My new KitchenAid Mixer

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Holy Crap!  I definitely did not expect to see this under the tree this year or ever.  It's something I've been wanting since I noticed my Nana had one in her kitchen; she only used it when the holiday season rolled around and that's what made it so special.  The holy grail of kitchen artillery now sits upon my counter. Luckily I had a stick of butter conveniently squirrled away in the fridge, which allowed me to make more baked goods and test out my new toy.  As I was baking last week, Scott was dying to run and grab this beauty out of the closet in order to make my life a bit easier.  Patience won out on his end and I mushed on with the old wooden spoon.  Thankfully that spoon is now soley reserved for stirring pasta:)

Cue the music!  Dun dun da da dun da da da da da da dun dun dun…

I feel just as giddy as Max from 2 Broke Girls when Caroline bought her the purple oven.

Oh, and for the record, my cookies came out way better than I could've ever hoped for!

GlossyBox Review

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Earlier this month Scott said he ordered me a Christmas present, but it couldn't be a surprise because I had to provide him with some information.  I wasn't sure what it could be, so I let him tell me; he ordered me a GlossyBox subscription.  In the US, Birchbox is the equivalent; I've been a bit jealous about Australia not partaking in the samples business, until I read a review by Lilit of Makeup and Macaroons.  Upon the mere mention of a sample beauty service, I did some googling and hallelujah, GlossyBox's webiste was located! I think I squealed for a few moments to the point where I heard Scott laughing at me.  Little did I know the seed was planted when I told him what got me to jump for joy - completely unintentional, I swear! When I arrived home from work, Scott sat me down and had me answer a survey in order to help tailor my monthly GlossyBox subscription.  The questions are detailed and thorough; they asked about my skin and beauty regimen, my interests and how I go about keeping up with trends in the beauty industry.  All told, the survey took a total of 5-10 minutes.  Because Scott placed the order in mid-December, I was convinced I wouldn't see my first delivery until well after the New Year, but lo and behold…

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Apparently, the postman tried to drop off this package on Wednesday afternoon while we were both at work.  I ran over Thursday morning and retrieved this little package o' joy; I may've been late for work, but it was for a worthy cause!  I even snapped some photos during my lunch break - excited much?!  I am grateful GlossyBox expedited this package so quickly, but a bit bummed at the same time.  I can't use John Frieda's Go Blonder Lightening Spray; I am a brunette and I don't want to turn my hair pumpkin orange.

I have a feeling next month's special delivery will be a collection of perfection.  I can't wait for January!

Since receiving my package, I've tried:

  • Gorgeous Lip Pencil in Scarlette - upon softening and sampling, this berry red colour came alive
  • Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer - light and creamy in texture and unscented to boot!
  • CK Forbidden Euphoria - crisp, soft and candy-like.  It reminds me of Prada's Candy; perhaps CK's version is a cheaper dupe?!

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount per month for GlossyBox's service:

  • $14.95 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 9 out of 10 bags; I would've given it a 10/10 had they waited for my survey to arrive, but I can understand why they sent it so quickly

Likelihood to purchase:

  • Once my subscription is close to completion, I will be renewing this service for 2013; I'll keep you posted about all of the other goodies I'll be receiving throughout the year

Chancer by Butter London - weekly nail review

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Ahhh, the holiday season is here and what better way to celebrate than with sporting insanely red nails.  The gravitational pull towards Essies' new colours was still there, but sparkles and holiday colours began to beckon my name.  I've only worn glitter nail polish once as an adult and that was a few months back; the experience left me a bit hesitant, because my nails chipped straight away. I have since figured out why that happened (always in the same place, of course) - my zipper/fly is a polish muncher.  My right index nail always manages to get tangled between the teeth and then disaster strikes - my nail is left looking tattered and abused.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist, can't you tell?  And then frustation sets in, because I mucked up my manicure from being so thoughtless and careless.  What's a girl to do?

Wearing glittery things brings me back to my teenage years; Mom would often leave me to my own devices inside of the Limited Too (now known as Justice) to play with their makeup and to try on clothes.  I think I ended up purchasing up to 40 different shades of polish; it was cheap (less than 5 bucks a pop) and allowed me to express my personality.  Plus, being a chubby girl often proved difficult, because I couldn't really fit into the clothes they sold.  However, makeup always manages to fit all sizes, which is why I love the stuff so much!

Enough nostalgia and back to my nails.  The zipper muncher struck again, boo!  On the plus side, Chancer is such a stunning shade it shined beyond the tiny blemish I created.  The compliments poured in throughout the week; one girl went as far as stroking my nails - tee hee!

Scott has dubbed this colour as "cranberry sparkles."  I think it sounds waaaay better than Chancer!

What do you think of my holiday inspired nails?

Gala Look Breakdown

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Keeping with the build up around readying myself for last week's gala, (I'll use any excuse to get gussied up) here is a list of all of the products I used in order to get prettified. This is me sans a full face of makeup:

 

Don't you just love my top from SABA?  It's now on sale, boo no price adjustments; obvs, I didn't pay full price either.  Back to what I wore on my face…

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Face:

Eyes:

Brows:

Lips:

A lot of makeup went into creating what I think are dramatic eyes for me.  The only thing I didn't like was how you could tell my lashes were fake when viewed from above.  It was my first foray into wearing false lashes; I'm sure wearing liquid eyeliner would've covered it right up, but I wasn't brave enough to try it out.

Thoughts?

Too much makeup or not enough?