Exciting weekend ahead! IMATS & ABBW 2011

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll probably have noticed i've been using a certain hashtag a lot #ABBW2011 that's because IT'S HERE! Well almost here! Maybe you're wondering what #ABBW2011 is?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="image from www.theabbw.com"][/caption]

Let me enlighten you.

It's the super dooper Australian Beauty Blogger Weekend which has been organized by megaminds Kimmi of The Plastic Diaries & Jacie of You've Got Nail many many months of preperation have gone into the weekend and i'm one of the 85 beauty bloggers attending. Simply? I...CAN'T...WAIT! It's going to be a full on weekend with keynotes, events and general flitting about meeting other beauty bloggers. Follow me on Twitter for updates all weekend!

What's even better is is co-incides with the makeup mecca for all makeup fans, IMATS (International Make Up Artist Trade Show). Don't let the name fool you, you don't need to be a Make Up Artist to attend, hell I hardly know what half of the THOUSANDS of brushes you can buy there do but if they feel nice and look pretty sure enough they'll end up in my basket.

If you would like to attend IMATS, anyone can go! It will cost you a few bux though $40 for a 1 day pass and $65 for a two day pass. It is worth it when you see brands like Make Up Forever with a 40% discount. You can purchase tickets at the door or on the website.

I attended IMATS last year, so i'm a seasoned IMATS professional *obviously* so here are a few quick suggestions to make your day wonderful!

• Check out what brands are going to be there and maybe make a plan to visit the places you plan to buy from first, some things do sell out quite quickly. My plan of attack was hit the OCC lip tars first and i'm glad I did because an hour later the colours I snapped up were gone.


• Have a look at the schedule of speakers and see if there is someone you simply can't miss. Sometimes seating is limited so it's worth getting there a bit earlier.


• Make sure you check out all the amazing makeup artists at work around the show, in particular the special effects artists!


• Wear comfortable shoes


• Take cash where possible, and try and set yourself a bit of a budget otherwise it can get a bit out of hand with the spending (unless you have oodles of cash to spend)


• Say Hi to any of the beauty bloggers if you see us wandering about! We don't bite...hard :)


• BRUSHES! Buy brushes! They are cheap and great quality! See what's missing in your stash now and make a list of what you might need, there are a shit load so it might get overwhelming seeing them all and you'll forget what you need and end up with a brush you won't ever use.


• Give something a go you've never tried before... perhaps a crazy glitter or a really bright pigmented eyeshadow!

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Hope that has helped!

I also posted last year about my IMATS experience so check that out HERE including a video of my haul.

IMATS is on Saturday & Sunday (24th & 25th of September, 2011)

Lust Have It Box #2 - Open box video

Here I am with another open box video, hope you enjoy these as I enjoy making them! My apologies for the quality and the out of syncness (new word!) not quite sure what was going on with my webcam, maybe the warm Sydney weather has confused it somewhat!



 

Revlon Top Speed Nail Polishes & Glam Vans!

 

I was recently invited to attend a fashion show and sit front row (wowza!) as part of 30 Days of Fashion & Beauty. The show presented by Revlon Top Speed was all about the springs hottest upcoming trend, colour blocking! Now i'm no fashion blogger and still don't think i deserve front row at a fashion show but I do know one thing. The colour blocking trend is hot! Not so sure I could pull it off myself but see below for my own personal way of colour blocking...kind of :)

Now I did my blogger duty and took photos at the fashion show but guess what, my camera had a bitch fit and i've lost the photos :(

Instead I have my own version of colour blocking and some pretty rad coloured polishes from Revlon to show you instead.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="588" caption="Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamels in - Sheer Cotton, Chili, Electric, Royal & Jelly"][/caption]

I found these polishes did live up to the name and were a quick dry polish, great news for girls on the go! I found the formula to Sheer Cotton needs a few coats to build up but if you enjoy sheer polishes it would be fine for you, I also found this one was a little streaky whereas all the other applied really smoothly and easily for me. Faves are definitely Chili & Jelly and Electric is a bit of fun!

