New In

Despite telling myself that this year is a budget year, occasionally I just can't stop myself from spending. This was one of these times. I actually picked these up about two or three months ago now but, after taking all of the photos, I completely forgot to actually post anything (Lazy blogger, I know). This does, however, mean that I can give you a small review on some of the stand out products!

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Mont Blanc and Pump

Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Colourpop Lippy Stix in Cookie

Rimmel Idol Eyes by Kate Moss in 04 Black

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

Without a doubt, my favourite products above are the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation (which I am nearly out of! *cries*), the Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer and the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer. The Nars foundation is lovely and the shade Mont Blanc matches my pale face perfectly. My only complaint would be the lasting power of this. With an exceptional primer (I'm looking at you Hourglass Veil Primer) this will last me the whole day but without it it doesn't quite do the job. The Too Faced bronzer is lovely and works perfectly on my aforementioned pale skin. It meant to smell like chocolate and, whilst I don't particularly dislike the smell, I'm not sure that's how I would describe the scent. Lastly, I finally managed to get my hands on the Fit Me concealer in Fair - no small feat might I add. This was a repurchase so I already knew I wouldn't be disappointed. If you haven't tried the Fit Me concealer yet you definitely need to.

Clarins Tonic Body Treatment Oil

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Clarins Extra-Firming Body Lotion

Clarins Renew-Plus Body Serum

Clarins Total Cleansing Oil

Clarins Extra-Comfort Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream

Clarins HydraQuench Cream

The majority of these products are actually samples that I got when I purchased the Renew-Plus Body Serum and the Total Cleansing Oil. Whilst I haven't had a proper chance to try out the samples yet the cleansing oil and body serum have not disappointed. I first heard about the body serum from Caroline Hirans (possibly from Sali Hugh's "In The Bathroom" with her which, incidentally, if you haven't seen you need to) who said it was perfect for getting rid of keratosis pilaris or "chicken skin" - something that I've been trying to do for as long as I can remember. I've been using it everyday since I got it and, although my chicken skin isn't completely gone, the difference is incredible. Similarly, the cleansing oil is great. This stuff will remove all makeup in about two seconds flat - yes even waterproof mascara - and I can't express my love for it enough.

The Mindfulness Colouring Book

Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes

Simple Kind To Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser

Zara Black Perfume 

I will sing the simple moisturiser' praises for all eternity and I don't want to tell you what to do but you need this in your life. I am planning on devoting a whole post to its awesomeness so expect that sometime in the near future. I first bought Zara Black in Germany and as soon as I ran out I had to repurchase it. It is a beautiful floral scent and, for only $20, is a perfume I don't feel guilty about being obsessed with.

It Would Probably Be A Good Idea For Me To Stop Renaming My Blog...

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The Joy In Life

I had a very thought provoking conversation with a friend the other day about doing things that brings us joy, not in the outcome but in the process. I thought I should brainstorm the things that make me calm and contented and this is what I came up with:

• A tidy bedroom - this may seem odd to anyone who knows me because I am an extremely messy person but a tidy room is a sure-fire way of making me motivated and happy.
• Getting things done - similarly this may seem odd as I am a chronic procrastinator however there is nothing more satisfying than being productive.
• Looking forward to things - as someone about to finish their second last year of school there is nothing that brings me greater joy than daydreaming about the future. I'm most excited to travel, for uni and for moving out (although who knows when the last one will actually happen).
• Cooking - I don't actually do this as much as I would like to firstly because I am ridiculously busy and secondly because, as mentioned earlier, I am a massive procrastinator but when I do manage to get myself into the kitchen I love to whip up some yummy sugar free snacks.
• Seeing my friends - this is probably the most obvious one and also probably the most common among anyone, no matter who they are, but there is nothing better than catching up with friends to boost my mood. Give me a hot drink, some sun and a couple of lovely friends and I will ask for nothing more.
• Going to the city - I live about an hour out of Melbourne which, for Australia, is fairly close. I usually find myself in the city at least once a week, usually before 9am, and I love exploring the city then; its so quiet and calm with hardly any people in there at all at that time.
• Laughing until my stomach hurts - this laughter is not just chuckling softly this is lying on the floor begging for the pain to stop. Physiologically speaking this is good for both your happiness and your stomach muscles. Whats not to like?
• Setting goals and sticking to them - this might be cheating a little as it kind of falls into the 'getting things done' category but I think this needs its own little category. Whether it be committing to practising my cello everyday or posting a blog post every Saturday (this is the 8th week in a row and I am very proud of myself) actually sticking to my goals fills me with the utmost joy.
• Girl power playlists - nothing can get you feeling fine as quickly and efficiently as a girl power playlist can, of this I am sure. 8Tracks has some great compilations that make even the most mundane chore fun.
• Sitting in the sun with a book - living in Australia means I get the privilege of actually seeing the sun for a large portion of the year and an hour soaking up the sun is an ideal part of any day, just as long as I manage to not get burnt!

