Collective Haul, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my approximately April-June collective haul! First of all are some purchases from Chemist Warehouse. I re-stocked my Comvita Medihoney Eczema Cream, which I find invaluable for keeping my eczema from getting too out of hand. Also below is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, in a gorgeous lavender shade called Darling Cherie. (See last photo for a swatch.) This new product is a revolutionary cross between lip balm and lip stain! I just happened to be at Chemist Warehouse during their half-price makeup sale, and I couldn't resist. I also bought a couple of deodorants - not for myself though! For a secret purpose that I'll unveil soon.

The next haul was from Priceline. I had the day off and somehow found myself at the big Priceline in the city. How do these things happen?? I think I was quite restrained, but I'd just spent a lot on magazines and craft supplies, so that probably had something to do with it. I purchased an Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipstick in Make A Wish, a dark, slightly salmony coral (again, see last photo for a swatch). There's a Models Prefer Sponge Tip brush, because I had no way of applying the powder eyeliners I bought from Ananda Beauty a few months ago. I hope it'll do the trick. I'm still a bit derpy with eyeliners! Bio-Oil has been around for ages, but I'd seen a few good reviews for it lately, so I guess it's been on my mind. I finally decided to try it.

The Trilogy Hydrating Facial Mist was a complete indulgence purchase! I was feeling a bit hot and tired from walking around all afternoon, and was feeling a strong need for a spritz of facial spray. I'm in love with that signature Trilogy smell, so again, I couldn't resist. Last but not least is the Models Prefer Lipstick Organiser. As you might have guessed, I'm becoming more interested in lip colour lately. My latest obsession has been to have a range of different lip colours to match every (or at least most!) of my eye palettes. Hence the fairly extreme difference between the two colours I've swatched here!


Photo taken under my daylight lamp.My makeup basket was just getting too full of eyeshadows and all my new lipsticks and glosses. I need to re-organise! (Don't worry, there'll be photos. ツ ) I've also bought other things here and there, but it's hard to remember all the bits and pieces. It can all pass by in a blur sometimes. I'm sure other beauty addicts can relate! Stay tuned for an epic Empties post soon!

Might You Be Interested In...

Collective Haul, Part 1 Etsy Shop Haul: Ananda Beauty

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!

Etsy Shop Haul : Ananda Beauty

I'm a complete sucker for a cat-in-need story, and when I heard that Etsy indie beauty shop owner Jill was raising money for her cat Roland's vet bills, I just couldn't resist making a purchase. (~~Note: I placed my order a few months ago, so the promotion is over now.~~) Ananda Beauty stocks a range of hand-made tinted lip balms, mineral eyeshadows and eyeliners, hair balm and other goodies. All products are vegan and tested on humans only. The aesthetic is metallic and sparkly, with shades of grey, bronze, peach, red and pink.

I chose the Lip Tint in Ripe Shimma, Hair & Body Balm in Woodsy Scent, and three eye products: Cumulus and Taupe Eyeshadows, and Black Amber Eyeliner powder. Ordering through Etsy was easy and safe as always - the hardest part was choosing which colours I wanted most! The order arrived quickly. My parcel was carefully packed in a bubble-wrap-lined bag, and the items were wrapped in sophisticated black tissue paper, with a lovely thank you note. There were also 4 free samples, which is very generous: Raw Brass and Blue Velvet eyeshadows, Rosalina Highlighter and Sunset Blush. They are all colours that I can see myself using, so thank you to Jill for choosing well!

The Hair & Body Balm is marvellously thick, and once warmed between my fingers and smoothed on, made a difference to my dry ends. The Woodsy scent, with cedarwood and patchouli, is a delight. The only eye product I've used so far is the Taupe Eyeshadow, and I was pleased with its colour payoff and longevity. Here are some swatches!:


Photo taken indoors in sunlit room.This was my first purchase of beauty products from Etsy and from an indie beauty brand. I was very happy with my experience and would definitely purchase from Ananda Beauty again.

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.

Massive Asian Beauty Haul!!

