taryn k.

Wow, I slept in this morning. Woke up at 10am, but I only fell asleep at about 11pm. I feel so guilty! I've now migrated to the couch, doing the easiest post I can do. How lazy of me. I haven't even made myself a cup on tea :(

This week I only have one polish to show you - I actually wore three, but the Revlon Midnight Affair colour I wore got ruined before I could take a photo of it (refilling the printer with colour ink turned out to be a complete fail). I'll include the colour I'm wearing now with next weeks post, because not all the ink is off my hands yet and it just looks gross.

So the polish I can show you is from Red Earth. From what I can tell, Red Earth seem to be in the process of repackaging/rebranding everything - products have been pulled from the regular stockists I usually buy from and their site isn't live. If anyone know what is going on, please let me know, because this really has become one of my favourite drugstore brands. Because of this, I'm not entirely sure if this colour is still available, but the name/number is RD082.

I bought this for something like AU$2.00 from a clearance bin before my Priceline got rid of the brand. I love it. It's the deepest blood red that I own, that is still definitely red and can't be mistaken for black. The consistency is quite nice, reminds me a little of a jelly formula (but not quite) and was opaque in one coat. This is two coats and a Seche Vite top coat because you know how I like to pile it on :)

It couldn't be helped though really. We were on a weekend away at the beach and three of them started peeling. I didn't have a nail file with me (stupid!) so the only thing to be done was bite them off and start again. Confession of a chronic nail biter? It felt great. But now I'm back on the wagon and they are beginning to grow back :)

I'm thinking I might do some makeup and hair looks based on the characters from Pretty Little Liars. I watched the pilot last night (I know, I'm a little bit late) and I loved every characters make up. How gorgeous is Lucy Hale, the actress that plays Aria? She makes me want her eyebrows, haha. Not sure when I'll get around to doing that, but it is a thought that is in the back of my head.

Until next time, enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are and thanks for reading!

- Get a good SPF-free foundation for night time and/or when I know there are going to be photos taken. I never want to see the reflective, shiny, white awkwardness on my face ever again. I know that SPF does this, yet I keep applying ALL THE TIME, without forethought. I hate all the photos of me at my husbands graduation ceremony because of this simple and avoidable mistake.

- Make a list and stick to it. I'm compiling a list of all the beauty products I want to try, and have been wanting to try for a while now. I'm giving myself to the end of the week to complete it and then I will purchase only what is on the list.

- Become far more religious with my skincare routine. I've been using Proactiv for about six months now and it has worked wonders on my horrendous skin, but I know it could be even better if I was just more consistent. When it comes down to it, turns out I'm just plain old lazy. I tend to go several days without using it and then get all surprised when a new blemish pops up. I also want to find a good mask and actually use it at least once a week.

- Actually invest in some good quality makeup brushes. I've been using Manicare and Artiste brushes for the past year or so, but I think it may be time to upgrade to some big girl brushes. A lot of the brushes I own do a damn fine job, but I know my face brushes are a little sub-par.

- I want to do a Project 10 Pan in about six months time or so. If you don't know what it is, go have a look at Lollipop26's blog. It's now defunct, she's having a little break (sad face), but it's still one of my favourite blogs to go back and read. I always find great recommendations from her.

- Now that my nail polish collection is quite comprehensive, I can stop going through crazy nail-polish-buying sprees. There's always going to be new colours coming out obviously, but I can probably now be a bit smarter about knowing what I will actually like and what I will only like in theory.

So I'm reading a few books at the moment and I thought I'd share. I try to read a fair bit, but do find I get busy, or caught up in a DVD series, so I'm not as avid as I was as a child and teenager. Plus, I used to do the majority of my reading in the car, being driven here and there - but now I obviously drive myself, so no can do (side note: I don't know how I feel about Audio-books. I feel like that might be handy on my 40 minute drive to work but I'm worried I'd get annoyed at the voice reading the book if I didn't feel like they read it right. Thoughts?).

