Winter Clothing Haul: Gap & Old Navy

When it comes to winter clothing, I have a pretty standard personal uniform. For work it’s black pencil skirts with a blouse (tucked in) paired with a cardigan, black opaque (always Country Road) tights and ballet flats or heels. For casual days it’s dark denim jeans with a blouse, a cardigan and ballet flats. Sensing a theme here? For nights out it’s either dark denim jeans with a nice blouse and a blazer or a black dress with opaque tights and heels. Nothing too out of the ordinary and luckily most of the pieces I own can be worked into any of these three categories. I decided to purchase a few new items for Winter because the GAP were having a big sale. And as I’m easily persuaded, I purchased the following –

Old Navy Women’s Printed Bow Tie Chiffon Top – I am picturing this either tucked into a pencil skirt and paired with a cardigan and tights, or with jeans, a cardigan and ballet flats. I can make this work for the office and also for the weekend, so for $14.10 its not a bad option.

Old Navy Women’s Charmeuse 3/4 Tab Sleeve Top – This was just an easy piece to throw on with skinny jeans & flats for casual friday at work. Nothing too fancy.

GAP Ruffle Cascade Tank in Prussian Blue – This is one of my favourite colours, and I especially love wearing it in winter. As with the blouse above, I can see this being versatile and could easily pair this with jeans or tucked into a pencil skirt.

GAP 1969 Skinny Jeggings – These look super comfortable and I can easily imagine pairing them with an oversized sweater and flats or boots for brunch or to the movies on a cold winter night.

GAP Pure Body Tank – I bought this to wear with the pictured pants as PJs in Winter. The GAP Pure range is so super soft, I love wearing their pieces to bed because they’re so comfortable.

GAP Pure Body Foldover Pants – I already own a pair of these pants and they are SO comfortable. I’m planning on wearing them as PJ pants, but I’ve been known to wear them around the house on days where I’m not planning on doing much else other than watching TV or reading a book under a blanket.

Project 50 Pan (finale)

It’s taken me close to six months, but I have finally finished my first ever Project 50 Pan. Granted, I wasn’t 100% diligent with the whole ‘no buy’ aspect of the Project Pan, but as I am continuing on with another one soon after this I’m not going to worry about it too much. Basically the idea of doing these little challenges is for me to use up the products that I have squirreled away in my cupboards and minimise the amount of new things that I’m purchasing, which I have definitely done. So in that regard it’s been a success.

41: Dermalogica Skin Prep Scrub – I think this was my second or third tube of the scrub, and it’s probably my favourite manual facial exfoliant. I would definitely consider repurchasing once I finish the scrub that I’m using now.

42: Dermalogica Active Moist – This is my favourite moisturiser to wear in the summer because it’s lightweight and doesn’t feel too heavy and thick on my skin. I’ve purchased this multiple times before and I will definitely repurchase it again in the future.

43: Bath + Body Works Exotic Coconut Shower Gel – This scent is one of my favourites from Bath + Body Works, and I really enjoyed using this every night in my shower. The smell reminds me of summer and I like the shower gel in general (it lathers up well and leaves my skin feeling soft) so I will probably buy it again in the future.

44: Ole Henriksen Roll On Blemish Attack – This was a good product, but I don’t think I’ll repurchase it purely because I’ve found on-par quality products that are available for much cheaper (ie: the Burt’s Bees Herbal Blemish Stick).

45: Lancome Hypnose Mascara – As I’ve mentioned multiple times in the past, this is my all time favourite mascara. I’ll repurchase it forever or at least until I find a product that measures up.

46: L’Oreal Elnet Hair Spray – I don’t use a lot of hair spray, (mostly on my fringe to keep it in place during the day) so I don’t have much of experience with a variety of products but I found this one to be quite good. The one downside with this product is that it absolutely stinks. Have they really not found a way to work around the ‘hair spray smell’ yet?

47: Benefit ‘It’s Potent’ Eye Cream – This was a deluxe sample size, but I’ve still included it in the tally because it took me quite a few months to use up the product. I really liked this, and would consider it one of the best eye creams I’ve ever used. It’s thick and moisturizing and didn’t irritate my eyes at all. I have another deluxe sample size sitting in my cupboard waiting to be used, and once I’ve finished up that and all of my other eye creams I will definitely be repurchasing this.

48: NYX Felt Tip Liner – This product ran out SO quickly and was all dried up after a month or so of use. Despite that fact, I really love the shape of the felt tip marker of this eyeliner, so now I’m on the lookout for something similar which will last a bit longer than the NYX pen.

