"Take a picture, it lasts longer"

Weee! I love completely frivolous new beauty products. This new unnecessary-but-you-want-it-anyway product comes to us courtesy of Benefit, the masters of catchy names and cute packaging.

It’s a body balm called Bathina and it’s all about creating sexy, touchable skin. The little tin contains the balm and a soft velvet puff for application. You just swipe the balm over arms, legs, chest for a glimmering golden-pink sheen (woo! one step product!). Personally, I would have loved this three months ago to enjoy over summer, but that’s the problem we face with being in the antipodes.

It smells really sweet, but I can’t quite place my finger on the scent. If you happen to get to a Benefit counter, please have a sniff and let me know your thoughts.

So apart from making you look good, does it do anything else? It contains jojoba seed oil to soften skin (winner), natural aloe extract to support skin (winner) and vitamin E & antioxidants for fighting the free radicals (winner). You can’t use it in place of a moisturiser, but it will keep your skin soft whilst also looking alluring. This also reminds me, I was going to do a video on free radicals – Laura Goodman from DDF explained free radicals in a really easy to understand way so I finally get what they are and what damage they do, and I thought you guys might be interested (and if you’re not, I’m totally not offended).

Price: $55
From: Benefit (hits counters March 14)
Why you need it: For sexual skin. Drive the boys wild with your golden glow.

Oi!

Hey twerps! Don't forget about the $50 Coles voucher competition! All you have to do is send me an email. How freaking simple is that?!

Email address: sendmestuff@stuffthatibought.com

Subject line: Cheese

What I need: your name and postal details (which I always delete straight after a competition)

Closes: 5pm Friday! Quick! Hurry!

Awww yeah, suck back that juice.

I’ll save you the boring details, but I have been pretty run down and flat lately. I guess we all get like that sometimes – bad eating, lack of exercise, the odd cold/virus just catches up with you and BAM! run-down punches you in the face. After reading a bunch of tweets about Urban Remedy juice detox, I decided it seemed like a good idea and made my enquiries.

A juice detox is designed to eliminate toxins, boost energy and rejuvenate your system – I’m sure you would know all that if you have ever read a celebrity magazine. Urban Remedy does 1, 3 or 5 day detoxes; they recommend 1 day for beginners (probably because they know people like me couldn’t last more than a day!). The juices are delivered to your home or office the evening before you are due to start, and they come in a cute little esky bag for easy transportation (note: a week later, I’m using my esky bag to carry my lunch – how primary school).

The juices themselves are fresh fruit and vegetables, mixed in the right combinations for maximum benefits (although not necessarily maximum taste...blech). There are 6 juices that need to be drunk in 2 hour intervals, starting at breakfast. The first juice of the day had carrot, parsley, cos lettuce, silverbeet and a few other things in it. Not the nicest, but it went down. Second juice was pineapple, apple and mint, and was definitely the highlight of the day. Juice 3 was like juice 1, while the hero of juice 4 was beetroot (hence the shocking colour). Juice 5 had me channelling my inner Beyonce with lemon and cayenne pepper (not as nice as it sounds), and the dinner juice contained raw cashew, coconut milk and a bunch of other stuff.

You have to chew your juice, not just gulp it, which is an unusual sensation and kind of explains why my colleagues were giving me funny looks (or it might have been my ‘eww yuck’ faces, I’m not sure.) I figured have nothing but juice would leave me hungry and cranky, but I was full all day. The juices are packed with all the protein, good fats and nutrients you need, and drinking every 2 hours means you don’t have a chance to ever get hungry before it’s time for the next one.

Would I recommend the juice detox? Well, how adventurous are you with food? When I booked it I clearly forgot just how fussy I am, because some of the juices were not enjoyable to me, but Kat also did the detox and her palette was hot to trot. I would also think about just how run down you are. My body was clearly in worse shape than I though, because the day after I had some, erm, unpleasant side effects of the cramping variety. If you like parsley in your juice and you want to feel all wholesome and smug, then jump on the Urban Remedy site, get your $20 off voucher and get detoxing.

Price: 1 day - $75, 3 day - $195, 5 day - $325
From: Urban Remedy (currently metro Sydney, but expanding Australia-wide shortly)
Why you need it: Clean your insides, clear your skin, give your insides a rest and take a break from cooking (and chewing).

I'm gonna be a supermodel, and my hair will shine like the sea!

I had the best day yesterday! I don’t want to give away too much, but my mug will be coming to a magazine near you very soon.

I needed to have my photo taken to stick next to my words (pretty nifty) and I had the pleasure of being made up for the occasion. The makeup artist was so super cool; she didn’t mind answering my 101 questions about what she was doing, what she was using and why she was doing it.

