Sydney Food Baby

Last week I went to Sydney with a friend. We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights and I have got to say I really loved it! Compared to Melbourne, it was just very different. I feel like Melbourne is more edgier, alternative and a bit more 'street' in terms of fashion. Sydney on the other hand I found was more uptown, more refined 'classier' fashion. Could be just the area I was in or what not. Anyways one of the key highlights for me was definitely the food! So here is just some photos I took :) All these photos were taken from my iPhone 5 - sorry about the quality. 

Beauty Addition 011: Cherry Culture

Ordered: November 9th

Dispatched: November 13th

Arrived: December 8th

Having email subscriptions to Cherry Culture, we got the notification that NYX were having 25% all items! With this incentive, we would like to introduce you to another beauty addition by yours truly.

Tiny Tuesdays: Bobbi Brown Extra Eye Repair

According to Bobbi Brown, the Extra Eye Repair Cream are "packed with peptides, natural plant oils and humectants", specifically targeting "fine lines, wrinkles, dark circles, puffiness and dryness" and also claims to visibly revive eyes.

Savvy in Bali

Even though summer has just arrived, my internal desire for that perfect dark berry Autumn lip is continuing. I've heard many positive reviews about the Savvy Long Lasting Matte Lipstick so I decided to pick it up in Bali with the Priceline 40% off sealing the deal. 

Tiny Tuesdays: Honey Hands

In an effort to get out as many reviews for you as possible (and an incentive for us to post more frequently), Twoplicates is now starting Tiny Tuesdays! Like the name suggests, this will be a tiny post that will either be a mini-review, current favourites, handy tips, tags and anything else relevant :)  

As holidays has just begun hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of us on your feeds ;) Without further ado, today's Tiny Tuesday is a mini-review on the Moist 24 Hand Cream Manuka Honey by Missha. This handcream I've had for about a year now where I purchased it in Korea last November. I bought it in a 2 pack for 5000won (~$5) and honestly just bought it because it was cheap and I needed something at that time.

Come with Us: Natio Warehouse Sale

If you are subscribed to the Natio mailing list or a consistent visitor to their warehouse sales, you would've gotten the notification that they've relocated from their Abbortsford office to Heidelberg. In terms of getting there, the Heidelberg location is a little difficult and less accessible via public transport. We personally drove there, and Googlemaps lied to us that we've passed it when in actual fact it was still a few hundred meters away with lots of on site parking.  We have visited Natio sales numerous times within the span of 2-3 years, and it's safe to say that the prices are quite decently reduced from the RRP and quite consistent.  We have included a heap of photos with the pricing to give you guys an idea of what to expect!

Beauty Addition 010: theBalm + Our Experience

Ordered: September 25th

Dispatched: October 10th

Arrived: October 14th

About a month ago in support of the non-profit organisation SMART, theBalm had a flash sale taking 50% off your entire purchase. 50% of the proceeds from each sale went to SMART helping to provide financially disadvantaged students with access to educational opportunities. With profits going to a great cause and a great discount at hand, we are here today with another haul :) 

Sleek but Au Naturel

Obviously I cannot get enough of neutral palettes, so it was only natural to add Sleek's Au Naturel to my cart whilst checking out from LipstickRepublic.  

When it came to opening this up, I was a little disappointed by the fact that there wasn't any cross-hatch embossing on the shadows, which I was really looking forward to for some reason... It made the palette look more 'expensive' to me.  Without the embossing.. it just looks a little too much like the MUA palettes; just with better packaging.  

If you own any MUA palettes, the Sleek ones are exactly the same in pretty much all aspects from the size, shape, and thickness; the only difference there is between the two would be the packaging material.  MUA houses their palettes with a clear plastic lid and no mirror, whereas the Sleek ones have a solid matte black lid, with a large mirror.  The latter feels more sturdy and can withstand some roughage, but I just know the MUA one would end up with cracks if I'm not careful with it.  

Yogurt Tinting

From time to time, I go through phases where I'd go nuts and purchase a bunch of korean makeup.  I got my hands on these two during one of those phases- from Gmarket.  In short, Gmarket is basically a korean ebay, but all the items you buy from various sellers are sent to the Gmarket headquarters and packaged altogether in one parcel to be sent out to you.  The shipping is by kg, and the price has increased quite dramatically compared a few years back, when I purchased this.

