Christmas Tag

Got this tag post from Étre Belle and thought to try it out myself except add a Summery twist to it seeing as I'm in the Southern Hemisphere lol :)

What is your most worn Summer clothing piece?

Ever since my cousin gave me her pink stripe off shoulder layer top that goes over a white tank top, this has been my fave item to wear during the heated Summer.

The top my cousin gave me

My cousin Lily and I

What is your favourite Christmas movie?
I used to have such a huge crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas and for that, my favourite Christmas movie is "I'll be Home for Christmas" haha. Another one I liked was called "Four Christmases" by Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Four Christmases

Back with a Bang: Updates & Christmas Nails

Hey guys!

Soooo...I hereby truthfully admit that I've been a bit lazy to hop back onto the Blogspot wagon.
My family came down end November from England to attend my gran's funeral (R.I.P. Avó) and 2 weeks later, attended my cousin's wedding so it was a difficult period to transition from mourning the end of one life to celebrating the start of a new one but we've got through it together as a close-knit family with our beloved gran, great-gran, mother, wife, sister, and friend forever in our hearts <3

We gave my, then bride-to-be, cousin a small but unique bachelorette that was Moroccan princess and belly dancer theme inspired (we had to keep it stripper-free because of the kids and more conservative crowd lol). Got her bestie to play decoy most of the day to make it out as if she wasn't getting any party and that plan was a success! When she rocked up at her sister-in-law's house unexpectedly (which was around the corner from when they were having drinks), we all gave her the biggest surprise and she started laughing with tears in her eyes!
Got her all dressed up in the funkiest outfit we could put together. I applied some gold makeup and lashes for her while getting her ready and later, we had some hired belly dancers teach the whole crowd for an hour, shaking our booties with shimmy belts on!
Later, we went out for the night as an after-party and went crazy on the dancefloor! Had such a great time!
I am pleased to say that despite all the stress and time put into the planning behind all that, it was an awesome celebration and a major success all thanks to the bestie, bridesmaids, mother, and maid-of-honour!

My then bride-to-be cousin Roz, and I all dressed up!

Moving on to the Christmas fever...how is everybody doing for gift shopping? Have you managed to get everything you needed? The malls are crazy as usual this time of year but it's great to see the decorations they have around.
I did my quick bit of shopping yesterday and wrapped most of the gifts! So excited for the loved ones to open them up :)

On to another event Christmas related, I've sort of been getting into a bit of nail art lately and got the time to do some Christmas theme inspired nail art...on my left hand! Hahaha - I couldn't do the same on my right hand firstly because it'll take double the time and secondly, I'm right handed so it'll be a shaky task.
I'm okay with that though. I'll admit I did a pretty good job for a first-timer at this kind of thing (not bragging haha, just proud of trying out something new that turns out better than I expected!).
It was very time-consuming - took me about 2 hours - so it's not something I'll be doing very often!

Christmas theme inspired nail art

Christmas theme inspired nail art

Hope you like it and please comment if you have any nail art you'd like me to see :) (include the link).
Also, you can follow me on Instagram @t4nzanit3 for more pics - please drop me a comment with your username too.


On a final note, it's time for me to go sleep as I'll be waking up early for work tomorrow :(
For those of you who are not working on the 24th Dec, I hate you :( no not really ;) hehe but enjoy that extra weekend day before Christmas and Boxing Day!

Wishing you all a safe and heartwarming Festive Season. Please don't drink and drive!

Anna Cubana xoxo

Things have been tough these days :(

Hi guys

Postponing this blog for a little while due to an unforeseen situation with my gran.
She's developed Pneumonia which has weakened her majorly - fluctuating blood pressure and her breathing is getting shorter everyday :'(

As I'm typing this, my tears are welling up...

The hospital has been trying their best in keeping her stable and caring for her but her body is struggling to fight.
The family have taken off hours this past week from work almost everyday to be by her side. She may seem unconscious but hopefully she can hear us and know that we are there for her.

We've been singing and talking to her in the hopes that she is not suffering at this point in time and that maybe, just maybe, it would uplift and comfort her.

We're all not too sure how long she has left to live. It may be tomorrow, it may tonight...
I'm finding it a bit hard to let her go and every night that I leave the ward after saying goodbye to her, I get that sinking feeling and miss her already...not knowing if she would survive another day for me to visit her again and kiss her forehead one more time...

Mini-update on some recent events

Ok well...instead of studying for my work exam on a cold Sunday, I've been VERY distracted with checking out some funky makeup styles and reading a few of your blog posts!

Here's an update of what's been happening over the past few weeks...

Been golfing at a local club (looks like I might be getting better!).

