New Year. New Me.

On 31 December 2014 I wrote down a list of New Years resolutions, they went something like this:

1. Loose 10kgs

The usual get fitter, be healthier and get skinner resolution. This year I am determined to make this happen. While I may have almost had a mid-life crisis when I turned 20 years-old, I have come to the conclusion that I am in fact still a "spring-chicken". Therefore it is worth hating myself for a few months while not indulging in chocolate, for the many years ahead of loving a new "hotbod". 

In order to do this I have come up with rules/resolutions to help me:

* only water, alcohol, tea and coffee - no drinking my calories!

* use my fitnesspal app everyday to keep me on track

* eat slower... You don't have to finish your food!

2. Be well-rounded

You remember those kids in school who got the "well-rounded" badge for being good at music, academics, sport etc. Well at the end of last year I told myself I wanted to be a better person and I chose the "well rounded" phrase for motivation. And although I found myself tired, I was happier in every aspect of my life. I made sure I was excercising everyday, eating well and happy allowing myself the occasional treat, being nice to everyone I can across and making sure I kept up to date with all my university work. I felt better than ever!! I want to continue this in 2015, I love keeping the positive energy flowing!

3. Use all the clothes in my wardrobe

Don't let those poor clothes stay negelcted, wear them or give then to someone who needs them. And a major plus, you can do laundry less frequently! Yippee! 

4. Choose happiness 

2014 was one of the best years of my life, because I chose to leave my hometown and go out on my own. While I miss my family while I'm away, I am happier than ever. I have made amazing friends, grown as a person and am studying the perfect degree. I always want to strive to be happy and to make choices, no matter how hard, to be my ideal self. 

And here I am, 23 days into 2015, 2kgs lighter and still haven't done my laundry. CHEERS to the New Year!!

Disappointment : MAC Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation**

Hey my Lovies :)

Sorry to disappoint with the lack of blog posts but I've been writing end of year exams BUT I'M NOW ON HOLIDAY FOR 3 WHOLE MONTHS!! So prepare for blog post overload**

Anyway so getting into this review on the MAC Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation with SPF 15...

Maybe I should start by saying that I am MAC OBSESSED so this is no indication of my opinion of MAC products. I love their eyeshadows and my absolute favourite Mineralize Skinfinish Powder that I cannot live one day without.

However, this foundation was beyond disappointing. I went into MAC to try and move away from the Essence soft touch mousse foundation, which I used for a good year, into a liquid foundation. I thought just do yourself a favor and go and buy a high end foundation so that they can match your colour perfectly and you'll know that it will be great. In the past I have really struggled when buying foundation at a drugstore because I clearly have no skill when it comes to choosing the right colour for my skin tone. (exciting news: I am now having better luck with this)

So the colour match was perfect in MAC however whenever I wear it, it oxidizes on my skin (changes colour) into a gross orange tone and looks really strange. Obviously this would not happen to everyone, it would just depend on how your skin reacts with the foundation.

Another problem I found is that it has a very light coverage which is nice if you want something that isn't too heavy on the skin. The foundation is also not build-able so if you have an imperfection it won't be covered unless you use concealer, which looks super strange in contrast with the light coverage. The foundation therefore annoyed me because it looked okay when I start wearing it and then as time passes the foundation wears off and your skin becomes more exposed.

The worst part of this foundation has got to be that the foundation becomes spotty after a while. I'm not sure how to properly describe this but basically it doesn't stay beautifully smooth on the face, it moves into the skin creases and almost separates.

Overall I can say that the problems which I had were around the fact that this foundation doesn't last long enough. By long enough I mean that, oxidizing aside which happens after about thirty minutes, it lasts about three hours before it starts looking gross and before that it doesn't look amazing either. Not to mention the steep price tag. Therefore I would not recommend this foundation, however, if you do want to go for a MAC foundation I know quite a few people who really enjoy the Studio Fix foundation, which I've heard has more coverage and lasting power. I would recommend talking to the MAC artists and asking them to try it out on your whole face and then wearing the foundation for a whole before going back to purchase it, just to be certain that the high price tag is worth it.

Thanks so much for reading**

News: My next post will be on my new favourite drugstore foundation. So follow for a notification when I post new exciting blogposts about everything beauty.

