Product review - Jane Iredale 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' Eye Shadow Kit

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When I'm on the hunt for a good eye shadow, there's a few things I look for; the lasting factor, the creasing factor and the pigment factor.

Because no one likes the look of creased eye shadow at the end of a big day or night out, many companies have come up with a shadow base to ensure staying power. My fave used to be Mac's Paint Pot in Painterly. As I'm no longer a fan of the ingredients used in products like this, I have been hunting for a clean shadow that will give me great results, without the nasty chemicals.

After hearing great things about Jane Iredale products I decided to try the shadows, and because I can't make my mind up on one thing at the best of times, I decided to go for one of the shadow kits. Why have 1 colour when I can have 5 hey?!

I was impressed with the colours on the 'smoke gets in your eyes' kit. You could take them from day to night, and they were quite neutral with browns and pinks, which is usually the palette I go for with shadows. 

So pigment-wise, I was pretty impressed with range of the colours, and the darker colours especially need little to give a lovely depth. With the lighter shades though I found I needed quite a few brushes of colour to get them on enough to notice.
Staying power wasn't bad. Compared with other clean shadows I had used these were probably the best I've come across so far. It does depend on how much you put on and whether you apply them over foundation, moisturiser etc. I personally find that applying them onto well moisturised lids can make it disappear quicker.
Crease-wise I have found some days are better than others. Again, I try not to apply it to a lid that is overly moisturised as I find this makes the shadow sink into the creases a little more. Adding some powder to the lid before hand can help, and cooler weather also means it stays put a little better also.
I have found the brush that comes in the kit isn't the best, I tend to use another brush for application.

Overall though, I'm pretty happy with it. The variety of colours are great and I will continue to use the kit for both day time and night time use.

I'm not indecisive, I'm a scanner!

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A while back I posted about career paths and how hard it can be to decide on one thing you can truly see yourself being when you 'grow up'.

Today I came across a totally awesome post on Sarah Wilson's blog about how she discovered that she's not actually indecisive and unfocused, she's simply a scanner!

Sarah caught up with Barbara Sher, a New York based author of 7 bestselling books. Barbara believes that people like Sarah (and me!) aren't unfocused and weak, but they're simply interested in multiple things at once.

Me? I have ideas pop into my head all the time about what I want to be when I grow up and what makes me happy.
If you can relate, Barbara suggests keeping a 'scanner daybook'. A kinda-journal in which you jot down things that excite you.
I'm going to give it a go myself. Writing stuff down helps put it out there and enables you to expand on your ideas and refer back to them at a later date.

Can you relate? 

DIY deodorant

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Over the weekend I posted about making my own skin care products.

First up was my own deodorant.

I had been using Soapwalla Kitchen's Deodorant Cream for a few months and while I really loved the stuff, I had found my underarms were getting irritated and red, even when I hadn't shaved before using it.
I had read that it's possible that cornflour/cornstarch can cause yeast infections under the arms when used in deodorants so that was one thing I was keen to take out.

So I thought I would give it a go myself. And this time I would use as few ingredients as possible and go from there, adding others if need be. Here's what I put in:

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
4-6 tablespoons coconut oil (enough to make a thick paste) 
10 drops tea tree essential oil

Just combine the dry ingredients, stir in the coconut oil with a fork (best to do when the coconut oil is in liquid form) and then add the tea tree oil in at the end and stir. You could also use other essential oils, I just like the fresh smell of the tea tree but next time I might try grapefruit or lavender.

So what was the result?
Well, I've been using it for just over a week now and so far so good.
I like that it's smooth going on and the coconut oil feels like it adds moisture to my underarms. It's quite thick to get out of the container, especially with the cold Melbourne mornings we've been having lately, but once it goes on to your skin it melts in really well. Smell-wise I feel as though it's doing it's job so far. In the midst of a heatwave may be another story, but for now I'll keep using it and see how I go.
I love that all up it cost hardly anything and was super easy to make!

Have you tried making your own deodorant before?