Well, hello! Today I want to talk about my enormous Asian beauty haul which I bought online from YesStyle. I made the purchase on 31st December, so I've already had them for a while. Things have just been too crazy-busy for me to post my haul(s) before now, but I'm trying to catch up. I often feel like I can't start using a product until I've done a haul post, so yeah, I haven't even opened any of these yet.
I should also confess the reason why this haul is so big! I've been buying things from YesStyle for a few years now, but last year I spent enough that I was getting not really close to qualifying for Silver Club membership. The benefits are quite good so I thought, why not go for it? Plus I received a couple of sample sachets for spending over a certain amount. Here's what I got:

❀ Tony Moly Twinkling Persimmon Cleansing - cleansers are one of my favourite products (is that weird??) and this one smells gorgeously fresh and citrusy. The bright orange pump pack is adorable too, I think I will re-use it.
❀ Dr. Morita Red Wine Essence Eye Masks - this set of 8 eye masks is infused with polyphenols and collagen. The red wine essence was intriguing, and frankly, my undereye area could do with some help. I can see myself relaxing back with an actual glass of red wine while using these.
❀ My Scheming Blackhead Remover Pore Cleanser Set - this set consists of a Papaya Enzyme Sebum Softener, a Purifying Mask and a Pore Treatment Essence. My skin has been kinda derpy for a while: I've been getting lots of pimples and blackheads. I was on the lookout for a blackhead treatment product and chose this one. The packaging is as adorable as anything - check out the cute pictures of the upset-looking blackheads on the box!:

❀ Etude House Best Kit - this travel/sample kit consists of 5 products: Real Art Cleansing Oil; Wonder Pore Freshener; Moistfull Collagen Cream; Nymph Aura Volumer (not even sure what this does!); and Precious Mineral BB Cream. I'm a total sucker for small-size/sample products, even if I have to shell out for them. I love Etude House's aesthetic: the packaging is sweet and pink but not over-the-top kawaii.
❀ Skin79 BB Miniature Set - I've finished up 2 of the BB Creams from my Baviphat miniature set and the other 2 are well-squeezed, so I thought why not try some more? The 4 creams are: Super+, Super+ Triple Function, Luminous Pearl and Oriental Gold.
❀ Sample Sachets - I received 2 samples. Etude House Strawberry Milk Talk: I have no idea what this product actually is! There are 'Milk Talk' body wash and lotion on the site, so it must be one of those?? The other is Laniege Homme Aqua Active Essence, a post-moisturiser protective product for men. But eh, I'll probably use it myself!

Now I can finally start using the products! ahhahaha
Until next time...

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!

Glitzology Glitter Nails from Etsy

Update: Unfortunately this Etsy shop is now closed.

Before Christmas I decided to treat myself. After reading a blog pot on independent nail polish creators, I somehow got the idea into my head that I didn't have enough glitter nail polish in my life. After a lot of backing-and-forthing, I finally decided to make my purchase from Glitzology.

There's such a huge range of polishes available from Stacy's shop, that the only thing I could do was get the 6-bottle bundle. And then spend another half an hour deciding which colours to get! It was a lot of fun, though. These are the polishes I chose:

Normally I don't like cheesy names for things, but I found these variations quirky and fun. They are (left to right):
Nebula - a black jelly base with blue, purple and silver hologram pieces. Reminiscent of the night sky.
Cotton Candy - a subtle lavender base with pink, purple and silver pieces in a mixture of shiny and matte textures. A cute and girly look.
Blue Lagoon - a clear base with a mixture of different shades of blue. Like swimming through the ocean.
Sherwood Forest - a blend of green, yellow and brown pieces. This makes me think of looking up through the forest canopy on a sunny day.
Bad Things - a deep red base with silver, pink and black pieces, and red hearts. Inspired by the TV show True Blood.
The Island of Misfit Toys - red, yellow, blue and green pieces set in a clear base with silver micro glitter. It's like an explosion in a toy factory!

I love these polishes so much! The suspension of glitter is extremely generous. Making the purchase was easy, and my parcel came fast. The bottles were carefully packed, and included a page full of tips with a discount coupon for my next purchase. I've decided to showcase each glitter in a separate post. So here's the first:



Single coat; under daylight lamp.The Island of Misfit Toys is set in a clear base and features the primary colours - red, yellow, blue and green - in various shapes including large squares, medium-size hexagons and small dots. There are also a few pastel yellow squares thrown in. The whole is set on a background of silver micro glitter. As I said before, the inclusion of glitter is much more generous than other brands I've tried - I only used a single coat for this mani!
I have presented the polish here over a neutral-ish base: Adoree Brown Gaucho. The photo was taken indoors under my daylight lamp.

