Review: Kelapa Organics SPF15 Moisturiser

The Kelapa Organics SPF15 Moisturiser is the newest product in their skincare line. It fits in nicely amongst their line of basic necessities of good and essential skincare.

All Kelapa Organic Skincare is:

~ Not tested on animals

~ Vegan

~ Organic

~ Australian made and owned

This is what Kelapa Organics have to say about the SPF15 Face Moisturiser:

Kelapa’s SPF15 Face Moisturiser is a light yet protective lotion that’s ideal for everyday use. It’s non greasy, quickly absorbing and perfect on its own or under make up. This Natural SPF Face Moisturiser Contains Certified Organic Coconut Oil for its exceptional moisturising and protective qualities.

All Kelapa products are organic, natural and contain "the holy grail", Coconut Oil. They also do not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, synthetic fragrances, parabens, artificial colours or preservatives.

It's 75ml and is encased in a white plastic bottle with a matte paper wrapping. It's very simple but looks clean and fresh. It comes in a pump bottle which is great for hygiene and being able to disperse as much as you need.

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First Impressions:
The Kelapa SPF15 moisturiser was quite thick, but easy to apply and rub in. I did find that it clung to the dry patches on my face, but were rubbed in with a little more effort. It smells like coconut and is pleasant, and there is also an underlying smell that's really nice. I'm not sure what it is, maybe vanilla as I do know some of their other products are vanilla scented, but it went away so quickly I couldn't put my finger on it.


After a month:
I've been using this every day and feel like it does a good job at moisturising, the biggest thing, and most important for myself, is the fact that as an SPF product, The Kelapa moisturiser is thick. Most moisturisers (with and without an SPF) are very thin, which you need a good teaspoon of sunscreen (SPF) for the face to ensure you are properly protected. I imagine a thinner moisturiser wouldn't provide as much coverage as you're using less product to begin with. I used a pump and a half each application. It did cling to the area around my smile lines by my mouth, but absorbed with more rubbing in.

This didn't break me out at all and made my skin feel well moisturised. It didn't interfere or affect my makeup products at all. Not with primer, foundation, illuminiser or any other products I might use as a base. It doesn't affect longevity in my makeup or make me look oily so I have to re-powder (I don't think I ever re-powder tbh). If i didn't use any makeup on my face (weekends), I could still feel the moisture on my face so it doesn't completely sink in, which I actually prefer. It makes me feels as though my skin is consistently being moisturised (I could be wrong about that haha). I guess thats also a sign that my skin isn't dry and it doesn't suck it all up. Importantly, it doesn't make my skin look oily at this point either.

I did find the more you rub it in, the stickier it does get and I definitely had to wash my hands before applying anything else to my skin afterwards. The only thing that would make this even better, is making this an SPF30.

I also haven't discovered what that "hidden" scent is yet either...
I would love to know what it smells like, but this is a great thing for those who don't particularly like scented skincare. It smells pleasant, then evaporates quickly.


Would I repurchase?:
Yes. I'm really enjoying it. I do prefer the consistency of the Olay SPF15 moisturiser (my holy grail) whilst applying and rubbing in, but I feel like this is a great natural alternative, which is what I'm starting to get more into.

I also imagine that being a coconut oil product, eventually this could be helpful in keeping those wrinkles away like oils can do (olive oil anyone?). I do also wish that it was more easily accessible and not just available via the website.

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Day:
The Body Shop Seaweed cleanser
Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum
Kelapa Organics SPF15 Face Moisturiser
Kate Somerville Cytocell eye cream

Night: 
The Body Shop Seaweed cleanser
Mario Badescu Seaweed night cream
Glamourflage Luscious Lucy face cream for neck and décolletage 
Kate Somerville Cytocell eye cream
Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta extra strength peels (every monday)


Available: kelapa.com.au
RRP: $29.95


As with all skincare reviews, product has been tested for at least 30 days before reviewing. All opinions are genuine and this product was sent to me for consideration. 

My Favourite nail polishes

I'm lazy when it comes to my nails. I love them looking pretty, but I don't always have time to go get acrylics put on and I hate how nail polish chips so easily. Regardless, I still love having colour on my nails. When I do use nail polish, these are my faves!!
PS. I ALWAYS have my toe nails painted, is it just me or does it look wrong with naked toe nails??


Chi Chi Just Chillaxin'
All aboard the greige train! Ummm this colour is amazing. This is a perfect all year 'round shade as its not too warm or too cool. I have been wearing this shade the most over the past 6 odd months that I've had it. LOVE!! Can I also say that the price for this is amazing. Like $5 for a bottle. Yes it's a little smaller than most, but it's great value for money and you're more likely to finish a bottle up. 





