The Lessons Learned in 2014

2014 has been a great and successful year for me, I feel like I've grown a lot and the great moments I've experienced in these past twelve months have taught me a lot. Looking back I wouldn't want to change anything and I hope 2015 will be as great as this past year, if not even better!

This Week's Most Loved | II

This week has been one of those weird ones, when you want to get so many things done but you end up procrastinating by watching vlogmas videos and ending up not concluding anything. Luckily I managed to type down a post for you to read. Lately I've discovered a few old favourites of mine while I was sorting out my beauty and skincare collection.

My Favourite Ways to Procrastinate

Exams are finally over and I can sit down and type a post without having to worry about school. This past month has been pretty stressful because of exams and with all the stress these go with. I also have to admit that I procrastinated a lot, especially when the two words 'maths' and 'studying' were involved.

Sunday Post: Muji Christmas Giftguide

Cold months, end of November.. does this make your lightbulb click? yes, it's finally time for Christmas decorations and atmosphere. Christmas is hands down my favourite time of the year and Christmas shopping couldn't be more fun. Every year I find it quite difficult to think of ideas for gifts for friends and family, especially for the boys. This year, since I wanted to stay on top of thinks I did my Christmas shopping a bit early and jotted down a few unisex gift ideas for all of you who are lacking some inspiration here!

6 Skincare tips

Nowadays there are so many skincare products targeted at doing different jobs that sometimes we just feel overwhelmed by the variety of choices. It took me a while to find my way into skincare, but a crucial step to have perfect looking skin. I still do have bad skin days, but now I definitely have it much more under control.

A Litte Update on Life | II

November has been and is going to continue being a very busy month. It's hard to multitask and I haven't been really succeeding in that.

Eyelash Curlers

When I still wasn't into beauty I remember watching my sister a using a weird gear to curl her eyelashes and then applying mascara. Eyelash curlers were the first thing that got me into beauty, I couldn't understand how such thing could make your eyes appear bigger and more awake.

My Ipod | I

My playlist on my phone has majorly switched from a more pop genre to an indie/alternative rock vibe. I wanted to uptade my playlist for ages but never got around deleting the songs I didn't like anymore. I've been listening to a ton of new songs after the summer and I do enjoy sharing my song picks with you. 

My Favourite Nude, Berry and Bright Lipsticks

 As you may already know, I have an obsession with lipsticks, especially nude and darker shades. But if there were only three lipsticks that I could keep out of all the ones I own, these are the ones I would keep. I went for a nude, a dark one and a more summery shade.

Sunday Post: 7 Happy Moments

I feel like every single year, the end of summer gives me such a shock. It's colder and darker and that definitely reflects on my mood, which, unlike the rest of the world I hate autumn. What I'm left with is a cup of coffee wrapped up in my scarf (which resembles a blanket) waiting for the colder months ahead of me to go by very fast. For this sunday post (which I really enjoy writing) I took a picture of a happy moment every day of ther past week, because there is always something to appreciate in our daily.

The Review | La Biosthetique Essence de Proteine

My fine hair is a nightmare when it comes to drying it as they are very easy to tangle. The hunt for a detangling hair product started a few years back and soon ended when I talked about it to my hairdresser, he suggested the La Biosthetique Essence de Proteine to apply on the wet lenghts of the hair, wait a few seconds and then to brush through. I coulnd't have found a better product that detangled my mess, it also leaves my hair shiney and silky. It is a bit pricey for a 200ml bottle but it is worth every penny, or as I should say, every cent. I've had this for over one years and I'm still not half way through it.

I can say that my quest for a detangling hair product has ended and I am going to repurchase this over and over until they discontinue this, because it is this good!

Sunday Post: 6 Apps

My Iphone's home is one I'm mighty proud of and helps me keep my life organised and entertains me during my long train rides. There are apps that I open every day, while others are something I have  for rare occasions, (like the fitness ones...). But today I am going to be sharing with you my favourite six apps.

Snapchat

Some people might be surprised, not everyone likes Snapchat, but I love it! It gives me the opportunity to follow my friend's lives even thought we don't live in the same countries, sometime even continents.

