Where Have I Been? + GIVEAWAY REMINDER

Hey, everyone. I'm so sorry I've been MIA lately. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may know that I've had a perforated ear drum and an infection that wasn't responding to antibiotics so, as I'm sure you can imagine, I've been in a great deal of pain and not doing a whole lot. After having tests to establish what kind of infection I had, I'm finally on the right antibiotics now so I have my fingers, toes and everything except my ears crossed that I start to feel better soon. I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone! I really hope to back blogging by early next week!

While I have you here, I just want to remind you about my huge giveaway that's open at the moment. It closes on July 8 so there's still lots of time left to get your entries in. Click on the image below to be taken to the giveaway. 

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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My 21st Party in Photos

If you've been following Born to Buy over the past few months you'll know that I'm turning 21 in a couple of weeks (click here to see my celebratory giveaway). Over the past two months I uploaded three party update posts (click here, here and here) which detailed all different aspects of the party; colours, invitations, food, music, a surprise for my guests and more. After months of preparation my party was over the weekend and I thought it might be nice to share some photos with you.

There's only a few photos of people because I'm not sure who would be comfortable with being on my blog. With that in mind, most photos are of the set up etc. Anyway, check out these pics! 

The alcohol

Much easier than relaying what's in what!

Just some of the amazing food

Getting cold for punches etc.

Alcoholic and non alcohol punch, plus the oh-so-famous Redskin Vodka

My amazing cake

100 balloons later..

My amazing nephew and I

My cousin who gave himself the job of handing around food all night. What would I have done without him? 

Lollies

So, everyone, these are just a handful of the 400 (yes, 400) photos that an amazing Aunty took throughout the night. 

After my actual birthday I'm considering uploading a birthday haul. Would you be interested in seeing it?

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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Sophie's 21st Birthday Party: Part Three (A Short One!)

I can't believe it but I can count the amount of days until my birthday party one on hand. Yay. I'm beyond excited. As I'm sure you can imagine, I feel like there's still so much to do but, whenever I try to make a list, nothing comes to mind. Thanks makes things difficult! 

Last weekend was spent cleaning and prepping for the party. When I say cleaning I mean cleaning! I don't think there's a surface in my room that's not been dusted, swept, mopped or wiped. I cleaned so thoroughly I even dusted all my perfumes. I don't think I've ever done that before and, let me tell you, it was strangely satisfying! Whilst I was cleaning, so was my Mum! 

I also spent last weekend creating a photo memory board and message board with the help of my amazing friend, Jacinta. The memory board is a photo collage on a canvas. The message board is a bigger canvas. We decided to keep it white as markers would work best on a white surface but painted the sides pink to give it the 'Sophie touch'. 

There's still a few things to do before my party so I thought I might show you my list. Not only will you be able to see it, but this way I can't forget anything and I don't have to write it down!

• If the jukebox guys don't call by Thursday, CALL THEM
• Pick up helium tank and balloons from Spotlight
• Pick up cake (Saturday) 
• Collect platters (yeah, we got a couple of deli platters from Coles just in case)

Obviously there's setting up and all that stuff but I don't need to go into that. 

I think that's I have to include in this post. I was going to post about my cake but I figure a photo uploaded after the party will do it more justice than any explanation I can try to give, don't you think? Decorations will also be a lot easier to explain with photos! 

As always, comment below if you have any questions about my party! Remember, if you do ask questions remember to check back to see if they've been answered. Also, stay tuned! In the coming weeks I'll be uploading some photos FROM MY PARTY. 

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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MAC Studio Finish Concealer SPF 35 Review

As I'm sure you know, my skin isn't the best. With that in mind, I feel that it's important to be using a concealer that I really love and I have made no secret of the fact that I absolutely love the MAC Studio Finish Concealer. I featured it in my April Favourites, as well as my recent collective MAC haul, and I just can't say good things enough about it. Given that this is a review, however, I'm sure you want a little bit more than that so I'll try my best to tell you why I love it so much. 

