Monday, February 28, 2011

The last day of summer...



Hi guys, sorry I've been a bit MIA lately, I had a surprise visitor last week and we had a few bad luck incidents! Today was the last day of summer here in Australia, unfortunately Uni went back today so I spent most of the day inside :(  Its been a long day so I thought I'd do a bit more of a relaxed post. I saw this tag a while ago and thought it would be fun to do :) It's the 10 would you rather beauty questions tag.

So here goes:

1. Would you rather go out with messy hair and nice make-up or nice hair and no make-up?
Definitely messy hair. I couldn't have messy make up, I'd rather have no make up! Haha. If it's messy hair at least you can tie it up and away :)

2.Would you rather shave your eyebrows or have your eyelashes fall out?
Shave my eyebrows! Then they will grow back at least, and you could cut some bangs to hide them or try to draw some on.

3.Would you rather be forced to shop at only MAC or Sephora for the rest of your life?
I have to say MAC, but only because I've never been to Sephora... haha

4.Would you rather wear lipgloss/lipliner look or 80's perm?
80s perm I guess lol. I'll just wear my hair in a bun everyday!!! haha

5.Would you rather leave the house with an obvious foundation line or overdone blush?
Overdone blush for sure! Foundation that doesn't match or hasn't been blended properly just looks horrible :S

6.Would you rather wear MC Hammer pants or biker shorts in public?
Biker shorts... but I'd wear a dress or long top over them haha

7.Would you rather have a bad orange-y spray tan or really weird tan lines that can't be covered?
Tan lines because they usually go away in a few days but a bad orange spray tan lasts for ages.

8.Would you rather have a bad haircut or bad hair color?
We'll either one you could just wear it a hat, but I've actually had a bad hair colour before. It wen't orange when I first tried to dye it blond... Like orange orange lol

9.Would you rather have youtube or twitter taken away forever?
Twitter!! I couldn't survive without youtube haha

10. Would you rather give up using makeup brushes or mascara?
Make up brushes, there are other ways to apply make up... sponges etc. 

I hope you enjoyed the post, I'll leave you with this cute picture of my puppy Molly at the park :)


Thanks for reading!

Rachel xo

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Daily Skin Routine

So I just wanted to make a post on the products I use in my everyday skin routine. These products really work for me, I use them everyday twice a day. My skin definably isn't perfect but I have always taken care of it and have never had any major issues with skin/acne.


These are the products I'm using at the moment.


Sorry the container is a bit old, its almost empty haha. I wash my face morning and night with this, Biore pore unclogging scrub - oil free. My skin can be quite oily in summer so I like to use a daily scrub.


I also like to use this Body Shop face brush with the face wash for a deeper clean.


For moisturizer I apply Garnier's Youthful Radiance Day Moisturizer. I like this one because it's a gel consistency rather than a cream, which is ideal for oily skin. It doesn't feel too heavy. 


Lastly, for daytime I use this Garnier Roll on which is the green one. This one helps with dark circles and bags under the eyes and I absolutely love it! It firms and makes me feel more awake :) for night time I use the red one, which is the ante-ageing roll on.Prevention is key, if you don't care for your skin you'll regret it one day :P

So thats it for my daily skin care routine. This is simply my opinion and I find these work well for me but remember that all skin is different.

Thanks for reading!

Rachel xo

Autumn Nails

So it's a little premature, but in celebration of Autumn coming up (in Australia), I painted my nails this pretty purpley colour! I love the colder months of the year and the colours and fashion that goes with them.


This is the nail polish I used, it's #351 "Yummy" by Sinful Colors Professional


And this is how it looks. I love this colour and a dark burgundy red I have for winter/autumn.A little trick I learnt from my friend Wakako is to buff your nails with a file before applying the colour to help it last longer :)


I got this zebra print nail file I got in Chinatown in Sydney, how cute is it!? 

So thats my Autumn nails :)
Thanks for reading!

Rachel xo




Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Smokey Eye

The smokey eye is a classic look so I thought it would be a great look to do a post on! :)


This is my version of the smokey eye, I like to include some silver for a softer look.


So the products I used are as follows...


How I achieved this look:

1. I prepped my face as usual, then I started by applying MAC's "bare study" paint pot all over my lid and brow.

2. I dusted a combination of number 1 & 2 from my Sedona Lace palette over the lid and brow for a shimmery highlight.

3. I applied number 3 to the outer 3/4 of my lid, leaving just a hint of the light shimmery colour to highlight the inner corners of my eyes.

4. Next I applied number 4 the outer "V" to create a shadow and using my blending brush blended it up to create a smoldering look and to soften the colours. Blending is important in this look because you don't want to look to harsh, like u have a black eye... haha.

