Although it's December and nearly time for Christmas, I thought I would make a quick post of what I loved in the month of November.

1. Clinique 3 Step Skin Care
I've been using these products for months and I absolutely love them. With a choice of 4 different types (very dry to dry, dry combination, combination oily and oily) you know that these products will be best suited for your skin type.
I use this every morning and every night and I really notice the difference when I use it. Not only does my skin look refreshed but it looks less blotchy and red (two things I hate).
I have mixed the 3 Step up though, I no longer use the Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion as I found that my skin just wasn't benefiting from it anymore. So I switched to Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream. I know that this doesn't really sound like a moisturiser but I love it. It's hydrating and has the added bonus of relieving you of any red blotches on your skin.
(http://www.clinique.com.au/cms/product/3_step_grid.tmpl)
(http://www.clinique.com.au/product/1687/6007/Skin-Care/Moisturizers/Redness-Solutions-Daily-Relief-Cream/index.tmpl)

2. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
Since I bought this a few months ago I doubt I'm going to try anything else. This concealer does the job for me. It instantly hides anything - pimples, dark patches, etc. Another thing I love about this product is that it comes in so many different skin tones. I have very fair skin so it's taken me a very long time to find makeup products that fit - probably one of the reasons I only really started getting into makeup.
It's a liquid but very easy to blend and you never need too much of it which is perfect for those hot days when you really don't want makeup running all down your face.
(http://www.maybelline.com.au/products/21/face/concealer/fit-me-concealer/sand/20?shadeId=133)

3. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation
Again, this is something I've been using and I doubt I'll try anything else. This foundation is lovely and smooth and blends so easily. I was worried when I bought this though, the colour in the bottle can be very deceiving. Fortunately when applied to your skin the foundation turns up slightly lighter which is perfect for those of us with fair skin.
I only use one pump as I find this is plenty for my skin, anymore and it would be way too noticeable that I have makeup on - and that's not something I really want. Soft and subtle is how I like it which is what one pump gives me.
(http://au.rimmellondon.com/products/face/wake-me-foundation)

4. Model Co SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss
If there's a lip gloss I would recommend to anyone it would be this. I got this free in a magazine last year and sadly have had great difficulty finding it in a store here in Australia (if anyone knows where I can purchase, comment below!).
It's not sticky when you apply it, it's a lovely pink colour and it smells amazing. I know that sounds weird but the smell has me hooked. I have Strip Tease and it smells like candied strawberries.
It has a lovely glossy look with a hint of shine and with a handy mirror on the side of the bottle it's great and easy to use when you don't have a mirror handy.
Another thing I love about this is it's long lasting. Although the glossy look fades, the colour and the hint of sparkle stay on your lips for a few hours!
(http://www.modelcocosmetics.com/shop/lips/lip-gloss/shine)

5. Shellac Nail Polish
As some of you may know, recently I have gotten into using Shellac as my nails are sadly not as strong as one would like them. I been using it for about 2-3months now and I've seen a great improvement in not only the strength of my nails but also the health.
The polish stays on for about 2weeks which has the be the greatest downside but in those 2weeks you don't see any chipped or scratched nail polish which means your nails always look nice.
There is one colour I absolutely love from the Shellac range which is the Grapefruit Sparkle. This is a really light pink with a lovely hint of sparkle and its very subtle on your nails. I really like this because it's not really noticeable like a bright red or pink but its noticeable enough for people to see it.
(http://www.cnd.com/pro-products/cnd-shellac/cnd-shellac-colors/meet-colors)


I'll leave my list there for this months favourites. There are so many things I love right now and I know if I continue the list it will be never ending! So I'll leave some for next month to give you guys something to look forward too.

Last Thursday my mum and I went to see Olly Murs and I have to say, not only is he a really lovely guy but he's a really good singer too!

Keeping the concert light and funny, Olly made jokes in between songs and made sure to really connect to the audience. Although the venue was rather big, Olly still made sure to get everyone on their feet and dancing. Performing songs from both of his albums he not only made sure that his audience was having fun, but he had fun too.

