Marzia Bisognin's Blog, page 2

BACK TO ITALY.

July 14th, 2018

What I was up to.

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On Monday I flew to Venice, so that I could spend a few days at home with my parents, meet my friends, and relax. 

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You may remember that back in June I had lost my wallet with my ID and driving license.

I figured I would try and get the duplicates while in Italy, but it turned out to be so incredibly complicated. I’ve managed to get my ID – yay – but my driving license is a whole different story.

Because I don’t have one at the moment, and won’t have one for a while, I’ve gotten my bike out and I have been going around with it a lot more than I usually would (not just in Italy, even in Brighton of course); so I guess at least I’m lucky enough to have a bike, so I can still get from one place to another… just more slowly. And more sweatily (is this even a word?).

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My brother moved in with his girlfriend this past month, and they were kind enough to invite me over for lunch. Jennifer is a great cook, and I was happy to spend some time with my brother just playing video games and goof around.

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I also, of course, met up with my childhood friends (I didn’t have time to meet all of my friends as I normally try to do, but Anna and Giorgia – as well as Daizo – are always in my ‘must meet’ list).

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Giorgia is now pregnant with a second daughter. I’m not able to see her as often as I would like to, or be as present for M. (her first daughter) but she always makes me feel like I’m involved and even if I’m not there, I get constant updates, which I really appreciate. She was actually pregnant when we went to Geneva, early this year, and I was the first person she told it to!

Anna is our coordinator; all of us are busy, doing our own thing, but she makes sure to write frequently in our chat so we can all feel like we are up to speed with everything.

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Usually, when I go back to Italy during summer, I try my best to soak in all that good sun, but this time I was a bit unlucky, and although it was very hot, it was also cloudy a lot.

But it was still great that I got to go, not only to catch up with everything and get my ID, but also because I met up with my cousin, which gave me the new Maì jewellery so I can restock it all tomorrow!

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Not only I will have the Foglia line in both white and yellow gold, but also the Notte range in mixed gold. I really love how that combination turned out!

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In the 5 days I was there, I’ve gotten about 10 (possibly more) copyright strikes for music – which is ridiculous, cause all the videos I had with copyrighted music have been deleted years ago, and since then I’ve been buying all of my music (unless an artist asks and gives me permission to use his/her songs).

So now I’m here trying to decide wether or not I should open a dispute for all those videos, to which I know I have the rights to use music for but would need to dig out each license, or simply private them all.

I’ve been getting lots of copyright strikes even in recent videos, for example my Hello, Ireland video also got one, but I disputed it right away and ‘won’.

It’s very frustrating when the companies are striking older videos cause it makes it difficult for me to be on top of it and many times I just end up making videos private.

For example, all of my LA Diary vlogs are now claimed. UH. I like those videos, but it’s going to take me ages to show proof for each.

But anyway, I didn’t mean to bore you with this issue, I will figure it out.

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How is your summer going so far?

Are you going anywhere fun?

Marzia

HELLO, IRELAND.

July 6th, 2018

A 4 day road trip.

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Last week my parents and I went to Ireland. We had a car, a map, and the sunniest weather I’ve experienced in a long time!

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My parents came from Venice; I arrived alone from London, and we met at the Belfast airport.

The plan was to grab our rented car, and make our way out, following the Giant’s Causeway.

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On the way there, we stopped by this rope bridge, which was recommended to my dad by a friend of his.

It was a nice first activity to do, yet we didn’t expect such a long line to cross it!

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On the other side there was a lonely fisherman cottage.

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And stunning views.

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Not too far from there, there was the Giant’s Causeway, which was something I was really looking forward to see.

I did not realise that the rocks were actually tilted, not straight.

Walking on them was interesting, making me wonder about their shape and formation.

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From here we kept on driving into Londonderry to spend the night. We arrived quite late, and our hotel had cancelled the booking (I hadn’t noticed) – which was not fun – but luckily we found a lovely boutique hotel nearby.

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We woke up early, walked around the city, and then left towards Sligo.

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There wasn’t too much to see there, but we wanted to stop to have a break from driving, since our destination for the day was Galway (4h20m drive).

I looked up what to do in Sligo and found this Abbey.

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So of course we took a quick look. I also realised I cannot smile with these sunglasses on. I don’t know why.

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So here is a cuter photo of my parents!

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After that, we went straight to Galway.

By the time we finished dinner it was 10.30pm, but we are lucky that the sun stays up for so long in this period, giving us some time to walk around before it gets completely dark.

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City-wise, I actually think Galway was my favourite to see. It was small, but cute.

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The following day we had one thing planned: The Cliffs of Moher.

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So again we left pretty early, and stopped by whatever we saw on the road.

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I asked my dad to pull over a couple of times as there were some ruins (I liked this tower up here; my mom pointed out that it looked like Rapunzel’s tower).

