Party Season Make Up Must Haves

Hello lovelies,
Hope you're all well.
Party season is almost upon us! well for me, it is here already! November is a packed month for me. I have my cousin's birthday, my older sister's birthday (this year it's a big one, her 21st), and my mum's birthday over three weeks. Thrown in there is end of semester parties and some friend's birthdays and then we roll into Christmas parties and finally New Year's Eve! The party season is a time to get dressed up and have a little fun. Through all the drinking and eating and dancing the last thing you want to think about is "omg is my make up still ok?!" So I've decided to write a post about my make up must haves over the holiday season. Hope you all enjoy :)

1. Lips
I think it is essential to have a go-to lip stain over the holiday season. Like I said, there's a lot of eating and drinking involved and it just gets painful having to reapply lipstick. Outdoor entertaining is big in Australia but wind, curls and lipgloss are just a bad combination. So that leaves a stain! It'll last you the longest with the least amount of hassle.
Two which I really like are the Covergirl Outlast Lip Stain in the colour 435 and the Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain in the colour 9 Rouge Laque. Both of these are very Christmas-y colours, the Covergirl one is slightly more subtle, and both last forever!

2. Face
Christmas is over summer here in Australia so I'm not too fussed about having a very heavy coverage foundation. But to go with your freshly tan bodies, I think a good bronzer and concealer/highlighter is essential to keep shape and give glow to your face.
Since I'm very pale, bronzer doesn't quite suit me. So instead I use a red toned blush from the Napolean Perdis Cheek to Chic Blush Duo in the colour Sand. And as I've mentioned before, my favourite concealer/highlighter is the Rimmel London Match Perfection 2-in-1 Concealer and Highlighter in the colour 010 Ivory. I think the contrast between the two as well as my foundation gives me a bright and glowing look.

3. Eyes
Heavy eye makeup is not essential in summer. I think it's important to have one or two shimmery colours that you like to use on a night out but for the day time, I often like to just wear super natural, matte browns and a good coat of mascara.
I recommend the Maybelline Eye Studio palette in the colour 80 Pink Persuasion for a night look. The colours are gorgeous and make a beautiful classic smokey eye. For the day, the Models Prefer Beauty to Go Colour Palette has such a wide range of matte browns that you can create a very natural look no matter your skin tone. And for mascara I simply cannot go past the Maybelline Falsies Big Eyes mascara. It is perfection

4. Hair
A big trend in summer is textured hair. I think the best way to get texture is with either dry shampoo or sea salt spray. If you are heading out at night and need your hair to hold a particular style, you can even try something stronger like a hair mousse which you simple comb through damp hair after a shower and then blow dry for heaps of volume and a slightly tacky feeling to your hair
I love the Polished London Dry Shampoon and the Lee Stafford Beach Babe Sea Salt Spray. I use Taft Styling Mousse for extra hold.

5. Body
Over summer, no one wants burnt skin. Nor do we want dry skin. A good quality sunscreen is absolutely necessary every day in Australia. After a day at the beach I think an after sun spray is really great too or perhaps even a body mist. To moisturise, of course you can use your regular cream but I think a tinted moisturiser helps to bring out your tan and keep your glowing. It gets quite hot here in Sydney and we all get quite sweaty (ew) so I think now is the time to find a proper deodorant that really works. Finally, finish off with a gorgeous summery perfume!
I recommend using any Cancer Council Sunscreen. They are the best because they are designed to protect your skin from cancer by those who know most about it. My favourite after sun spray is by Nivea. I use the Dove Summer Glow moisturiser. And I use a Rexona Invisible Dry Diamond Deodorant because it doesn't leave white stains on black clothes or yellow stains on white clothes making it the perfect deodorant throughout the entire holiday season. For perfume I love the Juicy Couture 'Couture Couture' perfume. It's so fresh smelling.

And that's it!!! Hope you got some nice tips from this,
Happy Holidays,

Get Ready With Me: Melbourne Cup

Hello Lovelies,
So my last blog post was a little dark and personal so I thought I should come back with a brighter and happier one. So this one is going to be about my Melbourne Cup experience! I unfortunately missed out on accompanying my sister on a cruise down to the Melbourne Cup due to exams however that didn't stop me celebrating with one of my best friends Bernadette at The Star in Sydney. We took  the opportunity to dress up and eat and drink and gamble and have a girls day out. We had a wonderful day!

