FOTD: Dramatic Smokey Eye and Red Lip

Or should I say 'Face of the night'? I went and saw one of my favourite bands Hands Like Houses the other night (and might I add I caught a drumstick woohoo!) and this is the makeup I wore out. So If you want to find out how I achieved this look please read on!

The base products I used were identical to my go to clubbing look, what can I say, once you find something good you stick to it! Nars blush in Orgasm and the Benefit Hoola bronzer are a staple for me when going out as they photograph so well. I'm starting to get tired of my Mac Studio Fix and want to try something new, but I'm still in spending ban mode and want to finish it up before I purchase a new foundation. On my lips I used the Lime Crime lipstick in Glamour 101, a rich red which is exactly like the name - glamorous! 

Like usual my Naked palette was the star of my smokey eye look, although the matte white from my MUA palette seems to always make an appearance as its the perfect highlight colour. I forgot to include  in the photo my Maybelline master precise liner, which I used for the first time and was seriously impressed! A look isn't compete without brows in my opinion and I'm seriously in love with the Mac auto brow pencil in Lingering at the moment, I actually have 'Fling' the lighter shade available although I find that Lingering gives me a much more defined look without making my brows look too dark for my blonde hair.

I find the key to a good smokey eye is copious amounts of blending! Oh where would I be without my Sigma E40 Tapered blending brush I bought yonks back. Anyway, thats the lowdown of the makeup look! Thanks so much for reading and do let me know if your a fan or not of dramatic eyes and lips together!

Monique xx

June Empties

Now Im not really one to set time frames and such (as you can probably tell from my post schedule haha) but I managed to keep track and not throw out my used products from June. So without any further rambling, lets take a look at my rubbish!

1. Loreal Paris Preference PO1 Metallic Silver Blonde; I have tried two other blondes from this range and they were a million times better than this dye. This colour made my already dyed hair a weird grey colour and didn't lift my dark blonde roots at all. That being said I did buy this on super sale for $6, so I guess you get what you pay for.. kinda regretting buying a second box of it though.

2. Wotnot Facial Wipes; Great face wipes that do the job well, Im not a huge fan of the smell but I would still re-purchase.

3. China Glaze Green Apple Nail Polish Remover; This nail polish remover was bright green and faintly smelt of apple. It wasn't anything spectacular and I would only buy again if it was on sale.

4. Beauty Care Makeup Remover Pads; Love these and I use them for so many things, plus they're $2 from kmart for a pack of 200! Ive already repurchased as they're a staple for me. And I just realised in the photo that theres one left in the packet, woohoo!

5. Bastiste Dry Shampoo Tropical; Nothing amazing to read here, everyone knows about Batiste dry shampoo and the tropical one was another great scent. The travel size came in super handy to take travelling.

6. Nak Ultimate Repair 60 Second Repair; A lovely hair treatment which I was lucky enough to recently win the full size from BeautyHeaven. It really does make your hair feel amazing, it smells great and is time efficient.

7. Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel & Active Moist; I wasn't really wowed by these products but I also wasn't able to try them out long term. I personally think there's products out there that work just as well for a fraction of the price.

8. Neutrogena Ulta Sheer Sunscreen; This would be the best sunscreen I have tried in all my 20 years of extensive sunscreen research. Haha just messing, but yeah great product, doesn't make your skin greasy and best of all it prevents sunburn! Surprise there.

9. Pure Ever Blonde Shampoo; Really like this blonde shampoo, I didn't notice any significant difference in my hair colour but the musky smell alone was too die for. It's also sulphate, paraben and silicone free which is is fantastic.


So thats the products I managed to get through In June, I definitely need to step up my game and try and get through some more next month, I mean not a single makeup item in there Monique!! Anyway thanks for reading and let me know how many products you were able to get through this month!

Monique xx

Liebster Award Nomination

The lovely Fatima, author of Lipsticks & Coffee  nominated my blog for a Liebster Award, which I am so excited about, so thanks Fatima! Firstly, the rules;

The Liebster Award rules:

You must link back to the person who nominated you;

You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you;
You must pick 11 nominees with under 200 (or 2000 if you want to go with that) followers to answer your questions;
You cannot nominate the person who nominated you;
You must let the people you nominate know they have been nominated

Fatimas questions were;

1. What beauty product have you repurchased the most?

Hmm, Maybe the Australis Fresh and Flawless pressed powder? I like to switch up products a lot and don't really buy something again once Ive finished it unless its like Jesus.

