MAC's Velvet Teddy

Velvet Teddy, thanks to Kylie Jenner and the 90's nude lip obsession/trend, is possibly MAC's most popular and well known lipstick right now. I'll be honest, I'm not huge on trends and usually like to stick to the classics, however since Velvet Teddy kind of is a classic, neutral nude colour and totally gorgeous, I figured it would be worth the $36 splurge.

And it definitely was - the colour, as many have noted, looks completely different on everybody but also super flattering on everybody. On me, it's the prettiest nudey-brown with a warm beige/almost orange tinged undertone (usually not my type of colour but I actually love it on me)! It's so unique, definitely channels that 90's vibe and is perfect for an understated but still noticeable everyday lip colour.

Velvet Teddy is a matte finish, however it's not at all drying on the lips and doesn't crack or rub off and look gross after a while the way so many other matte lipsticks do. It's also surprisingly super soft and hydrating on the lips, given its finish (no complaints here though, I love it)! The colour lasts pretty well - it gets me through a full 9-5 day at uni with just one or two touch ups in the centre of my lips (keeping in mind that I'll be eating, drinking water and coffee all day to get me through uni)!

All in all, I'm super happy to have Velvet Teddy added to my extremely small but slowly growing collection of MAC lipsticks!

Have you got Velvet Teddy? What do you think of it? Share your thoughts down below!

Have a lovely week!

xx Chontelle

My Experience with Flower Haul

I love flowers, and let's be honest, doesn't every girl? So when the lovely Ellie - owner of Flower Haul - got back to me saying she'd love to send me some flowers*, it's safe to say I was a little (read: very) excited!

Flower Haul is a Burleigh Heads, QLD based company that offers market direct flowers delivered free to your door (or someone elses, of course) on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. You basically subscribe to receive flowers on whichever basis suits you - but don't worry, because they're totally flexible and you can cancel and restart your subscription again at any time! Prices start at just $39, which is a pretty great deal if you ask me.

So let me tell you about my experience with Flower Haul! The flowers were picked on Wednesday morning and arrived on my doorstep at around 2pm the same day by courier. They come packaged in a simple cardboard box with the company name on them. I was super excited when I saw the box outside, and rushed out to pick it up and bring them out back and open them!

The real excitement comes once you open up that box and see what's inside. The flowers are packaged beautifully, wrapped in brown paper with a Flower Haul sticker, and tied with rope to the box for stability. Really great effort on Flower Haul's behalf to ensure that your flowers will arrive in perfect condition!

Something I love about Flower Haul is that you can choose to receive a specific type or style of flowers, or opt for a 'Surprise' bunch! When Ellie asked me if I had a preference with the flowers, I simply said that I love white, and next thing I received this gorgeous bunch of freshly picked-that-day white chrysanthemums*!

At the moment, Flower Haul delivers within South-East Queensland around the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Tweed Head and Sunshine Coast areas, however they're always adding new delivery areas to the mix!

If you're interested in checking out Flower Haul and even ordering some beautiful, fresh flowers for yourself (or a special someone) then I'd highly recommend them - I even have a special discount code for you to use to receive 10% off on your first order (you're welcome;) ), it's CL10. Just enter it at the checkout to receive your discount!

xx Chontelle

UNiDAYS:

Hey lovely readers!

Today I wanted to share with you one of the companies that have pretty much enabled me to buy the things I really love for discounted prices (which means I can buy more... or save more... or both)! UNiDAYS is free student discount company that you can sign up to in order to receive student discounts at some of the most popular retail stores - both online and in store.

I discovered UNiDAYS after a friend told me about it at uni only 6 or so months ago, and it was life changing (maybe a bit dramatic, but for a shopaholic like myself, it definitely felt that way). I couldn't believe how much money I could save just because I was a uni student!

UNiDAYS is the perfect company for all uni students. We're usually struggling with our studies, transport and uni related costs, working, bulk buying 2-minute noodles, paying bills (the whole shebang) and looking stylish at uni is one of those things that we often let slide not because we don't want to (well, sometimes actually, oops) but mostly because we feel that we're unable to justify spending so much on clothing with all of these other expenses. This goes for other things too, like shoes, tech, beauty, holidays, flights - UNiDAYS offers discounts for a huge variety of things, it's seriously amazing!

If you're a uni student then I would definitely, certainly, 150% recommend you sign up to UNiDAYS and start saving today! You can register with them online at https://www.myunidays.com/r/ALyVLTz1uK0, or via their mobile app (just type in UNiDAYS, or alternatively click here).

If you want to keep up to date with UNiDAYS and what's happening, you should definitely follow them on their Instagram (@UNiDAYS_AU) and Twitter (@UNiDAYS_AU) accounts, and give them a like on Facebook!

I hope you found this post useful, I honestly wish I'd learned about UNiDAYS earlier and saved some more money!

xx Chontelle

Back to Uni Style 'Then and Now' with ASOS

Hey loves!

