Project 20 Pan: items 18 - 20

Hi everyone!

Today I'll be sharing my thoughts on items 18 - 20 of my project 20 pan.  Although I have finished 20 items, I'm not considering myself officially done yet, as I did say that I wanted to finish ten makeup items as part of the 20 and so far I've only finished nine.

L-R: YSL Young Sexy Lovely perfume; Red Earth Mattifying Makeup Base; Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

Number 18 was a perfume, YSL's Young Sexy Lovely.  This has been discontinued so it was a bit sad to finish it, although I'm certain you can still get it at Priceline and maybe MyChemist or similar (plus I'm sure I could find it online as well).  I had this in my handbag as my everyday fragrance.  It's a nice light floral fragrance, and I get quite a strong citrus-y note from this as well.

The next product I finished was a primer, Red Earth's Mattifying Makeup Base.  I swatched this in my daily face routine post.  It's a silicon based primer so great for absorbing any oiliness which I sometimes get throughout the day.  I found this helped me achieve a matte finish which stayed in place for a reasonable amount of time (say 6-8 hours, if I wasn't doing anything too sweaty).  I think this has been discontinued though as Red Earth is not stocked in Priceline anymore (to my knowledge) and I haven't seen it elsewhere since it was discontinued from Priceline.

My 20th item was a Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation.  This was the lightest shade it comes in (light vanilla) and still way too dark for me, so I mixed this with my NYX foundation which is super light.  Apart from the limited colour range for pale skinned people like myself, I quite like this.  It has a fresh, fruity fragrance (but not too overpowering), blends quite nicely and doesn't feel heavy or cakey.  It apparently contains "Radiance Boosting Fruit Therapy" whatever that means....sounds like a bit of a gimmick to me, haha!  But overall, I quite liked this (apart from it being too dark).

For my final item(s), I am currently chippping away at a Revlon eyeliner and a Revlon lipgloss.  Hopefully I'll be finished by the end of February (which will mean a total of around six months without any new purchases).

Revlon lipgloss; Revlon eyeliner

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Ulta3 Plum Violet

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a great weekend!

It seems that Summer has well and truly arrived (after some unseasonably cold weather) here in Melbourne so I did some bright nails to match the sunny weather.

This is Ulta3 Plum Violet (a present from my lovely sister - thank you!), three coats.

Ulta3 Plum Violet

This is so fun and bright, perfect for Summer!!  Thanks for reading!

High Tea at the Hotel Windsor

Hello again!

Today, two lovely friends took my sister and I out for afternoon tea at the Hotel Windsor on Spring Street as a belated birthday treat (our birthday was almost three months ago, but it was impossible to find a weekday afternoon when everyone was free).

The Hotel Windsor - High Tea

It was a delightful experience (I feel like I have to use posh words to describe it, haha!); the hotel itself is amazing and the afternoon tea was fantastic as well!  Normally, they use a different room (according to the waiter), but today, the tea was served in the Grand Ballroom which is just beautiful!

The Hotel Windsor - inside the Grand Ballroom

We began the afternoon with a glass of bubbles and some macarons (pistachio and choc-hazlenut) while we waited for the rest of the food to be served.

Macarons: Pistachio & Choc-Hazlenut

We started out with finger snadwiches.  I was really impressed with the sandwiches we had - three out the four of us are vegetarians and they prepared some extra vegtetarian options especially for us!  The sandwich fillings were egg & snow pea tendrils; cucumber & sour cream; cheese & tomato; roasted eggplant & salad greens; and roasted capsicum & parmesan.  My sister (non-vego) also had smoked salmon and chicken sandwiches.

Finger sandwiches

Next, we had scones.  It would have been nice if they were served warm, but I guess with the large number of guests this might have been difficult.  We each had a plain scone and a raisin scone.  They were both nice, but I'm not a huge fan of raisins so I enjoyed the plain one more.  Scones are served with a choice of strawberry or summer berry jam and double cream.  I'm not sure if they maybe use yeast to make the scones rise as they had an almost bread-like texture - quite different to most scones I have had before.  They were nice and fluffy though.

