Winning

I was so excited to find out that I had won the lovely Tine of Beautyholics Anonymous' 4th birthday giveaway a week or so ago. When the doorbell rang this morning, I pretty much squeed when I saw the big 'AIR MAIL' sticker on the front! He must think I'm a complete loon. Oh well. I'm surprised how quickly the parcel arrived - Approximately a week - since Australia is pretty much the other side of the world!

I received:

'Lessons of a Lipstick Queen' by Poppy King
A lovely card from Tine and her business card
Anna Sui Face Color Accent in 301
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rivage
NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna
Kink Lip Lustre in Bella
Kink Lip Jewel in Pink Fling
Kink Eye Defining Pencil in Black
Calvin Klein Brow Definition Pencil in 204 Brunette
Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Rejuvenating Hand Therapy
A $50 gift voucher from Sweet Contemplation Accessories (Not pictured)

From L-R: Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rivage, CK Brow Pencil in Brunette, NARS Laguna, Anna Sui Face Color Accent in 301, Kink Eye Defining Pencil in Black, Kink Lip Jewel in Pink Fling and Kink Lip Lustre in Bella.

I'm so grateful and excited to be able to try out all the products! The Chanel lipstick is definitely going to be my new go-to lipstick, the Anna Sui blush is such a beautiful colour and smells amazing and Nars Laguna is my first dip into the Nars pool... And definitely not my last!

Thank you so much again Tine!! If you guys don't follow Tine, I suggest you click on over and do so! Her blog is lovely and full of all sorts of good stuff!

xoxo, Joy

Remember Me?

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I barely posted or replied to comments throughout June! I had my end of year uni exams and was spending a lot of time revising for those. I had my last exam today and that means I will be posting again more regularly and have time to spend reading and commenting on blogs again! Yay :)

Over the past few weeks, I have been...

Cooking
My flatmates and I made dinner for each other one night. We all made different parts of it - I made the loaded potato skins in this photo, while another made the lamb and peppers above and the other made dessert. Nomnom :)

Revising
This has been my revision set up for the past few weeks. I find if I revise at my desk, I always end up on my laptop, so I've been lying on my yoga mat and revising on the floor.

Procrastinating
I found this book at home during Easter and brought it back to uni with me. It had been sat neglected on my shelf for ages, but one day last week I decided to pick it up and read it. I managed to finish it one day. It normally takes me ages to finish a book, so I guess it shows how much I was procrastinating! Although, I did really enjoy this book.

Berry happy
It's officially summer! This means lovely weather (hopefully), the holidays and lots of yummy fruit! Last month I was obsessed with blueberries and strawberries with greek yogurt, but this month I've been loving raspberries with a bit of vanilla ice cream.

Ripped

I have accumulated a huge pile of magazines in my room, so I recently went through them and ripped out a tonne of articles, recipes and pictures of make-up inspiration to keep and recycled the rest.

What have you been up to this month?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

NOTD: Rose Lounge

3 coats of Bourjois So Laque in 'Rose Lounge'

I've recently been wanting a nice nude polish after my old one by Sephora ran out. After hearing that Kate Middleton wore this on her nails on her wedding day, I popped along to Boots and picked up this lovely pink nude polish! Hehe. I found the formula of this was very runny, but it is still easy to work with. The first coat of this was extremely sheer. It took about 2/3 coats for most nails to look opaque. Although there were some areas which looked a little uneven, I didn't think this mattered because the colour is pale and natural, so it wasn't obvious. I was impressed with how quickly each coat dried. After 3 coats, my nails were completely dry and didn't feel tacky, like some nail varnishes are after a few coats. This lasted well on the nails.

Do you like pale, nude colours on your nails?

xoxo, Joy

Review: Max Factor False Lash Effect (Waterproof)

Left: Naked lashes, Right: Curled and 1 coat of False Lash Effect

I bought this mascara after hearing that it was the same as Covergirl 'Lash Blast', which is highly raved about, so I picked this up to give it a go. I chose the waterproof version, because with summer coming up and the (hopefully) warm weather, I wanted to make sure my mascara didn't give me panda eyes throughout the day.