2. Whats your favourite perfume at the moment?

Definitley Katy Perry's Killer Queen, a Christmas present from my Boyfriend which I have been wearing constantly

3. Favourite quote?

Not a quote person at all, there is many song lyrics I like however

4. Which fashion trend do you absolutely loathe?
Shorts that reveal your bum cheek! Yuck

5. what made you happy this week
Well celebrating two years with my partner on Monday was pretty happy!

6. What post on your blog has had the most visits?
My current makeup collection

7. Whats your goals before the end of this year?

To get a job I love would be fantastic


8. What makeup item can you leave the house without

I can leave the house without any makeup on, although mascara makes a big difference


9. Whats your favourite junk food to eat?

Probably KFC


10. Current foundation you're using?

For events/nights out Im using Mac studio fix fluid and for everyday Ive been using Revlon Colour-stay


11. Are you an extrovert or introvert

Definitely a extrovert



My Nominees:

My friend Monique from MakeupWithMonnii
Anybody who wants to be nominated!


My Questions:

1. Dream holiday destination?
2. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
3. Go -to nail polish colour?
4. Who's your celebrity crush?
5. Any tattoos/piercings?
6. Whats your holy grail makeup item?
7. Cats or dogs?
8. What will be your next beauty purchase?
9. Do you have a horrible hair cut experience?
10. What makeup item do you have the most of?
11. Your guilty pleasure?


Thanks again Fatima for the nomination!

Monique xx

Anniversary weekend in Broadbeach

Sorry for being a bit MIA in blog land over the past few days, I was partying in Broadbeach celebrating  me and my partners two year anniversary. I wanted to share some fun pictures and stories from our mini holiday!

We left early Sunday morning and first stop was movie world! My hair was looking super frazzled from roller coasters but there was no way I was missing out on a photo with Tweety! (even If I had to wait in line with a bunch of three year olds).

We then drove to Broadbeach which is where we were staying for 2 nights, we booked a room at the Savannah hotel which was right in the heart of Broadbeach. We had a spa bath in our room and free buffet breakfast was included - lets just say we ate our body weight in hash browns! My partner Ryan stood up to fast when trying to fix the TV and blacked out! Poor thing hit his head and shoulder really  hard on the ground, and somehow his socks fell off in the process haha. After making sure he was okay we went and hit up the shops.

Poor thing! haha

To celebrate our anniversary we got dressed up that night and went out to the Jupiter's Casino, but of course I had to take multiple photos first!

Sadly neither of us won any money at the casino, at one point I was up $10 but then I got excited and gambled it, ohwell! We then had dinner at food fantasy and yep it really lived up to the name. I was of course most excited about the dessert table, sadly I could only eat less than half of what I put on my plate.

After hitting up the cinema to see The Fault in our Stars (so sad btw) on Tuesday I finished off the weekend by getting a new tattoo, which I will probably put into an upcoming post sometime soon. And that was the end of our mini holiday, I wish we could've stayed longer but I have an exciting job interview tomorrow that hopefully goes well! Thanks for reading,

Monique xx

Come Play With Me: How Low Can You Go?

This gorgeous gal recently asked me to come up with a new theme for the Come Play With Me Series and after some thought I decided on the theme 'How low can you go!' And no, I don't want you all to go do the limbo or some squats, but see how many makeup products you can use to create your ideal look! For me on a day to day basis I use anywhere between 10-20 products (who keeps count lol) so being able to create a look I'm happy with, using 5 products was huge for me! The products I used were;

1. Revlon Age defying concealer for Base, Concealer and Eye primer

2. Hard Candy lip liner for Blush and Lip colour

3. Hoola Bronzer for Bronzer, Eyeshadow, Eyebrows

4. Revlon eyeshadow for Eyeshadow, Highlighter

5. Benefit Mascara for Mascara, Eyeliner (yep! haha)

So what do you think! I personally would totally wear this out, but sadly having combination skin would mean my face would practically slide off in a few hours time as I didn't use a powder to set my makeup. Using the benefit mascara as a liner was also easier than I thought it would be, I just dipped a liner brush into excess product on the wand to apply it. I can imagine it being a pain in the butt to wash off later though!