This post is about my face of the day.

So I went for quite a simple look on the eyes with bright pink lips and really flawless, glowing skin.
The night before I exfoliated my face using Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub. I also shaved my legs and moisturised with Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion in the colour Fair/Medium. I reapplied this in the morning as well. I painted my nails using Rimmel London I Love Lasting Finish in the colour 275 Electric!.

Face:
I began by prepping my face with moisturiser and primer and filled in any fine lines with my skin smoothing cream

• Nivea Daily Essentials Light Moisturising Day Cream for normal to combination skin SPF30+
• NP Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Skin Primer with vitamin E and chammomile
• NP Auto Pilot re-touch skin smoothing cream
• NP Auto Pilot eye primer eye hydrating cream

I then mixed two foundations and blended that all over my face and slightly down my neck until it reached my dress

• Rimmel London Lasting Finish Foundation 102 Light Nude
• Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation 100 Ivory

Before I did my concealer, I did my eyes (see below) but after that I concealed and highlighted under my eyes, down my nose, on my chin and on my cupid's bow.

• Rimmel London Match Perfection 2 In 1 Concealer and Highligher in 010 Ivory

I then applied a cream blush to my cheeks, blending backwards up towards my ear. I set my whole face by pressing powder onto my skin rather than brushing it on (I find brushing it on tends to swipe it straight back off ). I sucked in my cheeks to apply the darker colour of the NP Cheek to Chic Blush as a contour and the applied the Mosaic powder to my cheek bones for a highlight

• Models Prefer Cream Blush in Tickled Pink
• Essence Mattifying Compact Powder 10 Light Beige
• NP Cheek to Chic Blush duo in Sand (darker colour)
• NP Mosaic in Gleamer

Eyes:
I started by filling in my eyebrows using the darker brown shade in my palette and an angled brush. Then taking the champagne colour in the NP quad, I covered my whole lid. I lightly applied the Metal Glam eyeshadow over my whole lid with a flat brush. Then taking the dusty pink colour from the Models Prefer palette, I used a fluffy brush to blend it through the crease. I then took a medium brown colour to blend into the outer corner of my eye. Using the white colour, apply a small amount on the inner corner and also on the brow bone to highlight and brighten. Use it to blend out the dark colours to keep it smooth and soft. I used the liquid liner to create a thin line on my top lashes, with a slight flick. Then lined my waterline with the white end of the Big Eyes eye pencil. I curled my lashes and applied a coat of the YSL Shocking mascara to the top lashes and a coat of the Big Eyes mascara to the bottom lashes. I then applied false lashes and another coat of the Big Eyes mascara to the top lashes.

• Arezia Eyebrow powder
• NP Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad in Sand
• Essence Metal Glam Eyeshadow
• Models Prefer eyeshadow (beauty to go colour palette)
• Maybelline The Falsies Big Eyes Mascara (lower lash only)
• YSL Shocking Mascara (Top lashes)
• Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liquid Liner in Black
• Maybelline Big Eyes Liner (white only)
• Eylure Pre-Glued Lashes number 070

Lips
I prepped my lips with Paw Paw cream at the start of the process. Then I patted that off and applied the Ulta 3 Lipstick all over my lips. I used a lip brush to line the lips with the colour first and then filled them in straight from the stick. I then put a top coat of The Elixir to make my lips nice and glossy

• Ulta3 Lipstick in 009 Orchid
• Maybelline Colour Sensations The Elixir in 090 Rose Redefined (not in photo)

And that's the finished look! Below are photos of the final look, all the products I used, and the specific eyeshadow colours I used too

I hope you enjoyed this look,

Let me know in the comments below or on my social media. Keep an eye out for the next installment of my Race Day experience- My Outfit of the Day

Toodles

Middle Child Syndrome

Middle Child Syndrome is an actual thing.

In my family, being the middle child means having less time and resources and effort dedicated to you. It also means receiving less sympathy.

