MY RECENT BARGAIN FINDS

I know this post won't be very long, but I thought I'd share my recent bargain finds. Some of you will know that in Australia, makeup isn't cheap. Half of the makeup from America, Asia or UK will either come late at one and a half, or double the price, or not come at all. It's annoying, really. A revlon lipstick's RRP is like $21.95, which is why I usually (if not always) shop sales and wait for 40% and 50% off sales to buy my products. I've recently found some amazing bargain finds, and I want to share them with you all (:

My first one would be the Ulta3 lipsticks. When I was younger and first getting into nail polish, my first polishes I bought were Ulta3, because they're cheap, and as a 10 year old, $8 Sally Hansen nail polishes weren't cheap. I didn't think much of them, as they get chunky after a while, and not all the colours are opaque in two coats, so I kind of judged the brand by them. After seeing a huge display at a nearby chemist, I decided to grab some lipsticks because they're $2.95 for normal ones and $3.95 for matte ones. I was honestly surprised with them. They're really creamy, long lasting and have a great range of shades. The matte one is very matte, and look really great. They wear well, and aren't drying like other matte lipsticks (or maybe that's just because I loaded up the lip balm before). They go on really smoothly and I love them. 

Another would be celebrity fragrances. I smelt the Marc Jacobs fragrances, and immediately fell in love. I saw the price tag and thought, woah, that's way too steep. I started to save up for the triple digit price tag, when a friend smelt really good and I asked what she was wearing. When she said that it was Beyonce's Heat Rush, I was surprised. I had a low opinion of celebrity fragrances, because I used to think that they were cheaply made and seen as forms of merchandise. I started to look around, and soon I found some really nice fragrances on sale. The best part about them, is because they are celebrity fragrances, and there are so many, their prices get pretty cheap after a while. I always check Chemist Warehouse, and I've found Katy Perry's Killer Queen 100ml EDP for $25, the Beyonce Heat Rush 100ml EDT for $20, the Lady Gaga Fame 100ml EDP for $30 and the Britney Spears Fantasy 100ml EDP for $20. I used to judge their fragrances on how I viewed the celebrity, but I realised that I don't have to like the celebrity to like their fragrance, do I?

Always look online. Generally if you try and buy american cosmetics at places like beautyjoint and iHerb, the shipping is like $10 so it's not very useful for people who are looking to buy one or two products like me. If you're looking to buy like Real Techniques brushes, or buy many multiple items, than those would be useful to you. Also, look at reviews a lot. The MeNow Generation II Long Lasting Lipglosses are really great. They're about $1 each, and they're just like a liquid lipstick that dries matte. The smell may be chemically, and the size isn't as big as other liquid lipsticks, but I mean at $1? I have to admit, I did buy four thinking they'd be good shades but were all either too orange or too pink for me, but I'll probably just pass them off to a friend. Most other people wouldn't have a problem with that like I do, but they're an absolute steal, even if the month of waiting is forever. You can get them on ebay or buyincoins. Also, look for places that offer free shipping. It's one of the reasons why I love beautynetkorea, they offer asian cosmetics and skincare at really affordable prices with their own form of rewards and discounts. They also offer free shipping, and the service is great with giving free samples; same with Jolse. 

My last one would be essence nail polishes. Their bottles may not look as sleek as Essie, or have the same range of colours, but if you do your research and find the right ones, they're amazing. Selected polishes are opaque in two coats, dry fast and have the best brush I've ever seen in my opinion. They're a thick, fat brush and put your nail polish on perfectly in one stroke. I also like how they have this nice clicking feeling when you close them, to know for sure that they're closed tight enough. The colours that I love are english rose, that's what I mint and let's get lost. Not to forget, they're $2.75? You could probably buy the whole range for the price of two essie polishes. 

That's all I have for now, but if I find any more I'll definitely make another post.

- Jess xo

IT'S SPRING!

