Need some pampering? Win a 60 minute facial of your choice at SpaQ QT Hotel

The other day, I experienced what was perhaps the most amazing facial that I have ever had, at SpaQ QT Sydney. I am pretty sure that I floated out of the spa! If you missed my review then you can check it out here.

I have some great news! Thanks to SpaQ QT one lucky reader will win a 60 minute facial of their choice at the SpaQ at either the Sydney, Gold Coast or Port Douglas QT Hotels. You can check out the various facials they offer here and start day dreaming about which one you would choose. Will you keep the facial for yourself or give it to Mum for Mothers Day? (Sorry Mum, but I would keep it for myself!).

For this giveaway I have decided to use Rafflecopter to make it a bit easier ( I hope). There are six different ways in which you can enter (and you can enter as many or a few ways as you like), plus you can tweet about the giveaway each day to gain bonus entries.

The giveaway will run until midnight AEST on 21/4/13. The giveaway is open to anyone but you have to be able to make it to the SpaQ in either Sydney, Gold Coast or Port Douglas. The winner will be randomly drawn.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WIN: Aphelia Cosmetology Skincare Pack

I have now brought you three reviews of the Aphelia Cosmetology acne products from three different guest reviewers. Here is: Andrea's review (age 33); Jenny's review (age 20) and Nalini's review (age 30).

The Aphelia Cosmetology herbal skincare range is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Rather than rely on one 'hero herb' in an otherwise basic formulation, Aphelia Cosmetology uses a precise prescription of herbs to create a formulation that heals and nurtures your skin.

The acne range from Aphelia Cosmetology is truly unique - it is the world’s only acne solution with no Benzoyl Peroxide & Salicylic Acid that has been proven with independent in vitro (this means in a petri dish or in a test tube) tests to inhibit acne bacterium for 6 hours at 99.96% (I have a copy of these studies which I will go through in more detail in another post). This means that the acne range from Aphelia Cosmetology won't produce the side effects that Benzoyl Peroxide & Salicylic Acid may cause such as drying and irritating you skin.

If you think that this might be something that you would like to try then you are in luck - I have a pack of the Aphelia Cosmetology skincare to give away.

What your pack will include: Oasis Acne Solution, Classic Skin Purifier Cleansing Beauty Oil and the Master Cleanse.

To win, all you have to do is follow me by either GFC, Facebook or email and then comment with the answer the following question:

What is your worst pimple/acne experience?

The winner will be drawn randomly (so don't worry if your story isn't too horrific!).

Want to hear mine? It happened when I was about 14 and is a classic why you should not squeeze pimples story. I woke up one Saturday with a smallish pimple right on the tip of my nose. I had a party to go to later that night so wanted it gone. It had a white head on it so I thought that I could squeeze it but when I did nothing came out. So, I tried again. Still nothing. So I popped it with a pin. A little bit of gunk came out but it still looked like more was there but it just wasn't coming so I gave up and put some toner on it (that seemed the right thing to do in my 14 year old wisdom). Clearly it wasn't. An hour later it had tripled in size and was now yellow, so clearly infected. So, of course I squeezed it again but only water pus came out. For the rest of the day, each time it was allowed it scab over, within minutes it would be full of yellow pus again. It was hideous and now the surrounding skin was also bright red and swollen. In fact, it was so swollen the tip of my nose was now in my line of vision which just further irritated me and reminded me it was there. I spent the entire day putting a dab of every product I own on it every 5 minutes. In hindsight, none of these products were antiseptics so were never going to clear the infection - I think they just further inflamed it. By the time time the party rocked around, I had managed to get rid of the yellow infection but now had a rather large scab on the end of my nose plus my entire nose was very much Rudolf like. To say that it was noticeable is an understatement. The redness was actually so bad that my nose looked sunburned; however, it was the middle of winter so that was not possible. I remember people asking what happened to my nose at the party. For some reason, I recall being really embarrassed to admit that I had a pimple so made some lie up about hurting my nose. I have no idea why I was so embarrassed to have a pimple since, as the party was full of 14 year olds, I would say that every single person there would have had one on their face at that time! As a 32 year old looking back at my 14 year old self, I no longer feel that situation was embarrassing and am surprised how strongly I felt shame about that pimple. Teenagers are a funny species - one that we will never fully understand, even having had once been one!

Anyway, this competition will run until 8.00pm (AEST)on Sunday April 14th and the winner will be contacted by email. I have two methods of commenting below - if you use Intense Debate (the bottom comment section) there is no need to provide an email address as it gets sent to me with your comment. However, if you comment with Nuffnang X Conversations can you please leave your email address so I can contact you. This competition is open Australia Wide. 

Who wants a $50 Groupon Voucher

If you haven't heard of group buying and the daily deals sites then I'm afraid you must have been living under a rock. They have been hugely popular of late. The way they work is that various companies offer either products, services or travel deals at greatly reduced prices, but a minimum number of people need to buy the deal for it to go live. Your credit card does not get charged until the minimum number has been reach and the deal becomes live. For example if a deal needs a minimum of 20 people and only 15 attempt to buy the offer then the offer doesn't go live and no one gets charged and no purchase is made. Once 20 people buy, your credit card will be charged and you will receive your purchase. There are quite a few of these sites out there, one of which is Groupon. Before today, I had shopped from a few of these sites, and had always had a favourable experience but had not yet tried Groupon.

