Aussie Diaries: Shopping!

Honestly, shopping in Australia made shopping in the U.S. feel as though it is soooo cheap! I don't know if it's just because the dollar is so weak or if things are just that pricey over there! There are a lot of malls and shopping areas in Sydney - some brands that are unique to Australia include Supre and Cotton On (for cheaper stores) and Zimmerman, Sass & Bide, and Wish. There's a lot of boutique shops (which can also be found in the malls). The only place I really was able to go "crazy" was at Peter Alexander, which is a super cute pajama store that screams pink and is somewhat affordable (at least compared to all the other stores)!

If you're in to beauty ideas, there's lots of options for you too! Myer and David Jones are the equivalent to Macy's and Nordstrom's in the States and they have a variety of cosmetics for your viewing pleasure all in one place! Mecca is like a mini-Sephora and features a lot of international brands. Some Aussie brands include KIT cosmetics, Napolean Perdis (can be found at Target here), MOR cosmetics (can be found at Anthropologie and select boutiques), Jurlique (also found at Sephora), and Aesop (also found at Anthropologie and Barneys). I love buying beauty products from around the world and I was also told that if you buy the product from the land of origin, it is supposedly cheaper. However, I found that products like MOR and Aesop can be found online at ~$1-2 less (which isn't that big of a difference but at least would save you some suitcase room and oftentimes have free shipping offers). Jurlique, on the other hand, was ~$20-30 more in Australia than on the Sephora website! Needless to say, I was fairly selective on what I bought in Australia and what I could wait to get until I got home!

Finally, if you're looking for souvenirs, there's plenty of unique markets to check out (The Rocks Market, Bondi Markets, Paddy's, and Paddington Markets). Paddy's is one of the biggest ones but a lot of their stuff is Made in China. If you want to really get something that's more unique and actually made in Australia, I would check out the other markets. There's confections, unique jewelry, up and coming designers, stationary, wooden gifts, artwork, etc! But remember to bring cash since a lot of them don't take credit cards!

My top picks: Peter Alexander pajama's, Haigh's chocolates (loved their dark chocolate scorched almonds), and Vegemite (at least to try - not a huge fan myself)