Plain and raisin scones

Finally, there was a selection of mini-cakes as well.  The layered one was a peanut butter and jam (or jelly) inspired number which was quite nice; the yellow cake was some kind of lemon & passionfruit mousse served atop a thin biscuit base with a white chocolate decoration; the white chocolate cone was filled with a white chocolate mousse and a fresh raspberry on top of a cake base; and the chocolate cake was like a mousse with a fruit sauce (I think it was apricot) in the middle and a tiny piece of edible gold foil on top (very fancy!).  The lemon & passionfruit cake was my favourite!  We were all so full by the end though, haha!

Cake selection

Of course High Tea wouldn't be complete without a nice cuppa!  There is quite a good selection of tea, ranging from the traditional Earl Grey, English Breakfast etc. to some herbal and floral inspired teas as well.  I started off with the Hotel Windsor Blend which was nice but quite similar to English Breakfast.  Next, I tried Earl Grey Twist.  This was also nice, but I think I missed the "twist" as to me, this just tasted like Earl Grey.  The twist is supposed to be lemon myrtle.  I could taste a bit of citrus but it was very subtle.  But like I said, this was nice nonetheless.  I finished up with a pot of Sultry Chai which I really enjoyed.  I quite like drinking proper brewed chai tea that is peppery and spicey, much better than the overly sweet, flavourless powdered stuff!  I wanted to try the Orange Pekoe and the Chamomile & Orange Blossom as well, but I guess they will have to wait for next time.  In case you haven't guessed by now, I am a hopeless tea addict, haha!

High Tea

Last but not least, this is what I wore.

High Tea Outfit

 Blouse - Valleygirl; Pants - Forever New; Heels - Rubi; Braclets - Mimco and Etsy

This was my first high tea experience so I was a little unsure of the dresscode.  I had planned to wear a skirt but that fell through when I realised that the skirt I wanted to wear is way to big for me now and needs to be taken in.  In the end, I felt ok wearing pants though, in fact one of my friends said I was probably the most dressed up of all of us (not sure if that was true though).

I would definitely love to go for High Tea again and I think it would be interesting to try out a few different places.  The tea at Hotel Windsor is quite traditional, but I think there are hotels that do a more modern twist as well.  I'd also love to go back to the Windsor on the weekend for the dessert buffet which does look fantastic from what I've seen on various blogs, but I think I'd probably need to fast for at least a week before, and probably after as well, haha!

Thanks for reading!

UK Mimco Purchases

Hi everyone!

My sister and I did another joint order from the UK Mimco website a few weeks ago (worked out cheaper than buying things here, even including shipping!)  I got two things: the Crystal Burst Cuff and the Bella Pearl Bracelet.  I love the little pearl and crystal charms on the Bella bracelet, but the extender chain is huge!  Does anyone actually have a wrist that big?  I have to double it over when I wear it, otherwise it hangs half way down my arm!

Mimco Bella Pearl Bracelet

Mimco Crystal Burst Cuff

Mimco Crystal Burst Cuff

Nail polish in the pic is Ulta3 Allure.

Thanks for reading!

Stylish Blogger Award

Thank you to the lovely aelie from the autumn castle for nominating me for the Stylish Blogger Award!  I haven't been blogging for long, but I'm having heaps of fun so it's great to know that other people enjoy reading this blog too!

Firstly, I have to share seven random facts about myself:

1. I have a twin sister.  We are really close and share a lot of the same friends, but we do fight sometimes like all siblings do.  We were too well-behaved at school to ever play pranks on people or anything like that, but after 21 years of being called the wrong name, I will respond to almost anything!  I also have an older brother and two even older half brothers.  When I tell people I have two half brothers, probably around 50% of people will say "So, you mean one whole brother?"  Hilarious....not!