I really like this mascara. The packaging says "Full lashes, natural look" - Surely that doesn't work?! The name of the mascara suggests that it will give you a 'false lash effect', so how is that a natural look! Anyway, I think the mascara does live up to its claims. It's extremely lengthening and gives you a nice amount of volume. I found this mascara very buildable. After 3 coats of mascara, I still hadn't experienced any clumping.

I found the formula of the mascara to be very wet. It stayed 'wet' on my lashes for a long time and I had to sometimes be careful when blinking, because it would end up all over my eyelids! I have had this mascara for a while now and it still hasn't dried out, which I'm really happy with because I hate spending approximately £10 on a mascara, only for it to be dry within a few weeks. The waterproof formula is extremely good. It doesn't smudge or flake and is a bit of a pain to remove at night!

I think I will definitely be repurchasing this mascara again. Although next time I might go for the non waterproof version, because I only like wearing waterproof mascara during the summer and/or if I'm on holiday. I also want to try the new Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara (in the purple tube) - Has anyone tried that? Any thoughts?

Have you ever tried Max Factor FLE? What did you think?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Amy Antoinette Contest Entry

This is my entry for Amy Antoinette's Sigma Brush contest. When a contest involves doing a makeup look, I normally tend to shy away because my makeup application skills are by no means good. They're adequate enough to apply my simple daily makeup, but really don't compare to many of the other lovely people with beauty blogs (At this point, if you're wondering why I have a makeup/beauty blog, then my answer is: Because I love to BUY makeup and beauty products!).

The requirements of the contest where to create a look that would fit in with a 'romantic English Country Garden wedding'.

I took this with my new camera and haven't quite figured it out, so the picture is a little bit washed out and yellowy. Sorry. Also lol at how unsymmetrical my face is...!

Face
Estee Lauder Doublewear Foundation in Fresco
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC15
Collection 2000 Sheer Loose Powder
Benefit Hoola (As a slight contour)
Topshop Cream Blush in Neon Rose
Revlon Matte Blush in Perfectly Peach
W7 Africa Bronzing Powder (As a highlight)

Lips
Body Shop Sheer Lip Shine in Sheer Pink

Eyes
No7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Vanilla all over the lid
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Naked in the outer third and crease
No7 Gel Eyeliner
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Black-Brown

Again, sorry that the picture is a little washed out :(

I hope you like my entry.

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Hey Mr. Postman (Part II)

This is the second part of my accumulative purchases posts (with giveaway wins and a JWLRY purchase). The first one (with eBay and blog sale purchases) is here.

Left: 9 Bars, Right: American Apparel Nail Polishes in Office, Rose Bowl and Echo Park

9 Bars: I won these 9 bars from Lily's giveaway. In case you're wondering what they are: 9Bar is a deliciously nutritious seed bar designed to get the maximum nutritional goodness from seeds in a convenient and tasty way, so its no great surprise to find the main ingredient of a 9Bar is a blend of wholesome seeds. Sunflower seeds form the main base of the bar but the mix also includes pumpkin, poppy, sesame and the legendary hemp. The flax variety has added flax, or linseed as it is often better known, one of the best plant sources of Omega 3. Seeds are a nutritionally dense food containing a wide range of nutrients including minerals, vitamins, essential amino and fatty acids. As part of a balanced, healthy diet seeds can provide a wide range of nutrients. The bars were a good size and very filling. All but one (I can't remember which one!) had a thin layer of chocolate on the top. Calories wise, they have about 200 and something calories, which is in the same realms as a chocolate bar, but these bars are so much better for you. I really enjoyed all the bars and I will definitely be buying more! You can buy them online and you can get certain varieties in health food stores or your local supermarket.

Nail Polishes: I won these AA polishes from Joellen and they are the prettiest colours ever! I've heard so many good things about AA polishes, so I'm excited to try them once I take Orly 'Blackout' off (As a sidenote: After approximately a week, apart from a little more tipwear, 'Blackout' hasn't chipped at all! I am very impressed indeed!)

Thank you so much, again, Lily and Joellen! :)


I've wanted a double finger cross ring for ages! I bought this from Lily's jewellery shop for £6 recently and have worn it pretty much every day since I received it! It's a mini cross, which I really like because it looks girly and dainty, without being too overpowering :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy