Cheap & Cheery.. sunshine for days

Today was spent trying to sell clothes again at mine & Sarah's Yard Sale, while no money was made by me today, I did manage to get some shots of my new very budget friendly purchases. I realise that what I'm about to say may shock a few readers but shame or no shame, I must say that I love Kmart!

The dress pictured below was $10 from Kmart! The long black tube skirt.. $15! These were incredible bargains and I only spent 5 minutes in store. Since the rework of the buying department at Kmart, they've really stepped up their game. Here's a few shots taken today, thank god it was before the sunburn, I am now a beetroot.

Black sheer maxi $10, Kmart

Jeffrey campbells Holographic Litas $90 Nasty Gal

Black Felt Hat, Sarah's own

Sunglasses $1 Thai markets

Fur $50, Yard Sale

Black Sheer Maxi $10, Kmart

Jeffrey campbell's Holographic lita's $90 Nasty Gal

Sunglasses $1, Thai markets

Adding fur & a hat can add a bit of drama to any dress or outfit & let's face it, in Melbourne it's not uncommon to spot fur in the Summer.

Black maxi tube skirt $15 Kmart

Blouse $10 Yard sale

Black maxi Tube skirt $15, Kmart

Fringe top in grey marle $5 Yard sale

Totally obsessed with my jeffrey's! I love the holographic print thats surfacing right now, especially with an all white combo. I always buy my Jeffrey's from nasty gal.com as they're so much cheaper. while these bad boys aren't cheap, they're worth every cent! So comfortable and amazing!

A big thank you to my girl Sarah for being my photographer today, love your work!

I hope your faith is somewhat restored in kmart now, thank you for reading.

Peace & love to you all.

xox

HOW TO: Minimise your make-up use.

I personally hate what liquid foundation and concealer does to my skin. I don't like the way it feels and I believe that it starts a vicious cycle of foundation dependancy and bad skin. That being said, I don't walk around completely naked either. Over the years I've developed a system of applying just a few products to enhance my natural look & save my skin some stress. I am going to share this process with you right now! It will save you time, money and it will give your skin the much needed chance to breathe and heal. If you do this for 2 weeks I guarantee that you will notice an improvement in blemishes and skin tone. Make sure to drink plenty of water too. This is vital, hydrated skin glows from the inside out.

Step 1: Cleanse- wash your face with a natural cleanser (or your preferred brand) I prefer Surkin Organic Cleanser $9.95 from Priceline.

Step 2: Moisturise- Apply your preferred moisturiser.

Using these 6 products or similar you will transform your face.

Step 3: Apply a pressed powder with a brush, I use Australis Fresh & Flawless pressed powder in darkest brown $10.95 Priceline. Lightly brush the powder onto your face and neck. If you have a blemish apply some cleanser in a dabbing motion and then lightly pat the brush onto it to cover and heal at the same time.

*You can also use a mineral powder or translucent powder. Technically it is a form of foundation but its much less damaging to the skin as most foundation contains a lot of oils that block the pores and cause blemishes.

Step 4: Apply your preferred Mascara (2 coats)

*When I can afford it I generally get cudo deals on eyelash extensions at cudo.com.au but at the moment I'm using a new mascara I got from Mecca Cosmetica $36 Stilla Major Major Lash & Australis eyelash extender $14 priceline. I apply the extender first, allow that to dry and then I apply the Major Major Lash.

Step 5:  This step is optional but if like me you're eyebrows are mostly blonde, applying a mineral eye brow pencil lightly can define the shape and frame your face. The idea is to make it look as natural as possible, I use feather light strokes in the direction of the hair growth, mimicking the look of the hair.

Step 6: Apply Bronzer lightly across the apples of your cheeks and lightly frame the face and around your jaw line. Remember, less is more.

Step 7: This once again is optional, but I find that a good shade of lipstick really brightens up my face.
My favourite at the moment is a $5 Rimmel lipstick that I picked up at Priceline.

BEFORE

AFTER (NUDE LIPS)

AFTER (LIPSTICK)

Photos of myself have not been edited and were taken on my iphone 5 The first photo is without a stitch of makeup and I have only applied the products photographed and described in the step by step.

