Vaseline Eyelash Challenge: Week 1

So it has been just over a week of my Vaseline Eyelash Challenge, and I have been diligently applying this wonderful petroleum jelly nightly to my lashes in the hopes that it makes them long and thick.

I honestly have not noticed a difference at all, but in all fairness it has only been one week. I did miss out on doing it on Saturday night because I got home late from a dinner party and didn't even have the energy to even take off my mascara, let alone vaseline my lashes, but I don't think that would have had any effect on the outcome!

Here is a pic of my lashes now:

My, what big pores you have!

In case you can't remember my post from last week, here is a side-by-side:

I think this is the sort of challenge where you have to wait the full 4 weeks before you see any changes. Besides the massive lighting differences, I actually think my lashes look shorter! But I will reserve my judgement until after the 4 weeks have passed.

Have you tried using Vaseline to make your lashes more luscious? Let me know if you think this is a huge hit or a whopping waste of time :)

Halloween Blog 1 - Colour Contacts

If you have been reading my blog, you will know that I love Halloween. It is my second favourite holiday after Christmas, and even though traditionally South Africa doesn't really celebrate Halloween, I have always loved it!

Every year I like to dress up scary. Like really scary. Like I want to make people terrified to even be near me in case I eat them alive. But in the past, no matter how well I did my special effect makeup, there was always something missing. Until now!

I have been looking online for some party coloured contact lenses, but couldn't find a place that would let me buy directly from them without going to an optometrist, which seemed costly and like a waste of time to me. The while at an expo recently, I saw a stand for coloured contact and made a beeline for it. Not only are they really reasonable, but they sell direct to the public and have a great range of colours! They have the scary, creepy ones that are great for costume parties, and then they have some more "normal" colours that are good for every day wear.

The company is called Eye VooDoo and they are based in Boksburg. Each pair costs R150 and last for a year! You can either collect from them directly, or pay a courier fee to have them delivered to you. My mom and I ordered two pairs each and were really happy with the prompt service we got. Each contact comes in its own sealed container and the pair come with a clear contact lens case to keep them in. Here are the company's brochures with the contact details:

I have never worn contacts before, so putting them in was extremely difficult for me the first time and it took just under an hour before I finally had both in! Now that I have had about 2 weeks practice I take a few minutes!

If you have never worn contacts before, here are a few tips that I found helpful:

• Before you get the contacts, make sure that you have a bottle or two of contact solution, as well as eye drops that are compatible with contacts
• Wash your hands thoroughly and dry them on a lint-free towel every time before handling the contacts as you do not want to get any dirt or fibres in your eye
• Always start with either your left or right eye so that you do not get the contacts switched around. In the interests of hygiene, your left contact must always go into your left eye and vice versa. I prefer to start with my left eye as that is easier for me to get in for some reason! Always starting with the same eye reduces the chances of spreading an eye infection if you get one :)
• Watch a couple of videos on YouTube on how to insert and remove contact lenses. My favourite video for inserting them is this one. For inserting, the method that I like best was to look towards my nose while holding the contact up to my eye so that I couldn't see my finger about to touch my eyeball! And the easiest way to remove the contact lenses I found here - you simply squeeze it and it just pops out! I found this video after many unsuccesful attempts at using the more traditional way of trying to grab it with both fingers.
• In the beginning you might start to panic if you can't get them in or out, so if this happens, just take a little break and try again later. Always make sure that you have plenty of time to put them in so that you don't have the extra pressure of a time crunch to add to the stress of sticking stuff in your eye!
• Practice makes perfect, so if you are wanting to wear these for Halloween, make sure you order now so that you have enough time to practice putting them in and taking them out.
• If anything feels wrong, or you have any pain and discomfort, visit a medical professional immediately! I am not qualified to give any medical advice, and you should seek professional medical advice if you have any concerns regarding contact lenses!

That being said, here is a pic of what I look like with my contact lenses on! These are the Angelic Violet ones. The other pair I have are a surprise for Halloween, so I won't be showing those just yet :)

What do you think? Have you tried wearing crazy contact lenses? I would love to hear from you :)

Tangle Teezer Review

I have been threatening to do this review for ages now, but originally it was planned as a video review, and I have just not had the time and energy to edit out all my dorkiness so it is a written review instead now!

I purchased this Tangle Teezer a while ago from Takealot as they were having a special and it was R129 including shipping - a good deal that I just could not pass up! According to Lizna from Pieces In Pink, this came on sale after that as well, but I see now that it is R129 still, so head over there NOW if you want to try it out!

This is the compact one, but it fits well in the palm of my hand, and I don't really see how getting the regular-sized one would be better for me. It comes with a handy cover for the bristles, meaning it can go into your handbag without messing them up.

The bristles themselves are all different heights, and are made from flexible plastic. They do work exceptionally well at removing tangles from your hair, whether it is wet or dry. Normally I don't like to comb my hair when it is wet as I don't want to damage it, but I don't feel that the Tangle Teezer does damage my hair.