Yes, It's Spring here in Australia, and despite the boxes and boxes of tissues I'm going through, the watery eyes and all the blood noses I'm getting all due to lovely hay fever, I thought that I'd list some things that some fun and essential things for Spring! (I'll also be posting one for Autumn soon for all the Northern Hemisphere people, I'm so jealous, Autumn is my favourite month!)

AN: My lamp's broken, and my photos generally aren't the best, so I'm just taking pictures from Google. None of these pictures are mine, and credit to anyone if they are yours (:

Makeup

I'm not one for wearing a lot of makeup in Spring, but I do love to change out my lip colours. I love lip tints because they stay on your lips and don't have that transfer when you want to drink water, causing that annoying lipstick build up around the bottle which you have to constantly wipe off. My favourites right now are the Etude House Kissful Tint Choux in #1 Red Chou and #4 Tangerine Chou. The red one provides a raspberry red tint to the lips which can be built up, and the tangerine one provides a pink-peach tint which turns into a pink on my lips after it stains. They're a moisturising, glossy tint, and once the gloss wears off leaves a nice stain which lasts roughly 6 hours with eating and drinking. 

I got mine at beautynetkorea, and you can get it there here.

Skincare

In terms of body lotion, I really love my Vaseline Aloe Body Lotion because it smells great, is pretty moisturising and feels refreshing. The problem is with summer, it leaves that residue that I don't like having when it's hot, because it leaves my skin feeling sticky. That's where the Vaseline Spray and Go Aloe Body Lotion has found a place in my heart. It sprays the perfect amount so that it moisturises like it should, but doesn't leave that stickiness. Yes, it's not as good value as the pump one, but this one is so much more time efficient and it's just great. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't come in the SPF version like the squeeze one does, so I have to layer sunscreen on top of that which is pretty sticky, kind of defeating the purpose...but that's it's problem.

I got mine at Chemist Warehouse, but you can get it at Priceline here and Chemist Warehouse here.

I don't get sunburnt very easily, but when I'm exposed to sun I tend to get really red, like my skin just goes really red all over. I don't know why, but it just does. I also feel hot really easily, and that's why I love this. This is the Nature Republic Aloe Vera Gel. It's moisturising, not sticky and very cooling and soothing not to mention that it smells amazing (I also just love the smell of aloe and green tea in general though...). The sad thing is that I'm halfway through it and I only bought one when in Thailand. ):

As mentioned above, I did get mine in Thailand, but you can get it at Jolse here and at Yesstyle here.

For moisturisers, everyone needs a good, moisturiser with SPF for Spring and Summer, and all year round in general. This is the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturiser with SPF 15+. I used to use the Dermalogica Fresh Start one, until I realised how expensive it was (despite how amazing it was) and thought that maybe I could find a cheaper one. After seeing Ingrid (Missglamorazzi on YouTube) rave about it so much and use it in all her videos featuring a moisturiser for the past couple of months, I thought, why not give it a shot. I found it to be amazing. It's moisturising, at least enough for my dry skin, isn't sticky and I like the hygienic pump. 

I got it at Coles when it was on sale, but you can get it at Priceline here and at Chemist Warehouse here.

As for fragrances, I've been loving my Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Honeysuckle 100ml EDT. It's a fresh, sweet floraly-citrus scent to me, and I love it. I can smell the green tea, but also the floral. It doesn't have a very strong honeysuckle note to it, but I still like it. I love fresh floral scents for spring, and this is one of my favourites. 

I got it at a nearby chemist and you might be able to find it near you.

