Sorry I have been letting this blog down a little for the last few weeks, I've been on holiday in Adelaide. 

I think I might begin to sketch out a little plan of when and what I post. Update to come soon! 

If anyone has suggestions of what they would like to see, just let me know. For the moment I am thinking more DIY's, how to's on Make-up and some more cooking posts. We'll see!

Heres a photo of the Dance Mini Dance floor in use. Soon the final videos will be released, and I'll post them here!

Pastel Hair - How to!

I've been dying my hair pastel purple for almost a year now. Pretty much since I changed from black to blonde.

Heres a photo of me smiling awkwardly over my delicious birthday brekkie last year.

I've been cutting and dying my own hair for years now. I've been through most of the colours in the hair rainbow. I cut, bleach and dye my hair in the privacy of my own bathroom, and like it that way. At least theres no-one else to blame when things go wrong.

Beginning with my bleach blonde hair, I take a small squeeze of Paintbox Dye in Purple Haze and a large squeeze of conditioner. Mixing the two together, I continue to add one or the other until I've found a colour I'm satisfied with. To test the colour, I take a piece of white paper and paint a small bit on. This shows the true colour of the dye, as it will hopefully look when the dying process is done.

Disclaimer: Be careful with the dye, as it stains everything. Everything!

Next, I take my brush (you can find a good hair dying kit at Priceline or Hairhouse Warehouse) and carefully paint onto my hair in the places where I want the dye. Most of the time, I just dye the top and fringe section. 

After this point, I let it sit for around half an hour. As this dye is conditioner based, you can leave it in almost like a hair mask and instead of doing damage, it will leave your hair shiny and feeling refreshed. 

Wash it out, and you're good to go.

A great trick to maintain the colour is to mix a little of the dye into your conditioner bottle. It makes the overall pastel shade last a long time, and on the rest of your blonde locks it tones the orange out. 

May Favourites

Not too many favourites this month. I'm pretty proud to say that this month I haven't bought a single new product. I've been going through the old products that I have bought in the past, and these are the ones that really stood out for me!

Firstly, I have been using the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. Recently, this has risen to cult status on various blogs and the beauty world on youtube. When I bought this, I had my doubts. It was impossible that something could be as good as this had been made out to be. 

Having said that, this is pretty darn good. I use it to remove my makeup at night and it is gentle, kind to the skin and leaves me feeling really refreshed. It just seems like water, with a slight hint of scent that smells clean and fresh. Using a cotton pad or two, I take off all of my makeup, including my waterproof mascara. 

The Covergirl Cheekers blush in 105 Rose Silk.

This is one that I bought when first truly dabbling with makeup a few years back. This is the second package of it I have bought, and on my super pale skin it is really beautiful. With a colour that errs on the side of coral and rose, and a smooth and silky texture, the only thing I can say might be a little off putting is the smell.

First of all, I don't recommend sticking it near your nose and breathing in. Not a good experience.

It kind of smells like old lady makeup. It smells dusty and perfumey and almost op shop like. But luckily this smell isn't too strong and disappears almost as soon as you put it on your face. . 

When you do put it on it looks like a super natural, glowy flush.

The Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Waterproof Mascara in black. 

At first, I really didn't like this mascara. 

The formula was fine, but the wand was just not doing it for me. A plastic wand with short and thick 'hairs', it was just generally very disappointing. I set it aside and went back to my Revlon mascara (see my last favourites) until that dried out and I was left with this or nothing.

On the second go, I have really liked this. To begin with, I swapped the wand with a disposable one from my makeup kit, and this fixed the struggles and allowed me to use the great formula within. 

But then I became lazy, and went back to using the real wand and began to like it more and more. 

The formula holds curl really well and the brush fits well to the shape of your eye. 

I'm not sure if I am going to re purchase this straight away, but it has definitely made it to my list of great mascaras.

The Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Fair. 

Maybelline does two versions of this, and I own both. Lately I have been having some real troubles with my skin. It's been breaking out like crazy, getting super oily towards the end of the day and drying out by the morning. I don't know what to do, because my skincare routine that was working so well is suddenly not cutting it. More about that when I find the solution. Unless you have one?

So I have been using both of these BB creams, depending on what state my skin is in that day. 

