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

Lace Detail & Dressy Shorts

Cami - Forever New, Shorts - Dissh, Watch - Rosefield Bowery, Bracelet - Butterfly Silver, Sandals - Famous Footwear.

It's getting hot here in Brisbane. It was 29 degrees today, and Spring has only just begun! I was actually considering bringing a cardigan into the city for uni today, but I'm glad I reconsidered. I got these shorts from Dissh earlier this year, and I've been looking forward to wearing them again ever since the cooler weather hit - they're just super cute and fun, and I love how they can dress up an otherwise casual outfit.

I also made a pretty amazing discovery the other day - Starbucks Australia finally has my all-time favourite drink on their menu, the Pumpkin Spice Latte! I grabbed one on the walk into uni today and it was every bit as delicious as I remembered!

I haven't been very active here of late, and I just wanted to address that quickly! I've been lacking motivation, and I think that's largely because my blog has been heading in a direction that I'm not passionate about. You've probably noticed an influx of beauty posts - which don't get me wrong, I love a good product review every now and again but it's not what I'm passionate about - along with other random posts that are all over the place. When I started this blog, I wanted it to be predominantly about my personal style as well as travel, with the odd lifestyle post thrown in here and there. That's what I'm really passionate about, and so I'm going to be moving toward a more 'streamlined' genre of style, travel and lifestyle from here on out. I hope you'll join me as my blog evolves to, well, what it was always intended to be!

x Chontelle

September Favourites 2016

I've filmed my September favourites for you guys, and it's live on my channel now! I've especially been loving my Chocolate Bar palette, Forever New lace cami's and Zoella's vlogs! Check it out, and leave a comment down below letting me know what your favourites were this month!



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

Outfits of the Week | September 2016 | OOTW

I've been away from Youtube for a while, but I've finally got a new video up on my channel featuring my outfits of the week for September 2016! If you'd like, have a watch and let me know which outfit you like best!



x Chontelle