Tiny Mini Haul with Essence, Maybelline and Coco PLUS First Impressions

Ever since essence has changed their regular colour & go nail polish range  to the gel nail polish, I have been dying to get my hands on them and see how the compare to the old ones. The other day I saw a white polish on the Essence stand and it said that it can be used as a colour intensifying base. I had heard about using a white polish to do this before, and I was excited to see that essence finally came out with a bright pure white colour.
Finally today I made my way to Dischem and bought the white polish (33 wild white ways) as well as a beige/nude colour (26 dare it nude) to test with it. While there, I saw that they were have a R30 off sale of all Maybelline products (yep, that is R30, not 30%!) which made the Colossal Kajal 12h eye pencil R17! I couldn't pass up a deal like that, so I grabbed a turquoise one to try out. Then I also found a lip gloss called Coco, and had to get it for Coco's sake (my wire fox terrier). Plus it was ice cream flavoured and R12 so...

Let me start with the essence polish - the bottles are the same as the old ones, and the brushes have that great rounded shape that make one-swipe application a breeze. I just painted my nails last night, so I didn't have the heart to remove all my hard work to swatch them just yet, but I will be doing a review of them soon - am dying to see if the white really makes the colours pop!

The Maybelline Colossol Kajal 12h eye pencil (try say that three times fast!) is really soft and vibrant. The colour comes out well and I love how it looks with my eyes. As to the 12 hour lasting power claim, I will need to test that out. If it does last 12 hours then I am getting my butt back to Dischem and buying the lot!

Lastly the lip gloss. I have honestly never heard of the brand Coco, nor the company Hair Motion, but a quick google search lead to their website where I saw that they are an American company with quite a few different beauty products. Now first off, I just have to say that one of my many pet hates is when lip products incorrectly state that they are "flavoured". No, you are cherry "scented", not "flavoured" - when I eat you, you taste nothing like cherries! So this lip gloss stating that it is ice cream flavoured is a little irritating, but I will give it a break. The tube is disproportionately large for the amount of product, but I like the twisty bottom and the rather large fluffy applicator! It came in three colours, pink, white and brown, which I assume are supposed to represent the neapolitan strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Normally I am a vanilla-girl, but I preferred the pink colour to white, so I got that one. It's shimmery and it looks like the glitters are bronzey-gold which I quite like. Unfortunately I didn't have any scent to it at all, nor does it taste anything like ice cream (surprise, surprise). I haven't had a chance to wear it for a long time, so I will do a more in-depth review once I have tested it fully. I had to laugh that they put a warning on the tube that reads "This product contains NO ICE CREAM" - what?!

Lancome Colour Fever Gloss Review

Lancome is not a brand that I have ever used before, but I was given this gloss as a gift, and I absolutely love it!
The packaging looks premium - it comes in a silver box, and the tube itself is simple yet elegant. The shade that I have is 304 Crazy Pink. This colour is the perfect shade of pink for me and I love how well it suits my pale complexion.

The applicator is heart-shaped which makes me love it even more! There is a slight bit of glitter in the gloss which adds some volume, and the best part is that the formula is quite moisturising and doesn't dry out my lips like some glosses do. The smell is also great - slightly sweet but not overpowering.
This lipgloss gets full marks from me - I can't really find anything that I don't like about it! Have you tried Lancome products? Tell me what your favourites are :)

The Art of The Brick Expo and Oreo Pop Up restaurant experience

Last weekend I went to the Art of the Brick expo by Nathan Sawaya at The Zone in Rosebank, and also paid a little visit to the Oreo Pop Up shop there afterwards.
I thought it would be fun to write about the experience for those of you thinking of going, so I took a bunch of photos and tried to remember everything to relay in detail ;)
Brice and I had seen the Art of the Brick expo when it was in Cape Town, but we heard some people complaining about how it wasn't worth it, so we didn't buy tickets. When we saw it had come to Rosebank, we might as well go check it out since we love LEGO so much (everything is awesome!). We went with my good friend Namhee and her husband Wesley, our usual partners in crime.
Tickets for the expo are R140 for adults, R95 for kids, R99 for scholars/pensioners and R395 for a family of four. The exhibition was much larger than I expected, and was really impressive to see how much time and effort had gone into making each sculpture, not to mention the creative mind to come up with the concept!
There were different sections with different themes, but I have to say that my favourite was most probably the famous artworks in LEGO. Here are a couple of photos of what I liked best:

The Art of The Brick Expo - The Zone, Rosebank

I really enjoyed the expo, but I think that if you are neither a fan of LEGO nor art, that this would be a bit boring for you. The displays are not interactive and there are "Don't Touch" stickers on each display, so if you have young kids who find it difficult to keep their hands to themselves then you need to be on high alert! *Just a note: we were not touching the sculpture in the last photo - it just looks that way!* It was fairly busy when we went with all sorts of people from different age groups, so I think it is a good day out for most people, unless you are looking for something interactive, in which case rather stay at home! At the end of the expo is a "play area" with LEGO pieces to get the kids (or adults!) to use their imagination and create, so I though that was a nice touch.
And then, as you leave the expo, you will see the Oreo Pop Up restaurant right next door! I love Oreos, so I had to go have a little peek. They have a "sushi bar" style counter where you can order your Oreo creation, and then there is a photo spot with props to take some Oreo photos, and there is also a place where you can make your own Oreo characters.
First thing I noticed was a creepy mannequin with an Oreo head running in slow motion. Not sure what that was all about but it did freak me out a little!

We took a seat at the conveyer belt bar and decided on what we wanted to try. We ended up ordering the Rocking Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake and the Oreo Choc Shortbread Sandwich with Magnum Ice Cream. The cheesecake was amazing - sweet and soft and chocolately and more-ish! I didn't try the ice cream sandwich, but apparently is was good, but nothing too amazing or different. Was basically Oreos and ice cream. 

Next we moved off to the photo area to grab some pics. Fun thing was that if you took a photo and shared it on Twitter or Instagram with #PlayWithOreo, then you could print it out for free! We took some photos in the big wire car (and I was sure we were going to break it!) and with the big Oreo on a stick and got them printed.

We didn't create an Oreo character (the boys were itching to find a shop that sold LEGO!) so we made our way to the exit to pay up and go. There was some awesome Oreo merchandise up for offer, and I really wanted the Oreo meg with a space to keep cookies, but my credit card had been used enough for the day, and in any case I knew we were most probably going to end up buying some LEGO to build ;)
The day out was really fun, we had a great time at both the expo and the restaurant, so if you are looking for something to do in Joburg, this is a great way to kill two birds with one stone! Plus if you find the expo ignites your inner child to want to create, then there is a toy store at Rosebank with a big range of LEGO (Lilliputs).

Catch Up - Where Has Karley Been?

Ok, so has it been almost 2 months since my last post? You bet your red lipstick it has, but I do have a pretty good reason for that.
Time to get personal now - my husband and I have been struggling for a while now to fall pregnant. If any of you are in the same situation, you will now juts how emotionally draining this process can be. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and because of this, I am not ovulating. Early in March I went for another surgery to remove two cysts on my ovary, and about 2 weeks after the op, I grew another cyst. Now for some reason, my cysts do not respond to medication to shrink them, and after lengthy trials of taking meds to get me ovulating, just last week I was told that I need to lose weight to try and get the ovulation going. Now this is difficult, because the PCOS has made me put on weight, so losing weight is twice as hard! The doctors told me to cut out carbs, so I have jumped onto the banting train (unwillingly) and have a personal trainer at gym (who made it so that I couldn't walk for two days after my first session!)
On top of the emotional roller coaster that is infertility, I have also gone back to studying. I got my law degree a few years ago, but law was never what I really wanted to do with my life. So now I am studying teaching, which I am loving, but it does take up a huge chunk of my time, especially with exams coming up in a few days!
So in between not wanting to get out of bed because everyone around me is having babies and I can't, trying to get assignments done, and working full time, I have unfortunately put my blog on hold while I try keep my head above water. Not that I don't have a ton of awesome products to review, and videos filmed, but I just don't have the time to get it all just right to put up here. I promise that I will start again, very soon, because this is my passion, and maybe getting back into my blog will keep me away from the negativity of infertility.
Have an awesome Friday everyone, and enjoy your long weekend! I will be working and studying - say a little prayer for me!