For those of you with long hair, or thick hair, or with children who hate having their hair brushed because it hurts, the Tangle Teezer is just for you! I have horrible flashbacks of being a child and my gran gleefully ripping through my hair with a brush, laughing as I wept in pain. OK, maybe she wasn't as cruel as that, but she never stopped when we cried!

Tangle Teezer also claim that there is less hair loss when using their product, and although this could be the case (I never really measured with a regular brush), there was still some hair loss for me. But that is inevitable I guess - our hair is meant to shed!

All in all this is a very successful product and combs through knotty hair easily, and more importantly, completely pain-free.

Vaseline Eyelash Challenge

I think it is most of our dreams to have long, thick, luscious lashes, so when I saw a post on Pinterest about using Vaseline to achieve this, I thought I had to give it a shot!

I will be doing weekly photos of my lashes, and we can all be the judge of how well it works. I am slightly hesitant, after all if all we need is humble Vaseline to make our lashes look lovely, surely we all would be doing it?! But the theory behind it is that the Vaseline moisturises your lashes while you sleep, which reduces the chances of breakages and lashes falling out, and strengthens them, allowing the lashes to grow longer and thicker. To me this makes some sense as I currently don't really do anything to my lashes besides slap on some mascara and sometimes try pull off the mascara with my fingernails (a massive no-no!) while I watch TV.

So this is day 1 just after applying the Vaseline:

I just used my finger to smoosh it on, but after that I cleaned an old mascara wand that I had lying about and applied more with that. The smooshing technique was easier, but I think the mascara wand technique gives you better coverage over each lash. I think I'm going to use a combo technique in future!

So now we just wait and see how it goes. Some bloggers have said that they had success just one week in, but I will reserve my final judgement until 4 weeks in.

Have you tried any weird beauty tricks that you found on the internet? Did anything work? I would love to hear from you guys, leave me a comment below :)

One Lovely Blog Nomination

I was delighted to be nominated by Candice from Beauty Candy Loves for the One Lovely Blog award. Candice's blog is awesome, with lots of reviews, tips and tricks and lifestyle posts. Thank you Candice for the nomination, and the opportunity for people to get to know me a bit better :)

I am pretty new to this whole blogging thing and cannot believe how supportive and helpful my fellow bloggers are. I have made some real friends and feel blessed to have such bright, positive people in my life :) I love to have a space where I can join my two passions, writing and beauty, and express myself.

Now back to the nomination! Here are the rules:

1. Take time to thank the person who nominated you. Also use the award logo.
2. List 7 facts about yourself.
3. Nominate other awesome bloggers who you would like to get to know better, and follow the person who nominated you.

Want to get to know some personal, intimate details about myself? What a stalker ;)

1. My official name is Karen, but everyone calls me Karley, including my family. In fact I don't even respond to Karen anymore if someone calls me that because it's so unfamiliar to me!

2. My absolute favourite food (even though it will probably send me swiftly into an early grave!) is bacon. I love bacon-flavoured anything, but nothing beats plain crispy bacon fresh from the oven *drools*

3. I suffer from anxiety, especially on a plane or in crowds. I am learning to deal with it through coping mechanisms as opposed to medication as I don't like the idea of being drugged up, although to get me on a plane I have to be just about comatose!

4. As I love all things scary and spooky, Halloween is my second favourite holiday, so I am super busy preparing for it, and have been for months! I will hopefully be doing some makeup tutorials, if I get the time.

5. My dream car is a Fiat 500. Not the convertible though, because I have fair skin that burns just thinking of being in direct sunlight. If you are wanting to get me a gift, I would kill for one in Funk White, Chillout Purple, Cappucino Cream or Epic Blue.

6. Greenday is my favourite band. I love them so much that Last Night On Earth was our first dance song at our wedding. 

7. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and heard a rumour that there might be more Harry Potter books coming out *such excite*

Now for the nominations:
Lizna - Pieces in Pink (You were nominated already but it's nice to have two nominations :))
Gillian - A Daft Scots Lass

Hope you enjoyed reading all about me - I look forward to learning more about you!

Nude Lipstick - NYX vs L.A. Girl

Today I pit NYX against L.A. Girl for the title of "Best Nude Lipstick" (as voted for by me!).

For a while I have been somewhat obsessed with finding the perfect shade of matt nude-pink lipstick, which has been  extremely difficult as most light pink shades are shimmery.

Finally I found NYX Strawberry Milk at Clicks in Clearwater Mall, however they only had a tester, so I raced to the Clicks in Nortgate who thankfully had stock. Then while on one of my many scavenges at Dischem, I came across the L.A. Girl Secret Admirer and snatched that up to see how it compares to NYX.

