The Hong Kong Stopover - Part 1

The start of my trip to Australia with BUNAC was brilliant. I met up with Nicole at Heathrow airport on the 6th March, and headed to the Heathrow Central Travelodge, where most of our group had booked into the night before we flew out. We all bonded over mutual excitement and nerves, a drink and some food in the travelodge bar, and prepared for our 11am flight.

To be completely honest, Hong Kong was never somewhere I had given a great deal of thought to visiting. When I discovered that I had a three day stopover there when I was flying to Sydney I did a bit of research and saw what an amazing place it appeared to be, and got excited about having the chance to visit. It most definitely lived up to my newly discovered expectations!

Day one was ever so slightly annoying in that we arrived in HK at 7am, only to be told by our lovely BUNAC rep Lyona at the airport that unfortunately our hotel wouldn't be ready until at least 1pm... tired and grumpy from an eleven hour flight, this news didn't exactly fit in with our plan! However, having dropped our luggage off at the hotel though, we went off to explore the surrounding area and find something to eat!

That day we accidentally stumbled upon Kowloon Park, which was absoutely beautiful!



The park was stunning, especially in the glorious sunshine we had that day, with flamingos casually wandering around the water edge, beautiful trees and flowers and some lovely shade for us weary travellers to have a rest in!



Later that day, after we had a much needed sleep and shower, five of my lovely travelling companions - Emily, Gemma, Sarah, Kate and Marnie - and I went for dinner in a restaurant near our hotel (which was called the Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees by the way, situated in Kowloon) and had a fantastic dinner - I have to point out Marnie's amazing Lime Sorbet drink... it tasted as good as it looked!



The next morning we were up bright and early for a lovely breakfast in the hotel and then headed out to explore the city some more before our official tour that afternoon. Sarah and I, who were sharing a room in HK, headed to Nathan Road - the main road through Kowloon - and made our way to the amazing waterfront, with a perfect view of the incredible Hong Kong City.




Sarah, Nicole and I then went to the Andy Warhol Exhibit at the Hong Kong Museum of Modern Art - it was amazing, seeing all of his originals displayed in that lovely building. Sadly I wasn't able to take photos in there, but Nicole took a quick photo of our tickets!




That afternoon we went off to see some incredible sights - Victoria Peak, the Aberdeen Fishing Village and Stanley Market - the fishing village was amazing to see, the fact that some of the fishermen live out on these little house boats is unbelievable! Stanley Market had some lovely little trinkets too, and Victoria Peak had some stunning views. Here are a few snapshots!


The view from Victoria Peak


On the boat at Aberdeen Fishing Village


Stanley Market

This is just part one of my Hong Kong adventure - I took so many photos that I'm going to do another post on the second full day of exploring! I've also edited the first part of my Hong Kong vlog but I doubt I'll be able to upload it until I get to my aunt and uncle's house where I'm staying next week - wifi is still a little bit of an issue at the moment!

Keep your eyes peeled for part two - it will be up soon! Sydney is great so far, and my memory card if full of photos to show you all the lovely sights!


Top L-R: Amy, Sarah, Harri, Marnie, Gemma, Nicole.
Bottom L-R: Emily, me, Kate, at Victoria Peak.

First post from Australia!

Since I finally have wifi, I thought I'd do a tiny little quick post to say hello from Australia! I've spent three amazing days in Hong Kong, the vlog and blog posts of which are coming soon, and finally landed in Sydney at 12noon Sydney time/1am UK time today! It's now 11.30pm and I'm shattered, haven't slept in 40 hours and desperately need to get rid of the the slight jet lag!

For now, I'll leave you with a couple of quick photos from our time in Hong Kong. It's an amazing city, and I'm so pleased I had the chance to visit it!


The girls exploring Hong Kong on day one!


Chin Li Nunnery


A quick pose at Victoria Peak with Gemma, Emily and Sarah :)

Will be back soon with a full post on my Hong Kong adventure, and an accompanying vlog - just wanted to check in! Hope you are all having a lovely week - I hear it's snowing in Scotland! What a contrast to the weather I'm having, my inexplicable hair in the vlogs will show you how hot it has been here!

