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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