Mecca Beauty Loop Level 2 Box!

The Beauty Loop boxes are out! And thanks to my yet-to-be-blogged impressive Mecca Maxima haulage during my Melbourne trip, I've progressed from Level 1 to Level 2. Hooray! The boxes were compiled a little differently this time. The products included are all Mecca staff secret ballot winners from the Mecca Beauty Election 2016. Which if you ask me, is far more exciting than the Australian political election, despite the complete lack of anything even vaguely sausage-related. The in-store beauty experts voted for their most-loved beauty products, then four of their 'cult favourites, must-haves and new finds' have been included in each box.

The included card details all the winning products, then you can see how you went in terms of which four products you scored in your box. I've had a read of the card and am quite happy with what I got. Let's have a look!

~ Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel
~ By Terry Terrybly Densiliss Primer
~ Darphin Exquisage Beauty Cream
~ Urban Decay Seven Days of Shadows

I haven't tried anything from Darphin or By Terry, so I'm quite excited to give the beauty cream and primer a go. I'll probably test out the two step daily peel pads by Dr Dennis Gross on the weekend, when I have more time. The Urban Decay eyeshadow sampler box is pretty cute! Here's what's included:

~ Anti-Aging Eyeshadow Primer
~ Seven eyeshadow shades: Desperation, Flash, Mildew, Foxy, Cosmic Moondust, Solstice Moondust, Zodiac Moondust.

If you want to see what was in my last Beauty Loop Box, a Level 1, you can check out that post here.

I'm linking up to the Fabulous And Fun Life Monday Makeup Madness Linky Party!

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What did you get in your box? If you've blogged about it, link it up in the comments below. I'd love to have a read!

WINNER ANNOUNCED: It's All About The Food Not The Fork CookBook!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the CookBook Giveaway! I had a fantastic response from you guys and I greatly appreciate the support! I can see you all love the cookbook and I can say that it's a handy one, with lots of easy to make recipes. I enjoyed reading through your favourite finger foods. So much yum! Back to the prize, here's a reminder....

THE PRIZE

'It's All About The Food Not The Fork!' Cook Book valued at $39.95!

Rafflecopter has drawn the Winner, and it's a big CONGRATULATIONS to....

INGRID!!

(I've covered her email and IP address for privacy).

Hope you love your new cookbook Ingrid, it's a great one! I'll be contacting you via email shortly.

Don't worry if you didn't win because I'll be launching a special Instagram Giveaway to celebrate 1000 followers soon. So make sure you're following me (@shinyglitterbug) there!

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Disclaimer: Two copies of the Cook Book were provided, one for review and one for this Giveaway. All thoughts are my honest, unbiased opinion. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Spotlight On: Hire A Mover!

This post is sponsored by Hire A Mover

Photo source: Hire A Mover website

Oh hey, guys! Today I'll be talking about moving house. How many times have you shifted? I've only moved a handful of times, but I've hated it each and every time! It's just a hassle, right? Cleaning up, packing well into the night (if you're as disorganised as me!), getting next to no sleep, then enduring a full day of heavy box lifting and arguing with your partner about how to do things and where everything should go! Interestingly, my Mother-In-Law moves house on average once every eight months or so. She thrives on the excitement of it and seriously enjoys the whole process. LOL. I hope she's not reading this because that's pretty weird! She's obviously the exception to the rule.

I wish I had known about Hire A Mover for my house re-locations! They are experts who do the work for you, and they have locations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast. Soz Tasmania and Northern Territory. Awkward Face! You can get a quote within an hour by entering your suburb or postcode on their site, then answering a few easy questions (mostly tick box options). I tested this out however I did it on a Saturday; their website does say Quotes may take longer on weekends or outside of business hours. I received an auto-response email immediately, acknowledging my quote request and giving me further information about Hire A Mover's services.

I think we all worry about our precious items being smashed beyond repair in transit (my Benefit Cheekathon, Too Faced Chocolate Bar and Urban Decay Naked 3 palettes do not belong alongside bookcases, my lounge suite and 283 stuffed full boxes), which is why it's good that insurance is included when you Hire A Mover! Yassssss. So the Goods in Transit Insurance and Public Liability Insurance means your goods are covered if the company are negligent. That's one less thing to worry about!

