༺ WoreSawHaul: A Sydney Vintage Gal Meet up ༻

OhMyGoodness you guys!!  This is me, Saturday past.  Yup, yours truly standing right next to Ellen from A Wild Tea Party and Nora from Nora Finds!!  *fangirl gush*  Ahem. So sorry…  I shall compose myself, I promise.

Really though, I do have a little bit of a good reason to be excited ~ it was my first real life blogger meet up!  (╯°□°）╯ I feel very privileged to get the opportunity to spend time with Nora before she moves over to the UK ~ especially because, to be honest, interacting with other vintage loving girls only happens online for me.

Yes, I was totally nervous {Sydney traffic making me late DID NOT HELP, neither did the fact that my dang petticoat would NOT sit neatly under my dress; and I didn’t have another one with me to wear instead, and I felt totally not-put-together because of it…. : / }, but Nora and Ellen were so friendly and lovely that it didn’t matter in the end.

And of course, we had to do all those things that bloggers do when they get together ~ this is so much fun btw!! It was great to be able to be all “Ooo, pretty pavers ~ I need to get a snap so I can Instagram it!” without having to do it on the sly so that you don’t get weird looks from your non-blogger friends. Haha!

Anyway, I thought I’d ramble on about my outing with a new series called “WoreSawHaul”  which is pretty self explanatory. It’s all about what I wore, what I saw and what I hauled ~ because you know that there is no way I’m going out exploring vintage shops without coming home with some pretties!  \ (*≧▽≦)ノ

So without further ado;

~ WHAT I WORE ~

 

Thank you Nora for taking these photos!

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Vintage Crumpled Cream Hat | Love Vintage Fair, 2011
Daisy Garden 1950’s Vintage Dress | eBay
Triple Strand Pearl Set | Christmas Gift
Petticoat | Doris Designs Adult 26" Petticoat in Peach
Ivory Jelly Wedge Sandals | eBay

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~  WHAT I SAW ~

Newtown!  Actually, King Street in Newtown, Sydney, specifically. We wandered up and down the street having a peek at any of the shops that caught our interest. 

The first shop we visited was The Vintage Drawer, which is owned by the lovely Deborah, and to whom I was introduced to by Nora {I swear she knows just about everyone in the vintage scene! So impressive}. 

~ This photo and the one at the beginning of this post is thanks to Nora again, and to Deborah who kindly took the snaps for us! ~

We browsed incredible dresses that were so drool worthy, tried some Bésame cosmetics and took selfies ~ DUH!  And then I proceeded to let my husband walk off with the camera in the stroller {along with the son and two daughters, he really is the best Mister ever!} so I have no photo evidence of any of the other shop stops…  D’oh!

I’m just going to have to tell you all about it instead. We visited a shop that had tons of kitschy, awesome stuff ~ jewellery, decor, clothes, etc ~ it was called Made 590. I made my first purchase there and spotted the cutest clock that I wanted for my office ~ it was a pony! 

We also visited an antiques and collectables shop and had a good giggle at some of the scandalous paperback-covers-come-posters that were there, and tried very hard not to bump anything with our petticoats {my petticoat was as wide as the aisle!}.

We stopped at a few others, the main one being Retrospec'd, where I just couldn’t help myself when I saw… Oh! But that would be spoiling the next part, so I’ll leave that bit for later.  (- ‿◕)

I will say that I instantly fell for the Freddie Knitted Top in antique {sage} green and have nefarious plans to add it, and the navy one, to my wardrobe. *insert grabby hands* Must have!  (> o <)

We went to Doughbox Diner for dinner, which was unbelievable ~ the food was amazing! You think you’re getting burgers and chips, but instead you are surprised with a popcorn bread basket, and a crepe cone! They are right when they warn you about the addictiveness of the food; the Avocado Bite I ordered was divine.

