skin investment

NUDE BY NATURE MIRACLE SERUM || NEAL'S YARD FRANKINCENSE NOURISHING CREAM || BALANCE ME SUPER MOISTURISING CREAM || GREEN PEOPLE 24 HOUR VITAMIN FIX CREAM || NUXE REVE DE MIEL || ANTIPODES SKIN BRIGHTENING & TONE CORRECTING SERUM

One of the things I've decided to up my game on this year is my skin. I got mad about taking care of it when I first got into beauty but then my interest in makeup grew and my skincare interests went by the wayside. And to my eyes, it showed. It wasn't bad, but dry patches were not going away and things were just looking a little lacklustre. I was using more budget options out of experimentation and as I'm a stickler to using things up, my skin was okay but not great. I don't necessarily think expensive is better, but sometimes it is worth dishing out a little more it if the product is good. And boy the week I brought back some more pricey favourites it showed, and for the first time in forever ages, my skin felt plump again. Tis good, tis very good..

The first product I must mention / thank is a repurchase of an old favourite and it has solidated its place as one of the key steps to my skincare schedule - the Neal's Yard Frankincense Nourishing Cream. This is an incredible, butter thick night cream that really hydrates and plumps the skin, I felt the results the next morning and am so glad it's back in my stash. I'm not leaving you again. A great newbie to the lineup and now another solid favourite is the Nude by Nature Miracle Serum. I got it for 40% off and I'm kicking myself for not restocking immediately. This has my favourite sort of serum texture, not the jelly sort that just sits on the skin but the kind that gets absorbed straight away and you feel the skin getting instantly boosted. The combo of these two relieved me of my persistent dry patches so quickly I no longer think that my dry patches are there forever. Sold.

My skin investment game also means sticking to the ones I know really work and love. Favourites that are staying in the stash are the Antipodes Apostle Skin-brightening and Tone Correcting Serum (that name, needs to be edited) and the Green People 24 hour Vitamin Cream. The serum also has gives instant hydro boost but also does what it says it'll do, brighten.  And boy did my dull skin need it.  I'm now on my third round of the Vitamin cream because it keeps the skin feeling light and boosted all day. The former is on the pricier side so it's a night time option whilst the other is slightly more budgety so it's assigned to the day time.

The Nuxe Reve de Miel is a classic blogger favourite and I can't disagree with it, the balm is still there when I wake up. The Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream is you guessed it, super moisturising, such a thick goo but it really does keep those hands looking plump. Best saved as an overnighter since I'm really not kidding when I say it's thick but despite that it absorbs amazingly well. 

I'm super happy with my current skincare routine and it's helping a lot in this New York northern hemisphere sort of winter (though it really should be spring by now..) which really does give your skin a big smack. I've certainly been spoiled living in Australia up until now..

the "before I leave aus" haul

SPORTSGIRL ANKLE SOCKS || AUSTRALIS OH HAI BROW! KIT || COLLETE SILVER EARRINGS || MODELS PREFER RETRACTABLE BROW PENCILS, DARK + MEDIUM || SPORTSGIRL GELLY POLISH, DANCING QUEEN || FACE OF AUSTRALIA LIP DEFINER, SWEET PLUM || SAVVY NOURISHING LIP LINER, NATURAL

The timing of this haul is on many levels ironic. I don't shop in stores much, mainly because of exorbitant Australian pricing, I'm stupidly indecisive in a store and have had a general lack of interest in Australian makeup brands.  But right before I left I had a hankering to try some things and so I guess you can say, impending absence makes the heart pretty darn curious..

Like most of us, I've caught the latest wave of big brow fever, but growing up  I also had my mother telling me about Ali McGraw and Brooke Shields' gorgeous eyebrows so I've never been one to over pluck, thank God. But lately I'm starting to realise that I'm feeling rather uncomfortable leaving the house without dem brows done, (damn my brow bald spot, why won't you grow hair there?), so a few stops at Priceline were made. I picked up the Model's Prefer Retractable Brow Pencils in Dark and Medium in hopes for a more natural quick fix and one to bold it up if I fancied. While the colours are on the right side of ashy, one errs too light the other too dark so a mix is needed and the tip is just a little too wide for my liking. A like but not a love. The Australis Oh Hai Brow Kit has gotten some pretty good feedback and as a 5 pan product with a few tools thrown in, it's quite bargainous. I'm still experimenting with it but so far, it's not bad! Again the colours are ashy which I'm proud that Aussie high street brands are getting right.

I'm having a bit of a lip pencil moment of which I blame both the Kylie Jenner craze and the sheer ease of being able to scribble and be done, oh and the affordability factor. I picked up Savvy's Nourishing Lip Liner in Natural and Face of Australia's Lip Definer in Sweet Plum - a nude and a earthy plum colour, both which looked rather nice when tried in store (get the salesperson to sharpen and clean them for you of course!). Fingers crossed they still do when I actually get to wearing them out..

