Today's OpShop Find... Jessica Simpson dress!!!!

My 30th is coming up in December and I bought a dress today fit for my special day.

 A Jessica Simpson dress new with tags from my local opshop! Tag says $128, I paid $20!

Fits perfectly.

Was meant to be!

Just wanted to share. xxx.

Quick post to show you what I picked up for $31

I just had to write a quick post to show you what I picked up today from our local Op Shop. I have in the past found some AMAZING little gems (brands such as Forever New, Forever 21, Portmas, Dotti to name a few), all for AMAZING prices.

Today after dropping Lilly off to preschool, Zoe (she is 1) and I decided to pop into the Op Shop for a quick look. It proved to be a good day for me.

Here are my purchases:

 Here are the details (Clockwise from top left)

• Just Jeans Gold Sequined singlet top
• Avocado Kimono/poncho (its like a mix between the 2) style knit in coffee colour
• TOKITO sheer peach ruffle tank top
• Rockmans leopard print fully lined top
• Dotti Peach blazer
• Bluebird cream handbag
• Country Road grey spotted skinny leg pants

All items were in as new condition (they didn't appear to have been worn at all). A couple of the tops might be a size too big, but as we are coming into the cooler months I'd be wearing with a cardi.

All this for just $31 !

Oh, and this cute toy Zoe found and made friends with, he was included in the $31 too :-)

Some Great New Purchases

I have recently been stalking Forever New (my fave clothing store) for a couple of cardigans to go on sale - and last week it did! I hadn't bought anything from there in probably a year, but that didn't mean I stopped loving it!
 
 Below I have put together 2 different casual outfits with both cardis, PLUS a pair of black pull-on pants which were also on sale from Forever New :-)

The other pieces are items I already own and I would team them the first outfit with my cream frilly bag, and the second outfit with the same frilly bag but in black. (I am one of those people who buy two of everything in different colours).

It is also worth a mention that I bought my Country Road Skinny leg jeans from an Op Shop for just $2! I am going to try and regularly feature some of my wonderful $2 finds (Forever 21, Mavi, Portmans, Pumpkin Patch).

Custom blending foundation and a great lil' blog I have found

I just wanted to share with you a wonderful little blog I discovered recently. It is called "Pale Skin Make-Up" and is written by a young lady named Rachael. She is from England and her blog is about make-up/beauty product reviews, with particular interest in finding makeup to suit paler skin. She also has a Youtube Channel.

Those who know me personally know I have the palest skin. Apart from my own family I have not met a single person with paler skin than myself! My family, my husband and his family (as well as our girls) are very fair skinned too. 

So you can imagine how difficult it must be for me to find foundation that is light enough for me. Well to put it frankly I don't think I have actually found a match. 

It doesn't help that all of the light foundations I have come across have pink (cool) undertones and I have yellow (warm) undertones (I talk about this in my previous post). My sister has pink undertones so she might have a slightly easier time than me in finding a suitable foundation.

Anyway, the blog "Pale Skin Make-up" has some great reviews and tips (such as mixing a white foundation into some of the foundations that I have previously bought that are too dark to use (used once then thrown in the draw as they were too dark :-(  ).

I don't know where to buy white foundation (except on ebay), but I do have a key ingredient in cosmetic making, straight from my soap room cupboard - Titanium Dioxide. It is skin safe and I use this powder to lighten my soaps or make my colours pastel. I decided to try mixing a tinsy bit of TD with my current mineral makeup (Nude by Nature - Light) to create a custom blend.

Here is a piccy of the result.

I have also tried mixing the TD with some Max Factor liquid foundation (which seems to have yellow undertones in it - yay) and that worked extremely well too :-)

What Season Are You? Skin Undertone Analysis

I don't know about you, but when it comes to my wardrobe I have an overwhelming number of clothes in the same colour. I recently sorted out and organised my wardrobe (the start of a major project of getting my house organised), and found most of my clothes fall into the same colour scheme. Beige, dusky pink, ivory and olive greens make up most of my clothes. I have a few blacks, blues and purples but they don't get worn.

Turns out there is a reason behind this, and I will get to that in a second. 

I have heard about skin undertones before, but never took a lot of notice until recently. We all have undertones, either warm, cool or neutral. Depending on which category you fall into, certain colours (foundation, makeup, clothing and hair colour) will either compliment you and make you appear radiant and healthy, whilst other colours will make you look washed out or run down.


So how can you tell if you have warm or cool undertones? Well there are some simple and quick techniques to find out.

