**December Haul**

I am extremely excited about the stuff I hauled this December *jumps around the room*. Most of the stuff I bought is pretty hard to find especially in Australia and I finally have triumphed in my epic battle (very lame, I know). I anticipate more hauls with the MAC Gift cards I have been hinting at for christmas :)

So for now these are my December babies. Welcome to the family!!

MAC Refined MSF (LE)

MAC Spiced chocolate quad (LE)

Urban decay Book of shadows 2

Urban decay super stash

* Urban decay product images from urbandecay.com

Iheartredcherry haul

So I bought a couple of lashes when iheartredcherry store was having their Labour day sale.. the whole lot cost me around 25 aud with shipping. Some bloggers have had trouble with the store but my stuff arrived alright (obviously!) but it did take nearly a month for me to get them which was a bit of a pain.. Anyways onto the pictures...


The entire haul






I got a mixture of natural and dramatic lashes. These are my first lashes apart from my MAC # 7s
3 x Red Cherry Lash #1
2 x Red Cherry Lash #99
1 x Red Cherry Lash #119
2 x Red Cherry Lash #62
1 x Red Cherry Lash #42
2 x Red Cherry Lash #47
1 x Red Cherry Lash #46
1 x Red Cherry Lash #15

Egg olive oil hair conditioner

My hair has been looking less healthy than usual.. probably because I have been washing it everyday after the beach. I have also finished my Omega 3 capsules and am in an air conditioned environment all day and night long... not so great for the follicles.

A quick remedy for limp dull hair is a hot oil massage. When I was growing up mum would give me an oil massage twice a week with a homemade oil made out of coconut oil and boiled red hibiscus. Now, I prefer using plain old extra virgin olive oil for my hair. But this time my hair needed extra conditioning so I made the dreaded smelly egg hair oil mixture.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
Extra virgin olive oil
vinegar/lemon juice



Basically I whipped up the eggs like I was making an omelette with two tablespoons of olive oil and added a teaspoon of vinegar.





Then with some cotton wool I covered my hair from root to tip and then let it dry till my hair went stiff (around 45 mins). Then I rinsed my hair out with luke warm water (do NOT use warm/hot warm as you might cook the egg) and then shampooed it as usual. I use some conditioner on the tips of my hair only.

Why does this work? Apparently eggs may strengthen hair follicles due to its high protein content and also add volume, shine and texture to hair.

Still skeptic?



Before: Dull and limp



After 1 use: Hair looks much more healthy and is now shiny!

* Both pictures taken with flash. Please excuse the many fly-a-ways after picture :)

PROS: The pros are pretty obvious from the pictures. My hair feels alot softer, has more volume and bounce, is shinier and generally alot healthier than before.

CONS: From experience, if you don't wash out the mask completely and shampoo well enough, hair can smell like you have put eggs in it. Inevitably, the bathroom you use to wash your hair will not smell that great either. I put up with these minor cons as I have used many hair masks before (both commercial and natural) but have not yet found one that does wonders for my hair like this one!

What do you use to remedy dull hair?

Simple purple smokey eye

So this is from a few months ago.. As you can see I really haven't honed into my picture taking skills but I'm still trying. This is the first smokey purple look that I have ever tried. Was inspired by Temptalia's and XinaRox purple smokey eye looks. I should have packed more shadow on, extended the eye shadow above the crease and darkened the outer V and smoked out the lower lash line.

Used:
Blacktract fluidline as base
Parfait amour on lid
Nocturnelle on crease
MUFE 92 in outer V
MUFE eyeliner 11L (purple) on waterline
Lancome Hypnose mascara (quite clumpy since it was nearly over in the tube)

Simply fabulous dahlings

Pics from MAC cosmetics website

Remember my pigment dilemma?

Well, the very generous new blogger Mommy Fabulous is offering a super giveaway including a choice of MAC Mischief Makers holiday sets including my current loves - the piggie sets and with more followers she is getting more generous! For details on this giveaway visit: http://jeanicejoi.blogspot.com/2009/11/welcome-to-blog-world-giveaway.html NOW!

Also, she blogs about her life as a mum in Las Vegas and her own little mischief maker!

Animal instincts

Spring trends 2010

Photo credit: NYMag.com

If I had to choose a print that I'm most fond of it would have to be animal print. I know it is considered a "trend" but I don't really pay attention to that! I have almost every body part covered.. from gloves, scarves, sun glasses to shoes, clothes and even makeup!

I thought it would be fun if I shared some of fav "wild" things so here they are...

Style warriors Refined golden bronzer

What better way to start off than with MAC. Amazing bronzer that does not look muddy.. I do not reach for this that often though but I should!!

SHOES

Black peep-toe shoes with animal print lining from H&M. I really like the cut-out detail on the sides

My leopard print stilettos from Steve Madden - These are most probably a rip-off of Loubutins but I love them anyway!

Jewellery
The hoops from H&M and the other was a gift from an aunt who visited SouthAfrica

I wore this dress when I graduated with my Bachelors degree. Ahh.. memories

Blog Love

I read ALOT of blogs.. usually my google reader unread posts are more than a 100 a day. Some of my fav non-beauty blogs in no particular order are:


Postsecret - exactly like it sounds.. I am pretty sure everyone is familiar with this one
Link: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Style arena- Streetstyle Japanese blog
Link: http://www.style-arena.jp/en/

Desire to inspire- An amazing interior decorating blog, features beautiful inspiring pictures
Link: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/

Karla's closet
Links: http://www.karlascloset.com/

Couture Carrie- Who needs Vogue when CC brings it all to your inbox
Link: http://couturecarrie.blogspot.com/