Hello! Today I wanted to share a nail of the day which I've never actually done before. Although I love getting my nails done, sadly I'm now a uni student and need to buy necessities like food and rent rather than gel nails. Instead I've found myself painting my nails more and more so today I want to share a nail combination that I've been loving.

Inspired by the Instagramer paulasmilee, I'm wearing O.P.I's "My Very First Knockwurst" which is a muted pink/nude. I needed two coats to get it opaque and then topped it off with Sally Hansen's "Big Matte Top Coat". I think that the two nail polishes paired together give an elegant, yet edgy feel and it's perfect for both night and day! What nail polish are you wearing right now? Comment down below!

TOP AUTUMN/WINTER LIPSTICKS

Hello!

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things so today I'll be showing you guys my top autumn/winter lip colours. 

There's a mix of both nudes and darker shades with a mix of drugstore and high end makeup for everyone to enjoy! A while ago I filmed a video to show you the colours so I'll also pop links to all the colours here:

1. Face of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Sundae (I think this may be discontinued but some Priceline stores still have it. They also have the same shade on their website but I don't think it is sheer.)
2. Essence Lipliner in In the Nude
3. MAC Lip Pencil in Hover & Australis Velourlips in Par-ee
4. MAC Lip Pencil in Hover & MAC Lipstick in Modesty
5. Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayon in Glace
6. Essence Lipliner in Satin Mauve
7. Rimmel Lipstick in #107
8. Australis Velourlips in Buda-pash
9. MAC Lip Pencil in Currant & MAC Lipstick in Runner

Also, tell me what your favourite autumn/winter lip colour is! I'm always on the lookout for more. See you in my next post :)

MECCA MAXIMA HAUL

Why hello there! It's been a while since I've been on this blog and I've missed it quite a lot :( I've been working full time and more personal things have also happened which meant that blogging had to be put on the back bench. With that aside, I'm doing a Mecca Maxima haul today! I caught up with an old friend about a week ago and picked up some goodies so I'm going to share what I got with you.

Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer:
Now that it's close to winter, I've gotten quite pale and decided to get a bronzer to warm up my complexion. I've never really tried a bronzer because I'm always scared it'll look too orange and muddy so I decided to try this bronzer. This bronzer is light in colour so it's perfect for people with fair skin to add warmth without it looking too orange and dark. It's also matte so it can also be used to contour lightly. Since it's a light bronzer I can quickly apply it when I'm in a rush but it's also buildable for a more bronzed look. Added bonus is that it smells like chocolate *heart eyes emoji*.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Naked:
I was so excited that UD is finally in Australia I had to get at least one thing from there. I couldn't pick between the Naked palettes so I decided to get a single shadow in Naked. One of my favourite Youtubers lindseyrem raved about this eyeshadow and it's the perfect everyday colour! It's a lovely matte beige-y brown shade that's buttery and smooth. It's great all over the lid or in the crease and is honestly a must have for everyone!

Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup:
I was also running low on my foundation so I decided to try a new one. I hadn't heard much about this foundation but I really wish I looked up on it. Sadly, this is the only product from my haul that I don't like. I loved the application at first and the foundation gave me a really natural finish whilst covering my acne scars and redness.  However, after trying it a couple more times I just didn't get that nice finish. It was harder to build up and I could only get a light coverage. I will say it does give a lovely matte and velvety finish but it tended to cake up on my skin. I really only wear foundation to work and prefer something with a fuller coverage, so I ended up returning this product (thank you Mecca for your amazing returns policy).

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer in Luminous Bronze Light:
This is my last product and possibly one of the most exciting things in my haul. I love Hourglass and have always wanted to purchase something from there and while at Mecca I thought 'stuff it' and went for it. This bronzer has shimmer which is something I tend to steer away from but it gives such a lovely glow to the skin. I like to dust this along my cheekbones to give me some more definition but  also adding healthy glow. It makes me look more radiant and warm which I really need in winter. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm tempted to buy their blushes now!

So that's it for today! I probably won't do another haul for a while now, but do stay tuned for a new video coming up later this week to do with lipsticks and some new blog posts :) I'm really hoping to post a lot more so fingers crossed.

REVIEW: NYX MINERAL STICK FOUNDATION

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while but today I’m doing a review on the NYX Mineral Stick Foundation! I got sent them from NYX when I asked them about their blush in Taupe a couple of months ago which was amazing for contouring. This is their alternative and I decided to do a review and a mini tutorial for a very natural contour.

02 Porcelain (left) and 09 Caramel (left)

So first things first, the review!

The NYX Mineral Stick Foundation come in 9 shades and the formula is creamy and easy to blend. Although the formula is creamy, it isn’t heavy and provides light to medium coverage. The coverage is buildable, but does tend to look ‘cakey’ when you try to get medium to full coverage. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this as a foundation especially if you have oily skin like me since it has a dewy finish, however, I would recommend this for contouring and highlighting. I love using this to brighten up my under eye area because I find that it gives me enough coverage without making me feel like I have layers upon layers of makeup. Since it is so easy to blend, it makes it great for achieving an everyday contour. It retails for $16.95 (in Australia) each at Target which although seems pricey, I find that it if you’re using it just to contour or highlight it is a good price. 