Love from
Lollie
xx

P.S. This review is my own personal experience with this foundation and if you love this foundation then I apologize.

Secret to covering up **

No I'm not referring to a great jersey but rather how to hide those annoying skin imperfections...

To those who are blessed with continuously perfect skin I'm seriously jealous as I unforunately have skin which is rather moody, however, I've learnt to deal with it. So here goes:

1. If you've got time, the first thing I do is use a good dying out skin mask, my personal favourite is the tea tree mask from The Body Shop. This dries out any unhappy pimples. If you're in a rush skip this step. Obviously wash and dry your face before moving to step 2.

2. Use a good moisturizer. Although you want to dry out any pimples, you do not want to dry out your skin. Test a new moisturizer before using it because some, for example spot reducing ones, don't work as well under makeup, keep the spot moisturizers for the evening. Makeup looks as bad on flakey dry skin as it does over a oozy pimple. * sorry for the graphic details... 

3. PRIMER. This is your best friend when you're experiencing uneven skin tone. It helps to create a smoother surface for your makeup. Personally I use the Woolworths primer, however, I've tried Clinique and Mac primers and all have had amazing results, I do not recommend Smashbox primers though.

4. Colour correcting product. These products help your makeup look more flawless by counteracting colours such as redness, depending on what type of imperfections you're working with. When you have spots, green is perfect. Often you can combine this step with step 3 as some primers come with the colour tint included, however, if you can find it separate it's great because you can concentrate the green more on top of a spot or in a perticularly red area. The only problem that arrises with this step is that if you use a liquid foundation you do not want the green to mix with your foundation colour and then it would be best to use the tinted primer as it dries in a manner that provides a great smooth finish to put liquid foundation on top of.

5. Foundation. This is obviously a personal choice. I use a mouse foundation, however, take your pick remembering to choice step 3&4 based on your foundation choice.

6. Powder, especially if your skin is uneven and has spots, powder will help with oil control and provide a fuller cover. I absolutely adore the Mac mineralise skin finish! It is amazing! And can be used alone, over a bb cream on a good skin day or to add extra cover on a not-so-good skin day.

7. Make pretty **

Love from Lollie xx

P.S. I am in no way a dermatologist or makeup artist, this routine works for me and I hope that it works for you too. 

New summer items **

The excitement of a new season is upon us and for us Southies this season brings floral dresses and cute sandals :D Although I'm surprised how well I embraced last winter, I'm definitely ready to step into the brighter shades and bold prints.

 With this excitement brings many happy shopping trips - which I of course hate with a passion.... JOKES!! Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my new wardrobe editions ... 

Okay so I know these aren't really summer options, but they were so cute, I couldn't help myself. And surprisingly I've really been enjoying wearing them over this transition period when there are the odd colder days. Super comfy for us university goers, they make walking between classes a breeze. And these All Stars come in tons of super fun colours.  

 

 Next up is probably my favourite purchase ever! I mean seriously my earrings are on a date.... Boy-girl penguin earrings to make my life. Love wearing these unique earrings and they make a suprisingly good conversation starter.

So these sandals mark the start of my absolute obsession with jelly shoes! Watch this space - by the end of the season I expect my shoe cupboard to be filled with these guys. The only prob is that they're a bit uncomfortable at first while the plastic is still softening but after some time they become crazily comfy...  And the gold detail of these jellies is super cute for summer. Added bonus: they show off a sexy summer pedi perfectly.

P.S. Excuse the chipped nail polish 

 This is just the beginning.... 

Loves from Lollie 

xxx

Lush must-haves **

Lush has just recently landed in South Africa and it is definitely one of my regular stop offs when i'm out shopping ... which to my embarrassment is a little too often. So for this baby blog I thought I'd choose three of my favourite products that I've re-purchased to do a mini review on.

Firstly my absolute favourite product probably ever is the Lush OCEAN SALT facial scrub. I love this scrub to death. It's amazing for when you're having a bad skin day. It removes all dead skin and leaves your skin feeling fresh and clean. However, it is quite intense on the skin so it isn't as a replacement for your daily wash but rather as a every-second day kind of wash. I prefer to use it in the evening when I can use an extra moisturising cream and leave my skin make-up free for sometime after using it. 