Wouldn't mind moving here! Photo source: Joshua Ness (stock image)

I like the fact that this Company is part of The Hire Group, which also includes Hire A Box and Hire A Packer, so if you're super-lazy, you're allergic to manual labour, you'd rather be watching Game Of Thrones, that's OK, there are people who will do that shizz for you! Hire A Mover are available to move you seven days a week, which is convenient if you only have your weekends free. They offer competitive rates and will do the stuff people like me struggle with, like dissembling bed frames. OK I've never actually tried, but I'm sure it's totes imposs, along with changing car tyres and piloting a Boeing 747.

If only it was this easy! Photo source: Mike Birdy (stock image)

One last thing; I have to point out this awesome Interactive Moving House Check List - it's a PDF provided by Hire A Mover that lets you edit and save as you go, with helpful 4-6 weeks before moving, 2-3 weeks before moving, 1 week before moving and Moving Day sections, as well as a Change of Address checklist. I'm a huge List fangirl. I love making lists and getting stuff crossed off said lists. I do weekly and daily To Do lists, and sometimes I even add something to a List that I've already done just so that I can cross it off, because I'll be damned if I don't get credit for it! I have a new system lately where I cross off List items by highlighting the completed tasks with a green highlighter instead of simply ticking next to it. SO much more satisfying, you guys, and the page goes all pretty. I highly recommend giving it a go. Yeah, so 10/10 for the handy interactive checklists Hire A Mover! I'm going to email the PDF to my Mother-In-Law for her next move. If she's still talking to me!

Photo Source: Hire A Mover website

You can contact Hire A Mover on 1300 358 700.
Everyone loves a good FAQ
If you want to look at a bunch of guys with their arms crossed meet the removalists you can do that here

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Hire A Mover a Removal Company, and written by Max The Unicorn blog. All thoughts are my honest, unbiased opinion. Please see my Disclosure Statement for further information.

How often have you moved houses?

'My Husband Explains What Makeup Is' Tag!

This is my son, not my husband. Just so we're clear. LOL.

I first saw this intriguing tag on Pastel Sparkles blog under The Boyfriend Explains What Makeup Is, and thought it would be fun to interrogate my husband and see if he has been paying attention to me over the years. I'm pretty sure he ignores me 99% of the time, but he may fluke some of these just using common sense, and because, well when you've been on Earth as long as he has, you're sure to pick up some general knowledge on things outside your field. Baha! Sorry hubby, just kidding!

Now my husband is extremely camera-shy (I get it, I dislike having my photo taken too) so I've posted a photo of me with our eight year old son instead. Keep in mind this is our son, not my husband! The story behind this photo? I'm glad you asked. Mr 8 painted his face with my makeup, then when he went off to play in another room, I thought 'why the hell not?' and joined in, replicating his design on my own front-head. Of course, Mr 8 freaked out when he saw my face and we both laughed hysterically, because TWINSIES! I'm such a fun Mum, you guys! So you can basically look at my face and our son's face and do some backwards science in your brain and guess what hubby's face looks like. Backwards science, yay!

So the idea is I name a bunch of different makeup items and he has to guess what it is and what it does. Here we go!

BB Cream: "Big Boob Cream? Makes your boobs bigger? I have no idea." {Baha! Clearly!}

Primer: "Makes me think of primer and paint, so it's an undercoat? Put it on under your makeup." {Lucky guess. Also, you've never painted anything in your life}

Foundation: "Levels out all the bumps and lumps to make everything smooth." {Not really? That would have been a good answer for Primer though!}

Concealer: "I don't know how all these layers manage to do something through each other? It sounds like it conceals stuff. Hides blemishes or skin discolourations". {Disco!}

Powder: "Oh, FFS. I know from the movies it hides shine. Evens the skin tone?" {*commences Spanish Inquisition in regards to what movies he's been watching*}

Brow Gel: "What?!" (Incredulous). "For an eyebrow but is it trying to make the brow bigger or smaller? What's the trend right now? Like hair gel, so it makes the hair sleek!" (proud of himself). {eyebrows usually come in pairs}

Eyeshadow: "For the eyelids, to colour them in!" {Haha, that's one way to put it}

Eyeliner: "For the bit where the eyelashes are, at the top and bottom. It's normally black. Makes your eyes look better!" {yes, yes and yes!}

Mascara: "For the eyelashes, makes them blacker and stand out more" {*starts to question husband's sexuality*}