The consistency is quite runny. This put me off a little bit when first using it, but only because my expectations were more for a moisturiser consistency and not a liquid foundation one. 

Sometimes, with BB creams, I find that the colour is just too orange for me to use, and the range of colours doesn't reach a pale enough colour for my skin. 

This one suits me perfectly. Although it looks a little orange on the hand, it applies smoothly and blends away into the skin with no problems at all. It seems to blend the skin tone to create a super easy base to work it. The coverage is very light, but it takes some of the redness away from the spots and makes my skin look much healthier than it really is. 

Well, I think that's all for my favourites today. Have a good one!

Let me know what your current favourites might be!

Bloggers I'm addicted to

Today, I just thought I'd do a quick post on the bloggers I love to follow. There aren't many, but those that I do, I am addicted to in almost a creepy stalker sense.

1. Essie Button

Not only a blogger, but a super popular Youtuber who seems just as real in her blogs and videos as I'd assume she is in real life. Her posts are mostly on makeup and beauty, and are consistently funny and charming.

This is her youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/essiebutton

2. Katie Rogers of Paperfashion

This is the most exquisite blog I have ever seen. Each post is beautifully written, and the illustrations keep me looking through it for hours. Once, over the period of a few days, I looked at every post she has ever made. Although I probably don't suggest you stalk it to that degree, having a look over a cup of tea will easily take some of the stress from your day.

And last of all, a classic

3. Hyperbole and a Half

Although she doesn't post much these days, the back logs are enough to set me laughing in my seat.

When I was travelling in 2010, I really enjoyed reading these to bring me out of those homesick days.

Well, I guess thats all for today. Just some suggestions to help you to take some time out (and spend even more time looking at a screen..)

Empties #1

Empties blog posts and videos are some of my favourites in the blogger world. Rather than being favourites, its an honest review of what to buy and what not to. 

Over the last few months I have been collecting a number of empties to show you. and I think I finally have enough to give you a good taste of what I've been using.

To begin, the Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash in Pink Grapefruit.

To start with, this smells divine. I would use this, the matching face wash, and then step out of the shower to use my Body Shop Grapefruit spray (recently mentioned in my scent post) and feel like summer. 

For the price though, I don't think it is really worth it. Costing around $15 AU, I think it is just too much to ask for a good smelling body wash that is pretty much just that, a body wash. Luckily, I got the set on sale for half price and so could excuse it. 

Next is the Original Source shower gel in Mint. These shower gels are my holy grail products. I always go back to buying them. At $4 AU (at the most) for a large bottle, they smell fresh, leave you feeling clean and have a lovely scent that lingers. The mint is my choice for winter, but going into summer I tend to switch to the lime or lemon scent. 

Lastly in this photo, is the Clear Moisturising Dry Scalp Conditioner. I didn't really have scalp problems when I bought this, it was just on sale, and cheap is good!

I mixed some of my purple hair dye into this to keep the lavender going, and it served me well. Not a stand out conditioner, but it left my hair feeling soft and clean, and that is all it needed to do.

Here are another three holy grail products for me. I think that might be a pattern you see in these empties posts, as I am prone to using up my favourites first.

At the front is the Garnier Youthful Radiance Night cream. This is a fairly light night cream, good for those of us with oily skin (which I am prone to at the end of the day) that sinks in and leaves your skin feeling fresh come morning. It smells light and simple, slightly like cucumber. 

The Nivea Soft Moisturising cream is another one I've been using for years. Being a fairly basic, unscented product, it works on most skin types, and I have a spare tube of it in my MUA kit.

I think that is one of the true tests of a product for me, being able to use it and enjoy it on my skin and willing to use it during shoots. Leave it to dry for a few moments before putting your make up on.

Lastly in this photo is the Palmers Shea Butter Formula in the Concentrated Cream. This is a super thick, heavy moisturisers good for dry skin. It is recommended for use on knees and elbows, but I tend to take that one step further and use it on my feet during the changes of season and as a hand cream throughout the year. It takes a while to massage in, but once its on you can feel the difference immediately, and after just a few days of use it repairs the dry skin like nothing else. Very sad to be out of this one!

Finally, something I have mentioned a few times on this blog, the Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara. This is one that I am willing to buy again, but want to test out a few more products before adding it to the holy grail list. A nice formula with a good thick fibre brush to apply with. To read more about this one, check out my March Favourites. 