Before recommending it to you I wanted to try it for myself. My mother in law has bought me a couple of deals from Groupon but I personally hadn't tried purchasing from them. I found the whole process to be super simple. I just searched the Groupon website for all of their deals. I am based in Sydney so was searching all of the Sydney deals. The deals are broken up into categories: Sydney deals (or wherever your location is - these are the experience deals), shopping deals and travel deals. There are some awesome travel deals on there but I am off to Japan and Thailand in May so won't be going on any more holidays this year! I was also quite tempted by a couple of the shopping deals, but I ended up buying a Sydney deal. All I had to was click the green BUY button, enter quantity then the payment page came up. I was provided with a $20 voucher so I entered that code in the REDEEM VOUCHER box then used Paypal to pay the balance. Seconds later I received an email saying that my order had been received and that once the deal was over I would receive my voucher. About 5 minutes later, two emails arrived with my vouchers attached. Super, super easy!

So, what did I buy? I did want to get something beauty related since that is the subject of this blog but none of the experience deals tickled my fancy at the moment. I have a hair dresser than I am happy with and the rest either weren't local to me or just weren't for things that I needed done (if there was deal on a hot stone massage I would have snapped it up in a second - I have been dying to try that!). I was tempted by the Prolash Eyelash Growth Enhancer as I have always to know whether these actually work (I believe they do as I have read good things but have never personally tried one of these products) but, in all honesty, I have naturally quite long eye lashes so I would have just been getting it for the sake of buying. Instead, I got something I know the Crazy Kid would love - two unlimited ride passes for the Sydney Family Show (we went last year and it is similar to the Royal Easter Show but smaller and has free entry, which is perfect for younger kids who have tendency to crack it after a couple of hours so you don't waste all that entry fee!). Now, all I have to do is take our vouchers to the show and we will be given wristbands that give us unlimited rides.

Now here is the good part. I have a $50.00 Groupon voucher up for grabs. To be in the draw to win it all you have to do is enter is one or all of the following (you get once entry per task):

1. Follow me on GFC or by email
2. Follow me on Facebook
3. Share this giveaway on Facebook
4. Follow me on Twitter
5. Tweet the following: Who wants a $50.00 Groupon voucher?? Head here to win one. http://t.co/OR53bfOMg4 @GrouponAUS  http

Once you have done any/all of the above can you please leave a comment in the comment sections letting me know how you entered and what your name is (ie if you follow on GFC then just comment 'GFC - (your GFC name) or for Facebook comment 'Facebook - your name'). Please leave one comment per task (ie so if you do all 5 tasks then you should leave 5 comments) so that way I can randomly draw the winners from the list of entries in the comments (sorry if this is annoying but its quicker for me to draw a number then see which name corresponds rather than having to transport everything into Excel).

 This competition is only open to Australian residents and will run until 8.00pm (AEDST) Friday 8th March.

Good luck!


ps In case you missed it, I am also giving away two Burt's Bees gift packs


All opinions are my own. I received a $20 Groupon voucher to test their site but also used my own money in the purchase. 

Summer giveaway series: Parissa – Hot Wax & Azulene Oil

For the remainder of summer I have decided to run a series of giveaways. The will be at least one each week (hopefully more!). I am kicking off my summer giveaway series with a fab giveaway courtesy of Parissa - the at home waxing experts.

Win one of 3 Parissa gift packs valued at $25.98 each.

At-Home Waxing Experts, Parissa, formulate ALL their Hair Removal products using the finest quality, natural ingredients to create easy to use waxes that deliver salon results in the comfort of your own home.

Naturally formulated with beeswax, Parissa Hot Wax is pH balanced and safe for all skin types. This no-strip hair remover is ideal for removing short, coarse hair from sensitive areas like the face, underarms and bikini line.

Formulated to deliver effective relief from razor burn, bumps, redness and irritation, Parissa Azulene Oil is the perfect after wax accessory.

Parissa products gently exfoliate your skin while removing hair, leaving your skin softer, smoother and more radiant with every application.

www.parissa.com

How to enter:

There are three different ways in which you can enter (and you can enter more than once to increase your chances)

1. Tell me a funny or embarrassing waxing or hair related story in the comments below. The one that makes me laugh (or cringe!) the most wins.

2. Post a pic of hairy legs on my Facebook page. Be creative - they don't have to be your hairy legs. The most creative entry wins. Please comment below that you have entered the Facebook giveaway because, if you don't win that, then I will enter you into the random draw (see below).

3. Random draw. If you don't want to do either above, don't worry. You can still enter simply by following me in some format (GFC, email, Facebook etc). Just tell me in the comments below that you wish to enter the random draw. Everyone who has entered via option 1 and/or 2, and don't win, will automatically be entered into the random draw.

This competition will run from 5.00pm AEDST on 27/1/13 to 7.00pm AEDST on 3/2/13. Anyone can enter.

Winner(s) of the Olympic Memories Alpha-H comp

It's time to announce the winner of the second part of my Alpha-H giveaway - the best Olympic memories comp (the winners to Part 1 were announced here). I really appreciated the effort you all went to in sharing your memories, so much so that I have decided to post them all here for you to read (if you are interested - if not, skip past the bullet points to see who the winner is).

