Oui Paris!

At the end of June, we took a trip to Paris for my birthday! It was full of delicious food, amazing architecture and a butload of stairs! I was going to write up a long post about it, but it was so long ago, and ya'll probably don't want to hear me yammering on.

We ended up going to the Eiffel Tower a whole 3 times. Yep! The first 2 days we went it was closed due to a strike, so on the 3rd day we walked up to the second floor, only to find the ticked booth closed to the top (I'm so scared of heights I wasn't at all upset about this, but Toby was a bit bummed.) We visited the Arch De Triumph and the Champs Elysee, The Catacombs, The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Opera, and Galleries Lafayette and Laduree for macarons. I was super lazy this trip and didn't get my camera out much, so a lot of my favourite photos ended up being instagram photos. I would be sad about that becoming a way of life now, but I really love instagram (hit me up, my username is Klerr).

A bridge of locks near Notre Dame. We definitely put another one on there!

Got Maccas just to have a beer with it!

The Catacombs are super creepy. So many bones.

Delicious creme brule we shared the night before we left. Other delicious French food we ate and I didn't get a picture of include escargot, duck confit (ie my favourite dish ever), croissants (of both the plain and chocolate variety), macarons, nutella crepes, cheese crepes, mille feuille and steak tartare (when the waiter had to double check that I knew it was raw beef, and was shocked that I was ok with that!)

Strawberry Fields Forever

A few weeks ago, Toby and I made our way to Liverpool on what could only really be called a 'Beatles pilgrimage'. "Why would you go to Liverpool?" people would ask. Because of The Beatles!

We stayed at what could only be described as a joke of a serviced appartment. No toaster, no information about the hotel or surrounding area (not even a fire escape plan!), oven but no oven trays, iron but no ironing board, no soap or shampoo, and no tea or coffee. There was also a bug squished on the roof, no cold water coming from the sink in the bathroom, and I don't know where I got the term serviced from, because no one but us stepped foot in that place after we checked in. It was a short walk from the main shopping strip, which was nice, and it was pretty cheap.

On day one we went to the Beatles museum, after a quick trip to Primark where Toby tried to convince me he needed 8-bit sunglasses. The museum was really good! I did have a bit of a problem with the timeline, as I got a bit confused to when Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best as the drummer, because they kept talking about both of them. It was very interesting though. You get given headsets so you can just listen to someone telling you things instead of reading things, which lets admit, is really hard to take in.

5 minutes down the harbour was the Fab 4D experience, a 4D short movie with Beatles songs, which was really fun. Toby and I didn't have anyone else in our screening which was great so we could sing along and nobody could care about when I screamed when we got sprayed with water.

We then went for a walk over to the Cavern Quater and Mathew street, where the infamous Cavern Club is. The Beatles played there 292 times while it was open! It's since moved slightly from the original spot, a few meters up the road. The original club got closed because they wanted to build subway vents, but they never got built. The new Cavern Club is really cool though, and even Adele has played there (which would have been one of the coolest gigs ever!)

The second day we went to the Liverpool Cathedral and St James' gardens (I have another post lined up about that!), then walked down to the docks to the maritime museum. We went to dinner at Jamie's Italian that night which was really delicious!

Hey there, Malaysia!

Hello all! Now that I'm actually traveling, I really have no idea what to write about for a blog post! And I'm sorry all these photos are instagram photos, I'm always worried in Asia that I'm going to take pictures of the wrong things and get in trouble, so I don't want to take my SLR around with me. I blame the Australian government's travel adds for that!

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur last night at around 9pm, and after taking the KLIA Ekspress, and then a taxi, we didn't get to our hotel until 11pm (1am aest). Surprisingly I wasn't that tired, and I didn't even get much sleep on the plane.

View from our hotel room.

We ended up waking up at 7.30, had a rather average breakfast at the hotel, went for a walk only to realise that shops don't open till 10am here! We went to Times Square and spent a couple of hours there walking around the shops and had lunch. There's a theme park in there that looked really awesome (I mean, roller coaster in a shopping mall, how could that not be cool?!) but was a little too expensive (although in hindsight we probably could have splurged a little). 

Piano stairs in Times Square, ie. the coolest staircase I have ever been on!

I ended up convincing Toby to walk to Sephora with me, even though it was more of a struggle for me. It was less than a 10 minute walk and I had acquired some rather nasty heat rash on my thighs already. It was pretty amazing. I didn't really spend as much time in there as I could have, but I was surprised at how expensive everything was! The Urban Decay Naked palettes worked out to about $70 AUD each and you can definitely get them cheaper on the internet, as well as all the Stila products I looked at. It was nice to be able to swatch them though instead of just relying on blog reviews, and I definitely need to get some Urban Decay products into my life! The same happened at MAC, I found the prices were pretty much the same as I'll find in the UK so I'm going to just wait and get some there. I have a lipstick from the Baking Beauties collection in mind which was out of stock when I went in today. There was a rather lovely sales assistant there though, and I had a little chat to him about my tattoos.

