4 Foundations and a BB Cream

By Johanna over at One Girl's Thoughts on Life

I didn't start wearing foundation regularly until probably my last year of high school, I used concealer for spots etc but I don't recall getting up in the morning and 'putting my face on' while I was wearing a school uniform.

Firstly let me explain my skin. I am very fair but I can have quite patchy skin in the areas around my nose and chin which can become quite red, something I like to even out. My skin is sun sensitive so wearing products which contain SPF is important to me. I have very oily skin which responds negatively to oily products so I usually go for an oil free option although this has calmed down in the last few years so I am not as concerned about this as I was when I was in my early twenties. I don't like to use products that contain alcohol or strip my skin down because in the long run this just makes parts of my face really oily an other parts really dry. This also gives me sore skin. I go for gentle products so that when I wear make up my skin is a clean and an even slate to work with which wont react to my makeup.

My first foundation was by Revlon and I wore this for a few years. It had great coverage for when my skin broke out or needed to be evened out. When I started using this product it was very affordable. I seem to recall shelling out less that $30 for a bottle of this stuff and in Australia I would wait for it to go on sale at the Giant Chemist which would bring it down to $20. It then crept up in price and the last  bottle I purchased (a few years ago) cost me over $60. As my skin changed from teenager's skin and calmed down a bit I found this product too thick and also found that all the shades of this foundation are pink based and I needed something with a little bit more yellow in it to match my skin colour better.

So I then moved on to Sheer Cover. I started wearing this over a long hot summer and because it is a mineralised foundation it was very lightweight. The concealer that came with the foundation was awesome and I continued to order that after I stopped using the foundation. I loved this product for during the summer when my skin was a little more tanned but in winter I needed something with better coverage to cover my red areas. I also found the ordering system frustrating. I didn't want to be committed to a new supply every few months so each time I wanted a new foundation I had to join up, place my order, wait for it to arrive and then cancel my membership so that I wouldn't keep getting sent new ones and getting charged. You also get two shades of sheer cover so you can blend your own colour but I only wanted the light one. All and all, too frustrating.

Next up was MAC. I had my make-up done for a work event and liked the foundation so I purchased it. I wore this for about 6 months and it worked well for me. I still sometimes use this if I am going out for the evening and want something a little heavier. It is quite a matte finish and does shift during the day. I didn't like that I had to touch up if I wanted it to last from morning until bedtime and i'm not crazy about the smell of this foundation. At $60 per bottle this was quite similar to the Revlon foundation but with a much wider range of shades.

I was then gifted a bag full of make-up/beauty items for Christmas a year ago. Inside I found a BB cream from Korea that I just fell in love with. I have tried the Garnier BB cream and found it very thin and more like a tinted moisturiser so I was dubious when I gave this one a shot. This one is put out by a company called Missha and the cream is SPF 25. I wore this all through winter and loved it. It only comes in two shades so I wear the darker of the two but can only wear this during the colder months when my skin is at it's lightest. Once summer arrived I needed something a little darker so that I didn't have a ghost face. I have been purchasing this BB cream from Ebay for around $20 each time (plus postage). Definitely a product I will continue to repurchase.

Most recently I started to use my favourite of all - Estee Lauder's double wear foundation. This stuff is amazing. I was introduced to this by the make-up artist who did my sister's wedding. She did a great job and I liked the foundation so much that I purchased it afterwards.  It is the most expensive of the lot but I find that per application I use a smaller amount than all of the foundations above. I use a cotton bud to pick up the product and dab a spot on my forehead, each side of my nose and my chin and then using my fingers I blend this out. I was told at the make-up counter to 'start in the middle of your face and work your way outwards, like a flower'.  This product cost me $80 but retails at Farmers for cheaper when they are having a make-up sale. My favourite features of this foundation are  the range of shades and that it lasts all day long, and then some more. It is very long wearing but isn't thick and chalky. I'll certainly be using this whole bottle.

Product Review: Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisture Infusion

By DeXaNiX at Multi Tasking Mummy

We're on a pretty tight budget. Before kids and mortgages, I would happily shell out heaps of money for hair appointments, makeup, clothes and beauty products. Not anymore.

As a 1 income family with a lot of expenses, strangely enough, my hair colour comes from a box and things like moisturiser just aren't so important. I also have really sensitive skin and so am always reluctant to spend money on moisturiser when I don't know if it is going to agree with me or not.

So when I received a free tub of Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisture Infusion in my goodie bag at Fashion Week, I was STOKED!!! I started using it that night and have used it MOSTLY every night since, about 3 weeks now, and have been so pleased with the results.

