Happy 3rd Birthday, Bagful of Notions! Plus, there's a giveaway!

Dick Casablancas, an aptly named guy.

All joking aside, blogging is tough. I often spend hours daydreaming only to be halted by writer's block and doubt. Yet, I persevere thanks to my love for writing, passion for makeup and the desire to share my thoughts and ramblings with the readers who stop by when the mood strikes or whenever I decide to hit post.

To thank you for coming back every day I've put together a few things for your personal enjoyment.

Yes, it's time for a massive International giveaway! There are four goodie bags up for grabs, which I hope will travel far and wide.

Prize 1 - body and skin care

This is for the guy or gal in need of some serious TLC.

• The Body Shop's Coconut Body Butter
• The Body Shop's Long Handed Cactus Body Brush
• EOS Lip Balm in Summer Fruit
• Bobbi Brown Travel Kit featuring her Soothing Cleansing Oil, Hydrating Eye Cream and Hydrating Face Cream

Prize 2 - lips and tips

Just for kicks to get your lips and digits in order.

• Essie's Sleek Stick Nail Appliques in Stickers and Stones and Oh My Gold!
• The Body Shop Colour Crush Lipstick in Red Siren and Coral Cutie
• Maybelline Lip Polish in Pop 6 and Glam 9
• Revlon ColorBurst Lacquer Balm in Flirtatious Charmeuse 

Prize 3 - the makeup addict

You're a makeup junkie, I'm a makeup junkie. Enough said.

• Wet n Wild's eye palette in Comfort Zone
• L'oreal's Blush of Light Glow Palette
• Illamasqua's Velvet Blusher in Peaked
• Illamasqua's Eye Brow Cake in Motto
• The Body Shop's All-in-One BB Cream in shade 01
• Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigment Eyeshadow in Breaking Bronze
• Covergirl Flamed Out Shadow Pencil in shade 320
• OCC's Lip Tar Stained Gloss in New Wave

Prize 4 - scents and sights

A major prize, that can only be sent to one lucky winner here in Australia.

• Chloe's Parfum De Roses 
• Travalo's Refillable Perfume Atomizer
• The Balm's Nude'tude Eyeshadow Palette 

Are you feeling lucky? 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The French Connection

Kerastase's Keratine Thermique and Decleor's Moisturising Body Milk

French beauty products have been rocking my world as of late. Dior, Chanel, Kerastase, Bioderma and Provence Sante. Always happy to name drop things that make my day.

It's taken some serious willpower and self-control to only wash my locks every other day; there are days when I struggle to keep my head away from the shower's warm spray. If you can find the patience and the will, your hair will thank you in kind with smooth strands, minimal to no frizz and loads more body and movement. To protect my timely investment, I've added Kerastase's Keratine Thermique Smoothing Taming Milk ($43 USD / $48 AUS) to my haircare rotation. 

The consistency of Keratine Thermique Smoothing Taming Milk is light and creamy, its slip allows you to smooth a small amount from root to tip. Its scent is enhanced with perfumed cocoa powder; sweet enough to take a whiff of, just promise not to eat it. For whatever unknown reason I used to get a kink across the mid lengths of my hair at the back of my head, I suspect it had something to do with the placement of my hair brush while blowdrying. The kink has receded to the point where I don't need to run the flat iron over my hair. A mere coincidence or is this the power of Kerastase?

Fresh hair post 10 minute at home blowout

To cap off this Francophile sesh, let's discuss Decleor's Moisturising Body Milk. It's the nourishment your skin's been craving, better yet a moisturiser that melts into your skin without leaving behind any greasy residue. If you can get past a couple of shortcomings, you might enjoy this rather luxe body lotion. 

Love

• Looks super classy resting on my bathroom counter.
• My post winter limbs are singing in rejoice for slathering this stuff on.

Loathe

• It's exy (ahem, expensive) at $45 USD / $44 AUS for 250 ml of lotion. I feel more inclined to pick up a bottle of my old faithful, St Ives Soothing Oatmeal & Shea Butter Body Lotion.
• The scent is overly perfumed, the magnolia essential oil really kills it for me. That said, the pungent, flowery notes dry down within a few moments of applying. If you can get over the first hurdle, you're home free.
• The engineering of the pump or lack thereof was a major oversight as the head of the pump doesn't extend out far enough. Unfortunately, you have to pick the bottle up, tip it slightly to the side and press the pump down. Points off for inconvenience.

*PR samples provided  –  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.

Sunday Inspiration: Charlotte Tilbury and Liberty Ross

My new, virtual BFF - Charlotte Tilbury

This video was recently featured on Charlotte Tilbury's Youtube channel and ultimately served as my source of inspiration. To uncomplicate matters, I chose a few items from my own stash and performed a dry run yesterday and I'm actually quite pleased with the execution. 

My take

Typically I shy away from using such dark colours on my eyes in fear of looking like a raccoon or a panda bear; the real-estate is minimal, but I soldiered on to see if I could make this work. To temper the intensity of the eyes, I kept things fairly neutral -- clean, sun kissed skin and full soft pink lips, all of which had to be framed with bold brows. 

A handful of the items used: NARS Callisto, Burberry's Trench, Chanel's Mirifique, Armanis' Rouge Ecstasy in Daybreak and Waterproof Smooth Silk Eye Pencil in Black

The eyes

I took a bit of a backwards approach and started with the eyes first as I knew there would be loads of fallout. The juxtaposition of the completed eye look and my ruddy, red skin was a bit shocking, albeit temporary. Do me a favour and don't let the strong eyes deter you, I almost threw in the towel due to fear and uncertainty.

