Christmas love xx

Hello my lovelies,

So for those who know me, it would be pretty obvious how much I love Christmas. It's that time of the year again when people are lovely to each other, there is gift giving, pretty night lights, decorations, lots of food and for some, there is the birth of Christ. I believe that it is a combination of all of these things that make it so magical for me, and so, each year I wait eagerly for Santa to come with his reindeers and use it as a chance to celebrate with my family and friends.

Naturally, I decided that I would kick off my December posts with some delightfully colourful pictures of my Christmas tree! Yes, I know I'm prepared. (If it were up to me, I would have the tree up by the 1st of November... and possibly spend too much money on the Christmas decorations).

Anyhow, hope you enjoy the pictures - and my inexperienced photo editing skills heh.

Hope you enjoyed the pics and who knows, maybe you'll get some ideas for decorating. Merry Christmas!!

Lots of love,

Alyssa xx

My Daily Skincare routine

Hello lovelies,

Recently I developed a skin care regime that is simple and easy to keep up in my daily (and weekly) routines. In the past I have been terrible at regularly looking after my skin so I am finally content to say that I found a solution. Now, this post is only meant to give you ideas on how to look after your skin and you can adapt it in any way you like - especially if you have prescriptions for harsh acne or extremely sensitive skin. I have been lucky enough not to be graced with really bad acne or sensitive skin throughout my high school years (so fingers crossed it doesn't happen now) so you may find that the brands I use might not work for you. That's fine. Like I said, just substitute it for what you use.
  My 5- step daily routine

So after I wake up, my face tends to feel a bit oily and/or puffy from sleep. I find that the best way to feel refreshed is to rinse my face with lukewarm/cool water but NOT freezing cold because that will close your pores. After this, I dab some of my face with a soft, dry wash cloth so that my skin is still damp but not completely dry. I line up my products and then get started.

1.  First, I pour a small amount of Clean & Clear foaming cleanser on my fingers and then apply in circular motions on my face for 1-2 minutes. Sometimes I will use Lacura purify wash because it is cooling on the skin. At night or if my skin is feeling sensitive (sometimes I get a small heat rash/ eczema on my cheek) I will use the gentle Cetaphil cleanser

2.  Next, I rinse my face and dry it by gently wiping away any excess water.

3.  [Optional] Occasionally I use my Lacura exfoliating scrub to clear out my blackheads - this depends on how much time I have in the morning. It is best to do this every couple of days because it can otherwise be detrimental. When applying this, only put 2 small mounts onto each of your hands and then rub gently in circular motions, moving slowly across your face. Avoid your eyes.

4.  Then I grab my Clean & Clear toner, pour a small amount on my hand, rub both hands together and spread it all over my face. I let it dry while I rinse my hands. Note: you can also grab a small, unused makeup sponge or cotton ball and use that to apply the toner.

5.  Finally, I apply a tiny dollop of my Cetaphil moisturiser all over my face and rub it in gently. It is important to treat your face with care - you don't want to create more skin problems by being rough.

Products I use:

 

So I hope that this has been helpful in some ways to those looking for ideas on how to improve skin care and products that I recommend. Remember that this is a suggestion post, aiming to help with incorporating skincare in your every day routines. 

Until next time,

lysh xx

Do what you love... and then some.

Since I seem to have less and less time to do things outside of uni and work, I decided to show you guys something that I wrote last year. It is basically a reflection of my thoughts on performing, life's passions and so on. I hope you can take something from this, that it is so important to find something you are passionate about in life. Not everything will come easy, but dream big. Anyway, here we go.

"Today I stood outside in my backyard for the first time in a while and despite the cold, morning air I just… stood there, feeling content. I surprised myself because it had been so long since I last felt so uplifted..? I think that’s the word that best describes it. My hands were numb but I barely noticed (not because they had no circulation. hah.) and my hair left something to be desired for but I remained where I was, looking around and half-smiling because I felt satisfied with myself. I had achieved something -the one thing I struggled with most. The confidence and hope in my ability to perform well as a musician. I know the struggle is far from over and it will be an ongoing process but I realised that’s okay. It’s okay to doubt myself and make mistakes sometimes because I am human. I am not some other-worldly creature that is perfect in all aspects. It’s okay to falter as long as you pick yourself up. As long as you keep pursuing what you love. If you don’t, then something inside of you won’t be the same. There will be regret and bitterness; a longing to do what you love and yet a fear that you won’t do well. Trust me, I know this feeling. I think we all do at some point.

Regardless of what happens, I believe we all should find our passion in life -or if there are many, let there be many passions. If we cease to love ourselves and believe in ourselves… then what is left, but nothing? Don’t become an empty shell of the person you want to be -or once were. Don’t be passionless and afraid to live. Norman Cousins once said “Death is not the greatest  loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies within us while we live.” These words came to mind today and I thought to share it with you -whoever happens to read my blog- in the hopes of enlightening people out there who are struggling to believe in themselves. Let me tell you, once you reach that moment where it all makes sense, nothing will be able to stop you. Nothing and no one. And that’s how it should be, really."

