I've stocked up on quite a lot of make-up since being here as I can justify much easier than I can back home. "Oh..well they don't have this brand back in Australia.." "I mean I HAVE saved up for this trip so I may as well treat myself" have been some of the phrases I've used on a regular basis. But you know what? I have no regrets because I've bought some amazing products this month.

1. max factor - all day flawless foundation

This has made it into the favourites because this is such a great full coverage foundation and I feel once it's on..it doesn't move. It's apparently a 3 in 1 primer, concealer and foundation but to be honest the concealer is no match for the horrendous dark circles under my eyes. As it is a fuller coverage foundation it can look a little heavy for everyday use but it would work perfectly for a night out or a day where you need it to last for a longer period of time. 

2. Real techniques - expert face brush

This is SUCH a popular brush so I decided it was finally time to give it a go myself. No wonder why it's so popular, it's amazing. It does such a great finish and is the best face brush I've ever used. I don't know what else to say about this brush except..buy it? 

3. Collection - lasting perfection concealer

Out of everything I've bought in the last month this is my favourite! I've never really been a massive fan of liquid concealers as I've found they haven't had a great coverage..but this one..this one is amazing. I've been finding lately I won't bother with foundation I'll just put this concealer under my eyes, spots on my chin (prime spot for pimples apparently) and around my nose and it'll be enough. I also like it because it's a tad lighter than my foundation so when I do wear it with foundation it acts as a highlighter under my eyes which makes my bags dissapear. It's only £4 ($8) so it's something I'll definitely be stocking up on.

4. Makeup academy - highlighter 

Oh so cheap and lovely. I don't wear blush as I find my cheeks go pink at anything (whether it be slightly hot, slightly cold, one glass of wine..) so I never really bother and instead wear a highlighter. This one gives such a nice soft highlight to my cheeks and doesn't look too heavy or silly. Another one to stock up on.

Now I'm back in England, well London, and currently housesitting an amazing house in the city with one of my best friends. The perk of house sitting is that you have somewhere homey to come back to at the end of a busy day in the heart of the city. Also they have two cats and two dogs which has been super enjoyable too. 

The routine at the moment is: sleep in, have breakfast, shower, walk the dogs, head into the city, come home, make dinner, movie and sleep. The worst part of routine would probably have to be walking the dogs. It isn't awful and I like being able to work off all those extra hot chocolate I've been having, but one of the dogs *cough* Dorris *cough* is quite annoying to walk. She strains on the lead constantly and decides that the most inconvenient places are the optimal spots to..well..poop. The first day we went for a walk we followed the route in which the owner had mapped out for us. It was through the high street. So we walked the dogs down the high street (or should I say they walked us) and just as we walked past a bus stop with lots of people around Dorris decided that this was a great time to go to the toilet. It was utterly embarrassing. This high street is in a very affluent area so people in suits walking past gave faces of their utter distaste. After that we never have been back on that route and live by the back streets.  

As it is early travel days I haven't gone to any places outside the UK, but I am very very soon. So far I've visited London twice, Reading twice, Oxford and Winchester. I've also been living in a cute little village which is refreshing to come back to particularly after a busy day in the city. 

This was the view I had flying in. If you look close enough you can see the London eye.

On one of the early days of being in the UK I met up with some friends and we roamed around London going to Harrods, Hyde Park, Oxford Street and St Paul's. I have to say my favourite part was Hyde park because there were so many squirrels out and about. I adore Harrods but it was SO busy (which is to be expected around Christmas time) so I couldn't really take my time in there. London is my favourite city but because I was still so jet lagged I hit a wall at the ever so late time of 5 o'clock. 

Above are my photos of my trip to Oxford WHICH I LOVED. I liked Oxford a lot because it wasn't so busy but still had a lot of beautiful scenery and shops. 

So in the upcoming weeks I'm branching out and going outside the UK so I'm sure I'll have lots of lovely photos to post. 

Hope everyone is having an easy time to get all their Christmas presents together, it's coming up really soon! x

For awhile now I've followed many of the British bloggers (Tanya Burr, Zoella, Sprinkleofglitter etc) and even though a lot of the products I haven't been able to get in Australia it still didn't make me enjoy the posts/videos any less. 

I'm super pumped for the many hauls ahead of me. I find myself going back to the blogs and gathering up a list of products to go out and buy! The bourjois chocolate bronzer is on top of my list.

Enough about what I will buy because you'll see them soon enough in future haul posts but for now I'll show you some of the goodies I've gotten so far.

Makeup Academy: Shimmer Highligher £3

My sister lived in the UK last year and with her she brought back some lovely makeup items - this was one of them. I used it and fell in love. I love the colour of this highlighter  and I find the shimmer isn't so overbearing like you can find in other highlighters. I wouldn't say I'll use this as an everyday product but I will use it on days where I'm in the mood for a complete makeup look. 

Makeup Academy: Pro-Base Eye Primer £2

A dupe for Urban Decays Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I haven't used this yet but apparently it's good! For the price I decided that it was worth trying out.

Makeup Academy: Eyeshadow pallets £4 each

When it comes to eyeshadows I'm not very adventurous. Sometimes if I'm feeling daring I'll add a warm orange tone around the crease..but..usually I stick to my neutral shades. I don't know why I do this - perhaps because I prefer to go for a more daring lipstick generally? 

Anyway my sister has these and I adore them. I feel the best eyeshadow jobs I've ever done has been with this pallet, so of course it was something I'd buy for myself. Urban Decays Naked pallets always get such great reviews but because these makeup academy pallets have been so good I've never felt the need to invest in the Naked pallets which are 4x the price. Who knows maybe one day I'll invest but for now these makeup academy ones are serving me well.

Primark: Sultry Lashes £1