Corrector: You put it on pimples and blemishes? This is hard. Blends the colour of your makeup out?" {False alarm. He's straight.}

Contour: "Fuck me! Haha. I'm guessing it's like a shading thing to add a different definition to your face so it looks like you have definition where you don't." {That was surprisingly accurate}

Blusher: "To redden your cheeks!" {pretty much, give or take!}

Bronzer: "To make it look like you have a tan" {again, pretty much!}

Baking: "WHAT?!?! This makes me think of baking powder in cooking, which lifts things, so maybe its for saggy bits of skin?" {I don't think so, but your guess is as good as mine on this one!}

Strobing: "To bring contrast to the colours on your face, where it transitions from a light to a dark shade." {I am pretty sure you're bullshitting, but that is kinda sorta accurate, to a degree. Sort of.}

Highlighter: "A very light shade to hide shadowy parts of your face? Or maybe it's a bright yellow you apply to parts of your face you want to remember for later!" {I love this answer! He's referring to highlighter textas! Bahaha!}

Setting Spray: "Put it over the top to make sure all the makeup stays in place and is impervious to water"{how scientific}

Lipliner: "Same as eyeliner but on your lips. It makes the edges a continuous line" {boys are funny}

To be fair, I didn't know what baking and strobing were and legitimately had to fire up the google machine for answers. I mean I've heard of them, but I feel like things got batshit crazy after the highlighting and contouring crazes and refused to read about baking and strobing out of principle. LOL. Thanks to my husband for playing along. He now knows much more about makeup than he ever needed and/or wanted to!

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway to WIN a CookBook, ends this weekend!

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I'm joining in with the Fabulous And Fun Life Monday Makeup Madness Linky!

If you've done this tag with your partner, please link it up in the comments! I'd love to have a read!

Wordless Wednesday: Pepper Lunch!

The subject of today's Wordless Wednesday post is Pepper Lunch (82 Gouger Street, Adelaide). I had lunch there with my husband on one of our regular weekday lunch dates (he surprised me!) and found it to be unique, fun and totally delicious! Enjoy the photos!

WIN ALERT! If thats made you hungry don't forget to enter my CookBook Giveaway!

You may also like: Lunch Series: Gondola Gondola

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Disclaimer: Non-sponsored. We paid for our own meals and all thoughts are my honest, unbiased opinion.

What's your favourite place to grab a quick bite?

REVIEW/GIVEAWAY: It's All About The Food Not The Fork Cookbook!

Enter to WIN this Cookbook!

Hi guys! I feel like I haven't given back to my lovely readers in ages, so I do apologise for that. But that's about to change, because I was generously gifted an extra copy of It's All About The Food Not The Fork! Cookbook, so I'm finally running another Giveaway. Yay!

This book was written by Peter Morgan-Jones (with Lisa Greedy, Prudence Ellis and Danielle McIntosh), and the premise is quite an interesting one! The book was put together with the elderly in mind, people that are often overlooked in our society. Older people may have difficulty swallowing, or be physically incapable of holding a knife and fork. They may have dementia or have a reduced appetite. But why should they miss out? This book is full of delicious and nutritious recipes designed to be eaten easily and without cutlery. And even if you don't have older people in your life, this cookbook is still helpful, because if you need finger food ideas for a dinner party or to take to an event, Birthday Party or just over to a friend's house, there are '107 easy to eat meals in a mouthful' inside. Also, the portions are smaller, so this would be ideal if you are cooking for one. Even if none of those circumstances apply, the book is packed with very easy to make dinners, snacks, drinks and desserts that I'm sure would come in handy in your daily life!

Spinach, Feta & Zucchini Frittata recipe

Grilled Lamb Cutlets, Asparagus, Kipfler Potatoes & Mushrooms recipe

I love that there's a wide range of recipes in the cookbook. Recipes sections include Breakfast, Elevenses, Super Snacks, Just Desserts, Better Beverages, Fast Fuel, Sandwich Wrap, Vegies, Eggs and Dairy and there's even a very thoughtful Proudly Modified section. Most of the recipes are really easy, with only a few steps, which is great for people like me who freak out when presented with a complicated recipe with 500 ingredients and even more steps. No Masterchef Elimination Challenge recipes here!

My version of the Ham & Cheese English Muffin French Toast!

How it should look, lol.