Cutting your own hair

Evening! 

I have been cutting and dying my own hair for around two years now. Wow, I've just surprised myself by saying that. I haven't paid for a hair cut in two years. 

And even more impressive, I've been happy with the results. 

I especially enjoy it because there is never anyone else to blame. If I make an error, I did it, and I can't sit around being frustrated at someone else. So far, I haven't had any major tragedies.

Just a few quick tips to get you going!

1. Take it in small steps. You're not paying for your time, so take all the time you need. 

2. Think about where you want to cut, and what you want it to look like, before you take the plunge.

3. Make sure none of your cuts are directly straight across. Feather them out so they look a little more natural, and this way you wont ever have any giant 'steps' obviously showing out. 

4. Probably the most important one, trust yourself. Enough said!

Vegetarian - The big questions

As a vegetarian, I thought I might address the questions I get asked on a regular basis. These are questions that are raised for most vegetarians at many stages throughout life. Recently, I have been asked these questions most times I meet somebody new.

Why and how?

My reasons for being vegetarian are probably very different to many others out there. I just don't like meat. For me, it's that simple. And as I don't like meat, I don't see the point in harming animals to eat something I don't enjoy.

I do believe in the usual values of being a vegetarian. At a young age, I was taken to a pig farm in rural Australia, and was absolutely shocked by what I saw. The images were horrifying, and it is the first time I can remember being truly passionate about something.

The pigs were packed in like dominoes, or worse. The piglets, only a few days after being born, were separated from their mothers and packed into tent like areas around the size of the back of a truck. There were so many that they were piled on top of each other just to fit. The ones underneath were being crushed, and many died as a result. But instead of being a problem for the farmers, it was just life. They had enough piglets for their next round of meat, and the loss of a number of them wasn't going to affect their output. The mothers of the pigs had to give birth in pens where their fat was pushing through the bars and they could not move. The amount of horror I saw shocked me to the core. And as a girl at somewhere around 12 years old, I began to have the real idea of what eating meat means.

Although it was a horrifying experience, I think it is one that all people should have.

Knowing where your meat comes from is important.

Having said all of this, I don't mind when people cook or eat meat in front of me. It is each persons choice, and I have no right to judge or look at people in a different way because of their preference.

The next question I often get is how I replace the iron and protein in my diet to be healthy.

This is an interesting one, and I have heard and read about lots of opinions on the matter.

Personally, when I became vegetarian, I actually found myself becoming healthier with no real effort.

As I used to eat some meat, but not enjoy it and so not eating very much, I found myself consistently low in iron. I have been taking iron supplements on and off for years. But when I became a vegetarian, and later went to my doctor to get a regular blood test, I found that I was actually, surprisingly, better off than before.

Since then, not one blood test has shown low iron.

Sounds strange, doesn't it?

I put it down to the fact that to fill out meals and keep them interesting, I like to add a mix of beans, lentils, nuts or tofu that in turn add the protein and some of the iron back into my diet. I am also eating better than I was before. Instead of skipping the meat in meals and eating potatoes, bread and vegetables to fill up, I add these ingredients and end up with a wholesome and healthy diet.

So far, I haven't had to have a detailed look at the breakdown of what I eat. I'm not suggesting that this is the recommended way to go, but it has worked for me.

Adding different types of leafy greens not only adds more iron to the mix, but also adds some colour and life. The options are pretty much endless.

If you are looking to be a vegetarian, I first want to say, do it for the right reasons. If you don't feel passionate about it, or don't have a strong enough personal reason, it will be difficult to stick to your plan. Secondly, when you do change, take the change slowly. Don't just suddenly cut the meat from your diet, or you will be faced with recipes that you might not be comfortable with. Also, look for ways to directly replace the meat in your dishes. One of my favourite meals to cook is a Tofu Tikka. It follows the same recipe as a standard Chicken Tikka, but replaces the chicken with tofu.

There are some great articles online about becoming a vegetarian, and I thought I would link them below.

http://zenhabits.net/how-to-become-a-vegetarian-the-easy-way/

This goes through all of the points I have made in detail, and also explains how and why vegetarianism might or might not be for you.

http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/frequently-asked-questions/vegetarian-diets#.U4Ww_pSSzlM

This one might be a little more boring, but really goes into the detail of the vitamins and minerals you need to be careful with when becoming a vegetarian.

