Products I've Used Up!

Boy, have I accumulated a lot of empties...

I am a terrible beauty blogger for two reasons: Number One, I never seem to get around to finishing all the posts I start; and Number Two: I suck at keeping my empties. Apparently I am some sort of compulsive recycler, who throws away products when they're empty instead of hoarding them like a crazy person (who writes about beauty on the internet). I have, however, managed to accumulate a few products to put into this 'Products I've Used Up' post. :-) They're not all beauty products, but I thought I would include some of the gym supplements I have used up as well, because the gym is such a huge part of my life, it seems appropriate.

Shall we start from the top? I recently used up a Michael Todd True Organics lemon toner. I really liked it, I think I would probably repurchase it in the future but it has been a tiny bit drying for my skin so I am currently using one from Chanel which is a little more gentle. Overall, though, I did enjoy this toner. I also used up my Clean & Clear Morning Burst brightening facial scrub with lemon and papaya. Uh, YUM! I loved the smell of this product, although I don't know if I would buy it again, just because I'm quite particular about my skincare and I don't feel like this product did that much for my skin. To the right, we have the Original Source lime shower gel that I liked at first, but I think I'm allergic to because it did give me some redness on my body after I used it. I like the smell of it but I did grow bored with it fairly quickly and I purchased it to share with my mum, although she never used it so I guess she didn't like it that much, either.

Next up, we have the two giant tubs of protein powder that I have recently used up. My supplement collection was starting to get out of control and I was buying all these new things but not using up the old ones, so I forced myself to use up my old protein powders before I opened my new ones. I used up a MusclePharm Combat protein in banana cream (om nom nom nom) and the espresso flavour of Horleys Ripped protein. They were pretty good, I can't complain about them. They tasted nice and helped me build some lean muscle, so I'm happy. :)

I also used up my ProSupps Aminolinx in the lemonade flavour and I cannot say enough good things about this product. If you guys are interested in some supplement reviews, please let me know because I would love to do them for you!

The number of bottles of fake tan here is deceptive. In reality, I have probably been through about five or six bottles of this stuff in the last few months. Le Tan instant tanning mousse in Deep Bronze is my favourite self tanner that I have ever used; and it is a lot more affordable than most of the other brands you can buy in Priceline. I find that I get at least a week out of one application and it's not streaky or orange at all, which I love. I can't wait for summer, so I can save some money by getting a real tan!

I used up a bottle of Witch Hazel, this is just a regular drugstore witch hazel toner but I have absolutely sworn by this product since high school when I had really bad skin. I will probably buy another one of these, considering one bottle lasts about six months and it only costs seven dollars.

I have also used up two perfumes, the first of which being Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto; and the second being Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere. I liked these perfumes, although I found that the scent of the YSL one changed not long after I bought it and stopped smelling as nice as before. I don't know if that's a common thing with that perfume, or if I just got a bad bottle, but it was disappointing since the perfume was quite expensive. I love Chanel No. 5, in any version, so I have no complaints about the Chanel bottle. :)

So, those are some of the products I've used up lately. I hope you enjoyed this post, I promise I have some new and exciting things that I'm working on and I will post those as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading! xoxo

Nordstrom Haul!

Hi guys! I am back with a little Nordstrom haul to share. :)


Recently I discovered that Nordstrom's online site ships to Australia. They don't ship everything, unfortunately, but they do ship a lot of major beauty brands and the prices are much more affordable than what we pay in Australia. The difference in price of a Dior mascara in America and in Australia is absolutely crazy, so I got to shopping and yesterday a little brown box arrived on my doorstep.

The only thing I don't like about buying from overseas is the shipping costs. I paid rather a lot of money to have my products shipped here; and while I understand that it is a long distance for postage, I do wish it was slightly more affordable, because I would have bought a heap more stuff.

But enough of that, on with the haul!


I started out with about 20 items in my cart, and edited down from there (which, for me, means shifting things from Cart to Wishlist, hehe). I ended up with four products, all of which I am super excited about.

eeeeeep!

