Turning 20!

Eeekk pictures have been taken with my dad's new camera, which I don't really know how to work (and some of them with the worst lightning), so apologies if some of the pictures are a bit blurry.

The time has come when I have to make a little change in my bio - I'm not nineteen, I'm twenty! Woah there. It sounds like such a big number. At least to my four year old cousin, who burst out crying and told me she didn't want me to get "old and ugly and wrinkly" just yet the day before my birthday. Lovely.

I don't remember having had such a nice birthday since I would go to those indoors amusement parks for kids. I stopped doing that when I turned 10, I believe, so you do the math. I didn't do anything particularly exciting thish year, but somehow it was special. I was in the greatest of moods, spent my day with some of my favourite people on Earth, got the most thoughtful gifts (see those customized mugs?!) and overall I was just overwhelmed with the love and kindness of the people around me. And to finish off my day, my sister and I had my favourite kind of night: we jumped into our sheep and reindeer onesies and watched One Direction's This Is Us, which was one of my presents from my grandad. I don't think I can ask for more!

So this is my first -cheesy- post as a 20 year old. In all honesty, I'm so grateful. For my family, my friends and my life in general. Thank you for making it all so worth it. 

I'm now off to listen to my brand new copy of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist full blast while trying to decide what to wear tonight. I hope you all have a fun night and a  wonderful start of the year. 

See you in 2014 :)

Tania x

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Dark days

 

"And then the cold came, the dark days, when fear crept into my mind..."

It feels even wrong to come back here after ignoring everything related to the blogging-verse for the past few months. I'm not going to say I'm sorry because I've got my reasons, but I do wish I'd been around more. I wish I could have. But I haven't been able to.

I ended my last post saying I would start posting soon if uni allowed me to, which as you can imagine didn't happen. Uni has become something tough to cope with these past two months. I have never done badly in school. Surely I'm the kind of student that leaves everything to the last minute (but really, in the Internet era we live in, who doesn't?), but that's never really gotten in the way. This year I started asking a lot more of myself because deep down I knew I could do better than just okay. It was working, I was getting really good results, so I kept pushing and pushing, testing myself to see how far I could take it. I never realized I was pushing way too hard until I cracked under the strain for the first time in my life.

As my grades were going up, a lot of different aspects in my life were starting to go downhill. Again, I won't get into it too much, but let's just say some things got too difficult for me to deal with. It got to a point where I didn't even want to deal with them. I would just quietly accept all the awful things that were coming my way and let this darkness sink into my skin, which I believe led me to become quite a difficult person to be around. And even though I've never felt more lonely or lost in my life, I didn't want to be with anyone either.

In the words of the always brilliant Marian Keyes,

"I couldn't be with people and I didn't want to be alone. Suddenly my perspective whooshed and I was far out in space, watching the world. I could see millions and millions of people, all slotted into their lives; then I could see me - I'd lost my place in the universe. It had closed up and there was nowhere for me to be. I was more lost than I had known it was possible for any human to be." Anybody Out There?

Just know that this is in no way, shape or form a sob story. In fact it took me some time to decide whether I wanted this post public or not, but hell, why not. I'm only human and I don't have a perfect life and there's no point in making it look like I do. We all have our ups and downs and I don't know a better way to deal with life than writing about it. I'm turning 20 on December 30th, which is now hours away, and I don't want to start my twenties with a bitter heart.

So roll on, 20. Roll on, 2014.
I'm so ready for you.

Tania x 

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Life Update: Lots Of Thinking & Homesickness

 Sooo... Errrmmm... Hi.

Yes, I do know I haven't posted a single blog post for the past ten decades. I could say anthing, from "I've been too busy to sit down and write" to "I've been on writers block" but no excuse I come up with will be entirely true. September flew by. I know everybody says that about every single month, but it's true. I feel like the last time I checked it was August and I was sitting at home watching Jersey Shore re-runs and now it's October and I'm back to wearing scarves and boots. It was an interesting month, though. It gave me a lot to think about. It gave me a lot to write about.

