Beauty Blogger Tag

Hi everyone! I have mentioned several times that I will be heading on a big overseas trip and now it is so close I can taste it! I Will be heading to Vancouver on the 19th December to see my family for nine days over Christmas, then New York for three days over new years eve then off to Spain to see some more family for the rest of the time until the 25th of January.

From now until then my shopping and spending escapades will be very limited, so my posting may be slow, and when I go away I don't expect to be able to blog much at all but  oof when I get back...WOOOSHHH!! You will all be hearing about all the latest style and beauty buys I made while I was away, as well as all the amazing things we did so stay tuned and get prepared to be jealous!

I have bought a new pair of shorts lately, the MINKPINK slasher flick shorts but it felt a little bit too weird for me posting pictures of my bum in these shorts on the net so I wont do a full post on them but let me say they are fantastic!

To keep us tied over until my trip instead of abandoning my blog, I decided to do a little old beauty blogger tag that I found on the wonderful sweetaholic beauty blog.

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

Curly and frizzy. Picture Hermione Granger in the FIRST Harry Potter film!

2. What is your natural hair color?

Some sort of dark brown but it is hard to say because it frequently gets streaks and slightly bleached from the sun.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

Salon always. I would never dye my hair myself it would never work properly and would never be able to get all my hair it is so thick!

4. How often do you wash your hair?

I am pretty lucky in that my hair doesn't get that oily. I usually only wash it once or twice a week because it takes so long to style and straighten. I will most likely use dry shampoo in-between washes though.

5. Do you wear the same style every day or change it?

I will usually leave my hair out, straighten it then curl the ends to make a big voluminous wavy look. For work I will just smack it up in a pony tail so it doesn't cover my ID badge.

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

A bit of both although I don't really do either that often anymore. I'm too lazy.

7. How often to you change your nail polish?

Whenever I am wearing it??

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter, too or just in the summer?
Only recently started doing my toes and I like it! So will make sure my feet are always properly presentable and pedicured now no matter what the season. 

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup?

Anywhere between ten minutes and an hour depending on what I want to do.

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

I have a habit of doing my face first but I try to keep reminding myself to do my eyes first to avoid the frustration of shadow spillage.

11. Do you "collect" makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

A bit of both. I try to be very frugal with my money but sometimes I go through impulsive phases where I have to buy everything that I see on all the blogs and try it for myself. I just never want to be missing out on what 'everyone' else has!

12. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Never unless I have to on stage. I hate them. They are vile.

13. Do you do a full face of makeup every day?

No way. I am way to lazy for that and I like to let my skin recover and breathe after being covered up.

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)?

No. Unless I am reading through blogs and fancy having a go at a new tutorial or something, but I will usually save it for the next time I go out anyway. 

15. Will you leave the house without makeup?

Of course, especially if I am not planning to meet up with anyone I know. However there are always those times where I have bumped into people and sorely regret leaving the house without at least a little bit of powder or something!

16. How many high end products do you have?

Not sure. A few? Depends on what you classify as high end, but I guess more and more with every positive review of something I read.

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes?

Probably not enough. Whenever I start noticing colour mixes I don't approve of and whenever I can get around to it.

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you are getting dressed?

Only if I have to wake up early in the morning and I know I will be in a hurry. Otherwise I take my time and coordinate as I get dressed.

19. How often do you change your handbag?

When the old one starts getting tatty and falls apart haha! I'm not that into bags and will pretty much just use what i've got.

20. What time do you get up & go to sleep?

Depends on my shifts. I like to wake up at around nine or ten in the morning on my days off, I can't really seem to ever sleep in any later than that.

21. How often & when do you workout?

Never at the moment. I am working on changing this!!

22. Left-handed or Right-handed?

I'm a leftie :-)

23. How tall are you?

164 centimetres or five foot four I think it is. JUST outside of the 'petite' clothing size category.

24. Do you speak a foreign language?

Some Spanish.

25. How many pets do you have?

I have the one crazy and wonderful ferret Ace.