• My fave moment was the incredulous win by Steven Bradbury! It looked like the race was in the bag until that very last moment!
• The Olympic moment that sticks in my mind was in 1996 I think, when an unfortunate diver messed up his dive and did a painful-looking bellyflop - the male Australian commentator exclaimed "Awww, right in the Jatz Crackers!"! It made me cringe but it was unexpected and hilarious and so very Australian!
• My favourite Olympic memory is competing for Malta at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I have wanted to go to the Olympics since I was young and to get the experience was so surreal. I met so many fantastic people from all over the world and even had my birthday there! I love the Olympics because they bring the whole world together for a couple weeks. You don't have to be a world record holder to be there. It is all about participating. 
• My favourite moment was actually in 1976, when I was only 6-7 years old. But I started Gymnastics when I was about 4 and still watch it every minute I can now, still so passionate about it. But when Nadia Comaneci scored the perfect 10 in the Montreal 1976 Olympics I became infatuated with her. My dream had been to follow in her footsteps, she inspired me and her story still does.
• My favourite Olympic story is Sydney 2000 when princess Mary met prince Fredrick in a club and when she started dating him she did not know that he was a prince. Such a lovely love story a girl next door from Tasmania met a prince from Denmark in Sydney. I love the fact how princess Mary has transformed her looks , she is a natural beauty and inspires me a lot. The Olympics must be a special moment for them now as that's what brought them close and I am sure they are in London know embracing their anniversary .
• My standout memory is when Canada won the Ice Hockey gold in Vancouver two years ago - I was living in Canada at the time and my BF and I were moving on the day of the final - not just across town, but 400kms! The whole day was scheduled around making sure we would be at the other end and be able to be in front of the TV to see the TV, we literally finished unpacking the truck in time to sit down and have a beer and watch the 3rd period and see Canada win!
• You didn't mention if it could be winter Olympics or not.... so I'm going to go with my favorite Olympic moment that was in the winter Olympics. The classic Stephen Bradbury moment where he won the 1,000m speed skating in 2002 after the other competitors were all involved in a collision. It's just so classic to imagine how elated he would have been, to think an Australian could win a gold medal in speed skating. Not in his wildest dreams. It's kind of amazing - anything really is possible :)
• My favourite Olympic moment is when any of the Australians win a medal, especially Gold medals or if they break a world record, it makes me feel proud to be Australian.
• favourite Olympic moment would be Roy and HG's funny commentaries
• My favourite Olympic moment is Nadia Comaneci scoring perfect 10s in the gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Although only 2 years old at the time, the replays during my youth as a gymnast have made this stick in my mind and it still gives me goosebumps.
• My favourite Olympic memory is Eric the Eel, I'd forgotten about that until I watched the video!
• I love that story of Eric the Eel. I remember watching it and thinking how great it was that everyone was cheering and supporting him. I also love the story of Steven Bradbury, who won gold in the speed skating because everyone else feel over. This changed the term 'buckley's chance' to 'Bradbury's chance' for a while.
  But I think my favourite Olympic memory was from 2000, when Roy & HG had their Olympic commentary show The Dump. Sport has never been so funny, and I wish they were part of every Olympic Games.
• My favourite Olympic memory would have to be Nikki Webster at the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, I have no real recollection of anything but! I was 8 and I had always wanted to be like her and sing at the Olympics! Although I will admit, now that the London Olympics are over, the Spice Girls were much much cooler with their personalised taxis in the closing ceremony!
• My favourite Olympic moment was when Steven Bradbury won gold at the 1000m speed skating event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He battled defeat and injury in previous years, but he persisted and his courage was inspiring.
• I have to say the most memorable event for me, was watching the kiwi Mahe Drysdale race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is one of New Zealand's best single scull rowers and watching him struggle through the final heat was heart wrenching. He got very ill at the Olympic village and spent time at the village hospital. He was gaunt, exhausted and lost weight. He still won bronze and everyone was surprised he did that well. London 2012 was made even more special when he got the gold!
• One of my favourite memories is of Keiren Perkens at the 96 Olympics winning gold for the second games in a row in such a grueling event. I was also blown away by Anna Meares in Beijing, to come back from breaking her neck to win silver was astounding then to back it up this year and beat her arch rival Victoria Pendleton who is the person that beat her in Beijing was fan-freaking-tastic. Oh and the look on Sally Pearsons face when she crossed the line and didn't know yet whether she'd won gold then her reaction was priceless. Just realised that I picked three QLDers =D

This one didn't qualify as it ended up being from the Commonwealth Games but I still thought that it was worth sharing!

• Ive given this question a lot of thought and my favorite Olympic memory goes back a few years. I cant tell you what year it was but i think it was in the 90's...so yes a long time ago. An Irish boxer had won gold and for some reason they could not get the Irish Anthem to play so after several failed attempts this guy jumped up and grabbed a microphone and started to sing. He say the song "Danny Boy"...It was one of the most moving things at the time and i bet that Boxer always thinks of that moment whenever he hears that song. OK...my post above got me wondering exactly what year this was and i wondered if i could find a YouTube of it but it appears I've made an error and it was actually a commonwealth games and not Olympic.....
  
  As an amateur, McCullough participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea and was asked to carry the Irish flag because he was the youngest member of the team at 18 years old. He went on to win a silver medal for Ireland at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, The medal ceremony for his Commonwealth title was marked by an unusual incident. A technical problem with the public address system made it impossible to play the recording of the Northern Ireland anthem, Londonderry Air. The New Zealand official in charge of the sound, Bob Gibson, promptly took the microphone and sang the anthem unaccompanied, using the politically neutral lyrics to "Danny Boy",same tune

Some really great memories - thanks for sharing!

I have chosen Madeleine Scerri's answer as my favourite - this was her memory:

My favourite Olympic memory is competing for Malta at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I have wanted to go to the Olympics since I was young and to get the experience was so surreal. I met so many fantastic people from all over the world and even had my birthday there! I love the Olympics because they bring the whole world together for a couple weeks. You don't have to be a world record holder to be there. It is all about participating.

I was a medal presenter at the Sydney Olympics and that was a surreal experience so to actually compete must have been out of this world! Congrats Madeleine, you have won the Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear!

There was actually another answer that really surprised me so I am going to award a runners up prize to sakina. I thought this response was a great take on the question:

My favourite Olympic story is Sydney 2000 when princess Mary met prince Fredrick in a club and when she started dating him she did not know that he was a prince. Such a lovely love story a girl next door from Tasmania met a prince from Denmark in Sydney. I love the fact how princess Mary has transformed her looks , she is a natural beauty and inspires me alot. The Olympics must be a special moment for them now as that's what brought them close and I am sure they are in London know embracing their anniversary.

