What I Got for My 20th Birthday!

Well, I'm no longer a teenager! Yesterday I turned twenty years old! I celebrated in small doses over the past week - a week ago mum and I had a sweet treat at Max Brenner (instead of cake, whichI actually don't like that much), and then Thursday night we had a birthday dinner at the Groove Train - which was delish! We grabbed coffee yesterday morning and I got some lovely presents, and then to finish off the night I grabbed dinner with a friend before heading out to the Valley (aka. club & bar central here in Brisbane)! 

But enough about that - the point of this post is to share with you all some of the exciting gifts I received today! I'll add the inevitable disclaimer in here and let you know that I'm honestly not trying to brag, but I'm just super excited about these gifts and wanted to share them with you guys! 

So without further adue, let's see what I got!

The two 'big' things I received for my birthday were the Too Faced Original Chocolate Bar Palette and the Rosefield Silver Bowery Watch with a Grey Leather Strap. Both of these items have been on my wishlist for a pretty long time now, but because of the heftier price tags ($72 and $115 respectively), I hadn't gotten them yet. However, if a Birthday isn't an excuse to get something special, then what is?

The Chocolate Bar palette has seriously exceeded my expectations. I almost regret purchasing Urban Decay's Original Naked Palette as my first 'high-end' palette, because this one is honestly the best beauty product I own! The shadows are super pigmented and it smells absolutely amazing! The colour selection contains a lot of cooler to medium neutrals which is perfect for me, but it has some lovely shades like 'Cherry Cordial', 'Amaretto' and 'Candied Violet' that give a bit of a 'pop' of colour to enhance any eye look! I'm super excited to play around some more with this palette!

I first saw Rosefield watches on instagram (I follow a lot of European bloggers) and fell in love with the minimal, classic styles they had on offer. Rosefield is a Dutch brand, with a gorgeous selection of watches that are super affordable compared to similar brands here in Australia like 'The Horse' and 'The Fifth' (anywhere from $35 to $85 cheaper per watch). To be fair, the discount is mainly because if you live outside of Europe you don't pay VAT taxes so we basically get to skip out on GST because of an international loophole - I'm certainly not complaining, though! I chose the grey leather strap because grey is one of my favourite colours, but also because though I wanted to go with the black strap and buy a grey one later, the grey only comes with silver hardware when it's with the watch itself, whereas the black strap by itself can have either rose gold or silver hardware.

These silver pieces of jewelery from Colette were a great bargain, I think they were around 50-75% off each and came to about $13 all up! I basically only wear silver jewellery and I've gotten rid of a lot of old junk so it's nice to have some new, on-trend pieces to dress up my outfits!

How to Be Parisian was another item I got to check off of my wishlist, as I've been wanting this one for ages! With my obsession with all things Paris and dream of one day living in Paris, this book kind of had to be mine! It's a great read, full of helpful and humorous life, beauty and style tips, and looks perfect displayed on my desk ;)

Again, another wishlist item, Mac's Diva lipstick is everything I'd hoped it would be, and more! It's the most gorgeous deep red, something of a wine/blood/vampire red shade, and looks seriously stunning on! It's also my first proper red lipstick - ever! I know, I know! Still, it's the perfect start to my inevitable collection of red lipsticks!

I also got a few bits and pieces of clothing and accessory items! The grey cropped cross-over front top was only $30 from Bardot after using my $20 birthday voucher, which was a great deal! Both the clear/gold patterned iPhone cover and the striped phone case/wallet were sale buys from Forever New, as was the Playboy bra & undies set from Bras 'n' Things.

My friend Meg also got me a present, a seriously lovely scented candle, which I unfortunately don't have a picture of as I had to leave it at her place (but I'll be sure to add a picture a.s.a.p)!

All in all, I had a great birthday and got some amazing presents that I'm seriously grateful for! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave a comment down below! 

Have a great weekend!

xx Chontelle

Eat Street Markets | VLOG & Photos

Took a quick OOTD outside the markets - watch my vlog below for outfit details!

