Bi-Weekly Notes — #1

Welcome to my newest series! I've decided to create a fortnightly series called "Bi-weekly Notes" which will be uploaded on a Monday evening (AWST). This is where I can do posts in between my regular monthly posts of any updates that I have categorised. It will be simple and short updates but a great way for you to keep up-to-date with what I have been up to, recommend or am loving. This is quite similar to my previous "Let's Catch Up" posts but a breakdown of it all and more summarised. I hope you enjoy this series and let's get it kick started!



NEW IN ⎯  

Inspiration – Gaining lifestyle ideas from the new issue of Fete Magazine Issue #22

Updates –

• My sister made an order on Mecca online and she asked if I wanted anything she would buy it for me. I of course said "yes" and asked her to order me the RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in the shade "Spell". Excited for it to arrive! 

• I won a giveaway from Emily @whyhellobeauty – The Beauty Archive (Scandinavian Organic Beauty) a trio of their Lip Tint, Lip Cream and Lip Balm. I can't wait to receive it and try them all out.

PR packages just landed –  

• BROSA Table Lamp 

• Dr Jackson's Skincare 

• Braun Face Spa Epilator 

• Hairstory Haircare

CURRENTLY ⎯  

Doing – the next stages of our pre-start meetings for our home building. Choosing all our interior/exterior colour palette. Building commences end of September – eek!

Reading – a new book called Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto so far so good! It is definitely an interesting read, each page becomes more and more intriguing and draws me in. 

Working – on exciting collaborations with many amazing brands (update to come!)

Wanting – to assemble all the new furniture for our home, especially the sofa we bought from Freedom. My dream sofa of the Scandinavian style grey sofa with wooden legs – maybe I will upload a photo of it as soon as it is unpacked. You can view a sneak peek on my twitter here (if you're following me).

TOP PICKS ⎯

Instagram / Blogger – Imogen makes such beautiful content, her blog has fast become a favourite of mine. Her writing is exceptional and can take you to all kinds of wonderful places. Check out her handles and give her some love and follow @imogen.k  / www.faux-silk.com

Book – I love a good poetry book, Eighteen Years by Madisen Kuhn gives me so much inspiration and I've been referring back to it.

Beauty product – I've been using the RMS Beauty "Un" Cover-Up Concealer in #22 everyday since I bought it and it has taken the lead of my go-to concealer (Glossier Stretch concealer comes second now). Perfect consistency, coverage and application. Developing an addiction to all RMS Beauty products.

A Love Affair With — Riddle Oil

I first discovered Riddle Oil through one of my favourite YouTuber's Chrissstttiiine and it was definitely love at first sight. I am a lover of discovering innovative brands and Riddle Oil is no exception, so when I had the opportunity to collaborate with this beautiful brand I was definitely over the moon. Based in California, founder Chelsea Voge's philosophy of Riddle Oil is "Your Skin but Better" and lives by a vision that is expressed with one word —Allow.

— This word carries the weight of a million dreams fulfilled. We believe in being better, not better than others but better than ourselves. We believe in listening from a place of inspiration, not memory. We believe in clarity, understanding what you want from your life. We believe in loving yourself and betting on who you are with the awareness of what you are. Last but not least, we believe in allowing your life to unfold naturally into your dharma (calling).

What I love most about Riddle Oil is not only is it cruelty-free but all ingredients are made of pure essential oils and flower essences using a distillation process. The packaging speaks for itself with a minimal exterior, the perfume oils are housed in a stunning glass vial with a stainless steel roll-on-ball applicator, which is individually packaged with a luxurious velvet pouch. Chelsea has a special niche when it comes to the various selection of scents within her range. Each scent is so unique in its own way and I have never smelt anything like it before. I haven't tried or ventured much into the world of oil perfumes so this is a fantastic way to test and experience this, and I definitely prefer it a lot more than alcohol based perfumes.

The benefits of using Riddle Oil verses alcohol based fragrances — Read all FAQ here

> Longer lasting scent

> Longer shelf life

> Hypoallergenic

> Subtle and non-invasive scent

> Moisturising

> Fewer ingredients

> Daily inspiration — 

(an empowering effect to capture the attention of others)

What I learnt from testing each scent everyday for the last two weeks is that like all perfumes it smells completely different on the skin than smelling it directly from the bottle. Once applied, your skin brings out a unique scent from each oil and creates a one of a kind frangrance on each individual. From this I was able to select my top scents and my most favourite of all is definitely Muse, it has a permanent home in my handbag.