"A lightweight, creamy, discreetly opaque concealer. Provides a smooth, long-wearing invisible coverage for all skin blemishes. Water-resistant, fragrance-free and non-acgenic. This emollient-based, lightweight concealer is so concentrated that a tiny amount can provide opaque coverage of the skin's imperfections and discolouration. It effectively covers dark circles, blemishes, moles, tattoos and birthmarks. Enriched with antioxidants (derivatives of Vitamin A and Vitamin E), it also contains Silica to help absorb the skin's oils. Concealer has an SPF of 35 and is available in a wide range of colours. It can be applied with a medium to firm fiber brush, a later sponge or the fingertips"

- MAC Australia

To see what I love about this concealer, keep reading!

Give me some loving with Blog Lovin'

This is a post I've been meaning to write and upload for months now but I have finally gotten around to it! There's been a lot of speculation in the beauty community about the fate of GFC, Google Friends Connect. Google Friends Connect is basically how we follow blogs and view who's recently uploaded. You know the widget on the left of this post that tell you how I many followers I have? Those are GFC followers.

Anyway, rumour has it that, as of July  1, we'll be saying goodbye to GFC. If you ask me, surely it's some sick joke. I mean, the big guys at Google want people reading blogs from Google hosts such as blogger, don't they? Anyway, as a blogger and a blog reader, I started to become quite concerned about the fate of blogs; Who was going to read mine if the GFC feed disappeared? How was I going to keep track of my favourite blogs? 

Cue Bloglovin'. Bloglovin' is a site I've been registered with for quite some time but, until now, I've not really felt a need to use. I didn't really understand how to use it and never didn't follow any of the blogs I was following via GFC. When all these rumors came about, I imported all my follows into Bloglovin' and I love it! It's such a convenient way to keep track of the blog you love and, what's more, you can follow blogs from any hots, not just Blogger! 

With all this in mind, I'd really appreciate it if you took the minute to follow my blog on Bloglovin'! I always have my Bloglovin' icon on the left of my blog but you can also click here to be taken directly to my page. 

If you want to import all the blogs you follow from Google Reader into Bloglovin', check out this tutorial. 

So, everyone, that's it! What do you think about the whole GFC situation? Do you think it'll really disappear? Do you have a Bloglovin'? Let me know below and I'll follow you! 

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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MYER Collective Beauty Haul

One of the dangers of my job is how I get to and from it. To get to work I catch two trains, both of which arrive and depart from the city. The city is where I manage to do a lot of damage when it comes to shopping. There's a MYER, David Jones (I tend to shop at MYER 'cos I love those Myer One points!), Kit Cosmetics, Mecca Cosmetica and more! Being that I catch the train, on my way home I can either get off two stops before the city to swap trains, meaning that my trip home is slightly reduced, or I can keep going into the city to do some retail therapy.. I'm sure you know which option I prefer.

Over the past few weeks I've picked up a few bits 'n' pieces and I thought it was probably time to show them to you all! 

Before I get started I feel the need to apologise for the photo you're about to see. I had a much better one taken but realised I accidentally left out a one of the products and, by the time I took another, the lighting was a lot worse. It'll definitely do but!

HUGE 21ST BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY

I really love birthdays and, as I'm sure you've figured out if you're a regular reader, I absolutely love hosting giveaways! I find that they are such an amazing opportunity to share products I really love with people and, more than that, a way to say thank you to my really amazing readers.

I've been planning this giveaway for quite some time now and over the past few months I've been collecting bits 'n' pieces to include. As with many of my giveaways, there's more than one prize! Don't think of it as a first, second or third type thing though because I love each prize pack!

I'm so happy to say that this giveaway has a prize for International readers! Yep, I haven't forgotten about you guys this time!

Anyway, I'm going to stop crapping on about all this and get into the most important thing; THE PRIZES! 

