New tattoo design

The last week I've been working on and off with my 4th and 5th tattoo design as I have had a busy and tiring schedule all week.

But here as I promised at the end of my Black and Gold post (which you can reference here ) is my latest French Art Nouveau inspired tattoo from start to finish:

1: Starting off. It already looks pretty :-)

2: I Thought this was finished but I wasn't so happy with how cluttered it looked

3: End product!

After getting opinions from friends of what I could do to change it up as I thought it looked too cluttered, I thought I'd ask my manager at work and she advised that I remove the spikes that were sticking out.
I was a bit sceptical at first as I wanted to incorporate some of my first tattoo into this but I'm glad I took her advice as I was originally going to remove the star in the middle which has always been my signature edition to any art work I do.

I personally think it looks feminine and very Art Nouveau, I gave a subtle red tint which makes it pop but the real hero was my Black Beauty art pencil!

I will be getting this and another copy of this tattoo but different words on my upper thighs as there is plenty of room to fit this piece of art on them (LOL).
The words, however, are a quote from one my favourite movies The Moulin Rouge which in French (I have strong French ancestry BTW) mean's 'Truth (Verite!), Beauty (La Beaute'), Freedom (La Liberte') and Love (L' Amour)'.

So what do you think of this? Anything you could recommend for me to change or add onto it?

Hope you enjoyed, I'm soon off with my best friend into town to go get our Evanescence Cd's signed off by the band who did a concert last night at The Vector Arena in Auckland and I'm super excited as they are one of my favourite rock bands! :-)

Lotsa love xx

Domestic Goddess......lol

So started my Saturday off doing an hour and half of cardio and strength training at the Gym and came home and felt the sudden need to clean EVERYTHING!
Which, is incredibly foriegn to me.
On top of that I baked the most amazing Devils food cake which I saw the lovely Nigella Lawson (female version of Jaime Oliver, also British) make on her day-time T.V show and I'm not afraid to admit that it made me do an embarrassing Homer Simpson drool.....

Here is the outcome..... and here's wheere you can find the recipe:(http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/DEVILS-FOOD-CAKE-5310)
I promise you, it's definately worth the two and a half hours to make it!

Base X2

This is a chocoholics best friend, but not you're hips!

Voila!

Do I feel guilty.....yes, yes I do.
But you gotta indulge every now and then!
And I'll be sharing it with my lovely boyfriend Andrei when he gets home after he eats some grilled lamb chops and a side of veges (trying to be healthy!!!), I'm such a good girlfriend XD

Hope this doesn't tempt you too much, happy Saturday everyone!!!

Tip of the Day!

Kia Ora all!
(just in case you're not kiwi, it means "hello" and "thank you" in Maori)

From my last post I forgot to mention some vital information to help care for you're nail polish which is by making a little storage place in the most unlikely place..... you're very humble refridgerator!

Yup you heard right.
It keeps you're nail polish at perfect storage temperature and it wont risk you're lovely colours going all clumpy.

I strongly suggest you give it a go as good nail polish isn't cheap and it will give you more bang for you're buck :-)

That's me for today, let me know how it turns out if you want.....

Laters!
xoxox

Black and Gold

Hi Ladies!

Hope you had a fab weekend and a somewhat good Monday.
My weekend was great! Sleeping, watching movies with my boyfriend Andrei, eating pizza and more sleeping! Gotta love those total veg out weekends :D

To make a good start to my week I still had money left over from my pay and decided to treat myself (and nails) to some new nail polish from my favourite manufacturer O.P.I.
I purchased this uniquely lovely olive and gold colour from the new Kardashian Range called 'Nicole' for a very fair $20! The polish itself is named "Sea how far you go"

Here's a sneak peak....

I decided to give the polish it a bit of and edge with painting my engagement finger over with some Black Shatter also by O.P.I

I can't get over how pretty the colour is and how it gives off a foil tint to it which doesn't look at all tacky and is definatley good for this chilly Autumn season N.Z has just entered into.

Btw, I have a new tattoo design which I'm planning to get on my upper thighs so I will keep you posted :-)

Hope you had a happy Monday!
xx

FOTD

Hello all!

This is the first time I've managed to hit my blog all week I've been so busy with work!
The previous week I was off sick for 3 days which is never a good thing as the backlog of work is enough to give you whiplash!