As you may know, we went to London. I'm going to be absolutely honest, because it's my blog and in your blog you tell the truth (totally quoting Love Actually here): It wasn't the trip of my life. I would be lying if I said I regret going - I absolutely, 100% don't. I loved it while it was happening. I laughed so hard. I enjoyed it so much. I saw my favourite band live twice, which means I sang and cried my heart out. I found out Laia and I are even more alike than I thought. All that was good fun. But we had our ups and downs and at the end of the day I was left questioning lots of things. I'm not going to get too much into that, but things that don't go as you planned can get tough to deal with, especially when you're so far away from whatever you consider your safe environment to be.

Then we went to Madrid. I think saying that the first morning we woke up there I already wanted to go back home is more than enough. Things got really bad for me. I don't really know how to talk about it without sounding like an over sensitive fool,  but it got both mentally and physically painful and I'd never, ever felt that homesick before. It would've actually been an awesome trip hadn't I been desperate to come back. As a girl who loves going away and seeing new things -and as somebody who prefers to keep things inside her head-, it felt really strange for me to have to call my mum being all "Hey, this is happening and I think there's something is wrong with me." 

It's safe to say September was a rollercoaster and I wish I could say it all ended the moment I set foot in town again. It didn't. I'm still questioning lots of things and trying to understand both mine and other people's choices and behaviour and wondering how much of it I can/want to put up with before it starts wearing me down. If you know me, you've probably heard me say that I don't care about this or that a thousand times. But the truth is that if you let them, some things actually end up getting to you. I'm a sensitive one after all... (I know, right? Who would've thought.)

The only reason I kept putting this off is because I knew if I wrote this too soon it could turn into a bitter rant. It isn't. Reading it all back I do realize that some things might sound a bit harsh, but that wasn't at all my intention. In fact, I got something positive out of all of this. I guess being able to see things from another perspective allowed me to notice that there are some people that actually are like home. They are not necessarily (and sadly) the ones you see or even talk to every day, but they're the ones who make you feel safe no matter where you/they are. And for those I will be eternally grateful.

 Hopefully, and if uni allows me to, I will start posting again soon.

Until then, 

Summer Love: Lips - 3 Picks

Happy September 1st, everyone! I'm here, casually blogging from the Hogwarts train. ;) Let me present to you the last three items I've been loving this summer!

KIKO Kiss Balm - 07 "Strawberry"

When I first got an e-mail from KIKO talking about their new Kiss Balms (because I'm a KIKO geek and I'm suscribed, duh), I just knew I had to get one. It's a tinted lip balm and it feels really nourishing on the lips as it's got repairing properties as well as SPF. The website claims they've got "vibrant colors" and I have to disagree on that one because as you can see in the picture above that's not the case and I picked up the brightest shade I could find. Also, it should smell like strawberry, but I think it's more of a red licorice smell - not complaining though!

Kate Moss Rimmel London - 110

I should probably just buy the whole Kate Moss collection because I seem to love them all! This one's a very bright pink-toned coral and I think it's the perfect shade for summer that would fit all skin tones. It does dry out your lips after a while but as a matte lipstick it's a bit glossier than I believed it would be. It's also highly pigmented, so it goes opaque in a swipe.

Rimmel London Apocalips - 501 "Stellar"

I have finally jumped on the Apocalips bandwagon! *applause* I really didn't know which shade to pick as they all looked amazing but in the end I went for Stellar and I love it. When you first put it on it's a bright hot pink (so bright, in fact, that's almost neon!) but as the hours pass by it fades into a softer, darker pink. A swipe is more than enough to make it opaque and it lasts a long time without having to re-apply. 

So that's it for my summer picks.

What have been your favourite lip products this summer? 

Have you tried any of the above? Let me know!

Liebster Blog Award

Last weekend I was happy to find out that I'd been nominated for the Liebster Award by Sophia from Ginger in Gucci. Make sure you go check out her lovely blog if you haven't already :)

For those who don't know, the Liebster Award helps promote smaller blogs. It's given to bloggers from other fellow bloggers provided they've got less than 200 followers. Sophia also found a blog post that contains more information about the award's origins, which you can find by clicking here. I'm so excited to have been chosen as one!

