ADVERTISE HERE

Hi! Long time no posts, hey :) Sorry lovelies I was unfortunately incapacitated in a surgical theater.
However, here I am happy and no longer in surgery!

Today, I begin my search for people/individuals/ businesses/etsy shop owners/ online stores etc. etc who would be interested in advertising on my blog for very very reasonable prices. If you are at all intereted, or know someone that might be, my email address is litttle.miss.sunshine@hotmail.com. Contact me so we can negotiate something!

I would love to have your advertisement on my page!!!!

xxxkatie

Uses for Pure Soap

This post is all about my love of soap. Not dodgy, $1.00 packets of 5 soap from the supermarket which have all sorts of nasties and no glycerin. Real, pure soap made the good ol' way. I love the smell, I love the texture and I love how it works. I have so much of it, all around my house. Pure liquid castile soap, pure block soap and pure soap flakes. I shall now divulge some of the myriad uses of pure soap...

pure soap flakes

1. For washing delicate clothes (expensive items you don't want to harm, lacy lingerie, vintage pieces, silks, woolens etc.) I poor about a teaspoon of pure liquid castile soap into the bottom of my sink/bucket and then fill with cold water. I use liquid castile soap for this because pure soap flakes can be very difficult to dissolve in cold water, whereas the liquid mixes easily. You must use tap water (room temperature/cold), as warm-hot water may damage delicate items or loosen colours in the fabric. Dry as usual, which is usually flat in shade for dedicates!


2. For laundering normally. Even in your washing machine. Pure soap flakes are great if you are using warm-hot water, liquid castile if you are using cold water. conditioning and smoothing effect on protein fibers such as wool and silk, and elicits a plush softening response in cellulose fibers such as cotton and flannel.  Babies clothes and blankets will be extra soft after washing in Pure Soap Flakes.


3. Laundering things for babies, people with allergies, hayfever or sensitive/atopic skin (or skin conditions such as eczema). Pure soap is unbelievably gentle, leaves barely any fragrance and will not cause any flare-ups in skin or allergies (for this I can vouch... I react to nearly every commercial laundry power with rashes and sinus allergies.)


4. Washing your hair! I know that people always tell you not to wash your hair with soap, but they are referring to the common soap which has been leeched of all its natural goodness and replaced with chemical nastiness. Pure liquid castile soap is especially good, as it has the same texture and consistency as normal shampoo, only is very gentle on hair and scalp. It even foams! When I finally got my scalp under control (I had eczema on my scalp because I am allergic to SLS(sodium laureth sulfate) which is in nearly every commercial shampoo and causes eczema in lots of people, I could start adding things to my liquid castile soap. For example, my current shampoo contains the following:


2 cups pure liquid castile soap
2 drops chamomile essential oil
2 drops rosemary essential oil
1 tablespoon of strong rosemary and lavender tea


Mix all ingredients together and store in an air-tight container. Wash hair as normal and rinse well :)


5. Bathing babies, normal skin or very sensitive skin. Add a little to your bath for super-cleansing water that is also super-gentle or use pure block soap as you would have used the yucky 'soap' you used to use which made you dry and itchy and smelled synthetic.


6. Washing your dishes! Dissolve a pinch of pure soap flakes in hot water and wash your dishes in it. Or add a little bit of pure liquid castile soap instead. 


7. Clean your countertops and benches! Mix 1 tbsp. pure liquid castile soap with a quart of warm water, spray it on the counter and wipe with a natural sponge. 

8. Wipe soiled leather furniture, upholstery or attire with a warm damp cloth first. Moisten a sponge with some soap and then rub the surface briskly. Then remove any soapy residue.  

9. Wash your pets

10. Clean valuable jewelry...and a drop of liquid castile soap to a cloth, and gently buff.

11. Wash any surface in your house. Walls, floors etc. etc. 

12. Clean your fireplace/oven etc and be amazed how well soap works!

The list goes on!!!!


If you know any other good uses for pure soap, please let me know!! I am a soap devotee!!

