Sinful FOTD and Wellbeing Wednesday

I'll be honest- in the morning, the thing that gets me out of bed is the thought of a flat white from my favourite cafe near work. As the sun rises it's the place to be, or so says those who are also there early (one grandfather, and a business man who never seems to be working) On these mornings, I generally can't be bothered with intricate eye looks, and today I willl show you my recent fall-back look. Inspired, as always, by the amazing Jess at The Belle Lumiere, I cracked out my Urban Decay Naked Palette and went to town with one of the best shades it contains:

Sin!

Hello mascara smudges, 'sup

A super classy sheen of a shimmer, no chunky glitter fest here! (Though I am fond of those at times, too) Sin is a beautiful champagne shade that I can't imagine looking bad on anyone.

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A super wearable shade

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Ooh look,sunrise! I jest, this is here to show you how Sin is one of those kick ass shadows that make you look as though you have more than one shade on. It appears darker in the crease which fancies it up a notch, a big win for me.
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Products used:

Bourjois HealthyMix Serum Foundation #52

Sleek Rose Gold Blush

Urban Decay Buck eyeshadow for brows

Ardell Clear Brow Gel

Clinique High Impact Mascara

Nothing on the lips, though I did pop some Korres Jasmine on during the day

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I really love Sin as a wash of colour over the lid as I'm running out the door, and am glad that Jess mentioning it rekindled my love for the shade.

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HOW WICKED IS YOUR WELLBEING?

Mine is going along pretty well, I was uber successful in last weeks challenge so am a happy camper! The group challenge last week was to keep a food diary, and it became a habit for me so I breezed through the challenge. I can now see patterns of eating and the sneaky calories that have been my downfall, and am now working on altering decisions with my food intake. I also found out just how much hommus I really eat! Yowza!
How did everyone else go with the food diary?
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My personal challenge last week was to spend more time with the people I love, and it makes my heart swell to say I excelled at this challenge. More afternoons with my Mum, coffee and shopping with elderly family friends, dinner at a work friends place, city trips with my bestie, my niece's dancing concert as well as nightly walks with Chris meant my vibe meter was skyrocketing! It felt nice to just sit and enjoy their company, without thinking about assignments or work issues.
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I kept up with the previous weeks challenges which involved downing more water and chomping on lots of fruit and veg, as well as getting active at least 4 times each week. This Wellbeing Wednesday initiative has been so good to me!
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Image Source Unknown, let me know if it's yours!

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This weeks Group Challenge is to spend more time with loved ones, and avoid lifts and escalators in favour of taking the stairs. Your tush will thank you for it!

My Personal Challenge is to cut out alcohol for at least 6 out of the 7 days this week (I may have decided to do 6 days because of the upcoming annual MBBE ;) ) and to eat chia seeds each day. I got this great challenge idea from Sabine at Echolife !
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NOTD with OPI DS Opulence/Wellbeing Wednesday

Today I am showcasing one of my nail polish loves. For a non-polish obsessed girl, I love this shade a lot! I actually don't own the shade, as with most of my OPI finds it belongs to Chris' Mum, who this year began a descent into polish obsession. The benefit for me? She is wonderful with sharing her purchases! She chose OPI's DS Opulence randomly one day while perusing the OPI iPhone app, and as Chris and I left for Doncaster Westfield she handed me cash and instructed me to hunt it down. Let me tell you, the app image does not do this shade justice!

Apart from the horrible nails I possess and the chip on the thumb, isn't this so pretty!? The shimmer is deep in the base shade and I lose myself staring into it, we're definitely having a love affair. It's a very wearable pink shade that is in the designer line by OPI, and so retails for $24.95AUD compared to the usual $19.95AUD. We purchased this for her from David Jones at Doncaster.

A subtle sort of shimmerbomb, love it.

See how much depth the shimmer? For this close up I just cropped my nails, no editing at all.

Sigh, pretty nail polishes are good for my wellbeing...smooth, huh?

WELLBEING WEDNESDAY!

Marie the kitty is great for my wellbeing!Especially when she hides from the kidlets inside a nanna basket,haha.

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Last week saw me create a group challenge, as well as my own personal challenge. The group challenge involved getting active at least four times over the course of the week, whether it be walking, jogging, taking classes or anything else you like. I am happy to report that I was successful in this challenge, I alternated between using the treadmill and going for after-dinner walks with my man. My personal challenge was to drink more water and eat more vegetables, which I am happy to say I was successful with, too! I faltered slightly with water over the weekend but overall I exceeded the water target which made up for it. I spent a helluva lotta time in the bathroom, though! I didn't consume any alcohol this week either, and felt so much better on Melbourne Cup Day being able to focus on enjoying the little 'time out' from uni I spent with my family.

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 I ate much more fruit and veg than I have been lately. Takeout for the weekend was from the local noodle house and I loaded it up with so many vegies the box would barely close- yum! My Mum has created this amazing mix of vegies with a touch of sauce and we've been obsessed with it-it's got cabbage, carrot and brussel sprouts among other veg, my favourites!And I've been slicing up an apple at night to munch on while I study or watch TV, which has helped the late night eating habits,too.

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Here are the challenges for the coming week!