Accessories

I'm loving bows, in fact, I always love bows. They always add a bit of girliness and cuteness to a hairstyle. Since in Autumn and Winter I usually wear my hair down, I can't really use these. Since it's Spring and nearing Summer and the weather is obviously much hotter, I will usually throw my hair up in a high ponytail or bun, and these are the perfect and my favourite accessories. The first one is the dotted bow hair clamp from Iswas in the dark blue one. It's quite small and cute, and my favourite for buns, but still looks cute in ponytails. The other ones are the bow-accent polka dot hair ties from 59 Seconds. They come in a pack of 5, and are really cheap. Since they're so cheap, the quality isn't great so you have to be careful with the bow part as part of one of my bows ripped because I wasn't careful, but the elastic itself is quite durable. It can go around my hair two to three times and stays pretty well, but i put another hair tie underneath for extra reassurance. I also really like the huge bow hair ties you can get at daiso when I want something bigger and less subtle for my buns. 

I got them both at Yesstyle. The Iswas one isn't available anymore, the other ones you can get here.

So yeah, this is what I've been liking for Spring!
Now I really randomly want some bubble tea >.<

- Jess xo

TMI TAG

I thought to help you guys get to know me a bit better, I'd do the TMI tag! Whoo! .-.

1. What are you wearing?
A grey hoodie that I sleep in, leggings and a grey tank top; lazy clothes.

2. Ever been in love?
Does pizza, food and my bed count? If not, then no.

3. Ever had a terrible breakup?
Nope.

4. How tall are you?
Around 5ft, I think.

5. How much do you weigh?
Around 115 pounds/52kg at a guess? Haven't weighed myself in a while 'cause my scale's broken xD

6. Any tattoos?
Nope.

7. Any piercings?
No, not even earrings 'cause I'm super scared of needles.

8. OTP?
Ugh, too many. I really ship Zalfie, Janya, Phan and Troyler from YouTube, I ship Kirisuna and Tatsumine a lot from Anime, a lot from various books and yeah.

9. Favourite show?
I watch a lot of Anime, and I love Shingeki No Kyojin, Akame Ga Kill, Sword Art Online and Kill La Kill. For TV shows, I watch are Arrow, The Walking Dead and The Flash, even though it's new. I also watch Big Bang Theory, but it's so bad now that I cringe - Season 5/6 was their last good one IMO.

10. Favourite bands/singers?
I altered this question because I don't listen to many bands. I usually like a couple songs from different bands, but there's not many that I listen to a lot. I admire Paramore, because Hayley Williams is like so amazing. As for singers, or music, I love Hillsong, Troye Sivan, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande is pretty cool I guess. I listen to K-pop too, and I love BIGBANG, SNSD (despite the news about Jessica getting kicked out ): she was my favourite but I'll still love them), IU and 2NE1.

11. Something/Someone you miss?
My Grandpa.

12. Favourite song?
How does one just choose a favourite? Recently I've been loving Thinking Out Loud, One and Photograph by Ed Sheeran and the OP's and ED's of Sword Art Online 1 & 2. Also Darling by Girl's Day, it's been my party jam for the past two months.

13. How old are you?
YOU WILL NEVER KNOW >_<

14. Zodiac sign?
Capricorn? I don't care for horoscopes though.

15. Quality you look for in a partner?
Intelligent, funny, not too sweet, and not controlling. Like those cute bantery couples that tease each other but are so cute that you always read in books and see in movies.

16. Favourite Quote?
'Those who mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind - Dr Seuss'. I also like, 'The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination - Albert Einstein'. You also can't forget the one interview with Jennifer Lawrence: 'You know there is that quote that Kate Moss quoted that's like nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, and I'm like I can name a LOT of things that taste better than skinny feels. Potatoes! Bread!'

17. Favourite actor?
Jennifer Lawrence, without a doubt. She's so freaking hilarious - 100% my girl crush.

18. Favourite colour?
Black or grey, but since lots of people are against them as being colours and pulls out that 'It's a shade' stuff with me, I'd say navy blue or dark red, in terms of colours I wear. I also like mint though, as a colour.

19. Loud music or soft?
As in volume or type of music? If it's volume then soft, but if it's type of music I'm kind of everywhere with that.

20. Where do you go when you're sad?
My cupboard, my fridge, my bed. I eat my feelings, I eat for boredom and I eat when I'm hungry, which is all the time.

