Monique (yep, we have the same name too) came up with this challenge and basically you just have to try and use a little products as possible to create an ideal look. For today, I had to go to work this afternoon so I tried to make my makeup as good as possible with few products. I usually use between 7-12 products when I get ready for work, so this challenge was definitely challenging. I ended up getting down to 4 basic products that created a look suitable enough for work. So I will run through the products and briefly explain how I use them.
So obviously, left photo is before and right photo is after. (I'm not usually one to post a no-makeup photo so you're all pretty lucky)


Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream (For Oily Skin - Light) This is one of my favourite products and it works as a primer as well so it minimises my pores and gives my skin a bit more of an even colour and gets rid of the redness (Thank god!). Plus, it has added salicylic acid which helps minimise break-outs so it's a good product, I buy it all the time!

Savvy concealer (01 Light) I'm not a real fan of stick concealers because the coverage with them isn't that good but at the moment, it's the only concealer I have so I melt it a bit with my hair dryer before applying and it works pretty well. It covers a bit of the under eye darkness and covers some blemishes, however, it creases under my eyes and I'm not sure if that is because I don't have primer or not. The creasing isn't really obvious so I was fine with it today.

Maybelline FitMe! Pressed Powder (Ivory) Love this powder! As you can see in the photos I'm getting to pan which is disappointing, but it's a good powder so I will have to go out and buy another one soon. It sets my make up perfectly so it finished my base really well.

Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express Favourite. Mascara. Ever. You can't see it in the photo above but it makes my eyelashes look long and, well, volumised (obviously, that's the point of the mascara). This mascara is a bit old though so I will have to go out and buy a new one, but it separates my eyelashes and just kind of makes my eyes a little more bolder.

My makeup lasted the night at work so I guess that is a bonus but I don't think I will keep this as my routine because I usually need my makeup to last the day when I'm at uni and I didn't use my translucent powder to set it overall. Also, no eyebrows, and they look a little lop-sided without filling them in. This post made me look like a bit of a Maybelline whore, but I just really like their products as a cheaper alternative to the usual makeup I buy.

If you do this challenge let me know and also check out Monique's blog (:

monnii
xx

Ulta3 Nail Colour review

I recently noticed that my work sells Ulta3 nail polishes and I have been on the look out for a nice, neutral colour. These polishes are only $2 at Coles, which is pretty good for a decent product. I ended up buying this cute colour, Soft Hydranea, and it's like a pastel blue when you apply it.

I'm pretty impressed with the coverage of the colour too. After applying a first coat, I didn't think that a second coat would really be needed but I eventually painted them again. The second coat really makes the colour a lot more bolder, so if you are using this product make sure you apply a second coat just to get a nice finish.

I also purchased the Ulta3 non-chip top coat from Coles as well, which was also $2, and it is an excellent top coat. My nail colour lasted a lot longer than it usually does after I used this top coat, which I guess is the point of a top coat.

For a product that is low cost, it is really good quality, so I think I will be buying more of these. I bought a French Pink colour as well as a kind of nude colour so I will see how that one goes later on. If you are in Australia you can get the Ulta3 range from Cosmetics Fragrance Direct and, obviously, Coles. I'm not sure if Target or Chemist Warehouse stocks them but you can always check there just in case.



monnii
xx

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Nivea Lip Butter Review

Okay, so this is my first post and I am so excited to be able to start blogging more. As it's coming into Winter in Australia I've been looking around for moisturising lip products. Previously I was using eos products and they were good and lasted me the whole season, now that the weather is back I was on the hunt. On my usual Tuesday shopping trip, I found the Nivea Lip Butter on special for half-price at Priceline for only $2.80 (approximately).

So, I bought the Caramel Cream one and the Vanilla and Macadamia pot. Both of them smell amazing!
I usually put this on before I go to sleep and after I have a shower in the morning and it moisturises my lips for the whole day/night. You only need a small bit of the butter, so I think it will last well past the season. The only thing I don't like is the little pots because I hate using my finger to apply it, but who cares!

Nivea is a good brand and for only $5.69 (rrp) I would recommend you buy one! For anyone in Australia you can get them from Priceline, Target and major Supermarkets. Also, Priceline are having 25% off the Nivea Lip products at the moment.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the Lip Butter and if you buy one (:

monnii
xx