LookBook #2: Kimonos

Welcome to my second lookbook! Today we have an insight into how I personally style my kimonos. My entire collection (all 4 of them) comes from JayJays. I will also write down where I got the rest of my outfit from as well.

I hope this helps/encourages you to embrace the kimono!

Look #1: Winter

Top: JayJays

Jeans: JayJays

Boots: Kmart

 Look #2: Spring

Dress: JayJays

Sandals: Lippy

 Look #3: Autumn

Dress: JayJays

Boots: Kmart

 Look #4: Summer

Top: JayJays

Shorts: JayJays

Sandals: Lippy

Yes, I know I own a lot of JayJays. I can't help it. They have awesome stuff.

Let me know how you liked this cookbook. Personally, this is way better than my first one, which you can see here: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz/2014/06/daisies-are-new-black.html

But that's what happens when you get more confident and comfortable, isn't it?

Shannen xx

All photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos taken by Blake <3 

How I Clean My Makeup Brushes

Before I get started, there is about a 75% chance that I'm also going to film a video of how I clean my makeup brushes. I'm not entirely sure how well I explain in this post, so it might be easier explained if I film it too. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

So, first up, you are going to need olive oil, washing up liquid, a plate and all your brushes that you are cleaning. The olive oil is to keep your brushes soft, the washing up liquid is to disinfect and clean, and the plate is to mix it all together.

Grab your first brush and swirl it around for about 30 seconds on the plate, mixing the oil and washing up liquid together. You should see the product coming off the brush. Eventually the liquid on the plate will turn an ugly brown colour. As I was also cleaning a lip brush and eyeliner brush in this lot, mine went reddish. Red from the lipstick, and slightly darker because of the black from the eyeliner. 

Repeat this till all the brushes are saturated in oil and washing up liquid. Once you have done this, plate the plate in the sink, lined up so when the tap is turned on, the water hits the middle of the plate.  With warm water running, you're basically going to copy the same process above, except with water. Swirl the brushes around the plate until the water runs clear. This can take a while with some brushes, like my bronzer brushes I was swirling for a few minutes. 

Again, repeat this until all the brushes are done. I always squeeze any excess water out of the brushes and then lay them on the sides, so the bristles are hanging in the sink. Mainly because they drain into the sink, but also this keeps the handles safe from getting too wet and being destroyed.

I also have a beauty blender to clean when i do all my other brushes, so I'm going to quickly explain how I do this.

Firstly, I soak my beauty blender. Once fully soaked in warm water, I rub a bar of soap all over it, massaging the soap in and lathering it up. I then rinse it out and repeat. I do this about 3 or four times, making sure I lather up heaps and rub it in and around and rinse thoroughly. 

I leave them out drying overnight, so always do this the night before you want to use them.

I hope this helps, and I explained it clearly. Don't be afraid to leave any questions or comments!

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

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Matte Lip Creams; Swatches and Comparisons

At the moment, in the makeup world, there has been an insurgence of lip creams, glosses and stains. These are really good if you want a bright opaque colour, but don't like to reapply every hour or so. They are a great way to finish off any outfit, by either making it a stand out point, or matching it to an aspect of your outfit.

I have 3 Australis Velour Lips and 2 Lime Crime Velvetines that I am going to swatch and compare for you today. In my personal opinion, Velour Lips are a cheaper alternative to Velvetines, as they retail for about $15 whereas Velvetines are about $30.

Both brands are great if you are trying to abstain from purchasing cruel products, as they are both against animal testing. I'm not sure if either brand is completely vegan, but at least they are one step closer to being vegan.

I'm going to swatch Lime Crime first, as I only have 2. I also find that Velvetines are a much thinner formula than Australis. With every swatch, I'm going to include a photo with flash, and without so that you can get a better idea of what the colours look like.

The first colour is Utopia. It is a bright purple colour with pink, or warm, undertones. This formula is quite thin and I find two coats is perfect.

With Flash

Without Flash

The next colour is Wicked. Wicked is a dark, vampy red. This is thicker in formula than Utopia and only requires one good coat.

With Flash

Without Flash

The first Australis colour is called Rio'D. It's a very bright, even neon, orange. I find that the formula for these are very thick, and can be quite drying.

No Flash

With Flash

Second is called Ma-Li-Boo. This colour is a very bright pink. Its quite a true pink in my opinion, as I can't see it swaying towards warmer or cooler tones.

With Flash

Without Flash

Lastly, we have Ny-Cee. This is a real 50s pin-up kind of red. A lighter version to Lime Crime's Wicked. It's definitely blue based rather than orange.

With Flash

Without Flash

I hope this post helped you out with the different matte lip products you can get. This is just comparing two different brands, but there are countless more out there on the market. If you liked this post, let me know and I can see what other lip swatches and comparisons I can do.

