Marie Antoinette Style Feasting At The Hopetoun Tea Rooms

I can't believe it took me this long to discover one of Melbourne's greatest treasures. Hidden away in the Block Arcade, with one of the finest window displays I have ever seen in the world, lies the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

The tea room has been operating in some form or another for over a century - it first opened in 1891 (for you overseas readers, in Australia this counts as positively ancient). As a result of it's long history, the Hopetoun Tea Rooms are steeped in tradition, charm and decadence.

This is the sight that you feast your eyes upon as you approach the tea rooms. The window is so extravagant that you have to jostle for a space amongst the ever present crowd of people gazing in awe at all of the mountains of sweets. 

This is as close to Marie Antoinette style sweet feasting as you will ever get...

After what can sometimes be a little bit of a wait, you get seated inside the quaint little dining room. It feels opulent to dine in, with its rich emerald walls, grand mirrors and chandeliers.

I've been lucky enough to dine here twice. The first time I ordered a strawberry milkshake and some scones. The scones were delicious, light and fluffy. Although they were served with this weird Rosewater Quince which was oddly chunky. I'd have preferred simple raspberry or strawberry jam thanks! The milkshake was lovely, but just tasted as normal milkshakes do.

The second time I went I had salmon and cucumber petite sandwiches which were amazing and so delicate. Quite a small serve though. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo sorry! 

I then followed this up with a slice of the most incredible lemon meringue I have ever tasted...

Words cannot describe how amazing this lemon meringue was. It has to be tried to be believed.

Some other notable items on my list of must go back and try are the following...

Red Velvet Swiss Roll:

Strawberry Sponge Cake:

Macaroons:

Spiced Strawberry Sponge:

All in all a meal here is a must do if you live in or ever visit Melbourne. My only complaints were that you can often get some quite rude and unhelpful staff, but this is probably just due to the fact they are run off their feet. Still no excuse in a place like this. Also it is fairly expensive. Everything I ate and mentioned above was priced between $8 - $15 per item. They don't take bookings which is annoying, and often you can be waiting a little while to get a table. Try to avoid the peak lunch rush if you can.

If you want to read more check out the pretty antiquated looking website (fitting I suppose) for the Hopetoun Tea Rooms here.

Have any of you ever been here? What is your favourite place to go for high tea and sweet type feasting? Any places you fellow Melbournites can recommend that I must check out?

YSL Shocking Mascara review – Quite a Shocking Verdict!

I finally splashed out the other day on a new mascara because I’m still on my quest for my Holy Grail of mascaras! And I’d heard rave reviews about the YSL Shocking Mascara from like every Youtuber and beauty blogger going around.

I got the sales girl to try it on me before I bought it, and I was very happy with the immediate result even using the disposable mascara brushes which were different to the one that came in the bottle.

The Look I’m After: I want a big fan of long, thick, plush looking lashes. I want them to look really bold and almost false in appearance because they look so good and fluttery!

So after trying YSL Shocking for a week, what do I think of it?

The Cost: 

Very expensive and high end at $52. If it worked amazingly then I’d be alright with splashing out occasionally on a brilliant mascara. But not in this case...

The Packaging:

It is very luxurious and glamorous looking. I love the gold shiny bottle, the ‘Shocking’ written along the side, the twist top that clicks into place and how visible and bold it looks. One of the best mascara packaging I have ever seen!

The Formula:

The formula is very wet and creamy, and has an almost gel like and glossy texture to it. It’s very thick and when it’s on the brush it looks quite clumpy and lumpy. I do like the richness and the pigmentation of the black colouring. It is also scented with a quite strong rose fragrance, that actually irritates my eyes (I don’t even have sensitive eyes). Some people may appreciate the wetness of it because it allows you to layer better, but I just found it got stickier and clumpier the more it was layered.

The Brush:

The brush is absolutely terrible. The bristles are way too short and far apart, and tonnes of gunky formula gets stuck between them. The brush is supposed to distribute the mascara in a hexagonal distribution pattern, but it just makes for a clumpy, wet mess. I feel the brush is what lets the whole mascara down.

The Overall Look and Experience:

All the lashes end up getting stuck together into about 4-5 main points. There is barely any definition, and the ‘volume’ that occurs is just as a result of the wet formula gathering at the base of the lashes. I curl my lashes every day because they are very straight and because this formula is so heavy and thick, the curl drops to being nonexistent within a few hours. There is virtually no length added on and instead of volumising my lashes, it ends up making them look even sparser than before because all my lashes stick together and it makes me look like I have even less lashes.

Overall I just am insanely disappointed with this. My eyes feel irritated and heavy when I use it due to the intense fragrance and the heaviness of the formula weighing my lashes down. Without a curl my lashes just look bland and unimpressive. I wanted the look of a full fan of long and thick lashes, and this achieves neither. Plus it set me back $52!

Verdict: C- (and that’s probably being too nice)

Perhaps when I went to the store and they tried it on me first, their disposable thick bristled brushes worked with the formula way better and it looked far nicer. They were able to distribute the product in much better manner. But with the brush that it comes with, it just takes so much time and effort to get them looking even vaguely nice. Every time I choose to use this I end up wishing I had chosen one of my other mascaras. 

To be honest I should have simply paid more attention to what the Sales girls lashes looked like. She was wearing Shocking and her lashes were so clumped together there were virtually 5 points and it reminded me of a star. I don’t know whether she thought this looked good, but I remember thinking ‘it’s okay I can just apply it differently to get the look I want’.

So I am going to try and return this today (they let me phew!). What a depressing experience! I have heard that it works far better with a primer such as Dior’s Lash Maximiser underneath, but I shouldn’t have to spend over $100 to get nice lashes. It should just work brilliantly on its own. I don’t understand why this works so much better for others, how can so many people love it if this is how it works and looks? I’ve tried everything to apply it nicely as well, such a slow wiggle, doing the tips first, layering it, etc.

I thought this would be my Holy Grail, but now the search continues. I think I’m going to examine the Dior mascaras as I’ve used Diorshow Extace before and absolutely loved that.

Any suggestions from you guys would be enormously appreciated. Let me know what your favourite mascaras are and what you recommend I should try! And tell me if you’ve had an experience with YSL Shocking and what you think of it?

Survey Sunday - October 14th 2012

Oh my goodness I've been so so busy I'm so sorry! I really need to start scheduling posts, I think I will really try to do that from now on. For some reason I always liked the idea of spontaneously writing posts then immediately posting them, but it makes sense to write a few when you have time and schedule them. 

So my apologies lovely people, I will get my act back together soon I promise. I have a long list of posts in the pipeline, so I will find the time to get them happening.

Here's a random cute picture of my bunny snoozing to help apologise for my lack of posting lots lately! Isn't she the cutest!! :P

I hope all of you had very lovely weeks and weekends. I just switched teams at work for my first ever graduate rotation (we do four in two years), so that's been pretty hectic. It's good though because my new rotation is more in line with what I want to do and less stats/numbers based. So fingers crossed this will be a good change for me :)

Anyway on to this week's batch of Survey Sunday questions:

1. What's your favourite Disney film? 
It's a tie for me between Aladdin and Cinderella. I was so carried away by the magic and rags to riches ideas of both of these as a child. Plus I loved Jasmine and the Genie, and that glass slipper!

2. What's your morning makeup routine? 
After cleansing and moisturising, I usually use mineral powder foundation (or a sheerer liquid if I have more time), blush, eyeshadow and mascara. Occasionally I'll add in some bronzer or eyeliner if I have the time.

3. Are you a coffee or tea person? 
I'm a tea girl all the way. Can't stand coffee. I drink English Breakfast with a bit of milk, and go through about 3-4 cups a day!

4. What skincare products/brands do you use?
I currently use Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish, Liz Earle's Instant Boost toner, and Clarins HydraQuench Cream. 
I sometimes alternate (or use in the mornings) Dermalogica products such as the Essential Cleansing Solution, the Multi-Active Toner, the Skin Smoothing Cream, and the Gentle Cream Exfoliant. I also sometimes use the the Clarins HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase or the Dior One Essential Skin Boosting Super Serum.

5. What's your star sign? 
Leo... rarrr! I don't believe in star signs etc, but the traits associated with Leo seem pretty spot on for me. And it's fun to read them occasionally in the paper/magazines.

6. What exercise do you do?
Recently I've started a bit of a health kick, and I've pleasantly surprised myself a bit with my ability to keep it up! I do weekly circuit type sessions with my friends every Sunday morning, and during the week I try to do 2 or so exercise DVDs. 
I find Jillian Michael's DVDs to be the best for quicker workouts that really deliver results and make you work up an enormous sweat. And the muscle burn the next day is proof that these DVDs do really work. I've done posts on her 30 Day Shred and my Spring Health Kick if you want more information.

7. What are you most looking forward to over the next week?
Tonight I'm seeing one of my uni friends for dinner and to see the new Wuthering Heights movie with Effie from Skins in it, so that should be fun! I'm also looking forward to seeing Taken 2 with my boyfriend at some stage this week, having lunch with my grad friends at work, celebrating my best friends birthday on Wednesday night and celebrating my Mums birthday next weekend. 

--------------------------------

Now it's your turn to answer! Just copy and paste the questions in the comments section below:


1. What's your favourite Disney film? 
2. What's your morning makeup routine?
3. Are you a coffee or tea person?
4. What skincare products/brands do you use?
5. What's your star sign?
6. What exercise do you do?
7. What are you most looking forward to over the next week?

Can't wait to read your answers! :)

A Spot of Nail Design

I am a big fan of Nail art as you have probably guessed by now, and particularly have a soft spot for spot patterns.

The first nail art creation I have to show you is quite out there. And was created by my clever little sister:

I just love the rainbow look of it, and the white spots stand out so brilliantly against the colourful backdrop. So simple to do too! We just use a tooth pick to blob the spots on.

Here are the polishes she used for this design:

Thumb: Essie's Mint Candy Apple

Pointer: OPI's I Eat Mainely Lobster

Middle: OPI's The 'IT' Color

Ring: OPI's Did It On 'Em

Pinkie: OPI's Do you Lilac It

White dots: OPI's Alpine Snow

Secondly, here is a simpler nail design I did recently. It shows that even really simple spots can make your nails look that little bit more fun and special than just using plain polish. I also used Essie's Mint Candy Apple as a base and OPI's Alpine Snow for the dots.

To finish off I thought I would leave you with some more spots! Have you ever tried Dippin' Dots? It's known as the 'Ice Cream of the Future' and it is created by flash freezing ice cream with liquid nitrogen. 

The ice cream is really satisfying to eat, as you can kind of chomp it. I know that sounds weird but it's probably the best explanation. It's creamy and has the most amazing flavour. The best flavour of all of them is Fairy Floss (pictured below). It's just so fun and yummy to eat. 

Clearly this 'Ice Cream of the Future' (it was thus named around a decade ago!) hasn't really taken off as planned in Australia. I thought the only place you could buy it anymore was at the Melbourne Show and that it was just a distant childhood dream. 

But then I recently discovered by googling Dippin' Dots stockists, that there are quite a few shops that supply it! My dream has come true!

Have you ever tried this ice cream? What's your favourite nail art design that you do often? 

Survey Sunday - October 7th 2012

How is it seriously Sunday again? This is crazy!! Today daylight savings switched over and all of our clocks went forward so now it will stay lighter at night time. I can't wait to get home from work and it will still be light outside! We had a BBQ tonight to welcome the arrival of warmer nights and sunshine :)


Now onto this week's questions:


1. How tall are you?

I'm 5 foot 7 inches. I think that equates to about 167 cm. So I'm a pretty average height for a girl. 

I never thought anything much of my height before, but at work now I'm surrounded by the shortest, tiniest girls ever so I feel like such a giant! 

2. Are you planning your next holiday and where are you going?

I am indeed! I'm planning a trip to America for next May with my boyfriend! It's our first big/international trip together, how exciting :) 

At this stage we are planning on going for about 3 and a half weeks. We will spend over a week in New York, then probably do Boston and Washington, and Orlando and Miami in Florida. 

ANY OF YOU AMERICANS...PLEASE HELP! Do you have any recommendations of places to go if we want to stick around the east coast? Or if you have ever travelled to that side of America, please help with your advice on where to go! :D

3. What sibling position in your family are you?

I am the oldest and I have one sister who is three years younger.

4. What is your favourite musical/play you've ever seen?

I absolutely loved seeing Wicked on the West End in London. Also The Lion King was probably the most incredible musical overall for all of its crowd involvement, and using the whole theatre and not just the stage. And the songs!

5. What's your favourite board game?

It would be The Game of Life. Or Articulate. My friends and I play Articulate non stop, best game ever. Look it up and buy it... you won't regret it.

6. What's your earliest childhood memory?

It's hard to know what your earliest memory is and whether you are just remembering the home movies or photo albums your parents put together. But I think the earliest memory I have that isn't documented anywhere else is driving with my dad at age 3 to buy our new white car. I remember it so vividly! Odd first memory to have though.

7. What is the most expensive item of clothing you've ever bought?

This is a hard one! I don't tend to hugely splash out on super expensive clothes. Some of my big winter jackets were around the $250-$300 mark, but I think I bought most of them slightly discounted from like $500 or something. So I'd say it's probably something like that. 

--------------------------------------

So now it's your turn to answer the questions. Just copy them into the comments section below. Looking forward to read your answers!


1. How tall are you?

2. Are you planning your next holiday and where are you going?

3. What sibling position in your family are you?

4. What is your favourite musical/play you've ever seen?

5. What's your favourite board game?

6. What's your earliest childhood memory?

7. What is the most expensive item of clothing you've ever bought?


Have a great week everyone! :)

Sisters, Baking, Nail Art and Rainbow Dinners

Hello everybody! 

Just felt like doing a bit of a random creativity post! I have a few things I wanted to share with you, and particularly wanted to showcase some of my sister Sarah's recent creative works.

It's a good thing my sis and I have going. She likes to bake sweets, and I like to eat said sweets. 

So on the baking front, due to the fact it was the AFL Grand Final (Aussie football!) last weekend, my sister once again proved her baking prowess. About an hour before I had to leave to go to a grand final BBQ (everyone in Melbourne virtually goes to a BBQ on Final day!), I said "hey Sarah you don't want to bake something footy related for me to take do you?"

She looked at me and I thought she was about to utter "Kate you are crazy there is no time/I don't like footy/I'm not even attending this BBQ so why would I?". Instead, she glanced at the clock and said "Challenge Accepted". This is what she whipped up in record time:

Football Cupcakes!

She used green frosting for the field, piped white boundary lines and goal circle and the stitching on the footballs. The footballs were made of an almond that Sarah dyed red.

How cute are they?! They went down a treat at the BBQ. It's always fun to bring themed sweet food to parties and events, it really helps add to the atmosphere.

Now we move onto another of Sarah's recent creative creations...

Nail Art!

The other day Sarah painted her nails and this is the masterpiece she created:

They look like little Spring Japanese blossoms! 

She used Essie's Mint Candy Apple as the base. Then she used a tooth pick to draw the flower stems/twigs with a brown polish. After that where the stems ended she dotted on five dots with white polish in a ring to form the flower petals, and then drew a brown dot in the centre to be the middle of the flower. 

Sarah said it wasn't hard and that she was able to do it quite quickly. She also stresses the importance of a great top coat to prevent chips in the beautiful design.

So there are a couple of creative ideas from my clever little sis!

To leave you with something healthier after all that gorging on cupcakes pics, here is my very healthy and colourful dinner tonight kindly prepared by my lovely Mum:

A Rainbow Dinner!

Fruit and Salmon!

Today was a lovely warm 30 degree day filled with sunshine. You can really feel Summer approaching, and a meal like this just feels so Summery and delicious :)

Hope you are all very well and happy, and you all get through your Fridays quickly and have an incredible start to the weekend! 

xx

September Favourites 2012

Now that September has ended, it's time for a rehash of my favourites for the month!

Beauty Favourites...

Beauty

– MAC’s Patina eye shadow (all over my lid)

An amazingly pretty, subtle and beautiful antique gold colour that complements brown colourings and pairs with brown eye shadows in the crease stunningly.

-Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom

Very moisturising and comfortable to wear, amazing natural colour that makes your whole complexion look healthier. Like your own lip colour but better. Also use it on my cheeks as blush on the go, it’s such a perfect colour for it.

Nails

– Illamasqua’s Nomad and Essie’s Bahama Mama (a tie!)

Nomad for its creamy, fun, happy, perfect green, and Bahama Mama for its beautiful plum, deep creamy sophistication.

Skincare/Bodycare

– Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish

Can’t believe how smooth, soft and flawless my skin is looking all thanks to this.

General Favourites...

Food

- Five:am Honey and Cinnamon Yoghurt.

So incredibly sweet and creamy. Aside from breakfast I often eat it as a dessert or a sweet snack. Tastes better than ice cream to me!

TV Show

– Sex And The City

During the break in show seasons, I have been desperate to watch basically anything that’s semi good/recommended by someone. For some reason this iconic show slipped through unwatched for 23 years of my life. Now it’s very much watched, and I’m up to the final season. Really funny, hilariously relatable and a bit of light relief.

DVD

– Pearl Harbour

I’ve watched a few this month but my favourite would probably have to be a DVD of Pearl Harbour. Surprisingly I found myself loving Ben Affleck in it, as I usually don’t really like him. Aside from the cute bromance going on between him and his best mate Matt Damon, I generally find him annoying. It was very exciting and dramatic and kept me enthralled the whole way through. Although it could have been a tad shorter!

Film

- Ruby Sparks

I recently went to see the film Ruby Sparks with my friends and it was so cute and clever and touching. The actors are a real life couple too which somehow makes it even cuter. It was a romantic comedy but it had some darker undertones such as the exploration of issues of control and trying to change your partner. It really made you think and was very entertaining.

Reading

– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I’m rereading the Harry Potter series again, and I’m up to book 5. I love how when I read it I get completely absorbed all over again with the whole wonder and magic of it all. The world created in it is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I also love the feelings of nostalgia and youthful innocence that surface when reading it, as I think back to when I first read it and what stage of my life I was at when doing so.

Clothing

– Marcs navy blue blazer

The fit is flattering and it sits better than any other blazer I’ve worn. I like the sort of nautical look of it, the classy buttons, the stripy lining and the three quarter length sleeves. It makes any work, dress or jeans combo look better and more put together. Cost a bit ($249) but worth every cent in terms of wear, quality and longevity. And I always feel good wearing it, rather than the frequent wear it a few times and get bored of it scenario.

Jewellery

– Venice glass blown necklace and earrings

My best friend bought this back for me from his Europe trip. I can’t tell you how much I love these. I love how 3D they are, and how there are multiple colours swirled around, and how you can look deep into its depths. And I love the combination of purple, silver and black. It looks so magical and has little bubbles in it too. The earrings are cute and little but still make a statement. I have received so many complements on them! And the necklace is an amazing feature necklace.

So there you have my September favourites! Hope the new month has started off amazingly for all of you :)