It's Finally Spring!

In honour of the first day of spring I thought I'd share some photos of the Plum Blossom trees that are currently blooming in my garden. I can't tell you how excited I am for the weather to start warming up... I just feel like the winter has dragged on this year, and I'm ready for the fresh start that spring always seems to bring!

It was definitely a lovely start to the season this morning, with beautiful sunny weather  down in Margaret River. Perfect for our Father's Day breakfast out on the veranda with yummy chocolate croissants, banana bread and strawberries - it doesn't get better than that in my opinion!

I hope you've had a lovely Father's Day!!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Beauty Bits - My Thoughts on the Mac Illustrated Face Kit (Plum)

I was just having "a quick look" at the Mac counter the other day, when this beautiful palette caught my eye, and despite trying to resist, I ended up walking out with it. Just look how gorgeous it is! 

To start off with, the packaging is just divine. It's sleek and compact with a decent sized mirror and magnetic closure. The artwork, designed by fashion designer Rebecca Moses, gives a unique twist that just adds that bit of extra "fun". 

I also really like that there is a cover over the lipsticks to stop them getting messy!

L-R: Mocha, Yoghurt, Plum Reduction, Romance Me, Heather Belles, Blankety, Syrup

Moving onto the actual products - the kit comes with:

Matte Powder Blush in Mocha

This is a really lovely matte,  plum-pink with a slight brown tinge, which goes perfectly with the eyeshadows, and is particularly great for winter when you want a slightly deeper blush.  It's pigmented, but not overly so, which makes it very easy to use and just gives a lovely flush to the cheeks. I've had my eye on Mocha for quite a while now, and I figured this was the perfect time to pick it up.

Matte Eyeshadow in Yoghurt

A matte, soft pale pink which looks more of a white/cream colour with only the very slightest hit of pink when applied (on me at least).

Satin Eyeshadow in Plum Reduction

This is described as a light satin brown. It also has a slight plum tone to it.

Lustre Eyeshadow in Romance Me

Described as a warm plum with gold-toned pearl.

Satin Eyeshadow in Heather Belles

Described as an intense black, however I think its more of a charcoal with a slight grey/blue tone to it. It's not really a true black in my opinion. 

Amplified lipstick in Blankety

This is described as a soft pink beige. This is the only colour that I'm not particularly in love with, it's a bit too beige for my lips and kind of washes me out. I never wear nude lipstick colours though, so maybe it's just that I'm not used to it. 

Lustre lipstick in Syrup

Described as a "cloudy pink", this is a really lovely lipstick. It's a perfect "my lips but better" colour, as cheesy as that is. It has just a hint of plumy-purple and is very natural. The lustre finish goes on so smoothly and feels really nice and moisturising.

Overall I think this is a really great palette. I rationalised buying it because for what you get it really is pretty good value, and it will be perfect for travelling. It's so versatile as well, allowing for a nice light day-time look that can be darkened up for night. So far, I've just been using Yoghurt all over the lid, with Plum Reduction in the crease, and Heather Belles smudged along the lash line. I usually wear very neutral, natural coloured shadows (when I bother to wear eyeshadow at all), so this is

 a nice way to add a bit of colour with very subtle pinky-plum tones.

These Illustrated Kits are available at David Jones and Myer now if you wanted to check them out and cost $115. Expensive I know, but much less that you would pay if you bought everything individually! 

 I've only recently started using Mac, but from watching Youtube videos the list of products I'd like to try is quite extensive, so it is nice to be able to try out a few different things and not have to spend (too much of a) fortune!

Let me know what you think of the palette, and also your favourite Mac products!

Love Lauren

xxx

Photo Flashback - Just some pretty pictures...

Hello :)

So again I wasn't able to take any outfit pictures this weekend because our tripod has sadly gone missing. I won't get into that... but I still felt like doing at least one post this weekend. I like being able to do these quick recaps because it's nice to be able to look back through and see what I've been up to! (Probably not very interesting to anyone else...but I enjoy it!)

At the moment it's pouring rain and there was just the loudest crack of thunder! 

It was beautiful weather during the day though, so my parents and I went for a little bit of an adventure - riding our bikes all the way down to Fremantle. We stopped and had a delicious lunch at Il Cibo (I had the Chicken and Mushroom Parcel with Pumpkin and Feta salad), walked around looking at some of the shops, and then slowly made our way back home (stopping for ice cream and milkshakes along the way!)

Anyway, that is completely unrelated to the pictures above! I was just going through,

trying to sort out my very cluttered iphoto library, and I came across these ones from my weekend in Margaret River in April. They were taken at the Olive Oil/Soap Factory and I thought they were pretty. I initially started out my blog with the idea that I wanted to fill it with lovely, pretty pictures (not just outfit photos!), so I thought I would share them (even if they're not related to what I was writing about at all!)

I hope you've had a lovely weekend!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Birthday Celebrations!

I just wanted to share some of the photos from the tea party I had on Saturday. I love all the bright colours, and these cute polka dot tea cups which were my Bis Nonna's (Great Grandma's). I had a perfect afternoon with my best friends - chatting, overloading on sugar, and drinking a ridiculous amount of tea! These pictures just make me smile :)

I was lucky enough to receive some lovely gifts - beautiful flowers from Tom and his mum, my favourite magazines and some adorable pictures from my Parents

Thank you for a lovely birthday. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing family :)

I hope you've enjoyed the photos :)

Love Lauren

xxx 

What's In My Bag

Hello :)

Seeing as I have a little more time tonight I thought l would do another post, and for some reason I really felt like doing a "What's in my bag" post today. I always find reading other peoples "What's in my bag" posts intriguing, so I thought I may as well jump on the bandwagon. I took photos for this quite some time ago, but never got around to writing this up. Anyway...here we go...

1)

Glasses

- I used to only wear them in class, but unfortunately I've been slowly getting blinder and now they're usually always on my face!

2) Phone

3)

Too many lip products!

- Burts bees lipbalm (my favourite lip balm), Chanel Coco Shine Lipstick, Revlon Kissable Balm stain ...and usually a lot more accumulate in there!

4)

Travalo

perfume atomizer which is filled with my favourite perfume - Vera Wang Princess. It's such a handy little invention :)

5)

Hand Cream

- this one's the

Great Barrier Island Bee Co

. Manuka honey hand cream, and it smells lovely. 

6)

Wallet

- this was a birthday present last year and I absolutely love the colour :)

7)

Diary

- this one's from Kikki.K, they have the cutest stationary!

8)

Mirror

- my best friend brought this back from Paris for me :)

9)

Spare hair tie

10)

Mints

11)

Headphones

12)

A snack

- in this case roasted almonds :)

My bag is from Jigsaw. It was my Graduation Present to myself once I started working and I spent a long time researching which one to get! I wanted a neutral bag that would go with everything, and this one does just that (and has a nice subtle  pink colour on the sides and bottom to make it just a bit more interesting). It's also the perfect size and style!

Anyway, so that's what's in my bag...  :)

Love Lauren

xxx