December Favourites 2018

December has been another fast paced month! I’m settling in to my job and I have been able to read a little bit more. I get a one hour lunch break so I take my book and get to read it most days. We’re keeping Christmas lowkey this year and it’s nice not to have to worry and enjoy the time off I get. December has had some really special moments and I’m ending the year on a high. I feel a lot better mentally and I’m hoping 2019 will bring more joy!

Onto this month’s favourites:

1. Rita Ora – Phoenix – I have listened to Rita’s music for a number of years and I was happy to get my hands on her long awaited second album last week. I tried to pick up the album earlier but there’s only one shop that sells CDs in my city and they didn’t have it so I had to wait until I went to Auckland for the Shania Twain concert. This album is catchy pop with an emotional R&B edge. Phoenix sounds current and the majority of tracks would not be out of place on radio. Standout Tracks: Anywhere, Lonely Together, Only Want You, For You and Cashmere.

2. Daniel Wellington Petite Melrose Watch + Cuff Set – Whilst I love having small wrists it makes buying watches difficult. The best thing about this watch is that the clasp can be moved to suit a range of wrist sizes. It’s also useful if your wrist size fluctuates. I was drawn to the Petite Melrose because of the rose gold colour and how dainty and elegant the watch looked. The watch face comes in two different sizes (28mm and 32mm – for reference I got the 28mm) and you can also choose the colour of the face: white or black. The black looks striking but I chose white as it looks more classic. The watch straps can also be swapped out so if you don’t want to have more than one watch you can change the strap for a different look. If you don’t want to order a cuff with your watch you can order a second strap or simply buy the watch on it’s own. This is the nicest watch I have ever owned – it’s the perfect fit and so lightweight to wear.

3. Shania Twain concert – December 18th 2018 is a day I’ll never forget; the day I got to see Shania Twain in concert. I have been a fan since 1998 and I never thought all these years later I would get to see her live, let alone have her touch my hand as she made her way to the stage. Shania is one of my biggest inspirations, her life story is so interesting and she’s had her share of ups and downs. The show itself was spectacular, the band are talented and Shania is such a professional, she knows how to work the stage and the crowd and treats her songs with respect. She doesn’t oversing or try and create new versions of the hits she’s known for. I was up singing and dancing all night and I feel blessed to have been in the same room as her.

4. Rimmel 107 Lipstick – I wore this to the Shania Twain concert and my love for this shade has been reignited. This lipstick has been in my collection for a few years now and I really should wear it more. The lipstick is pigmented, easy to apply and lasts well throughout the day. 107 is a gorgeous berry red and one of the best reds I own. This lipstick is lovely all year round but it’s especially beautiful around Christmas!

December’s Spotify Playlist:

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What were your favourite things in December?

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Redhead Rambles #35

Hello everyone and welcome to ‘Redhead Rambles’. The series does what it says on the tin, it is a redhead (me) rambling about her week. I share what I’ve been up to each week, how I’ve been feeling and what I’ve been listening to or watching. Occasionally I will my share favourite blog posts and links I’ve found useful or interesting.

• Last Friday was a lazy day, I try to have at least one during my days off if I can haha! I didn’t sleep in, I didn’t get dressed and had a phone call with my brother in the evening.
• The weekend weather was glorious, the sun was out both days. Saturday had a chill in the air but Sunday was warm.
• On Sunday after work I mowed 1/2 of the lawns.
• I placed a kikki.K order – their stationery is so cute and really good quality! I purchased a mini calendar for my mum; she likes to get one every year, a notepad, a holographic mug and inserts for my Filofax for 2019.

• On Tuesday I saw two cute dogs sitting in cars, one on my way into work and another in a car in the supermarket car park.
• I also placed a Makeup Revolution order and purchased two palettes, the Blush Queen palette for myself and another surprise palette for my blog giveaway (I did mention some extras). I am a little nervous for the Blush Queen palette as I don’t wear much pink on my cheeks but I’m hoping because these are shimmery they will be ok. I can always try the shades on my eyes as well.
• I reached 1,000 blog followers! (Finally!) To celebrate I am running a giveaway which you can check out by clicking *HERE!*
• I worked extra on Wednesday and didn’t get afternoon tea so I was starving by the time I finished work. I was naughty and got Burger King on the way home. I got a cheeseburger thrown in for free that I didn’t even order – thank you kind person on drive thru!
• I didn’t sleep in on Thursday. I spent the morning thinking about blog posts for October.
• I washed a couple of makeup brushes and my makeup sponge.
• I removed my chipped nail polish, the remnants of the rose gold shade I shared on Instagram last week.

What I’ve been listening to:

Claire Richards – End Before We Start – Claire is one of my top 5 vocalists of all time and she released the official second single from her upcoming album – swooping love ballad End Before We Start – last Friday.

