Melbourne: I came, I shopped, I ... shopped some more

Well my pretties, I promised you pictures of my Melbourne shopping haul, so make yourself a cup of tea (or coffee, or a glass of wine), pull up a chair and away we go.

Saturday my friend Nic (also known as the most patient person in the world) and I spent several hours exploring Chadstone Mall. It's always interesting as a New Zealander shopping the malls in Australia and seeing which shops have reached New Zealand's shores. The likes of Cotton On, Jay Jays, Diva and many others have become fairly ubiquitous whichever side of of the Tasman you're on, but Australia offers many more shops that we don't (yet) have in New Zealand, including some pretty good department stores. By which I mean some pretty good department stores which stock makeup brands almost impossible to find in New Zealand - Myer, David Jones and Target, how much do I love your beauty departments, let me count the ways.

I blogged previously about the High Velocity polish range from Kit, and it was obviously a total given that I was going to buy them wasn't it? Lucky there was a Kit stand in Myer then wasn't it?



Look at those pretty colours (left to right: Speed Demon, Top Gear and Full Throttle). And, a Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Pencil in Thriller. This is a product I've had on my To Blog list for some time, and I never got around to writing a post about it. Available in five colours, these chunky pencils are described as a 'draw on gloss' and they are amazing. They apply smoothly and feel so soft and creamy on - highly recommended. At AU$34.95 each I could really only justify buying one and I chose Thriller, which looks scarily bright red in the tube but on the lips it is a beautiful sheer pinkish red which I just love (and I have a terrible time finding reds for my lips that suit me).

But wait, there's more:


Burt's Bees and Benefit are also almost impossible to find in New Zealand. I've been wanting the Burt's Bees cuticle balm for ages, having read so much about it, and this kit containing the cuticle balm, a lip balm and sample sizes of hand creams, body lotions and foot lotion was AU$24.95 at David Jones. I love the cuticle balm and it smells truly gorgeous, but neither of the hand creams appeal. One is banana scented and the other almond scented, and both scents are so overpowering that wearing them makes me feel quite ill - admittedly both banana and almond are high on my most disliked fragrance list! The other products are lovely though.

Benefit Benetint is another product I've read plenty of good things about, so I bought myself the pocket sized version for AU$38.00 at Myer. Too early for a review of this one yet, I'm interested to see if it lives up to its long-wearing claims, especially since I'm in the habit of eating lipstick like it's chocolate!



These Revlon scented polishes are available in New Zealand, but I grabbed them in David Jones anyway for AU$24.95.

Here they are on 14 Year Old Daughter's fingers (I think I need to give her some polish applying lessons!):



The polishes do exactly what they say on the packet, when they're dry they have a fruity scent reminiscent of fruit candies. Being Revlon the application is lovely - the formula is thin in a good way and flows over the nail beautifully and bottle colour was achieved in two coats. I have to say the colours aren't my cup of tea and they aren't anything special, you'll find dupes of these all over the place from many other brands, but 14 Year Old Daughter loves them and the scent is a fun gimmick.



This cute tote and accompanying bag of goodies was AU$19.95 with any beauty purchase at David Jones. The goodie bag contains all sorts of fun things, including a full size David Jones body wash and sample size hair care and skin care products from the likes of Revlon, Ojon, John Frieda, Priore, L'Occitane, A'kin and Ultraceuticals. Lots of the brands are new to me, so I'm going to be having some fun trying these out!

Now we all know by now about my difficulties finding flat shoes I like, so you can imagine how happy I was with these little cuties:


They were AU$34.99 in Target and I love, love, love them! I even had a complete stranger in a lift compliment me on them!

Sunday we went to St Kilda which has some lovely boutiquey wee shops along its main street which are well worth a browse. Oh and a Hairhouse Warehouse, which is another of those shops I really wish we had here in New Zealand. Not only do they have a huge range of reasonably priced hair products, but they also stock makeup, including the bamboo makeup brush range from ecotools which I have been reading a lot about recently.



AU$29.95, which is a jolly good price for a good quality five piece makeup brush set complete with brush roll. I've given these to 14 Year Old Daughter who is a vegetarian and likes these because they don't use animal hair.

Oh and look at the colour of that nail polish by le Beauty, AU$4.95 also at Hairhouse Warehouse.


That's the entrance to Luna Park in St Kilda. I love that decades ago someone thought this would entice people in to the park. "Step into my mouth little ones, don't be scared." It's enough to give me nightmares!

After lunch we checked out the St Kilda Esplanade Market, which is on every Sunday from 10am to 5pm.


The market stretches along the waterfront at St Kilda and features over 150 stallholders selling everything you'd expect to find at an artisan market: jewellery, clothing, photos, paintings, ceramics, handcrafts and so much more. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area, I picked up quite a few lovely gift items.

Oh and look what else we got (for afternoon tea at a friend's house):


The cupcake trend hasn't quite taken off in New Zealand yet, so when I saw these in a bakery I HAD to get some. They were delicious - I want a whole bucket of the buttercream icing to myself!

Lastly, for a little bit of cute:


That's my friend Nic's cat Max. He has a bag obsession and loved to investigate my shopping when we returned, so I emptied out a bag especially for him!

And this is Buster the dog:


He's actually quite a lot naughtier than that face would have you believe, but so adorable!

That's not even all of what I bought - there were lots of gifts for the kids and EEB and other goodies. I had an awesome time and will definitely be returning, and for much longer next time!