M A D I S A

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette // Lipstick Queen Saint Lipstick in Saint Berry

Lipstick Queen by Poppy King // Saint Berry

Lipstick Queen by Poppy King // Saint Berry swatched

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette // L-R: Dim Light, Incandescent Light, Radiant Light

I love Mecca. Here in Australia, I think I can ditch Sephora and shop just in Mecca. The nature of such love only means my saving is in constant danger. After this haul, it's safe to say my purse is now very, very thin. But it's worth it. 

BEHIND THE HAUL STORY: I had a bit of a dilemma before purchasing the Hourglass palette because I really want to try Mood Exposure blush from the same line as well. That blush alone is $50. So I thought if I grab just one powder from Hourglass + the blush then it'd still fit my budget BUT I also want to try Incandescent Light from the palette. After long, hard thinking, I decided to save the blush for next haul and get the palette first for the good value (three to try, great). I still have blush from other line that is quite pretty, I thought. As I made my way to the counter to pay, I passed by the Lipstick Queen stand and was stuck there for around 40 minutes. POPPY KING. I must get one. I grabbed Saint Berry because it's going to be Autumn here soon and Berry sounds fitting. Now that I had it on my lips I'm not so sure. Might need to check the return policy. Idk. Anyway, my eyes still on Sinner Pinky Nude & Sinner Rose. Next haul.

NEXT HAUL? Yeah not gonna happen anytime soon. Hourglass, you expensive thing, you! I put a Mecca ban on myself until I have enough saving for both blush and another tube of Lipstick Queen.

Until then, wish me enough patience, peeps. 

HAUL DETAILS

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette $87

Lipstick Queen Saint Berry $31

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A1 Special Lebanese Pizza, Chicken & Avocado Salad, Falafel Platter

jnnhmds & the falafel prove true love does exist

A1 Special Lebanese Pizza is a must-try

It was a long walk across the Sydney Rd, Brunswick before my husband and I could indulge in these cheap delights offered by A1 Lebanese Bakery. It was scorching hot, we were sweating armpits to toes, but it was all worth the pain.

I must thank Mr Anthony Bourdain for his recommendation. Yes, this bakery is featured in an episode of Bourdain's No Reservations when he was in Melbourne. With the usual cigs hanging down the corner of his lips, he is known for his brutal honesty when it comes to food. So when Anthony Bourdain said it's good, I trust that it's good!

A1's specialty is pizza or wraps, I guess. They have varieties of pizzas and we had a hard time deciding. We finally settled with the obvious A1 Special Lebanese Pizza (8AUD). It's topped with tomato, onion, black olives, capsicum, Turkish beef sujuk, lots of spinach and cheese. It's the most gigantic & satisfying bite I ever had since I arrived Melbourne. soft bread, crunchy veggies, bitey meat and creamy, salty cheese. It's the perfect marriage.

To accompany the star pizza, we had the Falafel Platter (6AUD). The platter comes with pita bread, 4 falafel balls, pickled cucumbers, pickled turnips, lettuce, tomato & tahini dipping sauce. To be honest, I only cared for the falafel balls and forgot about the rest. 

For salad, you don't have to, but we did for the sake of trying everything from each, so we got the small portion of the Chicken & Avocado salad (5AUD). Just average. Just skip.

Go for the pizzas & wraps!

A1 Bakery means to give you good food. Good food is good food, be it in a fancy Paris restaurant or in a rustic, no-nonsense, Brunswick Lebanese bakery. When we visit again for another round, the Spinach Triangle & Shanklish Pie. Yes, there will be more visits to come.

GOOD TO KNOW

A1 Bakery first started out as a small family business. In 1992, the first branch was opened in Sydney Rd, Brunswick. There's another branch in Dandenong. 

CHECK OUT

A1 Bakery Brunswick @ 643-645 Sydney Rd. Brunswick VIC 3056

http://a1bakery.com.au

The sad story is my skincare & LUSH bulks are in the box that exceeds the baggage limit. YES. So I had no TLC support for my skin until I managed to pester husband to take me to the nearest drugstore so I could find something, just something, for my poor, dry skin, until the skincare bulk got shipped over. 

I was overwhelmed by the many, many new & different products on the shelves. I finally picked up this trio for a basic cleanse-tone-moisturise skincare regime. I just literally got the trio yesterday so I could only share a first impression for each.

SWISSE SWEET ALMOND CREAM CLEANSER (Dry Skin)

This cream cleanser has a light, airy, mousse-y texture that I so love. I love it even more when it doesn't foam up because then it means it is non-drying. Skin feels supple and soft right away. There's an abundance of skin-caring ingredients that make the cleanser a delight such as; rice bran water, sweet almond oil, grapefruit seed oil, jojoba seed oil, witch hazel & more! This is an instant love. 

SWISSE DEEP SEA HYDRATING MIST TONER (All Skin Types)

Rosewater is what hooked me on this one. That's it. The mist is fine and the plastic bottle packaging is convenient. It's too early to detect any skin improvements but I don't mind. I can have hundreds of rosewater-based toner mists that don't deliver much benefits and still be happy. 

SWISSE ROSE HIP FACIAL MOISTURISER (Normal Skin)

There are another two variations of moisturisers from Swisse and it's the Argan Oil one targeted for dry skin and the Vitamin E one targeted for sensitive skin. Now, I'm aware by the flakiness on my cheeks that I have dry skin. However, since this one is supposedly rose hip-based, I think this one would be more loaded with benefits for the skin. Plus, this one too lists rosewater as one of the ingredients. It's just okay-okay for me. I'm not really a fan of the texture, which is sort of thick making it quite a task to spread evenly on the face. However, it smells really good. Once my beloved Dr Jart Ceramidin Liquid & Cream arrives with the other bulk, I might use this as my hand lotion or something because it smells that good. 

GOOD TO KNOW

Australian-made SWISSE products do not contain Parabens, SLS, SLES, synthetic fragrances and colours, petrolatum, silicones, mineral oils, PEGS, TEA, DEA, urea, peroxide, nano particles, animal products and testing.

SWISSE products can be purchased easily from the pharmacies here in Australia at affordable price tag.

Now, excuse me. I need to go spritz my face with the Swisse Deep Sea Hydrating Mist Toner for the 189th time.

Love, jnnhmds.

Currently, it's 7:58 PM in this part of the world I'm typing from - Melbourne, Australia. It's still bright outside. Supposedly summer but it's pretty windy and chilly today. The air feels hot and dry, unlike Malaysia's hot and sticky sweaty. Sigh. I do miss the coconut water stalls lining the streets back in Malaysia. And the sky is bright, bright blue and strangely (at least, to my thoughts), no puffs of clouds in sight. Just blue. Very blue. 

From Melbourne Airport to Werribee, it was a 20-minute journey. 20 minutes of me sitting at the back seat by myself thinking;

It's unbelievable someone so small like me could ever had a big dream slowly becoming a reality. I am now away from the comfort of familiar faces, streets, you know, the feel, the whole zone. Thankfully, I have my husband by my side reminding me I'm not alone and that's great because it's almost too overwhelming. 

Monash life will begin soon (February 17th to be exact), and I'm feeling a bit nervous. Anything new makes me feel nervous because I wouldn't know what to expect. Of course, first, we need to find a small unit to call our home here before any other thing. 

I'm praying the dust would settle down soon and things would be much, much clearer. Amin.

Love, jnnhmds.