Shannen xx
Photos taken on a Canon 600D
18-55mm lens used
PicMonkey.com used to edit photos

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ELF Review

Today I am bringing to you a one brand review. This is an E.L.F. review. If you don't know what E.L.F. is, it's a cheap as chips makeup brand. The acronym is eyes, lips, face. They are a super affordable brand and can be purchased online at eyeslipsface.com as well as sites like beautybay and beautyjoint. If you don't like shopping online, like myself, you can also purchase it from Kmart.

I'm just going to start this off by saying that this is a glowing review. So if you can't be bothered reading this whole review, just  know that you can go wrong with E.L.F. Also, if you can't be bothered reading this, I have a video review of these products coming out on Monday so keep a look out for that.

First things first, let's start with the face powders. I have two. I have the Clarifying pressed powder on Ivory and the High Definition powder in Shimmer. 

I used the Clarifying pressed powder when my acne was really bad. It contains salicylic acid so it's really good and covering and treating acne at the same time. I loved this powder. It definitely helped soothe my acne down as well as setting my powder, helping it last all day. The HD powder is also awesome. It didn't set my powder as matte as the Clarifying powder. The shimmer in the powder is great if you take a lot of photos, as it helps blurs 'imperfections' and blemishes. 

Next is the eyebrow kit, undereye setting powder and cream eyeliner. The eyebrow kit is awesome. You would've heard everyone raving about this if you watch a lot of beauty gurus on youtube or read a lot on blogger or wordpress. The hype is real. It's amazing. Mine is in ash and it matches perfectly. The underage setting powder is an almost exact miniature copy of the HD powder except not as pink, and way more shimmer-y in my opinion. I noticed a huge difference in how my concealer lasted. It didn't feel as tacky, as well as my mascara didn't smudge down under my lower lash line like it used too. It also helps brighten up my underage circles a bit too. The cream eyeliner is the only product I have an issue with. I think this is due to my eye shape. I have hooded eyes, so whenever I applied this it just transferred to the top of my lid. I tried setting it with translucent powder, and I even tried using a black eyeshadow but it still smudged. It also doesn't matter how long I leave it to set, it will still smudge. If any one has any tips on how to get past this, please let me know on here, Facebook or youtube. 

Last but not least, we have the shimmering facial whip in lilac petal, blush in pink passion and the makeup setting spray. The shimmering facial whip is quite good. Not as highlight-y as I would have preferred, but it does the job nicely. It gives a subtle sheen, that's a light pink, champagne colour. I use it on my cheekbones and on my inner corner just to brighten things up a bit. It is also a little bit thick for my liking, but like I said, it does the job. The blush is amazing! I also really want to try their blushes in the other shades that they have too. It's super pigmented and easy to blend out. My favourite out of all these products is the makeup setting spray, which is why I saved it till last. I spray this after my moisturiser, but before I put foundation on and then again when I finish my entire face. This makes my makeup last all day, without a single thing budging. I love it so much that I now feel weird when I forget to put it on before I leave. 

E.L.F. definitely gets a 10/10 from me. Not only is it super cheap, but it's also really good quality. Also, an added bonus is that they don't test on animals. Feel free to recommend any E.L.F products that weren't mentioned above. 

Don't forget to follow me on twitter and instagram, like me on Facebook and subscribe on youtube!

All links are in the about me sections (:

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Don't forget to keep an eye out for the upcoming video on Monday (:

Lush Cupcake Face Mask Review

I love Lush products, all of them. I am yet to come across a product that doesn't smell amazing or not do the job it's supposed to do. 

I've just recently acquired a sample of the Cupcake face mask. It smells amazing.

On the label it says "Chocolate heaven for oily and teenage skin. Removes excess oil and calms breakouts."

Now as you all probably know by now, I've had some long term issues with acne. It's the one thing I can't stand about my body, and I wished my silly hormones would sort their stuff out. I am nearly 20 for crying out loud, I should no longer be dealing with these teenage problems. 

This is why I though I would try a face mask that might help sort this problem out. It is aimed for people with oily skin or who have to deal with face demons. According to the Lush catalogue, it softens, tones and cleanses with its main ingredients being a linseed infusion, fresh mint and rhassoul mud.

Now, I've only used this sample twice, so I don't know if its helped with my acne or not by calming my breakouts. I don't have oily skin so I know that side of the face mask has little effect on me. But what I do know is that this stuff smells amazing and makes my skin super soft. It also makes my skin feel really clean.

I know it looks kinda gross, but it has cocoa powder in it to make it look and smell like you're smooshing chocolate all over your face. I think it also goes with the name of the mask. The Cupcake mask is also Vegan friendly, which means no animal by-products have been used in the production of the mask.

If you're not a fan of chocolate or something in this mask doesn't agree with you, you could try Cosmetic Warrior, which Lush says "Garlic and tea tree oil work together naturally to keep troublesome spots at bay."

Lush face masks are $18.90 and you get 75g.

My sample was a spoonful and I've still got one or two masks to go, so a little goes a long way.

Especially for something completely natural, so you know you're not putting any damaging chemicals on your face.

