Review | Gloss 3-tone green lens

I just opened a new packet of contact lenses from Gloss Accessories in Sydney.
I bought these at the same time as the grey ones I reviewed ages ago, but they've been sitting in my drawer up until the other day. I actually really like these ones.
They are the 3-tone green lenses.

The lens on the right is actually inside out which is why it looks to be a different colour. It's possible to put them on whilst they're inside out and your eye will probably feel weird (it does for me) so best to check that the lighter side of the coloured lens is the part you're putting onto your eye. 

The colour difference is less obvious with some lenses so you can also tell by how it looks when you squeeze it between your fingers. Basically though if it feels weird on your eye, something probably isn't right and you should take it out.

The lenses from Gloss are more flexible than the ones I get directly from Korea so I actually find them harder to put in (they invert really easily). Gloss contacts only last 3 months and cost double that of the contacts I buy from Korea which last a year. Judging on how closely the Gloss grey contacts resembled the Puffy 3-tone grey contacts, I'm guessing that these would be similar to the Puffy 3-tone greens but with a larger diameter.

I really like these lenses. The colour change is pretty significant (although these photos don't show it so well) and they're more enlarging than my grey pair from Gloss.

without + with

both

Enlargement: 8/10
Colour/Design: 8/10
Comfort: 10/10

Overall: 9/10
I can wear these for ages without my eyes feeling sore, tired, or dry, so they're great for everyday. I might get the Puffy 3-tones once these lenses expire.

Hmm. Anyway I should study for exams now.
Here is a picture of my cat Sassafrass being adorable on the weekend:

(*^▽^*)

Music | Missing Children

It seems that I have extremely talented people all around me.

All of my musically amazing friends are releasing their sounds into cyber space and it's making me most happy. Despite it making me a little envious that I have very few talents of my own, I love hearing their creations and thinking "I TOTALLY KNOW THOSE GUYS!" as well as seeing them perform around Sydney.

Another great band full of excellent people is Missing Children. Brain-baby of my friends Sophie and Dan, it has slowly grown in numbers as they develop their sound. This is a video they just released of them performing Paper Trail (one of my favourite songs of theirs, with an extremely blog relevant title) at Jungle Studios.

I can't stop listening to this song. It's so hauntingly beautiful. I love Sophie's enchanting voice, the beat, the guitar solos, the cello. Anyway, enough chatter. Here it is. Hope you guys dig it. ♥

Missing Children - Paper Trail

Their blog is here if you want to keep in the know about upcoming shows: http://missingchildren.tumblr.com/

Music | Achoo! Bless You + new Black Milk.

My amazing friends Ross and Ash just released the debut single from their upcoming EP.

Such a beautiful song and I'm so proud of these guys. I can't wait till the EP comes out in November. ♥
Find them on Facebook here for updates!


Life has been a little nuts at the moment. Although a lot of it is probably just me being crazy.

I'm not allowed to spend any more money on non essentials at the moment. Mostly because I'm going to Europe in December. So excited! But it is going to be crazy expensive.

Things that I have bought recently though:

Black Milk things because I'm terrible and can't stop. 

Glass Owl Swim & Dot Cap sleeve bodysuit.

keep calm...

I kind of can't stand the "Keep Calm and..." meme most of the time. But this is the best.

acceptable this poster is, hmm?



21 + Black Milk + ♥

Oh my god! I'm 21 years old now!
I have been for around 5 days now. Last Thursday I went to drinks with work colleagues and then I met boyfriend. We went to a different Korean restaurant from usual and it was amazing! I requested a couple of songs (cause I'm a dork) and ate so much food and got heaps too drunk on soju. Friday was extremely difficult. I may have fallen asleep at my desk multiple times.
The night before I had drinks with some of my favourite people and my sister gave me early birthday presents. A Miu Miu dress!! ^_^ Ah it is so lovely with it's ultra sparkly collar and it fits me perfectly. It's my first fancy labelled dress. I love it so much. Hopefully there are some photos of the full dress from my party.

