I don't know about you, but no matter how stressed out or tired I may be on any given day, I always find the time to lay back and listen to music. Be it on the way home from work or late at night when I just can't seem to fall asleep, music is the one step in my routine I never skip, no matter what. As for what I listen to, I'm honestly all over the place. One minute is pop, the next is R&B, the other is kpop or heavy rock.
I figured I'd try sharing with all of you 10 songs I'm listening to on repeat this month and hopefully, if you'd like, I'll start making this a monthly thing! Let me know which song is your favourite from this month's playlist and leave in the comments your recommendations so I can check out new music!
Zayn - Let Me
Over a year ago, I wrote a post on some of my favourite beauty/fashion blogs out there. Now, while I did include a couple of Portuguese blogs at the time, I'll admit I didn't follow that many to be able to come up with a full list dedicated to them alone. The blogosphere is so immense nowadays that it can be hard to find blogs from your country, especially if your first language isn't English.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Why is it such a big deal to find bloggers from your country? It's true that just about anybody can give you some style inspiration or review makeup in their blog. However, sometimes you'd rather read an OOTD post where all of the brands are actually in your reach without shopping online, the same goes for makeup. In a smaller country like Portugal, where we can't get brands like Topshop, River Island, Boohoo, Colourpop, Tarte, Milk Makeup, Glossier and many other brands without either shopping online and risking paying an absurd amount in taxes, it's nice to hear about the brands you do know and can get your hands on during a simple trip to the mall. In some cases, it's even better to rely on Portuguese bloggers to let you know how their online shopping experience went with their own purchase before making your own, because they already know what's coming your way!
I've rambled on long enough, let's move onto some amazing blogs you should be following, no matter where you're from!
The European Closet is mainly a fashion blog, though you can also find some beauty, lifestyle and blogging tips as well. I've been following Rita for over two years now and I love every single thing she posts, it's always so put together and appealing, which always helps me stay motivated to work harder on my own content. Not to mention how much of a sweetheart she is! Rita has helped me several times when it comes to blogging and I know I can always reach out to her whenever I'm at a loss when it comes to my blog.
Pink Ivory Makeup is my guilty pleasure when it comes to makeup. Raquel is always tormenting me with new exciting products I just have to get my hands on and my bank account isn't having it! Both her blog and her instagram are perfect, her photography in general is on point, and I know I can always count on her reviews to keep me away from splurging on duds. Her blog is a must for any beauty lover out there!
Majestic Marta is an overall aesthetic goals! Nobody can make their instagram or their blog look that good, it's impossible to not instantly recognise her content from the photos alone. Not to mention she always knows what's up at Sephora, you can always count on her to deliver all of the news on what's good and what's bad (aka all of the terrible deals we get every single month).
The Pink Elephant Shoe is run by the lovely Cátia, who slays every single time a new post comes out or a new picture is posted onto her instagram. What always called out to me when it came to her content was how colourful it was, while most bloggers prefer to rely on plain white as the main colour to everything they put out there, Cátia is always betting on bright bold shades that make me want to go out and do a vibrant blue smokey eye!
Gi and Lills are two extremely stylish ladies I always have my eye on whenever I'm looking for some outfit inspiration. I first ran across them on Instagram, but I quickly started catching up with their blog, it's filled with so many different looks that will help you stay casual yet cool at the same time. They definitely have a minimalistic approach to fashion, in my opinion, with some pops of colour and prints here and there to spice things up, which is why I love them!
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Why is it such a big deal to find bloggers from your country? It's true that just about anybody can give you some style inspiration or review makeup in their blog. However, sometimes you'd rather read an OOTD post where all of the brands are actually in your reach without shopping online, the same goes for makeup. In a smaller country like Portugal, where we can't get brands like Topshop, River Island, Boohoo, Colourpop, Tarte, Milk Makeup, Glossier and many other brands without either shopping online and risking paying an absurd amount in taxes, it's nice to hear about the brands you do know and can get your hands on during a simple trip to the mall. In some cases, it's even better to rely on Portuguese bloggers to let you know how their online shopping experience went with their own purchase before making your own, because they already know what's coming your way!