2. My surname is Dutch although my dad's heritage is actually (mostly) German.  He comes from the state North Rhein Westphalia which shares a border with Holland and many people in this state speak a dialect called "low German" or Platt, which is actually more similar to Dutch than it is German.  From the house my dad grew up in, you can see the spire of a church which is in Holland.  Sometimes I get sick of explaining to people that I'm not Dutch, I'm actually German and just say "yes" if people ask if I'm Dutch.  Although, my dad's mother was Dutch and there is Dutch background on his dad's side as well, so technically I am (partially) Dutch!  I enjoy eating various Dutch foods such as Stroopwafel, Spekulaas and Poffertjes.

3. I'm left handed.  My sister is right handed so we are a mirror-image!

4. I hate anything to do with business or economics or shares etc.  So boring!!  (No offence to people working/studying in these fields, but I just have no interest in these kinds of things).

5. I used to play piano and viola in highschool, but I haven't played properly in about three years.  Every now and then I have a go at the piano, but I don't "practice" anymore.  I would like to take them up again though as I think it would be a shame to just give them up altogether.  I have always been really jealous of people who have a natural talent for music and singing!

6. My greatest fear is probably of being attacked by a shark and dying in the water.  I'm not a huge fan of swimming full stop (unless its in a small backyard pool), but swimming in open water really freaks me out.  I remember in year 12, my family went to Hamilton Island for a holiday and we went on a snorkelling boat cruise.  We had to swim around 20-30 metres through open water (around 100m deep, I think) to get from the boat to the reef and I was terrified.  I don't think I've ever swum so fast in my life! I'm also scared of the usual things e.g. spiders, snakes, murderers etc. but thankfully I don't frequently encounter these things (expect for maybe spiders in Summer).

7. I'd like at some stage of my life to work in medical humanitarian aid with an organisation like MSF.  I am studying to become a health care professional (not a doctor though) at uni so hopefully I will one day be able to fulfill this ambition.

And the fifteen blogs I nominate for this award are (in no particular order):
Random Life of a Random Girl
Yours truly, 2095
rambling-e
The Blonde Leopard
Tune into Radio Carly
Sea of Ghosts
the autumn castle
Teacup Grunge
All Cats are Gray at Night
A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness
J'adore L'amour
Pepper and Baxter
Sleepless in Stilettos
Cotton Socks
Faux Fuchsia

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday Outfit + Sportsgirl Cleopatra Sandals

Hello everyone!

Today was another day at the "office" aka uni for me!  The weather in Melbourne hasn't been very Summery so I opted for something a little warmer today.

Knit - Sportsgirl; Jeans - Levis; Flats - Witchery

I borrowed the knit from my sister (one of the many advantages of having a twin sister is having double the wardrobe options!), it has cute little hearts embroidered all over it.

On my way home I popped into Sportsgirl to have a look for some Summer sandals.  I wanted something which I could wear in hot weather, but that is a little bit nicer than thongs.  I had a look in Boxing Day sales and never found anything I liked, but I saw the Ornella sandals on the Sportsgirl website last night and decided to check them out.

Image sourced from www.sportsgirl.com.au

I didn't really like the enclosed back part so I decided to try on the Cleopatra sandals instead.  I would have prefered something in black as it would probably be a more versatile colour and I wear a lot of black anyway, but I ended up getting the Cleopatra sandals in the brown colour.  I think they will look cute with some denim shorts or a pretty sundress, if Summer ever returns.  Plus they were on sale, haha!

Sportsgirl Cleopatra Sandals

Nail polish is Ulta3 Watermelon, in case anyone is wondering.  It's really hard to take nice pics of your own feet, so here is a better pic from the SG website:

Image sourced from www.sportsgirl.com.au

Thanks for reading!

My Daily Face Routine

Hi everyone,
I love reading these types of things on other people's blogs, so I thought I should have a go myself.  This really doesn't change much on a day-to-day basis, although I might add in a highlighter or a more shimmery blush if I'm going out, especially at night.

