Costco Shopping and Prices 27/4/14

So I have continued to shop at Costco even though I haven't been posting anything about it. I usually go now for smaller trips and park outside the building and just take my own shopping bags in. The experience is much easier and shorter when you don't have to get a car park or a trolley! But today I bought quite a few things, mostly things I don't think I have posted about before either, so I have done another price comparison between Costco, Aldi and Woolies. I get my Woolies prices online, so the savings in store wouldn't be as large I think. However you will see that on these products the difference is so large between Woolies and Costco that even the lower in store prices won't be better than Costco.  If you want more details or a review of any particular items please let me know with a comment, I'd be happy to let you know :)

Items I didn't mention in the table: Yum Cha at Home Steam Selection seafood dumplings (scallop, prawn and prawn+ginger) So much yum. This is $19.99 for 52 piecces. Frozen Blueberries 6.46 for 1kg, Ceasar Salad- The lettuce is ok, the bacon is ok....but the dressing is sooooooooooo good. This is a much better shopping treat than the jerky I usually by too, I think. In this picture you also can't see the skim milk box, that blue one is full cream. 

Pre-vacuuming

After Vacuuming- Enough to last a day or two fresh
and the rest sealed up to last until we need it. I
will need to keep track this time of how long it takes
us to use it up and how nice it stays.

So even though the spell check was on, I missed a couple of 'real' spelling errors. But I couldn't be bothered fixing it and getting a new screen shot. I am truly sorry for letting you down. But not really.

Essence Gel Nails at Home Review

I have exceeded my own expectations of laziness today, but it has resulted in me being able to review the new nail products I showed from last nights Priceline visit.
The products I was looking at were the gel top coat, the gel primer, the french tip stickers and a metallic polish for stamping.

Gel Top Coat
I think this cost around $4.60, but it isn't listed on the website.
On my tester nails I did one with the two coats of IBD gel white on the tip first, then used the Gelish Tafeta colour over it, followed by the Essence top coat. On the other nail I have 2 coats of Tafeta, then two coats of the IBD on the tip, follwed by the Gelish top coat.
The reason for the different processes was because I also wanted to see if it looked better with the colour on top or under the white, and how well the tip stickers worked over a coat of gel polish. Because these are just practice nails I didn't bother with base coat at all.  In the photos the nail with the bigger white tip has the Gelish top coat.

Overall I think the Essence gel is kind of a dud. It does work, but not nearly as well or as easily as the Gelish. You can see in the images that the Essence top coat give a cloudy effect to the nail and is a much more dull finished compared to the Gelish. It was also very thick and I found it was hard to spread over the nail without being a very thick layer. It is also has a slightly yellowish tint to it which I think is what made it seem a bit cloudy. If you want to try out gels, I don't think this is the way to do. I would really recommend bypassing the 'drug store' type ones and go straight for CND Shellac or Nail Harmony Gelish polishes and base/top coats. They are much easier to work with and will give you better results for your investment to start with. Then it is easy to experiment with other polishes in the middle as you get better at application. I have yet to find a cheaper brand that applies as much like regular polish as the Gelish or CND Shellac ones, and have not found other brand top coats to give as good of a shine.  

Gel Primer

This is the product that you use on your nails before applying the base coat. The aim is to dehydrate the nail and ensure there are no oils that might make your polish lift sooner. It cost $4.60, for comparison I think the mini Gelish ones like in the picture cost about $8 at Hairhouse.

Comparing the ingredients to the Gelish brand one, I found that the main ingredient was the same (a type of alcohol) but the rest seemed different, however they could have been different names for the same chemical for all I know about it. I'm not sure how much effect this will make on my nails, as I was only playing with practise nails today. 

On the back of my hand I found they felt the same and both evaporated quickly, with the Gelish seeming like it was a bit faster. The Essence one however smells really nice and the smell lingers on your skin for ages, which is nice because the Gelish one smells awful. I would really like it if the smell stayed on may hand after applying all the layers of polish, it would just make the process a bit nicer and fancier feeling! So far I would recommend this, I will update if suddenly my polishes stop working as well. 

French Tip Stickers

At $1.80 for 30 you can't go too far wrong with these. I tried them two ways. First stuck straight onto my practise nail and then stuck on over my base colour that had been cured and dry brushed to try and remove some of the sticky layer. 

