October favourites!!

So for the month of October there are SO many products I've been loving. I noticed myself coming back to the same few products over and over again, and seeing as I'm still not very confident in regards to making videos, I thought I'd put them all in a blog post for you!

So I'll insert pictures of the products and give you a description as to why I like them! Here we go.




1. De Lorenzo Nova Fusion Intense "Red"

So if you guys don't know, I have a reverse ombre hair colour going on right now. Typically an ombre hairstyle is dark on the top fading to a lighter colour at the bottom. In my case, I have red on the top which fades in to my natural dark brown, almost black hair colour. Now, if any of you have ever had red hair, you'll know how much of a bitch it is to maintain. When I first got it done, I was so lazy with it, and then I discovered this product. If you don't know what it is, it's a colour shampoo that actually has dye in it. You can get it in pretty much any colour like blonde, silver, pink, orange etc. Obviously seeing as my hair is red, I got the red one. This was the brightest colours out of all the red ones available. This product is only to be used once a week, and it's used just like a normal shampoo. Accompanied with my John Frieda Radiant Red shampoo, it helps keep my red looking vibrant and fresh. This is pretty much a holy grail product for me, I love it!!

2. La Roche Posay Thermal Spring Water. 

If you haven't heard of La Roche Posay, they are a make up and skin care brand catering to people with sensitive skin. They do things like sunscreens, toners and cleansers, creams and make up, but my favourite product thus far is the Thermal Spring Water. This is a soothing water that can help ease the skin from outside factors such as sun, allergies, etc. I suffer really bad with allergies and sinus problems so this product helps me so much with it. When I'm having a particularly bad allergy attack or if I just need a refresher, I just spray some of this on my face and the affect is instantaneous. If you have sensitive skin and haven't heard of La Roche Posay then I highly recommend you go check them out!

3. Katy Perry "Killer Queen" EDP.

So in my recent shopping trip to Sydney, I picked up the new Katy Perry perfume from Myer. What immediately drew me in was that you got a free bag with it. Then I sprayed it on myself and was a bit like "ehhhhhhhhh" but after wearing it for even just 10 minutes more, I was hooked on the scent. It's a very sweet and fruity scent which lingers on the skin all day. If you haven't smelled this, then I highly suggest you do. If you like sweet and fruity scents then you won't be disappointed!

4. Nail wraps.

Nails wraps are one of my new favourite things! I don't really have a specific brand that I love. I just go for the ones that look cool and cute. I do get acrylics on my fingernails so I love putting these bad boys on my toes. They're such a quick, easy and cheap long lasting pedicure. Even the cheaper ones last up to 2 weeks and the higher end ones can last for up to a month. Now that summers looming closer, it's essential to keep your toenails looking cute and these are a great low maintenance options for those (like me) who don't have the time or patience to paint their toenails!

5. Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation. 

Now if you've ever watched beauty gurus on youtube, you'll have seen this product talked about and raved about and fawned over to no end. The reason for all the hype around it is because it's truly that. damn. good. When this product finally hit Australian stores I could not be more excited. As the name suggests, it's a 3 in 1 foundation so it's a primer, concealer and foundation all in one. It lasts LITERALLY all day and when I use it, I generally get a matte finish, but if I find it's looking a bit more satin-y, I just use a powder and I'm good to go. I would say it's a medium coverage foundation but it's definitely buildable without it looking too cakey. It lasts through sweat and rubbing it and all day at work. I get oily in my T-Zone but I find myself not even needing to powder or blot when using this foundation. It's a good all around product which is suitable for anyone with any skin type.

6. Benefit Boi-ing concealer.

This is another product that has been raved and raved about on youtube, and again, if you ever actually try this product it'll be easy to see why. I mainly use this concealer to cover up and brighten up my under eye area, and it does a great job. It also works just as well on blemishes and discolouration and it is another holy grail product.

7. Elf "Eye Manual" palette.

I picked this up when I was doing a little bit of online shopping. It was only $7 and I could not be more glad I did! I'm really big on gold and bronze eyeshadow lately so it was worth it buying this just to use the colours on the top row. The pigmentation on these colours vary - like the bronzey, gold colours are very true to what they look like in the pan, but the blacks and purples are a little more sheer, but nevertheless still a nice colour. There are so many looks you can create with this palette and for less than $10, you can't go wrong!

