Collective Haul, Part 1

Hello! Let me show you a few things I've purchased over the last month or so. I want to try and get away from nothing but endless beauty box reviews on my dear little blog, so hopefully you should expect to find some products reviews soon, too. First up, a couple of things I bought on one of my numerous trips to Daiso recently. ❖ The hair mascara is to touch up my roots in between dyeing. I haven't tried it yet; I'll let you know how it goes. ❖ The Vitamin Yogurt Pack is a two-pack of yoghurt-based face mask. I tried the aloe vera version a while back and loved it, so I wanted to try the other 'flavours'. ❖ Thirdly is the famed Puff and Sponge Detergent that many bloggers swear by. The last few times I had been to Daiso it was sold out. Again, I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know how I go!


Here we have a few things from Priceline. My obsession with interest in Essence products continues. ❖ I already swatched the Nude Glam Nail Polish a couple of posts ago. ❖ The essence eyeshadow, also a new shade, was such a pretty shade of bluish lavender that I couldn't resist. For $2, how can you? The shade is called In The Clouds. ❖ The perfume is Harajuku Lovers Eau de Toilette in Music. I first smelled this nearly a year ago and it's been on my wishlist ever since. It was less than half price, so a no-brainer, really. It's just a shame it's only the 10ml size, so it'll be for special occasions only.


Aaaaand .... more Essence products from Priceline! ❖ The Winter-themed hand creams were in the limited edition products display. I couldn't decide which scent to get, so what can a girl do? Get them all, of course! They are: Apple Cinnamon Punch, Gingerbread Chai Latte and Caramel Hot Chocolate. They all smell divine! ❖ I also purchased this Essence I ❤ Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara. My current mascara is probably a little past its expiry date and I wanted a replacement. So why not get it from my own personal brand-of-the-moment?


Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more hauls and reviews soon!

Nails of the Week : Essence Nude Glam

A few weeks ago I was in Priceline and saw the new Essence Nude Glam nail polish range. At $2 each, I couldn't help picking myself up a bottle! I chose the shade Peaches & Cream, a pale salmon pink creme. Excuse my horrible cuticles and sloppy painting. I'm out of practice!


Colour: Essence Nude Glam: Peaches & Cream. 3 coats.
Topcoat: Etude House Jelly Nails Pop.
Drying Agent: Essence Quick Dry Nail Art.I love this colour! While still very pale, the salmon is a little darker than in the bottle. Unfortunately it needed 3 coats just to get this opaque, and I still thought it was a little streaky. It also started to chip badly within 12 hours of application, which was quite disappointing. However, I've heard that using quick-dry drops can shrink the polish and make it crack and chip more quickly, so I might let it dry naturally next time and see if it fares any better.

There are 4 shades in the range. Check out this blog post from Will Paint Nails for Food for the full range. (Though my version of Peaches & Cream is a solid creme with no shimmer, it is the same colour.)

Essence: Teeny Tiny Haul

I had to go down to the Priceline near my work today to get some deodorant, so I thought I'd check out the latest from my personal Brand-of-the-Moment, Essence. I loved the things I got from their Cherry Girl range a while back, so I wanted to have a look at the Circus Circus range, which was released in Australia earlier this month. It debuted in Europe in December 2011 ... I can't believe it's taken all this time to come to our shores! We're always on the tail-end of these things, it seems. It's a little bit frustrating. Not only that, but as it was designed for the Christmas/Winter party season in Europe, it seems a little incongruous to release it in Australia in March. Just saying!

The range lived up to its reputation on the shiny side of things, with lots of gold, red and purple glitter. The eyeshadows were a bit disappointing: while metallic, they were dark, grungy shades. I was expecting brights for a circus theme. There was a choice of two lip glosses in shades of glittery red and pink. The nail polishes were much more enticing, with double-ended bottles filled with gold glitter, red, purple and pink. The fragrance was housed in an exciting-looking multi-faceted bottle with an old-fashioned bulb spray. The scent however- a slightly spicy yet generic floral - didn't inspire me to purchase.

I was hoping to pick up a lipstick or gloss in a coral tone, as I wanted one to match with my Essence Cherry Girl eye palette. Even after a year of beauty box subscriptions, I still don't have a coral lip colour! Plenty of reds, a few pinks, but no coral! I ended up choosing XXL Shine in Sparkling Papaya from Essence's regular range, and their Nail Art Express Dry Drops. Of course they were cheaper than fabled brand Seche Vite, and if they're half as good as S.V. is reputed to be, they should be all right.


Sorry about the awful photo, I'll do a proper swatch later.

Priceline Ooops Haul

I went to Priceline in the rain at lunchtime today to get a few things I needed. They didn't have everything I needed, so I felt like getting a couple of treats! Excuse the bad photo, I took it using my ipod at my desk at work. ....

I bought the Formula 10.0.6 Mud Mask because my pores really need some help at the moment.
Plus the strawberry sounded lovely.
Then I was intrigued by the Essence stand and impulsively grabbed a few things from the Cherry Blossom Girl limited edition range. I know, it's been out for ages, it's not the latest thing, but I don't really have any cosmetics in these colours and I love to experiment with new colours. The Dreaming Under a Cherry Tree quad palette has a series of peach-tinted colours that could pass as more-interesting neutrals. I got the It's Peach, Not Cherry nail polish even though I recieved a few recently in my beauty subscription boxes. I just can't help myself! And the Konnichiwa Girls! highlighter is a gorgous pale shimmering pink that will match well with the palette.
I really am a sucker for product!