MAKEUP MACGUYVER - HOW TO DIY IN A PINCH

MacGuyver dishing out tips to his lady friend

I've been promising you guys this post for a while now. My makeup MacGuyver tips, and how to make stuff that's awesome from stuff you have lying around your house.

So...what awesome things will I share with you? Let's get right down to it.

1.MAC strobe cream.
This one is really easy. Strobe cream is basically just a moisturizer base with a pearlescent finish to it, which gives your skin a dewy glow under your makeup.
For this, you need to mix 9 parts moisturizer with 1 part white shimmer powder. Make sure it's mixed really well.

2.BB cream.
Another super easy one. This mix is 1/3 moisturizer, 1/3 foundation, 1/6 sunblock and 1/6 primer. Just mix them together well, and you have a makeshift BB cream.

3.Facial scrubs.
These can be made with a variety of different things, but my favourite all-purpose friend is Bi-Carb soda. Make a paste of Bi-Carb and water and use it as you usually would for a facial scrub. Use it once a week, not more often than that, because it is quite harsh on your skin.

4.Teeth whitening.
Again with my friend Bi-Carb, this time making a paste with peroxide. You can use creme or liquid, but the creme peroxide makes a better paste. Brush onto your teeth once or twice a week to remove stains. IMPORTANT: DO NOT SWALLOW THIS PASTE.

5.Volumizing shampoo for beachy waves.
This one is really simple. Summer is coming, so beachy waves will be right back on trend like they are every year. To help your hair along, or even just to add some extra volume, just add a little rock salt to your shampoo.

6.Lip scrubs.
You can make these a bit fancy with a carrier oil and some essential oils, but really all you need is some raw sugar to make a fantstic lip scrub, which is edible too! You can mix the sugar into a bit of vaseline to make it stick together better and disperse onto the lips better.

7.Avoiding hair dye on your skin.
Using the vaseline again, draw the outline of your face, all along the hairline with vaseline. This will form a barrier between your skin and any dye that goes astray. Don't forget to do your ears and the back of your neck, too!

8.Eye makeup remover.
Last of all, how to remove any stubborn makeup, waterproof makeup, stay-on lipsticks, etc.
Baby oil. It's that simple. It will remove any of the above mentioned cosmetic products.

9. Makeup setting spray.
1 part glycerine to 9 parts distilled or filtered water, shake well, use in a spray bottle and replace every couple of weeks. Because we're not using chemical preservatives in this, it'll go off.

That's all for Makeup MacGuyver 2013. I hope you guys get some use out of this stuff.

ANOTHER CHEEKY LUSH HAUL!

 Another kid-free weekend means another chance to sneak off and do cheeky things... and in my case, that just means going to Lush and checking out what awesome things they have for me this week!

The kids love bath fizzies and so do I, so it makes sense to spend a few bucks every couple of weeks on some things that make us all feel special.

This week, I got a few different things; the Ickle Baby Bot bath fizzer, Dorothy Bubble Bar, Father Christmas Bath Ballistic, Bombardino, The Honeymooner massage bar, and Cupcake face mask.

 I'm loving all of their holiday-themed products, and tonight I took a bath with Bombardino, a gorgeous Lemon-Cheesecake-scented bath bomb which left my skin feeling really soft and hydrated!

The other thing I really want to comment on is the customer service at my local Lush Store. I go to Fountain Gate, which is the closest one to me, and there is a girl there (I'm really kicking myself that I didn't catch her name!!! But I know she'll read this and tell me in the comments section below!), she's absolutely gorgeous, with blonde hair and several facial piercings. She is the kindest, most friendly retail salesperson I've encountered, and I feel like she deserves to be recognized for that...so well done and keep up the awesome work. She always helps me find things that I'm looking for and recommends products without being pushy or hanging around too much. That, to me, makes a great sales person.

I'll add the video of my unwrapping these things as soon as it's finished and uploaded. It also contains details about the very first giveaway in my 12 days of Giftmas series, so stay tuned for that on December 1!

FIRST LOOK AND REVIEW - BLINC COSMETICS

This week, I've been given the opportunity check out something that's brand new in Australia, that USA celebrities have been using for ages!

Blinc Cosmetics are somewhat sketchy about where the brand originated (they claim that the product has been around for 25 years), but the product is manufactured in Tokyo, Japan, and they have been running out of the USA since 1999.

This is the first "tubing" mascara on the market, and it's the first tubing mascara that I've used. The idea is that it adheres to your lashes and forms a thickening and lengthening tube around the lash which can withstand water, sweat, dry friction, and is basically a bombproof mascara.

The first of the two products I tried was the Lash Primer, which is a nourishing, thickening, lengthening formula. It feels great on the lashes, and it's a really great base for your mascara. At $25, it's a higher end primer, but it's a beautiful product and worth the extra money.

 I also tried their Amplified Mascara in Dark Brown, which is really awesome. The tube formula, once it adheres to the lash and dries, is completely bulletproof. I went out running in the rain with this one, came home saturated and even rubbed my eyes, and the mascara is still on 5 hours later!

As far as price is concerned, this one is on the high end of things at $38, but shipping is free, and the product definitely earns its keep. You can get these products and many more at www.blinccosmetics.com.au.



I made a video to show the product and give my thoughts on it, which you can watch below:

fair and full disclosure: These products were sent to me at no cost by Blinc Cosmetics for my consideration. I was under no obligation to review them. I endeavour to bring you honest reviews of products which I have used and genuinely enjoyed.

