Easter Haul 2013

Over the Easter long weekend, I went shopping at Highpoint.  The end of season sales were winding up so I managed to get my hands on some pretty awesome bargains.


Lime peplum top from Bardot - Was $59.95  Now $20
"Hi my name is Pauline and I'm addicted to peplum tops."  I can't get enough of them, I probably have about 5 tops with peplum detailing.  I love the colour, it looks great with my skin tone.  The neckline looks so darn good too haha.  I've only ever tried this neckline once on a dress and it looked terrible, but for some reason this one looks great.

Riders by Lee skinny jeans from Myer - Was $109.95  Now $42
I already had a pair of Riders by Lee jeans and they were so comfortable and super stretchy.  So this purchase was a no brainer with the sale price.

Gold and blue statement necklaces from Equip -
(top) Was $16.99  Now $4.25        (bottom) Was $14.99  Now $3.25
These discounts are ridiculous!!  End of season sales in fashion jewellery stores like Diva used to be awesome with huge markdowns, but in recent years, they've been pretty stingey (I would know, I used to work there =P).  So I was mind-blown when I saw these prices at Equip.  I probably need to pay Equip a visit more often.

Now for la pièce de résistance, I actually bought these before the long weekend.  My friend had a $50 off voucher for Jo Mercer which she didn't want and I'm a Jo Mercer kind of gal.  Put 2 and 2 together and I came home with a new pair of boots haha.

'Charity' ankle boots from Jo Mercer - Was $179.95   With voucher $129.95

Illamasqua Australia Fight for a Fair Beauty Price

I'm pretty late on the bandwagon for this campaign. I believe it started about 8 months ago. So for those of you who haven't heard about it, Illamasqua is basically campaigning against the ridiculously high prices that us Aussies have to pay for beauty products in comparison to other countries. They have started a petition to put pressure on other cosmetic giants to lower their prices have also slashed the prices of their own products in Australia permanently.  (Click here to learn more and to sign the petition.)

Personally I think that this is a fantastic campaign. I completely agree that Aussies are paying far too much relative to the rest of the world. Plus it seems even more ridiculous at the moment when the Australian Dollar is performing so well and is worth more than the USD (conversion rate 9 April 2013: USD$1.00=AUD$1.04). Here's what I mean:

Prices as at 3 April 2013

Product	US Price	Aus Price
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick	USD$7.99	AUD$21.95
Revlon Colorstay Makeup (Foundation)	USD$13.00	AUD$34.95
MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation	USD$27.00	AUD$49.00
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit	USD$33.00	AUD$60.00

Some have called this campaign a marketing stunt and if they truly believed in the cause, they would just reduce their prices without all this attention-seeking publicity. Well, why not make some noise about it? Bring it to the attention of the public and unite those with the same belief. And most importantly, they slashed their prices! I don't know about you, but I sure as hell would want to know about that.

Others have also called this a scam because there is a line in the petition that says "If...the petition is successful I promise to continue to buy Illamasqua products in Australia." i.e. By signing, you have signed away your soul and now must buy their stuff. Come on, I highly doubt that Illamasqua is going to send a little Cosmetics Policeman over to Australia to ensure you keep this promise. If you want to buy some Illamasqua products at a reduced price, go for it. If you don't, then don't buy anything. You can still sign the petition and support the cause without the weight of the law coming down on you. Chill.

Bottom line, Illamasqua is still a business, marketing = sales, cheap prices = sales.

I strongly support the cause and now I can try some of their products (which I've been wanting to do) at reasonable prices. I ain't complaining.

DIY: Broderie/Lace Hem Shorts

This is a really simple and easy way to change up the look of some basic shorts, or in my case, to make my denim short shorts a bit longer to help cover up my saggy butt action which was peaking out the bottom (not a good look lol).

You can also use this technique on skirt hems, sleeves, anything!

All you will need is:

• Pair of shorts
• Length of lace or broderie (I chose broderie because I thought it would be a bit more durable than lace. I bought mine from Lincraft.)
• Tape measure
• Needle and thread/sewing machine
• Pins

Preparing the broderie/lace
 
1.  Measure the circumference of the leg of your shorts and cut a length of broderie/lace which is about 3cm longer.
2.  As you can see, the top edge of the broderie hasn't been finished off and so is fraying, so I needed to fix that up.  (To save time you can just buy some lace/broderie where the edge is already cleaned up)
Fold the top edge over twice, pin it in place and iron it so the edge is crisp (as shown in the picture below).  I also did this to the 2 ends of the broderie.


3.  Using a sewing machine, sew in a straight line on the edge of the folded parts to secure it down.

Attaching the broderie/lace to the shorts 

4.  Turn your shorts inside-out.
5.  Pin the broderie in place
6.  Sew the broderie onto the bottom edge of your shorts.  I chose to do this by hand with a zig-zag kind of stitch (sorry I don't know technical names lol) so that the stitching wouldn't be visible from the outside.


7.  Turn your shorts back the right-side-out and you're done!