All I can notice is my slightly orange brows… haha. The whole process seemed to take longer than applying my makeup normally, so I really doubt I'll be switching to this routine anytime soon. So my challenge now to you, is too see how low can you go! Please give it a shot and if you do, leave your post linked below! 

Monique xx

My Go- To Clubbing Look

I rarely go Clubbing these days but when I do I of course want to try and look my best, and hey getting ready before hand is half the fun anyway Right? Heres my go- to look!

I always start off my base with a primer- the last thing I want is my makeup sliding off after 30 minutes of entreating the club. The Elf mineral infused primer works great as a base and is super affordable. When going out I aways opt for full coverage, so the Mac Studio Finish foundation in NC15 is my pick, followed by the pro-longwear concealer to prevent creasing and dark circles under my eyes. The Australis Fresh and flawless is my favourite setting powder so I'll follow by buffing that into my skin to set all my liquids into place and give me the matte finish that I love. In my opinion, nothing is more flattering then using a good matte bronzer to sculpt out the face and Hoola by Benefit is the perfect shade, a must have in my routine. Ill use it to contour the hollows of my cheeks followed by some slight contouring of my nose. I will then add colour to my cheeks using Nars Orgasm Blush and top it all off with a beautiful highlight using Mac's mineralise skin finish in Soft and Gentle.

Moving onto eyes, the Naked palette is a dear friend of mine and my typical look for a night out is a smokey crease with light lids. To achieve this I start off with the Maybelline colour tattoo in Too Cool all over the lid and then work the darkest colours from the palette into my crease and lower lash line. It wouldn't be me without having a thick winged liner so of course I use my Rimmel Exaggerate waterproof liner followed by the fabulous They're Real mascara by Benefit for bold lashes. And how could I forget the brows! The Mac brow pencil in Lingering is a wonderful product and doesn't look to dark for my blonde hair - love it!

And lastly, the finishing touches. Obviously I curled my lashes before applying my mascara, Ill then always apply false lashes to get the thick dramatic look I love. Before applying my Mac lipstick in Rebel, I'll give them a good scrub using the Lush Bubblegum lip scrub (yum!). And to set all my makeup in place I'll give my face a good spritz of the Mac Fix- Plus Spray, and voila! Ready to party.

Heres some photos out and about rocking this look! If only getting a decent clubbing photo was as easy right? If you have any going out rituals or products you recommend for clubbing please do share! 

Monique xx

Brisbane Airport DFO Haul

I dropped my partner off at the brisbane airport yesterday for an interview, and decided I might as well hit up the DFO out there as its a bit of a hike from our house and I think I was about 14 years old the last (and first) time I went. With a strict budget of $45 to spend this is what I picked up!

I'll start off with the exciting stuff - underwear! This is the first time I have ever had to photograph underwear and can I say it's harder then it sounds to make them look half decent on camera haha. I picked up two pairs of Calvin Klein lace undies as they were two for $10! The pink ones were originally $79.99 and the black ones were originally $49.99, I don't know who in the right mind would pay $80 for one pair of underwear but I'm definitely happy with paying $5 instead. I also grabbed the cute leopard print ones from cotton on body for $2, I would've grabbed a few more but like I said - strict budgeting.

My next purchase was these heels from London rebel. I have been looking for a pair of heels this style for the longest time, as I bought a nice black gown for me and my boyfriends anniversary coming up, and I didn't have any nice heels to match. These were only $15 down from $39.99.

Billabong is a brand I usually avoid when I look at the high price tags but the one in DFO was actually quite reasonable. There was a massive bin full of bikinis priced at two for $10, so naturally I spent 20 minutes digging through trying to find ones I liked. Although these probably won't get worn for a couple of months, I thought the deal was too good to pass up. The pink bottoms were originally $39.99 and the black top was originally $42.99, I really like the tie dye style print on them both.

Lastly there was a book store there which was selling every.single.book for $3! So of course I had to grab one, the artistic cover caught my eye and Im a sucker for sappy stories.

So that comes to the end of my haul, there was a few other good bargains around that I really wanted but sadly disposable income isn't high at the moment and I decided to stick under my budget, spending a total of $40. Im also proud of myself for avoiding beauty products! I think my mind is still in project pan mode even though I reached my goal. Anyway let me know if you have previously gotten any awesome steals at the DFO!

Monique xx