JAPAN!

Recently I got home from one of the most incredible places I have been to yet...JAPAN! Blake and I booked this holiday so long ago that we thought it was never going to come and it came and went in a flash :(

An intersection in Tokyo

The reason for the trip was to visit the snow in Niseko, where Blake's friend was renting a house, and of course go snowboarding. This was going to be the whole trip but I insisted that we could not go to Japan without visiting Tokyo!

Freezing cold!

So we spent 3 days in Tokyo before heading to Niseko for 8 nights and finished up in Sapporo for the last night before heading home.

The famous Harajuku st!

Harajuku street - unfortunately we didn't see too many people dressed up
- I think it was too cold!

Tokyo was incredible. Our favourite part was the people watching and in a city that big there is a lot of it! We also loved travelling on the trains and managed to only get lost once in doing so, which I was pretty impressed with. Three days might not seem enough time for such a big city but Blake and I found it was just right, by the end of it we were getting a bit sick of being surrounded by so many people.

A fun run going on, this street had all the major designers stores

A Chanel store in Shibuya

A gorgeous chapel we found by accident wandering through Shibuya

Niseko was absolutely mind blowing! The amount of snow in that place is just insane. The streets are lined with it and it didn't stop snowing the whole time we were there. Of course this made the snowboarding pretty amazing, although pretty hard for me as I was still learning. Eventually though I picked it up and can now proudly say that I can snowboard :) I even ventured into an off the path treed area, not on purpose, but I still did it without falling over or hitting a tree! haha

Gorgeous snow covered pine trees

A house covered!

The house we stayed in :)

Blake was very excited

The view from our window

The walls of snow in the town

Volcano Yotei in Niseko

Me after falling down the hill we climbed up to get the last photo!

Our amazing snowman!

Japan was really incredible and we will definitely be going back...hopefully soon!

Have any of you been to Japan? Where was your favourite place?

Hope you all had a great weekend :)

Hannah xox

Review: Paul Penders Hair Products

A little while ago I was contacted by the lovely Chui who works for Paul Penders. At the time I had not heard of the brand before so I was intrigued about the company and their products. Chui explained to me that the company was founded over 40 years ago in Holland and is run by Paul Penders who is an avid environmentalist and animal lover. You can read more about their story here.

It is for these reasons that the products are all derived from natural ingredients and are never tested on animals. He started creating shampoos and has since moved on from there now incorporating all kinds of beauty products into his environmentally friendly line.

I was a bit of a newbie to natural hair care products so Chui kindly explained to me that there were a lot of benefits to using products with natural ingredients as opposed to the chemically packed shampoo & conditioner I was previously using. The most obvious being that your not putting unnatural chemicals into your hair, which although may make it feel nice in the short term, can be quite damaging in the long term, with increased hair loss and even bad reactions to the chemicals they contain.

They kindly sent me a few products from the hair care line to test out and give my thoughts on. Here is  what I thought of each of the products :)

Paul Penders Time-Release Jasmine Shampoo ($25.00AUD - 200mL)

What they say: 

"Paul Penders Time-Release Jasmine Shampoo is designed to first cleanse the scalp, ensuring a healthy foundation for beautiful, shiny & manageable hair. During lathering, as some water is added, this shampoo formulation "breaks open" to create rich foam. After washing hair is visibly full, feels luxurious and is easy to style."

What I say:

For those who haven't tried a natural shampoo before they will get a bit of a shock the first time using this. It is not a shampoo that really lathers and foams up, instead it only slightly foams when adding a touch of water. At first it can be quite hard to work into the hair but once you have used it a couple of times you get used to the feel and the best way to work it into the scalp and hair. I do find that it really gives my scalp and hair a good clean and my hair does feel very nice after I have finished washing it. I wouldn't say that my hair is any easier to manage after using this to another shampoo but I have never found a shampoo/conditioner where my hair isn't a tangled mess after washing (probably a result of the way I wash/dry my hair!). I have to say though that this smells incredible and makes your hair smell amazing! 

Paul Penders Herbal Lemon Conditioner ($25.00AUD for 200mL)

What they say: 

"Herbal Lemon Conditioner is particularly designed to add shine, restore balance and harmony for all hair types. Apply generously throughout for instant moisture, vitality and shine. Corrects dry hair and brittle ends. Does not "weigh down" hair. Leave in for 2 minutes before rinse for best results."

What I say;

First of all, this again smells incredible, is it just me or do natural products usually smell amazing? I really enjoy using this. In the past I have been known to use an unnecessary amount of conditioner...you know how your mother always tells you "use the amount of a 20c coin" well I was never one to follow that rule. My conditioner blob looked more like a couple of 50c coins! What I find with this conditioner is that I don't have to use half the bottle in order to make my hair feel super soft, even though it is quite a lightweight consistency for a conditioner. I cannot express how nice this makes my hair feel after I have rinsed it out as well as how shiny and healthy my hair looks. This is a definite favourite for me.