Swatch of 02 Porcelain (right) and 09 Caramel (left)

I love the Kim K contouring and highlighting technique, however it is honestly too much for everyday wear. On a day to day basis I will only wear foundation, but some times I want to give my face some shape and to do that I’ll contour and highlight with the NYX Mineral Stick Foundation.

I got sent the colours Porcelain 02 and Caramel 09 which aren’t the exact colours that match me for contouring and highlighting, but I have created a technique to make it natural and work with my skin tone! (For reference: I haven’t found my exact foundation shade yet but NC25 in the MAC Prolongwear Liquid and Revlon Colourstay in Sand Biege are what has worked best for me. NC25 is a tad too orange and the Revlon Colourstay in Sand Beige is a tad too pink.) 

Disclaimer: I was kindly sent the NYX Mineral Stick foundation as I asked about the blush ‘Taupe’. I was not asked to do a review and being sent the product has not changed my opinion on them. 

DECEMBER PLAYLIST

Why hello there!
With less than a week til Christmas, I thought it would be a nice time to show you my favourite Christmas tunes (although I may or may not have started listening to them in October).
I'll keep this December playlist short but basically, it features all of my favourite Christmas songs old and new! It has some classic tunes by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole along with some newer renditions by Ariana Grande and Christina Aguilera.

I really hope you enjoy and have a fantastic Christmas!

UPDATE: GRADUATING, NEW JOB + MORE

Hello everyone! Sorry for the unannounced departure from this little corner of the internet but I am here to say I am back! Several things have happened since my last post which has preoccupied me so I thought it would be best to do a little update: 

1. I graduated from high school and completed my HSC! 
I think I mentioned this before in other posts but I was quite busy with graduation and HSC (which is the equivalent to GCSE's etc, I think). Leaving school was quite bittersweet; I didn't especially like school but I really learned a lot (in an academic sense and about myself too) and I made life long friends there. It's one of those experiences where even though it wasn't enjoyable at times, I would probably go back and do it again as cliché as that is. I still remember the first day I walked into school as an acne ridden, shy and awkward kid and though I'm still acne ridden, shy and awkward, I've grown a lot and become comfortable in my own skin. 

2. Senior Formal/Prom
I also had my senior formal/prom and I was in the committee so lots of last minute prep had to be done. I'll see if I can insert a picture later but I don’t have many! I was hoping to do a video for Youtube but that didn't really turn out because setting up took longer than expected and then amidst my stress I forgot to film the video. I will be doing a New Years makeup tutorial though based off my formal makeup though! 

3. I lost my blog posts :( 
So this one is so annoying for me but I actually wrote all my blog posts on my school laptop and as mentioned, I've graduated so I had to give my laptop back. I put everything I needed onto a USB stick and then surprise surprise, nothing opens on my Mac (school laptop was a PC). It's not much but I did have some more blog posts planned out and even this blog post was just about ready to post. Now I have to re-write it and it's quite annoying. If anyone knows how to open an ".one" extension on my Mac please tell me! 

4. I got a job!
Recently, I got myself a job! I figured that since I'm not going anywhere these holidays, I could make some money and save for university (hopefully!). It's my second job and so far it's been my favourite! I've been getting heaps of shifts so my time is quite limited but I'm enjoying it so much. I've made some new friends and everyone is so lovely (and discounts are always a perk)! 

5. Youtube
I've loved Youtube for many many years and now that I've graduated, I decided to post videos! As I said before, my first Youtube video would've been my Senior Formal video but as that didn't go to plan, I've started a Christmas DIY series! There will be room décor, food, gift ideas etc for Christmas and then I'll be doing whatever comes to mind and whatever is suggested. I really hope you enjoy them and here's my first video: 

So there you are- that's what has been going on in my life for the past couple of weeks. I also wanted to mention that my blog will be 'under construction'. It'll still be accessible but right now, my comment section is hard to get to so hopefully I can fix it with my limited HTML skills. 

Hope you guys are having a lovely day! 

4 WAYS TO USE COCONUT OIL

Hello! Once again, I'm back for a new post and this time I'm not extremely late! This week has been quite hectic; I graduated from high school on Friday and I've had mixed emotions this week; on one hand, I'm glad to leave school because I don't exactly like the schooling system where how 'smart' you are is based on what kind of subjects you do (apparently, your marks scale higher if you do more Science based subjects like Chemistry, than if you do Arts based subjects like Visual Arts - which is a pity for me). However, on the other hand, I've met my best friends at my school and as my year is quite small, we're a close, tight knit group of friends. As I'm planning to move states for university, I know I won't be staying in touch with everyone and that honestly makes me quite sad. 