5. Then, using the black, I went over the outer "V" to intensify the shadow, and pulled the colour along the top lash line and 3/4 into the crease.

6. For eyeliner I applied Bobbi Brown's liquid liner to my top lash line (flicking it out at the end for a slight cat eye effect), and MAC's eye khol in "smolder" to my water line.

7. Taking some more of number 3 in my Sedona Lace palette on an angled brush, I applied the colour under my eye, pulling it about 3/4 of the way in. Using my blending brush, I softened the edges so the colour slightly fades toward the bottom. 

8. When using liquid or gel liner I also like to go over the top of the liner with a black eyeshadow so it doesn't look as harsh.

9. Lastly I curled my lashes and applied mascara!

So thats my smokey eye look, I hope you liked it :) Feel free to make any suggestions of posts you would like to see, and I always love reading comments so don't forget to comment below!

Thanks for reading!

Rachel xo

Monday, February 7, 2011

Pretty Nude Lips

Hi guys! Today I want to show you my techniques for getting pretty nude lips. I personally like to create looks with bold eyes and softer lips so creating a good nude lip is important. So I'm gong to do 2 types of nude lips, a more pinky nude and a more tan or brown nude.


The products used for both looks. 


This is how the more pink nude looks.


And this is what the more tan/brown nude colour looks.

And here are the steps!

1. In order to cancel out any colours, so whatever lip colour you apply isn't affected by the natural colour in your lips, apply a concealer all over your lips and set with powder. I used Rimmel's Match Perfect concealer in 040 "soft beige" and Maxfactor's loose translucent powder.

2. For pink nude: apply a nude pink lipstick, I used CoverGirl's lipstick in 825 "in the nude".
For brown nude: apply lip liner, I used BYS lip liner in 02 "natural"

3. For a glossy finish, add a matte nude lip gloss. My favorite is Maybelline's "natural achiever".

This is a look I use all the time, I hope this post was helpful for you too!

Thanks for reading :)

Rachel xo

January Favorites

It's about that time for a monthly favorites post! Here were my favorites for the month of January.


1. Revlon ColourStay foundation in 200 Nude. This is a full cover foundation which can be a bit heavy, so to balance that out I only apply it where needed (where I would usually put concealer).

2. This was a gift from a friend and I ended up absolutely loving it. It's a face scrub brush from The Body Shop, I use this with my face wash every night and it gets off all my make up which I didn't realise was being left on my face every night!

3. The Body Shop's Coconut body butter, which was a gift from my awesome friend Emmy :P This smells sooo good :) I use this on my legs mainly because it's so thick it lasts a really long time on your skin.

4. DKNY's perfume Be Delicious. This came in a twin pack, I got it for Christmas, and it smells like red apples! It's my favorite perfume at the moment. 

5. Rimmel blush in 001 "Santa Rose". This is the perfect if u want a pink blush but don't want it to be like a bubblegum pink. It's a sort of muted pink and has a slight shimmer without being over the top. I wear this everyday!

6. This says 4 on the pic but it was meant to be number 6! It's my black Kohl eyeliner from MAC. It's my all time favorite eyeliner! It goes on really smooth and lasts all day :)


7. MAC paint pot in "Bare Study". While this is a great base for your make up, lately I've been using for more of a natural look buy applying some on the middle of my lid, the inner corners of my eyes, and my brow bone. This opens my eyes up and gives a soft dewy look. 


8. Lastly I have my Sedona Lace Palette! If you haven't noticed from recent posts, I'm in love with this palette haha. I first heard about this from a review on Anna Saccone's blog. I like to use bronze colours for everyday and purples or grey colours for night.

So those are my January favorites! What were your favorite things for January? 

Thanks for reading :)

Rachel xo

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Purple Eyes


Tonight I had a 21st birthday party which was themed as a toga dress up, and I just wanted to share the make up I did for the party, which was a purple and gold look. I think purple is just a beautiful colour for eyes and it suits all skin/hair/eye colours as u can vary the shade depending on your colouring.  For instance, I have a warm or yellow undertone, blue eyes and caramel/blond hair so I went for a deep purple. If you have fair skin and or eyes and feel a deep purple is too harsh, you might want to use more of a lavender shade instead.


So this is how it looked, and this picture I took when I got home from the party, which was about 5 hours and I didn't have to reapply anything except my lipgloss!



Products used.