I'm not sure when I can show you the other glitters in detail. My nails are pretty weak at the moment and need a rest. I hope it will be in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, look out for more haul posts and perhaps a review!

Collective Haul!

I bought all these products last year ... yes, I'm way behind on everything! I'll start with the less interesting and move to the more interesting:

These are things I bought from Priceline and Daiso. I bought a new bottle of nail polish remover, even though I haven't finished the old one yet. I figured that having plenty on hand would mean that I'd feel free to use plenty when removing my nail polish, and would make it easier. The Cetaphil is for washing my hands. My eczema has been worrying my again recently, and I wanted to take better care of it. I also got the Batiste Dry Shampoo for Dark Hair ("with a hint of colour"). I was hoping that it might cover up my roots a bit in between dye jobs.
The cotton pads come from Daiso. Another good quality product that I didn't spend very much on! I love Daiso.

Now for the more interesting:

These are products I got in a YesStyle haul last November!

♡ SkinFood Red Orange Makeup Finish Spray - I've been using this a couple of times a week, and I love it! I might review it soon.

♡ The Face Shop Konjac Puff - Konjac is all the rage at the moment! I haven't used this yet, though.

♡ Majolica Majorca Jewelling Pencil in White - I bought this on a whim after reading that applying white pencil to the inner corners of your eyes will make them appear bigger. I've tried it once so far, but didn't really have time to give it a proper go.

♡ Sample sachets: SkinFood Honey Black Tea Jelly Foam AND Missha Signature BB Cream - I've received a sample of the BB Cream before, and it wasn't too bad. I'm looking forward to trying the SkinFood cleanser.

Bloom Haul!!

My Bloom haul arrived from OzSale last weekend!! I'm really trying to save money (honestly!) but when I saw a Bloom sale on Ozsale, how could I resist? I was talking only a few posts ago about how much I love Bloom, but seem to have a disproportionately low percentage of Bloom products in my stash.
This is what I got!:

❦ Orange Blossom Refreshing Facial Mist - I like to use a facial mist at work to freshen up after lunch. I'd been thinking of getting a replacement for my Trilogy one, which is getting a bit low. Perfect!

❦ Scented Soap in Brown Sugar & Fig - it was about time to restock on soap again, and this sounds divine!

❦ Mini Soaps in Light Floral, Fresh Citrus and Unscented - more soaps, you can never have enough! If your bathroom cabinet is full, then put them in your clothes drawers!

❦ Face Care Pamper Pack - contains 2 sachets each of Sweet Almond Cleansing Oil, Apricot Kernel Face Scrub and Ginseng Moisturiser. I love samples so much I'm willing to pay for them!

❦ Hand Care Pamper Pack - contains 2 sachets each of Hand Wash, Cuticle Oil and Hand Cream. I've purchased the Pamper Packs before years ago, but these ones have new and different products in them. Yay!

❦ Lip Stain in Rhubarb - lately I've been wanting to add more lip colour to my life, but I just can't be bothered re-applying lipstick all day long. Lip stain to the rescue! Rhubarb is a lovely ruby red that I can see myself using a lot (review soon??).

❦ 10-piece Brush Set with Mirror - very excited about this! It comes in a plastic carry case which folds out, and with tips for using each piece on the back. Perfect for a brush noob like me! I'm Definitely taking this on holiday with me.

Lush Haul!

Wow!!

Ok, but don't get too excited! 90% of this stuff is a gift for Mum's birthday. She loves Lush and The Body Shop stuff, but she lives far away from both, so I thought I'd treat her with a beauty product haul. Although none of this is mine, for interest's sake I'll list them anyway:

* The Olive Branch Shower Gel
* Turkish Delight Shower Cream
* Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (I got a sample size of this in one of my box subscriptions last month, and I'm in love!!)
* Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
* Karma Soap
* Sea Vegetable Soap
* Sultana of Soap

My Mum has very particular wants and needs in beauty products, and the absolutely adorable sales girl spent almost half an hour with me, helping me decide. She also helped me decide to get a couple of things for myself! シ For myself, I got the:

* It's Raining Men Shower gel - with it's ultra-sweet and sexy honey scent
* Lovely Jubblies Cream [not pictured, oops. I'd already started using it by then, I asked Husband to take the photo, wires got crossed, etc!] - it's a decadent floral-scented cream for lifting and firming the bust. Whether or not it actually works, I'm finding it a luxurious pampering experience every time I use it. Review soon, perhaps??