**UPDATE - As I've been nominated twice, now by Bex Clare (thanks!!!), I will add her questions in the same post so everything's organised. Keep on reading. :)

RULES

1. You must link  back to the person who nominated you.

2. You must answer the 11 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you.

3. You must pick 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers to be nominated for the award.

4. You must come up with 11 questions for your nominees to answer.

5. You must go to their blogs and notify your nominees.

Ginger in Gucci's Questions

1. If you had to choose between fashion and beauty, which would you choose?

Arrgh! I've been thinking about it since I read the questions last Sunday and I really can't choose! Fashion and beauty are like two of my favourite things in the whole world and it'd just be really unfair to pick one. Sozzz. 

2. What is your favorite store?

When I go shopping I don't really have any preferences, I just walk in every store as you never know where you're going to find something you love. However it's true lately I've found myself paying a lot of visits to H&M. It doesn't matter what your style leans more towards to, they've got everything: from classic shirts to graphic tees, from cute girly dresses to edgier stuff and even lovely accesories and everything is quite affordable so obviously that's a bonus. ;)

3. What is your favorite place to visit?

I love Barcelona itself. I live in a small town that's about 20 minutes away from the city and I just love going down there and discovering new little places every now and then.

4. Who/what band is your favourite music artist?

McFly! I feel like I've already talked about this an awful lot considering the amount of posts I've written/time I've been a blogger, but yeah. It's been my favourite band since I was about 13 and I don't think that's ever going to change, to be honest!

5. What is your go-to beauty product?

I'm gonna be simple and say I can't live without Nivea Soft! Not taking skin care into account and giving a more makeup related answer, though, that's gotta be either KIKO's mascara False Lashes Concentrate or the Kate Moss lipstick in shade 104.

6. What is your favorite nail polish color?

Mint green and peach shades for the summer, dark brown and reds for colder seasons.

7. Who is your favorite designer?

To be honest I don't really have one. I think you can find interesting pieces in every collection.

8. What is your favorite beauty brand?

Who would've thought answering these questions would make me think so much? Haha! I don't know really, I never really stick to the same product unless I'm absolutely obsessed with it. I have to say, though, I've loved every single Benefit product I've ever tried so that one's definitely one of my favourite brands (even though it's on the pricey side and I'm not able to purchase as many things as I'd like to!).

9. If you could choose anyone to narrate your life, who would it be?

The HIMYM geek in me thinks it should be Ted Mosby! ;)

10. What is your favorite kind of lip product?

I'm a classic lipstick kind of girl. Lately I've been loving tinted lip balms as well since they're amazing for those days when you don't wanna feel like you're wearing too much.

11. Who is your favorite Blogger/Youtuber?

My favourite blogger is probably Kayleigh from Couture Girl and I also enjoy Louise's blog Sprinkle of Glitter a lot. My favourite Youtubers are probably Zoella and an Irish makeup guru called Sinead, from The Makeup Chair.

Bex Clare's Questions

1. Where do you see yourself in five years time?

In five years time I will be... 24! Woah. I'm not even sure about what I want to do with my life once I'm done with university in two years, so I have no idea. Hopefully having a job I like and maybe even living abroad, that's something I'd definitely like to do while I'm young and able to do it. :)

2. What piece of technology could you not live without?

My phone. I use it for every single thing phones can be used for: it is my alarm clock, my radio, my music player, my camera, I edit most of my pictures with it, I've got little reminder notes in there and most importantly it keeps me in touch with people who unfortunately I cannot see every day. 

3. How would you describe yourself in four words?

Laid back (that counts as one word, right? haha), observant, creative, self-conscious.

4. Would you prefer staying in and watching a movie or going out to a club?

Ooooh this one's easy... Staying in. I'm a bit of an old lady!

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Right now I have to say to the iTunes Festival in London simply because there are so many great artists playing there this year and I can't go as I'm heading off there in about two weeks. 