On the brighter side of life, I made sure to keep myself in better spirits by keeping myself healthy all week (although not stress free).
I hit the gym every morning for 45mins before work, eating healthy too which I must say have had amazing effects on my skin this last week hence me stressing about all the work I had to catch up on!

Yesterday my skin glowed more than ever; and from my blog which showed the almost 'makeup free' essentials I use on my face everyday I decided to take a picture to show how good a tinited moisterizer, swipe of mascara and lipgloss can do...here is my Face Of The Day for Friday 9th March....

So here it is! And this is all I used to create this pretty much au natural look:

• Aveeno 'Positively Radiant' SPF 30 moisterizer - make sure to apply it in upward strokes on neck, face and especially you're chest! Also just dab gently around the eyes
• The Body Shop 'Lip and Cheek stain' - swipe each side of the contours of youre cheeks and rub in circular motions until you have a slight pink tint. Whatever is remaining on the brush/applicator apply to youre lips which gives it a nice tint also :-)
• The Body Shop lip gloss/balm in 'Cranberry Joy' - This tates amazing as well as makes you're lips look delish! Apply as much as you need
• And last but not least, The Body Shop 'Define and Lengthen' mascara - apply two coats on the top and one on the bottom lashes. Im actually not wearing mascara in this picture, my eyelashes are already quite defined.

You can still see a few blemishes and scarring which I don't bother fussing over anymore, skin is skin afterall and I do make sure I take good care of mine.

 I'd definately perfer this look for during the week and leaving the full makeup applications for a good night out or special occasion.

Like this look? If you have any tips for a 'barely there' look let me know, hope you enjoyed :-)

POTD

Before I give my internet a break today, here is my pic of the day!

My dad took this photo of me on an awesome day out we had together :-) This is called the Eagle pose in Bikram yoga and took me a whole month to perfect when I was 14.

I'm 21 now and still have that flexibility! This was taken with an iPhone too, not bad huh?

Also I saw this on another blogger profile and just had to do one myself:

Age: 21

Bedsize: Queen.

Chores that you hate: Cleaning the toilet

Dogs: No, used to and would love another!

Essential start to your day: A big Breakfast!

Favorite color: Purple

Gold or Silver: Both

Height: 5 feet/4 Inches

Instruments you play: Nada

Job title: Administration Officer

Kids: Nada

Live: Auckland

Mother’s Name: Linda

Nicknames: Tussy, Shay, Ley, Leya, Shaz

Overnight hospital stays: Yep, a very long time ago

Pet peeves: People that try and talk to me or talk in movies!

Quote from a movie or tv show: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return" - Moulin Rouge

Right or Lefty: Righty.

Siblings: 3 sisters, 2 brothers

Time you wake up: 5am

Underwear: Yer..?

Vegetable you hate: I eat all?

What makes you run late: The bus :-(

X-Rays You’ve Had: Twice on my right wrist

Yummy food you make: Eggplant Mousakka, berry crumble, roast dinners, ice cream sundaes, brownies, heaps more...

Zoo Animal: Wolves

Give it a go! It's quite interesting.....

Thrift finds: Recents and the best of...

It's Sunday y'all!

And as you can guess from my last blog post I did end up going clothes shopping with my man for 2 hours straight in the wind and rain which was less than ideal, but I can only think that ladies will understand these circumstances for wardrobe building (come wind, rain or shine!).
Surprisingly I had no problems or frustrations from him whilst I constantly changed my mind over and over, which even to me felt like forever, what a champ :-)

So here are some of my latest finds from Recycle Boutique, who had a Buy 2 get one free deal this Saturday only, it's gotta be sheer luck!

Due to it being a lot colder than normal, I decided it would be good to wrap myself up and also follow a bit of the latest fashion trends with cable knit sweaters. I came across this little beauty!

Unfortunately the picture does not do this mocha coloured sweater justice as it has tiny gold scales on it.

The brand, however, I researched is an Italian designer called Stefanel which have some beautiful clothing on their web page and I picked this Pure Virgin Wool and Angora sweater for a lovely $56!!!

Sweet deal and keeps me toasty warm :D

Next on my list of goodies....

Grey scarf from Topshop brought for $16.50!