 

 

So, from left to right: Christian Dior, Diorshow "New Look" mascara in 090 Black. Yves Saint Laurent Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils "Shocking" felt-tip eyeliner in Black. Yves Saint Laurent Rebel Nudes Glossy Stain in 110 Reckless Pink. Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte lipstick in 7 Lingerie Pink.

 

 

I cannot even tell you guys how long I have waited for some of these products. It is ridiculous. The YSL eyeliner and Rebel Nude glossy stain are new to me and were slightly impulse purchases, but I have a story about both the Dior mascara and the YSL lipstick.

 

So, a pretty long time ago, I went to the Dior counter in Myer in search of a new mascara; and I was pretty much set on the Diorshow New Look. I am an enormous fan of the 1947 Dior New Look collections and pretty much anything Christian Dior and anything vintage, so I was excited about this mascara. But when I asked the lady at the counter, she pretty much did whatever she could to talk me out of it and talk me into a different mascara (the silver tube kind? I forget what it's called now). So I bought the one she recommended, but I never forgot about the New Look one. I generally don't get talked out of or into products anymore because as I've gotten older, I've gotten more sure of myself and assertive, but in this instance I was shopping with my mum and I didn't want to make trouble, I guess. So when I saw this mascara on the Nordstrom website for really affordable, I had to pick it up and I am so happy that I did. One of the things I love about online shopping is that you don't have to deal with sales associates who try to talk you out of things or into other things. Lol!

 

My story with the YSL Rouge Volupte in 7 actually takes place at the same counter, with the same sales associate, but much later on. I had seen the colour in one of Elle Fowler's videos and I really, really wanted it. I checked the YSL website and saw it there, so I went in to Myer and asked for the colour 7, Lingerie Pink. The sales associate pretty much just stared at me for a moment and told me that there was no such colour. It doesn't exist, she was telling me. And when I told her that I had seen it with my own eyes, she wasn't having it. She was convinced that there has never been a #7. When I was back home in Melbourne about a month ago (stay tuned for my Melbourne haul, it is coming!), I asked a sales associate at another YSL counter if she had ever heard of it, and she told me she had, but that it was very difficult to buy. So while I was on the Nordstrom site, I thought I would have a look and, sure enough, there it was: #7, Lingerie Pink. So I think out of all the products I bought, this lipstick is the one I am most proud to have purchased.

 

Diorshow New Look, YSL Rebel Nudes Glossy Stain, Rouge Volupte 7, Shocking Faux Cils eyeliner.

So those are the products that I picked up from the Nordstrom website, I hope you enjoyed this post. Keep checking back to see my long-overdue Melbourne haul as well as some collective hauls I have planned, an updated skincare routine and some more bits and bobs!

xoxo

November Empties/Products I've Used Up!

 

Hi everyone! Earlier in the month I decided that I would start doing some "Product Empties" posts. I love these on YouTube, so I am going to have a go at my own blog versions. I've been trying to make an effort to use up a bunch of products that I've had for quite a while. I have forgotten to take pictures of quite a few products before I threw away the packaging, but I will list them at the end.

 

So, without further ado, these are some of the products I have used up in November.

 

 

 

I used up my Christian Dior gentle toning lotion, which was kind of sad for me because I bought this while I was in Vegas (along with quite a few other products) and I absolutely love it. I'm not even sure if I can buy this in Australia, which is also really quite sad. I love that this is good for sensitive skin, because my skin really is very, very, very sensitive. It also has velvet and peony extract, which makes it smell really nice and feel really nice on my face. If I can find this product again, I will most definitely be repurchasing it.

 

I used up a lot of perfumes this month. I used up a bottle of Vera Wang, Princess, which I have had a few times now and I never get sick of it. I will probably repurchase this because I love it so much.

 

I also used up a bottle of Jimmy Choo EDP, which is a very interesting fragrance and I can never quite put my finger on what exactly it smells like. The small bottle at the bottom of the picture is a miniature Miss Dior Chérie, which I used up this month as well.