8. Urban Decay Naked Basics palette.

So apparently I forgot to take a picture of the actual colours of this palette which is probably the most important thing, so this is a picture I got off google of the colours in this little palette.

There are 6 colours, 5 matte and one shimmery. While this palette doesn't really look like much, if you need a quick, on the go look or a neutral look or a daytime look or a night time look, you can't go wrong with this palette. You can easily use the colors like foxy, W.O.S and naked 2 to create a simply neutral look, and then smoke it out by using faint or crave. There are just so many possible looks you can do this this palette, and it's so easy and simply for either beginners or experienced make up artists. I've been reaching for this a lot this past month.

9. Tresemme thermal creations heat tamer protective spray.

 

Yet again, this is another "youtube made me buy it" type product. And yet again, it is definitely worth the hype around it. I've tried a fair few heat protective sprays, but I haven't yet found one that I've been able to stick with. This one is great. Its fairly light, but it smells good and I find that when I use it before using my waver or hair straightener, I don't get as much of a "burnt hair" smell or feel to it. It's a great, drugstore priced product.

10. Soap and Glory "Hand Food"

I heard a lot of British youtubers mention this product like Zoella and Tanya Burr, and I decided to check it out. I'm one of those people who often forgets to moisturise, but when I do I always reach for this bad boy. It's a non-greasy hand cream, which I love, and it always makes my hands smell and feel amazing.

11. MAC "Saint Germain" lipstick

It's spring time here in Australia, and this bright, pale pink lipstick is absolutely perfect coming up into the warmer months! It's so bright and fun, and lasts all day. 

12. TY Octopus plus

My boyfriend bought me this absolutely adorable pink octopus plus, and I love it so much! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Also on my playlist for the month was the new album by Miley Cyrus - Bangerz. If you haven't heard it, I highly recommend you go give it a listen. I personally am LOVING the new Miley!

That's all for this month guys! Thanks for reading!

My top 5 favourite beauty gurus.

Hey guys!
So in my free time, I watch a lot of beauty videos on YouTube, and there's a few beauty gurus I find myself always coming back to for new product reviews, their favourites or even just general updates on their life. So I thought I would share them with you so you guys can have the privilege of checking them out!

5. Lindsey Hughes aka beautybaby44


Lindsey makes beauty, fashion and hair videos. I love her because she's fun, flirty and super girly! Her videos include things like hauls, reviews, monthly favourites, tag videos and tutorials. She also has a side channel called LivinLikeLindsey where she uploads vlogs and updates about her life. I love all her videos, but I especially love her lifestyle vlogs as it gives us a better insight into the funny, fun and amazing side of Lindsey that doesn't always come across in her beauty videos.


4. Meghan Hughes aka MissMeghanMakeup



Yep, if you didn't guess it from the last name, Meghan is Lindsey's younger sister! Also making videos along the same line as Lindsey, including, beauty, fashion, hair, haul, tags etc, Meghan has a completely different video style to her sister. Meghan is so unapologetically herself, which makes her videos so fun to watch, and a fun mix up from regular beauty videos. She manages to make me laugh in every video, and when she gets together for a video with her best friend, Neven, things get a bit cray cray. She is such a unique vlogger and person, and her and I would get along really well.

3. Emily Eddington aka emilynoel83


Emily is a new anchor turned beauty guru and believe me, I could not be happier about it! Emily's videos are unlike any other. She does a lot of reviews, and she thoroughly goes through every product and answers questions about it that you don't even know you have yet! She always gives her honest opinion and like I said, always does her research and tests thoroughly before she gives us an unbiased opinion on the product! She's cute, quirky and super easy to watch. She's my go to guru to get the low down on the latest products. She has also just created a side channel called BeautyBroadcastExpress, where she does quick 5 minute reviews on even more products. Go check her out for the 411 on everything beauty!

