Dear diary: When customers are rude...

Dear world,

Who needs friends to vent to when you can just blog about it? I’m kidding! I love my friends but sometimes they’re busy and I need someone to talk to and I’m sad so I’m going to tell you all what happened today.

For anybody who works in retail, I’m sure you’ve dealt with this. Of course like any job it’s going to have its ups and downs but here’s the thing, I actually like retail despite what some people might think of it. I enjoy it, my customers are great especially the mature ones, great stories and I’m not being sarcastic.

Today really made me upset and I’m not going to lie, everybody’s temper is going to flare up here and there, but I was having a good day until this lady started giving me attitude.

It started off fine, I greeted her, I asked if she needed any help, I showed her 2 different sizes of clothing, which one would be a better fit for her daughter, it was going great until we got to the checkout. She decided to buy the 2 pieces of clothing and instead of being 2 for $15, which was for the children’s size, it was 2 for $20 (ladies size). I told her that because this is no longer a children’s size, the price is different.

She was fine with it and she was like “Oh okay next time I have to ask the price beforehand” and I was like okay, but the sign with the price on it was right there, she saw it that’s why she was confused with the change I gave her, instead of giving her $35 change I gave her $30 from a 50. I went off to do something else and within a few seconds I’m talking 10 seconds she totally just lost it on me.

She started from being calm and understanding to raising her voice and saying, “Excuse me, I thought it was 2 for $15 because then where I live I can go buy it for the same price and I don’t want to buy this from you and I want my money back, so I’m going to give it back to you and you give me my money!” I was like okay, nodding my head, yeah, bring it back (because her daughter took it somewhere) and I’ll give your money back.

She started walking off and mumbling to herself giving me a death stare may I just add.

Because that is such a HUGE problem she had to get THAT mad. My head hurts thinking about it.

I was so shocked because it was fine, I totally did not get where the attitude came from, I was fine with the whole refunding of the money but it was the way she said it. She could have just said, Oh sorry, I’ve changed my mind, is it alright if I can get a refund. Seriously it’s all about the delivery. If you don’t want people to be rude to you, then don’t be so rude to start off with.

I’m so proud of myself though, because I think if it was me 1 year ago, I would be yelling back at her because she started yelling at me, but I kept my cool and it’s just a real shame that people don’t understand that it doesn’t matter what job you have, you should treat everybody with respect and speak in a calm manner. I get that working in retail you are the customer, but I’m a human being too, I just might be a bit more lady like than you.

Okay I’m done venting now, thanks for reading guys, I feel better. =) Just remember, if you ever get a rude customer BE CALM (I know it’s hard) but it totally makes them second guess themselves and realise that they’re being really rude and if not, they’re most likely having a bad day.

And by the way, can we all just be a little bit nicer to one another. Dealing with negative people just makes me feel so bad about myself.

Dear diary: Are we too tech savvy to own a typewriter?

I have this fascination with vintage things, whether it is clothing, tea sets, anything really. The weird thing about me is I appreciate a lot of vintage stuff but at the same time I would never wear vintage clothing well if it was a hat then I would ( my love of hats, a whole different story)

Everytime I would shop with my best friend she would take me to these awesome vintage shops that she knew of and we would spend AGES in the store and just get to know the owner and the history of their accessories and whatever they had in there.

Okay so we all know by now I like writing. And computers yayyy! You’ve been so great to me except when this wireless keyboard spazzes out on me and viruses etc etc, but what I’ve wanted for a really long time now is a typewriter. You know? The really old school ones and where you have to move the paper and not make a mistake because then you’ve got to start again. I LOVE!  There’s something so personal about writing out a letter to somebody on a typewriter as opposed to a computer because then you just email it, whereas a typewriter, you can send it to someone by snail mail or really personalize it as a part of a gift to somebody.

I don’t know guys I just really want one and start clicking away on it. 


Maybe something like this..

LOVE this typewriter!

The tea diaries: Look at my super cute new tea set!