Straight on, as it would be on a natural nail when using regular nail polish or over totally dry nail polish, this will work really well and give a great crisp even line for a french tip, or other effect depending on where you place it. 

One layer before cleaning up

Two layers, cleaned up

Over gel polish, like any tape produce, it doesn't work as well and slips around a bit. That said, I think it will make tipped looks much easier for me because using these I can mark the height better so it is even across my nails. Using this to apply the first coat, then cleaning up with a brush dipped in alcohol or non acetone remover before curing means I can get neat even tips, and the second coat of colour is easy to just carefully apply over the top. I am also able to apply thinner layers this way which should mean it lasts longer as thick application at the tips often leads to lifting. 

Metallic Polish

This polish I think was about $3, so it is a bargain either way!

For stamping I found it worked pretty well, not as well as my Ulta3 gold polish, but they aren't completely the same colour. It will still be very useful and great for a warmer toned but softer look when stamping gold. 

I stamped over my practise nail, but you couldn't see it well due to the colours so I ended up just stamping over some purple paper to compare the different polishes I have that are similar. I would say that this Essence polish is now my second best one, and still better than the expensive Konad Special Stamping polish that I got with my inital set. The stamp I used is from BundleMonster.

This was the best shot I could get of the Essence colour. It turned out really well. 

Compared to the others without flash, you can see the Ulta3 gold next to it is just a bit stronger and more opaque.

Compared to the others with flash. The Konad gold is very dissapointing. It does stamp well, as all the Konad colour will, but it isn't a rich metallic gold. It just kind of looks brown/ dirty yellow and has no shine or sparkle.

So there you go! 1 dud, 2 really good and one pretty useful. Not too bad and given the prices, I'm not annoyed that the top coat isn't great. It will be useful for smoothing out glitters I think, and for playing with pigments etc. when I don't want to contaminate my good top coat. 

I would love to do more nail posts and would really like ideas for nail art looks or products to try out, so feel free to comment and let me know what you think :)

(little) Priceline Haul

You know how it is, you go in for one specific thing and come out with lots of random stuff....

I originally went in for the Sanctuary cleansing oil, $19.99, (because Youtube told me cleansing oils are where it's at), but wandered past the Essence stand and saw they have a gel polish system, so I HAD to try tthe topcoat (I can't find this on their website, but I think it was $4.60).

They also had a nice looking metallic that I thought might be good for stamping, which is also not on the website, but I think it was around $3.

I wanted to give the french tip guides, $1.80, a go with my gels and pigments to see if I can get a nice look.

The last Essence product I got was the  gel primer, $4.60. I have used the Gelish primer since I got my first kit about 3 or 4 years ago, so clearly these things last a while. It's great to have found something so easily accessed as Priceline though! Hopefully I can do a review of these nail products, as gel systems can be very expensive and sometimes hard to get.

 The last thing I got was a Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm, $3.16 on special. I got the "Smoothing Cherry" flavour...but I really just picked it because I liked the colours.

Seared Scallops With Creamy White Wine Sauce

So yesterday I went to Costco and finally got some of the sea scallops I have been seeing each time I go.
They come in a 900 gram bag for about $42 at the moment, although they were cheaper near Christmas so I guess they were on special or the price fluctuates according to season (which is what I hope, it makes me think they are fresher if they aren't kept long enough to avoid seasonal prices!).
I had seen this video from Foodwishes on Youtube a while ago and thought it looked so good. So I made my own. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it is very similar.

                                    

Ingredients (serves two):

•  6 sea scallops
• pasta (mine was a mix of spaghetti and linguine), I use the measuring thing at the top of the container to measure how much.
• 2 garlic cloves crushed, chopped or grated. 
• Dry white wine, I used around 3/4 of a cup I think. 
• 3 heaping tablespoons of cream, I used the Philly cream for cooking because I was too scared to have it separate and ruin the very expensive scallops!
• Parsley, however much you like, I used about 2 cm worth of that bunch, chopped. 
• Oil, butter, salt, pepper, chili flakes, Parmesan and lemon juice as you see fit. 

Method:

1. Defrost the scallops on a rack over a plate to allow any excess moisture to drain. Rinse and dry them VERY thoroughly.
2. Season Scallops with salt and pepper.
3. Boil water and have pasta boiling before starting anything else as it all cooks very fast once you get started.Always check on it, turn it off when slightly underdone and leave in the pot or drain when done and have ready to add to the sauce.  
4. Heat a fry pan with some oil to a very high heat and carefully add the scallops. Leave in the pan without moving for about 1 and half minutes, or a tiny bit more, for each side. All the recipes I read said one minute, but I felt that mine were a little under done and they were in there for a bit over a minute each side.
   