Birthday dinner with David. drank way too much soju +

wearing my new Miu Miu dress and practicing my hair for my party.

Saturday night was my actual 21st birthday party with friends and family at my parent's house. I had so much fun but time went so quickly! It felt like I had only been there for 2 hours when all of a sudden it was nearly midnight. I haven't seen any photos from the actual night yet but I'm hoping they exist because I want to remember that night for ages. I'm going over to my parents tonight to pick up the gifts I received (which I wasn't expecting so many of). The whole experience was overwhelming but so wonderful.
A bunch of people got a van back into the city with me to continue the party.


The blurriness of this photo is exactly how I remember the night after leaving my parent's house

One of the presents I did open on the night was from my friend James. More Black Milk! I look kind of out of it in these pictures because this was Sunday morning (a.k.a. ultra hangover day) but I'm really happy with how it fits. I tried and failed to get the Gamer swimsuit in the BM release last Thursday, but receiving this has satiated my desire for stretchy nylons (at least for a little while).

New Black Milk! Woman in red dress.

Will likely update here when I have more photos from my party. But I've been ignoring university for the last week and a half so I won't be posting as often (I really need to get on top of stuff again)!

My letter to Zovirax

Okay so I have a cold sore right now.
Gross right? If you don't wanna read about them, stop reading now.

Still reading? Cool! Basically if you get cold sores, you know how awful they are. And if you don't get them, you are very lucky. Once you get the virus, you've got it for good and I've been getting these unsightly nasties since I was about 7. As well as being embarassing and painful, people assume you got the virus through some gross sex act, and I don't think there should be such a stigma around them. Anyway I guess I've started writing letters to companies whenever I have a shitty time with a product. It's like another way of reviewing stuff. So this is my shitty time/complaint/review of Zovirax's cold sore patches.

Hello.

I've gotten cold sores since I was 7. I get around 5 a year normally. But this year, being particularly stressful, has led to far more than that. I am currently sporting my 8^th blister. Anyway, the point is that I normally use Compeed cold sore patches. They were just the first patches that I tried. I went to a chemist the other day and they did not have Compeed available so I purchased your brand of cold sore patch. And I wouldn't be writing this if I'd had a good experience with them. In that sense, I do apologise because I know that you hear the negatives a lot more than the positives. But I needed to say something. I paid a reasonably high price for your product, followed the instructions correctly, however the applicator never comes cleanly off the patch. This generally means that I ruin the patch in the process of trying to remove the applicator, and have to use a new one. Of the patches I have tried to use in a packet, I would say that more than half of them have been binned for this reason.

Having a cold sore is stressful and uncomfortable as I know you guys know. But pulling an adhesive patch off a blister hurts! And aggravates the site, making it hurt more! Yesterday afternoon I spent a stupid amount of time trying to apply one of your patches to the site. I followed the instructions exactly but the patch simply would not separate from the applicator. I ended up going to a nearby chemist to buy Compeed's variety, even though I'm not exactly made of money at the moment. Have you considered changing the application system? Compeed uses a system similar to that of a regular bandaid and it is far easier and less trouble.

I apologise for this... Like I said, I know you must hear the negatives way more than the positives. I always use and appreciate the Zovirax brand cold sore creams, although no matter how early on I apply it, a blister always develops. Which is fine. That's just me. I still buy the cream because it soothes as well as providing that slim chance of stopping a cold sore in its tracks. But paying for a product that is frustrating and unreliable prompted me to write to you today. Regardless of my being cranky at your company at the moment, I hope everyone in your office has an excellent day. It's a really nice day in Sydney and I hope that, wherever you are, you get a chance to enjoy the weather. :)

-Bec

Zovirax patches : 2/10
Because when you can actually get it on to the sore, I guess they do what they're supposed to.

Compeed patches : 9/10
I'm wearing a Compeed patch right now. They're very discrete, easy to apply, and they certainly give you peace of mind. Because the cold sore virus can spread to other parts of your face (and you can infect other people) covering it up is really important. Patches also help the healing process and stop the sore from scabbing up.


