2010 - Page 10 of 46 - Violet LeBeaux

Mecca Maxima Opening Make Over Madness…

by VioletLeBeaux | Nov 12, 2010 | Beauty, Life, Review

Ok so I went a bit overboard with the title XD To be fair it was pretty exciting! Mecca Maxima (which is kind of like Australia’s answer to Sephora) opened a store in Melbourne Central a couple of weeks ago and the whole beauty scene here has been buzzing about it!

So of course Celeste (go check out her new beauty blogbtw) and I had to go have a look see 😀

We weren’t disappointed! The store is nice and large compared to other stores in Aus and everything was set out really well.

Mecca Maxima Trip

I could probably spend a good couple of hours looking around XD

Mecca Maxima Trip

I love that they have testing stations everywhere and actually encourage you to play with things 😀

Mecca Maxima Trip

Of course being a nail polish junkie this totally helped my opinion of the place:

Mecca Maxima Trip

One thing that I absolutely fell in love with at the store was the staff! Celeste and I both had our hair and make up done there and it was a really lovely experience 😀 My major gripe with a lot of cosmetics companies is that because the sales staff are paid on commission there can be a lot of pushing product, I think good product should be able to talk for itself and I don’t like being badgered if I’m not interested. The staff at Mecca were FANTASTIC, they were very friendly, super knowledgeable, gave fantastic service and not even a little bit pushy. I really enjoyed chatting to them and while I didn’t buy anything that day it’s that the kind of service that makes me a loyal customer who will go out of my way to shop there.

My feelings were completely justified when we happened to pop back in today and they all remembered us! Customer service WIN 😀

Having my hair done:

Post getting my hair straightened, it looks so looooong 😀

Celeste had her hair curled:

We bumped into the lovely Jess from Miss J Shopaholicand chatted to a lovely girl that she had met on the way over and much giggling was had.

After our hair and make up was done!

I told the lovely make up artist to go nuts and surprise me with a cute look, she got it 100% spot on with a pretty pinky/purple shadow. It’s not a shade I had considered much before because I’m so pale but I loved the outcome!

After I was given a sheet detailing all the products that were used with an example face so I could recreate it at home. She very cleverly added sticky tape so it didn’t rub off all over my handbag.

All in all I would very much recommend checking Mecca Maxima out if you’re in Melbourne and you are a make up lover! I will be going back as soon as my budget allows!

Cedel Dry Shampoo Review

by VioletLeBeaux | Nov 11, 2010 | Beauty, Review

Dry shampoo is kind of a foreign concept for me. I tend to use talcum powder on my fringe/roots if they’re dirty between washes because it’s cheap, it works well and it smells lovely (mine is scented like roses). I thought this would be quite fun to try when I got it in my MBBE bags 😀

So the idea is that when your hair is dirty between washes and you don’t have time to wash it…Spray this in…

Cedel Dry Shampoo Review

Leave it for a couple of minutes… brush it out… and enjoy clean hair!

Cedel Dry Shampoo Review

Spraying it in was very chilly so I think it would be quite nice in Summer! It felt like powder once it was in and then after brushing out it did make a difference. I liked that the smell wasn’t over powering but unfortunately it wasn’t overly nice either.

The feeling after brushing was definitely an improvement but not really what I wold call clean either.

The price online is around $6 which is more expensive than talcum powder but I think it would be totally worth it from a convenience point of view to keep at work or to take with you traveling overseas. So far I’ve gotten 4 uses our of it and I think I’ve used around 1/4 of it (roughly judging by how full it feels).

Cedel Dry Shampoo Review

VERDICT: Good for traveling, does it’s job but definitely not a replacement for washing your hair! DO WANT (but probably only if I was traveling)

Cute Clutch Bag Modification

by VioletLeBeaux | Nov 10, 2010 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

You know when you buy more expensive make up and you get those little free gift bags with them? I tend to never use the bags because I don’t generally like to carry things with labels on them. So whats the solution? Craft! Craft is aaaalways the solution XD

You need:

Glue gun or sewing machine
Lace
Bow
Clutch bag
Ribbon

This bag came in my MBBE goodie bags and is from Guinot. It’s black with little glitter sparklies ^_^ I am not a fan of clutch bags, I think they are kind of pointless… I mean they don’t make carrying stuff any easier they just give me a hand cramp XD So glue time!

Clutch Bag Tutorial

So in about 10 minutes I turned it into this:

Clutch Bag Tutorial

I started with the white bow that came off one of my Bodyline shoes and added some black velvet ribbon to hide the thread.

Clutch Bag Tutorial

Then I glued lace around the outside. Of course you could stitch it in place but this bag is quite thick so glue was easier.

Clutch Bag Tutorial

I pleated the lace at the corners so it sat well.

Clutch Bag Tutorial

Glued the little bow in place…

Clutch Bag Tutorial

Then with some more velvet ribbon I added a little strap by gluing (and anchoring with a stitch) it into the inside.

Clutch Bag Tutorial

Super easy! All done!

Clutch Bag Tutorial

Now I have a cute evening bag which is practical and matches my outfit ^_^ Win! What do you guys do with these kinds of bags?

Melbourne Snapshots and Halloween!

by VioletLeBeaux | Nov 9, 2010 | Life

Time for snapshots! I found a whole heap of photos that I forgot we took so let’s start with those first then I’ll show you what we did for Halloween!