Rita Ora – Let You Love Me – Rita Ora announced her highly anticipated second album will be released in November and this song was released as her new single alongside the news. Rita has a cool vibe and I really enjoyed her debut album. I have followed her music since.

How was your week?

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Redhead Rambles #2

Hello everyone and welcome to ‘Redhead Rambles’. The series does what it says on the tin, it is a redhead (me) rambling about her week. I share what I’ve been up to each week, how I’ve been feeling and what I’ve been listening to or watching. Occasionally I will my share favourite blog posts and links I’ve found useful or interesting.

• It’s been a sad week. My cat had to be put down. I dedicated a post to Tango and explain more HERE.
• Mum and I have reminisced a lot about Tango. We are in the process of deciding whether we will get another cat. We visited the SPCA but they said they don’t have a lot of cats and kittens at the moment. Another option would be to get another Birman from the breeder we purchased Tango from.
• Rachael gave us a heads up on beauty products she was disappointed by in 2017. Click her name to read what she wasn’t a fan of.
• There was a double episode of Pretty Little Liars which made me happy.
• The weather is back to hot – not a fan.
• Work is busy.
• Pointless Blog uploaded his first vlog of 2018.
• Understandably, my mood has been low.
• I started a book but stopped reading it after 50 pages because it wasn’t hitting the spot. You’ll see which one in my What I’ve Been Reading – Summer roundup.
• I am attempting to cut down on sugar and make better food choices.
• I want to start yoga again.

What I’ve been listening to:

Rita Ora & Liam Payne – For You – I have been a fan of Rita Ora since she released ORA in 2012. This song is the lead single for the final movie in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. I have watched the first two movies and I intend to watch the third.

Vanessa White – Chapter Two – Vanessa released her second EP in 2017 and the songs are SO GOOD! A couple of songs came up on shuffle this week and reminded me how much I love the EP.

How was your week?

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Nail Colours You Need

My nail polishes received the biggest culling in September’s makeup declutter. Two were sold and a few went in the bin. I kept the polishes I wear frequently and polishes I’d forgotten about and want to wear more. Decluttering made me evaluate which shades I need. This post is a guide to the different shades you might like to go for if you’re a nail polish newbie or if you just want a good base selection of colours.

NB: The polishes mentioned in this post are examples of shades and are colours I personally own.

Minimalist – Take It Outside by Essie

Take It Outside was one of the first Essie polishes I purchased and it is also one of my most worn. The colour is a taupe/grey that looks good all year round and will go with any outfit. It’s not a super girly colour and would appeal to those who like dark colours or have a monochromatic style. The polish applies smoothly and streak free.

Neutral – Ladylike by Essie

If you like nude lips chances are you also like neutral nail colours. If you want something girly, fuss-free and a colour that is work appropriate, Ladylike is it! Ladylike can also be worn all year round and suits a range of skin tones.

Red – Mon Cherry by Revlon

Red nail polish is like red lipstick, classic! Depending on your skin tone you might want a blue, cool toned red like Mon Cherry or you might prefer something warmer and fiery with more of an orange tone to it. Red looks classy and would be the perfect shade to accompany a LBD.

Berry – Bahama Mama by Essie

If you like to match your nails to seasons you will love a berry nail polish come Autumn/Winter. Bahama Mama has a hint of plum in it and it’s a gorgeous shade. Like the other two Essie polishes I’ve already mentioned it applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats.

Bright – Can’t aFjörd Not To by OPI and BubbleGum by Revlon

Can’t aFjörd Not To is not for the faint hearted, it is bright orange and this colour looks even better if you have a tan or have a darker skin tone, it really pops! Bright pink is one of my favourite colours to wear and call me stereotypical but I love to wear bright colours in summer. Bubblegum is a scented polish and the scent has an air of summer about it too.

Pastel – go Wild-er-ness and Bestival Blue by Rimmel

If you’re not a fan of brights but still like to wear colour, pastel shades might be more your thing. These polishes from Rimmel dry quickly. They are from the 60 Seconds line but I always leave the polish a couple of minutes longer to be safe.

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What nail polishes are your essentials?

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Blogger Made Me Buy It: Lily Pebbles Edition

Hello beautiful people! You may be familiar with the concept of Blogger Made Me Buy It; posts detailing items fellow bloggers have convinced you to buy based on their recommendations. I haven’t done a Blogger Made Me Buy It before so I thought it’d be nice to kick things off with a special Lily Pebbles Edition! Lily is my favourite blogger and YouTuber and while I probably couldn’t afford most of the products she loves she has inspired a few of my purchases over the past year.

1) MAC Syrup

By now I’m sure you all know how much I love this lipstick! Syrup was my first MAC lipstick which makes it even more special. I purchased Syrup after watching Lily’s Top 5 Nude Lipsticks video and thinking to myself how beautiful the colour looked and how beautiful it looked on Lily. Syrup is not your typical nude, but adds a lovely wash of colour to the lips. This shade can be worn as part of a bold look with smokey, dramatic eyes or as part of an everyday. dressed down look. To read my full review of Syrup, click here!

