AG Viva Glam & Velvet Teddy || My Experience with Shipito

Late last year I heard about Ariana Grande working with Mac to create a Viva Glam lippie with her. And of course me being a massive fan of her music I was dying to grab my hands on it and it was also a bonus to know that the shade was a dark berry shade which is one of my favourite shade stop wear on a night out if I decide to go all out!

I saw her posting on Instagram a couple months after that her viva glam lipstick had released and I rushed onto the MAC website to go grab it while I could but sadly being in Australia, it is a tad bit slower for new releases to come so I did end up going on the US Mac website to purchase it through Shipito.

For those who don't know, Shipito is a forwarding company that allows you to purchase items from any website that don't ship to your country. They give you one of a few warehouse addresses they own which the items you've purchased gets sent to the address which then gets sent to you.

I've only tried one other forwarding company PriceUSA, which I used to use all the time when I didnt have paypal. You can check out the post I did on my Mac Purchase with PriceUSA here.

So I did get my order last month so excuse the late post on this but it arrived safely in the original Mac postage box.

I forgot to mention while browsing through the Mac website, I was tempted to go buy a couple more shades of lipsticks but held myself down so I ended up just buying 2 lipsticks, Ariana Grandes Viva Glam and Velvet Teddy which I've always wanted to try and see what the hype was about!

I'll be posting more details about these gorgeous lippies in a future post, so there isn't a swatch in this post but I can say they are definitely shades that I won't be dumping at the back of my lipstick collection!

Signing up with Shipito they let you choose between 4 addresses depending on what you want, like shipping rates, photo updates, more storage for more packages and etc. I chose the Hawthorne address which has a lower shipping costs and fast speed. After that I purchased my Mac order on the website and used the Hawthorne address for them to send it there. I had to pay through Paypal which I find is easier for me to track the costs.

Mac took a day to process my order so they sent a day after and arrived at the Shipito warehouse within a week.

I got an email from Shipito saying that the order arrived and they also included a picture of the package which is what I love about it!

After it arrives, you choose the shipping option and there are loads you can choose from. I chose the cheapest shipping which also meant it took up to a month to arrive but you do have the option of more expensive rates for quicker shipping and/or a tracking number.

I don't remember which one I chose but I did choose the shipping that was fairly cheap (under $10) that included tracking and didnt take a long time to arrive.

The package did arrive in 2 weeks though which Im alright with.

The entire thing took 3 weeks to arrive to me from ordering to the shipping which is pretty quick. 

I highly recommend people try out this site as they do send you email updates on when they receive your order, receive payment and when they ship your items to you. 

I found the website to be hella easy to use compared to PriceUSA and you always save money ordering from the US Mac website paying the USD price. Though the more products you buy the more you do save. I personally spent about $58AUD through Shipito which is about $29 per lipstick so I did save $14.

Summary:

14th Jan - Ordered from Mac ($37.06 USD)

15th Jan - Mac shipped to Shipito

20th Jan - Order arrived at Shipito

21st Jan - Shipito shipped order to me ($4.97 USD for postage)

2nd Feb - Arrived at my doorstep

Days: 19 days     Price: $43.03 USD / $58.43 AUD

Have you used a forwarding website? What are your thoughts on Shipito?

Disclaimer: Not sponsered, purchased the Mac products with my own money!

Stay Lean Tea*

Three months have nearly passed and the New Years resolutions of becoming healthier has somewhat been a success yet a fail at the same time, I mean walking everyday and swapping junk food with fruits recently while also having Maccas for dinner a couple days ago?

Any who I was contacted by the lovely company, Stay Lean Tea to try out their 14 day tea detox program which has been a lil trend lately with all the teatoxes, except this tea is a lot different to the usual as it doesnt contain any laxatives, so a tea that is 100% natural and organic is definitely a winner in my books.

The teabags are stored in a brown resealable kraft paper-like pouch, with their company logo on it. And for an ex vis-com student, I honestly love the packaging, its simple and reminds me of something very 'tumblr' especially the tea as you'll see how colourful the 14 day lean cleanse looks!!

Something small to point out as well. The tea bag is made of a cheaper/easily-breakable material but I find these tea bags are made of a fine mesh material that feels really sturdy, so theres no worry that the leaves and what not will come out.