I used to be such an impulse buyer (that's when I didn't care about saving), but now I do so I'm really you know, do I really need this and if I get it, will I use it and when will I use it and is it something I would use more than once, is it worth it, do I need it right now, oh you well budgeted people out there, I wish I was you.

But regardless, I needed something up for my tea diaries series and I'm so excited about this high tea I'm going to throw towards the end of the year, so yesterday I bought a super cute tea set.

Every week I would go into that store and just stay there and wonder should I get it now or later. I always decided on later, so when I went in yesterday I was disappointed that not that it was sold out but it was the last little tea set left and there was one teacup missing and some teacups were chipped and it just wasn't worth it, I mean who wants to buy cracked/ chipped crockery that isn't even a complete set. It was super cute, it was mini sized with little saucers, come to think of it I should have taken a photo, so silly. I was just so upset.

I thought the mini teacups would be a good addition to the set out of my high tea, I want to have a variety of teas on the table, so the mini tea cups could be used as little testers and if they liked it, they could pour themselves a full cup.

Instead I went to a different store and found a similar tea set normal sized you could say for the same price at $20 well she discounted it for me, because nobody was really buying it, umm why would you not? sometimes my logic just doesn't match others.

Rose and gold coloured tea set, this is the box it came in

I'm really happy with this one it's definitely something I would pull out if I had guests over and most of my friends are lovers of tea, well at least I force them to drink it because it's just so yum! And I bake them muffins so they have to have some tea with that. English breakfast all the way, with milk.

So I took some photos, (like my set up?) just need to wash these now and put them in a cupboard somewhere.

6 saucers and 6 teacups, do you guys like my setup?

the teacup

the saucer

I'm loving the detailing on the saucer and teacup and the colours make it look so elegant. 

Next move, I need to get a teapot or two or three or I don't know we'll see.

Dear diary: I'm writing a book!

Soo yeah did I tell you guys I’m writing a book?

I have absolutely no idea where this year is taking me, last year I was studying I had work experience in films and photo shoots, I travelled to LA last year for IMATS there, special workshops learning from the best and the experienced, it was also the first time I went overseas. Last year was a great year for me, I was busy I was studying and practicing something that I loved.

This year though, I felt a lot was going to change, it was the year that my life would sort of get started if you get me. This year has definitely been about growing up and figuring out what I really want to do and make some serious decisions that would affect the rest of my life.

I had absolutely no idea that this blog would be doing this well, or the fact that I was even going to start blogging, a huge surprise for me and a happy one too. It’s something I definitely look forward doing, chucking my thoughts out there and sharing some makeup and beauty tips we all love and of course this crazy world we call life in there as well.

So as a part of wanting to become not just a good makeup artist, or a great one, not just an ordinary one but I want to be amazing. I feel even though yeah okay I have my certificate I’m qualified to do make up, but I was only taught basics and I think there is a huge difference between getting your certificate in makeup and being a makeup artist.

A makeup artist puts in that effort, they give that bit more,  I’m not talking you just do amazing makeup I’m talking about everything, the whole deal.Skin care, skin prepping, knowing your skin types, knowing what products suit what person, how to deal with contra-indications, recognizing every contra-indication there is out there, the ingredients found in makeup and beauty products, what is it made of or what is it in general, understanding the skin’s pH balance, oil and water based products, face shapes, corrective work, eye shapes, the use of lighting and how it will affect your makeup, black and white photography, seriously I could go on.

 There’s so much we need to know about makeup, it’s not as simple as slapping on concealer and foundation, it’s about what products can we use to get that makeup to last longer to work for you. I think that’s why I was definitely turned off doing makeup on film sets, people are really mean and they treated makeup artists like we were nothing, that we’re all about being pretty and if only people could see what I see and that is every element in a film set needs to work harmoniously with one another and it’s a shame, it was great experience, but it was shocking, I know rude but that took rude to another level. You’d be surprised at how bad that would make you feel.