This is what I do to bring joy into my life but I think the list is no way near long enough yet and hopefully it will expand hugely with time. What do you enjoy in life?

xx Gemma

Recent Makeup Buys

As I am currently saving for my trip to Germany (Less than two months way! I'm so excited) I have restricted my spending a lot however I have managed to sneak a few necessities in over the past month or so. 

From Lush I have picked up the Tea Tree Water toner (full review here) and I am in love! I also got my hands on Grease Lightning and, whilst I thankfully have not needed to use it too often, am very impressed.

From Rimmel I picked up the Scandal'Eyes Waterproof Mascara in black. I usually opt for a waterproof mascara as I cry more than is socially acceptable and this one seems to manage to not make me look like a panda which is always a plus! I also grabbed the Scandal'Eyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in nude because every blogger that I follow seems to own this and, despite what I would like to think, I am not immune to their enabling. Whilst I do like this for my waterline I don't think it is particularly long lasting, at least on me, and I do need to reapply throughout the day. I also feel that the colour is a little too shiny and metallic for a nude but aside from that I am really enjoying using it. Lastly from Rimmel I picked up the 60 Seconds Colour Rush Nail Enamel in the shade Breakfast In Bed (Is that not the cutest name?) I absolutely adore this nail polish! Everything from the fast drying formula to the gorgeous  colour has my completely head over heels!

After giving up on my Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream I decided to try the Revlon Colorstay Makeup for Normal to Dry Skin in the shade Buff. My opinion on this one is a little all over the place at the moment (some days I love it, some days I can't wait to get it off my face) so I plan on making a full review with all of the pros and cons.

I also picked up an eyelash curler (from the home brand at the supermarket because I am a truly classy girl), a Covergirl Eye Enhancers 4-Kit Eye Shadow in Pure Romance which is nice enough but nothing to write home about, a Neutrogena Naturals Lip Balm which I love - great moisture without the sticky residue? Yes please! - and the Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer. Whilst this gets the job done, Bourjois is a slightly more expensive drugstore brand (I'm saving remember!) and I think that, for the $21 that I paid, it would be nice to get a little more product. Aside from the size I really like this primer and can definitely see the difference when I use it as opposed to when I don't.

xx Gemma

Lush Tea Tree Water

Recently I picked up Grease Lightning from Lush to try to rid myself of a rather large spot that had appeared on my chin. I am lucky enough to get very few blemishes on my face, as a general rule, however my chest is a whole other story. 

After about two days of applying this morning and night my spot was completely gone and I decided that I should try using it on my chest. I quickly realised that this wasn't going to work too well as Grease Lightning comes out in 'blobs' of gel formula that works really well on individual blemishes however is a little tricky to apply all over, as is necessary on my chest.

In comes the Lush Tea Tree Water, a toner containing only tea tree water (as the name would suggest), grapefruit water and Juniperberry water. This comes in two sizes and I picked up the smaller, 100g bottle for just $10. Boy, am I glad I did. This little bottle has helped so much to clear my skin. I wouldn't say I am completely blemish free but after three weeks of use, twice a day, my blemishes have reduced to well over a quarter of what they were before. 

I am absolutely besotted with this toner and would recommend it to anyone. It works quickly and effectively, does what it says on the tin and is vegan! What more can you ask for, really?

xx Gemma

Lumos

An illuminating Harry Potter tag. (Yes that was indeed a Harry Potter pun).

1. What is your favourite book?
The first question and already I can't decide! I think probably Prisoner of Azkaban or Order of the Phoenix (but I also really Halfblood Prince and Deathly Hallows).

2. What is your favourite film?
I do enjoy Prisoner of Azkaban and I love Deathly Hallows part 2 as it holds fond memories of going to the midnight premier (I was too young to go to all the others!)

3. What is your least favourite book?
My least favourite book would have to be Goblet of Fire. I was really scared the first time I read it and can't seem to shake my hesitancy towards it.

