Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'd rather be . . .

The weather lately has been very depressing, it's been cold, cloudy and rainy and we're just a few weeks away from Summer! This weather has caused me to wish I was somewhere else, my most favourite place to be in Sydney......

I'd rather be tanning, swimming and just relaxing at La Perouse! This small little suburb has a beautiful quiet beach that has amazing views especially in the later afternoon when the sun is just about to set. If only I lived closer to the area, I'd be there every single day. I only go every few months, but since Summer is nearing I'll definitely be going a lot more.

This place definitely is a childhood memory, since my parents took me here the very first time. About a month ago I persuaded my boyfriend to come along with me to La Perouse since I wanted to share my favourite place with him. Thankfully he agreed to take me there, and from what I concluded of the day, he enjoyed his time (well, I hope he did!) hehehe.

I think the reason why La Perouse is my favourite place to be is because I feel like I'm on top of the world when I'm there (I know it seems weird to say, but I definitely do feel that way). Everything there is absolutely beautiful, the view, the atmosphere, the environment, it's just so peaceful.

Words definitely cannot describe how beautiful this place is, so I'll post some pictures of the place as well as some of when the boyfriend and I went to visit. If you haven't been there before, search it up and definitely head out there this summer.
yep we're definitely crazy, well probably just me!

i LOVE this one

LOL

Yep, okay I was wrong, he's crazy too! Love how candid this shot is!
Takecare guys!

dearestjoy
xoxo

decisions, decisions, decisions...

Picture taken from here

So my 21st birthday is coming up on the 1st of December & I told myself that I wouldn't do anything to celebrate it, except for an intimate family dinner. However, since the date is nearing, I've decided to organise a dinner (definitely nothing big) or a BBQ on the 3rd of December. This is where I got into a pickle, I have no idea where to celebrate my birthday....there are just so many freaking options to choose from.

If any of you guys are from Sydney, please offer me some suggestions of restaurants or parks that I should celebrate my birthday. Keep in mind I will most likely have about 10 - 15 people attending (hopefully, anyways).

Suggestions would be much appreciated!

Takecare

dearestjoy
xoxo

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tiffany & Co., North Sydney Pool & Bondi Beach

Last Monday one of my best friends & I had a very very productive day and it was A-MAZING! It was such a hot & humid day, perfect beach/pool weather. So we started the day off with heading into the city to re-size my Tiffany & Co, bracelet that my boyfriend got me. After only being in the city for at least half an hour, we definitely decided that we had to head to the pool or beach. So once we were done at Tiffany & Co., we grabbed takeway Subway and decided to head to North Sydney Olympic Pool!

If you live in Sydney, it is definitely a swimming pool to check out. The place is amazing & the view is fantastic! I'm sure you'll have a great time there, oh & Luna Park is right next door! How cool is that? So we had our Subway there, did a little tanning and had a dip in the pool. It was quite awkward because there was a primary school there for their swimming lessons! We only spent about 2 hours there, since our parking spot was under a 2hr limit. So we decided to head to Bondi Beach, since it was only 3pm and it was still way too hot to not go to a beach.

Luckily we had my GPS with us the entire day, or else we would've gotten lost, thankfully we didn't. We got to Bondi fine & decided to grab ourselves some Frozen coke from McDonalds! It was definitely refreshing. We roamed around the little boutiques and then decided it was time to hit the beach, tan and have a dip in the water. The water was freezing but so amazing at the same time! Me, being a little wuss, didn't want to go all the way in because I have a thing about blue bottles, which freak me out so much!

Anyways, enough of the blabber, here are some photos of the day! I definitely had a great time with my best friend. We hadn't spent time alone in such a long time & it was a perfect day to do so. I to keep this post PG, so I didn't post pictures of us in a bikini in case it might offend anyone or be inappropriate!

 This was on the way too North Sydney Olympic Pool!
 Tanning at North Sydney Olympic Pool! The view was absolutely amazing.
 In the car, on the way to Bondi. Ewww, now you guys know what my natural hair looks like! Full thick and wavy.
Had a great time with this babygirl! Love you loads tee!

Anyways, til next time guys!

Takecare

dearestjoy
xoxo

Monday, November 21, 2011

YES YES YES, 4S!

FINALLY I JOIN THE REVOLUTION OF THE IPHONE 4 S! This is the first time that I've owned an iphone, so I was soooo excited when my mum surprised me with this! She said she got it for me as a birthday present but she decided to give it to my really early! THANKS MUM, I LOVE IT! Here are a few pictures of it:

So far, I have not come across any problems with it. I've downloaded quite a few apps already.....if you guys know of any other ones I should have on my iphone leave a comment below! hehehehe I like to be kept entertained! FYI: I bought my iphone case from a store called morning glory, originally it came with two bunny ears on top of the phone case, but my bf and dad said it looked too immature, so I decided to chop it off! I wish I took a picture of it before hand! But I think I'll be heading back there to purchase the blue version, so I will show you guys that once I purchase it!

That's all for today folks! Blog SOOON!

dearestjoy
xoxo

DFO Homebush

Last week my friends and I decided to do a little shopping at DFO, homebush since we haven't had the chance to hang out. I initially just wanted to window shop, but since we decided to head to DFO, I knew that I was eventually going to purchase SOMETHING! So here is my haul, note: I bought a bra and some underwear from a store called Cotton On, however because it is more personal I decided to to post up the pictures here!