 

I used up my Chanel, Chance perfume this month. This is a lovely fragrance for spring, and I suppose it's quite fitting that I used it up on the second-last day of spring for the year.

 

I used up a full-sized Miss Dior Chérie this month, but I had to throw it away with a tiny bit left in it because it was starting to make my skin break out in a rash. :( I suspect that it was just getting a bit old, because I've never had a reaction to this perfume.

 

Another very sad moment for me this month was the day I used up the last of my Mango Temptation fragrance mist from Victoria's Secret. I LOVE this fragrance, and I have been using it so sparingly since I bought it in Vegas (in 2011). I was sad to see this go, because obviously we don't have Victoria's Secret in Australia. I guess I'll just have to go back again soon to stock up!

 

 

Other Products I Used Up This Month (Not Pictured):

 

One tube of Lucas Paw Paw Ointment (essential product, will definitely repurchase)

A tube of Veet bladeless hair removal cream

Coconut body scrub from the Body Shop

One bottle of Brazil Nut shower cream from the Body Shop

One Chanel mascara, in black

 

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I'm saving up for a video camera at the moment, so hopefully I'll be able to start making some YouTube videos to complement these blog posts as well. :-)

 

Love and Light,

 

xoxo

Does Size Matter? (Or, How Much Makeup is Too Much Makeup?)

Lately, I have been watching a lot of beauty videos on YouTube. I particularly like the ones where the YouTuber does a tour of their makeup collections, so I have been watching quite a few of those. And it got me thinking, how much makeup is too much makeup?

I thought that I had a lot of makeup, but when I started watching beauty vloggers on YouTube and seeing how much makeup they purchase on a regular basis, and witnessing the enormity of their makeup collections, my own collection started to feel very small.

 I am in no way judging these girls, I think their collections are amazing and I don't think there is anything wrong with having a large collection of something that you love. It is just a concept that I find curious. How much makeup can one person realistically use?

There are all kinds of varying "rules" about how long a makeup product lasts for. Some people say you shouldn't keep a mascara longer than six months; and others say three months is the absolute maximum. Personally, I have used certain mascaras for over a year and not had any problems. Creams don't tend to have as long a shelf life as powders, but should we really throw them away just because we've had them for longer than six months? That seems silly and wasteful to me. I take care of my makeup; and if it still smells and looks as good as the day I bought it, I'm not going to throw it away. My makeup collection is carefully and deliberately constructed. I don't just buy makeup because it's there, so if I spend my money on a product, I want to use it until it's finished, not until some magazine or blogger on the internet says I should throw it away.

But in saying all of that, I have to wonder: If a product has been in your makeup collection for three or four years and you blatantly state that you never use it and will probably never use it, is it really worth holding on to? Makeup can carry sentimental value, certainly the red Chanel lipstick my mum gave me for my birthday many years ago holds a lot of sentimental value for me and I still have it. But it also hasn't dried up, it still works, and I still love the colour. But what about makeup that vloggers point out in their collections and say, "I don't really like this product," or "I never use this/will never use this"? Do those products really belong in your collection, if that's the way you feel about them?

In the spirit of not being wasteful, you could give away the products you don't use/like, provided that it's hygienic. A liquid foundation with a pump, a lip gloss you've never, ever touched, and any kind of powder is perfectly okay to be given away to somebody who might love it. I don't recommend giving away used mascaras, eyeliners or lip products that you have used on yourself, though. You could gather all of your untouched, hygienic products and get together with a group of friends for a swap.

I recently purged my makeup collection, cleaned up some palettes and gave a whole bunch of stuff to my mum. I wasn't really using them, or felt like I would never be able to use them all up, so I gave them to my mum. I gave her a bunch of powder eyeshadows, a powder blush, things like that. It was all perfectly safe to share; and they look much nicer on her than they did on me!