Here is a swatch on my arm of the two side by side:

But of course lipstick on one's arm isn't really a good judge of colour as one does not generally wear lipstick there on a day to day basis, so here they are on my lips:

And a full face comparison (for some reason the lighting changed so they look quite different!):

The NYX retails for around R90, and the L.A. Girl for R40, so there is a big difference in pricing between the two, but to be honest there isn't too much difference in quality. With both of them I need to use a lip pencil to blend the colour in as it shows all imperfections and needs to be blended. The L.A. Girl does however have a sort of sweet fragrance to it which reminds me of cheaper lipsticks, and the colour is quite bright and in-your-face, although you can't really see that from the photos. The photo of the swatches on my arm shows the true colour better than the photos of it on my lips. The NYX is more subtle and I do prefer it as an all-rounder everyday type lipstick.

I found the L.A. Girl to be more pigmented, but the colour is quite bright and might not suit everyone. I am still in two minds about whether or not it suits me to be honest!

Neither of them are very moisturising, and you do need to make sure that your lips are exfoliated and moisturised before applying as these lighter colours show any flaky skin and imperfections.

In a nutshell I do prefer the NYX over the L.A. Girl, but if you are on a budget then give the L.A. Girl a go!

Have a great weekend y'all!

MANICure Monday 6 October 2014

Time to show off my pretty, polished nails again!

This time I decided to go for the breast cancer awareness theme seeming as though it is October. This is a cause very close to my heart as both my mom and gran are breast cancer survivors.

Early detection is critical in beating this, so regular self-examinations are essential. Don't think that just because you are young that you don't need to check - there are plenty of women in their early 20's who have been diagnosed. It is no longer an "old lady" illness, with many men having breast cancer as well!

Self exams should be done monthly from the age of 20, especially if there is a history of breast cancer in your family. Here is a helpful diagram from CANSA to assist you in conducting a self exam:

In addition to monthly breast self-examinations, you can also go for a scan at a radiologist once a year if you are concerned. Due to my family history, I do this every year just to be safe.

Breast cancer never used to be an issue in my family until 3 years ago when my mom was diagnosed. It was a huge shock to all of us and suddenly made this issue "real" for all of us. A year later my gran was diagnosed. Before this we had no history of it in our family, and it was something that happened to "other people".

Breast cancer is not a death sentence, and there is a lot of support for those affected. The main thing is to perform frequent exams and visit the doctor the second you feel anything suspicious. When caught early, it is treatable.

Now after that long lecture, I can show you my nails :) I used Essence in black is back and Top Lady in a hot pink hue. The breast cancer ribbon is my very first attempt at drawing on my nail, and I don't think it turned out too badly, although I definitely think some practice is in order!

Hope you like it, and don't forget to do your monthly self-examinations!

African Extracts Rooibos Purifying Range review

Happy Hump day everybody!

Today I am very excited to review my new favourite skin care products - African Extracts Rooibos Purifying range. Sure, the name may be a mouthful, but it is super effective at combating oily skin and blemishes.

I suffer from oily skin and no matter what I used in the past, by lunch time I would end up mopping up my face with oil control paper to try and get rid of the "I just threw a bucket of KFC at my face" look. Not cute.

It was by sheer chance that I picked up the vanishing cream from this range about a month ago. I had rushed into the mall to fetch some chairs before a shop closed, and stopped at Clicks to grab a moisturiser as I had just run out that morning. Not really knowing what vanishing cream was, I saw the price was cheap, so I bought it as if it turned out to be a dud, at least I wasn't out of pocket! I used it the next morning and was surprised at the feeling of using vanishing cream (so called as it "vanishes" into your skin). It soaked in well and left my skin feeling very matt. I realised that is didn't really moisturise, but it did seem to keep the oiliness at bay. Later that day I got the moisturiser in the range to try out, as that is what I needed in the first place!

Now I am still not 100% sure what vanishing cream is, or when in the skincare routine it is supposed to be used, but I put it on after I cleanse and tone, and then I use the moisturiser after the vanishing cream. If this is wrong, let me know, but this routine is working for me so I think it's right! Not only do the products leave your skin matt, but they help with pimples too. I always get a monthly breakout without fail, and this month I had nothing! The moisturiser has Salicylic Acid and Baobab extracts which assist in the blemish banishment and it works like a dream. It takes the oil away without leaving your skin dry - to me my face feels sort of velvety afterwards, I just love it!

I honestly cannot get over how good my skin is looking, and I am now able to go out without wearing any foundation or powder to cover up the horrible oily, spotty skin that I had before. These products work like a dream, and I cannot wait until my current facewash and toner run out so that I can replace them with the ones from this range (waste not, want not.)

This Purifying range offers:
- Facial Cleansing Bar
- Spot control Face Wash
- 3-in-1 Wash, Scrub and Mask
- Purifying Toner
- Dual Action Moisturiser
- Purifying Vanishing Cream
- Purifying Starter Kit

African Extracts Rooibos Purifying Range

Here is a link to their website if you want to get more details on the range.

If you suffer from oily skin, then you should definitely give these products a go. They are affordable and available at a range of different stores. You can find them at Clicks, Dischem, Spar, Pick n Pay and Checkers.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to let me know about the whole vanishing cream issue!