My little hair journey.

For as long as I remember I have always had long blonde hair. Varying longer lengths. Varying tones of blonde. But always pretty same same. I'd always wanted to change it, but was too afraid. Last year I decided to do something crazy, and became half a brunette. Bayalage is a wonderful thing! When summer rolled back around I knew I wanted to go lighter again, but after a month of 'boring' hair I knew I needed another change. And change I did.


I chopped all of my hair off into a long bob.
Then I dyed it purple.
Then blue.
Then silver.
Then lilac.
Pink
And back to purple.
Most were pastels so nothing too crazy or obvious.
But here's a quick look at a few colours I could find photos of.

Finally I decided "NO MORE!" and with the help of Head&Shoulders, some Bi carb soda and a Hot oil treatment I managed to get back to blonde within days.
I assessed my hair and was actually shocked at the condition. I know I wasn't using bleaching agents when I was colouring my hair, but I don't really recall the last time my hair was in such great condition.
Through my phase of Rainbow hair I learnt a lot.
I learnt that I shouldn't wash my hair every single day, it doesn't need it! I laid off the bubbles a lot with coloured hair. Using Fudge paintbox and Crazy Colours meant that the more I washed my hair the more it faded.
I also cut back on heat, also known to fade temporary colours. My hair isn't horrible when I let it air dry. And using an oil really cut down on frizz so I was able to embrace my natural hair texture.

After 6 months of change it's time to grow my hair out. I miss the ease of being able to throw my hair up in a ponytail! But I know I won't be too hesitant to change my hair again in the future. It's only change, and hair grows.
Bit of a different post, hope you don't mind.

 Have you ever drastically changed your hair?

Priceline 40% off mini reviews.

As I'm sure you have all heard about, Priceline recently had a 40% off ALL cosmetics sale. As much as I've been wanting to save, the temptation was too high, although I think I managed to restrain myself pretty well.

There was nothing I really needed and I had bought some back-up products recently to qualify for the beauty bag, so I decided to try a few new things that had caught my eye.

Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss.
I originally only grabbed one of these in My Favourite Milkshake (a peachy/pink nude) and fell in love with it so fast I had to run back to priceline to try another. I ended up with Candy Bar (a beautiful coral.)  Both are super creamy with great pigmentation for a gloss of this price. The formula is quite thick, but not sticky which is great, and it really does last. They do have a smell to them but it isn't offensive at all, I actually really like it. The glosses also have an hourglass shaped applicator that I haven't seen before. I'm normally not a lipgloss fan at all, but these babies are brilliant!
RRP: $3.50 but I paid $2.10.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal
Recently I've really been liking lining my waterline with my NYX jumbo crayon in Milk. But I have wanted to try a good Nude that doesn't look so harsh against the rest of my eye make up. I'd read some good reviews on this one and have used it before in black and really like it. Really creamy and long lasting. Makes me look more bright eyed and awake, so I'm a fan of that.
RRP:$9.95, I paid $5.97

Essence Stay All Day 16h Long Lasting Concealer
This is the only thing I grabbed that I have previously used but I couldn't resist. Really creamy and super easy to blend. I use Natural Beige, and it is a very light shade, but I adore this under my eyes to conceal and brighten. It's an amazing little product that I know I will continue to love, and it's very wallet friendly!
RRP: $4.25 on sale for $2.55

Savvy by Db Long Lasting Matte Lipstick
I have long wanted to try Mac's Rebel. It's dark and mysterious and beautiful. Everyone I've seen wear it looks sassy but classy. The only reason I don't have it is I'm not too sure I'd be able to pull it off and get my moneys worth of wear. In comes this lipstick in Bali. It's been dubbed a dupe for the colour, a deep, dark burgundy. Better still, this one's matte! I am in love! It's been on my lips most days, and has amazing staying power, I've eaten with this bad boy on and not needed to touch up. I really want to pick up a few more of the shades because the formulation is just great.
RRP: $6.99 but I paid $4.19

Innoxa Summer Matte Lipstick
Okay so this lipstick (and maybe the next) were 100% sold to me by Australian Beauty Guru's. I'd heard a lot of good stuff about these lipsticks (although not this shade in particular) and while feeling bold ended up buying Baby Doll. An extremely bright matte Barbie pink. This lipstick is crazy, it wears on the purple side of pink. I'm not too sure I can really get this to work for me, as beautiful as it is. With a gloss over it it's much more wearable, but I think I need to play around with it a little bit longer and find my niche with it because it really is a great colour.
RRP: $14.95 on sale for $8.97