I want to be that makeup artist where people ask me anything and I’ll have an answer for them right away. I want to be able to fix problems on the spot and not to be afraid of what if they don’t like the look I do for them. So yeah because of ALL that (sorry about the rant, couldn’t help myself) I’m writing a makeup guide book, everything you need to know and more. Another project for me but it all works to becoming an extraordinary makeup artist, that and even if it doesn’t get anywhere it’s my makeup guide, I’ve put a lot of effort into it and learnt so much along the way.

Right now I’m still on chapter 1, all about skin care, there is a lot to it but I feel like I know even more now. 

Dear diary: I LOVE today!

I don’t know what it is about this week, but I am so tired. These past couple of nights I’ve been getting in some well needed beauty sleep, but I still feel so exhausted like my body is so awake but my eyes and head are dozing off with everything I do. Anyone ever felt like that?

I’m surprised that I’m still running every day especially since I could sleep in instead of waking up at 7 in the morning and going for that run.

Maybe it’s the weather? I am not kidding it is so beautiful for autumn right now, sunny with that cool breeze and it’s meant to last this whole entire week. Perfect days for journal writing and going for a nice long walk.

It’s so peaceful and calm, I’m in my room drinking a cup of tea and it’s so relaxing, I’m about to fall asleep but I can’t otherwise I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

If only most days could be like this and give you such a great feeling.

Happy, relaxed, stress free and just appreciating the beautiful things around us.

Dear diary: Look at what I bought shopping part 2

Part 2 here we go, I have literally spent hours on organising my beauty and makeup products, chucking things in boxes that I don’t need, making room to store some of the ridiculous products I have going on here. I am so tired right now.

Okay third purchase for that shopping trip was this cute little journal set I picked up at Kmart for $5.

Journal set

I've wanted a journal for ages now, I love writing so something I could just scribble my thoughts into and keep it just for myself to look back and reflect on, very old school but I love it.

Obviously blogs right now are great places for putting your thoughts out there, but sometimes nothing beats taking a journal and a pen and going outside on a beautiful, sunny day and sitting on a bench in a park or a garden, somewhere peaceful and just enjoy the art of writing. At least that’s how I see it.

Definitely can’t wait to start writing in this, it comes with a journal, a notepad and a matching pen and it’s got a picture of New York! (oh New York, one day I will visit you)

Fourth purchase is a goody, this was the reason for my shopping trip.

I’ve got a pretty good system of where I store my brushes and my products, but I thought it was time for a change, get rid of the old, in with the new. Know what I mean?

Compaca storage box

So here I got a Compaca storage box, as it is called, I was immediately sold on this because of where you could store the brushes and the 2 layer shelves. I’m looking at it right now and the reason I’m so tired is because I have way too many products, it’s so full I’m really surprised with how much I could fit into it and it just makes things look so much more neater.

Fifth buy was storage for my cosmetics and it was this cosmetic organiser.

Cosmetic organiser

This is just so handy and I actually should mention I purchased this and the compaca storage box at Target, I think that’s why I got it because it was sort of similar to the first one but I wanted it, I didn’t even think do I really need this, I just saw it picked it up and paid for it.

One side of this you can store brushes, moisturisers and on the other side your lipsticks, your eye primers anything you want that fits into it. Love it.

Lipstick organiser

Finally last purchase of the day and yes from target again and it’s a lipstick organiser, this was so cheap $3.50. Holds up to 9 lipsticks and I thought this would be great to have on makeup jobs with me or just to store the lipsticks I have that I use more of.

Very satisfied with the purchases I bought for this shopping trip and I didn’t even spend over $100. 

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Dear diary: Look at what I bought shopping part 1

This shopping trip for me has been a long time coming, I’ve been dying to spend some money on just anything (besides beauty products, but only if I really really need it), so because of that, instead of buying beauty or makeup products or shoes or clothes I bought some pretty random but things I’ve wanted to buy for a while or 2 days ago because I saw it was on sale in a catalogue.