Today I've got a super fun (albeit a little bit embarrassing for myself) post for you! I recently teamed up with ASOS* on their Throwback to School campaign to give you guys some outfit inspiration for your return to study!

I'll be honest, up until quite recently, I used to think 'buy heaps of new trend pieces' was the way to go. As a result, I picked up a tonne of things I hated and that never looked good together, and my style suffered.

Exhibit A - My 'go-to' look for university back in 2014. Oh, dear. I guess it could be worse, but I never felt comfortable in this playsuit - the crazy patter was too much for me, I don't like orange on myself, and it wasn't well made so didn't fit comfortably.

Of course, I've learned from past mistakes, and my style has come a long way since then! I now invest in pieces that can work with a wide variety of other pieces in my wardrobe, and tend to stay in style. I've put together two simple, cute outfits that I would wear to uni now as a bit of inspiration for those of you about to start or return to uni (or even school, for those of you lucky enough not to have a uniform)!

As you can see, and as anyone who has been following my blog for a while now will know, I have a thing for black, white and grey. I just love the neutrals - they're classic, never go out of style, and always look good!

The first look I've put together is super casual, super comfy, and totally long-day-at-uni appropriate if you ask me. I've gone for a pair of ASOS' White High-Waisted Ridley Skinny Jeans*, which are seriously the comfiest things ever and soo flattering on. I was really scared of ordering jeans online due to sizing and all, but they fit absolutely perfectly (I bought a size W26L32 for reference, so they definitely fit true to size) and paired those with this Cheap Monday Logo Tee* (one of the many awesome brands stocked by ASOS) tucked in for an effortlessly cool everyday look. I also added this cute ASOS silver bracelet* which is quite simple and understated so it suits any look (and is totally my kind of jewellery). Of course, I had to round up this look with my Converse Dainty All Stars in black - as you can see I've gone for total comfort, without giving up on style.

The second outfit is this super cute, simple and comfy roll-neck knit swing dress*. It's actually from the brand New Look, which is one of the many brands stocked on ASOS. I threw on my ASOS bracelet* (again) because it just adds something to any outfit, so cute and simple. I've also got my everyday black mini-heels/sandals (probably not the right words but let's just go with it), which I wear with pretty much everything, haha. ASOS actually has a bunch of similar shoes that are totally affordable for you to check out if you want to try out this exact look for yourself!

ASOS has some really great, affordable and fashionable pieces for students and with a 10% off student discount, they're a really great option when shopping for you back to uni wardrobe! I hope the outfits I've put together have been helpful and given you some inspiration for your back to uni looks!

I've also put together a capsule collection of pieces you can find on ASOS that are totally essential for a laid-back but still stylish uni wardrobe below. Remember lots of these pieces can be mixed and matched to create so many new looks (which is what I'm all about, and is great for those of us on a uni student budget)! I especially love the range of jeans and backpacks available on the site!

Items: 1. Cheap Monday Logo Tee / 2. Pieces Tara Bracelet / 3. ASOS Shopper Bag / 4. ASOS The New Forever Tee / 5. ASOS Woven Harem Pants / 6. Ridley Black High Waist Skinny Jeans Shredded / 7. New Look High Neck Knitted Swing Dress / 8. Ridley High Waist Skinny Jeans White / 9. Adidas Originals Drawstring Backpack / 10. Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars Black

Mary-Lou Manizer | Review

I finally got it. The highlighter that every blogger/youtuber/beauty enthusiast raves about is finally mine.

I've watched as Mary-Lou took over the beauty blog-o-sphere and became every second makeup lover's holy grail highlighter. I'll be honest, I didn't really understand the hype around this product - or highlighters in general - at first. The most I'd ever done was highlight with a slightly lighter concealer, which came out alright actually. But then David Jones decided to have a 30% off all TheBalm products sale, and I conveniently looked at the right time and managed to snap up my very first highlighter for only $20.96 (a much better price given I wasn't really sure what to excpect or if I'd even like it)!

The packaging itself is almost enough to buy the product, it's just so cute and retro and different! That's what had always attracted me to TheBalm shelves, just being able to look at all of the packaging (lame, I know, but it's true)! The pan is a decent, full size compact and has a mirror on the inside - which is always good. The only negative to the packaging (or maybe the product, or a combination of both?) would be that it seems to break super easily. Luckily, I haven't had that misfortune yet, nor do I plan to (touch wood)!

The product itself is just gorgeous, it's a super pigmented and smooth powder highlighter in this beautiful sort of muted golden/champagne colour with a bit of shimmer. And it looks gorgeous on, even though I'm quite pale I think it's super complimentary of my skin tone and colour. I've also seen girls with medium, tan, olive, Asian and African colouring pull off this highlighter so well, so I think it's a totally universal shade!

I'm honestly in love with Mary-Lou and cannot believe I didn't purchase it earlier! This one is definitely going to be a staple in my everyday makeup routing from now on!

Have you tried the Mary-Lou Manizer? Do you love it or hate it (or just meh)? Let me know in a comment down below, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xx Chontelle