competitions

Parcel is in the post! :)

Evening all!

Simply to show people that I am honest with my giveaways, I’m uploading some pix of the parcel sent off to Anja who was the lucky winner of my recent Xmas Giveaway!

Anja this is on its way to you! Hope it arrives safely. 🙂

Empties! (December)

Heeeeyyyyy!!! 🙂 Hope you all enjoyed your New Year’s Eve and are pumped for a kick ass 2012! 🙂 I spent my NYE at a friend’s pool party, with a live band which was fun! It was very hot in Adelaide – high 30+ degrees C (and today’s even worse – 41+ degrees C!), so being at a pool party or beach party was wise! 😉 (With plenty of sunscreen etc etc of course!)

I’ve worked out my resolutions – these include exercising at least 3x a week (including weights! Historically I’ve done cardio only), to eat less processed foods, to start singing lessons (yeah! I think it will be fun! ;-)), to work to develop new and maintain current friendships, and to continue to blog regularly. What are your resolutions? 🙂

Ooh not long till entries close for my GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!!!! It is easy to enter, just click here! 🙂
(Entries close midnight 4th January 2012 Adelaide time – GMT +09:30. So hop to it!)

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Unfortunately I was a bit too efficient in getting rid of my empty stuff for December – due to the renovations = mess everywhere (!) – I’ve tried to ensure that anything I don’t need is in the bin or given away (if in give away condition!). So my product pix today are from the web. 😉

This month I only used up 2 things, as follows:

image: http://www.epharmacy.com.au

Imperial Leather Luxurious Mango Butter & Frangipani Bodywash

Price range: I picked up 2 shower gels from this range for $5 AUD, which is good value I think!

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets and chemists.

This product is awesome. Smells yummy, lathers well, and lasts a long time! I find that formula is quite moisturising. I would certainly buy this again, but next time I think I’ll pick up a scent from the range which is made in Australia (I noticed that my  boyfriend’s Lime fragranced one was made here but the mango one was made in Indonesia or Thailand, from memory).

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5

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image: bobbinsbeautybox.blogspot.com

NIVEA Visage Refreshing Facial Wash Gel

Price range: depending on where you buy it, ranging between $8 to a bit over $10 AUD.

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets, as well as chemists. I have found it to typically be cheapest at my local Coles supermarket.

I have been using this product for years and years and years! I think I have kept repurchasing it for so long as 1) I like gel cleansers that require water to wash off (as my face seems cleaner that way), 2) it has minimal fragrance so doesn’t irritate my skin. Unfortunately I am noticing that as I get older, despite my skin being combination – slightly oily, it tends to increasingly leave my skin feeling a bit tight and dry.

As such I might have to start looking at new cleansers – any suggestions?!

However I would recommend this product for those with oily skin or young (<25 yrs) combination to oily skin as it really cleans well without irritating.

I notice that the packaging says it’s for “normal and combination skin”… Hmm as I’ve suggested above, I wouldn’t recommend it for “normal” skin – I think it would be likely to dry the skin out too much!

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 5/5

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Whee! Whilst I’m typing I’m listening to (and half watching!) a Black Eyed Peas concert on my TV (downloaded ;)). I really like them I find their music very catchy and good to wake up and/or exercise to! What types of music do you like? Any BEP fans out there? 🙂

Empties! (November)

Evening all! 🙂

Wow I can’t believe how close Christmas is… I’m hoping to write my Christmas cards for work colleagues and family tonight but I’m not sure if I will get through them all in one go! :-0

If you haven’t yet, do enter my CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!!!! It is easy to enter, just click here! 🙂 It is open to Australian and international readers and visitors!
(Entries close midnight 4th January 2012 Adelaide time – GMT +09:30.)

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An interesting way of reviewing products which I have noticed is to focus on “empties”, that is, to review products that you have used up recently. I thought it was quite clever so I am going to do it too! 🙂 So here are my empties for last month:

My thoughts on these products, from L –> R:

Bathox Dry Skin Shower Gel & Bath Foam

Price range: <$10 AUD

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets!

I use this when having baths, rather than as a shower gel, but it is certainly suited to both. It smells lovely and is a gentle formula, which doesn’t irritate my skin! It also creates a nice foam/lots of bubbles in the bath.