"Try" by Pink - Eunice Suh cover

lysh xx

"How to" make Cake Pops

Hello lovelies,

So I think it's becoming evident that I love my food considering the increasing number of food based posts recently. Before we get started, I want to thank Louisa for sharing the recipe to her delicious Cake Pops. She is always baking delicious desserts and sweets so hopefully we'll see more from her in future.

Ingredients 

• 1 egg
• 1 banana mashed 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2/3 cup caster sugar 
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour 
• 120 grams butter 
• 4 tablespoons milk

 Method 

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2) Grease/ flour cake pop holders.

3) Cut up the butter into squares and mix with caster sugar using a   kitchen aid or wooden spoon.

4) Add the vanilla essence, egg and mashed banana.

5) Mix half of the flour into the batter.

6) Add milk and mix the other half of the flour.

7) Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes.

8) For the toppings I used white and milk chocolate (coating the cake pops half in each) then sprinkled hundreds of thousands on top. Pro tip: melt the two types of chocolate  and put in two separate bowls, dip the cake pops in them then let it cool before doing the other side.

Here are some photos of the process and some possible ways to decorate/ present your cake pops!

"Places to go" in Surry Hills

Devon Cafe

Back in June, I met up with a good friend of mine and we decided to try out Devon Cafe for the first time. Safe to say it had wonderful food although it's a tad pricey and I certainly would want to go back there when I'm not a broke uni student. Heh.

The rather Modern cafe is located on 76 Devonshire Street in Surry hills, and opens from 6:30am-4:30pm Monday to Friday as well as 8:00am-3:30pm on the weekends. It has a range of gourmet foods, perfect for Breakfast, Brunch or even a coffe date. It is usually busy as its popularity has steadily increased from instagram posts on the internet. On urbanspoon people have positively rated it 84% and I do have to say it is worth trying for a special occasion (such as meeting up with an old friend).

Without further adieu, these are the pictures of our meal and recommended dishes to try should you ever visit. Enjoy!

Chips in a cup w/ Aioli

KJI Chicken burger (Korean fried chicken with kimchi)

Smoked Salmon and Egg Blini

PB&J Brioche with nutella

Until next time,

lyshxx

"How to" do a Halo Braid

This hairstyle is simple yet effective in creating a soft look and being rather efficient to do. I originally learned how to do this from the lovely Zoella whose video can be found in the link below at the end of my post. I do believe that this particular hairstyle is more suitable for those with longer hair, but one could probably adapt it to their own length. Let me know in the comments if you like the style and if it worked for you or not. In this post I will outline the steps to creating a Halo Braid and hopefully with some extra tips from Zoella's video on hair products, you will be able achieve it (it took me a few tries to get it right).

 

Items you will need:
Hair grips/ bobby pins, two small elastics, a clip (to hold hair out of the way) and a curler is optional.

1. Separate two small sections of hair from both sides of your head (near your ears).

2. Tie the rest of your hair up into a loose ponytail or clip it out of the way until you are done. Whichever you prefer.

3. Holding one of the sectioned off parts, plait it normally and tie a thin elastic band at the end. Do the same with the other section.

4. Get your hair grips or bobby pins and take one plait over your head to the other side (the end of it should rest just above or behind your ear) and pin it in place.

5. Do the same with the other plait, making sure it overlaps the end to hide the hair grips/ bobby pins.

6. Let the rest of your hair loose and if you prefer, curl the ends to give it a nice finish. 

How to: Halo Braid (Zoella) 

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know if you want me to do more hairstyles. I'm thinking of eventually starting my own Youtube channel to compliment these kind of posts (along with makeup tutorials).

Much love,


lyshxx

Photo diary - capturing beautiful moments of nature

These are some pictures of mine that I have accumulated over time and I thought I'd share them with you today. Enjoy :)

A magical sunset full of wonder

Autumn debris

Bulli Beach

Pink flowers in a backyard

A grey sunset

They say dandelions give us the chance to make a wish come true. Well when I took this photo I made a wish, knowing someday it will come true. This dandelion was a reminder to not loose hope. So you too, can make a wish.

I love the sight of sunlight filtering through trees and bushes.

Something as simple as flower petals on grass can look so pretty

Sunlight on a cool afternoon is always so comforting

Until next time,

lyshxx

"Places to Go" in Newtown

So not too long ago I had a reunion with some high school friends of mine in Newtown where we window-shopped, had coffee and dined together for a late lunch. It was quite the experience and I can definitely say that Newtown is worth visiting, if not for the quirky little cafes scattered all over the place, then simply to experience the diversity of cultures, vintage shops and overall unique atmosphere. Today, as you've probably inferred from the blog post title, I am recommending two places to try in Newtown for the purposes of dining or a simple coffee break.

