Sydney, Australia 2017

A couple of weeks ago i got back from a trip to Sydney Australia. This was my first long haul flight, which (apart from New Zealand) is about as far as we can travel from the UK, so i didn't ease myself into long haul flights! The flights were painfully long and boring, and even my last few days in Sydney before flying home; my mind was consumed with thoughts about the long flights that i was about to endure.

Sydney definitely wasn't what i expected. I had my own picture painted in my head before i visited and i imagined Sydney to be so grand and pristine. Whereas the truth is, the city is very similar to London or any other large city. The suburbs are beautiful, but again there are lots of areas that aren't so nice as well. I guess its like anywhere you go that has good and not so good areas in the same town/city. However i only think this picture had been painted in my head because of the massive hype there is around Sydney. It was a trip i will remember forever and i really did have a great time, but in all honesty i don't think i would visit Sydney again as i feel like I've 'done' it.

I visited in March and April 2017, which is their Autumn. I expected the weather to still be warm and for the sea water to have warmed up all Summer. But the weather was fairly rainy most days and for some reason the sea was so cold! 

Nevertheless, below are some pictures i took throughout my trip (minus the rainy day pictures!)

Monthly Makeup Bag Rotation

Every few weeks or so i like to go through my everyday makeup bag and change a few things to ensure i use everything in my makeup collection.

In my everyday makeup bag i keep one of each product and my makeup brushes. This ensures i can grab my makeup bag each morning before work. I wouldn't have time to go through my makeup drawers and choose a different foundation, eyeshadow, blusher etc everyday.

I chose this Naked 2 palette to start using everyday again. This has some beautiful neutral colours. The shades in this palette are mostly cool toned which i like to use in autumn/winter. During the spring/summer i reach for more warm toned eyeshadow shades. This palette is very wearable for everyday because of the neutral colours.

I have had this hourglass palette for a while, but hadn't used it for a while. I love that you have a blusher, bronzer, highlighter and face powder all in one palette with a good sized mirror which is always so handy.

This Chanel blusher is one i have found myself savouring. Its such a beautiful colour and very precious to me as its the only product i own from Chanel and was a gift for my 18th birthday. Although I've convinced myself that in order to enjoy it even more i do need to use it occasionally!

Some other products in my makeup bag that I've recently rotated are; benefit brow zings, benefit hoola bronzer, and mac cream colour base in pearl.

I usually have one mascara 'on the go' at any one time to ensure i can use the product up rather than use 3 or 4 at once and wasting them because they dry up. 

With lipsticks and other lip products i usually use a different one everyday. I have Mac Plumful in my makeup bag at the moment which i apply at the start of the day, but i usually apply different lip products throughout the day depending on which one i have in my work bag or jacket pocket for example.

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My 5 favourite autumn/winter lipsticks

So as its autumn the more berry toned lipsticks appear again. Ive chosen some of my favourite lipsticks to wear in the Autumn/Winter months. Ill be making references to the pictures below at i talk through them. (from left to right)

The first lipstick is by L'oreal Paris and is in the shade 203 rock 'n' mauve. This lipstick is the brightest purple that i have. However, when first applying it, it does come out on the lips fairly shear. I love this lipstick because it can be built up into a full-on bright purple lip. I'm looking forward to try it out more as its my newest lipstick featuring in these 5. This lipstick is moisturising on the lips and doesn't last too long unless its blotted down so it stains the lips and the moisture is taken out.

Second along is also by L'oreal Paris but it is from the collection 'exclusive pure reds' and as you can probably tell from the name of the collection it just features different shades of red lipsticks. The one i have shown in this picture is Eva's (Eva Longoria) red lipstick. This lipstick looks fairly orange in the picture as its next to darker colours but its a deep red with slight orange tones in it. Its soft and smooth on the lips and has really good staying power so it will last throughout the day. I would say its fairly matte.

The middle lipstick is my Mac and is in the shade Amourous. I think this shade sold out at the start of Autumn but i knew deep purple lipsticks from Mac such as Rebel would sell out so i luckily bought this before Autumn. It is a satin finish which means its almost matte but has a little bit more moisture although its definatly not a moisturising lipstick. Its also very soft on the lips and feels as if you're not wearing lipstick as you've been wearing it for a little while. The colour lasts so long and is a must have for Autumn/Winter

The fourth lipstick along is by Rimmel London and is from the Kate Moss collection. This lipstick is in the shade 30. I think this lipstick is my favourite from the 5 I've chosen. Its very matte and i love matte lipsticks. Its very pigmented which means a light layer is needed and the colour pay off is amazing. The only thing I'm not so keen on is the smell of the lipstick and i know a lot of people either love it or hate it!

The final lipstick is also my Mac and is in the shade Captive. This lipstick is very similar to Amourous and is also a satin finish. Even the colour is very similar in the tube, but once applied Captive is slightly darker. Out of the two i have worn Captive the most and i don't really know why as i love them both! 

The pictures are taken on my phone which is why the quality isn't good!