Review: Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream

The lovely Estee, whose blog and YouTube channels I absolutely ADORE, has a lot to answer for when it comes to my poor bank account. Her product reviews on her blog are just fantastic and I always find myself having to buy whatever she showcases. The Antipodes skincare range was no exception. I use KORA Organics skincare however the day/night cream is quite expensive and using it twice a day, I seemed to go through it quicker than I would have liked, so I decided to find a different night moisturiser for a cheaper price and after browsing Estee's blog, I just had to try this one. I can save my KORA product and enjoy a new one! Antipodes is a New Zealand based company and I am amazed I hadn't discovered their products sooner! 

Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream - $49.00
This is one of the best night creams I have tried and believe me, I have sampled my fair share of skincare in my time. When a nourishing night cream contains ingredients like pure avocado oil, macadamia nut, manuka honey and kawakawa, you know its going to be good for your skin. First thing you notice is the smell. Oh my! It is gorgeous. This was nowhere near as overpowering as I thought it would be which is a big plus. It is quite a thick cream, so you only need the smallest amount and as you can see, I have barely scraped the surface of this! I have been using it for about 2 weeks and every morning when I wake up, my skin feels so soft and luscious. You can feel it works through the night to nourish. I got a couple of dry patches on my cheeks the other week, which I believe was due to the exfoliator I use, so one application of this cream and the next morning they were gone. It does not make my face feel clogged or greasy either.   

I was quite pleased with the price of this too. I purchased this product from National Pharmacies where we are members, which means we get some discount :) If I remember correctly, this was about $38. I think the packaging is so handy, it's a great size and you can see ALL of the product so it allows you to scrape out every last bit of nourishing goodness! If you have dry skin or just want to try a new night cream out, I would definitely recommend giving this one a go. Maybe, just maybe when my KORA day cream runs out, I will have to try the Vanilla Pod Hydrating Day Cream. Antipodes are winning me over with their concoctions, vanilla pod?! YUM! I have also been looking at getting their exfoliator and Manuka Honey Face Mask...mmmmmmm, how luxurious!

Have you tried any Antipodes products? What did you think? 

Em x      

L’Oréal EverPure Range

I love washing my hair. The smell of the shampoo and conditioner is a big selling point for me, so when I saw one of my favourite Bloggers/YouTubers, Essiebutton, raving about the smell and just pure goodness of this L’Oréal EverPure range, I had to have it :P This range is for colour treated hair which is just perfect for me. I get my hair colour touched up every 8 weeks or so and I want my hair in the best condition it can be with colour in it. It is also sulphate free which was another selling point. Let me begin by saying, this range smells AMAZING!!! As Estee put it, it's like you are in a day spa or something, which is completely and utterly true. Yum! I went out and purchased the shampoo and conditioner first and loved it that much that I got the leave in conditioner and the moisture mask. 

   
L’Oréal EverPure Shampoo & Conditioner - $14.99 ea
These products are simply fantastic. I got the moisture shampoo and conditioner as my hair gets extremely dry. Shampoo first, I love a shampoo that lathers up lots, it feels like I am washing my hair more :P so I was so pleased when this shampoo did exactly that. You only need a small amount of product and this froths up like nothing I've ever seen before. It feels great on my hair, leaves it squeaky clean and doesn't leave that annoying residue. The scent of this one is Rosemary and Juniper. So delicious, it makes me enjoy washing my hair so much! The conditioner is equally amazing. Again, a small amount of the product goes a long way and it smells like Rosemary and Mint. I prefer the scent of this one, so so so beautiful I just can't describe it! I leave the conditioner in for about 5 minutes or so then rinse it out. I have noticed a huge difference in the condition of my hair over the past few weeks of using these products. It is soft and shiny and my colour definitely has not faded as much as I have noticed previously. 

L’Oréal EverPure Moisture Leave-In Conditioner - $9.99
Leave-in conditioner is a must for me. I can't comb my hair properly if I don't apply some sort of leave-in product. I got this on special at the local chemist so I apologise if the price is not correct for this one. Another Rosemary and Mint scented product from EverPure, schwing! This leave-in conditioner is very concentrated so I use one pump after I have towel dried my hair. I apply it just on the mid-lengths and ends of my hair as sometimes it leaves the hair feeling slightly stiff (no other way to describe it but a little run through the hair with your fingers and it is all good). It is a clear serum that is slightly runny but nothing too drastic. My hair smells and feels amazing after it dries (I do not blow-dry my hair) and I do not wake up with greasy hair, another amazing bonus! 

L’Oréal EverPure Moisture Deep Restorative Masque - $13.99
Finally, the hair mask. I make sure to use a treatment for my hair at least once a week. I shampoo first then apply this to the mid-lengths and ends of my hair and give it a quick comb through with my fingers. I leave it on for 5-10 minutes then rinse. I may go slightly crazy with this product and use more than is needed - it's the Rosemary and Mint smell again, I can't resist - but it always rinses out easily and doesn't leave my hair greasy. I am so pleased with the condition of my hair after using this mask, it is shiny and silky and easy to work with. It makes me feel like I am actually restoring moisture to my hair, wahoo! 