The photos I have inserted into this article are not my own. I recommend looking at each of the articles these photos came from, they're very interesting and important reads.

Photos from:

http://westender.com.au/eat-vegetables-theyre-even-better-thought/

http://tynan.com/maxdiet-week-what-to-eat

http://www.aact.org.au/pig_industry.htm

My Hair Care Routine

At the moment, I am reasonably happy with my hair care routine.

That's not to say that I definitely won't change anything soon, but what I am doing is simple, easy and starts my day well. 

Every second day, I wash my hair using the Sunsilk by Teddy Longer and Stronger shampoo and conditioner. I know that this seems too often to some people, but as my hair is short the oil really changes the way it looks as soon as it is there. I like my hair clean and fresh. 

My hair is also super fine. I'm giving this shampoo and conditioner combo a go to see whether it really can help my hair to become stronger and healthier. It uses protein and calcium to strengthen the hair follicles and is meant to help the hair to grow right from the root.

As I'm growing my hair just a little bit at the moment, I am really hoping this can help. 

I'll give you a full review when I am ready.

ADD PHOTO HERE

After I have stepped out of the shower and towel dried my hair, I spray some of the Tresseme (CHECK SPELLING) heat protectant spray and blow it dry. I do allow my hair to dry a little more before blow drying, it just alleviates some of the time and heat needed to dry the hair. 

ADD PHOTO HERE

Once dry, I add a small amount of the Tresseme Hair Spray (CHECK NAME) to style with, and leave it for the rest of the day. This hairspray doesn't leave my hair too crunchy (as long as you spray it from a distance) and holds for hours. If I need a touch up during the day, I reach for the Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original. I don't currently own one though, will need to pick one up from Priceline in the next few days. 

Scent!

I love delicious smells. And gosh, these are amazing. I have one old and one new to show you, what I like to think of my young and sophisticated scents. 

First of all, we have the Cacharel Natural Spray Perfume in Scarlett. 

This is the older, more mature scent of the two, with a lovely musky yet fruity scent, fresh and vibrant yet it still makes me feel older and beautiful while wearing it. Instead of masking your scent, it seems to adapt to you, adding instead of hiding what is already there.

This one is not actually a perfume, but is a body mist by the Body Shop. In Pink Grapefruit, this is exactly what it describes. Probably thought more of as a summer scent, I am still enjoying it as we head from Autumn into winter. There's not much that I can actually say about this, because it is exactly what it states, and perfectly captures the scent of the fruit.

The Dance Mini Video!

Yes, it's finally here. The video I worked on to promote the DanceMini dance floor on its tour of Australia.

Thought I might actually show you the results!

Dance Mini - Eyes Edition

And here we go again with another Dance Mini themed blog post. 

This time the focus will be on the eyes.

I've narrowed this field down to the three most used products over the weekend.

First of all, I used one of my current favourites as a base. On some people, I chose to use the Australis Eye Shadow Primer, a good quality cruelty free product. But for the most part, I used the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded. I talk about this product in more detail in my march favourites, but as a basic overview it is a creme eyeshadow base that hold well and doesn't crease.

I chose to use this particular champagne colour as it is light, and simple to use. When you begin with a light base, it is easy to build bright colours.

I used this not only as a base for eyeshadow, but also as the inner corner highlight that we are all looking for these days.

Secondly, I used the Colette Hayman eyes palette in this lovely set of four colours. As the shoot was orange themed, I wanted to use a peachy tone that was natural but added an orange style accent to the look. This palette is particularly good to use on fair skin, and looked absolutely beautiful on one of the contemporary dancers, who had strawberry blonde hair. It really brought out her eyes. 

The gold in this mix is actually my favourite colour at the moment, with a green base (sounds scary, I know) and golden highlights. 

The quality of this eyeshadow palette is stunning. The shadows are smooth and very easy to blend with very little fallout.

Last but not least, I used this palette to create any other eye looks that I felt were necessary. I bought this from a make up artist website, but you can find similar ones on ebay for a very cheap price. Great for a starter kit.