Places to buy cheap cosmetics online

Helllo, avid readers!
I am a cosmetic addict. I have so so many bathing, hygiene and beauty products. Its unbelievable. I don't even use most of it. I try it once or twice, then buy a new one. Tragic, I know. Wasteful, yes. BUT some good has come of it: I am now in a position to review and recommend many products!! It is like I was BORN to do a blog and write about beauty!
Well, buying lots of beauty products is an expensive habit. And I am sure that many of you share a similar habit, or simply like a bargain! Thus I have decided to compile a list of my favorite online beauty product purchasing haunts, which not only provide me with a range of products I can't necessarily buy here in Australia, they offer me super-low prices!
Let the list begin!

1. Strawberry net. This is one of my faves. Cheap with a humongous range and lots if info about each product. au.strawberrynet.com  (there is often an ad link to it on this blog somewhere)
2. Ebay...just search what you want. I have gotten brand new, unopen packets of things which would have cost me $50.00 in a department store for $5. www.ebay.com
3. Groupon. Cheap. lots of stuff! www.groupon.com.au/Beauty
4. www.fragrancesandcosmetics.com.au/  This site has a good range of internation brands that I can't get in stores at home. 


Also, as the Australian dollar is so strong, buying from the brand's official website (if the brand is, say American, or any other currency that is currently lower than the Australian dollar or whatever dollar you are buying in...) you can get a bargain if the site only charges in one currency eg. Benefit Cosmetics. It is much cheaper to buy Benefit cosmetics online, even from their official store if you are buying in Aussie dollars. 


Please if you know any other good sites, LET ME KNOW!! Also for cheap vintage/ reproduction vintage/ Lolita style clothing. I love finding new sites!!

Random Courtney Brimms Artworks

Here are some random Courtney Brims artworks I really like. Courtney Brims is a Brisbane (Australia) artist I have always admired. These days, I see her work quite a bit in all sorts of unexpected places, like on T-shirts in surf-shop windows when I go home to visit my parents who live in a town on the beautiful coast of NSW. Anyway, I think there is a perfection and realism which is ethereal when contrasted with the oddities present in each picture. Like each artwork is suspended somewhere between reality and an alternate dream-world which is on the brink of normality, only slightly strange. I hope you like her as much as I do!    www.courtneybrims.com/

I wish I could make my hair look like the girls in these pictures...It reminds me a bit of Marie Antoinette's famous hair-do extravagance! Perhaps I will try and recreate a wearable version and show you all! 
HOW TALENTED AND AMAZING ARE THESE WORKS?!?! enviable imagination and creativity. 

Twitter

Hello Dearies
I have decided to get Twitter. And so, here is my twitter thingy so you can follow me, and I can follow you!

http://twitter.com/#!/kawaiikatieblog

kawaiikatieblog   is my twitter username.
love love to all

and a random picture I like to end the post...

This painting is by Courtney Brimms, one of my favorite artists. I think I will do a post on her so you can all learn to love her as much as I do!

xxxkatie

Cute Cakes!

Here are some cakes I made recently...I think they are quite cute. What do you guys think??

All I did was:

- I made a simple sponge cake, and when it was cool, used a cookie-cutter to get rounds.
- I made a sandwich of two sponge cake rounds, with a filling of jam, strawberries and a dairy-alternative cream (I'm lactose intolerant...I will post some recipes and how-tos about cooking for allergies, as even the most skeptical people can never guess that my deserts aren't laden with dairy)
- I covered by round sandwiches with Queens brand Royal Icing (following the instructions on the box)
- Then, I decorated them with things I found around my house...some ribbon, a fake butterfly, some mulberries from my mulberry tree. But I did make one aspect of the decorations...I wanted to try to make some Marzipan roses, like those they use on fancy wedding cakes and the like.
- To make the marzipan flowers, I dusted my hands with a little flour, and set to work fashioning the roses petal by petal. I will try my hand at making my first video so as to show you how to do it. They turned out really nicely...people thought I bought them! Yay!

xxxkatie

Outfit Post: Lunch date

The other day, I went out to lunch with the charming Candi and enjoyed the delights of O'Sushi (www.osushi.com.au) which serves my favorite sushi (and I have been to Japan several times, but I prefer the western versions of sushi...terrible, I know.) Anyway, I also got to sip away at another one of my favey food/beverage items...Peach Ice-Tea!! Yum Scrumptious!

Charming, no?

It was so so so so hot that day, that a tragedy befell me. I had to remove my beautiful (yet unfortunately synthetic) red Showcase petticoat. It was making me too hot, cooking my lower body in a basting of my own sweat and heat-rash. Gross. So, there was the tragedy...my skirt was not as full and perfect as it was, and there  was no sweet little red petticoat detail peeking out the bottom of the dress.