L: 14 day lean cleanse R: 14 day lean burner

For the 14 day detox you have to drink the Lean Burner tea everyday in the morning (pictured on the right) and the Lean Cleanse every second day, with a tea bag in a cup of boiling water for 2-4 minutes.

Starting with the Lean Burner tea, it contains Longjing green leaf, Pu'er Tea Leaf, Dandelion Leaf, Lotus leaf, Lemon Grass, Oolong leaf and Goji Berry. 

I personally found with this tea that taking it in the morning before eating confused the heck out of me. Every morning I usually eat a bowl of cereal which keeps me at bay for a while, yet drinking this tea I didnt feel the need to eat as my appetite was gone, but with the habit of eating cereal pretty much every day  I didnt know whether to drink the tea as my breakfast or have both?! 

I did end up having cereal along with the tea as breakfast is the best meal of the day, which kept me full and not hungry till around late afternoon. Which I thought was great!

Also a lil bonus with this tea is that it tasted a bit like green tea which is one of my favourites, so i had no trouble consuming this even though I was expecting a herbal tea taste.

With the Lean Cleanse it contains Longjing green leaf, Chamomile, Chrysanthemum, Rose flower, Lavender, Roselle and Lemon Grass

To be honest I wasn't a huge fan of this one but i didnt hate it as well. The taste of this was a little more herbal which is what I don't like when it comes to some teas. So I was relieved that I only had to take this every second day, but after a couple cups from this, I did get used to the taste and it just reminds me of the fruity teas you can get at T2.

I found with this tea that it didnt suppress my appetite as much as the other one as i did end up craving food after but you do get quite a shocker when waiting for the tea to steep as you just come back looking at the pinkish tone in your cup of tea. Even with all the leaves and flower in the tea bag the colour looks really pretty, and I have to admit that upon opening the Lean Cleanse I did admire the teabag a lot more than the other.

Day 1- Day 14

For someone like myself who tends to eat quite a lot, I am blessed that I have a high metabolism but sad to say that I do take advantage of that. 

I am someone who craves food 24/7 so Im constantly snacking junk food and having overly sized portioned meals, so you can see above in day 1 how bloated my stomach was.

I have to admit that I kind of made a deal with myself to 'try' and have a better diet plan e.g. not eating all the time etc, when I start the Tea detox, to see if it really did work if you had a balanced diet as well as trying to 'exercise' which in my defence wasn't running around the block and doing weights at the gym, but instead trying to get up and move and walk more rather than sitting infront of the screen, so I did keep up this routine for 14 days but did occasionally have a few cheats of eating unhealthily (keeping it real here!). And I found that the tea did help a lot with the bloating which you can see in the second picture above. 

I didnt record my weight before and after the detox so I'm not sure if i even lost or gained any weight, but Im pretty happy with how the detox worked out, especially with the Lean Burn as it helped with controlling my snacking cravings after breakfast.

I know there are pictures of women with 'bikini bodies' from drinking tea detoxes but Im pretty sure 99.9% that solely relying on a detox will not give you that result if thats what you're looking for

But for those looking for a tea to try that will help with your appetite as well as bloating I can say that it really helped with my little food addiction.

Had to include a picture of the personal touch :')

Stay Lean Tea did kindly give me a 10% off code with any purchase on their store (modelled by my lovely cat Piper), and lucky for you guys they're currently having a sale online so feel free to use the code THANKYOU22 on top of the sales going on now!

Stay Lean Tea

Website

*Disclaimer: This product was sent to me to review

January Favs!

I had a feeling that 2016 is going to be the year for me and I rarely say that, but going into uni this year and with all the new things I've been doing lately, theres really no assuming that its going to be like any other year.

This month has been quite the busy month for me, going camping with a few of my friends, uni offers/enrolment and also finally seeing the amazing Andy Warhol/Ai Weiwei exhibition which had such great artworks fyi.

Near the start of January, I went to Mount Disappointment with two of my close friends along with my friends family. And it was my first time camping so I didnt really know what to expect but I knew not to bring makeup. My friend warned me to bring hand sanitiser and sunscreen as theres no running water and it gets hot in the afternoon, so without a doubt I brought those and my trusty Lucas Papaw Ointment, it has pretty much saved me when my lips were chapping it out in the sun and I also have to say it saved my flaky nose when I decided to get sick using countless tissues a day to blow my nose.