2. Casey Holmes aka itsbl0ndie


Casey is one of my all time favourite beauty gurus. She puts out videos so regularly, and never fails to disappoint. She's one of the most versatile vloggers that I watch. Most of the gurus I watch either mainly do tutorials or reviews or hauls, but Casey does them all, and she does them to damn near perfection! She is super beautiful and girly, but at the same time her fashion style is grungy and very on trend. She's very honest and upfront about the products she reviews, and she often adds a cute sense of humour to them as well. She is so easy to watch and I've even had the privilege of having some replies off her on twitter - in which she is always humble and talkative. I cannot say enough good things about her, so everyone go and check her out!

1. Bunny Meyer aka grav3yardgirl


Bunny is my Swamp Queen, my saviour and my life. I stumbled upon her entirely by accident around 2 years ago. I never watched YouTube unless it was to look for a music video, and one day, on my recommended videos, I seen a thumbnail of this bizzare looking girl with crimped hair and bright red lipstick. (click this link here if you want to check it out). I don't know what made me click on the video, but I could not be more glad that I did. I watched that video from beginning to end with undivided attention, and after it was done, I went through and watched all her old videos. From that moment on, I was hooked on her infectious personality. Bunny has grown so much as a person and as a vlogger, especially over the last 2 years and I am so glad that I have got to watch her. Not only is she an amazing beauty guru, she is also an advocate for anti-bullying campaigns and often talks about her own experiences with bullying and gives advice to try and help. She is also very open with the fact that she suffers from a severe anxiety disorder, which often can take over her days and her daily lifestyle. However Bunny never lets it get her down for long, and always takes her misfortunes in her stride and comes out on the other side a little bit stronger each time. She recently just hit one million followers, which I think is truly deserves. She loves all her subscribers, and refers to us all as her "Swamp Family". She lives in Texas on a swamp, and signs off all her videos with "If you subscribe you'll give an alligator it's wings". She's weird, wacky, individual, unapologetic, beautiful and there is nothing I don't love about her. I enjoy every single video, and I very much hope that one day I can meet her. I love you Bunny!!!

Stila review!

Hey guys!
So yesterday morning I traveled down to Sydney with Bert, his sister and her friend, to take them to One Direction. Bert and I didn't go, but the girls needed a lift down and Bert needed company so I went along too. When we arrived, we pretty much headed straight to Parramatta Westfield for a bit of retail therapy! Parramatta Westfield is my new favourite place to shop, as the Myer there stocks Benefit and Mac. The trip was a bit unexpected, so I didn't really have much money. Nevertheless, I was umming and ahhing over some Benefit products, but managed to pull myself away. However, while browsing around the stores I came across a store called Mecca Maxima. I was immediately drawn in as I noticed Soap and Glory products on the wall (Soap and Glory is a UK skin care and cosmetic store which you can't get in Australia - or so I thought). While I was deciding what to get, Bert got my attention by saying "Nars Laguna Bronzer", and as I turned around it was like everything was going in slow motion. Every single brand I had ever heard of on YouTube but never seen in real life was right in front of me. Too Faced, Nars, Stila, Bobbi Brown, Hourglass, SmashBox, bareMinerals, it was all there. Now, I watch a lot of YouTube, and I'm always so jealous of the beauty gurus who have these products readily available to them in stores, or without having to pay an arm and a leg for shipping. For an Aussie beauty girl, discovering a place containing make up I've only ever dreamed about was like finding nirvana. I was browsing the Stila display and found a duo that contained the much raved about Kitten eyeshadow, and another eyeshadow which I can't remember the shade of. I finally got to try the infamous kitten eyeshadow, and let me tell you, the hype around this shadow is well deserved. For those who don't know, kitten is a gold-y, champagne-y, iridescent colour, which can neither be described or captured in a photo, so if you have the chance, GO CHECK IT OUT. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED I PROMISE. I immediately knew I had to have it, but as it turned out, they didn't have any of the duo I was looking at left. Then I tried to find a single one, but they didn't have any single ones either. I was starting to get sad, cos I really didn't want to leave the store without that damn eyeshadow. I then noticed they stocked the Stila "In The ..." palettes. I started frantically looking through them, and found one that contained the kitten shade which is the "In The Light" palette. You might be thinking "you bought a whole palette for one eyeshadow?!" so I'm going to insert the pictures now so you know why I'm not crazy.