Its connected and very long, I manage to wrap it around my neck comfortably about three times, I can't believe what a steal this was!

Third on my list is this awesome American designer Ronny Kobo t-shirt which looks quite large (well...it is) but it's super comfy and when paired with some skin tight jeans and knee high boots will look super sexy ;-)

$24 I picked this up for.

And to start off my Best Of list is......

My amazing authentic Christian Louboutin heels valued at around $1000.00 from what I researched and brought for $60!!!!

Equipped with his trademark red sole (yay!) these slip on my size 6 feet like a glove and they're not too high either, also cause of their nude colour they can be paired easily with any outfit (thank you Mr. Louboutin!).

Definitely first on my best buys from a recycled clothing store :-)

Next on my best of list is this Victorian inspired tunic dress from an unknown brand.

This was my first purchase from Recycle Boutique and I have found to be quite lucky as I seem to have my best days in this :-)

This photo does not do it any justice as it's not this see through but as you can see the detailing is beautiful and is a very complementary colour on any skin type and is very slimming.

Purchased for $24 if I remember right.

And last but not least on my list is this 50's inspired leopard print dress quipped with front pockets which I think is quite a cute and nifty detail to this little honey!

I love the fact that when ever I wear it I can't help but to twirl!

And it lifts up and does that trademark 50's dress twirly thingy which I get all giddy about :D

Love this one off dress and brought it for a lovely $50!

As you've noticed I do quite a lot of thrift buying, something that my mum taught me from an early age, it's great and the things that you find that people don't want to own anymore is amazing.

I can spend hours looking through the racks and liking the fact that no one else (you hope) will have the same thing.

To me it kind of marks you're individual style and also things that you would never find in all these other retail stores that people shop in and never think twice that second hand stores offer way more in quality and like I mentioned before, individuality in style.

Some food for thought, before you buy a t-shirt from you're fave retail store that offers it for $100, a second hand store can offer it for $20....

Hope you enjoyed!

TGIF and POTD

Happy Friday!!! (And thank god to it! )

I had the most busiest day at work, it just wouldn't stop going! I took down 2 hours of meeting notes and just wouldn't stop rushing about; although it was quite productive and made my day go by splendidly so I can't really complain :-)

Plans for the weekend, however, is to go to my favourite thrift store (and little piece of heaven) in all of New Zealand..... Recycle Boutique!
They range from you're everyday lables such as Glassons, Cotton etc etc but most importantly, because being based in the city, they have Designer labels too ranging from Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin (who I snagged an amazing pair of nude heels at just $60 authentic too!), and some great New Zealand Designers such as Trelise Cooper, Lonely Hearts, Karen Walker and many more....!
So I'll be sure to upload some pics of what I brought to cure my early winter blues as well as show some of my best thrift buys.

In other news, I thought I may just put up my pic of the day

As you can see the photo below is just some every day beauty products I turn to during my week at work.

As much as I love makeup (my faves being Bobbi Brown, M.A.C, Lancome, The Body Shop and Clinique) I just don't feel like making the time to spend hours in the mirror when I can get up have breakfast and a good workout at the gym y'know?
So here are my go to products listed for the lazy makeup lover:

Pic 1 top left (from left to right): - Third application

1. All the Body Shop 'Cheek and Lip Stain'
2. The Body Shop 'Cranberry Joy' Lip Balm - apply after cheek and lip stain
3. The Body Shop 'Define and Lengthen' mascara (not waterproof)

Pic 2 top right: - First application

1. Lush 'Coal Face' solid Cleanser ($30) - great for all skin types and an investment! You only need to slice off a small amount, preferably the size of you're 'ring' finger nail and it clears up you're skin like no-ones business!

Pic 3 bottom left: - Second application

1. Aveeno 'Positively Radiant SPF 30' Moisterizer - This is beautiful on skin! Brings out the natural glow, hardly any chemicals in it and even covers up some blemishes whilst giving you sun protection which I stress about as the sun in NZ is pretty bad over here :-(

Pic 4 bottom right:

1. My vintage Elizabeth Arden makeup box whixh I've had ever since I was 6 years old. Keeps alot of treasures in it, including those little cosmetics ;-)

I hope you enjoy!
Any questions or reccommendations let me know xx