Getting Back to Basics

Jumping on the bandwagon I decided to purchase the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette earlier on the year. It contains 6 shades of which 5 are matte and 1 is satin. My reasoning behind buying this was that it's a great everyday neutral palette. Sometimes I'm a bit overwhelmed by glittery eyeshadows and find it hard to "tone" it down for such everyday wear so I thought matte shades would be the answer to my problem! After trialling this product for a couple of months and not being so "wowed" at first sight, I have learned to love this palette :)

Shower meets Lotion

I'm sure many of y'all feel the same way about moisturising your body: it's tedious! I generally don't moisturise after showering because I'd like to believe that body washes has some sort of moisturising properties, and also because I don't like waiting around til the moisturiser has "dried".  

Upon seeing the Nivea In-Shower Rich Body Lotion being advertised in the Priceline catalogues, I was immediately sucked in and purchased during the week of release.  Fast forward a few weeks from purchase date, and I was still using it religiously as part of my shower routine.  The instructions at the back are fairly simple- just to apply this all over after using body wash, and then wash off!  It honestly saves so much time compared to rubbing the lotion in, and yay, theres no drying time :)

I usually like to let the product "sink in" for a minute or two, and then rise off.  The main thing I like about this was that it leaves your skin moisturised, not having to wait for the product to sink into the skin, and not having to deal with the sticky feeling afterwards. 

Finding the One

SOOO I've just found my one and only HG mascara. 

Let me introduce you to the Majolica Majorca: Lash Expander Edge Meister. This mascara claims to lengthen and strengthen, enhancing elasticity and preventing damage as well as being water resistant and anti-sweat (thats a new one). This mascara differentiates itself with its 4mm length liquid fibres and double ended brush head. If you're unfamiliar, Majolica Majorca is an Asian drugstore line under the well known Shiseido. You may have heard of this brand before as their mascaras are quite popular by youtubers and bloggers alike - and for good reason.

Proof over Potion

I first heard about this product being mentioned and used by youtube guru's in their monthly favourites and scattered in their GRWM videos, and we purchased this without a second thought.  This Proof10 eye primer by Etude House works great in enhancing the longevity of shadows and prevents creasing on the oiliest lids.

Putting it simply; I feel like this is a great dupe over the coveted Urban Decay Primer Potion.  I have tested this out on numerous occasions where one eye would be primed with this, and the other with the UDPP, and around the 10 hour mark, both still held up equally as well as each other.

The UDPP to me feels a little drying, as it seems to accentuate this teeny dry area of my inner corners, and I tend to often make the mistake of putting too much on, which then usually causes me to have trouble blending shadows properly. The formula of Proof10, however, is more emollient and thinner in consistency, blends in more easily, and even if you do make the mistake of using too much- it's still good!

Priceline 30 days of FAB, Jamie Durie & People for Plants!

Long time no post! We've been relatively busy these last two months, but we had the opportunity to attend the Priceline 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty at the Melbourne Bourke St. location.  

A quick rundown of what happened during the day: 

► Cosmopolitan Magazine's beauty editor Alexis Teasdale held a workshop teaching neat tips and tricks about makeup on Jesinta Campbell :)

► Jamie Durie spoke about his People with Plants brand; passed around some of the main ingredients that were infused into the products, alongside entertaining stories of his travels!

► Cake cutting! The massive pink cake was cut to celebrate the Bourke Street store becoming a Priceline Pharmacy woo!

Here's a quick snap of Jesinta Campbell, the adorable mini mini cupcakes that were passed around (should've taken a side view shot) and the cake cutting with Jesinta, Alexis, and Jamie from the right.

So near the end of Jamie Durie's talk on People for Plants, we were all told to reach under our seats for a Bulgarian rose (not too sure if this was the name of it!), and there was indeed one underneath Monica's chair! It caught us by surprise and pictured below is the box of goodies that was received :)

Beauty Addition 009: Lipstick Republic

Date Ordered: 8th August

Date Dispatched: 12th August

Date Arrived: 13th August

In light of celebrating Lipstick Republic reaching 3000 likes on their facebook page, they generously offered 20% off storewide :D Obviously we have issues with controlling our spending, so it didn't take much for us to make a cart and check out with the goodies that aren't readily accessible in the land down under.

Bronzed Mosaic

Purchased during the MUA heated 50% off sale haul earlier in the year; I must admit that this has been neglected due to the amount of bronzers accumulating in my drawer.  I was am currently heavily in a bronzer phase, where the need of buying more and more bronzers is without question- simply necessary.  

There's a total of 6 shades within this mosaic, varying from dark brown/nude/mauve and lighter shades of light coral/pink/yellow, and once you blend them all together, it becomes a light brown with very slight flecks of shimmer.  

Beauty Addition 008: Priceline 40% off Skincare Sale

A couple of weeks ago Priceline rolled out a not to be missed 40% off skincare products. It seemed like fate was knocking on our doors telling us replenish our stocks & purchase new products. So what did we do? We let fate lead the way & headed to our local stores.