OPI Black Onyx
I love black nails, what can I say, I'm a goth at heart. Black always looks good, and in my opinion, the only colour you can "get away" with it being chipped, for that "grungy look" (if you're feeling lazy!). This shade is permanent and a staple in any collection.

OPI Baby It's Coal Outside
A gunmetal shade with silver micro glitter. I think the whole world knows about my current love affair with all things gunmetal. This shade was a limited edition from quite a few xmas's ago (2008 "Holiday in Toyland". Had to look it up, can't believe its 7 years old!!). 




China Glaze Nova
I absolutely love this glitter. I've used it so much theres basically nothing left and it's gone a little gunky, but I just can't bare to part with it. I need to find a suitable replacement. This type of polish is my fave for an accent nail. 





OPI Gaining Mole-mentum
I recently purchased this and it is the BEST gold flake glitter I've come across. It's more of a coppery gold vs a yellow gold, which most gold glitters are, (and I'm not so keen on. I'm picky when it comes to golds). This is another perfect accent nail glitter. You do need to layer it 3 times to get a good covering as it is gold flakes suspended in a clear base.



Essie Mint Candy Apple
Finally! A bit of colour haha. This one is an oldie but a goodie. I'm sure there's very few people/ ladies who haven't heard of this shade. It's such a pretty mint green. 



OPI What's With The Cattitude?
This shade was released with the "Shrek" collection in 2010. The perfect pastel blue. It's a creme that screams spring to me. 





OPI Flit a Bit
Another limited edition (which I guess most shades are these days)(it's from "Summer Flutter" 2010). My fave shade to wear in the summer and looks awesome with a tan. In my Back Pocket is very similar (which I also have haha. Love my oranges!!), although this has a slight shimmer to it vs IMBP being a creme. 



OPI Don't Toy With Me
Another xmas one, This one is also from the Holiday in Toyland collection alongside Baby, It's Coal Outside. It's a blue based red with fine micro silver glitter/ shimmer. My absolutely fave red!! This is a fave shade for my toes. 





As you can clearly see, I do love my OPI's. They have such an extensive range and soooooo many colours. I have a lot of nailpolishes (over 50 shades and finishes).


What's your favourite shade?

Review: Jamberry nail wraps

I got sent these to try out, and I think they're such a nifty idea, especially for those who like having pretty nails but either their salon doesn't do creative/ decorative nails or are short on time and like to get them on and go (much quicker than polish drying times).

Jamberry nails are set to launch in Australia and New Zealand on the 1st of October, and they're pretty comparable to the U.S (especially with the exchange rate right now). 

Jamberry Nails are... 

Can be used on artificial nails

No dry time

Won't damage natural nails

Formaldehyde, gluten and latex free

Last up to 2 weeks on fingers (longer for toes!)

No harmful chemicals

No chipping or smudging

Safe to use during pregnancy 

Never animal tested

Over 300 designs

Before now, I'd never tried the nail wraps, I always thought they were too fiddly and just not my kind of thing. They've been around for a while but I'm more of a polish girl. The above is what I got sent. I believe you get 2 of these sets for the $15USD. I already cut these as you can see. 

First Impression:
Wow! These are so cool. I was immediately impressed with how easy these are to use. Not fiddly at all and pretty quick to apply. My only con thus far, I have pretty small fingernails (small fingers) so the sizing is a bit off, either too big or too small. I'm not a fan of having gaps in-between my nail edge and wraps/ polish etc.

After applying a full set:
It was pretty time consuming, it took me 40 mins from start to finish doing both hands, so not super quick, although I'm sure you could cut that time down the more you use them. 
They are definitely easy to use. 

After 1 week

After a week:
I have only 2 remaining on my right hand, but the full set on my left (I'm right handed). I believe its due to not taking enough time on my right hand, with heat and buffing in prep. Only 1 on my left hand started to peel, but I just filed my nail down and it was fine. No matter how much you get them wet, moisturise (with hand cream etc), they don't come off. 

Would I purchase:
Yes. There are plenty of awesome designs and can be much cheaper than getting fancy art work on your nails done at a salon. They are easy to use once you get the hang of them, and prep is pretty important. 


