Bringing Sexy Back: Winged Liner and Hot Red Lips

Last night’s L’Oreal ProBlogger event was a LOT of fun. 

Pretty, sparkly, no-little-boys fun! Whooooop! #justwhatineeded :)

I hadn’t been able to work out what the approach of the night would be - so I was thrilled to hear practical advice on applying our everyday AND event makeup. The beautiful duo of Elsa Morgan and Jane from L'Oreal Paris Australia talked us through the "tool kit", while makeup artists worked onstage with models so we could see the work in progress. Lots of blending and contouring and skin perfection!

My personal favourite look { gorgeous skin aside; drink water people!! } was featured; Winged Liner. And apparently I’ve been applying mine back to front - Who knew?!! I always start at the inside of the eye and work outwards - but the TIP is to start with your wing line and work back from there, filling it in as you go. Time will tell if I can work in reverse ;) 

Here is a step-by-step:

The other look that I loved was the Bold Red Lip. I was slightly enamoured with Erin-the-makeup-artist's look: superstar RED lips with black rimmed glasses. Such a STUNNING look. It always makes me wish I needed glasses!! That's crazy, right BUT TRUE. Well, I didn’t exactly lose my eyesight but I DID get the red lips! And loved them #heartemojis

I didn’t get any good photos but you can see one here on my instagram { please excuse the dodgy iPhone 4 photography - the camera SUCKS in low light! } 

We also got sent home with a very generous pack o-delights. Yay!

So the QUESTION is - What do you think was in our L'Oreal goodie-bags?! The reader who can guess at least 2 of the products will win a little kit of nail polishes!! I'll post worldwide :) Good luck!

Amber. XO

p.s. Leave your answers below!

Getting My Pretty On With L'Oreal

So, this is where you will find me tonight! Squeeee.

It's the first of the Niche Networking Events that I'm attending at ProBlogger this weekend { read my last post here for more details about how that all happened! }

I'm really looking forward to meeting L'Oreal's makeup artist Elsa Morgan and learning some new tips and tricks. 

"Elsa is one of the beauty industry’s most acclaimed professionals.  Sydney-born, Elsa heads up the L’Oreal Paris backstage team for the iconic Melbourne Fashion Festival and has also worked backstage at the Paris and Milan collections for brands such as Balenciaga, Valentino, Missoni and Christian Dior."

Impressive credentials! If you want to catch all the gossip tonight, just make sure that you're following me on Instagram and my new Twitter account. I'll be sharing my favourite things. XO

189/365 Strawberry Net Self-Love

My husband gets a lot of parcels delivered.

Mostly it's books but the postman and I are always chuckling about the day when he might just have something for meeeeeee { not that I'm needy of course - never! Lol } so I came up with a solution: Strawberrynet.

Yay! And I - finally - got a FREAKING parcel ;)

* happy dance *

I first bought this Estée Lauder cleanser as an early birthday present to myself when we were in Paris last year. I bought the moisturiser too and went through it pretty quickly { I love a rich moisturiser, but I also break out easily, so I have to be a bit careful with which products I use. Right now my skin is happy with a Clarins eye cream and an inexpensive Olay 7 Wonders cream so I'm not going to change my routine } but I was amazed at how long the cleanser lasted - I've only just run out now which pretty much means it lasted me 6 months. Good value!

And there is a funny story; after countless post-France flights { Milan to Abu Dhabi / Abu Dhabi to Bangkok / Bangkok to Singapore / Singapore to Bali } we were boarding our flight home from Denpasar when they refused to let me take it in my carry-on. I was under the impression that a cream cleanser was okay, seeing that it's not exactly a liquidy-liquid; but apparently not. There was no way I was going to get past them { unlike Buster's play 'bow and arrow' set that airport staff confiscated at Bangkok airport, but then returned when he cried!! KT had won it for him in Dubai. The sentimental kid - not that he'd admit it ;) } so I decided to dispense the more-than-half-full tube into a collection of smaller containers I had in my bag much to T's horror! Hahaha.

Yes, it may have been about midnight, and yes I was travelling with two hungry kids { there is NO gluten free food at Denpasar airport in case you were wondering } and yes I may have been slightly delusional. Let's just say -  I was in need of small victories. Take that uber-cautious airline staff!!

Anyway, so yeah. I have a new one now. And a Calvin Klein lipgloss (freebie). And I'm no longer dispensing from a jar. Whoop! And I ordered it gift-wrapped too :) #winning.

What was the last little { or big } present you bought for yourself?
Amber. XO

p.s.  Claire just texted me to tell me that she bought herself A DIAMOND RING today. Ha! So I'm not feeling quite as decadent anymore. Lol. But still - how cool is that?! Must add "buy own diamond ring" to my long-term to-do list ;) xxx

My fiery heart.

Our Sunday had started with a lazy lie-in { bliss! } and bircher muesli and coffee and sunshine and plans with friends -  we were seriously on track for #bestdayever - and then, T pulled a muscle in his back :( 

Sob.

He's been working so hard and travelling so much... and missing us. And we've missed him like crazy too. And then he's here and in pain - it's just awful. Booooooo.

I asked if he wanted to stay home. But he said no. We had brunch on the beach at Wategos and in the afternoon we hit the road... friends had invited us to a bonfire on their property an hour to the south. 