Annoyingly, early on I peeled off the stick on label, and so can't actually tell you which brand mine is.

Having a palette like this sometimes can seem like it was sent from the gods. With a great range of colours that are easy to mix to find your perfect match, I find myself reaching for this to solve a range of challenges. I use this to fill in eyebrows of most shades, add a matte highlight, line the eyes or to create a beautiful eye look. I highly recommend finding yourself one of these.

Making masks!

A short introduction to this post. A week ago, I had a call asking me to make two masks for a video shoot of a film clip for The Acfield's new song, Grabbed Me by the Heart.

Heres a link to the song - https://soundcloud.com/pricewarmusic/the-acfields-grabbed-me-by-the

Isn't it just lovely?

I thought I'd do a blog post on how I made the two masks, why I used the techniques that I used, and hopefully to inspire you with the urge to make something in the future!

(A shot of one of the final results)

Personally, I love to work with wire as a base. I find it super flexible and easy to mould to most shapes. 

I began by measuring out the face shape from a basic design. The shape and design of these masks was actually quite specific, they needed to have strong lines and be large in size, while still being lightweight and easy for kids to play with. 

I then went over the design with a sharpie, and began to mould the wire into the basic shapes required, taping them down to stabilise them as I worked.

Next, I removed the shape from the paper, and soldered the wire together. You can get a basic soldering iron and solder from Bunnings and other craft stores, I bought mine off of Ebay a while ago. It's not the best, but it gets me there. 

When soldering, make sure to wear the appropriate PPE. 

While working, the wire surrounding the soldering point will become quite hot so be careful not to burn yourself. I am making myself some protective finger tip gloves to work with. 

After this point, I covered the mask in a thin foam layer. You can buy sheets of this foam in A2 size at Lincraft. Using foam glue, I moulded the foam to the shape of the wire. While the glue set, I held the mask together using masking tape. I actually ended up leaving the masking tape on for the rest of the process, as it didn't affect the final result. 

The final step in creating the base was adding something for the paint to hold to. I chose to use very delicate layers of tissue paper, as it was light and would grip to the shape of the mask well. Usually I would choose to use something a little sturdier, but as I needed these masks to be large but super light, this seemed to be the way to go. 

Once that was dry it was time to paint!

Finally, I added a thin layer of a flexible varnish to give it a little more strength and attached the sticks that would allow the children to use them. 

When the film clip is ready, I'll post it on my blog.

Dance Mini - The Face Edition

Continuing on the current theme, I thought I would show you some of the face products I used on the dancers for the Dance Mini shoot. 

There are four products I stuck to over the weekend. Using a range of colours and mixes, I found shades and weights to suit each of the talent at each of the varied locations. 

First, I'll talk about the powder and concealer. 

Using the Maybelline Mineral Power concealer, I coloured the dark circles of sleepless nights, and minor blemishes. Using different colours and weights I worked on a range of people. The consistency is creamy, it brushes on well and has light, buildable coverage. 

Secondly, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte powder in 001, translucent. I was able to use this on most of the dancers. It truly is an amazing product. Being a dance shoot, I needed to use my fair share of this to keep people looking cool, calm and collected. Smooth and finely milled, I find that this doesn't create a cakey look and blends easily into the skin, giving an almost airbrushed finish. 

For foundations, I worked with two products, somehow again from Rimmel and Maybelline.

For the men and some of the girls, I chose to use a BB cream over a foundation, or I mixed the two together to create the right shade and consistency. 

The BB cream I chose was the Maybelling Dream Pure BB Cream. This comes in two options, for oily skin and normal to dry skin and a reasonable colour range (although for me, it doesn't go quite light enough, and at the other end of the spectrum, doesn't suit dark skin). I find that the colour is not too orange - something I have found in many BB creams in the past. The consistency is similar to a tinted moisturiser, with a slightly heavier colour payoff. It blends into the skin like magic.

For foundation, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation in again, a range of colours. This is a pretty heavy foundation, and not one I would recommend for dry skin. But as the shoot was dance themed, the talent were sweating, so anything to keep them looking as healthy and matte for as long as possible was great by me. If the dancer had dry skin, I mixed it with the BB cream and it added some moisture back to the consistency. For more on this foundation, see my march favourites.