Favourites of the Week #5

Hi guys!! Seriously quick favourites of the week this week, which you may actually enjoy - I don't have time to ramble quite as much as usual (spoiler: I still succeed in rambling!). I leave in just over a day!! WHAT?!!! How has this happened. Time since Christmas has completely and utterly flown in - which means I'll be there and back from Australia in what will probably feel like a blink of an eye!

Track of the Week
Heart Attack by Demi Lovato

I do love Miss Lovato. I included her in my list of fantasy celeb women dinner party guests (find out why here!) a YEAR ago - seriously, whoever is fastforwarding time these days, slow down! I like her personality and think she has a great attitude after everything she's been through, and this track is as catchy as ever.



Album of the Week
Taylor Swift - Red

Back to Taylor Swift's Red, this is a really, really good album. For anyone who hates ''We Are Never Getting Back Together'' (and I know there are a lot of you), I hear you - but this song is no reflection on the overall album. This week I've been favouring 'The Lucky One', and directing a music video for it in my head ;)



TV Show of the Week
Gossip Girl

I swore I'd resist, but I caved and bought the season 5 boxset - I've seen most of it, and was disappointed with the way seasons 5 and 6 panned out, but when I saw it for £11 on Amazon I decided I owed it to the show (film and tv student alert!) to give it a proper go (and complete my boxset collection!). And the first few episodes of this season are actually pretty good - love the Dan and Blair banter, sorry Chuck and Blair fans!

Film of the Week
Something Borrowed

If you haven't seen this film, based on the novel by Emily Giffin, you should give it a go. It's an unpredictable chickflick about friendship, love, marriage and the pointlessness of keeping secrets. Ginnifer Goodwin is brilliant in it, as is Kate Hudson - she is incredibly annoying, which is exactly what the part called for! I saw this in the cinema with my bestie, and enjoyed it so much I got the dvd when it came out, but I hadn't seen it for a while so watched it this week.

Beauty Product of the Week
Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

The perfect peachy lip colour and I love the formula of these - this is most certainly coming to Oz with me :)

Book of the Week
Switched by Amanda Hocking

I'm reading Switched by Amanda Hocking - this is a YA book about a seventeen year old girl named Wendy whose mother tried to kill her at the age of six, convinced she wasn't her child... I won't say any more because this book is so fast paced you find out everything pretty quickly, so don't want to spoil it for you! Let's just say if you enjoy fantasy/vampire/werewolf/witch etc fiction this will probably be your cup of tea! I'm about a third of the way through it and SO much has happened already!

YouTuber of the Week
Sprinkle of Glitter

Anyone who has read my blog for a while will know how much I adore Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter. Her videos never fail to cheer me up and this week I'm lucky enough to have a wee ad on her amazing blog - so go and check her out here if you haven't already. She's a little ray of sunshine in this online community!



Website of the Week
Pinterest

So much love for Pinterest again this week - so many amazing finds!

Style Icon of the Week
Mila Kunis




I won't go on for too long here - who doesn't love/have a huge girl crush on Mila Kunis?! She's gorgeous. Loved her look at one of the premieres of the new Oz film - this wasn't London but I'm not sure which one it was, will update this later! - a girly, pretty dress with a casual updo and gorgeous makeup, and then she hits the Graham Norton show following the London premiere in a pair of leggings and a white shirt, hair down and makeup simple and looks equally as amazing. Kunis, I salute you.

Eeeeek, my last favourites from Scottish soil for a little while - this is all getting a bit real guys! Thanks so much for reading, hope you've all had an amazing week :)

New Vlog - Leaving Drinks and Booking with BUNAC

Super duper quick post ladies and gents to link my new wee vlog, talking all about how I booked my trip with BUNAC, why I would recommend them and how much I enjoyed my leaving drinks with my incredible friends - although I'm going to do an entirely seperate post on that :)

Thanks for reading and watching guys - let me know if you have any BUNAC/travel related questions and I'll do my best to answer them in the comments x

A Thought on ''Girls on YouTube''

For any of you who watch a lot of YouTube videos, I'm sure you can see where this post is going! I actually filmed a video response about an hour ago but my camera holding skills failed me and it was a little on the shaky side, so I thought I'd come over here and write a blog post instead.