My skin is heaps softer, even a lot clearer. I would even go so far as to say that the wrinkles around my sleep deprived, almost 31 years old eyes are slightly less noticeable.My very neglected skin on my throat is also improving nicely. It also smells delish. (The cream, not my skin... well, it does when I have the cream on, but I digress)

The Smart Essentials Range

I have had a look in the supermarket, and this product is normally $19.99 at Countdown, so not a huge expense, and I get the feeling this tub is going to last me a long time as you do not need a lot, so I will be definitely be buying it again. The other products range from $15.99 to $19.99 so now that I know it won't disagree with my skin, I will be saving up for the other products also!

The anti fatigue eye roller.
I scored one of these in
another goodie bag, and
it is fab also!

Have a look on their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/AveenoNZ there is a link there where you can get a free sample of one of their other moisturisers.

Will now be happily singing the praises of Aveeno Smart Essentials to anyone who will listen!

Pantene - A review.

Ok peeps, it's time to talk hair.

I recently purchased this lovely duo:

Now I want to be clear, I have never been a Pantene fan. I have used Pantene a number of times and my tresses have never turned out like the glossy haired beauty's from the tv commercials. Prior experiences resulted in me being out of pocket and dealing with silicone coated hair clinging to my scalp in a slimy, unattractive fashion. A wickedly un-sultry time for me. 

So a few weeks ago my regular follicle suds started to make that ugly squirty noise indicating I was about to be left shampoo less. 

I hit the supermarket pronto - clean hair is non-negotiable for me. I'm a daily lather-er. Judge all you like, you wont change my habits. 

I noticed a new Pantene product on the shelf, this did not really grab me however the 2 for $10 sale did retain my attention. 

So I purchased. I put the new bottles in the bottom of my shower while I finished off my previous shampers. Everytime I got in that shower I eyed up those new bottles with regret. Why oh why had I been swayed and sucked into buying a brand that didn't agree with me in the past.

I ran out of shampoo and cracked into the Pantene. 

Oh my gosh. I love it. 

So a bit of background. I have very fine, blonde, hair. I get a greasy scalp pretty fast and when I wear my hair out it is usually flat and limp by lunchtime. 

I don't use styling products because they usually just hurry along the above mentioned greasy, flat situation. In saying that, I do sometimes use dry shampoo if i'm going out in the evening (just to perk things up a wee bit). 

So you can understand my apprehension right?

Back to my new hair care... I use about a 50c piece sized squirt of shampoo, lather up, and rinse. I then twist as much water out of my hair as possible then use around the same sized squirt of conditioner which I rub into my hair from the base of my neck to the ends of my hair. I leave this in while I wash, shave blah blah then rinse last. 

I towel dry my hair and leave it to air dry while I do my make up - I finish off the drying process with a quick blow dry (gotta get that fringe to sit proper like).

My hair is (as promised by Pantene) light and feels pretty spit-on-your-neck-fantastic. 

I think i'm converted. 

Now the big question is, will I buy this product again?

I found the same deal at another supermarket and re-purchased. I confess that I wrote this post on my regular blog about 3 weeks ago and completely forgot to post it one here so I can now add in that I am still really liking both the shampoo and conditioner, my hair is still responding well and I am stoked. 

So if you are like me and find that your hair gets weighed down easily then this duo might be worth a try. 

Enjoy.

Fallen from Grace

Graduation Day 

by Johanna over at One Girl's Thoughts on Life

I woke up on monday morning with a really bad headache. I got up and got ready for work and headed off. On my arrival at work I finished off all the important and urgent tasks just before the brick mason on the roof started drilling away - my cue to go home. I drove home and tucked myself up into bed with the intention of dozing away my aching temples. Not much sleep happened, my brain was whirring away - typical eh. 

I got up around lunchtime and had something to eat and a cup of tea. At 2pm I made sure my make up looked ok and laid out my graduation clothes ready for later on in the afternoon. 

At 2.30 I headed into town to 'Fallen from Grace'  where I had an appointment at 3pm. I arrived at 2.45. 

A few months earlier I had purchased a voucher for Fallen from Grace from Groupy

WELLINGTON: $99 for the "Have It Your Way" Hair Package including Cut, Style, 12 Foils or a Semi-Permanent Colour, Head Massage and More at Fallen From Grace! (valued at $235)

Includes a consultation, wash and head massage, your choice of 12 foils or a semi-permanent colour, cut, style and blow-wave, plus a voucher for $30 off your next service at Fallen From Grace. Read more HERE

 

On my arrival I was greated by the lovely girl at the desk who gave me a consultation sheet to fill out. She then showed me to my chair and supplied me with a stack of trashy magazines and a tall glass of juice. 