Shazam

It is thanks to this app that most of the songs I have are in my music playlist, I use this when I'm in the car or somewhere where they are playing songs that I like and don't know the title of. The great part is that you can use this even if you don't have internet on your phone, and as soon as you reach a spot with wifi it will give you the title of the song.

VSCO Cam

By far the best free photo editing app, the filters are amazing and my favourite one is T1.

The Hunt

You know when you are scrolling Tumblr's home and you find this great picture of an outfit and you really want to know where the shoes are from? Well won't need to worry about looking for those shoes too much, because all you need to do is post a picture on this app and someone will find these for you and tell you where they're from.

T-Zero

I like to keep track of time and countdown days to important events, like meeting my bestfriend (we live in different countries). This app is perfect for me because it gives me the opportunity to set the date of an important event and it will countdown for me the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining until the exact moment.

RunKeeper

When the rare occasions come to go for a jog I use this app to keep track of the calories burnt, the location, the time run and other tech-y things. The positive aspect of this app is the no need for internet connection.

What is your favourite app for Apple devices?

The Review | NUXE Rêve de Miel

Almost throughout all year I have to deal with chapped lips; but oh boy if it hurts during the winter. I literally reach the point where my lips crack creating these annoying little cuts that take ages to heal and every time you try to smile it hurts so you are stuck with a poker face for the rest of the week.

Overcoming Blogger's Block

Just last week I managed to overcome my blogging block. For about two weeks now, I've been unable to sit down and write a post to it's end before giving up and deleting everything again. Obviously the same post was attempted to be written again; but again, I failed miserably. For us blogger it might be a bit scary, thinking "what am I going to do? what are my followers going to think of me?". Ladies, gents, don't worry, I've got the tips you just need to survive this too and get through it.

30 facts about me

I have to admit that whenever I'm scrolling down my Bloglovin home, I always stop to read the tag posts. I'll be the first to raise my hand and admit that I'm a nosey person, but most of us bloggers are (am I right?). I like to know what people like to do in their lives, their whereabouts and personal information to get to know them a bit better.

KIKO Mini Haul

Last week, while I was sorting out my makeup stash and getting rid of the unwanted products, I realised I was missing a few key bits in my collection and those had to be added.

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my Fabindia Mask as it was causing my skin to break out because it had expired. I replaced it with the KIKO Peeling Mask and I'll report to you soon on their skincare.

My Maybelline Dream Soft Blush was getting old (5-6 years) and I was starting to fall out of love with it so I gave it to a friend which will definitely make more use out of it.

Ill be the first to admit that I have a thing for lipsticks, but I don't own any lip liners, so I bought myself the KIKO Smart Lip Pencil  in the shade 712 that matched my lip's colour which turned out to be a shade too dark, but I have the perfect red toned nude lipstick that will work just fine with this!

Have you recently bought anything?

My Essie Nailpolishes

My friend Megan (The Breakfast Report) first introduced me to Essie nailpolishes, in fact, she's the one who got me into beauty at first. At the time I didn't know much about nailpolishes' formulas, they seemed all the same to me, BIG MISTAKE.

Sunday Post: Chocablock Recipe

Cooking and baking has never been my forte. But this week, with the terrible weather we had here, I picked out a few recipes I wanted to try out to improve my skills. I've been reading Suzie's blog ever since I started blogging, in fact it was her blog which got me into blogging. She suggested the chocablock recipe and being a chocolate junkie, I knew this had to happen.

4 Tips on Burning Candles

In the last three years my love for candles has grown massively. I always like to have a candle burning in my room, especially during the cold seasons for a more cozy atmoshpere. Candle prices can vary a lot, you don't have to spend a fortune to get a good candle, IKEA have great cheap ones. At the moment I'm loving my IKEA Strawberry Candle. Over the past couple of years I learned (the hard way) a few techniques on how to burn candles and make the most out of them.

No Makeup Look

I've never been a heavy makeup wearer. A more natural look suits me better and it's perfect for school when every extra minute spent in bed is fundamental, and by the time you realise what time it is, you have ten minutes to leave the house. 