I highly recommend Lush products.

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

Easy Eyes (Eyeliner Tricks)

If you aren't an expert at winged eyeliner, or can only do it with liquid or gel. but not both, then I've got a couple of tricks and tips for you. If you're anything like me, gel is easy to get symmetrical wings thanks to the angled brush, but liquid or pen liners can be a-whole-nother story.

The first tip I have for you is super easy and doesn't need any pictures to demonstrate because all you need to do is grab two strips of sellotape about an inch long. You needs to line them up from the outer corner of your eye to the end of your eyebrow. Before sticking them to your face after you've put your foundation and stuff on, stick the tape to the back of your hands a few times to remove the adhesive. This will make taking of the tape less damaging to your foundation. Now draw your wing right next to the tape, using it as a guide. This should help give you more symmetrical wings than doing it free hand. 

The second trick I have is a lot more difficult and I will have a couple of pictures helping to demonstrate how to do it. All you need is your eyeliner and a teaspoon. The teaspoon acts as a guide to get the perfect cat eye. 

Using the handle of the spoon, line it up as you would with the tape, then draw the line using the handle as a guide. Make sure the spoon is pressed against your face so that the eyeliner doesn't get underneath the spoon. This gives you a nice straight line to start your wing off. 

Now to get a nice even curve at the top of the wing, to connect it to your eyelid, you use the curve of the actual spoon. Line it up so it connects the tip of your wing to your lash line. This gives a nice curve and helps prevent you from having a super thick line that you can get from attempting this free hand. Again you need to make sure the spoon is pressed against your face so no leakages happen.

After using these two tips and tricks you should end up with pretty symmetrical wings, and in my honest opinion, it speeds up the process heaps! After tonnes of practice you'll be able to do it wonderfully without using the spoon or tape. Practice makes perfect! You should end up with something like this:

But remember, it may not look exactly like this because everyone has different eye shapes!

Let me know how you get on with either the tape method or the spoon method!

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

How to repair very damaged hair

If you guys read my post about my big hair change then you might be wondering why my hair isn't damaged at all. If you haven't, you can read it here: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/ch-ch-changes.html . Or if any of you have damaged hair from heat or colouring it then hopefully this post can help you.

Whenever I colour or bleach my hair, I always use the little conditioner it comes with. In my opinion, the Napro Pallette one is the best because it contains 7 different oils that are good for restoring the strength and shine to your hair. An added bonus is that it smells amazing because of the apricot oils it contains. I've had a few of these lying around recently, so every second or third day I've put these in my hair for about 5 minutes. 

Every other day that  I don't use those, I use a hair mask. I have been using the Schwarzkopf Kertain one for very damaged hair. I leave this on for about 5 minutes, even though the instructions say to only leave it on for about a minute. 

About once every two weeks, I use my purple shampoo. Now this is for a number of reasons. Mainly it's to tone my hair and remove any yellowness from my hair. But Fudge's Violet Toning Shampoo also helps to cleanse, restore strength and moisture as well as shine to your hair, so it does a number of things in order to restore it to it's healthier state. I leave this on generally for my whole shower as I like my hair very ashy, bordering on silver.

I always rinse out conditioners with cold water. It seals the cuticle and keeps the moisture in. You will also end up with shinier locks once your hair is dry!

When I get out the shower, if I've wet my hair, I will apply a few drops of macadamia oil to my hair. I'll also apply a pump of anti-frizz serum to my hair, because when my hair is dry it gets really frizzy at the ends. Sometime, if I don't use the anti-frizz serum, I'll spray some of this Schwarskopf spray into my hair. It's from the same line as the hair mask. I normally shower at night so my hair has all night to soak in the beautiful smelling oils and moisture from the products I use.

Something to keep in mind if your hair is damaged is to wash it up to 2 times a week. If you are normally a 'wash my hair everyday' type of person, you can train your hair into only needing to be washed once or twice. I used to wash my hair every second day, but even that is bad so I trained my hair into only needing to be washed once a week. I've saved heaps of money doing this because I don't go through shampoo and conditioner as fast. After one to two days after washing my hair I sometimes use dry shampoo. My favourite brand is Batiste and you can get this from Farmers.

Another thing to avoid when you have damaged hair is heat tools. I have a post on one way to do no heat curls, with more coming. But the simplest way to do it is to put your hair into braids and sleep on it. When you wake up you'll have beachy waves. If you must use heat tools, always use a heat protectant. Once i've styled my hair, I use Lush's Shine So Bright split end balm. It helps seal the split ends so they don't travel further up your hair. Split ends take about 3-4 months to form so this is when you should aim to have your trims, not every 4-6 weeks. Unless you aren't bothered about your hair growing that is. 

Once you've got those split ends though, the best thing to do is just cut them off before it gets worse, which is what I did. I'm quite lucky and have hair that grows fast though, so it won't be long before my hair is back to the length it was before I got a cute bob.

I hope this helps with your damaged hair problems. If you have any questions or feedback, hit me up and I'll get back to you!