Ebay Finds

Ebay is a great platform to buy and sell items. From stationary, jewellery, clothing & technology pieces - (almost) everything imaginable can be searched with access to both local and international sellers. Over the past 6-12 months we have purchased various items and we thought it was about time to share some of those with you!

Giving a Little Love

Thanks to the constant promotional emails from Urban Outfitters, I crumbled under temptation and placed an order.  I came across the famous NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams whilst browsing around the beauty section; and at $12 for the trio…how could I say no?

This trio set contains the shades Tokyo ("delicate baby pink"), Antwerp ("natural nude") and Addis Ababa ("flashing hot pink").  They contain 8mls of product, and all have the same rich & creamy vanilla ice-cream scent, which disappears when the product is applied.

All the following images can be enlarged via clicking on them.  I left the lip swatches unedited (aside from a few brightness tweaks) to give a true idea of how they look & sit on the lips.

Nuffnang Product Talk: myprosperity

Without a doubt, I'm sure everyone has whispered the words "I really need to stop spending." Following this, there comes the ultimate proclamation of the "spending ban."  For a couple of days you are good and practice self control until there's this one item that catches your eye.  You ummm and you ahhhh and you convince yourself that it's only one item & that you deserve it for being SOOOOO good these past few days.  You splurge and then it comes around to "I really need to stop spending." Consequently, you somehow find yourself back to square one - restarting the cycle! Yup.  Guilty as charged *puts hand up*

June Belated Collective Hauls!

June marked the end of the financial year so that meant more chances of us snapping up a bargain ! Chemist Warehouse had 50% off Revlon, Rimmel and Maybelline, Priceline had a good fair few deals such as BOGOF & Myer had a some repackaging clearances! So here's what we bought in the month of June (and possibly early July) :)

RosehipPLUS Skin Boost Roll-On

RosehipPLUS Skin Boost Roll-on Rosehip Oil differentiates itself from other market rosehip oils due it being cold pressed and extracted without using heat, solvents, or chemicals. This means the potency of the organic oil is maintained for maximum efficacy.  It is 100% pure (no 99% nonsense!), natural and Australian Certified Organic.  

For the science buffs, RosehipPLUS's rosehip oil contains naturally occurring Bioflavonoids (think anti-aging vitamins- A & C, anti-inflammatory vitamin E), and essential fatty acids (such as Omega 3, 6 & 9).  

So in short:

• Bioflavonoids = reduces free radical damage in skin, reduces fine lines and wrinkles 
• Fatty Acids = keeps the skin hydrated, moisturised and younger looking

The main selling concept was that the Organic Cold Pressed Rosehip Oil was delivered in a roll-on form, whereby making application more precise, and the ability to use it while you're on the run.  The packaging is much easier to use in comparison to the dropper format,  and with the roller ball attached, it banishes the process of deciding if you need one more drop or not altogether.  I also like the idea that the lid is twisted on, rather than the click-on, so you can chuck this in your bag for "on the go" and not worry about the lid falling off. 

{Milestone} We got Shortlisted!

Just wanted to share with our readers that TWOPLICATES has been shortlisted in the 2013 Beautyheaven's Australian BlogStar Awards in the Make Up Addict Category!

Sayyyy wutttttttttttttttt!

Cabana Glama

Cabana Glama is one of Benefit's boxed sets with a tropical holiday postcard themed packaging that I purchased earlier this year.  

The box is relatively sturdy containing the Some Kind-a Gorgeous foundation faker, Hoola bronzer, eyeshadow trio, Posie tint, complete with a mini bronzer brush, double ended sponge and a mirror embedded in the lid.

In terms of the packaging, it feels slightly heavy and bulky, but I really appreciated the little blue strips of ribbon that stuck out underneath products for products to pop out a little more easily.

SOTD 002: Lets Tawk Penguins

Today's SOTD is about penguins!
There's just something about these socks which makes me happy (lol).
 Does anyone else share this joy when they wear patterned socks? or am I just weird haha :/

So that's it for today!
Hope you are all having a lovely friday :)

Beauty Addition 007: Benefit Haul (again!)

About a month ago, we posted that Benefit were having a sale-bration. With the stress of exams we decided to procrasta-buy & here we are with another haul!

