2014 Empties

I'm not good when it comes to empties, I've just got too many wonderful products to choose from that I never really get stuck on a product that I completely use up. Nevertheless, I've decided to post an empties for 2014 because I actually used up some makeup products and I'm hoping it will encourage me to get through some more in 2015!

Garnier BB cream 
I loved the Garnier BB cream when it first came out and then when the oily skin version came out (the one pictured above) I couldn't believe that they had made the formulation even better! This is a product that I literally use every single day and I've already repurchased it.

Rimmel Recover Anti-Fatigue Concealer
This was the first concealer I ever bought and I don't even know if they even sell it anymore, but it was pretty good. As the name suggests, it was more for under the eyes but being the unexperienced, new to makeup kind of girl, I just used it on whatever I felt like! I won't be repurchasing this again (if it is even still being sold) because there are better ones out there.

Face of Australia Concealer in Neutral
I really, really like this concealer and I've already picked up another one because it's affordable, a good colour match (despite there only being three shades available) and it does the job well. Face of Australia is one of my favourite brands too!

Essence Clear Brow and Lash Gel
This is my annual empty, I've used up a tube of these every year for a while now I just love it so much. Even when I'm having a no makeup day (and I mean not a scrap of concealer or mascara or anything) I still use this because I have nice thick brows that look amazing as long as they are tamed! I've already got a back up or three of this!

Covergirl Lashblast Length Mascara
I loved this mascara to death and continued using it wayyy beyond its use-by date (don't do it!). Having discovered so many other mascaras I've now realised that this wasn't quite as incredible as I thought it was, however it still is relatively good and served its purpose well.

Face of Australia Pressed Powder in Beige
Technically I only hit pan on this one but I am going to count it as an empty because that's a big achievement for me! This powder was okay but I wouldn't buy it again because I've tried others that are superior (although admittedly more expensive).







Girlz Only Dry Shampoo in Party Nights
Though this isn't the best dry shampoo in the world, it's $2 and it works just fine for me! Dry shampoo has made me the laziest person and I just love it. I've already repurchased a couple more of these.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Fresh
Well what do you know, another dry shampoo! Batiste make really good dry shampoos so if you're willing to spend a little more then definitely go for their products. I've not repurchased because I'm stingy and find the Girlz Only ones work well enough for me.

Dove Deodorant 
I used up way more than one deodorant this year but I only showed this one because they were all Dove roll ons. I don't know why I tend to purchase Dove ones, I guess it's just habit!

Herbal Essences Split Ends Protector Mask
I quite enjoyed this product although it was by no means a huge favourite or anything. I think it did improve the state of my hair, but I've used other intensive conditioners since and I feel as though they all do pretty much the same thing.

Michika Complete Synergist Cloth Masks
This was the first time I'd ever tried one of these masks and I really enjoyed the experience! They were richly moisturising and left my skin feeling amazing. I'm not sure I'd buy these again, or any mask for that matter, because I just don't ever get around to using them.

So there are my empties, probably a dismal amount compared to others but not bad for me!

2013's Most Loved part 2

The second installment of 2013's most loved includes all my non-beauty favourites. There are quite a few, and as was the case with almost all my beauty favourites, it was remarkably difficult trying to narrow it down to just one or two items!

My favourites for 2013 were...

Music: Florence & the Machine, Of Monsters and Men and Red Hot Chili Peppers
Anyone who knows me is so very tired of hearing me play songs by Florence and the Machine on repeat, everyday, all day. I can't help it, I'm obsessed! Of Monsters and Men was another favourite of mine in the middle of the year, and I re-discovered the Red Hot Chili Peppers which was my Mum's favourite when I was really young and therefore has sentimental value from my younger years!

Books: Looking for Alaska by John Green and Unwind by Neil Schusterman
I read many of my old favourites over and over this year but didn't include them because they've been my favourites long before 2013! Instead I've included two standouts that I only discovered this year, Looking for Alaska and Unwind. I loved the characters in Looking for Alaska, and the concept of the novel in Unwind.

Food: Homemade Pizzas
This was actually the easiest category to determine as I practically inhaled homemade pizzas in 2013. You can purchase little bases from the supermarket and then I simply topped them with tomato paste, ham and cheese and grilled them in no time. I ate so many of these it's really unhealthy but my god they are good!