(Wait! Do fictional places count? Hogwarts!!!! Hogsmeade!!! All that! ...yes I'm such a Harry Potter geek.)

6. What was your favourite tv show as a kid?

I was obsessed with Lizzie McGuire!

7. What would be your dream job?

I literally have no idea. I would like to work in a publishing house and maybe try my luck in the makeup world if I'm ever brave enough to do so.

8. What's your favourite meal?

I'm really picky when it comes to food and I don't like most things, but I am a huge fan of junk food so I'm gonna go for french fries with basically any kind of meat, haha!

9. Do you prefer Summer or Winter?

WINTER. Summer here in Spain is so hot that you feel like you're melting 90% of the time. Besides, I'm definitely more of a winter clothing kind of girl. 

10. What's your favourite colour?

I don't have one!

11. Did you have a favourite boyband when you were younger?

To be quite honest I don't think I was ever really into any boybands before One Direction came around. I was never a Backstreet Boys, Take That or *NSYNC fan when I was younger, but then again maybe I was too young. Now I can't deny I've definitely jumped on the fangirlism bandwagon with One Direction. Hashtag no shame. ;)

Paula Elena's Questions

1. What's your name? Where are you from? How old are you?
My name's Tania. I'm from Barcelona, Spain. I'm 19.

2. Describe yourself in a sentence.
"I'm always gonna want to be a witch." ;)

3. Are you studying or working?
Both, actually. I'm studying English in college, about to start my third year now, but I'm also working as a part-time private teacher.

4. How do you see yourself in five years from now? 
(Answered above. :))

5. Do you prefer to center your attention on your clothes, your makeup or both? 
Hmmm, that's a good question! I guess it depends. When I have to go to class I just keep it all simple. When I'm going out, I like to put effort into everything. Then I guess it also depends on what I want to highlight that day. If I'm wearing something that really will get everyone's atention then I will probably keep my makeup simple and vice versa. (Am I making myself clear? I feel like I'm just mumbling nonsense to myself haha!)

6. Why did you start blogging?
One day I realized all me and a couple of my friends talked about was beauty and lifestyle blogs and then I thought... well, if I like the blogging world so much maybe I should give it a go. And here I am!

7. Describe your blog in a sentence.
It's my little corner on the internet where I get to share chunks of my life and interests. 

8. Do you have any beauty tricks? If so, which ones do you have?
I don't think I have any beauty trick other people don't know about, to be quite honest. Oh! I like to layer my mascaras - I use one to hold the curl and a different one to give them volume and turn them black, if that counts!

9. Are you afraid of your blog getting famous and having haters saying bad things to you?
Not really. I don't think that's going to happen, but if it did happen in the future, I think for me it'd be one of these "Hey, you do you, I'll do me" situations. If some people don't like what I write about, that's fine, I'm obviously not going to force anyone into reading my blog. But as I said it's my own little space so I'm gonna do it my way. You know, happiness comes when you realize you're not here to please others but yourself! :)

10. Which are your favourite posts to read?
Uhhh I love reading everything really! I love monthly favourites, OOTDs, FOTDs, What's In My Bag (because I'm that nosy haha), lifestyle-y posts... You name it!

11. Is there anything you haven't said in your blog and you want your followers to know?
Hmmm... The only thing I can come up with is sorry for being such a rubbish blogger sometimes and not having scheduled posts for when I'm unable to sit and write, causing my blog to be dead for days or weeks!

 

My nominees:

1. Vanilla Kingdom
2. Bedtime Thoughts
3. Lunam et Sidera
4. AnnieLeaf
5. Lipsticks and Lashes
6. Izzisaur
7. Salt & Sail
8. She and Hem
9. Yet Another Makeup Blog
10. D Is For...
11. Cocoamourr

These are a few of my favourite smaller blogs, so make sure you check them out :)

My questions:

1. What made you want to start blogging?
2. What is your worst beauty habit?
3. What's a quote/motto you try to live by?
4. What's the best place you've ever been to?
5. What is or was your favourite tale as a child?
6. Jeans or dresses?
7. What's your favourite tv show?
8. Who do you look up to?
9. What's the best compliment you've ever been given? 
10. How would you describe yourself in three words?
11. What's your favourite type of blogs? (Beauty, fashion, lifestyle... You can say who your favourite bloggers are, it's always good to find new blogs! :))

