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

Defqon.1.

So I've come home after spending the last week and a half in the company of my gorgeous boyfriend. I'm really sad about having to come home. We've decided to travel while we still have the luxury of living at home, so we can't afford our own place yet, which, in all honesty, is tough. I know it'll be worthwhile because there is so much we want to do and see, but it's hard not being able to be with him.

Anyway, that's not the subject of this blog. This is my Defqon blog!
So for those who don't know, Defqon.1 is music festival which is held every year in the Netherlands and Australia, and is hosted by festival organiser Q-dance. It's a festival where artists play the "harder styles of music", including hardstyle, hardcore, techno, dubstep, jumpstyle and hard trance. It was held last Saturday, on the 14th of September. Bert and I traveled 5 hours to Sydney for it, so we had high expectations. We traveled down on the Friday, went shopping (look out for some high-end makeup product reviews ;)) and got an early night. We woke up around 7 on Saturday, and got ready.

This is how excited we look at 7am!

I told Bert to give me his best excited face haha.

This was my outfit. I recently dyed my hair red so I just decided to keep with the whole red and black theme (which is the Defqon colours anyway). I just put my hair in pigtails because wearing it down is annoying at festivals. My fluffies are from ebay, my shirt is from Target, and my skirt is from asos. And don't worry, I was wearing shorts under the skirt because I know it's super short!

So we were tossing up between taking the courtesy bus that was offered, or driving. It was $20 to park or it was $10 each way on the bus so we decided to drive, just as it's more convenient. So we set off at about 8:30, as it said on the site to arrive early if you want to park. The Regatta Raceway is only about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying, so we headed on down and arrived, but we were told by the gateway officer that you couldn't park until 10. Straight off that was a little bit annoying, because it said NO WHERE on the website that you couldn't park until a certain time, and as Bert and I had never been to a Defqon before, we had no idea. After that, we went and waited in a nearby McDonald's for an hour and a half. Then at 10, we headed back and were told by a different person that parking wasn't until 10:30, which enraged and frustrated me as I felt it wasn't boding very well for the rest of the day. So we went and parked down a little street for another half an hour, and then head on back where we were FINALLY allowed in to park. So we parked and we seen groups of people heading in the same direction, so we followed suit and found the entry. The lines weren't too long, which surprised me as the festival was due to start in like 20 minutes. Bert and I bought VIP tickets, so we lined up separately to a lot of the others. One of the perks included in the VIP tickets was express entry into the festival, however when it hit 11 and the gates open, all the general admission tickets were let in before us. This was a little bit annoying, but in saying that I was quite impressed with how quickly and efficiently everyone was let in. Another VIP perk was that we got a goodie bag, which included a drawstring bag, stickers, a C.D, a bracelet and some other goodies.

After going over the bridge, this was the entrance way. When we first went in, we wandered around for a bit before deciding to go buy our tokens.

Instead of using money at food and drink stalls, we buy tokens and use those instead. It was $50 for 20 tokens, and most food was around 3-4 tokens and drinks were around 2-3 tokens. We worked out that tokens were worth around $2.50. I quite liked the token system. It was VERY efficient. People were able to buy drinks and food quickly without having to muck around with money and change and all that. I think it's a great idea and that more festivals should adopt the idea. 

After buying our tokens, we decided to get in early and go to the merch stand. Apparently, though, everyone else had the same idea. We waited in the merch line for an hour, which is beyond ridiculous. It was pretty much just a free for all. There were people cutting in left right and center, there were no lines and all was all pretty much just a huge amalgamation of bodies. It was kind of annoying too cos the sun was burning down and I got a sunburn real bad on one arm. ONE ARM. Now it's turned in to a mismatched tan.

Anyway, after we got our merch we heading straight over to the red stage where the Wasted Penguinz were playing.

