The Quick Drying Faux Glow Advantage - Le Tan Tanning Gel

Tanning is something I used to do a lot of while I was in Fashion School, I had a strange perception of what was a healthy size back then as the vast (VAST!) majority of classmates were a size 10 or under. I felt huge in my then smaller size 12-14 frame. I used to give myself a little self esteem by at least having a great fake tan. It's something I haven't done in a few years, but at least I have a great array of new products to try!

Le Tan Tanning Gel in Bronze (Product does not come with mitt)

One of the first I purchased is Le Tan's Tanning Gel in Bronze, being pale skinned and a novice again I didn't want to try the deeper tone. What particularly drew me to this product is that because it's a gel, it dries fast and works better with oily skin. All the better to defeat that icky product coated feel you can get with creams.

It's a clear formula with only a hint of the colour that's to come, This is fantastic when you're trying to keep the colour off your clothes and sheets but very problematic when it comes to knowing where you have applied the Tanning Gel. This can be alleviated with the use of those great application mitts you can usually find right next to the Tan range at most stockists.

My first impression is great as this is certainly one of the better smelling Tanning products on the market, there's a subtle coconut smell that doesn't start to resemble fake tan until a few hours later. If you pop the gel on just before going to bed, you won't even notice it. The products glides on nicely and there's no need to really works with it, just make sure you have applied it evenly before it quickly dries. As you can deepen the colour by applying a second layer once they first one dries. A big positive is that it won't rub off once it has dried the way that some others can, once its set it's pretty much unstoppable.
With one layer the colour is nice and subtle and hard to pick as fake, but I have to recommend you stop there, if you want to go a little deeper you ought to apply a tanning moisturiser over the top. Two layers of the gel was just too much when I gave it a go. Of course to keep the colour looking as good as possible you need to moisturise at least once a day, twice is ideal.
So in summary:

What I liked about it - 
The quick drying formula and scent.

What I disliked about it - 
Transparent formula.

Have you tried this product? What did you think of it?

GIft Guide 2012 - Priceline Stocking Stuffers

This is part of a series of gift guides I am putting together and posting up until Christmas. Please be sure to check out the others Here! 

We're getting down to the last week now, and it's truly heading towards panic stations. Unfortunately you don't have much chance of receiving anything from overseas in time now, so it's into the shops we go!
Priceline has a great range of stocking stuffers, ideal for tweens, teenagers, women, and the odd surprise for boys and girls too. As far as I'm concerned, to make an gift a good stocking stuffer it has to tick a few boxes:

• Bulky - Does it take up a substantial amount of room in the sack?
• Suited to the receiver - Men won't often appreciate a Hello Kitty bathwash.
• Good item to price ratio - Gives you change from a $20? Good. Gives you change from a $10? Perfect.

Here are my current picks from Priceline - 

A - Models Prefer Hot Hair Styling Kit

B - Batiste Dry Shampoo Bonus Packs

C - Umberto Giannini Hair Styling Kits

I love how retro glamour is coming back, this curling tool kit will get you well on your way to getting perfect curls. The Batiste packs are awesome, for about the same price as a normal bottle they have released two varieties with useful hair tools: A hair towel and a shower cap. I may have bought a pair just for myself, (I was in the market for a shower cap anyway....)

With the Umberto Giannini packs, I'm not sure if they're available from all Priceline stores as I only spotted them at Carindale. However, if you see one, snap it up. I don't think you will find a cheaper way of purchasing the tools included, hair donuts, tail combs, velcro rollers etc. and last I saw they had buy one get one free ...

Have you nabbed all your presents yet? Who do you still have to shop for?

Gift Guide - Stocking Stuffers

This is part of a series of gift guides I am putting together and posting up until Christmas. Please be sure to check out the others Here! 

Admittedly, I've gone a little AWOL on my Christmas gift guides, time is just running out! There's just over two weeks until Christmas and most online shopping retailers are starting to call time on shipping.
However, here's part one of some last minute stocking stuffers to help nudge you over the line!

1 - Soap and Glory Soaper Heroes gift pack available from Mecca Cosmetica

2 - Kit Cosmetics Lip Balm available from Mecca Cosmetica

3 - Whisky Stones Available from Mighty Ape

4 - DIY Party Pom Pom Kit available from Sportsgirl

5 - Wall Mounting Jewellery Rack available from Sportsgirl

More coming over the next week!

Bought! Sportsgirl Cut Out Boots

So a few weeks ago I posted about some gorgeous Jeffrey Campbell Cut Out Boots that I was in love with, but just couldn't justify on my budget. Hello wallet friendly alternative!

So Mischa likes the boots too, or the camera, I'm not sure.