I have a Kobo Ereader, which I've been downloading to lately - I love it. LOVE it. Not saying I dislike REAL books, but honestly, the text is EXACTLY the same, you can carry so many with you, it is less expensive, less paper (save the trees!) and...just damn handy. Plus, I have no more room in my house to store the books I've read - they're piling up I tell you!

First book is Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman. Yes, it is a diet book. No, I'm not trying to lose weight. It contains a LOT of content about nutrition, which is what I was actually looking for in a book - I just want to inform myself about different foods, their chemical make-up and what they are doing to my body, what I can eat that might be more beneficial - not fad diets or fasting or anything like that.

The best advice I can give you about this book? If you don't want to become a Vegan or Vegetarian, DO NOT READ. It will turn you off meat, dairy and everything you currently find delicious. If you are open minded to the idea, go right ahead and prepare to be snacking on pumpkin seeds. A lot of the foods the writers describe as being 'the devil' I don't generally eat anyway, so I've felt quite smug during some chapters - my biggest problem is their cruel, hard facts about cheese. And bacon. And there was a whole section about the way animals are treated in farms that I couldn't really get through. But, it is quite funny - it's obviously targeted at an overweight female demographic, but most of the chapters (that I've read so far) and interesting and informative, and it applies to everyone that eats...food.

I'm enjoying it so far - it's the first book of this genre that I've read. And so far I've eaten no meat since I started eating it, purchased a whoooole lot of fruit and veg, and I bought tofu - not sure what to do with it, but I bought it ;) I'm also not sure if I will become a fully-fledged vego, but it has made me think a little more about what I put into my body. Which can only be a good thing.

I've already read all The Southern Vampire Mysteries (or True Blood books) by Charlaine Harris, but I found myself on IMDb a couple nights ago trawling the True Blood boards for new info on Season 4 and in turn started a major craving. I think I generally prefer the books over the TV show, although it's a damn close call (no Tara in the books really - BONUS. No Alexander Skarsgard in the books - SADNESS), so rather than re-watch season 3 on my laptop (OMG, how painful was the faerie storyline to watch? I don't know if I can go through it again!), I decided to whip out my favourite book from the series. That would be Dead To The World. And honestly, I think this is the favourite book du jour for any Eric fan. Hello shower scene!

I'm about halfway through at the moment, and ahhhhhh, I love so very, very much. I love the Sookie/Eric relationship so much more than on the TV show - I feel like TB has taken every good part of the Eric character and taken it away. Apparently season 4 will be centred on the witch theme on this book, so hopefully this includes the Eric-centred plot line. And hopefully he runs down the road semi-naked ;)

I would recommend the book series to any fan of the TV show (although I might warn Bill fans that the books aren't as favourable to him as Alan Ball is) and to anyone that enjoys a good bit of vampire fiction. Obviously the supernatural genre isn't for everyone, and there does seem to be a bit of a bandwagon at the moment, which I know can be a bit off putting (there is actually a vampire section is a couple of the bookstores I frequent - not a Sci Fi, or Supernatural - Vampire!). But these are quite a bit more adult than Twilight (which, incidentally, I also loved while I was reading...now I've moved on a little bit), they can be quite raunchy and there are violent scenes throughout the books. They're a fun read, not exactly challenging, and you can usually pick the culprit a mile away, but fun nonetheless. Thumbs up!

While we're on the subject of vampires, I also discovered today that you can download the Buffy season 8 comic books on iTunes - they've been made into moving picture comics with audio and everything. I haven't downloaded any yet, but what fun! I love Buffy!

Lastly, I finished Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen a little while ago. You already know of my Olsen obsession, but it's taken me years to actually get my hands on this book (yes ACTUAL book). And I loved it. The book is a collections of interviews with people that the twins find influential and inspirational, mostly people involved in fashion and art. There's photographers, painters, interior designers, fashion designers, models, writers, sculptors, jewelers. There is also gorgeous photography throughout and the interview subjects are quite interesting, even if you're not a fan of Mary-Kate and Ashley.