source

*DISCLAIMER - I like Becoming YouTube, I am not attacking Ben Cook or anyone interviewed in the series and I think the topic of this video is really important. No witch hunt here, just to be clear from the start!*

There has been a huge reaction to the latest Becoming YouTube episode (Girls on YouTube), and I have watched I don't know how many video responses on the matter today. The video aims to figure out why girls aren't more popular on YouTube, but sort of shoots itself in the foot several times by making pretty wide generalisations, and causing many female viewers to feel irritated by the vague and at times poorly worded responses of the (mostly male) YouTubers who are interviewed. I don't have a problem with that in itself - Ben Cook, the creator of Being YouTube actually makes a point of saying:

''In choosing who to interview for this series, I had to make a judgement call - do I reflect the YouTube community as it is in 2013, with it's glaringly obvious and rather sad imbalance between men and women, or do I aim for more of a fifty fifty split, but in so doing end up featuring some female YouTubers primarily because they're female... and that would have been lame.''

This is totally true if it wasn't for the fact that the type of YouTubers he is interviewing are all very similar, and from a select YouTube community. Anyway, that wasn't the main thing that bothered me about the video.

Firstly, and it's a shame because it wasn't intentional, but the opening line set an uncomfortable tone for the entire video. It opens with Ben Cook asking the super YouTube famous Charlie McDonnell ''Why do you think more girls don't do YouTube?''... and then the whole video goes on to backtrack from this with every man and his dog saying 'we know girls do do YouTube, they just aren't very popular'. Okay, define popular? If your definition of popular is subscriber number then sure, that might be the case. But I watch A LOT of amazing female YouTubers who are extremely popular with their subscribers - Chelsea from Ophelia Dagger/OldHotRadio and Leena from JustKissMyFrog to name just two! These girls get tons of comments and likes, and create really interesting discussion and debate on their channels. They just don't have 700,000 subscribers. The main point of discussion is that girls perhaps don't have such easy access to an audience as boys, because obviously most teenage girls are fangirls. With 13-17yr old girls providing the bulk of the audience for the vlogging community on YouTube, there is an assumption made here that it's simply because young girls can't possibly contain themselves when they see a cute boy, so automatically hit the subscribe button. While in the case of some of the biggest One Direction and Justin Bieber fans out there this might be true, it's a bit of a generalisation, and again, I think this was just poorly worded in the video.

My main point of contention with this video, however, is the complete exclusion of beauty gurus... I honestly don't understand this. I think what they might have been trying to imply is that a lot of beauty and fashion YouTubers are already quite popular, so they don't need any promotion here, even though there are plenty relatively (or completely!) unknown beauty YouTubers too. But if that's the case, then why are we having this discussion at all? Why is it relevant to say ''Hmmm, there are a lot of popular male vloggers with a high subscriber number, but not a lot of females... let's discuss.'', but beauty and fashion gurus, who put just as much time and effort into filming and editing their videos as vloggers do don't need to be included? I know it's a stereotypical thing that very few people will ask ''Why don't more men film beauty videos on YouTube - discuss.'', but there ARE men in the YouTube beauty community, and really popular men too! Look at Petrilude with over 350,000 subscribers, and Wayne Goss from gossmakeupartist with almost 700,000!!! Not forgetting the success Jim Chapman is having with his male grooming and male style videos, on his own channel and on Daily Mix... there are both men and women in the beauty community, I know it's hardly an even split, but it's pretty insulting to these guys and all the talented women in these communities to imply that they don't count as YouTubers. That is not said explicitly at any point in the video, but the way they are instantly dismissed suggests that that is has been the line of thought in the questions raised in the video. These gurus post videos about improving confidence, dealing with issues of self-image and lots of other important issues - it's not just about the makeup! I'm sure Michelle Phan, who built an entire business empire from her YouTube beauty channel and is now a millionaire would have a couple of things to say about her type of video being deemed irrelevant to the discussion! The series is called Becoming YouTube afterall - not Becoming a Successful Vlogger/Comedy Skit Maker on YouTube (being funny and the idea that men 'traditionally need to be funny when women don't' was focused on a lot).

