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

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike | Book Review

I've decided I'm going to try something new this year by introducing book reviews here on my blog! I love to read, and I've made reading a new book every month one of my goals/resolutions for 2017 so I thought, why not take this opportunity to create a mini blog series reviewing each of the books I read so that you can decided whether or not you'd like to check them out too?

To kick things off, I've got YA novel Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike. This is book one in a series of three sci-fi novels, and follows the story of Tavia Michaels - the sole survivor of a plane crash that begins seeing visions of people she's never met and discovers abilities and a past life that she never knew she had.

The story begins with the plane crash, before fast forwarding to the present where she is hiding from the media and living with relatives she never really knew. The story takes a while to pick up, but if you push through the chapters you'll find an action-packed sci-fi adventure, a blossoming romance, and a love triangle like no other that'll keep you turning to the next page.

I picked up this book for two reasons - the first being that it was written by Aprilynne Pike, who is also the author of the super successful Wings series, which I am a huge fan of; and the second being that the blurb sounded pretty darn interesting.

While I certainly enjoyed this book overall, I've gotta be honest and say that it did take quite a while for the story to pick up - I feel like I was at least a third of the way into the book before things began to make sense and a story appeared. However, from that point onwards it was an interesting, eventful, action-packed story that really drew me in.

One little qualm I had with the book was a bit of misused grammar or sentence structure, such as 'I didn't used to' which, let's be honest, isn't appropriate in a published novel. Other than that, it was well written.

In the end, it was an enjoyable read, and I'm really excited to see what happens next for Tavia - in fact, I dropped by my local bookshop the other day to order in a copy of the sequel, Earthquake.

Have you read Earthbound? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book, or the series in general!

x Chontelle

New Mac Lipsticks | Twig & Blankety

Less than a year ago, I purchased my first Mac lipstick. I've quickly become obsessed. I've been slowly growing my collection over the year, so of course I was ecstatic when my Aunt got me two new lippies (chosen with my guidance, of course) as an early Christmas present while I was staying with her in London last month.

I'm one of those people who are crazy about lists and checking things off of lists, and these two were up near the top of my 'lipstick wishlist'. 

Twig

I wanted a deep pinky-brown, and Twig was the ideal lipstick to fill that void. The colour is described as a 'soft muted borwnish-pink' which is totally accurate and falls perfectly into the brown lips 90's trend that's big right now (and I personally love). Twig is a Satin finish, which is my favourite as you still get the look of a Matte lipstick but it's more comfortable and seems to look nicer throughout the day. The colour is really flattering on my pale skin and brown eyes, it's not too dark but dark enough to stand out.

Blankety

Blankety was one I wasn't too sure about as I loved the colour but a) wasn't sure if it was too much of a light nude-pink for me, and b) didn't know if I'd like the Amplified Creme finish. Nevertheless, it remained on my wishlist and I've ended up really liking it! Blankety is described as a soft pink beige, which is about as good of a description I could come up with although nude may be a better descriptive than beige. Still, it's lovely. The colour shows up a bit more nude on my lips than it does in the swatch, which I feel is fine however I think it looks better over a deeper nude/pink/mauve lipliner. The Amplified finish is actually really nice, and the colour is just as opaque as it is with a Matte or Satin finish, so A+ for that! Blankety is really just a lovely everyday wear kinda colour, which I'm happy to have in my collection.

Which of these lipsticks do you like the best? Let me know your thoughts below!

x Chontelle

New Hair at Trendz Studio Brisbane

Back in August, I was the unfortunate victim of a hair disaster after giving a new, too-affordable hairdresser in the city permission to colour my hair. While the condition of my hair wasn't affected much, I was left with a super dark, ashy brown hair colour with choppy ashy-to-grey blonde highlights throughout the top. Needless to say, it was a huge knock to my confidence and I found myself desperately searching for a good hairdresser that could fix the mess.

I discovered Trendz Studio, a salon well-known for their blonde and balayage with studios in Cleveland (Brisbane's Southern Suburbs) and the Gold Coast. I went to the Cleveland studio as it was the closest to me of the two. If you're thinking of booking with them, be warned - you need to book in advance, or be able to drop in at a day's notice (or even the same day) as they are so popular that they are often booked out for several weeks in advance and the only way to nab an earlier appointment is by taking over a cancellation. It's totally worth it though! Personally, I booked around mid to late September for my appointment on the 26th of October, which was one of the earliest available.

I arrived with a few pictures of my ultimate goal colour in hand, knowing I'd probably need to come back for a second appointment to reach the exact colour I want (and knowing me and my indecisive-ness, I'll probably keep wanting to change something anyway). The girl doing my hair was lovely and we discussed what I was wanting and what we were going to do, I felt pretty confident with everything by the time we started on my hair.

