My THIRD Liebster Award!...

The lovely Taylor over at Taylor De Vil nominated me for a Liebster Award last Monday - thanks for starting off my week so brilliantly my dear ♥ So without further ado, here we go, starting with the rules...

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog.

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Nominate 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers.

5. Create a new list of questions for the bloggers to answer.

6. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

7. Inform the people/blogs that you choose that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

And here are the questions Taylor asked me:

1.What is your #1 beauty brand you stand by? 

There isn't any one brand that I support exclusively because every company has its duds, however L'Occitane skin care has impressed me the most, and I reckon I probably have more Maybelline items in my cosmetic kit than any other...

2.Somewhere you would love to travel & why? 

Oooooh Egypt - the Nile, Giza Plateau, Cairo Museum, Luxor, Abu Simbel... A huge part of me wants to go there, but there's another part that just knows I'll spend the whole time getting all teary over the magnificence and beauty of it all (I'd better pack the waterproof mascara!). Actually I've been to Egypt before, but not in this life... 

3.Something you are passionate about?

C O L O U R (as if you didn't know lol)...

4.Your favourite Fashion Trend right now, if nothing now, your favourite past Trend? 

I'm a nutter for boots, whether they're trendy or not - ankle, suede, studded, knee length, buckled, plain leather, fringed, flat, lace up, riding, pull-on, stiletto... Every winter I go crazy and buy more, but I'm ruthless with my culling, so that makes it ok, right?

5.What's one thing your followers may not know about you?

I fancied myself as a bit of singer in my youth - took singing lessons for 5 years to learn how to project my voice, and recorded a few radio commercials. I still sing when I'm driving (alone) in the car - with all the windows up of course ha ha...

6.If you were stuck on an island, what are 3 beauty products you would need with you?

Damn, I thought it said 33! Kosmea Rescue Balm, Dove Body Silk, Dove deodorant stick - couldn't bear being stinky or shrivelled when the rescue chopper arrived...

7.One beauty product or Trend (past or present) you wish you could banish from the world?

Ridiculously long pointy toed-shoes - whoever designed them absolutely HATES women. Excrutiatingly painful to wear, and to me they are downright ugly...

8.Your favourite bloggers?

There are SO many that I love and follow, but here's a handful that get me all excited when they appear in my Bloglovin emails...

Gemma Sapphire

IndieAna

Hailey O

Kate K
Magda

9.Your favourite thing about your hometown?

I was born in Melbourne but have spent most of my life in Sydney. I'm living north of Sydney now with an ocean view that I won't be giving up anytime soon - the sea and the fresh air keep me calm and sane...

10.All time favourite movie(s)?

I've been asked this three times now (thank goodness!), so I'll continue on where I left off - in the drama department, I can't go past The Hunt for Red October, Mississippi Burning, Schindler's List, Braveheart, Dances With Wolves, Three Days of the Condor, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Bodyguard. Ok that'll do for this round...

11.Your favourite things about blogging?
The outlet for creativity and self expression, chatting with my gorgeous gal pal followers, the amazing support from other bloggers, taking photographs, brightening someone's day with a giveaway...

Like my 2nd Liebster Award, I'm reserving the right to NOT nominate anyone as it's quite a task to put one of these posts together, and I don't want to burden any of my beloved blogger beauties with the extra work, and they've all been nominated anyway, in some cases, multiple times!

But if any blogger is reading this and wants to join in the fun, please do so, and post a link in the comments section so I can learn a bit more about  you ♥

1. What's your favourite precious stone?
2. If you could be reborn, what colour eyes and hair would you wish for?
3. Is there a famous person in the world today that you admire - why?
4. If you could swallow a pill and be talented at anything instantly, what would you choose?

5. What's the earliest recollection of your childhood?

6. What feature are you complimented on most often?
7. What is the most unusual clothing item you've ever purchased?
8. If you were an animal, an insect or a bird, what would you be?
9. What is your favourite flower?
10.You have unlimited funds, so what does your dream house look like?
11. What's the story behind choosing your blog title?

Take care of  you,
kats xxx

My 2nd Liebster Award!...

The lovely Avie from All Things Avie has nominated me for my second Liebster Award! Thanks my darling, and congrats on your award too - your blog is going from strength to strength every day ♥

Just for the record, here are the Liebster Award "rules":

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you
2. You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you
3. You must pick 11 nominees with under 200 followers to answer your questions
4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you
5. You must let the people you nominate know they have been nominated

And here are my (hopefully interesting) answers to Avie's questions:

1.What is your favorite hobby?