I'd love to see some selfies of you all sans foundation and concealer, feel free to post in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading, Peace & Love to you all.

xox

Discount Denim

A reader last week asked me if I could help her find some cheap jeans. I thought there might be a few others that might benefit and so I did a bit of research and I present to you the holy grail of discount denim. A tip for online shoppers.. make sure that you check out the sizing guide and become familiar with your hip and leg measurements. Measuring can save you a lot of time and effort, online returns are such a pain!

My latest obsession strikes again! the iconic.com.au are great because they stock the big brands that you're familiar with and have a good idea of the fit of most of their designs.

For those of you that aren't so comfortable with shopping online for jeans, you'll be surprised at what you can find in your local Kmart & Target stores. Kmart in particular have completely reworked their buying department and are really smashing out the on trend garments. 

My dear friend Samantha sent me a link to this increbible pair of jeans she purchased at Glassons online.

http://www.glassons.com/product/Cropped-Skinny-Jeans?i=JD20403STR&v=23006607

Here's a few others I found on the site.

I hope this has saved you all some time & money.

Happy Shopping

Peace & Love to you all.

xox

Wish List vs Shopping bag

About this time every year, I start freaking out realising that I don't have a Summer wardrobe. Considering I am a poor Fashion student living in one of the most expensive suburbs of Melbourne, once again I find myself in a battle of Wish List vs Shopping bag.

I've decided to purchase my Summer Wardrobe online to save a bit of money and I've stumbled upon my new favourite online store The Iconic (theiconic.com) As per usual my first stop once I hit the site was the Sale section. I sorted by prices Low to High & it was love at first sight. Before I knew it I had compiled a Wish list exceeding the $2800 mark. If only that was the budget I was working with! I can afford about 10% of this being completely honest with you, probably less; which brings me to the next stage of my online shopping process, the dreaded CULL!

When you're as passionate about fashion as I am, this can be the most heart breaking process, not to mention time consuming. I don't know about you but I struggle to find reasons not to buy something. I have actually perfected the art of justifying a purchase. Considering that I need to buy a new bed frame, replace the clutch in my car and save for Christmas/QLD Getaway, I really need to exercise some constraint this year.

Before you set out on getting your wardrobe set up for Summer, you need to have a fairly good idea of what look/s you're going to be going for in the upcoming Season and what events you have to find outfits for. In my case I am loving the crisp white on white look that i started buying for a few months ago, I'd like to make it a little more romantic by adding some soft nude pinks and pastels. i know I want some light weight dresses, particularly in the dye, I'm loving tye dye everything! I am also lusting after American Horror Story star Taissa Farmiga's style on The Coven so I really want a maxi skirt and a wide brimmed hat. I'm going to be spending a lot of my Sumer at the beach, so I know I definitely need a bikini and a one-piece. I need some light clothes in natural fabrics so I'm not over heating and I definitely need a Christmas & New Years Eve outfits. Below I've put together some inspiration shots for my wardrobe this Summer.

Out of the many garments I was lusting after, I managed to cull quite a few. I decided on a One Piece and I'll reuse my black bikini from last year for tanning. A little trick for making use of your old wardrobe is to update your accessory collection. That little black dress you wore with docs and a denim shirt last summer, can be updated with say, a killer pair of heels, rose gold jewels & a white, lightweight blazer. So I'm updating my accessory collection with a few new pairs of shoes, a new handbag, a new hat and a Rose Gold watch. For those really hot days I got a couple of cute, light weight beach dresses. For Christmas day I'll wear the maxi skirt with my one piece as we'll be spending the day by the water, I'll wear the hat and the cute white flats pictured below. New Years I'll be going for the classic Little Black Bandage Dress from Iconic with my Holographic Jeffrey Campbell's, rose gold jewels and bright lips. Now all of tis comes to $211, not bad for an update to my summer wardrobe.


asos.com.au

theiconic.com.au

Total $210



A lot of money can be saved shopping online, I hope this has helped you all & given you some inspiration for your summer wardrobe.

Fashion Images from WGSN.COM

Peace & Love to you all

xox