Protect Your Lips This Winter with 20% OFF

Winter. It's my favourite season of the year. The weather is cold (I really hate the heat), you get to wear all sorts of lovely winter pieces and it's the perfect excuse to bring out your winter lipsticks. Mac Rebel lipstick, anyone?

I could go on all day listing the many things but, as with everything, there's also some downsides. Winter is notorious for drying people out; their skin, their hair and, of course, their lips. I don't know about you all but I absolutely hate having dry lips.

With that in mind, I've decided to host my first sale on my lip balms. Yay! 

That's it! All you have to do to redeem your 20% off is use the code SCARF at the checkout.

Will you be taking advantage of this discount? 

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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Aveeno Daily Moisturising Body Wash Review

I know I'm probably doing this in the wrong order but one of my favourite products to use before the Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion is the Aveeno Daily Moisturising Body Wash. Are you sensing a pattern? I know I sure am! It turns out I really love Aveeno body products. 

"A soap-free daily body wash to cleanse and moisturise your skin every time you shower. Colloidal oatmeal combined with natural soybean oil and emollients lock in moisture for smoother, healthier and more nourished skin. The lightly fragranced formula lathers lightly and rinses clean leaving no oily residue on the skin. Dermatologist tested and suitable for sensitive skin"

- Aveeno Media Kit 

To see what makes the Aveeno Daily Moisturising Body Wash a winner for me, keep reading!

The Born to Buy Lip Balms are here!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter or you saw a competition I hosted recently, I, along with an incredibly talented supplier, have created some Born to Buy lip balms! It's something I'm really excited about an, after a few months of planning, am finally able to release them! Yep, the online store is finally open!

As you should be able to tell from the image above, they come in four flavours; Berry Ripe (wild berry), Pink Lady (pink lemonade), Watermelody (watermelon) and Killa Vanilla (vanilla). They were also named by my amazing readers! If you named one of the lip balms, thank you so much!

To check out my online store, click here. The store is also always linked above as the Shop Born to Buy tab.

I want to say a quick thank you to two incredibly talented friends of mine, Hannah and Lewis. Hannah designed the oh-so-amazing labels for the lip balms, whilst Lewis photographed them. To see more of Lewis' work, click here.

A beautiful blogging friend, Jasmine from Sweetaholic Beauty, recently reviewed these balms. Click here to see her review.

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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UPDATED Skincare Routine: My Nighttime Routine

I've never proclaimed to have perfect skin. Hell, I've never even said I have good skin. As I've said countless times on this blog, my skin is very temperamental; one minute it's good and the next it's terrible. To see one of my latest skin explosions, click here. 

I've given my skincare routine a compete overhaul so I decided to give you guys an update. I'm really happy with this routine but, don't get me wrong, I still have breakouts and am still very much prone to spots. This routine just minimises that and helps tackle blemishes before they become huge problems. 

Given that I have three separate skincare routines, I decided I'd do three posts! A couple of days ago I uploaded my morning skincare routine. Click here to check it out! To see how I remove my make up at the end of a day, click here! 

Before I start, I figure I should give you a tiny bit of insight into my skin. I have combination/oily skin that's quite prone to blemishes. It can be quite dehydrated.

To see what I use in the evening, click here!

*This routine is done on skin with no make up on it, often after I've just completed my removing make up routine*

Sigma 10% OFF for June, 2013

It's the start of a new month which, of course, means I'm bringing you another Sigma discount code! There's so much I want from Sigma (click here and here to see my two shopping lists) so I absolutely love knowing the monthly discount codes. Who wants to pay retail when they don't have to? For the month of June, get 10% off all Sigma orders using the Coupon Code below at the checkout.

For direct access to the Sigma Beauty website, click here. If you buy anything, comment below to let me know! I'd love to hear what you've bought! If you already own Sigma brushes (or cosmetics, for that matter), comment below telling me what you think of them! You all know how I love my recommendations. 

Always look your best,

Sophie

x

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