Sorry if I've bored you with my big, long-winded post about books. I know it's not a subject I usually post about, but I've been quite into everything I've read lately, so like I said, I wanted to share. I know I'm not really the best reviewer or critic, so this probably wasn't that informative, but hey. I had fun writing about it.

I'm still on holidays so you'll probably hear from me again in the next couple of days. I hopefully will get a couple things up before the weekend, since I won't have time to post (busy, busy!).

Thank you to all the new visitors I've been noticing on my stats page, I'm excited people are finding me in this enormous blogosphere - feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts :)

This week I wore a couple of the polishes from Sportsgirl. I think these are both from last years collections, but I'm pretty sure most stores still stock them. I don't mind the consistency of the formula, but I HATE the bottle and and the brush. I find the wand too long and hard to control and work with. Brush size is great (I don't like the large OPI brushes, they're too thick for my nails), quite cheap at around AU$7.00 (bearing in mind OPI and Essie are around AU$20.00 in Australia) and the polish lasted until I was ready to remove it, so there are pros and cons. I have a few other Sportsgirl colours, but these are my favourite two.

First is Concrete. In the bottle is looks a nice charcoal grey, but on the nail it has a deep blue to it, like asphalt, which I like but always surprises me (because I forget about it every time). I love that it is opaque in one coat, unlike other dark colours I have (*cough* You Don't Know Jacques *cough*).

Next is Milkshake, which I am still wearing now. I love this colour - very sophisticated in my opinion. Like the name suggests, a nice chocolate milkshake colour - I even tested this against the REAL chocolate milkshake my friend ordered when we went to dinner last night. Again. nice and opaque in one coat - just how I like it.

And lastly, I wore Essie's Merino Cool for the first part of the week. I had forgotten how much I love this polish. I was flicking through some oldish photos on facebook, saw this on my nails and went "OH, that's right! I love that colour!" and promptly reapplied. It's coming out a little more grey in the photo, there is slightly more of a purple undertone to it than you can see.

So, that's my polishes for this week. Nothing brand new or fancy, but great colours nonetheless. I'm on holidays again this week, so I might be posting a little more often that usual, fingers crossed. My mum is coming during the week to help me paint the living area of our house, so I'll probably be overdosing on Scandinavian interior blogs and sharing my favourite inspirations.

Is it weird that I am DYYYYING for Autumn to come, just so I can wear autumn-appropriate clothes? I just find dressing in summer during the scorching days so damn difficult. I'm craving anything like this at the moment...preferably with leather short ;)

I did a whoooooole lot of online-window-shopping during my week off after Christmas and New Years. A whooooooooooole lot. The only place I really caved and actually bought from though was allcosmeticswholesale.com. And with the Aussie dollar as strong as it is, can you really blame me? No, you can't.

I've bought from them before, I find their shipping costs and times to Australia to be quite reasonable, as long as you get a few items. I find their range quite good, I've picked up thing their that I never would've tried, had it not been for their Clearance bin.

I got the 6 Dashing Lassies palette from the 2010 holiday collection. Isn't it preeeeeeeeeeeetty? Look how it sparkles! Look at those beautiful, neutral colours! This palette contains (clockwise from top left) A Dashing Lassie, Once Upon A Time, Magical Mist (this is gorgeous), Showstopper, Buckwheat and Bronze (also gorgeous), along with a 213 SE Brush. I've worn combinations of these colours to work the past two days. Let the MAC love affair begin.

I also grabbed my first Paintpot - Painterly is just a nice flesh colour (well, my flesh colour). I've used it the past two days as my eyeshadow base and my shadow hasn't budged. All day. That's a win on the Painterly Paint Pot :)

I also threw a Urban Decay Shadow in Goddess into my cart, because it was really cheap (I can't remember how much exactly). I haven't tried it on my lids yet, but just from swatching it on my arm, it seems a little chunky and flaky, albeit a beautiful colour. Ah well, we'll see how we go, I suppose.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure you get a free gift if you spend over $40, not including shipping. I was given a Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Cream Shadow...can't remember the name of it offhand, or if it even has a name, but it's pink.