Well now I'm torn between doing eye make up looks and blogging - actually both of them are daily necessities for me, so I'm not sure that either of them counts as a hobby hey? Prior to both of these, I used to love making bead jewellery...

2.How many pets do you have? If any post a pic.

I have two cats. One of them (Natasha) is very social, and a Lara Croft adventure queen - she can't bear being bored, so she gets up to all sorts of mischief. Her most recent escapade was slipping and falling from our second floor balcony ledge after failing to successfully complete a 180 degree turn! Had us in complete torment until we got the all-clear from the vet - nothing broken, just a bit battered and bruised. However at 12 years of age she's getting a bit long in the tooth to be executing such aerial acrobatics. The photo on the left was taken AFTER her adventure, so you can see she's fine, but still climbs the stairs a little gingerly. Is this the face of a cat that's learned her lesson? I think not...

The other feline family member is very private and shy (I'll whisper her name...Coco) - she absolutely LOATHES having her picture taken, and prefers to slink from room to room without being seen. If we have visitors, forget any kind of contact - it's as if she never existed. She's a dark chocolatey black bengal/siamese cross, and I took this photo a few years ago when she wasn't looking...

3.Name one make up pet peeve of yours.

When I spend 20 minutes creating an eye look, then when I go outside in the wind my eyes water like crazy, and by the time I get to work, half my meticulously applied shadow has transferred to my hoods - boo!

4.For your nails, do you like nail polish, natural, or salon? 

I go natural because I'm incredibly time poor - I ADORE nail polish and seeing the creativity of other gals, but I just have no time whatsoever to be re-doing manis when they get all chipped, so I just keep my nails au naturel and well groomed...

5.Are you reading any books? If so, what book?
Not right at the mo' - I have three patiently waiting on the shelf though...

6.What is your favorite song at the moment?
Currently revisiting some of my old loves - for now it's "Isn't It Time" by The Baby's. ..

7.What is your favorite movie?

Last time I answered this same question I said Stargate, but that was a bit unfair to the rest of the cinematographic gems that share my #1 spot, like...The Fifth Element, Signs, The Matrix, War Of The Worlds, Gattica, A.I., The Abyss, Blade Runner etc., and that's just the Sci Fi genre...

8.What do you eat the most of?

No one thing more than another really, I believe in as much variety as possible when it comes to food - I don't think anything is bad for you if you only eat it now and then, and even so called health foods can cause grief in your body if you have them every day...

9.Are you a collector or a regulator? 

These pics should probably answer the question...

10.Do you like sports? If so, what is your favorite?

I used to play tennis and snow ski, but these days I'm an armchair appreciator of the Pro tennis circuit and Olympian downhill racers. I was also a keen roller-blader in my youth (see pic below) but I gave that up last week (I'm joking of course)...

11.If you had to take one item and one item only to an island, what item would that be?

My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - I can talk, I can blog, I can websurf, I can email, I can take photos. What else could I possibly need?

Thank you again for this fun nomination Avie ♥

Now I'm a bit stonkered here because like Gemma Sapphire, everyone I know who qualifies has already been nominated before, so here's a shout out to any <200 followers blogger out there who would like to join in the fun, and answer the following questions...

1. Are you a lover of precious stones? Which one appeals to you the most?
2. What colour are your eyes?
3. Is there a famous person in history you admire - why?
4. If you could be talented at anything instantly, what would you choose?

5. What's the earliest moment in your life you can remember?

6. What do you get complimented on most often?
7. What is the most unusual food you’ve ever eaten?
8. What creature/bird/insect do you identify with the most?
9. Do you have an all time favourite flower, and if so, what is it?
10.What does your dream house look like?
11. How did you come up with your blog title?

Take care of you,
kats xxx

Liebster Award...

Well aren't I a lucky little blogger! The beautiful Basmah from Lacee and Lattes has nominated for a Liebster Award :-) This award is bestowed upon bloggers who have a limited number of followers to help increase awareness of their site, and provide an opportunity to get to know the nominated blogger a little better ♥

Basmah's blog is all about beauty - she writes first class reviews, and always includes magnificently clear photos, plus brilliant swatches. Just recently she put together an amazing post about how to choose the right foundation - I highly recommend you check it out...

Well my dear Basmah, I'm so honoured that you included me in your list of nominees - thank you SO much hon!

Just for the record, here are the Liebster Award "rules":

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you
2. You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you
3. You must pick 11 nominees with under 200 (or 2000 if you want to go with that) followers to answer your questions
4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you
5. You must let the people you nominate know they have been nominated

And here are the (unbelievably difficult!) questions Basmah has asked of me....

1. What is your favourite thing about yourself?

I'm a naturally positive and cheerful sort of gal...