It was a beautiful clear night and I planned to not take any photos because I'd been snapping through the day and sometimes it's nice to just be. The kids jumped on the trampoline and played dog-soccer and baked Danish 'bread on a stick' around the pre-bonfire pit-fire and we got to know some new people. Our friends have built { stage one of } an amazing house - it's completely inspired - a real-life Grand Design set on 40 acres of Australian bushland with kangaroos { we saw a baby 'Roo as we drove in! } and God knows what else running free?! - oh yes! - a bunch of gorgeous wild kids ;) Ours included!

Fun.

But then they lit the big fire.

And as I walked towards it and saw everyone silhouetted by the amazing fiery light... I turned around and went and got my camera. Sometimes a photographer just can't say no!! 

Night + fire is a mesmerising mix for young boys too. We didn't stay late { I wanted to get my husband home, man this one is a trooper #keepinghim } but the boys had the best time - until the marshmallow sugar-rush hit and it all went downhill fast. Hahaha.

So, here are my photos that I wasn't going to take. I hope you like them. 

When was your last bonfire / camp-fire experience?
Amber. XO

{p.s. Thanks so much to Dana and Stefan for inviting us! We can't wait to return the favour. x }

Beautiful Byron Bay-Bali Breastfeeding Buddha Babes: Atlas & Everest | Part 2

Following up from last night's post { Atlas and Everest | Part 1: Sleep } here is the rest of the dreamy baby-bliss...

"... a little child, born yesterday, 
A thing on mother's milk and kisses fed..."  

Homer.
From 'Hymn to Mecury' translated from Greek.

There's actually a part 3 {hahahaha, yeah I know I suck at editing them down - but do you blame me?! ;) } in the works too - which includes some more formal family shots I took when everyone woke up and got dressed. 

But these are the photos that I somehow imagined taking when the idea to photograph Claire came into my head. Tender, intimate and true. 

I think Claire says it best:

"It was spontaneous and wonderful. The boys were napping, and she just started snapping pics. She caught the boys in a way I've been trying to imprint on my mind forever. Every crease, every corner of their tiny bodies. Without talking, she snapped the pics my heart has been wanting. To blow up big. And hold forever. Thank you @ambermelody. Thank you universe. Thank you instagram, and this incredible community. I'll never forget them [as they were then] now".

Yes we met on instagram :) 

I had suggested that I come over during their nap-time but baby Everest woke up during the shoot { he actually kept opening his eyes while he was asleep too! Classic. You can see one of those images in yesterday's post here. Too cute. And very funny } and Claire picked him up to feed him and settle him back into sleep. 

I checked to make sure she was okay for me to keep shooting while she nursed him. She was. In fact, she was happy for me to share the photos here too so I kind of think we are all a little bit privileged :) A little bit of baby-mama breastfeeding magic { I wish I had photos like this from when my babies were still little }.

And yeah, while Atlas slept the whole way through, Everest - or Sochi as they call him - didn't go back to sleep. Whoops! Sorry Claire ;) I think he was a little surprised when he finally registered my camera and I { scroll to the bottom of the post! } hahahah #cute but really... he only had eyes for his mama. As it should be. Love. 

Amber. XO

p.s. I have a new facebook like button at the bottom of each post! 

Can you see it's lil' blue self there? Please click on it and share the love :) 

Merci beaucoup! xx

163/365 Byron Bay: Rainbows in Paradise

3:45pm | Byron Bay Hinterland. 

I don't have anything else to say (except that Blogger doesn't let you upload portrait images at a high enough resolution!!). 

Spontaneous Beach Picnic! | Broken Head

Last Sunday, after my surprise massage was over and I had lingered in some kind of dreamy, post-massage bliss in the relaxation area at Byron at Byron drinking organic herbal tea and soaking up my fave new magazine discovery - yes, I  mean Renegade Collective! -  I reluctantly disrobed myself of the kimono-style spa robe and slippers, took a deep breath, centred myself and re-entered the real world.

What I didn't know was that in the interim my lovely boys had been shopping and organised a spontaneous beach picnic - hooray! And all I had to do - was decide where we would go. The suggestions?: Wategos (aka Byron Bay's beach mecca) or Broken Head.

Actually, it was an easy choice. 

We were already to the south of Byron and Broken Head Nature Reserve is just a few kilometres further along the coast road. Plus, I hadn't been to Broken Head since we had returned from our big trip; it seemed the perfect choice. 

But it was MORE than perfect.

Look how God-damn gorgeous it is!!

We didn't have plates or picnic accoutrement. But we did have my sarong. 

Olives, Australian brie, crackers, baby toms and yummy local Baraka hummus. 

Voila. An instant tear-the-cheese-into-wedges beach picnic on the sand. 

Oh, plus Chupa Chups are essential apparently.

(I had strawberries and cream! Yum).

We hung out for a few hours. 

The boys swam and we walked and everyone climbed on the rocks which were like a tribal playground playing with their beautiful ochre clay. 

And then the shadows started to get longer and the sun decided to fall below the tree line. We clambered back to the car and drove off into the sunset. Sun-kissed, wind-swept and hungry again ;) 

That really is some kind of crazy-good paradise down there. Just six kilometres south of the busy-ness of Byron. It's sweet perfection. Okay, I might have said that Wategos last week ;) Hey, I love beaches! But this one is something else...

So, I'll let the images do the talking. 

Do you have a sacred beach, a place to escape or favourite picnic spot? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below or on facebook, instagram or twitter!

Amber. XO