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We took each day casually, knowing we had a destination to reach, but without stressing over what we needed to see.

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But I am sure glad that I made sure to plan our trip around reaching these cliffs, cause they were really breathtaking.

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We spend a few hours there, taking in the view and having lunch, but then we got back into the car and reached Longford, which nobody recommended visiting, but if we wanted to make it back to Belfast in time, we needed to stop by it for the night.

 

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And so as we suspected, Longford did not have too much to see, not even the locals seemed too impressed with what the place had to offer (or at least our B&B host, which strongly recommended us to avoid going to the centre) but they directed us to this little harbour, which my dad and I enjoyed seeing.

It made for the perfect evening, just walking around a cute village, looking at the pretty fields dotted by sheep and cows.

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So on our final day, we had to reach Belfast.

As we were driving, my dad stated that in this trip we didn’t see any castles, other than their ruins, and how we definitely all expected to see more of them popping up.

Just as he said that, this castle showed up.

We stopped in front of it, but unfortunately it wasn’t open, so we admired it from the outside and then quickly left again.

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In Belfast, we stayed in the Titanic hotel, and since I’ve always been quite fascinated with the Titanic, checking out the museum was very cool.

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We also of course strolled around the centre, although I would have to say that the best bit was this one road – pictured above – with quirky pubs blending together to create a colourful alley.

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The next day we had our alarms set at 3am, so we went to sleep quite early, and even thought it was a quick trip, I felt like we had the perfect amount of time in each location, and I got to see everything I was curious about (of course we missed a lot of the south, but for the time we had, I’m happy we managed to stop by these places).

If you want to see more, head over to my channel as I’m about to post the vlog!

 

Marzia

MAÌ.

July 1st, 2018

My ‘secret project’.

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I’ve teased this for a bit, and today my brand Maì is launching!

Take a look at what I’ve been doing in the past month to make it happen.

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I had the idea of creating my own brand – where I control 100% of what goes into it – back in February.

I’ve worked with other brands and have a whole team helping me out with my Marzia shop as we sell large amounts of products and would be impossible for me to follow everything by myself.

They do a great job and are always on top of everything, but I’ve always felt like I wanted to be able to get hands on with certain things that I make. I wanted a place where I put 100% of myself into and create whatever I felt like.

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So a few months back I spent some time focusing on what I wanted Maì to be, drawing out a website and the overall look of the brand.

Last year I had worked with my cousin Veronica (and her company) to create a fine jewellery line. It sold much more than anticipated, and for the first time, that project was something I had looked over from start to finish: I had to be on the phone (which, prior to that experience, was a big no for me), meeting the people sourcing the gold and figuring out the details involved with the production of the line.

Normally I delegate things to my team, as they are much more experienced than I am, but because I was working with an Italian company, I had to step up and do things myself.

I was scared of the idea of having to talk to people and explain my ideas, especially because jewellery was a field I knew very little about; but I was taught useful informations and realised I could do this.

So I sketched the line, asked my cousin what she thought about it, and she introduced me to her boss. Once I was happy with the samples they were providing, they asked my cousin to hand-make all the jewellery.

My team then took care of selling it in the shop and shipping it out. There were hundreds and hundreds of orders and I wasn’t going to be able to do that on my own.

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With Maì, I’m keeping things small. I’m starting with a total of 100 items for sale, so that I can prepare each order with care myself, and ship it out as they come, without feeling overwhelmed.

Another difference with my past line, is the fact that it’s ready to go: previously, we decided to go for a made-to-order kind of deal, so that once we knew the exact amount of buyers, we could create all the jewellery; this saved the risk of not selling (since it was the first time I sold something like that) and also covered us from a price point, as we didn’t need to invest huge amounts before selling.

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This time I invested personally on the gold pieces, so they are all ready to go. I have them all in my office, individually packaged in these small craft boxes with a black velvet cushion and the Maì logo stamped in the front.

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I also listened to the feedback from the passed line, about adding a silver option: I want these pieces to be timeless and made out of real gold, so instead of going for silver, I opted for white gold.

In order to keep prices affordable whilst being fine jewellery, I picked 9kt gold this time.

I saw some of you requested rose gold, and that’s something I will look into adding for future designs, if the brand grows.

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As you may have spotted, I did bring back this moon and sun design, but in white gold: it’s the same as the previous line, but because lots of you wanted to see it in white, I made sure to make it available.

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The hoop earrings are made slightly smaller.

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But the newer designs are about the Foglia line, which means leaf.

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I always enjoy a dainty look for my jewellery, so I opted for something small and classy, with small hoops, and a leaf and clear gem holding onto it from a thin chain.

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There are also Foglia necklaces, with pink and green gemstones.

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And midi/pinky rings.

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So these are the first jewellery options available in the shop, and as I said the quantities are quiet limited, but as things sell out, I will keep putting new orders through as well as adding new designs as time goes by.