Every single colour in this palette is absolutely gorgeous! I would recommend it a thousand times over. I have the Urban Decay naked palettes, which I love, but this palette knocks it out of the park. The colours are SO pigmented and so opaque, yet they're all really natural so you can get an every day look as well as using the darker colours for a smoky, sultry look. The 5 colours on the top of the palette from left to right are: bare, kitten, bliss, sunset and sandstone. The colours on the bottom from left to right are: bubbly, gilded gold, luster, night sky and ebony. Then you also get a smudge stick waterproof eyeliner in damsel, which is a very dark brown, which almost looks black. There's a lot of very shimmery, iridescent colours but there's also more muted colours like ebony and sandstone which still have glitter in them, but it's very, very discreet. They have a very soft, velvety consistency but still hold their own really well without too much fallout. This palette is so versatile and in my opinion is a must have in anyone's make up collection. Beginner, expert, absolutely everyone should experience these eyeshadows. Stila really hit the nail on the head with this one. I'm very impressed and also very excited to try out some more Stila products! 10/10.

Check out Mecca Maxima here if you're in Australia.

Check out Stila directly here if you're anywhere else!

Afternoons spent with you doing nothing are never wasted.

There is nothing I love more than being tangled up in your arms on a spring afternoon, lazing around in bed. The sunlight sneaking in through the slivers of closed blinds and lighting up your hazel eyes in a kaleidoscope of beauty. 

I love watching your long eyelashes flutter with every blink, as I softly trace the outline of your mouth with mine. I can feel the way you shudder into my body as I run my hands up and down your spine. As I look up at you, and you look down at me, I know right then and there that this is our perfect moment. Some people have their perfect moments atop bridges, or gardens, or in restaraunts or in great displays of grandeur, but for us it is none of those. For us, our perfect moment is the simplicity of our bodies being close enough that our hearts beat against each other in a symphony of happiness. It is the feeling of safety and warmth that only comes from being wrapped up in another person. It is the knowledge that when you look up at that person you know that in 10, 30, 60, 100 years time, you will have a thousand more perfect moments like this, each even more special than the last. 

No, afternoons spent with you doing nothing, are never wasted. 

Retrospect.

It's funny, isn't it? The way your world can change in an instant.
People make fun of the saying "life is short". "Life is the longest damn thing you'll ever do", they say. I used to agree. I'd laugh jovially in agreement. I used to hate life. Loathe it. I spent 90% of my teenage years longing to die. I tried it, once. To take my own life. I downed some pills and bottle of vodka and spent the night retching up nothing on my bathroom floor. Looking back, I can't help but feel I didn't try too hard. The human survival instinct is one of the strongest things we have in this world, and I think that is what overcome my senses the night I took a handful of headache tablets and drank cheap liquor.

4 months ago, my grandfather died. He was the first person in my immediate family to pass. We don't have a very big family. I've had great grandmothers and great aunties pass, but I didn't know them. I didn't even know about them 'til the day they passed. But my grandfather's death hit my like a ton of bricks. I was at work, and my mother come in and she was crying. I thought my grandmother as passed as she has been hospitalised for almost a year. When all she said was Fardy (which is what us kids lovingly called our grandfather), my first instinct was to cry. I was numb and I didn't know what else to do. The realisation that this was the end of the life of someone I cared about didn't hit me until a day later. I was staying at Bert's house and I went and called my dad (it was his father) to let him know that I was thinking about him. My mother put him on the phone, and I wasn't prepared for the grief in his voice as he spoke. After that phone call, I wrapped myself up in Bert's arms and I wept and I wept and I wept. Ever since that day, I can't stop thinking about death.

Shortly after my grandfather's death, a young internet personality named Talia Joy lost her 6 year long battle with cancer. She was only 13. I religiously watched her beauty videos, all the while being astounded that someone so young could talk about her condition and the fact that she's going to die with such a nonplussing attitude. Upon finding out of her death, I spent the next few days in bed, holding close to my heart my grandfather and Talia. My grandfather was in his 90's when he died. Talia was 13. Neither of those amount of years seem to be long enough to me.

