SIMPLY ALIX

I've been on the hunt for a new perfume for a while now, but there are so many on the market these days that I had no idea what to go for. Every time I passed by the perfume department I wanted nothing more than to dive right in and have a good sniff, but I was always too tight on time. The other day, however, I realised for the first time in a long time, I had time to actually explore through the numerous gorgeous bottles on display.

And explore I did! I roamed around for quite some time, until I came face-to-face with Si by Giorgio Armani. I'd seen the ads for this perfume with a glowy and wind-swept Cate Blanchett front-lining for over some time now and was always intrigued by it, but I had never actually managed to get a whiff of this baby until that day. I'd heard mixed reviews for this, as some people either love it or hate it, so I was very excited to try it.

Truthfully, I was little undecided on this scent at first. On the first spritz, I was struck by how citrusy-sweet it was, as the Sicilian bergamot, mandarin oil and blackcurrent really shone through. I do love fruity scents, however at this stage I wasn't sure on whether it was worth it's rather hefty price tag. As I took another whiff of my wrist, I was surprised to find a slightly different smell. I've come to find that as the scent settles onto the skin, the sweetness tones down a little to let in the warm creamy vanilla, musky wood and amber notes. At the heart of this fragrance are floral tones, such as Egyptian jasmine, rose and freesia. The overall scent of this apparently differs from person to person, with some claiming that there is also a grapefruit-y undertone to it, but it's suffice to say you'll be left with a gorgeous blend of rich floral and modern chypre scents.

The bottle, in my opinion, is gorgeous. I love that it's simple, classy and sophisticated, something I won't be ashamed of to sit on display with my other perfumes. The bottle is made of sturdy glass and the lid is a hard, thick plastic and doesn't feel cheap.

The lasting power is very much satisfactory as it sticks around for a good couple of hours. A little bit goes a long way, too! This is especially good news because for this little 30ml bottle, it set me back £48. Because I only need the littlest dash of this to make a statement, it's good to know I won't be needing to run out and purchase another one anytime soon (which I am very tempted to do!). Please keep this in mind though, as the scent is quite pungent, so don't douse yourself in it too much.

Overall, this perfume is feminine, mature and flirtatious and would be perfect for any woman who enjoys a sweet yet sultry scent. In my eyes it is perfect for both day and evening wear.

I'm so glad I purchased this in the end, and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it.

You can purchase this perfume in-store, or you can buy it online. Here is a quick link for you if you'd like to check it out.

Have you tried this perfume before? If so, what are your thoughts? Love it or hate it?

Happy Wednesday! x

10:18
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Brighton Day Trip!

I'm one who always fantasises about being spontaneous, about not having a care in the world and seizing something in the moment, yet I have rarely acted on these whimsical thoughts of mine. However, the other week I was left surprised and smiling as I set out on a little spur-of-the-moment trip with two of my greatest friends.

I had never been to Brighton, in fact it's one of the very few places I've now actually been to within the UK! I'd heard nothing but good things about it, and had seen it star in a few movies where it looked very welcoming indeed, so my friends and I decided to give it a whirl. It was the day after I attended Digifest (my ears are still recovering), that me and my friends got up nice, bright and early to face our day of salty air and pebbled beaches!

It took us about 2 hours to drive there, and despite it being a long trip, there's something to say for traveling with friends. The time flew by as we chatted and giggled the whole journey there! As it turns out, we'd picked the perfect day to go. Amongst the welcoming signs were notices letting us know that the Brighton Food Festival was happening! How perfect is that? Unfortunately for us, however, we couldn't find where exactly it was being held. We walked around for quite some time to no avail! I do regret that we couldn't find it, but I guess I'll just have to go back again this time next year… what a shame...

When we arrived, my heart instantly grew fond of the place. After growing up in Australia, I'm one for being near the beach and after my year-long dry spell from living in London, my heart fluttered from the oh-so-familiar sight and I felt instantly at home. The sound of the gulls also brought a twinkle to my eye, I hadn't heard such bird calls since I'd moved away!

The pebbled shore was such a wonder to me, and let me tell you, it looked gorgeous. We were lucky the weather was nice to us; the sun was shining and the breeze only the slightest bit nippy. We wandered up to the pier and explored what it had to offer. To me, it felt like a step back in time. There were cute little food stores selling anything your heart could desire, from giant swirly rainbow lollipops to crisp fish and chips. It was very hard to say no!

