Monday 28 January 2019

Red lipstick declutter


It's no secret that my lipstick collection is out of control. I have way more lipsticks that I can use in this lifetime. For a while now I've wanted to declutter them, however it's such a daunting task that I sit down to start then get overwhelmed and just play with all my pretties.

I think I may have found a method that works for me. I'm doing mini declutters. I'll pick up two lipsticks that are a similar shade, wear them both for a day, then declutter the one that I don't love. If I don't love them both, then they both go.

Since this method is working so well I applied it to my entire red lipstick collection. Today I'm sharing the results with you.

I started by comparing my two favourite red lipsticks, Nars Velvet Matte in Dragon Girl and Rimmel Stay Matte in Fire Starter.

They are very similar and I love them both, however Dragon Girl is over eight years old and doesn't have the staying power that Fire Starter does. Dragon Girl went in the bin and Fire Starter stayed.

When I wear red lipstick I want it to be low maintenance. I want to put it on in the morning then not have to worry about it for the rest of the day.
 
After that it got much easier. 

I pulled out all my red lipsticks and put them into a pile.

Here's what I started with:
 33 red lipsticks, glosses and lip balms.

I put aside the ones that I knew I wanted to keep and put the rest in a pile to test.  


Products I knew I wanted to keep

I tried on all the ones in the not sure pile. If I loved them, they went in to the keep pile. If I wasn't sure, I sent a photo to Emma and would either keep or toss based on her advice.

Products to test

After that, I was left with this pile of lipsticks that I liked:



And this was the toss pile:



Next step was wearing each lipstick for a day to see how it wore.  

Once I'd done that, I pulled out all the similar colours, tested them again and chose which ones I preferred.


Similar shades

I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the cream lipsticks, mainly because of the wear factor, but decided I'd keep some because I prefer cream lipsticks and they are good to wear over the top of matte lipstick as a touch up during the day.



After all that, here's what I ended up with:


The 11 winners
 Here's what I got rid of:

21 losers


There were a few products I got rid of that surprised me.
I really love Lipstick Queen Medievil and was going to keep it, but I realised that it's ancient. By ancient, I mean it's over eight years old. Gross.  
It's a real favourite, but very similar to Benefit Benebalm and there's no point having both. Mecca now sell a small size Medievil so I might buy that once I've used up my Benebalm.

I really wanted to keep the Hourglass No.28 lip oil because it was a limited edition and no longer available, but when I was honest with myself I accepted that I just don't like it. I like the oil, but it's very runny. Whilst that would be fine if it was clear, having the red tint means it moves all over my face and I look like a toddler who's put on their mums lipstick. I'll pick up the clear version one day.

None of the products I got rid of are bad, I like them all, but I either don't love them or the colour doesn't work for me or I prefer another product more. 

I still think 11 is too many however I intend to pan some of them this year. Ideally I'd like to have five red lip products. A lipstick, lip balm, lip oil, lip gloss and crayon. That's enough.


If you're wondering why the maths doesn't add up, I realised that one of the lipsticks was maroon not red, so I removed it from the pile. 

What's your favourite red lipstick?
Have you done a lipstick declutter?

Sunday 27 January 2019

Thoughts of the week

1. I was sad to hear about the death of Brandon Truaxe, the founder of Deciem. He was a brilliant but troubled man. 

2. If you follow me on Instagram you'll know I've recently done a cull of my red lipsticks. I'm also culling the rest of my collection. Slowly but surely I'm going through them and getting rid of anything that I don't love. Surprisingly, I'm culling more than I'm keeping.

3. In what is the best news of the year THE POLLY WAFFLE IS COMING BACK!!!!!

4. I am so tempted to buy Fit Cover. I'm resisting because I have plenty of other foundations to use up. Once I've used them all, I'm buying Fit Cover.

5. Twenty seven days into this year and I have yet to make any unnecessary purchases. Go me.

Friday 25 January 2019

FFS Friday - Stop, hammer time

I'm finding blogging difficult lately. I want to blog but I'm not inspired to talk about beauty products. I just want to talk. Problem is, I have no idea what I want to talk about. 

Last week I mentioned that I may have found someone to help with Chai. Finally.

Why does help have to be so expensive and difficult?
It's going to cost us around $125 per visit with subsidised visits. Once we've used all the subsidised visits it'll cost us around $150! 

Added to that, we have to drive to Perth for our appointments which adds fuel onto the bill. I'm grateful that we are in a position that we can find the money to pay for his treatment. We have to make a few sacrifices to afford it but that's okay.