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

DIY: Vitamin C Hair Stripper Treatment Thing?

Remember when I had red hair? Remember how I stripped it? Remember how I tried to lighten it a little bit more and it went mauve? This is how I lifted the ugly mauve colour to bleach it platinum.

After I lightened it (FAIL), I did some searching on Pinterest. I didn't want to bleach it straight away in case my hair went even darker. I found a few different methods that said they could lighten a few shades. I found one that seems really promising so I youtubed tutorials and reviews and whatnot. The vitamin c method seemed to be the best bet.

The vitamin c method had a few different variances on the ingredients aside from the vitamin c. You could use clarifying shampoo, baby shampoo or dish soap. I used clarifying shampoo because I'd had a good experience with it when I was trying to get green out of my hair.

So once you've got those 2 ingredients, what you do is, get a bunch of vitamin c pills and smash them up into a powder. Again the recipes varied. Some only used a couple while others used a whole jar. I suppose it depends on how much hair you have. I used 10 pills. I also got Blake to smash up the pills for me because they were tough little buggers. Once you've smashed all the pills ups, mix it with your choice of lather. Like I said, I used clarifying shampoo. You want to use enough to make a paste with the powder. Then once its all mixed, you smoosh it into your hair, covering everywhere that needs to be covered. Once its all lathered in, chuck a shower cap on and leave in for an hour. Or longer if you want, that also varied on the instructions. After an hour, I got in the shower and rinsed it out with my clarifying shampoo. 

The outcome of this was  so much more better than what I was expecting. Once my hair dried, it was a light peach colour, similar to what I had when I bleached Manic Panic's Shocking Blue. I kept it like that for a couple of days before I bleached it properly blonde. 

I definitely recommend this method if you just want to get rid of a semi permanent dye if you don't want to bleach your hair. I think it will work amazing. It won't lift all the colour out, but it will probably get most of it out. 

I do recommend conditioning afterwards, as it does dry the hair out a tiny bit. 

Let me know how you go if you try this!

Shannen xx

Photos taken on my iPhone and Canon 600D

Edited on fotor.com

Review: JoBaz Hair Colour Remover

Do you ever dye your hair and hate the outcome? Or maybe you wish you could get rid of the colour buildup in your hair to start all over again, nice and fresh? Hate bleach, but want to go from dark to light?

I've found the product for you!

JoBaz Hair Colour Remover is a miracle sent straight from heaven itself. As you all might know, I had bright red hair. I even had some buildup from dying over the red with more red. 

When I was thinking about going back blonde, I did a lot of research on this product. I read reviews, i watched youtube videos. I did everything I could. I bought it from Countdown. It's a pricey product, I got it for $35 on sale. Normally it's $40. I haven't seen this product anywhere else, just at Countdown.  They also have a chemical straightener type product by the same brand. 

There wasn't too much reviews on people who had used this on red hair, so I wasn't completely sure if it would work as red is a stubborn colour to remove, and my hair being so porous, it could have stained. So I bought it. And I followed the instructions to the t. I didn't want anything to go wrong with this at all. I needed this to work. 

The great thing about this product is that it doesn't damage your hair like bleach. It dries your hair out a bit, but nothing that leaving your conditioner on for an extra couple of minutes won't fix. 

I was completely blown away by the outcome of this product.

It left my hair a orange blonde, where I only needed to lift it a few more shades to get it to yellow so I could tone it to an ash blonde. It removed all of the red, except for one tiny strip that I missed. It was all gone. All of it. And I was pretty much a blonde again in one easy step.

I highly recommend this product. For anyone. But do follow the instructions or you might not get the outcome that you desire.

By the way, this stuff stinks, so do it in a ventilated room.

Five out of five stars from me!

Let me know how you went with it if you've tried it.

Shannen xx

Photos of myself taken on either my iPhone or Canon 600D

Edited on fotor.com

Photo of the JoBaz product taken from Google

Ch-ch-changes

Ch-ch-changes

Just gonna have to be a different man

Time may change me

But I can't trace time

Yes, hello. I am blonde. Yes, yes. I also cut all my hair off. 

Now I don't know if you guys know this, but I get really bored with my hair colour. Very quickly.

Also, I have always wanted to cut it into a longish bob thing. SO I DID. 

I stripped my hair using JoBaz's Hair Colour Remover, review coming soon. Then the next day I used an ultra light ash blonde. Then the next day I used a Vitamin C treatment, DIY coming soon. Then I bleached my hair, twice (not very good of me at all). This is why I chose now to cut all my hair off. My ends were quite damaged as you would expect. 

I'll let you all know now. DO NOT TRY THIS IS AT HOME. If you have red hair and want to remove it, go to a professional. Red is the hardest colour to remove, and I could have done it in a less damaging manner, but I am way to impatient for my own good. In saying that, it did give me the best excuse to cut all my hair off. 

