I’ve been a bit batty all day….

I’ve spent the better part of this afternoon eating a triple chocolate muffin and watching last night’s episode of Being Lara Bingle.  Surprisingly, I’ve not been left with either the consequences of a killer sugar rush nor any unanswerable questions about how one would define a ‘career’.  Then I had a very calm chat to Mr SSG over the phone to establish the ground rules for tonight’s television viewing – Offspring first, Origin second.  Granted it was a very one sided conversation (it takes quite a bit of time to analyse the Nina / Patrick situation and the hypotheticals that ‘the news’ will introduce for them) but we’re starting the evening on Channel Ten.  Guaranteed.

Thankfully, I managed to actually do things before I hit the couch for that afternoon of nothingness.

Thankfully, I had an inspired moment over lunch.  If a whole pork chop smothered in tomato sauce on a bed of spaghetti eaten at a Chinese restaurant specialising in congee doesn’t clear your mind, then I don’t know what would!  I’d just order online from Kiehl’s Australian website when I got home.

If I got home.  It was a massive serve of juicy, battered pork over spaghetti that was cooked al dente.  All for the princely sum of $9.50.  It was one of those comfort meals.  Spoonfuls of saucy spaghetti alternating with forkfuls of pork.  Seeing more and more of the bottom of the dish emerge as I ate.

I’m not ashamed to say I ate it all.  What I am a little embarrassed about is how poor my Cantonese is and how I was the only person to be ordering the dish.  My only defence is that it was featured in both the English and Chinese character menus…..

It’s been too long since we’ve talked beauty on the blog.  As scintillating as it is (for me), there really is only so much to be said about maternity fashion and first time mother to be angst.  We’ve still got another 25 weeks of it and we wouldn’t want it to wear too thin, too early…..

I’ve reached that point in my make up buying life where performance triumphs over prestige.  As much as I love the look of the interlocking CC and the glossy deep blue of Dior, it’s only what’s inside and how it works for me that’s important.  Some of the most used items in my make up collection are products that cost roughly half of the beauty hall royalty but work really well for me.  My Revlon Lip Butters are my current go to lip colours because they last and wear well and have great colour pay off.  The L’Oreal pressed powder sets my face nicely and doesn’t feel too heavy.

I recently got my hands on L’Oreal’s new BB Cream which is aimed at an older market than its Nude Magique version.  The official suggestion from the L’Oreal stand’s advertising was ’40s’ but whatever works at whatever age is how I like to see it.  The retail price in Australia is around $35 but Priceline recently had a $10 promotional discount on it.  From memory, Nude Magique is around $30?

From first impressions and reading the product blurb, the major differences between the two are:

• Revitalift has SPF 15 whilst Nude Magique has SPF 12
• Both come in two shades only
• Revitalift is marketed specifically as having anti-ageing properties on account of it being composed also of the Revitalift moisturiser
• Nude Magique is all about being able to mimic ‘the texture and glow of perfect bare skin’
• Revitalift is meant to address ‘the 10 signs of ageing – which I will not repeat here because it’s too depressing.

Left – Nude Magique in Medium Skin Tone, right – Revitalift in  Medium Tint.

Don’t know if this photo illustrates the texture differences well enough but Nude Magique comes out of the tube as a pearlescent white, thin lotion.  Revitalift feels more like a moisturising cream when dispensed form the pump pack, it’s relatively heavy and a little goes a long way.

Application wise, I wear both over my regular moisturiser (currently Kiehl’s Ultra Facial cream with a drop of La Clinica rose hip oil mixed in).  The finish on Revitalift is heavier with more pronounced colour.  At first I thought medium (the darker shade) was too dark for me but I mad the mistake of applying it too heavily the first time I wore it.  With subsequent applications, I used much less and this provided just enough colour.  By contrast, Nude Magique is more about ‘your skin but better’ and the result is a less ‘made up’ looking face.  I felt I needed some powder over the top of Revitalift as I did get some sheen after applying it.

Both products wear well and neither have irritated my skin.  With the winter weather reaching its peak now, I think I’m going to be using the Revitalift version more than the Nude Magique.

The bottom line is that I like both products and for less than what I would have paid for a tube of prestige brand’s TM, I now have two very good ‘masstige’ products.  I hope this review helps!

It’s not what you think.  I’m not actually drinking this, it’s an ingredient for dinner.  The young man at the bottle shop recommended it as something that’s great for cooking but at the same time, ‘the customers who’ve bought it to drink haven’t come back to get a refund’.  Not bad for a $6 bottle of white!

I’d better get going.  I’m attempting a risotto in the pressure cooker tonight.  Another batty idea to end a day of battiness!