Check out the above photo for my attempt at the Ham & Cheese English Muffin French Toast, which was delicious by the way! My only criticism is I'd love to see more photos of the food. There are a lot of pictures of the dishes, but I'd love to see a photo for all of them, so I know what it's supposed to look like! Other than that, this book is a real winner, and I can't wait to cook more dishes from it. I did plan on having the Duke Of Devonshire's Nut Biscuits (see photo below) made before this post went live, but the 32 hour Blackout we endured last week completely stuffed up my blog schedule, my cooking plans and basically anything needing electricity/hot water/internet/light/heating etc!

These look yummy!

GIVEAWAY!

THE PRIZE: 'It's All About The Food Not The Fork!' Cookbook, worth $39.95

It's easy to enter, just follow the prompts in the Rafflecopter widget below. Please note you must be a Max The Unicorn email subscriber and visit the Don't Give Me Eggs That Bounce Facebook page to enter. There are optional tasks, each getting you more entries and thus chances to win. After subscribing, remember to click the link in your email to complete the subscription process, otherwise it doesn't count! Although optional, it would be greatly appreciated if you 'liked' Max The Unicorn and Don't Give Me Eggs That Bounce Facebook pages (this is the title of another book written by Peter Morgan-Jones). Winner will be selected randomly by the Rafflecopter widget. Have fun and Good Luck!

~ This giveaway is open to Australian residents only, and will run for one week, from 17/07/16 - 24/07/16.
~ The winner will be notified via email and given 3 days to reply, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.
~ Standard postage is included in the prize.
~ Winner must provide their Australian postal address for prize delivery.
~ Winner will be announced here on the blog and on the Max The Unicorn Facebook page.

Aaah yes, chocolatey goodness!

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Disclaimer: I was provided with one cookbook for review purposes and one for this giveaway. Reviews are my honest opinion. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

What's your favourite finger food?


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Melbourne Haul Pt 2: Sephora!

Just a little bit of Sephora shopping :)

Oh wow, it's taken me a while to get this post up. I'm quite frankly impressed with my advanced level of procrastination and immense laziness. You might recall Part One of my Melbourne Haul, where I showed you everything I bought from Lush, Myer, Target, MAC, Lovisa and Colette. Well now for everything I got from Sephora. Yes, their Beauty Pass reward program isn't as good as Mecca's Beauty Loop one, but I've managed to progress from 'White' to 'Black' member status with this haul. Which means I'm now receiving email invitations to events I can't attend because there's no Sephora in Adelaide. YAY! 

Here's what I bought.....

IT Cosmetics CC+ Eye Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream in Fair

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer

Tarte Tarteist Glossy Lip Paint in Double Tap

Zoeva Luxe Cream Lipstick in Melting Kisses

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Liptick in Tijuana

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bachelorette

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bauhau5

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Santa Sangre

Sephora round zip-up bag (free Welcome Gift that I insisted on receiving as I never received my Welcome Gift when I first joined the Beauty Pass program a few months ago. LOL).

SK-II Ultimate Perfecting Eye Cream (free sample)

Algenist Genius Ultimate Anti-Aging Cream (free sample)

Algenist Genius Ultimate Anti-Aging Eye Cream (free sample)

IT Cosmetics CC+ Eye Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream. What a mouthful!

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer

Tarte Tarteist Glossy Lip Paint in Double Tap

Zoeva Luxe Cream Lipstick in Melting Kisses

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Tijuana

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick top-bottom: Santa Sangre, Bauhau5, Bachelorette

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bachelorette

Kat Von D swatches top - bottom: Bachelorette, Santa Sangre, Bauhau5

Freebies!

As you can see I went a bit crazy for lipsticks. I don't even know why. I mean I love them, I think they're exciting, but I just generally feel an overwhelming urge take over me when I go instore, and this time it was for lip products. Which reminds me, during my last Sephora visit in March, I experienced mask madness (you can see that haul here); I really should start using them! I was in swatching heaven with these lippies and made full use of Sephora's clean-up station about 27 times. So far, I've only used the concealers, and I gotta say I'm loving the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer under my eyes. It's giving my Benefit Erase Paste a run for its money, I just wish there was more product, as it's quite a small size. However the IT Cosmetics correcting cream was not my first choice as they'd sold out of the Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer. Sadly, the IT Cosmetics CC+ Eye Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream is not wowing me, and I still prefer my Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Corrector to cover my under eye circles.