We ended up having a beer before walking back to the hotel to use the internet for a little bit and talk to our parents. I'm definitely addicted to my phone, so it was a bit annoying to not be able to check facebook every 5 minutes today, but really it's probably a good thing! We wanted to find a good Malaysian restaurant to eat dinner at, but after asking at reception for any good places to eat, realised we were in China town, and went to a place around the corner from the hotel that had cheap beers and ate there. Which was a really good choice because it was delicious! I had chicken noodle stirfry, and Toby had chicken satay skewers and both were really yummy. My sore legs meant we couldn't really do much after dinner because it hurts to walk, so we ended up going to a 7/11 to get pints of beer to take back to the hotel.

Photo from dinner. We sat next to the water feature which was nice.

We leave for London at 10am tomorrow, which means we get there at 4 in the afternoon, so there'll be plenty of time to look around a bit before bed, and find a good pub!

My 'travel' makeup bag.

So I'm going to be away for around 8 months, and I have restricted myself to 2 relatively small makeup bags. I'm bringing a square Aesop bag I got as a birthday present, and a red polka dot bag I got from my last blog swap. They're pretty chokers, and some of the lip products don't fit, but I think it's pretty good considering what I could (want to) be bringing. I'm scared to think about how much I'll be bringing back because there are so many products available in the UK that I want to try out (especially sleek blushers!) I'll probably end up having to post most of it back!

Face/Base: Face of Australia 3 in 1 Primer, Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, The Body Shop Extra Virgin Mineral Powder Foundation, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer(not shown) Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Soft Sable, Benefit Hervana, Body Shop Dome Blush in Pinch me Pink, MUA Shimmer Kisses Bronzer, Essence Renesme Red Blush.

I'm just going with basic face products here. I'll easily end up finishing this foundation while I'm there, and I plan on buying some MAC foundation at duty free. I also wanted to make sure I had a decent selection of blushes, even though blushes are something I plan on buying while I'm there. These don't take up much room (except for Hervana!).

Eyeshadows: MUA Undressed and Pretty Pastels, MAC Cranberry and Sketch, MUA Pro-Brow, Essence Glammy Goes To, Cappucino Please, Party All Night, L'Oreal Tender Caramel, Essence Cappucino Please, and Party All Night, MUA 19.

Eyeliner/Mascara: Covergirl Clump Crusher, Benefit BadGal Lash, Face of Australia Glamourous Lashes Waterproof Mascara and BudgeProof Gel eyeliner in blackest black, Covergirl Liquiline Liquid Liner, Essence Stay all Day in Glammy Goes To, Australis 10hour wear eye pencil in Grape Cake and Bombastic Bronze, Bourjois Clubbing waterproof Liner, Rimmel Scandal Eyes waterproof eyeliner in Nude.

I think I've got all the eye products I'll ever need here, especially for nudes! I've got 2 spaces in my MAC quad that I'm going to try and fill, probably with Shroom and Woodwinked (although, I'm up for suggestions!). I even bought a new Covergirl ClumpCrusher during the priceline 40% off sale that ended up being $6, because I knew Covergirl isn't easily available in the UK, and I'll have to throw out my current mascaras while I'm there. I might end up not bringing the Essence single shadows, because I have similar colours in Undressed, but I couldn't leave the L'Oreal shadow behind, mainly because of how much I paid for it (even though it was on sale!)

Lips: Revlon Lipbutters Sugar Plum, Peach Parfait and Strawberry Shortcake, MAC Ruby Woo, Vegas Volt, Angel and Rebel (not shown, as it was on its way from the lovley Sarah from More than Adored! when I took pictures), Rimmel Kate Moss #20, Sportsgirl Pout About it Catwalk Queen, Rimmel Apocalips Luna and Galaxy.

Almost everyone I talk to think I'm crazy for bringing so much lipstick, and the only person who doesn't agree is my friend who thinks I'm crazy for only bringing this much (she loves lipstick even more than me). In reality, I wear lipstick a lot and I bet I end up using all of these more than once. I've got a good selection of shades, including nudes, light pinks, plumbs, reds, bright pinks, and my favourite lip colour, corals. These are also some of my favourite lippies so I couldn't possibly leave them at home. I probably won't even buy many more lippies, unless it's at duty free, I'd love to get a YSL lipstick, and probably some more Apocalips. I might end up swapping the Sportsgirl lippy, as I'm tossing up between taking that and Innoxa Watermelon.

Nails: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength nail hardener and Diamond Shine Base and Top Coat, Ulta3 green mini, Essie Bikini So Teeny, Ulta3 Earl Grey, OPI Italian Love Affair and Rimmel Black Cherries.

I think narrowing down my nail polish was one of the hardest things about packing. Having someone to take care of my collection while I'm gone makes it a bit easier, because it's at least going to get used, but I love having a large range of colours I can use. I think I'll be buying a fair few polishes while I'm there though, I'd love to try some Barry M and Nails Inc! I will end up bringing a glitter, I'm tossing up between Heart of Glass and Studio 54, but I think Studio 54 is going to win!

