Here’s my beauty and foodie favourites from January… There’s a few!
Rimmel London Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Nude Eyeliner – Eek, what’s with the long product names? My super thoughtful friend lovely Caron sent me this from Aussie after reading my whinge in a blog post that Rimmel doesn’t sell this eyeliner shade in NZ (Kiwis: But we can get it online). I know what you are thinking… “Why the heck do you use a nude eyeliner for??” To wake up tired eyes, that’s why! You know when you are tired and the rims of your eyes go red? Well, run a nude colour eyeliner on the waterline (i.e. your inner eye rim) and you are sorted: The red is neutralised back to ‘flesh colour’. Because this pencil is waterproof it will last a lot longer on that part of your eye (‘coz it’s slightly damp). Genius. You can, incidentally, use a white eyeliner, but a nude shade is so much more natural looking. Rimmel NZ: Please start stocking this shade! Here’s a photo of me (right) wearing this eyeliner on my waterline.
Price: NZ$9 (from ASOS with free postage)
Zyliss Garlic Crusher – Turns out I’ve only owned crappy garlic crushers up till now. My old crusher was so crappy I biffed it out yonks ago and have and painstakingly chopped garlic with a knife ever since. Then my mate Max, who was helping me out in the kitchen in December, was unhappy with being asked to chop 8 cloves of garlic. She suggested I get my tosh down to our local specialist kitchen shop to “invest in a proper garlic crusher”. Being the obedient girl I am (and Max is very authoritative) I obliged and invested in this Zyliss crusher for $30. Oh my goodness… Life changing.
Crushed garlic in an instant and it gets brownie points for the cleaning doodackey gadget it comes with too! Thanks Max!
Price: NZ$30
Buy from: Specialist kitchen stores (I got mine from Total Food Equipment in Napier – incidentally this shop makes me physically shake and get a dry mouth from excitement… Imagine if they sold makeup as well… Oh yes).
Eco Store Lip Balm – This was a thank you gift from Philly and Isla for their NYs Eve makeup (check out their before and after photos at the bottom of this post). I adore this and it’s easily one of the best lip balms I’ve used. Peppermint in flavour, contains no chemicals, made in NZ, this is a plant-based intensive moisturizer with sweet almond oil to soothe and protect dry lips. I find lots of natural based lip balms contain odd chunky bits, not this one – and it’s long lasting. This is one I’ll be buying again, probably sooner rather than later: I’ve caught Hot Hubby and Small Child using it (and they both have their own lip balms, we are a lip balm family…)
Price: NZ$7
Buy from: Widely available from supermarkets, pharmacies.
Ecoya Candle in French Pear – My bestie Rhonda introduced me to Ecoya candles. I visited her in Melbourne and she had them in her bathroom. I used to sit on the loo candle sniffing! Eek. Anyhow, I’m obsessed with these exquisite natural soy candles from Ecoya. They have a burn time of around 50 hours and the French Pear one rocks my world. I’ve got one of these in my lounge, in my bedroom and, if I am particularly stressed out at work, one comes into the office with me and I just whip the lid off and let the sweet pear, vanilla infused aroma fill my office (I don’t light it, I have visions of setting off the smoke alarms and facing a disciplinary situation for breaching H&S rules). It’s an instant calmer for this stresshead and something of the scent is reminiscent of when I was little and Mum would bake apple crumble during the winter. Isn’t it amazing how a scent will evoke memories and transport you back in time?
Price: NZ$45 (on the pricey side but you can often get them on sale and next time I find one on sale, I’m getting a mini French Pear for my office)
Buy from: Ecoya are everywhere… Try Living & Giving, Farmers. Lots of online retailers!
Avocado, Tomato and Pesto Salad – This salad got top marks at the beach on holiday and I’ve made it a few times since (and I keep forgetting to take a photo, sorry!). This wee salad gem is definitely in the ‘gourmet camp’ and gets brownie points for being speedy and easy to make. Here’s what you do: Get a ripe avocado. Chop it up into large bite sized pieces. Get two tomatoes, chop those to pieces the same size as the avocado and add to the tomato. Get a heaped tablespoon of pesto, ‘water it down’ a little with some olive oil and fold it through the tomatoes and avocado. Garnish with chopped fresh basil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Yum. Click here for my go-to pesto recipe, if you like basil pesto then just use basil, not coriander.
NXY Slim Lip Pencils – It was bound to happen as I inch closer to my forties, I’m getting fine lines around my lips. Is this happening to anyone else? It seems my days of slapping on lippy and bolting out the door are getting numbered as my lipstick is starting to bleed (sigh). Lucky I’ve found these beautifully cheap and cheerful lip liners from NYX. They do a smashing job! I got four of them (left), they are brilliant and I want more. Luckily (or not for my bank account) there’s a lot of different colours available. These pencils apply smoothly, have lasting power and, best of all, they help prevent my lipstick from bleeding. NYX is a brand that’s really well known overseas and has just arrived in store in Aussie at Target. For us Kiwis, usual story, they aren’t available through NZ retailers but they are easily available online.
Price: US$3-4 (yes, each!)
Buy from: Beauty Joint
Jordana Lipsticks – You already know I love these lippies. I got two more over the holidays, in the shades Grape and Barely Pink, and both are getting a good thrashing. Grape goes really well with purple eyeshadows and Barely Pink is a lovely nude colour with a hint of sparkle that is a great neutral that looks lovely with just about any look! By the way, I love hearing how many of you are jumping on the Jordana lipstick bandwagon: I’ve been receiving lots of messages with photos of purchases from you via my Facebook page. Keep these coming, they make me happy!
Price: NZ$4.00 – 4.50
Buy from: D-City, Dollar King, 123 Shops (e.g. check out your local $2 type shop!).
Any beauty or foodie finds from you I need to know about?
Here’s Philly and Isla’s New Year’s Eve makeovers. Gawwwwjusss.
