design

My Dream Bedroom ♥

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I can’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t having a love affair with DESIGN, and Interior Design is very much a massive part of that! 

As a ‘creative’ {and I use that word very loosely as I am of the thought that everyone is a creative in their own right}, it’s always been of high priority for me to be surrounded by an environment I could call my own. One that had been ‘designed’ by me. Where every object in the room had some sort of significance and relevance – big or small.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been decorating my room and making it mine. My room was {and still is} my treasure chest, filled with memories, love, objects that intrigue and stimulate my senses, and of course – my secrets ^.~

When I was asked by Katie to take part in the Malibu/Resort Lifestyle Design Your Dream Bedroom brief, I was so happy & truly flattered and COULDN’T WAIT to get started as I felt this is the type of project that’s ‘just up my alley’!

Upon arrival at Malibu Interiors / Resort Lifestyle in De Waterkant, {let me take this very space on this page to add I honestly had NO idea this place even existed!} I immediately felt as though I’d been whisked away to another country – some sexy Mediterranean place lined with cobblestone and sunlight. I was heartily welcomed by a friendly bunch of women of all different ages – all so stylish and beautiful!  The interior of the place is just absolutely exquisite {let me not even get started on that gorgeous Plantation-style wallpaper…}! Seriously, do yourself a favour one weekend and go have a look-see. Your eyes will thank you, and I’m sure you’ll leave brimming with inspiration and ideas, just as I was.

After MY eyes thanked me {about a million times – there are just SO many beautiful things to looks at!} I sat down with fellow ‘brief-ees’ Emma Jackson of stuffbymissemmajude.com; Jessica Bonan of Lady Bonin’s Tea Parlour {honestly the best tea I’ve ever had}; Natalie Roos of Tails of a Mermaid; Victoria Tatham of kissblushandtell.com; Dawn Jorgensen of Jorgensen’s Distillery {see her blog here}; and Fran Perel of openwardrobe.co.za – all very talented & lovely ladies! First we were treated to some of Lady Bonin’s tea {infused} with some of Dawn’s gin {obviously} ^.~ !

We were then briefed by Danela Conti {the brains behind the splendour that is Resort Lifestyle} who provided us each with a bedroom floor plan layout, magazines to cut out of, fabric swatches etc. and asked us to envisage our Dream Bedrooms. I honestly could have stayed there the whole weekend doing just that. I was in my element!

mags

There were loads of magazines for us to ‘abuse’! I could go through fashion/interior mags all day extracting {and by extracting I mean violently tearing-out of!} all the pages that I like!

Currently this is what my bedroom looks like {below} so let’s see what I can come up with when there are no boundaries {such as money} ^.~

Our boards are due tomorrow and I’m so super excited to see what the other girls come up with! A true “I work best under pressure” kind of gal, I have not NEARLY completed my board yet… But I have started already and I’ve got all the elements I want, now it’s just a matter of compiling them in right way! I’ll post the end result as soon as it’s done!

Thanks Danela, Katie & the girls ♥

Ready, Set, Glow!

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It is with great pleasure that I bring you this product review of Benefit’s new skin care range ~ B.right!

Anyone who knows me will know how much I adore Benefit products. Their products are always fun, quirky, cheeky and really very pretty. From the impeccably well-designed packaging, to the scents captured in each product, to the way each product feels on your skin really makes for a pretty awesome sensory experience! Combine that with the knowledge that Benefit also use true quality ingredients which makes for {in my humble opinion} a winner of a brand! Even though I’m a regular at the local Benefit counter and I’ve purchased and used many of the brand’s products, I’ve never been enticed to try their skin care products. My usual preferred skin care brand is Clarens because my mom swears by it and I know they tend to stick with natural ingredients {always a good quality}, but when Benefit launched this range I was really excited to try it.

Freshly unpacked!

Freshly unpacked!

Because these products don’t come cheap {about the same price range as Clarens products} I decided to try this range by collecting free samples. This was no easy task, as they don’t really have ordinary samples ~ they only have smaller versions of the products which are given away as free gifts with the purchase of other products. So I literally had to go to every Benefit counter I could think of {here in South Africa Benefit products are stocked only at one store ~ Woolworths ~ and only the big stores that have cosmetics & perfume will stock Benefit} to convince the Benefit employees to bestow me with these little treasures and to try and collect the whole range of the B.right products. Unfortunately I only managed to bag 2 different sample gifts – the total moisture facial cream {in my opinion the hero product of this range} and the moisture prep toning lotion.

The gift/samples I managed to get pictured here to the front ~ toner {left} moisturiser {right}

I absolutely adored the moisturizer right from the get go. Beautiful packaging {even the small gift version came in a lovely bottle}; a sweet yet fresh smell {I dislike scents that are too strong or too floral ~ this scent reminds me of lilies, fresh air, rain and sunshine all in one!}; and a texture that is smooth, soft and cooling. I was worried that it would over-hydrate my skin, causing my skin to break out, but even though I used it daily {as a day and night cream} for about a week it didn’t do that, in fact it made me realise how dehydrated and ‘dry’ my skin must be! With winter lurking just around the corner, I’m so happy to have found this moisturiser. The full size tub {pictured below} is quite large and I predict it will last about 6 months. The price is R385.00 {$38 USD}. To get more info on this product or see user reviews, click here.

B.right total moisture facial cream

The toner ~ hmmm ~ mixed feelings about this one {at first}. Again, exquisite packaging, amazing scent, though the thickness of the texture bugged me. I found it to be very creamy and it became annoying trying to dab it onto a piece of cotton wool due to the thick texture. So in all honestly I wasn’t convinced with this one, but to be honest I did only try it twice. Now that I’ve used it more, it has really grown on me and I definitely want to save to buy the full-size product. I love that it doesn’t have that high-chemical scent, it smells really wonderful and even though the texture is very thick it feels wonderful and velvety on my skin.

Along with the moisturiser I bought a full-size cleanser. There are two cleansers in the range, the one is for everyday use {Foamingly Clean} and the other is an exfoliator for use twice a week {Refined Finish}. I got the one for everyday use as I already have an exfoliator. The packaging of this product {again} is just amazing! I remember how the scent escaped the box as I opened it up, to reveal a shapely smooth & textured tube. It cost R225.00 {or $21.00 in the States or online orders}. I LOVE this cleanser so much. I only use a very small amount each day, about a pearl-sized drop. The texture is wonderfully smooth and creates a rich layer of foam {product pictured below}.

Foamingly Clean cleanser

B.right Foaming Cleanser

Seriously {even though these products are rather costly} I LOVE LOVE LOVE this range! Feeling great is worth every cent if you ask me, and I do feel like I’ve got my money’s worth. I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the range. Soon as I do I’ll do another review post!

Yay, Benefit!

For the full page-through catalogue click here.