Congrats sakina - you prize is a bottle of The Original Alpha-H Liquid Gold

Thanks once again everyone who entered! I will now contact the winners by email.

Just a heads up I am on the look out for some guest reviewers to trial some skincare ranges for me. That post should be up in the next few days so keep your eyes out for it.

Winners announced for my Alpha-H Liquid Gold giveaway

Throughout the duration of the Olympics I hosted a huge Alpha-H liquid gold giveaway. There were two parts to the giveaway - a random draw and a best Olympic memories comp.

Tonight I will announce the winners of the random draw. I will then compile all the responses to the best Olympic memories comp tomorrow into a post and announce that winner.

So, without further delay, the winners:

All up there were 120 entries so I enter this into random.org and got it to randomly pick a number for me. First prize went to number 33 - Jacquie.

Congrats Jacquie, you have won the Liquid Gold Skin Perfecting System

I then enter this into random.org again and this time it spat out number 58 - unicorn73.

Congrats Jacquie, you have won The Original Liquid Gold.

I'm tired now (blame Crazy and Kiki!), so I am going to go to bed but I will email you guys first thing tomorrow to get your contact details.

Thanks everyone for entering - I had a lot of fun with this giveaway. Hopefully I will have another one up shortly (feel free to post in the comments any prize ideas you would like to win for future giveaways!).

Why I love the Olympics so much: my memory of being a medal presenter (+ giveaway alert)

As you may have noticed, I have been running a couple of Olympic themed competitions (this one has closed but this one is still live if you would like to enter to win some Alpha-H Liquid Gold goodies). I though that I might share with you my special Olympic memory.

During the Sydney 2000 Olympics I was Medal Presenter - not one of the people who placed the medals on the athletes necks but one of the girls who carried the tray of medals - and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Unfortunately it was back in the days before digital cameras became mainstream so I don't have any photo's to show you. I took one roll of film of photos but have since misplaced the prints. However, I did manage to find a picture of myself online from the National Library of Australia Collection. As I don't have the copyright permission to reproduce this image I can only provide you with the link: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23419631. In the photograph (you will have to take my word that it is me), I am presenting the gold medal so I am the third girl along in the line.

The medal presentation teams were split up according to height and then were assigned to sports with similar height. As I was in the shortest team we were assigned to gymnastics - probably the sport with the shortest athletes (well, apart from jockey's). In addition to gymnastics, I also presented medals for Synchronised Swimming, Fencing and European Handball.

In the lead up we had deportment training to learn how to walk properly; were taught makeup skills as we had to wear quite heavy makeup each night; we were invited to watch the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony and we were in the Closing Ceremony. It was such an exciting time of my life!

Up until this point I hadn't really seen much gymnastics so it was a real eye opener for me. The strength and flexibility of these athletes was absolutely incredible.

Four moments stand out in my memory from this experience, that I will share with you.

The first one actually occurred just before the Olympics. It was at the Telstra Swimming Trials - the selection event for the Olympics. They also used that as a test event for the medal presenters to get some training before the Games. I was sitting in the holding room waiting for the next presentation when in walked Grant Hackett. I was like omg (internally of course, externally I was cool as a cucumber!). Then behind him walked Ian Thorpe so I was like OMG! Then in walked John Howard so I was like OMG!!! Now, I was 19 at the time so quite awe struck.

As I mentioned before, prior to this I was unfamiliar with gymnastics but I was about to get acquainted with a couple of the superstars of the sport. One of these was Alexi Nemov from Russia - every one of us girls was a bit in love with him - he was just gorgeous!

Alexi Nemov wearing a medal I might have
presented to him!

 The other superstar I became acquainted with was Svetlana Khorkina. I think just about all of us were shit scared of her! This brings me to the second memory that I want to share with you. We were standing in line waiting for the presentation to go ahead. I was carrying the gold medal for this one. I think Russia were expected to win gold but were beaten (I can't remember who by). I was standing there holding my tray of gold medals when Svetlana walks up to me and picks up one of the medals. I promptly shit my pants because we had been taught not to touch the medals - it was protocol that the athletes be the first people to touch the medals (they had to be manoeuvred onto the trays using the ribbons). I was freaking out thinking what the hell was I supposed to do if she didn't return it - would have been a bit awkward getting to the presentation being one medal short! But she then tapped the medal, huffed and dropped it back on the tray - situation avoided!

Svetlana Khorkina and a medal she won
(not stole!)

The next memory I want to share with you came from the presentation of the gold medal for the men's European Handball. In high school I had dreams of going to the Olympics for Handball. I had been invited to try out for the NSW team but never did as I snapped my ACL playing soccer (and in all honesty I don't think that I was good enough!). But, as host nation, Australia got automatic qualification for every team event so at the time I had thought that it was my best opportunity to go to the Olympics. Since I had an interest in Handball, I 'bagsed' carrying the gold tray for this presentation (we had an agreement between the presenters that if there was one particular ceremony you particularly wanted to present a medal on, you could 'bags' it!). The was a general rule that you would only carry a maximum of 5 medals on a tray at once as they were quite heavy. However, this presentation fell on the last day of competition when all the team events were being presented, so it was all hands on deck as there were not enough presenters available to split the load. This meant that I had all 15 gold medals on my tray at once. That was a hell of a lot of gold!

