Here’s my October round up of things that are floating my boat!
Ketz-ke Lace Core Tank
I wasn’t going to mention this singlet in this month’s faves simply as I featured Ketz-ke’s trackies in a faves blog post a few months back… I didn’t want anyone to accuse me of being in bed with Ketz-ke and being on commission! I’m not! I adore this singlet and it’s been thrashed by me for the last two months and, out of everything in my wardrobe, this is at the top of my Love List ATM. So there. By the way, it’s officially a ‘tank’ not a singlet. But I’m a kiwi, and I call it a singlet.
This is essentially a simple black singlet (95% rayon, 5% spandex) that has a feminine lace trim detailing at the bottom which makes it the PERFECT layering singlet. I particularly love wearing it with tops that are probably verging on being slightly too short. Whack this singlet on underneath a top that’s too short and your problem is eliminated as the singlet adds length. It also totally dresses up a plain singlet and a pair of jeans. I love items of clothing that can make a quick transformation.
I bought my singlet from Willow in Rotorua. Locals: Donna has these singlets in as base stock and if she doesn’t have your size, she’ll get one in for you (next day delivery). Alternatively you can buy these online. I’m dead keen on getting the white one for summer… Price NZ$59.
Essence lip liner – 06 Satin Mauve
I did a shout out about this lip liner on my Facebook page, which was a bit of a spoiler. This has been, hands down, my No1 makeup item for the past month. Best of all, at NZ$2.75 it was as cheap as chips. The formula is bang-on: Hard enough to line the lips, but soft enough to smudge so you can use it as a lipstick. The former is exactly how I’ve been wearing it, I love it with lip balm or gloss over the top, such a simple but pretty look. Colour wise, this is a medium mauve shade, with a hint of taupe. It’s vaguely reminiscent of some of the lip shades I wore in the 90s, but that’s OK: These shades are bang on trend right now.
If you aren’t familiar with Essence cosmetics, Kiwis you can find this at Farmers and Aussies, Priceline will hook you up. Essence is a super affordable German brand, though lots of their stuff is made in Italy, which frankly, makes a delicious change from China. I’ve bought quite a bit of makeup from Essence and, given it’s not a bank breaker, for the price, it’s all been sensational. This lip-liner though, with its “your lip but better colour” totally hits my spot. Get in. One thing to note, given the liner is quite soft, this means it needs to be sharpened a lot so it ain’t gonna last long. But that’s OK, it’s NZ$2.75. Buy two.
Image Skincare – Ageless Total Eye Lift Crème
I’m in two minds about mentioning this eye cream in a faves blog post, as I’m mindful that this eye cream may not suit everyone – no two skins are alike. However, I bloody love it and this is the second time I’ve used it. It’s one of the few eye creams I’ve used that works and, despite doing a lot of ‘experimentation’ with my skincare, I’m not going to stop using this again without good reason.
What’s the deal? Image Skincare’s Ageless Total Eye Lift Crème is an intensifying eye cream that resurfaces the skin around the eye area. The retinyl/glycolic blend helps firm the skin, whilst the chamomile and green tea sooth and hydrate. It also helps to lift loosened eyelids. This makes it ideal for aging, wrinkled and loose skin around the eyes. Does it work? Hell yes. My fine lines have definitely been softened, hence this shout out, I’m thrilled.
Items from Image Skincare, to the best of my knowledge, needs to be bought from a licensed beautician and I got mine couriered to me from Fiona at Simply Indulgent in Taradale, Napier. I can get this product locally, but Fi is just amazing, totally knows her stuff (she’s qualified up the ying-yang) and I’d rather buy it from her and pay postage to get it to RotoVegas. Price? NZ$72.50. Seems pricey, but if you’ve been eye cream shopping, you’ll recognise that’s a good price. For your pennies you get 15ml of product and a little goes a long, long way. This’ll last me a good 3 months I reckon, if not longer.
Use of this eye cream comes with strict instructions from Fiona: Start using 3 days over the entire eyelid and under the eye, then two days until you can use it daily without peeling. Note, I didn’t get a peel at all… And I started using it morning and night right from the get go (sorry Fi). The result is soften lines. Wicked.
Allow me to do a plug (totes UNsponsored, just for the record!) If you want a good eye cream, ring Fiona and chat to her about your skin, she’ll steer you in the direction of the right eye cream for you. It might be this one, it might be another one. There’s no hard sales, Fi is just really motivated to help your skin be the best it can be. She’s knowledgeable, passionate and driven.
Alternatively, to find an Image Stockists near you, email [email protected] (I’m buggered if I can find where NZ stockists are online, grrr, sorry).
Chocolate Bar Palette – Too Faced
Firstly, sorry about the clearly downloaded photo, I nicked it from Too Faced, my photos turned out BAD.
This Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette from Too Faced deserves it’s own blog post, but I simply can’t be bothered to write one – it’ll be a bloody novel. Take this as the Exec Summary. K?
I’ve lusted after this palette for a good couple of years and finally, in a moment of weakness in July, I caved in and bought it online in the States. Why the States? Because I had a friend coming to NZ who played courier pigeon. Why did I get in the USA, well, apart from the fact that makeup is a shit-tonne cheaper in the USA, this palette of beauty has been a pain in the bum-hole to buy, as well as expensive (i.e. Get a home re-mortgage).
I shouldn’t have dithered around buying this: I’ve used this palette nearly every day since I got it three months ago, it’s better than I imagined. There’s a heap of colours (16 in fact) a mix of matte and sparkly and it contains all the brown/gold colours (and more) that I love. The colour pay off is astonishingly good, the colours last all day. I can’t rave enough. Love, Love, LOVE. The only ‘dislike’ is the smell, which is sweet, supposedly like chocolate. That’s because the formula is pigmented with pure, antioxidant-rich cocoa powder.. Most beauty bloggers rave about the smell, but I’m old and crusty, clearly, as I think the smell gives the palette a ‘little girl’ feel and distracts from the superb quality of the palette. God, I’m old and boring. To my defense, my 41st birthday is nearly here.
I paid US$49 for this (NZ$72 at the time) which I reckon is a good price. Aussies, you can hook yourself up at Mecca Cosmetica ($79, I eyeballed one last week in Melbourne). Kiwis, bloody good news: As of this week, you can buy this online here in NZ for NZ$78 (cheaper than the Aussies!). Look, I’m cogniscant this palette might sound pricey but here’s my Lou-Logic: One single MAC eyeshadow is NZ$40 – and with this palette you are getting 16 shades of epic quality (better quality than MAC, in my opinion).
With Christmas around the corner, whack this on your Wish List. It suits darkies like me, redheads and those with blonde complexions. Blue eyes, brown, green. It works. It’s incredibly versatile. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
Here’s a look on my mug. Oh, I’m wearing the Essence Lip liner too 🙂