26. How often are you on Blogger?

Most days I will have a quick flick through some blogs. Though I am finding increasingly difficult to keep up lately with so many things up in the air to stress about lately.

27. Do you read the comments posted blogs?

Absolutely! Especially if I am interested in the post. Get involved in the discussion!

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yes and it is terrible because it just ends up being a massive shopping list!

29. How did you come up with your blog name?

Creer que in Spanish is to believe something or to think something. So conjugating that into creo que being I believe that... and creoquekim technically means I think that kim or something along those lines but its Spanish and I'm Spanish and its about thinking which is what I do with my blog and it sounds nice lol.

30. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

A regular point and shoot kinda thing.

31. How often do you clean your house? (Daily, weekly, other)

At least weekly otherwise it just gets filthy and I get a bit stressed knowing there is cleaning to do. I don't mind clutter and character as long as nothing is actually dirty.

32. What is your favorite color?

I don't know, black because it goes with everything? I do like my greens and purples too though. I can say I generally hate yellow though.

33. What is your favorite beauty/fashion magazine?

Can't say I really have one. I guess I am more into the blogs!

34. Do you swear?

I try not to because it is so horrible whenever I hear my students swear but amongst close friends I may let one slip.

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Some job hunting/deciding upon offers (yes I have more than one possible offer argh!) Then will possible visit each of my parents for some lunch and enjoy the whole weekend off because next week I will be working every day from the 3rd until the 9th!

Hope that was a little bit interesting, sorry for the lack of pics!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I got myself an Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette yay! Now I know you are all probably thinking, "ummm, welcome to the party" but here it is and better late than never right?!

I'm not going to do a full review or anything because there are billions of them out there already. I just wanted to share the happiness and officially initiate myself into the beauty blogger community now that I own this palette haha! Some quick pictures...

I ordered mine at beautybay.com for $55AUD which seems to be more or less the standard going price for this set. I am really liking the colour of the lip gloss that came with it as well as the double ended brush, very convenient! Beautybay took forever to ship this to me (nearly three whole weeks) but they do offer free international shipping which is nice.

So far I am really loving pistol, verve and snakebite. Can't wait to try out all the others in various combinations!

What looks have you made with this palette? Send me a link or list your fav colours and where to put them around the eyes! Would love some ideas and inspiration to get working on this palette!

Second Last Bellabox

I recently cancelled my Bellabox subscription just because I was getting quite a backlog of unused samples and I have too many bits and bobs lying around. This is the one I got for October and I will be receiving one more for November which actually works perfectly because after that I will be going overseas for my big holiday woo!

This month was all about being pretty in pink! In addition to what I have photographed up the top they also sent me a gorgeous pink heart chocolate which I couldn't wait to eat even to take a shot first haha! I have had this box for a couple of weeks now so have been able to give nearly everything a good try.

The Estee Lauder resilience lift is like a slightly cloudy/creamy serum that you can put on any time of day, as often as you want, even over make-up for an instant skin lift. I notice it makes my skin really perky and smooth as I put it on and I love it! They said on the info that over time it can even boost collagen levels in your skin and promote skin elasticity. Not a cheapie though, so might not be buying this one soon but maybe one day. The Clinique turnaround concentrate had the same feel and texture of the resilience lift but claims to work as a serum that accelerates the renewal of skin cells on your face. I have been trying so many different things on my face lately, it's hard to attribute any success to one particular thing but using both of these I have had no problems at all and I am liking the improvements I am seeing regardless!

I was happy to receive TWO lippies in my Bellabox this month. Both pink of course, one, a shimmery and glossy shade from elf and another a pink-stick balm from carmex. Carmex balms never fail to moisturise my lips as I sometimes have problems with this working under harsh air-conditioners (haha poor me) and in an indoor smoking environment. I love how I can whack carmex on and let it work its magic, keeping my lips comfortable and even helping them heal when they get chapped or broken. 

Not sure if I am a fan of this shade but will be sure to try the claimed 'instant drying' effect as soon as my nails recover from my last visit to the nail salon (I got acrylics done for a photo shoot). 