A new line is already in the works (they always take a few months), and I plan to have new products always coming to the website.

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Something else I wanted to offer was some home decor. My dad has worked with iron basically his whole life, and is a crafty handy man, so I asked him to create me some planters.

I sketched my idea for him, and he quickly created these products. I wanted to start with planters because I love to decorate the house with plants and look after them. I haven’t seen planters holding two pots before and figured that would look very pretty!

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These Guro planters come in black and white, and again, I only have a small stock available but my dad works fast and if they go, we will be able to remake them quite quickly.

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I wanted to have some handmade pots ready to go in the website, for the launch today, but unfortunately my kiln is nowhere to be seen.

I have more than a dozen pots ready to be fired, so the second I get my kiln, I will be busy working on them and once they are ready, they will be up on the shop.

I’m making planters and candles at the moment, but I will try and make mugs and vases as well. Or even sculptures. Will see!

The 3 categories I will keep as a base are fine jewellery, pottery and decor, but I think every so often I will add some ‘odd’ items that don’t necessarily go under any of these.

I’m beyond excited about this project, and I’m hoping you are liking the concept and the products!

Take a look now at Maì.com

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Marzia

BABY MONSTERA.

June 29th, 2018

Propagating a monstera.

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A few weeks ago I recommended a small book about plants, which teaches you not only how to properly care for different indoor plants, but also how to create new ones from the what you already have.

The monstera is quite popular at the moment, and it seemed easy enough to propagate, so I gave it a go myself!

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I realise this is such a specific post, but I loved seeing the stem grow roots and be able to pot it after a few weeks, so I wanted to share what I did.

First, you wanna look at the stems, and whenever you see one of those leaf nodes, leave about a cm under it and cut off the stem, at an angle, with a sharp knife (scissor may ruin the flow).

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Let it sit in a jar full of water for a couple of weeks. Pretty soon you will start noticing the leaf node growing in length and some baby roots will appear.

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I waited 3 weeks, and this is how much the roots grew. It seemed ready to be potted!

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I got some soil that is specifically used to grow plants that are made from cuttings, just to give it a better chance at settling.

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And here is Edgy, already in love with his new friend.

Not sure people will find this useful or care, but I was happy to see this first monstera cutting going so well that I wanted to share it!

Marzia

BATHROOM PRODUCTS.

26th June, 2018

5 new additions.

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Some products in my bathroom that I have been reaching for daily, and I think it’s worth sharing!

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The very first one is this quip toothbrush. Quip is sponsoring this blog post (#ad) – which is very exciting because it’s not only a stunning product, but it’s the most convenient and handy electric toothbrush I own.

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Brushing our teeth is part of our morning and night routines, as we get ready for the day, or comfy for the night; so having a good toothbrush is essential.

I’ve wanted an electric toothbrush for a long time, but I was looking for something that wouldn’t look too bulky, and most importantly that didn’t require to be recharged via cables.

If you live in an old building, you may have my same issue: there are no wall plugs – for safety reasons of course – so easy things like doing your hair, or charging your toothbrush, need to be done elsewhere in the house.

This is not a major issue, and it’s something you get used to, but overtime I stopped charging my old toothbrush and went back to regular ones… until now.

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As you can see, quip toothbrushes are compact and can be attached to your mirror or tiles. I love that!

I have the newest addition to their line, with the pink handle, but they also came out with a green one which I want to get for Felix, so we can have matching toothbrushes. He instantly asked for one when he saw mine hanging on the wall!

Another thing about quip is that, if you wanted to, you could subscribe to their service, and receive a new brush head refill every three months for $5 (free shipping worldwide). It’s optional, but I wanted to mention it in case that’s something you could find useful.

So, if you are interested, go to getquip.com/marzia to purchase a limited edition pink or green brush and get your first refill for free.

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The second product I wanted to talk about is this deodorant Lush bar.

If I’m being honest, I don’t generally pay much attention at all to the deodorants I pick out: when I run out of one, I just get whatever I can find at the grocery store, or Boots, without giving it much thought.

When I saw this bar, I was quite surprised by how different it looks compared to any deodorant I’ve seen on the market.

Because it is a Lush product, of course it smells great, but I was unsure by how well it could work.

I tested it out for over a week and I have to say – I’m sold! I think it works just as well as any other deodorant, but it’s natural and packaging free.

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Lush has always been environmentally conscious, and it’s nice to see that they are always pushing things even further. Well done, Lush!

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In one of my previous posts I said I picked a fragrance from Le Labo. Lots of you were curious to know if I bought the full size bottle, and yes I did get one, although I was lucky enough to have a gift card for it (as these perfumes are quite pricey).

I loved the fact that on the website, at the checkout, they asked if I wanted to have my name on the label. Within two days of placing my order, the perfume arrived.

I have a lot of respect for companies that put that extra effort into the way they present themselves, and when they do offer higher priced products, it’s a nice touch to be able to customise certain things.