Bye for now!

Collective Haul, I believe it's called

These are some things that I've bought/acquired in the last month or so. I've really been trying hard not to spend too much money at the moment, so the haul is small. ツ


Here we see:

❥ Styli-Style Twist & Seal Eyeliner in Turquoise ... I got this for a costume party I'm going to later in the month. I won't reveal yet what my costume will be, but I'll just say that I'm going All Out with my makeup! I've really got to get on with solving my face photography issues before then! =7
I bought this from FishPond. Known mainly as a book seller, I quickly discovered that this site sells beauty products, too! Joy! The purchase was a test really, to see if the site is any good before I go throwing too much money at it. Perhaps I'll do a site review soon.

❥ Mirenesse Absolutely Smooth Primer x4 [not pictured] ... I was so happy with the performance of this primer, that when there was another big sale on Ozsale, I got a bundle of 4. They should last me a really, really long time!

❥ Palmolive Strawberry Soother Exfoliating Body Wash ... I got this sample size bottle for free. Whee! There's a story behind it. I was at my local supermarket, where there was a sample stall set up, as you often see. The stall was giving away roast potatoes or some such thing, and there was a huge rush of people all going for their free potatoes. I wasn't hungry so I walked straight past, only to notice a second stall tucked away behind it with (joy!) beauty products! I loitered around for a while amongst the fruit and veg, and I noticed that everyone was ignoring the poor girl. I felt sorry for her, so I went over and let her give me her spiel, which she did with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm. Then she let me choose a free sample! It made my day.

❥ Doro Sen Gan Charcoal Clay Wash ... that's all I know about this product. The rest of the text is in Japanese. I bought it from Tokuya in the city. I was looking for a new shower hat and, well, you know, beauty products just seem to jump into my basket. I'm sure you can relate.

❥ Vitamin E Collagen Vitamin Essence Mask ... I bought this at Tokuya, too. Again, few details, but much happiness. The fruit pictures on the front make me think it might contain fruit essences. I'm building up a stock of cloth face masks now, but I just couldn't help myself. It was a fun trip.

Another Unexpected Purchase: The Face Shop

I went shoe-shopping today, and accidentally bought some more beauty products. Oops!

At the suggestion of some friends, we decided to change things up a bit, and we went to a different shopping centre to the ones we normally frequent. Yes, my life is that exciting! It's quite a bit further away than our normal haunts, so I wasn't really familiar with it. Having wandered around for a little bit and seen variations on all the same old shops, my heart started racing when we came upon a The Face Shop! I knew there were some The Face Shop stores scattered throughout Melbourne, and I'd been meaning to check one out for a while. So what was a girl to do, but go in and make a purchase! Here's what I got:



♥ Real Nature Mask with Kelp pack of 5 with free Pomegranate Mask
- I made a beeline for the cloth masks first, as I have a new-found love for them. There were many products scattered throughout the shop that were bundled up in little value packs. They were packaged up in clear plastic bags with little touches to many of them - this one had a little pink bow. Cute!

♥ Rich Hand & Cuticle Duo with Vitamin E
- Unlike many brand stores with intimidatingly young and snobby assistants, this one was staffed by an adorable middle-aged lady who came around and explained the products to me. Usually I find this kind of over-helping annoying, but she was just so sweet and lovely that I didn't mind at all. She showed me this hand cream which had a little pot of cuticle balm in the lid and I just couldn't resist.

♥ Lovely Me:eX Eyes Eyeshadow in WH006 Glitter
- By this stage I was wandering around the shop in a daze, wanting to buy one of everything and not being able to decide what to pick, with Husband restricting my spending helpfully considering my options with me. I finally decided to get some eyeshadow so I could try out a different aspect of their products than the skin care. I chose this sparkly light gold single, as I thought it might match well with my neutral work palette and give it a bit of extra interest.