Eye Breakdown

1. Apply an eye primer and allow it to set;
2. Curl your lashes;
3. Tight line the upper lash line with black eyeliner;
4. Grab a neutral beige eyeshadow, preferably without shimmer and blend it from the upper lash line to your brow bone;
5. Next, reach for a sparkly black eyeshadow. If you don't own one, simply layer a wicked shimmery shadow over something similar to MAC's Carbon. Keep the darkness limited to the eyelid only; should you accidentally go past the imaginary line blend it out as if your life depended on it;
6. Line the lower lash line with the same black eyeliner you used a few moments before and smudge it with the excess black eyeshadow applied in the previous step to make the lashes appear thicker;
7. Highlight the inner corners of your eyes with a silvery pink eyeshadow to make your eyes pop;
8. Apply lots and lots of mascara. We're talking truckloads;
9. Fill in those brows and be sure to go a tad darker than usual;
10. Finally, grab a cotton bud or Q-tip soaked in eye makeup remover and clean up any fallout.

Skin, lips and cheeks

Underpin your everyday makeup with a primer and medium coverage foundation; I used a pearl sized amount of Laura Mercier's Silk Cream Foundation to cancel out the redness in my cheeks, nose and forehead.

Skin Breakdown

1. Apply primer, making sure to focus on any oily areas;
2. If you have any blemishes or dark undereye circles, use concealer to erase these bad boys;
3. Reach for that medium coverage foundation and blend all over, making sure to avoid messing up those beautiful peepers;
4. Set the foundation with finishing powder or powder foundation;
5. Contour the hollows of the cheeks, along the sides of the nose and the top of your forehead right near the hairline;
6. Highlight the bridge of your nose, the cheekbones, the brow bone, the centre of your forehead and the cupids bow;
7. Smile and apply a small amount of blush and blend upward towards the temples;
8. Finish with lipstick.

A word of caution, I did experience fallout from my water eyes. Be sure to tote around a cotton bud or two.

Full list of items used:

• Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer
• Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in Cream Ivory
• Chanel's Vitalumière Loose Powder Foundation in shade 30 
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Medium/Deep Matte Bronzer
• Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light
• Illamasqua's Blush in Naked Rose
• NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base
• NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Callisto
• Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre in Mirifique
• Burberry's eyeshadow in Trench
• Armani's Waterproof Smooth Silk Eyeliner in Black
• Chanel's Inimitable Waterproof Mascara in Noir
• Armani's Rouge Ecstasy in Daybreak  

//Video Source

The Sunday Sample no. 1

Starting something new around these parts, consider this an edit of some of my favourite finds.

The topics, lists, lemmings and thoughts will most definitely change as the weeks progress.

So kick back and relax, here's your weekly dose of the Sunday Sample. 

This week's beauty rotation

Nailed it: NCLA's Laurel Canyon Lolita on my nails. Berry sweet.

Purchased: NARS Audacious Lipstick in Fanny. Thought I could wait for it until I reached the States, but I crumbled under pressure. Typical Nicole. Also, it would appear as though I am on a bit of a berry kick.

Testing: Kerastase's Discipline Keratin Thermique. It protects my hair as I heat style and leaves my strands polished.

Tried: Eve Lom's Cleanser. Cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate all at once. Might have to scoop this up when I visit Sephora with P-Cakes.

The Lemming: The MAC Brooke Shields Gravitas Palette Is a Dignified Diva Strengthened by Neutrals. After weighing the pros and the cons with Scott, I've opted to skip something pretty awesome. #whyyousoexpensive

Eats: The Best Cookie Recipe EVER. Baked, eaten, approved.

Rides: What It's like to Fly the $23,000 Singapore Airlines Suites Class. I've been fortunate enough to have flown business class with Singapore Airlines to Italy, Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong. However, Derek's trip to New York takes the cake!

Olivia's no longer standing in the sun

Fall TV is back! If you're not up to date with this weeks' episodes, you should probably stop reading now. Spoilers abound.

Castle's been located, but he doesn't know where he's been for two months. Was his father involved with his disappearance? Time will only tell.

Sons of Anarchy has been a bit too bloody for my liking. However, last I knew a few weeks back, Jax could potentially be in a bit of trouble for staging the death of a fellow motorcycle club leader's son. Eye for an eye? And when and how will Kurt Sutter address Gemma's hopeful demise?

Quinn found Olivia and Jake. The First Lady officially lost the plot, in part because of the death of her eldest son. Fitz is running the country with aplomb. Pope & Associates disbanded, yet miraculously came together for Harrison's funeral. I wonder what's in store for Olivia on this season of Scandal.

Fell in love with A to Z (plus, we get to see Ted Mosby's wife in action). How to Get Away with Murder is a tad treacherous and is it just me or did you also grow tired of Wes Gibbins' incessant deer in the headlights expression? Madam Secretary isn't as fast paced as The West Wing, nor as frenetic as Homeland, but I do enjoy the push and pull of Elizabeth McCord's storyline. Two Broke Girls, House of Cards and Homeland all have yet to make their return and I can't wait to get to New York Fashion week on Project Runway. Go, Kini and Amanda!

Other bits and bobs..

Bagful of Notions turns three on the 16th of October (mark it down in your calendar). Also, keep your eyes peeled for a massive giveaway later this month!

I've compiled a huge list of things I want to buy during my visit to the States. If you have any recommendations, please send them my way.

In the process of jushing up Bagful HQ and I've got my eye on these temporary wall decals.

That's it for this week! Don't forget to Spring ahead if you're in Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania.

//Image Credit: The Daily Beast - Kerry Washington's Hair Evolution as Olivia Pope on Scandal.