Chai hates travelling. He can handle about half an hour then for the rest of the time he complains every few minutes. It's exhausting. We have a DVD player in the car but that doesn't keep him entertained enough to stop the complaints. Stopping for a break doesn't help either it just makes him worse when we get back in to the car.

I wish that there was someone down here who could help us, unfortunately there isn't. If this new psych can help it will be worth every painful car drive and every dollar we spend. We don't get started until the end of next month. The first visit I go on my own, so I'm using the next month to write down all the things that we're having trouble with. 

Watching my baby struggle is heart breaking. His funny tics are getting worse, his stutter is getting worse and his behaviour is getting worse. I so wish I knew how to help him. He's such a beautiful, outgoing and caring child. I want him to be happy and strong and confident. We'll get there. I won't stop until we do. 

Monday 21 January 2019

Two chunky lip balms I love

It's no surprise to regular readers to know I've tried a lot of lip balms and am pretty fussy with them. It's rare that I love a balm from the second I apply it, but that's exactly what happened when I tried Drunk Elephant Lippe and Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Kiss Cupuacu Lip Butter.    



I don't usually purchase chunky balms as I find them too inconvenient. They don't fit in my pocket, they're not convenient to carry around, they're just annoying. However, I'm willing to make an exception for these two.  


They are both perfection in a lip balm. They're creamy, hydrating and soothing with a gorgeous scent. I really can't decide which I love more.


Drunk Elephant Lippe smells and tastes like cranberry. It's not a flavour that I've ever had in a lip balm before and is surprisingly lovely. The finish is smooth and glossy. Lippe contains green tea leaf and vitamin C which help to smooth fine lines.

After falling in love with the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum cream scent, I had to buy the lip butter. It smells just as amazing as the Bum Bum cream. I adore the salted caramel pistachio scent, it's addictive!
Brazilian Kiss has no flavour (unfortunately!) but I'll forgive that due to how soothing and healing it is. The finish is a subtle shine, not glossy like Lippe. 

If you are having trouble choosing between the two here's a run down.
Lippe is flavoured and glossy. It looks great alone or over the top of lipsticks. 
Brazilian Kiss is fragranced with no flavour and works well under lipstick.

At $26 each these balms aren't cheap, but they're double the size of a regular lip balm and a dream to use. 

What's your favourite lip balm?

Sunday 20 January 2019

Thoughts of the week

1. For the first time in years I feel like I might have found some people who can help Chai. A lovely twitter friend put me on to a Psychologist and we've got a new GP. Neither of them believe in medication as first option. Finally.

2. I've done way too much peopling this week. Whilst they're all people I love and want to spend time with, being social five days in a row is more than this introvert can handle.  

3. Obela Hommus is lovely. Our favourite is the roasted pine nut flavour. 

4. Mario Badescu now has lip balm in a squeezy tube. Clearly I need it.

5. Has anyone had a midlife crisis? I'm thinking it might be fun. My family live to over 100, so if I have my midlife crisis at 50 I've got 4 years to plan it. Suggestions are welcome. 

Friday 18 January 2019

FFS Friday - Tantrum

It's Friday again! How exciting. Or not, if you're a stay at home parent and don't even know what day it is.

This week I turned up at a Dr's appointment a day early because I didn't know what day it was. Oops. First time I've ever done that!

Have you had enough of me talking about the gym yet?

I've been going for about five weeks now and I'm growing muscles! I'm not changing shape though, so last week I decided to start running on the treadmill. Friday I ran for two minutes. Tuesday I ran for five minutes. Wednesday I ran for two minutes then had to stop because my shin splints were too sore. FFS.

I had shin splints years ago from skipping. I tried all sorts of treatments from physio to acupuncture, gait correction, shoes etc but nothing could fix them. I was hoping that after all this time they'd be okay, but alas they aren't and my short lived running career is over. 

Looks like I'll have to use the much hated cross trainer to do my cardio. Ugh.

I really don't like that machine. Running is much more satisfying, I listen to Metallica and stomp my feet, it's fun. Kind of like the adult version of throwing a tantrum.  

Perhaps I could take up tantrum throwing, that could be good cardio. It'd have to be silent tantrums so that I didn't get thrown out of the gym for making too much noise. 

I love people watching at the gym. There's one lady who's amazing. She shows up with ultra glam make-up (even fake lashes), hair looking fancy, does a full on workout and walks out looking as flawless as she walked in. I have no idea how she does it. I walk out a stinky, sweaty mess.

