Femtrosexual gift shopper: 2014

It's the Easter holidays and I am back staying with my family!

I thought since I'm away for 3 weeks and didn't need to pack basic items like deodorant, my toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner and my laptop charger (have backups), that I would upload a post about some of the things I brought with me.

These are the main bag-like compartments i'm bringing with me! I will talk about everything separately!

This is my favourite toilet bag, which is from Diva. Instead of lumping everything together you can have certain things in different sections, and then it rolls up tight to put in your suitcase. When I'm not on holiday I usually put this case on the hook of my bedroom door, to grab or use things from before I leave.

I think these bathroom bags come in different sizes and colours, but are usually around $16...however I got mine on boxing day so it was only a $5 bargain.

Going right to left from top to bottom this case includes::

Zebra watch from Diva. Come to think of it I may have bought this watch another boxing day too...this is one of my favourite accessories because it makes any outfit seem a bit more intelligent or something..
Jewellery: Silver bangle, mimic pandora bracelet with one pandora charm, and best friends bracelet were all gifts. I haven't worn these to university, but to dress up outfits I like layering all three together.
Karen Walker Runaway Girl necklace, I never seem to wear any other necklaces these days..
Nails: Small Essie burgundy 'Size Matters' 5ml nail polish and Chi Chi 'California Girl' 10ml yellow glitter nail polish. These are the smallest varnishes I own, and I am planning to use the yellow for my nails and try and use up the rest of the burgundy on my toes.
Hair: Multiple bobby pins and hair-ties and Lush 'Shine So Bright' 10g hair balm. Brought this purely because i'm planning on getting a haircut while on holiday, and want to use this split end treatment straight away.
Coloured lips: Maybelline Baby Lips Glow Pink and The Body Shop Colour Crush in 105. For a bit of colour to add to my basic outfits I packed..
Random make up sponges for foundation..take up less room than brushes..
BYS concealer 12ml in medium..I bought this ages ago and think it's a bit yellowy so plan to use it up..under foundation.
More Baby Lips..'Mango Pie,' 'Anti-Oxidant Berry,' and 'Energizing Orange.' I need to use up the yellow because i've had it for so long, but keep getting distracted with new ones. The orange one has become my next-to-bed essential for restless nights, due to for some reason loving the refreshing scent more at that time then in the day..and the blue one because it's one of my favorites.
Designer Brands Lavish Lip Gloss 'Raspberry Juice 600,' because i'm gradually starting to go for lip gloss instead of chapstick..sometimes..
Eyes: Covergirl Lash blast Volume in 'Very Black,' this is one of my favorites, I know it is a fail-safe mascara to use after i've curled my eyelashes, because it will the leave the bottom and top clumpless, but then I usually apply a different mascara on the top to add some more length.
Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express, this is the first waterproof mascara i've ever bought because I never really thought I needed one..anyway I have really been loving this product, and its brush for the great amount of length, and ability to keep my lashes pointing upwards instead of the downwards direction they primarily grow.
Revlon Lashfinder. This mascara came in a gift set from my cousins, and I have to say I have a lot of love for it, and on a side-note, it has one of the most simplest designs, and would be great to keep in any makeup bag, because the tube is completely straight.
Revlon black and red eyelash curler which came in the pack along with the mascara...cool colours, but it can be a bit weird if you are used to watching your eyelashes be curled and suddenly you can't see them because they blend in..
Be Yourself 'BYS' palette combo 2. I got this so long ago that the company has now shortened their name.. so i'm sort of trying to use this up like some of my other products..Anyway after this is finished I will need to keep my eyes peeled for a new palette, because they are great for taking on holiday, and I love things that have 2+ uses. Here's a picture of it open..
I brought it for it's mirror, brown eyeshadows for eyes and eyebrows, and blush. Side-note, a big reason of why I also brought this may be due to me thinking black eyeshadow was maybe a bit dark for my brows and wanting to try something dark brown..Also I don't think i've ever used that camo colour..
Face: Continuing on, (sorry you may have to scroll up), I have Maybelline light Dream Fresh BB creme, and Fit Me foundation, which are both very close to being finished, and which I intend to try and blend with the other foundation pictured, which is the Rimmel Lasting Finish. I think this was a gift for my birthday awhile ago..sometimes my mum thinks i'm more tan than I actually am and my aunt thinks i'm very pale because she lives by the beach, so sometimes I have bases which will either be too dark or too light and not quite my exact colour haha..
In that pocket I also have a Maybelline Fit me! powder, which also may run out soon....sorry another Maybelline, it's sort of my favourite make up brand, and seems to be stocked at a lot of places..
Hair: Lastly I have the Edgy Smoothe n Grume 'Feed n steal styler' which my hairdresser recommended to me, and I got sucked in because like the palette, it has many things it supposedly does, such as smoothing frizzy hair, protecting against UV, and helping split ends..yeah as stated above I am into my split end preventers..
I also brought a heat protection spray by Schwarzkopf which is called 'Heidi's Heat Styles.' I plan to have some practice styling my new haircut before I return..And last but not least, my hairbrush which I found in my room from when I was young and liked it because it was small.

Moving onto the detachable extra case I have some of my bathroom/morning/night essentials.

