The Week in Instagrams @nanawintour: *A successful trip to Farmers. Revlon lipsticks and mascara were on buy one, get one free and Maybelline was 25% off. *February inspiration for my updated mood board. *Weekend reads. *Face of the day on Tuesday. *Good mail day with deliveries from iHerb and Bobbi Brown. *Monday's Posts: February Wishlist and a review of Saving Mr Banks. 

Must-Watch of the Week: I do love a good haul, you all know that by now. Sometimes it can get a bit tedious watching all of the beauty hauls, not to mention the frustration that comes with knowing that we have nothing like Boots in these parts of the world. Anyway, Zoe posted this video recently of a home haul. I love Zoe's style both fashion and decor-wise so it was inspiring to see what she purchased to deck out her new home. It also made me want to move to a pretty house, by the seaside. Yes, really..

Product(s) of the Week: Therapie Himalayan Detox Salts-Sleep in a jar, you know the drill. These really do work though. I've been sleeping terribly lately so I sprinkled a hefty amount of these into my bath. As I gradually got drowsier I took myself off to bed and bam, decent night's sleep. I have a feeling these will get a ton of use once Uni starts back. I have also been loving the Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream* lately. It's creamy, luxurious and makes the world of difference. Eye bags, begone! 

Must-Read of the Week: If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I've loved Tanya Burr's beauty videos for a long time. Over the weekend Anna shared an insight into what exactly Tanya has in her beauty bag. You'll like that post if you're a fan of Tanya's. Side note: How gorgeous are her new nail polishes and lipsticks? I'll have one of each, please.

Added to the Wishlist: Pretty much everything that was in Monday's post, see link above. If I had to narrow it down to just three of those items though I'd choose; Tarte Blushers, Lonely Lingerie, and a Zara Citybag. That just about covers it I think..

*I hope you've all had fabulous weeks. My highlights were probably going to see August Osange County on the weekend and a delicious lunch at Mexico Britomart on Wednesday. 

*PR Sample

So it's that time of the month again! I've been putting the above American beauty products that Hannah so kindly sent me to the test. It's been so much fun trialling all these products and I have to say NYX in particular has taken me by surprise. Their blushers are brilliant. Stay tuned for the final installment of these posts next month, and if you missed part one you can catch up here. 

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer, sample size-I'm pretty loyal to the Nars eye primer so when I spied this Too Faced primer in my package I was interested to see how it compared. I've already mentioned this primer here so you can read up on it. If you have drier eyelids you'll like this primer as it is incredibly creamy to apply. I did like this primer and found it really enhanced the colours of my eyeshadows. Unfortunately though my eyeshadows did crease a bit when using this underneath so that was a bit disappointing.

NYX Powder Blush in Mocha and Summer Peach-Along with their lip products, NYX are known for their great blushers. Mocha is a matte pink, pictured on the right. It looks a lot more red in the pan than how it does once applied. Summer Peach is more of a peachy pink shot through with flecks of gold glitter. It's similar to Orgasm by Nars but the shimmer is a lot more subtle. These blushers deposit a fairly light wash of colour so I think it'd be hard to overdo it with these. Whether you apply these lightly or build the colour up though they look stunning.

It must have been about a year or so ago that the announcements of Saving Mr Banks, a film chronicling the story of PL Travers and Walt Disney during the pre-production phases of Mary Poppins was made. Suffice to say I was quite excited about this film. It combines three of my favourite things; Emma Thompson, Disney and Mary Poppins. When I got around to seeing this in the cinema I was not disappointed and to be honest I had very high expectations. This film is brilliant and the story within a story was not what I expected at all. It really changes your perspective on Mary Poppins and her humble beginnings.