As you can see this was a very little sample but I was so pleased to see it came with a tiny little push-pump at the top so I didn't have to drop and rub it onto my skin like with so many other fragrance samples, very convenient! This scent didn't really do much for me. It is fresh but I found it very, very floral. I know this is a very popular scent but I guess it's obviously not for everyone.

I have used this twice on my hair after washing it but never got around to blowdrying it. I just let it dry naturally so I can't really comment yet on wether or not it really reduced blow drying time. I did like how it wasn't sticky at all, like many heat protectors and it didn't weigh my hair down or make it look like it was full of product. Some promising qualities, will have to get around to actually doing my hair properly!

Isika Spa Retreat

This week Tom and I had our 3 year anniversary! We spent the Saturday shopping for gifts for each other then on Sunday I booked us a private room in the day spa at the resort where I work. At the beauty boutique next to the spa I also bought a fantastic new lip gloss which I will share too.

My bubble bath prepped and ready to go!

The ISIKA Plate Ritual with lots of goodies to pamper myself with!

Me creepily enjoying my champagne before hopping into the spa haha!

I was fascinated by this amazing spa shower!

Needless to say my skin and hair felt amazing after using the products from the ritual. The body polish (darkest beige colour in the pic) was particularly effective being packed full of granules of all different sizes. I didn't care much for the face moisturiser at the end because it smelled a bit 'chemically' however it didn't aggravate my skin or anything so all good there!

I first tried this lipgloss a few weeks ago when I borrowed it off another girl I was filming a commercial with and knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible! It is AVEDA lip shine in grapefruit and cost me $27 after my staff discount. It looks pink in the tube but when you put it on your lips it looks a lot more nude. It is also quite sparkly but again, when put on your lips it just comes across as a nice natural glossy sheen which I like. I smells and tastes like any of those plumping glosses you can find, with a pepperminty aroma.I can see I am going to run out of this one very quickly because it is one of those lip colours that you can just wear everyday with any look or even without any other make-up!

LUSH: "Sweety Pie" and "It's Raining Men"

I bought these two body washes a while ago but kind of forgot I had them and now I have been using them a lot recently because I can't get enough of these wonderful smells! I started using them when I ran out of my usual Palmers cocoa body wash and now I'm not sure if I want to go back!

What I love about both of them is how they fill the bathroom with their aroma after a shower as well as leaving my skin feeling soft, clean and gently scented. Their smells are indeed what drove me to buy them both from the shops.

Ace was helping me blog today!

The main ingredient in this body wash is honey! This worried me a little as I thought it would be sticky and difficult to wash this but there was no problems at all. It squeezes out of the bottle like honey but it is far less 'syrupy' than pure honey. It makes a light lather and I use it all over my body, I haven't tried it in my hair though like it says you can!

With flash so you can see more of the sparkles

Sweety pie smells so amazing, if you are a fan of blackcurrant you absolutely cannot go past this one! I wish they made this jelly in more flavours, a strawberry, honey or vanilla version of this stuff would drive me wild! The jelly stays together so you need to cut it up or scratch/scoop out sections with your fingers to use it. I take a little bit and scrub it into my loofah. It bubbles up like crazy and you only need a very small amount, this will last you a very long time! It has tons of blue sparkles all through it that don't show up much in my photos and I haven't noticed any left on my skin after a wash but still a nice touch I think!

What are your favourite body washes at the moment?

September Bellabox

This month's Bellabox came with some interesting goodies! Along with a bunch of great new samples I received a $15 voucher to use at theiconic.com. I haven't tried everything yet so instead of doing full reviews of each product I will just do a quick share and if your have any questions or are particularly interested in anything here in particular then ask me in the comments and I will be sure to get back to you.

I got a cute little sample of the 'It's potent!' eye cream from Benefit. I usually use 'all about eyes' from Clinique but am really looking forward to trying something new when my next pot runs out. Actually, I am saving this sample for when I go travelling in December, along with a heap of other sample pots of my beauty regime products. I was more than impressed with the 'porefessional' from Benefit so am looking forward to giving this one a spin.