MAKEUP LOOKS - COLOUR POP TREND

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - SAVVY FLAWLESS FINISH FOUNDATION

BELLABOX NOVEMBER 2013 REVIEW - I'M SO OVER IT

This month, I was annoyed with Bellabox before it even got here. On the 11th of this month, they told everyone that shipment had started, and by the 20th, there were still no posts by anyone saying that they had received a box. I had a decent bitch about it on their facebook page, telling them that we would all prefer to have an answer for the delay, rather than every day saying that the boxes were on their way. We never got a proper answer. This is the third month of delays.

If you've been watching my unboxing videos, you'll know that it's also the third month in a row that I have received my bella "box" not in a box. This month, they unveiled their "exciting new packaging", and it's a complete joke. A thin cardboard pillow box, which didn't hold all of the products, even though most of them were tiny. The worst part was the condition that my parcel arrived in, due to the insufficient packaging. I'm really glad there were no powder products in there, because they would have been destroyed.
So what's in the actual "box"?
Bellabox Pout Pencil in Pinky Promise. RRP $14.99
Very, very similar to the Boe Beauty lipstick pencils that I got for $2 at BigW.

Simple Kind to eyes Makeup Corrector pen RRP $11.99
A makeup corrector pen for your eyes. Fine felt tip. I think it'll be useful.

ASAP Daily facial cleanser and Anti Ageing night cream
I'll try these out, but the samples are tiny, and it's hard to get a decent review out of just a couple of uses.

La Roche Posay BB cream SPF 50
This is one I've been wanting to try, but I can't see myself paying $28.95 for a BB cream, to be honest.

Aveeno Daily Body Moisturiser
A little body lotion sample. Will come in handy for my legs as summer approaches

BONUS PRODUCT! (This is a massive pet peeve of mine. They say "BONUS!" like it's an amazing addition to the box, then shove in a freakin' sachet) Bump Eraiser Medi Paste.
I know that this product is good. It helps out with ingrown hairs.

Overall, I'm so unhappy with my bellabox experience this month (in combination with the last 2 months) that I unsubscribed. I would have to see some significant changes to consider starting again with them.

I may try out the fortune cookie soap box, or even something else instead now. Any suggestions?

Below is my unboxing video. (Language alert: I use some low-grade swear words in this video)


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Life and leg update : 9 weeks post injury

 It's been 9 weeks since Tough Mudder, since I broke my ankle, since I started the most challenging uphill battle since I began this fitness thing.
And don't get me wrong, I really love the uphill stuff. It makes me stronger. I just really hated this one, because it made me physically weaker and set me back months.

Let's talk first about where I'm at with this leg, shall we? I'm out of the moonboot and walking (relatively) normally and pain-free in normal shoes. Apart from a little localized swelling, the ankle itself looks normal and is back to a pretty normal aesthetic. Internally, the bone is fusing itself back to where it needs to be. It's an avulsion fracture, so I actually tore off the chunk of bone that's attached to the ligament. To make it heal, well, that's a game of hoping it attaches in the right spot and that the bone grows well enough to cover the weak spot. In terms of timeline for a complete heal on it...it could be 12-18 months.


In the meantime, I'm still doing physio every 2 weeks. We are trying to strengthen the ligaments that I sprained in the fall, and build up the muscle that I lost in the moonboot. At last measure (2 weeks ago), muscle mass in my right leg was 30% less than my left. That's actually quite good, according to my physiotherapist.

It aches if I stand on it for a long time. It aches badly if I push too far when I go walking. It's the way that I know how to progress with my training. I'm not cleared for running yet, but my walks are up to 2.7km, with some pain afterwards, but not into the next day (which is how the physio said I'd know that I had done too much.)
At the moment, it's just a bit of a pain that I can't do really simple things. For example, some kids were running around in the shopping center (where the parents were, I have no idea), and one of them almost ran straight into me. A quick sideways movement was just out of the question (and really painful when I tried). Another example is crossing the road. I needed to jog the last few steps yesterday, as there was a car coming (too fast), and it was painful to run on it.

Baby steps. Literally.

The service track at Birdrock beach

In terms of training goals, I have a few for the coming year. Within a month, I want to do Birdrock again. It's my most difficult, and favourite, training ground. There's a set of steps, and a service track. We walk a round trip of 6.5km, with this thing right in the middle. The gradient on the track is 45.7% and it's an amazing feeling to get to the top. People run it. I'd love to be able to do that.
I also would like to do a half marathon and a full marathon, just walking. I'm definitely training towards that, and expect to achieve both in 2014. I may even modify the Birdrock walk and do it 3 times with some extra distance on it for my half marathon. I did it twice in a training session a couple of months ago, and it wasn't so bad.

We have a couple of things planned as a group in 2014. We are doing the Neon Run in February, and probably a relay for life later in the year. I'm sure there will be other things that we can get involved in.

I've volunteered to work at Tough Mudder in March. I won't be running the track again, but I really loved the atmosphere there, and wanted to get involved. Also, my brother has his own goals, which involve the Mudder, and I really want to be there to support him.

Other than the leg, life is going really well. The boys are happy and healthy, and I'm getting over a throat infection. We're doing lots of odd jobs and improvements around the house in preparation for my boyfriend's visit in February. I really can't wait for that. We've been apart for 2 months, and we have 3 more to wait, but at least the end is in sight now.