Hoochie Mamma Cafe

Aptly named, it is a rather large European/Italian cafe located at 156 Missenden Road in Newtown. Service is efficient and staff were pleasant, greeting customers as they entered. Admittedly there are many mixed reviews on this place with approximately 70% people loving it, but from my one experience I believe it's worth trying out. Prices are relative to each person's preferences but in comparison to other cafes (particularly in the city) I found it to be rather reasonable. Below is a picture of the late lunch I had with my friends, including the Tomato Casarecce, Soup of the day with crusted bread and a toasted Chicken breast baguette. Let me know which one you would like to try.

Black Star Pastry and Cafe

This quaint place lies on 277 Australia Street in Newtown and is open Monday to Sunday from 7am-5pm. Its reputation preceded my first "in person" visit to the place, so I did have high expectations. One thing for certain, is that it was overall pretty amazing. Service was regular despite the place being quite busy -always a good sign if the place is popular- and cakes were disappearing fast. I appreciated the overall decor of the cafe: there was a children's corner and some tables outside to sit down and eat. After a little bit of research on Black Star Pastry, I found that there is another one situated in Rosebery so feel free to check that one out through my link to their website in the title. The hot chocolates are divine and prices reasonable for the beverages. The cakes are unique and thus more expensive, but totally worth it for a special occasion (see picture below).

Strawberry and Watermelon cake - one of their finest.

I hope you enjoyed my recommendations/ review and let me know what you thought: whether you agreed or disagreed, if you want more of these posts or even to recommend some places for me to review. For now at least, it's bed time for me so I will bid you goodnight.

Sweet dreams,

lyshxx

(ps. I originally wrote this about 2 weeks ago before bed, just in case you were all confused :P)

Blogging updates

Hey,

So I just wanted to let you all know that with the help of Wonder forest on blogger I was able to create a blog icon so that if you bookmark this page on your phone (whether it is Android or Apple) or any mobile device and add a shortcut, this image will appear as the icon:

I was super excited about it because I don't really understand html coding (amongst other things on the internet) and if you want to know how to do this for your own blog, here's the link to Wonder Forest's post: 

Wonder Forest: how to create an app for your blog 

I hope this was helpful and let me know if you were able to do this yourself. Oh, and link me to your blogs!

Much love,

lysh xx

ps. follow my blog with Bloglovin

"Get ready with me" for a Snow Party

Part one: "Snow" inspired nail art and outfit ideas

 Hello my lovelies,

So it's nice to be back soon and publish the first fashion post of my blog but before I get started, I just wanted to announce that there will be two more authors/contributors joining my blog to share their experiences and ideas. They are two very good friends of mine -Brie and Louisa- who are equally as excited as I am to become apart of this new project to revamp my blog and explore many wonderful things to share with you all.

Ok, now moving forward. Recently a lot of my friends and I were invited to a "Snow" Party and I thought, whether I can make it or not it would be fun to brainstorm some ideas on what to wear, how to style our hair etc. So, if you are looking for some creative ideas on how to style yourself for a Snow (or "Frozen") party, this is the ideal place to start.

First, I had my friend over and we decided to experiment with patterns and colours that would illustrate the concept through nail art. I began with choosing a range of colours: light blue, a pearly-silver, metallic silver, dark blue sparkles, rainbow and then silver glitter. 

These are the various nail polish bottles that we used

Louisa's "icicle" look: pale blue + rainbow glitter

I was more experimental with my nails, trying several different combinations of colours and glitters. It is really up to you if you want to try something similar or not. Comment which ones you think were more successful and/or if you came up with more ideas after reading this post. I'd be happy to see what you have to say :)

To go along with the nail art, we thought that for a Snow party it would be appropriate to wear a white dress. Thus, it came to be that Louisa and I modeled two cute little white dresses of mine just as an example for what to wear. This is just a matter of personal choice, but you could also try anything with the colour scheme: light blue, white, grey. Or as I did once, dress up as a Snow leopard. The purpose of this post is simply to bring out your creative side.

Louisa modeling an Angel Biba dress

Hair: a simple side braid at the top left, neatly pulled together into an elegant ponytail

Alyssa (me) modeling a Dotti dress

Hair: two sections of hair twisted and pulled to the back of the head then gently secured with butterfly clips

 

So, that's it for part one of my "Get ready with me" for  Snow party. Hope you enjoyed the post and look forward to a Part two for an accessories and makeup essentials checklist. Again feel free to change around and mix up the ideas presented in this post and even let me know what you thought. Also let it be known that both Louisa and I were wearing leggings at the time we modeled because it was a little chilly outside.

Until next time,

lysh xx

Revamping my blog and following my blog with Bloglovin

Hey hey,

So this has probably been the most substantial break between any two blog posts of mine, but hey, I'm back. Those of you who have still been following my blog or requesting that I post more frequently, will probably notice some of the changes I've just started to make. Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking and  as a result ultimately decided that I wanted to expand the content of my posts. I shall now be doing fashion, beauty and food-based (cooking) posts as well as literature, thoughts on life, music and generally weird things. Therefore I am super excited to announce my first fashion blog post will be coming very soon. Keep yourselves posted for a Winter-themed "Get ready with me" post.

much love,

lysh xx

ps. follow my blog with Bloglovin