From bringing hand sanitiser, I somehow found a strange addiction during and after camping of using my Palmolive Hand Sanitiser during the day, I can also swear that this hand sanitiser was 90% full (as a rarely used it) and it went down 3/4 after camping.

I brought a few skincare products while camping but the Puretopia Facial Mist & Toner* won me over. On a hot day sunning in the heat, its just so satisfying spraying this on the face, its also vey citrusy so its quite refreshing, I did go to Priceline with my friend as she wanted to buy it only to find out that they discontinued this brand and sadly I'm nearly out but it was loved very much :(

For Christmas my brother got me the Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfume which I've been longing to try. I didnt get around to using it until January, and its right up my alley  with the type of scents I like, it smells fresh yet elegant and I find that anymore than 2 sprays on the neck will get me smelling like the perfume from a mile away, though in saying that, i find that it doesn't last that long which is a bummer but the scent really does win me over.

I have been using the Urban Decay Makeup Setting Spray for quite sometime now and it goes into my holy grail products since using it. I haven't done a monthly favourites recently so I thought it would be necessary to showcase this baby. I don't use face products that often but I do 2 sprays on the eyes + brows with this baby and boy this makes it last so damn long, I find that I haven't seen any of the usual smudging from my eye makeup ever since using this and it has been a long time since whinging about my eye makeup smudging, love it!!

Ive started to use the Skin B5 Skin Purifying Mask more often, about 3 times a week and my face always feels super smooth after using it, it also does wonders in preventing any pimples from getting any bigger!

One of my favourite things that happened in January was going to the Andy Warhol/Ai Wei Wei Art Exhibition at the NGV. Ever since my English tutor told me about Ai Wei Wei, I became in love with his art works ever since,  I pretty much wrote about his activism and view on Chinas communisim throughout my english pieces and my year 12 English exam cause he is just so damn amazing (seriously google his works). Anyways after I found out that his works were coming to Melbourne I had to go. His works didnt let me down and the Lego room that everyone was talking about was stunning in person. If you guys are in Melbourne, do check this exhibition out.

I purchased the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Granite last month due to my long black/brown regrowth happening, I did a review on this here. But long story short, its not too dramatic, does a great shaped brow that stays on my face (if untouched), Ive been using this pretty much everytime I go out.

From request my brother got me the Kat Von D Liner in Trooper on a Sydney trip last year and I didnt start using it until last month after using up my sample sized Stila Stay All Day Liner. I'll be doing a review on this one soon but spoiler alert, I think I may have found my holy grail liquid liner. It does an amazing job staying on my oily as lids and aside from the Stila liner, is that only liner that hasn't smudged on me.

If you haven't seen my review on the Fairydrops Mascara you won't know how good this makes my lashes look!! It holds a curl, lengthens a bit and separates my lashes (which is what I want).

I find on some occasions that I wake up with dull/lifeless lips, what I mean by that is waking up looking like a zombie where my lips don't look alive and the number one product I always use to fix that shiz right up is the Etude House Fresh Cherry Lip Tint. It comes out as a "my lips but better" in a orangey/pink shade on my lips which I absolutely love! It adds just the right amount of colour to my lips without being overly dramatic like a lipstick and it doesn't smudge as it tints the lips (best thing about lip tints fyi!) though it does fade throughout the day.

I didnt realise how long ago this was but 2 years ago I did a swapbox with Wengiful which you can check out here, and one of the products she sent me was the Hello Kitty Lipbalm. I find that this is such a on-again-off-again product for me as I hit pan quite quick with this so I save this for emergencies only now, but last month I did get a lip rash from my EOS lip balms which did leave my lips chapped up so I started to use the HK lip balm again and it fixed the chapiness within 3 days. I would say this is one of my favourite lip balms and has the perfect consistency and thickness without it feeling like theres nothing there.

Products marked with a * was sent to me for consideration, the rest were either gifted to me or purchased by myself.

