DIY // Crayon Lipsticks

I've heard a lot about people making lipsticks with crayons and coconut oil, so last night I thought I'd give it a go. I wont go fully into detail about how to do it because there's a lot of tutorials/videos out there already but you basically put the oil and crayon into a glass that's in a pan of boiling water and then pour it into a little pot when it's all melted. 

I ended up making a blue, red, and two dark purples that weren't supposed to be the same colour. I made the blue one simply because I wanted something to match my hair, haha.

These aren't really anything too extraordinary and despite adding in a few drops of peppermint essence, they still have a very strong waxy smell that puts me off. They aren't that pigmented either, but I think that depends on how much of the crayon you put in to how much coconut oil.

These are the swatches I did on my arm, as you can see one of them doesn't really show up at all. They're more of a tinted lip balm over anything I'd say. I might have a play around with them though and see if I can get any of them to look good.

Let me know in a comment if you've ever tried making these or if you'd be interested to see an update in a few weeks if I can get them to show up well!

LIFE // A Sunny Walk + Pancakes!

 Not a bad view from the top of my street!

Today was originally supposed to be a day inside with my sister, we agreed to a marathon of The Carrie Diaries since we're yet to catch up on the second season, but it was such a nice day that we decided to go for a walk instead!

There's a little inlet down the hill from me which is nice to walk along every once in a while when the weather's good. We stopped to get some lunch at a cafe and I couldn't resist putting in a picture of the pancakes I had because they were definitely the nicest I've ever had! There was bacon between each of the pancakes and it came with pineapple and watermelon too which I've never had served with pancakes before. I can't believe I've lived here for 6 years and the best pancakes have been just down the road all this time! 

HAIR // A Tale of Turquoise

I usually keep my hair a pale purple colour but since I haven't really been doing much since I last did it before Christmas, it faded out to my normal blonde. I bought the purple dye last year, and along with it I ordered a pink, a blue and a turquoise. When I finally got sick of my yellow-y blonde hair a few days ago, I noticed that I had yet to use the turquoise dye, so this is what came from it!

I use the brand Directions by La Riche and I prefer to buy darker colours than what I want so I can dilute them with conditioner to produce the shade that I want. Although this is a very inexpensive brand, it's definitely both a money and time saver doing it this way as you use a lot less of the actual product but still get the same outcome! This also is less damaging to you hair as there's more conditioner going on my hair than dye, so it's basically a conditioning treatment more than anything.

I'm really, really enjoying this colour at the moment!

with Vienna

Let me know in the comments what your favourite hair colour is, or what colour you'd absolute love to go! I loooove talking about hair colours!

ETC // Sunday Inspiration

Just a few words of inspiration to remember for the coming week, I'll be back with a post on my newly dyed blue hair tomorrow!

BEAUTY // Everyday Makeup Routine

 I'm one of those people who likes to sleep in and leave myself 20 minutes to get ready whenever I'm going somewhere, so it's a good thing I've done this routine plenty of times and can get it done in about 10 minutes if need be!

The majority of the brushes I use are from a brand called 'imei Professional' simply because I got them when I was doing my makeup course last year and I just haven't got any new ones yet. I do have a few Real Techniques ones too that I use in this post.

First of all, you've gotta have something to keep your hair out of your face, and for me this is my minnie mouse ears, without fail, every day. (Wait til I've been to Disneyland in April and get proper ones, I'll probably just wear them all day!) 

 As for prepping the skin, I'm not really a big fan of primers, so I just go for a moisturiser, especially as I have pretty dry skin, and a cooling eye roll-on. Both of these are from the brand Simple. Next I use Benefit's Erase Paste under my eyes and I blend that in with a Real Techniques domed shadow brush. I then apply dabs of Rimmel's Match Perfection foundation evenly around my face and blend that in with my stippling brush. I use a pressed powder from Avon with a big fluffy brush to set it all.  

 Now onto the eyes and eyebrows! My sister got me this Natio brow kit for Christmas which has been an absolute life saver. It comes with a wax, a mini spoolie brush, a mini double ended angled brush and a pair of mini tweezers! I just brush out my eyebrows, fill them in, brush them out again to soften and then apply some of the wax to keep them in place.

On my eyes I use my DIY eye primer with a loose shimmer shadow over the top just to add a little bit of sparkle! I use a black Designer Brands kohl eyeliner to tightline my eyes, which I really love doing as it makes my tiny eyes look so not tiny, haha. I then apply a sparkly white eyeliner (which was kindly given to me by the lovely Vienna, check her blog out!) to my bottom waterline and the inner corners of my eyes.