And of course, I’m in love with the fragrance!

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But now I’m going to share something that has been saving my skin from cystic acne. Or at least helping… a lot!

Back when I was in Tokyo, I entered the Etude House shop and got myself two of these spot patch packets, along with a few other small things.

I wasn’t having much trouble with my skin so I didn’t start using these till this month, as I had some ups and downs, due to my cycle being all messed up, and I found myself waking up to lots of cysts.

I reached for this and right now I’ve used it all, so I don’t have much to show, but it contains a clear sheet with some see through patches that you put on your skin.

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I noticed right away that once the sticker was on my face, the spot seemed to hurt less, and the longer I was able to keep these on my face, the quicker the spots would heal.

As I said, I’ve run out of all of them, but I must get some new ones, and would recommend these to anyone that struggles with acne. I really did feel that it helped tremendously!

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Ooooh, and finally, the hair donut!

This is not necessarily a new product but it is something I recently came around to using again.

For the whole month of June, I believe I only ever used a hot tool to style my hair twice. Which for me – a girl with extremely thin and straight hair that likes to have volume and waves – is a miracle.

I used to use this hair donut years ago, and then stopped. I cut my hair in the beginning of last year, so my hair was just too short to get a good grip with this. But now that it is longer (thanks to hair extensions) I tried out the donut again, and it’s working better than ever.

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I wash my hair every 5 days, in the evening. So whenever I do that, I dry my hair and quickly wrap it around the donut, so that I sleep in it the entire night.

The morning after my hair has the most voluminous, natural waves.

I sleep with it every single night, and at times it can be slightly uncomfortable, but most of the times I have no issues with it and wake up to really good hair, without the need of applying heat to it.

Tip: for the type of waves I’m after, I only wrap my hair around the donut in a loose, side bun. That’s enough to give me the look I want, and it’s far less uncomfortable than a tight bun, to sleep in.

So these are all the products I wanted to talk about.

Have you ever tried any of them? 

Marzia

MIDSUMMER 2018.

June 24th, 2018

Happy Midsummer everyone!

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As every year since we started dating, Felix and I celebrated once again Midsummer… but this time, just the two of us (and the puggies, of course). 

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We decided to do it a few days ago because today, as you are reading this, I’m getting ready to leave (I’m travelling with my parents, and will be sure to take lots of pretty pictures to share with you).

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Felix parents sent us Swedish decorations, we put on some music, and spent the evening eating grilled food, and making flower crowns.

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We invited all of our friends, but unfortunately – because it is the end of June – most of them were away, or simply couldn’t make it.

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So we opted for a relaxing evening, watching Netflix from a projector. We begun watching “Everything Sucks”. We are only two episodes in, but we are liking it! Have you seen it?

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Oh and of course, we ate cake! I made this in 30 minutes, rushing, but it turned out to be one of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever made. I was pretty proud, I’m not going to lie!

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Do you guys have anything fun planned for today?

 

PS. Thank you all so much for the comments you left in my previous post. You have no idea how much it means to me. I can’t get back to everyone but I’m reading the comments, and I appreciate everyone that took time off their day to read and comment. You guys are the best!! Thank you.

Marzia

THOUGHTS.

June 23rd, 2018

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I wish my mind was stronger to brush things off, but sometimes it can’t be helped. And the only way I can deal with things is to write about them. Even if I do it poorly, causing even more confusion to others, or if people around me – that know me in person – tell me it’s not worth my time. I know it myself, yet it affects me mentally and I must get my thoughts out.

Any time I do an interview, one of the questions is: how do you deal with hate?

Anyone that has made a career off the internet, or is somewhat known online – for a reason or another – is most likely going to receive some harsh critiques.

Criticism is fine, it can help people grow, but there is a line between criticising someone in order to provide valuable feedback, and be straight up mean.

I remember when, many years ago, I used to watch Michelle Phan’s videos. I remember finding her inspiring (although not a constant watcher), as she worked hard to create a brand and work for others. Her content was so well put together, and through the years you could see the improvements.

She put herself out there, which lead to her not only achieving some pretty major goals, but also caught the eyes of people that were looking at her simply to criticise whatever she did.

I remember reading comments from people saying she had so much surgery done, like chin implants, and getting so heated about it, calling her out. And at the time I thought – how do people come up with such accusations? And most importantly, why do they care? If she did anything, why would that matter to others? Do you feel that because she is an Internet personality, she must disclose everything about her life?

That was so bizarre to me.

Fast forward a few years, I read so many things about myself, too. Yes, even chin implants.

Let me get this straight: I don’t know much about Michelle, as I’m bringing her up as an example, but so many other youtubers (in this case), especially females, get this same treatment – especially from other women. That includes me, so I will now talk about my views on this, and my experiences.