Deep Hair Recovery

About 4 months ago I purchased the Toni&Guy Nourish Reconstruction Mask from Priceline. Since the purchase I have religiously used it in my haircare routine making it a staple in my shower :D To my dry, frizzy coloured hair I find that it has actually "calmed" it down - making it smoother, hydrated and softer :)

Gift Ideas: 365 Memories

Another semester has seemingly past right through! Amongst the chaos of exams, pulling all-nighters and skipping lectures (& then regretting them later on T.T) I must admit it has gone by soooooo fast XD. In my fourth year of uni its come to the stage where people are starting to graduate - going their separate ways and in a sense becoming a 'real adult' to full time jobs or postgraduate studies. One of my good friends is an international student and at the end of the semester is leaving to go back home *sobs.* We had been good friends since first year of uni so our group wanted to put a scrapbook together of all the memories.

Now let me introduce you to Printstagram - a company that prints your Instagram photos! I stumbled upon this in my "what to get your friend who's leaving" googling adventures (haha). One of the products they offered was a calender. Basically its a calender with 365 photos, where each day you tear a photo off one by one & then can later on can keep them as decorations or photos themselves. I thought this would be absolutely perfect cos each day she can look photos, so it would be memorable as well as functional!

Bloom: Shimmer Liquid Eye Shadow

Having seen eyeshadows being produced in various forms, such as crayon, cream, loose and pressed powders, liquid eyeshadow is still pretty uncommon to come across.

Bloom's liquid eyeshadow comes in a small tube, (similar to the size of Maybelline's Superstay 24 hour concealer) holding 6mL/0.2 fl.oz, with a doe-foot applicator.  This product claims that it "goes on like a cream and sets to a lightweight, powder finish".  It does apply like a watery cream consistency, however as you blend it in, it goes creamy midway, then dries to a powdery finish.  The drying time for this is not too long and not too quick- it has enough time allowing you to fix your mistakes, and it dries with a few fanning motions near the eyes so you can move onto mascara/eyeliner!

New Layout + Update

Happy July! 

Changing our blog layout (and all the little things that come with it) have constantly been on our minds as our previous one was a little cluttered for our liking; so here we are with a new interface ^__^!  Hopefully you guys will find this layout easier to read and to navigate.

Brush Cleaning Made Easy: DIY Parian Spirit

After seeing Jen (frmheadtotoe) blog about her parian spirit brush cleaning method (jar with cross-hatches in particular) and how easily it removed the makeup residue from her brushes, we’ve been on the hunt for something similar in concept ever since.

The daiso detergent has been a staple brush/sponge cleaner for many, and after seeing how well it worked on myteeefine’s dense brushes, we were pretty sold.

Super Lining

After having tried various hyped gel liners such as the much loved Maybelline Eyestudio gel liner, and various korean ones, none of them had the longevity I wanted and it's safe to say they all gave me intense racoon eyes within 3-4 hours.

You might have noticed this little number in our HK Haul here, and after 3 months of consistent use, I must say it is just as creamy and long lasting as the day I opened it :)

Twitter Us + A quick freebie :)

From time to time, we come across sales, promotions & freebies, so instead of posting it on blogger all the time we thought twitter would be better alternative :)

Follow us @twoplicates 

Just be forewarned, you may suffer from impulse-shopper-itis and temptations!
However on the plus side, your wallet will lose some weight :3

So we will end this post with a quick heads up to head over to the

Empty Your Piggybanks: Benefit Sale-Abration

Just a heads up that Benefit is having sale on their website ! woohooo :)

As you may have known, earlier in the year we did a Benefit Haul (here) and most of the products we picked up at that time are on sale again !

cr: http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/

Benefit has FREE international shipping (excluding orders to China, France & Brazil) for orders over $90 with the code

to Jam or not to Jam *

As winter arrives, I find myself feeling a bit more ‘daring’ to try darker lipstick shades.  Arbonne Cosmetics recently contacted us about their premium range of products made with botanical ingredients.  I picked out ‘Jam’ from their lipstick range, which claims to be “intensely hydrating and moisturising, allows wearers to achieve long-lasting beautiful lip color, with added health benefits”.

Beauty Addition 006: iHERB Haul :D

We are back again with another haul :D 

If you've read our post regarding iHerb's 20% off sale on the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman range, then you probably would've guessed that we ordered from there lol.

Instead of ordering together as we normally do, we decided to order separately (because it worked out better lol)

Neutrogena Freebies :)

HI!
So for those of you who aren't already aware, Neutrogena is currently having a samples pack promotion on their Facebook page to celebrate 50 years!

Beauty + Wardrobe Addition: Priceline 40% off Sale + Lovisa

If you didn't already know, Priceline had a massive 40% all cosmetics last week! I dropped by the Bourke Street store Wednesday night and it was so BUSY! The queues were long and there were just so many people - they even extended their closing time to accommodate the demand XD
When I had arrived most of the shelves and stock was pretty empty however I still was able to pick these up!