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22 December 2014

Christmas Post: Goodbye to 2014

This post marks the last blogpost for Suzy Q-tip for 2014. I will be back in January with fresh content and maybe a little giveaway as well… 

This year has been incredibly difficult, as well as rewarding. In my personal and work life I have learned many lessons, such as that there are many good people in the world, but that there are also many people who have hidden agendas. I have met some wonderful people this past year, especially my social media followers and my blogger friends *waves*, and for them I am truly grateful.



The husband and I are in Cape Town as you read this, and I'm looking forward to some sunshine and wine in between the thesis writing. We are with my mom for Christmas this year and I look forward to spending Christmas Eve with my siblings and eating a delicious Christmas lunch on Christmas day!

I feel that 2015 is going to be a big year for me as well as for Suzy Q-tip. I celebrate my birthday on 1 February (the big 30, eeeeek!) and a few days later, Suzy Q-tip's first birthday. You can look forward to lots of reviews and hauls, and also a birthday giveaway!



I hope everyone has a safe and happy festive season. For those of you who celebrate Christmas: merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who reads my blog on a regular basis, as well as those who sometimes pass by. Thank you to all my followers across all platforms: without you the blog would have just been another random webpage. THANK YOU!

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo

* Photo courtesy of Pixabay and Fincayra0204

18 December 2014

Favourite summer lippies

Summer makes me think of walking barefoot, wearing summer dresses and shorts, and eating watermelon and ice cream. Recently, summer also makes me think of corals, peaches, and soft pinks. These could be blushes, lipsticks, or glosses. Today I'm taking you through a few of my favourite summer lipsticks.


















From left to right: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in "05 Olé flamingo!", Maybelline ColorSensational in "904 Vivid rose", The Body Shop Color Crush Lipstick in "18 Sunset Romance", Stila in "Amelia", Rubybox Smooch Stick in "Tangerine Tango", Topshop Lip Bullet in "Wine Gum".

I've spoken about the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet here. I wore it again over the weekend and it's such a fabulous product. It stays put through wedding toasts and big dinners, and the next day I still had a stain on my lips! It's a bright and punchy pink and the formula is creamy and non-drying which is amazing for a matte lip colour.

The Maybelline ColorSenstional in "Vivid Rose" is an underrated lipstick and as you can see it's a gorgeous bright pink. It dries out my lips slightly, so I just apply it over a thin layer of lip balm and I'm good to go.

The Body Shop Color Crush range is quite good, especially the new colour additions. I especially love this "my lips but better" shade which is a peachy nude and applies quite sheer.

This Stila lipstick in the shade "Amelia" has been laying on my dressing table for ages and I don't know why I haven't used it more. It's incredibly minty and fresh and the colour is a gorgeous dirty pink. It looks a bit more natural on the lips than in the tube and I love the minty smell.

Rubybox's Smooch Sticks are slim "chubby" sticks and perfect for popping in your handbag. I love this bright orange shade called "Tangerine Tango". It's not for the faint of heart, but looks beautiful with tanned skin. It's creamy and doesn't dry out your lips.

The last lippie on the list is this Lip Bullet from Topshop. If you like MAC's bright pinks with blue undertones, then you'll love "Wine Gum". It's a bright pink and the formula is super creamy. It wears well, but the colour is not for the faint of heart!

Which are your summer lippie staples? Let me know in the comments section!

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo


15 December 2014

Review: Marc Anthony Bye.Bye Frizz Keratin Smoothing Treatment

Today I'm talking haircare on the blog. Haircare for sleek, smooth and frizz-free hair. I saw this Marc Anthony Keratin Smoothing Treatment kit at Dischem and decided to give it a go. The goal of the product is to eliminate frizz and to soften waves and curls, as well as to reduce blow drying time by 75%.




















The box contains a small bottle of clarifying shampoo and a larger purple bottle with the treatment. You also get a pamphlet with instructions and a shower cap, which is actually just a plastic bag...

