This month I had the opportunity of trying out so many new products as I really went all out in Australia and definitely treated myself to some new bits that i've been wanting to try for quite some time now. I also have had a couple of products sent through that i've been absolutely loving, and couldn't give a small feature before properly reviewing them!

A brand that i've recently been introduced to is Osmology who are an online boutique candle store stocking a wide range of candles, and in celebration of their launch last week they have teamed up with the well know candle brand The Nomad Society on their Osmology Candle by The Nomad Society* (£15). I absolutely love the packaging of The Nomad Society candles as they have a vintage yet contemporary aesthetic that I just adore! I also love the scent of this candle, and although it's a little different to the usual sweet candle scents that I typically go for, it's nice to have a change. If you're wanting to get your hands on some new candles, then i'd definitely recommend checking out Osmology and their wide range of candles! To get yourself 15% off at Osmology make sure to use the code 'OSMOLOGY15E''at the checkout.

Moving onto the makeup items that i've been enjoying this month, and up there with my favourite product for every day has got to be the ABH Dip Brow Pomade (£15), which i've wanted for such a long time but not being able to get colour matched really put me off. I got colour matched in Australia, and i'd definitely recommend getting colour matched if possible as the shade I ended up getting turned out to be completely different to what I first expected. I honestly don't know how I ever did my brows before I bought this as my brows just look amazing! 

I picked up a few contour and highlighting products whilst in Australia, probably more than I need but i'm loving all of them this far. The Kat Von D Shade & Light Face Contour Palette (£37) is one i've wanted for such a long time and i've been using it non stop for two weeks, and it's definitely worth all of the hype that it gets! Another palette that i've been loving for on the go is the Tarteist Pro Glow To Go Highlight & Contour Palette (£20), which instantly caught my eye when I saw it and the shades are absolutely stunning! Finally for the highlighting products that I couldn't not mention is the Becca Champagne Pop Shimmering Skin Perfector (£32), which has got to be the most beautiful highlighter I have ever owned, and I absolutely love how this looks on my skin.

Finally the last product that I had to give a quick shoutout to is a recent release from my favourite high street beauty brand Rimmel. They have recently expanded their range of mascara's with the release of their Volume Shake Mascara* (£6.99) which is like no other mascara that i've tried. This mascara's innovative packaging is the first of it's kind that I know of, and is essentially designed to refresh the product inside by shaking the mascara to evenly distribute product onto the wand. I personally love this mascara, as it works wonders and doesn't leave my lashes clumpy or feeling weighed down. I will be reviewing this more in depth, but i'd definitely recommend checking it out!

A couple of months back the brand Zaful got in contact with me to pick out a few bits from their latest collection, and for such a long time now i've wanted a simple knit with a statement and on trend sleeve for such a long time now, so I got to browsing through the massive variety of styles that they have on offer!

I found myself browsing through Zaful's website for such a long time, and I found it really similar to ASOS in the sense that they stock so much and I came across so many things that I loved! I finally settled on this Ribbed Puff Sleeve Sweater* (£19.89) in this light grey colour as I personally love a lighter colour knit to coordinate with my typical choice of black jeans! I absolutely love the quality of this jumper as the knit isn't too chunky but still keeps me warm enough throughout the day. I also love the sleeves on this and it was everything I wanted a more!

As I mentioned I love styling the majority of my outfits with a black pair of jeans and recently i've been getting a lot of wear out of my Topshop MOM Jeans (£40), as I personally love a high waist jean as I find them to be a lot more flattering on my body shape. The only downside is that you can't eat to your heart content in these, which I guess is a good thing but seriously, food! 

Being the total boring monochrome lover that I am, my outfits generally don't pack much punch in terms of colour but I do often find that I like to add some detail through either my accessories, or through the lip colour that I choose to wear. I thought that a fun way to mix this outfit up was to style it with these beautiful Louisa Floral Print Ankle Boots* (£34.99) from Ego! I love the pop of colour that they add to an outfit, and embroidered boots are so on trend at the moment!

So that is how I am enjoying styling a statement sleeve, but keeping in tune with my typically monochromatic and non girly style!

What are your favourite trend pieces at the moment?

I always love popping into my local store as the sales assistants are always so lovely and helpful whenever I pay a visit. I was so surprised with how many new products they have released this year, so much so that I had to stop myself from spending anymore money, but i'm so excited to try out all of the bits that I picked up.