4. What is your least favourite film?
Again I would have to say Goblet of Fire. I enjoyed the storyline of the fourth so I have no idea why I dislike both the movie and book so much but that's just the way it is I suppose! I also am not a massive fan of the Halfblood Prince movie as I think a little too much artistic licence was taken with here and it deviates too much from the storyline of the book (burning down the Borrow was definitely not in the book and, as the Borrow appeared in the next movie, completely unnecessary in my opinion).

5. Which parts of the books/films made you cry?
I don't think I have ever full on sobbed in Harry Potter but I may or may not seem to get something stuck in my eye when Fred, Sirius, Remus and Tonks die.

6. If you could hook up with any character who would it be?
Dean Thomas definitely. Although having said that almost all of the Potter cast had incredible transformations and are incredibly attractive so...

7. Who is your favourite character?
Luna or Ginny. Both are such strong women, in quite different ways, and it makes me so happy that they were/(are?) friends.
Edit: Narcissa Malfoy is also incredibly kickarse and I do have a very large soft spot for her.

8. Who is your least favourite character?
I must no tell lies so I have to say Umbridge. Most Harry Potter characters have at least one redeeming quality (or at least a good back story as to why they don't) however Umbridge is not one of them.

9. What is your least favourite line?
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" - Albus Dumbledore
 or 
"You're not going mad. I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am." - Luna Lovegood (after being introduced as a very odd/slightly mad girl because it was really not a comforting thought to Harry).

10. What would your patronus be?
I think probably a cat however if I was living in the world of Harry Potter I am sure there would be many magical creatures that I would identify even better with.

11. If you could have the invisibility cloak, resurrection stone or elder wand, which would you choose?
I would choose the invisibility cloak as the stone could not fully bring people back from the dead and the elder wand just creates trouble. Also who wouldn't want to be able to turn invisible?!

12. What house would you be in?
I think the Hogwarts houses represent personality traits that everyone has a bit of so you could argue any house really (although I really struggle to see myself as a Gryffindor) however on Pottermore I am a Hufflepuff and I think this is fairly accurate.

13. If you could meet any member of the cast who would it be?
I think it would have to be Evanna Lynch (can you tell I have a bit of a crush on Luna Lovegood?) because she seems like the least 'famous' of all of the HP cast and I think we would get along really well (and really what's the point of meeting a cast member if I cant become best friends with them!)

14. If you were on the quidditch team, what position would you play?
This is tricky because I play so little sport that I cant relate it to anything. Having said that I did use to play netball so I might be an alright chaser. I think I would probably enjoy being a beater as it would release a lot of pent up frustration haha.

15. Were you happy with the ending?
That depends. I really love the ending of the books in that Voldemort dies in a very human way but the ending of the movie I didn't like. I thought they changed it quite a lot from the ending of the book (although I enjoyed all of the Deathly Hallows part 2 aside from how Voldemort dies) and having him burst into little pieces of paper, or whatever that was meant to be, wasn't very symbolic of the whole 'no matter how much power you hold in life, all die equally' thing that the book represented so well. Maybe I just analyse Harry Potter too much.

16. How much does Harry Potter mean to you?
This is such an odd question because surely anyone who does a Harry Potter tag would answer with something along the lines of 'a lot/heaps etc'.
Harry Potter is my go to series if I have had a bad day and I need cheering up or even if I just have nothing new to read. It has shaped so much of my primary school life and I am eternally grateful to J K Rowling for the amazing world and characters she has introduced me to.

This was a slightly nerdy post today for which I apologise, hopefully you all love Harry Potter enough that you are able to forgive me, but when I saw this tag I immediately knew it was something I had to do.

xx Gemma

The Wickedest Witch There Ever Was...

Last Thursday my sister, Kate, went to see the musical Wicked and came home insisting that I see it. This sounded wonderful until I realised that the show finished that Sunday and that I had three days left if I wanted to see it. I didn't want to go by myself (as I like to share my enjoyment of musical theatre with others) so Kate said she would go see it again with me (that's how badly she wanted me to see it, the dear).

We had a quick bite to eat at a lovely little Indian restaurant in the city (which was both super cheap and really delicious) before heading off to the show.

It was incredible! I thought it was quite different from the 'stereotypical' musical sound (it wasn't the same sound as Mamma Mia and definitely not like Les Miserable at all) but the music was amazing and the storyline had me laughing and hanging off the edge of my seat. For the past week me and Kate have had the soundtrack playing whilst we wash the dishes and I have been singing all the songs non stop. And if I happen to now follow most of the cast one Instagram well, no one needs to know.

It was such a brilliant show, I am so happy that I got to see it before it closed and would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to see it!

xx Gemma