The delegate presenting the medals to the athletes for this particular ceremony was Juan Antonio Samaranch so I was super excited about that. The teams involved in the ceremony were Gold - Russia, Silver - Sweden, Bronze - Spain - so a very vocal crowd. When we entered the stadium the athletes were directly behind me. So, as soon as I entered, the crowd saw the athletes entering and erupted in the most roof raising cheer. Deep down I knew the cheer was for the athletes but it honestly felt like it was for me. I think I experienced the biggest rush - I was on such a high! I'm guessing it is what it is like for rock stars to perform live. Once that ceremony was completed we had to rush to assemble for the closing ceremony -which brings me to my final memory for you.

In the closing ceremony they used the volunteers to act as a human wall to prevent the hyped up (and possibly drunk!) athletes from charging onto the stage and interfering with the entertainers. They had two rows of the normal volunteers then a third row of us presenters. I think it was because our uniforms were more formal we were made the final row between the entertainment and the athletes. That meant that I had a completely unobstructed view of the show from approximately 20 metres from the stage! It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I got to shake hands with most of the entertainers as they left the stage. Kylie performed 'On a Night Like This' and I swear for about 3 months afterwards I teared up every time I heard the song as I was so sad that the Olympics were over (now it is a happy song for me and we actually used it as our farewell song from our wedding). Once it was over we got to mingle with all of the athletes who remained behind afterwards to party. I traded the Akubra hat from my uniform with a Canadian athlete for their jacket. I kind of regret doing that now, though. My reasoning was that I could always buy another Akubra afterwards but of course they were special ones made exclusively for the Olympics so my uniform is now incomplete. Oh well - its not like I will ever wear it again!

So, those are my memories and now you can see where my fondness of the Olympics comes from.

If you have any great Olympic memories (and they don't have to be of you - anything to do with the Olympics) make sure you enter them into my giveaway so you can go into the draw to win a bottle of Alpha-H's Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear. The details of teh giveaway can be found here.

Join the Aussie gold rush and win gold (liquid gold, that is) thanks to Alpha-H

Well, the Olympics are in full swing now so I thought that I would have another competition, one where you can win gold...lots and lots of lovely liquid gold. That's right, Alpha-H have kindly sponsored this competition and have provided a whole bevy of Liquid Gold prizes for you to win.

There are two parts to this competition - a random drawing from all entries and then, if you are feeling particularly lucky or creative, a prize for the best answer. You can enter both parts or one or the other, it is up to you. If you enter both then you have the chance of winning two prizes.

Part 1: Two winners will be randomly drawn

You can get up to 6 entries into the random draw - one entry for completing each of the following:

• Follow me on Google Friend Connect
• Follow me on Facebook
• Share this competition to your Facebook wall
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet the following 'Join Join the Olympic gold rush and #win lots of Liquid Gold thanks to @AlphaHQ and @skretchs http://nblo.gs/ArZaA  #giveaway'
• Follow me by email

If you would like to enter the random draw then let me know in the comments section which of the above you have completed (and please include your Facebook and Twitter names so that I can follow up). The prizes:

1st Prize: Liquid Gold Skin Perfecting System RRP $99.50

The first randomly drawn winner will receive Alpha-H's Liquid Gold Skin Perfecting System.
Alpha-H has spent a decade developing a system of therapeutic cosmeceuticals which target the key factors of ageing as they manifest in the different layers of the skin. These formulas are now available for the first time in a unique three-stage course of night time treatments.... the Liquid Gold Skin Perfecting System. Each formula: Liquid Gold Prep & Prime, Liquid Gold Original and Liquid Gold Radiance harness the unique corrective effects of pharmaceutical grade Glycolic Acid, herbal extracts and antioxidants to provide overall renewal of the skin. Liquid Gold products are free from detergents, parabens, kojic acid, hydroquinone, artificial fragrances and colours.

2nd prize: The Original Liquid Gold RRP $57.50

The second randomly drawn winner will receive the original Liquid Gold.

Alpha-H’s world renowned skin refining solution. A powerful night time resurfacing and firming lotion for the skin. This exclusive complex jump-starts the skin’s metabolism, tightens enlarged pores, and delivers lighter, clearer and more even skin tone. Also an effective treatment for acne when used in conjunction with our other acne solutions.

Part 2: Tell me your favourite Olympic Memory or Moment

For those of you who would like the chance to win a second prize then I'd love for you to tell me one Olympic moment that stands out, whether it be Cathy Freeman lighting the flame or the standing ovation Eric the Eel received for completing his 100m freestyle race (if you haven't heard of Eric the Eel you must have a read about him here or have a look at this video on YouTube - I thought that it was a real feel good moment of the Sydney 2000 Olympics!). The memory or moment can be whatever you choose, just tell me why you chose it. I will choose my favourite response from the answers and that person will win:

Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear RRP $89.95

Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear is a high performance Hyaluronic Acid rich treatment which attracts and binds precious moisture to the skin; helping to swell surface cells and plump out fine lines and wrinkles, giving the skin a fresh youthful appearance. More than just a serum, Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear is an instant hydrator and skin illuminator. Microencapsulated bronzing spheres burst on application releasing a blend of mineral pigments and natural light reflecting particles leaving the skin with a radiant healthy glow. Suitable for all skin types Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear is particularly beneficial for dehydrated ,prematurely ageing, mature, uneven complexion and lacklustre skins.

Rules

Just a few rules to the giveaway:

• the competition will run until 8.00pm AEST on Sunday August 19th
• the winners will be announced on the blog and notified by email
• the competition is open to all subscribers of the blog, both Australian and International.

Good luck and thanks for entering!

Get Tousled with Herbal EssencesTousle Me Softly

I have quite curly hair so when I was given the option of trialling the range I thought that it would be perfect for me. Most days I want as minimal maintenance as possible - I want to wash my hair and be done though I don't mind styling when I am going out.


Tousle Me Softly Shampoo and Conditioner $5.95 each 300ml

The first thing I noticed about the shampoo and conditioner was the scent. It is described on the packet as being a violet scent but to me its more of a fruity floral scent but it is absolutely gorgeous - one that I would like to wear as a perfume.