I'll be honest...it is time consuming applying this treatment. I waited for a weekend when I knew I would be mostly at home and applied the treatment on a Friday evening as the instructions say to not wash your hair for 48 hours. I wash my hair every day, so this freaked me out a bit!

First you have to wash your hair with the clarifying shampoo, rinse it, and wash it again. The instructions tell you not to put on conditioner, and I must say, that was a weird feeling. The bottle of shampoo is very small, but I still have little over half a bottle left and I have long hair. The shampoo is very light and smells deliciously fruity. I don't know what I expected it would smell like, but I was pleasantly surprised by the fruity smell. The shampoo foams up nicely and you can feel it properly cleaning your hair. By the end of the second wash my hair felt clean and ever so slightly squeaky.

You then need to towel dry your hair and comb it out with a wide tooth comb. This part was horrible as I can't seem to comb out any knots unless I've had conditioner on my hair! After about five minutes of delicate combing and a few swear words, I managed to obtain smooth hair.

You then have to blow dry your hair to 80% dry, comb it out again, and divide your hair into sections. You then shake the purple treatment bottle, pour a little into the palm of your hand, and work your hands through your hair, piece by piece. According to the pamphlet, your hair should feel coated but not slimy or overly sticky. You then put on the plastic bag, ahem, shower cap, and let your hair rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes you do NOT rinse out the product: you blow dry your hair with a paddle brush until completely dry. After that you are told to divide your hair into four sections, and divide each of those sections into even smaller sections. You then straighten each small section by running a straightening iron (set on very hot) 5-7 times over it. After this you are finally done. Now you need to leave your hair like this for 48 hours so that the treatment can work its magic.

During the weekend I tried to not touch my hair too often. By the second day my hair started to look greasy, but I could still get away with it. The thing I noticed was that I had no frizz. I washed my hair the evening of the second night that I had the treatment in my hair, and a wash never felt so good!

The verdict:

My hair felt a lot softer, but unfortunately I couldn't see any difference. I don't know if I should have applied more product to my hair, but for all the effort I put into applying this, I am quite disappointed by the results (or the lack thereof). I also don't notice any reduction in my blowdrying time.

Pros


  • You can do it yourself
  • At R139.95 it is quite affordable

Cons


  • Time consuming
  • You're unsure if you have enough product in your hair
  • It didn't work for me

Have you ever used this product or something similar? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments section.

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo

08 December 2014

How To: Cover dark under eye circles

Late nights, bad diets, stress, allergies...all these are common causes of dark under eye circles. Add to this the possibility of inheriting it from your mom or dad, and you're pretty much doomed to use under eye concealers. I have compiled a little list of tried and tested under eye concealers and I hope that you will find something useful if you suffer from dark circles under your eyes too.


The first thing to remember is that, because of the blue (or sometimes yellow) tint of your under eye circles, you cannot use normal concealers that you would use for blemishes. You need something with a salmon or pink tinge to counteract the blueness.

Hiding dark circles

Whatever product I use, I like to either use my ring finger to gently pat the product onto the darkest areas under my eyes, or I use a concealer brush. I then use my Real Techniques Contour Brush to gently buff everything in. I like to follow that with a highlighter just below the concealer and also pat that in. I then use a loose or a pressed powder and my Real Techniques Setting Brush to set the concealer.

For dark circles that aren't too prominent

If you don't really suffer from very deep dark circles, I would recommend something like The Body Shop's All-in-one InstaBlur for Eyes. It has the consistency of a primer but is tinted so it evens out the fine lines under your eyes and gives a hint of coverage. It can also be used as a lid primer (which is what I mainly use it for). This retails for R135.

For very dark circles

There are three standout products in my beauty bag for this. Now this list is by no means complete, these are just the products that I've tried and that I've found work for me. The Garnier BB Cream for Eyes is a light and liquidy BB cream that you apply with the cool metallic rollerball applicator. It blends in seamlessly and doesn't cake at all. It comes in three shades (light, medium, and dark) and retails for R65 at Clicks (they currently have it on special for R55). The Bobbi Brown Corrector has pretty much reached cult status and really is a great product. I find it difficult to use in winter when it's cold and the product just doesn't want to warm up. I feel like I'm dragging the delicate skin under my eyes, but in summer it's a breeze to use. A dupe for the Bobbi Brown Corrector is Erase Paste from Benefit. I got my cute little round pot as part of a Benefit highlighter kit. The colour is more or less the same as my Bobbi Brown Corrector, but the consistency is much more creamy and blendable. Unfortunately it only comes in about three colours, whereas the Bobbi Brown range is much larger.

