The Week #55

The Week in Instagrams @nanawintour: *Behind the scenes on this post *My colourful feature wall *Shoe lusting on the streets of Auckland. I do love shoes with a bit of glitter *Delicious berry-spiked brownie from the Donna Hay Chocolate cookbook *Wednesday night's makeup offerings *The fantastic slumber four *Divine dessert offerings at Milse *Having a play with all things Benefit at their Benebabe blogger event. More on that next week *Audrey Hepburn & Cats *A viewing of The September Issue featuring this dynamic duo took place.

Must-Watch of the Week: After a scroll through many a beauty blog I stumbled upon Essie Button, a Canadian blogger+vlogger living in London. Her Drugstore Makeup Starter Kit is fantastic if you're wanting to update your makeup bag with some affordable beauty bits. Even if you're just streamlining your makeup collection or wanting to start a collection this is worth a watch. She mentions a few of my drugstore favourites like the Real Techniques brushes and some other cult classics.

Product of the Week: This week I used a sample of Dermalogica Skin Refining Masque and in the thirty or so minutes it was on my face it definitely worked some magic. The clay mask deep-cleanses and it is great for problematic skin. I had some rather angry spots on my chin and they definitely weren't as red or sore after I took this off. Two days later and they are virtually gone. This mask also helps with shine-control as well but you'd need to use this a few times to see results with that. The down side with this though is that it'll require some penny saving, or canned meals for a month maybe..

Must-Read of the Week: Lauren's outfit post and musings on what she sees on her face. This post is pretty self explanatory so just click the link to read it. It is really cleverly written not to mention I love this outfit accompanying this post. Lauren, you are one talented girl x.

Added to the Wishlist: The last few days have been very Benefit-centred given their launch in New Zealand yesterday. On Wednesday night I got to have a play with a lot of their products and their now well-thumbed catalogue has a few pages marked with wishlist annotations. One product I am eager to get my hands on though is Posietint, a pink-tinted lip and cheek stain. This has been on my hand a good six hours since I swatched it and it has barely faded. It is long lasting, beautiful stuff. Get. In. My. Life.

To Bed #2

If you read Part 1 of this post you'll know already that I love the luxury that is sleep. Spending the last few moments before bed relaxing can make such a difference. Thanks to this powerful quad of bedtime essentials, the highly important pre-slumber relaxation is all taken care of..

This Works Deep Sleep Stress Less is a rollerball oil that can be used to de-stress and aid peaceful sleep. It contains Eucalyptus and Frankincense essential oil which do make this oil quite a potently scented one, but in the best possible way. The scent certainly won't be for everyone but if you can overlook it then you will really benefit from this product. I apply this to my pulse points, under my nose and sometimes on my sheets if I'm particularly tired. Whatever's in this bottle certainly works, I am instantly relaxed once this is applied and find drifting off to sleep that much easier. This'll definitely be repurchased in the 10ml size but if you want to try it out, you can purchase the set I did here.

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eye has been on my wishlist for a while having made my way through several of the testers Kiehl's so generously give you. The texture is halfway between a cream and a gel, so if you don't like overly heavy eye creams then this is for you. There are definite notes of lavender in its scent, given it contains Lavender and Evening Primrose oils but it isn't at all overpowering. This eye cream is designed to reduce the appearance of fine lines, puffiness and dark under eye circles which it successfully does. This product leaves the under eye area smooth as well and it also seems to reduce dullness. If you're after an eye product geared towards more younger skin then definitely head to the Kiehl's counter and pick up a sample.

This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray is infused with Lavender, Vetivert and Wild Chamomile essential oils which all work to relieve tension, soothe and settle the nerves. Pretty powerful promises and after spritzing this onto my pillowcase and sheets I again find myself much more relaxed when I sleep. Out of all the This Works Sleep products I've used I'd probably recommend the oil the most but when combined with this pillow spray you have the dream team in one lavender scented cloud *bad slumber related puns intentional.

