The Weekend Pamper || Nail Care Routine

My nails are often envied by my friends and so I thought I'd share my routine this weekend. It's a fairly simple routine, something I enjoy doing every second weekend. I prefer a short square nail, similar to the shape of my cuticle. One tip I've picked up along the way is to replicate the shape of your cuticle when shaping your nail. Rounded cuticles equal rounded nails, square cuticles equal square nails. 

First up, I remove all previous nail polish with some tea tree oil. This works a treat at removing all my nail polish, a tad more elbow grease is required than ordinary nail polish remover, but the all natural nice ingredients overweighs the extra work. I start by trimming my nails with a pair of nail clippers straight across the top. Next I shape my nails using an ordinary emery board. A little bit curved a round the corners and straight along the top. Once that's completed on all ten digits, I lightly smooth, buff and polish my nails with the good old Woolworth's Home Brand Nail Buffer. I'm telling you, this does an amazing job and it's cheap as. I smother my nails in some of the Jurlique Love Balm. Finally I push my cuticles back with an ordinary orange stick and lather my hands in my current favourite hand cream. 

Once all the hand cream and cuticle cream is absorbed, I like to paint my nails. I will always apply OPI's Nail Envy Sensitive, this strengthens the nails and gives a lovely shine. Some weeks I'm happy to leave it at this and give my nails a bit of a break. Most of the time however I'll paint my nails with either Essie Ballet Slippers, OPI Princes's Rules or OPI Suzie and the Life Guard. Can anyone guess what my favourite nail polish colours are? 

X Suzy 

The Monthly Roundup || October

Another month has passed, and we are into November already! I've been a bit slow on the product buying side of things, but I've got a few pieces that I brought last month that I've being loving and trialling this month.

This Month’s Favourites:

My most loved product of the month is the Clinque Super CityBlock. It's gone from about 15 degrees to 30+ here, so SPF has been necessary most days. I've been mixing in a bit of the MAC Select Cover Up Concealer in NW20 for some extra coverage. This gives a really lovely finish to the skin, nothing to dewy or too matte. Add a bit of setting powder and some thicker concealer on my zits, and that's been my favourite base recently.

Another product I have been loving this month is the Maybelline Eyestudio Gel eyeliner in Blackest Black. I brought this ages ago and was instantly disappointed with it. I originally brought it to use as I would use liquid liner, but the result was so disappointing compared to liquid liner. But another use had been found, and I'm loving it for during the day on the top lid. For some reason I have issues using pencil liners on my top lids, and this is the perfect solution. The brush I use gives a super fine, soft and defined line.

The last favourite of mine this month is the Bare Minerals Original Foundation in N10. I initially brought this to go over the Super City Block and set it. But this combination is horrible, the foundation settles into all my pores and just goes really gross. However, much like the Maybelline eyeliner, this is something that I have absolutely fallen in love with. It's great for good skin days and when you can't be bothered with a full face of makeup, or when it would be a waste to put a full face of makeup on.

My favourite nail polish combination of late has been OPI’s Princesses Rule with the matte top coat. This combination is super, the matte top coat makes the polish look frosted and flat (I'm not portraying it in a positive light am I?). You will just have to take my word for it.                

Finally, the non-beauty favourite of October is The Vampire Diaries. Its back, and its back with a bang. The storyline this season is really interesting, unlike last season. I'm loving seeing Stephen without his memories and a human Katherine. Here’s a link if you’re interested. 

October in Blog Posts: 

Looking for a pillow spray? Give my DIY version a try first. 

Is the serum category of your skincare routine empty? Read my review of the Jurlique Advanced Herbal Recovery Gel here. 

My evening makeup always looks something along the lines of this and this. 

The nail combination that I was rocking for the majority of the moth looks a bit like this. 

Here and here is some more inspiration to get you into skincare.

Added to the Wish List this Month:

My chin has had a bit of a tantrum, with two cystic pimples. I've been hearing great things about the Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion lately, which I might need to pick up a bottle of soon. 