Activity: Blogging and Learning to drive
Blogging was without a doubt my most favourite activity this year. It was a much needed break from hectic school work and I loved reading everyone else's blogs too. Learning to drive was another favourite, though a challenging one at that!

Blog post: EOTD: Olive Garden
Why on Earth was this my favourite post? It certainly wasn't my most popular one, nor was it the most humorous or well written. The reason I like it is because I was so scared to do it and the photographs turned out so well. It took me such a long time to create and I put in so much effort, so that is why it is my favourite for 2013.

School subject: Biology
It was a close call between Biology and English but in the end I had to go with Bio because it never fails to capture my attention and feed my hunger for learning about science and the human body.

Travel: Mission trip to Cambodia
This was the highlight of my year, and easily the most important and life changing thing I've ever worked towards in my life. I was so blessed to travel to Cambodia to build houses for underprivileged families in remote communities and it is an experience that I know will never leave me.

Celebrity: Emma Watson and Florence Welch
I don't read up on celebrities or follow their lives, but I think Emma and Florence are just about the most beautiful and admirable celebrities out there in a world that is full of craziness (*ahem Miley Cyrus*).

TV Show: The Big Bang Theory and Call the Midwife
When I could afford a moment from study, it was Big Bang Theory and Call the Midwife that I dedicated my time to. For lots of laughing and a good science fix, who could go past the most wonderful show on earth, Big Bang. For a little more seriousness, I tuned into ABC's Call the Midwife. I can't wait for the new seasons for both shows in 2014.

Drink: Hot Chocolate
Another easy choice, Hot Chocolate always accompanied me in my maths test revision and Engligh essay writing. I don't know what I would have done without it.

Fashion Item: Black Skater Skirt and Maroon Jeans
2013 was the year of the Skater Skirt for many, myself included. I also grabbed a pair of maroon jeans (having never worn coloured jeans in my life) when they were on sale and fell in love with them.

Jewellery: Rings
Considering the amount of jewellery that I own, I really don't wear a lot of it, however I could always be found wearing a pretty ring in 2013. My favourite ring, you ask? Well I could never choose just one...

Accessories: Scarves
I love scarves and I wish that they weren't so limited to the cooler weather because I would wear them everyday if I could. I typically wore black and white scarves in every style with every outfit.

Shoes: Rubi Shoes Black Bow Flats
I mentioned these in many posts, but if you go through about three or four pairs of the exact same shoe you know it's a winner.

Bargain: $8 dress from the Op Shop that I saw on a website for $250
I don't believe I spoke about this bargain of the century, but I was Op-shopping (as always) and found an unusual kind of dress for $8. I tried it on and quite liked it, purchased it and went home content. I was then browsing formal dresses on various websites and, in the most amazing coincidence ever, saw my Op-shop dress for $250. Heck yeah!

Candle: Skittles Candle from Cheap as Chips!
Another bargain, my favourite candle was a $3 skittle flavoured candle that smelled like green skittles (although always made me hungry when I burned it!). Along with a Hot Chocolate it helped me survive my maths revision time and time again!

Movie: No movies stand out to me that I watched in 2013
Next is my favourite movie...of which I could not decide. I rarely watch movies to be honest and therefore I just don't recall a movie that stood out to me. Maybe in 2014 I'll find one.

Photograph: 2 from Cambodia
I just simply could not narrow my favourite photograph that I took in 2013 down to 1...maybe you could help me decide!

So there it is, 2013 in a nutshell. To those of you who have written similar posts, I have loved reading about what captured your heart in the year that just passed and I look forward to what 2014 will bring.

2013's Most Loved: Part 1

I'm a little bit late on this post, but I couldn't transition from 2013 to 2014 without wrapping up the year through a favourites post (or two - my non-beauty related favourites will be posted tomorrow). I've absolutely loved reading everyone else's favourites and thought I'd do my own for those who were interested.

Skincare: Arbonne RE9 Advanced Generating Toner
It astounds me that of all my skincare, a toner was my favourite. I've never shown any interest in a toner in my life (primarily due to the fact that all past experiences with them have been bad ones) but when I was given the opportunity to try this out, I fell in love with it. It is the best.

