Childhood Memories

Talking with my dad today, I started thinking back to my childhood and all the entertaining shenanigans we used to get up to.

I'm feeling quite nolstagic now and I wanted to share a few of my memories with you. I can't remember much from when I was little, so there are quite a few big gaps in my memory.

I remember when,

Dad and I made our own sail boats from little cardboard boxes, and we would waterproof them with candle wax. We would light the candle and let the wax drip onto the boat until the bottom was completely sealed. Then we would race down to the local park after it had been raining, and try to sail them in the giant puddle, which always formed at the entrance to the park.

I tried to cook my dad dinner one night. I refused to let him help, and he ended up with salty dry mashed potato, cold beans and carrots, and some form of meat. I couldn't stomach it, but dad ate it, constantly saying it was delicious. It wasn't.

One night, there was a meteor shower, so dad and I lay on his car bonnet, rugged up under blankets, watching the stars. I fell asleep and woke to the sun rising the next day.

We couldn't afford to buy a washing machine, so dad and I used to go to the local laundromat to do our washing. We always went at night, because then we could have all of the machines to ourselves, and be silly whilst we waiting for the washing to finish. I was so excited to put the coins in the machines and turn them on.

Dad came to my primary school assembly, and I was awarded with pupil of the week. Dad cheered so loud, and after we were dismissed he was bright red and so excited. he gave me the biggest hug of my life.

Anyway,

Jayde xx

BH Cosmetics!

BH Cosmetics, a cosmetic brand from North Hollywood, America. I had heard a lot of good things about them on the internet, and thought it was high time I sampled their goods for myself. I had been looking for a new blusher pallet for a while, so now was the perfect time.

You can only buy the products online, so it’s hard to guage what the quality is like, unless you have tested them beforehand. I went out on a bit of a limb and bought a few different things, including:

·         Eyebrow pencils (mechanical) in blonde, light brown, brown, dark brown and black

·         120 eyeshadow pallet (#4)

·         Smokey Eye pallet

·         10 blusher pallet

·         10 concealer pallet

·         Liquid eyeliner

·         Travel brush set

Because they come from overseas, the shipping can be a little excessive, but if you’re buying a fair amount of products, it’s worth it. I spent $111 including shipping. It took approx. 2 weeks to arrive, which I was pretty impressed with. Only 2 of the eyeshadows were broken, but they were easily fixed.

The colour payoff with the eyeshadows isn’t the best, but with a primer they’re amazing. The 120 pallet has shimmers, matts and pearls, which gives you a great mix of possibilities. They’re only small pots of shadow, so it looks like you don’t get much for your money, but because there are so many, and when used with a primer, they go a long way. The smokey eye pallet has a great selection also, with some colours you would never imagine working, but they just do! The smokey eye has both darks and lights, so it’s very versitle. The only thing about the smokey eye pallet is that the lid is a clear plastic lid, which I’ve seen on other pallets, and has a habit of cracking easily.

I’m so in love with the concealer pallet! The formula is delightfully creamy, it doesn’t crease on the skin, and it has so many colour options, it suits most skin tones. I recently took it to a shoot with me, ad used it on both an asain complexion, and a very fair complexion. I have a lot of redness in my cheeks, and can have the odd breakout. With the colours, you can mix them, to suit your needs.

The blusher pallet is very much the same, with so many colour options, it would suit most complexions. The pigment in the blusher is great, so a little goes a long way!

I haven’t used all of the eyebrow pencils yet, but I have used the blonde and black, and I love them. They’re a mechanical pencil, so no worry about sharpening them (A quick wipe with rubbing alcohol suffices in regards to cleaning). They’re an angled tip, so they work perfectly with eyebrows of pretty much any shape or thickness. They also have a great colour payoff, and the formula isn’t too creamy like some, so it doesn’t go on the skin and look shiny.

I’ve only used the liquid liner a few times, so I’m still getting used to the pen style (I currently use Covergirl liquid liner, which is a small pen, only about 2.5” long), and having that longer pen can be a bit tricky to get used to. But it’s a great jet black colour, and when it dries, there is very minimal colour change. The lid clicks on tightly, so there's no worry of the product drying out by accident.

BH Cosmetics have quite a few other products, including eye liner pencils, lip liners, lipsticks, brush cleaners, and plenty of eyeshadows. I highly recommend checking them out! They have a lot of sales and package deals going all the time, so if you time it right, you can grab yourself a bargain!

I'll try and get some swatches done tonight, so I can post them for all to see!

Much love,

Jayde xx

Lipstick Diaries: Revlon Super Lustrous 628 "Peach Me"

I'm not really an orange type of person, but I thought I'd try something different for today. Please excuse the stunned look on my face, I was trying to sneak the photo at work, and not look like a weirdo. Don't think it worked :P

I was in a bit of a rush this morning, so there's no lip liner, just plain lippy.

"Peach Me" is a lovely pearl finished soft orange/peach colour. It feels lovely on my lips, and there's no drying feel or anything yukky.

Not sure if I'll wear it again, but you never know!

Jayde xx

Shoot For A Cause: Lucy Carter

Recently I was lucky to be a part of Shoot For a Cause. SFaC is a charity photoshoot, all of the proceeds to towards a person in need. In this case it was Lucy Carter.

The idea of the day was to choose an era in fashion, and style everything around that. Each model/Makeup Artist chose their own. My model Dan chose 1940/50's (as you'll see below), and Jess chose a more modern style. 

We raised over $2000 on the day!

Here are some of the photos of my two models:

Here we went with a soft pink lip, and a hot pink smokey eye.

I curled Dan's hair, styled it with Kitten Ears, and gave her a flawless base, with Thick black liner and red lips.