I think I’ll break this post into two parts, only because I don’t want it to be so long that you can’t be bothered reading it anymore, people who get distracted really easily (me) I’m talking to you.

First buy, well, it was a train ticket but that doesn’t count.

I think it’s because I haven’t been shopping in so long that I had absolutely no idea these even existed until I read someone’s blog (I’m so sorry I forget who). 

They’re Formula 10.0.6 face masks in little sachets and because I use one of their cleansers I wanted to give their face masks a try.

Formula 10.0.6 face masks 

I just want to say though a quick pro and con with these things, great if you want a quick and inexpensive test run with these because you’ve never used their product before, but when you really think about it, and if you’re a magazine purchaser lover like me, I’m pretty sure they use these as free giveaways in magazines at times. Not necessarily this brand but the amount you get to try it out, it’s kind of like another way the company makes more money.

No review yet, probably will give the orange one a try tonight and get a review up sometime this week.

Second purchase: A gift box high tea set!!

This is the cutest thing ever, ever since the idea of wanting a high tea party, I’ve just been spotting tea sets everywhere I go!

I swear this is so super cute I love it and it only costed me 20 bucks. It comes with a 48 page recipe book, 24 cupcake holders, ahhh a TEA strainer!!!!! And of course a 3 tier cake stand.

High tea gift box set

Now the cake stand is just cardboard but you know what, I only need it for that high tea party of mine and it can just be on display for all I care. The tea strainer is a cute little bargain, re useable, dish washable, stainless steel, so appropriate for this high tea.

The 3 -tier cake stand

You know I’m just so excited the book talks about the history of tea, recipes for the cutest cupcakes in the world plus scones, cookies, umm cocktails anyone, probably more like mocktails, sandwiches, YUM! And on top of that high tea serving etiquette, I mean who doesn’t want to know about that.

The recipe book, tea strainer and cupcake holders

Very very excited and happy, walked out of the store with the biggest grin on my face.

Okay so I’m going to end it here and post up part 2 tomorrow or something.

A nifty gift idea

When it comes to birthdays and present giving in general, I get so excited because I love to make things. I like to get all artsy and just creative. The only downside I think about being too creative is you have way too many ideas that you just want to put out there all in one go and sometimes it just doesn’t work.

I decided this year as a gift to one of my closest friends, I would make slash buy her something and I haven’t done something like this in such a long time and making this gift for her reminded me of how much I love being creative and having wonderful friends that inspire me to make these things.

The theme for this gift is purple as it is her favourite colour. So I went to the shops and just bought a whole heap of little nick nacks that she might like and could be useful for her.

Here’s what I put in, rose clips, a compact mirror, powder puff, falsies, nail polish remover wipes, nailpolish, iphone case, lipgloss, bracelet, 3 piece baking tool set, chopsticks (random) and a nivea sample for her face.

These are the things that I bought to make this gift which cost me $10 and I had some craft stuff lying around as well.

-        Gift box ($4)

-        Tissue paper ($2)

-        Ribbons ($4)

First decide what fillers (that’s what I like to call them) that you’re going to add. For me I decided to put in

-        Lots and lots of ribbon

-        Some mini bells

-        Some dowels

-        Tissue paper

-        A bunch of sequins that say happy birthday or are purple

Think of a birds nest and when the person opens the gift they just start digging around to see what else there is and it’s something exciting because they don’t know what you’ve put in and don’t know how much stuff there is.

Second get the tissue paper and fold it so it fits inside the box ensuring that there is an excess amount at the ends. This excess will “wrap” the gifts.

Third place all the ribbons inside the box. Make sure you curl the ribbons as well and try to use different types of ribbon some curly maybe even add some shredded paper. The whole messy look gets the receiver of the gift more excited because they’re just going to keep looking. It’s like opening 12 gifts in 1 thing every time they find something.

Fourth, add in the fillers, sprinkle the sequins around the box, the bells, the dowels anything you want. Be creative. A lot of these things I already had from previous arts and crafts projects, it helps to keep them all in a box and pull it out whenever you need it.