There you have it, my rundown on the L’Oréal EverPure Haircare Range. I am so happy I invested in these products, they seem to be widely available here and I can already see the positive effect is it having on the condition of my hair. They smell amazing (try it for yourself!) and are not extremely overpriced either. The packaging being pink and purple is also something I love :) 

Have you tried the L’Oréal EverPure or any of their other haircare ranges? What do you think?

Enjoy the day! The sun was shining when I took these photos and 10 minutes later it poured with rain and it is so dark outside haha. Em x   

Hand Creams - Tried and Tested

Hi all. I have been deliberating for a while as to whether I should mix my blog up a tad and include reviews of a whole range of products apart from nail polish and tonight I decided "why not", so here I present to you my first non-polish related post (sort of) all about the hand creams I love to use. I have always had dry hands and it gets especially bad in winter. I distinctly remember having such dry hands that I had little cuts all over my fingers and they would bleed and were so sore. Mum said no more and bought some cotton gloves for me and proceeded to slather cream all over my hands at night, putting the gloves on and telling me to go to bed. I was slightly perplexed but that first morning I woke up and saw my hands, wow. It really worked. Always listen to your Mum! :P 

The creams:

KORA Organics by Miranda Kerr - Daily Hand Cream - This is one of my favourite hand cream. It smells absolutely beautiful, not too overpowering but still enough to make you want to smell your hands all the time. The non-greasy formula is another major bonus and it soaks in quickly so you don't leave greasy fingerprints wherever you go.

Loccitane Dry Skin Hand Cream - I got this as a sample in a magazine and boy was I impressed. It smells like shea butter which is glorious and a small amount goes a very long way. It comes in one of those aluminium tubes which I think are great, you can tell a bit easier when you are getting low on product. 

Endota Spa Lavender and Alpine Pepper Hand Cream - Beautiful product. This small sample tube was $10 and lasts a while. Smell absolutely positively devine, can't get enough of it. Another non-greasy formula. Love. 

Sukin Hand and Nail Cream - Came as a buy one get one free with another of their products. This cream is not my favourite and I haven't used it in a while to be honest. Quite greasy and doesn't soak into your hands very well.

Neutrogena Hand Cream - The famous "slather on at night with gloves" hand cream. Absolute saviour for my hands when they are incredibly dry. It is very thick and probably not the best to use during the day but at night, a total winner.

So there you have it everyone, my first post off the topic of nail polish. My favourite hand creams are by KORA and Loccitane (they don't dull nail polish either!!! Some creams have this effect on polish). They both do wonders for dry skin and have a lovely formula. I am really excited about mixing up my blog, I love having a small page all to myself :) What hand creams do you use?   

Em x  

Rimmel Salon Pro Nail Polish Review - "Jazz Funk"

Hi everyone! I am so sorry for not having blogged for a while! It feels like I have been away forever! I have just been getting back into the swing of uni and figuring out my timetable and things like that but I am back! So, shopping with mum is always dangerous and I spent $100 in Priceline yesterday (the Aussie equivalent to Boots and places like that I believe, but about half the size lol). Only $16 was on nail polish and I was very proud of myself. After reading an awesome review by the hilarious and wonderful Essiebutton, love this girl, I decided I just had to have a few of the new Rimmel Salon Pro polishes. Kate Moss designed 10 of the colours I believe and the ones with her signature on them distinguish these. I didn't realise until I got home that both the colours I got were designed by her :) I picked up Disco Fever and Jazz Funk. Today I have Jass Funk to show you and oh my god I freaking LOVE this!!! It is a beautiful pink/rose colour and it dries with an almost gel like finish. It is so shiny! 

Get a load of this baby haha. This is two coats with a top coat. I was deliberating for a while about the top coat as I didn't know if it needed one or not. I went for it just as added protection against chipping. These polishes are promised to last for 10 days without chipping so let the experiment begin! The sun is shining today so I went for a natural photo, no flash. 

With flash. I love the bottles and the formula on these polishes. It had a large, flat brush and you know my obsession with small brushes as I seem to have tiny nails...well...this was the exception. I found the brush extremely easy to use and my overall look didn't turn out as messy as I thought it would. Success! I won't be as picky with my brushes now :P Two coats of this polish applied like butter. You could probably get away with one coat if you made it quite thick. 

Ok the weird combination of natural light and flash makes it look like I have chips out of the tips of my polish. This is not the case. I have slight tip wear on my middle finger and I think I have determined the culprit. Does anyone else seem to get itches everywhere right after they've painted their nails? I know, its weird but I do. I always try not to itch as it will ruin my nails...extremely annoying. Anyways, I think this makes the tip wear a little faster. Odd rant over lol. 

I really like this photo. Stole some flowers mum got for her birthday and took a photo with them :) Yellow and pink is a great colour match. No flowers were harmed in the making of this post and they are now back in their vase :P 

If you are looking for a well priced drugstore nail polish, Rimmel is a great bet. This is the first Rimmel I tried (never got around those fat brushes) and I am glad I grabbed some. Thanks Essiebutton! I purchased this for $8.95. Not the cheapest but I would buy heaps more of the range they're that good. Have you tried these yet? What are your thoughts?

Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are and I will be back soon! I have missed my little blog community too much! Em x