Arid Garden

Skin care is a relatively new obsession for me, especially as I'm heading deeper into my thirties (yikes what, how did that even happen?) I'm desperately trying to reverse the damage caused by the sun, thank you to living in Australia! I am lucky that my skin only really gets hormonal breakouts around that time of the month so I don't really have to worry too much about those, but I do have some light scarring from my teenage years. Also wrinkles! Let's talk about those little buggers slowly creeping onto my face. My forehead is actually heavily wrinkled, I think it's from squinting all those years I didn't have glasses but needed them. Luckily I don't have to worry too much about those because they're hidden under my fringe haha! I do worry though, and I like to slather it up with night creams, moisturisers and daily sun protection! So when the folks at Activeskin got in touch with me to send over some samples I was very excited as I love testing out new skin care products to see what will and won't work on my skin. Activeskin is your one stop shop for all things skin care and below are my top pics from their vast range!

Clinique Foaming Sonic Facial Soap

The perfect daily cleansing foam that works brilliantly with my Clarisonic. Removes excess makeup, oil and dirt for a really deep clean and is frangrance free which is perfect for my sensitive skin!

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel

Lightweight and oil free this moisturiser is great for those with oily or combination skin as it combats oil whilst also moisturising the dry areas.

Dermalogica Solar Defense Booster spf 50‎

Sunscreen is such an important part of your daily skincare regime, I never leave home without it. I love this sunscreen as it doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky and greasy afterwards which makes it perfect for under my makeup.

Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Skin Cleansing - Pink

I swear by my Clarisonic, have been using it for nearly two years now and see an incredible difference in my skin. However mine is the plain old white one, seriously considering upgrading to the pink because we all know what pink means to me!

Me and my newly refreshed skin went on a fabulous outing to the beautiful Arid Garden in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens on the weekend. Cactuses, unlike your skin, don't need a whole lot of water or care in order to thrive so it is kind of an ironic place for a photo-shoot about moisturising haha!

However my dress was covered in this beautiful cacti print by local Melbourne label Rouda that I picked up at the recent Magic Designer Sale. Sign up to their facebook page to find out when the next sale is on, but basically it's a twice yearly sale of local designers old season stock. I always find something amazing at the sale, this year I bought the Poms Jewellery ring and bangel in this post as well as the dress and I spent a total of $180 which is a bargain considering the dress alone was originally well over that at full retail price! I do love a bargain!

Outfit details
Dress Rouda 
Pink pom pom earrings, ring and bangle Poms Jewellery
Purple backpack Shop in Noosa
Navy blue tights City Chic
Pink heels ASOS

Giving some good skin thanks to Activeskin!

I found this cute little lilac backpack whilst in Noosa at the end of last year for $10. I regret not also getting it in the pink but I'm pretty sure I'll find a cute little pink backpack in Tokyo next month (I'm headed there after Vietnam, eeep can't wait!). My new Poms ring and bangle are so cute they kill me!

Still getting much wear out of these seriously comfy heels. Definitely taking them with me to Tokyo!

Penguin Power

 My most recent trip to Japan was during their spring, meaning most of the clothes in the shops and that I bought were spring/summer pieces not really suited to the freezing cold winter Melbourne has been having. Thankfully that cold weather is now finally over as we are officially into our spring and Melbourne has sure been showing us some beautiful sunny days of late. This of course means I can finally wear all the clothes I bought in Tokyo that have been tucked away in my wardrobe taunting me with their cuteness all winter long! This cute white dress being one of them. By one of my all time favourite Japanese labels Ne-Net who I first saw at Tokyo Fashion Week back in 2007 (can someone tell my why I wrote my blog in red text back then?) and have loved ever since. This dress with it's oversized collar, drawstring waist and super kawaii penguin embroidery just had to be mine. I've spoken before how Japanese brands are generally one size fits all and this brand is no exception. This means not every piece I love will fit me so as soon as I find one that does I buy it straight away. Annoyingly this means they're often a little short on me but I can live with that for the cuteness of the design - I'll just wear them with leggings!

Outfit details
Dress Ne-Net from Tokyo
Leggings Gisela Ramirez
Bag Ne-Net from Pet Shop Girls sale
White jelly sandals Jelly Beans
Sunglasses Tsumori Chisato from Pet Shop Girls
Pom pom earrings The Bright Young Things on Etsy
Faux bur bangle Bubbles Harajuku

 Hello Mr Penguin! I love you!

Faux bur bangle Bubbles Harajuku
Rings from left to right | Red acrylic ring MOMA NYC | Pink gift bow ring Tokyo's Tokyo at Omohara Tokyu Plaza | Pink resin crown ring Keep Resin

This bag is also by Ne-Net, but a previous collection. It's apparently meant to be a polar bear but looks more like a bunny rabbit to me. Cute either way.

Bag Ne-Net from Pet Shop Girls sale

Shop the look!!!

