Priceline had a 40% off sale on all haircare about a month ago so I took advantage and got a heap of products to try. I’ve never tried the ‘Not Your Mother’s’ brand before and was excited to see they have a detangling spray (has anyone else noticed these are becoming increasingly hard to come by with so many brands switching to masks and leave in treatments) and a dry shampoo, both of which promised big things.

This is late...story of my life. Empties for the third quarter of this year are:

July

I bought the very first Spring edit of the Marie Claire The Parcel this time last year and was impressed with it but understandably sceptical as to whether they would keep it up or go the way of most other beauty boxes, ie fabulous start, crap offerings there after. So didn't get any other boxes until I saw there was going to be a special 20th Anniversary Special Edition version for this Spring's box.

I have to be honest, it hasn't been the best of starts. A few years back hubby and I gave up sugar and any products where sugar is listed as an ingredient and it worked really well. With little to no exercise I managed to lose 5kg over 2 months. Hubby lost close to 12kg.

I've been struggling to beat a nasty head cold lately and just as I started feeling human again a migraine hit. But life goes on and I had places to be and things to do and this face made me feel so much better... ah the power of makeup.

Even while using my MAC palette I knew that my NARS shadows would be next. I’d been looking forward to finally using the Earth Angel duo and it didn’t disappoint.

Here’s how I put these together:

Pregnancy messed with my hips and back quite alot and about 18 months after my first son was born, I was still suffering from sciatica. Finding that all the good intentions in the world did nothing to motivate me to exercise at home, I joined a gym as I figured that if I was paying for it, I would actually use it. I hate wasting money that could be spent elsewhere so thankfully this was the push I needed. I not only gained core strength which helped out my back but I also lost the majority of my pregnancy weight.

 

Skip forward a few more years and my third pregnancy saw my hips and pelvis so far out of whack that I couldn't walk without pain, a condition that didn't settle until bubs was almost 6 months old. Plus now my weight is back where I started. All of this I accept as a part of growing another beautiful little baby and while I know the numbers are bigger than they should be, I rarely look in a mirror so its been easy to ignore.

 

And then I tried to go shopping and none of the styles seem to suit and nothing fit right and I finally got to really look at my reflection and I don't know why I was so surprised but it brought me to tears standing there in that changeroom. There I was, 39 with three great kids and a hubby who loves me for all of me, and I hated what I saw.

I passed a stand of these lippy's at Priceline a few months ago when they first came out and though I'm not normally a fan of Revlon, I swatched one thinking that with the cheap looking packaging these will be crap. I'm not ashamed to admit I was wrong but at the time I couldn't justify buying another lipstick I really didn't need. Instead I made a mental note to keep an eye out for a sale and about a month later Chemist Warehouse had a 50% off all Revlon sale and these 4 came home with me.

This use it or lose it is from back in May but I thought it might be interesting to post it anyway.

After the success of my first shadow challenge, I was really keen to keep going. My MAC palette is kind of a cheat because I know there are many combinations that I’m happy to wear but it still feels restrictive to limit myself to just one set of shadows.

These are the combos I put together:

I finally have my lappy back up and running. Lots to do and write about. Better get a move on...

April

I never thought I would be able to justify the cost but I've quickly come around to accepting the high price tag of high end makeup. But in saying that I can't bring myself to simply spend if I won't genuinly use a product and if I'm honest there's alot of makeup I already own that doesn't get much of a look-in. So I've been trying to rotate products on a weekly basis, like my blush and lipstick, and with my eyeshadows I'm taking it a step further.

Inspired by my sister who shops her stash and focuses on a different eye palette every week, I've started doing something similar. In my case I'm focusing on brands rather than just palettes so I can also get use out of my singles and duos which are being neglected. And since I can go days without wearing any makeup, I'm going to attempt to stick to a palette/brand for 5 days of wear instead so I don't conveniently avoid wearing makeup for the week where I've chosen shadows to wear that are out of my comfort zone.

 

These are the items that are getting some serious loving at the moment...

Super busy start the year and not a whole lot o' slap going on but I'm still slowly going through products.

January

3 years ago my bathroom cupboards were overflowing with bottles of things I had bought to try or because they were on special yet had never really bothered to use. So to stop the wastage and make myself accountable I started a Project Pan to make sure I used them all up. In the process I discovered that I had been buying the same things over and over that I didn't really like because I hadn't noticed that it had simply been repackaged or because I forgot why I didn't like it the first time around.

My project pan quickly evolved into a log of my monthly empties, complete with short notes of what I thought of the product to remind myself whether it was worth repurchasing and more importantly when NOT to buy it again.

In 2014 I managed to finished 126 beauty items from 4 categories: skincare for the face, skincare for the body, haircare and makeup, with these 31 being from the last quarter of the year.

October