Fairydrops Mascara

I personally believe that "Asian" branded mascaras works wonders for me, I like to think that they inject a special ingredient into the formula so that it works with my lashes (a little crazy, but someone needs to explain how they do it?!)
I remember watching beauty videos on youtube a couple years ago to see that the Fairydrops mascara was the new craze. Hearing about the fibres and the unique wand shape intrigued me as a lil makeup newbie.
Anyways after chucking out my beloved Maybelline Hyper Curl Mascara from using it daily, I finally got the chance of opening my unused Fairydrops mascara that I've been craving to try out. 

As always, packaging to me is like icing on the cake. 

Would ya just look at it?! (hi five to those who get this reference*)

I just love the white cartoonish artworks, it looks like a combination of anime crossed with a cartoon show. And also the metallic pink body is so eye catching, it makes it so much easier spotting the mascara from afar in the clutter of my makeup which really helps when I'm in a rush.

Honestly if there was a line of makeup where they packaged their products with a pink metallic case, I would cry. IT JUST LOOKS SO DAMN GOOD!!

Aside from the lovely packaging, Fairydrops is known for its wand shape (I like to think of it as 3 blobs), as well as the fibers in the formula to create a lengthening effect.

My main concern with my lashes is keeping a curl as well as separating the lashes while keeping it voluminous. But if a mascara can hold a curl, thats still good enough for me even if it doesn't tick the other boxes.

With the Fairydrops Mascara Im proud to say that it ticks everything in the good books for me. The pros outweighs the cons for it.

Top-Bottom: Natural, Curled, Curled +1 coat Fairydrops mascara

Theres something about the way my lashes look with the Fairydrops Mascara that I love. I think its because it holds a friggin curl and separates the lashes without a clump, whats more to love?!

I find that you can build it up for more length without it becoming clumpy as the fibres helps tremendously in lengthening.

The oils on my lids (aka lid sweat) actually cant defeat the formula to this as I'm always coming back home at the end of the day with my lashes looking the same way as it did after applying mascara to them.

Even if you shed tears or have water splashed onto your eyes, this fella will not budge. 

In saying this though, you do need an oil based remover to remove the mascara properly.

Looking at the pictures above, it makes me gush over this mascara. But like I said how the pros outweigh the cons, they really do.

Theres only 2 things about this mascara that I wouldn't say would make it my all round holy grail mascara.

Sadly the wand is a tad too big for me to neatly apply it to my bottom lashes without it smudging. Though working with it slowly while looking closely to a mirror will prevent the smudging, I am a lazy person so if a mascara can do the job quick its a winner but sadly for the Fairydrops its not that great for the bottom lash department.

Lastly one that doesn't really bother me that greatly is the distribution of the fibres. Most of the time it blends in greatly with the top lashes with no problem but for my bottom lashes it doesn't evenly spread across all my bottom lashes. Some days I might get one fibre stuck onto one lash while the other lashes get no fibre, so I usually end up pulling the fibre off in order to make my lashes look even. 

I have been using this as my go-to mascara, as theres no need to think whether this will smudge or not or if my lashes will be curled. Highly recommend this to those who have issues with their mascara not being able to with stand a curl!

Have you tried the Fairydrops Mascara? If so, what are you're thoughts?

My Work Saviours || WIMB Work Edition

Caution: Too much yellow alert!! 

My shifts are usually around 9 hours maximum, which gives me two 15 minute tea breaks and an hour lunch break.
Within those breaks I like to touch up my makeup (if needed ofc), apply hand cream, lip balm and what not and most importantly eat!!

I found that working in produce, I do need to pack certain things to use during my break so I thought it would be good to share them with you as they help immensely if I don't unpack and bring them when I'm out shopping.

I generally dont bring my bag unless I have to take public transport to work or back home or if I have a 5+ hour shift as there are breaks. My bag acts as my little 'emergency kit'.

Late last year I was on the hunt on finding the perfect bag to bring to school that can carry my Macbook Air as well as schoolbooks.
I found the Tony Bianco Linda in Black on The Iconic Website and got it on a whim. Little did I know that it fit my macbook, a couple of school books, pencil case and water bottle perfectly (though nothing else bulky could fit...). After purchasing this bag I pretty much ditched my other bags and used this everywhere I went as it can carry quite a lot while not being as big as a tote bag. It also fits into my work locker perfectly!
There is a front zipper compartment (shown in the image) which is where I put my beauty items so it doesn't get lost i the mess that it already has inside.. old receipts and lost coins scattered at the bottom, my mum would be ashamed if she looked inside.