Face Of Australia Lip Quench 
Lychee Crush is one of those lipsticks that although is almost a cult product around the blogosphere, I somehow never managed to pick up. Until now. This shade has been called the perfect nude by so many people, and I understand why. Although I personally prefer a pinker nude, this colour is amazing. It's that completely right nude without having what looks like concealer plastered on your lips. It has a brown/peach undertone, so it sits on the lips really naturally. It's almost too moisturising! It applies just like a lip butter, but can then slide around your lips. I found applying, blotting, and then re-applying worked wonders. Eating and drinking will result in completely having to re-apply, as it transfers really easily. Other than that this is worth the hype.
RRP: $9.45 but I paid $5.67

Essence Extra Long Lasting Eyeliner Pen
Stock standard black liquid eyeliner with a felt tip pen but at a tenth of the cost? Sold. I've been wearing a winged lined like it's going out of fashion, and even when I'm just rocking regular eyeliner I love for it to be a liquid. It's just a deeper, more dramatic finish. This pen is no exception. I think I'll be doing a comparison post on this next to Revlon and Stila's versions.
RRP: $4.25 but on sale for only $2.55

L-R:Lipsticks Bali, Baby Doll, Lychee Crush. Glosses in Candy Bar & My Favourite Milkshake. Essence and Rimmel eyeliners with concealer at the end.

        

Did you get any bargains?

Movies and Bubblebaths.

My Mum is one of those Mums who doesn't really do anything for herself. Doesn't buy new clothes or take herself out. She doesn't even wear make-up! But as we and I are super close, I took it apon myself to take her out and make sure she remembered to have a little bit of fun.
My Mum loves the movie Ghost. She's all about Patrick Swayze. So when Village Cinemas decided to play the film as a part of their Flicks with the Chicks night I booked tickets pretty quickly. For $24 we got the movie ticket, a water and small popcorn plus a goodie bag. On arrival we even got a delicious cupcake :) It was such a great night.
Then came the door prize. When I saw the guy from village holding the Sweetie Pie giftbox from Lush my eyes lit up! And when he called my seat number I was ready to leave my boyfriend and my Mum at the movies while I go home to have a bath!

I was so excited to win the prize and it took everything in me not to open it all up right there.

The Sweetie Pie gift box retails at $49.50 and contains 7 deliciously yummy products.
Creamy Candy bubble bar, Sunnyside bubble bar, Sweetie Pie shower jelly, Think Pink bath ballistic, Shimmy Shimmy massage bar, Space Girl ballistic and Rockstar soap.

I might do a review of these once I've used them if anyone would be interested.

A close up of the Sweetie pie jelly. You can't really see all of the purple glitter, but this stuff is super fun!

On leaving the movie we were each given a goodie bag filled with a make-up brand I've never used.

MUD- Make Up Design, is a new affordable brand made exclusively for Woolworths. We were given $25 worth of product to play with.

Inside our little bag was a nail polish in Crazed for coral, eyeshadow trio in 005 Cute camo, 2 nail sticker packs in 002 &003 and a slim lipstick in 011 Party pout.

                 

         

Inglot Freedom System.

A few months ago I was lucky enough to visit the USA. While there I had some choices to make. H&M or Forever 21? Victoria Secret or Topshop? I ended up choosing all of those, but the biggest question my budget had posed to me all trip was "Sarah, what higher end eyeshadows are you going to buy?"

I'd long coveted both the Urban Decay Naked palettes. And I'd always wanted my own stash of Mac rounds. Both are raved about so much on Youtube and Beauty blogs and look amazing.
But I'd decided that I wanted something I could repurchase easily. I can't replace Urban decay all that easy over here in the land of Aus (although it may as well be Oz considering the prices we pay for things), and with Mac refills at $26 for a pan of only 1.5g it just didn't seem like a wallet friendly idea. That's when Inglot came into the picture.

Introducing my baby, the Freedom System 10 palette.

Colour numbers 

Top row; 07, 154, 25, 31, 409

Bottom row; 35, 353, 360, 329, 63

Super high quality, and fully customisable in seriously durable packaging. A frosted clear lid means you can see exactly what's inside and it swivels on and off with little magnets. The magnets are supposed to be able to get the shadows out of the palette, but its pretty tricky so I use a stronger magnet. Because of the magnets you can stack these babies on top of each other too. At around 2.5g of product per pan these are going to last me forever. I chose colours I knew that I would use almost daily, and I'm glad I did because I haven't been able to put these shadows down. With 4 neutral mattes, and the rest filled with shine, pearl or amc formulas I can do simple day time looks or super dark smoky eyes. The shadows are super pigmented and super blendable, with or without an eye primer.