Autum Outfit: The Mustard Shirt

 As I mentioned in Sunday's Post Cathchin' Up (here), I spent the last days before school started on catching up with friends, blogging and capturing a few outfit pictures, which my friend dutifully took for me whilst we were out exploring. I thought today I’d share my Autumn outfit.

Empties | II

This morning I finished my second round of empties today. I found that setting yourself a goal makes it easier to use up a product, and there's no better feeling than when you reach the bottom of a product (if you didn't spend fortune on it and you loved it). In the last couple of months, my skincare and makeup stash has massively increased in number of products, so to condense it a little and be left with the staple products (and a few sneaky other treats), I've been sticking to the rule 'use up two and purchase one' which has helped a lot.

Sunday Post: Catchin' up

School starts in two days *desperate cry* and lots of my friends are getting back from their holidays. This week was spent catchin' up with friends on the latest news and juicy gossips. Seriously, I have never had a week this full, where every single day I went in town to meet another friend, I'm exhausted!

Today, to put the cherry on top, I met my friend Megan and we went brunchin' (I like to think I invented this verb, but I'm pretty sure I didn't) at Cotidiano in Gärtnerplatz in Munich, a bakery restaurant where I've been meaning to go for a long time now. Suprisingly the weather was decent enough to sit outside wrapped up in blankets.

 I had a mint lemonade, granola with yogurt & fruits and a fried egg. The food was delicious but the service did let us down as some food was served later and instead of tap water, sparkling water arrived at our table which in the end we did have to pay for. Next time I will be experiencing my Sunday brunch some place else!

We explored a little the area and the quite expensive shops, including Hey and Acne clothing (I am dying).

We then headed off to find a nice place where to take pictures for our style posts and here are some sneak peaks. I am really trying to learn more about my DSRL camera and how to work with lighting. 

We then decided that we hadn't spent enough money on food so had to go and get a refreshment; and Starbucks (typical white girl) happened to be in the area. I enjoyed my Iced Chai Latte, but it's one of those drinks you either hate or love. So make sure to have a sip from another friend's drink before getting a venti!

What's your favourite Starbucks drink?

Random Places Familiar Faces | Iceland

This year for my family summer holiday we decided to do something different from the rest and go to Iceland. Before landing I wasn't very keen on the fact of going in a cool place for my summer holiday, but after what I saw from my plane's window I fell completely in love with the view.

Liebster Award

I was recently nominated by The Lilhm Project and Dancin' on Tiptoes for the Liebster Award. Their blogs are right up my street, I'm sure they'll appreciate it if you gave their blogs a visit! I figured that this would also be a nice way to get to know me a little bit better and to discover smaller blogs, because the aim of the Libester Blog Award (as I'm sure you know) is to get you're favourite new or less well-known blogs names out there.

The Review | KIKO 3 in 1 Mat

Today's post is going to be all about nails. A few years ago I was introduced to KIKO 3 in 1 Mat by my bestfriend. It is a topcoat that when it dries, it leaves a matte finish to the nail. This nailpolish is great for when you travel: it can be used as a basecoat to create the perfect smooth surface for the colour and as a matte topcoat. It is easy to apply, the formula doesn't dry out in the packaging over time and this makes the nailpolish last for longer on the nail, normally around 5 days. I don't have anything negative to say, love it! I would definitely recommend picking this up if you have the chance to!

Have you tried anything from KIKO yet?

Random Place Famliar Faces | A Day in London

Last month I came back from my four days spent in England. I had a lovely time there and exploring around the city, London turned out to be (as always) an amazing city hiding fascinating places and cute cafes to stop by.

The Eyeliner Post

Applying eyeliner is something that I just can't get the hang of. Slowly I am getting there, but it takes me a while and a lot of concentration to apply it evenly on both lids, the wing is probably the hardest part for me.
The easiest way to apply it fast and decently is using the ''post-it note trick'': stick a post-it note from the outer corner of the eye towards the eyebrow tail.
The best way to not overdo with eyeliner is to start with a thin line with the open eye, so that you can see how it looks, and then making it thicker. I like to keep my makeup minimal so I normally go for a really thin winged eyeliner. My goal is to reach a point where I can apply eyeliner on a daily-ish basis.