Dance Mini - Lipstick Edition

A sneaky little post about the lip products I chose for the Dance Mini shoot.

The car was orange. I'll say that again, the car was orange. The idea for the shoot (especially for day two) was that the main colours would be black and white, with accents of orange. So naturally, I leant towards the orange lipsticks.

First on my list (and top left) is the Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in 910, Shocking Coral. 

Although not the most orange of the lot, it is the smoothest and most moisturising of the lot. This lipstick seems to suit most skin tones (and I have to say that it's definitely my lipstick of the moment).

Secondly, and centre, there is the Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 210, Coral in Gold. This has reigned supreme in my favourites for a very long time. I've been wearing it for years, and so when I had the chance to use the same colour on a film shoot I took the opportunity as soon as I could! The colour is beautiful, orange with lovely gold shimmer. The lipstick lasts for hours, something I can't say for the Maybelline one above. 

Lastly in our line of lipsticks, is the MAC Lustre in Jest. A bit of a deeper colour, with some brown tones and again, the gold highlights. Although this one doesn't really suit me, it is perfect for darker skin tones. The quality is beautiful, and it should be for the going price.

Lastly, an honourable mention goes to the Dior Kiss lipgloss in 245. This is the old packaging, but I believe it is still the same product. The sheen is stunning, but it does feel a little sticky on the lips. 

I used my holy grail product, the Lucas Paw Paw ointment to keep everybody's lips healthy and fresh for the three days. 

Home made zucchini bread

At first, when I found this recipe, I was a little sceptical.

Sweet zucchini bread? Sounds odd. But I had a problem on my hands, in the form of a giant zucchini that I had to work out what to do with it all.

See the issue? 

So far, I've made four meals (including this bread) out of the one zucchini, and I think I may have enough for one more. But I'm quickly running out of ideas.

Anyway, enough about the mega zucchini. 

This bread is delicious, best served with a little ricotta or avocado spread on top, or as I have been mostly eating it, a good amount of butter. 

I found this recipe online: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_bread/ 

but as I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, I adapted it to suit my pantry. 

Ingredients:

2 Eggs, beaten

1 1/3 cup raw sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3 cups fresh grated zucchini

2/3 cup melted olive oil spread

4 teaspoons baking powder

Large pinch of salt

3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sultanas

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

2. In a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, olive oil spread and zucchini. Give it all a good mix. 

3. Add the walnuts and sultanas.

4. Mix the baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon and flour together and then add, a little at a time, to the mixture.

5. Add the mixture to a well oiled pan. I used two pans as it is what I had on hand, and froze the second loaf once it had cooled. Bake for 60 minutes, but check at 50. Use a metal skewer to test if the bread is ready. If the skewer comes out clean, its done. 

6. Turn off the oven and leave the bread in to brown.

7. Turn out onto wire racks to cool, spread with your choice of deliciousness and enjoy!

So simple, uses one bowl and a couple of measuring devices and tastes great.  

DanceMini

Evening everyone.

Just thought I'd give you all a good update on my work over the last weekend. 

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be called by the guys at Tooth and Claw (I'll link their website below) about work as a make up artist for a shoot with Mini Cooper and VICE magazine. Of course, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and dove straight in!

On Friday the 9th, I grabbed my suitcase full of supplies and made my way down to the Melbourne Pavillion to join the talent and crew. From there, the weekend started rolling. It felt great to be back on set working with some exceptionally talented people, both dancers and crew. 

Over the three days, at three locations, I did makeup and some basic styling for some incredible people. 

The makeup was fairly natural, and I tried to keep it true to each of the dancers personal style and dance type. We had five different styles of dance (at one point all happening at the same time), and so keeping the talent looking like themselves was very important. 

The hours were long, and the time passed both quickly and slowly depending on what was happening in the space. 

There's more to come during the week when I highlight what products I used, how I packed my kit and other bits and bobs to do with the shoot. 

The video should be up by the end of the month, and so I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, the last video I shot with Tooth and Claw is on their website, here;

http://toothandclaw.com.au/

Have a good look around on their website, their stuff is always incredible. 

My current favourite nail polishes

These two nail polishes are glorious. To begin with, they have the cutest names of any nail polishes I have ever heard - Absolutely Shore (left) and Bikini so Teeny (right). The names alone make me smile.

