What It's All About

This is my beauty file blog; the place I will list all the pretty things I would love to try/own. Skincare, makeup & fragrances specifically. I'll probably also share beauty and fashion related posts from other blogs, such as Beautifully Glossy, J's Everyday Fashion, Kendi Everyday,  We Heart This and Modly Chic.

I've been using skincare for as long as I can remember (Nan's influence, she used Pear's soap and a moisturiser), sunscreen since I was a teen (Mum), my first fragrance I remember was Avon, and in a bottle the shape of a horse; my first 'grown up' fragrance was Nuance by Coty. My first makeup after Mum's green & blue (very powdery) eyeshadow was at 16, an eyeshadow & lip colour palette.
My lifestyle these days (currently on a cattle station in SW Qld) pretty well precludes me from having the collection I'd like; small space, constantly moving. I cannot wear fragrance; my husband has, among other things, emphysema and other breathing difficulties. Anything fragranced is out. But, I can dream about and look at the pretties, and I do.

The idea for this came to me from a book. A biography. Of Marlon Brando. He wrote about his experience when he worked with a renowned stage actress who wore Russian Leather (she was 'older' and tried to seduce him). I had to find out what Russian Leather was, hit up Google, found a newer version, then something called Irish Leather, then an old favourite, the original Lolita Lempicka. And I was gone!

When it comes to makeup and fragrances, I am a bit of a magpie; if the bottle is pretty, I have to investigate. Hence the Lempicka. Other old favourites include Shalimar (Nan's 'special occassion' fragrance), Pure Poison (shiny!), Angel (for the bottle, not a fan of gourmands, except some vanillas) and LouLou Blue (not as 'harsh' as the original).

I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of  celebrity fragrances. They all smell much the same to me; Britney's fragrances all smell the same, no matter what 'notes' they have, ditto J Lo & Beyonce. Another thing I have never liked is the cheap dupes - the $15 pharmacy versions - they smell alchoholy to me.

Cosmetics, on the other hand, I will take however I can get. I don't like bronzers or anything glittery/shimmery, rarely use rouge (I flush naturally anyway), have never mastered liquid eyeliner, and am yet to find a lipstick formula (or colour) I love; ditto a foundation formula (currently using a Youngblood mineral powder). Pencil eyeliners are my big weakness, closely followed by eyeliners. Guerlain Meteorites (pictured) are my ultimate cosmetic dream - I've lusted after them for decades, even though I'm not 100% sure what to do with them...

The thing that I am least likely to go bonkers for is the most important - skincare. I love me a good mask; I'd have a million if I could. And I'd use them all.

I love Clarins and Ole Henriksen, but my current routine is way to the other end of the luxury scale: homemade soap at night, followed by a home blend of sorbolene cream, olive oil, rice bran oil and grapeseed oil. My eye area gets treated with a blend of those three oils. Mornings, a facewasher as hot as I can handle, the sorbolene/oil blend, and sunscreen (currently Aldi). A weekly mask, often homemade, exfoliate manually once or twice a week (an exfoliating mitt used gently), and that's me.

So, that's what this blog is; a wishlist of all the things I'd love to have, if I ever had the money and space to have them, and the inclination to use them.  And that's where I fall down; the inclination. Well, the money and the inclination, but even if I had unlimited funds, I'd still lack the inclination. Let's face it, I'm a lazy magpie....