Starting off with the Mother's day collection I decided to pick up a few bits for my Mum as I absolutely love Lush and I thought it was about time I introduced my Mum to the world of amazing baths! I of course had to pick up the Mum Bath Bomb (£2.95) purely because of how cute it is! I also really like the scent of this with mixes of lemon and orange, and I thought my Mum would too! Also for my Mum I picked up the Baa Bar Bubble Bar (£3.95) as I love a good bubblebar and the scent of this was so lovely, and it instantly smelt like something my Mum would love! Hopefully she likes these products and gives her an excuse to have a well deserved pamper evening.

Moving on from the bits I picked up for my Mum for Mother's day, but I did pick up one more product from the Mother's day range which is the Elsie The Giraffe (You're Havin' a Bath) Bubble Bar (£6.95) as it was too adorable to not pick up. This year Lush have continued with their bubblebar wand products but this is the first that i've seen with a dual ended product, and I just absolutely loved the concept. I also absolutely love the citrus scent to this, as i'm a sucker for anything citrus so I can't wait to use this! 

Moving onto the bath bomb that I picked up from the Easter collection, and it didn't seem right to not pick up a bath bomb that resembled an easter egg. I decided on the Which Came First? Bath Bomb (£6.95), which I was totally sold on for it's citrusy scent and also just how cute it looks! The other bath bomb I decided on was the Over & Over Bath Bomb (£4.25) which they brought in for Valentines, and then added into their permanent line as it was so popular! What I love is that it has two sides to it, with the orange side being a wax that melts in the bath leaving your skin feeling so soft!

Have you picked up anything from their latest releases?

Whilst I was in Australia I took a grand total of eight flights in two weeks, which sounds horrific but really it wasn't that bad but it did mean that I was literally living out of my suitcase and back pack the entire time. With so many flights also came different weight amounts, so I really had to streamline myself when it came to packing, and it's definitely true when they say that you will always overpack no matter what! Having said that I managed to pack pretty much everything that I needed and everything I did pack came in handy one way another, so here are my top ten essentials for travelling Australia.

Ear plugs - Yep, right in there at number one is ear plugs and let me tell you that I did not sleep one night in hostels without these things firmly shoved into my ears! If you're staying hostels or have stayed in hostels you'll know that people are not quiet, no matter what hour of the night it is and some people also don't have any dignity and won't care about what you can hear. So take my advice, get yourself some ear plugs.

Sunscreen - If like me you burn easily then it's an obvious one to wear factor 50 at all costs, but the ozone layer is quite damaged around Australia so it's very easy to burn whilst you're there. The lovely team at Jurlique sent me their Sun Specilast SPF40 High Protection Cream* (£27) to try out whilst I was there, and although I still burnt i'd say this definitely helped in stopping my skin from burning any further, and it smelt incredible!

Padlocks - Again, this is really only if you're staying in hostels or taking a few flights but having a padlock became so handy for me as it meant I was able to lock any important or valuable items in my suitcase if I was going out. Also a lot of hostels have lockers, so again if you want to make use of those having a padlock is really handy.

Bikinis - You can't not go to Australia without a bikini or two, especially if you're doing The Whitsundays, Frazer Island or just any general activities that include swimming! I got so much wear out of this Zaful Chinese Painting Swimsuit* (£16.64) and I absolutely love the green tropical print to it. I also found that I could style it with the matching bottoms, but also with a pair of simple black bottoms which made it a lot more versatile. 

Portable chargers/plug adapters - As i'm sure you all know when travelling to other countries the power adapters or plugs are usually different to those used here in the UK, so ensuring you've got an adapter or two is a must! I also opted to take my portable charger, which turned out to be an amazing idea of my behalf as I used this practically every day! 

Travel wallet/organiser - One thing that I didn't take per say is a travel wallet, but I did have all of my travel documents in a poly pocket thing. I just found ensuring that all of my documents including my passport and flight confirmations were in one place made everything so much easier than having to fiddle around trying to find things at the last minute. A lot of brands now a days are jumping on the travel wallet trend, so i've linked a few down below for you to check out.

Sunglasses - For every second that the sun was out I think I had sunglasses on as it was so bright, and I think it's really important to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes! I personally loved rocking these Zaful Gold Crossbar Cat Eye Sunglasses* (£5.40) as they're so funky and on trend! 

Preloaded currency credit card - When it came to changing my spending money I opted for a Cash Passport which essentially works like a credit card, all you have to do is preload your money onto it before you go. I did all of mine at my local Tesco and it was totally worth it as it meant I wasn't carrying around a huge amount of cash on me.

So that is everything that I would recommend is a definite when it comes to backpacking around Australia as everything came in so handy for me!

What are your essentials when it comes to packing?