2. If you were going on holiday for 3 months, and could only take one makeup item with you, what would it be?
Oh boy, I can't even bear to think about it - one makeup item?  Ok I'll go with a cream blush, and then I could use it as a lippy too...

3. If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

No disease, hunger or cruelty in the world...

4. Who is your celebrity crush?

Well it used to be Brad Pitt, but he's been looking a bit scruffy of late...

5. What is your guilty pleasure?

Well now this question sounds like it's suggesting I have ONE guilty pleasure, but I have so many...sigh... I'll go with Cadbury Dairy Milk...

6. What was the first makeup product you ever owned?

Gee this is a toughie, mainly because I have to cast my mind back over 40 years lol!  I reckon it was either a Yardley Pot o'Gloss for my lips, or a Coty Smudge Pot (cream eye shadow)...

7. What is your favourite food?

Prawns & passionfruit pavlova (not on the same plate)...

8. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Is not needing sleep a superpower? Well that would be it - I have way too much to get through in a regular 16 hour waking day...

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?

Pay off any debts and travel the world...

10. What are your pet peeves?

People who break seals on makeup stock instead of using the testers, train travelers who put their feet on seats as if they're in their lounge rooms, opening a packet of biscuits and finding half of them broken, drivers who take up more than one space in a full car park, staff who wander off leaving their mobiles to ring incessantly on their desks (invariably with an annoying ringtone), stepping in a hole and ruining ONE shoe heel, people who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom, opening a DVD rental case and finding nothing inside, falling in love with an item of clothing and they don't have my size, clothing manufacturers who make their seams a micro-millimetre wide...gee I could go on FOREVER...

11. If you could only choose one, would you choose lipstick or mascara?

Oooh definitely lipstick - I can survive without mascara if I use eyeliner or eye shadow, but my lips are freckled and damaged by a lifetime of cold sores, and they look ghastly when bare...

Crikey, my brain hurts after answering that lot ha ha...

So now it's my turn to nominate some of my favourite bloggers that I'd personally like to spread the word about, but before I do, ladies please don't feel obliged to participate - it takes quite a bit of doing to put a page like this together, and no doubt your time is precious. But regardless of whether you continue on, without a doubt you all deserve this little bit of recognition ♥

Here are my nominees:
Kawaii Beauty Corner
Breathe Beauty
Eyes for Makeup
Australian Beauty Review
Moonlightsak's Treasures
The Makeup Bubble
Mels Make-Up Emporium
Ina Beauty World
Hissycat Krissy
Rose's Stuff
Wrapt in Beauty

And here are my questions for the above gorgeous gals:
1. If you could step into anyone else's shoes, whose would they be?
2. What items do you have in your makeup bag at the moment?
3. Are you a leader or a follower?
4. Before you started blogging, what did you do in  your spare time?
5. What's your most recent beauty product discovery?
6. If you were responsible for choosing the Pantone Colour of the Year, what colour would it be?
7. What's your dream job?
8. What creature/bird/insect represents you best?
9. Out of all the movies you've ever seen, which is your favourite and why?
10. Do you follow fashion trends, or do you stick with your own style?
11. What's one thing in your life that you wouldn't change for all the tea in China?

Take care of you,
kats xxx

The Inspired Blog Award

Well didn't I have my Thursday turn into something special! The beautiful, kind and ever so supportive Gemma over at Lady Sapphire Blog has nominated me for an Inspired Blog Award - what a honey you are Lady S, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and the top of my blog!

Agnieszka from Beauty Cat Castle has kindly created this award so that us bloggers can spread the love for our favourite inspirational blogs. The Rules are simple as...all we have to do is nominate at least three bloggers who inspire us, and explain why :-)

Some of my faves have already been nominated by Gemma, but here are a few more way deserving gals...

Magda from All the pretty faces hasn't posted in a while, but her eye makeup creations were responsible for the development of my passion many years ago. She is a true artist and creates the most exquisite looks with colour combinations I couldn't even dream of. Do check out her blog - I'm sure you will be in as much awe as I am at the beauty of her work :-)

Next is IndieAna from IndieAna: In Search of the HolyGrail - a dear friend, and one of my greatest enablers as far as beauty products are concerned (I blame her constantly for my ever growing collection!). She seemingly has no fear regularly posting full FOTD's, plus EOTD's and NOTD's (the latter in particular are out of this world), as well as writing strikingly honest and informative reviews. We also share a passion for magnificently pigmented & shimmery eye shadows, and I can count on her for bringing to my attention those suppliers outside the mainstream.