I love how a particular scent can take you back to a certain time or place it's a perfect way of teleportation and triggering certain memories. For me, the scent Night Flower really hits home with this. When I first smelt this scent it instantly brought me back to a time in my early childhood days. I remember owning this particular item, (either a lip gloss or lip balm) I loved so much and would bring everywhere with me and it smelt exactly like this scent, it really does take me back to that innocent time and holds a lot of sentimental value to me.

R¿DDLE OIL — SCENT NOTES

*Original 8ml size — Amber Resin and Musky // See full Scent Profile here

*Santal 8ml size — Spicy Cardamom, Amber, Sandalwood, Orchid, Mango Blossom, Strawberries, Vanilla // See full Scent Profile here

*Sundara 8ml size (formerly known as Darjeeling)— Green Tea, Lemon, Black Tea, Jasmine, Hay, Tonka Bean and Sandalwood // See full Scent Profile here

*Austin sample size — Spicy Cardamom, Amber, Sandalwood, Orchid, Mango Blossom, Strawberries, Vanilla, Fig, Coconut Milk, Green Moss and Cedar Wood // See full Scent Profile here

*Night Flower sample size (formerly known as Tuberose) — White Peony, Jasmine, Tuberose, Tamarind, Arum Lily, Incense, Sandalwood and Amber // See full Scent Profile here

*North Wind sample size — Fresh Peach, Pineapple, Papaya, Coconut Milk, Lilies and Wild Freesia // See full Scent Profile here

*Muse 8ml size — Bergamot, Bay, Ivy, Marine, Peony, Magnolia, Honeysuckle, Sandalwood, Agarwood, Amber, Musk, Peach and Coconut // See full Scent Profile here

*Poppy 8ml size — Melon, Lemon, Lily, Cyclamen, Poppy, Freesia, Violet, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Orange Blossom and Musk // See full Scent Profile here 

*Eden sample size — Grass, Fern, Lemon, Gardenia, Red Jasmin, Musk and Clove // See full Scent Profile here

*Sphinx sample size — High quality Egyptian Musk // See full Scent Profile here

*Last Petal sample size — Rose, Jasmine, Hibiscus, Ambrette, Musk, Amber and Vanilla // See full Scent Profile here 

MY FAVOURITE PICKS // (from 8ml size)  

— Muse  

— Original  

— Poppy

MY WISH LIST // (from half dram sample size)   

— North Wind 

— Night Flower 

— Sphinx

Chelsea also kindly gifted me a super luxe spray lotion in one of my favourite scents Poppy (I adore the name also because it is my dog's name) made with Organic Aloe, Coconut, Grape Seed Oils and Vegetable Glycerin. This light weight, fast absorbing and hydrating lotion is so fine you can mist it directly all over your body — it also layers perfectly with other scents which helps it last much longer. There are many other products within the Riddle Oil range such as Botanical Skincare, Candles, Body Oils and a curated selection of scents For Him.

A toast to a new found love — R¿ddle Oil, you had me at "hello."

— Read my full disclaimer 

Curated Homeware Haul

I think as I get closer to my late 20's I have been more interested in homewares and interior. It's always been something I have had interest towards however now that we are in the midst of building out first home together it has caught my eyes more as of late.

You can say that I can be quite picky when it comes to certain designs as I am with most things. I like my colour scheme to be either monochrome (black, white + grey) or accent colours, such as pink, gold and copper. You can definitely say the whole Scandinavian style is very highly influenced within my collection. I have a small and very curated homeware haul that I have been putting together since the beginning of the year.

It is such an exciting time for us, each stage of building is very special and I am currently documenting each moment mainly through Twitter (my account is private). I do have a few snippets I post via Insta-stories. It all feels very surreal when it comes to designing your first home, every single bit counts. I never knew that thinking about where the sunsets and rises would be something so  important on the layout of your home, but is sure is! It's all in the little things.

I am so thrilled and cannot wait until our house is finished so I can continue adding more interior ideas, furniture and homeware. It is so much fun slowly gathering little bits and pieces for our home, I keep it all stored in a big container box for that moment we can finally unpack everything once our home is finished and the handover of our keys. We still have a long way to go so for the mean time while our floor plans are submitted and we slowly begin the next stages of our pre-start meetings I am currently scrapbooking ideas for interior designs, etc.



HOMEWARE HAUL:

Arrival Hall ⎯ HAY Kitchen Scissors 

Arrival Hall ⎯ Lightly Copper Rounded Spoon 

A Cup of Chic ⎯ Scandinavian Fluted Ceramic Vase  

Kikki.K ⎯ Svenska Hem Gold Tall Vase 

Kikki.K ⎯ Svenska Hem Copper Round Vase x2

Sussan ⎯ Gold + Pink Ceramic Plate

There a few stores I like to visit for unique homeware finds such as Arrival Hall, A Cup of Chic, Kikki.K and much more. Though, you would be surprised where you can occasionally find some hidden treasures at the stores you least expect.

