School Formal 2011 - One Week to go ...

I really can't believe all my studies for school are now over!!! I had my last Assessment on Friday WOOT WOO!!!! Now for the final week of school, if you can really call it that, I just have to tie things up, you know, return text books, laptop and long lost library books etc. I have my Graduation Ceremony on the Wednesday night, our final senior assembly on Thursday (which the Year 12's get to host) followed by an excursion and then just a safety talk and sign off on Friday morning :D :D :D then that's it!!!! :))))

So my Formal is on the Saturday night, 19th November to be exact which is honestly a stupid day to have it since Schoolies officially starts on the 19th!!!! Only our School Principal could have planned that :/

Hair:

This past week I managed to get the hair dye I was after, it was actually on special for $8.95 and was the last one in that colour (Darkest Chocolate No. 323). It was hiding in a different spot, someone else must have picked it up and put it back in the wrong spot so I thought they didn't have it!! So glad they did. I dyed my hair on Tuesday afternoon so that's something else to check off my list :)

I'm going to try to squeeze in a 'trim' before my Formal just to tidy the ends up.

Outfit:

I got to try on my complete outfit for the Formal and I'm happy to report that I'm very very happy with the overall look. It's fun and young and I really like the way it all came together, it makes me feel like an 'exotic princess' hahahaha :P So for a run down on how much this has cost me ...

Dress                                   $199.00 - I know COMPLETE BARGAIN!!!!!
Shoes                                  $111.00 - on sale
Bag                                         34.95 - on sale
Jewelry                                $  39.95 - Already had some of it
Hair Accessory                    $  20.00
Underwear                           $  40.00
Hair Dye                              $    8.95
Hair Appointment                 $  75.00
Car Hire                               $  52.00

Total                                    $580.85

I haven't included any makeup costs in this because the only real thing I bought specifically for my Formal was my Estee Lauder Foundation but I probably would have bought it eventually anyway.

I never set out to find things on 'Sale' or anything like that, I went to find something that I really liked. Formal shopping can  add up very quickly, even when you get things that are on sale it still gets expensive! I was very lucky to find my dress, we were prepared to pay more than that when we set out but we didn't have to. A few of the other girls in my year also said they ended up going with dresses that were much cheaper than they originally planned because 'they like them', and isn't that what it's all about in the end :)

When you plan your Formal it makes sense to spread the costs out so you don't have to pay for everything in one go.  If you start looking for your dress at least 3-4 months before the day then you will have time to find all your accessories etc and pay for them gradually. It's also nice to know you have your outfit ready and you can relax a little in that last week.

I guess my real luxury items were my shoes and getting my hair done on the day.

Makeup:

This week I cleaned all my makeup brushes, I had a little breakout last week which prompted me to do this :/

Nails:

Ok so this is still the one that is eluding me!! :( Maybe it's because I've never been allowed to paint my nails for school or anything that they are always the last to get attention.  So this week they are going to be pampered for sure, I don't have much on for school so there really is no excuse. Wish me luck!!! :)))

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Because I will be leaving for my Schoolies holiday very early Sunday morning, I will probably just post a picture of the final look on facebook and maybe on here before I leave for my Formal.  Once I come back from Schoolies I will put up a video.

Clean Makeup Brushes are Super Sweet!

Now I know a lot of people say you should clean your brushes every day or every other day but I really don't get the time to do that myself. I'm the only one who uses my brushes so they get cleaned when I get a chance, probably not quite as often as I should!

Well today, after working 8.5 hrs I came home to find my sister had cleaned them all for me, how sweet is that :D Last year over one of the holidays she had helped me clean them and learnt how I do it, boy I was so happy and I thought there might be a few girls out there that don't know how to clean their makeup brushes.

I don't use any fancy cleaners for my brushes, I just use a good shampoo to clean them (of course if you would prefer a proper cleaner or an antibacterial soap then use that). In a cup place a spoon of shampoo and then swirl your brush around in it, brush your brush onto your hand until all the dirt comes out, this may take a little while with foundation, lip and eyeliner brushes.

Rinse your brushes completely, gently pat them dry with a towel and let them dry with the brush end facing down if at all possible so that the water doesn't collect inside the handle (don't stand them on their bristles though). An easy method is to poke some holes in an old shoebox or any type of box that has some depth to it and put your brushes in that (recycling is always good). I use a small screwdriver to make some holes and then pushed the brushes through from the inside of the box giving a snug fit. For larger brushes use the screwdriver and then use a small brush to poke the hole and then an average size brush until you can fit the larger handle in the hole. Place an old towel or rag under the box to soak up any moisture.

Hope this helps someone out, happy cleaning :) xx