Saving Mr Banks takes place in two different time periods. The first is set in Australia in the early 1900s with a young PL Travers and her family. It centres around her childhood and you see where some of her early inspirations for Mary Poppins originated and where her imagination and creativity stem from. The second takes place around 1960-61 in Los Angeles. PL Travers was flown in by Disney where she attended a series of meetings with the Mary Poppins creative team and Disney himself. It was not only an opportunity for Disney to hopefully secure the rights to the film, but also for Travers to offer creative input to the scripting, songwriting and even in some cases the casting. 

Having a movie within a movie can often work against films but in this case it really works in its favour. This seems to be because the blending of the two stories is done so seamlessly. There are also subtleties you'll notice between the two time periods and the final film which are all really cleverly done. For instance, PL Travers' character arrives in Los Angeles with a floral carpet bag, Mary Poppins has a carpet bag in the Disney film and then her Aunt back in Australia arrives at their homestead with a carpet bag as well. Minor plot points are introduced in the Los Angeles scenes which are then expanded upon in the backstory set in Australia as well. 

In case it wasn't obvious I think this film is brilliant on many levels. The casting is fantastic firstly. Emma Thompson is amazing as PL Travers. While she's playing such a cold woman she brings a lightness to the role which makes you really connect with the character more. Colin Farrell as PL Travers' father in the childhood story was fantastic as well. The script is really well written also. You will laugh, you will cry, and you'll definitely change the way you next watch Mary Poppins. Side note-If you're prone to getting a bit teary in films, wear waterproof mascara before seeing this and pack some tissues. You will thank me later.

Saving Mr Banks is still playing in some countries overseas but if you're in New Zealand it opens this Thursday.

We probably all have a list of things we need to buy. Lately for me that's been skincare (side note: why does everything run out at the same time?) and new running shoes. However it's always fun to make another list of the things you'd like to buy if money were no obstacle. I even have a board on Pinterest devoted to the very concept. Well, here's what's taking my fancy in February..

Zara Suede Combination Citybag-Zara's citybags have been on my wishlist for a while. If you know me you'll know I never carry big enough bags and this one is the perfect size from what I have heard and seen. I could only find them in garish colours when I was in Melbourne *sheds tear*. I love the combination of suede and leather in this style, it just adds a little bit more character to this bag. 

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes, pictured are Blissful and Exposed-My new favourite term is the 'blogger effect' wherein a blogger raves about a product (any product) and you feel compelled to try it yourself. The Essie Button effect is certainly at play here with my desire to own Tarte blushes. These blushes are highly pigmented and evidently super long-wearing. I like that the shade range is mostly matte as well. These colours in particular look so pretty. PS-Tarte, you should set up shop in Auckland xo.

Topshop Nina Mid Heels-Sequined, sky high heels sure are fun to look at but not so much to walk in. These simple, elegant heels look stunning. I love that they have a mid-length heel as well so you don't have to walk cautiously in them. Wins all round.

Ted Baker Medium Wash Bag-If you've ever been to a Ted Baker store you'll know that they have gorgeous bags, shoes, and dresses-girly heaven basically. These makeup bags are what take my fancy though and they are stunners in person. The ones with the rose gold hardware are particularly luxe. They're silk lined too. Who wouldn't feel special taking this traveling or rifling through it in the morning?

Backstage Photos c/o Mac Cosmetics

Tuesday was an exciting day for me as I went along to a Mac Spring-Summer '14 trends presentation. It was set inside a yet to be refurbished loft-style space in the Britomart precinct, think brick walls and high ceilings. Nicole Thompson, Australia's senior artist, talked us through all the trends from New York and London's fashion weeks and then showed us how we can incorporate those into our own makeup looks. We also got to play with the products (see below) and were given a mammoth book on the trends themselves**. I also had a bit of a fangirl moment when I got to meet+chat with Leonie of The Style Insider as I love her blog. Can you tell that I enjoyed myself?

Anyway, today I thought I'd share some of Nicole's beauty tips and tricks as well as key products from the SS14 beauty looks. I'll be posting reviews of all the products mentioned at some stage so do keep an eye out for that.