The appointment took approximately three and a half hours, and I've gotta say I was pretty darn pleased with the end result! I went from drab and dull ashy brown, to a gorgeous neutral-toned brown to blonde balayage! I really didn't think my hair would lighten so much in one go, and it was so healthy afterwards (possibly more so than before - and likely thanks to the Olaplex treatment they used). It only cost me $320 including a root colour to diffuse the previous choppy highlights, which was cheaper than some of the mainstream and popular options around Brisbane which was great!

I did end up going back a week later to have a warmer toner run through my hair to resemble the tones I had wanted, as my hair had a few too many ashy tones the first time around. The toner was complimentary, and gave me the warmth I needed!

I'm really happy with my new hair, just in time for my upcoming trip to London and Europe, and then summer back home straight afterwards!

Check out Trendz Studio's amazing Instagram feed here!

What do you think of my new hair? Have you had any big hair changes lately, or any salon horror stories you'd like to share? Let me know with a comment below!

x Chontelle

Mac's 'Diva' Lipstick | Review

Okay, so I've got yet another Mac lipstick review for you today. I know, I know - Mac lipsticks are clearly fast becoming my downfall, but they're just so good!

As you know, I love my pinky-nude lipsticks. But, I've also always loved deep, vampy reds. After a bad experience with the Australis 'Doo-Bai' Liquid Lipstick looking awful after a little bit, I was scared off of not only liquid lipsticks, but deep red lipsticks (the latter doesn't make much sense, but that was my logic at the time). However with an upcoming late autumn trip to the UK and Europe, and it being the middle of winter at the time, I decided that I'd finally give a deep red lipstick a go.

And I knew just the one. I'd been lusting after Mac's Diva for at least a year or two, it was the perfect deep, vampy, wine coloured red, and I knew it had to be mine. My mum actually bought it for me as my Birthday present (thankyou mum!) so I didn't have any 'financial investment' in it to pressure me into loving it, but alas, I did!

Diva is the most gorgeous deep red lipstick, and I honestly think it's an autumn/winter staple for any makeup lover! I have neutral-warm undertones and pale skin and I think it's very flattering on me, and I've seen darker girls or people with pink undertones look fab in it too!

I will say, the only downside to this lipstick is that because it's such a deep and bold colour, if your lips are dry then it'll be kind of obvious up close where the 'flaky' bits are. But that's super easy to fix, just moisturise your lips and I'd recommend using a lip scrub beforehand as well - Lush has some great ones in the flavours Popcorn, Mint Julip, and a Candy Floss one (I think, basically a sugar-y one)!

As you can see from the swatch, the colour comes up pretty opaque which is great, sometimes darker colours come up kinda patchy and need extra effort to make them look good. Not this one! It's a matte finish, but it still has this beautiful 'sheen' to it that makes it 'pop' that little bit more.

I'm honestly so happy with this lipstick, and I'd definitely recommend you check it out next time you go past a Mac counter! 

Do you own Diva? What do you think of this lipstick? Leave a comment letting me know!

x Chontelle

Lady Gorgeous by ESJ Organic Skin Care | Review

Recently, I was contacted by the team over at ESJ Skin Care about trying out their popular skincare product for women, 'Lady Gorgeous'*.

ESJ (Emanuel Sam Joseph) is an Australian organic skin care retailer stocking quality skin care products for men and women that have proven results. Founder & Managing Director of the brand Emanuel Sam Joseph has personally suffered from problematic skin, so you know that a lot of time and care has gone into creating a product that will actually deliver results rather than leave you disappointed. I took to google and the ESJ website straight after hearing from the ESJ team, wanting to know what this product was all about and how others who have already tested out the product felt about it. My search was met with an abundance of great reviews from extremely happy customers, which is always a positive sign!

When I received the package two weeks ago, I was in awe of just how beautiful the packaging was! First impressions, people, they're important!

ESJ really has that 'luxury' feel, and upon opening the box I felt like I was at a luxury hotel and spa. There were fresh rose petals scattered throughout the box, and inside were two classic light pink bottles of product shaped like a woman's body.

The product itself is really nice. It can be used on your face and body on a daily basis, and is a really easy two-step process of cleanse and moisturise. Lady Gorgeous is, as the name suggests, the perfect skin care duo for us ladies! You get a cleanser and a moisturiser, so it's nice and simple and you won't be overloading your skin.

Lady Gorgeous retails for $89, which is quite a good price considering you get two 200mL bottles of product. They also have a version of this product available specifically for men, called The Gentleman! If I've peaked your interest in the product then you can read more about it over on the ESJ website here!

Thankyou for reading!

x Chontelle