Rounding out this powerful quad we have the Nivea Lip Butter* in Caramel Cream. This is just a little bit heavy for daytime use so I tend to apply this at night right before bed and wake up with softer, nourished lips. The formula is creamy without being too thick and the scent is delicious, like Salted Caramel Macarons. Delectable!

So that concludes my pre-snooze lineup. As always, recommendations are welcome. I promise I'll read them pre-Lavender spritz!

*PR Sample

7 Beauty Sins

The 7 Beauty Sins tag is one that has been floating around YouTube for a while now and I thought it'd be a fun one to answer, mainly because it got me thinking about beauty products a little differently to how I usually do. I always find these videos/posts interesting because everyone has such different answers, depending on what part of the world you're in. 

So without further ado, here are my 7 Beauty Sins..

Greed

What is your most expensive/inexpensive beauty product? My most expensive product is probably the Nars bronzer in Laguna. The price you pay for the amount of product you get is worthwhile, this barely has a dent in it and I use it more or less every day. This colour is also a fantastic, natural bronze. It's very hard to go overboard with this bronzer! My most inexpensive product would be the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balms. I think they're under $5 and are great to have around when your lips are feeling a bit dry.

The Week #54

The Week in Instagrams @nanawintour: *Cookie time with Hannah *Feeling poorly= Prime time to watch YouTube videos in bed *An ode to the one and only Bioderma, have a read here *Tuesday's neutral face of the day pickings with a dash of pink lipstick for good measure *L.I.LY. by Stella McCartney, added to the perfume wishlist *Unwinding with Frankie after a long afternoon.

Must-Watch of the Week: Lily of What I Heart Today posted a video that excited my inner organisational nerd last week. I know lots of people post their makeup collection videos on YouTube and they can get boring but this one is fantastic. Rather than going through everything she owns Lily shows you how she stores everything and some good decorating ideas for beauty products, like Diptique candle holders. Have a watch here. 

Product of the Week: I've been rotating mascaras this week and I keep coming back to one, Benefit They're Real!. This mascara lengthens, separates and adds volume to the lashes like no other mascara I've tried. It also doesn't clump easily as well which is a huge bonus. Even when you're not wearing much eye makeup this still adds a little something to the eyes. 

Must-Read of the Week: For some reason there hasn't been too much blog reading taking place this week but I did spend a good while browsing through Kirsten's blog High Tea with Dragons. Kristen posts such fantastic recipes and they're all accompanied by gorgeous photos. If you have a sweet tooth then you will love this blog! I'm going to give this recipe for Strawberry Creams a go this weekend, they look delicious.

Added to the Wishlist: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation is a favourite of the beauty set, read Amelia's review here. Sadly you can't get this foundation in New Zealand but with fantastic lasting power & not too much sheen to its formula it sounds like one to keep an eye out for overseas.

Brilliant Blogs, Edition 11

Morning everyone! It feels like ages since I've done one of these posts & I think I'll get back in the habit of doing them more often. There's plenty of fantastic blogs out there that deserve to be shared. You'd have to have been hiding behind a well constructed rock though to have not heard of this month's brilliant blog Someone Like You. Lauren pens a fashion blog with diary-like entries about her everyday life. It is without a doubt the most refreshing, honest blog that I have ever read. It's very inspiring to read and Lauren's pictures are always beautiful to look at as well.

The lovely Lauren was kind enough to answer some questions about her blog and a few of her favourite things today. Read on for her answers;

What made you decide to start Someone Like You? What do you love most about blogging?

-I was really bad at writing in my journal every night, but I still wanted a way to document my life. I thought that writing it on a blog might be easier and more convenient! Around that same time my English teacher told me I should start documenting my every day outfits to see how my style evolved so my blog turned into a personal writing+fashion blog! What I love most about blogging is hearing from people who read my blog. Incredible stories, testimonies, thoughts from real girls and guys all over the world. I cherish everyone who reads my blog so very much and they're all like my friends.