His slight obsession with Ryan Gosling may no longer be a secret but none of us really cared. He always ended each 'Gosling tale' with a laugh and smile before continuing with another song or another story. One of those was where a fan had given him an Aussie hat which he insisted he would wear from christmas this year - when he tried it on the hall was filled with flashes and Olly started posing making all of us laugh.

Olly, knowing that all age groups would be at the concert, tried to cater to everyone, young and old. From twerking on stage to making small jokes and innuendos he kept everyone entertained. All my mum could say after was that he 'is a young Robbie Williams' and if that's not a compliment then I don't know what it.

An entertainer, singer, laugher and talker he made the concert fun and lighthearted and promised to be back soon. Ending the night with his hit song 'Troublemaker' and a smile on his face he left us all giddy with excitement and laughing.

The only thing I would want to be asking Olly is why the Plenary?

Yep, it happened. I went to see One Direction... twice. After purchasing my tickets last year and then receiving them in July, to say I was sick of waiting was an understatement. I went two nights in a row - not on purpose. New tickets went on sale a week before the concerts and one of my friends really wanted to go so... well, you know what happened.

A few things to note before going into this review, I am a 'Directioner'... at the lovely age of 21 and I don't really care. A few of my friends make fun of me because I like them but hey, I like their music. The reason I'm saying this is because I may be a tad bias... being a fan and all. Right then, onto the review. *cue the screams*

Getting to the arena - Rod Laver - was an experience, a multitude of limos in black and pink blaring One Direction music, hearing girls screaming from close to 2kms away, the songs playing from girls phones. I had never experienced that sort of madness for a concert ever! Before even entering the arena I knew it was going to be crazy and then finally sitting in my seat the only thought going through my head was "I'm going to go deaf".

First up was 5 Seconds of Summer, I had heard of the Sydney based band but never listened to their songs so while I was sitting in my seat attempting to hear the words, girls all around my friend and I were screaming their hearts out. After 5SOS had been on stage for about 30min the lights came back on and you could feel the buzz in the arena. Everyone was pumped. We had all been waiting way too long for this.

The lights go dark. *cover my ears*. The screams are deafening! How the boys aren't deaf already I don't know.



Out they come and within a second they are starting. Up All Night starts the show while Best Song Ever ends it. After jumping around, being 10 seats away from all the boys the first night and 2 the second, screaming and smiling, watching my friends go mental because 'Niall waved at them' and finally experiencing what has to of been one of the best concert experiences of my life - not only the music but the energy from the crowd made both nights amazing.

The boys had smiles on their faces the whole time, they obviously love what they do and don't seem to worry that you can hardly hear the music over the screams. As long as their fans are happy, they are too.

Along with the music was their usual antics: making jokes, Twitter questions, talking and waving to the audience (making the girls go wild). A group of 10 was in the front row which lead to Harry (jokingly) complaining that "this is why my mum couldn't come".



If you didn't get a chance to go to the Take Me Home tour, don't worry Directioners! I am sure you'll get tickets for their new world tour and then you can experience the mayhem, fun and overall hilarity of a One Direction concert too!



Please note, all photos taken on an iPhone so please excuse poor quality.

I've been using this hand cream for a few weeks now after receiving it in one of Clinique's gift bags and, well, I haven't really seen it make much difference to my hands at all. I've found that after applying it, my hands are super sticky and it takes forever to soak in - not fun. Not only does this stop me from doing work, it stops me from touching everything!

Although I don't really have dark spots on my hands - which is the sole purpose of this cream - I thought that I would try using it as a daily hand cream anyway. At this current moment of time I have stopped using it and I am currently using a new hand cream (post coming soon).

For me, the only bonus was the SPF 15 and the smell. Firstly, being a Brit living in Australia means I burn especially easily so the added SPF 15 (although not very high) was still a nice bonus. I didn't have to worry about suncream on my hands - which also leaves you very sticky until fully absorbed *sigh*.

Anyway, the SPF factor was a good bonus and the smell. Although labelled as 'unscented' I found that the cream smelled of cucumber sandwiches. Now, I'm a huge fan of cucumber sandwiches so I loved the scent of the cream! However, I'm not sure if this is just my brain and nose playing tricks on me trying to make me like the cream or if it actually smells of cucumber sandwiches - I asked my mum and she just smiled (what does that even mean!?).

