Day to Day

Best skincare products + Garnier giveaway!

This week for my top ten, I'm sharing my personal favourite skincare products and I also have a Garnier giveaway for you!

1. -  As you know, I recently attended the Bloggers Brunch in Melbourne and was very spoilt with lovely goodies to bring home and trial.  One of my most favourite items from the day was a Garnier anti-dark circles roll-on for under my eyes. I was sold as soon as they mentioned that the product contained 'caffeine + lemon essence' - bliss! I've been using it every day since the brunch and when this roll runs out I'm buying another.  Love!  As much as it pains me to give away my spare tube of this, I'm going to because I truly believe that it's an awesome product.

2. - Garnier Intensive conditioning lotion - This was also a product that I bought home from the Bloggers Brunch.  I really like it!  It has the most beautiful cocoa butter scent and I'm wearing it on my legs and arms as I type.

3. - Girl meets Pearl (by Benefit) is another one of my favourite products at the moment.  Apart from the super cute packaging that Benefit do so well, it gives a very subtle glimmer to your face and you can wear it under or over foundation.  Love.

4. - Ooh la lift is another Benefit product that I bought recently.  Now that I'm in my late 30's I need all the help that I can get in the eye department!  I wear this underneath my Garnier anti-dark circles roll-on and it's a brightening boost for eyes. Magic.

5. - I've been using the Smokin' eyes (Benefit) eyeshadow and brow kit for a few months now.  I love that it comes with instructions - because I was more of a slap it on & hope for the best type girl, before I bought this.  I secretly want all of the Benefit eyeshadow kits, they're super cute (I'm a cute packaging girl at heart) and this eyeshadow will stay on all day. Hooray.

6. - Sparkly nail polish (Seed).  I'm wearing it now. I don't think I need to say any more about sparkly nail polish. Everybody should own some!

7. - Inglot Sleeks lip gloss.  I'm not even sure where you buy these sleeks from, but a friend gave me one last Christmas and I wear it on special occasions. It's pretty, shiny and nice.

 
8. - Some kind-a gorgeous (Benefit) - I bought this one on my recent Melbourne trip, it's an oil free foundation in the sweetest vintage record player compact. Are you seeing a pattern here with the cute packaging?  It's a lovely foundation and feels nice and silky on.

9. - Olay Definity -I've been using this night cream for a couple of months now and it's lovely.  I like the smell of it too :)

10. - 2000 Calorie mascara by Max Factor.  I bought this after seeing it on the Max Factor ad and while I'm not sure that it makes my eye lashes look as thick as the ones on the commercial, I do like it.  Mascara takes so long to get through, so by the time I've used up a tube of it, I am officially too lazy to track down another one to try/buy.  My current tube is nearly empty though, so any nice mascara recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Now, for the fun! I have a spare Garnier 2 in 1 tinted eye roll-on (fair to medium skin and full of caffeine + lemon essence) to give away. As I mentioned before, it actually pains me to part with my second and final tube, so you're very lucky :)

Leave a comment on this post telling me if you've tried a Garnier product before or will this be your first experience with their products?  I'll close off comments this Friday (19th August) and announce the winner on Saturday morning.  Entry is open world wide.

Also, if you do have a mascara recommendation for me, let me know at the same time!

P.S. Just so you know, I won't ever blog about products that I don't truly believe in.  Any brands or products that make it onto my blog are here because I want them to be here.  I would never recommend or talk about a brand that I only 'liked' - I have to LOVE something for it to make an appearance on the blog.  I'm very conscious that I have a super lovely readership and I'd like to reassure you all that I would tie myself to a tree and stay there for 90 days before I'd mention or talk about a product that wasn't awesome. xoxo

**COMMENTS for this give away are now closed**

My Top ten: Holiday destinations

It's Tuesday again, so time for another My Top Ten list.  Last night I was flicking through the latest issue of 'Out & About with kids' magazine and wishing (+ dreaming) that I was somewhere warm and cosy.  It's been so cold and dreary here in Tasmania these last few days, that I'm longing for a bit of sunshine.

Without further ado, I give you my current top ten holiday destinations - places I'd like to be right now.

• A cruise (photo source) Somewhere nice, anywhere would do actually. I've never been on a cruise before, but it seems like a lovely thing to do.
• Disneyland!  Actually I don't even mind going to Disneyland in the middle of winter, when it's pouring with rain and snowing. I could even have fun at Disneyland in a blizzard!