Group Challenge: Keep a food diary. It's amazing how seeing all the things we consume each day on paper (or on iPhone in my case) can make a difference to our choices! If you have any ideas for the next challenge, please leave them in the comments below.

Personal Challenge: Spend more time each day with people I love. I've been so wrapped up in uni work and training the new staff at work that I've been spending less time with my family and friends. Seeing my gorgeous niece over the weekend and having dinner with my girlfriends reminded me how much I miss those little moments. I will be repeating the last few personal challenges this week, too (more veg,water,4 workouts etc)
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Building myself up to be the happiest and healthiest I can be! Wanna come along for the ride?

Wellbeing Wednesday

Gearing up for a test this afternoon, so this post will be my Wellbeing Wednesday update as well as a mishmash of things I've been up to lately!

Image taken by me at Belle Bijoux event, which I blogged about here

This past week has been filled with a lot of study and spotted with a few cheeky hauls. I headed into the city twice, and both times I came home with lots of shopping bags filled with things that have been on my wish list for ages! I'm going to share the piccies with you in a few posts time, I adore reading haul posts so decided to bite the bullet and risk a post on my own. I think sometimes people (myself included) are fearful to post hauls in case they appear indulgent, but as a beauty blogger I think it's well documented that I am indulgent, and it isn't something I am ashamed of. I've been popping money away for a while for these things, and I'm still on a high of happiness with the things I took home:)

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I took an hour out of my day last week after class when the sun was beaming down, and read some of the book I had going while I laid on the grass. A bold little birdy with huge feet came up and said hello, but apart from that it was super peaceful and a nice 'time out' sort of moment. I took a snap to share the serenity with you- I love my uni so hard it hurts, it's amazing

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With no group topic formulated for this past weeks Wellbeing Wednesday, I had only my personal challenge to trudge on with...and yet, still failed. My challenge was to hop on the treadmill at least 4 times, but I only managed 3 and a big walk around the city. A semi fail, right? The first night I alternated between the exercise bike (oww my butt) and the treadmill with Chris and then we went for a walk outside for 35 mins because the weather was so nice. After that I just rocked the treadmill, but then work and social life stole away my nights. I know that is no excuse, so I will be redoing that challenge on top of this weeks.

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Group Challenge (made up by moi): Be active at least 4 times this week! This includes treadmill, walks/jogs, classes, whatever you want to do. Let me know how you go and get me moving,too!

Personal Challenge: Drink at least two bottles of water per day (which I estimate is around 4-5 glasses?) I've been using the cute pink spotted bottle I bought from Daiso in Doncaster and it makes drinking water much more fun! I'll also throw in eat more fruit and veg as a general challenge, my body is craving steamed vegies so badly!

My super pretty Daiso bottle!

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By this time next week I will officially be on uni holidays, which sounds exciting but just means I'll be spending more time at work! I'm looking forward to getting stuck into reading books of my own choice, I have started a GoodReads challenge (see box on left hand sidebar if you want to see how I'm doing!) and have already begun shopping for Christmas presents. I pledge to end the year more organised than I began it! Hope you are having an awesome Wednesday, let me know if you're on for the wellbeing challenges, or what you've been up to this past week.

In & Out

In the midst of craziness with all of my assignments due and unwritten and my excitement for ABBW and IMATS growing, I thought I'd share the things I'm loving and loathing lately.



Image taken from sterling-wellness.com



In

* Wellbeing Wednesday is a whopper of an idea that I'm grabbing with both hands. I saw this over at Jess' blog and need all the motivation  I can get in regards to bettering my life. A group challenge is offered (this week is to workout 3 times!) and you can set a personal challenge to share with everyone,too. For info head to Jess' post . I'm yet to decide on my personal challenge but I'll be sure to let you know when I do!

*Procrastination in the form of the box-I've really been enjoying Underbelly Razor that is being aired in Australia right now, and as always I'm riveted by Jersey Shore as they roll all over Italy. Also watched quite a few films over the weekend, and have fallen in love with Steve Carrel all over again!

*Spent the weekend at my best friend Candice's farm and ahhh the serenity! She made us (Chris and I) the best food while we were there too, wowza.

*Rocked the same look all last week (and today!) which consists of:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation

Sportsgirl champagne and neutral brown shade with MAC Mink&Sable in the crease

NYX Peach Blush

Model's Prefer Glitz & Glamour highlighter

Jack Black balm in Grapefruit & Ginger

Will hopefully nail some nice shots of this during the week to share.

Image taken from  http://wallpapers.net/view/sad_face-normal.html

Out

*Having so many assignments due when all I want to do is read all of your lovely blogs! The readings alone are overtaking my life, and my lovely farm weekend means I go nil work done so am struggling today.

*Instant coffee. I just can't deal with it anymore, I've been spoiled by good cafe coffees and my sights are now set on the orange coffee machine of my dreams (it's on the xmas list!) Nescafe just isn't cutting it anymore

*Bronzer. I have tried so many types and techniques, but it just looks bleh on me and I can't stand it. I want to look healthy more than tanned, but just can't seem to nail it. If anyone has tips, share!

*A Current Affair and Today Tonight because they are pure shite.

What is in or out for you this week? Hope your Monday is rocking, I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of you in Sydney this weekend!

emmabovary xx