The Nail Polish Of The Moment

I've been having one of those days. You know the ones where you run the vacuum into your feet really hard, have a huge red pimple on the end of your nose and bite your own finger while eating a french fry? One of those. The thing that has gotten me through it, other than the french fries, is looking at my gorgeous nails. 

The Formula X For Sephora range has been pretty hyped around the blogging/youtube parts but for once I didn't give into to the hype. I stayed well away from the nail polishes while in Sephora because I was already spending enough of my money on EVERYTHING ELSE. My Mum, on the other hand, is a bit of a nail polish junkie and I'm really lucky she picked this up and lets me use it. Thanks Mummy. 

I'm sorry that my hands are so pale and bruised looking, no matter what I do it's all in the genetics. 

The Formula X For Sephora range in general is amazing: cute packaging, nice colours and awesome staying power. I applied one coat of this on Sunday and it was completely opaque and less than five minutes later I was getting back to my everyday tasks. By Thursday the tips were starting to chip and it was looking a little ragged so I've taken it off and applied a proper two coats and a top coat, I have no doubt this will last me a week. The fact that it is opaque so quickly and easily is a big tick in my book, I don't like having to wait around. The only thing that doesn't astound me about this polish is the brush, it's just a bit meh, it's not super wide so it doesn't do much for me. Not that I'm complaining. 

We have a few different shades but my favourite by far is this shade Reckless. It's a really gorgeous blue with grey and purple undertones (is this colour periwinkle or am I making that up?). It's really unique and it works with every season. The fact that it's blue and kind of pastel makes it great for warmer months but the grey undertones bring it back and make it totally suitable for the chillier months too. This stuff is perfect! 

I'll post an update on the staying power of the full-on coats over on my Twitter, so make sure you're following me for that riveting piece of information. 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon 

Party Clutch Must Haves

Being the crazy party animal that I am, I know a thing or two about what to pack for a night out. Any of you out there who know me personally will already be calling me a big fat liar. Really, I'm an underage introvert who rarely leaves my bedroom. That being said I've gone to a few parties recently (mostly for family members and life long friends but still) and I'm pretty sure I've got what to put in my clutch down pat. I'm going to list everything I pack and explain why it is a must have. 

Phone: Duh! Most people nowadays are inseparable with their phones anyway, but in case I will rationalise it for you anyway. You might need to call a taxi, call someone you're going out with, take a selfie or update your facebook status. What would you do if you couldn't take a selfie?! 

Lip Product: For touch ups after all of the talking, drinking and eating. 

I.D and Cash (I connect mine together with bobby pins): You never know when you'll need to pay for something with cash, even if you're a card kinda person. Most clutches don't have space for a full on wallet so I find using bobby pins to be the best way to keep everything connected.

Perfume: I find that my scent wears off after a couple of hours, especially if I'm dancing. 

Mints: After all of the before mentioned talking, drinking and eating your breath may become a little bit on the nose so a freshen up is always handy. I love my little tin from Dylan's Candy Bar. 

Jewellery: This is not an essential but my jewellery always finds itself in my handbag after a little while. I get annoyed with all the clanging and the weight so I whip it off. 

Hair Band: By the end of the night my hair is often sweaty and gross and I'm looking forward to getting it off my face. Tying up my hair in the car on the way home is a must.

Have fun on your night out! I'll use my own tips if I ever attend another party...

Lots of Love, 

Shannon 

May Favourites

When I saw this post on my little calendar for upcoming blog posts I had a mini heart attack. Surely I couldn't have loved enough products since last month?! Well it turns out I have and I'm going to share them with you. 

I've owned this Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in the colour Tutti Fruitti for roughly a year and a half now and I don't think I've worn it once. I never thought the orange colour suited my skin tone but since I'm making a real effort to give all of my lip products a good use I pulled this one out and gave it a go. I really love the formula of these lip butters, I've raved about them many times before. I've actually gotten quite into this colour as I've had a bit of an obsession with the colour orange lately. It's a summery shade but I'm making it worse in the cold autumn weather. 

I've got a review of this nail polish coming up soon so I'm not going to harp on. This is the Formula X For Sephora Nail Polish in Reckless, the colour is gorgeous and the formula is amazing. Done. 

I've already done a full review on this Pixi Natural Brow Duo HERE and I've been using it on the daily all month. 

I've gone without dry shampoo for months now because I kept forgetting to pick some more up. Now I've got this Batiste Dry Shampoo for Medium and Brunette Hair I'm never going to let myself run out again. I love how good it makes my second (or even third) day hair feel when I just can't be bothered washing/drying/styling it. Plus it has a hint of brown colour so I don't have to worry it's making me look like I'm going grey. 

This is definately the most random of my favourites this month but I've had two spiffing games of Pictionary this month. I'd only ever played it a couple of times before because my family has the really old first edition version and it's shoved up the top of a wardrobe out of the way. Usually I'm more of a monopoly girl myself. One time my friend and I played a makeshift version with a whiteboard but the second time was full on. It's so much fun to play with friends and things can get slightly aggressive...

This is by far my favourite favourite of the month. I'm obsessed. I've been wanting a largeish handbag for months now but I never found the perfect one in my price range. I don't have the money to buy Chanel or Prada bags so I have to really hunt down the best one. This bag from Colette was only $54 and it's perfect. I've been taking it everywhere with me, even when it's unnecessary. 

Looks like I'll have to do a spot of shopping to find some things to love this month. It's tough, but I will accept the challenge. 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon 

Did Oxygen Wow?

Please, no need to applaud for the witty title. I know I'm hilarious. Before I launch into my full review of Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Sunscreen Makeup (what a mouthful!), I need to explain how I came to own this foundation. We were in Sephora on our last day in New York and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the options. I eventually decided that I should buy a foundation as I am lacking a really good quality foundation in my stash. The girl in the store offered to use her fancy-schmancy foundation matching machine to find my perfect one. It was at this point that I totally forgot what I was actually shopping for and blindly agreed to her answers for the questions. I was looking for something with medium coverage that could be built up or sheered out, preferably with no (or little) SPF because it would be for going out. Instead I ended up with SUNSCREEN makeup...

I'm not blaming the girl for this, I never actually articulated what I was looking to purchase. I became so overwhelmed with the whole process that any clarity I may have had was totally lost. It was only when we left the store that I realised this was nothing like the Nars Sheer Glow I was eyeing. Goddamnit. 

Now onto the actual review of the product, sorry for the rambling anecdote. I don't really enjoy this foundation, especially at night. It is uncomfortable on my skin for about the first half an hour after application, eventually it does sink in and feel okay to the touch but I think half an hour is a bit too long to have to wait. The packaging had sunscreen-like instructions that said it was to be reapplied every two hours and that made me nervous. After wearing it for a few hours I used a makeup wipe to remove my foundation and looked at the staying power, it wasn't great. This is a really light foundation that doesn't give much coverage, but that can be expected from the name I suppose. 

Overall this foundation does not do what I bought it for. It is not going to be any good for special occasions. I think this one will be relegated to camping trips and beach days, if that. Sorry Oxygen, but you didn't wow. 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon 

What I Wore: Little Black Dress

If you read THIS post from last Wednesday you will know that I attended a Bar Mitzvah the other week. The party in the evening was smashing (you can tell I'm a real party animal by my use of the word smashing) and easily the fanciest one I've ever been to. Think swanky city hotel ballroom. I went with a simple LBD, the Duchess Satin Bow Back Prom Dress from Topshop. I actually found this dress at The Grove in LA but they didn't have it in my size, fortunately we found it in another Topshop so I could buy it. It's actually a size too small for me so I can't really breathe in it but fashion before pain right? I then wore the same ASOS coat that I wore during the day (I also brought the same clutch, so it is not pictured). 

I went a bit heavier with the makeup for the evening party. I took inspiration from THIS Pixiwoo video and decided to do a subtle silver smoky eye. That was really different for me because I've never worn a look like this before. I'm sorry that some of the products are the same from the morning but it was what I was feeling that day. 