21. How long does it take you to shower?
Ten minutes?

22. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
If you're talking about actual getting ready, then 10-20 minutes. If you mean from the moment I wake up, then probably an hour if I have time to spare, because I just lie in bed for a while.

23. Ever been in a physical fight?
No.

24. Turn on?
Guys who don't think that all girls are pleased by diamonds, three course meals and fancy shit like that when all I need is a cheap pizza and a good movie. I also like it when guys are kind of geeky, funny (typical) and smart? The list could probably go on, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

25. Turn off?
Arrogance, when they try to impress people too much, when they're egotistical, if they've hurt or badmouthed any of my friends and the list kind of goes on.

26. The reason I joined Blogger?
I like the stuff that YouTubers do, but too much work to make YouTube videos and editing...and I'm lazy...so blogging it is! xD

27. Fears?
Needles, rollercoasters (I get easy motion sickness) and 

28. Last thing that made you cry?
The ending of Angel Beats.

29. Last time you said you loved someone?
To my mum (:

30. Meaning behind your Blogger Name?
Well although it sounds super tumblr and like a positive quotes blog, I kind of wanted to include the 'little things' portion despite it sounding really hipster and cliche. Sometimes we overlook the little things like a good night rest, a roof over our heads when it's raining hard, a warm shower, eating your favourite home cooked meal, having a wardrobe of clothes etc. It's kind of to capture that and all the other things I guess? I can explain things I promise.

31. Last book you read?
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.

32. The book you're currently reading?
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

33. Last show you watched?
Angel Beats.

34. Last person you talked to?
My brother.

35. The relationship between you and the person you last texted?
One of my best friends.

36. Favourite food?
You can't just ask me that. Some of my favourite foods though are margherita pizza, chicken nuggets, curry laksa, soy garlic chicken, strawberries, mangoes, basil pesto with chicken/pan fried salmon with creamy sauce pasta, lychees, ice-cream, raspberries, gnocchi, home made noodles, muffins (muffins > cupcakes), rice, fish, chips, the list goes on though.

37. Place you want to visit?
Tokyo, Japan because all the anime stuff and the food and the shopping and the ugh everything. Also Seoul, South Korea or Hong Kong. California, New York and London would be pretty cool too, but Tokyo first.

38. Last place you were?
My bed? Or if you meant as in Holiday then Phuket, Thailand last year.

39. Do you have a crush?
Unless Jennifer Lawrence as girl crush counts, or Dylan O'brien then no. I also don't like it when friends ask if you have a crush and when you say no because you genuinely don't, they just assume that you're lying -.-

40. Last time you kissed someone?
My mum on the cheek.

41. Last time you were insulted?
I don't remember, but probably recently.

42. Favourite flavour of sweet?
I love the grape gummies you get in asian grocers.

43. What instruments do you play?
None, sadly.

44. Favourite piece of jewellery?
I don't really wear jewellery, can't be stuffed sometimes. Rings are super annoying when you want to wash your hands though. I wear my watch a lot and sometimes a little black faux leather wrist thing that counts as a bracelet?

45. Last sport you played?
Ha I suck at sport, but badminton I enjoy, and was also the one I played last.

46. Last song you sang?
Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

47. Favourite chat up line?
Miso crazy pho you (;

48. Have you ever used it?
In real life, nope. I did in one of my stories though.

49. Last time you hung out with anyone?
Today with some friends.

50. Who should answer these questions next?
I don't really have any blogger friends yet..so idk...

I hope you enjoyed, I enjoyed answering them! (:

SEPTEMBER FAVOURITES

I'd like to tell you what I've been loving for September, along with mini reviews - here we go! ~wheee~ 

Makeup

I don't wear a lot of makeup, mainly because I'm too lazy to put it on most days! But in the odd occasion that I have, I've been loving my Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner. It has a really fine tip which I love, meaning I can either have a very thin, hardly noticeable eyeliner or a thicker, more noticeable eyeliner. I prefer to have a thin line so that it's not really noticeable, but if you look closely you can see a difference. It's also really easy to control, especially for my wobbly hands. It's also really black, which I love. I'm not so sure about the 100% waterproof claim, but it's waterproof on me to an extent. Other than that, I love it.