My hairdresser Lauren showed up about 10 minutes late. She greeted me with a smile and 'robed me up'. We chatted about Graduation and I told her that I needed to be done and dusted by 5pm to give me time to nip home and get changed with enough time to get to the town hall. She assured me that this would be fine. We also discussed my hair extensions that I won a couple of months ago. I had called in advance to check if the salon could dye them for me to match my hair and again I was assured that this was fine and yes there was enough time to do both my hair and the extensions before my graduation. 

Lauren was very chirpy and chatted away whilst she put in my foils then while my head marinaded she sat down on the couch for a yarn with her brother. When my timer went off she came back and checked my hair then went off to start dying my hair extensions leaving me sitting in the chair. I was eventually rinsed of, I think had a treatment put in (no head massage) and then left in the sink for almost half an hour - super uncomfortable. Again Lauren went away to do hair extensions. 

She came and got me, semi dried my hair just with her fingers and the blow dryer then back to do extensions. In this time my hair finished drying naturally with a big kink in it. Again I was left sitting in my chair. 

I reminded Lauren that I had to be out by 5pm (it was 4.38). At 5.05pm I went out back to Lauren and said that i'd go home and changed/get ready and come back if I could. I zoomed across town in rush hour traffic with my petrol light on. Got changed in about 4 seconds flat and zoomed back again in traffic. I only had time to run in, say i'd be back tomorrow to sort everything out and go straight to graduation with half done hair that had a big kink in it. Not the long flowing glossy hair I imagined with my new hair extensions in.

I was SO SO BUMMED. I had bought this voucher specially as a graduation treat, looked forward to it for weeks and envisioned having this fun long full hair for my graduation pics. 

Once I arrived at the town hall (after a good cry in the car of course) I headed to the bathroom, borrowed bobby pins from a girl in there and tried to improve my appearance. I ended up with a bun at the nape of my neck - something I wear everyday, nothing special.

I didnt have time to take  any photos before the ceremony and my family (coming from the Kapiti Coast) arrived after all of the graduates had been seated so the only pictures taken were by the photographer who takes the picture of each person walking across the stage and then one with the certificate. These will be available in a few days on the website. My Dad took a few from his seat too (I must get those off him).

After the ceremony I gave my robes back (this was the instruction given by the company who hired them to us). Mum, Dad, Joseph and Sharyn (lovely family friend) came back to my flat where Mum laid out a scrummy spread of gormet pizza, danishes, grainwaves, old fashioned lemonade and strawberry champagne. I was given some beautiful wee gifts - flowers, perfume and some darling drawer liners. The family and Sharyn stayed for about 45 minutes then had to depart because Joseph had a 5am start in the morning. I cleaned up and tucked up into bed. 

The whole night felt so ruined for me by my bad experience at the hair dresser. 

The next day I carefully thought through my plan of attack in going back to Fallen from Grace. I had a great pep talk fromNicole who offered to come in and be my guard dog (she's gorgeous).I went in at 2.30pm and sat down with Lauren to talk about the day before. 

• I was firm
• I was assertive
• I was kind
• I made it clear that I would not be paying

• She was apologetic
• She was helpful
• She was lovely
• She did not charge

I asked if she would like the opportunity to fix the situation or would she like to give me a refund. She took the opportunity. (When I feel ripped off or let down I like to give the opportunity to remedy the situation otherwise I just come across as a cow - I like to think that if I were the one in the wrong I would be given the chance to make things right).

So my second visit to Fallen from Grace consisted of:

• My extensions dyed 3 times (they just wouldn't match my colour - she offered to continue trying, i'm going to return them to the seller)
• A treatment
• Further foils
• Head massage
• Magazines purcahsed for my reading pleasure
• Music (I got to chose the music on the player,Adele thanks)
• A fancy cut
• A 45 min blow wave
• Asked if I was happy, was there anything else i'd like?

Lauren was just so lovely on day 2 and I really felt like she went all out to make up for the disaster of the previous day. So Fallen from Grace may have err well fallen from grace but made a rather impressive recovery.

I'll probably go back. 

Product Reviews - Burning my Skin

From Johanna over at One Girl's Thoughts on Life


True to form, when I try a product and it lets me down, I tell the company. This works both ways (in case you think i'm a meanie), if I try something that I really love then I also contact the company to tell them how much I like it and why. 


A few weeks back I tried a 10.0.6 face mask (strawberry)


It resulted in this message from me:
 I purchased your pore- be-pure mud mask and after about 15 seconds
on my skin it started burning and stinging. I immediately washed it off. My
skin felt very sore after. I then took the mask to my friend and asked her
to try it and she had the same problem. Perhaps the formula is too strong? I
am always looking for good pore products because I have enlarged pores
around my nose and cheeks so I would be sure to try again if the formula was
changed.


The reply?


Dear Johanna


Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on our product. 


