Liebster Awards

I was going through my email and as per usual, I had skipped one a few days ago. I hadn't realized that Maria (have a look at her blog here) from They Call the Wind's blog had nominated me for a Liebster Award. Thank you so much Maria! The Liebster is award is not a real award or a physical award that you get. So what is it?

The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  What is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Here are the rules for receiving this award:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.

5. You cannot tag your tagger back

11 things about me

1. I decided to get braces at the age of 19 

2. I hope to one day work for a magazine company

3. I absolutely hate nail polish

4. I love making new friends

5. I have never changed my hair color

6. I collect bedtime slippers

7. If it was acceptable to walk around in pajama pants all day, I would

8. I am extremely clumsy

9. I tend to lose things often

10. I love ice cream

11. I collect sticky notes (in all shapes and sizes)

Maria's questions

1) What inspired you to start your blog?

I have always love makeup and I have always wanted to start a blog. A college assignment recently pushed me to do so.

2) If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live, and why?

I would stay in Cape Town. I cannot picture myself anywhere else.

3) What is your favorite place you have ever traveled to?

India

4) What is your favorite desert?

Cheesecake

5) Who is your style icon?

Emma Watson

6) What is your most worn item?

My military boots

7) What is your favorite blog?

There are so many but I love Beauty and the Chic

8) What is your biggest accomplishment in life so far?

Having some of my design work sent to London to be judged

9) Favorite movie?

Iron Man

10) Favorite book?

All the Harry Potter books

11) What is your favorite snack?

A smoothie. Any kind. Its actually one of the only snacks I can really have with braces.

Nominations:

1. Charlene from Gee Whiskers! 

2. Nicole from Princess Noo

3. Desle from Diva Desle

4.  Meghan from Meghan Silva's Blog

5. Amy from Amzy In Wonderland

6. Abby from Daydreams & Daisychains

7. Emma from The Simple Life of Emma

8. Holly from Holly Lucy

9. Charlene from Pretty Please Charlie

10. Chicara from Lipgloss Kisses

11. Zaakira from Princess of Jozi

My questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?

2. Do you prefer tea or coffee?

3. If you were stuck on an island, who would you want with you there?

4. Whats the last book you have read?

5. What beauty product could you not live without?

6. What do you spend bulk of your day doing?

7. What is your biggest pet peeve?

8. What inexpensive makeup item do you swear by?

9. Which celebrity are you currently crushing on?

10. If you could star in one movie, which movie would it be and who would you act as?

11. Milk, dark or white chocolate?

Thank you once again Maria for nominating me! Hope everyones having a good Tuesday!

Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask- The Body Shop

I recently received a voucher from The Body Shop (read more about their loyalty program here) and I decided to pick up a face mask. During winter, my skin dries up but still manages to stay oily in my t-zone (forehead and nose) area. The consultant at The Body Shop recommended this because it is for oily/combination skin.

When I opened this in store, I immediately put it back down. The smell was really over powering. As you can tell by the name, this mask smells like seaweed. I then gave it a second chance and the smell was not too bad. Its just a bit different to what I usually expect from a face mask. I ended up getting the mask because The Body Shop was having a 20% off special on everything in the store. That plus my voucher made this mask affordable.

The mask is grey in color but dries white on your face. It tightens up on your face quite a bit. It is a clay mask so if you do not like masks that makes it impossible for you to smile, you will not like this product. I left this mask on for about 10 minutes (The Body Shop recommends that you leave it on for 10-15 minutes) and then removed it by wetting a makeup sponge and gently wiping my face. I could instantly see that my face looked a lot less oily in my t-zone area but still moisturized. My skin felt softer and it didn't react to the mask at all.
I would recommend this product if you suffer from combination/oily skin but if you are not a fan of the smell of the ocean then you wouldn't like this product at all.
I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Brands I wish were sold in South Africa- Urban Decay

I loved doing last weeks post on Nars so I thought I would make this a weekly post on my blog. If you follow any beauty blogs that are not South African, you will hear them rave about the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. It seems to be the must have item in your makeup kit. I have some other items that I would love from the brand.

The Naked 2 palette is obviously the item I want the most from Urban Decay. It reminds me a lot of the Stila in the light palette (review here) but with a few more colors which I could wear during the day and night. It also comes with a brush and a mini lipgloss. Naked Flushed is also very appealing to me because I love contouring and highlighting. The bronzer in the set seems quite light for my skin tone though.
Have you tried anything from Urban Decay? Would you like to try?