Paul Penders Intensive Hair Repair Therapy ($29.50AUD for 120g - Currently on sale for $14.75!!)

What they say: 

"Restores balance and life to dry, damaged, permed or coloured hair leaving it glowing and manageable. Hair indulged with this emollient feels silky without weighing down. Apply generously and massage through hair and scalp. Leave for up to 30 minutes to infuse. Rinse well. For vitality and shine. Corrects dry & brittle ends. Use daily or weekly after Paul Penders shampoo & conditioner."

What I say: 

Again this product smells incredible due to the numerous flower and herb extracts it contains. This is a light-weight hair mask which feels nice when applied and leaves the hair silky and smooth. It adds extra necessary moisture back into my hair as my hair can get very dry and brittle feeling if it's not washed or treated regularly. All in all its a great hair mask and one that I will continue to use. I probably wouldn't use the product daily as they recommend as I feel this would be too difficult time-wise and I wouldn't want my hair to get used to this much treatment so regularly but I find that once a week or once a fortnight is good to keep my hair from getting too dry and brittle.

My biggest concern about trying a natural shampoo & conditioner was that I thought my hair would not feel as clean or as soft...but boy was I wrong. After using these products for a couple of times I was pleasantly surprised by how clean my hair was feeling and how shiny and silky it was to the touch.

Paul Penders products are available to purchase at their website. They are currently having a 50% off sale on some of their items including the hair mask I talked about. The sale ends 31st March 2013. 

Have you tried any Paul Penders products or any natural hair care products? What are your thoughts?

Hannah xox

**Products provided for review as per disclosure statement. Please note I only review products provided by companies if I am genuinely impressed with them. All opinions are 100% my own & honest.

Lust Have It! February Edition

I received my Lust Have It! box in the mail today and since it's been a pretty quiet day on the work front decided to get back into blogging by showing you guys what I got this month.

I know I haven't been blogging much lately and I know people hate excuses but I have some pretty good ones...starting a business, planning a wedding & an upcoming trip to Japan in a few days have  all kept me pretty busy.

Anyway enough about that onto the box!

Lust Have It! informed us that this month the items would not fit in the pretty new packaging so they would be sending the boxes out in just the normal packing box. This didn't bother me as it meant we were getting some decent sized items! They also said that they couldn't send one of the products as the box would exceed their weight limit, again not a big deal as they said they would just post it with the next month's box.

When I opened the box my first reaction was that it was an ok box. Nothing got me super excited but it wasn't a bad box by any means.

Here are the products that I received;

1. Summer Tan by Mancine Self Action Tan - Dark (Full size - 250mL for $29.95)

In the past year or so I have been getting into trying out different self tanners, St Tropez Mousse being my favourite, so I am keen to give this one a go. I was initially a bit hesitant as it says dark and I am pretty pale, however, when checking out LHI's facebook page there were lots of pale girls saying it still worked for them.

2. Lon Vitalite C9 Crystal Moisturising Hand Mask (1 pair - $4.50 each)

I've tried a face mask from this company before and my skin had a bad reaction to it, so I'm glad this is a hand mask and not a face mask. I will give this a go, despite my previous reaction, as the skin on my hands is not as sensitive and being a "tradie" now my hands are looking pretty shameful!

3. Styli-Style L3 Timeless Lipstick - Heavenly (Full size - $19.95)

I love lipstick, especially nudes/light pinks so this is right up my alley. When I swatched this it instantly reminded me of Nars Orgasm blush. It has that peachy pink colour with golden shimmer much like the blush. The formula of this lipstick really impressed me. It's super mositurising, feeling like a balm rather than a lipstick. The colour isn't very pigmented when applied but it is a rather sheer formula. I would be  really interested in trying the darker shades from this brand as I do love the creaminess. 

4. The Natural Source Camouflage Colour Nail Lacquers - Emerald (Full size - 12mL $9.99)

This is the disappointment of the bunch, not only is it a colour I probably won't wear but the formulation of the polish just isn't very good. I did a quick swatch on my nail and it was so sheer that you would probably need at least three coats to get it opaque and that's just no good for someone impatient like me!

The last item which will come out in next months box is Keratase Paris Nectar Thermique (150mL for $39.50), which is a leave-in hair treatment. I love hair treatments, as I suffer from pretty dry brittle hair, so I am very interested to try it when it comes. 

Value of the box = $29.95 + $4.50 + $19.95 + $9.99 = $34.44 *I haven't included the missing item as I don't know if it will be a sample size or full size.