Inspired by this post from Anna, I desperately want to get a MAC eyeshadow palette. I just have absolutely know idea where to start. And no, I do not want one of those big 15-pan things. When would I ever use it? 

The Weekend Pamper || Pink & Sparkly

The nail polish combo that I have been rocking recently is OPI's Suzie and the Lifeguard and a statement nail of the Maybelline Sequins Rose Bling. The OPI is very sheer, so I have applied two thick coats. I do like the colour, a soft pink with a subtle shimmer but I must admit the name sold it to me. How could I resist? Me and a lifeguard?! The Maybelline is obviously very glittery with some small pieces of glitter and some big pieces of glitter.

                           

On a different finger on each hand I painted the Maybelline on top of the OPI. I absolutely love this look, the statement nail makes it wearable for every day. On my left hand I've got the glitter on my thumb, and on my right hand I've got it on my pinkie finger. This has been on my tips for about two weeks now, which is a bit of a record for me, just shows you how much I'm loving it!

The Monthly Roundup || September

Welcome to a new series here on my blog, called the Monthly Roundup. It's basically a monthly favourites post, a summary of all my posts this month with a few other bits thrown in the mix.

Firstly, I apologise for the lateness of this post. I didn't get organised before I went away this week!

This Month's Favourites:

The most-loved-product-of-the-month award goes to the Jurlique Herbal Recovery Advanced Serum. This has recently been reformulated and it is phenomenal - the difference in my skin is amazing, it has totally cleared up my skin! Look out for a review coming soon.

Quite a strange favourite of this month is the Coles Makeup Pads (Coles is a supermarket here in Aus.). I never thought there would be much difference in cotton makeup wipes, but there definitely is! These Coles ones are much stronger than the Swisspers which I have used before. I like to wipe away my makeup, then rinse the cotton wipe out and run it over my face again. This is something that the Swisspers had issues with - they would just fall apart at the second rinse. Another bonus is the price!

I have also been loving the Organic Care Dry Nourish Conditioner. I've been trying to use more natural conditioners, however I've struggled to find one that actually works. With my thick and slightly frizzy hair, I need some silicones. Don't be fooled by the brand saying they are 'natural' - there are quite a few silicones on the ingredient list. But this strikes the perfect balance, yummy natural oils and some silicones to smooth the hair down.

I have re-discovered the MAC Prep and Prime BB Cream this month and I love it. Previously, I found this to be so thick on my skin and applied horribly. But I've ditched using a primer under this (why was I using one anyway??) and stated to apply it with a dual fibre stippling brush - the result is louverly! For me it gives the best coverage, sheer enough for my freckles to shine through but covers the worst of my blemishes.

A little DIY product that I have been loving is a pillow spray. It's basically lavender oil, tea tree oil and water in an old sprayer bottle. I spray it on my pillows in the morning so that I don't have a wet pillow at night. I will do a post on this soon as well.

The nail polish which has been gracing my fingers is OPI's Suzie and the Life Guard. This is a beautiful pale pink with a touch of shimmer, a really lovely nude for my skin tone. I felt that I had to buy this purely because of the name...

My non-beauty favourite of this month is Green Rose tea from T2. It's delicious! It's a green tea with mango, currants, papaya and rose. When brewed, it tastes beautiful and fruity. Another bonus is it smells like lollies!

September in Blog Posts:

Going on a trip any time soon? Check out my Travel Essentials for some tips on what to pack!

My Winter Face #1 shows you what my makeup has looked like all through the winter.

Struggling to get excited about skincare? Check out my Morning Skincare Routine #1 for some inspiration.

Added to the Wish List this Month:

Firstly, the YSL Glossy Stains in the Rebel Nudes look so lovely. I need to get down to my YSL counter and do some swatching. Perhaps a Christmas present? *hint hint*

I'm also on the hunt for a pink/peach blush. I like using brown blushes for day to day, but I haven't found a single pink based blush that looks good with my pinkish skin tone and red hair. Anyone got a suggestion?