I've rambled on long enough, let's move onto some amazing blogs you should be following, no matter where you're from!
The European Closet is mainly a fashion blog, though you can also find some beauty, lifestyle and blogging tips as well. I've been following Rita for over two years now and I love every single thing she posts, it's always so put together and appealing, which always helps me stay motivated to work harder on my own content. Not to mention how much of a sweetheart she is! Rita has helped me several times when it comes to blogging and I know I can always reach out to her whenever I'm at a loss when it comes to my blog.
Pink Ivory Makeup is my guilty pleasure when it comes to makeup. Raquel is always tormenting me with new exciting products I just have to get my hands on and my bank account isn't having it! Both her blog and her instagram are perfect, her photography in general is on point, and I know I can always count on her reviews to keep me away from splurging on duds. Her blog is a must for any beauty lover out there!
Majestic Marta is an overall aesthetic goals! Nobody can make their instagram or their blog look that good, it's impossible to not instantly recognise her content from the photos alone. Not to mention she always knows what's up at Sephora, you can always count on her to deliver all of the news on what's good and what's bad (aka all of the terrible deals we get every single month).
The Pink Elephant Shoe is run by the lovely Cátia, who slays every single time a new post comes out or a new picture is posted onto her instagram. What always called out to me when it came to her content was how colourful it was, while most bloggers prefer to rely on plain white as the main colour to everything they put out there, Cátia is always betting on bright bold shades that make me want to go out and do a vibrant blue smokey eye!
Gi and Lills are two extremely stylish ladies I always have my eye on whenever I'm looking for some outfit inspiration. I first ran across them on Instagram, but I quickly started catching up with their blog, it's filled with so many different looks that will help you stay casual yet cool at the same time. They definitely have a minimalistic approach to fashion, in my opinion, with some pops of colour and prints here and there to spice things up, which is why I love them!
Style is a very personal thing. Not everyone has the same boundaries, not everyone will enjoy the same cuts and patterns. Recreating celeb looks can be especially daunting when you don't share the same body type as the actual celeb or the same budget for said outfit.
It was with all of this in mind — and a huge wave of inspiration for more fashion-focused posts on my part — that I decided to show you how to style three different outfits, all inspired on this one look by the fashion goddess herself, Selena Gomez. We're all aware of how big of a change Selena's personal style has gone through in the past year or so and, personally, I'm all for the "new" Selena! I do think that it's a bit harder to recreate her looks to a T since she's wearing so much vintage lately, but it's not impossible to nail the same vibe as her original looks, with a few twists here and there!
I've picked this outfit because it's ridiculously easy to adapt to your own personal style, depending on the type of jacket and accessories you add onto the outfit or even the pattern of the dress you pick! I think the biggest change in this look that will depend from person to person is the amount of skin you'd like to show — some of us prefer not to show as much cleavage, some of us don't feel comfortable showing a lot of leg — and that's fine! Just adjust the look to something you'd feel comfortable in walking down the street, instead of going for an exact match and ending up feeling self conscious all day long. I've also added a few more options under every outfit option, just in case you're looking for a different brand/online store, etc!
In option #1, I'm taking a lighter, most conservative and feminine take on Selena's look. Instead of going for dark colours all around, we've got a lot of light pastel shades to help soften the look, which are also a better option to help you deal warmer temperatures anyways! The cleavage is also a lot more moderate and the sleeves will help you stay warmer in Spring. Overall, this is the safer option as far as this kind of look goes and the easiest for a lot of people to pull off while still resembling Selena's original look.
As for the prices, the Forever 21 sunglasses are 7€, the Glamorous floral dress is 42€ via Topshop, the H&M white sneakers are 19,99€ and the H&M cream round bag is 30€. Overall, the entire look will be just short of 100€, which is less than Selena's bag alone costs!
As for the prices, the Glamorous floral playsuit is 46€ via Topshop, the H&M white sneakers are 19,99€, the Forever 21 round bag is 17€ and the Boohoo round sunglasses are 10€. Overall, the entire look will cost you 93€, even less than the first, softer inspired look!