I got it at Chemist Warehouse's 50% of all cosmetics, but it retails for $13.95. You can get it at Chemist Warehouse here and Priceline here.

For mascara, I've been loving my Maybelline Illegal Length Fibre Extensions Mascara. I don't really care about volume for my lashes, unlike lots of others, but care more about length. When I've curled my lashes, brushed through them while turning the wand with this, then wiggling it side to side, it transfers the fibres on to my lashes and I like it! Sometimes you have to wiggle it around until you get even looking fibres on the lashes, but other than that I love it! It also removes really easily at the end of the day, the brush separates well and give minimal smudging throughout the day. Speaking of the brush, since I have quite short lashes, [._.] small eyes and wobbly hands, I like that the brush is pretty small and slim. Some of the other mascara brushes like Rimmel and other Maybelline ones have HUGE brushes, bigger than my actual eyes, and are a pain for me to apply because I either poke myself in the eye or I get afraid of poking myself in the eye and get barely any of the mascara on my lashes. The packaging isn't as flashy as the other mascaras, but to me, this one's gold.

I got this at Priceline's 40% off Maybelline sale, but it retails for $18.50. You can get it at Priceline here and at Chemist Warehouse here

For nail polish, this has been my favourite. Although it is Spring, and Winter's over, I'm still one to wear darker colours, because I'm not that into wearing bright neons and happy colours. I prefer my dark reds, navy blues, blacks and greys, which is probably why Autumn is my favourite season of the year. Nevertheless, this is Rimmel's 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Aye Aye Sailor. It looks really blue in the picture I chose, but in real life it looks like a dark blue black. I like it because every time I wear it, people always ask me, 'Is that black nail polish?' to which I always put it against the closest black thing and prove to them that it's blue. It looks black to the eye, but against black it's blue, nice eh? Also, the formula is great. It's two coats for an opaque look and I love the Rimmel 60 Seconds formula in general because it dries in 60 seconds, literally. I timed it once and it was dry. Not exactly fully dry, but dry enough where it won't get smudged that easily and you can paint another coat without it streaking.

I got mine at Priceline's 40% off Rimmel sale a couple months ago, but it retails for $7.95. You can get it at Priceline here and at Chemist Warehouse here.

Skincare

I've recently been using my The Face Shop Green Tea Hand Gel Cream a lot recently. First of all, I love everything green tea - green tea bubble tea, my green tea face wash (a bit later on), green tea ice-cream, my green tea body sprays, but I don't like actual green tea, weird huh? The scent is really refreshing and I love how it absorbs really fast. Because it's a gel, it feels really lightweight and doesn't leave that residue on your hands. With this one, I can use my laptop or phone straight away and not have to worry about my hand cream getting on my screen or keyboard and leaving those annoying smudges T_T

I got mine at The Face Shop store, but you can buy it on Yesstyle here

I love this cleanser, this is the St Ives Blemish Control Green Tea Scrub. I was originally going to get their raved about Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub, but I read some reviews that the beads in the scrub are too harsh and cause long-term damage to the skin. I didn't want to risk it, so I chose this one, mainly because it said green tea. I have dry-normal skin with a couple small breakouts mainly around my forehead and my chin area. This face wash doesn't dry out my skin, smells great (again with the green tea trend here) and the beads feel like they're doing something, but not too much. I use this once every two days, and I swear it's cleaning my skin well. The other day when I used a pore strip, I was disappointed to find that it came up completely clean, until I realised that means my skin's clean right? Or maybe it's cause I just don't tend to get that many blackheads... >_< waste of a pore strip right? That aside, I love this face wash.