Tips:
* They say to file your nails (shaped) when you prep your nails. My suggestion is to wait until afterwards when you're filing off the excess. 
* These would be best for short nails, or very strong longer nails.
* I had to cut mine to make them fit my nails, so use very sharp scissors otherwise it can get jagged very easily.
* The glitter ones need more work and heat as they are thicker than the transparent and patterned ones.
* If you use your nails to peel things or pick at things, these may not work for you. I use my nails for work and such, and my dominant hand, pointer finger came off easily due to that.
* Don't cut these right to the edges of your nail, they will come off easier, do leave a slight gap for best results. 

Available: Jamberry.com/au

RRP: $22 for Australia/ New Zealand, $15USD per sheet or, Buy 3 get 1 free. 

Adelaide Hair and Makeup Trade Show haul

Today was the first day of the 2 day Adelaide Hair and Makeup trade show. It runs until 6pm tomorrow, Sunday 27th September. It's the first trade show for the beauty industry that Adelaide has had.

It is designed, not just for the professionals, but also those who just love makeup, so anyone was welcome. 

My experience:

I was underwhelmed by the whole thing. I arrived at 7:30am (doors opened at 8am), as I expected a line up. No one else rocked up until 5 minutes to 8am. The convention centre was pretty dead until roughly 10:30-11am. There were a handful of stalls, the only ones seeming impressive being Crown Brushes and Inglot, as they were the largest and had loads of product (also being the main sponsors). 

Bosa Beauty were late (due to flights etc), and when they did unpack (which was uber slow), they had very little product (within less than 10 minutes the 5 Too Faced Melted lipsticks they had were sold out. They stocked no TheBalm or Nars products but had a massive suitcase of those Full Lips thingys). My friend and I were told to buy online if we wanted anything. 

It took maybe 2 hours going back and forth to really look at everything. My friend and I ended up leaving, going to Mecca Cosmetica instead, spent our cash there and then went back for the Brittney Lee Saunders Q and A at 2:30pm. Straight after that we went home. 

Maybe my expectations were higher as I thought people would flock to this thing. It's the first time Adelaide has had anything like this, so anyone who wasn't able to get to IMATS and the like would go for this, hence why I thought it would be busy, packed and the reason I turned up so early. I definitely won't be attending tomorrow. 

What I bought: 

5 Crown Brushes (2 blending brushes, a powder brush, an eyebrow spoolie and a concealer buffing brush)

An Inlgot AMC lipgloss

An Inglot Sculpting powder for contouring in shade 504

Mecca haul:

Bumble and Bumble Seaweed shampoo and conditioner

Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Luminous Light

(Btw the girls at Mecca are so lovely!)

Overall, it was very underwhelming, although I did see Chloe Morello walk past, totally fangirled and couldn't even say hello. Who even does that? Haha. I fully had sweaty and shaky hands, heart pumping out of my chest and literally speechless. Ahhhh! 

Kiss and Tell: bright pink lipstick day!

Tomorrow, Friday the 25th, is Bright Pink Lipstick Day! 

Pink Hope is a charity for preventative health for breast cancer.
Now in its 4th year, Pink Hope aims to encourage Australians to have a conversation about their family's heriditary health, specifically their risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This is a big one, with many people having it in their family, many people who already have it, many who have survived it and unfortunately, many who will get it.

Statistics: (for Australia)
In 2015 there will be a projected:
15,740 people with new cases, of those, 
15,600 are women 
145 are men. Yes men do get breast cancer.

When/ what/ how to check:  * You should be checking your breasts once a month, ideally avoiding the week before and after your period for better detection. 
* Any type of "lump" should be investigated, no matter what it feels like. 
* Go to a doctor and get them to show you how it should be properly done if you're unsure. No need to feel ashamed, it's what they're there for! 
* Get your partner involved to "help check" as sometimes a partner has a good idea on how things feel and sometimes will be the first to know when something's up.
* Try to minimise the use of a bra, as the wires can block the lymph nodes. 
* Get a Pap smear every 2 years, (make it even or odd years 20, 22 etc, whatever works for you, so you don't forget).

It's all about preventative measure, rather than dealing with it, should it ever happen. 

Together with Pink Hope, Luma Cosmetics have come out with a Limited Edition Bright Pink lipstick for this cause and is available at lumacosmetics.com.au with 100% of proceeds going directly to the Pink Hope charity. 
RRP: $19.95

Other ways you can help (all help is appreciated, no matter how big, or small!):
~ Upload a pic on Instagram, on Friday the 25th of September making your promise to "kiss and tell" using the campaign hashtags #BrightPinkLipstickDay and #Lumacosmetics 

~ You can donate to Pink Hope at pinkhope.org.au (it's tax deductible for donations over $2)

~ Visit pinkhope.org.au and support the campaign


Statistics from canceraustralia.gov.au

Adelaide Hair and Beauty Trade show

GET EXCITED ADELAIDIANS!!