What I bring in my workbag

Cat Coin purse: My absolute favourite coin purse!! Its big enough to fit all my needed cards and cash yet small enough to chuck around everywhere. Sometimes I like to take it out of my bag and bring it with me to nearby cafes during my lunch break. And can I just say it looks exactly like my cat?!

Tissues: My dad always buys a ton of the small packeted tissues when he's overseas so I feel as though I have an endless supply of them at home and also in my bag, like Im not exaggerating when Im saying there is actually 4 of them in my bag. This always come in handy when Im eating at my favourite corner spot in Maccas and I forget to grab tissues at the front. Tissues are a must have for me!!

Handcream: I usually chuck any hand cream I can find into my bag as the number 1 thing I hate about working in produce is always coming back home with intensely dry hands. Even going off onto my first 2 hours my hands get dry as the Sahara Desert, so its quite satisfying getting them hands hydrated every break. Right now Im using the Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream in the scent Gardeners.

Phone: Obviously I bring my phone to work, I have the silver iPhone 6s with the best phone case ever, I don't know why I don't have a photo to show but guys it has bananas with google eyes at the back, produce appropriate? I think so. My phone is usually in my pocket but sometimes I like to chuck the phone in my bag to lighten up my pockets and to keep distractions away.

Ipod/Earphones: Sometimes I either like to bring my iPod for music or just earphones to plug into my phone during my work breaks, most of the time its when I don't bring my laptop I bring them!

Lipbalm/Lipstick: I always bring whatever lip balm I have as my lips will always be feeling dry during them 9 hour shifts. I actually have 2 lip balms in my bag now as the Nivea Repair & Protection doesn't do its job well so I just have my all time fav, Nivea Essential care ready to go!
If i happen to be wearing a lipstick I will bring it as well but for the time being, Im just too lazy to be reapplying that at work so I don't have it with me.

Pen: I find that no matter where I go, myself or some other person will need a pen so I have any ballpoint pen with me. Its also perfect for work as I have to fill in an adjustment when I get called into work (aside from my part-time roster) and most of the time there is no pen around.

Perfume: My brother happened to gift me the Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume set for xmas (btw absolutely in love with in!) and it had a rollerball version of it. Without even thinking I pretty much chucked it in my bag. Theres no bulkiness from the full sized one and its just so travel-friendly. The scent is also one of my go-to fresh scents for this summer.

Hand Sanitiser: At the end of a work shift my hands are dirty af and most of the time, water and soap doesn't clean that shiz off so my trusty Palmolive hand sanitiser works wonders in getting the dirt from my fingers.

Nailclipper: I feel like the cons of working in Woolies is the broken nails (always used to be a massive pet peeve of mine when working on the registers). Although in produce its a slight damage it still bothers me to the point that i have to bring nail clippers to just cut them off during my break.

Portable Charger: On the days I do take public transport where I'm constantly on my phone I like to bring a portable charger. My phone doesn't die that quick but I tend to panic when my battery hits 50%

Bandaids: Incase accidents happen, I keep some bandaids in my bag as well as the front pocket of my work shirt. During the first few months of working in produce I was lucky enough *cough* to have cuts and scratches on my hands and wrists hence why it taught me to bring bandaids every shift.

Macbook: I only bring my laptop if I need to use it and most of the time I dedicate my hour lunch break eating as well as writing up blogposts! I procrastinate a lot at home so its good to do the blogging elsewhere.

House keys: Comes attached with my favourite Aristocats souvenir from the Disney store at HK Airport as well as a Totoro keychain my brother got for me.

Hairties: I have a little fear that while I tie my hair up with only one hair tie it might snap so I like to keep at least 2 with me.

Most of the time I will have a drink bottle in my bag but there is a staffroom/kitchen area at work which is why I don't really bring a water bottle anymore. Though if I desperately need it, Ill buy water at work and it becomes my bottle for a month or two before I end up chucking it out.

 What do you bring in your workbag?

Metallic Fashion Tattoos || Wonderstripes*

Summers out which means flash tattoos are back on!

I remember my childhood days where temporary tattoos were the rage. 

I found out about the trend coming back last year which made me rekindle that love for the tattoos, especially when I first saw it being metallic rather than the plan black ones. 

