Living proof. Perfect Hair Day set

Smooth hair, don't care

You've been saving your points for months for Sephora's second instalment of #epicrewardsday, and instead was greeted with SOLD OUT and generic customer service tweets in response to your repeated cries for being hoodwinked. Despite my best efforts in refreshing my web browser, sleep reigned supreme, and I figured waking at 5:30 last Tuesday morning would suffice -- surely something would be left, right?

And then the stories trickled in about shopping carts being emptied as you shopped; clearly your mouse clicking skills were not up to par, that, or the Sephora 'bots preyed on the responsible consumer who deleted their credit card details from their account after a random purchase at Homegoods last year resulted in having their identity stolen. You get the gist.

Back to the banked points. You could complain (which I whole-heartedly think you should), and then cash 500 of them in for Living Proof's Perfect Hair Day set.

Living Proof's Perfect Hair Day set

This five piece set, complete with Jen's lovely mug, is the prescription you'd be willing to forge a signature for -- the shampoo, conditioner and 5-in-1 Styling Treatment work together to smooth, volumise, condition, strengthen and polish every strand of hair.  The Prime Style Extender Spray, created specifically for people with fine hair (hallelujah), promises to extend any style two times longer thanks to its hidden shield (technical term: the reverse Pig Pen) that repels dirt and oil from your freshly styled tresses. Then there's the wicked cute (sorry, recovering Mass-hole here) shower cap which you can use between hair washing.

J.A. has the MIT scientists and Chris McMillian on speed dial; as for the meer mortals, myself included, will have to continue to work hard on our P.h.D. at home.

Still licking your wounds from Sephora's #epicrewards #epicfail? Living Proof's online store carries the Perfect Hair Day travel kit for $29 USD or you could always hit up Nordies.

My pit stop at Sephora in Sydney, Australia

Sephora in Sydney 

Hello! Jeanne here, sorry for my absence, uni has been crazy this year. Anyways now that I'm done, I'm doing a bit of traveling on the east coast of Australia, and had the opportunity to visit Sydney's brand new Sephora! 

Sephora is located on the Pitt Street Mall, a bustling pedestrian mall in Sydney's CBD. I visited on 10 December, and they still had the queue-dividers up to help keep people lined up in an orderly fashion. When I walked past at around 2pm, there was a moderate queue of about 25 people, so I decided to come back later. It had calmed down a bit around 4pm and there were only 6 people in line, so I decided to join them. I didn't have to wait long, no more than 5 minutes, and I was in the store. The floor space is not very large, but there are two stories. Most of the makeup is located on the lower level, while skincare and the cash registers are on the upper level (there were some sales assistants with EFTPOS machines in a corner on the lower level, but I recommend going upstairs because near the cash registers is where the very tempting small/travel sized items are located!). Even though it was still pretty busy, the staff were friendly and efficient, and I never felt crowded, rushed, or uncomfortable.  

My mini Sephora haul

Since I am still traveling, I had to control myself and only picked up two small items (even though the OCC Lip Tar and Tarte Lipsurgence sets kept calling out to me!). I purchased Kat Von D's Lock-It Tattoo Concealer in Light 18 and a pack of Sephora's brand of Targeted Eye Makeup Remover Swabs. I have been on the hunt for years for an opaque, liquid, cruelty-free concealer and I hope Kat Von D's lives up to my expectations! The lovely lady at the cash register said that she loved it because it's highly pigmented, long-lasting and doesn't crease. I forgot to pack eye makeup remover with me and I haven't seen cotton swabs that contain eye makeup remover in them in Australia yet, fingers crossed that Sephora's brand don't sting my eyes!      

Kat Von D's Lock-It Concealer in Light 18

Sephora's Targeted Eye Makeup Remover Swabs

Have you been to Sydney's Sephora? What have you hauled?  

Get in line: Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayons from top to bottom: Intro(Vert), Plum(Age), Blacquer, Obey-Ge and Ro-Cocoa

In the lead up to Sephora's opening on the 5th of December in Sydney I'll be featuring some of my must-haves you seriously need to consider tossing in your cart upon darting across the threshold on day dot.

Marc Jacobs' Highliner Gel Eye Crayon, a never fade, long-lasting liner that you just can't quit. While it's not the sharpest tool in the shed with its sub-par built-in sharpener, a negative attribute I am willing to look past; its intense, true colour payoff and bombtastic performance is where it's at.

Highliner Gel Eye Crayon swatches from left to right: Intro(Vert), Plum(Age), Blacquer, Obey-Ge and Ro-Cocoa

In terms of application I prefer to tight line with Blacquer or Ro-Cocoa (reviewed here), highlight the inner corners of my eyes with Obey-ge and add a pop of colour along my upper lash line with Intro(Vert) or Plum(Age).

Other colours under serious consideration: Luna(Tic), Th(Ink) and Brown(Out).

In the States Marc Jacobs' Highliner Gel Crayon retails for $25 USD or you could shell out $45 USD for the Sky-Liner Seven Piece Petite Highliner Collection which features O(vert) (forest green), Brown(out) (bronze with shimmer), Th(ink) (deep navy), (Plum)age (vivid purple), Blacquer (black), Sunset (golden bronze shimmer) and Midnight in Paris (inky indigo blue).

Curious about the other brands available for your makeup hoarding ways? Elle has the complete list.

Here's hoping Sephora's pricing promise rings true.

Travelling abroad: Preparing for the unexpected

Wish you were here...

Scott and I are both planners, but sometimes we overlook packing some of the smallest, yet vital necessities.

In Italy the mosquitoes turned Scott's legs into Swiss cheese, the insect repellent we borrowed on the eleventh hour was in reality hours too late. One visit to a hospital and several vials of blood drawn determined poor Scott had an infection from all the bites. If only we had packed a bottle of bug spray – did I mention we didn't have screens on the windows (minor detail)?

Before leaving for Singapore I remembered to pack my razor and never thought to grab my shaving cream. Ten Singaporean dollars later I was good to go, but the expensive, albeit unnecessary, purchase still stings.

Sun blisters, you can get those (I did). Unfortunately, I applied my sunscreen with a light hand on our first day in Kauai – my pasty winter skin was well and truly shocked and went into overdrive. A bottle of aloe from the Hyatt's sundry shop, a tube of hydrocortisone cream and a day spent indoors helped calm things down.

So, where am I going with this? You can't plan for the unexpected, especially when new surroundings can sometimes be unkind to us and even put a damper on our adventures. For these "oh, crap I forgot the thing-a-ma-bob" moments or times when you don't feel like packing your whole entire bathroom, pick up travel size toiletries – perhaps, even, purchase a couple of products that’ll push you out of your comfort zone.

Here are the places I hit up to get most of my travel essentials:

• Sephora – I always buy brands I’ve never tried before
• Priceline in Australia or Target in the US – for the basics (shampoo, lotion, wipes, etc.)
• MiniBarCo – It’s the sort of site you’ll hit back up for seconds and thirds and they’re currently having a month-long sale. Simply enter EOFY14 when you’re ready to checkout!

Bonus: leftover products often make their way into my gym bag, which oftentimes bring back memories from the amazing places I’ve visited.

Good things really do come in small packages and TSA will never be compelled to snatch them away from you!

Where do you go for your must-have travel essentials?

Got any travel oh nos?