Okay I'm done talking about herpes now. I promise my blog will be herpes free from here on in.
But if you get cold sores and have some magical treatment for them, let me in on the secrets!

Review | I.Fairy Keizen Blue lens

Hello everyone!
 I received these today from UNIQSO.

So these lenses are huge! 16.5mm I think, which is the largest lens I've tried so far... It was a bit harder to put in than smaller lenses. 

Here are some pictures.

I'm bare faced and just woken up so please excuse the messy hair. :P

(messy bed head) I think these lenses look nice from far away!

but you can see the bad blending close-up  (and its even more obvious with the instagram filter)

I noticed that these lenses don't blend very well with my natural eye colour. This is a bit of a bummer because these lenses are a lovely colour.

Colour/Design: 7/10

The colour of these lenses is really nice but it doesn't blend very well with my eyes.
Also viewed close-up, the pixelated design of the lens makes them very obvious and... well it looks a bit odd. From far away these lenses look lovely and you can't tell that they do not blend (it just makes your eyes look multicoloured). I like that they don't have a big dark limbal ring design, and that the colour goes all the way to the edge of the lens.

Comfort: 8/10

These lenses are not as comfortable as others that I have reviewed, which is most likely because they're much bigger. There was a lot of discomfort when I first put them in but as my eyes adjusted, I mostly forgot they were in there. They began to feel dry after a while (5 hours) so I took them out.

Enlargement: 10/10

These seriously make your eyes look huge. Gigantic. 

Overall: 8/10

I like these lenses. But I can't see myself wearing them to work or anything because they do not blend and therefore look quite unnatural. Hopefully I get a chance to wear them to a party sometime soon. 

comparison with makeu

The details (from UNIQSO)

Manufacturer: I.Fairy (SUNnBON)
Diameter: 16.20mm
Water Content: 42%
Sold As: Per Pair, with a normal lens case
Base Curve: 8.60
Replacement Period: within 12 months

This week has been really awful. 
Right now though I'm watching SBS Popasia and they're replaying the Kpop music festival from last year. 
I was there and it was so much fun. Happy memories are good right now.
소녀시대 좋아요. ^_^ 써니는 제가 제일 좋아하는 것입니다.

♥ Bec

Always for you.

This song puts me somewhere between happy and sad..

I have been trying to keep my spirits up even though everything is extremely undeserving of high spirits.  

Rest in peace my friend. I'm sorry we never got to catch up like we planned.

I'll never forget you. ♥ Nev.



Always for You - The Album Leaf

Collar clips!

Hello there!

Recently I bought a couple of sweater/collar clips from Etsy stores! Inspired by my love of collared shirts/dreses, and Connie from K is for Kani, who has a seemingly endless collection of them, I bought 2 different ones and thought I'd share.

This one is from Vintage Made Modern.

I am a sucker for owls. I love owls. All of the owls. So I bought this without a second thought. It's a bit fiddly as they are pins rather than clips, but it is too cute for me to care. I'm just hoping that the pins don't leave holes in fabric collars. 

And this one is from Vintage Jewelry Alcove.

There are hundreds of vintage items here and some lovely brooches. I'm not normally a gold person but this is really lovely and in great condition. I love the design and the clips make it much easier to use.

 

     I hadn't ever really shopped on Etsy before. But I feel like it's going to be another money drainer for me. I received my purchases from Yumetenbo on Monday (super fast shipping!) and am reasonably happy with the stuff I got. I didn't quite get the sizing right (everything is slightly too big; better than too small), and ended up getting a pink dress instead of mint green. But these things happen. I bought a couple of other items from Yumetenbo afterwards in a shopping frenzy. I am the worst and really need to learn to control myself when it comes to clothes shopping. :)

New circle lenses should be arriving soon and I'll post some pictures of the Yumetenbo stuff I bought soon as well. I had my final exam for health psychology yesterday, and have just started my new units; stats + criminology. I hope everyone is having a good week. ♥

Pokemon X Burton

These are brilliant and I had to share... Pokemon: Tim Burton style!
I really wish I was this creative. People amaze me. Apparently he is going to do all 151 original Pokemon! Heaps exciting. I would definitely buy a poster of these guys. =)

Art by Hatboy.