As for the prices, the Boohoo maxi dress is 40€, the H&M white sneakers are 19,99€, the Forever 21 round bag is 17€ and the Boohoo round sunglasses are 10€. Overall, the whole outfit will cost you 87€, making it the most affordable option out of all three, as well as the closest match out of all of them!
Now, two whole months later, I'm finally semi accustomed to my new job/life, to the point where I was able to sit down this weekend and seriously enjoy my time taking pictures and writing out a post. Mind you, things are still not perfect, something I'll talk more about in a chatty post someday, so I won't put on a brave face and promise you to post every week, because I really don't know if I will. I will, however, dedicate some of my time to my little corner on the internet, that much I can assure you. If I manage to schedule tons of posts to keep the blog updated weekly, I will. Then again, I am now dealing with a lot more stress than usual, so I may hit some slumps along the way and I apologise now whenever that happens. But hey! This was not how I planned to start this post, but this was what I really wanted to get off my chest before we got into the good stuff, so at least that's out of the way ;)
Now onto what you all came for, the haul! As you all know if you've been keeping up with the blog for a while now, last year I sort of went on a makeup spending ban for a good few months up until the end of 2017, which helped me really think over my spending habits as both a beauty lover and a beauty blogger (you can read all about it here). So as I stepped into 2018, I decided I'd allow myself to splurge a little on makeup every month, but it would no longer be my main focus. Although I invested a ton on skin care (something I'll talk about in an upcoming updated skin care routine post!) and clothes this year, I wanted to start by talking about the little makeup bits I purchased and my first thoughts on them today.
I purchased Too Faced's Sweet Peach palette (46,95€) a couple of days ago, making it my most recent purchase in this entire post, but also one I've been talking about for months now. I've always hesitated on spending so much on a palette, when I already had Makeup Revolution's Beyond Flawless to keep me content. But recently I found that one was losing its shine after almost two years, so it was time for a change. I was initially keeping an eye on the Zoeva Nude Spectrum palette, which was cheaper, but since it was sold out in store and I didn't want to wait for it to arrive via post, I decided to go with Sweet Peach instead (which I managed to get a 10% discount on, mind you!). Now, of course, I can't really give you nothing beyond a first impression on this little gem, since I've only had it for a couple of days now, but from what I could tell, the shimmery shades are the star of the show, while the mattes are nice, but nothing special. It's still a good palette and I'm happy I bought it, because it makes me so excited to do my makeup everyday, so keep an eye out for a full review after I'm done playing around with it a little more.
Back in the beginning of 2018, when Kiko was still having its Christmas/New Years sales, I was looking for an everyday shimmery lid shade when I spotted Kiko's Smart Colour Eyeshadow in #12 Metallic Rosy Sand for less than 3€. I swatched it in store on the back of my hand and it looked beautiful! I was so happy up until the moment I got home and attempted to apply it on my lid and literally nothing showed up. I tried using my fingers, a flat brush, I even tried applying it on top of primed lids to see if it would make any difference, but nothing I did managed to make the colour show up on my lids. So, the moral of this story is: don't just buy things because they're ridiculously affordable.
On that same trip to Kiko, I also picked up one of their Smart Nail Polishes, for 2€, in the shade #13 Ruby Red. Now, I was a massive fan of the old Smart nail polishes from Kiko, they were incredibly pigmented, easy to use and quite long lasting. I don't know why they decided to mess with something that wasn't broken in the first place, because honestly I don't think there were any improvements in this new version. Actually, I think it lost some of its staying power, even. I'm still a fan of their nail polishes, especially considering how affordable they are and the shades are all stunning, but I do wish they could go back to their old formula!
