Scented Home

I love scented candles, but I have to say that they're a bit of a pain sometimes.

Not only do the really nice ones cost an arm and a leg, cheaper ones that DO smell nice usually don't come with lids or any other decent-looking case. Usually meaning, when you blow it out, the wonderful smell quickly turns into the post-birthday-cake-blowing smell.

My mum used to tell me that don't ever burn a candle with all your doors shut (I used to burn some aromatherapy essential oils while studying), since the flame burns oxygen and uses up whatever flow of oxygen you have coming minimally into your room. It's not like you're going to pass out or anything, but I'm just assuming it's not exactly the healthiest.

But with cheaper and weaker candles, that means having to close off windows etc. so you can actually smell the scent, otherwise what's the point!!!

I've spent quite a bit of money on buying a ton of crappy cheap ones - usually from the reject shop or something, some have been okay but I'm not all that surprised from the kind of selection that's usually available, cakey, vanillary, fruity or some flower/linen scent.

I recently went looking for reasonably priced candles and had a proper look at diffusers with the wooden sticks. They smelled surprisingly strong and just as good as a candle! No need to light a flame or anything, just stick them in and leave it there for a few months. Having it diffusing 24/7 means I can come into my room with the scent lingering on, yay!

Since it's getting hotter in Brisbane, I'm not a fan of having a burning flame in my room, I think it makes a difference, and the feel of it is just wrong in summery weather.

So I got one of these to test it out, and after 6 hours since placing the sticks in the solution, I can vouch that the smell is just as strong as a candle or even stronger, and it's nice to just forget about having to light it and put it out.

Cosmetics Fragrances Direct - $14 (originally $30 apparently)

So far I'm loving smell of this, I couldn't decide between a "black liqorice" and this. I didn't realise until I smelled a lot of diffusers that I'm more fond of musky, woody and spicy scents than sweet, fruity ones. This "wild magnolia" one is basically a musky floral scent, so it's really cosy and warm but still fresh and clean-smelling at the same time.

I've bought far too many things since I have started work last month... that includes makeup, clothes and random home-ware stuff. I think I'm going through the "oh my god I have money now, I can buy stuff from a store THIS FEELS AMAZING" phase. Again. Woops.

Monochrome I

A (somewhat) fancy schmancy outfit of the day post. 

I didn't realise that I wear a lot of black and white until I was going through filters on my phone and selected "B&W" only to realise it made absolutely no difference to the photo besides my skin tone...

Black and white is however, the most reliable. Plus, it matches almost all my shoes, especially the ones I wear most.

My first ever "shift" dress, or rather, a dress without much shape. Usually these types of dresses tend to look far too big on me, coming to my knees and making me look like a dwarf in a paper bag. This one has a bit of structure around the shoulders and arms, and it's not very long - it comes down to my lower/mid thigh. I say it fits.

I am currently breaking in my new Dr Martens Monochrome boots (so I can wear them at work because apparently my broken-in regular ones are not in compliance to uniform regulations; my shoes have to be completely black.)

Hat: City Beach, Dress: Forever 21, Shoes: Dr. Martens, Necklace: Portmans.

 

I don't consider my head to be ridiculously small or anything, but finding a hat that fits was a struggle until I found this one. I even searched for one in Korea in hopes that people's heads are smaller there, but I was wrong. City Beach has quite a large selection, and luckily some of them including this one has a built-in drawstring to tighten around the head, so it will fit even if the hat is a tad too big.

No eye makeup for today, just some SPF/UV
protective bb cream, undereye concealer,
eyebrows and lip balm

I'm not a huge fan of too many accessories, I think minimal is the best - I don't mind overloading, but I only do it if I'm wearing just necklaces or just bracelets, or just rings. Sometimes, I grabbed this necklace for a super cheap price at Portmans, along with another one after the Christmas period. Less than $5 if I remember!

Skincare

People often comment on how nice my skin is, I guess I am partially blessed with decent skin as well as putting effort into making sure it's clean and taken care of. However, my skin is just as prone to blemishes, enlarged pores, pimples and discolouration as much as anyone else.

I have combination skin - my t-zone is really oily, but sometimes my cheeks and around my lips can be quite dry. I tend to break out around my nose, hairline and forehead, so 2/3 times it won't be too obvious. Combination skin is really annoying, you don't quite know which products to use - nourishing creamy products, or squeaky clean bubbly products?

My skincare routine changes time to time, but my rule is to always cleanse, tone and moisturise twice a day. I have tried a lot of products despite having relatively okay skin, but now I have found some 'holy grail' products, or stuff that seems to work well with my skin.

My go-to day cleanser is a Burt's Bees deep cleansing soap bark and chamomile cream cleanser. People I know who have tried it says it burns their skin and doesn't feel very"clean" after. Despite having relatively sensitive skin, it's wonderful on my skin as long as I don't rub it near my eyes!

Unfortunately I ran out of it and it is SO hard to find it in Australia as well as being overpriced, so Julia got me one from America yay! Until I see her, I am using the Neutrogena Naturals cleanser and scrub (I alternate days so I don't over-exfoliate).

Cleanser - $14.99 (Priceline), Scrub - $14.99 (Priceline)

I would say that it does the job, but it's no where near as refreshing as my favourite Burt's Bees cleanser and it seems to leave a film after rinsing off - I'm guessing it's to moisturise and prevent all the oils being stripped off.

At night, I use a Clarisonic brush with the Clarisonic Gentle Hydro cleanser - this combination seems to do well for me. I've been using these this year, and so far so good. I actually prefer the sensitive (white) brush head, I had no idea I was buying regular when I got the grey one.