And seeing them everywhere on social media photos in outfits and people rocking them out in parties and in public, I just wanted to get my hands on them.

Classic Set

Colour Set

Wonderstripes contacted me to try out their new (at the time) Metallic Fashion Tattoos that were being released and I was happy to try them out as I have previously worked with Wonderstripes on their infamous Instant Eye Lift tape.

I was sent the two sets of Metallic Tattoos that they have available the 'Classic Set' and 'Colour Set'.

Each set comes with 3 sheets of the tattoos with various designs and patterns.

The Classic Set I find has the more basic designs while the Colour Set has more geometric, fun designs with also some basics.

The process in applying the tattoos is pretty straightforward for those who have done temporary tattoos before. Cutting the design you want, placing it down onto wherever you want it, wetting a towel/tissue and dabbing it on the back of the tattoo until it is wet but not dripping too much water and then pulling the paper off the tattoo.

I haven't tried other Metallic/Flash Tattoos before so I cant compare this with others, but I can say I am in love with the quality of both and the designs in the Colour Set.

I have been mainly using the long designs to wrap around my upper arm just to jazz up my outfit, and the metallic comes up beautifully. 

I get so many compliments from them whenever I use them out and it just works in replacement of jewellery without the hassle of it getting in the way!!

Though the only downside of it is that the tattoos do tend to crack apart after a few days and don't look smooth anymore. It does last up to 3 weeks if I try not to exfoliate over it.

I highly recommend trying these babies out!

RRP: $19.99

Wonderstripes

Website

Facebook

*Product was sent to me for consideration! The review is honest as always~

On Fleek || Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade

You can probably tell which is old and new haha!

Ive been using my current Dipbrow Pomade for quite some time now and with it starting to dry up around the edges and become dry and patchy to apply at times I thought it would be a great excuse to go buy another one, also with me trying to grow out my natural hair colour, my regrowth is halfway down my head and it does look a tad weird having brown brows upon brown/black hair.

So during the Christmas times my brother decided to order a present for his girlfriend on Beautybay and it was the perfect opportunity to buy another dip brow in a black shade. 

Im pretty sad that i didn't get to review this when I first got the chance of having this in my hands, but in saying that, I have to admit I wasn't really a fan of this during the first few times of using it. 

It didn't stay in place during the sweaty months, especially when I itched my brows and forgot I had product on them, but hey, what product will stay on an oily face even when you swipe your finger over it?

Though in the cooler months it did say in place, no fading or smudging and no need to worry in checking your brows during a night out.

I have been using this in place of the usual eyebrow powder and this is the part where I love this product fits in... the way your brows look so much more defined compared to powder. 

I found with powder that I would have to keep layering more on to create a bold brow but with the dip brow it made my brows smack bang nicely shaped.

I have tested the dip brow with different angled brushes and depending on what you want your brows to look, any will work with this product. For myself I prefer a denser brush that will line my brows into the shape i want as well as blend out the product aka The Body Shop Slanted Brush.

I was previously using a smaller angled eyeliner brush (Beautybay) but I found it took more time to use and being the lazy person that I am, a brush that can do the job quick and well is one for me!

Left: Dark Brown Right: Granite/Black

It is quite nice having a new pomade that isn't dried up as the creaminess wins me over.

You do have to be careful when using this as a little goes a long way, so don't go packing your brush with it on unless you want a sharpie brow!! (yes I've learnt this the hard way)

What I usually do is dip my brush once into the product a teeny bit and start to line my brows/draw the shape and fill them in, which is pretty much the same thing as the brow routine post I did, except I fill in the start of my brows more.

I would say that one of the cons that does get to me is the effort + time when using the dip brow, especially for the shape that I like to make them, I would say i spend up to 10 minutes max in perfecting them before moving onto my eye makeup. 

Im personally one of those people who can't leave the house without my brows done so rushing with the dip brow always ends in a crappy looking brow for me compared with using a pencil.

The pomade comes off easily with micellar water/non-oil based makeup removers or just by washing your face if you're lazy like I am.

I have been converted into using cream brow products ever since using this, I just cant think of going back to powder. Would highly recommend trying this for those brow junkies out there!!

What are your thoughts on Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products?!