Secondly, is the TEA TREE WATER which is a toner water in the form of a spray. Because it contains tea tree this product is a amazingly anti-baterialising leaving your pores feeling open and clean. It must be said though that the tea tree is good for removing oil. This means that if you have oily skin then this is perfect for you! Especially for use in the morning to keep your skin oil free for that extra bit longer. However, this means for those of you with rather dry skin, much like mine, it is better to be used in a less frequent fashion and in conjunction with a good moisturiser. But it is still an essential in my toiletry bag. 

And last but not least is the amazing BUBBLEGUM lip scrub, its bright pink colour is only the beginning of its coolness. Made up of natural sugar it is the perfect lip scrub. It's super easy to use in that you just take some and rub it over your lips until you feel the dead skin has been removed. And wait for it... the amazing and best part is that ... (drum role please) ... you can eat it afterwards!! *applause
Okay so maybe its not as cool as I like to think it is. But it tastes too amazing for words. And don't be disappointed if you're not a lover of the bubblegum flavor cause there are more flavors to choose from.

Please go and check out these products and hopefully you'll love them as much as I did.

Loves from Lollie

P.S. It must be said that I'm not a dermatologist and these are my own opinions. 

Mini Review: Garnier skin products

Bonjourno my readers :) hope everyone is doing well. Here are some Garnier Products that I've recently purchased and how I feel about them.

Garnier Skin Products:

So I've never found a set product that I love to use on my skin, so to help my search I decided to try these three products. The first product (left) is part of the Garnier Pure Active range and it's a basically a spot reducing moisturizing lotion. I haven't had any problems with this product yet, however, I will probably need to use it for a bit longer before I can give you all a reliable review. My one worry is that because it is a spot reducing product, it contains salicylic acid which is a drying out agent. Due to my more dry skin I have only been using this product every second night. I am also apprehensive about using it in the morning as I'm not certain that it would be a good base on which to place my foundation. 

The second product (middle) is the Garnier Even Daily Moisturiser which I have been using when I'm not using the previously mentioned, Garnier Pure Active Moisturiser. I find that it is light on the skin, however, its hydrating and I've enjoyed using this product. 

My third and favourite product is the Garnier Even Toner(right). When I bought it, I thought that it was expired because the texture is an unusually thicker milky texture. However, after a quick google, I realised that in fact it was a useable. After that day I've extremely enjoyed the soft and clean toner. Its really light and fresh on the skin. Especially due to my dry skin, I've enjoyed the fact that it doesn't dry out my skin.

I hope you readers have benefitted from this post, feel free to leave any comments that you have regarding these products below... I would love to hear how your skin type reacted to them.

<3 Lovies

Secret beauty tips

Morning (for me) world :)

Sorry that I haven’t blogged in a while, but my inspiration has been at a minimum. However, I have now put some thoughts towards this blog post so here goes …

I thought that today I'd share with you three of my secret beauty tips.

1.    Run out of make-up remover/ staying over at the boyfriend and desperately needing to prevent raccoon eyes in the morning – not a sexy look :P The solution: Baby oil is your first choice, extra moisturising and  soft on the eyes. Vaseline is the next, moisturising and a secret eyelash growth serum. Yes that’s right, your little tub of lip balm could be a solution to your stubby eyelashes – give it a try. Both these products will (when placed on a cotton swab) remove the remains of eye make-up.

2.    For those with curly hair (LIKE ME), I know that brushing those locks gives you a 80s fro but lets be serious. That twice a year comb through is impossible so I have a secret solution: Kiddies detangler… My preferred brand is the Organics product (complete with a cute octopus on the bottle). Once out of the shower, after a fresh shampoo and conditioning, spray the detangler onto your wet locks and brush… I like to do this once a week to keep to mane under control. If your results were like mine, you’ll find that your curls sit nicely once they’re dry. YAY for controlled curly hair!

3.  A little birdie once told me that the main base to all face powder is baby powder.Therefore on those days when you're getting a little extra greasy in certain areas, instead of caking on more powder, just add a dab of baby powder. It will absorb the excess oil without making you look more and more caked throughout the day. 

 Thank you for reading. Keep checking my blog out for more useful secret beauty tips <3