Loving this week: Ulinx Jewellery and giveaway!

The lovely people over at Ulinx sent me a gift! A gorgeous bracelet of my choosing from their extensive collection of magnetic jewellery. Ulinx are a collection of various jewellery elements that are magnetized so you can change your look at any time. I choose a summery blue theme to my bracelet which looks great with blue denim and a (faux!) tan. You can check out the range and see how it works at www.ulinxjewellery.com

My Ulinx Design

Also Ulinx have given me to opportunity to give one of their bracelets to one of my readers! All you have to do is share this post on either Facebook or Twitter (tag me with @birdettebuys!) and let me know by commenting in this post. I'll be drawing a name at random and announcing the winner on my blog on the first of September. Competition closes Midnight EST on the 31st of August. Limit of one entry per person, per platform, so if you post to both twitter and facebook, that's two entries.

Good luck!

Product Review: Parissa Warm Wax with Strips

Lets face it, this is one of those things that no lady likes to admit to, but I have hair. Shaving just doesn't give me results for long enough to make it worthwhile, so it's only effective in a bind. Because of my European ethnicity I have dark hair, noticeable hair, and it grows rather quickly too, 3-4 weeks between waxes? Yay.
Because of this frequency I find it beyond expensive to do all of my hair removal at a salon ($120+ per month to get my legs, arms and lady parts done? And even more expensive to get a good job done??Yeesh!) So DIY is certainly the way to go.
This brand is one that I've only seen recently so I thought I'd give it a try, Parissa are a Canadian brand started 25 years ago, for that longevity, they have to be doing something right! With an emphasis on using natural ingredients and keeping as many nasties out of their formulas as possible, they have a stong social resposibility that they are proud to uphold.
Also no animal testing!

This is the variety I tried if you want to pick some up yourself.

Kit contents

The Kit I bought was the Warm Wax kit with strips which is the style that you slather on with a spatula tool, smooth a strip of cotton paper over and then zip off again. I find this technique to be quicker then the strips that come pre waxed.
The product itself come with a complete kit of everything you'll need to get the job done, the wax, strips, spatulas, instructions and Azulene oil, You need the oil to get rid of any excess wax after the job is finished but it doubles as an excellent post wax treatment to soften and protect your skin from any post waxing problems like ingrowns and rashes.

After using the wax on my legs I'd have to say I'm happy with it, the smell is not offensive, it warms up quickly in the microwave to a good consistency, is easy to work with, and it does what it's supposed to do. Afterwards, the only thing left were the odd barely-out-of-my-skin hairs and gorgeously exfoliated and smooth legs. the strips work well, and the Azulene oil was a great finisher.
There isn't a whole lot of product that comes in the kit, I used up half of it on my calves alone, but I think that's fine for the price. If you are going to be doing a big job in one go, it might be worth buying a few kits though.
The other thing worth noting is that the wax is incredible. It was sticking to everything and it doesn't wash off with water, water just makes it more sticky! lol. The oil removes it but you still want to be very careful and even lay down newspapers over your work area, even if you are quite experienced at waxing. All the better to grip your hair with! I wound up with newspaper sticking to me, but better that then the carpet.
In the end I would recommend the Parissa Warm Wax Kit to anyone who likes to work with strip wax, it's easy to spread, highly effective at gripping hair and ultimately, as I've found a problem with some others, it does what it's supposed to do!

Have you tried any of Parissa's range? Tell me what you thought!

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters

Revlon Lip Butters are a recent addition the the Revlon line of lip products, providing a large range of gorgeous wearable colours in an item that touts the colour of a lipstick with the caring qualities of a balm. Made with Mango, Shea and Coconut butters that amp up your lips moisture levels by 156%*, the formula is a gentle and soft option to wear.

I bought it in two shades to try out, Crème Brulee, a tawny nude colour, and Cherry Tart, the darkest blue red in the range.

Creme Brulee is now my daily if-in-doubt lip product, it doesn't compete with anything, works well with a eye focused look and just adds a little oomph to my lips. For my skin colouring I'm finding it's an ideal nude.

I bought Cherry Tart as well as it matches the shades of red lipstick that suit me the best, it's classy with a classic winged liner. It does come out deeper then this, I'm just hopeless with cameras.

Initially they go on beautifully, right from the tube. I reapply every few hours or so after eating, and when my lips felt a little dry. They are not long lasting formulas by any means but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for their soft and non sticky texture. They also bleed after a while so completely removing them and reapplying is sometimes necessary.

The only issues I have with these is that it can be very hard to tell what colour they will turn out like when actually applied, in the tube they are incredibly pigmented, to the point of looking like your normal everyday lippy, but once painted on your lips they are a lot more translucent and subtle. You really have to swatch them before you buy them, but I found that similar colours that work for me in their strongly pigmented guise also worked for me in the lip butters range.

*statistic given on the Revlon.com.au website.

Tip of the Day: Avoiding dark circles from lower lash mascara

With my ethnicity, I'm beyond prone to pesky dark circles below my eyes. You can eat as healthy as you like, get as much sleep as you need, use potions and lotions and ice cubes and everything else in the entire world aimed at solving the problem. But unfortunately, some people will never be rid of them completely. (Spackle has been rather tempting on very bad days.)
However they can go far in lessening the problem, and I find in an absolute bind, applying a cold compress can go far after a night of poor sleep or after having a right old sooky cry.
But enough about that.
One trick I have picked up after years of being too afraid to wear mascara on my lower lashes -and you may kick yourself for not thinking of it- is to use waterproof mascara on your lower lashes. I find using the Mascara Guard endlessly useful for this too, as the entire problem comes about when your mascara smudges onto your skin during the day, creating a nasty shade under your eyes that can make you look tired. Waterproof mascara also generally gives a more subtle effect then your usual mascara which again is a win for lower lashes, if you use a really oomphy-super-turbo-fat-ass-lash-creating mascara it can come back to bite you.

What tricks do you use to avoid shadows under your eyes?

Priceline Haul: July 2012

It's always those times that I never intend to buy anything that I come away with a stack of beauty booty, anyone else have this problem? It's never when I go on the mission of finding a new foundation or when I'm after this particular shade of nail polish, those times I normally come away with nothing.
So, the goodies!