The added bonus is the fact that now I have heaps more room for new makeup. ;-)

So, with all of these things in mind, I'm still left to wonder what constitutes "too much makeup." The best I can figure is that it's different for everybody. Everybody who has a makeup collection should be content and comfortable with the amount that they have. I am content to have a relatively small-to-medium sized collection of lovingly collected, carefully selected products which make me happy every time I look at my vanity or open my makeup bags. Other people are content to amass hundreds of products, just because they can, regardless of whether or not they like them. All I can say to that is, it must be nice to have that much money!

What do you guys think? Is there such a thing as having "too much makeup"? What do you consider to be excessive? How big is your makeup collection? Drop me a comment below, I'm curious. :-)

Until next time,

Love and light.

xoxo

New makeup!

Well, I finally went out and bought some new makeup, which I have been wanting to do for a long time now. Unfortunately, my trip to Mecca Cosmetica did not go well at all, because they didn't have what I went in for, so I gave up on that for the moment. Also, despite being the only customer in the shop, once the salesgirl informed me that they didn't have the specific eyeshadow I had requested (Nars Bombshell, which I want quite desperately but cannot find anywhere), she went back behind her desk and that was that. So even though there were a couple of other products I quite liked, I left the shop right away because I felt so uncomfortable.

But then I went to Myer and had a wander around the makeup counters. I passed over Chanel because there was a very snooty salesgirl there and I wasn't interested in being made to feel unimportant. But I did stop for a while at Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, where I did have a very nice interaction with the ladies at those counters.

In the end, I didn't have as much money to spend as I would have liked, but I did pick up two really lovely products. The first thing I bought was a Christian Dior lipstick, in Rose Dèclamation.

Rose Dèclamation

 

 

 I have worn this lipstick a couple of times since I bought it, and I absolutely adore it. It's a gorgeous soft rose-pink and it is quite rich and creamy to apply. It feels very luxurious and it lasts ages on the lips. I have always loved Dior lipsticks and this one is a lovely addition to my collection.

The other product I picked up was a limited edition Yves Saint Laurent eyeshadow quad; and oh my goodness. I had told myself that I would finally cave and buy bronze, gold and brown eyeshadows, because I have blue eyes and those colours tend to make my eyes really pop. But I never seem to buy the things that I set out to buy, especially when I go makeup shopping, so I ended up coming home with this:

Wow. What can I even say besides that?

I'm not sure what it is with me and blues, greens, pinks and purples, but the majority of the eyeshadows that I buy and like are usually one of those four colours.

I haven't tried this on my eyes yet (I'm almost afraid to use it because it's so perfect and beautiful), but I did try the colours on my wrist in the shop and I totally fell in love with it. It was very expensive, but then everything is, here in Australia; and it was totally worth it. The colours are stunning and I think they will look especially nice with my new rose pink lipstick.

My two beautiful makeup purchases, all cuddled up in prettiness

I used to have this thing with keeping the boxes for my cosmetics, but I don't do that anymore. I do, however, take pictures before I throw the boxes away! Am I the only one?

I also think the packaging is really gorgeous!

So those are the only two makeup products of note that I have bought recently. Hopefully after Christmas I will be able to do one really big makeup and beauty splurge and have a more interesting collection of products to show. In the meantime, I will post some smaller haul posts and reviews of various products. One of my previous posts, about my makeup collection and the process I was going through of cleaning it out, got quite a lot of attention, so I might do some more posts in a similar vein to that one. If anybody is interested in seeing an update on my decluttering adventures (I have had many!), please do let me know in the comments. :-)

I'm also looking at buying a video camera and starting a YouTube channel, possibly as a combination of books, beauty, fitness and ballet, similar to my tumblr. Of course, that means I will have to get over my hatred of the sound of my own voice, but nevertheless, stay tuned for updates on that front as well!

Thank you so much for reading, goodnight!

xoxo

Recent Adventures in Decluttering

So yesterday I went a little bit crazy...