Hair care: Batiste Dry Shampoo - Fresh
I can be lazy at the best of times, but when it comes to my hair I am lazy to the extreme. It is for this reason that my favourite hair care product was easily a dry shampoo, in particular one by Batiste. Maybe I'll have a hair product that is a little classier in 2014, say a lovely hair oil or serum or something, but for now I'm content to rely on the lazy girl's hair wash.

Fragrance: DKNY Be Delicious
I was given a tiny little bottle of DKNY's Be Delicious perfume for Christmas in 2012 and wore it non stop in 2013. Along with Marc Jacob's Daisy Eau So Fresh, I think it will be a perfume I continue to use for a long time into the future.

Body: My New Skin Multipurpose Balm
A super late addition to the family, the My New Skin Multipurpose Balm practically saved my life. Okay, perhaps not my life but certainly my horribly dry skin around my feet and elbows. I has a super heavy duty formula and works like a charm.

Brush: Real Techniques Stippling Brush
I had heard so many magical things about Real Techniques brushes and took the plunge myself, purchasing a face set and Stippling brush. Then came my obsession with cream blushes, and in turn I came to use the Stippling brush everyday thus appreciating how darn amazing it is.

Tool: Eyelash curler
It was a toss up between the humble Q-tip and eyelash curler, but in the end I realised it is the eyelash curler that has the truly magical touch.

Nails: Red Nail Polish
I have no overall favourite polish, but my most worn shade was most definitely red. Red, red, red, I acquired so many gorgeous polishes all in...red.

Shower product: Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel
Though this is the most sugary, intense flavour I have ever come across, I did use this regularly in the shower and I came to love this more than when I had first received it as a gift. Some days it is too sweet, but most of the time I am a big fan.

Base makeup: Garnier BB cream for oily skin
I rave about this all.the.time. so I'm not going to make you endure yet another ramble. Just take my word that for light, everyday coverage this is the best of its kind.

Foundation: Rimmel Wake me up foundation
For a cheap foundation (in comparison to both other 'drugstore' foundations like Revlon and higher end ones too) this is pretty impressive. It's glowy and youthful, healthy looking and easy to work with. My only complaint is its shimmer which can, at times, be a little too much, but other than that it's excellent.

Setting powder: Maybelline Dream Matte Powder
I hit pan on this in 2013 which shows you just how much I loved it. If there weren't so many cheaper options out there I would get it again, but I'm currently in the middle of three other adequate powders and (sadly) won't be purchasing this anytime soon.

Concealer: Face of Australia Stick Concealer in Neutral
I played around with a couple of concealers in 2013 but the best all rounder and the one I turned to most often was the cheap little stick concealer by Face of Australia.

Bronzer: Maybelline Bronzer in Forever Warm
I'm not really a bronzer person, nor do I have that many in my collection. Though I wouldn't purchase this bronzer if it disappeared from collection due to the fact that, well, it's just not that good, I did use it often in 2013.

Blush: Australis Creme Blush in Flirtatious Pink 
Choosing my favourite blush for the year just about killed me. Honestly, I am such a blush junkie that I have enough to use a different one everyday for two weeks...which is basically what I do. In the end I had to give the award to a cream blush, specifically Australis' Flirtatious Pink. Perfect in every way, it is the gorgeous colour that pulled it over the line and onto the winner's podium.

Highlighter: Essence Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 Shimmer Powder in Bella's Secret
Despite that it has the most awful name I have ever heard of, this is stunning. It's a warm toned golden powder highlight that catches the light exactly how I want it, looks subtle enough not to make me resemble a disco ball but not too subtle that you can't even see it. Oh my, it's so frustrating that it was a limited edition product (like all of Essence's best products have been!)

Eyeshadow: Bloom Eyeshadow Duo in Waikiki
Like blush, this category was very near impossible to narrow down to a single shadow. In the end I had to recognise the incredible champagne golden shade from the Bloom duo that accompanied me on every trip and was the base shade for every eyeshadow look I wore. It really does deserve to win 2013's best shadow although it does pain me to leave out my much loved Inglot Shadows...