Now ready for my colour block/skittle mani!





Now you can get your hands (haha get it?) on a free manicure and possibly a free bottle of nail polish! FREE!!

The Revlon Top Speed Glam Vans are making their way around Sydney see below for details! If you do manage to get along i'd love to see your mani, maybe they'll do a skittle mani for you :)

The Revlon Top Speed Glam Vans will appear in 4 popular Sydney locations and will be offering free mini manis-  as well as giving away full size nail polishes to everyone who ‘checks in’ via Facebook!

 

The Revlon Glam Vans will be located at:

 

Customs House Forecourt, Alfred Street - Friday 16 September 4:00- 8:00pm

 

Bondi Pavilion Forecourt - Sunday 18 September, 12:00- 4:00pm

 

Cockle Bay Wharf - Friday 23 September, 5:00- 9:00pm

 

Cockle Bay Wharf - Friday 30 September, 5:00- 9:00pm

Items were provided for my consideration and I was invited to the show as a guest of Revlon. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Video: Beauty Box #1 - Open the box video!

I've just received another one of the beauty sample boxes i've subscribed to, this time it was Beauty Box!

If you're subscribed and don't want to be spoilt... MOVE ALONG! DO NOT WATCH!

Otherwise enjoy :)

Some info for you -

Subscription is $14.95AUD / month

They are still taking orders for the September box so if you like what's inside, go and subscribe!

Visit the Beauty Box website for more information

Illamasqua Theatre Of The Nameless Collection & Mini Skin Base Review!

I was lucky enough to go to Illamasqua on Monday night and get a preview of their new collection with a bunch of other Sydney Beauty Bloggers and as always at Illamasqua events, there were lots of oooohhs and aaahhhs.

This new collection is amazing, I didn't think it could get much better after Toxic Nature but well yep they did it again. Once again the imagery for the collection is exquisite and I urge you to click through to the website and have a look at the pictures yourself. Clickey Here!

So what was amazing? The polishes... oh my stars! They are this cool rubber like texture, not really a matte finish (which i'm not a huge fan of) but they look like rubber. The story about them also was kind of cool, the colours were based on the different colour boots prostitutes wore back in the day to show what their fetishes were, only Illamasqua would come up with colours based on such an inspiration but I guess that's why we love them! Outside the box people!

They also delved into the world of shimmery blush and well, keep going and delve further because this is one girl who loves her shimmer & glitter! The colour Ambition is in the pinky-peach vain that I'm a big fan of and is such a colour that is wearable on so many skin tones.

Even though this is a autumn/winter collection, I think the colours are all wearable for spring.

Some photos of course!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="588" caption="zee collection"][/caption]



The polishes! Don't you love the new matte/rubber style lid. I believe this is only for this collection but it's so darn sexy I wish they'd do them all like that.



Our lovely host Mandi's skittle manicure using all the new colours, see the finish!



Bloggers rocking bold lips, these girls pull it off so well! Lilit, Jen & Adeline.



My goodies I got to take home! Nail Varnish in Faux Pas (swatches to come!) & Pure Pigment in Berber. My one gripe with Illamasqua is the packaging on the pure pigments, so hard to open! I almost always break a nail doing it.



Swatch of Pure Pigment in Berber, amazing red colour with a green glitter through it. I've tried to show it as best I can. On the 2nd swatch I put it over a green base to try and bring out that glitter even more. Such a cool colour! I'll have to get creative thinking of a way to wear this one!

We also had an opportunity on the night to get colour matched for the new Skin Base foundation. I'd been curious and heard mixed reviews on it but from what i'd heard and the idea coming from BB creams I really wanted to give it a go, so I bought one. I was colour matched to No.7. I've only been wearing it a few days but so far i'm loving it! The texture is beautiful, it just melts into the skin and makes my skin look like my skin but better.