I especially noticed this recently when I saw my parents dedicate so much time to helping both my sisters out with their school/uni work when I receive nothing. Especially my older sister. My older sister just won a cruise. Good for her I hope she enjoys her trip. BUT, this cruise overlaps with the due dates of many of her final uni assignments. It just so happens that there are two parties in the two nights before the cruise too. So instead of my parents telling her that the only way she can go on the cruise or to the parties is if she finishes and submits her assignments, they've already told her she can go and are then wasting their time and mine to get these assignments done and handed in for her. So while she celebrates and enjoys herself, everyone else is working. My mum especially gets so used by my sister I feel bad for the woman. Instead of letting her daughter learn her lesson and fail an assessment for once in her life because she was too immature to prioritize her life correctly and left things until the last minute, my mum fusses about making sure her beloved first born gets everything. My sister is a grown adult. She should be accountable for her own actions. She is never going to learn the consequences of her immaturity and disorganization if my mum is there to save her every single time.

I think in my entire 14 years of schooling to date, I have asked for help about 10 times. That's less than once a year. And it would only ever be for minor things, like further explanation of a question, or assistance using a function on my computer. Never have I made my parents submit an entire assignment for me because I've been on holidays that's for sure. They take such an interest in my sister's education, and celebrate her results excessively. Why? Because those results are a reflection of their effort too. Whereas my achievements (which for the record trump my sister's) get pushed aside because I keep quiet about my academics, never asking for help, and getting by on my own. In fact, I often get asked why I don't tell my parents my results and quite frankly, it's because it's got nothing to do with them. It's my education and I do not need their help for it. When I do tell them, I'll get a brief "oh that's good" or "I didn't even realise you had an assignment" or worst of all "why didn't you do better?".

Then there's my younger sister. Who no matter how wrong she is, gets given the benefit of the doubt every single time. I won't lie, I am harsh with her. But if what she says or does is fundamentally wrong, I am no afraid to tell her so that she can learn. Apparently that is "rude" and I "bully" her. I get told off for trying to help the girl out. My parents refuse to let her lose in anything, if she is wrong in an answer, they change the question to make her right. If she did something to get in trouble, they get mad at me for letting her be in that situation in the first place. They take her word over mine. Nothing I do will ever come first over her because she is their precious baby who must be protected from the big bad world at all costs.

So where does that leave me? Stuck in the middle. Not important enough. Never right. Permanently in trouble. Always on the outside. My mum wonders why I don't get along with her, well it's because she has two other daughters who she treats as her angels and leaves me to be on my own. That and the fact we don't have much in common. We don't have much in common because my mum was always better friends with my older sister, her beloved first born, or focusing on her gorgeous baby girl. Meaning I went out and found other friends. Got into football. Kinda connected with Dad over that which was good but when it comes down to it, he'd leave me to go on my own if one of his other daughters needed his help.

I am a product of their neglect and whilst they give me everything I need physically to survive, and never leave me struggling, it just isn't the same. And yet even though I am what they made me to be, they still don't seem to like it. My parents are fair for a lot of things, but if their efforts need to be divided, I know that I will ALWAYS be the last choice.

Maybe I bring it on myself. Maybe my success and independence makes them believe I am capable of surviving on my own. Which came first- the chicken (my independence) or the egg (their polite methods of ignoring me)?

If you are a first born or baby of the family, none of this will make sense to you. You will be blind to the effects of the order of your birth. But if you are a middle child, all of this makes sense and you'll agree that middle child syndrome is real, and affects a person in more ways that you can imagine.

Pre-Season Training

Hello Lovelies,
I hope you've all been well. I apologize for not writing in ages but I've been so caught up with university exams, the sudden passing of my dear grandmother and my weekend in Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final. But I'm back!

This post is a written commitment to myself and my new lifestyle choices. I've labelled it pre-season training because most of my poor habits form during the football season, when I dedicate more hours to being a good fan rather than being good to myself. In the six months that is the football season, I tend to gain weight. So now during the off season (which eventually hits the turning point and becomes the pre season), I have a lot of weight to lose and a body to regain.