Someone has a guilty look on their face! Caught this sneaky kitty in the lawn near the Putt-putt area.

Leader of the pack!

Getting ready to hit!

Mmmm. I lurrrrve the smell of strong filter coffee so when I saw this section dedicated to a variety of strength filter coffee while out shopping, it was like heaven to me! Caffeinated heaven!

Caffeinate Heaven: one sugar please!

Also went to visit a college friend for a BBQ/Braai because it was his birthday the weekend before (couldn't do one then because of crappy weather). It was great to catch up with the college buds.

Decided to doll myself up for the day with brown shade and black liner.

Messy hair!

Brown shade look with a bit of wing liner style

Long time no blog

Hi guys!

Sorry for the delays in posting on my blog!

I've got so much to post but haven't had much time or decent Internet access these past few weeks!
Just been all over (staying between two houses and helping my aunt out with cousin's November wedding arrangements) and soon I'll have to start planning for my part as the bridesmaid. Need to buy the accessories, shoes, the dolling up and so forth.

Even more pressure is that I'll have to save up spending money for when my other cousin comes down from UK for a 3 week holiday and I'd like to take off 3 weeks work leave to spend with her so we can go shopping and touring the city (and still end up with money in my account once she returns to UK lol)!

Also been getting pressure from my boss about studying for an exam he requires me to obtain certification in and when he needs it done, he needs it done chop chop!

I haven't been able to catch up on my 50 Shades novel either because of finishing work late!
Sounds like the story gets even more eventful lol.

When I'm more settled after the exam and wedding prep, things will hopefully calm down so that I can finally get onto my E.L.F haul part 2 and Urban Decay reviews in the next few weeks.

I'd like your opinion on brushes...been eyeing the MAC 219 pencil, MAC 217 blending, and MAC 239 shader brushes. As far as I've heard, they're so good but so pricey! What are your recommendations on alternatives? I'm currently using the standard eyeshadow brush from the E.L.F range and it's been okay but I'm looking to experiment with a different brand and type as well so any suggestions are welcome!

Have an awesome day!

Anna Cubana xx

E.L.F. Haul - Part 1 (Studio Pigment Eyeshadows)

Hey all fellow bloggers out there :)

Hope you are having an awesome weekend so far!

Here's my swatch and review on two of E.L.F's Studio Pigment Eyeshadows which were included in my box of goodies that was mentioned in a previous post!

E.L.F. Studio Pigment Eyeshadow: Tropical Teal (Left) and Passionate Purple (Right)

I bought this from E.L.F. in the UK but had to get it delivered to my cousin as they do not deliver internationally yet.

I purchased the Tropical Teal and Passionate Purple shades as these two colours caught my eye when browsing the Studio Pigments section but sadly, the teal colour didn't turn out as shown on the website. It is more of a shimmery mossy green than the rich ocean blue I saw advertised but I still love it because of how much product shows in one application (and I also love greens as well). The purple colour is more promising to what was advertised so I'm happy with that :)

Ooooh. Looks like colourful pixie fairy dust!

When I first applied the shades for the swatch, it came out as a crumbly texture which means fallout may occur so it's best to cover the undereye areas when applying these pigments to prevent smudge!

Excuse the blur! Top swatches without primer; bottom swatches were with primer

These colours are quite vibrant with a hint of shimmer. They went slightly darker with the Vital Radiance matte smoothing primer I applied. It appears that these pigments don't require much (or any) primer to stand out and that's pretty impressive!

Pros to this product:

• Vibrant
• Decent Price
• Little product goes a long way - highly pigmented even without primer

Cons to this product:

• Packaging is stubborn (struggled to close the lid)
• Tropical Teal doesn't appear same as advertised
• Crumbly texture so fallout may occur - apply lightly and guard the under eye area

I purchased these two items for £3.75 each. You can also purchase them if you're in the States for $3.00, as well as other countries (refer to http://www.eyeslipsface.com if you're in the U.S. and http://www.eyeslipface.co.uk if you're in the U.K. for more information on where else their products are offered).

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase and look forward to creating some awesome looks with these beauties in future! ;)

Happy colouring!

Dance Graduation - Phase 1 complete!

Wow! I am still trying to shake off the nerves of tonight's performance!

Tonight was the graduation for the phase 1 (first level) pole dancing class.

We had so much fun yet we were so nervous despite the fact that we'd been practicing in front of each other for the past 6 weeks! Sadly, the numbers in the class had gone down significantly so it turned out to be only 4 of us that remained until week 6.

Licence 2 Twirl

I danced to "Don't Cha" by Pussy Cat Dolls which had the best beat I could sync the steps to. Was so nervous about my hands getting clammy and having it stick to the pole (which would end up being really painful to slip down!).