During a visit to Sussan, I found a few lovely homeware items for a great price (mainly in store rather than online) — their Gold + Pink Ceramic Plate I stumbled by the other day is the perfect statement piece and I cannot wait to style this in our home. At the moment it is being used to hold all my bedside essentials.

I've also picked up a few different types of vases to house some greenery within. I like choosing different shapes and sizes of vases, I find it brings a lot of character and style to a home and fits perfectly within my style.

That feeling of anticipation is literal torture, I get so excited each time we have our meetings with our builder each week. But as all good things go, it comes slowly and the results are definitely worth it. I am so thrilled with our floor plans, it's taken a while to get it exactly the way we wanted but, that's what makes it extra special.

I have a few more items that I have hauled lately however they're more bedroom and workspace interior, let me know if you would like to see a post of those items.

My Work Desk Tour

A work desk tour has been on my agenda to post about for quite a while and now that I'm finally satisfied with the current state of my desk I will take you through a general overview of it all.

I wouldn't call myself a minimalist at the least, though I love the concept of it and try to live as much of a minimalistic life as possible. I like to think of my style as a more curated style, where I have a decent amount of belongings I love and use daily as I am more selective with everything I buy nowadays. The same thing goes with my work desk, everything that is on there I use often and has a purpose.

I wanted to find a desk that suited my style and needs to store everything properly where I could have it all accessible. I love the style of my desk and I couldn't have found an even better style that I adore. This is a Scandinavian style desk called Willow, with a duo-tone of wood and white exterior. It has one large drawer which separates into two sections — this is one of my favourite features, along with a back section that has a compartment which flips up to store any power cords.

You can view more photos of my desk I posted on my Instagram and the many different states it has been in since I bought this desk in March 2016 — 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

To give my office space a little more of a personal touch, I like to have my favourite photos, art and quotes displayed on this matte black wire memo board and in frames around my desk.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I had my photos developed at a photo centre. It's always been such a heartfelt feeling having a photo to physically hold and look at, especially flicking through a photo album or even seeing it hung around your home. These days technology has come so far that photography is all in digital form and hardly anyone prints photos anymore.

I use to use my old Polaroid camera and my vintage analog film camera (during my university days I attended a Photo Work/Media course for my Journalism degree and I remember being in the darkroom developing negatives and what a great experience it was) for quite a few years ago where each photo captured you would never know how it would turn out until it was developed. That is what I love most about film photography. I only stopped using it because the Polaroid film for mine wasn't available anymore and I didn't have as much access to film photography after I finished my course. The Instax cameras are more readily available these days but I am yet to invest in one, for now I am quite happy having my photos printed from services such as *Printiki.

The thing that I found most intriguing with Printiki's service is not only is it a fast and convenient way to get your photos printed in a variety of styles (retro style is my favourite, of course) but, you can scan any old photographs you already own or any photos you have taken directly from your phone or camera and have them all printed all from the comfort of your home. Even though I love the way analog photography works and leaves you with a surprise at how your photos will turn out, it is also nice to be able to recreate those sentimental photos you already cherish and have them printed as many times as you want.

When Printtiki contacted me back in late February to collaborate with their services I couldn't pass this opportunity because it had come at a perfect time when I wanted to start creating my own personal photo album and get photos printed. It took me quite some time to gather some important photos and to make sure I was happy with each one I had chosen to get printed as it meant a lot to me.

When I ordered my photos and it arrived in the mail I was absolutely stoked at the results and even my family was in awe over how beautiful they turned out. My Mum was especially thrilled to see I had chosen to get an old family photo of her family printed (it's the black and white family photograph of my Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles with my Mum) and of course baby photos of my boyfriend and I (hanging on the black wire memo board). I've always wanted to have these photographs to keep for myself and to be able to have a copy of my own makes me feel so complete. I even wrote captions under a few of the photos I had printed to document the date and location in order to look back one day and reminisce those moments.

I teamed up with the great folks at Printiki to bring a special discount code for my readers, as I want to share this special experience with those who would also like to have their photos printed.

The discount code is for free economy shipping worldwide on print orders, valid from 1st to the 6th of May 2017. 

Use the Printiki code: amourjnfr at checkout.

I have these Muji acrylic drawers where I keep a lot of different stationery that I reach for the most — you can see I have an endless supply of my favourite Muji pens in 0.38, 0.5 and 0.7.  