Three days ago I made the silly decision to google my name cause I was looking for one of my blog posts to look up a specific date. As the results showed up, I moved the cursor over to my blog, but my attention focused on the next few search results.

And so the curiosity got the best of me… I know! I know! I’m disappointed in myself too, but it happened.

And so I spent a good 10 minutes (anything above that can be deadly) reading how some people perceived me.

Again, I know this is bad, and probably the worse part about it is that we (me, in this case) give attention to negative comments when others are so supportive and lovely, and tend to passed unnoticed. My manager once said that the negative people are the loudest, and that’s true. By paying attention to this, I feel like I somehow did wrong to you guys, the people that genuinely like me for who I am. So I do apologise about that, and also for what I expect to be a long, long blog entry.

I just want you to know that I do appreciate you being here, and all your support, truly. Reading your comments and knowing that you guys are there, keeps me positive even when I’m feeling down, because I know I can count on you, and that’s big – so thank you!

But allow me to fix a few things up…

Alright, we all know the internet can be both an incredible tool to connect with others, but also a very dark place. That’s no secret.

But when you are able to read certain things about yourself, it is hard to keep it all down; I do wish that if anyone had a problem with me, they could write me about it directly, yet it is almost impossible to get that useful feedback, and most likely the type of people that spread false information about someone else aren’t interested in learning the truth, as they enjoy gossiping too much.

I always think that if you met your ‘haters’ in person, and have a real conversation, you would be able to change their minds and get along. But this way, when only one person is exposed, and the others hide behind screens, it seems unfair; and I highly doubt those same people would act the exact same way, if they were face to face with the person they are bashing online.

So let me put a foot forward and make a few statements, starting with one of the most valuable points: I’m the first one to say that 1) I do not deserve all my followers, I’m far too lucky; 2) I got and still get tons of exposure because I’m with Felix; 3) there are so many channels out there that offer better content than what I put out.

I completely agree with every point. I really do! But my issues are 1) I didn’t force anyone to follow me, or never even asked to; 2) Please provide me with solutions to this as I don’t see how that could be helped; 3) I don’t see how having a certain amount of followers takes away from other creators. Yes, they are more deserving, that’s for sure, but again, I’m not sure how to change that.

I can already imagine my team – a group of 9 amazing people – or my family and friends shaking their heads to this, and probably feeling disappointed by me even admitting this online. I’m sorry! I need to be completely honest in order to move past this!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about other topics people criticise me for:

I’M LAZY AND CHILDISH

Yes, maybe 4 years ago I was, and was pretty open about it. I would be messy and barely clean the house. But I also had terrible social anxiety, and was very insecure. I’m not saying that excused me, but you could be able to see how having issues with myself, could result in me not being able to act as an adult and focus on my responsibilities.

I changed a lot since then and grew as a person. You can still say that I like childish things, if you want to, but I’m simply living my life. I don’t feel the need to judge other people’s lifestyle and choices… why do you? I think that says more about you then me, in this case.

2. MY WORK ETHIC

I used to be really hard on myself, thinking I wasn’t good enough, or working hard enough. I’ve learned that I should be doing what makes me happy, and in doing so I’ve realised I was able to create a little business and work with very talented and friendly people. You may not want to recognise it yourself or give me credit for it, but I’m happy with how I’m handling myself in life.

You may argue that anything I create is nothing more than kids craft, but if that’s your stance, you clearly want to see what is convenient for the picture you painted of me in your head, and no matter what I do, nothing is going to change that.

3. MY DIET

There is a lot of confusion about this, so let me spell it out: I’m vegetarian. No, I don’t eat meat or fish (anything you see are replacements). Yes, I still eat dairy and eggs.

Felix is pescatarian, hence why sometimes you will see fish on the table, or him eating it in blogs, but no, I’ve never eaten fish and never will.

4. MY HEALTH & WEIGHT

Some people seem under the impression that I keep myself thin, or that I’ve lost lots of weight, when really my number have always been in the mouth of others, wrongfully.

I grew up shapeless, but I’ve talked about this plenty in the past. I remember my gym teacher in high school would call me and two other thin girls ‘anorexic’ as if it was our first name. You can now make your point of – uh, society and the beauty industry now regards thinner women as the ideal; you must have had it so hard, poor you! – with sarcasm, but when you are a young teenager, comparing yourself to others and not seeing as much development in your body, trust me, you don’t think ‘oh, I look so good!’ but rather think ‘why don’t I look like the other girls?‘.

I saw this comment saying: ‘she looked much healthier last year’. And I found myself laughing as this person clearly wasn’t aware of how many doctor appointments I had, last year.

I quit the pill, and my weight has been stable and healthy ever since. I don’t own a scale anymore but I feel the best I’ve felt in years. I’ve gone to a nutritionist that tought me lots of useful stuff, and getting off the pill, overtime, made me feel better and better.