5. Remove the scallops and set aside. Turn the temperature down and add the butter and garlic.
6. Before the garlic has a chance to crisp, add the wine and chili and allow to simmer. 
7. Add the cream and lemon juice and simmer to your desired consistency (this happened in the time it took me to get an extra dollop of cream and some more lemon juice, it's very fast if your pan was really hot to start with). Turn heat right down.
   
8. Add the pasta and parsley and stir through to heat pasta if it has been out of the pot.
9. Serve the pasta on plates with salad, with the scallops on top and some Parmesan cheese!
   

This was a really yummy and fast meal. I think it would be excellent for a dinner party as it is quite fancy, but doesn't require a lot of work and isn't overly filling, meaning more room for appetizers and desserts! 

The Scallops were excellent I think (not that I have a lot of experience) but I found they have a nice mild taste and are really sweet. They were not rubbery or chewy, but did not fall apart either. 

Costco Shopping and Prices 15/02/14

A slightly larger haul than normal from Costco to stock up on meat to make freezer meals. Getting back into the swing of work has been hard as it is so busy with parent-teacher interviews, sports days, info nights etc. at school that we have been eating really poorly. I need to be more organised with nice food that requires little prep and doesn't make a lot of mess to clean up.

I forgot to compare the price for the big tub of ricotta, it was 5.59 at Costco for 1kg. Although I have bought a big tub like this from Woolworths before, I can't find it online. Their best price for ricotta is $8.99/kg. Aldi's best is $7.97/kg. 

If anyone can comment on the cost of the scallops that would be helpful. I really have no clue there. 

Does it Freeze? Croissants

This is the first in what might be a series of posts, testing if things freeze well. Given my love for Costco, I often find myself with larger quantities of things than I can eat and there are some things I don't get because I'm not sure that I will be able to store it. So I thought why not start testing out some things where the risk is small eg. 12 croissants for $7.50, if the 8 I freeze get ruined, it's not the end of the world.

Item: Day old fresh croissants

Prep: individually sealed in ziplock backs with as much excess air sucked out as we could get without squishing them.

Frozen: over night- solid when removed the thaw

Defrost: on bench 1-1.5 hours-ish

Serving: heated for 15 seconds in microwave, served with Cherryberry home made jam, recipe here

Results: Excellent! defrosted pretty much like fresh. Possibly slightly stale/crispy on some parts, but once warmed in the microwaved as I did, or if you toasted it, the texture and taste was perfect. I am only going on how it felt, so it might not have had any bad spots at all. The Costco croissants on sale was an excellent by, but even at full price ($9.50) I will certainly buy them again to have on hand for breakfasts and lunches. 

iHerb Order

Last weekend I made an iHerb order for the first time. I ordered some clay powder for face masks and some Ecotools eye shadow brushes, having heard good things about both! Hopefully I will get to reviewing them as soon as I have had a chance to give them both a go.

Ecotools 6 piece essential eye set US$7.99

Now Solutions European Clay Powder $5.34

I had heard they have very fast shipping but was more than impressed!

I ordered on Sunday, DHL attempted delivery on Thursday and redelivered Friday. And that was for only $8 shipping!

I am excited to try out the products and I think I will definately look to iHerb first for these kinds of purchases as they have good prices as well as super fast cheap postage. If you are making your first order, you can use my referral code by clicking here and get up to $10 off, or you can enter the code BJH106 when ordering. 

Costco Shopping and Prices 27/01/14

Back to Costco today. It was really busy, almost as busy as it was just before Christmas, but it took about 10 min to get a car park and we were then in and out fairly quickly. This time I got lots of things from the specials, you can view them on the Costco website here .
Just a small bunch of things this time, although the cost still gets high easily with these things!

Overall I'm pleased with my items. The toothpaste and brushes were the let down for me, but that's what I get for not checking. I have been happy with the Aldi toothpaste, however I didn't love the toothbrushes, so that is a good saving. I will see if I notice any difference with the Colgate toothpaste. If you are loyal to your brand for toothpaste the saving is very good.