This concealer kit from saviour faire contains four different shades of concealers and two powders to go along with them. I have gotten into the habit of using the darker shades to give my face contour and the lighter shades for highlights. I am still experimenting with some ways to change the look of the shape of my face using this kit but so far so good! I'm hoping to get a bit more confidence using different coloured concealers to shape my face before buying some full sized foundations in different shades. 

These were two samples I got from Bioderma. The blue one on the right was a facial wash cleanser. It was really small and I was a bit let down by this because it was only enough to use it a couple of times, especially when Bellabox has sent me plenty of full-sized similar samples before. Not really enough to get a good idea of wether or not a facial wash will work for me. I have been using the one on the left as a spot treatment for acne and it seems to work quite well. I am still going through a similar sample from my last Bellabox and with all the great products I am receiving I don't seem to be getting as much acne as I did before!

I was not really a huge fan of the last product I got from this brand but am yet to try this one. It is suppose to be a sort of all-purpose styling product. It smells nicer than the grassy one from the last Bellabox. I am thinking I will try it in my future attempts to replicate a 'Kristen Stewart' hairstyle, using it to pump up the roots of my fringe and hair around my face before letting the rest of it drop down and flow to my shoulders. Only time can tell!

This was a really interesting find! It is a body moisturiser but it comes in a spray can and comes out of the can like hair mousse. You spray it into your hands or straight onto your skin like any other mousse and spread it around. It gets absorbed by my skin super quickly and leaves my legs feeling fresh and moisturised. I think you need to use it quite liberally because it gets absorbed so quickly it can be hard to spread but not if you use plenty. Something I have never seen before and I do quite like the idea. We may or may not be seeing a lot more products like this one in the future. Keep an eye out and try one out if you get the chance!

What are your most recent favourite samples?

NOTD - Australis Aqua

A friend of mine was wearing this shade recently and it immediately caught my attention. This nail colour from Australis is called 'Aqua' (funnily enough). I think this is such a great unique and bold color. I didn't have anything like it and wanted to try something new so for just $3.99 I snapped up this little bargain.

The bottle says 'streak-free' and when I tested this, comparing it to the application of some of my other nail colours, I found that it doesn't look streaky at all! It seems to spread out evenly on my nail when I 'glob' it on. The colour is a tiny bit transparent on the first coat but as you can see it is bright, matte and solid with two even coats.

I have been getting so many compliments on my nails since wearing this colour as it is such a standout! I am so glad my friend was wearing this that day I spotted it because this is a colour I probably never would have even looked at on the shelf otherwise. Just goes to show you should always try new things (especially if they are cheap!). 

I was looking around and found a lot of minty green colours that I liked but I think this one is slightly more unique being more on the blue side. I think I might look for a nice pastel violet/lavender colour next!


What do you think of Australis Aqua? What is your favourite nail colour at the moment?

Lush Sugar Lip Scrub in Bubblegum

My most recent trip to Lush had me leaving with a some lovely smelly things that I really didn't need but snapped up either way. I thought I would share this bubblegum flavoured lip scrub!

This comes in a cute little 25g tub for AUD$9.95. It smells and tastes delicious and has the Lush Vegan stamp of approval. I rub it over my lips as part of my skin care regime because it leaves my lips feeling soft and smooth after (but not moisturised). 

It is a bit of a silly buy, as i'm sure you could make something very similar at home using some granulated sugar mixed with a bit of oil, (the ingredients on the package list: Castor sugar, Organic Jojoba Oil, flavour and colour) but I thought it was cute and it wasn't particularly expensive so I went for it. I might try making some as a DIY project in the future after looking to some different kinds of oils I might use.

The other flavours available are 'Mint Julips' and 'Sweet Lips'. You can find them at any lush store or online in Australia here. 

My lips getting a scrub!

What are some of your favourite Lush products? 

August Bellabox

The theme for the August Bellabox was 'Go Green' and it contained lots of great natural products that I couldn't wait to try. There were a couple of 'meh' products for me in this one but I still had lots of fun trying out all my new samples!