My favorite South African beauty site

Most of the time before I buy a product, I read reviews about them. This meant that I would have to google the product and sift through quite a few web pages before I actually found a good or honest review. Before I started my blog, Charlene from Gee Whiskers (have a look at her blog here) mentioned a site called Beauty Bulletin to me. I had a look at the site and I was drawn to it immediately.

The sites very pink and bright home page

For a long period of time I was just searching for product reviews and seeing what other people were saying on the site. I then decided to sign up to become a VIP member which meant I could write my own reviews, create a personalized profile and become part of the community chat. Beauty Bulletin also runs monthly product reviews in which they send out beauty products to active members to review for free. Its a great way to try new products and also to tell others about your experience with it. Beauty Bulletin also runs amazing competitions all the time. I won a Stila hamper from the site two months ago and I have also been sent a YSL Glossy Stain to review previously. Click here to view their site, read reviews and become a VIP member!

Starting the week off on a good note

My brother recently came from a trip overseas and brought me a few presents which I am very grateful for. I thought I would share them with you today.

He ended up getting me DKNY Fresh Blossom because I have been wanting it for ages. He also got me the Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder Quartet Air Sensation in Sweet Caramel (that is quite a long name hey) and it has to be one of the best best face powders I have ever tried. I also received (and immediately opened) a bag of Hersheys Miniature chocolates.

He also chose out a bag with a Mini print, either because he knows I like strange prints or because he knows a Mini Cooper is my favorite car and a tshirt he thought I might like.
I posted the picture above on my instagram. If you have instagram, follow me on there (amiiparker).

Hope everyone has a good week.

Stila in the light review and eyes of the day

I was never an eyeshadow fan until I saw this Stila eyeshadow palette. This palette is called "In the light" and contains a mixture of matte and shimmery eyeshadows as well as an eyeliner in a dark brown shade called "Damsel". This palette also contains the very famous Stila eyeshadow, Kitten (which I have abused as you can see in the picture below).

Top row: Bare, Kitten, Bliss, Sunset, Sandstone.  Bottom Row: Bubbly, Glided Gold, Luster, Night Sky, Eboney

The palette contains 5 matte shadows (Bare, Bliss, Sandstone, Luster and Ebony) and 5 shimmer shadows ( Kitten, Sunset, Bubbly, Gilded Gold and Night Sky). The eyeliner I received in this palette works wonderfully but I found that once you push the eyeliner up, you cannot push it down again. I am not too sure if mine was faulty or if this eyeliner has a design flaw.

The shimmery shadows are more pigmented than the matte shadows which works in my advantage because I tend to wear matte shadows daily. Its easier to do an everyday look with matte shadows that are build able so that you do not end up with a dramatic look during the day time. They are also incredible soft and easy to blend. It is also long lasting and does not crease. I have worn this without an eyeshadow primer and it still looked good by the end of the day.
I decided to do a look with these shadows today and I only used the matte shadows and Kitten in the corner of my eye just to add a little bit of sparkle.

I placed Bliss all over the lid as a base, Sandstone over that to give it some color, Ebony in the crease and outer corner of my eye and Kitten in the inner corner of my eye.

I then added a coat of my favorite mascara, Mac's Opulash Optimum Black and I used the eyeliner that came with this palette on my lower lash line.

A very big thank you to everyone who read and commented on my blog this week. Your support is highly appreciated. I hope everyone has a good and fun filled weekend. 

College Essentials

Bag purchased from Woolworths. View their other cosmetic bags hereBesides having books, a laptop and a pencil bag (with absolutely no pens in it) I also have a very bright pink bag in my college bag. I keep my daily essentials in there so that they do not roll around and get lost. I cannot even explain to you how some of my friends laugh when I whip this bag out. I hear comments like "Bagception" and "Are you sure that bag is bright enough?". That is until they see what is inside and then they all want to use something. So what is in this bright pink bag?