I have naturally curly hair and don't really need to do anything to get defined curls. My hair is also a bit oily. I found the shampoo cleaned it really well, although I did need to wash it every day (though this is the case with every shampoo). It left it beautifully fragranced and soft, and it did not appear to strip my colour at all.The conditioner also left my hair beautifully fragranced and soft and completely tangle free, and really shiny. It did help to define my curls, but left them a little bit fluffy if I didn't put any product in.

All in all I was very happy with this shampoo and condition. I especially loved the fragrance which really lingered in my hair - much longer than other shampoo/condition fragrances. I loved how it left my hair really soft, clean and completely de-tangled. The only thing that I wasn't 100% satisfied with was that it did leave my curls a little fluffy - this wasn't a problem if I used product in my hair, but some days I just want to wash my hair and race out the door and when i did this my curls weren't as defined as I would have liked them to be.
This is ideal for people with wavy hair as it will really accentuate your gorgeous waves. It can still be used by those of us with curly hair, though I'd recommend also using a styling product to get your curls really defined and not fluffy looking.

Tousle Me Softly Spray Gel RRP $6.50 170ml

In the past, I haven't liked using gels as they made my hair look too crispy. I would always inadvertantly apply too much and end up that stiff slicked down rock hard look which I really hated. If I ever did have to use hair gel in moments of desperation, I would always mix it with water to get it to a more manageable consistency - so, this product being a spray gel meant that it was already one step ahead of tub gels as it was already the perfect consistency for me.

I applied it after I had washed my hair with the Tousle Me Softly shampoo and conditioner. I towel dried my hair, combed it, sprayed this through my still damp hair about 5 or 6 times, then scrunched it and let it dry. It left me with really defined bouncy, beautiful curls. I was actually really impressed as I was expecting the curls to still be a bit on the hard side/crispy but they weren't at all - they were beautifully bouncy and natural looking.
The scent is the same gorgeous fruity violet scent which is the most beautiful perfume for you hair.

I would highly recommend this to anyone with thick unruly curly hair as it makes it so easy to get your curls back in control and leaves them so well defined. I will definitely buy this again.


Tousle Me Softly Hair spray $6.50 236ml

The first time I used the hair spray I put way too much in (about 20 sprays worth) and it did leave my hair looking and feeling crispy. I applied it at the end of the day on dry hair before going out to dinner in a hope to reinvigorate my hairstyle but instead it left my hair crispy and just set in my dodgy end of day hair style.

The next time I used it, I applied it after showering on my towel dried hair. I simply combed my hair, sprayed the hair spray on (about 5 of 6 squirts) then gently scrunched my hair and let it air dry. I was left with beautifully defined, soft bouncy curls that weren't at all crispy but were soft to touch and they remained defined for the whole day.



Tousle Me Softly Mousse RRP $6.50 192g

The mousse comes in a fairly big bottle and is easy to apply - a 2 second squirt gives you a mountain of mousse to work with. The instructions on the booklet attached to the product say to apply it to your roots and work it through your hair; however, my hair already has stacks of volume and I hate it when I put too much product on the roots and they look crispy. So, instead, I washed my hair (with the Tousle Me Softly shampoo and conditioner) then towel dried it then combed my hair. I then turned my head upside down and scrunched my curls with the mousse, working it through the ends of my hair. It did leave my curls very well defined and they didn't frizz up or drop at all during the day. They did feel a little bit crispier than I would normally like; however, when I looked in the mirror they didn't look crispy and were still nice and bouncy.

This product would be perfect for those with finer hair that need a bit more volume. I liked this product a lot - it did leave my curls looking beautifully defined; however, I probably wouldn't buy it again but that is only because the spray gel is better suited to my hair type - so for finer hair wanting to define curls, definitely give this a try but if your hair is more on the thicker side you might want to give the spray gel a try instead.

If you don't have naturally curly hair, the mousse can be used to create curls. Apply the mousse to your hair then twist chunks of your hair around your fingers to create curls.

Of the three styling products, I found the spray gel was most suitable for my hair type.


Win the entire Tousle Me Softly range!

If you think that this range might be suitable for you then you are in luck as I am giving away two packs, worth over $60 each, that contain the entire Tousle Me Softly range. Click here to enter.


Have you tried this range before? What was your favourite product. If not, what do you use to define your waves and curls?


All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. These products were provided to me by Beauty Heaven as part of their trial team. The prizes for this competition were provided by Herbal Essences. All images are courtesy of Herbal Essences.

Win one of two amazing Herbal Essences prize packs

As I mentioned on Friday, I am back from procreating! And what better way to make a return to blogging than with a giveaway. The wonderful people at Herbal Essences have provided two amazing packs for my readers to win. You can wash away your winter blues with a luscious tropical paradise in the shower!

The Herbal Essences winter style prize pack is worth over $60 and contains: 

• 1x Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner from the Tousle Me Softly range
• 1x Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner for the Long Term Relationship range
• The entire Tousle Me Softly Styling range (mousse for easy tousling, flexible hold hair spray, tousling spray gel)
• 1 x treatment product
• A Supersized Set Me Up hairspray

  
These two ranges are described by Herbal Essences as:

Long Term Relationship range Do you love your thick and full head of hair? Ready to go the distance? To get long, satin-soft hair, engage every strand in a long term relationship with a fusion of red raspberry and Brazilian silk. help protect against damage and split ends when you use our shampoo and conditioner enriched with hydro-activated silkening ingredients and split-end protector. go ahead, you grow your hair as long as you dare.