LUK Beautiful Lip Nourish

3g $24.95 available at bellabox.com.au

What they say:

Did you know that some women consume up to 2kg of lipstick in a lifetime? If you love lip products but care about what you put on your pout, you'll love being one of the first to try this hot-from-the-lab product (it's not even in stores yet, hence no labels!) made from a 100% natural, edible and food active recipe. Your pout will be onto a winner with Tangerine and Vanilla flavour.

What I say:

I like the concept of this product. It wears like a smooth creamy lip-stick (not a balm or a gloss) with a semi-sheer colour. I can smell the tangerine but it's not an overpowering scent or anything. This one was a little bit of a let down for me as I can't wear it because I just don't like how the colour looks like on me. It is a really dark brown and I don't know if it is because of my complexion or style but when I wear it on my lips it just looks dirty. I can see why they chose this colour for the samples though, it is very neutral, just doesn't work for me. I will be keeping an eye on the development of this product and hopefully the release of some more suitable colours!

Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

225g $29.95 available at Lush stores nationally and at lush.com.au

What they say:

2012 Winner of the Australian Business Awards for Best New Product, use this ingenious product just like a hair conditioner...except it's for your body! Apply all over right after showering to feel thoroughly deoderised, moisturised and smelling like sweet rose and lemon.

What I say:

I have heard quite a bit of hype about this product and it caught my attention in store knowing the benefits of Argan oil for skin and hair. I was a little bit disappointed to see Argan oil half way through the ingredients list, considering it is in the name of the product. This smells really strong and it even gave me a little bit of a headache when I was putting it on and wearing it throughout the day so if you are into fragrance-free products then this is not for you! It smells like that strong organic soapy smell you get when you walk into lush with notes of rose. I find it hard to spread around because my skin just laps it up immediately which I suppose is a good thing and I was trying to use it sparingly as I was given a small sample tub. My legs stay super smooth and moisturised after using this so it is definitely effective as a body butter, and a nice option to go for if you don't want a shimmer which a lot of body moisturisers seem to have these days. 

Phytocare Daily C

30 sachets x 3.7g $17.80 available at phytocare.com.au

What they say:

Phytocare are back at bb with their Vitamin C Powder, individually packaged in convenient daily sachets containing a mix of essential nutrients. Feel good on the inside and out with these Citrus Burst supplements, free of sugar and with no artificial, colours, flavours or preservatives.

What I say:

I haven't tried these yet as I have decided that I am going to save these for when I am sick because they seem like a good, natural thing to take if you are feeling under the weather might be getting ill soon.

Emerginc Phytocell Detox Mask

50ml $70 available at bellabox.com.au

What they say:

Pure, potent and cosmeceutical, emerginC products are formulated and tested by a team of experienced doctors and chemists. To achieve glow, the green-clay based Phytocell Detox Mask will remove impurities in 10-15 mins!

What I say:

I thought that this wasn't a big enough sample as I couldn't cover my entire face in a layer of the clay so I settled for a blotchy mask application. I think that samples like this need to be more than one use especially if the full sized product is $70 because you are going to need to use it more than once to get a good feel of it! On the plus side, despite my face not being fully covered, when I was washing it off I kept rinsing and rinsing because my face felt like it still had the mask on. I looked up in the mirror to see my face was clean and when I dried it off I was amazed at how my skin felt smooth and rubbery. With repeated use 1-3 times a week as is recommended I could only imagine how your skin might begin to feel. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this is one mud mask I won't be going for simply due to the painful price tag!

Be in Awe Skincare

Nirvaata Calming Serum $69, Amala Clearing Serum $79

What they say:

If you are yet to try serums, your skin is missing out! Perfect for itchy skin conditions and for use after skin irritation treatments the nirvaata Calming Serum soothes with anti-inflammatory ingredients. For oily skin try the amala Clearing Serum, designed to gently treat sebum build up by addressing four major factors of acne formation.

