WINTER IS COMING.

Sorry, GoT reference was necessary. 

Winter is going to officially hit Australia in a matter of days (even though Autumn's been so cold that it felt like winter started 3 months early) so I thought I'd whip up some outfit inspo's for the cold season. I'm still trying to transition from warm weather to cool as I got really used to throwing on a crop top and shorts or a pair of jeans with my slides. I'd go out for dinner and underestimate the cold, crisp wind and wear only a jacket over my summer outfit and want to punch myself for not layering the fuck up. But while creating this winter moodboard, I've finally started to accept the cold and am so excited to dress accordingly. Thick outerwear, grunge-y boots, fedoras, turtlenecks, oversized sweaters, the works! 

What are your favourite winter pieces? I would love to know.

P.s. I have been obsessing over thigh high boots for so long and seeing pictures of Miroslava Duma absolutely killing it in a pair, I finally bought my own. Dying. You'll see them in upcoming #OOTD's don't worry. 

 

BELATED. #ootd

Belated Mother's Day lunch at Gourmet Pizza Kitchen with the family.

ASOS t-shirt dress // Windsor Smith 'Morel' booties // Missguided fedora // ASOS aviators // Nixon  51-30 watch

FAVOURITE CREAM PRODUCTS OF THE MO

                   

                    

I've been really loving incorporating cream products into my makeup routine lately. These are my fave products to use as of late!

CHANEL

Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzing Makeup Base

Now, I've had this product for about 2 years and have only recently started using it on a daily basis. My first thought was: oh god this was frickin' expensive, I'd better make it last. But honestly, you're provided with so much product that it will take you a long time to hit pan on this beautiful thing. I'd heard only great things about this bronzer but took me a while to really play around with it and figure out how to work with it for my skin tone. It's a light cream/gel 'universal' bronzer with a velvety finish. It has quite a perfume-y scent which I love - makes the product feel really luxurious. My sister, who is a couple of shades lighter than me uses it as a subtle contour but for my medium skin tone, I love it as a bronzer to warm up and bring dimension back to my face after putting on my base. Truly worth the splurge in my books.

STILA

Shape & Shade Custom Contour Duo in Medium

Where to start?! I legitimately love this thing. This product is really what got me back into using creams. The brush I use for this is my Real Techniques flat foundation brush, taking product only onto the tip of the brush and using it to sculpt out my cheekbones, jawline, temples and sides of the nose then blend out with a small stipple brush. It's super creamy and seriously so easy to blend without looking crazy muddy. The contour shade is the perfect shade for me, not too warm and has a hint of grey undertone making it look like a shadow once blended.  As for the highlight shade, it's a little too pink for me so I haven't really had a play around with it much - although I am way too in love with this contour shade to care. Oh and  I die for the matte gold packaging. Ugh. On days (or nights) I cream contour I make sure my base isn't heavy. I don't know if it's just me but I can't have a lot of heavy products on my face (e.g. thick, full coverage foundation, cream contour & highlight then powders) - I truly can't stand it but hey, to each their own, that's only my preference. So I will use a light coverage foundation or even a tinted moisturiser and then go in with my creams before using powder.  This product gives such a great, natural finish and really helps my powders last that much longer, which is what I want if I'm going out at night or have a long day of plans.

MAC 

Cream Colour Base in Shell

This cream highlighter is one of my faves to use in combination with a powder highlighter for when I want that I-can-see-your-cheekbones-from-outer-space type of feel. Which, to be honest, is all day everyday. It's a soft, pink beige and can really go from a subtle highlight to an intense, wet highlight which I absolutely love. I like to pair it with MAC's mineralised skin finish in Soft & Gentle. Even though the packaging is quite small, a little goes a long way with this product so you recieve more bang for your buck.

I hope you makeup lovers enjoyed this post! Let me know if there are any cream products you'd recommend, I would love to try more x

FAMILY DAY VIBES

I hope you enjoy this vlog I put together of my Saturday. My family is my #1 so spending time together is very important to us! The weather was perfect so we decided to take the kids to Blaxland Riverside Park after lunch located along the Parramatta River. It is supposedly the biggest playground in Sydney with a range of activities and challenges for all ages. There is water, moving play elements, high and steep landforms, hidden and confined spaces spread over 3 hectares.

saturday family day vlog from Loure Garcia on Vimeo.

WEEKEND RECAP.

First off, let me just tell you: I am not one of those people who has something on every single weekend. Most of the time it's quiet, I have friends over at my house, the boys watch the footy and the girls and I are catching up over some sort of alcoholic bevy. Once in a while though, I'll have a weekend packed out full of plans - kind of like the one that just passed. Let me tell you about it.

08/05/15

Aubrei's school held a Mother's Day breakfast for all kindergarteners and their family. I invited Aubrei's grandmother and great grandmother. We ate pancakes smothered in cream and syrup and met lots of Aubrei's school friends. I love seeing her interact with her classmates and teachers. She came home that day with a hand-written card and a single pink rose for me that she bought from a mother's day stall at school. Definitely felt the love from my girl.

09/05/15

On Saturday the family and I attended our good friend's niece's 1st birthday party. It was a Circus theme and adults were also encouraged to dress up so I took the opportunity to do some costume makeup. I found a picture on the 'gram that I used as a bit of inspo and came up with this creepy-ish clown. It was so much fun to do even though I didn't have the proper tools for costume makeup like face paint etc. but I managed to use what I had in my collection! It took me 2 friggn hours might I add. I bought the kiddies adorable costumes from costume box and ta-da! We were a family of clowns! Happy Birthday Callia!

                   

                     

 

 

          

After the party, Beez and I went for a dinner date at a cute little sushi bar in Eastwood. It took me the longest time to remove all that clown makeup from during the day that I couldn't be bothered completely changing my outfit. I took off my bow tie, threw on a thicker jacket for the cold and swapped the sandals for my favourite winter booties. I'd been craving sushi for so long so Beez hunted down the highest rating sushi place he could find in our area. He was recommended Hukuya Sushi Bar (rated 4.6 stars) and it did not disappoint! Not only was  it everything we asked for, the price wasn't too bad either. We ordered oysters, a platter of sashimi and sushi combined, tea and a couple more sushi, spent under $100 and were so satisfied. If you love your sushi, sashimi and seafood, I would definitely recommend this place, just make sure you make a reservation 'cos the place is small (but friendly) and they are always busy. After dinner we had some drinks with friends. It was fun. And a little messy.

                     

10/05/15

Mother's Day was spent at Beez's mum's house for lunch. I got a bunch of flowers, a beautiful card from Beez and the kids, and a bottle of perfume. I felt so loved and appreciated. I honestly can't explain the feeling of being a mother and having kids who look up to you for everything. It's a lot of responsibility but I truly would not know where I'd be right now if I didn't have them to straighten me out and let me see the bigger picture. My children give me a purpose and every day I am blessed to have such a beautiful family.

"When you have children, you will always have a family."

                                 

                               

THE FIRST OF MANY.

Hello again! Welcome to the first of many beauty posts! 

Last night, Beez and I decided to do some late night shopping. We got a bite to eat, shopped around for mother's day gifts and of course a little something for ourselves. I popped into Mecca to collect my quarterly beauty loop benefit box and wasn't at all surprised to find out that I had gone up a level (meaning I'd spent more money this year - no ragrets). My level 2 beauty loop box included a 3ml tube of  REN's Instant Firming Beauty Shot that is so intriguing to me, a GlamGlow Powermud Dualcleanse Treatment that I have actually been dying to try, and two sachet samples by Josie Maran and Soap & Glory. I'm not really down with the samples in little sachets so I was pretty pleased that the box came with two minis. 'preciate it, Mecca.

I picked up the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion mini, I'm excited to compare this to my drugstore shadow primers - which I love - and see how it goes. And I finally found and purchased Stila's Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in the shade 'Patina'. This particular shade I'd been hunting down online and in store for weeks and just kept missing it. So naturally, it felt like fate seeing the last one on the shelf just sitting there waiting for me to take home! A little dramatic? I don't think so. This is my second liquid lipstick from Stila, my first one in the shade 'Dolce' which is a beautiful nude. Patina is more of a mauve shade, a perfect dusty rose. I can't wait to play around with this and pair it with some lipliners. I always make sure I exfoliate my lips and apply a little lip balm before applying liquid lipsticks because they can be a little drying but I'm sure I will be getting a lot of wear out of this shade. Obsessed. What do you think of liquid lipsticks? Love them or hate them? What brands would you recommend for me to try?! Comment and share them with me. Thanks for tuning in! X

                                   

                                    

AN INTRODUCTION.

It is currently 10:15pm on a Tuesday night. While my boyfriend is at a basketball game, my sister is at the gym and the kids are fast asleep, I thought why not kick things off and write my first ever blog post since 2012? Yes, I used to blog a couple years back but took some time off as life got in the way - but I am BACK! with a clean slate/fresh start/new beginning etc. etc. 
and what better way to do it than with a brief introduction! 
Where to start? I'm Loure. It's pronounced Lori (people get it wrong all the time and I don't blame them, it's pretty frickn weird, although I should probably tell you that it's because that is not my full name hence the unusual spelling). I'm 23 and have two adorable kids (Aubrei is 5, Hunter is 18 months), and a partner I love to death. My blog will consist of mainly my love for makeup, fashion & family. Friends included ;)
Doing this purely to document and share my journey with whoever's reading. Here's a quick glimpse of my life, thanks a bunch for tuning in! X