*They also do a cherry blossom scented one which is also lovely!

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5

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Garnier Fructis Style Elastic Power Fix Hairspray

Price range: <$10 AUD

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets, as well as chemists.

I have been using this product since the start of this year and am now on my 3rd (or so!) can. It smells nice and does its job, holding my hair in place well. It is also easy to brush out and your hair still retains natural movement (so is not like wearing a helmet LOL!).

However, if you want to keep a punk, emo, or similar hairstyle in place which defies gravity, this will not give you enough hold (despite its claims of being “mega strong”).

It contains bamboo extract but the packaging does not clearly explain what is so special about that!

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 5/5

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NIVEA Invisible for Black & White Deoderant

Price range: <$10 AUD (haha everything so far in this review has a similar cost! ;))

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets, as well as chemists.

Nice scent, does what it is supposed to do (though there is no way it would really last “48 hours” as it claims; when I get home from work and get changed to exercise or attend Zumba I need to reapply!), and lasts a reasonable time. Most importantly, to date (I have been buying this one for approx. 6 months, prior to that I was using Rexona’s version of the same product which I found had changed formula and was not as effective for me :(), I have not had any white marks on black or darker coloured clothing nor yellow marks on white and/or light coloured clothing.

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 4/5

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Nutrogena Oil Free Moisture: Sensitive Skin

Price range: approx. $15 AUD

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets, as well as chemists.

I bought this when looking for a light night cream. Unfortunately, despite me having combination skin, it did not provide quite enough hydration for me and I had to apply a lot for my skin to feel moisturised. (The back of the bottle indicates only “1 pump” is needed for your entire face and neck; for me it was approximately 3!!!!)

I think this would be best for those with oily skin.

Beautiful rating: quality 3/5, value 3/5 (based on my skin type)

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Hope that you all have a great week ahead; don’t forget to enter my giveaway competition!!! 😉

~ GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!!! ~

***5/1/2012 -This competition has now closed. To read the winning entry check out my blog post here!***

Hi everyone!

My combined Twitter followers and Facebook page fans have now reached >100! 🙂 Due to this, and the upcoming Christmas and holiday season, I am running a giveaway competition. I want to thank my readers, visitors and supporters and I thought this would be one of the best ways to do it!! 🙂

This competition is open to ALL, WORLDWIDE!

The prize will be a package of beauty goodies, including but not limited to (I’m likely to add a couple of extra things between now and competition close):

• AVON Personal Match Smooth Mineral Makeup Powder (SPF 10) in Almond (can be used as a blusher and/or bronzer if you have very pale skin);
• REVLON Super Lustrous Lipstick in Ginger Rose, #131;
• BURT’S BEES Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream & (mini) Coconut Foot Cream; and
• SCHWARZKOPF Q10 Recharge SOS Hair Repair Treatment!

***How to win?***

1. Follow me on Twitter (beautstoryblog) or become a fan on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/A-beautiful-story/112344835541832). AND

2. Comment on this post with your response to the following question:

What is the best health or beauty advice that you have ever been given?

3. Please include your Twitter name &/or Facebook name in your comment so that I can easily confirm that you are a Twitter follower &/or Facebook fan!

Competition will be open for 1 month – so from today 4th December 2011 until midnight 4th January 2012 Adelaide time (GMT +09.30). The winner will be judged by me based on what I think is the best response to the question.

Good luck!!!!! 🙂

a *slight* obsession…

How has everyone’s weekend been? For me yesterday was great but today not so much – however I always do prefer Saturdays to Sundays! (For me Saturdays mean I still have another day to go before work starts lol!)

*Cough* I have at least a – um – slight obsession with Hello Kitty! It all started in high school when I was really into cute/kawaii things, and has stuck ever since!

I got super excited when I read that Priceline, a big chemist chain over here, is now stocking a range of Hello Kitty inspired cosmetics! 🙂 I will be sure to be reviewing some of this stuff in the future…

The best thing about it is that Priceline is currently running a competition where there are 10 mega packs of Hello Kitty cosmetics to give away! (Which is great as it means that we can all potentially win haha! ;)) Check it out via their Facebook page.

Do any of you have things that you obsess over or love to collect, like me and Hello Kitty stuff?

Have a great week and I hope to post up some new reviews in the coming days. 🙂