5. EMETOPHOBIA

I saw people even saying I was lying about having emetophobia. Oh, I wish! Ask any of my friends, that see me closing my ears and eyes any time someone is gagging in a movie. I’m absolutely TERRIFIED of vomiting, and I’m trying my absolute best to not have this phobia to take over my life.

For people stating that I’m lying because if I truly felt that way, I wouldn’t drink milk (I’m lactose intolerant) let me just saying that I’ve been intolerant since birth and all it does is give me some gas. No nausea. Which is why I allow myself to have some dairy.

6. CARING FOR FELIX

You may recall a blog post I wrote last year, called Fear.

I explained how Felix had the norovirus and I was petrified. I felt powerless cause my fear took over (because norovirus causes you to throw up uncontrollably for hours). It happened during the night, and I kept having panic attacks because it was the first time, since throwing up in a lawyer toilet for hours, alone, when I was 13 years old, that I had to face my worse fear.

When people read that I wasn’t able to control myself, and made it all about me, with my panic attacks, they were outraged.

In that blog post I believe it was quite clear how I felt AWFUL about being so useless. I only managed to call the ambulance for help, but I wasn’t able to stay closer to Felix. I know, it’s terrible. I’m aware of it, and I wasn’t trying to hide it. It was selfish of me, but I also think that people envisioned me doing absolutely nothing to help, when really I was trying. I eventually snapped out of it, and took care of him. I went everywhere and got what I could, and looked after him the whole week as he was recovering.

People were saying that if I had a kid, I would be a terrible mother cause I would just not deal with illness. All the years Felix and I have been together I’ve never had issues when he was sick, it was just this one case, which is why I felt the need to talk about it and hear your thoughts. Because it involved my emetophobia, which I can’t control and I’m working on it. Lots of you were very comforting, but a lot of others took this chance to absolutely bring me down… well, that’s very low!

7. PETS

Where should I begin…. Oh! The axolotls!

If you have been checking my channel out for a few years, you will know I wanted an axolotl, and eventually, I got two. Later that year we learned that Felix and I had to spend a month in LA, for Felix’s show to be filmed.

I asked my friend Daizo to care for the axolotls and the pugs while we were away, to which she kindly agreed.

The tank they were in was a nice aquarium I bought from the closest fish shop; it was set up, and it didn’t show anything wrong with it when I left.

Unfortunately, it turns out, the design wasn’t ideal as it was sitting in a furniture piece that was not wide enough to support the weight of the tank, which overtime caused it to crack. Daizo heard the loud noise and texted me right away.

I asked her to save as much water as possible and put the axolotls in the bath with it.

Cycling a tank requires a lot of time, and being away, I simply could not ask her to go out, buy a tank (by herself, by foot), and set it all up. That was not an option! So we called the woman that sold the axolotls to us, and she was kind enough to come get them back.

From all of this happening, I knew it wouldn’t have been right to try again, as at this point we had learned that Felix and I had many more business trips lined up and it would have been too difficult to properly look after axolotls.

But of course, people passed this as ‘she was tired of them and gave them away’. Okay, I guess that’s how it went then.

Now onto dogs: the main focus is Maya.

Remember how I said in a previous blog that she has pancreatitis, and we believed that the formula of her food may have changed (according to reviews) causing her stomach sensitivity? Well, the vet seemed to agree, which is why I wrote it, yet people seemed to think I was making it up to cover up for my lack of attention for Maya.

If you have a dog with pancreatitis, you know that a small change in diet can cause major issues. And the ingredients on her food did in fact change. That’s all it was, but please do keep making it seem differently if that suits your narrative.

The biggest problem people have with Maya is her nails. They say that I should address it, but when I don’t, they say I’m salty. So I guess you can never win and I’m not even going to bother anymore with this topic. You may believe what you wish. If we were really lazy and careless, shouldn’t Edgar have the same problem too? Yet his nails are always perfectly trimmed.

8. MY LOOKS

This is juicy! The way I look, other than my weight, is a favourite topic online.

I’m turning 26 this year, and I’ve been on youtube since I was 19 years old.

I’ve had two surgeries on my nose, both of which I’ve disclosed: the first one to correct a deviated septum, which cause my nostril to collapse and required a follow up surgery, which I tried to postpone because of fear.

My nose is still unsymmetrical, and I’m a bit self-conscious. In person I have no issues, but because people tear me apart on the internet, based on the way I look, forgive me if I tent to avoid showing the least favourite part of my face.

My teeth are also heavily discussed, which also brings up the topic of my lips.

As mentioned earlier, I got Invisalign a few years back. I used to have my front teeth really pushed out, after an injury I had as a child. People think my teeth look massive as a result of veneers, but I never had veneers. These are in fact my real teeth, and yes, they are massive, but I love them!

Because I hated my teeth before, I used to want to bring the least amount of attention to my mouth, making my lips very pale. I also always had a crooked smile, and a large mouth, which people always teased me about online (hey, I definitely do not have a symmetric face, that’s for sure!) so last year, in September, I tried lip fillers to even out the look. I had some only on the top lip, not the bottom.

