Turning 25 - The Quarter Life Crisis

 

Yep, you've heard about it, some of you may be experiencing it with me, some of you already have, and some of you still have a way to go before it hits you. It's often joked about, 'you're only turning 25, you're still so young there's nothing to be worried about'. And sure, that's true, but it sure doesn't feel that way. 

In my last month of being 24, I find myself stressing and worrying and overthinking about my life so far, my future, what I have and haven't achieved, what I should've by now, and comparing myself to everyone else. I'll be straight up with you - teenage me had two ideas of what life would be like at this age. The first, I didn't even know if I'd make it. The second, stable and successful in a career, graduated uni, proper relationship, my own place, the works.

Instead, I'm still confused about what I'm doing with my life, where I'm going with my future, how I'm gonna get there, never had a relationship, still working towards my degree, and living at home. I've had my setbacks, my anxiety was so bad I was scared of leaving the house or even ordering food myself for a few years, and while that's definitely improved my anxiety still takes a massive toll on me. I struggle with trusting people which effects my relationships, and I have a tendency to procrastinate and self-sabotage.

But it's not all bad. I've found looking back on the positive steps and progress I've made really helps me to see that it's important not to get caught up in an imaginary timeline on your life. Everyone does things at their own pace, when it's right for them. I've started to become more confident in myself. I got over my fear of driving last year and finally got my license and my first car. I got out of my comfort zone and started getting out more and made some amazing friends and memories. I'm no longer as anxious about talking to strangers or doing things by myself. I've got a good, stable job that I enjoy and I'm looking at moving out soon. And I'll finally have my degree at the end of the year. I have an idea of what I want to do with my life, and while I may not have achieved all of this by the time I wanted, I've done it nonetheless.

I guess the point of this post is really that while reaching my quarter century is honestly terrifying to me, I've got to look at the positives and realise how far I've come. Turning 25 is scary, but it's also exciting. And it's true, I am still young and I have so much time to achieve the things I want to achieve. Instead of stressing and freaking out about it, I need to relax and appreciate where I'm at now and look forward to the future and all it's got in store for me!

xx Chontelle

6 Places I Want to Visit After Covid-19

 

If there's one thing I've really missed since the global pandemic hit, it's been getting to travel and explore new places. With Covid-19 essentially shutting down the world for the time being, it's left me daydreaming about the places I want to explore (or re-visit) once we're finally allowed to travel again. 

From overseas sightseeing holidays, to more local trips I may be able to experience sooner, while there's certainly plenty more I'd like to see, here are six of the places I want to visit post-Covid!

1. New Orleans

This one has been on my list for a long time, and was always slated to be part of my next USA holiday. There's just something about this city - the quirky and picturesque architecture, the vibrant nightlife, dark and interesting history, and the spooky, witchy and spiritual side to the city is incredibly intriguing to me. It's definitely not the easiest or cheapest place to visit coming from Australia, but it's an absolute must for me.

2. South Africa

I've always wanted to visit South Africa. I'm half South African and would love to see the places my mum grew up and lived in, meet some of my family, and explore all of the stunning natural wonders the country has to offer. 

3. Los Angeles

So I've actually already been here with mum back in 2012 (how is that nearly a decade ago now?!?!), and I really enjoyed it. We went over Christmas and honestly nobody does Christmas better and more extravagantly than Americans so I'd definitely recommend visiting during that time. However, I'd really love to visit maybe late summer or in the fall, when it's a little warmer and has a proper Cali vibe to it. There's so many things to do that we just didn't get the chance to, and travel agents warned us off visiting places that were 'dodgy' like Downtown LA or Venice Beach, that I actually would've loved to experience. There's also quirky walls and beautiful scenery to get those insta pics, and it's super vegetarian/vegan friendly, plus I'll be 25 (aka old enough to rent a car so we can drive to all these great spots) so I'm really excited for a second visit. Of course, going back Disneyland is a massive bonus too!

4. Sydney or Melbourne

Again, two places I've been to before (having lived in Melbourne for a year even), but I'd really love to go back to either of these two. They're Brisbane's big sisters and definitely have a lot more to see and do than I've been able to, and would be a more affordable holiday I could probably take pretty soon considering interstate travel is generally allowed at the moment (although I may wait a bit longer due to restrictions/border closures being pretty unpredictable for the moment).

5. Phuket

I was actually wanting to make this one of my next trips before Covid struck, it's a little closer to home for a cheaper international holiday and I've never visited anywhere in Asia before (strange for an Australian traveller, right?) so I thought it would be a really cool first trip over there. The beaches/water and sea-mountains (is that even what they're called? you know the ones I'm talking about) and caves to swim in just look stunning. I would've loved to have done a Contiki tour there as I've only ever travelled with family, and I'm hoping those tours will be back when it's finally time!

6. Tokyo

Honestly, I think Tokyo would be the coolest place to visit. First of all, I love the food, so I'd be eating very well. I also find the culture super interesting, they're so advanced in many ways and it's a bustling city that I'm sure I'd have no trouble finding great things to do and see in. I'd definitely want to visit during their Spring and see the Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom, visit some traditional Japanese gardens, learn more about the culture, and of course, take a trip to Tokyo Disneyland!

Where are you looking forward to visiting once we're allowed to travel again?

xx Chontelle

Colourpop Monochrome Eyeshadow Palettes | Blue Moon, Just My Luck & Ooh La La

Playing around with eyeshadow is one of my favourite things to do with makeup. I have a few palettes already but they're mostly pretty neutral, besides my Huda Amethyst Obsessions (which is actually pretty much an everyday palette for me), so I've been really wanting to pick up more colourful palettes. 