The Body Shop Almond Hand and Nail Cream- perfect if you like having soft and moisturized hands

Clarins Moisture Replenish Lip Balm- my favorite lip balm (review here)

Mac Lipstick in Amorous- the perfect shade of dark pink for my skin tone 

QVS Shine Control Tissues- for those peaky oily spots on your face

Stila Long Wear Lip Colour in Flush- light pink lipstick that is very similar to my lip color. Perfect for those long days at college because it does last quite long

Hand Sanitizer- college doors, computers and desks carry all sorts of germs. You can never be too careful

Elizabeth Arden Pretty (10ml)- miniature version of my favorite perfume

Clarins High Impact Mascara (sample size)- perfect travel size mascara for those days you are in a rush and forget to put on your mascara

What item do you have to have in your college/hand bag?

Brands I wish were sold in South Africa- NARS

There are so many beauty brands that I wish were available in South Africa and Nars is just one of them. I have been following beauty blogs for a while now and most of them mention Nars and their cult blush, Orgasm. I have been wanting a few of their products, not only the blush, and I thought I would share them with you. 

My two favorite products on this list would have to be the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Never say Never and the Matte Eyeshadow in Outreamer. I only wear matte lipsticks and the deep pink color of this one appealed to me. The eyeshadow looks like it could be the perfect cobalt blue that I have been searching for. Cobalt is one of my favorite colors but I cannot seem to find it in a matte eyeshadow that I actually like. The search continues.

Review- Stila Stay All Day 10-in1 HD Beauty Balm

There has been a lot of hype around BB (Beauty Balm) creams lately, but what is a BB cream actually?
In a nutshell, a BB cream saves you time with your beauty routine by being an all in one product. Depending on which BB cream you use, it can act as a light coverage foundation, a concealer, a primer, sunscreen and moisturizer. 

The Stila BB Cream claims that it has 10 functions (source). 

• Luxurious beauty balm glides onto skin and leaves a silky, powdery finish
• High-definition formula helps reduce pore size and provides oil and blemish control
• Contains innovative micro spheres, which have been shown to hide skin imperfections and reduce wrinkle depth by up to 84%
• Features an exclusive complex, which helps reduce redness and skin irritation
• Enriched with Tripeptide-37, bamboo and pea extracts, which help diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Infused with natural, skin-protecting emollients which have been shown to increase anti-oxidant activity by up to 89.7%
• Uses the smallest particle size of coated pigments for seamless, smooth coverage
• Ideal for all skin types and skin tones
• Oil-free, paraben-free and dermatologist tested

Does it live up to its claims? In my opinion, yes it does. I wear this BB cream every single day just because it is so convenient to use. I have tried a few BB creams and some have an oily finish and others are really drying. Stila has perfected their formula to be moisturizing while not making your face look greasy. It takes away any redness on my skin and gives my face a very matte finish. One thing I do not like about this product is the smell. It smells very sweet. You only really smell this when applying the bb cream but it goes away quite quickly after that. 

The design of the packaging is quite smart too. The cap screws on instead of having a cap that flips open and close which could break easily and usually gets very messy. I also like that the nozzle the BB cream comes through is small. This way, you have more control over the amount of product that is released and you end up wasting less.

This BB cream only comes in one shade but once blended, it adapts to your skin tone. As you can see in the picture above, the BB cream is a lot lighter than my skin tone but it does adapt to my shade. Although it does not come in various shades, it does come in different versions. Stila has a bronzing version of this BB cream to give you an over all tanned look as well as an illuminating version that will give your skin a healthy glow. 

I hope this has helped and given you some insight on the Stila Stay All Day 10-in-1 HD Beauty Balm. 

My first post (how original)

Well hello there.

How do people usually start their first blog post? This is my first time venturing into blogging so please be patient and I will eventually get the hang of things.

Maybe I should start by telling you a little bit more about myself. I am a 20 year old graphic design student and I am in my final year at Vega, the brand communication school. I have been told I drink enough tea to classify myself as a 60 year old and I love reading (while sipping on some tea, obviously).

I decided to start this blog for two reasons. The first being that I absolutely love makeup and beauty products. I am constantly talking about it and I thought I could share my thoughts and opinions with the world (I have big dreams). The second reason would be that for an assignment at college I am exploring the extremes of beauty and the lengths women go through to beautify themselves. My blog will be a form of process for this assignment. I plan on blogging a bit about design and anything else that I find interesting as well as beauty.

I hope I haven't bored you too much with my little introduction speech and I hope you enjoy the content I plan on posting on my blog.
Feel free to follow me on Bloglovin (here) and Instagram (@amiiparker)

I will leave you with this picture that I saw and loved immediately (source)