Cleanser - $32 (Myer, Mecca), Clarisonic - Gift

I think these products are really good together - it's not foamy (most of my products aren't) but it gets rid of residual makeup and feels great after. (You can literally see left over makeup on the brush after!) I also don't replace the head every 3 months (hehehe naughty me), but I take ridiculously good care of it - I clean it and dry it properly every night.

Because I have combination skin, using things for just oily skin tend to make my skin feel dry and tight, but using dry skin products obviously don't leave my skin feeling clean. So I opt for 'deep' cleansing creams/milks that moisturise the skin without stripping off every ounce of oil, but cleans well enough to remove all those dirty things.

After cleansing, I tone with my Burt's Bees Radiance toner, again a staple in my routine. I also use the Priceline cotton pads - every other one I've tried seems to be terrible - it has stitching that scrapes against my skin, or it falls apart mid-use. 

Toner - $24.95 (Priceline), Cotton pads - $3.49 (Priceline)

I usually experiment the most with moisturisers because I can't seem to fight the perfect one, until I grabbed this chia seed one from The Face Shop in Korea. I liked it so much that I paid almost twice the normal price at a Korean grocery store here, and got the regular full size. Previously I had a mini set of lotion-toner-cream and only liked the cream. It's really great for combination skin - its quite hydrating, but it's super watery and light that it dissolves right into the skin and leaves it feeling 'dry-soft' - you know, when your skin is all moisturised and soft but you can't feel anything on there.

Chia seed cream - $28 (Korean grocery store)

I rarely use body moisturiser, but when I do, I use a baby one that's mostly natural ingredients. I like to use natural ingredients in most of my products because I think my skin is quite sensitive to parabens, SLS, SLES, fragrances and especially alcohol.

And don't forget that hand cream, I wash my hands so often they're always dry. I usually go for my Jurlique one, but when I am feeling like putting on a generous dollop, I use any old cheaper alternative.

Johnson's hand cream - $4 (Drugstore?), Jurlique hand cream - $57 (Myer)

Fragrances

A list of all the perfumes I have ever owned in chronological order.

Seeing as I currently still own numbers 3 to 5 (5 being a recent purchase), I haven't owned that many fragrances in my lifetime so far, neither have I spent much on them. I usually grow out of the smells, but some of them I still really like after years.

1. Jennifer Lopez 'Live' - One of the longer lasting ones. I used to love it, and my friends also said I smelled good when I used it. It smells really fruity, sweet and zesty, but I can't stand the smell of it any more - I once used it to cover up the smell of vomit when someone in my house vomited, and now I associate it with that smell. Weird, I know.

2. Guess for Women - I don't think you can find this any more, it's really old. I wore this in high school and it lasted almost a whole day. Many compliments on it - it was mostly a floral and slightly sweet smell. I kind of got sick of it though.

3. Dior - 'Cherie' & 'J`adore' - My dad got a collection of these tiny Dior bottles from Duty Free and gave me some. These are MEGA strong, it doesn't come with a spray pump and you just wipe it on where you need. It seems to be a very concentrated eau de parfum. It lasts the whole day as well, but I don't really like the Cherie, it smells a bit weird to me. But J`adore has a really lovely and mellow floral scent and I usually wear it when I need it to last.

4. Marc Jacobs 'Oh, Lola!' - Angela gave me this beginning of 2012, I really love the smell of it and use it quite sparingly. I never get sick of the smell - it has a fresh, clean, florally-fruit scent. The problem is that Marc Jacobs perfumes last about 30 minutes...

5. Lady Gaga 'Fame' - Let's just say I bought this for the novelty of it. I'm getting sick of the smell now, even though I quite liked it the first time. I thought it was super interesting how it's black but vaporises clear. It has a strongly sweet smell, almost grape-like, or candy-like. Maybe that's why I got sick of the smell!

6. Tommy Hilfiger 'Tommy Girl Brights' - I purchased it this week - I wasn't intending to but I walked past a perfume mega sale and decided to take a sniff. I've smelled Tommy Hilfiger perfumes before, I don't really like the original Tommy Girl nor the 'Dreaming' one. They both smell too mature for my taste. But, I still liked the rosey element to it, and when I smelled this Brights one, it was like a fresher, spicier, girlier version. Not too sure how long it lasts, but I think it is my new scent for now!

Photographies

I made this blog partially due to the fact that I got a new camera, and thought I could put some of the awesome pictures I take into use.

I've wanted a decent camera for a while now, the only camera I've ever had was a baby pink Sony TX1, a hand-me-down that has a broken zoom - the zoom is stuck zoomed in so the photos are of below average quality. 

I originally wanted the Fujifilm X20 because I love the look of it, until I came across the Olympus-OM-D-EM10. My oh my. It is one fineeeeeeeeeeeeeee camera. Except its twice my budget, so maybe one day :'(

Obviously I was super keen on getting a retro-looking camera, but I wanted one with a lot of functionality. Fujifilm X20 didn't really cut it, and I eventually found the Samsung NX300. But the lens was way too big! No way I want to carry that thing around. Samsung NX3000 however, is the previous version which I guess isn't as good as the NX300 but it's so much more portable and cute!

So here it is:

(Taken on a Sony Xperia Z)

Unlike the Samsung NX300, you can't buy the NX3000 in Australia, because it's relatively old now :( I ended up purchasing it online from Korea, for approximately $480. It came with a strap, charger, flash, the lens of course, and Adobe Lightroom which is pretty cool. I wish it came with Photoshop though!

I will probably purchase a case for it, because I realised after I received it that it probably isn't a good idea to carry around all these parts separately, rolling around in my bag.

A snap of the aftermath of my crazy I-just-received-a-parcel opening frenzy.

Check out dat aaaaamazing quality (anything better than iPhone 3GS/broken Sony TX1 quality is pretty sweet to me!)