While the birds may have brought some comfort to me, it was left a little bitter-sweet after I got pooped on by one particular suspect as we were exploring. Luckily it missed all of my hair and landed right splat on my shoulder on my coat! I didn't let this damper my spirits though, I ploughed on and continued to enjoy all that Brighton had to offer… sans my dignity.

We went on to discover this amazing palace-looking place, which we later found out is known as the Royal Pavilion. It was stunning! We had a nice little photoshoot in front of it, and even had a stranger try and capture a jumping photo of us. Although, these jumping photos will never grace the view of the public eye, as aforementioned in earlier blog posts, I really am not the most graceful person to walk this earth. Believe me, I'm doing both of us a favour by keeping them in the dark!

We continued our wandering and stopped for a bit of a nibble, followed by a quick stop to the car to recharge our phones and then we finished off our day by chilling out on the beach. It was lovely! This trip took place amongst all of our uni work as we were a mere few weeks away from the end of the semester, so it was so nice to just lie down and not worry about anything for a while. I would say it was one of the first times I'd properly been able to just sit and relax since I'd first come to London! Even over Christmas during our last holidays there was no rest for me as I tried to hunt down a place to live, so lying on this pebbled beach with my friends was a little chunk of heaven.

[Special guest - 1/4 of my first ever CapriSun]

Just as we were leaving, we decided to have a quick look through The Lanes, which I loved! The narrow alleyways, the cute dainty shops (including some delightful high end brands that I lustfully drooled over), the colourful bunting hanging between the buildings - ohh, it was love at first sight! We saw a deal advertised on the side of one little shop for cupcakes, so naturally we went in and enjoyed our treats. Then, it really was home time as the sun was well and truly on the way down, and we still had a long drive ahead of us.

Brighton is definitely a place I'd love to visit again, especially because I feel as though there's so much more to explore! Where was this mysterious food festival being held?! Although, next time I think I'll bring a protective plastic sheet or an umbrella to save everyone the glorious vision of me trying to vigorously scrub out bird poop in a restaurant restroom with toilet paper.

I was also very proud of myself, because I remembered to vlog the day!

Have you ever been to Brighton before? Are you a fan of spontaneity, if so, is it something that you do often? Or, like me, is it something you wish you did more?

Happy Saturday :)

08:00
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A Year in London

Goodness me, I feel as though it has been a lifetime since I last posted on this blog. Shame on me! I always state my plans to keep this blog going consistently, and I have failed. However, it's still alive after a few years even with my meek postings which isn't too bad (Right? Right… I'll keep telling myself this).

My last post was when I was still in Australia, LITERALLY A YEAR AGO. I can't even comprehend this. I guess a lot has been happening, it's not an exaggeration when I say it has been the busiest year of my life!

I have changed so much this past year in the best of ways, I've taken a leap and a half out of my comfort zone and learned how to be an adult. I have been living in a flat with 3 of my friends for the past 4 months and before that I was staying on-campus amongst floating around in various different places when I wasn't there. Finding housing in London is one of the most stressful things I've ever had to deal with, and I can't wait until I go back to Australia for a visit! Home. Only a bit over 3 weeks and I'll be back. It makes me tear up and my heart hurt just thinking about it!

When I stop and think about all of the things I've done this past year, I literally can't take it all in. Has it really been a year?! So nuts! As well as living by myself, I've interviewed a renowned Director and wrote it up for print, I've traveled to Bulgaria as part of a very exciting film program I'm on (next up is Helsinki, then it takes place here in London, then Spain!), and so much more. A year ago I never would've dreamed I was capable of all of this. To be honest, before I left for London I was absolutely petrified of living over here by myself. I had no idea how to be independent! Was I even capable of being independent? I used to get lost in the parking lot at my local supermarket.

I guess the best way of learning is to jump straight into the deep-end. Here I am now though, I've blossomed from a 20 year old girl into a 21 year old woman, and I have learned how to make things work. Sure, I still have a lot to learn, but I'm getting there. I'm doing better than I thought I would! I'm not dead or severely injured, which was definitely up there on my list of fears.

Whilst this year has been the biggest and greatest thing I've ever done, my future is very much up in the air. I have no idea if I'll stay here after December! As much as I'd love to stay, living and studying in London is definitely not wallet-friendly. I may have to move to Melbourne to continue my studies, or I could find somewhere else in London or the UK area that will be easier on the purse. We will see! Much to think about.