You will see what summer does to a skirt which deserves a petticoat in the photos below

Dress: Hell Bunny
Belt: Hell Bunny
Bag: A jewellery box, whose inside i replaced so it could be used as a handbag. Brand unknown, as it was a gift and has no internal tags

Art

Well, I may have mentioned that I paint portraits for a living. I have decided to show you some! These ones are rather old, as none of the ones which are currently in commission are quite finished. Let me know what you think of them! I usually paint from photos. If you want me to paint anything for you, email me at katejessphillips@hotmail.com !

Oops sorry they are on the side...

These top two were painted when I was 16, I think

These bottom two when I was 15

So you can see that they are not very current...I will post more as I do them!!

How to make: Super Yummy Moisturizing Rose Lip Tint (from lipstick/balm scraps)

Yummy Moisturizing Rosey Rip Tint made from Old Lipsticks!

Dear Everyone who follows this blog... (which at this point is sadly no one): Sorry for the lack of posts in the last two days, I was rather too busy!  BUT the good news is I have a wonderful post in store today. A wonderful post on how to make a charming lip stain/tinted lip balm out of your old lipsticks and lip balms...all those little bits which the colours weren't quite right, or there is simply too little left in the tube and now it scratches your lippies to try and apply.

You will need: 

• Rosewater
• old or leftover lip balms and lipsticks
• a little pot
• pink or red food coloring
• a little bit of olive or macadamia oil (optional...I just like ultra-moisturized lips)

Step 1:

Put the balms and lipsticks etc. in a small metal pan

 

Step 2:

Add a few drops of macadamia oil, and then about 5 drops of rosewater. I am addicted to the smell of rosewater so I may have added a little more...

Step 3:

Put the pan on the stove, and melt the lip balms etc together on smallest burner on a medium heat. Stir continuously. 

Step 4:

When nearly melted, it should darken and have a texture similar to this:

At this point, have a sniff and add more rosewater if you want. Also, if you aren't happy with the color, add some more food coloring as I did:

Stir until smooth and combined.

Step 5:

Now, decant into your little container. But be quick, because once off the heat the mixture will solidify verrryyy quickly. Especially if it is cold.

And TA DA! Enjoy your lovely sheer, moisturizing lip tint!

xxkatie

Outfit post

Hello lovelies! The other night I had a  formal dinner/dancey thing, which was rather boring, as I knew it would be. HOWEVER, i went because I got to dress up! Yay! I super duper love dress ups! Annnddd not only did I get to dress up, but for the first time in my life, I got my make-up done professionally by this gorgeous girl in her salon (more on that coming in a latter post!). Here are a few photos of my outfit for the night:

 I am on the far right...in the black. The girl in the purple dress, second from the right is my lovely Gal Pal and BFF (hehe) Candi.

 Getting ready in my rather untidy room...

 My nails! Painted by Beth, the gorgeous girly who did my makeup for me

 kissy kissy!

Probably my favorite photo ever.

There are so many more...I have to find one that has my bag in it! My bag was super lovely. I will post more photos when I find them! 

Also, eagerly await the photos of Glam Doll Beauty salon in Star Court Arcade, Lismore, Australia, where Beth did my nails and makeup. Such a gorgeous place, really girly, like a 1950's pin-up girls boudoir. 

xxkatie

Dress: Pinup Couture

Shoes: Pinup Couture

Seamed Stay-ups: Music Legs

Petticoat: Showcase

Hair Clips: Unknown...I got them from a second-hand store

Necklace and Earrings: Both pearls, bought separately but both at markets(one market in Byron Bay, Australia, the other in Canberra, Australia) by the ladies who crafted them!

Yay! Tea Time!

Basil Tea:

Uses: Antispasmodic, aids digestion, settles the stomach, relieves nausea, with honey helps clear catarrh and tickly coughs
Tastes: The leaves have a slightly minty flavor when dried...
To make: Infuse 2 tsp of dried leaves in 1 cup of hot water to make a tea to settle the stomach. To relieve tickly coughs and help clear catarrh, add honey to taste.

