MINI VLOG: BUILDING MY VANITY LIGHTS

As you all know and as I've mentioned in a couple of posts back, I've recently moved houses. In my bedroom in this new place, I've been stuck with two small windows that give off almost zero natural light. Now whilst this is an advantage to Beez and I on the weekends when trying to sleep in, unfortunately it's been a struggle for me to apply my makeup. I am a lover of all things makeup as you all know. The products, the application of it etc. So when I wasn't getting the natural light I needed and down lights in the bedroom weren't helping either, I was in a pickle.

Luckily I have an amazing fiancé who is truly a handyman and agreed to build me my lights. So off we went to IKEA to buy a mirror, two strips of lights and light bulbs (among other household things we couldn't help but purchase for the new house).

Shoutout to our good friend John for saving Beez the hassle and figuring out the electrical side for us. 

I hope you enjoy this quick little vlog - and have a Merry Christmas! I will most definitely be vlogging throughout the holidays and making the most of what's left of the year with my beautiful family.

'Til next time.

COLOURED RAINE MATTE LIP PAINTS | SWATCHES

Just received these Coloured Raine matte lip paints in the mail yesterday and since seeing them all over instagram, I really couldn't wait to swatch them all for you. I haven't bought lip products in a little while so I thought I'd splurge and buy more than one or two.

I can't give a full review at the moment since I've yet to wear them out for a full day but by my first impression of them I can say that they are worth their retail price of $17USD. They're super opaque, glide on the lips very easily and don't transfer once they've dried.

So if you're looking to try a new brand or can't decide which shade/s to purchase, I hope this helps you! Enjoy.

ENGAGEMENT PARTY VLOG / HIATUS OVER.

I'm baaaaack! 

Oh man, it feels so good to be back on this thing. 

Sorry for the small hiatus guys, I've recently moved houses and it's been absolute chaos. And we only just got our home internet set up. You don't realise how much you rely on wifi until you haven't had it for almost a week. Hashtag first world problems.

I finally got around to finishing up my vlog from Beez and I's engagement party a couple of weeks ago. Apologies for the long video, but it's really worth the watch. It was such a special day for Beez and I and I am so glad I got to capture all the unforgettable moments on camera. This is the main reason why I vlog. I'm a sentimental person and I love looking back on things and re-living these moments over and over again.

Shoutout to Roni for recording most of the party even though you were shaky as f*ck.. Lol. and Jad for his little snippets of the performances.

I hope you enjoy this.

UP TO SPEED.

Hi my darlings. I hope you've been well. 

I'm back to update you a little on what's been going on with me currently/a little explanation as to why I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like.

First let me say, I was going to vlog last weekend when I went out. That didn't really go to plan as you can tell. I went out with Beez and a group of our friends to a hip hop festival held at Sydney University's Manning Bar called One Day Only. I started to vlog in the car on the way to the venue but decided not to take my camera in with me cos I didn't want to risk dropping/breaking it once I started to drink. Plus, I really just wanted to enjoy the moment and not have to think about getting footage the entire day. The girls and I took to Snapchat instead. Kind of like a live vlog if you will. The festival was seriously so good. The music, the vibes, the company. It was the perfect combination that led to an amazing day and night. 

This week I'm busy doing final preparations for Beez and I's engagement party coming this Saturday. We will be in Tahmoor (party venue) all weekend so everything has to be organised and ready to go. 

I've had to get the kids' outfits ready, call the hire company, wash my makeup brushes, make a trip to Costco and pack. So many things in between but I find making a list of every little thing helps me out a lot. Fingers crossed no one forgets anything - ain't nobody got time to drive back 1.5hrs.

I will definitely be vlogging and I've also hired a professional photographer so that will make for a great blog post! I can't wait to celebrate with my closest family and friends and see our hard work all come together.

As for the following week, it will also be a hectic one. We're moving! We'd been looking to move into a newer, more modern house for a couple of months now and found out a couple of days ago that we got approved for the house we applied for. The house we're in currently holds so many memories for us but it's been a solid 3 years and it's time to move on to a place that's more suitable for us. I feel like I do embrace change, but I also start to feel bittersweet and sentimental when it finally has to happen.  I'll probably vlog the moving process and the new house - I'm so excited but the thought of packing up a whole house right after the engagement party already exhausts me. I just can't wait to be settled in and being in a new home before Christmas and New Years is all worth it. 

Talk about ending the year with a bang! Who knows what else will pop up before the year ends. 

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

MATTE EYESHADOW PALETTE COLLECTION

I didn't realise how many all matte palettes I had up until I already had them. I'm not sure what it is about them but I just gravitate towards all mattes more than any other palette. Even though I really love my shimmery colours on the lid, I just can't pass up a good matte palette - even when they all start to look the same. 

Here's my collection that will no doubt continue to grow!

Saucebox Etude palette

Pre-ordered this beauty at IMATS last year. Had to wait a couple months 'til it finally arrived but it was so worth the wait. The pigmentation and formula are to die for and I love that the pans are refillable. The cool shades are amazing for contouring the eyes.

Too Faced Natural Matte

Was obsessed with this palette for a good while.

So, so pigmented and have a really nice blendable formula. I love 'honey butter' and 'chocolate cookie.' Only thing that bothers me about this palette is the packaging! So frickn bulky and quite hard to store! 

Tarte Tartelette

Didn't love this at first. Thought it was pretty... Meh. Played around with it more and it is quite pigmented but the shades don't really do it for me. The white shadow in 'super mom' has got to be the most used only to set my lid primer. Other than that, I don't really reach for this palette too often.

Stila Eyes Are The Window Shadow Palette in Mind

New packaging. Same buttery, pigmented formula. I can easily create a day or night time look with just this palette. Love. 

Stila In The Know

Old packaging. The shade 'fire' was probably the reason for this purchase.

Urban Decay Naked Basics 1 & 2

These two have a satin shade each in them so technically they're not all matte but let's just ignore that. I love, love, love these two palettes. They are what I reach for when I'm rushing but still want more than just liner on the eyes. I can easily use one shade and pop it straight on the lid, blend it out onto the crease and I'm good to go. 

Also, the satin shade on the original naked basics called 'venus' is my fave for a subtle inner corner highlight!

OSCAR WYLEE | HOME TRIAL

So I've been a four-eyes pretty much as soon as I entered high school. I remember my first pair of opticals were green Prada's and the first day I finally wore them to school a boy said I looked like a 'sexy secretary'. I really didn't know how to feel about that, being in year 8 and all.

Anyway. My glasses are truly a part of me now even though the past year I've been occasionally wearing contacts. 

I've seen Oscar Wylee floating around for a while now on the interweb and thought it was time to invest in another pair of specs and give my trusty Raybans a bit of a rest. 

What I love about Oscar Wylee is that they offer home try-ons for free (within Australia). You can choose up to 5 pairs from their collection so you have the opportunity to see if they suit your face shape and your style.

I ordered five pairs but didn't end up liking one of the pairs so these are the four I chose to try on. Let me know which one you like! I'll be posting the winning pair up on my instagram (@luvlorz) as soon as I've reached a decision and made a purchase!

Oh, and of course this little cutie wanted in on the fun

HUNTER TURNS THE TERRIBLE TWO PT.2 | PHOTO DIARY

WHAT I WORE | SUNDAY

Snapped this quick OOTD while at our engagement party venue today aka Bzad's dad's house. Joe lives and owns around 6 acres of land in a rural area and him and his partner were kind enough to let us have our party there later this month.

So we drove up, together with two of my bridesmaids and our decorator (which is really just a friend's mum) and made a floor plan to get a feel of how the event would be set up, measured some stuff, spoke about lighting etc. It was a successful day of planning and lots of progress made towards this very special occasion to Beez and I which makes me so excited!

Outfit deets: 

Missguided cropped tee // American Apparel riding pant // Nike air force 1 // Quay Australia 'My Girl' sunglasses

photos by: BZ

HUNTER TURNS THE TERRIBLE TWO PT.1

My baby officially turned two on Monday. 

Agh, I'm so happy he's growing but so sad that soon he won't be a baby. Such a bittersweet feeling for us mums, isn't it? I can't wait until he can clean up after himself, be potty trained and can have full blown conversations with me like his older sis but then again I just want him to still call out for me when he wakes up, listen to his gibberish as he tries to tell me he wants his hulky and iron man and be my baby forever! (especially because we don't plan on having another one... I don't think). 

We decided to have a couple friends (Hunter's godparents) and family over to blow an ice-cream cake for the birthday boy and I whipped out my camera to capture some special moments. This weekend we'll be having a small birthday BBQ for H with more of our family and friends. We decided to keep it quite small and intimate this year as we don't really believe in huge, over-the-top parties every single year for our kids especially when they're so young that all they care about is stuffing their face with cake and running a muck. 

I hope you enjoy this short vid, I'm glad to have these memories to look back on.

CURRENT FAVES | BEAUTY & MISC.

Hey guys! Long time no post. 

I've been super busy playing nurse to my sister this past week, she's had a small operation, nothing serious! I've also been cracking down on planning my engagement party (5 weeks to go!) - pretty happy with the progress we've made so far and I'm so excited for the day. I'm thinking I'll do a separate blog post on all the planning just to let you guys in on what I've been doing.

Anyway, back to the reason for this post! My current favourites. It's a mixture of beauty and accessories (and one new gadget!) this time 'round:

ABH Shadow Couture Palette ~ I told you guys I'd obsess over this as soon as I got it. It's definitely been my go-to palette the last few months, it's just been so easy to create any type of look with it! Morocco and Pink Champagne has got to be one of my fave shades of all time. If you don't have this palette, I really don't know what you're doing with your life.

ABH Illuminator in So Hollywood ~ my favourite shade out of all their illuminators. I've been using this non stop lately, it's just given me that perfect summer glow.

MAC mineralised blush in Warm Soul ~ I've recently grown to really love this blush. I never used to reach for it amongst my other blushes but lately it's just given me that nice subtle flush I've been after and goes with any makeup look I decide to throw on.

MAC lipsticks in Twig & Faux ~ I've been super boring with my lip choices lately and have stuck to my nudes. Twig is a nice 'my lips but better' shade for when I don't really want to think about what lip to chuck on and Faux is a nice pink nude that I love to pair with a gloss.

Cover FX Illuminating Primer ~ I'm immediately drawn to anything with the word illuminating in it so I knew I'd love this primer. I wear it underneath my demi matte/matte foundations to give it the dewy finish I love and it definitely does that plus helps with the longevity of the foundation. Perfect combo.

Starbucks iPhone6 case ~ this was given to me by one of my besties and I frickn' love it! I've seriously been loving light shades of pink lately (more than usual, I don't know why) and I think this case is just so, so cute! Thanks Theenz x

Quay Australia sunglasses in My Girl ~ Ahh, I'd been eyeing out these babies ever since I saw Gigi Hadid rocking them in a street style snap but they were always sold out. I finally caught them in stock and couldn't be more in love! 

Canon G7X digital camera ~ last but not least, my favourite of all, Bzad's birthday present to me! I have been talking about getting a new vlogging camera for ages and after doing my research, found that the Canon g7x is the best compact camera in the market right now. It has a flip up screen so when vlogging you can make sure you're in frame, auto-focuses and is easy to throw in my handbag. I've yet to fully vlog with it but I'm really, really excited to! Look out for high-quality videos ahead!

Those are my current favourites, hopefully I've helped some of you guys out if you've been tossing up on getting any products I wrote about today. Let me know what your faves have been recently - I'm itching to discover new products!

 'Til next time.

GET READY WITH ME | CASUAL DINNER.

I haven't done a GRWM in a while, and since I got the Canon g7x for my birthday I thought this would be the best chance for me to test it out. So far I am loving it! The quality is amazing and I just can't wait to vlog with it.

This day I caught up with two of my best friends over dinner, it was super casual and chill so I stuck to a neutral eye (but really, what's new?), super glowy skin and skipped the falsies.

I hope you enjoy and appreciate the amazingness of my new camera like I do!  
Oh, and it wouldn't be a video of mine without at least one child popping their heads in and trying to steal my thunder! Haha.

APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY | QUEENSLAND VLOG.

So you guys might remember that Beez and I along with the kids, took a little trip to sunny QLD early last September. We stayed at a 2 bedroom apartment at Mantra on Cavill and the view was to die for. The floor to ceiling windows with an ocean view and seeing the full sunset everyday made me just want to stay there forever.

I finally finished compiling this two-part vlog from our trip. The reason why it took me so long to finish this was because 1. my laptop was being a bitch and 2. iMovie was being a bitch. I guess I had too much content and it couldn't hack it. I had to put it into two separate videos so apologies for the harsh cut in part 1. Besides that, I hope you enjoy watching - I'm so glad I caught these special family moments on camera.

HOT DAY ESSENTIALS.

It's only our second month of Spring here in Australia and we've already had a tonne of hot, sticky, humid days hit us. I can only imagine what summer will be like.
In this post I share with you my 30+ degree day beauty essentials for days I want to glam up but not have my face melt off from the heat.
The first thing is the most important when being out in the sun all day: sunscreen. I've been using Skinstitut's water resistant, age defence SPF 50 sunscreen and so far I've been loving it under my makeup. I use it after my face has been well moisturised and it soaks in nicely to my skin. I love knowing that my face is being well looked after under the blazing sun. 
My rosebud salve lip balm has been my ride or die all year round - I cannot live without this thing. I apply this before I put on any other lip products and it keeps my lips super hydrated. 
As a base for daytime, this NARS tinted moisturiser is my go-to. I hate the heavy feeling of foundation during the day and unless I'm at a day to night event, foundation isn't really an option. This particular tinted moisturiser has an added SPF and is so light weight and thin in consistency while still providing coverage I'm happy with.
Cream products are ideal for hot summer days as they look much more natural and also helps the longevity of powders. You guys know how much I love my Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel cream bronzer. It gives me that sun-kissed look and definitely helps to keep my powder bronzer stay put throughout the heat.
If I'm wearing eyeshadow during the day I usually opt for a completely matte neutral eye - this Stila one is one of my faves. So quick and easy to put together a minimal eye look or even a daytime smoky eye which I like to do sometimes, depending on the occasion.
Highlighters are my favourite beauty products so I wouldn't skip out on it even if it may make me look like a grease ball in the sun. My skin type is dry so I absolutely love the dewy look - especially in the summertime.
Nude shades for the lips are my best bet when it comes to daytime glam. If I'm out and about during the day it usually involves a meal or two. Don't get me wrong, I love my bright lippies but nudes are my safe option, easier to apply than a bold colour - especially without a mirror!
Last but not least, my holy grail setting spray: MUFE mist+fix. This is so important for keeping all that hard work in place! 
'Nuff said.