Absolutely Shore is the palest seafoam green colour that ever did happen. When I first bought the product, I really hated it. I put it away in a drawer for a while and ignored it, until one day I decided to give it another go. 

(Apologies for my funny hands, this is what I'm talking about!) 

This time round, I've been a little more patient with it, and have forgiven its initial streaky-ness by adding a few more layers. The colour itself begins sheer, and I can imagine it would look great on a white base, but it is super buildable. I have around 3-4 layers on and it is now a solid colour. Lovely. 

Somehow, it manages to make my sausage like pink fingers look longer, fresher and more elegant. I feel like I have hands when I wear it, which sounds silly, but my hands are one of my features that I fear. 

Bikini so Teeny is a dark pastel. Its similar to a lavender in colour, but with a little more grey added. The colour only needs around two layers to become true. Again, the colour surprises me by pulling the focus of the red tips of my fingers to the nails themselves. 

Review: Natio Acne Clear Spots

I thought I might just do a little review on a current favourite of mine, the Natio Acne Clear Spots. 

I have been using this for around 4 months now.

Usually, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with spot treatments. As someone who isnt prone to many pimples (lucky, I know), I tend to freak out a little when I get one and reach for the nearest pimple treatment handy. 

In the past, I have used the clearasil spot treatment, and found that there isnt much of an effect. So when I picked this product up, I wasn't too hopeful. It sure caught me by surprise!

The application is simple, just squeeze a little out of the tube onto your clean fingers and dot onto the spots where you need it. A little goes a long way, so be careful only to take a little at a time. 

I tend to apply in the mornings after my moisturiser but before my makeup, and at nights at the end of my makeup routine. Sometimes, for particularly bad spots, I also add a little Lucas Paw Paw ointment on top of the spot and treatment, and by morning it has soaked into the skin leaving a fresh moisturised area around the blemish.

Usually, the size of the spot has at least halved by the next day. The first few times that I used this, the spot disappeared overnight. For more stubborn spots, it might take a couple of days. 

I am so excited about this product! I have a couple of spots now, so I might just pop off to add some of this miracle to my face. 

Brush Cleaning - Step by step

I am about to do another shoot with Tooth and Claw Productions, and so needed to give my brushes a good deep clean before using them over the weekend. 

This photo is of just a few of my favourites. 

You will need:

- Olive Oil.

- Detergent. Try to opt for one that isn't too harsh, and is made of fairly natural ingredients. Today I used the Green Action Peppermint Dishwashing Liquid, whic is phosphate free and smells divine. 

- Warm water

- Paper towels. Choose a softer super absorbent towel. I only had cheap crunchy ones today, and the result was that I had to use more to make it work. 

- One large plate or a few small ones. 

1. I always begin by setting up my area. Brush cleaning can take a little while, so I tend to put on a youtube video (I love the Essie Button Vlogs) and clean off my table. 

In three separate bowls, I add a small amount of Olive Oil, Detergent and warm water. 

I line the bowls up in the order that I have listed them, and place my plate with two paper towels layered on it after the water. 

2. Now that the space is set up, I begin.

First, dip your brush in the olive oil. I like to swirl it around on the side of the bowl, it keeps your hands clean. Once I have done this I lightly wipe the brush on a spare piece of paper towel and then clean the swirled edge of the bowl with the same towel. 

3. Next, swirl your brush in the detergent in much the same way as you did with the olive oil. Repeat the steps with the paper towel and move onto step four. 

4. Lastly, swish your brush around in the warm water. I find that you will need to change the water in the bowl fairly often throughout the cleaning process. If you like, you can run the brush under warm water instead. Try not to use hot water as it can melt the glue in the shaft of the brush and you'll find that the brushes will begin to lose hairs. Place the brush on the plate with the paper towels to dry.

Tip: Try to dry your brushes tilting or hanging down. I don't have a way to hang my brushes without crushing the bristles, so I lay them down using the lip of the plate to tilt the bristles down. If the brushes are dried flat or with the bristles up, the glue may become unsettled and the brushes just wont last as long.

I try to clean my brushes before and after each shoot, and do a basic clean of my most used brushes once a week. If you'd like to know how I do a basic clean, let me know and I'll do a post.