Anyway! Back to the post, today I'll be sharing four of my favourite uses of Coconut Oil. I think it's part of the new 'super food' craze and whether or not you believe it, I personally love Coconut Oil for beauty purposes. It absorbs well into the skin without it feeling greasy and since its pH level (it ranges between 5.5-7.8) is similar to our skins ideal pH level (5.5 is said to be the 'magical' number), it is great for neutralising your skins pH level. Not having a neutral pH level can be one of the reasons why your skin is very oily and prone to pimples or even extremely dry. 

4 WAYS TO USE COCONUT OIL:

1) Cuticle Oil

Being a high school student who barely has enough money to buy a coffee, I've become quite frugal with the little money I've saved and I've never been able to justify spending over $10 on a small bottle of cuticle oil. Honestly, some of them are probably filled with nasties that you wouldn't want to put on your nails anyway! I find using a small drop of coconut oil is more than enough for me to make my cuticles look neat and tidy while being much cheaper and better for my hands since coconut oil also has anti-fungal qualities. It's very simple to do:

1. Melt about a 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil (the amount will change for everyone but I find that for it, it's more than enough). It has a low melting so you can microwave it for a few seconds or just put it in a small glass jar with a lid and put some hot water around the jar. 
2. Apply a small drop on each cuticle and massage.

That's how easy and cheap it is! I also think it softens them so it makes it easier to push them back with a cuticle stick before a manicure. If there is any left over, it can also be used to moisturise your hands.

2) Makeup Remover

This is probably one of the beauty crimes I commit but I actually use a lotion to remove my makeup. The one I use can actually be used as a skin cleanser and has never broken me out. More recently however, I've found that coconut oil is also a great makeup remover. The first time I used it as a makeup remover I was quite surprised because it was as if my makeup was lifting off my face! 

1. Melt about 1/2 a tablespoon of coconut oil into a small bowl (see above on how to melt solid coconut oil). The amount will change depending on how much makeup you have on. 
2. Massage onto a small area of your skin and immediately remove with a cotton pad or a facial tissue.
3. Continue doing this all over your face until all your makeup is removed.

I've also heard people applying coconut oil to remove makeup in the solid form by first rubbing the oil between their fingers and then applying onto skin. Since it has a low melting temperature, it can easily become become smooth enough to apply onto skin.

After you remove your makeup using coconut oil I would highly recommend that you wash your face with a gentle cleanser, just to remove anything you might have missed. Using coconut oil is so great for waterproof makeup and a little goes a long way!

3) Body/Lip Scrub

Scrubs are a must in my beauty regime. It gets rid of all the gunk which a cleanser sometimes just can't get rid of. Personally, I wouldn't make my own face scrub just yet, in the fear that I may break out however making body and lip scrubs are fun and when using natural products, I rarely get any bad reactions from it. I'll be making some recipes in the future about how to make different scrubs but here is a very basic scrub:

1. Mix about 1/2 cup of coconut oil with about 1 cup of brown sugar. (you can change the ratio according to how you like your scrubs; here I'm using a 1:2 ratio of coconut oil to sugar)
2. Store into an airtight container until you are ready to use it

To make it your own, you can add your favourite essential oils in it to give it a nice scent as well. This recipe is obviously very basic, but very easy to whip up! It's great for all seasons and makes your skin very smooth and moisturised!

4) "Pre-conditioner" for hair

This is my favourite way to use coconut oil! Before washing my hair, I like to 'pre-condition' it which makes it a lot easier to wash and surprisingly, less oily! I started this a couple of months back and I didn't need to wash my hair for about a week (I know it's gross but I just wanted to see how long I could go without washing after trying this), simply because it wasn't oily, which is great because I used to have to wash it every other day. It's so quick and easy and has so many benefits!

1. Melt about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a small bowl. Again, the amount will differ according to how long your hair is - mine is about an inch or two past my shoulders.
2. Wet your hair with warm water.
3. Dip the tips of your fingers into the melted coconut oil and in circular motions, massage your scalp.
4. Keep doing this until you have nearly no more coconut oil and apply to the ends of your hair. 
5. Tie up your hair if you can and leave for 3-5 minutes.
6. After this time, rinse out your hair thoroughly and wash your hair (shampoo and conditioner) as you would normally

It's so easy to do and actually promotes healthy hair growth by stimulating the scalp which is great for those who want to grow out their hair (I noticed my hair growing a little faster than usual!). Since you aren't stripping your hairs of it's natural oils, it makes it easy to wash too. Two tips for you if you do this: 1. If you usually use a leave in conditioner or a thick conditioner after you shampoo your hair, I would switch to a thinner conditioner. Your hair will be so smooth and nourished after anyway! 2. Don't worry about the coconut oil making your hair oily. After you've rinsed it out your hair and shampooed it, it should be all rinsed out!

So there you have it; 4 different ways to use coconut oil! It's truly a versatile product and even if you don't believe it being a super food, it's still great as a beauty product. If you try this out or have any other ways to use coconut oil, please comment below! There should be a new post coming out again this weekend so stay tuned :)