So although this box didn't wow me there was still some decent full-sized products in it. What did you think of this month's box?

Hannah xox

Priceline Haul!

While out shopping over the weekend I noticed that Priceline is having some pretty good deals at the moment so I picked up a couple of things.

One of the deals I was most excited about is that the Model's Prefer skincare line is currently 50% off until the 11th of Feb. Wanting to take advantage of this great deal I went ahead and picked up a back up of my favourite bb cream of the moment from them (see why I love it here). I also used this deal to try out one of the products I have had my eye on for a while which is the Deep Repair Anti-Age Serum. 

This product resembles the YSL Forever Youth Liberator Serum, which I received a sample of in one of my monthly subscription boxes a while ago and subsequently fell in love with it. All would have been well except for it's enormous price tag! So I thought I would pick up the MP version while on special and see if it was comparable. 

I've been using it for the past few days and so far I haven't noticed anything substantially different with my skin (which luckily has been pretty good lately - despite my sweaty new job as Blake's apprentice!) although it does feel lovely to apply. Not quite as lovely as the YSL but it will do for now. Perhaps closer to the wedding I will invest in the YSL as a special treat but for the moment it's just too pricey.

The last item I bought was the new Covergirl Mascara named Clump Crusher. It's another version of the orange tubed LashBlast formula, which is one of my holy grail mascaras, so I am pretty eager to test this baby out. 

The brush is the same rubber bristled kind as with the original but this version has a curve to it. I'm not expecting it to be drastically different from the original version but for $10 (it's on sale until Feb 11th then goes up to $17.95) I thought I'd test it out.

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them?

Hannah xox

January Lust Have It!

It's the end of January already can you believe it?? I received my Lust Have It! box yesterday and was surprised by its smaller than average box. When I opened it up the reason became apparent, the packaging has changed back to the old Glossybox style sturdy reusable cardboard boxes. 

This box has a lift up lid which closes with a magnet and is a pretty lilac with a pink flower pattern. I will definitely be using this as some kind of storage in my house as it's just so pretty.

Now onto the loot!! Here is what was in this months box;

1. Nude by Nature BB 5-in-1 Miracle Cream (Full size 50mL - $19.95)

As you probably know by now I'm a big fan of BB creams, so much so I now use them on a daily basis over foundation. This is one that I haven't tried before so I am very excited to test it out. It says that it "hydrates, corrects, perfects, protects and gives your skin natural radiance". The one thing that stands out about this is that it has quite a strong fruity scent almost lemon like which I haven't come across before.

2. Face of Australia Bronzing Loose Powder (Full size - $12.95 for 20g)

Another thing I haven't tried yet, in fact I have never before tried a loose powder bronzer so once again I'm pretty excited to test this out. It feels amazingly silky and finely milled and has a really nice sheen to it, however, I think it's a little bit too light to be used as a bronzer but it would be really nice dusted over the collarbones and chest.

3. Lust Have It! Kabuki Brush (Full size - $19.95)

It seems like this is going to be an ongoing thing with lust have it putting their own branded items in the boxes, which I don't have a problem with as long as they are useful and good quality. This kabuki brush is super soft, however it absolutely stinks! and I have already noticed a few bristles have shed so it probably will end up at the back of one of my drawers unfortunately.

4. & 5. GKMBJ Latic Hydrating Shampoo & GKMBJ Fortifying Honey Creme (30g sample - 280mL $19.95)

My mum has tried a sample of this and said that she really loved it and was going to buy a bottle of it so that makes me excited to test these out. The bottles look very sleek although they do smell a bit funny in my opinion.

6. Amuse Nail Lacquer - Atomic Orange (Full size - 18mL $13.95)

I love neon polishes and this neon orange is right up my alley, in fact I still have the residue of a similar nail colour on my toes right now! haha

Value of the Box = $19.95 + $12.95 + $19.95 + ~2.13 + ~2.13 + $13.95 = $71.06

I think they have done a really good job with the first box of the year. For starters the new packaging is gorgeous and there was four full size products inside! I love it when these boxes include makeup items and to get a new bb cream to try is pretty exciting for me!

What did you guys think of this box? Have you tried any of these products??

Hannah xox

Review: LORAC Pro Palette

Today I have for you a review of a much-raved about eyeshadow palette among the online beauty world. It is the LORAC Pro Palette.

Here it is!

When this palette was released it caused a great stir among beauty lovers for the simple fact that it is a neutral eyeshadow palette containing half matte and half shimmer eyeshadows.

The reason this was such a big deal is because this is not often done when releasing eyeshadow palettes...the reason? Because shimmery colours are a lot prettier than matte ones and therefore a lot more tempting for buyers!