And I cleaned out and re-organised my bathroom cupboard, because what else am I going to do when I have broken ribs and can't drive or go outside or go to work?

I am physically incapable of sitting still all day. So when I got out of the shower I decided I would give my skin a bit of pampering. I washed my face with cleanser, then I put on a deep-cleansing/exfoliating mask, when that was all washed off I used witch hazel toner, then I used a sample of Dr. Brandt "Dark Circles Away" collagen eye serum that I got from Mecca Cosmetica and after that I used Estée Lauder's Advanced Time Zone age repair moisturiser. I only had a sample of that moisturiser and seriously, it's amazing. I have to be super careful with what I use on my face and body because my skin is hyper-sensitive and I've had allergic reactions to so many products, so I have a bit of anxiety when I try a new moisturiser, but I would honestly go out to the store right now and buy a jar of this one.

So now my skin feels super soft and smooth and it actually sort of glows. Not in a shiny, oily, I-need-washing-why-are-you-letting-me-be-dirty way, more of like the I-am-so-happy-right-now-thank-you-for-using-those-amazing-products-on-me way.

Like a porcelain doll! No makeup. Also, my eyes are blue, although they look green here.

And after that I realised my whole bathroom cupboard was a big mess and I hadn't done a product purge in a while, so I set to work on fixing that. And in the process, I discovered a few peculiar beauty-related habits that I have.

I started by throwing away my empty body spray/perfume bottles.

Why do I keep these, knowing full well that they're empty?

I could just go out and buy a new one, instead of letting the empty bottles clutter up my cupboard. No wonder I never have any storage space!

Once I had done that (farewell, Body Shop coconut spray and Vera Wang Preppy Princess), I hunted around for something to keep my cotton pads in. I was getting really tired of having an ugly, long plastic bag of cotton pads in my cupboard and the opening to pull them out of was too narrow anyway. Eventually I found an old Napoleon Perdis box that was the packaging for a powder puff (which now sits on top of the chest of drawers in my dressing room). It's cute, with black and white stripes on the outside and pink on the inside, small and much more aesthetically pleasing than a plastic tube-shaped bag. I also put my heart-shaped container of cotton tips into a black velvety candleholder that I bought in Copenhagen. I could have taken them out of the container first, but I wanted them to be kept clean because they will sit in the cupboard and not on the counter (Mantra for this exercise: Declutter, declutter, declutter!)

The next thing I learned about myself is that yes, I have a lot of beauty products, but I don't have many that don't get used. I don't really have anything that I don't use on a regular basis. For example:

I have two cleansers. They are both Chanel, and one is almost empty, but they are for different things. I have one for when my skin is dry (this is the almost empty one) and one for when my skin is a little more oily. This is perfectly logical to me, because cleansers are not all created equal. They are designed for different things.

I also have two toners. One is Christian Dior and I bought it super cheap in Sephora when I was in Las Vegas two years ago. Two years ago. It has lasted me that long. And the reason it has lasted so long, is because I use it as sort of a treat product. I don't use it every day. My everyday toner is Witch Hazel. I have been using it on and off since I was about fourteen, and in between I have tried Clinique (burned my skin), Chanel (amazing but really very expensive for what it is), and various ones from the Body Shop which I only used because I worked there and I had to try things. They were horrible for my delicate skin so I stopped using them. But I always come back to my good old-fashioned $6 Witch Hazel toner from the supermarket. If it ain't broke...

