ElectroCat

Yes, I finished another 10 items from my make-up and skincare stash and rewarded myself during Boxing Day Sales with DKNY Perfume. 1. Lapurete Night Creme 50 ml (full size) My overall impression - very nice product and gorgeous scent and cool pump bottle (I did a review in it here ). It didn't break me out and absorbed fairly easily, felt really nice on my skin. However it did nothing for the lines on my neck and didn't improve the appearance of the fine line on my forehead. I find Grown and The Body Shop oil serums correct my fine lines much better. Good overall moisturiser but not as powerful as they claim to be (they call it nature's botox). Would I buy it again? - most likely, I've enjoyed using it. 2. Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Mascara (trial size) My overall impression - I got a trial size of this mascara in Glossybox. It was a good product however it wasn't as good as some other higher-end mascaras on the market. it retails for $48 and...

Today I had to go to work for few hours. It felt really odd going there in the middle of our Christmas break and everyone was in holiday mode :) Westfield Carindale was the closest shopping centre so I decided to stop by and check out Boxing Day sales. The shopping centre itself was recently expanded and updated. They added few exciting stores like Kookai, L'Occitane, T2 and Mecca Maxima just to name a few. Chanel store is coming to Carindale soon too which I find very strange. I think Chanel is trying to target middle-class now. First I went to Lorna Jane and it was too busy for me to browse properly so I left even without trying anything on. Myer was my next stop because I wanted to have a look at their Scanpan sale (I am so happy with my frying pan that I want a grill pan now). They advertised it as 50% off RRP and their original RRP was twice as much as DJ RRP! The 26 cm frying pan that I picked up from DJ for $79.95 was $114.50 at Myer! Makes me wonder how genuine some of ...

Yay for Boxing Day! I love having a whole day off that I can delegate to shopping. Last year I went to my local shopping centre and it was a nightmare so this year I went to the city. I found free parking straight away however Queen Street Mall was very busy and Myer was shocking (long lines of people everywhere). I had my heart set of few things but I wanted to wait till sales to get them and I got what I wanted (mostly). So here is what I came back home with :)     1. DKNY Pure a Drop of Verbena set (50 ml scent spray and 100 ml body butter) Got it for $41.30 at Priceline reduced from $65 I am a big fan of L'Occitane's Verbena line so I naturally wanted to test this perfume when I saw it. Very simple minimalistic bottle was also very appealing. It was a love at first sniff! Very soft, clean and fresh scent with citrus and herbal notes. It is described on fragrantica as : "Pure DKNY Verbena is opening with notes of verbena and basil, which are gra...

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe it's that time of the year again! My blog turned one year today too... I had very casual celebration and thoroughly enjoyed it.    There was only four of us so cooking was a breeze. I woke up at 10 and started cooking at 10 30. Everything was ready by 12 30! I followed Michelle Bridges Christmas menu plan so everything was very delicious and healthy. For entrée we had cold tomato and roasted pepper soup which went down really well since it was very hot. Then we had spiced beef roast with spinach, walnut and cranberry salad plus roasted dressed veggies (purple carrot, broccollini and asparagus.  For dessert we had healthy chocolate cake with ice cream and strawberries (chocolate cakes were made yestetday).    After lunch we went for a walk around nearby lake to burn some calories.  I really enjoyed this year Christmas as it was super easy, relaxing and fun. ...

I've got some exciting news - I have new Instagram account! Feel free to follow me, my user name is electro_cat :)

Few weeks ago I finally got myself a Clarisonic. For those who don't know what it is it's a device that is designed to clean your face more efficiently than cleansing products alone. It sort of reminds me of an oversized electric toothbrush. The kit cost me AUD$149 and it came with one sensitive brush, a charger and small cleanser. I love the charger, it is tiny and magnetic so you don't have bulky units occupying precious bathroom space. The brush is extra soft and doesn't irritate my skin despite vibrating at ultra high frequency.  I've been using Clarisonic for over 4 weeks now. After about two weeks my skin was very clear but this week I got a breakout again, probably due to hormonal changes and chocolate consumption (Xmas related).  I usually use foaming cleanser to remove eye make up then I use Clinique soap with Clarisonic to remove impurities from my skin.  It does better job than cleanser alone and leaves my skin ul...