Blackberry Tea

Uses: Effective in combating gout (dried leaves made into tea), the leaves chewed fresh will help bleeding gums. The tea is also used to help treat diarrhea.

Tastes: The fruit is sharp and sweet, the leaves are milder but still tangy.

To make: use 4 teaspoons of dried leaves to 1 cup hot water.

Caraway Tea

Uses: Aids digestion. A strong infusion gargled will ease sore throats. Chewing the seeds will sweeten breath. 

Tastes: Warming, aromatic

To make: 6 tsp crushed seeds to 1 cup hot water. As a decoction, use 6 tsp of seeds, then boil in 1 cup milk and leave to steep for 10 minutes. When taken cool, the decoction may help relieve colic in children and ease gas and menstrual cramps in adults. 

Celery Tea

Uses: Digestive, stimulant, lowers blood pressure, treats heartburn and rheumatism

Tastes: Sharp, fresh but warming

To make: Grind 1 tsp of seeds, and add 1 cup of water. Stand for 10 minutes, drink while still warm

Cautions: Do not drink while pregnant, or if you have high blood pressure

Chamomile Tea

Uses: Stress, insomnia, headaches, calming effect, liver cleansing (therefore also good for skin)

Tastes: mild and warming, soothing

To make: Infuse dry flower in hot water for 3 minutes, drink warm or chilled. 

To make a strong infusion, soak 2 ounces of dried flowers in a little boiling water. This can, once cool, be used as an antiseptic lotion or even used to lighten hair

Dandelion Tea

Uses: diuretic, aids digestion, relieves dyspepsia, eases liver problems, cleansing and detoxifying. Used in Chinese medicine  for treating breast tumors, mastitis, abscesses, hepatitis and jaundice.
Tastes: mild...I like it sweetened with honey
To make: 2 whole fresh leaves and steep in 1 cup hot water.
Caution: because of it's diuretic properties, caution is advised...especially where prone to dehydration

Dill Tea

Uses: insomnia, antispasmodic, diuretic, traditionally given to breastfeeding mothers to aid milk production, calm and tone digestive system, combat urinary infections. Traditionally used to ease wind in babies

Tastes: Spicy and mildly bitter

To make: steep 2 tsp of seeds in 2 cups hot water and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Add honey to taste.

Caution: only ever use the seeds of FRESH leaves. Dried leaves contain a volatile oil which is toxic. However, the SEEDS and FRESH LEAVES are perfectly safe, even for babies.

Fennel Tea

Uses: promotes digestion, ease wind

Tastes: Delightful! But a little bit like aniseed, only milder and sweeter

To make: 1 tbls of fresh seeds, crushed, added to 1 cup hot water. Steep for 5 minutes. Sweeten with honey to taste. 

Feverfew Tea

Uses: promotes sleep, eases asthma, mild laxative effect, inhibits migraines

Tastes: rather bitter

To make: 1 heaped tsp per cup of boiling water. Migraine sufferers can take 1 to 2 cups per day (read caution)

Caution: prolonged use can result in mouth ulcers

Thats all for today!

the book I got these recipes from is called 'Herbal Teas', written by Richard Craze

xxxKatie

Tutorial: Vixen Vintage Rag Curls

Rag Curls:

image from the tutorial 'Hot to do rag curls' on www.vixenvintage.com

Delights from Vixen Vintage:

I always loved curls. When I was little, I ate alllllll the crusts of my bread. But, alas, to no avail. My hair is merely wavy :(. When I started thinking about creating a blog, I though about all the hair and makeup tutorials I would do. Well. I haven't done any make-up tutorials yet because I am waiting for a pesky monthly breakout to go away, and I just cut my hair a tiny bit too short to do proper, lovely curls. And anyway. I already knew of a fantastic rag-curl tutorial! Why, dear readers, whilst you are at www.vixenvintage.com, why  not also look at the pin-curl tutorial? And all manner of other tutorials that exist on that lovely blog!

Here is the direct link to the rag-curl tutorial: http://vixenvintage.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-do-rag-curls.html

Please let me know how yours went, or upload a picture so I can see! I do love curls!!

xxkatie

Welcome!

Welcome, All, to my brand new bloggy! I hope you will enjoy my musings, tutorials, opinions, recipes, remedies etc. etc. and follow my (hopefully) charming blog! Please do look around, please do follow me, and please do tell your friends!
xxx Katie