My 21st Birthday Gifts ♥

Hello! I am now officially a 'legal' adult all over the world - that's right, I've turned 21! In Australia it's not such a big deal (but then again, it kind of is with all the 21st birthday parties) compared to other countries because the legal age here is 18, however I thought that this would be a great opportunity to have a celebration with friends, seeing as most of them have had or are having their 21st birthday celebration. There are many friends who I don't get to see often due to our daily commitments so these birthday dinners and parties give us a chance to catch up :)

I had 3 birthday celebrations/outings this year - with the boyfriend on the day of my birthday (Thursday), with my girls the day after my birthday, and with my family on the following day. 3 days in a row of celebrating ^^

I took photos on the night with friends and I was thinking of sharing them but for privacy reasons I decided not to. Instead here is one of me with my birthday cake.

Yay!

I'm so glad I decided to do something for my 21st with my friends. About a year ago, I would've said I wasn't going to do anything. If you know me well, you'd know that I'm a very simple girl who doesn't like to over-complicate things and easily gets flustered among a large group of people, haha, which was why I wasn't keen on having a '21st'. It's probably got to do with my introverted-ness and mild social anxiety that made me not want to be the centre of attention for a celebration. I usually celebrate birthdays with my boyfriend/family and that's about it. In the end I decided to invite my closest girl friends with 15 of us on a table for a casual dinner. I don't mind attending events with lots of people, they can be quite fun but if I'm the star of the show, I'd rather be around less people. Anyway, I was happy with how the night turned out and I loved seeing everyone!

Just thought I'd share some of the lovely gifts that I received. Perhaps they'll give you some ideas of what to get for an upcoming 21st (I've got a few coming up). To make things easier, I'll group them by their category:

Electronic devices

I guess I could say that I'm a bit of a tech girl, I love new technology and gadgets. Whether it's a new camera, tablet or music device, these are popular choices for friends who want to chip-in for a valuable gift.

My dad bought me a new phone and this was the first gift I received for my 21st. With my current phone contract expiring in less than two months (Galaxy S2), it's the perfect time to receive a new phone for an upgrade and I'm extremely happy to have gotten latest Galaxy model. I can't wait to start using it!

Jewellery:

Jewellery is the perfect gift for any feminine and elegant female. I adore jewellery, especially classy/dainty pieces like the ones above. Currently I'm obsessing over rose gold and anything that sparkles!

Fragrances:

I see fragrances/body gift packs as quite typical gifts which I have gifted to friends before but haven't done so for a long time, and probably won't again because I personally don't like gifting people fragrances... but that doesn't mean I don't like receiving them - I am a-okay with it, as long as they smell nice :) Luckily the ones I've received do and they're pretty awesome.

Beauty products:

I'm a girly girl, I love all sorts of beauty products and I never feel as though I have enough! They can be so useful and handy. Also, gifted beauty/skincare products give me the opportunity to try new brands/items that have been missing from my collection. If I've used them before or have them already, it never hurts to have backups!

In case you were wondering what the black item is, it's a brush set! This was just what I needed *_*

And they're really good quality too!!

Bags/purses:

A girl can never have too many bags/purses, right? We pretty much need one for all different occasions (casual outings, dinner dates, cocktail parties, you name it) and it's great that we can easily switch between them. I'm definitely going to make use of these bags.

Chocolates:

You can't go wrong with chocolate unless... well, someone is allergic to them. But that's not the case with me and I've got a sweet tooth so I welcome yummy chocolates with open arms! You have every right to indulge in some choccies on your special day, and after your special day :)


The number '21'

These are great for memory's sake, simple as that. On the left is a '21' photo album to store all of this year's happy snaps. With cards, I prefer to receive ones that have an age at the front to help me remember which year it was for, when and if I look through my cards in the future. Having the age/year inside the card is good too :)

I just want to end this post by saying thanks for the well-wishes on my birthday and thanks friends for celebrating with me and for your beautiful gifts - I will cherish each and every one of them! And of course I will always cherish you guys too ;) I feel so blessed, appreciated and loved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Questjen of the week:

Out of the categories above, which is your favourite type of gift?