Aren't they excellent? I thought so.

Also, THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! Although I'll likely spend my weekend finishing this essay (which I've neglected all week). Only have to write another 1000 words. I need to finally see the Dark Knight Rises over the weekend as well. People keep wanting to discuss it with me and are shocked that I haven't watched it yet. =)

Oh yeah I recently got Instagram. Not sure how often I'll use it yet. I've always kind of hated it because people just take photos of every meal they eat. =P So far I've just used old pictures that I had on my phone. But it is a great app for sharing photos.

Here is a song/music video for you. It has me in a really cheerful mood this morning.

I hope everyone has an excellent weekend! ^_^

Perfume ♥

Yumetenbo: procrastination shopping

CLICK HERE FOR MY LATEST YUMETENBO POST!!

Whilst procrastinating from writing my essay, I found a link to one Japanese store, which linked me to another one, and another and another... However not being able to read Japanese (except the characters for ka, ki, ku, ke, ko) I couldn't figure out if I could actually purchase any of the things I was looking at. I eventually found an english version of a really cute shop: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/dreamv/ Yumetenbo is the store, but Rakuten is a global marketplace where you can buy from all kinds of japanese stores online. I fear the impact that this new discovery will have on my bank balance. O_O

Anyway I was uncertain about quality from this site so I only bought a couple of things. They're very Japanese but I'm hoping that I can pull them off (also hoping that they actually fit me.. translating the size charts was tricky but I got help from this blog).

navy with white top variation.

mint green with spots variation (I wanted mint without spots but soldout!)

red. I can't wait to get this bag!

There were some really cute shoes on this site too but I seriously can't figure out shoe sizes whilst shopping online. It never seems to work out properly for me and Asian sizing of shoes is particularly odd. The shipping was a bit silly... It is based on how much you spend rather than how much the items you have purchased weigh. Which I guess is great if you're ordering a lot of cheap and heavy things... Overall though it worked out to be pretty cheap. And my birthday is coming up so I may as well treat myself. I think I have been using that excuse too much lately... Ah well, back to my essay!

Life | I want to be travelling...

I miss Japan and Korea. I loved both places so much when I went in February with my boyfriend David. I can't wait to go back. I want to be travelling so badly right now but I'm trapped because of work and university. But I can still spend my days fantasising about places I will visit, things I will buy, and foods I will munch. Kimchijeon, bibimbap, tonkatsu ramen, the freshest sashimi ever, bubble tea, and ramune ♥ Mmm I'm hungry.

Takeshita Street! I loved Harajuku! David had to stop me from buying ALL OF THE THINGS.



bike riding in Kyoto + exploring Gyeongju 

(we stayed overnight in a Buddhist temple. it was really cool!)

 delicious ramen in Tokyo + Shibuya at night



Cheonggyecheon in Seoul :)

I know I should travel somewhere new in the world, explore new countries... But I didn't get to know Japan or Korea well enough and I feel like I need to go back. Also I want to shop because the shopping in Korea was INCREDIBLE! I bought the rainbow tartan coat I'm wearing in the last photo in Dongdaemun. Seriously...the best shopping ever.

Sigh... I should get back to writing this super depressing essay on Monsanto. Nearly the end of term and then I'm free for... no time at all because next term starts immediately. Good news though; I am enrolling in a Diploma of Language Studies majoring in Korean for semester 1 of 2013. =) I'm excited to keep studying the Korean language. Also, I bought 2 sweater clips that should be arriving soon, and a new pair of circle lenses! Hooray for new things!

Also if you happen to stumble upon my little corner of the internet, please say hi!