2) MAC Patisserie

I promise you this is the second and last of my MAC lipsticks Lily inspired me to purchase (until I get my hands on Mehr). Patisserie is also mentioned in Lily’s Top 5 Nude Lipsticks video and after I fell in love with Syrup I knew I could trust her judgement. I also heard Anna (Vivanna Does Makeup) mention this shade a few times so I knew it must be good! I never expected to fall in love with Patisserie as much as I have – I think it’s the little gold flecks in the bullet.

3) Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish – Breakfast In Bed

Strictly speaking, this is not a Lily inspired purchase but rather a dupe for one of her favourite nail colours, Mint Candy Apple by Essie. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to Mint Candy Apple or want to try this polish to see if the minty blue-green tones suit you I highly recommend Breakfast In Bed. The polish is opaque in two coats and dries quickly like the name suggests; not 60 seconds but pretty darn close! Breakfast In Bed also has a slight silver shimmer running through the polish. You can see it in the bottle and if you look at your nails closely, it is visible.

4) Essie – Chillato

Chillato is described as a frozen cream pistachio and I can honestly say is unlike any other nail polish colour I own. It looks pastel in the bottle but once on the nails it looks somewhat neutral with a lemon yellow tinge. First impressions of the polish: it’s okay. It wasn’t completely opaque after two coats and would probably have benefited from a third. The formula didn’t seem as smooth as my other Essie polishes and I wish the colour came out how it looks in the bottle. I don’t like painting my nails when they’re short so I’ll try Chillato again once my nails have grown and see if my thoughts are any different. I don’t regret this purchase but it is my least favourite of the Lily Pebbles inspired bunch.

Are there any products bloggers have convinced you to purchase?

Mini Beauty Haul

Hi everyone!

Last weekend I popped into town and picked up a few beauty bits to add to my ever growing collection. I picked up a bottle of the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and one of the polishes from Rimmel’s Rita Ora collection.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

A few weeks ago I was searching for the Garnier Micellar Water but was unsuccessful. I was slightly disappointed because I knew the product hadn’t been out in New Zealand very long and wished I had picked some up when it first came out. I even went on the Garnier NZ Facebook page and the reason I couldn’t find any was due to it being temporarily out of stock and being so popular all over the country. Others must have been just as desperate to try it as I was! Last Saturday, I happened to be walking past a pharmacy and popped in to see if they had any. Luckily there were three bottles left on a shelf right at the back – it was definitely a eureka moment!

I’d read and seen numerous reviews about the Garnier Micellar Water online and I hadn’t seen anything negative which made me even more excited to try it. Since starting my job, I’m wearing makeup more frequently so I want to make sure I clean my face properly and there’s no excess dirt and oil left. I’ve been using the product for the last week now and I’m finding it really good. My skin is quite dry but this doesn’t dry it out more and it hasn’t given me irritated skin or breakouts. The one slight grovel I have is how effective it is at removing mascara. I have to rub a bit more vigorously than the rest of my face but it’s not too bad.

Rita Ora Nail Polish – 873 Breakfast In Bed

This nail polish is part of Rimmel’s Rita Ora collection and is a lovely mint colour similar to that of Essie’s Mint Candy Apple. This polish is such a beautiful colour, kind of a hybrid between blue and green, and is different to any of the colours I already own. The image above makes the polish look slightly bluer than it is but I’ve inserted a picture of me wearing it below which gives a more true representation of the colour.

I own one other Rimmel nail polish and I’m not a huge fan of the wider brush but this particular brush doesn’t bother me. It’s flatter and doesn’t spread as wide when applying each coat of nail varnish. The packaging claims the polish dries in 60 seconds and while I haven’t put this to the test it does dry very quickly. I’d say by the time you’ve painted all ten fingers you could go back and apply the next coat. Before I purchased the polish I read a post on Not Quite London that the formula was quite gloopy and thick but I didn’t find this at all. I’d rather a polish be a bit thicker than have to apply three or four streaky coats.

Wear time wise I’ve had this polish on for the last week and it’s hardly budged. There are no major chips and it lasts well. I repainted my nails yesterday but only because I had a broken nail and wanted all my nails to look the same and be consistent. I got 25% off the polish too so it’s even more of a winner!

What do you think of the items I picked up? Have you tried any of these products?

February Favourites

Hey everyone! I can’t believe how fast this year is whizzing by, we’re already two months in. February’s the month of lurvvve and even though I didn’t have a Valentine (boo! 👎) I still feel like lots of good things happened. The Cricket World Cup started, (I’m a bit of a secret cricket fan) but I’ve only been able to watch one game as they aren’t all shown on free-to-air TV. New Zealand has started off so well – go The Black Caps!