Of course, I also had to buy a couple of new lippies. You all know I'm a big hoarder of three things: foundation, highlighter and lipstick. I've managed to cut my collection back down to only three foundations, three highlighters and .... an embarrassing number of lip products, but I'm honestly always looking to expand! Since I've recently been a big fan of matte lips, I've decided to buy one of Kiko's Velvet Passion Matte Lipsticks (6,95€) in the shade #302 Beige Rose. I'm still unsure what I think about this one, to be honest. I love the colour and the colour payoff, but I do find that it tends to cling to any dry patches on my lips, so I prefer to apply it on top of other products, be it a lip balm of a liquid lipstick. I'll let you know more about it in an upcoming post when I've made up my mind about it!
I also bought one of Huda Beauty's Liquid Matte Lipsticks (22,55€) in the shade Venus. I've been meaning to try these liquid lippies ever since they first popped up on Sephora last year, but since I was in the middle of my spending ban, I refrained from doing so. Now that I finally got around to try it, I think it's one of the best liquid lipstick formulas I've come across so far. Still not as good as my beloved Nyx Lip Lingeries, but they're a very close second, along with my Sephora Lip Creams! Venus is also a great peachy pink shade, something I actually didn't already had in my collection, especially not matte. It was a nice change of pace from all of the mauve/brown pinks everyone's been obsessing over for the past couple of years and it's been an everyday favourite of mine. In fact, I'm already planning to buy the mini set next month to try out more shades!
As you can see, there's definitely a colour pattern in this haul, something I didn't actually realise up until the moment I put everything together to take the picture. Seems like I'm currently obsessing over peachy tones, not that I'm complaining. If anything, I blame my current hair colour! I also might already have plans to buy some peachy blushes in the not so distant future, so it looks like the peachy shades are here to stay for a little while!
I hope you enjoyed my little haul and do let me know if you've tried any of these products already, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them!
I've always payed a lot of attention to my brows, even before I started to wear makeup. As a teen, my brows were pretty good, they were never thick or anything like that, but they had their own shape and they were growing, slowly but surely. I never went through any crazes when it came to maintaining them, never even wanted anything besides tweezers to take care of them. I remember that back when I started wearing some makeup in high school (and we're talking about mascara, concealer and chapstick as a whole "look" here), I used to always put some clear brow gel in my brows to help them stay in place.
As I grew up and started to play more and more with makeup, I finally figured out what I wanted from my brows. I quite enjoy the natural look, so I never tried any pomades, fearing they'd be too harsh. I prefer to have a more precise tail, fill in any gaps I might have and I prefer to keep the beginning of my brows quite diffused and fluffy, just like you see on my Instragram pictures. Despite having tried brow powder products in the past, I still believe a pencil is the best product to mimic brow hairs and give me my desired look. For over a year now, I've been obsessed with Nyx's Micro Brow Pencil. For 8,90€, you get a decent spoolie and enough product to last you a year (with daily use, for me at least). I started out with the shade Expresso, which is my perfect shade match when I have my natural hair colour. Currently, I'm using Brunette, which matches my ginger hair since the brown shade has a red/warm undertone, while Expresso was more of a dark ash brown shade.
While I don't really have a hard time with the longevity of my brow products, I still prefer to use a brow gel to make sure everything stays in place, plus it helps making your brows even fuller. I've always enjoyed using Essence's Make Me Brow in Browny Brows, the dark brown shade available in the range. For 3,19€, it gives you some extra fullness to your brows, it keeps the hairs in place and it helps the pencil blend in nicely. Also, on days when I'm feeling particularly lazy, I can get away with skipping on the pencil and just applying this gel a bit more heavy handed without things getting too crispy for my liking, but still helping my brows look good.
If you're not looking for the Instagram super structured brow look, these products will be right up your alley, especially if you're hoping to save some bucks along the way. The brow pencil is actually quite soft, so even beginners can get away with making a few mistakes along the way because they're very easy to fix right away. However, that's what will also make it less ideal for those of you looking for super defined brows, since you won't get the kind of crisp line you're hoping for. The brow gel, however, will be good for everyone, since it does the job better than higher priced ones out there. In my opinion, even those of you blessed with full brows will enjoy using it to keep things in place all day!
Don't forget to let me know your thoughts on these if you've ever tried them out and also let me know what are your favourite brow products, be it drugstore or high end!