Fifth, place the gifts inside the box, hiding some under the ribbons so they can keep looking for what else is in there.

Sixth, with the ends of the tissue paper, fold it over and seal it with a sticker. Here I chose to stick a little purple present sticker I thought looked really nice. It shows you’ve put a lot of thought even for the simplest of things.

Next, for that added touch or smell I should say, spray some perfume onto that tissue paper, the scent will be absorbed onto the tissue paper and close the lid on the box so the smell will be there when they open it.

With the gifts, I thought I’d make it even more personal and I wrote a little bit about what the product was and what she could use them for. For example, with the nail polish I wrote,

-        BYS nailpolish: Getting your nails in touch with the fashion world. Don’t forget the toes too, because feet are ugly.

That’s just a little inside joke between her and I because she knows I hate feet. Just something like that shows how much you value your friendship adding things about each other and why that product reminds you of that person.

So I wrote them onto little cards and just tied it up with ribbon, making it look like a parcel and it just adds something extra to the gift.

I know when you think of giving a gift, you think a card, you need to buy a card. I hate buying cards to be honest with you, I just like making them and coming up with my own nifty little sayings. Have you guys watched 500 days of summer? I should have a job like that.

But what I did instead was on the lid of the box on the inside, I placed a piece of ribbon across the box and slipped under a note that I wrote just for that person, saying happy birthday and how much they meant to me and all kinds of soppy stuff, like you would, especially if she’s your best friend. 

Finally, wrap the box around with a piece of ribbon and here I added a little musical tag with her name at the back which just gave the box some added décor and it looks pretty snazzy too if I say so myself.

I talk about my hair again.. and PPS root lift hair volumiser

I feel like all I talk about right now is my hair.

I’m sorry, it happens okay. Sometimes I’ll talk about makeup and beauty products and then it’s just only because I got a haircut in case you haven’t read. I mean how could you miss all those blogs.

( These hair blogs are up on my wordpress blog - lalalinee.wordpress.com)

I really wanted some volume through my hair, especially at the roots as my hair is pretty thick and has volume everywhere else but the roots.

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time in an area where every corner you turn there is a hair salon or hair supply shop and I’m not complaining, I love it and discount prices on products and friendly service (only if you buy something) I mean how could you not love being some place like that.

No but in all seriousness, this hair supply shop I went into were really lovely, they had a new worker who was from america and I could not concentrate on what she was saying because if you have an accent and you talk to me I just get lost because I love accents and my mind totally goes MIA, especially if you have an american or english accent, seriously I’ll dear diary blog on accents and how much I love them.

Regardless, I talked to her for a good 15 minutes about america and where I stayed when I was over there last year and how she was in australia for 2 months already and how homesick she was and now back to what I went in there for. So i asked her if there was anything for my hair that would give me some good volume and just make it look all fluffy and bouncy and full of volume basically.

So they recommended this for me.

PPS root lift volumiser

If you were wondering, I purchased this for $16.95

A mousse  and the nozzle on this thing is INSANE! you can definitely tell that this was designed just for your roots.

         Initial thought -  I sprayed this through the roots of my hair and it was amazing!  The amount of volume I had up there made it feel like I just had an awesome blow dry. The only thing was I did spray a lot through my hair but that could be just me as my hair is thick.

I used this the next day and I didn’t spray as much as i did the day before so my hair went back to flat again by not even midday.

Overall, I like this product a lot, wouldn’t say love just yet, it’s only the second time I’ve used it but on the plus side, the amount I did spray stayed in my hair for the whole day and what I do like about it the most is the fact that you can just scrunch your hair and the product is still there.

The nozzle on this thing, definitely aims at
your roots.

 

Cleanse that dirt away in 30 seconds!

There are so many nights where I just don’t care about washing my face, all I want to do is go to bed and sleep. But I do it because I know when I wake up the next morning my face is going to be super oily. Gross.