I like watching the show off men, they're so funny. They make a whole heap of noise and do strange exercises that don't seem to be doing much, it's highly amusing. 

That is all.
Have a beautiful weekend.

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Clean Reserve


Who remembers about ten years ago when you could get Clean fragrances from Mecca? They had lots of gorgeous fresh scents like Clean Laundry, Warm Cotton, Clean Air and my favourite Sweet Layers.

I've been savouring Sweet Layers because it's not available anymore and it's such a beautiful scent. Whilst some of the scents are still available in the US, they haven't been available here for a long time. 

The good news is that Clean is back in Australia! The range we have here is Clean Reserve and the scents are gorgeous.

I picked up a travel sized pack from Priceline. I'm not sure if it's still available as I can't find it on their website. 
The little bottles are designed for layering and they work beautifully together.  

I love that the scents are simple and light. They don't stir up my allergies and instead of being a really obvious perfume they just smell fresh and clean (haha).

Clean Reserve is available in store at Sephora and online from Adore Beauty. I've also seen a few of their scents at Chemist Warehouse. 
If you know of any other stockists, please let me know!

Sunday 13 January 2019

Thoughts of the week

1. Has anyone tried FitCover? I'm so tempted to buy it but am wondering if it's worth it or if it's just the same as other mineral powder foundations.

2. Thirteen days into the new year and I have not made any unnecessary purchases. Go me.

3. This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

4. I refuse to watch Bird Box.

5. I am eternally grateful for the mild summers we've been having in the south west lately. It's so much nicer than the scorching weather in the city.


Friday 11 January 2019

FFS Friday - Over and out

Hello beautiful people! It's Friday, time for me to get my whinge on. So, what's been annoying me this week? 

Solo parenting. 

I'm over it. Bring on the end of this year and Tiger quitting FIFO. I am done. Totally done.Chai's behaviour is so much worse when Tiger is away. He misses his Daddy and so misbehaves. As soon as Tiger gets home his behaviour improves. FFS.

Tiger has no idea what dealing with Chai is like, because he's never experienced it. He thinks that he has magical parenting skills and that it's due to his parenting prowess that Chai behaves well when he's home. Hah.

Next month will be six years that we've been doing FIFO. Whilst we've agreed that this is our last year, it just doesn't feel real. I can't imagine Tiger being home. He hasn't worked at home since we've had Eljay. He started FIFO when Chai was just under two. 

If it actually happens, I don't think he's going to cope very well. Going from working half the year to working eleven months of the year is going to be really tough. Only having weekends off will be tough too. I have a feeling that despite our best intentions, Tiger will still be FIFO next year. 

We shall see. 

Monday 7 January 2019

December empties

Now that we're into 2019, it's time to share my last lot of empties for 2018. 

December was a great month for empties, it was a lovely way to finish off the year. I'm hoping I can keep up the same momentum for 2019.


CK Shock Body Lotion
I used to love this perfume. I'd forgotten I had two of the moisturisers and rediscovered them when I was reorganising my skin care collection. It's a lovely fresh scent that I'd happily repurchase.

Soap and Glory Clean on Me
If only we could get the Soap and Glory perfume here. I love the scent of their products. Clean on Me is a lovely, creamy and hydrating shower gel, I'll always repurchase it. 

MooGoo Gentle Exfoliating Powder
Exfoliating powders and I don't get along. I struggle to get the powder/water mix right so they always end up too thick or too runny. Despite that, if I were to buy an exfoliating powder this is the one I'd buy. On the rare occasion that I get the water/powder mix right, I'm left with lovely soft skin.  

Natio Rosewater Cleanser
Easily my favourite cleanser, I'll forever repurchase. It's gentle, smells beautiful, is reasonably priced and removes all my make-up. 

Akin Deodorant
I'd love to find a great natural, spray deodorant. A'kin's smells gorgeous, however after two days it started to irritate my pits.

Victoria's Secret Temptation Perfume
Tiger bought this for me a few years ago. The scent is lovely and I always get compliments on it. Despite that, it's not one of my favourite scents and I was pleased to finish the bottle. 

Skin Again Serum
I love the philosophy behind Skin Again. They encourage you to say a positive affirmation when applying your skincare, which is a really nice way to start the day. 
Their serum is lovely, it helped brighten my skin and make it look plumper. I'll definitely consider repurchasing once I've used my current serum. 

L'oreal Botanicals Lavender Shampoo and Hair Mask
the L'oreal Botanicals range is gorgeous. I've used the rose products and the lavender ones. I'd happily repurchase both of them, they kept my hair feeling soft and smooth.

