Low-effort Outfit Post

A semi Halloween-themed outfit, a bit late. I love this tshirt. Cropped my legs out because they looked terrible and pale!  -_- Need to get back on the fake tan bandwagon. Or leave the house more often...Plus my free-hand (slightly messy) lavender+glitter+black french-tip nails :)

Kawaii Fashion: my Japanese Beauty Product Mini-Haul!

Before we start, the store's name is Kawaii Fashion, I'm not trying to be cute and faux-fluent in Japanese with that title. It's a really adorable store in Adelaide that sells Japanese cosmetics, beauty products, and recently added a section with homewares under $2.80.

I bought a few things and ended up spending a LOT so it felt like a haul even though it doesn't look like much.

I bought the small black bowl with glitter and hearts, not for any reason other than it being cute and girly, a lavender face flannel with black lace and embroidered diamond, DHC Deep Cleansing Oil (to try because I hate the Dermalogica one I own; will review soon), a gel-nail top coat, an eyeliner and a small stackable food container which I just thought was pretty cute and useful.

I'm going to do a quick review on the eyeliner. Just before we start, I'd like to mention that while shopping in this store I'm often doing it essentially 'blind' - most products have fully-Japanese labels which I can't read, so I tend to select things with cute packaging which sometimes don't end up being what I thought they were. In this case, I thought I'd bought a brown eyeliner crayon/pencil, which turned out to be a container of shimmery eyeshadow powder with a built-in sponge tip applicator. Still useful.

Product: 'MakeMania Data Graduation Tip Shadow'. Obviously I don't know the name of the shade, and to be honest I had to google a bit just to find out the name of the brand and product.

Price: around $23.

Shade and Quality: The photo of the shade is fairly true to life, it's a cool medium-dark mocha brown with a sparkle rating of 7/10. The sponge tip applicator means you can draw a solid line for an eyeliner-like look that's less harsh than a solid line of generic eyeliner pencil, or you can smudge it over the lid and blend for a soft shimmery eyeshadow. The only complaint is that like most shimmery shadows it frankly has crap staying power. As you can see from the photos, with the slightest rub or smudge the colour fades super-fast and you get a lot of travelling sparkle, so don't accidentally rub your eyes while wearing this. Bonus points for the super-cute packaging though.

After one quick rub with my fingertip.

You can see how easily the glitter travels - my fingertip has a definite Edward Cullen-factor despite the blurry photo.

I definitely recommend you visit the Kawaii Fashions store if you live in Adelaide, but just quietly, don't expect great service. I've been followed around the store and even accused of shop lifting and had my bag inspected. Even my better experiences have involved luke-warm treatment. To be fair, I spend a lot of time 'loitering' in the aisles, but that's because I'm trying to decipher the labels on the product packaging. But whatever, the great range of cute things are worth the blah experience.

Kawaii Fashion
23-25 Gouger St, Adelaide

I'm crazy and I know it *claps hands*

It has to be said, women will go to some crazy lengths for beauty. Burns from chemical peels, harsh products and sunbathing, skin cancer from sunbeds, chemicals constantly on our bodies and faces, on and around our eyes and lips, injected into our skin. The list goes on.

I'm not immune. I'll let you in on a secret beauty dream of mine: Daisy-the-Cow long lashes.

The dream, right?

  

For a long time I stuck to the 'safe' lash-growth enhancing serums:

Designer Brands Lash Food serum: uses peptides and moisturizing ingredients to condition lashes and promote growth. Kept my lashes in good condition, reduced breakage. Very cheap for AU$20! But didn't actually lengthen, so next came...

Glymed Plus Eyelash Power Treatment: also used peptides but in higher amounts; apparently also used an ingredients similar to that in Rogaine to encourage new growth and extend the life of existing lashes by preventing them from falling out. I definitely saw a difference, I'd say about a 20% improvement in length and condition, but little to no improvement in thickness. So, idiotically ignoring the warnings of irises changing colour and eye-safety concerns, i bought...

LiLash lash serum: this uses the ingredient prostaglandin, which has been essentially compared to the devil. Found in Rapidlash, Latisse and Revitalash as well, it can reportedly turn blue eyes brown and maybe even affect vision long-term, it also is meant to be super-effective at lengthening lashes and producing new growth. I'm only on my first week of use, but I'll check in and let you know whether my eyes have turned brown or I've gone blind!

Hormonal skin hell!

Considering the hormonal upheaval my skin has gone through during the last week, I want to dedicate a post to dealing with skin during THAT time of the month.

Now let's be clear: my skin is hard to deal with at the best of times. I'm prone not only to acne, but rosacea (mostly likely roaccutane-induced - that shiz is hardcore). So during that time when your entire body freaks out and turns on you, my skin is just a literal nightmare.

Redness, sensitivity, blotchiness and heat? Check.
Deep, cystic-y hormonal pimples on my usually clear skin? Check.
General dullness and dryness? Check.

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PMS AND YOUR SKIN:

• your skin produces more oil during this time and you have more skin bacteria, so your skin is more susceptible to spots and breakouts
• skin becomes drier due to a breakdown of our skin cell membranes, causing moisture loss and vulnerability to UV radiation (wear sunscreen!!!)
• a low pH anti-inflammatory wash should be used to cleanse the skin as this will help to make the skin more acidic, reduce bacteria, strengthen the cell walls as well as helping to retain natural moisture (SOURCE - read for more info!
• your skin often appears dull and less taut due to a drop in eostrogen
  
  

HOW TO DEAL -  SOME GREAT TIPS FROM ALLURE.COM:

• Get your chocolate fix: If you're craving chocolate, the darker the better. The flavonoids in dark chocolate mimic the effect of estrogen on the skin, Booth says. This helps calm irritation and boost collagen production
• Drink Wisely: Though you might feel like you need a cocktail, alcohol will only make things worse. Because your body is producing lower amounts of sebum, your skin and hair are more prone to dryness. "PMS time is the time to drink more water," says Booth. 
• Calm Down: PMS triggers higher amounts of adrenaline in the body. On top of wanting to kill anyone who takes the last parking spot, it can also cause skin splotchiness and redness. The best cure is meditation and exercise, Booth says. She recommends yoga. NOTE: I reccomend sitting down and enjoying a good tv marathon sesh to chill out; I reccomend Modern Family for some laughs)
  
• Start fresh: On the first day of your period, your body enters a state of hormonal renewal. This is the best time to exfoliate the skin, Booth says. She recommends a gentle facial scrub or peel to prepare the skin for the rest of the cycle, and maximize the effects of estrogen later in the month. SOURCE