Then, almost 2 weeks ago, almost 3 months after my grandfather passed, my grandmother joined him. While again, my first instinct was to cry, I accepted her death a lot more quickly than my grandfather's. I would never be happy that someone is gone, I'm glad that she is finally at peace. As I said in a previous post, she was 92 years old, with terrible arthritis in her fingers which prevented her to be able to knit, bake, hold a book to read it, and pretty much anything she loved. She hated TV and music, and at 92 she was put on anti-depressants. Even after his death, she always asked when Phil (my grandfather) was coming to visit. It broke my heart. I think that when you are married for so long (almost 60 years) it gets to the point where you physically cannot live without the other one. While living to such an age is a blessing, sometimes old age is also a curse.

I cannot even fathom the fact that one day, I won't be here any more. That one day, I won't be able to breathe, or think, or know whether I'm dead or alive. And it terrifies me. It terrifies me that one day my parents will die, that Bert will die.. and I think about it all the time.

Life is so fucking short. It is a shooting star, a fleeting instance, a breath, a blink. It is over without warning and we are powerless to stop it.

My grandmother passed away last night.

I'm obviously devastated, but in some way, I'm glad she's at peace. For almost a year she was holed up in a nursing home. Her arthritis was so bad, she couldn't knit or do anything with her hands. She hated TV. Her eyes were gone so she couldn't read, and she could only listen to music for a shirt period of time before it aggravated her. We knew straight from the get go that she wouldn't be able to go home, but she always talked about going home. She was so depressed. They even put her on anti-depressants. The days must have felt like months in that place. After my grandfather died, she started to go even more downhill. She kept asking "when's Phil coming to visit?" and mum would have to remind her. "Oh. No more Phil." she would say. It broke my heart. I hope Fardy came to meet her to take her into the afterlife. It is a tragedy she is gone but I hope she's finally happy.

Busy busy!

So it's been a pretty crazy few weeks!
I worked 60 hours in 9 days, and I've never worked that much in my whole entire life - ever! So that took a lot out of me. I would wake up, go to work at 1pm, and not get home til almost 11 most nights. The only reason I worked that many hours is because I was doing some favours for some work mates. But I got through it, and now they owe me one so yeah.
Bert's been working such shitty hours and I've barely been able to see him which sucks. He stayed over last night and called in sick today to look after me due to some emotional and health issues which was wonderful of him. It was nice to be able to spend some proper time with him.
Due to being so busy I haven't even been able to try my new Avon products that I got! Look out for a haul and review coming on those.
Also today I received in the mail my Black Milk Blood Splatter suspender leggings!!!!!!!!!!! I could not be more happy. They fit great which I was surprised with, but also very happy. I also have a velvet skater skirt coming from ASOS so look out for some outfit posts on them.
I'm also accumulating a lot of stuff for my darling's birthday in a little over a month.
We're off to Sydney in 2 weeks for 2 days to accompany his sister and her friend to One Direction.
Then in 2 months we're off to Melbourne for Stereosonic!

Busy busy - but look out for some more posts soon.

Sydney haul!

Hey guys.
So if you read my last post, you'll know that around 2 weeks ago I was in Sydney for Defqon. I live around 5 hours away from Sydney, and my city doesn't really have that many stores. I mean, it's got enough to tide me over but it's got nothing in comparison to bigger cities. I always take advantage of the shopping in Sydney and I had worked really hard and saved up for MONTHS to be able to treat myself when I went down. Now my two main goals were to a) find a Benefit counter and b) find a MAC counter. I have been lusting after Benefit products for so long, and I was absolutely certain I wanted to splurge on some, and I mainly just wanted to have a browse in MAC. So we found both counters in Paramatta Westfield. These are the products I got from Benefit:

Benefit "They're Real" mascara.

Benefit "Watt's Up" highlighter

and Benefit "Boiing" concealer.