We are FINALLY getting our own beauty trade show. I AM SOOO EXCITED!!

Not all of us have the means or time to travel to Sydney to go to IMATS. In all honesty, this probably won't be as big, but it is still so exciting. Especially for someone who has never been to a trade show. 

There are going to be makeup and hair artists doing shows over the 2 days (see details below), with big stars like Rae Morris, Mia Connor and Martin Bray (to name a few, there are many more). If training shows aren't your thing, then obviously there will be plenty of brand stalls to pick up some goodies, some at a discount too. 


Get your tickets here:
kohlandcapri.com.au

Sat or Sun day pass (1 day): $20
Sat and Sun 2 day pass: $30

September 26th (Saturday) and 27th (Sunday)
At the Adelaide Convention Centre
Doors open at 8am and close at 6pm

Body Scrub showdown

Well, it's August and less than one month until Winter is officially over!

What does that mean? It's mean it's time to start the de-hibernation process. Scrubs, moisturisers and tanning. 

I've tried a few scrubs over "my time" and here's the low down on what I've found and what I like and not so much...

Frank
This is a coffee scrub with orange and almond oil being one of its main ingredients which leaves the skin soft and feeling moisturised afterwards. I find this is particularly awesome as I hate having to moisturise myself afterwards so to me, it's a 2 in 1 number. A few people I've talked to however, don't like the feeling of the residue oils on the skin, so I think this is for ahem "lazy" people or those who don't mind that oil feeling and take it for what it is. 
The smell is amazing and smells like Jaffas. The only real downside to this (and any other scrub to be honest), it makes a mess. You will get coffee grains EVERYWHERE! So prep some time to cleaning up when you use this. 
Repurchase: Yes, this is my favourite scrub
Available: frankbody.com.au
RRP: $14.95 (free shipping)

Garnier Body Tonic Sugar scrub
This is a fantastic cheaper scrub version that I love. It's gritty in all the right places and doesn't melt down a lot. This one is great at getting off those last remnants of tan without over-exfoliating your poor skin. I remember this being the first scrub I ever used and I used it for years until I decided to try out other things. 
Repurchase: Yes
Available: Priceline and most supermarkets
RRP: $11.99

The Body Shop body scrub
I'm pretty sure this is a sugar scrub with the way that it melts and very quickly loses its "scrub" factor. I do like something that is quite gritty and for me, for the price, I do expect something more gritty and scrubby.  There's a ton of flavours, and as always with The Body Shop products, new limited edition scents. After using this I find that it leaves a "moisturising" residue, although I'm not a fan of this residue (it must be what the Frank go-ers mean about those oils), I feel like it's almost like it's dirty and sticks to you. It's not enough to make me want to scrub my body clean, but it's not ideal.
Repurchase: No
Available: thebodyshop.com.au and in store
RRP: $23.95

The Body Shop body polish
This is more of a plastic bead type of scrub vs the above sugar scrub. This comes in a tube bottle and again, has a ton of flavours. I find this slightly more gritty than the body scrub, due to the grains not losing their shape as fast, but it still leaves me wanting more. 
Repurchase: No
Available: thebodyshop.com.au and in store
RRP: $11.95

Summer Salt Body
This is a VERY intense salt scrub. Be warned: do not use this if you have shaved anywhere within the past 24 hrs, it will BURN! (thats the salt). I bought the limited edition Pineapple, Watermelon and Coconut summer one. It smelled amazing and the 3 scents were broken into layers so you can use each scent by layer until they mix up further on down the bag. This is a scrub I would use very gently as you can easily irritate your skin, so sensitive skinners, beware, this may not be a product for you. Even though it has sugar in it, and as one of its main ingredients, it didn't break down like other sugar scrubs. Also, 2 things that really put me off, 1. the random water droplets that inevitably occur, acted like glue and made the scrub form clumps which aren't easy to break up; 2. eventually ALL of those little drops of water start to accumulate in the bottom of the packet and essentially turn the bottom stuff into a sludge. It still remains granulated but it's not that nice so I ended up chucking it out when I got the the bottom. Although it does say, use within 6 weeks and I definitely had mine a lot longer...
Repurchase: On the fence. It has the perfect scrubby-ness but, the not-so-nice extras kill. 
Available: summersaltbody.com
RRP: $16.90 

Have you tried any of these? What's your favourite body scrub?