This was my first experience with having foundation airbrushed on. It feels like getting a fake tan on a much smaller scale. She used MAC face and body, and I was so pleased with the result that I am heading off to buy some on pay day. She did my cheeks with Shu Uemura glow blush in matte warm pink (m30). I normally do a bronze or peach cheek, so it felt unusual doing pink but I really liked the look. My eyes were done using a Nars eyeshadow duo, although I didn’t catch what colour (bad blogger!). She curled my lashes then slicked on a couple of coats of DiorShow, whilst commenting that it was her #1 choice for mascara (I debated this because I passionately love Covergirl Lash Blast, but I have to admit my lashes looked kickass).

The finishing touch was fairy floss pink lips using my new love, L’Oreal Paris Colour Riche Anti-Age Serum lipstick in Freshly Candy. I have been preparing a post wholly devoted to this lippie because, OMG, it is just the sweetest pink ever. I have been planning my ‘looks’ for the two weddings I have coming up, and was thinking this pink lip with a Nars eyeshadow duo I was sent to review. Talk about kismet!

By the way...she did my hair with a medium curling iron. A large one would be too big for my fine hair, and a small one would make Shirley Temple ringlets. The medium one is juuust right, and gives a better curl than I can do with my GHD! Hmmm...another thing to add to the shopping list.

**This is not the best photo, but you can see how nice and even the foundation looks. I promise to post the proper ones in a couple of months once they are published.

Stuck at your desk all day? Me too! Let's snack (and win stuff)

The good people at Mainland asked if I wanted to try some cheese. “Cheese? Sure, I love cheese. Eat it a lot at work. I like the little snack packs so I can eat at my desk.”

“Well perfect” said Mainland, “because our new Cracker Cuts is, er, cheese, cut to, uh, fit your cracker”

“What a novel idea!” said I, “Pre-cut cheese means zero effort on my part. I’m all for zero effort. And Cracker Cuts is such a descriptive name, don’t you agree?”

Cracker Cuts are pretty cool. I’m going through a bit of a health kick at the moment (don’t worry, these are usually short lived), so I have been enjoying my pre cut cheese with my carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, tzatziki and Vita-Weat crackers. I normally buy the little snack packs of cheese and crackers for work, but they only come with 3 crackers and 3 bits of cheese. Three crackers is not enough to tide me over, ever! How ridiculous!

Anyway, the Cracker Cuts packs have 20 slices, which is more than sufficient for a few days and a box of Vita-Weat crackers (the packs are resealable, which = clever). There are four flavours (actually, does cheese have flavours or types?); Light, Tasty, Extra Tasty and Mild. It ticks all the boxes for a desk snack, which is good for me because I spend a lot of time at my desk. What do you think? What are some of your favourite desk snacks?

Price: $4.35
From: Coles and Woolies
Why you need it: Snack attaaaack!

Speaking of...stuff...the good kids at Mainland have given me a $50 Coles voucher to give away. Think how much cheese you could buy with that?! (Kidding – I know you will go straight for the beauty aisle. I would). Just shoot me an email with the subject line: Cheese and your name and postal details* in the body. Comp closes 5pm Friday and I’ll do a random draw over the weekend. I may even video it, just for funsies.

*I will never keep your personal information for anything but the competition you are entering

More embarrassing photos, but it is SO worth it!

Saturday just passed was a pretty big day and I had been looking forward to it for ages. It was my good friends hens day AND my five year anniversary with Boyfriend (and before you ask, no, there was no ring. Consider that bud nipped). I had planned a really special dinner for us at Guillame @ Bennelong and I wanted to look gorgeous for the occasion.

Along with a hairdressers appointment and beauty therapist visit, I had been saving an SK-II mask that I had been kindly sent to trial, just for this occasion. I figured two birds, one stone. I told you about the SK-II Facial Treatment Mask a few weeks ago, and I was pretty impressed by it. I was even more impressed by the Skin Signature 3D Redefining Mask. Tutti frutti she’s a beauty!

The mask comes in two parts for maximum coverage of the saggy bits (your double chin deserves some love too). Also, your skin has different needs on different parts of your face (think how different your oily forehead is to your hormonal chin). It goes on easily and all you have to do for 15 minutes is chill. I’m pretty good at that. In fact, I rock at chilling out; I should put that on my resume. Anyway, I was so glowy afterwards, the sun was jealous. Don’t think I’m trying to sound conceited, I’m merely telling you how great this product worked. My skin looked plump and healthy. My makeup seemed to shine that little bit extra. My skin felt good and, ergo, I felt good. I have a couple of weddings coming up, so I will be investing in a box of these masks to prep my skin for the hectic one-after-the-other schedule. Honestly...box of 6 masks is the same as 2 facials in a salon.

Price: $190 for 6 masks
From: SK-II
Why you need it: For the instant gratification of glowy skin now and anti-aging benefits that target wrinkles and sagging.