I always start my routine by moisturising.  I'm very pale so I like to use something with SPF to protect myself from the sun.  At the moment I'm using Natio's Daily Protection moisturiser which is SPF 15.  On days when I know I'll be spending a long time out in the sun, I use a 30+ sunscreen as well: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen Lotion.  This gives a nice, matte, non-greasy finish but the formula is quite thick, so I usually mix in some moisturiser to make it blend more easily.

Back: Neutrogena Sunscreen, Natio Moisturiser; Front: Red Earth Primer

Top: Neutrogena Suncreen; Bottom: Natio Moisturiser, Red Earth Primer

Next step is primer, although if I wear sunscreen I don't wear primer as it can get a bit cakey if I layer too many products on.  I usually go for a silicon based primer to help absorb any oiliness throughout the day.  At the moment, I'm using the Red Earth Mattifying Makeup Base (although I think Red Earth has been discontinued from Priceline, so I'll have to try something else once this is finished).  I cut the tube open to get the remaining dregs out of it (this is a great tip for saving on beauty and skincare products and I do this for anything that comes in a tube, including hair conditioner; I can usually get an extra weeks worth of use out of them).  I usually leave around two - three minutes after applying both moisturiser and primer to allow them to soak in.

The next thing I do is colour corrector.  I tend to have very dark under eye circles, so I use yellow and/or orange corrector to correct them.  At the moment, I'm using this corrector palette, also from Red Earth.  I use the pink as a general concealer, mixed with a bit of orange to give a normal skin tone shade and the green if I have any redness from breakouts or around my nose.

Red Earth Colour Corrector Palette

Red Earth Colour Corrector - swatches

For foundation, I use a mixture of Bourjois Healthy Mix in shade 51 and NYX Liquid Foundation in shade 01.  The Bourjois foundation is a bit too sheer in terms of coverage and the shade is a bit dark and yellow toned for me.  The NYX foundation is a bit heavy, too light and too pink, so mixed together, they give quite a good match for my skin, with the amount of coverage I want.  I'm bad and normally just use my (clean) fingers to blend.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, NYX Liquid Foundation

NYX Liquid Foundation and Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - swatches

Then I do a light dusting of loose powder to set (at the moment, I'm using Face of Australia in Outback Translucent) and a bit of blush (I'm working my way through a Maybelline Mineral Power Blush in Soft Maueve currently), concentrated on the apples of my cheeks and blended up just a little towards my temples.

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush, Face of Australia Loose Powder, The Body Shop Cream Blush

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush in Soft Mauve, Face of Australia Loose Powder in Outback Translucent

And that's it!  If I'm going out, I sometimes like to use a Body Shop cream blush in Golden Pink for a bit of a shimmery glow and maybe a bit of a highlight on my cheek bones.

The Body Shop Cream Blush in Golden Pink, unblended on the left, blended on the right

 Hope this was interesting for some of you!

Monday Outfit

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a good weekend!  Here is what I wore to uni today:

Top - Forever New; Jeans - Levis; Shoes - Witchery; Bracelet - Etsy

I purchased the top from Forever New a few weeks ago, I love the cute bow detail.  Tops like this are great for uni as you can feel a bit girly and dressed up without looking over the top.

Forever New bow detail top

I'm about to redo my nails with Ulta3 Cocoa Bean again - love this colour so much!!

Thanks for reading!

Nike+ Sportband

Hi everyone,

As you may know, I took up running/jogging last year to help with my fitness and to lose some weight.  Recently, I purchased the Nike+ Sportband to wear running to track my speed and distance.

Nike+ Sportband

The wristband receives the information from the shoe sensor and tracks distance, speed, calories burned and time.  Throughout the run, these figures flash on the little screen. When you've finished running, the black part of the wristband detattches and you can plug it into your computer to download the information from your run (it has a USB like plug on the end).

I think I'll find this quite useful to track my progress as I'm focusing now on improving my speed and distance to hopefully work up to 5.7kms (as I am aiming to do the "Run for the Kids" fundraising fun run for the Royal Children's Hospital in mid-April).