I'm not trying to have a go at Ben Cook and co. here. The fact is that, as the lovely Chelsea from OldHotRadio/OpheliaDagger points out in her brilliant, light hearted and sarcastic response to this video and the response it elicited in the YouTube community - which was taken a tad too seriously by some people particularly close to the original video - there is a lot of room for misinterpretation in this online environment. From the wording of a vlog to the tone of a comment, it's easy to misunderstand what someone is trying to say. I just felt that this video really could have been a little more careful about how it presented its argument. It had an opportunity to promote really good female YouTubers, maybe talk to a few lesser known women from various areas of the YouTube community and get more of a feel for what's really going on out there. The fact that it relied on the opinions of a group of successful male vloggers and a couple of recently successful women (with the exclusion of Lex, Carrie and Hazel, who have all been interviewed in previous episodes) felt just a little patronising, and I felt like it didn't really ever get to the root of the issue - the already ''popular'' YouTubers just took a few stabs in the dark as to why this might be the case. There are so many communities out there - beauty and fashion, booktubers, gaming YouTubers, vloggers, the list is endless. Couldn't we have asked some of them, some with less than 100,000 subscribers each what they think is going on? I don't know.

I love the idea of Becoming YouTube. I think it's really well put together, I have really enjoyed previous episodes and you can tell how much work has gone into it. I just wonder if perhaps an issue as contentious as a gender debate could have been handled with a little more care - it's a brilliant topic, and has clearly caused lots of debate which I think is great. I just think it had the opportunity to achieve more.

Links!!!

The original video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsRHDdHsFo8
Chelsea's response - http://www.youtube.com/user/OldHotRadio
Leena's channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/jsutkissmyfrog

Thanks for reading guys! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

What's in My Australia Makeup Bag!

With just over a week to go now till I leave for sunnier climes, I'm at the stage of deciding for definite what's going with me and what isn't! So, after giving it some serious thought, I've made a pretty final decision, and thought I'd show you the selection of products I'm packing!

You'd think you can't buy makeup in Australia...

Base



Illamasqua Matt Primer, Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (Ivory), Barry M Cream Foundation (White), Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (Fair), Garnier Roll-On Concealer (Light), Rimmel Stay Matte Transluscent Powder.

White foundation is a must for me to pale down my main foundation, and I find that a tiny bit of this really affordable Barry M one does the trick. Matt primer to keen my chin and nose shine free in the warmer weather, my cooling Garnier roller ball concealer (very handy for after long flights!) and a good old transluscent powder should serve me well.

Cheeks


So sorry for the glare in this photo, it's ridiculously sunny today (for a change!)

ELF Studio Blusher in Pink Passion, Sleek Contour Kit in Light, ELF Studio Blusher in Peachy Keen, Physicians Formula Organic Wear Natural Bronzer, Topshop Powder Blush in Pop, Benefit Samples - High Beam and Sun Beam

Three blushers - is that overkill? Pop is one of my favourites, but I love the super natural look of Peachy Keen, and I like having a pink option. Love the highlighter from the Sleek Contour Kit, I use the Physicians Formula bronzer every day and the Benefit samples weigh next to nothing, so why not?! :P

Eyes



Sleek Storm Palette, Sleek Molten Metal Duo, Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze, Maybelline The Falsies Mascara, L'Oréal Superliner in Black, Rimmel Professional Brow Pencil in Hazel, Rimmel Scanadaleyes Kohl Kajal Liner in Nude, Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Liner in Black.

My hardest category was eye makeup. I decided the Sleek Storm palette had a perfect selection of matte and shimmery colours for any occasion, and having my Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze for a base or super quick eye makeup look is handy. My trusty Superliner is a definite, a nude and black pencil for the waterline (trust me, I had to elimiate a brown, a turquoise and a green from the selection!!) and my Falsies mascara - it took me a while to figure out how I felt about this mascara, but now I love it! A brow pencil and my little Sleek Molten Metail duo - y'know, just for special occasions! ;)

Lips





BMbeauty Lipgloss in Corsage, Revlon Lipbutter in Peach Parfait, L'Oréal Rouge Caresse Lipstick in Dating Coral, Nivea Essentials Lipbalm

Easy peasy, I'm pretty simple when it comes to my lip colour. A lipbalm to keep them moisturised, a subtle gloss - Corsage looks super bright but goes on pretty much nude with a little hint of pinky coral, and it's the least sticky lipgloss I've ever used! - and my two favourite lipsticks, both peachy/coral, my favourite colours for my skin tone :)

Obviously I'll have brushes too, but they're waiting to be washed so didn't bother photographing them!