A few weeks ago I finally caved and purchased these three beauties - Blue Moon, a blue palette; Just My Luck, green palette; and Ooh La La, the pink palette. They also have yellow and orange palettes which are colours I just don't suit, and a purple palette which I don't need since I've already got Huda Amethyst.

This is my first time trying Colourpop eyeshadows and the brand in general, and I'm pretty impressed with the quality. The shadows are easy to work with, blendable and pigmented. The only criticism I have is that there is a fair bit of fallout during application, more so from the shimmer shades, so I'd recommend doing your eyeshadow before the rest of your makeup! Other than that though, these are great palettes to add some colour to your collection and super affordable at only $12usd (about $17.30aud) each. I've taken some more pics and swatches below:

Blue Moon

Until very recently, this was the newest addition to Colourpop's monochromatic palettes, and was what finally convinced me to make an order. Blue is having a proper moment right now, and I'm all for it. I feel like the colour suits all eye and skin colours, and can be soft & cute or bold & edgy.

Just My Luck

Considering I'm like, a quarter Irish (both my parents are half, so?), it'd be wrong not to support the luck of the Irish with this gorgeous green palette. It has all the green's I'll ever need, all in one place!

Ooh La La

Of course I had to pick up the pink palette, gotta stay loyal to my ~aesthetic~. There's a good mix of both easily wearable pinks and brighter pops of colour. This one is great as a standalone but also pairs well with my Huda Amethyst Obsessions and New Nude palettes, and my Naked 3.

x Chontelle

Dying My Hair Pink At Home | Adore 'Pink Rose' Review

I've wanted to have pink hair for the longest time, but no matter how much I've talked about it and researched dye's I never actually did it. I was always kind of nervous about having unnatural coloured hair - I didn't want it to turn out bad or ruin my hair. However for ages now I've been sick of my balayage and wanted a change. Around this time last year I went brunette again to cover up old balayage, and as usual it was too dark for me (my hair is naturally a light mousey brown nowadays and I was blonde as a kid so I've always suited medium to light hair best).

I didn't want to make the same mistake this time around, and I'm wanting to grow out my natural hair colour for the first time in probably 10 years. So I figured while I've got the blonde and I'm not in any job that restricts hair to natural colours, now was the time to go pink - and I'm so glad I did because I absolutely love it!

This was my first time putting a bright/unnatural colour in my hair, so on my first attempt I actually used Adore Petal Pink, which is more of a light pink/almost pastel pink colour. It did take to my hair but wasn't very noticeable or what I was going for, so I decided to take the plunge and go for a deeper and more vibrant pink - Adore Pink Rose.

First attempt with 'Adore Petal Pink'.

Adore was recommended to me by the girl working at Price Attack when I went in originally to buy a Manic Panic dye. I hadn't researched it before but I figured I'd give it a go, especially as it was $10 cheaper than Manic Panic at $16.95. 

The dye process was super easy and straight-forward, I just had to give the bottle a shake and then squeeze it into my hands and apply it directly to my hair - the hairdresser recommended applying it to recently washed and dry hair so I followed her instructions. I had some plastic gloves already from past box dye kits which I wore during application. I left it on for about an hour, which is longer than what the bottle says but I wanted to make sure the colour really took - and it did!

It came out as a super vibrant somewhat purple-toned pink or fuchsia kinda colour, and I love it! I wash my hair every 2 or 3 days, and it looks good for the first 2 washes before fading - however when re-applying more dye I found that I actually used way more than necessary initially (half the bottle nearly), as on my length to cover my balayage I only really needed maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle. So, that means that with at least 3 applications - once weekly if you don't want the fade - one bottle of this stuff can last me three weeks. That's pretty decent for a temporary fun colour, although I'm still gonna look into brands like Manic Panic and Brite which I've heard last longer as I'm loving having coloured hair!

Let me know if you've tried Adore's dye before, and what you think of this colour!

x Chontelle

Guess who's back... back again.

So... it's been a bit over a year since the last time I posted on this blog. I actually can't believe it's been this long. I'll be honest, I kinda lost my motivation for a while there. I was still uploading videos over on Youtube semi-regularly last year but it felt like a chore for me and so for the last 6 months I've pretty much done nothing with blogging/vlogging. Not that I haven't wanted to - I've had blog and video ideas, I've started putting together content etc only to lose motivation quickly and never end up actually doing anything.

In all honesty, I've been struggling a lot with my mental health lately. My anxiety has gotten a lot worse - despite the fact that I've been pushing myself to get out and have a social life again (and have made some amazing, supportive friends in the process). I've felt pretty down as well and have just been getting stuck in my own head which is not what I should be doing at all. However I have been slowly working on myself, trying to be more comfortable in myself, not being so worried about others and just focusing on what's important to me.

Which brings me to this blog - I've always had some kind of a creative outlet to keep myself occupied and I've really missed having that, so I'm pretty keen to get back into posting on here and also on my Youtube channel. I think I'm probably more interested in blogging than continuing with videos, but I'd still love to upload travel vlogs and other stuff if I really find it interesting - hauls and grwm's honestly just don't interest me anymore and if I'm gonna be doing something I need to actually want to do it, y'know? But yeah, anyway. I don't have a schedule planned, I just want to start posting and get back into the swing of things at the moment, but I'm hoping to post pretty regularly! Content wise, of course I'm still gonna be posting about makeup and fashion but I also want to post more music, life and mental health related content, so hopefully that's something you'll enjoy!

So to those of you who are still here (no idea why but thankyou!) and those of you who have just stumbled upon this seemingly abandoned blog - thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what's to come!

xx Chontelle