My letter to McCains

I just had one of my frequent cravings for supreme pizza pockets and remembered this email that I sent to McCains through their website:

Hello.

I am a huge fan of the supreme pizza pockets that your wonderful company produce. They are THE most delicious thing in the whole world and I actually can't get enough of them. Which is why I am writing to you! I don't know who is to blame for the current supreme pizza pocket drought, but I can no longer buy supreme flavoured pizza pockets anywhere in Sydney! It actually made me tear up a little bit the other day, so I want to finally get to the bottom of this.

I realised I had a hunger, and that I wanted nothing in the world more than a supreme pizza pocket. So I went for a wander but the only flavours in the 4 grocery stores I checked were ham and pineapple and bacon! I settled for ham and pineapple in the end, which is also an excellent flavour. But supreme in my opinion, is the supreme pocket flavour. I always feel a little bit teased when someone has stocked the supreme pizza subs right next to the pizza pockets. I see the green label against the red box, and my heart skips a beat. Will I finally be reunited with my favourite food in the world? But ahh McCain... You've done it again; if by "it" you mean tricked me into thinking I'll get that delicious taste in my mouth again.

So I guess what I'm asking here is why are there never supreme pizza pockets in any of the grocery stores? Is there a particular day that supreme pizza pockets arrive at stores? Do I perhaps have a supreme pizza pocket rival living near me, who is buying every box before I can buy any? I don't expect a full scale investigation into that last hypothesis, but if you could let me know when/how I can get supreme back on my shelves, that would be marvellous.

Thank you for reading my letter.

Bec Newing

They replied swiftly, thanked me for my entertaining email and asked where I lived.
Then I received this:

Hi Bec,

Product is stocked by;
Coles Broadway or Pyrmont.
IGA Pyrmont can order the product - 132718
Franklins Summer Hill
IGA Riteway can order the product – 132718

Regards,

Tamara

WHY YOU LIE TO ME MCCAINS?
My next step is to enquire into these false statements next time I'm at Coles and demand satisfaction.

How Black Milk Clothing made me lose a bet.

In my last post I mentioned a bet that I had going with my friends. I am not allowed to spend money on the internet for 8 weeks (because I think I genuinely have an addiction to buying things... that may sound stupid but I spend a LOT of dollars on the internet).

To Rory and James: I am deeply ashamed of myself for the purchasing of the below item prior to the conclusion of the bet. I hope you can forgive me and trust that our friendship can survive this unfortunate occurrence.

If you float around the internet a lot, you've probably heard of Black Milk Clothing. And if you haven't and you like fashions/leggings/shiny fabrics/awesome patterns, you should go check it out because there are so many fabulous and wonderful things. It's a pretty incredible story of how it started and it really has grown into a global community with girls around the world sharing pictures of the pieces they buy. Every now and then there are releases of new things and they are always absolutely nuts. Literally thousands of people all sitting behind their screens waiting to snatch up as many shiny nylon treats as they can.
I had sweaty palms as I watched the timer tick down to the time of release... I lost the bet. But I won new clothes!

 Island Retreat cap sleeved body suit!!!

Nylon Wars: Episode 2 launched at 2:00pm today. I managed to stay strong through Episode 1 and not buy anything, but this time I couldn't resist. The above swimsuit/bodysuit was limited and I've seen limited stuff disappear in minutes never to be restocked/resewn ever again. So I said "Okay I haven't spent any money on the interwebs for 5 weeks now... I deserve a treat!". Also I've been a good girl and not smoked cigarettes. I deserve ALL of the rewards!

Stuff can be a bit insane on release days and if you've got your eye's on a limited piece, you definitely need to prepare yourself...

Tips for release days:

1. Create your account/sign in ahead of release time.
2. Know your size before release!
3. Pre-plan what you're going to buy so you don't second guess yourself, take too long adding items, and miss out.
4. Be ready to hit refresh a thousand times, because there are sometimes glitches with the shop on release days.
5. Get your items in the cart as quick as possible and proceed to checkout as quickly as you can.
6. If it says you have items out of stock, REFRESH. They might not actually be out of stock!
7. Once you're at the payment information, the items are reserved for you but don't take too long or you might miss out.