PS - I had vanilla bean creme brulee with green apple sorbet, green apple jelly and mini doughnuts balls at Guillame and it was AMAZING!

Stuff bits

Remember when I raved about Covergirl Lash Blast Luxe about 6 months ago? You don’t? That’s ok, you’re probably new, I won’t hold it against you. Anyway, I roamed the streets for months trying to find the mascara to no avail. At that stage it wasn’t available here and I was gutted. Cut to me visiting Priceline a couple of days ago and there it is! Yesssssss! I actually did a *gasp* OMG! Squeal! Not least because I had just finished my last tube of it and was wondering what to do next (I love you, Exact Eyelights, but you’re just not the same). Anyway, it’s on the shelf in Priceline and I still highly recommend you get on board.

In that same old post last year I also talked about a Clinique moisturiser that I was totally in love with but that wasn’t available here. Thankfully it will be on counters in May, along with another new Clinique product that I can't wait to tell you about. Trust me, it's a big one. Exciting, right?!

Finally, tomorrow is a big day if you like to orgasm. I do. I like to do it every day. Well, regular orgasm during the day and then super orgasm at night because it’s that bit sparklier and deeper. I am of course, referring to the cult product Nars Orgasm blush (and you would never believe I made those innuendos on purpose, because I am totally not like that). As well as cult product Nars Orgasm and big sister Super Orgasm (a kickass blush for ‘evening’ because it has sparkle in it), the orgasm-on-the-cheek family is extending with Orgasm Illuminator (there were far too many orgasm’s in that sentence…oops there’s another one). Think flecks of gold, peach and pink dancing across your cheekbones to softly highlight and give you a warm glow. I don’t normally post about things I haven’t tried yet, but I am dead certain this will be a winner. Remember how amazing Rihanna looked at the Pre-Grammy’s party in that cut out Victor & Rolf dress. Yep…she was orgasming.

Covergirl Lash blast Luxe

Price: $17.95

From: Priceline

Nars Orgasm Illuminator

Price: $69

From: Mecca Cosmetica

Available: from tomorrow!! (you can bet I’ll be heading in store at lunchtime)

Picture credit: covergirl.com.au, Nars

I can't write about butter nail polish and not write "butterfingers" in the header

Since we’re talking about nail polish, I wanted to talk about butter LONDON polish. My very lovely beauty therapist and I were having a conversation about polish the other day (we speak a whole other language when we are together – I call it OPI-ese) and she offered to loan me a couple of bottles of butter LONDON so I could try them out and review them for you. Such a thoughtful little scamp.

Butter LONDON’s point of difference is that it is “three free”. This means it contains no formaldehyde, no toluene and no DBP (dibutyl phthalate). The polishes are non-toxic, although I wouldn’t recommend drinking them (not so tasty, my friends). Most nail polishes these days are or have been phasing these ingredients out, but butter LONDON is, I believe, the first to have all three of these ingredients out of their entire range. Kicked to the curb, bad guys!

The Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat (not just basecoat, but foundation, thank you very much) is just incredible and I will be buying this as soon as possible. It is a matte base and I would wear it alone because it gives nails a polished but very unusual look. Check the picture – see how classy it looks? It’s not clear like a usual base coat, but it has a natural tint, much like a foundation. Hmmm...I see how that works.

I also tried the matte base on top of colour (no piccie – sorry). Matte polish will be a trend again this winter, and using a matte topcoat is cheaper than buying a whole new range of matte colours.

The colour I tried was Macbeth and to be honest I’m kind of peeved because I have found the perfect red-orange colour and now summer is over. Typical. The colour is great though. It paints on really well, you get rich, vibrant colour from two layers (so much pigment-y goodness) and it dries quickly (although I still managed to smudge one nail – less a reflection of the polish, and more my clumsiness).

Price: $19.95 colour and $24.95 basecoat
From: adorebeauty or Honey Honey (polish is $22)
Why you need it: There are 50 colours in the range, so I’m sure you will be able to find something you like. Even if you don’t buy a colour, I definitely recommend the matte foundation.

St Patricks Day nail polish, perhaps?

Beyond the very obvious trend of grey/taupe set by Chanel and their Particulière polish, I haven’t seen much indication of nail trends for the cooler months. That’s not to say there aren’t any; I’m sure plenty will come through with the show season in full swing. Nails are pretty fluid with trends though – season seems to dictate pretty strongly. Think bright & sunny for summer and warm & moody for winter.

I have had a couple of bottles of fluoro green polish sitting on my desk for a while and I thought I would give them a crack and see how appropriate they are for autumn. I usually think of fluoros for summer - mainly orange, pink and red. Green is a tricky colour at the best of time, so fluoro just exacerbates that.