Since starting my 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge I've been using a lot more herbs in my cooking. I love using them to add flavour to my dishes without adding extra calories. Herbs can easily transform bland food into gourmet masterpiece. On the downside they are quite expensive and don't last very long (maybe 1-2 weeks in the fringe max). Plus I rarely use the whole bunch so it feels like a lot of them get thrown away. I live in small apartment and unfortunately don't have a garden. However I've been growing some strawberries and parsley in small planters on my balcony so I figured out that I can plant more. I went to my local Bunning and picked up few extra planters, potting mix and a variety of herbs. A pot of herbs will cost you $3-5 plus you can get a mix of 4 different herbs. At the end planted herbs will cost you as much as cut ones at the supermarket! Plus you will get more than 1-2 weeks out of them (I had my parsley for several years). So here is wh...

Currently I am doing Michelle Bridges 12 week challenge and so far it is going great. Yes, it is a lot of work but I am really enjoying the food and find exercise programs easy to follow. Most of all it is working for me, I've lost 1.8 kg in 2.5 weeks and people are starting to notice. While browsing 12WBT official Facebook page I came across one member who had a dilemma. Her Birthday was coming up and she had several celebrations with her friends and one of them was even making a cake for her. She didn't know what to do. Clearly she had a desire to stick to the nutrition plan but at the same time she wanted to follow the tradition of eating and celebrating. It got me thinking that most of us feel like we HAVE TO eat birthday cakes (even if it someone else's birthday), HAVE TO binge during Christmas lunch until we experience breathing difficulties, HAVE TO stuff our faces with chocolate during Easter and HAVE TO have a kebab or McDonalds with friends after a night out...

I was lucky enough to receive some Birthday cash this year which enabled me to get some things I really really wanted! 1. MIMCO Pioneer Wallet My old Oroton wallet is 7 years old and while it still looks OK it doesn't have enough slots for plastic cards. These days almost every major retailer has some sort of royalty program. I find that it is nearly impossible to carry all those cards in one wallet therefore I've been throwing some membership cards out or refusing to join a membership program. This wallet is huge and lets me carry all my frequently used cards as well as cash, coins and ID. Plus it is easy to open and had gorgeous timeless design. 2. Clarisonic Mia I wanted one for so long! I've been using it for few days and so far I really like it. I'll write a review on it after about 10-14 days of use. 3. Stuart Weitzman Wedding Shoes My friends swears that Stuart Weitzman heels are the most comfortable ever! I saw few pairs at David Jones...

Until recently I haven't purchased anything from ASOS for a while. Initially I thought that if you have to return something you have to send it back to UK however I find out that they have a warehouse in Australia too :) In the past ASOS been hit and miss for me. Out of four items I got recently I had to return two. 1. ASOS Stretch Pant With Boot Flare My first pair of work pants from ASOS was quite good, they were made from thick stretchy fabric and fot well. However this pair was bad in so many different way. The fabric was paper thin and see-through, the sizing was wrong and the quality was pretty low. I returned them without hesitation 2. Kookai Tropical Print Bustier This top looked very cute on photo plus it was heavily reduced. I was a bit disappointed when I got it - the cotton fabric wasn't very good quality (unlike a lot of other Kookai garments) and the cut was weird. It made me look pregnant...It was returned together with pants above. 3. River Island...

Yes, I am doing one starting tomorrow! My work colleague did round 3 of  Michelle Bridges 12WBT and was very happy with her results. I am getting married in 5 months so I really want to look my best :) I've been hitting the gym 3-4 times per week since April and worked hard with the help of personal trainer to gain some muscle mass in order to speed up my metabolism (which was really bad due to under-eating and dieting). However I felt like I've hit a plateau and needed an extra kick to keep improving. Hence why I've joined the 12 Week Body Transformation program. During this challenge you supposed to exercise 6 days per week and follow the nutrition plan that is sent to you each week. You can also have one cheat meal per week and can choose your own (healthy) snacks within calorie limit. Plus you should complete pre-season tasks which get you in the right state of mind to do this challenge. My next 12 weeks are going to be full-on, looks like I have to put my socia...

I have countless bottles of perfumes (both miniatures and full sized). I love matching the scent to my mood or occasion and I don't think I can settle just for one or even two fragrances. So out of my vast collection I've picked my top six fragarances that I love to wear in summer (not in any particular order, I probably like some just a bit more that others) 1. Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche. This is actually a hair mist but it works well as fragrance and just as long lasting as EDT. I have No. 5 and Mademoiselle hair mists too because I find they have less sillage (won't be smelled by people 2 meters away) and open up to middle notes quicker. The biggest bonus is they are 1/2 price of regular EDT! So you can enjoy Chanel without paying over $150. Out of all Chances this one is my favourite. I like the advertisement, however I don't think I'll be drawn to this scent solely based on it. It has very distinct lemon and cedar notes with very slight accents of flo...