Can you tell I'm in love? You can pick up your own pair from the guys at Sportsgirl, I found them to be a little tight in the width, so make sure you walk about the store a bit in them first, and I certainly had to buy the bigger size my foot size normally falls into.

Bought by Birdette has received a Liebster Award!

Woohoo! It's a very special post for Bought by Birdette as I have received the Liebster Award from the lovely Madam M of The Beauty Dispensary. For those who may not have heard of these awards before they are given out in the blogging community to up and coming bloggers with less then 200 followers, (so please get cracking and follow me if you haven't already!) Liebster is also German for Dearest, nawww.
So here is how it works:

a. Each nominee must post 11 things about themselves.
b. Answer the 11 questions posed by the blogger who nominated them.
c. Create 11 questions for the 11 bloggers you nonimate.
d. Choose 11 bloggers to give the award to, link to this post and go to their pages to tell them.
e. No tagbacks allowed.

So here goes!

11 things about Birdette

1. Just quietly, I'm kinda nerdy. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, I love Final Fantasy video games, and my favourite is number IX.
2. Born and bred in Country Victoria in an awfully bogan place called Bendigo, I escaped (without children, a rarity for a teenager!) up to Brisbane when I turned 18 and haven't looked back.
3. I have never travelled outside of Australia, I don't even own a passport!
4. On that note, I don't have a driver's license either, and my L plates have actually expired. Oops.
5. Fancies herself as a pretty good cook, I've kept up a new years resolution of cooking something new at least once a week all year, and it's proving to be quite a lot of fun and effective.
6. Is a mad keen crafter, I love to keep my hands busy, but I have a real problem with starting projects and never finishing them!.
7. Loves hats, owns many but I hardly ever wear them. Hoping to change that.
8. I am of Yugoslavian, English and Welsh decent, so creamy skin, dark hair, almost black coloured eyes (no shit, people has trouble seeing my pupils). Cool toned FTW!
9. Incredibly wary of new people and very nervous until I'm comfortable with them. to be honest I've told very few people in my everyday life about this blog in case they don't like it.
10. I've studied "Clothing Construction" and "Multimedia" at TAFE, So I'm not half bad at sewing, and enjoy Photoshopping quite a lot.
11. Lucky last! One day I hope to have a house with a library (at least one wall full of books!) and a secret passage.

Here are the questions posed to me by the lovely Madam M
                               

1.    Are you a morning person or night person? Night, oh god night, birds chirping to bring in the day make me want to own an air rifle.

2.    Gold, silver or platinum? Platinum, but I'll take what I can get ^_^

3.    What was the worst job you have ever had? I worked as a barista at a commonly known cafe chain, this particular one had a very high staff turnover because the franchisee was an utter stresshead asshole. He would yell at his staff all the time and generally be horrible, I used to get nosebleeds from the stress. I ended up leaving for another franchisee's stores, they were much nicer to work for.

4.    Are you allergic to anything? Bees, cheap metal, elastoplast, plus I have year round hayfever, fun times!

5.    Whats on the menu for dinner tonight? While I'm currently typing, it will be crispy chicken tacos with some friends coming over, by the time this goes live however I'm not sure...

6.    Who in your life inspires you the most? Christ, I haven't thought about that, I don't actually think anyone inspires me that much lol. One of my old school friends has the courage to do whatever she wants in life, regardless of what others think and she doesn't hide anything, I quite admire her.

7.    If you had a million dollars to give away to on person anonymously who would it be?
       I think I'd give it to my boyfriend, so he could share it with me lol.

8.    If you could live for one year in another country, where would you go? Ooooh, I haven't travelled outside of Australia, I would love to live in London, I wouldn't have to learn another language, I would have a snowy christmas, and so much cool stuff comes out of there!

9.    If you had to wear one nail polish color for the rest of you life what would it be? GLITTER! oh god, glitterrrrrrr.

10.  If you could have any type of animal as a pet what would you choose? Aww, I really couldn't pass up my gorgeous kitties!

11. What was the last movie you watched ? James Bond Skyfall, and I fricken loved it.

The Questions I now pose to my selected bloggers

1. What is the one store you couldn't live without and why?

2. What is your earliest memory?

3. What colour nail polish are you wearing right now?

4. Black and white or Bright colours?

5. Favourite way to spend the weekend?

6. Favourite place to spend a holiday?

7. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

8. Any hobbies?

9. The best thing you can cook?

10. Summer or Winter?

11. Autumn leaves or Spring Flowers?

My chosen bloggers, have fun!

BBBeauty

Vintage Owl Boutique

Dorly Designs

Just Plain Delirious

Beauty Behind the Imperfections

Stylise

Chic Beauty

Brie's Petite World

Peta Petal

Make up and Smell the Coffee

Buy Blog Sparkle

In the spirit of things, go and check out eachothers blogs! Thanks again to Madam M too!