an iHerb haul !

So yesterday night i received my very first iHerb haul.

It is now safe to say that this wont be my last !

i LOVE this site ! There are so many great brands & items that i've heard mentioned but have never been able to get my hands on.

i Herb is definitely worth taking a look at, if you've never been iHerb or only casually browsed it once or twice, maybe my haul will give you some inspiration to make a purchase !

Here is what i bought...

From left to right (sort of)...

* ELF High Definition Powder - in Sheer

* ELF Tone Correcting Concealer - in Ivory

* Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea - Cinnamon Apple Spice 

* Celestial Seasonings Chai Tea - Sweet Coconut Thai 

* Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

* ELF Baked Blush - in Peachy Cheeky

* Better Stevia - Glycerite 

* Better Stevia - French Vanilla 

* ELF Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter - in Fair / Glow 

* ELF Matte Lip Colour - Coral 

The first thing from my haul that i was super excited about were the 2 flavours of Celestial Seasonings tea i picked up ! I have been a hardcore fan of the Sleepytime Vanilla tea since i saw it on Elle Fowler's channel in like 2010 & by hardcore i mean i have like 8 boxes stashed from when coles stopped selling it. I do like me some tea ! I thought i would try some new flavours & lately i have been having soy milk with everything, what goes well with soy milk ? Chai tea of course ! After i read Emma's review i knew i had to try the Sweet Coconut Thai from Celestial ! I love coconut & i love chai & oh my, this is delish !! I like mine really hot with about a 1/4 cup of soy milk & 4 drops of the Better Stevia - French Vanilla. As you can see from the photo i couldn't wait to photograph the box before ripping into the wrapper ! 

Mhhhhm It was so good, makes me wish it was winter though ! 

As i'm writing this i'm sipping on the Cinnamon Apple Spice, watching the winter olympics in between sentences & wearing long socks...i'm as close to winter as an Australian can get in February ! I like the Cinnamon Apple, it's an especially nice change as i usually don't drink herbal teas (besides my beloved Sleepytime) this flavour definitely doesn't need added sweetener & has alot of tang to it ! It's really lovely if you like apples + cinnamon 

Yum ! I could see myself buying both of these flavours again 

To go with my delicious new tea flavours i grabbed a couple of the stevia drops to try. Can you believe these cost me $1 each ? I know, neither can i ! 

Seriously, i have seen similar drops in my local health food store for around $12 a pop, i'm not stingy but one of my pet peeves is paying more than i have to for something i want !  Actually i think pretty much everyone feels that way 

I use stevia in loads of things, like tea & coffee, greek yoghurt, cooking...pretty much everything you would put sugar in, at the moment Natvia is my very favorite brand, it doesn't have that hollow, chemically after taste that some others do 

So far i have only tried the French Vanilla flavour of the stevia & i liked it. I must say i like the Natvia one better, but this is not bad. I don't know if i would buy these again at full price & because of how strong they are i'm thinking these will last me a lifetime ! 

I LOVE face sponges ! Really i do :) nothing gets my beloved Garnier BB cream on like a sponge. I also love dogs & dogs love to chew !! So you can guess where my last face sponge ended up 

I was actually using a pink Model's Prefer sponge i got as a freebie from Priceline, i liked it but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge ! Wow is it good. I originally read about it over on The Wifey Chronicles

I don't know what it is about it that i like most. I  gave it a good wash before i used it & when i squeezed all the water out it squished down to about a quarter, then puffed up again

Sigh, i kinda want to reapply my foundation just to get to use it again !

one of the ends is super pointy for blemishes & around the eyes / nose 

the other end is slanted to press against the skin when blending foundation 

The next few items were all ELF products 

I've never bought or tried ELF before but i am a massive convert, recently i was reading the Kmart facebook page & noticed they're stocking ELF from the end of February / Early March ! Such good news 

I also popped into my local Kmart store over the weekend & noticed the cosmetics department was pretty much empty, makes me think they're overhauling the whole section 

Um who else is excited !! 