Anyway, enough about cricket and onto this month’s favourites:

Beauty

The Body Shop Shea Body Butter – I received a Body Shop gift card from my brother for my birthday last month and my first purchase was one of their body butters. I’ve heard people rave about these and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! I got the 50ml size in case it irritated my skin and chose Shea because this is one of the butters especially for dry skin. I love the subtle, feminine scent and unlike some products, it smells the same after it has been massaged into the skin. I haven’t been using this everyday but I can definitely notice a difference when I do. I’m interested to see what it will be like for my skin in winter – if it lasts that long – I may have to repurchase!

Revlon Fire & Ice Perfume – This perfume was part of the Revlon gift set I received at Christmas. The scent is a tantalising blend of sheer florals, warm musk and exotic citrus notes. I loved the smell of this perfume when I tested it in the shop but after using it for the last two months I love it even more! The scent lasts so much longer than my other perfumes and can be worn as an everyday perfume or for special occasions.

Revlon Red (680) Nail Polish – Another item from the Revlon gift set I received at Christmas, I’m really putting them to good use! I painted my nails using this colour for my Valentine’s mani I posted over on Instagram *here*. What I loved was how smooth the formula was. I only needed to apply one coat as opposed to two like other polishes.

The Chocolate Lovers’ Diet by Carole Matthews – Reading is one of my absolute favourite things to do and I went to the library for the first time in ages this month. This was one of the books I checked out and I absolutely loved it. The characters felt real and the story line was believable, making the book hard to put down at times. I won’t spoil it for anyone but there is a happy ending!

The blurb from the back of the book:

“Lucy thought she had got her happily ever after with the gorgeous Aidan but things aren’t turning out the way she had hoped they would. But she’s not the only member of The Chocolate Lovers’ Club with problems. Autumn ‘s new boyfriend has yet to meet her parents, Nadia’s husband has sworn he’s given up gambling but she’s finding that hard to believe, and Chantal is doing all she can to save her marriage. It’s not surprising that these girls are going to need a lot of chocolate to see them through the challenges that lie ahead…”

Television

Hotel of Mum and Dad is a British series that shows couples who live at home moving out together for the first time. I know in Britain a second series has been made but I have only seen series one so far and I hope series two gets aired otherwise, hello YouTube! I love seeing what each couple spends their money on and if they can survive the week or,
“if they’ll return to the hotel of mum and dad,” (said in my best Nick Grimshaw voice).

Music

1. Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora – Doing It

2. Ariana Grande – I’ve heard Ariana’s singles and always adored how stunning her voice is but this month I decided to listen to her albums on Spotify and they are so good! Favourite tracks: Hollywood Avenue, Baby I, Love Me Harder, One Last Time, Why Try, Break Your Heart Right Back and Just a Little Bit of Your Heart.

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What have you been loving this month?

Chanelle x

Day 14 – A song that reminds you of your boyfriend/girlfriend

If I wasn’t already feeling like my love life is a failure I definitely am after this challenge haha! In all seriousness I’m not someone who needs to be in a relationship all the time and I actually think never having had a boyfriend has helped me to be more independent and look after myself. Of course I dream of finding true love and probably have this romanticised idea about what it’s really like but love should be special, it should make you feel things you didn’t even know you could feel. I’m okay with being alone at the moment, just as long as it isn’t forever 🙂

Get To Know Me: Part 2

In the second installment of my ‘Get To Know Me’ feature I thought I’d talk about my biggest passion – music. Music really is my life, most of my money is spent on CDs as I prefer a physical copy of an album rather than a download from iTunes. I enjoy holding the album in my hands and reading the liner notes and thank yous.

I’ve loved music ever since I can remember. When I was a little girl I always listened to cassettes or the radio, there was always music playing in our house. I don’t remember having any major influences at such a young age but Shania Twain’s ‘Come On Over’ has always been a favourite album of mine.

I became serious about singing and wanting to be a singer when I was 10 years old. Although I’ve had approximately one singing lesson in my life, my ultimate dream is to move to the UK and become a singer. I’m my own teacher and sing for a couple of hours most days. I’d also love to do something in music behind the scenes.

A turning point was when I rediscovered Steps. I was only a few years old when they were around the first time and couldn’t really comprehend the fangirl life. Their music is often described as cheesy pop but the songs (and dance routines) are classic! For me music represents happiness and Steps are a huge part of that.

I won’t go into detail about all the musicians I listen to but I’ll give you a rundown of my favourites:

• Steps
• The Saturdays
• Kylie Minogue
• Dannii Minogue
• Shane Filan/Westlife
• Ellie Goulding
• Girls Aloud
• Shania Twain
• Delta Goodrem
• Pixie Lott
• Rita Ora
• Lawson

Are there are any artists you think I should check out?