The facial wipes are significantly more expensive than the Aldi brand ones, but much cheaper than brand name ones from Woolies, so I will have to use them and see how good they are. That said, it comes in a convenient package and has some smaller travel packs in it which will be handy.

Everything else was very good value and I'm pleased with my purchases. The cake mix will be so handy, being in the tub makes it easy to use and make whatever quantity I like. I will be making some Banana/Blueberry+Oat+Chia breakfast muffins later today hopefully, so we will see how they turn out.

Back to School Clothes and Stationary HAUL

So, what's more fun than actually doing the preparation I need to for the new school year? Shopping for it of course!

After some light shopping yesterday afternoon, I initially went out to my favourite shop outside Kmart, but for pretty much the first time ever, couldn't find anything I wanted to spend my gift voucher on. So I wanted into Kmart to look for school supplies and ended up getting heaps of cheap tops and basics.
After that I went to Target, another random cheapo kind of shop and a Kaisercraft shop.
Finally this evening I went to Officeworks, and aside from heading back to Kaisercraft tomorrow to get cute papers to make these (below) pencil toppers, I have no excuses to not start addressing what actually needs doing.

Clothes:

Yellow, longish, hi-lowish, lace embellished tank- Kmart- $12

Peach/apricot, longish, hi-lowish, lace embellished tank- Kmart- $12

Owl print, flowy tank with buttons- Kmart- $12

Floral print, flowy tank with buttons-Kmart-$12

Leopard Print round neck jumper-Kmart-$20

Purple/green layered work out top- Kmart-$12

Black/purple layered work out top- Kmart- $12

Basic singlets with shelf mint and turquoise, no shelf black- Kmart- $3 each

Basic tank top dusty coral and dusty magenta (not as bright as they show up here) $2 each

Floral embellished strap tank-Temt- $19.95

Basic tank tops black, nude-Temt- 6.95 These feel like a much more expensive material, its a synthetic blend and is like a slightly suedey microfiber 

Basic Singlet, nude-Temt 4.95 Same fabric as the tanks.

Navy/Cream Damask harem (ish?) pant- Caroline Morgan- $20

Navy stretch skinny pant with zip detail-  Target- $15

Stationary (and random make up)

Five drawer storage tub, blue- Officeworks- 16.96

3 pack binder display books- Officeworks- $2.99

Pick'n'mix bulldog clips and magets- Officeworks- $4.99

Purple wire mesh tray and bin- Officeworks- $5 each

White 2D ring binder- Officeworks- $3.83

Tropical bird print binder- Kmart- $2

Geoprint pastel wrapping paper- Kaisercraft- $1

My Day Chart calendar- Kikkik- $5

Monthly planner (to use as weekly timetable) Kikkik- $10

Lexar USB drive 8GB- Big W- $4.95

Maybelline Dream Pure BB cream, medium- Big W- $15.75

Maybelline Age Rewind under eye concealer-Big W- $~16 Annoyed at myself for these two, I realised this morning that I should have gone to Priceline and got 3 for 2. They are both good products though, so I'm not too bothered. 

All in all I think I got really good buys for pretty much everything and should get good use/wear out of it all, pretty pleased, but not excited at the prospect of putting it away and clearing out some old stuff that is getting replaced. But that's a problem for future Emily. 

Bellabox Australia Jan- 2014

I just got my Bellabox delivered this morning, I was so excited I knocked my cup of water all over the floor on the way to the door.  Evidently I had good reason to be excited as it seems like a really good box with lots of products I will use and enjoy.  This is what I got on my doorstep:

 Opened to this:

Then this:

 And here are my goodies:

Using the card as a guide, I have worked out the values of what I got in my box:

ModelCo Fat Lash Mascara Full size- $20

Wotnot Facial wipes 5 pack- $1.59

Coconut Revolution Coconut body cream- $4.99

Palmolive Ayurituel shower gel- $0.85

Yes To Carrots lip gloss- 9.95

Avene Soothing Moisture Mask-$4.10

Avene Rich Hydrating Cream- $6.60

Total retail value: $48.08

So for me this month it is excellent value for $15. I'm not sure I will use the lip gloss, but I will give it a try and see, I usually don't like the feeling of lip gloss. I won't get to use the coconut body cream for a while as I have a lot to work through, but I look forward to it when I do!

It is a bit hit an miss with Bellbox at times, but it is always fun getting something in the mail, and for $15 it's a small risk. If you want to sign up, you can follow my referral link here!