Please let me know in the comments below if you decide to answer my questions because I'd love to read your answers! :)

2013 Teen Choice Awards Fashion

I enjoy teen awards shows so much that it's ridiculous. I love watching the red carpet and the event itself, I love all the performances and speeches, I love seeing so many familiar faces from tv, cinema and the music industry all in one place (fandoms colliding and all that) and most importantly, I love the fashion. At bigger events like the Oscars or the Golden Globes, fashion is taken to another level, most men look like gentlemen and most women look like stunning princesses. At the Teen Choice Awards though, we're able to see a much more casual fashion, whether it's in the form of pretty little dresses or edgier outfits. And I love that.

As one of the hosts, Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale got to wear some pretty amazing dresses throughout the night. My favourite has got to be the first one she wore at the show itself. Sadly I can't seem to find where it is from, but I think it fit her perfectly and the bow detail is just too cute to ignore!

On that note, her castmate Sasha Pieterse wore what is probably my favourite outfit of the night. As far as I know it's a Naeem Khan dress, although it does look like it's a bodysuit + maxi skirt combo. Either way, she looks amazing.

And if you thought that was it as far as the liars go... you thought wrong. Another Pretty Little Liar, Shay Mitchell, looked great in a monochrome Jenni Kayne jumpsuit and Jimmy Choo shoes. 

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Actress winner Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries was just described as "Rock n Roll Princess" in that J. Mendel outfit, Dolce & Gabanna shoes and Devi Kroell bag. I think she looks original and kind of edgy. Her makeup and messy ponytail go perfectly with what she's wearing as the attention is basically focused on her clothes and bright orange clutch. 

As as newly converted Arrow fan, I was fairly looking forward to seeing Katie Cassidy. She played it safe with a mini pink lace dress by Zuhair Murad and matching clutch and shoes, by Christian Louboutin. Still, she looked amazing and the colour of her dress is just gorgeous. (Is it weird that I think that shade of pink compliments her skin? Because she's glowing. So so pretty.)

Another one of my favourites was Lea Michele, who did not stop at the red carpet but did come up to the stage when Glee won. She gave a very touching speech about her co-star and boyfriend Cory Monteith, who recently passed away, which you can watch here looking as beautiful as ever. What a brave move. I've watched Glee twice in my life, but she still made me tear up. 

There were of course some fashion disasters, like Naya Rivera and Miley Cyrus (who won the Fashion Trendsetter Award... whaaaatttt!!!) and some people who I thought were going to blow my mind looked just like meh. That's the case of Selena Gomez, who was just plain boring or Lily Collins, whose fashion choices made her look a lot older than she is. It's just my point of view anyway, nobody get offended! ;) 

Credit to lucy-hale.org and Just Jared for the pictures. 

Was there somebody you were looking forward to see? Who was the best/worst dressed according to you? What would you wear to one of these award shows? :)

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Summer Love: REBELS by Essence

(Barely blended in)

Another week is coming to an end which means I'm here with my second Summer Love post whilst listening to The Wanted's newly premiered single We Own The Night - serious summer party song right there! If you haven't listened to it yet, check it out here and if you like it you can now purchase it on iTunes. (This post is not sponsored by The Wanted, I promise haha!)

Today's post features an Essence product I found by chance while desperately searching for their waterproof gel eyeliner Midnight in Paris 01 (does anyone know if it's being discontinued, by the way? I can't seem to find it anywhere and it's driving me nuts!). I've been looking for a peach blusher ever since we started having warmer weather back in Spring but I just couldn't find the right shade, so you can imagine how happy I was to find this lip and cheek pot in one of their Sales boxes!

