Update!

Hi everyone!
I just thought I’d let you all know what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up within the next month or so.

I’ve been on holiday – it was amaazing! Loved it so much and to be honest, I’m sad to be back home and back to reality. :P
I sprained my left ankle as soon as I got home. I am so damn clumsy! I was unpacking the car and somehow managed to trip and fall off the deck straight onto my ankle. It hurt like crazy! Wasn’t able to walk until the next day, had an x-ray and luckily it showed no sign of a fracture! Yay! :D I couldn’t even imagine how much it would suck to be stuck in a cast for the rest of the summer!! The swelling and bruising is still pretty bad though. Apparently it can take 3-6 weeks for a sprain to heal? I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t take that long!

I’m currently trying to organise some photoshoots with my photographer friend, Rouan. I’m hoping to get both some more natural and more creative looks in my portfolio, so it will be fun to work with him! And I will be sure to post the results of any photoshoots on here so you all can have a look and tell me what you think! The only sad thing is I’ll have to wait until my ankle is feeling better before I can do anything!! Argh!

Another thing I’m going to be doing is looking for a part time/full time job, so if I don’t post as often as I’d like, the reason will be that I’m busy doing that. :P It’s sad that I can’t make enough money by just doing makeup artistry at the moment, but that’s my goal for the future, to be able to get by JUST by doing what I love – makeup! :D

Ok, enough of that boring stuff, let’s talk about what’s in store for my blog over the next couple of months!

• I’m going to be having my first giveaway! Just shopping around for the prize and then will be posting it hopefully next week. It will run for 4-6 weeks (haven’t quite decided) and I’m hoping that every single one of you enter! :D
• In a couple of months time (hopefully) I will be having a contest on my blog. In order to enter you will have to do a makeup look on yourself based on a theme and will need to send me at least 2 photos of the gorgeous look you create! I will then post all the entries on my blog and you, my wonderful readers, will vote for your favourite and decide who wins. Exciting! I would love some ideas for themes, so please comment me with some :D
• I will be reviewing a lot of new products and will try to post at least one review a week. I love trying new stuff and letting you all know what I think of it! :P
• FOTDs/NOTDs/EOTDs will most likely be less frequent, I always forget to take photos!! I will try to remember to take photos more often so I can post them on here.

So yeah, that’s about it really! I will post more updates now and then too so you all know what’s happening. :)

If there are any products you’d like to see a review on, please let me know and if I have it (or can afford to buy it, hehe) I will post a review on it asap! :D

Thanks for viewing!
oxo

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Wishing all you amazing people a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hoping that 2010 is the most fantastic, fun-filled year yet!!! :D
Do you have a new years resolution?? Goals for the year??
I think my main goal for 2010 is just to be happier and not to let life's problems get me down as much as they usually do. It is hard to stay positive when it feels like your whole world is falling down around you, but my theory is that if you dwell on it too much, then things just get worse. So here's to being happier! :D
And even though I've started the new year with my shoulders peeling like crazy (don't do what I do and get sunburnt, sunscreen is your friend!!), I already feel pretty damn good about the future! :D
Thank you again for all being gorgeous people, both inside and out. Much love to you all! oxo

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas has come and gone, here in New Zealand. It was a gorgeous sunny day here, best Christmas day we've had in years! I always wonder what it must be like to have Christmas in winter...
I hope you all have had an amazing christmas and spent it with all the wonderful people you love and cherish the most. :D

I'm truly sorry I haven't posted in so long, this year has been... hectic to say the least, and just choco-block full of dramas! I won't bore you with the details, but I'm promising that when 2010 gets here, I'm going to try and post a heck of a lot more! I owe it to you to make more of an effort to post!
I also want to say a big thank you to you all, you're an amazing bunch of people and you've really made this otherwise shit (to be quite honest here) year, a pretty damn good one! I can't wait to get to know you all even better!

Take care and enjoy the holidays! Much love!
oxo

Maui’s Giveaway!

Head on over and check out this giveaway here!

 
Head on over, you have until 31st October to enter, winner will be announced on November 1st!

Makeup, Rants, Musings and More - click here to enter!