For me it's definitely jewellery, since they're so versatile!

To any other May babies reading this, happy birth month :D I Can't believe the month is almost over, so quick!

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Illamasqua Counter Launch + Products

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Last month Myer (high-end department store) finally launched its first Illamasqua counter in Adelaide as part of the store's beauty hall makeover and I was delighted to be invited to its opening. I was really excited to get a chance to swatch and play around with Illamasqua products as I've heard such wonderful comments about the brand and high-quality pigments.

In case you aren't aware of this brand, Illamasqua is all about being bold and daring, allowing people to express themselves with a different attitude, a darker side or an alter ego, with products to suit every individual.

This wasn't like any ordinary blogger-meets-brand meet - I didn't see the other bloggers as we each had one-on-one appointments with the newly announced Australian ambassador, Frances Cutri. Frances gave me a tour of the new stall and introduced the different products that Illamasqua has to offer.

On the table: Summer 2014 collection (it's not summer in Aus but this is a worldwide launch)

And complementary cupcakes :)

*Swatches of new products*

L-R: Velvet Blushers x2, and Matte Lip Liquid in Forbidden, Exotic and Surrender

Did you know that Illamasqua also have their own perfume/cologne? And guess what - it's unisex!

A scent fit for a male and a female called 'Freak' and the bottle has a snail design on it. Frances asked me if I knew why a snail was used as the image and I told her that I had no idea. She told me that it's used because many snails don't have a gender (they have both male and female organs), which makes it a perfect image for this perfume/cologne, because it isn't gender-specific.

A screen playing Illamasqua makeup videos

 These lashes are maaad fancy!

 Ridiculously pigmented eyeshadows

Such a broad range of lippie colours - don't think I'll ever be able to pull off green lips!

It was lovely getting to know more about the Illamasqua brand and meeting the friendly counter people and of course, Frances who flew in from Sydney for the day. I was handed a goodie bag and it was completely unexpected, because I was already overjoyed over the fact that I had the opportunity to visit the stall and have this one-on-one! Here's what was in it:

I also got these 'Skin Base Mixers' which help to give the perfect contoured look. I followed the instructions provided and applied them on my face. It looked really messy but after applying them, a layer of foundation goes over it all so it subtly sculpts the face from underneath. Clever, hey?

Left: Applied Skin Base Mixers

Right: After applying foundation on top

It looks as though it's given me a 'facelift' in the slightest way possible, and I don't have to worry about any harsh lines unlike using powdered contour shades over foundation. It requires more effort when applying these Skin Base Mixers because there are 4 different cream-textures to blend into particular areas. In my opinion, the effort is worth it as it makes my face appear more 3-D and gives my face some colour and depth in the right places i.e. the hollows of my cheeks and the sides of my nose. With additional contouring with powder on top of this, I can add even more definition to my face! I've got to try that next time :)

Wearing the Velvet Blusher, Cream Pigment and Intense Lipgloss

I reckon the White Skin Base Mixer gave my face more of a glow too!

My eyes, cheeks and lips have different variations of purple and it sort of gives off a gradient effect from top to bottom which I quite like. It's funny how I used to only wear purple on my eyelids and nowhere else but now I'm comfortable with wearing it on my cheeks and on my lips. The creamy/velvet eyeshadow pigment and blusher were really easy to blend and it must've been because texturally, they're fantastic. The stand-out product for me was definitely the lipgloss because of its pigmentation (it's literally like paint), and I love the brush applicator which gives me more control as opposed to a sponge applicator.

It looks lilac under this lighting but in person it's darker

I also tried out the Colouring Pencil and to be honest, I'm not great with lining my lips but I gave it my best shot. I found that this lip pencil glided on very smoothly with maximum pigmentation and minimal tugging. 

 I need to practise my outlining. Looks alright from afar but up-close, nope.

A purple and red look? Hmm...