Is there an area of makeup you feel you have to yet master?

SummerTrilogy | A Summer Snack

Last week I was scrolling through my pinterest when I came across the sweet potatoe wedges recipe. It sounded interesting and I knew this had to go down. I then decided that a snack was not enough for my post so I added a green smoothie recipe.

SummerTrilogy | The Outfits

And here we are at out second post of my little tag for these summer holidays in the northern hemisphere. I went on and picked five outfits that  I would wear in different casual/not too formal occasions. I didn't add any bags here because during the summer I don't bring them with me, you might be asking yourself why, neither I know!

July Monthly Favourites

I don't even know what to say because this month is over and this means I am officialy half way through my 2014 summer holiday (really? already?), and when it's the end of the month it only means one thing: monthly favourites.

4 Things To Do Before Going on Holiday

There are 4 things I always try and do to prepare myself for going on holiday.

1. Pack lightly
There's nothing worst in asking someone to carry your suitcase/backpack because it is too heavy, it's true that more is better but you also don't want to overpack and take with you clothes that you know you won't be wearing. Try and stick to basic clothes, they are easy to pair up and create many different outfits.

2. Prepare yourself to take a lot of pictures
Start by uploading all your iPhone and camera pictures on your computer to make space for lots more memories of your holiday.

3. Have a pamper evening the night before
Unless it's a really long holiday you won't be taking hairmasks, bodyscrubs and bathbombs with you. So it's always nice to do give yourself some time to relax to moisturize your hair and scrubbing your body before a long journey.

4. Create a summer playlist
This I love doing every summer. There's nothing like a song to take you back to your holiday everytime your hear it once your back.

Makeup Travel Bag

Today I'll be flying to London for a few days to help my sister move in her new house. I couldn't be more excited because I haven't been to London in ages and it's always nice to revisit one of my favourite cities, plus a little visit to Space NK and Boots is going to happen!

For my makeup bag I wanted to keep things simple with the Women's Secret Vanity Case bag. I love this minty colour, plus it matches my nails (Maybelline Mint for Life). F0r makeup I took with me the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream to  then to set with the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. My usual concealer, BeYu Light Reflecting Concealer. For a bit of colour, I popped in the Maybelline Baby Lips in the shade pink punch, this lipbalm can be used as a cheek stain aswell, so this is coming with me.
For my eyes I'm takin my H&M Eyelash Curlers and my favourite mascara, Maybelline the Rocket. I threw in the Maybelline Eyestudio Quad in 13 nude beige (can you tell I like Maybelline?), because it has every shade I'll need. For evenings I have the KIKO Ultimate Pen Long Wear Eyeliner and finally for my eyebrows I have the Essence Brow Designer, which comes really handy when travelling because it has a brush on one end to go through the eyebrows.

So that's what I packed in end! I definitely packed only what I know that I would be using but whilst I'm there, there won't be much time to visit and enjoy but I am going to spend most of my time moving sofas and beds!

What is your must have makeup item?

The Review | Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner

Toners are always something I like to try, I even wrote a whole post about them (here)! There was a moment when my skin was feeling a little dull and after reading a few postivive reviews of the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner on the beauty blogging world I convinced myself that the twenty-four euro purchase would be worth it. This is not something I use on a daily basis but more like three or four times a week. The toner definitely makes my skin feel a lot more plumper and brighter, another plus side is that it smooths the skin and thanks to the tamarind fruit acids that helps getting rid of the under-the-skin bumps.

I couldn't be happier with this new skincare addition, it does make a lot of a difference for a toner and my skin has been loving it!

SummerTrilogy | 25 Things to do this Summer

After watching essiebutton's videos (my fave) for what has been years now, I decided to use her idea and write a summer trilogy posts, this basically consists in posting three posts related to summer throughout the season. Today, as my first day of summer holiday starts (yaay! I've finished school), I am going to be writing the first post. 25 things to do this summer.

To start off I went and bought a notebook, where I am gradually going to fill in the pages with 25 things I would like to do this summer, documenting them on these pages, creating a summer journal. By the end of the summer this post will have a photo collage of the 25 things completed.