I think it would work better on me as a blush. I might have a play around with it and see how I go. My last order came with a POP lipgloss, which was kind of a copper colour. I thought it looked cheap and disgusting, but tried it anyway, and I LOVE it. The smell leaves a little to be desired, but a great gloss none the less. Hopefully this will turn out to be a happy free gift as well.

Overall, I'm pretty excited to try out everything over the next few days. I'm gonna wear the Magical Mist shadow to work tomorrow, in some kind of subtle smokey eye combo. Is it weird that I'm really excited? Small things, I suppose.

Today I have some swatches of a few of the NP Set Lipsticks that I have purchased over the past year or so. NP Set is the more accessible line created by Australian make-up mogul Napoleon Perdis, which was created in 2008. NP Set is sold primarily through Target US and Target Aus stores, as well as online and at Napoleon Perdis makeup counters and stores.

Now, granted they all do look quite similar when on the lips - this is because all these shade are quite sheer, as you can see in the hand swatch. The consistency between the four however is quite different. Denver is by far the creamiest, but I find it the hardest to work with. It can be quite...goopy. Definitely not a colour you can apply by just swiping it on, but I do love the colour with a smoky eye, so I find it worth the extra effort. Denver is probably my overall favourite - consistency is easy to apply (probably wouldn't need a mirror for this one), the colour is a "my-lips-but-better" colour, and feels quite moisturising. Athens is another very creamy consistency, but I find it less goopy than Denver. It tends to feel almost like a lip balm. I like that. Hong Kong is another 'lip balm', but probably my least favourite colour (although it did photograph quite nicely).

Overall I do generally like these lipsticks - they are a good price for the quality. I would definitely recommend checking these out next time you're in Target. Have you tried anything else from the NP Set range?

I've decided I should be doing a regular Nail Polish post, since they are so easy to do and I tend to change my polish two or three times a week. These posts are going to be called "The Nail Files". I still haven't quite gotten the hang of this swatch photography, but hopefully I'll get lighting sorted soon so I can show you some more high quality photos.

So this is Chi Chi's "High Heeled Housewife". This is one of the first nail colours I bought when I started trying to grow my nails late 2009 and I wore it to death back then. I gave it a rest for most of 2010, since I was really building my collection and had so many others I wanted to try. But I've brought it out of retirement this week and I remembering just how much I love it. It amuses me, because it is pretty much the same colour as my cat Rosie.

I have a strange obsession with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen that probably stems back to watching their straight-to-video movies as a child. I remember watching Holiday In The Sun and When In Rome and loving all their clothes. Licence To Drive was a terrible, TERRIBLE movie, but seeing all the casual outfits they were wearing made it tolerable - for me anyways. Ashley has always been my favourite - I think she is stunningly beautiful, with a fantastic eye for style and has always conducted herself in a classy and professional manner in the media.

I love that the twins have made their way from child stars to the fashion darlings they are today, without all the dramatics of young Hollywood and with their dignity still in tact. I believe they have built a brand integral to todays market, collections of luxury staple pieces made with beautiful fabrics and cuts. To be taken seriously in the industry is no mean feat, and I admire them for that.

I have long admired The Row and Elizabeth and James clothing lines - from afar. It's all a little bit pricey for me at this stage, but I can see myself wanting to save for a couple of their basic pieces - I just need a little discipline ;)

Lately I've been loving the collaboration with Robert Lee Morris on the shoe and jewellery range for Elizabeth and James, especially the shoes. I find that these are piece that are timeless, that will be an excellent addition to a classic, on trend wardrobe - something that I am trying to build now that I'm well and truely out of my teens.

1. Things you cannot leave the house without: Car keys, phone, wallet, my agenda. The rest I can survive without. Actually, I lie. I could probably live without the phone, but it seems safer to have some form of communication.