Tomorrow I begin the Kayla Itsines 12 Bikini Body Program. I'm excited because I know a few people who have done it and it's really worked and also for the first time ever I'm embarking on this journey with a friend. Unfortunately, I can't undertake the nutrition program too. Living at home means that I often have to eat whatever my parents prepare for me because we live on a budget and they have a family of 5 to feed. So for me, the nutrition aspect of the program will involve portion control and healthy eating when I'm out at uni and limited unhealthy snacking. As long as I'm not eating badly, it shouldn't affect the progress too much. On top of that, I am iron deficient so a lot of my diet revolves around trying to eat red meat, despite the fact it may not be as lean as other options.

I'm very unhappy with my body. Not only the way it looks, but the way it feels. This last month especially has left me feeling bloated, sick, heavy and tired. I look forward to regaining my energy, my figure and my confidence.

With this comes a lifestyle change that involves training myself out of the habit of turning to Twitter to say every little thing I think of, sleeping consistent hours, enjoying more sunlight to soak up more vitamin D, keeping my room tidier to minimize my allergies to dust, and going to the effort to keep my hair, skin and nails much healthier. Altogether, by the time it's the week before Christmas (12 weeks from now), I should be a much better version of myself and thus a much happier person.

The reason I'm posting all of this on the internet is because I want you to help keep me on track. Should you see a tweet or a blog post about a lapse in my control, I beg you to encourage me, help pick me up off the ground and get me back on track because I know for a fact that I cannot do this alone. I need you guys, my internet family and friends, to help me achieve my goal.

If you too are on a weight loss/ healthy living journey, let me know and we can help each other out!

Until next time,

My Chloe Morello/YSL experience

Hello lovelies,
I hope you're all having a wonderful day because I know I certainly am!
Today I went to an event at Myer hosted by the wonderful youtube extraordinaire, Chloe Morello. It was in conjunction with Yves Saint Laurent and was based all around their new red glossy lip stains. It was quite fantastic. I learnt so much and Chloe was so wonderful and helpful and kind. It was an honour to meet the lady who taught me basically all I know about make up.

The event cost $50 which was then redeemable on products at the YSL counter. We were also given a voucher for $30 off if we spent over $150. On arrival, two men dressed in suits greeted us with sparkling water and macarons. We got the opportunity to meet Chloe and take some photos before sitting down and being given a gift bag featuring all the YSL brochure, a sample of their yet to be released Black Opium perfume (which smells amazing btw), their Forever Youth Liberator Serum and also the Shocking Volume Mascara. Chloe then greeted us and began her make up tutorial on her beautiful model. It was a simple but useful tutorial on a classic winged liner and red lip look. I loved it because it's something I like to wear regularly. After that was finished, all the wonderful workers and make up artists, including the model and Chloe herself, assisted us in purchasing our products. It was crowded but they went to the effort to help everyone which was super kind.

I came away with three lipsticks. For buying three lipsticks I was also given a lipstick stand to showcase them. So what I bought was this:

• Rouge Pur Couture in the colour 9 Rose Stiletto
• Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain in the colour 9 Rouge Laque. This is the one that featured in the tutorial but unfortunately I didn't realize that I didn't pick up the limited edition version and just got the standard version.
• Rouge Volumpté in the colour 1 Beige Charnel (nude beige)

I am so satisfied with the experience and the help and expertise of the Yves Saint Laurent team at Myer. They are truly amazing and this ended up being one of the best days. It was even better that I got to share it with one of my best friends, Stacia. I strongly recommend booking one of the many Couture Services YSL offers because for all of them you get to redeem the booking fee in product. It's really good value. I think it would be great if other youtube gurus teamed up with other high end brands to run the same kind of event. 

Finally, on a personal note, a huge thank you to Chloe Morello. Over the years she has given me the confidence to do my own make up and feel fabulous and look fabulous and I owe so much to her. 

Much love guys,

Monday Rants: Save Jubilee Oval

Hello Lovelies,
I hope you've all been well. Before I start ranting, I'd like to say I've finally hit 550 page views and I'm so grateful to know that someone somewhere enjoys reading my blog so thank you very much.