1. Drink ice coffee
2. Blog more
3.  Read one book 
4. Make two green smoothies
5. Cycle 10km 
6. Go to Iceland
7. Cook a vegetarian meal
8. Go and visit a friend in another city
9. Eat brunch in a cafe
10. Go to a lake
11. Take four artistic pictures
12. Skype my best friend
13. Learn to do a messy bun
14. Bake a cake
15. Meet up with a friend
16. Get tan lines
17. Jog for 3km straight
18. Buy new shoes
19. Go to my childhood playground
20. Start watching "Orange is the New Black"
21. Take a selfie with the tower bridge in the background
22. Create a summer playlist
23. Watch the sunrise
24. Write a style post
25. Paint my nails perfectly

As you can see there are simple and easy things I want to do but more challenging aswell. If you're going to do this aswell I would love to read your 25 things you want to do this summer.

The best Benefit primer?

Benefit has always sold expensive great products, for now I own the Porefessional and That gal primers. This morning while slapping my makeup on I asked myself 'which primer beats the other?', and this is exactly what I'm going to be talking to you about.

The Benefit Porefessional is a hyped product by many bloggers. It is aimed at minimizing the appearance of pores and mattifyng oily skins. When applied it gives a silky finish and makes it really easy to apply BB cream. I think it does a pretty good job at making makeup last longer -for about 8 hours- but after a while makeup starts to become patchy.

I bought the Benefit That Gal in January where my skin was feeling a little dull and was screaming for a little glow. This pink pigmented primer brightens up the face giving the skin a healthy glow and dewy finish. On the other hand I don't think that it minimizes pores or makes makeup last longer. The packaging is cute, just like all benefit products, it has this twist up tube which I find practical to use.

After all I think the Benefit Porefessional is a better quality primer, having oily skin I am always for the mattifyng and smoothing products.

Have you tried any of these two? What do you think about them?

A Little Update on Life | I

School is almost over (one week left!), the time to enjoy afternoons and to catch up with friends outside school has been a lot. I can't believe that a year has already gone by. so fast! It seems like yesterday I was organizing everything for my first school day. Unfortunately this hasn't been the best year in my life, many things have changed, and humans don't tend to adapt quite easily!

Today I spent by far my best Sunday of this year, total relax, no stress, no revising notes in front of me and a few nice polaroid films were taken! For lunch I went with a friend of mine at Dean and Davis and got a caesar salad (it was my first time, quite expensive but yummy). The day was then followed by a nice walk and talk, he is leaving for a tennis boarding school, so if he'll ever end up on TV in the future I'll let you know! I then went to watch "The Fault in Our Stars" with a friend, oh boy! I didn't think I would cry like that (at least I wasn't wearing makeup so no smudges). I personally think that the film was slightly better than the book, which I've also read. There are so many quotes that I would like to share with you but I guess I would have to go with one instead of filling this blank page with John Green.

I am so excited to go and watch Boyhood this Tuesday, if you haven't heard of it.. where have you been living? under a rock presumably. No just kidding, but you should go and watch the trailer after reading this post, well I guess if you've reached this point then you've finished reding it.
Okay.
Bye.

                             

                            

The All Year Round Bases

With the summer solstice upon us -tomorrow. The warm days are more than the rainy ones and the time spent relaxing under the rays have brought a really good mood in me. School is almost over and exams are just a memory now, the time to sit back and relax has been lots and I ain't complaining! I say that I've let my guard down (could we say say that?) and the blemishes are just a result of my laziness in the past few days.

My summer bases? just like the winters one. I love to my lightweight bases and I'm not planning on purchasing a foundation any time soon, BB creams are enough for me. Concealer is something I wear daily and has been a staple in my routine for as long as I can remember since I've been slapping makeup on my face. The one I am using at the moment is the Beyu Light Reflecting Concealer, I am quite enjoying it, but not quite as much as the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer (hey but change is always good, right?). For the oily complexion girls like me, a powder just like the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder to cover shiny skin -or during summer better to say sweat- is just what you need. 
Et voila, these are the bases for this summer!

Do you wear makeup during the summer?