Moisturisers are a tricky thing. Like I mentioned, I have supersensitive skin and the two main things my face will react very severely to, are cleansers and moisturisers. I have tried lots of different moisturisers and the only brand I have found thus far that is really good for my skin, is Chanel (and now, Estée Lauder- I can't wait to buy some more). I've tried all sorts of moisturisers, and I currently own three: Two in the bathroom cupboard and one on my dresser. The one on my dresser is Chanel. It's a gel instead of a thick cream and I absolutely adore it. It will probably be my staple for the rest of my life. Then in my cupboard I have a half-used tube of Body Shop brand "Nutriganics" which smells really nice but it's not great for my skin. I don't really know why I keep it; I should probably throw it away. Maybe next purge. The other cream I have in my cupboard is a Nature's Organics one that I actually forgot I had. I pulled it out from the very back of the bottom shelf and went, "Oh. I forgot I had this." It's a nice moisturiser and I like that it's an inexpensive cruelty-free brand, but it's much too thick and heavy for my skin. I kept it in the cupboard for summertime when I inevitably come home from the beach with little sunburned spots (I always manage to miss small areas). It's some sort of sorbelene and really, who says you can't use a facial moisturiser on your body?

My current everyday cleanser and moisturiser.

Another product I have more than one of is fake tan. I have two kinds of Bondi Sands tan, one light and one dark. The dark one is my favourite of the two, but I sort of feel like I should use up the light one before I throw it away. I guess that's another one of my peculiar beauty habits- I have a hard time throwing things away before they're all used up. I have been known to carry multiple perfumes, Lip Smackers and body lotions around in my handbag and using them excessively, just to use them up and feel justified in throwing them away and buying another one. There isn't too much left in either of my tanning lotion bottles, though, so I'll just carry on using them up before I buy more (cut to me in two weeks, buying more anyway :P).

One product that I definitely do hoard is Pond's Cold Cream. I currently have three jars of this in my cupboard and two of them have never been opened. Again, I can rationalise this. I adore this product. I love everything about it: The old-fashioned packaging (this is original stuff, not the new Pond's with its flashy metallic bottles. This is the old white plastic tub with the light green lid), the smell (it reminds me of being a young ballerina and taking off my stage makeup), the cooling sensation it leaves on my skin, the way it makes me feel like a lady in the 1940s whenever I use it. And I can't find it in shops, so when I found it online for $7 per large jar, I stocked up. I bought three of them at once. I will probably buy a bunch more the next time I go to that website and stock up on beauty products. I need to hoard this product. What if they stop stocking it? What will I do then? You don't even understand how much I need my cold cream. Don't judge me.

My stash of Pond's cold cream

For a long time, I have thought that I was a really big beauty product hoarder. But after jumping on Google and seeing pictures of other people's bathrooms, with literally ten to fifteen bottles of just shampoo and conditioner in people's showers or around their bathtubs, I feel almost like a minimalist. Perhaps it's because I clean out my collection so often and try to use things up that I've had for quite a while. Products go bad, you know. I just threw away an eyelash adhesive that I have never opened because it turns out that if you don't use that stuff, it goes off. It goes all clumpy and solid and turns yellow. Ew. I also threw away some fake eyelashes today that I have never worn. I don't really know why I even bought them (I was seventeen; I don't know why I bought a few different things. Why did I wear four inches of eyeliner? I chalk it up to lack of experience). They looked like drag queen eyelashes. I am not a drag queen. Best to leave it to the professionals, I think.

Shower products: At the moment, I have one shower gel in my shower, and one in my cupboard. I have two because I don’t like running out of shower gel and having to go to the store, just to buy another one. I’m usually a very busy person, I don’t have that kind of time to waste. So I keep a backup one and that way, I never run out! I think that’s clever. I also have one jar of coconut body scrub, which I don’t use all the time. Like my Dior toner, it’s a treat product. Also, it’s not good to over-exfoliate your skin and most of my shower gels are gentle exfoliators, so on a daily basis that’s enough. Once a week is good for deep exfoliation (but I often don’t have time… So I don’t use my scrub as often as that). So I guess I don’t really hoard shower products either, although I used to. When I worked at the Body Shop, I literally bought five shower gels at once and kept them all in my cupboard, choosing a different one each day. Which was really fun, but I was living in a house with a bigger bathroom cupboard at that time, so I had space for them all. I don’t have as much space anymore. And that’s probably a good thing, because what kind of crazy person needs five different kinds of shower gel? I guess I felt like I did at the time. So for body-washing products, we have a total of three. Surely that’s not hoarding behaviour.