Review: Anatomicals Stop Cracking Up

 
Have you heard of Anatomicals? If not then I’m guessing you’re not part of Meg’s Makeup, in which case comment below (with your email address) or send me an email (makeupper@gmail.com) for your invite! You will not regret it!!

Anatomicals is a brand that I honestly wish I had’ve discovered earlier. With a philosophy like ‘We only want you for your body’ you know that these guys are going to be refreshingly honest about what their products can and can’t do!

As a member of Meg’s Makeup I was lucky enough to get my hands on their ‘Stop Cracking Up’ lip balm. Now, I’m going to make it clear here that I have very high standards when it comes to lip balms. I’m not interested in any nice scents or cute packaging. If it doesn’t moisturise my lips and do it extremely well, then it gets chucked.
For this reason, Lucas Papaw Ointment is basically the only lip balm I use. That is, until I got this.
I applied it to my lips, expecting it to be a fairly average product, nothing special. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that this product does exactly what it’s supposed to, it stops your lips from ‘cracking up’!!

Would I recommend this? Yes! Everyone needs this in their handbag. There is nothing worse than dry, cracked lips so let Anatomicals work their magic on you!

I’m dying to try more of their stuff especially the ‘No Old Bags Allowed’ eye cream! When I get enough money I’ll definitely be ordering some.

Don’t forget to check out their site, I guarantee you’ll get a laugh!
Thanks for viewing!
oxo

What cleanser are you using??

Big hello to all my gorgeous followers! I’m in need of your advice!

My skin is getting really sensitive lately. I used to use the Clinique skincare range without any problems, but lately my skin has started reacting to it. It gets all red and hot and my usually oily t-zone area is now really dry. Have you had this happen to you??

I decided to switch to this, in the hope that it would help:

My skin has definitely calmed down a little since I started using this but I’ve noticed that sometimes my skin doesn’t feel very clean afterwards…

So now I’m on the hunt for another cleanser to try. Something that won’t irritate my skin and will leave it feeling clean and fresh. Do you have any suggestions? What do you use??

Thanks for viewing!
oxo

Kreative Blogger Award!

 

 
I was lucky enough to be nominated for this Kreative Blogger award by the gorgeous blogger Sarah! I just love her blog, it’s always so interesting and she does the most awesome makeup looks! If you’re not following her already, then go do so now!

To accept this award do the following:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

I dunno if you’ll find all this interesting, but I’ll write it anyway! :P

1.
My family and I go camping every year. We’ve been going since I was 7 years old and we always go to the same place. It’s actually my favourite place to be, because it’s so far from Auckland and everything there is so much more carefree and relaxed. I get to laze around on the beach all day which is one of my favourite things to do!

2.
I love crafting. I’m a craft freak. I make a lot of jewellery mostly, but also make plushies and clothes and basically just anything. My room is FULL of both makeup and craft supplies! There’s hardly any room for me! :P

3.
I worked at Air New Zealand Fashion Week last year and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I worked 4 days of it in total, which included one day assisting Steph Lai (well known makeup artist here in New Zealand), one day doing the makeup for the TAV show and two 12 hour days (exhausting much?!) doing the makeup for several shows on during Fashion WeekEND.
I wish I had’ve worked at it this year, but oh well… always next year! :D

4.
I’m somewhat addicted to Home and Away and try to watch it most nights. If I happen to miss an  episode then I try to catch the omnibus at the end of the week, lol! There’s just always something happening on that show, I love all the drama! :P

5.
My uncle has a tattoo set up, complete with all the hygiene and sanitation stuff. One day he decided to let my sister and I play around with it and now he has a really wonky looking pentagram on his arm, thanks to me. LOL! You would think he’d be bothered by that (come on, most people would be right?) but he couldn’t care less! It’s great! :P

6.
I LOVE Will Ferrell! His movies are hilarious! Elf is probably one of my favourite christmas movies, and Step Brothers cracks me up everytime I watch it. Not to mention Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Blades Of Glory.. pretty much any movie with him in it is a movie I enjoy. :P

7.
I’m such a huge fan of WWE, I watch Raw whenever I can. >_> I have so many favourite wrestlers and think that Randy Orton has the most amazing thighs in the world. <_< Lol :P Seriously though, I love watching WWE, it’s so hilarious. :D

Sorry I couldn’t think of anything more interesting, I never know what to say on these things! :P
Now I’d like to nominate:

• Tali
• Rai
• Natalie
• Lipstick Rules
• Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets
• Caby
• Farah

Thanks again Sarah! And btw, Halloween isn’t big over here either, I really do wish it was! :(

Check out this amazing giveaway!!