Tousle Me Softly range embrace your softer side with perfectly imperfect, wavy hair. layer our products together for soft, tousled waves that beg to be touched—not that they need to beg and hey, since we work well together to create one luscious look, it’s almost mistake-proof!

How to enter

Firstly, you must follow my blog either by Google Friend Connect, email or Facebook. Then post a comment with either your best hair tip or a funny hair related story.

I will choose one winner based on the comment I like the most.

The second winner will be randomly selected using www.random.org. If you really want to enter but have no good hair tips or stories then simply write 'pleeeeeeaaaaasssse enter me!' and you will go into the random draw!

Entry is open to Australian residents only and will be drawn at 8.30pm on Sunday 17th June.

Good luck!


All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. The prizes for this competition were provided by Herbal Essences.

Who won the NVEY ECO organic makeup give away?

A massive thanks to everyone who entered my NVEY ECO organic makeup giveaway. I have used random.org to pick a winner for me

And the lucky winner?

Magda

Congrats Magda. I have emailed you. I hope you enjoy the prize!

I don't think that I will manage to get another giveaway completed before Christmas but I still have a couple of prizes left to give away so keep your eyes out for some great giveaways of the new year!

Redraw of my Okoii handmade skincare giveaway

Just a quick post. The person who took out the 2nd prize of my Okoii skincare giveaway unfortunately (for them!) did not respond to my emails so I have ha no option but to redraw the comp. I went back to my trusty friend random.org and he told me that the new 2nd place winner was number 3, which was Bianca.  I have emailed this new winner, so fingers crosed the prize gets claimed this time!

Thanks, once again, everyone who entered!

Winner of my Can You Get Hooked on Lip Balm giveaway

For my second giveaway of the Christmas season, I got 33 entries. Hooray!!

So, who won?? Random.org spat out number 22 and that lucky person was kerry santillo.

Kerry, I will be emailing you in the next few minutes so keep your eyes peeled as I need you to respond within 48 hours.

If you didn't win this time, remember that I still have a giveaway running where you can win a huge pack of NVEY ECO organic makeup. Here's the link so make sure you get your entry in ASAP!! Best of luck, my lovely readers!

Also, one of the winners of my Okoii handmade skincare comp haven't responded within the required time so I am going to have to redraw that comp...you never know, you may be my new winner!!

Find it confusing identifying which chemicals to avoid in your cosmetics? Check this giveaway out!

I have always been fairly relaxed when it came to ingredients in my cosmetics. I do prefer natural skincare but that's more due to the fact that is smells better rather than fears over the ingredients in non-natural skincare. I guess I have always been naively optimistic that if a product is being sold in a shop, then it must be safe to use and I really hadn't put any more though than that into it.

That was until I had a certain encounter on the Beauty Heaven Forum. Someone was seeking advice on some good, cheap cleansing wipes and I replied that she should just use baby wipes - that you could get a pack of 80 for a couple of dollars and that I sometimes used them when I'd run out of my normal wipes. Another member then berated me, stating that baby wipes are one of the worst things that you could use on your skin, that they contained mineral oil which clogs your pores. It got me a bit worried - not so much that I was occasionally using them on myself but more the fact that I was using hundreds of these wipes on The Crazy Kid each week.

This then became my introduction into the confusing world of cosmetic chemicals, and trying to decided which ones to avoid. The more I researched, the more I found that the information out there tended to be incredibly emotive and very one-sided 'If you use this chemical you WILL get cancer'. A bit extreme, perhaps, but as soon as I come across a really strong and emotive opinion it almost becomes my mission to prove it wrong! As a scientist, we a trained never to just take one opinion - to read as many papers on a topic as possible to get a well rounded point of view. Often there will be conflicting information and opinions out there so it then becomes up to you to decide which side of the fence to sit on.

I found wading through all this conflicting information incredibly confusing and so gave up, sticking to my attitude that if a product is being sold then it must be safe. Then I discovered a brilliant book (thanks to an amazing review on the blog Moxie Reviews) that really helped me see through the conflicting views. It is called Can you get hooked on lip balm and is written by the authors of the beauty blog The Beauty Brains. These guys are a bunch of cosmetic scientists who answer questions people have in regards to cosmetics. This book is compiled from hundreds of these questions that they have answered. They will state why a beauty myth might exist then examine all research that has been conducted in the field and give a response based on this. Here is an example (that I have paraphrased) from book:

Parabens - the reason there is such fear about this ingredient is that a research paper on breast cancer analysed samples for parabens and every single sample contained parabens. However, the authors of the paper could not find out how the parabens got into the breast tissue. Parabens are used in cosmetics as a preservative. The Beauty Brains team examined all papers available and there is still no research available stating that parabens have any involvement in breast cancer. So they concluded, based on the research to date, that as there is no evidence that the parabens can cause cancer, the benefits they offer as a preservative means that as this stage they can still be regarded as safe.

This book literally answers any question that you have ever had about cosmetics plus questions you hadn't thought to ask yet! The information provided is straight foreword and easy to understand and, most importantly for me, it is well balanced and non-biased. If you have ever felt confused trying to navigate your way through which chemicals are safe and which ones to avoid, then this is the book for you.

Now, the bit you have all been waiting for. I am giving away a copy of this book to one lucky winner. To enter, all you have to do is follow me on GFC or by email. Let me know below how you are following me and also what beauty question you would most like answered? This competition will run for two weeks, from now until 8.00pm on Sunday November 27th and it is open worldwide. This seriously is a book that every beauty lover should own...so what are you waiting for?? Get cracking and enter!!

There will be plenty more giveaways in the lead up to Christmas so make sure that you are following me on Twitter and Facebook so that you don't miss out.

Finally, just a reminder, my 1st Christmas giveaway of a gorgeous handmade pack of Japanese skincare is open until 8.00pm on 20/11/2011 so if you haven't entered that one you might want to get onto it, quick sticks!!