Of course, it was all over far too soon, but I had a really great time and I’m so glad I got to meet Ellen and Nora! (✿◠‿◠)

The story is still not quite over yet, because some very delightful little things found their way into my suitcase to be carried home!

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~ WHAT I HAULED ~

These beauties!  *squee!!*  I have been dying to try Bésame cosmetics for years ~ and I do mean years! I heard about Bésame when I first started wearing vintage, and back then they weren’t available in Australia at all. So when I came across their products at The Vintage Drawer I was determined to pick some up and finally experience the luxurious, elegant makeup for myself.

Then while we were at Retrospec’d, Erstwilder lured me into picking up not just one, but two of their sensational designs.  The cute resin bird and heart brooch I found at Made 590. It’s by The Moby Duck, a local company from Melbourne.

The red heart topped with the swooping pearlescent dove reminds me of those sweet celluloid vintage brooches, and it’s perfect for my winter wardrobe when it swings around to blacks and reds again. The sleeping mint green fox is too cunning for words ~ I’m smitten by the color and of course, the polka dots!  The flower on the right is a Waratah, a stunning native Australian flower. I love that it’s a subtle symbol that shows I’m proud to be Australian.

Bésame rouge in Crimson Cream. I was so tempted to go with the lipstick in Red Hot Red, as it looks like the perfect red ~ with that touch of coral undertone. I have one such lipstick in my collection, but I have been looking for another. 

However! The rouge wooed me in the end as I have one pink-y cream rouge, but no other blushes. Deborah gave a demonstration with Ellen as her model, and it looked so perfect. A natural rosy glow that had me sold.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I found my first nylon hair scarf! It’s not vintage, but I’m okay with that as it really is super sweet.  ( ^ _ ^)∠☆

Heheh, I didn’t take a photo of it with all the other stuff because I was wearing it in my hair and only remembered about it the very last minute before I stopped shooting. But I love the fluffy peach goodness, and yes, I’m wearing it right now as I type this post.

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If you’re exhausted after reading all that ~ don’t worry so am I! But it doesn’t quite stop there as we celebrated Mother’s Day on the Sunday following, so I’ll have a post about that later this week as well.  Whew!

Tell me though, what’s your favourite thing to do when you meet up with vintage or blogger {or both!} friends? I certainly don’t want this to be my last meet up! I am keen to hang out if there is anyone else who would like too ~ and any ideas for what we could do would be fun!

xox,

bonita

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༺ Review: Rose Hip Oil ༻

I have found one skin care product I can't live without ~ Rose Hip Oil. This may sound like a drastic statement, but it’s true. I have struggled with skin problems over the last five years, and my skin was the worst it has ever been {even as a teenager} after Isabelle, my second child, was born.

I had blotchy, uneven skin tone, weird red patches, flaky skin, oily skin and loads and loads of spots all over my face that would take forever to heal. It was depressing, to say the least. I thought I’d left the acne behind, but now I had adult acne to deal with.

But my little sister went on a health kick {organic natural EVERYTHING} and told me to try Rose Hip Oil and Sukin Organics skin care products. I loved the cleanser, the toner and the hand cream, but I was astounded by the results of the Rose Hip Oil! It made me an essential oils convert for life.

Product Details: 

I bought my oil from a local discount chemist supplier, but you can purchase Rose Hip Oil online, or just about any where ~ it must be pure however, or it is not going to be as good for your skin. Trilogy skin care products have developed a reputation for the purest rose hip oils available and the best for skin nourishment.

