I've had a love-hate relationship with lipstick. As soon as I could wear make up, I went for the Gwen Stefani look right out of the gate which means a bangin' red pout, right? Well, I wasn't very good at reapplying and at 13, the half-lipgloss, half-stain products I was using, wiped off faster than you could say "Don't Speak". When I bought more grown-up lipsticks, I tried experimenting with lip-liner. I think someone had told me to fill in the entire lip with lip liner and then go over it with lipstick. I don't know if it was just the era but shiny lips seemed to be the thing at the time so I would end up with lips covered in lip liner while my lipstick had migrated elsewhere. When I chipped my front tooth, I just gave up because my dentist couldn't match the colour of my temporary replacement nicely. I just HAD to go swimming in a pool filled with HTH didn't I? Yes, I just had to have my eyes closed and smash into the side of the pool underwater. Rest in peace Sheri's tooth that got sucked up by a Kreepy Krauly.

To make a long story longer, I was very self-conscious about my teeth and I really didn't want to draw any attention to them. I thought that they were super yellow and the bright white flouride flecks on my front tooth - and what remained of the chipped one - just seemed to emphasize how yellow the rest of my teeth were. Fast-forward a few years and I went for whitening and got a veneer to replace my chipped tooth. I still have flouride flecks, in fact, my veneer artists speckled them on especially and you know what? I love my teeth now! Suffice it to say, I began having a LOT more fun with make up.

My holy grail products are the matte lip stains that are all the rage right now. I haven't tried all of them (I really want to try Color Pop Cosmetics) but I did order the Lime Crime Velvetines when I got my Venus Eyeshadow Palette. I do love Venus because those rusted colours are a dream when combined with red or nude lips. I do have some MAC reds for when I run out though because the exchange rate is killing my online shopping addiction.

I also got two Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks in 714 and I'm Nude. Out of the Lime Crime collection, I have to say that my favourites are Riot and Bleached. Riot comes out as the perfect red while Bleached is a subtle pink. While I enjoy playing with the other colours, I usually end up mixing Jeffree Star's I'm Nude with them to lighten them up because they look better on my lips that way. I feel like Jeffree's Liquid Lipsticks stay on more stubbornly but I end up using Lime Crime more because I prefer the colours I got.

Revlon keeps bringing out double-sided products and I LOVED their Moon Candy nail polishes so of course I scooped up their creamy and glittery Eye Art. The glitter does harden a bit which is disappointing but I knew that it might come with the territory. I just need to be less heavy-handed maybe? I'm really looking forward to Urban Decay coming to South Africa because their Heavy Metal eye glitter is my favourite!

I've always loved the Travel Spray from Kiehl's so I'm very happy with these skincare products. I sometimes use the serum before I put on primer and my skin feels so hydrated which makes my foundation look awesome. The Ultra Facial Cream is a dream too, I actually noticed a difference from switching up from my oil moisturizer to this. My face feels softer and my skin has remained clear. It's so weird, I would think that an oil would hydrate my skin better than a cream? Anyway, sunblock is a must for me and this one feels much lighter than what I've been using. My absolute favourite is the serum though.

What beauty products are you currently loving?

Nail Candi nail jewels and accessories.

Yay! Finally an awesome local brand that has an array of nail rings and jewels for you to go mad with. As of writing this, my bow has lasted almost 2 weeks already (I think you can tell by the exposed cuticle hehe) and it's re-useable so you really get your money's worth. After applying a jewel with nail glue, add a clear top coat to secure it. Voila, fun nail bling! Super kawaii. Check out the selection at Nailcandi.co.za to order.





Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy. 

I was so excited to try these that I had to stop myself from buying them all. The two-in-one product comes with a chic nail varnish and a complimentary iridescent topcoat. In this case I just tried out the confetti topcoats and one of my favorites was 220 - Milky Way, seen on my pinkies. The shiny particles are multicoloured and I found it the densest with glitz. 210 - Galactic is also a winner for blue shimmer. Since I did a few dips, I was worried that it would dry slowly and be super goopy but it dried quick; I didn't have that problem so many other glitter polishes gave me where they never seemed to set. You can find them at any Clicks now, with a recommended selling price of R89,95.



Candi the manicurist! 

Candice Watson at Cape Town's Dante Express is a genius. She's hands down (excuse the pun), the best nail artist in Cape Town and I swear by her. Her mini masterpieces last the two week recommended time between manicures and in one case when I couldn't see her, they were still perfect by week three! Candice is open to ideas but I leave a lot of them to her because girl knows what she's skilled with. Nail art works best with fakes because there's more space to work with so I have acrylics on at the moment. Book an appointment with her at this number 021 433 0798 and ask for a nail art manicure with Candice. Check out my instagram to see all of her creations.

So I might be a fashion girl but we all know that make up is very important to the overall look. Ever since I'd read about the wonders of BB Cream and how obsessed the Eastern market was with it, I couldn't wait to try it. I've got sensitive, dry, pale skin and it's been difficult to find a foundation I love. They're either too thick, too orange or they settle in my pores...not a good look. I'm sure you've heard of the several promises of BB Cream, it's an all-in-one product which is supposed to give you coverage, luminosity, sun protection and moisture to name a few.

Well, I tried out Maybelline's BB Cream while I was in the UK and I fell hard for it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it here and I needed to replace it with the next best thing so I went to Clicks and bought the three brands of BB Cream that they stock and I had a testing session. Who better to share the results with than you guys? Check out the photos and reviews by clicking for more below!