We were there for about an hour before we went and got food, and then we wandered around for a while. Then we headed back to the mainstage and checked out the roped off VIP area. I LOVED the VIP area. It was so worth the extra money. There was a big raised up grandstand-esque area that was specifically for people with VIP tickets. It had a perfect view of the mainstage. Then out the back of the grandstand, there was a private bar, private toilets, and a nice grassy area where you could sit by the river and still hear whoever was playing on the mainstage clearly. After spending a while at the mainstage, we headed over the black stage to see Endymion. Endymion was the only artist I knew of the day, and the black stage was BY FAR my favourite part of the day. When we got there, there was an artist on before Endymion called AniMe, and she was fucking fantastic! Bert and I managed to get a prime position spot on the raised up railings along the side of the stage so we could see the stage and the DJ's so clearly without any obstructions. I danced hard for AniMe and when Endymion finally came on I danced even harder for them. It was SO much fun and both artists were incredible.

After being at the black stage, we headed back to the VIP area and chilled there for ages, til we finally went up to try and find a good spot so we would have a good view for the end show. We got prime positioning for this too, and I just could not believe our luck! We watched a couple of artists and then finally Frontliner followed by Brennan Heart performed, and I could not be more impressed. I know nothing about this scene, but the vibe and atmosphere of the whole day was infectious. You couldn't NOT have fun, because everyone around you is just laughing and smiling and dancing.

I missed the end of Frontliner and some of Brennan Heart's set as I literally couldn't stand so I had to go sit down while Bert kept our position. When I finally went back, it was getting pretty intense. Then about 20 minutes before the festival finished, the end show started, and holy fuck I could not be more impressed! Bert has shown me end shows through video before but absolutely nothing compares to being there, and feeling the bass pulse through your veins and feeling the warmth of the fire on your skin and appreciating the amazing things they can do with these lights! It was a perfect end to a great day.

All in all I could not be more impressed with my experience at Defqon. Apart from a few early hiccoughs, the whole day ran so smoothly and we got SO lucky with our views of every artist we wanted to see. The vibe was amazing, and we had no dramas the entire day which is everything you could possibly ask for at a festival. All in all I would rate my experience a 9/10 and we will definitely be back next year!

Check out the end show here.
Listen to some Endymion here.

Bringing me down to the deep end, back off, back off! And let me lose my mind.

Hey guys.

So I've been and come back from Defqon, and it was honestly the most amazing time. I could not believe the luck that Bert and I had with the whole trip, which is ironic seeing as we traveled down on Friday the 13th. Anyway, now that I'm back I have a few posts ready to go, but to start off with I'm going to show you an outfit post of what I wore on the 5 hour drive down to Sydney!

I RARELY travel in casual clothes, because more often than not after a 5 hour trip to a big city, we go shopping as soon as we arrive. I just find it easier to make myself look good before the car ride than have to fuck around when I get there.

I got my hair dyed last Wednesday so it's pretty bright red at the moment and I love it. Anyway, my sunglasses are RayBans which my wonderful boyfriend bought me. My top is the UNIF Tye-Dye Spiral tee (which is on sale for half price on UrbanOutfitters right now! Look out for a link below). My gorgeous wet-look skater skirt is from asos, and in all honesty, I was rather disappointed with this skirt. I bought it for the sole purpose of wearing it to Defqon, but when it arrived it became apparent that it was WAY too short to be worn without leggings underneath, and I didn't want to wear leggings as it would have got too hot while at Defqon. While on the model on the site (where it is styled as high-waisted) it looks quite short, I have bought skirts that look the same length and they are okay to be worn without leggings. This one is SO ridiculously short, to the point if I wore it without anything underneath, I feel like I should be in a porno. I also thought that buying it in a size 22 would add some length in comparison to the model who was wearing a size 18. ANYWAY, all qualms aside, worn with leggings it can look quite cute. All you other plus size ladies just keep in mind how short it is if you're intending on buying it. My leggings are from ebay, and my ugg boots were bought on catch of the day.

All in all, I'm more than happy with this outfit. I ADORE my shirt, and I think it looks very grungy and trendy.

Keep a lookout for some upcoming posts including a Defqon outfit and general post about Defqon, and also a review on some high-end make up products I got while I was away ;)

UNIF shirt
The skirt on asos actually sold out, sorry guys! But go check out asos if you haven't already >> here.