The desk drawer separates into two sections and is quite a decent size. I find this table would also make a great makeup vanity if you wanted to use it for that too. It is so spacious and I like to use a few containers to divide and store each product. 

T—B  Section 1 and Section 2 of desk drawers.

The first section is half the size of the second section which doubles in size so it is perfect to store larger items such as note books. Each section is quite miscellaneous, I have items kept in each section from my hard drive, tech gear, cords, calligraphy equipment, stationery, books, letter sets and candle equipment, etc.

Aside from beauty, you can say I have a slight obsession with stationery, I always have and always will —I can spend hours in each stationery aisle at the shops, it's like my heaven. When our home is ready I can't wait to have a room dedicated for my own office. I envision to decorate it and have this desk displayed with more space. I'm sure this layout will change again in no time, I have a thing with my room and each section where I am forever switching it up. This is my happy place, right after my vanity — which I hope to also do a post on in the near future, I know so many of you have requested this for so long so I will try to get a post up soon.

I hope you enjoyed this overview of my desk tour and let me know if you decide to get any of your photos printed through Printiki, I would love to see your prints, too!

Details of products not mentioned — 

• Apple iMac 27"
• Marmo Marble Table Lamp
• Marble Coasters
• Marble Photo Frame (currently out of stock at Country Road, linked is the closest style)
• Customised Marble Mousepad  
• Cactus Pencil Case

*Printiki discount code is offered for any of my readers worldwide for a short time only (1-6/5/17). I am not paid or sponsored for this code or any services. My photos were developed and sent to me courtesy of Printiki and I only feature products and services that I genuinely recommend and enjoy. Please read my Disclaimer page for further information. 

A Prelude To BECCA

Oddly enough BECCA has been a brand that isn't readily available here in Australia, although it is an Australian brand there isn't much access to it unless you live on the east coast or pop into a beauty salon that stocks it. For me it hasn't been a brand I could just go out and purchase directly at a local store or counter here in Perth and I am not interested in popping into a beauty salon (etc), just to get a product or two. Give or take, it is a brand I have grown to love and adore, I've only tried a small handful of their products so far and you can bet I am a definite fan — though I do wish I could have better access to it so I can see it in person for a better experience. I actually do remember BECCA use to be stocked in David Jones at our city store and then some how a jerk decided to remove the whole range — oh well. 

Thank goodness for the beauty of the world wide web, from a few trusty reviews (for research purposes) to being able to purchase it online. There are quite a few beauty sites out there that stock BECCA but I have found that Active Skin stocks them for a good price compared to others, plus they're Australian owned online beauty retailer that is well trusted and provide amazing services. I think that is the better option for me at this time, though it would be great to test products in person, nothing beats good value. The team at Active Skin are extremely helpful so if you have any questions they can assist you.


Pricing example: The Backlight Priming Filter retails for $65 AUD but on Active Skin you can purchase it for $50 AUD, compare the prices here, here and here. That's a pretty darn good pricing point if I don't say so myself.

    T ⎯ B   Swatches 

*BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal — BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal (illuminator)   L ⎯ R 

I've owned the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal (the illuminating liquid version) for quite a while now and comparing it to my newest edition the pressed powder I can't decide which of the two I prefer more over. It's like choosing your favourite child. I love them both equally and they serve a purpose for individual use or pairing together for the ultimate glow. They're both equally stunning.

*BECCA Backlight Priming Filter (swatched and blended)  L ⎯ R 

This has been a product I've been umming and ahhing over for quite some time since its initial launch a few years back. From all the reviews and seeing it applied on through tutorials I've been quite smitten and it's been on my wish list for the longest time. I actually tried a sample of it during my visit in Melbourne last year at a Sephora store. It is as beautiful as I last remembered it and I am so glad to have it within my collection.

Some days I like to wear it alone without any makeup to give myself that lit from within look (that typical phrase) no kidding though, it seriously makes you look more healthier and youthful than you actually are (unless you are, I am not the latter). It smooths out the entire texture of your skin providing a beautiful glow-y and smooth base. It really is a real life filter for your face, yep, they've finally did it guys.

 BECCA Mineral Blush in Sweetpea

I'm not sure, I have the biggest feeling that this shade is discontinued — I've tried searching for it and it seems like it isn't part of their range anymore. WHY do they do this? This now means I have to salvage whatever I have with it because this blush shade is exactly what I've always wanted in a blush itself. It is the perfect terra cotta brown rose shade (are you surprised?). It provides a crazy amount of pigment so a little goes a long way, tap lightly! Wearing it without a bronzer is perfect because it gives you the best of both worlds (blush/bronze). I bought this at Melbourne airport on my way back home to Perth.