• Fiji (photo source) - everybody has been to Fiji right? I haven't, but it looks like a place that I need to go.
• Thailand (photo source) - I've wanted to go here ever since I saw Jodie's photos on Flickr from her amazing trip.

 

• Gold Coast (photo source) - One of my sisters is in sunny Queensland right now on a little holiday.  Wishing I was there with her.  Actually Cairns and Port Douglas would be lovely destinations too.
• Hong Kong (photo source) - It's no secret that I want to go back to Hong Kong. I love, love, love this part of the world.

• It's summer right now in Canada (photo source) - can you imagine how pretty that would be? 
• My Mum went to Singapore (photo source) recently and the photos looked gorgeous. It's warm there too :)

• Italy (photo source) - Oh, yes.  
• Spain (photo source) - Actually I think this just falls into the same category as Italy. 'Oh, yes'

Where would you like to go for a holiday right now?

My Top Ten: simple chocolate recipes

One of the sweet items in my Blogopolis goody bag from the weekend was a block of Caramel Lindt chocolate.  While we're pretty much an organic chocolate kinda family, I have to say that this chocolate was creamy and delicious and hooked me right in.  I did not want to share it!

So, it only seems fitting that my top ten series this week is based around chocolate - simple chocolate recipes that you need to cook :)

1. The chocolate cake that I cooked for Mother's Day this year is easy and a must bake.

2. Chocolate chip muffins - simple and totally delicious.  These are great for a special school lunch treat.

3. Corrie's super rich chocolate brownies are super yum! I've made these a few times and they're always gobbled up quickly.

4. Tammy's to die for chocolate mousse is another one that you must bake.  

5. Katrina's chocolate salami (oh, yes!) is something that everybody should whip up.  I gave it a whirl last Christmas and it was delicious.

6. I haven't made chocolate freckles for quite some time, but they are SO fun to do! Katrina shows you how to make them HERE.

7. Liss from Frills in the Hills has a divine Spanish hot chocolate recipe. I haven't tried this one yet, but it's just made it onto the top of my 'must make' list.

8. Tamar from Tarisota blogged about her Bar of Plenty chocolate mousse a little while back. I think it's a keeper.

9. Amish cookies! We make these a lot and they're always delicious.

10. Finally, no top ten would be complete without a caramel slice recipe!

I hope you enjoyed this week's list.  You can view all of my previous Top Ten posts HERE.

My top ten: cute cupcake ideas

After doing my spot of rainbow cake baking on Saturday, I knew that my top ten topic for this week needed to evolve around cupcakes.  So, here we go - my all time favourite + super cute cupcake ideas that you can bake at home.

1.  Owl cupcakes with a full tutorial HERE. Love, love, love them!

2.  Pretty rainbow cupcakes (source) ::  This is why I need to buy myself some fondant and start having a play.  I think these would be fairly easy to replicate as the shapes are simple.

3.  Frog cupcakes (how to HERE): Croak! 

4.  Sweet butterfly cupcakes with pretzel wings - link HERE.

5.  I think these 'cherry on top' cakes would be very easy to replicate.  Link HERE.

6.  Is there anything cuter than hedgehog cupcakes? I think not.  Link HERE.

7.  LOVE these toadstool cupcakes - link HERE.

8.  Obviously these are cute woodland themed cupcakes (link HERE) but I think adding the mini figurines is such a sweet idea.

9. I've made these mini flower cupcakes quite a bit over the years (my photo, no link) and they have always been well received.  Just snip a marshmellow in half and squeeze at both ends to create the petal shape.

10.  My last favourite cute cupcake share is such a simple idea - circles of piped colour, drawn out with a toothpick.  Super easy and effective. Link HERE.

I feel like a spot of cupcake cooking now!

P.S. You can view all of my previous Top Ten lists HERE.

P.P.S.  I'll be back tonight at 7pm with my next Hip Hip Hooray for winter tutorial.

My Top Ten: family DVDs to watch

This week for my top ten, I thought I'd share some of our most favourite family DVDs to watch.

1 :: E.T. :: Everybody has watched E.T. right?  It was one of my very favourite films as a child, telling the tale of a little lost alien, miles from home.  It's a movie that I love to watch over and over with my own children.

2 :: Horton hears a who :: I think we've watched this a million times!  When we first bought it, Bella was completely addicted to wanting to watch it over and over and over.  It's a heartwarming story about an elephant called Horton, who hears a cry for help in a little speck of dust and does his best to protect them from danger.

3 :: Beauty and the Beast :: Being big Disney fans, we love this classic tale of Belle (the beauty) and the beast.  It has a few scary scenes in it, so it might be a bit big for really little children, but it's a keeper. 