2. Favourite brand of Make Up: To be honest, I still have a baby beauty collection, most of which is drugstore brand makeup. From what I own at the moment, it'd probably have to be Red Earth. Just from research I've been doing of the net, I think I like Nars shadow and blush colours best, once I get my hands on them, we'll get a confirmation.

3. Favourite flower: Peonies and tulips. I wanted a white tulip and green hydrangea bouquet for my wedding, but it was the wrong time of year for the tulips. In the end, we went for a faux flower bouquet, which I now have in vases around the house. SO practical.

4. Favourite clothing store: I have a couple - Myer and Sportsgirl are the regular "highstreet" stores I love. There are a few boutiques in Leederville I love going to, although I don't tend to make the trip that often (maybe that's why they feel so special) - Varga Girl, Atlas Divine and Urban Records (I think that's what it's called, I tend to get it wrong every time).

5. Favourite perfume: All time is Christina Aguilera's original scent, I'm loving Sarah Jessica Parker NYC at the moment and am coveting Hugo Boss Orange like nobodies business.

6. Heels or Flats: Tends to be flats during the day, heels at night (always) and most of my boots are heeled.

7. Do you make good grades: I haven't done any further study since high school, but back then I did always test well.

8. Favourite colours: Lemon to look at; white, greys, black and navy blue for clothes; plums, neutral browns and whites for home decor; muddy greiges and deep reds for nail lacquer.

9. Do you drink energy drinks: No I think they are awful, makes me feel sick just thinking about them.

10. Do you drink juice: I love orange juice, I could drink it forever. But it has to be full strength, no added sugar.

11. Do you like swimming: I hate swimming. As soon as I'm immersed in water I get freezing cold, no matter how hot I am before I get in. And I hate to be cold. I also hate getting my hair wet. And the ocean scares me because of the sharks!

12. Do you eat fries with a fork: Sometimes, depends on the serving situation I suppose. I like to douse my chips in tomato sauce, so sometimes it's less messy to use a fork.

13. Favourite moisturiser: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel probably. I don't really love moisturiser, as I already have oily skin.

14. Do you want to get married later on in life: Haha, I'm already married, so I suppose the answer would be, I'd like to STAY married for the rest of my life.

15. Do you get mad easily: Depends on the situation. At work, not really. At home I can get a bit testy.

16. Are you into ghost hunting: No. I stayed in some old houses when I travelled Europe and I was scared to death that there might be ghosts around. My husbands auntie took us to the most haunted pub in the district where they live and I did not enjoy that experience.

18. Do you bite your nails: I'm getting out of the habit. I still chew on my cuticles, which I hate (no, I love to do it, but I hate the look of it). One day I'll overcome it.

19. Have you ever had a near death experience: No, not really. My car crash was really quite tame, only got a bruise on my left knee. Apparently as a baby I choked on an orange, but I don't remember that, so it doesn't count.

20. Do you drink coffee: Yep, but certainly not everyday, or even every week. I drink it more as a luxury, never as a pick me up. When I do, I tend to opt for a vanilla latte. I'm far more into green tea than anything else.

I'm dreading: Nothing really. I'd say going back to work, but I'm only back for a couple of weeks, then I have another two weeks of annual leave planned. So not so bad!
I'm excited about: My sister's baby arriving in February (not long now!), planning her baby shower, all the new blogs I've discovered, spending the gift vouchers we got for Christmas on decor for our home.

I'm craving: Not much really. I really want to finish painting our house and putting the finishing touches on (hence the excitement about the gift vouchers). Oh, and for the weather to cool down just a smidgen - it's been 10 days of pretty much 40 degrees celcius. I love the heat, but this is just getting ridiculous.

I'm wanting: A whole bunch of new MAC shadows - I've made a list and am checking it twice before I do any ordering to make sure I get exactly what I want. Also wanting to get back into the fitness routine I was starting before I had my car accident.