If you haven't ever tried ELF, hold out for Kmart to stock it, but i'll think you'll end up loving it ! 

This powder is amazing ! I have read so many reviews on it & i thought like good could it be ? After using it though i understand the hype, it's the only powder i've ever used that gets the perfect dewy to matte ratio ! It's the best, try some ! 

Oooooh this blush is pretty

I first saw this blush on Emma's blog too ! 

It is such a pretty shade, so glad i picked one up 

It has a nice shimmer to it but not so much that it's overpowering, the colour is a perfect peachy coral 

Swoon, i love makeup...

I grabbed this tone correcting concealer too, which if you've been reading my blogs for a while you may have noticed my fascination with concealers. It's a nice, light concealer which is buildable 

The other concealer i grabbed was this dual under eye concealer & highlighter, i adore a good under eye concealer & am yet to find my holy grail (i'm lusting for cle de peau) this one works well for me on a day where i've had alot of sleep & only need light coverage. The highlighter is great too & sits really well under my brow bone. I'm looking forward to playing with this a bit more 

Unblended...

Blended...

Finally i picked up the Matte Lip Colour from ELF in Coral

I really neglect my lips when it comes to my daily face, i have a few of the Revlon / Saavy lip tint sticks in my bag but i very rarely reach for them. 

This pencil is lovely though, i havent tried it on my lips yet but i think it will be a great & staggered way to work myself into wearing lip products 

And that's a wrap ! 

I hope you liked seeing the things i picked up in my first even iherb haul, i know i love reading hauls...if you've recently hauled on your blog post your link below cause i would love to check it out :) 

Also, if you've had any great find from iHerb lemme know ! 

Enjoy your weekend & until next time 

xx

Engagement Party Planning - 7 & 6 weeks to go !

Um can i start off with saying where has January gone ??
M & i have both just applied for new jobs & they both closed on the long weekend so much of our time has been spent on that, we've also had a fairly high amount of added stress from someone reversing into our beloved Jeep & a bungled bedroom furniture delivery !

Oh life you funny thing !

The best bit is, we are both happy & healthy
I don't want to get all 'preachy' on you, i'm just feeling the love hehehe

So i feel like we have done very little in the way of planning for the e-party but when i write it down it actually seems we have done more than i thought.

During the week we stocked up on some spirits at Aldi.
Speaking of feeling the love, i LOVE Aldi !! Wow, we have relatives in Tasmania, where there is no Aldi & i can't imagine a life without it !
We bought the Aldi vodka, 2 of those, a Jack Daniel's something or other (M picked it) & some Malibu (i picked that). With alcohol we're planning to have big buckets full of ice with beer, wine & soft drinks in them & then a few bottles of spirits on the side for people to help themselves too. We're also planning to hire a frozen slushie machine & have some big beverage dispensers with non-alchoholic iced tea & cordial in for people to enjoy straight or spike if they like (it's a winner if it rhymes). I still want to buy a couple more spirits to add, i'm thinking midori, frangelico & maybe alize ? M wants some rum too which should round out the tray quite nicely :)

The main things we've done the past 2 weeks are:

Accomplished:

- Pinterest mood board
- Bought a basket from ikea (more on this idea to come)
- Bought some colourful coasters, these will form part of what's on each table
- Spoke to a lovely friend about making my own flower centerpieces
- Bought chalk, also from ikea, to draw on the pavement outside the hall
- Drew a floor plan
- Bought some spirits
- Got my clear balloons in the mail
- Got some great ideas from ikea, like colourful table runners & pots to hold forks / spoons
- Borrowed some big 7ltr drink dispensers
- Got cups

So there you go, things are coming together
This coming week will be a turning point i think, we'll hopefully have the food all sorted & some decorations made up !

Sorry this post was so blergh ! My camera is dead & i really wanted to put up an update
My next update should be ready by Friday this coming week, if i work on it each night & keep track of what i've done it comes together much easier

Thanks for reading x

A Liebster Award !

So i got nominated for a Liebster award ! 

How lovely :) my new friend Basmah over at Lacee & Lattes nominated me for my first ever Liebster award ! 

Yes, little old me :) 

I was a bit excited (well, alot) and decided to google what this award really was. I mean i have heard it floating around the blogosphere for a while now but had never really made the effort to work out what it meant ! After doing a little research i came to the conclusion that the award is not so much a tangible thing but rather a nod from one up-and-coming blogger to another, in German 'Liebster' means “dearest, loveliest, kindest, favorite, darling", basically it's a term of endearment 

Nawwww warm & fuzzies ! 

I love it already 

So i have to say a big thankyou again to Basmah, be sure to check out her blog !! It's very addictive & the photos will have you lusting over things left right & centre

And here we go,

The rules:

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you

2. You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you

3. You must pick nominees with under 200 followers (or under 2000 if that works for you) to answer your questions 

4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you

5. You must let the people you nominate know they have been nominated

Basmah's Questions:

What is your favourite thing about yourself?

I would have to say my favourite thing about myself is the colour of my eyes :) I’ve always loved having blue eyes because golden heud eyeshadows are my absolute favourite & they seem to suit blue eyes so well !

If you were going on holiday for 3 months, and could only take 1 makeup item with you, what would it be?

Suncreeen ! I already have some sun damage (tops of my shoulders & a little on my décolletage) everyday when I see it a little part of me gets really upset at past-lauren for not being more proactive. So definitely sunscreen as my one & only

If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

Firstly I would wish for perfect health for all my friends & family, secondly I would wish for the ability to like go from 1 place to another really quick (teleportation?) & thirdly I would pull a dodgy & wish for neverending wishes hehehe is that allowed ?

Who is your celebrity crush?

Um right now ? Shaun White is up there (he is a snowboarder) ! This is a hard one because M is top of my list, hehehe I know that sounds corny but I just love that guy ! Ooooooh Ryan Gosling is alright too, especially if he was in character as Noah :)

   

What is your guilty pleasure?

Sigh. I wish I had a really cool one to say but in all honestly my guilty pleasure is buying expensive candles & only lighting them sporadically then feeling incredible when the smell fills the room. That & buying a decent chocolate (hello guylian) too munch on with Hart of Dixie on a Tuesday night

What was the first makeup product you ever owned?

A grape coloured Estee Lauder lipstick that was given to me by my Aunt ! I think it was a GWP that she cast off lol (& who can blame her). I thought it was the coolest thing & have fond memories of reapplying it whilst at dinner with friends at Hungry Jacks ! Whoo hoo

What is your favourite food?

Noodle Soup ! My parent used to take us out on the weekends to the food court above Paddy’s Markets & I used to get the most delicious concontions mmmmhm rice noodles with Asian greens & dumpling + the soup ! OMG I am hungry now, yep definitely my favorite

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Hmmm well if i'm being honest the first thing that i think of is being able to read minds, but i would regret having this power. I just think there would be no privacy or wonder, imagine reading your boyfriends mind & finding out he was about to propose ! What a bummer...so i would choose the power to fly or teleport instead !

If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?

I would book a massive snow trip to the ski fields in California, I feel like I have such clarity when I’m in the mountains & around all that fresh air & snow ! Then I would sit down with a hot chocolate & M and brainstorm. I would probably become a house flipper !

What are your pet peeves?

I can’t stand it when people put others down to make themselves feel / sound better, it instantly changes my view of them & I really don’t like it when people turn an entire conversation into a big session all about them ! Usually the same people who do the first, will do the second as well !

If you could only choose one, would you choose lipstick or mascara?

Always mascara, always! The amount of times I have put on a concealer + mascara combo & felt pretty sweet is a lot more than the amount of times lipstick has given me that same feeling ! So I am loyal to mascara, the little tube of wonder that is it

So, there you go ! 

Did any of my answers suprise you, i think i sound pretty normal ? 

My nominees are: 

1. Rhi - of Ebb & Flow 

2. Kacie - of Lady Bear

3. Emma - of Emmabovarybeauty

4. Kaitlyn - of OhhKaye