4 :: Enchanted :: Another Disney movie about an animated princess (to be) who magically comes to life in Manhattan.  I think we've watched this one a hundred times too, it's definitely a favourite.

 5 :: Bridge to Terabithia :: You might need your tissues, because I cried the first time I watched this.  It's full of adventure + magic and definitely suited more towards older children.

6 :: Up :: You only have to read about Bella's Disney 'Up' party (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) to know just how much we love, love, love this film.  Everybody in the world should watch it.

7 :: Tangled ::  I think this might be our newest addition to the DVD cupboard.  We saw the movie on the big screen and waited anxiously for it to be released.  My most favourite bit is where you see hundreds of pretty lanterns floating in the night sky - so pretty and dreamy.

8 :: Bolt :: This movie is hilarious, especially the antics of the little hamster.  Bolt (a dog) is a super hero, ready for adventure and all sorts of action with his new friends.

9 :: The Spiderwick Chronicles :: I love a good adventure movie and this is another one of my favourites.  Bella also has one of the Spiderwick Chronicle books and has spent hours drawing up the fantasy creatures and reading about their mystical powers.  Every time we watch the movie, out comes the book within half an hour or so and she starts dreaming and sketching.

10 :: Alice in Wonderland :: Ahh, Alice magic. Love.  Another movie that everyone in the world must see.  I've even watched this by myself :)  The costumes, tea party, special effects are amazing, it's a must, must see.  I saved this one for last because it's my personal fav.

I'd love to know if you've already watched all of these movies?  Which ones have I missed off the list?

 

You can view last week's Top Ten list HERE.

My top ten: ways to have a nice birthday

As promised, it's the day for my new weekly blog feature - my top ten.  Today's top ten is a little different to what I'll normally be sharing in this space....you see it's my birthday today, so I thought it would be fun to share my favourite ways to have a nice birthday.  Everybody wants that, right?

I'm being a little bit selfish and sharing a few of the gifts I received, but gifts are nice and definitely a good way to increase the birthday bliss :)

Let's get started:

1.  Visit your Mum's house for morning tea or anybody you know that makes nice treats.  This will involve being totally spoilt with home made birthday cakes and chocolate muffins.

2.    Hope that somebody lovely sends you a beautiful bunch of flowers on your special day.  They did - thank you Nuffnang.

3.    Ensure that you know (or are related to) nice people that will might make you special handmade gifts.  A quilt (oh, yes!), knitted socks and dishcloths.

4.    Have the best little girl in the world who bakes you special birthday cakes.  Thank you Bella for your amazing decorating skills!

5.    Sit back and do no housework all day (bliss) - don't feel guilty about it either, it's your special day.  Things to do instead: drink tea, eat cake, receive lovely text, email, twitter messages and phonecalls.  Read magazines, drink more tea and eat more cake.

6.    Enjoy all the pretty cards that people give you.  Especially the rocking ones that play Star Wars music when you open them up.  Put them on display.

7.    Ask for an iPad and hope that you are very spoilt and receive one early, like I did.  I know, please don't hate me for that :)

8.  Have awesome friends that know you'll squeal in delight at cute Alice in Wonderland writing paper, sweet notebooks and candles + soaps that smell beyond beautiful.  Light the candle right away - don't save it for a rainy day.  

9.     Read twitter carefully because people are bound to tweet about cute Etsy finds that you must have - it's your birthday after all :)

10.    Have the best boy in the world who makes a table at school, keeps it a secret when it's finished and then organises his Dad to collect it, so that he can surprise you with it for your birthday.  Love. Pride. Awesomeness.  James, I can't even put into words how beautiful the table is and how beautiful you are for making it for me, thank you xox

So, there you go - my top tens ways to ensure a fabulous birthday.  Enjoy.

New weekly feature - my top ten

Thank you for the lovely response I received for my newest weekly feature -  kids in the kitchen.  Bella was especially excited and has been cooking up a mini storm here, creating several recipes already for the upcoming weeks.

I'd like to tell you about a second weekly feature that I've been brewing up, called My Top Ten.  I'll be sharing my personal top ten list of all sorts of wonderful treasures - my personal favourite top ten blogs, winter activities, cute shoes, books + many more.

The first post in this series will be going up early next week, I hope you'll enjoy reading along.

I'll be popping back in a little later today to share a new (and fast growing) collection that we have happening at our house.  See you then,

P.S.  Thank you so much to the lovely Tamar for creating my super cute button for this series.