I love my new haircut, thanks Harmony! It's something completely different and I'm glad I did it. Also, I'm always much happier with lighter hair, why did I ever go red? Brunette is not my thing. 

Since bleaching my hair, to restore it I have been alternating between a keratin hair mask, coconut oil and almond oil. All have helped wonders. Now that my hair is all cut off, I am only using coconut oil. Mainly because I don't have either almond oil or a hair mask to use at them moment, but coconut oil is enough for the time being. 

I will post a 'how to' on short hair in the next few days if anyone is interested! Although, do keep in mind I am still learning myself, so any tips and tricks will be much appreciated!

Shannen xx

All photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

DIY: Almond Oil Hair Treatment

This treatment is very similar to the Coconut Oil treatment I talked about a little while ago (you can read about it here: http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/diy-coconut-oil-hair-treatment.html?m=1). You follow all the same steps, except melting it. It comes in a liquid form already, which makes using it so much easier.

Almond oil has many, many uses. One being for hair, obviously, and others being skin and food. Almond oil helps seal split ends, so they don't split any further. It also substitutes for other leave in products. It can treat dandruff as well as makes your hair soft and shiny. If you want to know about not uses of almond oil, go here: http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-almond-oil-for-skin-hair-and-health/?ref=grk1

I was recommended almond oil by my friends Jo and Sherie. Jo actually gave me some to try, which I did last night. 

I saturated the lengths of my hair, where most damage has been done, especially the ends. I then wrapped my hair up in a towel and went to bed. I went to bed about 10pm and washed it out the next morning at about 8. 

Now as my hair is really damaged, I didn't use actual shampoo to wash it out. I rinsed it out under hot water for a couple of minutes and then applied my purple shampoo. Purple shampoo cleanses as well as helps strengthen weak hair. I left this on for about 5 minutes, rinsed it out and then applied my Shwarzkopf hair treatment. After a couple of minutes I rinsed that out and got out. 

When my hair is wet, I like to braid it so it's not getting in my way or making me cold. I didn't apply any of my normal leave in products just so I could see how well the almond oil worked. 

Now my hair is dry and it now feels just as smooth and soft as it used to, when I first went red. The ends haven't frizzed as they normally do due to the split ends, and I actually like touching my hair now. 

Next, I'm going to try a combination of both almond and coconut oil and hopefully all the perks from both oils will do their magic. 

Shannen xx

Photos taken on my iPhone. 

Birthday Lookbook and Swatches

Welcome to my first LookBook! For those of you who don't know what a LookBook is, it's basically a compilation of outfits that all come under a certain theme. Like sometimes you'll see a black and white LookBook, where all the clothes are black or white. Or maybe you'll see seasonal ones for summer, winter, spring or autumn. But in this case, my LookBook is a compilation of outfits put together from clothes I bought while in Wellington shopping for my birthday.

In the first picture I am wearing a t-shirt dress I got from ValleyGirl. I paired it with black socks and a taupe pair of ankle boots I got from Dotti. I wore my hair down and straight just to make it a bit more casual. Also it was a semi warm day so I skipped on tights and just threw on a black cardigan. 

In the middle picture, I'm wearing the dress I picked up form Mirrou. This day was colder so I wore the boots I got from Glassons, a pair of tights I picked up at the same time and my camp jacket from JayJays. I also threw on a cream scarf just to lighten up the dark tones a bit. To add a bit of a girly touch, I clipped my hair back in a half up half down style.

In the last picture, I wore this outfit out to my birthday dinner. The t-shirt dress I got from ValleyGirl along with the first one. I wore tights that I grabbed from Equip as part of a 3 for $10 deal and I just chucked on my creepers to add a bit of an edge. With my hair I just clipped back my fringe. I threw on a black cardigan as it was night and cold outside.

From my second half of my trip, I picked up a lot of make up. I've swatched here what I think is worthy of showing off the colours. In other words I didn't bother to show my foundation and concealer as you wouldn't be able to see them anyways.

Lime Crime Velvetine's go on like a lip gloss and dry matte. There is no need for a lip liner (or so the packaging says). I found this amazing to wear all day. I didn't need to reapply once, even after eating and drinking. It stuck on hard. Which also made it a bit hard to get off, but they do say on the packaging to use a certain type of makeup remover. I got the shade "Wicked" which is a very dark vampy red. Beautiful!

MAC's lipsticks in "Candy Yum Yum" and "Heroine" were eye catchers for me. They're bright, vibrant, last a long time and are matte also. And my god, do MAC lipsticks smell amazing. They smell like a vanilla cake batter or cookie dough. It's incredible. Heroine isn't showing up as true to colour. It's a much more pale, but vibrant purple. Candy Yum Yum is a bright true pink.

Nars blush in "Orgasm" is used by almost everyone. A lot of the gurus I watch on YouTube have it and rave about it. So I decided to give it a shot. And it's amazing. I don't even bother using a highlighter anymore when I use this. Its the perfect peach and its so shimmery (which I love) that it replaces my ELF facial whip. The colour is perfect for pale skin like I have. It's not too much but it still stands out in a subtle way.

Shannen xx

All photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

Follow Me: Wellington Zoo

The final part of my birthday trip was going to the zoo. The zoo is my favourite place in the world and I can't wait to go overseas and visit even more zoos. 

We spent about 2 hours at the Wellington Zoo and thank god it was a nice day, because the first time we were planning on going, the day turned to shit once we got into Wellington. We started off at the kune kune pigs, otters and penguins. The pigs were the only animals out at the start so we wondered around looking at all the monkeys and then the lemurs and then the big cats. 

Wellington zoo has a new lizard and spider part now that we also looked at. It kinda scared me, not so much the lizards, but when we got to the spiders, oh my god. The glass was all condensed so I couldn't get clear enough pictures of the spiders, but by golly gee whiz, were they huge and furry. 

After that, we looked at the giraffes and the baboons, and walked through the Australian animal part. The kangaroos and wallabies now wonder free, in a closed of section of course, but roaming along the path that you follow. There was also tasmanian devils and dingoes (dingo ate my baby, ha!).

The only animals we didn't see were the tigers and the sun bears. We had run out of time so we had to go to get into the city by lunch. I was a little sad about that, but I got heaps of footage from the rest of the zoo, and got to stand/walk next to kangaroos. That was so the scariest part of the trip, walking along just checking out the tiny wallabies, then turning your head at there is a massive kangaroo just chilling right next to the path. My heart was pounding for the rest of the time we were at the zoo. It gave me such a fright!

I got plenty of footage and am currently editing it into a follow me style video for my youtube account. It will be up on Monday so keep an eye on any updates on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx

Shannen xx

All photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

Wellington Birthday Haul Part 2!

Part two of my birthday haul happened the day after my birthday. We started the day off early, arriving at the zoo about 10.30am. I'll have more about the zoo next week if you want to know more about our adventure.

Once we were done at the zoo, we went into the city to do some shopping. Our first stop was Kirkaldies and Stains. This department store is amazing for makeup. I bought 2 lip sticks, both from MAC. Both are in the matte formula. The first one I decided to get was Heroine. I love purple lipsticks. The second one I got was Candy Yum Yum. Bright pinks are also a favourite of mine.

After a lot of umming and ahhing I decided to get a MAC foundation too. I was colour matched to NW15 if anyone wants to know. I got the Mineralize foundation.  It does sheer to medium coverage and has a dewy finish. Prices for all the products mentioned will be down below.

After Kirks, we stopped at Starbucks (of course) then moved across the road to Pandora. I got a pink leather bracelet and a silver bow as my first charm. We then walked to Cosmic on Cuba and I purchased Lime Crime Velvetine in Wicked. Such a pretty dark red.

We went back to Kirks on the way back to the car and I stopped at the Mecca Cosmetica counter and picked up two Nars products. I got their blush in Orgasm (so pretty!) and their radiant creamy concealer in vanilla.

The last thing I bought on our Wellington trip part two was a pair of all black converse, which I've wanted for ages. I was originally after the all black leather ones, but they were a bit pricey for what I had left to spend. 

I'll have a swatch and lookbook for Parts one and two coming up on Wednesday so if your curious about how these colours are like on a real life human bean, then watch this space!

Just a disclaimer, yes I bought expensive makeup. I know it's expensive, but it was a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity for me so I took it. If anyone knows somewhere cheaper to purchase it please let me know because I would love to buy it all again. 

MAC Heroine= $40

MAC Candy Yum Yum=$40

MAC Mineral Foundation= $75

Nars blush in Orgasm= $44

Nars radiant creamy concealer in Vanilla= $44

Pandora bracelet and charm= $134

Converse= $69.99 (I had a $30 voucher, so originally $99.99)

To read about the first half of our Wellington adventures, go to http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/wellington-birthday-haul-part-1.html

Shannen xx

All photos taken in a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

Wellington Birthday Haul Part 1!

My birthday was recently and the present I got from my beloved was a massive shopping trip. For this massive shop, we went to wellington. The plan was to go to the zoo and then do some shopping then go home, but when we actually got to Wellington, the weather had done a complete 180, going from sunny and warm to rainy and dreadful. So because of this, we just went to Queensgate in Lower Hutt.

This has to be my favourite mall in the lower North Island. Not only is it massive, but Starbucks is only across the road. Starbucks will always be my favourite cafe, always. I wish there was one where I lived.