EchoLife Lavender Facial Mist
It's a shame EchoLife don't sell their face mists any more, they were a bargain. I used the lavender one for the boys. I'd spray it on their sheets and feet before bed, they loved it.

Natio Spa Body Polish
It's been years since I used a Natio body scrub. They're quite nice, but I prefer coffee scrubs because I love coffee.
I wouldn't purchase this again, purely because I prefer coffee scrubs.



Frank Body Whipped Scrub
Finally a cream scrub that is scrubby! Usually cream scrubs fall short in the scrub department and are more like shower gel than scrub. Frank got it right with this one, there's plenty of scrubby bits and you get a good exfoliation. 
The packet is perfect for travelling as it's resealable and mess free.

BX Earth Shower Gel
This is our family favourite shower gel. it's cheap, smells great and is gentle on the boys skin. I buy it online from Chemist Warehouse when it's on sale.

Essano Superfoods Kale Daily Moisturiser
I really like the Superfoods products that I've tried, if I was ten years younger it's a range that I'd definitely use. It's not quite hydrating enough for my skin so I won't repurchase.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser
I have no idea why I don't use Purity Made Simple more. It's a lovely cleanser, when I lived in the city and could purchase it in store it was my hg cleanser. The only reason I don't use it now is because I have to order online. 
It's a great, gentle cleanser and make-up remover for sensitive skin, as it's fragrance free and doesn't irritate. 

SKII Facial Treatment Essence
After going through two little bottles, I have no idea what this does or why it gets so much hype. It made no difference to my skin at all. 

Audra James Facial Mist
As usual with Audra products, the facial mist is beautiful. I kept mine in the fridge for a cool, refreshing spritz whenever I needed it.  

Wild Roses Shower Gel
My MIL gave me a pack with some rose products in it. They all smelled beautiful, so of course I loved them. This was a regular shower gel, it did the job. 

UVIQ SPF50 Moisturiser
Another day, another sunscreen that I'm allergic to. Thankfully the ones that don't work on my face I can use on my neck, chest and arms so they don't go to waste. The joys of having sensitive skin. 

Bobbi Brown Skin Nourish Mask
I like hydrating masks and try to apply them weekly. Skin Nourish Mask was lovely to use and left my skin feeling soft and hydrated. At $73 I won't be purchasing the full size, there are plenty of masks that do the same thing for a lot less.


Essano Superfoods Turmeric Serum
I loved the gorgeous lemonade scent and how light this feels on the skin. I don't find it hydrating enough for me, however it'd be great for oily skin or as a light morning moisturiser.

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Absolute Serum 
I had high hopes for this, mainly because it has roses in it. Surprisingly it didn't have a very strong rose scent. It was a nice serum, it kept my skin hydrated and soft. I need a bit more from my serums so won't purchase this again, however if hydration is what you need in a serum, this might be worth checking out.


WelleCo Rose Creme 
I didn't get along with this at all. I was hoping it'd be rose scented bliss, but it irritated my skin and didn't have much of a rose scent. I used it on my legs to get rid of it.  



I really don't like samples so am doing my best to use them up as I get them. 

Vitamasque Manuka Honey Hydrating and Moisturising Mask. This just didn't work for me, it irritated my skin and I had to remove it after a few minutes as it was burning.

The Marc Jacobs Shameless, Stila Stay All Day and Tarte Rainforest of the Sea foundations were all nice. I'd considering purchasing them if I didn't already have a pile of foundations.

Bobbi Brown Face Base was lovely, I really want to buy a pot, but at $85 I just can't bring myself to.

The Bobbi Brown lip products were all gorgeous. I didn't expect to like the matte lipstick or gloss, but they were both amazing. Bobbi really can't do any wrong when it comes to her lip products. 

I love The Body Shop Body Yoghurts, they're such a gorgeous product. I have a full size of the rose one, it's great for winter when I need to moisturise then get dressed straight away, because it absorbs almost instantly. 

Urban Decay Primer Potion has been in my collection for years. I'm planning on buying the anti-aging version next. 

I loved the Plunkett's Aloe Vera Facial Mask, it was very soothing and left my skin feeling wonderfully soft.

I was hoping that the Skin Republic Foot Peel would be a good (and much cheaper) replacement for Milky Foot but it's not. It works quite well, but the peel is nowhere near as intense as Milky Foot. When I use Milky Foot there's a huge difference in the look and feel of my feet. When I used Foot Peel there wasn't any noticeable difference. 