//    The main focus is of course the base, I want to show you exactly what these BECCA base products can do for the skin using very minimal technique for your overall look. I love creating a base that still shows my true complexion.

 PRODUCTS USED 

BASE  ⎯  

*BECCA Backlight Priming Filter  

*BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal 

Glossier Skin Tint in Medium 

Glossier Stretch Concealer in Medium 

BECCA Mineral Blush in Sweetpea (used as blush and eyeshadow) 

EYES  ⎯  

Glossier Boy Brow in Black 

Surratt Beauty Eyelash Curler  

Chanel Le Volume Mascara 

LIPS  ⎯  

Glossier Generation G Lipstick in Leo 

Glossier Lip Gloss 

 What BECCA products have you tried or would recommend?

— Read my full disclaimer 

Let's Catch Up! #7

Oh, hi —

Long time no post! The month of March has been quite a hectic month for me, not only was it my birthday month but a lot of things were quite chaotic since my last post. Which is why I haven't updated since end of February. I won't go into too much detail as to what I've been up to as it has been all the typical "adulting sh*t", but let's not get into that.

First thing I wanted to talk about is this green jade rock that you can see on the top of my bedhead. It was gifted to me by my sister and ever since I have placed it above me when I sleep. I didn't know this at the time, but a few days I had placed this jade rock there I felt as though it had cleansed my dreams and calmed me a lot, providing positive energy towards me. I tested it out one day and placed it onto my work desk instead and a few days onwards I had terrible nightmares. I'm quite a spiritual person and believe in Feng Shui, aurora's, karma and all that good stuff.

As soon as I put it back on my bedhead my dreams were instantly less intense and stressful. I knew straight away there was something special about this jade rock, so I did some research on good ol' Google and what do ya know, it has healing properties and helps with anxiety and lightens emotions. It says to place it under your pillow, but I'm quite happy to just leave it above on my bedhead. You can read more on it here. I feel as though I can relate to everything mentioned in this article, it is quite spot on in terms of relating to my astrology sign (Pisces). I think it is such a coincidence that my sister gave this jade to me so randomly, but also at the perfect time I needed it the most.

I've been also getting into reading again! I've ordered quite a few new books through Book Depository as you know and one of my newest editions is this poetry book called The Chaos of Longing by K.Y. Robinson. Let's just say it doesn't get as raw and real as this poetry book, her writing is just beautiful and intense, you can feel each emotion through every paragraph. It is quite a traumatic book, I find some parts hard to take in but at the same time I thrive off these types of genres for books and movies. The more f*cked up it is, the better in my opinion. I highly recommend this beauty of a book if you're also into this type of thing, plus the cover is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! 

The next few books arriving in my mail box soon is Love Poems by Pablo Neruda and Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, few that many people loved and raved about. I am excited to read these, I've read a few pages from peoples social media pictures and their poetry is so inspiring and beautiful. I love reading poetry, I was inspired by my friend Alexis to get back into poetry reading — she recommended Lang Leav's poetry, which is definitely on my wish-list. I also have Eighteen Years by Madisen Kuhn on my wish list who I have recently stumbled upon and truly admire her aesthetics. When I purchased my first poetry book (The Chaos of Longing) I had soon realised how much easier it was to get into reading this way. Novels tend to make me stray, I get bored and distracted easily and I admit I am not always the best at getting into a book and continuing it to the very end. It is definitely something I need to work on. I find self-help books to be my new gravitation and a genre I am much into nowadays — though I still enjoy reading a good best seller or two.

 NEW IN —

A quick sneak peek beauty wise of what's to come on Amour JNFR. Currently in the works, an array of beauty products I have hauled a few months back, gifted through PR and an exciting mail swap I did with Cindy! (This isn't everything, much more goodies to photograph).

Brands included: Tatcha, Glossier, Milk Makeup, Pixi Beauty, Saturday Skin, Fresh Beauty, Herbivore, etc. 

I've done quite a few clear outs of my belongings especially my beauty collection, giving away products as well as setting myself a project pan of using up my products. I'm slowly getting closer to having a more fresh and curated collection that I am really happy with. As you can know I have quite a few new items to eventually go through, so I have put a ban on myself from buying any beauty products for a while, unless I truly NEED to — I've been quite good at this for a while now, I never rarely shop now. There's something really fulfilling about giving away bags/boxes of all your unwanted/unused products (or throwing out products I've held onto for too long) to someone who would make better use of it all. I want my collection to only contain items I would reach for daily, with a one in one out system. These days I don't wear as much makeup and go for a more minimal and fresh look.

P. S.  — A homeware haul currently in the works!

Read more — Let's Catch Up #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6