November/December Empties

Let's get rid of some junk! (Okay, it's more like let's clean out the shower storage haha)

Some deodorants that weren't all that impressive, and some shower gels that were pretty good! I enjoyed using the Palmolive Joyous and the Choc Mint Original Source scent, but the Vanilla + Raspberry irked me for some reason, despite usually loving that combo. My beloved Garnier shampoo makes yet another reappearance - why oh why has it disappeared off supermarket shelves?!

I quite liked how light but soft the Kerastase Cristalliste conditioner* kept my hair, though the next time I splurge on Kerastase it will probably be on their heat protectants which are awesome. I already posted my thoughts on The Body Shop samples (Honeymania love up in here) and I didn't mind the Weleda Almond Soothing Cleansing Lotion*, though I think right now I need something more hardcore than something made for sensitive skin.

 Let's hope that 2014 sees more makeup being used up and the discovery of a new and utterly amazing anti-dandruff shampoo that rocks my scalp - any possible recommendations my beloved readers?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Marked products provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

The Bovary Christmas (Makeup, Nails, Our Day + Gifts I Received)

I absolutely love hearing about the Christmas celebrations that everyone else enjoyed, so here is my day.

Charlie ran around in his Santa suit on Christmas eve when I returned from a late shift at work.

Protecting his gifts on Christmas morning.

...and I was protecting mine!

I will admit that I bought this and put it under the Christmas tree for Mister Bovary. There is no way he would enter a Chanel boutique without me, so it seemed like the easier option.

Doing the right thing by Santa.

Another cute shot of Charlie because I can't help myself!

One last shot of the Christmas tree full of gifts before we took the gifts around to Mumma Bovary's.

The beautiful gifts I received this year! We didn't have a big Christmas gift wise as we've just bought the house and brought Charlie home, so low key was the go this year. Along with my beautiful Chanel Accent blush Mister Bovary bought me some NYX makeup, Disney Princess lipbalm set and an EyeTab palette.

The Chanel sample I wore on Christmas Day.

The contents of my stocking at Mumma Bovary's! Always contains a gold coin and some fruit, it's our tradition.

The Coconut lip balm ball from Colette Hayman, which is supposedly more moisturising than the EOS ones (I haven't tried those so I can't compare, but this one is lovely!)

80 colours in faux iPad form - wicked idea! Will have to test the colours and see how they fare.

The amazing tree ornament that we received from our family in America!

The stars of my Christmas Day face! NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie, Chanel Accent blush, Dior Amber Diamond and Dior Fairy Golds palette. I've been wearing Fairy Golds almost every day in December, such an amazing palette.

Bovary's! I rocked that Santa hat all day long.

Mister B is pretty impressed with the gift my parents bought him!

Nails of the day weren't your traditional festive fare, but matched to my Tokito City dress. OPI Hey Baby! from the Gwen Stefani collection and Which is Witch as an accent nail.

Charlie and my family dog Senga!

A lovely tree from my sister, this flashes all different colours - I'm happy to have another decoration for our place. Mister B's family do a KK for Christmas and so my sister in law bought me a Pandora glass charm and Taylor by Taylor Swift (which was on my later list!)

Pink lips and big smiles for Christmas!

 

I would love to hear how your Christmas was?

What gifts did you receive and what blush did you wear?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

OPI + Gwen Stefani have a new collection! Hey Baby, Hey Baby, Hey!

The hunt for my perfect pink nail polish is over - I've found the one!

The new Gwen Stefani collection from OPI has some stellar shades, but none so perfect as the aptly named Hey Baby!* which is a beautiful mid toned pink that is almost a one-coater. I've painted on two coats just to cover a few bald patches, but this bottle is seriously easy to apply (even for noobs like me) Forgive the iPhone quality snaps, but I was so excited when I applied this that I couldn't wait to show you how glorious it is - I'm sure you will see this shade on my social media accounts all through summer anyway.

 

As an aside, check out how 'glorious' our Melbourne summer is in the background of these photos...I'm rugged up with fuzzy socks and Chris' jumper on right now, regretting not grabbing a Christmas sweater last week like I'd planned to.

 

The collection contains a stack of awesome sounding shades (descriptions are straight from the press release!)

I Sing in Color- a dark blackberry crème (I will be showing you this one soon!)

Love.Angel.Music.Baby - like her music label, this semi-matte gold finish offers just the right amount of satin sheen

4 in the Morning - a new semi-matte black satin finish

In True Stefani Fashion - a holographic blast of silver glitter (holo glitter come to mama!)

Over & Over A-Gwen - Gwen's signature shade of red

Push and Shove - a bold mirrored chrome paired with a special base coat (this sounds so very cool)

 

How cool does the new Gwen Stefani collection sound!? It launches it January 2014 so keep your eyes peeled!

I am so in love with this stunning pink polish!

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

*Provided for consideration, and you better believe that all the love for this is true!



#dayinthelife ft. Melbourne City trip and mini haul

I've never done a post like this before, but I find them fun to read so when Mister Bovary and I went out last weekend I decided to snap some pictures to take you along with me. Hope you enjoy!

Had a wee sleep in before getting up to clean the house - vacuuming is my most-loved chore, what is yours?

Advent calendar time! I think the little elf on the calendar looks just like Mister Bovary but he disagrees, teehee!

Took a train into the city to see the Myer windows (gingerbread theme this year, and the line was absolutely humungous!) and stumbled across Santa Land!

Cheeky snap of Mister B in his very favourite 'beauty' store, Lush on Swanston Street! His favourite products are the wobbling shower jellies, they smell amazing.