Comes with a baby eye primer.
Packaged in a rubberised heavy duty cardboard.

However, as most beauty lovers know, matte eyeshadows are essential for giving your eyeshadow look dimension and can be very flattering on the eyes, especially on older eyes.

In my opinion this palette has the perfect array of colours for a neutral eyeshadow palette. You've got your base colours, highlight colours, all over lid colours, crease colours, defining colours, a couple of fun colours thrown in, colours for the perfect smokey eye and of course the always needed matte black shadow. Altogether there are 16 shades with each shade containing 0.55 grams. It also comes with a mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer, which I don't find to be anything special, just your average eye primer.

Isn't it pretty!

The texture of these shadows are buttery smooth and feel amazing to swatch. Due to their softness they can result in fall out, if you are not careful when placing the colour onto your eye. I would recommend tapping off any excess that's on your brush before you apply which should combat any fall out.

So exactly what colours do you get? Here's a rundown;

Shades on the left hand side.

White - pure white matte shade, perfect for an inner corner highlight, a base or brow bone highlight.
Nude - a shimmery pale pink colour, perfect for brightening the eyes.
Cream - matte cream shade, this shade can be a bit patchy but good to use as an all over base colour.
Champagne - a very pretty shimmery champagne colour with tiny white sparkles - lovely as a highlight or lid colour.
Taupe - a mid toned matte brown, not really a taupe but the perfect blending colour.
Gold - a very bright rich gold colour that leans towards an orange toned gold, this is an amazing lid colour.
Lt Pink - a matte light true baby pink, this is great for brightening the inner corner.
Lt Bronze - a gorgeous light bronze, looks very pretty swept over the lid.

Shades on the right hand side.

Mauve - a matte purple toned brown, this is one of my favourite colours as it's perfect for adding dimension and blending out the crease.
Pewter - your typical taupe colour (think MAC's satin taupe).
Sable - a rich warm toned matte chocolate brown.
Garnet - a gorgeous rusty colour, my favourite of them all! (This would be amazing on blue eyes!)
Espresso - a dark chocolate brown colour, perfect for the outer corner and to use under the eyes.
Deep Purple - a super dark vibrant purple colour with tiny, almost unnoticeable, specs of red glitters.
Black - a great matte black that everyone needs to deepen a look or to use as liner.
Slate - that perfect blueish grey colour to create a dark smokey eye.

Top matte colours in order (no flash)

Top matte colours in order (flash)

Bottom shimmery colours in order (no flash)

Bottom shimmery colours in order (flash)

The only downside to this palette for me is that some of the shades are a bit too soft and can create fall out, as you can see from this picture after I had swatched the shades. The packaging can also get pretty dirty, however, this isn't a big turnoff for me as most makeup does this.

Getting a little messy from all that swatching!

I highly recommend investing in this palette if you are new to eyeshadow or if you are simply a neutral eyeshadow lover. The combination of so many matte and shimmer colours in a range of neutral shades makes it the perfect palette, not to mention the ease at which the shadows apply to the eye along with their great blend-ability and pigmentation. The slim line packaging and large mirror also make it a great travel companion.

Packaging compared to Naked 1 & 2, a lot slimmer but roughly same size.

If you are a fan of the Urban Decay Naked palettes you will definitely love this palette too. I have both and can honestly say that I love them all equally.

The LORAC Pro Palette can be purchased from Sephora for $42USD, for those of us in Australia I bought mine from a highly reputable Ebay seller that can be found here for about $70AUD (all up).

Do any of you own this palette? What do you think of it, worth the hype?

Hannah xox

NOTD: Red with a hint of Sparkle

I've never been a huge fan of red nail polish...shocking I know as it's probably one of the more popular colours to sport on your nails. I'm not sure why it just never appealed to me until lately when I started to crave red, possibly due to it just being the festive season.

Anyway I gave in to this new found temptation and purchased a dark red polish as well as a red glitter polish and decided I'd give it a whirl.

The polish I went for is the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Colour (phew thats a mouthful!) in 90 Brick Wall which is a deep blood red colour. These are my favourite polishes in terms of application and staying power. They have a wide flat brush which makes application so simple, even for those of us that aren't the best at applying polish. They also last a long time on the nails without chipping, the longest of any brand I have tried.

The glitter I added to my ring finger is an Ulta3 Nail Colour in Disco Fever. This glitter has all different sizes of red glitters and applies evenly on the nails. There is nothing I hate more than a glitter polish that deposits barely any glitter to your nail! grr Ulta3 is another brand of polish I love, they apply well and best of all are super cheap and come in a tonne of colours! (I got this one for $2AUD)

I love how this looks with my new ring!! :)

What do you think of red polish? Love or Loathe?

Hannah xox