In terms of shampoo and conditioner, I currently have exactly two of each. I have a DeLorenzo silver shampoo, which is actually purple but it keeps my hair nice and white, just the way I like it. I love this shampoo and I always buy it because it's packed with gorgeous natural ingredients like flowers, it's vegan friendly and cruelty-free, and it's the best silver shampoo I've ever used. I also have a Tigi Bedhead volumising shampoo which I recently bought. My hair is so super-long and I don't have it layered so I'm hoping this shampoo will help give my hair lots of volume. The conditioners I have are Redken All Soft to keep my thirsty hair nice and hydrated and silky, and Organix vanilla. Because it's vanilla.

I have exactly one rinse-out hair treatment. It is a Wella Salon Professional Repair Mask that a hairdresser friend introduced me to, many years ago. It's one of the best masks I've ever used. It's starting to run out now, so I'll definitely buy another one soon. I used to always buy the Macadamia Oil hair mask and I'll probably start buying that again also. I love hair treatments and my hair definitely appreciates it when I use them. But yeah, I definitely don't hoard as many hair products as some girls!

I currently have two facial masks and, as with my cleansers, they both serve different skin conditions. One is a breakout-soothing peppermint and coconut mask, for those times when I have an angry red flare-up on my fragile little face and the other is a deep-cleansing pore exfoliator for blackheads and pimples and general muck-removing. I think that's pretty rational.

My next collection is body sprays/mists/perfumes/deodorants. In terms of general, everyday deodorants I have only one. It is a Nivea roll-on, anti-white marks, garden variety deodorant. It works really well and it usually lives in whichever day bag I'm living out of at the time (gym bag, handbag, it travels between the two). But then we come to my collection of fragrances. This, I will admit, I am guilty of hoarding. But they're different smells! That makes sense, right? Sure. But what doesn't make sense, is why I pulled an empty can of Impulse "Tease" out from the back of my cupboard. Why? Why do I do this?

My gigantic fragrance collection is too big and vast to go into detail with, but I might put up some photos later if anyone wants to see just how many different kinds I have. It’s a collection, okay, it’s not hoarding. And I will continue to tell myself that.


In terms of miscellaneous things, I have one toothbrush, one tube of toothpaste (which reminds me, I need to get some more of that soon, I’m running out), two hairbrushes (one flat brush and one round brush- Hairbrushes do different things, okay! I need two different kinds), two combs (one lives in my handbag and goes mostly everywhere with me and the other lives in my bathroom), a fake tanning mitt, a bottle of Le Tan coconut-scented sunscreen, a green tea after sun gel, one hairdryer, one straightener, one curling iron, a tub of bobby pins (blonde), the various kinds of hair clips that came with my set of hot rollers (the hot rollers themselves live in my bedroom and I love them), one set of pink foam rollers/curlers, a jar of developer, a packet of powder bleach, half a bottle of pink acetone-free nail polish remover, a box of Epsom Salts, a leopard print hair colour mixing bowl, a good hair colour application brush, a half-used jar of Manic Panic “Virgin Snow” toner, a measuring tape (it’s best not to ask why I keep this in my bathroom), cotton tips and cotton pads (which I mentioned earlier), one packet of in-shower hair removal cream and the bladeless razor thing that comes with it. I had an old one as well but I threw that away. I am ridiculous with those things. Every time you buy a new packet, it comes with its own razor. At one point I actually had five or six of them. Whatever was wrong with me back then has clearly been fixed. Now I only have one. I also have one eyelash curler, one pair of nail scissors (which I also use to trim my hair because I’m too lazy to buy proper hair scissors and I only cut my fringe anyway), and one pair of tweezers. My hair styling tools live in one of those plastic trays that my mum bought when she was on a storage-organisation kick and my little things like the hair clips, smaller tools, etc live in a black and pink striped Juicy Couture gift box.