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I absolutely love doing these days. I get to meet so many amazing and talented people, and have a bit of fun!

Stay tuned for the next SFaC, which will be sometime in October/November.

Jayde xx

My Darling Alan

He's such a lovely fellow. You might realise there is no real point to this post. I mainly just wanted to share his photos with all of you. This way I don't have to suffer alone.

Here are some photos of this 'special' face:

And for good measure, here is one of us. We're awesome.

Jayde xx

Recipe - Potato & Broccoli Soup

You already know I love Winter, but you may not know that I love soup.

Soup embodies everything that is awesome about Winter. It's warming and delicious. Soup is one of the easiest meals to make, with very little needed to make something delicious.

Here is my Potato & Broccoli Soup. It's been given to me by my friend Alex.

Potato & Broccoli Soup  

1brown onion/leek - sliced

2tbsp oil/butter

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1kg broccoli – finely slices, florets kept separate from stalks

1kg potatoes – diced into 1-2cm cubes

4 cups vege stock

2 cups water

2/3 cup parmesan

300ml Sour cream

Salt/Pepper to taste

2tsp stock powder

1. Soften leek/onion & garlic, sauté for 4-5 mins until soft and aromatic
2. Add potato, broccoli stalks, stock and water, bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 15-20 mins covered.
3. Add broccoli florets and steam for another 15 mins, or until vege’s soft
4. Take off heat and blitz
5. Add cheese, sour cream and seasoning.

*great to serve with crusty parmesan croutons*

*can be portioned and frozen for 1 month*

Crusty Parmesan Cruotons

1 Vienna loaf, sliced on the angle, thickly

Garlic oil

Grated parmesan cheese to cover

Lightly season bread with garlic oil, top with grated cheese and bake for 10-15 mins on 150 deg C, or until lightly golden.

Hope you enjoy!

Jayde xx

Winter Blues

Winter is my favourite season. It's foggy, rainy, cold and generally a little horrid. But that's exactly why I like it! Screw summer and it's stupid sunny days and trips to the beach. No one likes sweating and being generally uncomfrotable because it's so hot. I'd much rather cuddle up on the couch, cook some popcorn and watch a movie. It also means longer nights, better sleeps, and less mosquitos! You can still go out and about during winter, you just need to adjust your outfit a little... Like wearing 2 pairs of stockings, a cardigan and a scarf.

I think the only issue I have with winter, is that it's cold and flu season. Because I work in the Health Care Sector, being sick is not really an option. So how do I avoid it? A few simple guidelines, and staying away from sick people!

Firstly, and I know it sounds silly, but be positive! Being happy go lucky breeds happy thoughts, and being happy releases good chemicals in your body, that reinforce your immune system and help you fight infections.

Next, lots of fruit and veg. We need to keep our vitamins and minerals topped up, to make sure our immune system is 'fighting fit'. I know myself I don't like the idea of eating a whole apple (I have issues with my teeth), so cut up food into bite size bits. You're more likely to eat lots of little pieces, rather than one big item.

Don't forget one of the most important things, water! The human body is something like 80% water. So it only makes sense to stay hydrated.

Last but not least, sleep! After 17hrs of being awake, the body reacts in the same way as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05%. Sounds scary I know, so try and make sure you're getting a solid 8hrs a night. Remember that you can't 'bank' sleep, so if you only get 2 or 3 hours of shut eye today, it doesn't mean you can make up for it tomorrow. Another fun fact about sleep: "Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle."(1)

My other secrets include:

- Garlic, it contains allicin, a sulphuric compound that produces potent antioxidants when it decomposes.(2)

- Tea, All tea—black, green, or white—contains a group of antioxidants known as catechins, which may have flu-fighting properties. In a 2011 Japanese study, people who took catechin capsules for five months had 75% lower odds of catching the flu than people taking a placebo. (2) I also add honey and lemon to my tea, as it helps soothe a sore throat.

- Chocolate, generally dark is better, because it has a lower sugar content, and more antioxidants than it's milky cousin. To reap the benefits, and not the consequences, stick with a bite size portion a day, of chocolate with a 70% cocoa or higher.

- Carrots, our body turns these into Vitamin A, which is essential to boost our immune system.

Good luck this cold and flu season!

Jayde xx

(1) - http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm

(2) - http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20631007_8,00.html

Product Review: Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick

Okay, so I'm not one to be put off easily, and tonight I decided to give the Lasting Finish range by Rimmel another go. 

I bought 4 different ones tonight: #16, #11, #106 & #111 Kiss Of Life.

Here are my thoughts!

#16 - It's a lovely soft peachy pink colour, which goes on a lot paler than it looks like it would, but it a great pearly nude.
#11 - An amazing deep dark red. Surprisingly it's not as dark as I first thought.  Perfect for ladies with darker complexions.
#106 - A vibrant red with a pink of pink to it. Lovely on fair to medium skin.
#111 - A member of the red family, presenting as a bright dark red. I know that sounds silly, but that's the only way I can really describe it.

So now that you know a bit about the colours, let me tell you a little about the lipsticks themselves. In my original product review of #20, I was utterly disappointed, but not this time!

These new lipsticks are sold with the whole case sealed in tamper proof packaging. They all smell like fruit (watermelon to me, strawberry to Dan), and glide on in a divine manner.

For the "Lasting Finish", they definitely seem to last longer than #20. So it got me to thinking, maybe my #20 is a dud? I'll try to add some photos of my purchases soon, but my phone is almost flat, and I can't find my actual camera.

Anyway, you can buy these little bursts of colour from your local K-mart store for under $13 each.

I highly suggest you go out and try one!

Jayde xx