The first item I bought was from Oroton: a make up bag that will matches my Oroton tote and wallet! I decided that I'll give this to my mum for Christmas. It was on already on sale for $80 and but that day They had a further percentage off, so in the end I only got it for $42.50!
 Next stop was WANTED SHOES: I picked these simple sandals for $39.95. Size 5 (I know I have a small foot!) lol and these are by a brand called Therapy. 
The last thing I bought was a Lo'real lipstick from this beauty store that sold cosmetics for a cheaper price (sorry I forgot the name). I picked up this lipstick in the colour sunset and I also picked up a dark red wine colour for my mum. They were only $5 each. I absolutely love this colour, it goes on very easy, it's very creamy and sheer, little shimmer, however it is not so noticeable, stays on for a really long time, doesn't require clear gloss. However it takes about 3 swipes to actually get the colour I like. From the tube it looks more of a rosey dark pink colour, but when applied to my lips with a few swipes, it comes out as a really nice subtle pink colour, which I love!

Hope you guys enjoyed this haul!
Til next time :)

takecare

dearestjoy
xoxo

NAIL it

Hey beautiful people!

Back again! Sorry for the continuous posts, but since I've been gone for a really long time I decided to write up a few blogs to keep you guys entertained and I also wanted to share with you what I've recently hauled in!

Some time in October, I really wanted to purchase a few more nail polishes to add to my collection.
 Left to Right: Essie OPERA, China Glaze Crackle MESH BLACK, China Glaze AGENT LAVENDER, China Glaze III, Seche Vite FAST DRY TOP COAT and BYS TOP COAT

If you read one of my earlier posts, you guys would've known that I really wanted to purchase the Seche Vite fast dry top coat. I asked one of my closest friends and she told me to check out the Nail Salon warehouse we usually go to. So I asked my boyfriend to take me there and the first thing that I saw was the SECHE VITE for only $8. Now I've watched a lot of reviews on this top coat on youtube and have heard the cost of this nail varnish range between $20 - $30. So when I saw that it was only $8 I knew I had to grab it!

SO HAPPY I have this in my nail polish collection! A lot of my friends know that I'm quite impatient and I'm definitely impatient whilst waiting for my nail polish to dry. So this fast dry top coat is definitely a life saver for me. If you hate the fact that you accidentally smudge your nail polish whilst waiting for it to dry then definitely go a purchase this. If you guys live in Sydney and have heard of the suburb Bankstown, leave me a comment and I'll give you the address for the place I purchased this at.

 Swatch of III, AGENT LAVENDER & OPERA (no flash)
Swatch: III, AGENT LAVENDER & OPERA (with flash)

Prices:
Essie, Opera: $6
China Glaze, III: $6
China Glaze, Agent Lavender: $6
China Glaze Crackle, Mesh Black: $8
Seche Vite, fast dry top coat: $8
BYS, top coat: $3
I also bought another China Glaze nail polish for my Grandmother in the Philippines but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it.

Again, if you guys live in Sydney (near Bankstown), leave me a comment and I'll leave the address for you.

Hope you guys enjoy!

dearestjoy
xoxo

Oh "Ben Nye"

In the month of October I was gifted a few of Ben Nye's Matte Foundations by one of my mum's friends (how nice of her right?). For those of you who live in Australia, you would've known about the recent IMATS that was held in Sydney this year. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, however I did know that Ben Nye products were sold throughout the weekend.

Ben Nye, definitely is a brand I had never heard of before, so when I received these I decided to research more on the brand as well as the products. Ben Nye is a professional make up brand that inspires creativity within the art of entertainment. The products and the style of make up that Ben Nye cosmetics promise are suitable for film, theatre and TV (which I thought was amazing!). If you'd like to check out the Ben Nye make up range click here

Here are the products that I received:


 Swatch: Pale English. As you can see this foundation is VERY pink! I am definitely not this colour, however I have decided to use this foundation as a cream blush. It is matte, so there is no sheen, however I do have to set it with a translucent powder and add some highlight too.
 Swatch: Tan Suede. This is another colour that is not suitable for my skin tone. It's way too dark right? lol. So I've decided to use this as a cream bronzer/contour. It glides on smoothly and blends out really well. Just like Pale English, this is a matte product and I have to set with a translucent powder as well.


  Swatch: Warm Olive No. 2. Out of all the matte foundations, I found that this was the closest colour that suited my skin tone. It definitely has a nice warm and olive undertone that goes well with my skin colour. I've only used this a couple of times in the month of October and I've had no problems, with breaking out or having my skin produce more oil. It does apply really easily and blending is no trouble. I like to use this foundation with a traditional foundation brush and then buff it out with a flat top kabuki. It definitely does last a good 6 hours or so.


Swatch: Burnt Almond & Bamboo Medium. These two look quite similar, however the Burnt Almond definitely has a pink undertone, whereas the Bamboo Medium has more of a yellow undertone. Not sure what I will do with the Burnt Almond (I might sell it, if anyone wants it) or just leave it in my make up collection. The Bamboo Medium is quite light for me, so I might use this during winter when I'm a lot lighter.

Honestly, I don't know how much these foundations cost, so I apologize (again, I did not purchase these myself).
I did a little research as to where you can purchase Ben Nye products and I came across a Brand called Gorgeous Cosmetics, which stock Ben Nye. Gorgeous Cosmetic counters can be found at David Jones (for those of you who live in Australia). Not sure where else you can find them, I guess just browse around online....maybe ebay?

Overall: I've enjoyed experimenting with these foundations. I've gained a bronzer and a blush from the collection, which is definitely a WIN for me. If you guys are interested in the Ben Nye matte foundations, I do recommend you try them. They offer a great range of colours, so again if you wanted to see what other products they offer click here

Hope you guys enjoyed this blog. Sorry for it being way too long!

Have a nice day! :)

dearestjoy
xoxo