Yay for another lipstick post if you're a lipstick lover like me! This one was inspired by an article I found on the interwebs when I was looking for 2017 winter lipstick trends and it resulted in one of those fun 'shop my stash' sessions. The article published in Makeup Tutorials (here) lists some 13 lipstick shades and while I didn't pull together a collection of 13, I did come up with 6 shades that I think will meet most of my winter needs when I need to go out and face the world.  I must admit I came away with a few lipstick cravings too but I'll talk about those at the end of the ..read more

Now that I'm on a break from working life my attitude to makeup has changed.  I have the freedom to experiment more without worrying about looking work appropriate - Great! - but I also have freedom to wear very little, or no makeup if I want to.   Who am I kidding? No makeup?!  I've been a makeup junkie since my teens so no makeup isn't going to be a thing I choose very often but 'no makeup' makeup on the other hand is something that I do like.  My skin isn't perfect, as I do have some uneven pigmentation, hereditary under eye circles, visible pores and fine lines, but c ..read more

Ever since Bite Beauty reformulated and relaunched their lipsticks in the Amuse Bouche formulation last year I was keen to try one for myself.  Being a big fan of the original Luminous Crème formula I was disappointed at first to hear it was discontinued, then wondered how they were going to top it. Revisiting my thoughts on the Luminous Crème lippy in a 2013 post I loved it because of the glide-on application, moisture-rich comfortable creaminess and the antioxidant ingredient resveratrol, the free-radical fighter found in red wine. I was raving like a crazed fan-girl in the original p ..read more

 So you’re thinking of doing a project pan or something similar to get the satisfaction of actually using up some of your makeup… If you have a normal – now sometimes called a ‘minimalist’ – makeup collection you won’t need to read this post because you’re probably going to use a product up before you replace it. However if you’re a makeup collector/blogger/vlogger/hoarder/lover like me then you’re less likely to have that satisfaction without applying some kind of focus and restraint.   Not long ago I was approached by one of my social media friends to share some info on projec ..read more

Who doesn't love the occasional bit of online shopping? I hadn't done any significant shopping in a while but I recently made a few purchases at Natural Supply Co.  Taking advantage of a discount code sale and free standard shipping over $99 I bought quite a few things that I knew I'd get into using straight away.  I'm being a bit more selective in my choices these days but all of these products are things I use on a regular basis so there's no impulse shopping or buyer's guilt happening here. While I use these kinds of products I've not tried most of the brands before so I ..read more

Since becoming a beauty blogger all those years ago (6 years ago if you check...) one of the biggest changes to my makeup routine was the addition of blush - yes I was one of those people who loved makeup but didn't wear blush. I've seen the light since, especially since I became more serious about perfecting my base with higher coverage products and then having the need to bring the life and colour back to my artificially perfect but nonetheless pale skin!   There are a few shades of blush that I gravitate towards more often, and as the weather moves through autumn and into winter, d ..read more

I’ve been a cruelty-free (CF) beauty consumer for almost 2 years now – I honestly can’t believe how quickly that’s gone by.  It’s high time I revisit my thoughts on what it’s been like and whether the approach I adopted has worked for me. You know, I can’t say going CF has been overly difficult or expensive for me, especially as I decided initially not to declutter anything from my collection.  From the time I made the decision to go CF, before I considered culling anything I switched the direction of my spending and because of shifting sands of the beauty industry when it comes ..read more

Long time no blog...THE BLOG IS BACK!!! Because I knew I'd be back here eventually I've been diligently collecting all of my empty Cruelty-Free products since January to share my thoughts with you.  The plan is to do these empties posts quarterly rather than monthly - partly because they can get a bit repetitive, and partly because I'm not planning to post more than once per week at this stage.  I didn't like the idea of 1 in every 4 posts being devoted to my trash. The overwhelming majority of these products were my own purchases so - as always - you can be assured of my hone ..read more

Well, hello yet again!  I'm back from my unannounced blogging holiday and *hangs head* this post was sitting in rough draft form for 2 long months. I was toying with what to do but as I'd promised it on Instagram all that time ago I decided to honour that promise so I've finished it and here it is... My eye shadow palettes have been multiplying like mushrooms in my collection lately - let's face it, isn't every brand bringing out new palettes? Anyway, I wasn't planning on buying any more leading up to my recent trip to Japan.  Yes, I went there again but that's not what this post ..read more

I'm really starting to embrace the autumn colour palette now so cue the purple polish. Sugarplum is from Melbourne-based brand Kester Black who specialize in 5-free, vegan nail polishes in fashion-forward shades so they are right up my alley these days!  Sugarplum is a bright warm-toned purple that reminds me of a berry that fruits on the Lilly Pilly tree (now go Google that if you're interested). Being a warm shade of purple this doesn't drain the life out of my hands so it was very flattering to wear, and the application itself was easy - smooth, no flooding etc. The polish wore well ..read more