Literally perfection, the Potato Slinky. Heaven for a potato-anything lover like myself.

Gaytime Cronut - the outside pastry and topping was delicious, but unfortunately the inside was mostly gooey dough :( 

Over the weekend mum and I finally had the chance to check out Brisbane's popular Eat Street Markets. I'd been wanting to go for a pretty long time now, because well, I love food, and food markets, and food!

It was a pretty fun evening out and there was so much nice food to choose from. Of course I couldn't try it all, but I'm already planning to head back in the future to try some more!

I filmed some snippets from the night and put together a vlog for your to check out, so be sure to watch it if you'd like to see more about the markets!

x Chontelle

Internship Interview Attire | OOTD

My Outfit:

Blouse - Zara

Jeans - Topshop

Bag - Colette

Shoes - Famous Footwear

I recently managed to get myself an interview for a communication internship at an amazing Brisbane PR & Communications company, which was both incredibly exciting and also very daunting. I wanted to make the best impression possible, and while that meant I had put a bit of pressure on myself to do well, thankfully it paid off and I scored the internship position!

Today I want to focus on the outfit I chose to wear to my interview. Since PR is a more creative business field, I decided to go with a smart casual look. I paired my go-to pair of high-waisted black Jamie Jeans from Topshop with this gorgeous new blouse I picked up recently from Zara. I love blouses (I have a bit of a collection going on to be honest), but this one really stood out. Not only is it the first 't-shirt sleeve length' blouse I've got, but it's also got a bit of a flare to it at the hem along with a double layer at the bottom of the front (kind of like an understated and minimal nod to the frill/peplum style that's been reappearing lately).

I opted for some simple black heels for my interview, and of course I took my black handbag from Colette which I take with me pretty much everywhere.

I think wearing something smart that suits the environment you're looking to work in, and that is comfortable, flattering and makes you feel confident, is seriously important when it comes to ace-ing a job interview (even if it's an unpaid internship - it's still a job, and confidence is essential)!

I'll be writing a blog post shortly on how to get an internship in PR with some tips and tricks that I found useful, as well as a video. I'll include the links to those here when they're up, otherwise just keep checking back on my blog and channel!

What do you think of the outfit I wore to my internship interview? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

x Chontelle

Topshop Ripped Denim Jamie Jeans | Review

Finding the perfect pair of jeans is honestly one of the most difficult things a girl can do, but it is absolutely essential! I've spent the better part of the last 12 months doing just that and I seem to have found my perfect match: the Topshop Jamie Jeans!

With the mid-high rise, skinny fit, and perfect amount of fabric flexibility (neither the too-legging like jeggings, nor the thick and stiff 'proper' denim), these jeans fit like a glove and make me look and feel incredible! These are actually my second pair of Jamie Jeans, but I've been wearing them so much over the last few weeks that I just wanted to share my thoughts on them with those of you who may be interested or even considering purchasing them for yourself!

One major difference between this pair, and the Black Jamie Jeans I already own is that the fabric does feel a little thinner or more flexible, which I don't mind at all! I think this may have something to do with the fact that these have the two ripped knees, because I've tried on a few different colours with distressed detailing and they all seem to be made of less 'structured' material than their un-ripped alternatives. This isn't a bad thing at all - I feel like the extra flexibility is needed for ripped jeans because after all, they're a more casual and relaxed look and you want to be able to sit cross-legged and be more comfortable in them!

These jeans are super comfy and very flattering, especially on someone like me with a relatively 'straight up-and-down' figure as the higher waist and slim fit shows off a bit of shape. Also, they keep their shape after being washed (hand-washed, most of my clothes get hand-washed because it's the most gentle way of cleaning them and means they will generally look better and last longer)! Honestly, at only $95 AUD (or $86 AUD with the in-store student discount!!) they're great quality and relatively affordable jeans that will fit right in to any wardrobe!

What do you think of these jeans - do you have a pair of your own? Are you thinking about purchasing any sometime soon? Leave a comment letting me know!

x Chontelle