I am a bit of a fiend for haircare products, and this is because I have extremely long blonde hair which requires a lot of maintenance. So I do have rather a lot of products that I use on a regular basis to keep my hair soft and healthy and in good condition (nothing is worse than dry, dead hair). For the most part, I just brush my hair and use these leave-in products and avoid using heat on my hair. I only curl or straighten it when I’m working at the nightclub and I only blow-dry my hair once a week (I only wash it once a week, twice at most). This is part of the reason that my hair is so naturally long and healthy. I have the following products in my bathroom at the moment:

·         Macadamia Oil nourishing leave-in cream, which is a huge pump bottle and even though I use it all the time, it never seems to run out.

·         Brazil Nut anti-frizz smoothing curl cream, which smells incredible and also protects my hair from heat when I’m curling it.

·         GHD root lift spray, which I use after I wash my hair to create volume at the roots and also when I want to create extra volume when my hair is dry.

·         Tigi Bedhead “Ego Boost” split-end mender, which comes in an adorable hot pink and bright green pump bottle and has a funny name, which always appeals to me.

                             

Even that doesn’t sound like too much to me. Four products is pretty streamlined, I think, especially considering that my hair is as long as it is and requires as much attention as it does. I also have one can of hair lacquer (which is a really old fashioned kind of hairspray, if you’re wondering) which lives in my dressing room.

I used to be a really big hoarder of body lotions. I could never get enough of creams and lotions and yummy-smelling things. When I worked at the Body Shop I always had hundreds of little sample pots of various things, but the main one was body lotion. I have also received many different body lotions as gifts over the years and I’ve always had a hard time finishing them. Perhaps that is because I have become so busy and my schedule has become so hectic that I have less time, I don’t know. But I have slowly worked my way through the mass and last week I gave my almost-full tub of mango body butter to one of my girl friends because I can’t use it without thinking of the guy who bought it for me (not fun) and over time I have managed to whittle my collection down to the following products:

·         Body Shop strawberry body butter (almost all gone, sadly)

·         Body Shop coconut body butter (which I use so sparingly that I’ve had it since last April/May and still have most of it left. It’s my favourite)

·         Body Shop coconut shimmer lotion (same principle- I use it sparingly and still have most of it left)

·         An almost-empty jar of marshmallow flavoured “Baby Doll” body soufflé that one of my best girl friends gave me for Christmas almost two years ago and it has a gorgeous pin-up on the lid and it’s generally lovely. I have moved this into my day bag so I can force myself to apply body lotion more regularly.

Another thing I love is samples. I can’t help it, I just love them. I love to collect small products to try at home before I commit to the whole bottle. Space in my bathroom is highly limited and I don’t like to have too much clutter (which is funny, considering how much stuff I actually do use). However, I feel the need to clarify that I am not a serial sampler (Serial Sampler: A person who goes store to store, collecting samples and never buying anything). All of the samples that I collect are done so while I’m making a purchase of something else. I mentioned before that I just used my samples of the Estée Lauder moisturiser and Dr. Brandt dark circle corrector (which was nice but I won’t be spending $82 on the whole product). I also just threw away the remainder of my Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat highlighter because it was getting a little bit old. Whilst hunting through one of my makeup bags I also found tiny little perfume samples of Dior Hypnotic Poison, Chanel Eau Premiere, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb and YSL Parisienne. I also have a sample of a Chanel eye gel which I got when I was last at a Chanel counter, buying my moisturiser. It’s really lovely and gentle and I am considering buying a full-size one. I also have a sample of Chanteille cleansing milk which I am excited to try because it’s vegan, cruelty-free and full of pretty natural ingredients. I love that Mecca Cosmetica send you samples when you buy things from them online, I think that’s a really lovely touch. Why should you miss out on samples just because you didn’t purchase your products in a store? What a great way to build brand loyalty.

So that’s pretty much most of my beauty product collection, as well as a sort of confessional about my peculiar beauty habits. I hope you found this interesting! Stay tuned for Part Two: Makeup.



xoxo