Pink Pom Pom & WIN: Lime Crime Pink Velvet thanks to Makeupnet

 I wore this outfit to VAMFF's Graduate Showcase - photos of which will finally be up on the blog this week. For now I wanted to share with you my super kawaii all pink outfit. So much for being over pink - I don't think that will ever actually happen to be honest, I mean how could it? I bought the Romance Was Born t-shirt earlier this year at the Boxing Day sales at David Jones (FYI it's still on sale). I loved their collaboration with Australian artists Pip & Pop who created the amazing set for their MBFWA runway show last year so owning a piece of that magic collection is a dream come true. The over the top pom pom cardigan was a Tokyo purchase from my last visit back. I got it at 'it' shop Bubbles in Harajuku but sadly the pom poms all started to fall off on my first wear - luckily this happened in very friendly Tokyo where I had people running after me pom pom in hand after seeing it fall off - this happened at the train station, at a cafe and on the street. Anyway Henry offered to sew them on more securely for me and now they should last, just not sure how to wash it?

Outfit details
Pom pom cardigan Bubbles Harajuku
T-shirt Romance Was Born via David Jones
Paper bag waist skirt ASOS
Circle straw bag Chip Chop collaboration with Sportsgirl
Unicorn necklace Giza by Mademoiselle Yulia from GR8 Laforet Harajuku
Pink bangle and ring Keep Resin
Pom pom hair clip Little Salon Gertrude Street Fitzroy
Pom pom earrings Gift
Pink sunglasses Karen Walker Helter Skelter in pink
Watermelon socks Gorman
Black flatforms iShoes
Lipstick Lime Crime Pink Velvet from Makeupnet

So many pom poms! Gotta love it.

I bought these Karen Walker Helter Skelter sunglasses on a buy and sell facebook page but am a little unsure if they suit me. It's kinda too late to on sell them though as I already had my prescription put in, although I did keep the original lenses. My favourite Karen Walker Orbit's have proved to be impossible to get my prescription lenses in because of the unusual metal pieces around frame. Not sure what to do, let me know what you think in the comments.

Pink sunglasses Karen Walker Helter Skelter in pink
Pom pom hair clip Little Salon Gertrude Street Fitzroy
Lipstick Lime Crime Pink Velvet from Makeupnet

I'm so happy I splurged whilst in Tokyo on this great unicorn necklace by my friend Mademoiselle Yulia's label Giza.

Unicorn necklace Giza by Mademoiselle Yulia from GR8 Laforet Harajuku

This bag is another Boxing Day sale buy from earlier this year. No idea why it's taken me so long to blog it as I wear it so often.

Circle straw bag Chip Chop collaboration with Sportsgirl
Pink bangle and ring Keep Resin

Watermelon socks Gorman
Black flatforms iShoes

Get the look!!!

How YOU can WIN Lime Crime's Pink Velvet thanks to Makeupnet

The prize Thanks to Makeupnet you have the chance to win the hottest lip colour around right now - Lime Crime's always sold out Pink Velvet!
To enter Simply comment on this post explaining how you will wear your Pink Velvet lipstick if you win.
Don't forget to leave your email, twitter or blog address so I can get in touch with you if you win.
The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.
Competition is open Internationally.
Competition closes Monday 21st April 2014 at 5pm AEST.
Winner will be announced that evening via twitter and contacted via email.

Good luck xoxo

Watermelon

I've been a bit lost style wise of late. I'm kinda over pink but also still totally in love with the colour which I know makes no sense whatsoever. So I'm just going to roll with it and when I'm in a pink mood go all out. I guess that is what this outfit is, I was in an all out pink mood but perhaps it will be the last of my all pink super kawaii looks? Still deciding on that.

Outfit details
Peplum top ASOS (now sold out)
Skirt River Island via ASOS (now sold out)
Sunglasses Tsumori Chisato via Pet Shop Girls
Watermelon socks Gorman
Black bag Savers
Holographic heels Windsor Smith (similar here)
Watermelon necklace Gorman
Pink bangle Keep Resin
Pom pom earrings Bubbles Harajuku Tokyo
Lipstick Pink Velvet by Lime Crime from Lady Petrova

OMG I got a haircut! I've gone back to having a fringe and I LOVE it. It does make taking outfit photos that little bit harder when there is even the smallest gust of wind. I hate having a 'piecey' fringe - bits flying all over the place.

Sunglasses Tsumori Chisato via Pet Shop Girls
Lipstick Pink Velvet by Lime Crime from Lady Petrova

Still obsessed with my DIY decoden phone case. My easy tutorial can be found here.

Watermelon necklace Gorman
Pom pom earrings Bubbles Harajuku Tokyo

Pink bangle Keep Resin
Black bag Savers

Watermelon socks Gorman
Holographic heels Windsor Smith (similar here)

Shop the look!!!