The lovely lady also gave me four free sample sachets when I went to pay. She gave me a White Tree Snow Vita Lightening Serum, a Raspberry Roots Sleeping Mask, a Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam, and a Face It Power Perfection SPF 37 BB Cream.

I have to say, my experience with shopping at this particular The Face Shop was 100% A-1 fantastic! I just wish it was nearer to my house so I could visit more often. If you're ever at Eastland in Ringwood, do check it out!

Quick & Dirty Haul

Hello! I'm just popping in very quickly to show you some things I picked up at Chemist Warehouse last night. I just happened to notice a new bargain stand while I was waiting for my prescriptions, and boy was I glad I checked it out!
(Excuse the shocking photo, I took it on my ipod.)


I got the Kosmea Eighth Natural Wonder Serum. They were only $15! So I had to get 2. I've read some great reviews of this product, and it went on my "one day when I'm rich" wishlist. When I saw them for less than half price, I couldn't resist! (Besides, my spending ban is over, anyway. =D ) I also got the Avene Eye Makeup Remover, because I'll be needing a new one soon, and I'm sure $15 is a good price for this brand.

I'm also waiting for a parcel to arrive from YesStyle with some exciting things in it. I hope it comes tomorrow!!

Paula's Choice Haul

I placed my first order with the Paula's Choice Australia website last week. I know! I said I was on a spending ban, but I was going to buy these sooner or later anyway, and the site had a 50% off everything special, so it just made sense. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, anyway!



Here we see the:
☚ Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Exfoliating Gel
☚ Resist Intensive Wrinkle Repair Retinol Serum
☚ set of 6 mini makeup brushes

I found both the exfoliant and the retinol serum really easy to fit into my skin care routine when I tried the sample sachets, and was also very impressed with their performance. I bought the brush set because I've been wanting to experiment more with using brushes to apply makeup, rather than those little sponges you get with most makeup sets. This set is perfect because it has 6 different types of brush in it. Turns out when you try and use a lip brush to apply eyeshadow, it doesn't work too well. Who knew? シ

My experience dealing with Paula's Choice was all-around a positive one. The site was easy to navigate. The descriptions are very precise and some products even have videos explaining their purpose. The items came in 2 days - fast! And no worries about the packaging - they were all wrapped in bubble wrap and finished off nicely with tissue paper:



I would definitely order from Paula's Choice Australia again. They continuously have specials on different items, free shipping offers, etc. The service is fast and efficient, and they take care with the products.
Last but not least, an action shot of the packages falling off the windowsill!:


blooper time!

Revlon Haul / Ozsale Review Part 2

As mentioned in my last post, I was waiting on a second parcel of beauty products from Ozsale. It arrived today! Here is my Revlon haul:



Here we see (with little umbrellas in honour of the wild weather!):
☂ Colour Stay 12 Hour Eyeshadow in Sterling Rose
☂ Colour Stay 12 Hour Eyeshadow in Lavender Meadow
☂ Top Speed Nail Enamel in Cloud
☂ Sheer Translucide Nail Enamel in Sheer Rose
☂ Concealer Brush

I wrote about the slow delivery times of Ozsale in my last post, and this took a full month to arrive. I mentioned that I was concerned about how the last parcel was packed, and thankfully this time things were better. The products were wrapped in bubble wrap, in a postpak of a sensible size, with a big, impressive "Fragile" sticker on it. Much better!:



Now, I really have to stop buying things! I have multiples of most products already, and plenty enough products that I can write reviews on, so I don't really have a good excuse to buy anything. I made a pact with myself not to buy anything unnecessary last month, and I broke it about 4 times! Although ... every single time it was for something on sale, so that makes it ok, right? ツ

Mirenesse Haul / Ozsale Review

I discovered the Ozsale website a little while back. The site features sales on all sorts of products, from fashion, accessories and beauty, to homewares, gourmet foods and kids toys. Both little-known brands and big names can be seen, and the prices range from truly cheap, to designer 'cheap' craziness. There are a few things to be aware of when ordering from Ozsale, which I've discovered for myself! and I've discussed those later on in this post.