What I say:

Im going to save the calming serum for the next time I get sunburnt. I have been using the clearing serum as a spot treatment for pimples that come up big or small. I have had a couple and have put this on before going to bed at night to wake up and see a very significant reduction in the pimple! The only thing that is left behind is a little bit of redness from when I had been prodding and poking it the day before. Depending on the severity of acne, it might take a few more days to work completely but I would say this is an effective little treatment! It smells like citrus and tea-tree oil which I don't particularly like but I don't smell it for very long after it dries on my skin. 

Wotnot Facial Wipes

Pack of 25 $7.95 available at bellabox.com.au

What they say:

What is not to love about Wotnot Facial Wipes? Made with 100% natural fibres and enriched with certified organic aloe vera, sweet almond oil and rosehip oil use to remove make-up and refresh skin. Also kind to the earth, these wipes are 100% biodegradable. 

What I say:

These are thin, soft and stretchy. I was glad to receive these because I am running out of make-up wipes and I use them a lot. It is good to know that these are 100% biodegradable so I can be sure that they won't be sitting around in a rubbish dump for hundreds of years like plastic bags. Effective and easy to use without being too wet.

USPA Wheatgrass Solar Energy Leave-in Serum

150ml $32 please direct enquiries to Uspa on 0397936929

What they say:

A leave-in serum that utilises the unique properties of wheatgrass, silicone, glycerine and essential oils to preserve and protect colour treated hair. It also serves as a superior styling aid my minimising frizz, maintaining smoothness and offering extra protection for heat styling.

What I say:

This seemed like the perfect product for me as my hair is very frizzy and is always in need of some taming. This made my hair feel really heavy and it took forever for my hair to dry with it. It is more like a conditioner/butter than a serum. The shape of the sample pot made it quite difficult to get most of it out too. :-(

So thats my Bellabox for this month. Was yours the same? Have you tried any of these products and disagree with me?

The Face Shop Power Perfection BB Cream

I was shopping in the city a while back and stumbled across this small Korean cosmetics store called 'The Face Shop' in Piccadilly Arcade (Perth). I was starting to get into the craze of BB creams and had a few samples from Mecca and Kit cosmetics waiting to be tested. In this shop I found a huge range of different BB creams with different qualities and levels of cover. I tried out the Miracle Cover and Power Perfection BB creams as they were the two creams with the highest level of cover. I was inclined to go for the Miracle Cover just because it was the absolute thickest but the girl informed me the Power Perfection one was the most popular and still had good coverage so I tried it as well. I was so impressed I nearly bought it right there and then but held my impulses and went home with the sample pack.

This BB cream comes in two shades, light beige and natural beige: natural beige being slightly darker. They only had samples in the darker shade and I was worried that it would be too dark for me as I am pretty much as pale as pale can be and always seem to match the very lightest shades of foundations in most ranges however the natural beige in this BB cream matched me perfectly! I think that if you are worried about it being too dark you can always use a slightly lighter powder over the top or vice versa. 

As long as I can get my hands on this stuff I AM NEVER USING FOUNDATION AGAIN!! I love how I can just whack this on my face and rub it in like a moisturiser instead of having to meticulously blend foundation. It is so convenient for someone lazy like me. It leaves a slightly dewey effect on my skin but I just dab on some powder to complete my full cover, matte face look. 

It is a little bit on the pricey side at around $50 a pop, but you get a very decent amount in this 40g bottle and you only need a very small amount to cover your entire face perfectly. It comes with a pump to make sure you don't use too much. I use one pump each time and it is more than enough. I think a reason that this one is more popular than the Miracle Cover one is because this one has an SPF37 and supposed anti-wrinkle effects included as well as a high level of coverage.

I didn't want to do this post until I had a better camera and could take photos of my face before and after using this amazing BB cream but I know that is going to be a while away still and I couldn't wait any longer to share this great product! It lasts all day on me without smudging or fading. I have read that some people with particularly oily skin find that oil control is average and diminishes slightly after a few hours depending on the weather. I don't think you can go wrong with this in winter though. 

Have you tried any other products from The Face Shop? What is your favourite BB Cream?