1. The vein test. Turn your arm over in natural light and if your veins appear to have a bluish/purple tinge you have cool undertones. If they appear to have a greenish tinge then you have warm undertones. I have greenish veins. If you cannot tell, then you may have neutral undertones :-)
2. Silver/Gold test. You probably already know if gold or silver suits you better. If gold suits you more and gives you a healthy glow, then you have warm undertone, and so if silver compliments you more then you have the cool undertones. I know I don't look great in silver, and gold makes my skin look healthier. 
3. The white sheet test. Take a look in the mirror with your hair pulled back, no make up on and use a white towel or white item of clothing and hold under your chin. If your face appear to have a yellow or washed out appearance then you would have warm undertones and if you cannot notice any difference you have cool undertones. I most definitely suit white.

I have warm undertones. So I suit a warm colour pallet (if you are cool, then obviously you suit the cool colour pallet).

Knowing your undertone can assist you in choosing a foundation, and makeup colours.

For foundation if you have warm undertones go for a foundation which is yellow based, and if you have cool undertones go for a foundation with pink undertones.


But there's more. You can narrow this down your colour pallet into seasons! This wonderful blog/website Personalitycafe.com has a great explanation and season charts to help you discover which colours will enhance your appearance, making you look your best.

I am a "warm autumn" and here is my colour chart from the site. I have ivory skin, hazel eyes and brown hair (oh and green veins)

So it seems this is why I like beige, apricot, peach and brown clothes. At least I have been shopping to suit me season. Also this must be why I don't buy blue clothes (they don't look so great on me). 

So go on and have a go out working out your undertones and season. It is a bit of fun and can assist in deciding what colours to wear and which makeup colours to go for. 

Let me know below what season you are :-)

Presenting: The Bowerbirds Nest

Today we are talking clothes Girls

I was looking in my wardrobe today and thought to myself "Wow I do actually have some nice clothes". A few designer brands, a good variety of styles. If you were to look at the labels you would think I'd have spent a small fortune on them. Even today I am wearing a really pretty Maxi dress with a frilly neckline and a gorgeous "earthy" bronze and cream print. It Only cost me a few dollars.

All of my good quality clothes only cost me $2 to $5 each. 

But how? You may be asking yourselves. Pre-loved clothing my dears. Pre-loved. And by that I mean new with tags, new without tags. I'm talking never been worn kind of pre-loved.

How I fell in love with pre-loved

After the birth of my second baby I began shopping at my local preloved clothing store. Brands such as Country Road, Billabong, Roxy, Bardot, Mink Pink and more were hiding amongst hundreds of items tightly hung on rail after rail. I would spend day after day going down to the store and rifling through all of the garments. In fact, it took about an hour each time to file through all the hangers, check sizes, condition of the item etc. My girls would get get narky. I would get stressed. 

From my wardrobe: Cropped jacket - Dotti and dress by TOKITO

From my wardrobe: Gorgeous loose fitting top by Wish

 As much as finding these hidden gems saved me loads of money, it certainly didn't save me any time.

I had known about the local pre-loved clothing store a long time before I began shopping there. My Nan was addicted to going there for years and now she has more clothes than anyone would know what to do with. I had only ever gone in occasionally. Not often enough to snap up any particularly good items. I simply did not have the time when I was a worker.

This got me thinking. 

What about people who don't just stay home with their kids, or those who don't have all the time in the world? How could a full time worker or busy woman have the time to find these bargains?

If only there was an easier way for everyone to be able to buy fantastic clothes for fantastic prices. 

Well my friends, there is.  

Presenting The Bowerbirds Nest

 
This is where Beck and Kim from The Bowerbirds Nest come in. Consider these ladies your personal shoppers. They search high and low to find great brands. All new or as new, in many sizes and styles, and bring them to you on their amazing Facebook Page and local markets.

Now even the busiest of ladies can still buy designer brands at a fraction of the price from their own home.

The ladies from the Bowerbirds Nest describe themselves as "Two birds that like nothing more than to collect pretty things and bring them home. The bowerbirds nest brings together our love of coming across a great find, and being able to enjoy owning quality items without paying the designer prices.

Guilt free, hassle free shopping!! A fun way to shop for new and preloved brand name, quality clothing and home wares and feel good about it!! We have searched high and low and sorted through all the old fashioned, stained and torn offerings, to find only the best quality, the most stylish, the brands we all know and love and brought them all together in our little nest".

Beck and Kim have a "passion for fashion"! With their frequent status updates, photos of new finds, engaging with their customers, and their "Style Files" (where customers can post photos of themselves in their amazing bargains), it's no wonder they have so many "Bowerbirds" following their Facebook page. 

Why not head over to The Bowerbirds Nest right now and find yourself some quality clothing at prices you won't believe.

Happy Shopping!