My main criticisms are that it doesn't display heart rate (I think you have to purchase an additional accessory to display heart rate) and the pace or speed is displayed according to minutes/kilometer (i.e. how many minutes it takes you to run 1km).  I would prefer if speed were displayed as km/hour.  Also, I recommend you go to the website to find the instructions to intall the device.  It wasn't really that hard, but the instruction leaflet that comes with it is seriously worse than IKEA instructions.  There were no words, just random pictures of shoes etc.

Here is an example of what the graph looks like:

Nike+ Sportband Running Graph

I ran 4.37kms yesterday, which I am quite happy with considering I had estimated about 4km from Google Maps.  I think I have run further in the past, maybe up to 4.5-4.6km, however it was quite hot and humid yesterday, thanks to all the rain so I perhaps didn't push as hard.

As far as the shoe sensor goes, you are supposed to buy the Nike compatible shoes which have a recess in the sole to slip the sensor into.  I didn't really see the point in buying new shoes when there is nothing wrong with my current ones, so I opted to purchase a little plastic clip (on eBay) which clips the sensor to your shoelaces.

SwitchEasy RunAway Nike+ Sensor Clip

The one I purchased was called the "SwitchEasy RunAway", but I think there are a few different brands of clips available through eBay.

The Sportband is available from Rebel Sport in Australia (and Nike stores as well, I presume), however I purchased mine through eBay because none of the Rebels I tried had the pink colour, haha!  Plus it was cheaper (around AU$60 including postage).  Send me an email if you would like to know the eBay sellers that I purchased the band and/or clip from.

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Ulta3 Earl Grey

Hi everyone!

Today I have the second installment of my new Ulta3 nail colours which I received as a gift from a lovely friend!

This is Earl Grey, a pale grey creme (two coats).  I like this as well and I don't think it looks too bad with my skin tone (I've heard some people saying that it doesn't suit some skin tones).

Ulta3 Earl Grey

And this is Ulta3 Cocoa Bean in sunlight (a better representation of the true colour).

Before I go, I just wanted to say that my thoughts are with those affected by the devestating floods in Queensland.  For those that are able and haven't already, please consider making a donation to the Premier's Flood Appeal.

Thanks for reading.

Zoo Trip

Hi everyone!

Some people voted in the poll thingy I had a while ago for me to do more posts about random/life related things so today I'm sharing some pictures of my recent trip to the zoo!  I went on the Monday after New Years Day.  In hindsight, I would not go again during school holidays - so many bratty kids (and normal behaved ones as well, haha!), but honestly there were kids throwing tantrums over the most simple things (going to the toilet, having a drink, tying a shoelace, putting on a hat/sunscreen etc).  I wonder how their parents get them to do more complex tasks, like going to the dentist or similar, if they go crazy over just having a drink of water.

Anyway, onto the animals!  I didn't get that many good pictures as it was quite crowded and we couldn't really get into a prime viewing position for a lot of the exhibits.

Gibbon - I love gibbons, they are probably my favourite monkey

Gorilla

Elephants

Giraffes

I took a heap more than this, but these are my favourites.  I didn't get a good picture of the new baby elephants as it was sleeping when we went past the elephants.  We went back later to see it in the barn though and I can assure you it is super cute!!!  We also saw the new baby orang utan (born on December 6th, less than a month old when we saw it!!!!!), I almost exploded from the cuteness!  I didn't really get any good pics though as I was photographing through the wire of the enclosure.  It was so tiny and adorable, just clinging tigtly to it's mother as she swung around the ropes and platforms of the enclosure.  The new orang utan enclosure is really nice though, much better than the old one.

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: Ulta3 Cocoa Bean

Hello everyone!

I know it's been ages since I've done a nails post.  I have been keeping my nails manicured but due to my spending ban, I didn't have any new colours to show you.  I haven't finished my ban, but a lovely friend from uni bought two Ulta3 polishes for me - Cocoa Bean and Earl Grey.  I put Cocoa Bean on tonight and am looking forward to trying Earl Grey later in the week!