When I’m really tired and I’m sure you all have done this, you just pop that cleanser in your hand and just rub rub rub all over your face, wash it off, quick toner, slap on that moisturizer and there you go, you’re done and now bed. Yay!

I always wash my face, morning and night with cleanser, toner and all that jazz, but how long are you supposed to have that cleanser on your face for? Surprised or not, you should actually be cleansing for 30 seconds before you wash it off. Never knew that? Try it tonight and you’ll see the difference, I know I did when I first tried it. Those 30 seconds really let the foam or gel or whatever type of cleanser you’re using to remove all that dirt deep down in your pores, any excess oils and build up of dirt from the day.

Don’t forget to also exfoliate at least two or three times a week and when you can, slap on a mud mask once every two weeks. Just simple things like leaving that cleanser on for 30 seconds help for clearer and cleaner skin.


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Walking with line - what weird animals do your neighbours have?

I recently had some new neighbours that moved in next door. We went over, said hello, introduced ourselves etc etc like good neighbours do. I don’t live in the countryside, actually I live absolutely NOWHERE near the countryside. This is what I find weird.

I’m used to dogs, kitties maybe guinea pigs as a family pet. But to have a rooster????? I wake up literally every morning at 3:30 because it’s crowing or whatever roosters do. I’m not done. To add to that, they have at least 4 massive chickens that smell! Their poop is so bad I actually found a HUGE dead mouse near my fence one time. I’m also pretty sure, they’ve added a duck, because I swore I heard a quack the other day. At first, it was okay but the rooster doesn’t just crow at “dawn”, it’s so confused! It’s not dawn, it’s just cloudy and it just crows and crows and won’t shut up.

Trying to get to sleep is the worst, I just end up laying in bed for 4 hours until I have to get up.

Let me know guys, what’s the weirdest animal your neighbours have? Maybe they have goat? OMG what if they DO have a goat?

Walking with Line – What you do when you’re bored

You go annoy your siblings and see what they’re up too, they’re doing homework. BORING!

You walk from one end of the house to another looking for something to do, then you decide to sit on the couch to watch some tv, turn it on, flick through all the channels, turn it off. Nothing’s on.

Now you’re hungry, you go to look for food, open the fridge, close it. There’s no food. There’s never food. Why do you bother?

Stand in the kitchen whining, maybe drink some water.

Then go back to see what your siblings are doing…. Yep, they’re still doing homework.

You walk out of their rooms and walk up and down the house another 2 times, maybe 3 whilst whining and complaining there’s nothing to do.

You go to your phone and text 5 people asking them what they’re up to.

It’s been 3 hours, still no reply.

You go back to the fridge, open it, close it, walk around the kitchen, open it again then close it, drink some more water and then open it again. You think that maybe some food will magically appear.

Now you need to pee.

You go to the toilet.

By this time, you’re STILL bored.

You go back to the tv, sit on the couch, look for the remote, you can’t find the remote, never mind you find it, turn it on, flick through all the channels, turn it off. There’s still nothing on.

Get up, walk up and down whining and whining and whining and whining.

Sit on your computer, check facebook, check twitter, check your emails, check your subs on youtube, no one’s uploading.

You’re still bored.

You look outside the window, it’s dark, it’s night time.

You decide to go to bed.

As you get into bed, those 5 people you texted start texting back saying “Sorry for the late reply” and end up telling you about how great their day was.

Well good for them! At least they had a productive day.

You don’t text them back until midday the next day, let’s see how they like it!

helloooo blogging!

A big hi and hello to anybody reading this right now!

I've decided to try this whole blogging thing out, apparently its the new craze these days. I can't wait to get started and blog about anything really. (mostly makeup)

So far, i'm so confused as of what to do but i'll get there.  Just want to get this blog up and running, you guys don't understand how excited i am. I wanted to be a journalist at one point but then i changed my mind and now i'm doing makeup, so why not put two and two together and write about the makeup products i get to buy and try. =)

Keep reading my posts guys, i think you'll be surprised about the stuff I say.