I felt like it didn’t help much, so I went back a few weeks later and asked to get it dissolved (leaving some on the right side, which is naturally a bit less full in comparison to the left). It was something I wanted to try and didn’t feel like it was necessary to share as I’ve only had it for such a small amount of time. I didn’t even say it to my friends, it would have been weird having to clear it up online, but I guess I have to. I’ve done nothing to my lips since, it’s been 10 months (fillers disappear within 6-8 months) and simply realised I could get a fuller look by faking it with a nude lip pencil and some gloss. But then again, even before doing this, people always asked if I got lip fillers after my invisalign treatment (even my mom, so I guess you guys are not crazy for thinking that, after all).

So any detectives out there, yes, I did try it out for two weeks; I didn’t like it, and now I overline my lips. Oh and by the way: no, no chin implants. No jaw surgery. People look different overtime, and that’s normal.

Learn to respect people no matter how they look, or what they change about themselves.

9. MY UPBRINGING

I get it, I can come across as a naive snowflake that has been sheltered her entire life, because of what I let out in my videos, and my constant ‘positive attitude’ (kind of weird that I even need to write this as if it’s a bad thing).

Well, let me just say: if you don’t know me personally, you are not going to know what I dealt with in my life. The majority of people suffer and go through horrible things in the course of their lives, but it’s the way you approach them that makes you get through them.

I appear to come from a rich family that gave me anything I wanted, and spoiled me – and sure, I do have a good family that is present for me – but you are so wrong if you think everything has always being idillic in my life. Definitely didn’t have a terrible childhood, but things weren’t always easy.

No. I don’t share those things. Not because I want to give out the illusion of a perfect life, but because I choose to share things that affected just me, and nothing about things I went through in the past because they also affect other people, and could potentially hurt their lives if I exposed such details to others.

So go ahead, picture me and my life the way you wish to, and judge me based on whatever it is you see online, but stop acting as if you are a superior being that knows me without actually knowing me.

If I have such a positive attitude towards life it’s because I have seen how awful it can be, and I try my absolute best to live a happy life. Some people don’t ever get to choose, but I was lucky enough to have that choice and every day I’m grateful for the life I have. It would be silly not to be positive!

Anyway, I’m sure there will be plenty of other stuff I wasn’t able to address in this post, that people have problems with, but I’m honestly worn out and feel silly even typing things out at this point. Plus, I’m pretty certain all of the things I took time to explain will most likely be taken apart regardless, and only stir up more drama.

But hey, I had been bottling it in and I’m unable to focus on things that actually matter until I get this out of the way. So again, all of you marzipans that had to sit through this – I’m sorry, I know it was a long rant!

Whoever is reading this, thank you for making it to the end.

I’m open to have a real conversation, if you are.

Marzia

LINEE.

June 22nd, 2018

New summer clothing!

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Here is it: my summer line, Linee, is ready to shop! 

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As I talked about in other posts, the colour palette is pink, white and navy, and it plays with colour block sections and lines.

Here I’m wearing an off the shoulder top, made out of a ribbed material and held up by a thin stretchy band.

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It’s tight fitting, comfortable, and I wanted it to be a very versatile and feminine piece that was simple enough to wear with different bottoms, but also needed a twist, which I obtained by splitting it in two colours.

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I paired it with these tailored pants, which fit almost exactly like the Amore pants (cigarette style) I previously released, but are much softer and breathable.

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The fly and closure are kept hidden to create a smart look, and the right leg has a pink section that ends a few cm shorter than the navy, creating an interesting hem.

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But I also made a wrap skirt, with an A-line shape, that follows that same concept, but in reverse: this time, it is mainly pink, with an panel underneath, in navy.

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I paired this with a white printed t-shirt.

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As an extra little touch, I opted to get this made with black thread, which matches the black from the large print in the front.

But, but… If you live somewhere a bit chillier, this hoodie may be the way to go.

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I’ve been wearing it non-stop (actually wearing it now as I’m typing), as it’s extremely comfortable. Again, I’ve teased this piece in the past, so you may already know that it’s the same fit as the Limone hoodie (oversized, with small slits on the sides, and a shorter hem in the front).

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It has a white sleeve with the print by the elbow.

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Next up is this striped dress, with its layered fabric to create a soft, fuller look.

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It has puffy sleeves, off the shoulder, help up by both an elastic band and navy ribbons.

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It’s a mini dress with a side split, from which a full white section begins, covering the whole right sleeve.

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Something I’m very excited about having in this line is this white swimsuit!

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I was finally able to design my dream one-piece swimsuit, with a low cut back, frilled sleeves that tie around the shoulders, and my print in the front.

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To cover that up, the final thing is a beach jumpsuit, which is super fun!