So, what do you think? Am I overdoing it? Let me know what your favourite makeup products are, in general and for going on holiday, or living abroad for a few months like me! :) Thanks so much for reading guys, can't believe the countdown really is now on!!!

Favourites of the Week #4

Another week has disappeared and that can mean only one thing - it's time for my weekly favourites!

Track of the Week
Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love

I'm a MASSIVE Ellie Goulding fan, and have been for years. Have been listening to this catchy little number quite a lot this week though and have given it a big thumbs up from the first time I heard it a few months back. It's quite a good motivational sort of one, I found myself dancing about to it when I was getting ready for the lovely Scottish Bloggers Valentines Party on Saturday!



Album of the Week
Les Miserables Original Soundtrack

Now here's a fun album to listen to on the train - half of it makes me want to cry, the other half makes me want to laugh because I realise it's taking all of my willpower to NOT mime dramatically along with it. Yes, yes, I'm still loving the film, was glad to see Annie Hathaway getting her much deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar last night!



TV Show of the Week
Dexter

A few episodes into season 4 now as I continue to work my way through the boxsets, and this show just keeps getting better and better. The writing is incredible, so slick and witty and the storylines just keep surprising me over and over again. Desperately trying to avoid spoilers for the next few seasons, but unfortunately I've come across a few on twitter - the perils of watching something a while after it originally aired!!

Film of the Week
Much Ado About Nothing

I was lucky enough to head into Glasgow last night to see Joss Whedon's adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing with a couple of friends. It was fantastic!! Starring a lot of Whedon's favourite actors and shot in black and white at his amazing house, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Initially I was a little bit unsure about Amy Acker as Beatrice, but I totally warmed up to her by about half way through, and I thought Alex Denisof was brilliant as Benedick (as was Nathan Fillion as Dogberry). My best friend and I have a little bit of an obsession with the BBC version with Damian Lewis and Sarah Parish, so seeing the film last night has made me determined to rewatch it before I head off to Australia!

Beauty Product of the Week
Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal Liner in Nude

Love this eyeliner so much, it is so affordable, retailing at just £4 from Boots and Superdrug, and it makes such a difference to your eyes. Running it along your waterline just makes you look so wide awake, and the waterproof formula means it doesn't budge!

Book of the Week
The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Almost finished The Book of Tomorrow now and I have absolutely adored it. Cecelia Ahern never fails to capture my imagination and her characters are always so vivid. I would recommend this one in a heartbeat!

YouTuber of the Week
Madilyn Bailey

I have loved Madilyn's covers for over a year now and she never fails to deliver. Got a tiny bit overexicted there to check my YouTube subscriptions to link her channel in this post and discovered she'd uploaded a new video!



Website of the Week
Beabops Style Diary

My fashion blogger friend Beatrice had the exciting opportunity to go to London Fashion Weekend this week and take photos for Canon! It looks like she had a fantastic time and I have been looking forward to her posts all week - go and check out her blog, I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do :)

Style Icons of the Week
Reese Witherspoon


source

Still not quite 100% sure how I feel about the train of this dress, but otherwise I love it. It really stood out to me among the much paler hues of a lot of the other dresses on the Oscars Red Carpet last night, and I love the black detailing. This isn't always the easiest colour to pull off, but as usual Reese did it effortlessly, and I think the glamorous hair and simple makeup complimented it perfectly.

Emma Roberts


source

This is a last minute addition to my post as I published it before I had seen any photos of Emma Roberts in her gorgeous Oscar de la Renta gown. I love this, the shape, the style, everything about it. I might have done something a little different with her hair, but the makeup is lovely - flawless skin, nude lips and lots of lashes. But the dress speaks for itself here.

So that's it for my favourites of the week! Hope you all had a lovely week. What was your favourite red carpet look last night?

Lynsey xxx