I feel like I haven't done many fashion related posts and when it comes
to jewellery, especially the cheaper costume style, I am a bit of an expert.
Having worked and managed a store full of the stuff some years ago.
I have had plenty of experience and learned a lot during that time,
before we moved to the big smoke and had our little kiddly winks!
The most common cheap jewellery is made out of the following materials.
Copper & Plastic.
Copper is a pliable, soft metal that is cheap and can be made into any shape.
The down side to this is that is tarnishes easily and a lot of people's skin
can get a negative reaction to the high nickel content contained in it.
As you have most likely experienced after wearing your cheap silver
or gold jewellery a few times, it most likely has started to discolour
and doesn't look all shiny and new anymore.
This can be extremely frustrating and annoying especially if
you're on a budget and want to make the most out of your jewellery
cheap or not.
The main factors which cause cheap, copper jewellery to tarnish are -
*Water
*Sweat
*Dust
Best to try to avoid your jewellery getting into contact with these elements.
My top tips are.
*Remove your rings when washing your hands, swimming or doing the dishes, etc
*Avoid wearing cheap jewellery when playing sport or working out.
*Store your jewellery away in jewellery boxes. I recommend what actually works best are keeping them in clear snap lock plastic bags.
These keep your jewellery free from all the elements in the air which age your jewellery prematurely.
Do this and your cheap $2 earrings will still look like new years later.
This brings me to my next big tip - Maintenance!
If you begin to notice your silver turning gold or your gold turning a yellow tone,
then it's time to invest in some polishing cloths.
I recommend cloths over a liquid solution as liquid jewellery cleaners are
made for cleaning and maintaining real silver and gold, so best to save
it for your expensive treasures as the liquid will only damage your
cheap jewellery, ruining the silver or gold coating turning it to rust.
Cloths are amazing at removing any discolouration and bringing
your cheap jewellery back to life again.
Just do not wash them! Once they are dirty, just buy a new one.
If you wash it, you're also washing out all the cleaning agents in the cloth.
If your jewellery peice has lost its silver or gold coating
It's unfortunately beyond repair and there is nothing you can do
to fix it unless you get the copper re-dipped and with cheap $2-$5
jewellery, it just isn't worth it.
Cut your loses and chuck it out.
A great thing about copper is how soft a metal it is.
If you find the links in your costume jewellery or charms/pendants
falling off or coming apart, simple invest in a pair of craft pliers.
They should cost you no more than $10 max and can be used to easily
repair your pieces. You'd be surprised how simple it actually is to do
if you just take a few minutes to try rather than just throwing something away.
You can also easily remove some pretty stones or pendants off one or two
necklaces and put them onto some earring hooks to completely create
another jewellery peice without having to go shopping.
It can save you money too!
Get creative!
As I mentioned earlier copper jewellery can sometimes
leave a rash, turn your skin green or cause pain in piercings.
The most common causes of the rashes are sweat.
The odd green shade most commonly noticed with cheap rings is caused by water.
Pain in piercings are due to people not being educated about cheaper jewellery.
Also known as costume jewellery, it should be treated like just that.
A costume, to be worn for a few hours at
a time, a day max!
Leaving copper in your ears, nose, navel or wherever on your body,
will only start to slowly rust from the moisture in your skin.
As mentioned earlier, water and sweat are cheap jewellery's biggest enemy!
Wearing cheap body jewellery is fine, but don't treat it like your good stuff.
It is not the same and will not react the same way as silver, gold and copper
are completely different materials and there is a reason they're
worth what they are.
Real gold and silver jewellery can be worn indefinitely
and is unlikely to cause rash, irritation or pain.
Unless of course you're unlucky enough to be allergic.
The good news is, all this negatively with cheap, copper
jewellery has caused a lot of manufacturers to start
producing hypoallergenic copper jewellery, which
contains lower amounts of nickel which is the main culprit of
people's allergic reaction to copper.
Just be mindful though that these claims often don't make all that
much of a difference, so don't get sucked into pushy sales assistants,
trying to convince you you can wear their body jewellery 24/7.
I don't recommend it.
Another positive with costume jewellery are all the other wonderful
and beautiful, creative materials they're made from.
Plastic, semi precious stones, wood, glass, ribbon, the list goes on!
These materials are much easier to look after and often last a lot
longer without much looking after.
I love plastic because it will never tarnish. It might fade if left stored in the sun,
but for the most part it's great. Doesn't discolour your skin or irritate.
Colour shades available are endless and come in millions of styles
for all ages and occasion.
Semi precious stones are gorgeous, but are often over priced because
of their name, but are pretty much worthless.
Don't get sucked in!
Wood is one of my favs. A timeless material that lasts.
Never fades, discolour or irritates.
Comes in beautiful styles and tones and suits all skin, hair and eye colour, etc.
Can also be worn with just about anything!
I've seen some really creative and beautiful prices made from glass,
but the downside is, it's glass and can break.
Obvious more fragile, but if you can get your hands on real
glass beads over plastic, the difference is huge as glass ones have an
incredible shine and never scratch or wear easily, therefore lasting longer.
Ribbon is a really versatile material.
Added to necklaces and linking brackets won together can add a subtle,
feminine touch with minimal effort and can be switched and changed
around with different sizes, colours and even textures.
One of the cheapest materials and easiest to DIY.
Even wrapped around your hair/head can create added, effortless glam
and make any old hair style instantly more interesting.
So that pretty much sums up my tips, tricks and advice on caring for
and maintaining your cheap jewellery.
I love how interesting and creative jewellery can be created
and really add something special to and complete an outfit or
If you're curious to see my before and after pix and thoughts on that, you can check it out here.
ChiChi Super BB Cream in Light
-
I absolutely adore the ChiChi brand. Their products are so much fun and this one is no exception. The smell makes my skin subtly perfumed without irritating my senses. The packaging is my favourite out of all my BB Creams and the coverage is amazing!
Maybelline was one of the first brands of makeup I ever bought and wore growing up and it has always remained a firm favourite. I love the Tiffany Blue shade on the packaging and the fact that it contains 2% Salicylic Acid which aids in preventing and treating acne prone skin is a major plus to me because that is exactly what my skin is.
I love to wear this on days I know I'm going to be in a lot of photos or if I'm filming a video. As the title states, it really does transform your skin to be photoready all day long. It stops that annoying, unflattering shine I often get on my face throughout the day, especially when it is hot. It completely conceales minor skin flaws including redness and fine lines. I love this and highly recommend it.
I love Bobby Brown, as a premium brand, their products are totally lost worthy and I only own a precious few, but with this BB Cream, I don't feel like it delivers as well as it should, especially for the steep price. The SPF factor is brilliant, but the coverage is not very good in my opinion.
I feel like this BB Cream received a lot of negative reviews when it was first released, and I'm unsure why. I have been very pleased with the appearance of my skin when using this and the pump dispense is awesome, although you only need about half the amount it puts out, so you only need to press the pump down about half way. The only downside I found was the light shade was actually quite dark. Mixed with a lighter foundation, concealer, sunscreen or moisturiser though, it lightens it up nicely and works well.
Watch my review below!
Do you have a favourite BB Cream?
Do you wear foundation more or combine both?
Have a beautiful day!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for a fresh new post!
I'm beginning to come to the realization that I am addicted to nail polish.
So if you've been following my blog, you might have noticed
I've begun to post a NOTD once a week.
This is a lot of fun and a bit of a challenge for me as it makes
me think of something interesting to do with my nails and
it gives me an excuse to actually paint them.
Like I need an excuse! ;)
Here is what I've been loving this season for Autumn!
These shades scream Autumn to me as they represent the colour
of the changing leaves. They remind me of nature and make me feel
kind of like a nature faerie. If you haven't realized it yet I am kind of
obsessed with all things mystical and fae. Hence my username. :)
NOTD Featuring:
-
Sally Hansen Magnetic in Kinetic Copper
I didn't bother using the magnetic effect as I feel
this polish shade is beautiful enough as it is!
OPI in Just Spotted The Lizard
Used on the tips of my nails
OPI The Living Daylights
Used on my ring finger feature nail
What polish shades or trends are you loving this season?
Thank you for your continued support!
Hope to see you here again tomorrow.
Over the past few weeks the hubby and I have both been
trialing and enjoying the benefits of these new
Mitchum Clinical Protection 48hr Deodorants.
I have been trialing in Pure Fresh & Powder Fresh scents.
Here is my review and thoughts below. :)
-
I am not usually a big sweater, but I definitely need to use a good deodorant daily! Being a busy mum, I am always rushing around doing something and I need that protection. Plus I find I sweat the most if I'm in a stressed or nervous situation. I have no time for leisurely sporting activities so I was unable to test these out in a full on sweat session, but I can tell you they did work for me, totally and entirely!
I much preferred the Pure Fresh scent over the Powder Fresh. Even though the Powder Fresh scent was pleasant, I'm not a big fan of the powder kind of scent. I much preferred the fresh, clear and clean kind of scent the Pure Fresh gave me.
Both performed the same. They kept me completely stink free, so to speak! ;) I applied once a day before going to bed usually after my shower. I did try it a few times before showing as it says it lasts in the shower and works whilst you sleep, but I much preferred just applying it before bed as it felt a bit weird to apply deodorant and then shower and wash the area straight afterwards.
Overall, very impressed and love the packaging! Fun and easy to use. I would buy in the future, although I'm not a fan of the hefty price. Although I would probably purchase without question in the humid Summer months.
My husband has been trialing two of the men's scents in Clean Control & Sport.
My husband has been trialling this deodorant in both the Sport and Clean Control scents over the past few weeks and as a man who wants and needs to smell fresh throughout the whole day working in an office environment being surrounded and dealing with people all day long, it is imperative he has a deodorant that lasts the distance. This deodorant did not fail!
He applied this each morning as apposed to the suggested night time application, as he just isn't used to this kind of procedure. None the less, it still worked brilliantly anyway.
He preferred the Sport fragrance over the Clean Control, but found them both the same in terms of performance.
Was easily applied and didn't leave any residue transferred onto his clothes. Only slight complaint was that his clicker which pushes the deodorant out was slightly tough and didn't turn smoothly which was a slight annoyance.
Overall he was really impressed and would use again and purchase in the future.
Watch my video review below!
Don't forget to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed
& please subscribe to my channel if you haven't already!