I got to let my hair down (literally and figuratively speaking) in front of a small audience (we were expected to bring a person or people as our audience) which was initially nerve wracking but then I slowly shook it off and just gave it all I got!

Girls: if you're looking for a posture, core, arm, and leg workout this is definitely a dance sport you should try...and the best part of it is...you must keep your clothes on!
It's a girls only course so there's no need to shy yourself in front of any guys ;)

I now have a 'Licence 2 Twirl' :) hahaha!

Some of the new Products

Hey

Here is a sneak peek of some of the items that got delivered to me in the post last week!
I'm so excited to start playing around with them and give my reviews on them as well!

 

Also got the novel Fifty Shades of Grey about a week before because I wanted to see what the rant was all about (boy oh boy am I in for a surprise, I keep telling myself!). I sort of skimmed through random pages and there's some...let's just say...different expressions of romance in it to the typical girly love story!
Not for the underaged!

Have you bought any new cosmetics products recently?
Feel free to share below :)

xx

The 11 Questions Tag!

Hello all :)

I have been recently tagged by the lovely Lily at CosmeticallyCreative.blogspot.com for this 11 Questions tag.


The rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you, plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4. Go to their page and tell them.

5. No tag backs!

As Told by Julz: How To Conceal Under Eye Circles

As Told by Julz: How To Conceal Under Eye Circles

Got new brushes today!

Was so excited to FINALLY get my new brushes in the post today!

It's not a full set though. Just the ones I need at the moment. They are part of the MakeupGeek range which I ordered online from one of my favorite YouTubers, Marlena. You should be able to check out her website at http://www.makeupgeek.com.

Washed them and letting them air dry overnight for first use tomorrow to try it out.

So ecstatic to try them out but I must go sleep now as it's already 1am!

See ya xoxo

Upcoming new goodies :)

Hey all pretty faces out there!

Today, I finally retrieved my parcel of new goodies that had been shipped from my cousin who is in the UK!

She has been so awesome for helping me out with all my E.L.F purchases as E.L.F hasn't gotten the option of shipping to my country yet :(

Didn't realise it was so much stuff until I opened that box! It was like Christmas all over again for me! Anyways, I'll give you a preview sometime soon of what it all consists of and see if I can swatch the colours as well.

You can visit my cousin's (I classify her as my sister though lol) blog at http://cosmeticallycreative.blogspot.com and check out some of her latest reviews and tryouts.

I'm hoping to also give you a sneakpeek soon of my two GlossyBoxes and what I think of the products!

Watch this space!



Anna Cubana xoxo

NYX Runway Collection - 10 Color Palette - Jazz Night

Hey girls :)

Today I'm going to give you a brief review of one of my favourite eyeshadow palettes...The Jazz Night 10 colour palette from the NYX Runway Collection!

What's great about this palette is that it contains a variety of different shades that are vibrant, sparkly and, when applied with primer can look quite pigmented.

Let's not be biased now: there are Pros, but there also Cons to this palette.
Because of the shimmer and sparkle in most of these shades, it's not the ideal kit for wearing to work - unless you work in the showbiz of course ;)

Even though it is highly pigmented, it does tend to wear off a bit so it's best to apply it on top of a good eye primer to make it last longer throughout a casual day out or extravagant night out!

I have started using some of the colours already to create a smokey silver purple look which looks especially outstanding for brown eyes.

Below is a swatch test of the shades both with and without primer applied.

For this test, I used Vital Radiance Smoothing Eye Primer.

Top row of palette: top swatches without primer; bottom swatches with primer

Bottom row of palette: top swatches without primer; bottom swatches with primer

Excuse the lighting and bad photography. This was done during low light conditions as the weather here has been horrible this week!

One of the colours I tend to use a lot from this palette is the bottom row centre  shade - it appears as a midnight purple/violet with a touch of pink glitter in the pigment.
This is such a gorgeous colour for blending on the outer corner of the eyes.
For the lid, I usually combine the top row centre dark silver shade with the white silver shade on the bottom row far left.
This gives my brown eyes a defining shimmer and accentuates whatever colour I apply on my crease.
For highlighting my browbone, I would use a light application of the soft yellow shade (top row, 4th shade). This, of course, won't necessarily suit all complexions so it's best to rather test in-store before purchasing this palette online!

With a moderate-to-high price ranging from $8 to around $15 on eBay, this is not a regular buy for me personally but overall, it's a good quality pigmented palette and I'm proud for investing in this product!

Please leave your comments below on what do you think of this palette, what has been your experience with using it, and feel free to show me the looks you've tried with it!


Hope you all enjoyed this ;)

To Be Continued...

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