To be honest I'd never seen it in stores but according to the Essence website, REBELS is a collection that was launched over a year ago. It consisted of blusher, nail polish, mascara and lipgloss and it is described as "demure, subtle nude shades meet upon bright, cheeky neon colors to rebel against boredom for trendsetters, individualists or those who normally wouldn't dare to be loud and outrageous." And oh boy do I wish I'd found it about it sooner so I could have purchased their Rock Coat nail polish.

Anyway, jumping into the important stuff. This REBELS lip and cheek pot is all I have ever wanted a blusher to be! I haven't really used it on my lips as it's very similar to MUA's Nectar but I have been using it on my cheeks for the past few weeks and I absolutely love it. I'm always wary of creamy blushers because in this extremely hot weather I feel like it could melt into your face and just ruin foundation, but dab it on your cheekbones then carefully blend it in and... tada! It stays in place. It kind of reminds me of MUA's Cream Blush Perfection, but as much as I love that one, I would say this one's a bit more pigmented and longlasting.

In a nutshell, it's a lovely shade for summer and its creamy formula won't ruin your makeup/fade into your foundation. Even when you've had it on for a while and it's started to fade a little bit, it leaves a nice subtle peachy shade behind. Even if it is quite old, hopefully it will be available in a few stores and websites!

What about you? Are you a fan of creamy blushers? 

What's your favourite summer blush? :)

August 5th, 2003: McFLY and The O.C.

It is Monday, which means I should probably be writing my second Summer Love post but that's going to have to wait as there's something I'd rather talk about today. It's August 5th 2013, which means it's the tenth anniversary of two of my favourite things in life: McFly and the tv show The O.C.

Ten years ago, after quite a long process of auditions and such, fifteen year old bassist Dougie Poynter moved into the band house alongside his mates Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Harry Judd. It's considered to be the day they became McFly. The day they were complete. Little did they know that they were about to shake so many people's worlds for the better, mine included.

I started listening to McFly when I was about 13 years old and no matter how much things have changed, or how much I have changed myself, they have been a huge part of my life ever since. I knew from the moment I first listened to them that they were special. You know what they say, "people haven't always been there for me, but music always has." (I totally just quoted Taylor Swift.) That's the case with McFly. Somehow they have always been with me - they've made me feel less lonely when I was actually pretty much alone, they've put a smile on my face whenever I've felt like hiding under my duvets and they have been my Wonderland whenever I've wanted to run away. 

At the same time the McFly boys were getting together, FOX was premiering a new teen drama series over in the United States: The O.C. It was created by Josh Schwartz, who got the inspiration from being a Jewish kid from the East Coast who felt like a total stranger when he first arrived in California. In a recent interview, he stated that he found interesting how all these apparently flawless people were living a total different life than they were presenting and how he wanted to create a tv show where "you felt like you were bring brought inside the new money and new royalty of America." (x)

I'm not sure when it premiered in Spain, but I do know I first noticed the show because they were doing a The O.C. marathon on tv and I will admit I stayed up until 5 am watching quite a few episodes. I was absolutely fascinated. I felt like they were telling stories I could relate to. Obviously I'm not from the new royalty of anywhere nor have I ever passed out in an alley in Tijuana due to drug abuse (uhm, isn't that scene just brilliant? Yes. Yes it is.) but I had finally found a character I could see myself in. I could relate to Seth Cohen's struggle to fit in, his social awkwardness and his sarcastic ways. He was the geeky one, but still he was the hero of the story, which felt very new. With Seth Cohen, they gave a voice to the kind of kids that were often forgotten. 

Both McFly and The O.C. will always be part of me. Through them I've met some of my absolute best friends and they've helped me create bonds that I know will never be broken. I am a firm believer whatever is helping you shape who you are and who you want to become will never be forgotten, so I know that these songs, these stories and, most importantly, these people will for ever occupy a huge part of my heart.