This is the Mirenesse haul I got from Ozsale:


▲ Pearl Crush Creaseless Shadow in Bora Pearls
▲ Absolutely Smooth Primer
▲ Blemish Thermal Pore Mask
▲ Eclipse Age Defence Daily Face & Neck Clear SPF Mineral Balm

I received a Mirenesse eyeshadow in one of my beauty boxes and I was absolutely impressed with both the colour and strong pigmentation. So when I saw the chance to get another one, I came out of Ozsale lurking. Seeing the primer also on sale was the thing that swayed me, because I've been wanting to try one for a while, and the other items were the icing on the cake. (I'm not even sure what the Balm does, to be honest!)

Things to keep in Mind...
▲ You need to sign up as a member to join, but it's free. You'll get daily emails, but if you get sick of them, you can always block them! There is a paid priority membership option which allows earlier access to sales, but personally I don't really see the advantage in that unless you're spending huge amounts of money on the site.
▲ Each 'sale' is separate and needs to be ordered separately. For example, you may see Lancome makeup on one page, and Hermes scarves on another page, but you need to order and pay for the Lancome products before you can proceed to the Hermes sale page. If you have products in your cart, a warning message will come up asking you if you wish to purchase the products or not.
▲ Because of the above, each separate 'sale' attracts a separate postage charge. So watch out for that and decide for yourself if the charges are worth it.
▲ The products are not sent straight away! I didn't realise this at first. The products are sent 1-4 weeks after the sale ends, with the more popular sales being sent first. However, parcels are tracked with Australia Post eParcel, so you can check on their progress. I placed my Mirenesse order on 7th May, and it arrived on 1st June. So if you need that Little Black Dress for this Friday night, this isn't the place to get it!
▲ This is a discount sale site, so things might not be perfect. They might be selling discontinued items, or they may be a bit scratched, etc. (The first thing I actually ordered was some cookbooks, and they had some light scratches on the back like they'd previously been in a book sale.)

One Thing That Worried Me A Bit, Though...
This is the packaging that my products came in:


The packaging is inappropriately large! And inadequate! When I first received it I thought, "huh, this parcel is way too big, have they sent me the wrong thing??" There was no wadding inside it to protect the products, and it was obvious that they'd been knocked about a bit. The box that the mask came in was crushed, but thankfully none of the products themselves were damaged. The 3 smaller products come in their own sturdy paper packets which protected them. I do hope that this was the only reason they were not wrapped before posting. I also ordered some products from the Revlon sale around the same time, so it'll be interesting to see how they're packaged. I'll report again as soon as it arrives!

Conclusion...
I'm in two minds about Ozsale. You can get some big name brands very cheaply on the site, but on the other hand, the lack of care taken in packaging and presentation of the order is a consequence of that. I've only received a couple of things from them so far, so I'll reserve my judgement for now. All I'll say at the moment is: make up your own mind, and good luck!

Mini 'Oops' Purchase

Last week I mentioned that there's a bargain bin full of Ulta3 nail polishes at my local supermarket. Even though the first time I saw it, I'd determined that the colours were all horrendous not for me, I can't help looking in it every time. I was at the supermarket again yesterday, and, true to form, I had a look. Well, they had a few extra colours in amongst the neon yellows and lime greens, so I had a good dig around. I was reluctant to buy anything because none really leaped out at me.

But then! I saw that they were half price - only a dollar! How can you go wrong for a dollar?? So I bought these:



Here we see the Ulta3 Nail Colour in:
❖ Red Glitter - red is not my favourite colour, but I need more glitter in my life, dammit! I can see it working over a few of the colours I already own.
❖ Natural - at first I was a bit perplexed by this. It reminds me of the Avon little girl's nail polish that I had when I was a kid. It looks pretty good on, though. It enhances the natural colour of your nail bed. Interesting.
❖ Base Coat - technically I don't already have a base coat. I normally use one of my Sally Hansen nail strengtheners. So I'm wondering if a proper base coat will do any better.

Unfortunately I can't try these out at the moment. After I've painted my nails 3 or 4 weeks in a row, they suddenly start to peel and split really badly, and I need to give them a rest for a couple of weeks. I was thinking of starting a Nails of the Week feature, but then I had a good look at my cuticles as well and they're too embarrassing to be brought out into public! I tend to pick at them when I'm nervous, sometimes even to the point of bleeding, so they're all ragged and horrible.
Perhaps I should do a feature on healing your cuticles, instead!