More details about the Trilogy Rose Hip Oil product:

• An efficacious reparative oil for face & body
• Contains pure natural rosehip oil, rich in essential fatty acid (omega 3 & 6)
• Provides all-over hydration, strengthening & healing action
• Remarkably corrects the appearance of scars, stretch marks, fine lines & wrinkles
• Effectively treats dehydrated & aging skin
• Unveils a softer, smoother, more refined & healthier looking complexion
• To use: Gently massage a small amount into face or body day & night. Use alone or together with your regular moisturizing products

 

Review:  

My skin cleared up in a week to two weeks of using 3-4 drops of Rose Hip Oil every evening after cleaning my face with Sukin Face Cleanser. My skin tone evened out, the blotchy-ness and redness faded away, and while I still have to deal with errant spots breaking out on my chin, the rest of the acne has pretty much disappeared. Even better, the spots that I do get every once a month or so {you know the ones…}, aren’t as angry and don’t take half as long to heal.

I did fiddle around combining Rose Hip Oil with other traditional moisturizers for a few months, but now I use Rose Hip Oil mixed with a 50/50 base oil of Sweet Almond Oil as my only facial moisturizer. I have plans to add a few other essential oils to the mix:

• Argan Oil for greater moisturizing properties
• Ylang-ylang Oil for balancing properties – good for combination skin {this oil is very expensive though!}
• Neroli {orange blossom} Oil for healing scarring
• Chamomile Oil for healing damage skin and fighting acne

I will play around with the mixes, trying to get them in the right balance for my skin. That is the great thing about essential oils, you can create your own personalized skin care product with a little bit of research. Alternatively, there are a lot of skin oils available from cosmetic companies if you are looking for something simpler.

In saying that, if there is only one oil that you want to try, I would start with the Rose Hip Oil. It seems to be the most ‘all-purpose’ oil for skin care, acting like a multivitamin for your skin: rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants that are essential for skin health.

My Top Tip:  It is recommended to use some sort of carrier {base, or ‘real’ oil} to mix with your essential oil. I found that the Rose Hip Oil by itself did make my skin feel a bit too dry after a few weeks of use, I would recommend mixing it.

Conclusion:  

I will use Rose Hip Oil for my skin for the rest of my life. Other products may come and go, but not this one!

Rating:   10/10 ~ for perfect skin care. 

xox,

bonita

Discloser |  I am not affiliated with Trilogy, Sukin Organics or any other product mentioned in any way; I bought this product myself and chose to review it because I like it. (✿◠‿◠)

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~ Review ~ Imju DEJAVU Fiberwig Mascara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought the Imju DEJAVU Fiberwig mascara two or so years ago after reading a recommendation on Eki’s blog ~ ekiblog.com and since then it has been my go-to mascara.

The reason I had wanted to try it was that Eki had said it worked really well and gave your eyelashes a ‘falsie’ effect without actually having to wear false eyelashes.

Now, who wouldn’t want longer, nicer lashes?  I put it on my “to buy” list and here we are. 

I don’t consider myself a beauty blogger, but I do like trying out new products and when I find something that really works ~ I can’t keep it to myself! This mascara is, in my opinion, a. w. e. s. o. m. e. 

For the visual people here are the photos of what it looks like on:

    

        ~ No mascara…  Eeep! ~                ~ With a two-three coats of Fiberwig ~

   

~ With Covergirl Blast Volume mascara ~           ~ With Fiberwig over the top ~

~ The left eye with just Fiberwig; the right with Covergirl and Fiberwig over the top ~

For anyone who wants more detailed information I have more facts about Fiberwig,  plus my own personal experience using this product.

Instructions: Like any other mascara; apply to lashes.  Sweep from the bottom of the lash to the tip.

Extra tips and information:

• When pulling the brush from the tube, be sure to gather plenty of fibers. You will immediately see the fibers on the brush.
• Start applying the fibers to your lashes by using the tip of the brush. Add fibers to both the top and bottom part of your upper lashes. This will film-coat your lashes completely.
• Apply fibers on the top part of your lashes too.
• Once fibers are added unto the lash, use the brush to stroke the lashes from root to tip until desired length is reached.  Take plenty fibers and apply to your lashes repeatedly; no need to worry about clumping and flaking.
• To achieve the best length, be sure to dip the brush into the tube between layers to gather more fibers.