Eyeliner: Face of Australia Liquid Liner in Black
This liner is the best, no doubt about it. It's jet black, sticks like glue and easy to use for even the most useless eyeliner appliers. I turned to it time and time again and even wore a cat eye look for the first time in my life. Thank you FOA!

Mascara: Covergirl Lashblast length waterproof
The tube of this mascara that I own is honestly a magic mascara - there is no other explanation for the fact that I have used this every.single.day. for two years and it has still not yet run out. It lengthens like crazy, defines every lash and gives a gorgeous natural look. Sure, it's not at all suitable for you if you want a bit of drama but for me it is just perfect.

Eyebrows: Essence Clear lash and brow gel
I had many empties of this and raved about it all the time. It's super cheap and makes my brows somewhat acceptable, so who could ask for anything more?

Lipbalm: Blistex lip conditioner
I share the most complicated love/hate relationship with this product, but the bottom line is that it saves my chapped lips and works better than anything I've ever tried. I apply this every night and at the rate I'm going it will be a 2014 empty for sure.

Lipstick: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic
I deliberated about this for twenty minutes, no exaggeration. I narrowed it down to ten lip products, then five, then three, then two and final to one. Lip products are my favourite makeup products so it's no surprise that I own about ten billion of them. 2013 was the year of the lip crayon, and I wore this red beauty non stop.

Overall makeup brand: Face of Australia
Face of Australia is affordable, Australian (obviously) and comes out with some incredible products. Their lip crayons, nail polishes and face products were all favourites of mine throughout the year and it was an obvious choice to nominate Face of Australia as my overall brand winner for 2013!

Phew...that is a lot of products for one year! I'd be amazed if you actually made it to the end of this post! My makeup collection certainly expanded significantly throughout 2013 but I had a lovely time, and it was all in the name of blog reviews...right?!

What was your overall favourite makeup brand for 2013?

Empties of 2013

I'm currently hanging out on holidays at the beach and I'll have little to no Internet access so I'll have lots of scheduled posts coming up. I hope you are all having a lovely Christmas break!

So I'm not an empties kind of person. I really hate hitting pan on a product and do everything in my power to save a product if I think it is coming to the end of its life. Where other bloggers have multiple products they feature in a monthly empties post, it really takes me a whole year to achieve a similar result. Nevertheless, here are my empties for the year!

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub
I love Lush products, and this lip scrub is no different. It is ridiculously sugary and overpowering but it suits me just fine. It's effective for removing flaky skin on dry lips and I already have a back up!

Nivea Lip Balm Strawberry
I'm not really sure how I managed to use this up because I don't actually love the colour all that much. I find that it is a little fake and childish looking at times, but it doesn't really matter because I used it up and have many much nice alternative red shades as back ups.

Essence Clear Lash and Brow Gel
I've actually gone through about three of these but I didn't save the packaging. I love this brow gel, it is so cheap, works like a charm and is such a no fuss kind of product. I use this everyday and I won't be changing any time soon.

Simple Kind to skin hydrating moisturiser
I find it really hard to stick with one moisturiser because I always have so many options to choose from. I managed to use all of this Simple moisturiser up, so that must mean it was pretty good!

Garnier BB cream
I went through two of these Garnier BB creams before I'd ever tried the oily skin version. I thought they were good at the time, but now I use the oily skin version and I think it is so much better. I wouldn't buy these original ones again, but I use the oily one every day.

Dove Original Deodorant & Dove Pure Deodorant
I've used up more than two deodorants however they are multiple of the same ones, so I only included the two versions. I can't really tell the difference between one deodorant and another. As long as I'm not super sweaty and stinky, I don't really care what deodorant I'm using!

Garnier Skin Naturals Pure Shine control moisturiser
I wasn't a fan of this moisturiser because it smelled strange, was blue in shade and much too think for my liking. I definitely wouldn't buy this again because there are just so many amazing options out there these days.

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder
This is seriously the first real makeup product I've ever hit pan on so that is a little bit strange! I really love this powder and found it to be remarkably effective for keeping my face oil free during the day. I just wish it was a little cheaper.

I'm quite pleased with my empties efforts. Of course I went through countless shampoo and conditioners but they're boring to include! Maybe next year I'll have even more empties to include!