Keep an eye out for Part 3 of my Melbourne Haul, everything I got from Mecca Maxima, hopefully in the not-too-distant future!

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Disclaimer: Reviews are my honest opinion. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Do you have any of these products and what are your thoughts on them?

June Beauty Favourites!

Here are the products I loved last month and continue to love now. Because it takes more than the mere passage of time to alter my passion for a product. Although I suspect now that the Maybelline The Blushed Nudes Palette is released, the normal Nudes may get tossed to the wayside. LOL. We'll see!

Covergirl Outlast Stay Luminous Natural Glow Foundation (Classic Ivory)
I'm so fussy with foundations! Or maybe I'm just really bad at finding good ones. Case in point: prior to buying this, I had one foundation that I wore daily, Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Ivory. That's what looked best on me, so I was sticking to it. Well, now I have a massive two foundations that I'm happy with, because my Stay Luminous one is a rare good find. My skin used to be oily, so I never used to be able to wear bases that gave a dewy finish, but now that its drier, I can totally get away with a foundation like this, without resembling an oil slick after a few hours. I love the formula; it almost goes on like a nice moisturiser, and it blends really easily. Because it's so easy to apply I reach for it when I'm in a hurry, as it takes less time to blend in than my Revlon Colorstay.

Rimmel ColourPrecise Eyeliner (Black)*
I was sent a black and a white one of these, and whilst the white one is not my cup of tea, the black one is coming in very handy. I'm very weird about my eyeliner, and still use Maybelline Masterliner for the majority of my line, but I've switched to using the Rimmel ColourPrecise for my wings. Previously I flicked my wings with the Master Graphic sharpie-like liner, but the ColourPrecise is, well, more precise! The tip is finer and tapered and it's also flexible, so it's easier to get a finer wing flick happening. I'm quite heavy-handed with my eyeliner, so anything that's going to make my look more refined has the thumbs up from me!

Perricone MD Advanced Eye Area Therapy
I fell in love with this eye cream ever since trialling a free sample of it from Mecca. In effectiveness, it's second only to my Holy Grail, the La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift. But that's, like $400 for 20 ml which is why I only have samples of it! This Perricone MD one is much more affordable and has really improved my under eye area. It's firmer, smoother and (when I'm not laughing) you can barely see my fine lines. I've been using this morning and night, and will continue to do so, because I really love what it does for me.

Matrix Biolage Waterless Clean & Full Dry Shampoo*
I'm such a heavy user of dry shampoo, it's not even funny. I'm a Mother, so I'm busy a lot, and don't freak, but I only wash my hair once a week. It doesn't get super oily or anything, trust me if it was gross, I'd up it to twice a week, lol. Anyway, I've used a lot of different dry shampoos in my time, and this Biolage one is pretty damn good! It sprays a super-fine mist that doesn't go white on the hair, and it cleans up the roots nicely, whilst imparting a good amount of volume when you rub it in. And I'm always after volume, because my hair is so fine and lank without product. This does smell a bit funny, but I totally forgive it that, given the results this dry shampoo gives.

Maybelline The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette
Do you ever get intimidated by expensive, hyped-up palettes? I bought the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette, but I'm kind of a bit scared of it? Like, what do I do? It's so professional, all the makeup gurus are using it! Aargh! Well the Maybelline The Nudes palette is just easy, fuss-free and completely non-intimidating. I use it if I'm in a rush because you can't really stuff up with it. I enjoy the neutral, earthy shades, I know what I'm doing and it's just not scary, you know?

You may like my April Favourites

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I'm linking up to the Fabulous And Fun Life Monday MakeUp Madness Linky Party!

Disclaimer: Products marked * were provided for editorial consideration. Reviews are my honest opinion. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Have you tried any of these? What products have you been loving lately?

Wordless Wednesday: Foodie Weekend!

Cappuccino and Lemon Cheesecake. I shared the cake with hubby.

Flatlay of a Cheesy AF Pizza with a Cheesy Stuffed Crust. LOL

Paulett's Late Harvest Riesling

Hubby's meal: New York Strip Loin with Garlic & Parmesan Butter

My meal: Beef Short Ribs with Onion and Capsicum Rings

Triple Chocolate Brownie S'mores. So good!

You may also like Wordless Wednesday: Our Sydney Trip!

I'm linking up to Wordless Wednesday at My Little Drummer Boys

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What's the most delicious meal you've eaten lately?