So aside from spending money at Starbucks, I spent the rest on clothes pretty much. The first thing I bought was actually three pairs of tights. They were on a 3 for $10 special at Equip. I got a plain 80 denier tight, then I got a super thick pair that has a kind of flowery pattern on it and then I got a polka dot pair. After these, I got another pair from Glassons. These were just a basic pair of suspender tights as I needed new ones because my old ones all have holes and ladders in them. I then bought 3 dresses . One from Mirrou (the black one) and 2 from ValleyGirl. The 2 from ValleyGirl are a size 10 and were $15.99 each. The dress from Mirrou was a size large and was on sale for about $20 I think. We went back to Glassons after that and I bought the boots. They are a size 8 (as I'm a 7.5 so I can chop and change between 7s and 8s comfortably.) and were $60. I've had my eye on these boots for months and months so I decided to take the plunge and buy them. While buying the boots, I couldn't help but to grab their buy one get one free nail polishes. I got a bright neon orange and a pretty pastel pink.

There's this one shop in Queensgate that does piercings and sells all sorts of beauty products and stuff which is where I picked up my Beauty Blender dupe. It was $7 and works amazing. I'll do a more in depth review on it as I've only used it a couple of times and not on all of my cream/liquid products.

I think thats all I got in this trip. There will be a part two as we went a few days before my birthday and then the day after as well.

A lookbook and swatch post will be coming up once I've posted Part Two, so look out for that on Saturday!

Shannen xx
All photos taken on a Canon 600D
18-55mm lens used
Photos edited on fotor.com

OOTD: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Here's my 90's inspired outfit (Look how cute Carwen is!). I rocked this ensemble whilst at work today. Totally comfortable and casual. I wore coated jeans on the bottom. For those of you who don't know what coated denim is, the denim is coated in a kind of plastic feeling material to give a leathery look. The ones I have no longer have that leathery look as I've had them for a while now and they've been through the wash a few times. They are still super black though which is why I still wear them.

Then I have a stripey crop top, although in my opinion its not really a crop top, just more of a short top. This top reaches the top of my jeans, which are a mid rise. I've just chucked on my black cardi to warm things up as it's still cold where I live.

All three of those items are from JayJays. I am a fan of that brand, so you will notice as I post more OOTD posts.

Now, onto the most important part of my outfit, my shoes! These I recently picked up from Glassons. I've had my eye on them for a while now so I didn't mind dropping the $60 on them, and also, they were part of a birthday present from my beloved.

I just wore my everyday makeup (http://kaleidocolours.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/my-go-to-make-up-look.html). This consists of a normal face of makeup: foundation, concealer, powder, highlighter, bronzer and powder. Then I wore winged eyeliner and chucked a dark purple lipstick on (Australis Grunge).

For accessories I wore my 90's tattoo choker and bracelet as well as my Hello Kitty watch from Thailand (Thanks Jo!). My nails are painted in BYS Black.

That pretty much covers my entire outfit. Any questions about where things come from or prices, just ask and I'll let ya know!

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on 

DIY - Coconut Oil Hair Treatment

If you've coloured or bleached your hair as often as me, or if you were given dry, frizzy hair at birth then this post will help you out a lot.

Coconut oil has many uses. It can be used in cooking, hair, skin or makeup. Of course we won't be talking about cooking today. But I will give you a method on how to use it in your hair. Coconut oil makes your hair soft and shiny. This is because it is a heavy oil that actually penetrates into the hair shaft unlike lighter oils like canola or sunflower.

To use it as a hair treatment, you need about 3-5 tablespoons. This will depend on how thick or thin your hair is, or how damaged/dry it is. In the jar, it is a complete solid, so you either need to melt it down into a liquid, or rub it between your hands until it becomes a liquid. In it's liquid state it is easiest to apply to the hair. Personally, I think spooning it into a bowl and then microwaving it is the best for doing this particular hair treatment. I used about 3 heaped spoonfuls and melted it at 20 second intervals, stirring in between until it was melted completely. You don't want the oil to be hot, but it needs to be warm. Once it's melted and your hair is brushed out smooth, spoon it onto your hair, or you could use your fingers, but I found spooning it on easier. Now, you could choose to just the ends or your whole head. As my hair is ruined from years of dying and bleaching, I decided to do my whole head. You need to get all your hair saturated in the oil. Once this is done, tie it up into a bun or stick it up into a shower cap. You can leave it on for 30 minutes or for a few hours. A lot of different tutorials on Pinterest say 30 minutes to an hour before showering and washing your hair, or to leave it on for a few hours to overnight. It all depends on how much time you have. Personally, I think the longer you leave it on the better. The more time it has to penetrate the softer and shinier your hair will be. Either way, you need to rinse it out and wash your hair with shampoo. Again, the tutorials say to rinse your hair at least twice with shampoo to get rid of all the oil. You can condition as usual to make your hair even more softer, but it's not that necessary.

For extra shine, you can add a raw egg.

As an added bonus, to smooth out any frizziness on a non-hair mask day, grab a small pinch of oil and warm it up in your hands then smooth it over your hair. It'll smooth the frizz down and add some extra shine.

If you guys try this, leave me a comment on this post or comment on my facebook and let me know how it goes for you.

Also, if you would like to see a video on how to do the hair treatment to clear anything up, let me know and I'll get onto it as soon as possible.