Highlighting the eye area

The iconic YSL Touché Eclat spawned this craze, but nowadays you can get away with a highlighting/concealing pen for far less than R500. Clarins, Estee Lauder, and numerous other brands make very good quality highlighting pens, and a favourite of mine is this Clarins Instant Light Brush-on Perfector Pen. One click dispenses enough product to draw on a triangle below each eye, at the top of my nose, and anywhere else I need a bit of "perfecting". I also buff this in with my Contour Brush. It wakes up the face and make the eyes seem more well-rested and awake than they really are! This retails for R315 at Clarins counters.

Do you have any under eye concealer tricks or holy grail products? Let me know in the comments  section!

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo

04 December 2014

Monthly Favourites: November

When I started rummaging through my things trying to think of what I used the most these past few weeks, I honestly didn't think I'd come up with six products! November was a busy month and without thinking I seem to have kept on reaching for the same products.


Toni & Guy Prep Smoothing Detangler

I bought this as part of a Toni & Guy gift set at Clicks. R199 got me a stunning makeup bag, smoothing detangler, as well as shampoo and conditioner (the shampoo and conditioner normally retails for R99 each). I'm not normally someone who uses detangling sprays or lotions, because I comb the knots out of my hair in the shower while I still have conditioner on. This smoothing detangler comes in a pump bottle and one pump dispenses a tiny amount of product. The product itself is of a liquidy consistency and it smells divine. I rub two small pumps into towel dry hair before combing it out and drying my hair. My hair is left soft and tangle free, hooray!
 

Korres Fig Showergel

Firstly, I absolutely love the packaging of this shower gel. Secondly, the smell. It smells exactly like fig jam, and although I'm not a fan of fig jam, I love this shower gel. I bought it on Look Fantastic when they had a promotion on a two-pack of these shower gels (so another one in the cupboard for me, score!), but you can buy Korres at selected Edgars stores.

Nivea In-shower Body Moisturiser for dry skin

I've only ever used the white bottle (for normal skins), but I thought that seeing as it's summer, the more moisture I can get the better. I can't really fault this product: it's cheap, it's effective, and it smells like Iced Zoo cookies. What's not to love?

Pureology Essential Repair Conditioner

I've been using the purple Pureology for a few months now and I absolutely love it. When my conditioner ran out, I decided to pick up a bottle along with a Retail Box Secret Box. As luck would have it, this Essential Repair conditioner was on special for R150. It's a thick and creamy conditioner and it makes my hair super soft and shiny. I love the amazing coconut scent that lingers in my hair throughout the day, but I'm not sure if coconut is actually one of the ingredients. 

Maybelline BabyLips in Electro

I have about five of the BabyLips variants, and this one is definitely part of the favourites group. The orange-tinted lip balm goes on creamy and smooth and tints my lips with only the lightest hint of orange. It smells like orange cooldrink and at the price of around R24.95 you can't go wrong.

Garnier BB Cream Eyes

This is the most recent purchase of the list and one I'm quite chuffed with. It normally retails for R69.95 at Clicks, so when they had it on offer for R54.95 I saw it as a sign! I'm a big fan of the Garnier BB cream (especially the Pure Active one), so I was keen to try this out. I'm always looking for an easy way to cover up the dark circles under my eyes and this product does not disappoint. The metal rollerball cools the skin while the little ball glides smoothly across the skin without tugging at it. A single swipe underneath each eye delivers the right amount of product to buff into the skin. It nicely covers my dark circles and the tube is small enough to pop into my handbag.

Have you ever used any of these products? Let me know in the comments section!

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo