• Boots over jeans
• Leggings
• Jeggings
• Leggings as pants (under a long or tunic top obvs, I haven’t lost my whole mind)
• Chambray v2.0
• Printed pants
• Cropped tops (as in shorter length tees, not midriff-baring crop tops)
• Maxi dresses
• Maxi skirts
• Midi skirts
• Anything from Millers
• White shoes
• Ankle grazers
• Lightwash jeans
• Oversized sunglasses

Often, I’m happy to be proved wrong and add another dimension, option or look into the rotation to keep it fresh because, in the immortal words of Fergie Ferg, “Keepin’ it fresh is my main interest” . . . even if it does mean having to defend the occasional "you said you'd never wear . . . !" accusation.

• Jumpsuits
• Playsuits
• Pantsuits
• Flares/excessive bootcuts
• Boob tubes
• Midriff-baring crop tops
• Bum-baring short shorts
• Excessive fringing. Actually, make that any fringing.
• White pants
• Cut-outs
• Big loose armholes
• Batwing sleeves
• Moccasins
• Boat shoes

Is there anything you will straight up never wear again or ever? What trend are you dreading the return of?

A little while ago, I mentioned I had bought the Australis Cosmetics AC On Tour highlighting and contouring kit after seeing it on spesh at my local crack den Priceline. Not that you need it to be on special when it's at $16.95 full price, but a bargain is a bargain.

Then I needed an appropriate brush, which I managed to pick up at the recent 40% off sale at my local crack den Priceline along with some other goodies:

Batiste Dry Shampoo (not part of the sale but get those points, girl) Models Prefer highlighting and contouring brush Australis Cosmetics Oh Hai Brow! brow shaping kit Maybelline Dream Wonder foundation Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream in NY-CEE Essense Blush Up! in Heatwave

Side note: it gave me great pleasure to follow the #pricelinehaul hashtag on Insta and see so many products being scooped up by beauty lovers that I had bought or already had myself. I feel like this validates my choices!

I assembled some tools in my husband's bathroom (better light, don't you know) and set to work.



Here's my blank face.

Why does my snout always look like Stephen Fry's in these photos??

Here I am after applying a base of the new Maybelline Dream Wonder foundation which I had read a few reviews of recently. I haven't used liquid foundation for years but this has a lovely silky finish and I reckon I jagged the correct shade right off the bat.



The AC On Tour kit has a helpful guide on the back of the palette which is useful, however would have been better as an additional insert either in the palette or the accompanying box so I didn't have to keep turning it upside down to check the next step.

Here we are after following the guides, pre blending. Looking a little dirty.



And here we are after a bit of a blend.



Next stop, brows. I'm a recent convert to brow definition and, up until now, have been filling them in with a matte brown Almay eyeshadow. 

The Oh Hai Brow! kit was was super easy to use. Tinted wax on (the brush), tinted wax off (onto your brows) then I used the lighter of the two fill-in shades and the highlighter underneath for a bit of definition.




Since I'm not very brow-y naturally, I don't tend to go too full-on for a day time look. Just a little colour and definition.


I then smashed on the Essence blush and the latest addition to my Australis Velourlips collection, NY-Cee (which looks a little full on for the rest of my face). Don't forget to enter my Insta comp at @beth_almostposh!



Finally, I went full ridiculousness trying another go of the Almay Intense i-Colour Shimmer-i palette. Still not feeling it.



I will have more of an experiment with the highlighting and contouring kit, I don't see me working this into my morning routine for an average work day but to go next level for an evening event, I can see definite potential. I need to watch a video tutorial and use a smaller brush for defining. I just wanted to show you what a rank amateur made of it straight out of the box . . . and the result is  . . . I don't know, okay?

Okay, don't scoff, all you 'Grammers with billions of followers!

Hitting the 100 mark is very exciting for me and as a token of my appreciation, I'm holding an appropriately little giveaway for this small milestone!


I'm sharing a little of the Australis love and giving away a Velourlips Matte Lip Cream, you know, like I've been raving about here and here. And here.

To enter:

1. Follow @beth_almostposh on Insta
2. Regram the image above with the hashtag #almostposh100
3. Tell me which Velourlips shade you'd like to win and where you'd rock it (check the Australis website for a list of available shades) 

Rules

Australian residents only, soz. 

One entry per person.

Accounts must be public to enter.

The competition will run from 5pm Australian Central Daylight Savings Time on Tuesday 24 March, 2015 to 5pm ACDST on Friday 27 March 2015.

Winner will be the best answer chosen from the compliant entries. Game of skill.

Prize is one (1) Australis Cosmetics Velourlips Matte Lip Cream in winner's choice of shade. Winner will be notified via Instagram DM and a post by @beth_almostposh

This giveaway is not sponsored by or affiliated with Australis Cosmetics or Instagram.  

Image from TechnoBuffalo.com

I grew up a strictly silver girl and then, when I could afford it, white gold.

Mimco Memoir Beaded Wrist $39.95

$499 Image from www.mimco.com.au

$199 Image from www.mimco.com.au

I've been participating in another style challenge this month over on Insta, where I can be found and followed at @beth_almostposh if you're interested.




This one is run by April Nicoll and there is a $100 Westfield voucher up for grabs which is quite exciting.

My RL friends Stacie (@indigo_daydream) and Jen (@lady_lambkin) are also playing along which gives added dimension and fun to the challenge, especially because Stacie and I work together and thus have been able to take each other's photos on my working days, while Jen is brand new to Insta but has already got significant game. Finding cool locations around Adelaide has been fun and it's good to get some direction from a photographer that understands the importance of a fierce shot, rather than a bored husband or endless failed selfie bursts on a timer.

Annoyingly, we missed the first three days, but here are a selection of my entries so far . . .

Day 5: 50 Shades of . . . Lipstick MAC Pro Longwear Lip Glass in "Maleficent"

Day 6: Wear sequins and sparkles This was the best I could do for a slobby day in a country town Style & Co sequinned flats

Day 8: Wear your fave jeans My pre-preg dark skinnies from Harris Scarfe, I love these so!

Day 10: Try a new hairstyle Weeellll . . . more like an accessory but alright! And excuse to wear my new Australis Velourlips  matte lip cream in Shang-Hi!

Day 12: Wear shoes that aren't black Easy! Pink hi-top Converse Chuck Taylors

Day 13: Try some pattern-on-pattern It's not immediately obvious but these are polkadot pants (from Kmart). Plus stripy shoes (TEMT) and a Best & Less tee under Cotton On blazer

Day 16: Wear some animal print Anne Klein cheetah-print dress, black calfskin vintage handbag (made in Sydney)

Day 18: Let's try something edgy Well, this is about as edgy as it gets when you're Almost Posh TEMT dress and Lee Cooper ankle boots

Day 19: Impress for Less This is pretty much my life's motto, as you would know so I decided to go all Savers for this outfit Sunglasses - $1.99 (stolen from my sister who had bought them at Savers), Oasis bedazzled top - $9.99 Review pants (!!!) $9.99 and Joanne Mercer sparkly flats, $9.99 Head to toe for $30.

Disclaimer: Fully aware I need to work on my flatlay skills!

Wandered into Priceline with Mum the other day with no real intention of getting anything and have wound up with the following items:

John Frieda Beach Blonde Sea Salt Spray - 2 for $20* Almay Intense i-colour in Shimmer-i - $10 Australis AC On Tour Contouring & Highlighting Kit - $13.95 Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream in Shang-Hi! - $9.95

John Freida Beach Blonde Sea Salt Spray

* Okay, I actually bought this a couple of days before with my friend Stacie who also wanted a bottle so the two for $20 deal worked well and saved us $6 each. Still from Priceline though.

Unfortunately, neither of us have had much of a result from our first uses. This product was big in the 90s/2000s and was discontinued ten years ago but made a "back by popular demand" comeback this year, much to the delight of its fan girls. It has good reviews on beautyheaven and other beauty blogs and smells amazing but I didn't feel much in the way of texturising. It doesn't feel oily or weighty, nor does it crisp up like other salt-sprays can but apart from using it as hair perfume, it doesn't do much for me.

Almay intense i-colour for blue eyes in "Shimmer-i"

My go-to eye palette at the moment is the Almay Bold Nudes for blue eyes so I was excited to see a dump bin full of Almay products at $10 each (over half-price). I find the palettes for blue eyes are often snapped up early so was happy to get hold of this one to try out.

I've only used it once and ended up wiping it off because it clashed with my planned lipstick and the lips won out on the day. I'll try it again but I do seem to have a problem with silvers/greys around the eyes for day . . . especially in shimmery formulas. I'll try again for an evening look.

And speaking of lips . . .

Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream in Shang-Hi!




Another one to add to my fast growing collection of Velourlips - when I saw this shade in the new colours drop, I knew I had to make it mine. Mum also offloaded her unwanted Pa-Ree shade to me which is a decent nude begging to be paired with a strong eye, as opposed to the completely undressed eye it is paired with below. Can you say #nofilter??




Australis AC On Tour Contouring & Highlighting Kit

I have heard SO much about this palette from beauty bloggers all over the internet and couldn't pass it up for the special price of $13.95, despite my only exposure to contouring being as a devoted viewer of RuPaul's Drag Race (and let me tell you, those bitches are FIERCE). I plan to watch a few tutorials and make my first attempt the subject of a future post so stay tuned for that comedy extravaganza.



In related news, season 7 of Drag Race airs this Wednesday night (March 18) on Lifestyle You at 9.30pm. Because if you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else, can I get an amen up in here? 

Welcome to the first (full) Throwback Thursday post of 2015!

You know, it took me a long long time to work out that high-necked items were no friend of mine.

Yay for my ugly top!

Look at this top. LOOK AT IT.

From Target circa 2002, in a selection of blues with a roll neck and  tight knit fabric. Paired with black bootcut work pants that I'm pretty sure are held up with a bulldog clip instead of a button and black clunky ankle boots. And if that's not ugly enough, I also had another version in an equally fetching brown, rust and orange colourway which I saw in Savers the other day and recoiled in horror as it all came rushing back. 

Also going on, badly coloured hair and that good ol' sketchy fringe but at least the angle/pose is flattering. I pulled this photo out of a shoebox the other day and was all "OMG, how skinny do I look?"

As I was digging further through the shoebox, I found another photo in the same top and I remembered, they were before and after shots before going to the hairdresser. That's right. I was "dressed up" to go to the hairdresser.

So edgy. So now.

We can only imagine what it looked like at the front. Thanks heaps, hairdresser, for toning down that brassiness too!

Here's another fetching display:

Remember when it was funny to take pictures of people taking pictures of you?

Yes, another ribbed knit top in fetching shades of yellow and brown teamed with a delightful pair of BROWN VELOUR PANTS, I'M NOT EVEN JOKING, YOU GUYS.

It's kind of annoying that the body of my youth was wasted in some incredibly foul ensembles - I guess I can only try and make up for lost time now that I'm in my 30s!

Be sure to click on the Throwback Thursday tag to laugh at more of my misadventures in fashion.

And as a bonus treat, you may remember this parody of The Sharp's "Scratch My Back" by the Late Show called "Skivvies Are Back" . . .

I love a style challenge, even if they re-affirm the fact I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WEAR EVER.

When I saw this one by Style and Shenanigans pop up on Instagram, I thought it looked pretty do-able but it was a lot harder than I thought.



Sounds easy right?

Monday: Shades of Grey

I used to have loads of grey in my wardrobe, absolute loads. Charcoal was my best thing. Now? Very little. 

Kmart tee Review skirt via eBay Diana Ferrari silver flats (ancient)

Tuesday: Pastel Central

I don't work on Tuesdays and I was only slobbing about at home so I chose to do a flatlay for this one.

Vintage bag, TEMT shirt, Lovisa necklace, Breakers jeans E.L.F eyeshadow palette in "Butternut", MAC lip glaze and Converse hi-tops

Wednesday: Jewel Tones

Another struggle because jewel tones remind me of my mid-90s Year 12 formal where almost everyone was in sapphire, ruby or emerald crepe spaghetti-strap dresses. (Me? I wore a black velvet goth-type arrangement despite not being an actual goth). 

Target top Rivers patterned pants Target black ballet flats Nine West bag from Macy's Kate Spade "Annika" sunglasses

Thursday: Back to Nature

Another non-working day but I did get out and about for "lunch" with Bridie at Bracegirdles. Said lunch being a shared chocolate fondue platter. Hey, she's pregnant, I'm not going to argue. I also didn't have much in the way of nature print or anything green, so I went for this necklace and my leopard print ballet flats.

Best & Less striped tee Vintage leaf pendant from Re-Gen op shop

Friday: Citrus Hues

Total and utter fail on this one, it was 37 degrees and all I had was an orange cardi.So I put on some orangey lipstick as a token gesture.

Gok Wan glasses from SpecSavers Australis Velourlips Matte Cream in Mi-A-Mee  Bonds tee

Random Bonus

I went out in town on Saturday night, which I rarely do. So here's what I wore:

Bardot dress Target gladiator sandals vintage Ultramesh clutch from the Salvos Big W rose gold tassel necklace Mimco bracelet

Now embarking on April Nicoll's #AprilsAutumn Challenge . . .

Let me begin by saying I have been getting my hair done by Mikala at Ma Petite Salon for years. Mikala operates out of her own home, which is conveniently located 5 minutes away from my mother-in-law and allows me to drop the toddler off while I get my hair did. Plus, she obviously does a good job which is why I keep going back! 

However, on this occasion, I went to Miss Coiffure as part of a girl's night activity. My friend had taken up a promotional offer and invited me along to try it out. Miss Coiffure is located in Adelaide's Hindmarsh Square in the CBD and was a short walk from our office on a Friday afternoon for our appointments.

Saw no less than three separate people we knew walk by while here So Adelaide

Miss Coiffure is quite unique in that it is Adelaide's only salon with a liquor licence. Seating is at an elegant marble-topped bar, rather than in front of a mirror, and chairs can be faced in any direction, depending on who you're chatting to at the time. It feels a little unusual at first to not be able to see what's going on but I actually enjoyed not having to look at myself for hours on end and keep my RBF in check.

As the name suggests

My stylist, Lulu, was friendly and welcoming, asking me about my goals for my hair and what I wanted to get out of the session, and was happy to suggest options so I got the look I wanted. 

Much glamour. So foil.

Obviously what sets Miss Coiffure apart is the open bar aspect - I enjoyed a gin and tonic to start and delicious Bird in Hand sparkling rosé during our appointment which was a fabulous way to start our evening . . .  although I did harbour a mild concern about people slamming a few tequila shots and demanding their waist-length hair be cropped to a pixie cut after a nasty break-up!

I could so see this being a fun and classy hens activity or other function that ladies of all ages could enjoy together. In related news, later this evening, our friend gave us the happy news that she was engaged so we immediately suggested going here as part of the celebrations!

Why yes, my vintage bag does go with my sparkling ro-say!

After the colour and cut, our hair was finished off with a blowdry and style, so we were ready to hit the town.

Another thing I enjoyed was no product hard sell or mindless small talk. The clientele ranged from older to younger, male and female and there was none of that elitist snobby vibe you can sometimes get from upmarket salons.