Despite my blogging being questionable this past year, my youtube-ing-ness (now officially a word) has been going strong! I no longer upload my videos to LittlexCub, but to alixintheclouds. This was due to my change-of-heart with the name I originally came up with and lack of ways to change it, so I had to create a new channel! I miss my old videos, I wish there was a way to transfer them to my alixintheclouds channel. Oh well! Maybe in the future there will be a way to do this. However, here is my most recent video which I hope you enjoy!

To sum up? A very big year for me. One which I hopefully will never forget! I do wish I'd blogged more, but in my defence I rarely had good internet! Hopefully this post will give a general summary of what it was like.

Expect a lot more posts from me! I'm on this blogging wagon and I have no plans to get off of it anytime soon. I've found myself in this cute little cafe with free wifi, so I now have a good source of internet! No excuses Alix, no excuses.

Has anything big happened to you recently? Has anything made you change for the better in recent times? Or, do you remember the first time you became independent?

Happy Friday :)

09:19
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Aesop's Chamomile Concentrate Anti-Blemish Masque

I'm a huge lover of masks. I think they're so beneficial for your skin, and can be a real treat and even lots of fun if you're joined by a friend! Aesop's Chamomile Concentrate Anti-Blemish Masque is my absolute favourite face mask of all time. Truthfully I am a HUGE fan of Aesop as a brand in general, and this product has been in my life for years. I'm not kidding, this particular pot of the clay mask has been in my bathroom for probably over 6 years! So I must apologise for it's rather worn appearance and lack of product within the pot in the photos!

With that said, the fact that the clay didn't dry out over this time says something of its quality, and packaging. Speaking of which, I adore Aesop's packaging, and love the sturdy glass jars! With this gorgeous packaging, I don't feel embarrassed or feel the need to hide it away in my bathroom if friends come around!

Back in the day, I used to just dab a little bit of the masque on any spots I might have, and I'd leave it on overnight and wash it off in the morning. It worked wonders in terms of reducing redness and swelling! However, with this method you have to make sure the product is completely dry before hopping into bed as it could wipe off on your pillow... which is what happened with me a few times! Haha, it's easily washed off though! Also, be sure to rinse it off thoroughly in the morning. Sometimes you can think you've washed it all off, but when your face dries some leftover clay may reappear from where you didn't quite rinse it off properly... which is also what happened to me on MANY occasions. Mmmm, I had many people wondering if I'd caked on quite a lot of foundation in that area, or if I had a serious case of dry, patchy skin. But nope, it was just my masque! I'd blame that mostly on my laziness though, as you're meant to wash it off with warm water and sometimes I'd be in too much of a rush to wait for the water to warm up!

I went through a stage of not using this product for quite some time as it got lost in amongst all my other products. But, when I re-discovered my love for this, I was all over it and used it about once a week! You don't need a lot of the product, which helps its longevity.

These days I've progressed onto applying it all over my face (avoiding the eye area, of course!), and leaving it on for about 15 minutes before rinsing with warm water, which I now have the patience and time for. It leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth, as well as rejuvenated. If my skin was particularly oily that day, this restores the balance perfectly and doesn't leave my skin dry at all.

It smells lovely, as per usual with Aesop products (I am seriously eyeballing their Resurrection Handwash after using it in a bathroom at a restaurant... love!!). The only downside I'd have to say for this is the hygiene factor with having a big pot of the product, as you do have to dig your fingers in there to scoop the product out. Apparently you can buy a smaller (15ml) tube version rather than the jar, which could be better to try it out first anyway, that is more hygienic. However, I haven't actually seen this tube version and am finding it difficult to find online (does it exist?!), and I don't mind too much as long as I wash my hands beforehand!

I haven't tried this myself, but I have heard of people rubbing in a very small amount on their face (with a wee bit of water) so that it dries clear for underneath their makeup to get that blemish-fighting action all day! Pretty neat!

I would highly recommend this product for all skin types. It uses natural ingredients, and as someone with very sensitive skin it has not caused any irritation at all over the years which is a big plus.

Due to having this for a long time, I can't remember how much I bought it for. On the website it says it is $51, which IS quite pricey, however you get 60ml of the product and it can last you for years so I think it is well worth the price. If it's the first time you're trying it, I'd go for the smaller tube to test whether it works for you, if you can find it!

Are you a lover of face masks too? Have you ever tried this particular product or Aesop before? I'd also love to hear about any face masks you're loving at the moment!

Happy Monday! :)