What do you think? The B Collection by Bloom green (Bahamas) is very wearable – heavy enough that it loses the garishness of fluoro and doesn’t totally look like I coloured my nails in with a highlighter. The BYS (Fatal Attraction) on the other hand...total bright fright! Definitely on the yellowy end of the green spectrum. Would you wear either? One feels more summery, while the other would be autumn appropriate.

BYS
Price: $4.95
From: K-Mart and chemists

B Collection by Bloom
Price: $14.95
From: Target
Why you need them: If you want to start autumn with a bit of colour. I know I can’t bring myself to put the greys and maroons of winter on yet, but I have summer coral and orange fatigue.

Let's get physical...physical...

When I was tweeting about my experience with the Tracy Anderson DVD last week, a few of you asked me what I thought and would I write about it? I borrowed the DVD from my good friend Kat and she has given it a thorough working over on her blog, but I thought I would throw my scathing 2c in because that’s kind of the point of a blog, isn’t it?

I wasn’t impressed. As Kat points out, I said “It's hard, but for the wrong reasons. She isn't a good instructor. Her moves felt like an 8 year old trying to choreograph a routine in her backyard after 6 months of dance lessons.” In person she might be different, but the DVD is not easy to follow even for the most seasoned dancer (I did elite level irish dancing for 17 years, plus loads of jazz and ballet, so I come from coordinated breeding). She doesn’t explain things well and the routine isn’t logical to follow. In fact, the routine isn’t logical at all. Have you ever seen a young girl choreographing her own routine? Not terribly musical or rhythmical; basically a mish-mash of everything she has learnt in her beginner jazz class. That is more or less what the Tracy Anderson “method” feels like. Jazz ballet circa 1993.

While it might be specifically designed to work all the right muscles, I didn’t enjoy it. And there is no point forcing yourself to endure something you don’t like. I’m just glad I didn’t pay for it (sorry, Kat!)

Price: $25.99
From: JB Hi-fi
Why you need it: Who doesn’t like jumping around the lounge room to bad music while looking like a ninny?!

Picture credit: jbhifionline.com.au

This week I...

• Am doing my This Week I... post on Tuesday instead of Monday.
• Am kind of (really really) obsessed with Miss Chu. The dumplings are little flavour explosions and the custard buns and pork buns are to die for. Literally, I would sell my sister for one of these steamed buns, and I love my sister very much.
  
• Really enjoyed reading NW magazine. After a few rough weeks, it seems to have finally done a Stella and got its groove back. I am très impressed.
• Am pretty thankful the Olympics are over - now I can finally get some sleep.
• Made the best garlic pizza ever. I used Aldo’s pizza bases and topped them with olive oil and slices of garlic. These are the best bases I have ever used, and I have made a lot of pizza in my time.
• Read a book called Accidently Single, wrote a review and interviewed the author. You should definitely go and read it over on Sassi Sam.
• Did a juice detox cleanse. Then I got sick. That’s less a reflection of the juice detox and more a reflection of the state of my body.
• Had something really exciting happen, that may or may not involve my face appearing in a magazine soon. I will tell you all about it once it is 100% confirmed.
• Will be celebrating 5 years with Boyfriend, by enjoying dinner at Guillame @ Bennelong.
• Can't wait to fall down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland!! Bring on Friday night!!!
• Am also going to High Tea for my friends hens. It’s going to be a busy week.
• Along with everyone else, said farewell to Summer. Sad. I adore Summer.

I hope the start of Autum is being kind to you. If you know somewhere to buy good but affordable gumboots, do be a sport and comment below.

With wet ankles,
xx

How to be massively inappropriate at work

I love my job, I really do, but Monday’s suck hairy dogs balls. I know you’re nodding your head in agreement right now. Hauling ass out of bed...first bus/train ride/traffic jam of the week...crazy people chasing you for work before you have even had your coffee; sometimes you just want to run screaming from the working week before it has even begun. I have found the perfect antidote to Monday painfulness – rude post it flags.

I had my first encounter with a Typo store in Melbourne. Typo is a stationary store under the Cotton On family umbrella. Very cute and quirky; think funky pencil holders, great cards & wrapping paper and notebooks you want to write in. Whilst perusing their wares in the Spencer St Station store, I happened upon two very cool sets of post it flags – one set was polite and sensible, and one set was very rude. Against my better judgment, I purchased the sensible set and have been regretting it for the last month. By sensible, I mean Read, To Do, Important, File, Urgent and Can’t Wait.

Thankfully my flatmate knows me too well and came home with a surprise gift one day! They aren’t exactly appropriate for her very important and heavy regulated office, but I can go to town (within reason, of course). How rude is rude? Idiot, Fuck, Shit, Whatever, Crap and Wank. There is nothing more satisfying than a report landing on my desk and being able to stick a Shit post it on top.

Price: $4.95
From: Typo – check their website for locations
Why you need it: So you too can feel the rush of flagging something with a great big Crap.