Heavily swatched in same order as in pan.

For the 10 pan palette including eyeshadows it cost me $76 plus taxes. In Aus the price is $120 (I know, I know. Crazy)But you are getting a lot of product! The pans are huge compared to almost every other brand. They are by far the best shadows I have ever used, and you are only ever going to chose colours you know you will use. The amount of un-loved colours I have in palettes that I bought for the few colours I have loved is crazy! It does seem like a silly amount to spend on shadow, but I really do see the value and think it's 100% worth it. In fact I'm already thinking of colours to possibly make up another palette on my next trip over to USA. ;)

Super neutral eye using only the matte shadows.

Have you tried Inglots shadows?

Cosmetic Corner; Revlon.

In the last of a unintention series of posts that also highlighted the fact that I need to stop buying make-up, I thought I'd show you all the great deal I got on some revlon products.

On Cosmetic Coner for $39 and free shipping (no one likes mentioning how pricey shipping is these days, free makes my wallet verrrry happy), I was able to pick up

• Custom Eyes Mascara in Blackest Black rrp: $23.95
• Fabulash Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black rrp: $21.95
• Grow Luscious Lash Liner in Onyx rrp: $23.95
• Colorburst Lip Gloss Glitz & Glam rrp: $21.95
• Colorburst Lip Colour in 080 Coral rrp: $23.95
• Colorburst Lip Colour in 095 Crimson rrp: $23.95
• Age Defying Spa Foundation in 004 Light Medium rrp: $35.95 

Over $150 worth of stuff, most that I already use and adore. I was able to choose colours out of a selected range, and postage was super quick. They have many other brands and packs on the site, as well as "Dollar deals" where they have great branded products for a dollar plus postage.

L-R; Lipsticks in Coral and Crimson, Lash liner, Glitz & Glam gloss and foundation.

Do you buy cosmetics from discount sites?

Priceline; Gift of Beauty.

Starting today Priceline have one of their infamous gift with purchase bags on offer. 2 months ago they had a similar offer with haircare, and I found it amazing to try new products I wouldn't have otherwise picked up, so I was giddy when I saw how amazing this Gift of Beauty bag was.

With a spending of $60 over participating brands, you will receive $220 worth of goodies for free.
Buying a few things off my wish list was totally justifiable ;)

I ended up grabbing

• Bourjois Little Round Pots of Parisian charm set for $10 (valued at $60 itself, I'm already doing well)
• Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation in 201 Classic Beige
• Rimmel lipstick by Kate in 103
• Rimmel Stay Matte powder
• Australis Pressed powder
• Revlon Matte lipstick in 003 Mauve it over (for only $5!) 
• and a Savvy liquid liner in black for my sister to test out.

All of these items were also on sale giving me a total of $66.03

The beauty bag itself is a standard leopard print tote bag that doesn't really excite me all that much, but there are a few stand out products in there that I can't wait to play with. The things that I don't really have a use for I'll be passing on to my Mum and Sister, so it's a win-win.

Contense of the bag I received was

• Bourjois Volume Glamour Max mascara in 51 Noir Max
• Models Prefer brow higlighter 
• Australis Paparazzi perfect High Definition concealer in 41
• Nude by Nature Undercover Airbrush Mineral primer
• Savvy by DB Make-up remover wipes
• Manicare Cuticle Therapy
• Press&Go Press-on manicure in Red
• Rimmel Wake Me Up Illuminator in 001 Flush of pearl
• Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure polish in 670 Midnight in NY
• Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in 085 Sugar Plum
• Kiss Everlasting French glue on nails
• Natio lip colour in Flutter
• EcoTools bath sponge
• And a $5 off voucher for Revlons new BB cream.

While having a play around like a kid on christmas, I thought I would take a few swatches

L-R; Revlon Mauve it over, Rimmel Kate #103, Natio lipstick in Flutter, Revlon lip butter in Sugar Plum, Bourjis eyeshadows in numbers 08, 74 and 90. On top is Models Prefer eyebrow highlight pencil and then Rimmels Wake me up illuminator.

Im really excited to try these new lipsticks, it seems all I've been wearing lately are super bright colours so playng around with so many neutrals will be fun.

Are you going to grab Pricelines Gift of Beauty bag this year?