Product Details: I bought my mascara off eBay ~ if you search eBay for Fiberwig mascara you find a lot of mascaras for sale, so just beware of fakes.  

I purchased it from here and it was marked with “Made in Japan” so I am fairly confident it wasn’t a fake.

Here are more details about the product itself:

• Fiberwig is the top-selling mascara in Japan - beating the competition with remarkable, "false eyelash-like" results.   Fiberwig coats each individual lash with a light film of fibers. Your lashes become coated with a film.

• Fiberwig is made up of two types of extra thin nylon fibers; a short and a long fiber. The short and long fibers intertwine to form a light and smooth film coating that gently surrounds and seals onto your lashes.

• As the fibers seal onto your lashes, they seal onto each other. As a result the extended fiber lashes give your natural lashes appearance of extreme length.

• Fiberwig's light film coating defines and separates each lash while creating a fresh and natural gloss finish. Thanks to the film-coated lashes, Fiberwig will not smear nor smudge when you tear or sweat.

• Wear it on hot, humid or rainy days without fear of smudging anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

• Apply it in the morning for work straight through late at night without worrying about panda eyes!

• Fiberwig's film coating resists tears, oil, and sweat. Yet when you are ready to remove, all that is needed is warm water!

• Fiberwig absorbs the warm water and then swells, making it easy to slide off your lashes. When washing your face, simply wet your lashes with warm water. Then gently slide off the fibers with your finger and thumb.

• Have you ever applied mascara but mistakenly missed your lashes only to dab some on your face?  Fiberwig is easy to remove. Simply wait a couple of seconds for it to dry and peal off with a Q-tip.

Review:  When I first used this mascara I thought that although it lengthened my lashes wonderfully it did not add enough volume so I was not really very happy about that.  But I tried it again over the top of my Covergirl Blast Volume waterproof mascara and it worked wonders! 

I found that it did not smudge {unlike waterproof mascara…  Been there, tried that!}, it did not run ~ even when swimming{!!} and it came off super easily without leaving dark rings under and around my eyes.   {Although sometimes the Covergirl does not come off with the Fiberwig and then I have to deal with that separately.}

What can I say?  After years of using waterproof mascara because I hate how easily normal mascara runs I had resigned myself to smudge-y, hard to remove smears and panda eyes in the morning.  I could never get all of the mascara off, no matter how hard I scrubbed, so I always woke up to a mess. 

At the risk of sounding like a corny commercial ~ Fiberwig changed all of that.  I can actually just wash it off at the end of the day and it is all good.  Sure, I still find little flakes of black on my skin if I do not do a good enough job cleaning it all off.   And sometimes when I swim the mascara will peal off depending on how warm the water is, but mostly it stays put.  

And yes, I pulled out the big test.  Tears.  Lots of them.   It did not even move.   I was really stoked!  After I got over being miserable and sad that is….   (> .  <’)

Plus, it really does lengthen and define your lashes, so that they look lush and long.   Maybe they are not quite as dramatic as fake eyelashes, but you get most of the benefits of fakes without the actual application of falsies.

Conclusion: Love, love, love it!   No smudge, no smear, no mess mascara that looks great!   I do not think there is a better mascara out there, and although I have sometimes been swayed by new mascaras and all the hype, I’ve always come back to Fiberwig because it really has been the best mascara I’ve ever used.  

My Tip: Find a clear mascara that volumizes your lashes and apply Fiberwig over the top.  You do need something underneath to get a full lash effect ~ you could also try a plumping mascara. 

Rating: 1 million/10? {Haha!} ~  but really, this mascara is fantastic.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review. I pulled it up from the archives of Depict This! because I thought it was a useful post to keep around.

xox,

bonita

Discloser |  I am not affiliated with Fiberwig in anyway; I bought this product myself and chose to review it because I like it.  Plain and simple.  (✿◠‿◠)

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