So overall, the only perks of the cream were the SPF and the smell. Sadly though, I will no longer be using this cream. Good-bye sticky hands!

As some of you may know, last week I went on a shopping spree and bought a new hair care pack by RPR which included the My Argan Oil Elixir. I've been using it for a couple of days now and it's really helped my hair be less frizzy, more controlled and a lot softer.



I was told to spray some on the ends after I had towel dried my hair and then spray some more on once my hair was dry. After spraying it on I brush through my hair, slowly working my way to the top of my head, with my fingers which I've been told helps stimulate your natural hair oils.
Things I've noticed since using the Elixir are that my curls are not more pronounced, my hair is softer and it is less frizzy - which are the actual benefits from using the Elixir! This is the first where a hair care product has actually done its job on my hair! I'll definitely be using this from now on and hopefully when I start using the RPR shampoo and conditioner that also came in the pack my hair will become more tamed (finally). What products do you use to control your hair?

Today I came home to a rather lovely surprise - my mum had bought me more Bomb Cosmetics products which only means that I now have an excuse to have a bath! She had purchased three bath creamer, very similar to the Bath Buttercup that I tried last week.



From the three that she got me I decided to try the Rose Bath Creamer first as the thought of having petals in my bath sounded heavenly (and it was!). The thing I noticed first was of course the smell which was a combination of rose and jasmine - however the scent doesn't seem to have lingered in my bathroom like the Buttercup did (lasted nearly 5days). After the creamer had finished sizzling away and all the petals were scattered around the bath, I got in, and it was lovely - my skin was instantly smoothed. It wasn't like the Buttercup where it happened straight away and lasted for the whole bath, it seemed to slowly creep into my skin, taking its time to moisturise which I found really nice as this gave me time to relax.



I can't really choose between the two as both products were really nice and left my skin feeling soft and refreshed. I would say however, if you were looking for a quick fix go with the Melt as it didn't take as much time to dissolve into the water. But it you want a bath full of silky smoothness from start to finish and a scent that will last for a few days after, go with the Buttercup.

If you had a choice which would you use?

I love being able to have a bath, soak in the water and just relax so, on the weekend I purchased a Bomb Cosmetic Bath Blaster. I've never used a bath blaster or bath bomb before so here was my experience.



I purchased the Rosehipster Bath Blaster and it smelt so nice! Just like fresh roses and a hint of mint. Plus it looked just like a cupcake with mint icing, and how doesn't love cupcakes?

As I'd never used one of these before I placed it in the bath after filling up the tub... which meant that I had to sit around and wait for it to fizzle into nothing. I did get to appreciate the rosy aroma which still lingers in my bathroom (next time it will go in while the bath is filling). So after waiting about 10min I just decided to get in even though a small amount was still fizzing away and the pink flower was still intact - this didn't affect anything and the next time I looked for the blaster it was gone.

Now, I've used heaps of bath products to help make your skin silky soft but never before has anything worked as well as this! The water was so nice and smooth and just touching my arm I could already feel how soft my skin was going. Even now my skin is still soft!

I will definitely be trying more of these bath blasters out! Have you tried one? Which one is your favourite?

To say I was excited about this performance was an understatement. I had heard from so many people that the costumes for Cinderella 'were amazing' and 'so pretty' so of course that was the first thing I wanted to see. To be honest, they weren't just amazing and pretty they were absolutely dazzling (yes I just used that word) and fitted each character beautifully. The prince in white, Cinderella in gold, the sisters in pink and purple... *sigh*

Anyway back to the actual performance... Wow!

It was a contemporary take on the fairy tale of Cinderella but stuck to the original tale quite well. The main part that struck me as 'different' was that instead of mice taking Cinderella to the ball... it was the universe (planets, stars, comets) and it was weird and quirky but worked so well! It seemed like the universe wanted Cinderella and the Prince to meet and fall in love and well... you know the rest.

The highlight of the show would have to have been the ugly step sisters, whose performance was brilliantly funny and had everyone in the theatre laughing. The costumes and hilariously awkward dance moves just added to the hilarity.

It was the last night that the ballet was performed in Melbourne but I so wish it was coming back soon! Would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves the ballet or the tale of Cinderella.