49: Bath + Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar Anti-Bacterial Waterless Hand Foam – I’ve had this product sitting around in my cupboard for a few years now, so I’m not sure if the anti-bacterial quality of the foam still worked, but the smell was nice. I don’t think I’d repurchase this because I wasn’t a fan of the packaging (the lid kept popping off which meant I couldn’t carry it in my handbag), plus I’m not even sure if this style of product and packaging is even available anymore.

50: Flourish Bath + Body Almond Milk Body Lotion – The scent of the Flourish (now Firebird) Almond Milk products is probably my all time favourite. It’s sweet, it’s milky, it’s delicious. Despite loving the scent of this product unfortunately I didn’t really find it that moisturising on my skin, so I don’t think I’ll be repurchasing it anytime soon.

Herbal Essences Giveaway

To finish up our week of hair themed posts, The Belle Lumiere has teamed up with Herbal Essences to offer an amazing prize pack to three lucky readers.

Each prize pack contains the following –

‘Drama Clean’ Shampoo
‘Drama Clean’ Conditioner
‘None Of Your Frizzness’ Shampoo
‘None Of Your Frizzness’ Conditioner
‘Tousle Me Softly’ Mousse
‘Tousle Me Softly’ Tousling Spray Gel
‘Tousle Me Softly’ Flexible Style Hair Spray
‘Smooth Lovin’ None Of Your Frizzness Serum
Super Sized ‘Set Me Up’ Hairspray

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post and let me know what your favourite Herbal Essences product is. Mention this giveaway on twitter or your blog (and leave a link or your twitter handle in the comments) for a second chance to win. Entries will close on June 12, 2012 and please note that this giveaway is open to Australian residents only. Good luck!

Current Hair Wish List

Kevin.Murphy Powder Puff – Do you suffer from pancake hair? I do. Watch this video by the beautiful Slavisa and see if you’re not instantly sold on this product. I saw a TV ad for the Schwarzkopf version of this which also looks quite promising and for $8.99 it’s definitely the cheaper version. I would be interested to try both out and see how they compare.

Kerastase Resistance Ciment Thermique –I received about 10 sample packets of this in one of the Australian luxury subscription boxes last year (I can’t remember which one, sorry) and I’ve only just started to try it out. I love this stuff. I use it prior to blow drying my hair and it helps to seal the ends of my hair and make my hair soft & shiny. I will hopefully be purchasing a full sized bottle of this sometime in the future.

O&M Queenie Firm Hold Hairspray –Finding a decent hairspray is the bane of my hair styling existence so I’ve got my hopes set on this pretty little number from one of my favourite hair care brands, O&M. I’m really curious to see what this smells like too, as O&M products always smell amazing.

evo Love Touch Shine Spray –I am halfway through my Moroccanoil Shimmer Spray but I’ll be looking to try something different when I’m finished the bottle, and at the top of my ‘shine serums to try’ list is this product. I love everything that I’ve ever tried from the evo range, so I have high hopes for this.

Top 5 Hair Products for Autumn/Winter

Wella Hydrate Finish – I tend to use a lot of conditioning products in the cooler months to help my hair battle against the dry winter air, and this is my favourite leave in conditioner of the moment. It’s lightweight but moisturising and I don’t feel like it leaves too much product residue in my hair. It also smells delicious.

Wella Flowing Form Smoothing Balm – I heat style my hair a lot more in the cold months of the year, and I’ve been using this in my hair prior to blow drying to help minimize frizz and to help retain any shape that I’m trying to get my hair to hold. It’s also not too heavy and doesn’t weigh down my already fine hair.

Carol’s Daughter Rosemary Mint Clarifying Shampoo/Conditioner – This is my favourite shampoo & conditioner duo at the moment. As I mentioned above, I tend to use more styling products in my hair in autumn/winter so these are perfect to use as the clarifying element helps to prevent too much product build up in my hair. Despite being sulfate free, the shampoo lathers up nicely without leaving my hair feeling too tangled, which is an added bonus.

O&M Seven Day Miracle Masque – I am absolutely loving this hair mask at the moment. I’ve been using it once or twice a week as a regular treatment in place of my normal conditioner and also every night when I condition on the ends of my hair. It smells absolutely amazing, as with all O&M hair products (yes, I realise that I mention this every single time I reference O&M products) and it leaves my hair feeling soft & silky after every use.

Giveaway: Wella ‘Flowing Form’ Smoothing Balm

To celebrate hair week, I’m giving away one of my top 5 hair products for autumn/winter – a bottle of Wella’s ‘Flowing Form’ Smoothing Balm. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling me what your favourite hair product for autumn/winter is. Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you’re the lucky winner and please note that this giveaway is open to Australian residents only. Entries will close on June 21, 2012. Good luck!