My love for 70's muted colours made me pick up these mustard and burgundy socks at Sportsgirl, but a sneaky look in the bargain section and I found this gorgeous cobalt blue gel nail polish in 'Dancing Queen' for $3.50 :D And my last stop was for nickel free earrings, which turned out to be the biggest fail of them all. Colette delivers in the formula but the selection is well, not to my taste. So in the midst of all that bling I found what I thought to be small and subtle earrings. No, no I did not. Small in the store, but not in real life.. damn. So there we have it, a last shopping hoorah in Australia and hopefully for some time ;)

the real first post

Hi there, you might remember me from a small and unknown blog called The Cornflower Blues but I've decided to give birth to another little online space - TCBCD, a little portal for beauty and style writings & tidbits, *crowd cheer*.

This idea to create a separate and focussed blog about this genre of topics had been on my mind since September as these sorts of posts always felt out of place on my original blog, even though I love it when other blogs can mix it up.  I ended up shelving this idea but last night, it hit me how much this stuff has become part of me, of not just expressing myself but actually being myself (will probably have a long yarn about that at some point) and that is something I want to keep doing.

TCBCD's name comes from my original blog The Cornflower Blues, but is the Colour Diary edition.  It has a completely different look as it's a bit of an escape from my main interweb endeavours. My own take on these sorts of things will be more like writing in a notebook rather than a how to. I really know squat about things from a "professional" point of view and will never intend to instruct or guide, especially when there are others that do that better and this is a bit of a fun, side project for myself. My main jam is to just to be and express myself and the journo inside me likes to write and pen thoughts down.

Even though I shelved the idea for this blog for months now, I've continually have had post ideas pop up which I like to take as a sign to do this! And I'm so glad to be able to have a space to let them all out without worrying about it not fitting in with other posts. Funny how things suddenly fall into place. 

x, mai-anne

low end loves

PHYSICIAN'S FORMULA ORGANIC WEAR BRONZER || ECOTOOLS BRONZER BRUSH || RIMMEL WAKE ME UP CONCEALER || NYX SLIM LIP LINER, NATURAL || RIMMEL 1000 KISSES LIP LINER, WINE || WET N WILD MEGALAST LIPSTICK, CHERRY BOMB || EVERYDAY MINERALS EYESHADOW, MY PLACE || BOURJOIS CREAM BLUSH, 02 HEALTHY GLOW || BOURJOIS HEALTHY MIX SERUM, 52

I was hanging with a mate the other day and she is just starting to get into make up (yay!). But getting started is sometimes the hardest part and lamented that it was really expensive to test make up out. Ah, the plight of a full-timer starting out with makeup where high end seems like the only appropriate place to go. But you really don't have to go high end. The high street really does offer some beaute products, even with a "lower" price tag (hmph, Australian pricing) and simpler packaging. I really don't think you have to spend a lot of dough to get quality, especially these days when high and low end brands are owned by same conglomerates.  And that sentiment inspired this post. The above products are absolute staples in my stash, many being repurchases or things I would collect if I was a makeup collector. The Physician's Formula Organic Wear Bronzers are such easy bronzers with a clean, greeny formula, the EcoTools Bronzer Brush is a surprise and under-hyped hit with foundation (fastest way to apply foundation ever), the Wet n Wild Matte Lipsticks are a hit for a matte lover like myself and Bourjois really get it right when it comes to foundations and my personal fave, the cream blushes. My main advice, if I were to dish out any, is to experiment with low end products first to nut out your taste and what suits you, especially colour products like lipsticks etc and then invest in higher end products if that is your jam, which it probably is for most of us. Makeup isn't just about what matches your skin tone, it's a way to be and express yourself, so stuff the rules, just experiment!

travel beauty bumf

One major faux pas whilst packing was carting along too many beauty products, hangs head in shame. I simply overestimated my needs and after deciding to cut down the luggage to a carry on for the domestic flights, I shaved down my initial bumf ruthlessly. The makeup all had to fit in that clear (boring, but so damed practical) case and all the toiletries in another. The amount I left behind was embarrassing with full sized masks and beauty oils. Um.. what!? The edited stash here really proved their worth and really was enough variety for two weeks of touristing. 

For the base (accidental omissions from the pictures), the Nars Radiant Tinted Moisturiser and the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation had me covered. The former was perfect for easy days especially flying ones and the latter served me well on longer, out and about days and could double as a concealer if needed. I'm an eyeshadow girl through and through and I was definitely going to always cart around a palette (and more *cheesy grin*). My weapon of choice was the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette which has a perfect mix of mattes and shimmers, warms and cools. Unpictured (as I'm going through a depotting phase) was my MAC quad which had All That Glitters, Coquette, Charcoal Brown and Handwritten which really should've been enough on its own, but who we kidding here. For fast makeup, the By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Brown Perfection was so handy and I'm so glad it tagged along for the ride too. Blush is my second love and the Nars Guy Bourdin Palette really is a travel saviour with a Laguna bronzer included. Deep Throat was reached for the most as it's such a good all rounder. The Nars Multiple in Laos was also carted along and it's stick makeup magic was also brilliant on fast makeup days and it's long lasting power made it that much more convenient. I'm no lippie girl so only two made the cut: a sheer nude in Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Honeysuckle (love) and a bold. What!? I brought along the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Ping Pong and promised myself to wear it at least once on the trip to push myself out of my comfort zone. And did I? Yes, yes I did *fist pump*. I think that's what makes travel makeup fun, you edit your stash down to your beloved little pretties but also you can add a few different pieces to push yourself to try something new. And when better when no one knows who you are in a foreign place? :P