After curling my lashes I apply a coat of Maybelline's The Falsies followed by a coat of Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Flex mascara to my upper lashes, and then for some reason, the opposite way around on my bottom lashes.

 I don't do anything too exciting regarding blush, it's actually one of the things I'm scared to experiment with, haha. I slightly contour my cheekbones and temples with the top blush in Peach Daiquiri with an angled blush brush and then with my Real Techniques multi task brush I apply a very light dusting of the shade Mild Pink on my cheeks, both of these are by Wendy Hill.

My lip products usually depend on how I'm feeling or where I'm going that day, if I'm going for something more casual I'll just apply some of my Little Green Tin lip balm (which is definitely my holy grail of all lip balms), or if I want something a little more fancy, or simply just want a bit of colour on my lips, I'll put on my Colour Trend tinted lip balm by Avon. This one is in the shade 'Dewy Rose' which just adds a nice pink tint to your lips and also keeps them moisturised!

And there we have it, my everyday makeup routine! Let me know in a comment if yours is similar or a lot more in depth than mine!

NAILS // Nails of the Week

Just a little post today because I'm currently in love with my nails at the moment! The picture definitely doesn't do it justice but the glitter just makes my day, haha. The purple base is a colour called 'Glow Pastel' by Blackheart Beauty which actually has some blue and pink at the bottom and it's one that says to not shake it, so I guess it'll be a bit of a marble of the three colours when I get down to the bottom. I'm not sure where this one is from as my mum got it for me when she was in America, and not that you can really tell in the picture but the bottle is actually in the shape of a skull which I really love!

This colour has little flecks of silver glitter in it but after painting the 'ulta3' glitter on my toes, I couldn't resist putting it on my fingernails too! It's such a good formula for a glitter too, I only have one coat on and that's all it needs really. It doesn't dry too textured either which is something that annoys me with glitter polishes. I think this will definitely be one of my go-to nail combinations!

REVIEW // Eye Majic Instant Eye Shadow

Ever since watching this video, I've wanted to try out this whole one swipe eye shadow trend. Fortunately enough, last week my sister came over with a bunch of things she didn't want after doing a bit of new year cleaning (including a whole heap of clothes - yay for being the youngest sister!) Included in what she wanted to get rid of were these 'Eye Majic Instant Eye Shadows' that she'd got free with a magazine and of course, I jumped at the chance of giving them a try.

The ones I have are in Shade 02: Cappuccino which is a neutral set of colours, starting off with a dark brown to a light brown and then into a light gold as a highlight. These are part of the 'Pearl' collection so the shadows have a shimmer to them.

Taken from the Eye Majic website, the product claims "the warmth generated by the human body activates the powders and then transfers the eye shadow/colors from the patented soft foam applicator to the eyelid in a simple sweep." I found that you have to be very careful when taking the applicators out of the packet as I ended up wiping off a bit of the shadow from the corner with my finger, not realizing it would wipe it away that easily.

Before applying, I primed my eyes with a DIY primer that I've been using and followed the instructions from a video on the product's website. It's pretty simple, you just tilt your head back, place the applicator on your eyelid, hold for a few seconds and then swipe the applicator out and upwards.

Before and after blending

I found that they didn't end up applying too smoothly, which could be because of my hooded eye shape. There were a few parts that got missed near the outer corner but I feel like this would differ for everyone depending on your eye shape. Blending was definitely needed, but can be done with the opposite end of the foam applicator, like suggested in the how-to video from the product's website. I did find that there was a bit of fallout from the darkest colour, which was something I thought you'd be able to avoid with a product like this.

Overall I think this is a pretty cool product and great for beginners who have trouble knowing where to put which shadows on their eyes. I'd love to try these in a few different colours (especially as I'm not a big fan of gold shadows on myself), but I'll have to wait until their New Zealand shipping isn't $37.88!

LIFE // A Day at the Races

Charlotte wasn't quite ready for the selfie...

So, a few days ago I went along to the horse racing with my family at the Wairarapa Racing Club. I've never been before so I wasn't really too sure what to expect but I ended up enjoying it! When we first got there I definitely felt like I was in an episode of 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' or one of the shows along those lines, haha.

I wasn't too into the whole betting side of it, I put a few $2 bets on some of the races and didn't end up winning anything, but thats not surprising considering I really have no idea how it all works. My favourite was a horse called 'Irish King' because I used it as an excuse to talk in an Irish accent for the next 15 minutes...

The weather wasn't the best, but if anything it was a good excuse to have a picnic and feast on Pringles for the majority of the day!