For the morning shower I like to use my Garnier Pure blackhead eliminating scrub, which I love for it's scent in which really wakes you up..originally started using this around 5 years ago when my best friend was leaving the country and had an extra one she wanted to get rid of.
Then I have the Clean and Clear moisturizer (light purple lid) which has spf.. which is therefore used in the daytime.
I also have my Garnier Fructus fake tan which does not have my favourite smell. I have been using this on a lot of my body (especially my neck), to try and catch up with my legs which after the wearing multiple skirts and high top shoes, has a tan which starts mid upper leg and ends before my feet..
For my legs (especially if I shave), I like to use my travel size strawberry body butter for when soap leaves your legs a bit dry.
For the night I have been using the Pores 'Be Pure' mud mask a few times per week. I haven't always been a fan of using mud masks, but have kind of gotten into them as well as with my lush bubblegum lip scrub, followed by the lush honey lip balm. I am not usually fond of eating honey but received this as a gift, and like that of the orange baby lips, like the scent primarily at night.. because you have to use your finger to apply it, it is good for using while you are near the sink, but not so much in the middle of the night when you wake up with dry lips.
I almost forgot to mention, I use my scrunchy which was also a gift, to keep my hair tied back when washing my face and brushing my teeth, then keep it in while sleeping.

I hardly ever use this blue bag due to its colour, but the inside of it seems so clean compared to the brown and black bags I use for uni, so I decided to bring it along! My friend got me this bag when she went to China so I am unsure of its legitimacy, but nonetheless I love this whole idea of matching bag/mini bag and suitcase/toilet bag.

Inside my bag I had some of the essentials for a 6 hour bus ride, some of which were in my uni what's in my bag post, so I'll just cover the new items:

Brown beanie from Asos, great for when you don't have time for a shower in the morning!
Gloves that cover up to be mittens, and which are actually dark purple: defitnetly needed these due to the temperature that day..
Pink bear notebook: got it from a Japanese stationary shop long ago and it has easy ability to document money spendage.... Which is not the most favoured thing to bring on a holiday but however..
Pink weekly chart from Typo. For making sure you get chores done!
Blue and pink catbag from Forever21 which is very very cute.
The Body Shop strawberry hand sanitizer... Yep important for the bus and public bathroom usage.
Clinique lip gloss in juicy apple 206, just a basic pink lipgloss.
Throaties, mints I got free from a university I didn't attend, a little tissue packet, and a small nail file.
Baby lips in smoothing cherry and berry crush.
'Love etc.' mini perfume my mum got free from The Body Shop. Perfect size to carry around.

I won't go too into what I packed because I did take a lot of things to get rid of, but here are some tips on packing that I like to follow!

From the picture above, you can see I have packed a lot of neutrals, black and white patterns, therefore being able to do a lot of mix and matching casual outfits.

Starting from the beginning I like to put technology items, hair appliances, chargers etc.. in the first side pocket. I didn't need to bring my laptop charger this time because my brother had a spare thank goodness! My curler is a very old one associated with a tween girl's magazine which I have never had to replace as I tend to only curl my hair a few times per year.

The straightener is one my aunty bought me for christmas by VS Sassoon.

Then in the other side pocket I like to put a whole bag of feminine products, or even accessories like belts, gloves, scarves haha.

Then I like to put that huge toilet bag all wrapped up in the centre, because there's only straps on the left and right sides. Then I put in those big items, like here i've put my jackets, boyfriend jeans and jersey.

Then my lighter clothing like t-shirts, some snow themed leggings I wear as pjs, and some light pants. These are not all my clothes, just some of my favorites, for easy viewing, and the other things are very simple like black cardigans! Then of course I put underwear, bras, and socks up the top of the suitcase!

And lastly on the front of the bag I like to put my shoes. This is because sometimes they're a bit bulky or dirty to have in the main thing...Then i put my little bags in the other little pocket. Putting this stuff on the front also saves you from over packing shoes and bags.. Don't forget you get to pack an extra pair because you get to wear one on the trip HUHAHAAH

My friends and I went to an event for the first week back at university, which was in the theme of 'Mardi Gras'. On the website it said 'dress in crazy colours (purple green and gold)' which I found humorous because those are some of the least bright colours I know. It was a cold day, but I ended up wearing a bohemian-esque crop top from an op shop, a black body-con skirt which was a gift from my granny from England (haha), purple Dr Martens, a string with purple flower things on it (which I found around my house), and a bag which was also given to me by my Aunty. My friend Kirsten's outfit was my absolute favourite, her gold shorts are the cutest, and we helped her choose her sweater which is from Cotton On. Her outfit is also very her with the cat ears and jelly shoes haha. One of my friends wore purple, green and yellow instead of gold, and I almost sang her that song by Hilary duff that goes 'you always dress in yellow when you wanna dress in gold,' haha.

In the days leading up to the event we spent them sending each other pictures of on-theme nail polish, realized how many things in our room that were not clothes, were purple, green and gold, and every time we looked at clothes in our wardrobe that would be good for dancing would go 'oh I could wear this to Mardi Gras!' then would realize it was red.

In the end a band which I didn't know played with cool pictures in the background like cats and Beyoncé, we got very squished in a crowd, got three strings of beads, tried to find our crushes, and got photobombed.