If you're anything like me and you're interested in any of those things, here are some links that have made me smile today:

McFly's first tv performance - x

That Girl live at Manchester Apollo (Memory Lane Tour 2013) - x

First promo of The O.C. - x

The O.C. Secrets: Creator Josh Schwartz talks its success, where it went wrong and the things we never really got to see - x

Remembering The O.C. with Josh Schwartz (interview) - x

21 Most Important Music Moments from The O.C. - x

"The Seth Effect" - x

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Beauty posts will be resumed soon :)

Tania x

July Favourites

Ever since I started reading blogs I've seen plenty of posts on beauty favourites of the month and to be honest I've always wanted to do one, but at the end of every month I just feel like I haven't tried or loved enough products as to do it. I don't want this blog to be strictly about beauty as there are many many other things that I love, so a couple of days ago when I saw Jess from Mismatched Knitwear had written a post about her monthly favourites in general (read here!), I thought "Wow, this is perfect!" so I'm just gonna give it a try and see what I come up for this month's favourites. :)

Colum 1 - Ombre hair (picture from Pinterest), Flatform Sneakers

Colum 2 - TV Show How I Met Your Mother, The Vamps' first single, Emblem3's debut album

Colum 3 - Frozen yogurt, cotton candy (picture from Tumblr), neon nails

Ombre hair: Back when I was 15/16 I used to be a blonde and as much as I liked it, I decided to let my hair grow since having to be touching up my roots every two months was absolutely annoying (and expensive). Then I became obsessed with ombre hair but of course I couldn't get it done because I didn't want to look like a rainbow had just puked on my head  so I had to wait until my hair had grown enough as to be able to dye the ends of it... which was last week! I am now a very happy ombre haired girl.

Flatform sneakers: Alright, I admit at first I thought they looked scary and quite 90s-ish, but after seeing them on my friend Nerea I absolutely fell in love and I was already planning outfits in my head even before I was able to buy them... Am I the only one who does that? No? Yes?

How I Met Your Mother: I used to love this tv show a couple of summers ago, actually I believe I watched like 5 seasons in just a month, but somehow I just lost interest. Now, though, it's back on tv every day and I have totally fallen for it again! (New & last season is starting next month! I'm eeexciiiiteeeeed!!!)

Can We Dance by The Vamps: The Vamps is an Indie Pop band from the UK and they were opening for McFly on their last tour. They upload covers on youtube every once in a while (you can check them out here) and they will soon be releasing their first single, Can We Dance. The official audio is not available yet, but they've already performed it live and you can listen to it here. It's REALLY GOOD.

Nothing To Lose by Emblem3: Straight from The X Factor USA, Huntington Beach based band Emblem3 is releasing their debut album Nothing To Lose. I'm terrible at describing music genres, but they're said to make alternative hip hop, reggae fussing and pop rock. Honestly, I think they're just different from most artists out there right now. You can purchase their album on iTunes here, but it is also available on YouTube if you'd like to give it a listen first. ;)

Frozen yogurt & cotton candy: Alright, I'm blaming my friend Laura because she's got me addicted to frozen yogurt with white chocolate and smarties... because we're that healthy. And cotton candy - what can I say? It's summer, the time of funfair nights. You just gotta eat cottong candy!

Neon nails: You'll be coming home with me tonight and we'll be burning up like neon lights... Eeeekkk!! Summer just makes me want to play with my nail polish a bit more and as much as I've been loving pastels, I gotta say that now that I'm tanned I'm just LOVING neon pink nails. Yes you can see me from Mars.

And that's it for my monthly favourites. I thought it'd be shorter but what can I say, I just like to ramble on! Haha I quite enjoyed it so I might do it again in about 30 days time :) What has made you happy this month?

Happy August! Xx

Tania

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Summer Love: KIKO's Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow

As I mentioned in my lifestyle-ish kind of post yesterday I want to get a bit more serious with my posts, meaning I want to start posting more regularly and stop being a lazy arse, so a few days ago I found myself thinking of ways that could help me stick to blogging. What could that be... Yes, that's right! I'm starting a summer series to talk about all the products I have been/am loving at the moment. Basically those products that don't make me feel like my face is melting in the sun.  

I'm not following any specifical order since I might find new products I want to talk about along the way, so I'm starting this series with something that has quickly become one of my favourite eye products ever: KIKO's Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows.