I got mine at Priceline during their 40% off skincare sale, (if you can't tell already, I do most of my shopping at these huge sales! :P) but it retails for $9.99. You can get it at Priceline here.

I wasn't sure where this one fits in, since I use it mainly as a lip balm, but I figured it belongs in the skincare category. Lucas' Pawpaw Ointment is literally my life saver. I use it as a lip balm all the time because it's creamy and moisturising, but not too oily like some other lip balms. The best part is that it so so multipurpose. I'm clumsy, and when I cook I tend to burn myself sometimes from oil popping everywhere, but I have this. I also get horrible horrible mosquito bites in the spring and summer, and sometimes they swell up to half the size of my fist, and I get a lot of them at a time. I usually use tiger balm, but it's annoying because the smell annoys the people around me since it's so pungent, but I have to find a way to wash my hands after I use it, because I don't want to itch my face or nose and get tiger balm on my face. But this is also a great remedy for them. Sometimes in winter if I have really flaky skin, I even use a tiny bit of this on those really problematic areas. Yes, you can get those mosquito and burn creams targeted for that purpose that work better than this, but it's much easier to bring one product than 4 tubes of different things. A LIFE SAVER I TELL YOU.

You can get it in practically every chemist or places that sell skincare products, but you can get it at Chemist Warehouse here and at Priceline here. That's for the 25g one (pictured) but at Priceline you can also get a 15g one with a lip applicator if you use it mainly for your lips here (I just prefer the tubes over the tub because it's easier to carry around).

For fragrance, I've been loving my The Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom Body Mist. As it is a body mist, it doesn't last very long on the skin, nor does it have great sillage, but the scent is just heavenly. It's a light, fresh, sweet floral scent, with a hint of fresh crisp apples somewhere in there. I love it because it reminds me of cherry blossoms, and they're one of my favourite flowers. It's very soft, delicate, light and refreshing scent, and a perfect Spring fragrance. 

I got mine at The Body Shop and it retails for $24.95. You can buy it here.

















Other Things

For food, I've been snacking on my Original Ruffles the whole month. I got a huge bag at Costco, and I've just been eating them whenever I'm hungry. I've also recently been eating Orignal Peckish with homemade Avocado-cream cheese dip. I might be addicted, oops 0.o

In terms of entertainment, I recently binge watched Sword Art Online, and anime. Most people told me that it goes really downhill in the middle, but I was too busy shipping Kirisuna for it to bother me too much. Who else wishes MMORPG's exist in real life? (Like who wouldn't want to use an Amusphere?) I've also been addicted to listening to the first intro (Crossing Field by LiSA), the second opening (Innocence by Eir Aoi), the second ending (Overfly by Haruna Luna), the first opening of SAO2 (Ignite by Eir Aoi) and the first ending (Startear by Haruna Luna). After I post this I'm off the watch the newest episode of Sword Art Online 2 *scurries away*

I watch all my anime here.












As for books, I absolutely fell in love with Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Being asian myself, I found it quite a hilarious book to see the perspective of, well, rich asians. It's about a girl called Rachel Chu who is dating billionaire Nicholas Young, when she gets persuaded to go visit his family in Singapore, with her having no idea how rich he really is. It's a whirlwind of laughs, drama and pure disgust at some characters (Eleanor's materialistic outlook really pisses me off) and I absolutely love it. Can't wait to see the movie adaptation and the sequel, China Rich Girlfriend next year (although movie adaptations are never better than the book)

I borrowed it from my local library, but you can buy it from bookworld here and from booktopia here.

As for music, I've been IN LOVE with Ed Sheeran's newest album X. Despite it being released in June (I've actually been listening to it since then) I just found myself listening to it a whole lot more this month. My favourites are One, Photograph and Thinking Out Loud. Besides, Ed's voice is absolutely FLAWLESS yes?

I guess that's all my favourites this month, let me know what your favourites are! Don't forget to follow me on twitter @suggerland where I tweet about YouTubers and how hot Joe Sugg is.

Love,
Jess xo