Brushes: Real Techniques Stippling, Expert Face and Setting Brush, Thin Lizzy Powder Brush, Coastal ScenKabuki, Cosmetica double ended shadow brush, Australis Eyeshadow brush, Essence Eyeliner Brush, and Priceline eyelash curler (not shown)

 Of course I can't not bring brushes. They're all the brushes I'll need to use all of the products I'm bringing. I'll probably end up buying a Real Techniques blush brush, and throw out the Thin Lizzy powder brush (it's not that great anyway!)

What are your travel makeup essentials? Do you tend to overpack too?

Travel makeup bag

I'm going on a little holiday to Brisbane for Soundwave, so I thought I'd share with you the makeup I'm bringing. I'm not bringing much as I'm only taking carry on, and the forecast is for rain the entire time!

Essence  To Die For palette - A neutral palette that doesn't take up a lot of room! I love two right shades, and the top right shade is perfect to use by itself.

MUA liquid eyeliner shade 3 - Just in case I want to use a liquid liner

Benefit BadGal mascara -  I don't actually own a waterproof mascara, so this will have to do! I might end up buying a waterproof Mascara while I'm in Brisbane so I can wear it to Soundwave, haha.

Bourjois clubbing waterproof eye pencil - I'm bringing this because it's waterproof! I've also been using it a lot lately to thinly line my upper lid when I don't want to bother with liquid liner (I can't help but do wings every time I put on liquid liner and most of the time I spend ages trying to fix them up because they're uneven!)

The Body Shop Born Lippy in Lychee - I love this lipbalm. It smells really nice so I've been using it a lot

Carmex Moisture Plus tinted lipbalm - always handy to have two lipbalms!

Revlon lip butter in Peach Parfait - I finally found it!! Of course it was hiding in my boyfriends room, which it's probably been since Christmas!

Revlon kissable balmstain in Romantic - I love this red! It stays on a really long time so I don't have to worry about reapplying it as much and can enjoy my holiday.

NBN tinted moisturiser - This tinted moisturiser is tinted enough to give enough coverage when I'm having a good skin day.

Maybelline Dream Matte powder - Putting this over the tinted moisturiser will give me a little more coverage and help set my face when it's super humid!

MUA Shimmr Kisses blusher - I'm mostly taking this because I've been loving using the bottom left shade as a highlight! I don't want to bring a highlight and a blush so this works as both.

Australis travel blush brush - This is small, but I don't want to waste room taking my regular blush brush which is a kabuki.

Cosmetica double ended eyeshadow brush 

Dot by Mark Jacobs sample 

Other:

Makeup remover wipes. I recently finished these Swisspers wipes, and decided to put a couple of the Australis makeup wipes I got from this months Bellabox in the empty container so I can just throw the whole lot out before I leave. Hopefully they work ok because I don't have anything to cover up my face with if they irritate my skin.

Travel size Swisse Shampoo, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration conditioner (in a shampoo bottle), Swisse body wash.

Dove roll on deoderant (almost empty so I can throw it out before we leave), Sorbolene cream (in a nivea bottle), Body Shop Cranberry Joy hand cream (This has been missing since before Christmas!), Banana boat sunscreen sample from Bellabox, Coles sunscreen (also almost empty so I can throw it out before we leave), floss, toothpaste and toothbrush.

Wish list: travel

This wish list is a bit different to the wish lists I've previously done. This week I want to share with you some of the places I want to travel. I've mentioned before that I'm heading over to the UK in May with my boyfriend, and we'll be there (hopefully) till the beginning of next year, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to travel around Europe when we have time off work. We pretty much want to go anywhere and everywhere that we can, and whilst I'd really be happy to travel anywhere in Europe, these are some of the places that I'd really love to go to.

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German Christmas Markets.
Ok, this one's not so much a place, but a handful of places to pick from. At Christmas time, these markets pop up all over Germany, and in fact some of Europe (Edinburgh hosts a small German Christmas Markets that was really magical).

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Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam is a reappy pretty city. I'd love to go there and ride a bike around the canals and look at the architecture.

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South of France

I've already been to Paris, and although I wouldn't say no to going there again - especially in summer when you can take the Batobus along the Seine. I would love to go to the south of France, and eat cheese and drink cider in the countryside. I still would like to stay somewhere tourisity such as Marseille or Toulouse, as my French is pretty poor.

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Skiing in Bulgaria
I love skiing and we're going to miss the ski season here so it would be great if we got the opportunity to go skiing while we're in Europe. My boyfriends family friends have a place around the resorts in Bulgaria so that seems like the most ideal place to go. Plus, how pretty are those trees covered in snow!

Chernobyl, Ukraine
I only recently found out that you can actually do tours of Chernobyl and the worker town of Prypyat. I have a fascination with nuclear disasters and ghosts towns so I think it would be an amazing experience, especially visiting the abandoned fair grounds. The only downside and the number 1 reason I won't be doing a tour, is that the current sarcophagus that is encasing the damaged reactor is deteriorating, making it a little dangerous.

Have you been to any of these places? Is there anywhere in particular you're itching to go to?