My loss is your gain: a Japanese style giveaway

Someone very important to me is embarking on the journey of a lifetime. My house cleaner/ The Crazy Kid's babysitter/ my baby sister and my best friend is moving to Japan on 29th November (yes, I pay my sister to clean my house for me - it is nearly impossible to keep on top of Cyclone Crazy's mess!).

Where I have always been a bit of a homebody, my sister is the free spirit. This is the second time she has made the move overseas and it would be easier to count the countries that she hasn't visited rather than the ones she has. It is her aim to become fluent in Japanese so that she can pursue a furture career using the language and she decided that what better way to learn a language than to move to the country that speaks it.

I am going to really miss my little sis, life isn't going to be the same without our daily phonecalls (or if we keep up our daily phonecalls then its going to be bloody expensive!). But I am also hugely proud of her. I doubt that I would ever have the courage to move to a non-English speaking country. So, to celebrate her courage I thought that I would throw a Japanese themed giveaway.

Over the last week I have reviewed some amazing hand made products from Okoii and now you have the opportunity to try some of these gorgeous products for yourself. There will be two prizes, with Okoii kindly agreeing to sponsor second prize. The prizes are:

First Prize

Cherry Blossom Starter Set: Your ideal introduction to Okoii skincare. The pack includes:
Organic Azuki Bean Scrub with Organic Green Tea 10gm
Luxury Rice Bran Face Soap 13gm
Authentic Green Tea Purifying Toner 30ml
Green Tea Beauty Moisturiser 15gm
Camellia Night Beauty Oil 5ml





Second Prize

Luxury Rice Bran Face Soap: This was my favourite product that I tried from the Okoii range and it is honestly one of the most creamy, luxurious and gentle cleansers that I have had the pleasure of using. Warning, you too will get hooked on this cleanser!

How to enter

Entry is easy! All you have to do is follow my blog either by GFC or email and then leave a comment stating how you follow or your GFC name plus a peice of advice for my sister. This could be anything from places she must visit in Japan, how to cope in a non-English speaking country, what beauty products she should send back to me to review or simply just wish her luck. That's all you have to do to enter.

I would love for you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and to also follow Okoii on Twitter and to tweet about the giveaway though it won't earn you bonus points for this comp. I'm building up the courage to run a bonus point giveaway, but dread the thought of collating all the entries!

The giveaway will run until 8.00pm Sunday November 20th and will be drawn using random.org within a couple of days. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to get back to me with their address. This comp is open to Australian residents only (international followers, i'll have a comp for you guys shortly).

Thank and good luck!

The 12 Giveaways of Christmas

I bloody love Christmas so much. It is just such a happy time of the year. The closer it gets, the more excited I get much to the annoyance of those around me. But it would be dangerous to my health to try and suppress such excitement as it would more than likely violently explode out of me!
A few years ago we got a real Christmas tree for Christmas. It was messy as, but the whole house stunk of Christmas - it was glorious! I wanted to get one every year but hubby said not until we have kids. Last year was The Crazy Kid's first Christmas. It turns out that he became my real Christmas tree - every day of December, in the lead up to Christmas, I decorated him in a new Christmas outfit and posted it on Facebook. By the time Christmas rolled around, Crazy had a rather large and loyal Facebook following, all eagerly waiting to see what crazy outfit he would turn up in each day! Below are a select few of my favourites. I plan to do it again this year, whilst I can still get away with it, so make sure that you follow my Facebook page to keep up to date with the craziness!

I love everything about Christmas - the food; the decorations - its a sparkle-fest in our house; the heat - whilst a white Christmas might be traditional, I love nothing more than a stinking hot Christmas where you spend the morning swimming or eating mangoes in the sun before enjoying the traditional roast along with a seafood feast for lunch; and of course I love the presents! Naturally, I do prefer receiving the presents; however, I get a huge amount of pleasure in giving out presents. Which brings me to the giveaways!

This year, through winning competitions, hauls from events such as ABBW and from reviewing products I have received a ton of products. The downside to that? Well, this Christmas Santa is not going to give me any beauty products. Unfortunately he thinks that I have enough already. I am not so sure whether there is such thing as enough, but unfortunately once he has made his mind up about something it is near impossible to change it (plus, I am going to Hawaii in Feb so I will be doing some serious hauling there!). So, I have decided that it is you guys who will receive the beauty gifts this Christmas. I plan on running a series of giveaways, starting this weekend, on a whole range of products I love. At this stage I am not sure how many giveaways there will be - I know the title says 12 but that's more about the song than the actual number - but I promise that I will squeeze in as many as is humanly possible and you never know, I might just make it to 12!

What you need to do? At this stage nothing, but keep checking back here regularly. I will post a buttong in my sidebar (see below) using the image in the post and each time a new giveaway goes live I will enter the link into this post with the date that it is open until. Make sure that you have subscribed to this blog and are following me on Facebook and on Twitter, that way you won't miss any of my amazing giveaways!

The Giveaways!!

On the first giveaway of Christmas the Science of Beauty gave to me....

Some gorgeous handmade Japanese skincare from Okoii

• Competition CLOSED

Winners (announced here):

1st prize: aliciaraul


2nd prize: keppers (redrawn due to lack of contact)

2nd place redraw:

Bianca



On the second giveaway of Christmas the Science of Beauty gave to me....

 The most amazing book that answers every single beauty related question I have ever had

• Competition close

Winner (announced here):

kerry santillo

On the third giveaway of Christmas the Science of Beauty gave me...

A fabulous pack or 100% organic makeup from NVEY ECO

• Competition open until 8.00pm AEST 12/12/2011. Open world wide.

What are you hoping that I giveaway this Christmas?