It’s light and breathable, as well as easy to get in and out of. No zippers, just the ties around the shoulders, and when paired with the bathing suit, it looks like a complete outfit.

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Oh, and it comes in two colours!

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We even have some accessories, if you are interested: Kroma designed some cases to go along. I had one of them in my latest Q&A video and saw that people were interested in knowing where it was from. I couldn’t say it earlier, but now you know!

These up here are just a few, but on the website they have many more to pick from.

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So this is it!

I really hope you guys like it.

Find it now on my shop!

 

Marzia

 

NOT BUSY.

June 17th, 2018.

Giving myself some time to relax.

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It seem unreal to say that since coming back from Japan I have been busy every single day, but it does feel like that. As usual, I’m never quite sure where all the time goes, but especially on the past few weeks time just dissolved.

I think it has to do with my “secret project”, as it’s been taking up a lot of my time on a daily basis, but doesn’t feel excessive as it’s something I’m really excited about.

But today I had the type of day I haven’t had in a while: a slow, completely work-free day. 

To be honest, I prefer busier days, as when I do little I tent do get headaches and feel like I’m wasting my time; but sometimes, like today, it is necessary.

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Mainly because of this little pug up here.

She has been having issues with her stomach for a few days, and it got pretty bad.

The vet gave us medicines and a new diet to follow (she has pancreatitis and we believe that – after reading reviews online – the brand of food we usually give her changed their recipe slightly, causing her some stomach sensitivity).

Whenever Maya doesn’t feel well, my life stops. I dedicate my day to make sure she is looked after, so I’ve been just spending time with her, barely leaving the house.

Luckily, after some medicines, her pain seems to be gone, and now I’m left with some bottles to collect her poop (I’m sure you all wanted to know about that), and some probiotics.

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Because I was mostly indoors today, not doing much, I thought I would get around to select a fragrance I liked: a few weeks back I received this kit with samples of each perfume LeLabo sells.

I had smelled them before, but couldn’t quite pick my favourite as so many are really nice.

So I got some strips of paper to spray each on, and tried my best to organise them from the one I like the most, to the one I like the least.

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The winner turns out to be Labdanum 18, which unlike the other options on my top 5, I had no idea what it contained (or even knew what it was). When I went to the website, I was impressed by how well each scent is represented, and I was surprised to see the notes in Labdanum 18, since I really had no clue.

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But anyway, the one time I left the house today, I headed to Homebase quickly to grab a large pot, paint and plant-care goodies. Oh, and soil!

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In fact, I’ve been needing to re-pot my monstera as it has grown a lot since I first got it.

I got around to do just that this afternoon; I’m a bit sad to have to move it from my bedroom, but it looks beautiful in the living room, and I’m hoping it’s going to grow even more, now that it has a much bigger pot.

I’m now here with both the puggies, in the couch, writing this blog post, putting together a new month folder for my bullet journal, and about to start cooking dinner.

Felix is hanging out with friends this evening, so I’m looking forward to watch a horror…

do you have any suggestions?

What have you been up to this weekend?

Marzia

IT’S STARTING TO FEEL LIKE A HOME.

June 7th, 2018

A homeware haul.

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This month Felix and I have been spending a good amount of time in the holiday home, which gave us the chance to get some of the stuff we need in order to make it feel more lived in.

We are of course still missing a lot of things, but I’m loving the way it’s coming together, so I’m here to show you some recent finds!

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I bought a large table from Made.com with a long bench and 5 chairs of two different colours: light blue and dark green. I thought that instead of having them all look the same, because it is a bigger table, it would look more playful to break the colours a bit – and I like how subtle the change is.

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I’ve come across a website called Oliver Bonas, and decided to make an order from there. They had so many wonderful things, but I tried to only get a few.

One of which, is this spice set up here. Not really necessary, but I love the look of it!

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I also got some beautiful mugs. Like I did with the chairs, I opted for two different colours, this time baby pink and green.

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We also needed a doormat, and I saw this adorable alligator one.

My sliders are from Urban Outfitters.

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In the website they had a bunch of pretty storage boxes, from small to large. I picked a medium sized one, so I can store all my makeup and skincare in it.

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The final thing I bought from there is this print. I generally buy prints where I have an empty wall and don’t know what to do with it (towards the end of my decorating process), but this time I saw it and liked it so much that I decided to get it regardless, and today I realised it fits just right on top of my desk, so it all worked out!

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But the best purchase of the week is this fig tree. Remember how in a previous blog post I mentioned that I was looking for a larger plant that would lean onto the wood burner? Well, this does that just perfectly!

It’s big enough to deserve a name, so I called it Kao.

The basket is from Ikea.

It may not seem like much yet, but I’m being extremely selective with what I buy for this home (it took so long to find the plant, or even the right mugs I wanted) so having found these items, I feel like I’ve done good progress!

Do you have any online store recommendations for me, by any chance?

Marzia