The coverage is also great and it builds up really easily. As for the wear it actually wears pretty well, by the end of the day i'm a little oily around my nose and my chin but a bit of powder fixes that right up. I'm also finding my skin at the end of the day feels much nicer then usual as well. I've taken a photo of me wearing it as well just to show the coverage/finish etc.





My mug!

Thanks to Mandi, Mikele, Francis & the team at Illamasqua for inviting me!

Please note products shown were provided for my consideration, except the Skin Base foundation which I bought on the night. Please read my disclosure policy if you'd like any further information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Tag!

I've seen this doing the rounds on the blogs I read so I thought since i'm sitting here eating my boring Tuna & Lettuce at lunch I might give it a whirl! If you do this or have done it, send me a comment below so I can go read.

Beverages:

1. Starbucks Caramel Frappucino Light (THIS IS MY JAM YO!)

2. Coke - sadly we've had to move into a long distance relationship but I occassionally still indulge :)

3. Ginger Beer - Love the stuff! I also found a sugar free version that doesn't contain Aspartame so hell to the yeah!

4. Coffee (particularly Caramel Lattes)

5. Water - who'd a thunk i'd grow to love this stuff?

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="327" caption="Credit - We Heart It"][/caption]

Snacks:

1. Cherry Ripe - in moderation of course!

2. Apples with Peanut Butter

3. Celery, Carrot, Capsicum sticks with Ranch Dressing (you should see my giant Ranch dressing I have...yeh i'm addicted)

4. Pork Crackles - don't judge, when your on a high protein, low carb diet and are craving chips these are a winner! shit loads of calories though so keep these snacks to a minimum

5. Cashews... nom nom nom!

 

Image Credit - We Heart It

Apps:
1. Twitter

2. Instagram

3. My Fitness Pal

4. Plants Vs Zombies

5. Tiny Tower (although I haven't been playing lately)

 

Movies

1. Edward Scissorhands

2. Mean Girls

3. Neverending Story/The Little Mermaid (sorry I had to!)

4. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

5. Almost Famous (I mean I named my dog after one of the main characters!)

...surely i'm forgetting something!

 

Books:
1. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

2. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

3. This is Why You're Fat by Jackie Warner

4. Chelsea Handlers books (sorry couldn't pick 1, love them all)

5. Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (currently being made into a movie)

OH and I love the Harry Potter books too

 

Also if you haven't heard this song or seen this film clip, you haven't lived! Enjoy!

 

 

Nail Polish Haul!

Today I did another nail polish haul at Pro Nail Supply on Bankstown and here are the goodies I picked up.

China Glaze - Ahoy!, China Glaze - Pure Torture, Orly - La Vida Loca, Essie - St. Barths Blue, Orly - On The List, Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil, Precision - Twilight Zone, China Glaze - Nova, China Glaze - Secret Peri-Winkle, OPI - Lucerne-Tainley Look Marvelous

Looking forward to trying out the Precision color as it's a brand i've never tried before and the colour is beautiful (deep purple with rainbow holo glitters)

You'll surely be seeing these colours in upcoming NOTD posts.

In other exciting nail news! I got a Helmer!!!! Waiting for the boyfriend to put it together for me tomorrow and then I can begin sorting out my nail polish collection... Yippeeeeeeee!

Biiiiiirthday

Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday...woah thirties!

I started my day with an amazing facial at Northmead Beauty Therapy, it was my first time getting a facial there and my first facial in a few years, loved it! I had a Dermalogica face mapping as part of my facial so left with a few new prods to try out.

Then it was present time! I was very spoilt and one of my gifts is what I'm doing this blog post on, my new iPad!

Later that night it was dinner at Aperitif a restaurant owned by Manu Fieldel and Miguel Meastre, Manu wasn't there but Miguel was and was a charming not to mention quite a good looking host :). I ate my way through tapas and paella and consumed far too much sangria but boy it was good!!!

I had a great day saying goodbye to my twenties and hello to my thirties!

If anyone has any iPad app recommendations please let me know :)