How I achieved this purple look:

1. I applied Rimmel's Match Perfection concealer in 040 soft beige under my eyes, around my mouth and nose.
2. I applied Revlon ColorStay in 200 nude to the rest of my face and set with Maxfactor's loose translucent powder.
3. Next I used Chi Chi's Real Minerals Bronzer to contour my cheeks, under my chin and my temples. I also applied Rimmel's 001 Santa Rose blush to my cheeks for a flush of colour. This is like a muted pink with a hint of shimmer.
4. I applied MAC's paintpot in bare study (light shimmer pink/white) over my entire lid.
5. Next I applied a matte black (No.6) from my Sedona Lace palette to the outer 'V' of my lid and blended it out using MAC's 224 blending brush. You need to make sure this part is nice and black so it shows off the purple colour better.
6. Over the top of the black i applied a mix of No 3 and No 4 in my Sedona Lace palette ( a dark shimmery purple and lighter shimmery purple). I pulled this in 1/2 way on my lid and blended into the crease. I also dragged this down underneath my eye using an angled brush about 3/4 of the way.
7. I applied a mix of 1 & 2 to the inner half of my lid and the top brow part of my eyelid to highlight and soften the edges.
8. Next I added a hint of gold (No. 5) where the purple and white/cream meet on my lid, and on the inner 1/4 of the lower lash line.
9. I applied Bobbi Brown's gel eyeliner to my top lash line, flicking it out at the ends for a slight cat-eye, applied MAC's Kohl eyeliner in smolder (black) to the waterline and curled my lashes and applied Maybelline's Define-A-Lash in black.
10. Lastly, I applied BYS's lip liner in 02 natural, NYX's 576 Frosted Flakes (goldy colour) and Maybelline's Natural Achiever (nude lip-gloss) to my lips.   

So that's the look, this is not an everyday look but I think it's great for like a party, clubbing, New Years etc. I definitely don't wear this much make up everyday!

Well, I hope you like the look! Until next time :)

Rachel xo


Friday, February 4, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award


Hi everyone, this will be my first tag...

Thanks so much to Wakako for tagging me to do the Stylish Blogger Award tag! Wakako has the cutest fashion and the personality to match <3

 The rules for the tag are as follows: 
Thank the person that tagged you and link them, write 7 random facts about yourself, tag 15 of your most recent favorite bloggers

So I'll start with 7 random facts:

1. I have an amazing boyfriend of 3 years, Roki, and the cutest little puppy Molly! Molly is a maltese x shitzu and we got her when she was just 7 weeks old <3


2. I'm not really a big fan of summer... I know its kind of like, who doesn't like summer!? I love things that happen in summer, like holidays and picnics in the park, I just hate the heat :(


3. I did an exchange to Japan in 2007 to study the Japanese language. It was the most amazing experience, one ill never forget.


4. I started studying International Relations and Business at university 2 years ago but changed to Law after a year and am now going into my 2nd year of Law study.


5. I grew up in a very small town, it used to take me like 2 hours to get to school everyday!! 

6. My biggest weakness (other than beauty products) would have to be ice cream >o< i don't see how people can ever sick of ice cream! haha. my favorite of all time is Baskin 'n Robins chocolate peanut butter .

7. I have what my boyfriend calls some might call a slight obsession with Christmas :P Only i really wish it was cold in Australia at Christmas time.


And for the last part, I don't really follow that many blogs so I'm tailoring the tag to my 8 most recent favorite bloggers! haha. I read these 8 blogs religiously:


Thank u again to Wakako for tagging me! And thanks for reading :)

Rachel xo




Birthday Haul

With my 22nd birthday just last week, I indulged in a little online retail therapy and as of today everything has arrived in the mail! So I thought I would share some of the beauty related things I got with everyone :)


This was actually a gift but its so handy I thought I'd include it. I've been wanting one of these to store my makeup in for ages and my boyfriend's mum got it for me for my birthday! It fits heaps of makeup and it's really sturdy for travel.


I got this M.A.C paint pot in Bare Study, a pale pink shimmery cream eyeshadow. I like to use it as a base for my eyeshadow to make my eyeshadow last longer and prevent creasing. It's also great used as a highlighter in the corner of the eye and on the brow bone. Just be sure to apply a powder over the top of any cream make up to set it, otherwise it will come off faster.


Then I got this Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner. Bobbi Brown are meant to make the best gel eyeliners, I haven't had a chance to try it yet but i might do a review once I've used it a few times. It came with a little brush but I'll probably just use my own brush.


M.A.C brush set which includes numbers 275, 266, 194, 204 and 224.


Lastly I got this Sedona Lace 120 palette. I got this palette after reading a review on Anna Saccone's blog. These are every bit as good as the review says, there highly pigmented, go on so smooth and blend amazingly. I hate eyeshadow that u apply and cant even see, but this goes on with one sweep and has both matte and shimmer finish with lots of colours!. I've absolutely fallen in love with it.


 And here's just some swatches and a simple look i did today using the palette :)

Thats all for now, thanks for reading!

Rachel xo