I knew I wanted the Boiing concealer and the They're Real mascara before I had even went in the store. When I went and started browsing the girl that worked there was super helpful, even though she said she didn't normally work at that counter. She applied the concealer under my eyes for me so I could see what it looked like and she colour matched me and all that jazz. I got matched to 02. I literally just wanted to buy everything, and I was umm-ing and ahh-ing for ages, on whether I should get something else and I finally decided to treat myself and bought the Watt's Up highlighter, which is an absolutely GORGEOUS champagne highlighter. I went for Watt's Up cos I don't own a highlighter so it seemed the most practical. Now, for the prices. Everything in Australia is ridiculously marked up, and yes, I know that's because we have a higher minimum wage, BUT, I see a lot of products that are almost TRIPLE the price of the same products sold in the states. It kind of sucks, but it is what it is. Okay so the mascara was AU$38 (is US$23 in the states), the concealer was AU$37 (is US$20 in the states) and the highlighter was AU$52 ( is US$30 in the states). So as you can see, everything was incredibly marked up. But in hindsight, the benefit website doesn't ship to AU and to find a US site that did, I'd probably be paying the same in shipping. Also it's always really fun to be able to play around with products before you buy them. These will probably be my last splurges before I head to the states next year and can buy them all myself ;) after I had decided to buy these products, the girl also gave me a sample of the Stay Flawless 15 hour primer and the POREfessional primer too, which I was grateful for. And because they had a deal going on, because I bought 3 products, I also got a free make up bag! I was so happy because it's super cute and HUGE which will be beneficial as I took 3 make up bags on my trip. Whoops.

After being at the Benefit counter, I headed over to the MAC counter. I originally wanted to get the Pro Long Wear concealer, but I figured seeing as I had just bought the Boiing concealer, it was a bit pointless. Never the less, I still went and had a browse, and spent about 15 minutes trying to decide whether to get the Pro Long Wear foundation before deciding against it ($55 is a bit too steep for someone who only wears foundation occasionally). HOWEVER, I still had my mind set on purchasing my first MAC product. I chose to go for a lipstick, in the colour Saint Germain. It cost $36, but it is absolutely perfect. The colour is SO pigmented, and bright, and as we're coming into spring and summer in Australia, I just couldn't pass it up!

After being in myer at the make up counters, I headed down to a Lush store. I didn't have any ideas of what I wanted to get, but every time I'm near a Lush store I have to go in. It's just the rules of my life. Anyway, I literally spent at least half and hour browsing and testing things before I finally chose some products.

"Dirty" hair styling cream.

"Rub Rub Rub" shower scrub.

"Sea Vegetable" soap.

Small sample container of the "Gorgeous" facial moisturizer.

Now, I have got in to the habit of only washing my hair once a week because it's now red and I hate it when it fades, and also because it styles a lot better when it's dirty. When I went in there I couldn't pass up a hair styling cream, literally called "Dirty". Some people may find that gross, but I can't stand when my hair is soft. My hairdresser has even told me that it's no detriment to your hair to only wash it once a week, in fact, it's actually beneficial. I understand that a lot of you can't go that long without washing your hair, but my hair doesn't get greasy or anything, so each to their own I guess. The shower scrub was a bit of an impulse buy, but I'm happy I got it. It smells SO fresh and clean, and there's nothing I love more than clean scents and I've never tried a body scrub so I thought, why not. And you can't go into a Lush store and not buy soap. Last Christmas, my mother in law bought me the Northern Lights soap and I haven't needed to buy another one for a long time because as I only used it on occasion, it has only just run out. Northern Lights was a limited edition soap, so I browsed through them all and finally decided on the Sea Vegetable. Once again, a very fresh, clean scent, and apart from that, it looks really fucking cool! Last but not least, I bought a little baby pot of the Gorgeous facial moisturizer. I had actually got the same size sample in my Lust Have It box around 2 months ago and I absolutely loved it, but I just wasn't sure I wanted to spend almost $90 on the full size version. So I got the little $5 pot to keep me going. A little bit of this moisturizer goes a LONG way.

Well, there you have it! That's my Sydney beauty haul. I will probably doing some looks and reviews on a lot of these products. Also tomorrow I'm shooting with my best friend Maighan aka AlienDoll so keep an eye out for heaps of goodies coming up!

Til next time <3