Shades Of U is having an amazing giveaway that you can check out here!

Info:

 
I am so excited to present this MAC Giveaway for The Shades Of U followers and subscribers!! This contest is open to everyone eighteen (18) years old and older worldwide. Take a look at the prizes in store for the winner (all items are brand-new, untested MAC products):

1. Blackware glimmerglass
2. Blackfire glimmerglass
3. Blingblack glimmerglass
4. Black Knight cremesheen lipstick
5. Blue Flame mineralize eyeshadow
6. Cinderfella mineralize eyeshadow
7. Wisteria eyeshadow trio (Dame Edna collection)
8. Kirsch mattene lipstick

It is easy to join. First of all, you need to be a subscriber or follower of this blog, either via Twitter, Blogger or Google Friend Connect, RSS Feed, Facebook or e-mail.
Also, this is a viral contest, so you need to post a link to this blog contest or a link to The Shades Of U homepage, on your blogs (Blogger, Vox, Livejournal, Xanga, etc), forums you visit, or social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, etc). Re-tweeting on Twitter or sharing this link on your Facebook account fulfills this requirement. One post about this contest is enough to become eligible. Then come back to this blog entry and fill in the form below, answering the question "How Are You Subscribed to The Shades Of U?", and including the link to your blog/forum/social network post about The Shades Of U or the contest.
Contest Mechanics:
1. This contest is open to all The Shades Of U Subscribers/Followers 18 years old and older. International subscribers (outside of the US) are welcome to join. Subscribe to The Shades Of U via one of the following: the RSS Feed, e-mail subscription, Twitter, or Blogger/Google Friend Connect or Facebook. If you are currently a subscriber, you are automatically eligible to join and you do not need to re-subscribe.
2. Fill up the contest entry form below, include your name and e-mail address (don't worry, only I can read your information and these details shall not be published). You also need to answer the question, "How are you subscribed to The Shades Of U?". Your answer should be one of these:
a. RSS Feed
b. Twitter (include Twitter ID)
c. E-mail subscription (include email address)
d. Blogger/Google (include Blogger name)
e. Facebook (include Facebook name)
3. In the entry form, also include the link to the post you created on your blog, social network, or forum you visited about The Shades Of U MAC Viral Giveaway.
PLEASE READ, VERY IMPORTANT: We've been receiving entries with no link to the blog, forum or Social Network post about this Giveaway. Please include the link to the post you've created about this Giveaway in your entries. Thanks.
4. The contest shall run starting today,October 3, 2009 and ends on Friday, October 9, 2009 at 11:55 p.m. EDT.
5. Contest Machine and The Shades Of U shall randomly pick one winner, announce the name of the winner on this blog, and shall contact the winner via the e-mail address provided in the entry form.
6. The winner shall respond with his/her mailing address within seventy-two (72) hours of the delivery of the notification e-mail; otherwise, the entry shall be disqualified and another winner shall be chosen. Thus, this is also the reason why entrants should subscribe to this blog to be promptly apprised of the winner's name just in case the notification e-mail does not go through or goes to the spam inbox.
7. The Shades Of U will ship the prize package to anywhere in the world via First Class mail. If the winner is a US Resident, the prize shall be sent with delivery confirmation. If the winner resides outside of the US, the prize shall be sent to the international winner using First Class international mail with no tracking number. However, the postal receipt shall be kept as evidence of shipment. The Shades Of U shall not be responsible for loss or delays in the delivery of the package after the prize has been mailed, nor shall it be responsible for customs duties or fees.

So go check it out!!