Today's rant is an NRL post about the proposed changes made to suburban grounds as home grounds. To put it simply, I AM OUTRAGED. Of all my rants, this one definitely means the most to me.

The NRL just can't get rid of Kogarah Oval as the Dragons home ground. There are a number of reasons why crowds were down this year at Kogarah and Wollongong. Firstly, they've already reduced home games to 4 instead of 6 which obviously angered people and turned them off going to the game. Also, not one all Sydney game as played at WIN Jubliee Oval this year. This obviously contributed to the lower crowds in comparison to our games at ANZ or Allianz where we played another Sydney team and so their fans helped boost the crowd. It's been speculated that this is a ploy to make the suburban grounds look worthless as the NRL hopes to cut these stadiums out of the picture. I can guarantee you if the Dragons played local opposition at Kogarah, they'd get bigger crowds than what they got this year and you'd see just how great a suburban ground could be. Furthermore, low crowds are partly caused by poor performance. It doesn't matter what ground you play it, if the team isn't performing, people won't show up. It doesn't help that the games at Kogarah were against other poor performing teams. The games were quite non-eventful. And those that were against quality opposition were at poor times. For example, Dragons played Cowboys at Kogarah on a freezing cold saturday night without origin stars there. They also played the Warriors at Kogarah only a few weeks after they played then in New Zealand making the game less exciting. I also think it was a big mistake to play the local derby between Cronulla and St George Illawarra in Wollongong because Kogarah and Cronulla are far more local than Cronulla and Wollongong and on top of that, there actually is a rivalry between the people on my side of the bridge and those in the Shire.

So why shouldn't they get rid of Kogarah?

• It is the hallowed turf of one of the most traditional and proudest clubs in the comp. St George won 11 premierships in a row using Kogarah as their home ground. There is a legends walk dedicated to the superstars of those teams including three (of only eight) Immortals. To stop using this ground for its sole purpose would be losing a piece of NRL history. It won't be long before it becomes a development site and apartments are build. I couldn't imagine anything sadder.
• Kogarah is as close to home as you can get. I find it quite ridiculous to play our home games at ANZ which is close to Parramatta and Bankstown Territory than it is to St George. Allianz is more Souths and Sydney territory than it is St George. How can you say that is our home stadium when it is nowhere near our home territory? Furthermore, the Dragons will still have to hold their fan days at either Kogarah or Wollongong making it so contradictory to say this is our home ground on some occasions but we play our home games at ANZ. 
• Consider fans in the Illawarra. It is a hard enough trip to go from Wollongong to Kogarah for a home game. Given we only have 8 true home games a season now, it makes it even tougher knowing that you only get four in Wollongong so you have to travel extra to get your regular NRL fix. Could you imagine the extra effort it would take for Illawarra fans to travel the extra distance to Homebush or Moore Park? They'll stop showing up because it takes too much time out of their day. Especially night games. A 7:50pm kick off on a Friday Night means the game finishes near 10pm. Then an hour and half at least to get home. No one will go because they won't be able to bring their children. So much for attracting families. If kids aren't going to games because it's too much effort for their parents to take them, less kids will play NRL and then the league is in all sorts of trouble.
• NRL is supposed to be a working class game yet they aren't accommodating for the working class. The parking and the food at the big stadiums is more expensive than at suburban grounds. Not to mention the extra traffic and the extra petrol it takes. Especially from Wollongong. Moving out of the grass roots area into the big stadiums contradicts the whole NRL philosophy that you have to look after the true base of your fans- the working class, the country and the suburbs. 
• You lose the atmosphere. 18,000 at Kogarah trumps 19000 at ANZ. You need at least 30,000 to make ANZ an interesting atmosphere. You are far away from the action, the crowd is spread out, voices fade before they are even heard. I do not care if you can get an extra 1000 people at ANZ because of the people who go, more will leave satisfied with the experience walking out of a suburban ground than out of ANZ. 

If you think moving to big grounds and getting rid of suburban grounds are a good idea let me know why in the comments below! 