The latest release had a lot of glitches! The timer hit 0 and I hit refresh (at the same time as 100k+ other girls did too) and no items loaded! So I kept hitting refresh and 1 item loaded... Refresh... a couple more items... Every item loaded into the store one by one it seemed... But because I knew exactly what I wanted I just kept hitting refresh till I saw it, added a medium to my cart, and went straight to checkout.

It was sold out... SOLD OUT! I spent about 10 seconds doing this at my desk: 



I know it sounds ridiculous, but I genuinely nearly cried. It's really easy to miss out on limited pieces from Black Milk. I told myself it couldn't be sold out. It wasn't ALLOWED to be sold out. So I hit refresh (around 20 times) on the checkout screen until it told me it was available! The relief I felt... Oh gosh.

So the Island Retreat suit is soon to join my (currently very small) collection of Black Milk things. 

The Peacock Skirt and Scribble Leggings. 

WARNING: Buying Black Milk stuff is extremely exciting and addictive. Girls have posted images of their collections on Facebook and holy hell there are some girls with almost every piece that has ever been released! If you fall in love with Black Milk items, it can be extremely damaging to your wallet.

Bows + Fiona + Procrastination

Hello! I survived my uni assignments and have just enrolled for next term of uni and bought my new textbooks. Exciting stuff! I'm also looking at enrolling in a Diploma of Language Studies... But not sure if that will all work out just yet. Fingers crossed that I can make it work! And fingers crossed that if I do make it work, I can handle such a busy schedule! =P

BOWS!   =)

Look at them all! Aren't they lovely? I ordered these bows from Cat at Sincerely Maeko in a frenzy of last minute shopping before my "no spending money online" rule came into effect (4 weeks and going strong!)

I just received them the other day and they're really well made. The fabric is really sturdy and I lierally couldn't be happier! If you're a fan of cute hair bows (and you should be because they can be worn so many different ways and they add character to every outfit) check out her store. You can even request custom bows if you pay a little extra for the fabric. The quality is incredible considering the price and Cat is super lovely and helpful.

I'm wearing the red checkered schoolgirl style bow in my hair today but I'm not terribly skilled at photographing the back of my head so no photos.

I bought Fiona Apple's new record last night. She is one of my favourite artists ever. Her songs, her beauty, her voice... Her last 3 albums made me fall in love and finally having more of her music is a great feeling.

My favourite song from the Idler Wheel:

It's different from her usual stuff but I love it oh so much. I can't stop listening to it! It's like Tymps all over again (another incredible Fiona Apple song. Listen here)

Anyway I should continue studying for exams. I procrastinated all morning by scanning old photos that I found on my bookshelf. After I've edited them (future procrastinatory task) I will post some of them on here!  


Life | Struggle street.

I have 933 words of a 2500 essay done. Things that concern me about how little I've managed to get done today:

1. It's due on Sunday at midnight,
2. I have a 21st tomorrow night,
3. I have a 30th on Saturday night and,
4. I have no idea how to make this essay actually sound like I have any idea what I'm talking about!!!

Health Psychology: why you be so hard?


one of the many lookouts we went to

Photo from the weekend? Sure why not.
I went to the Blue Mountains with some girls from Pittsburgh who are doing internships in Australia. They were really lovely, although it did make me feel a little bit boring in comparison. We did all of the touristy sites and then walked through the glow worm tunnel at Newnes forest. I really wanted to go to Deep Pass which is one of my favourite places in the world but it got really late and we were super exhausted from having my dad drag us down bush trails.

caption about lights at the ends of tunnels or something

 Okay... I should get back to drowning in articles about the efficacy of the TPB and the HAPA in predicting smoking cessation. (oh my gosh my brain is turning into mush)