Ulta3 Earl Grey and Cocoa Bean

Ulta3 Cocoa Bean

This was three coats.  I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow in sunlight, I the flash washed out the colour a little (it's darker in person).

Thanks for reading!

Thursday and Friday Outfits

Hello everyone,
I didn't get a chance to upload pics of what I wore from Thursday and Friday during the week but I have some spare time this afternoon.

On Thursday I decided to branch out from my usual uniform of jeans and a black top (this is what I wear for casual wear probably around 90% of the time) and go for a lighter colour top.  It's still quite a neutral shade.  I feel weird wearing bright colours, haha!

Top - MNG Basics; Jeans - Levis; Shoes - Witchery

The sleeves on this top have a cute ruffle/puff/something detail (but are a pain in the bum to iron!)  For any slightly shorter than average ladies looking for skinny jeans, I highly recommend the Levi's "Jeggings" style.  I know, I know, jeggings are ghastly, but these are actual jeans (i.e. made of denim, not whatever cheap stretch fabric jeggings are made of) and have a zip, five pockets etc.  I just thought I should clarify that, haha!  Anyway, I am 163cm tall (roughly) and I find it impossible to find jeans which are short enough for me.  They're always too long and by the time you turn them up or hem them (I hate the look of too-long pants bunched up around your ankles), they're not really skinny anymore as you loose the tapered effect at the ankle.  As you can see, these are the perfect length for me!

On Friday I resumed my normal boring outfit choice of black, haha!  It was hot on Friday, but this tshirt is quite loose so I didn't swelter too badly.

Top - Jeanswest; jeans - MNG

It has some cute fluttery sleeves too!

I've been reading the fashion challenges thread on Vogue Forums and I'm thinking maybe I should come up with a fashion challange for the month of February.  I don't want to do the "uniform" challenge (wearing the same thing everyday for a month or whatever) because I think I already wear similar things most days as it is.  Maybe I'll try to wear a different top everyday or different accessories or something.  Let me know if you have any ideas!

Thanks for reading!!

Shoes Glorious Shoes!

Hello everyone,

I thought I would share some of my recent shoe purchases (over the past month or so).  I should mention, I pretty much live in ballet flats.  Heels aren't exactly uni attire and when I'm at work I'm on my feet the entire time so flats are the way to go!

I'm slowly trying to replace my cheap crappy shoes from places like Rubi with better quality ones.  As much as I like cute inexpensive shoes, they aren't very comfortable to walk around in all day and don't tend to last very long.

L-R: Witchery Angie flats, Witchery Pippy flats, Country Road Leticia flats, Country Road Leticia cut out flats

I purchased the Country Road flats in the pre-Christmas sales and the Witchery flats in post-Christmas sales haha!  The black CR flats are suede so I'll have to get around to waterproofing them so they don't get ruined if it rains.

Thanks for reading!

Back to Uni Outfit

Hello everyone!

Today was my second day back at uni for my Summer subject.  It is a bit of a bummer having almost no holidays (as my hospital placement finished on Dec 24) but I just keep telling myself it will be worthwhile when I'm (hopefully) able to find a good internship position for 2012.

Anyway, enough whinging from me, here is what I wore today:

Top - MNG Basics; Jeans - MNG; Ballet flats - Country Road; Bracelet - Mimco

The top has some asymmetrical pleat detailing across the neckline - I like it as it's fairly simple but a bit more interesting than a plain tshirt.

Top (pleated detail) - MNG

I have been living in these Country Road flats since I got them before Christmas, I love the cut out detailing, so cute! (The orange poking through is my nail polish, hehe!)

Cut Out Ballet Flats - Country Road

Thanks for reading!

Project 20 Pan items 15 - 17

Hello everyone!  Just a quick post tonight to share my thoughts on the latest three items I've finished for my Project 20 Pan.

Nivea Hydrocare Lip Balm; Palmer's Cocoa Butter Concentrated Cream; Covergirl Lashblast Length Mascara

Number 15 was a Covergirl Lashblast Length Mascara in Black Brown.  I usually alternate between a brown mascara for more natural looks and black if I go for something more dramatic/evening-ish.  And if I'm feeling lazy and skip eyeshadow altogether, I'll just use a brown mascara to darken my lashes a bit.  I quite liked this mascara - it gives good definition (a must for me) and really just makes my lashes darker and longer, without making them look much thicker.  This is pretty much my exact criteria for a good mascara (I don't like the look of really thick lashes on me) so I will be re-purchasing this for sure.

Item number 16 was another HG product of mine, Nivea's Hydrocare Lip Balm.  I don't have a backup of this so I was hoping it would last until the end of P20P.  At the moment I'm using a Palmer's Lip Butter to tide me over until I can repurchase a Nivea one.  It's very moisturising but without feeling sticky and I like the tube style packaging (more hygenic than dipping your finger into a pot and getting lip balm under your fingernails...yucky!), it doesn't have a fragrance (I dislike overpowering fruity fragrances lip balms) and I have been through more tubes of this than I can remember.  The only downside is it doesn't have SPF so I tend to use this during Winter and then in Summer at night, but switch to an SPF balm during the day in Summer.


Number 17 was a Palmer's Cocoa Butter Concentrated Cream.  I was using this as a hand cream after the Body Shop one ran out.  It is nice and moisturising, like most Palmer's products I have found, however can take a while to absorb into the skin and can leave a bit of greasy residue.  Also, the fragrance of this is quite strong.  I do generally like Palmer's products, but probably wouldn't repurchase this particular cream as I found the "concentrated" formula to be too greasy.  For a cocoa butter product, I would prefer something with a more "lotion" like consistency.

Not long to go now- only three items!!  Although, to fulfill the requirements of at least 10 makeup items, all three remaining items have to be makeup!  I'm almost finished another perfume though, and am quite a way away from finishing any makeup so perhaps I will end up doing project 21 or 22 pan.

Xmas, New Year etc.

Hello everyone!!!  Long time no see!
Apologies for the lack of blogging over the last few weeks but uni placement, Xmas, work etc just took over my life!

I hope you all had a good Christmas.  Mine was nice and quiet, just with immediate family plus my grandma.  My family doesn't really go crazy for Christmas, just a nice lunch and small gifts for eachother.

Our Christmas tree

I got a new digital camera from my parents, a handbag from my sister and an iTunes voucher plus a refill for my Filofax diary from my brother.

Xmas presents

 On Boxing Day, I headed over to Doncaster after work but I didn't really see much that interested me.  I ended up just getting some underwear from Target, a tshirt from MNG, a bracelet from Mimco and some jeans (which weren't even on sale).  I went to Greensborough on Tuesday and picked up some tshirts at Rebel Sport which were 50% off (I got five tshirts for less than $55) and a dress from Dotti which was $30 marked down from $80.  Overall, I thought the sales were pretty "meh" and I think I probably found some better bargains in pre-Christmas sales rather than after.

Then for New Years I went to a pool party at a friends place.  Was quite nice and I got to see some high school people I haven't seen for a while.

I usually don't really keep New Year Resolutions, but here are mine anyway (maybe now they've been immortalised on the internet, I'll have more motivation to keep to them, haha!!):

1. Exercise a minimum of 3 times per week and download the bridge to 10k app and hopefully work my way up to 1 hour of jogging.  I'd also like to try some different types of exercise, maybe swimming or yoga or cycling.
 2. Reach my goal weight (2.1kg to go, hopefully should get there by March) and stay at or around my goal weight.
3. Eat healthier and continue to bring lunches from home rather than buying at work/uni (too expensive).
4. Build up a decent amount of savings. I bought my first car in August and have been broke ever since!
5. Find a graduate intern position (I think I am already on my way towards this....the hospital I did my placement at in December said they would like me to apply there for my pre-registration internship and I am seriously considering it!)
6. Maintain my current average mark at uni (or improve) so I can hopefully graduate with honours.
7. Go on a holiday (I haven't been out of Melbourne since Jan 2008).

Happy New Year to all of you!!