Thanks for listening my dears,

St George Illawarra Dragons: A season in review

Hello Lovelies,

So the home and away season is almost over for the St George Illawarra Dragons so I thought I would write a season in review post. Overall, I think our season hasn't been too bad. Now I know I'm biased because I am a supporter of the club but there are plenty of dragons supporters who have been very negative about our season when they really don't need to be. I'm going to try put things into perspective and explain with reason why our season wasn't a failure.

It was an improvement from last year. I think as long as we move upwards on the ladder, then the season has been ok. Fans need to be patient. Finals will come in due time if you relax the pressure and let the team build at their own speed. Especially since our team has been changing a lot over the past couple of years. Until there is a consistent roster, it will be difficult to see rapid improvements.

We sacked a coach. So there are two points from this. Firstly, as much as I liked Price, and was happy to give him a chance, his time was up and he needed to move on. Secondly, under McGregor, we've been a completely different team, showing new energy and passion. It was a good move from the club to get rid of Steve Price and I think a positive turn for our club.

We signed a coach. Sacking Price left room for Mary to show his stuff and I think he did enough to prove he deserves a proper shot at the job. With a full preseason under his belt and a chance to sign some players he wants to sign. I know some people believe three years is too long but you must understand that the club needs to show stability with its coaching staff if they are to attract players on long term deals.I think McGregor will do a pretty good job next year and if we make the top 8 or even fall just short then I think he would have proven himself worthy of the position.

Injuries. Lets put our injuries into perspective. Sure, it wasn't as bad as other teams. But our superstar winger, Brett Morris, missed plenty of games after his origin injury, Merrin wasn't ever 100% the same post origin, one of our big signings in Dylan Farrell (who we surely based many plays off during pre season planning) suffered a double pec tear. Michael Witt who we signed for the halves also suffered a season ending injury. It was unfortunate but I feel like a lot of the planning we did in the pre season went to waste with injuries.Hopefully things work out better next year. I know injuries is hardly an excuse but when you are trying to rebuild a club, you need everything to work in your favour.

Poor list management. One of the negatives of our season was our poor list management. I put a lot of this on Steve Price  as well as CEO Peter Doust who failed to recruit smartly. We signed Witt and Williams and Widdop. That's three halves. We wasted so much time messing around with halves pairings at the start of the year, in the end we lost one of the best young players coming through in Sam Williams. We then signed Benji Marshall and had to start all over again with our halves pairing. We also have an over abundance of centres. Beale, Farrell, Dugan, Green, Runciman (and Thompson if we need him there) have all played there this year. There's only two centres on the field at once. The same goes for fullbacks. There is one fullback yet Beale, Dugan and Quinlan can all play there. And yet somehow I cannot list a forward pack full of stars. How that happened is beyond me. I love our forwards and am so proud of their effort this year but the fact of the matter is they just physically are not big enough to go head to head with the likes of Burgess, Graham, Gallen, Taylor... At what point did management think this was ok?

We broke the hoodoo. If anything, Dragons fans can walk away this season and say 'praise The Lord, we beat the raiders at home!' That for us, is actually a pretty big achievement given we won 2 minor premierships, a grand final and a world cup challenge before we could beat canberra. So I think that was a great part of the season.

We were top of the table. It didn't last long but it was wonderful to be able to chant 'we are number one, we are number one' to the boys at Cronulla. They looked happier than ever and it was a feeling we hadn't felt in a really long time so that was another highlight of the season.

Home games are an issue. I'm going to expand on this for next Monday's rant but just quickly, I cannot believe there was only 4 games at kogarah and 4 and wollongong. And not one kogarah game was against another Sydney team. no wonder the crowds were rubbish. No wonder we didnt crack 20000 in our membership. We are a proud club. kogarah is our home (more so that wollongong in my opinion just because of the club history). To only play four games there is outrageous and a big let down for the season. And to think they are considering scrapping kogarah altogether! To think they play local derby's between us and the sharks at Wollongong when Kogarah is closer for both clubs and there is actually a rivalry between Shire and St George rather than Shire and Illawarra! this really angers me and you'll get the full rant next monday so stay tuned.

In conclusion: I don't have too much of a problem with this season. Improvement, effort, change, hope. What is there to complain about?

How do you think we went?