Purple and red is an 'unusual' combination, so they say, and the colour wheel will show that purple and red should not be combined. Though lots of people beg to differ, saying that purple and red makes an edgy combination and is bound to turn heads. I personally wouldn't put them together, but it's not like I find it distasteful - if you like it, go for it. Red is a colour that I rarely used on my face and I'm hardly brave enough to sport a red lippie.

I am thrilled that an Illamasqua counter exists in my city at last and it was a lot of fun playing around with the products, especially and quite unexpectedly, the Skin Base Mixers which I wasn't too sure about using at first. I had never thought about the idea of contouring before wearing foundation and now I feel that it's a crucial step to add to my makeup routine! It was crazy at first seeing my face look dramatically sculpted but once the foundation was applied over it, I was pleased with the results. To me my face has always lacked definition with my flat eyes and flat nose so having these Skin Base Mixers can help accentuate my features. Thanks Illamasqua!

Questjen of the week:

Pick one - red lips or purple lips?

They're both cool tones and since I suit warm tones better, these colours aren't really for me... but if I had to pick one, it'd be purple. And I guess I'm also a little bias since I like the colour purple more than red, just saying!

Disclaimer: Products were provided for consideration with no obligation to share or review. This is not a sponsored post, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this post. All opinions are stated by me are 100% honest with no bias. See more at: http://www.questjen.com/p/disclaimer.html for full disclaimer.

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Attending My First Fashion Shows - AW14

Hello hello! Last month a friend and I headed into the city one evening to watch two free fashion shows which showcased the styles for this year's autumn and winter. I was really keen to see what this season's and next season's trends were and most of all, I was really keen to attend a fashion show for the first time! I've always wanted to go to one and unfortunately I rarely hear about fashion shows/events happening in my city... but that might just be because I haven't done much searching around or joined any sort of fashion blogger group. Perhaps I should get involved, hey.
I don't really have much to share in this post besides photos (so close this page now! Joking, please stay) and some comments on the outfits but hopefully this will still be interesting, especially for any of you fellow fashion enthusiasts out there :)

One of my favourite shots from the night

The host for the shows, Lisa McAskill, dressed in Cameo The Label
The fashion show featured outfits created by stylists and each ensemble was created using items from one store, head to toe. This is a good way for the audience to see that pieces can be found and put together from just browsing a single store, both for women and men.
Here are a few of the brands/shops that were featured in this fashion show:
Cotton On

Sussan

 Royal/indigo blue is definitely in!

 Events

Looks like the black on black and floral trends are here to stay

Jacqui E

Seeing lots of bold reds!

Ted Baker

Green is also a colour to look out for this season
Showies Boutique

I spot bold black and white prints, orchid tones and a bit of metallic
A particular dress from the boutique was a stand-out for me:

Not a dress I'd wear but I couldn't help but notice how elegant it looks

All of the models coming out and applauding at the end of each show
Excuse all of the head shots of the audience in the pics! For the first show I was sitting in the front row but then for the second one we had to move back a row because it was reserved for VIPs and I wasn't a VIP :( I don't even know how to become one and apparently there was an after party event, aw.
I have to admit, not all of the outfits that I saw on the night were ones I'd wear/like but that's what fashion is all about, right? Not everyone has the same taste and you can always mix and match items to suit your style! I loved seeing the new and unique designs and all sorts of colour combinations. Many of these outfits stood out to me in a good way, but I reckon it had more to do with the models themselves than what they were wearing 'cause they're all soooo tall and gorgeous. And I wish I had at least half of their confidence... and also their legs haha. Mad envy!

All attendees received this free magazine that was placed on each chair
I'll definitely be attending next seasons' free fashion shows and hopefully other fashion shows in the future like Victoria's Secret lol, or any others in my city, interstate/international ones. I'd be interested in hearing about any upcoming ones, even if I'm not able to attend them.
Questjen of the week: Have you been to a fashion show before?
If so, which ones? If not, why not? Haha kidding - if not, would you want to go?

PS: I've made some slight changes to my blog layout, including the header!

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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies mentioned. Please see the Disclaimer tab for more information.