And my list of "inspirers" wouldn't be complete without Kate from Seducedbybeauty. Back in July of this year, Kate invited me to be her first Guest Blogger - I was so honoured, and it certainly whet my appetite for blogging, so much so that I started my own a few months later! She's also one of the most beautiful and elegant ladies I've had the pleasure to know, her articles are honest, entertaining and exceptionally well written, and her videos are a pleasure to watch. With the gift of the gab, she's both professional and refreshingly natural in her delivery.

All of these ladies are brilliant bloggers, and inspire me every day to improve my writing, makeup application and photography skills.  Lovelies, all of you totally rock at blogging!

Thanks again Gemma dear for this award, I'm so touched.  And I don't see any reason why I can't nominate you back darling - you make me want to be a better blogger, and a better human being xxx

Take care of you,

kats xxx

Versatile Blogger Award!

Oh my!  I'm so honoured that the delectable Gemma Sapphire from Lady Sapphire Blog has nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award :-)

I've only been blogging for a little over a month, so to be nominated this early on in my career is really quite a thrill, and I'm so grateful to Gemma for including me in her list.

You can read all about the award here: http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/about/ - I'm sure inspired to keep blogging about the things I love in my beauty world :-)


One of the responsibilities of this award is to declare 7 perhaps hitherto unknown facts about myself, so here we go:

1) I'm a Sagittarian!  I was supposed to be a Capricorn, but I deliberately arrived 3 weeks early so I  wouldn't have to wait 12 months to spend  my first Christmas with my parents...

2) I'm not very tall - 5' 2" in fact (or 157.48 cm for all you young'uns). It's not surprising that once I realised I had stopped growing, I immediately adopted the motto "good things come in small packages"...

3) I'm left-handed - a natural south paw, but I use my knife & fork the same way as a right-hander (much less stressful for restaurant waiters)...

4) After leaving school, I launched myself into a somewhat short-lived career as an actress. But I wasn't very good though, so I learned how to type (just so I could eat)...

5) I was born with RED hair (much to my mother's dismay), which fell out when I was three months old. Bald till age two, it grew back platinum blonde, and corkscrew curly. This may or may not be related to fact #1 above...

6) At 20 years of age, I went on my first OS trip, and while I was there, somehow ended up learning how to water ski in the South China Sea (and swallowed half of it glub glub)...

7) My favourite city in the world is Venice. When first we met, she was so beautiful, all shrouded in fog and mystery and moved me to tears, and the second time around, glorious sunlight was dancing across her ancient buildings, bridges & canals. She has my heart :-)

Next I must nominate 15 bloggers for this same award, so here are some of my favourite blogs that most definitely qualify because of their exceptional content, variety and the delight they bring to me:

• Kate from Seducedbybeauty.com
• Scentsation from IndieAna: In Search of the HolyGrail
• Nalini from The Made Up Maiden
• Sandy from Eyes for Makeup
• Ina from Ina Beauty World
• Tulip Love from Kuwai Beauty Corner
• Jen from The Shopping Queen
• Miss Billi from Australian Beauty Review
• Sarah from More Than Adored
• Sarah from All Her Pretty Little Things
• Sarah from The Science of Beauty
• Tracey from mummytutto
• Kerri from Beauty & Things
• Coleen from The Makeup Bubble
• Amy from Bottled Beauty

Oh and just for the record, here are the VBA rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award. 
2. Include a link to their blog.
3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Hope you found my 7 facts entertaining - can't wait to read some no doubt fascinating info about my fellow nominees :-)

Take care of you,
kats xxx

Hello and welcome to kats colourings...

I've just entered the world of blogging :-)

Been toying with the idea for several months, but wasn't at all sure I'd have the time to dedicate to providing a variety of content with regular updates. However, after winning the beautyheaven Aspiring Bloggers category of the Australian Blogstar Awards 2013, I was both inspired and determined to make it happen. (Part of the exciting prize was a guest blog-spot on beautyheaven, and my first contribution went up this weekend.)

So here I am plunging head-first, and clinging for my life to the blog-world vertical learning curve - eek! It will no doubt take a while to get the hang of things, but meanwhile I thought I'd begin with a collage of what I love to do most - eye makeup looks. I'm crazy for colour and adore putting complimentary hues together to match my outfits, and take great delight in experimenting with different shadow textures - mattes, creams, pearls, glitters, suedes, gels, shimmers, you name it, I'll try it lol. Liner work is probably my weakest point, but it's all a matter of practise, practise, practise!

My right eye is not the least bit photogenic, so you'll only ever see my left in close-up...

Hope you enjoy this collection -  there'll be plenty more where these came from, and going forward, I'll do my best to include how-to's and a list of the products used.

Take care of you,
kats xxx