Foundation: Rimmel Match Perfection

Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me Concealer 

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Translucent 

Bronzer: Revlon Matte Powder Blush in Barely Blush (btw: this sucks but I'm being honest with what I used)

Blush: Benefit Benetint 

Highlight: Benefit Girl Meets Pearl

Eyebrows: Pixi Eyebrow Duo in Medium Brown

Eyeshadow Base: Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Stick in Bulletproof Beige 

All over the lid: Naked 2 Palette shadow Verve 

In the crease: Naked 2 Palette shadow Pistol

Outer Corner: Naked 2 Palette shadow Blackout 

Browbone and Inner Corner: Naked 2 Palette shadow Foxy

Eyeliner: Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner 

Waterline: Designer Brands Kohl Eye Pencil in Black

Mascara: Covergirl Clump Crusher and Revlon Grow Luscious 

Lipstick: Milani Lipstick in Nude Creme 

Lipgloss: Maybelline Color Elixr in Petal Plush (these are now available in Australia and I nearly screamed when I saw... I'm not at all dramatic) 

Perfume: Miss Dior 

I bought this necklace from Diva after admiring it for months and then freaking out when I thought it was gone, it's not available anymore but here's the very similar Black and Gold Tone Plate Fan Necklace. My shoes are from Novo and I got them for Christmas from my Nan (thanks Nan!) but they're not available anymore. 

Here you can see the back of my dress. Its so pretty. 

And we'll end this on my bored selfie face! 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon

My Winter Essentials

I know what you're thinking. 'But Shannon, it's coming into summer!' Well not here it isn't. Down in the summer hemisphere it is winter, or almost winter anyway. In saying that it is still 20 degrees everyday but I'm sure it will get cold soon. I really love winter (when it's not raining) because I find clothes to be so much easier to wear and you can snuggle up in a onesie. I'm going to tell you some of the things I always look forward to pulling off the shelf when winter rolls around. 

DARKER LIP COLOURS: I'm not always terribly adventurous when it comes to lipsticks but this winter I'm going to make a concerted effort to use some more out there colours. A girl can't stay in her nude lipgloss safe zone forever. I really love this Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in the colour Lovesick and the really dark purple Revlon Colorstay Matte Balm in Shameless. The pink one is a dark pink but it is still very wearable, this will work as baby steps into the outageously dark purple. I'm not sure where I will wear the purple but it will be worn this winter at least one, I promise (does wearing a product once justify buying it? Probably not.). 

BODY BUTTERS: I have such dry legs that they need a body butter all year round. During summer this just can't happen because my legs get all hot and sweaty, then the body butter gets all sticky and everything feels a little gross. During winter, on the other hand, body butters are my bestie. I chuck a heap of it on at night and then put on my pyjama pants and never think about it again. At the moment I'm using The Body Shop Body Butter in Brazil Nut. It hasn't quite taken over from the coconut scent as my favourite, but it's still pretty good. 

BEANIES: Last winter I began to wear beanies. This was a big thing for me because before that I was strictly a no hat girl. This year I can't wait to break 'em out. They keep you warm, they hide your greasy roots, they make you look slightly bald if you don't wear them in the right way. What more could you want? These particular ones are from Sportsgirl from last year so they're no longer available. 

AWESOME JACKETS: I love jackets. Whether they're cool slouchy army style ones to make you feel like Lindsay from Freaks and Geeks or tailored trench coats to make you look like Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl, jackets are the best. This coat is a newish purchase the Topshop Hooded Check Lined Jacket and I love it because it is so casual and comfy. I can throw a jacket on top of any outfit to bring it to a whole new level. 

CHAI TEA: This stuff is so amazingly delicious, I can't even think of anything more to say. 

HUGE MUGS: If I'm going to get off my warm comfy bed to make tea, I'm going to want a lot of it. This Tweety Bird mug from will hold about half a litre of the warm drink of your choice. I, in fact, have three of these mugs on rotation because I love them so much. 

What are your winter essentials? And if you're in the sunnier part of the world, spare a thought for us people down south. 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon 

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