When we first came down to Melbourne we went with SuperKawaiiMama, Kruppy and Dave from Nuffnang to an American style diner called Misty’s. James was absolutely thrilled XD

He was so excited to have buffalo wings!

Snapshots

And a ridiculous amount of fries XD

Snapshots

And a chili cheese dog with bacon XD Seriously he’s been reminiscing over this for *ages*. Anyone that knows a good recipe let me know ok?

Snapshots

Some architecture, love this fountain!

Snapshots

This was when we went to Taste of Melbourne!

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So pretty!

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And this is what happens when people are silly enough to let me hold all of their money 😀 This should be accompanied by a big evil laugh!

Snapshots

When my highschool friend Tash came to visit we went make up shopping at The Face Shop.

Snapshots

Did someone say nail polish?? I want one of these displays in my house!!

Snapshots

James baked a key lime pie which is another (apparently) America food. I ruined it by writing my name in the top with my finger before it set 😀 Mwahahha poor James!

Snapshots

Celeste, James, Sarah, Lynda and I went to visit Pan Asia and I had the most delicious pork belly baguette I’ve ever had in my life!

Snapshots

This is what happens when you hang with food bloggers… everything goes cold while they take photos XD

Snapshots

The decor there was so pretty! This chandelier is actually made of kitchen equipment like bowls and salt/pepper shakers! Cool yes?

Snapshots

There is a huge pretty mural there as well and each picture has a fantastic story behind it tying in traditional elements with modern…

Snapshots

We met the owner Li, she is the cutest person ever with an awesome sense of humor!

Snapshots

She even gave us a platter of deserts to taste! I can’t wait to go back again for another baguette 😀

Snapshots

Now on to Halloween!

This probably sounds crazy to those of you not in Australia but here we don’t have Halloween… like at all. It doesn’t exist. Over the last few years people have been getting more into it (mostly because we are influenced so much by American culture now) but you generally still won’t find kids trick or treating… If fact in all my life I’ve never had anyone come to my door. Which is probably good because I don’t like to share candy!

Anyway! This year Celeste decided that we would all have a Halloween party at her place, James was really happy because he really misses Halloween!

I’ll leave the food run down to Celeste because I’m no good at that stuff.

This is what we brought:

Snapshots

I decided to pipe little faces on them too:

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James was more interested in eating them…

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My costume was a very lazy version of a kitty XD I drew leopard print on my nails while we were riding the train there but it all rubbed off >_<

Snapshots

The real kitties apparently didn’t appreciate my costume and kept attacking my socks XD

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Even the kitties had costumes, one was a devil…

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The other was an angel!

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The yummy entree spread:

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Of course being Halloween where any number of spooky things happen James has to point out that with my bow, my shadow looked like the devil! XD

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I bet none of you can guess what everyone is looking at…

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Of course James was childish as per usual, here he is crushing my head with his fingers >_< Typical boy.

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And the group shot!

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I had such a wonderful time! I definitely want to do Halloween next year too ^_^

DIY Cupcake Rack Out Of Coat Hangers

by VioletLeBeaux | Nov 8, 2010 | Hime Gyaru

I’ve always wanted a cupcake rack… I figure having one will make me less lazy about making cupcakes XD Obviously not the case in reality but I still set about making myself one anyway!

So This is my final product, I didn’t have any cupcakes so James’ scones and a felt cupcake had to do for modeling XD

So what you need:

Wire coat hanger, I found these childrens ones for $2. Cute colours!
Hot glue gun
Pliers
Ribbon to make bows
Ribbon or yarn to wrap around the middle

Gather your materials!

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

The coat hangers I have happened to be covered in pretty fleck patterns, if you only have plain ones it’s not a problem you just need to paint them at the end ^_^

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Take your coat hangers apart and remove the hook part.

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

We will make the stem to hold it all up first. Straighten 2 of the hangers out:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Use the pliers to wrap them into a spiral:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Now is a good time to layout your hangers to decide how many tiers you want the rack to have. I settled on 4, 4 then 2. I decided to use the hooks as a base and one more at the top so it was portable.

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Now for each of the tiers you want to take a hanger and wrap it around the center pole. You should have something like this:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Repeat for all of the tiers you want:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

Now let’s make a base! Take 4 of the hook parts and use your glue gun to stick them together like so:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

It looks like a big scary stick insect but you can at least get where we’re going with this! Attach the base to the pole and secure it with more glue by wrapping the pole ends around it:

Cupcake Rack Tutorial

At this point you should glue the tiers in place so they don’t fall down while you’re working!

Now it’s time to make the bits to hold the cupcake! Take each end of each tier and using the pliers create a spiral like this:

You want the bottom of the spiral to be flat like a circle so the cupcake base has something to sit on. Then it curves up and around to hold the cake in place.

Next cut the extra of the pole off the top, I also glued 2 hooks in place there so I could transport it easily. So you end up with something like this:

Now let’s clean it up a bit. Using yarn I wrapped it around the center pole to disguise all of the glue ^_^

Then I added some blue trim to make it match the rest!

Lastly to disguise the joins I added some pretty bows ^_^ I also glued beads to ends of each of the tier to finish them off!

And there we go, finished!

So there you have it! Very quick and easy to do, if you’re ever having a tea party and you’re in a bind for cupcake displays it’s time to bust out some coat hangers! XD