Shannen xx
Photos taken on a Canon 600D
18-55mm lens used
Photos edited on fotor.com

No Heat Waves Trial. Did it work?

After browsing on Pinterest the last couple of days, I've decided to start a series on my blog, similar to Grav3yardGirl's "Does this thing really work?". But instead of as seen on tv products, I'm going to do different no-heat curls methods.

Today I am showing you one of the easiest ones I have come across in my browsing. This is also an alright day style too if you're alright with the milkmaid look. To start off with, you part your hair in two down the middle. Starting on one side, you twist that half away from your face. Once you get to the end of the hair, lift it up over your head, similar to the milk maid braid style. Pin it there with whatever you want, I used bobby pins. Repeat on the other side. I did this when my hair was still damp after having a shower and washing my hair. You could try it with dry hair, but I'm not sure how it will work as doing it on damp hair, it'll set that way. I slept on this for the night.

In the morning, I unpinned it and then brushed it out with my fingers. I didn't give great curls like I expected from the pictures on Pinterest, but it did give nice waves.

Overall, this no heat curls method does work somewhat. I think it would work better on thinner hair rather than on thick hair. Maybe to do it on thick hair, try separating the hair into smaller sections. I did this look the day before I got my hair cut and thinned, so I'm going to try it again tonight with my now thinner hair. I'll post an update on my facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kaleidocoloursx) about how it goes, and also how long the curls stay in with no help from any products.

So yes, this method does work, but it will depend on hair type and thickness.

P.S. I'm going to film videos on how to do the no heat curls methods you guys can see how it's done, instead of reading it. Videos will be uploaded more regularly in a few months as I get more comfortable with editing and sitting in front of a camera talking to no one.

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com

My new puppy!

Everyone meet mine and Blake's new puppy! Her name is Carwen, which is Welsh. Its another word that means love. She's a rescue pup and is about 7 weeks old. We've been told she is a pitbull cross with a staffy, but we think she is more pitty cross with labrador. She is the sweetest, cutest little trouble maker in the world and I love her so much already.

We've had her for four days already. Her special leg twitching spot is under her chin which reminds me of my cats at dad's. Cwtch (pronounced Cutch, welsh for cuddles) and Carwen get along like a house on fire, both getting over excited when they play together. More times than not Carwen will have started it first, which then gets Cwtch into trouble.

We've started training her already and she's picked up 'sit' really quickly. She also understands the 'stop' command we give Cwtch and will sit and stop when she hears it.

She's already a big part of my family, and will most likely appear in upcoming posts, either as a cute photobomb, or the post will be about her.

She's so sweet.

Sorry for the short post, but I just wanted to introduce you guys to her.
Shannen xx

Photo taken on a Canon 600D
18-55mm lens used

Something near and dear to me...

Today I am going to write about something I've struggled with for years, basically ever since puberty hit. And that issue is acne. More specifically makeup that doesn't aggravate or cause breakouts. I hope that this post will be useful to my readers of all ages. It doesn't just cover acne prone skin, but also skin that's sensitive.

I've got three products that I find brilliant for my skin, and I have very acne prone skin. Those three products are CoverGirl Clean Sensitive powder, CoverGirl Clean Senstive liquid foundation and ELF's Acne Fighting powder. I'm going to write a quick, mini review about each product. How they felt, lasted and treated my skin. 

First off is my long lasting and seemingly never ending CoverGirl powder. I wear makeup pretty much every day and this powder has lasted me months and months. My colour in this powder is buff beige, and I'm really pale. Along with my acne, I think my skin might be a little sensitive (probably caused by the acne). I found this powder was perfectly light, perfect match, and didn't aggravate any existing breakouts. If a product is to heavy on my skin my face can get quite aggravated and itchy, but I haven't found this happening with this powder. And, yes I know that this powder is reaching the end, but I'm squeezing as much as I can out of it. 

Now the liquid foundation that matches this powder is also never ending, although I do only use it as light coverage  because I didn't want my acne suffocating under makeup every day. I wear ivory in this foundation and it's perfect in winter, but slightly too light in the summer. Again, it's great for my skin. It lets my skin breathe and doesn't aggravate my skin. I would definitely repurchase these, but I'm wanting to change over completely to cruelty free makeup. Looking on both the CoverGirl and PETA website, I can't tell if they do test on animals or not, so until there is confirmation I won't repurchase these two products again. 

Now for a cruelty free option, I have ELF's acne fighting powder. This powder contains salicylic acid which is great for fighting acne. This powder helps keep your skin matte and shine free so will probably be good for oily skin as well. I'm in the lightest shade that you can get it. I can't quite recall what it is, probably light or fair. You can buy ELF either online or at kmart. 

I haven't got it, but there is also an ELF foundation that's also acne fighting and contains salicylic acid. I've seen a few reviews on this and it looks really good, so I can't wait to purchase it. I've not seen it at kmart so online will probably be your best bet. 

Shannen xx

Photos taken on a Canon 600D

18-55mm lens used

Photos edited on fotor.com