Stopped to watch some pretty cool beat boxers busking in the street.

Had a quick look in Sportgirl and saw that they have new cream blushes out, and some eye crayons that I was mighty tempted by! I wanted to test the pink blush shade but they didn't have a tester out so I didn't end up buying anything.

Swoon, there is nothing like a nice wander through the makeup sections of Myer and David Jones. Nothing really jumped out at me apart from the new Laura Mercier White Magic collection, especially that metallic lilac shadow in the front there.

Food time! Finally dragged him into Ajisen Ramen in Melbourne Central after saying I would take him there for months! (As an aside, I totally coerced him into wearing his Melbourne shirt today - ha!)

Our entrees weren't that impressive, I ordered fried tofu with miso sauce and he ordered gyoza but really didn't like the strong flavour. I ordered my usual Sake Don (salmon teriyaki with rice) but ordered some extra sauce this time. He ordered the ribs and said they were really yummy, so overall the meal was a success in my book!

A little bit of $2.80 haulin' never killed nobody... (Daiso baby!)

Loving the festivities in the air, gave me such a Christmas kick!

A city trip isn't complete without a jaunt in Starbucks, and having coffee with Mister is one of my favourite things to do any day. I should've ordered a caramel frappucino like Mister Bovary did, but instead I went 'cute and festive' and got a gingerbread latte. Ergh, totally had to force it down and definitely won't be ordering again! Would much rather the maple latte from Gloria Jeans at this time of year.

Peek my head in the corner there, ha! Took some cheesy tourist-y shots with the drummer boys outside the hall. You know you are a beauty blogger when you instinctively spell it 'haul' over 'hall', right?

Home time and chilling in the lounge looking at our beautiful Christmas tree! That little bear ornament is holding a sign that says 'Charlie' <3

Weekends mean time for a brush, and Charlie just won't let go of his beloved Santa toy that my sister bought for him.

My Daiso mini haul: basketball jersey for Charlie boy, tape dispenser, dog nail scissors, star cookie cutter and melamine tray.

The rest of my haul! Cute costume necklace to wear to a party, some festive hair clips to fit in with the crazy head pieces at work, and a Rimmel Space Dust and Savvy blush from the Mister (Swatches of the polish are in yesterdays post!)

After dinner we popped on one of my favourite masks, the Michika Anti-Fatigue*, while Charlie hung out with his toys. A paper face mask has this relaxing appeal to me so we have a weekly sesh with them whenever we can.

Perhaps I will blame this dessert on the need to get the taste of Starbucks gingerbread latte from my mouth and the memory from my mind? Nevertheless, my chopped apples topped with Itha's Gourmet Foods Brandy Butterscotch dessert sauce* (150ml for $8) was delicious, and I'm a big fan of the Vanilla Bean Custard Flavour too. Even though I've done all my Christmas shopping, I'm thinking that one or two of these would make a great hostess gift for parties in the new year?

What do you do when you head into your capital city?
What 'hostess gifts' do you think take the cake?
Did you find my lazy 'day in the life' interesting to read? Would love your feedback as it is the first I've ever done!

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

5 Manicures This Week // Dark or Festive

Snapping pictures of each manicure for this post has reignited my love for polish, and I've actually been enjoying changing it up every couple of days. My manicure's never last very long thanks to my weak nails and lazy nature, so this is my way of enjoying my polish stash (goodness knows it needs loving) and sharing some shades with you along the way. Consider this a new semi-regular feature on the blog, 2014 will hopefully see a more organised blog for me!

Christmas shopping for the niece's + nephew's!

One of my very favourite bottles, Polka.com* was released with the OPI Euro Centrale collection and is a mix of purple, hot pink and turquoise glitters with some baby purple glitters thrown in for good measure. A clear base is a must-have in glitters for me as I love using them as top-coats, but for this I was rushed and just painted two coats of Polka.com by itself to play around with it. Check out Sleep and Water for some amazing swatches too!

my beloved tree

I was drawn to the classic red mani for Christmas, and the closest at hand was #24 Port Wine* from Bio Sculpture Gel, which is a jelly sheer finish that suited my tree to a tee! I didn't realise that I could wear Bio Sculpture shades at home without a full gel mani, so I guess it is true that you learn something new every day!

taking Charlie out to play fetch

It's safe to say I squealed quite a bit when the OPI set I had on my Christmas list landed on my desk in early December. The San Francisco mini set has some amazing dark shades, and the duochrome Peace & Love & OPI* was the first to hit my nails. This was without a doubt Mister Bovary's favourite mani this month, he couldn't stop staring at the shifting colours! 

tug-o-war with Charlie Bear

 Mister Bovary treated me to a new Rimmel polish while we were out Christmas shopping the other day, the newly released Star Dust in Moon Walking. I didn't realise these polishes were textured until I applied it, but I love the sparkly finish of this lilac shade. I now have my eye on the pale champagne Aurora shade from the Star Dust collection...

heading into work on a hot day

Last but not least we have my rushed work manicure, channelling the cold of the other side of the world while I sit here in 40 degree heat in front of my air conditioner. I used the new essence Beauty Beats collection polish in 03 As Long As You Love Me which is a truly beautiful slate grey filled with warm tiny shimmers when you look at it in the light. I then topped it off with a coat of the new Ilamasqua Blizzard*, which is a mix of different sized sheer white hexes that totally reminds me of snow (not that I've ever seen snow...)

 

So what shades have you been rocking lately? Have you planned your Christmas day manicure yet?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty