2013 is almost over, so that means a round up of December's Instagram photos! I hope everyone had a lovely festive season and I am sending Happy New Year wishes to you all!

This edition of NOTD features one of my favourite kind of nail colours to wear at the moment - Mint. Usually I would go for Essie's Mint Candy Apple but I opted for the Revlon offering in the shade Minted (original right?!) Minted is definitely a lot more green when compared to Mint Candy Apple which had a bit more blue through it.

A few weeks ago I decided I just could not live with not having any Benefit products in my life so I went ahead and order a few things (more posts to come...) and this was one of the items I added to my cart. As I had not tried any Benefit before I thought this mini set was the perfect way to sample a few different items and test them all out. The best thing is that Benefit have free international shipping when you spend over USD $125, which isn't hard to do on such an amazing site and is great value instead of buying from the very few counters that we have in NZ (or Auckland I should say).

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you all a very happy and jolly day, enjoy your presents, cherish your family and stuff your face with all the amazing food!

Enjoy these couple of snaps of our decorations at home, this stocking I have had since I was very very young and Mum puts it out every year.…

I had always looked at the Lime Crime lipsticks and thought how amazing they were but I just didn't think I had the guts to pull off such unique and vibrant colours. But a couple of weeks ago Nasty Gal had free worldwide shipping and I was surprised to find they stocked Lime Crime on their site. They don't have the largest selection but it is the cheapest I have seen them available, plus with the free shipping I just couldn't resist (I say that every time don't I....)

The Body Shop Tea Tree range has done absolute wonders for my skin and has helped clear and treat my blemishes, as well as keeping the oilyness at bay. Initially I didn't buy the Face Mask but seeing as I was loving the rest of the range I thought why not get the mask as well. It is around $20 (sorry I can't remember the actual price) for a pretty generous 100ml pottle that should last for a while.

December's Sample Bar Glam Pack was a jam packed one! Sample Bar is a monthly subscription service for $25 a month and usually comes with 5 (sometimes 6) sample, or full sized products. I was looking forward to it as generally the Christmas ones tend to be really good and full of great items. There is a total of 11 different products in this months pack, very impressive I must say!

I love pastel colours for the summer and this Essie polish in the shade Tart Deco just screams lying on the beach in the sun (and perhaps with a cocktail in hand also!)

It's time for the second post in the New Additions series (you can see the first post here) and again I will be sharing some new gemstones and minerals that I have got my hands on.

I honestly can't believe how fast the month of November went and now it's only a week til Christmas - where does the time go!? Anywho enough of the cliches and onto my thoughts about the November Sample Bar Glam Pack! You can find my unboxing and initial thoughts here, overall I really enjoyed this month and was happy to have a nice mix of hair, makeup and skincare items to try.

So you may read this and think - a bronzing primer, really, is that necessary? At first I wasn't quite sure about it myself and it took me a few tries to make it work but the Bourjois Paris Bronzing Primer is a seriously good product and I shall tell you why...

This little sample bottle has quickly turned into something I have been using everyday and absolutely loving the results. I received this 15ml sample in a Sample Bar Glam Pack (unsure of the month) and had just not given it a go until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to finally give it a whirl. The Dermalogica Precleanse is as the name suggests an oil to use before cleansing your face.

As summer is finally beginning to be in full force, I thought it was time to bring out the neon on the nails! I opted for this BYS polish in Pink Panic and it is a truly fluoro, neon, hot pink colour.

If you are a reader of my blog, you may have noticed I really have a soft spot for MUA (Makeup Academy). Not only is it super cheap and affordable, they ship to NZ (hooray!) and is one of the few UK 'high street/drugstore' makeup brands that actually do so. They have a great range and I am a fan of many of their products and this blusher is no difference.

I will admit it has been neglected as I tend to reach for MAC or my loved Milani blush most days but I am trying to use products that weren't getting as much love as they should have been and this Blusher has been at the top of my list. I also think it could be a good dupe for MAC Peaches blush!

Yes I know, the combo of an Essie and an OPI polish has been fairly common for the last few NOTD posts, but I just love the shades so much! I used the new Essie polish from the Fall 2013 collection in After School Boy Blazer which is a very dark navy which looks black in some lights. To add some glitter I used OPI Pirouette My Whistle which is a matte silver glitter, with small circular pieces and larger round pieces.

I just had to share these gorgeous little milk bottles I picked up the other day from a small gallery in Akaroa. They were $6 each and there were a few other designs; ones with neon polka dots, and a another with a neon heart. I went for the basis B&W, with the black chevron print and a white star.

For my daily face numero 2 I was off to work so I generally slap on a little more makeup with heavier coverage so it'll last me all day. Most of these items I pretty much reach for on a daily basis and I know that they work well for me.

I hadn't delved into MAC blushes until the start of this year, since then I have added four blushes from MAC to my collection and I think they make the perfect 'capsule' collection (if you will) of colours. I cover the bases of matte, shimmery, lighter and darker shades in only four colours and each one I absolutely love. MAC blushes are of high quality with great pigmentation, colour range and easy to blend. My favourite brush to use with any blusher is the Real Techniques Blush Brush, which I swear by and suggest you get your hands on it ASAP, if you don't own it already!

Along with the 5 bottle of OPI I got during the NZ Sale Flash Frenzy sale event, they also has Revlon & Almay available so I picked a few items from that sale also. I already own many Revlon polishes but grabbed a few more because well, why not!? Swatches and more info all below...

As soon as I got Essie Fiji I pretty much put it on my nails straight away! It really is the most gorgeous shade of soft pastel pink. To add a bit of oomph I paired it with the equally new OPI liquid sand in Honey Ryder.