Tatcha Cleansing Oil was pleasant to use, that's about all I can say as I only got one use out of the sachet and that's not enough to form an opinion.


These products were either tossed or given away. Most of them are old and expired.

The Myaura Organics deodorant was tossed because it balls up under my arms and I drop little white balls wherever I walk, not a good look. It's quite an effective deodorant so it's a shame that it balls up. I've tried using less but no matter how much I applied it still balled up. 

The Kiehl's moisturiser was a toss because I couldn't get anything out of the bottle and I just don't have time for that crap.

Essano Gel Cleanser smells lovely but is way too drying for my skin. 


I had a mini declutter and got rid of a pile of lip products that are either old or not pleasant to use. 


I also went through my nail polishes. For someone who rarely wears nail polish, I have no idea why I have so many. They're all old because I haven't purchased nail polish for around three years now. I kept a few that I'll use and the rest were tossed.

In a move that I'll no doubt be regretting very soon, I also let the boys keep five polish bottles. I've given them strict instructions that it can only be used outside, I wonder how long that'll last. 
Wish me luck.

Sunday 6 January 2019

Thoughts of the week

1. My Aunt and Uncle came to stay with us this weekend. It's the first time they've ever stayed and it was lovely. Family can be so wonderful.

2. I haven't made any unnecessary purchases this year and I have no desire to shop. Granted, we're only six days into the year, but so far so good.

3. It's been five weeks now and I'm loving the gym. Who would have thought. I've even grown a few muscles!

4. This year I'm planning to put more effort into getting Balmcyclopaedia up and running. I'd love if you checked it out. If you have any review requests or would like to post a guest review, please let me know. 

5. We've officially become people who listen to AM radio. There's no going back from here.

Friday 4 January 2019

FFS Friday - Soft

Has anyone else's get up and go got up and gone? Mine has. I had all these plans to get so much done over the last few weeks and I've done nothing. Relaxing has been lovely but totally unproductive. Oh well. I don't even have a care factor about getting nothing done, it's been so wonderful.

Yesterday Dad turned 71. Aging sucks. He regularly talks about "when I'm gone" and it's awful. I hate to think of my life without him in it. Dad's fit and healthy so will hopefully be around for a lot longer, but it's still horrible to hear him talking about not being here. 

Every December or January an expensive household item breaks. It's happened for the last five years. The first four years it was something to do with the pool. This year decided to up the ante and our air conditioner broke. It picked the perfect time to break, at 4.30pm on Friday the 21st of December, right before everyone was going on their Christmas holidays. Naturally, Tiger was away.

I rang the air conditioner shop who told me it sounded like it was the motor which wasn't good news and they couldn't get anyone out to look at it until the 4th of January. FFS.

Chai and I do not cope with the heat. We headed to Kmart and bought a fan. FFS.

The air conditioner people were very kind and got someone over on the 28th of December. It wasn't good news. We need a new air conditioner. It's going to cost $3,500. That's $3,500 that we don't have. FFS.

This year we are all about paying off debt so that Tiger can come home. Adding to our debt was not in the plan. Living without an air conditioner is not in the plan either. 

Moving into a rental is looking pretty good right now.


Tuesday 1 January 2019

50 Things That Make Me Happy

I saw this on a blog years ago and it seemed like such a great, positive way to start off the new year. 
What makes you happy?

1. My kids
2. Friends
3. Family

4. Music

5. Books

6. Shelby

7. Laughing

8. Seeing my loved ones happy

9. Meditation

10. Rain

11. Winter

12. Thunderstorms

13. The bush

14. Travelling

15. Make-up

16. Shopping

17. The beach

18. Watching the sunrise

19. Watching the sun set

20. Laying on the ground and looking at the stars

21. Dancing

22. Martial arts

23. Cooking

24. Having a clean house

25. Singing

26. Going to the movies

27. Having a good chat with a friend

28. Driving in a car with the windows down on a warm summer night

29. Being in the country

30. Bushwalking

31. Walking through the city

32. Riding a motorbike

33. Walking along the beach

34. Going for a walk with my bff

35. Exercise

36. Sunny days

37. Laying in the sun reading

38. Afternoon naps

39. Alone time

40. Beautiful Buddhist music

41. Bonfires

42. Libraries

43. Bookshops

44. Cooking

45. Dancing in the rain

46. Watching my boys sleep

47. Seeing my boys laugh

48. Hearing children playing and laughing

49. Sitting in front of the fire in winter

50. Magic