The mask you tried does often incur some tingling. The sensation should not however be
 uncomfortable. As we do not know the
exact condition of your skin it is difficult to provide you with an exact
reason to your and your friends' reaction. We have had some other customers
that have experienced a similar sensation and appreciate your feedback. We
will take your feedback on board look into the formula in the near future.

In the meantime as a token of our appreciation for you taking the time to
contact us we would love to send you some other products from the range to
try. One Smooth Operator is a Pore Clearing Face Scrub that lightly
exfoliates the skin and draws out impurities.  The micro pumice particles
exfoliate and unclog pores and oat and zinc help to absorb excess oil.  Also
with anti-irritant, anti-oxidant and soothing properties - it is gentle on
the skin and does not contain active ingredients.

If you would like to try another of our masks we would also love to send you
Deep Down Detox Ultra Cleansing Mud Mask. Containing natural ingredients
such as Orange and Bergamot, this super-cleansing detox mask recharges and
balances for a clearer, brighter complexion. I hope this mask is more suited
for your skin type!

If you would like to send us your full postal address I will get these
products to you as soon as possible.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Marketing Assistant




I of course said HECK YES! (never say no to free stuff)


I got these babies in the mail a few days later

I have only used the scrub on the left once and it was nice. The detox mask on the right is SO NICE! I've used it 3 times and liked it more each time, it smells delicious and leaves my skin feeling so yummy. 

Face & Body: Where I Learn to Not Judge a Book by it's Cover...

STORY BY SIMONE FROM GREATFUN4KIDS

All the way back in May my delightfully thoughtful hubby gave me a voucher for a "Rescue Me" package at a local beauty place for Mothers Day. He thought I was looking a little bit "run down." Thanks babe. I feel great now.

Anyhoo, I'm not usually one for facials and pedi's and mani's. I have had (count em) ONE facial in my life before, ONE Manicure, and ONE Pedicure. All with vouchers from the hubby. It's just not something I think of doing for myself.

So here it is nearly October and the voucher is about to expire. It's school holidays and I have a blessed free day (wahoo) with the big kids having a day on a holiday programme and the little guy at his preschool. So I thought, heck I better go and use that voucher while I can or hubby is going to be a bit, er, ticked.

Now please keep in mind that I am not a pro at facials. The first (and only) one I had caught me totally by surprise when the therapist asked me to strip down to my undies and lie on the couch. I thought a facial was a FACIAL. Like, just your face. That one included a foot massage. And a back massage. I was hugely embarrassed because it was Winter and I had, er, not really been, um, you know... been de-foresting regularly.

So this time I made sure I was prepared. Nice bra, and undies. No forests growing anywhere. We are ready.

I pulled up outside the shop/beauty parlour in Blockhouse Bay and I was a bit underwhelmed, to be honest. It was small. Like, tiny. Tucked in between a real estate agents and a cash machine. Not exactly impressive. I entered nervously and was greeted by a 20-something Kiwi lass called Ashleigh. My other facial was in a gorgeous Mt Eden Villa. My beauty therapist was French. Gee, this was not quite the deal I was hoping for.

Never mind. It's still a kid-free hour doing something for me. So into the therapy room I went. This was better. Dim light, candles, soothing soft music.

Ashleigh instructed me to get changed, leave my bra on but roll the straps down, leave pants on; she would leave me to it. She left the room and what did I do? Grabbed my stashed camera of course! Ashleigh doesn't know I'm an Undercover Blogger! I snapped a pic and did as instructed.

Ashleigh knocked gently on the door and asked if I was ready. Yes, I called. She looked a little surprised to see me standing there in my bra. Shame! I was meant to get under the covers on the bed! Facing up or down? I asked. Ashleigh didn't miss a beat. Up, she said, without so much as a smirk (duh of course! It's a FACIAL!) Ashleigh is nice. She doesn't care that I am a beauty therapy novice.

When she returned I was lying properly in the bed, under the blanket with no bra on show, ready for the joy to start.

So began an hour of bliss. Oh the soft hands and soothing lotions. Oh the head massage while the peel took hold. Oh the neck and shoulder massage while the soothing mask soothed my skin. I lay there in heaven wondering to myself, why haven't I done this before???? My hubby regularly treats himself. Me, not so much. I determined that I was now going to be a Facial Girl.

All too quickly, Ashleigh told me I was done. It was over.
"So soon???" I asked. I'd been there an hour. Now I'm getting greedy!

Before I left, floating down the street in a cloud of bliss, I booked another mini-facial for a month's time. Oh yes, I'll be back. Face & Body may not be the most impressive looking place, Ashleigh may not be French, but she knows what she's doing. So I'll be back. Oh yes, I will.

Face & Body
Blockhouse Bay: 566 Blockhouse Bay Road Ph: +64 9 627 5924
Titirangi: 298 Titirangi Road Ph: +64 9 817 4807
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