The first stick eyeshadow I bought (back in early 2012 I believe!) was a silver shade with blue undertones and it's something I've used quite a lot over the past year on nights out since it looks great both as an eyeshadow base, for smokey eyes and such, as well as on its own. It's not really a versatile shade though as I don't really like to use it in the daytime because I feel like it's definitely too much but since its formula seemed to work so well and it's a product I find myself reaching out for whenever I'm going out, why not pick a shade that I knew I'd use more?

I'm totally a neutrals girl when it comes to my eyes so I went back and picked it up in Shade 7 Golden Beige, which has ended up becoming my favourite eyeshadow. It claims to remain "uniform and and radiant for up to 8 hours, without streaking or smudging", quite a big statement to make, but it is absolutely true. One would think that being outside in the summer when it's like 35ºC your eyeshadow could end up all over your face, but this one doesn't even crease unless you've had it on forever, then you might start seeing signs of creasing or a bit of shimmer underneath your eyes. 

As I said about the other stick eyeshadow, it can be used either on its own or you can mix and match as you please with other eye products. My favourite combos at the moment are with Sleek's Mineral Earth or Moss, both from their Au Naturel palette, depending on how dramatic you want your look to be. I must say it looks amazing when applied on your inner corner - it really does make your eyes pop! If you're not that into shimmery eye products, you can always use a mate eyeshadow to make it a bit more wearable for you.

So what do think? Have you tried any creamy eye products? Did you like it or do you prefer regular eyeshadows?

Have a nice day :)

Tania

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Life Update - Yes, I'm alive!

 Exactly one month ago I said I was back in the bloggersfera and that I hoped it was for good. I really meant that when I wrote it. Seriously. I thought, "Now that it's summer, I'm gonna spend more time working on my blog" which, as you probably now, it's become a bit of a lie. I'm gonna be honest, I have so much free time right now I even get bored sometimes (and I never get bored - there's always something to do!) and I have so many ideas and new things to write about but I have just been unable to get myself to make a decent post. Now I believe if there's any remedy for this so-called "bloggers block" it is, simply, getting back on track. So that's what I'm going to do.

July is being a fun month. I've been doing nothing special, really, just enjoying freedom a little bit: hanging out around town, eating lots of frozen yogurt, sunbathing, spending some time with my family, going shopping, planning our upcoming trips in September and October, seeing The Wanted (as you do) and obviously being as lazy as one can possibly be.

To sum it up in a few snaps...

To be honest I am pretty happy with the way things are going lately. Surely not everything's perfect, but I'm trying to take things easy and enjoy the little things that make me happy. At the end of the day, isn't that what matters?

Hope everyone's having an amazing summer so far :)

I'll be back tomorrow with a new beauty post!

Tania

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NOTD | Featuring H&M's Copper

Hello! How are you all doing? 

I'm back now and hopefully it's for good!

Back in May I mentioned on my wishlist that I really wanted to get one of H&M's glittery nail polish in Copper. See, I'm a sucker for glitter. About two years ago I got a nail varnish from H&M that I LOVE - it's very similar to this one, except that it only contains silver spots. Obviously when I saw this one I couldn't resist! I am not one to do NOTDs simply because when I was younger I used to bite my nails and I don't really like them now, but I loved the product, so why not? 

The bottle is quite big and if I'm honest I can tell you now it's going to last forever because it's not like we use glitter on our nails every day, do we? For me it's one of those things I use every once in a while, so I probably will not have to repurchase anything like it in a while. As you can see, the base is clear and you'd need to apply quite a few layers for it to be opaque, but I generally tend to use it as a top coat and it works just fine. I have had it on for about five days and it's now that it's starting to get chipped, but I can't complain considering that the nail varnish I used underneath is absolutely rubbish! 

So... long lasting, cheap and sparkly - what else could you ask for?! I'm honestly surprised H&M doesn't get more recognition for their beauty products because I've pretty much loved every single thing I've purchased. They're being sold in stores (not sure if in all of them, though), but you can as well shop online at their website.

What about you? Have you tried any nail varnish or any other beauty product from H&M? 

Let me know :)

Tania

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