Marzia Bisognin's Blog, page 4
March 18, 2018
ANOTHER FAILED MAKEUP TUTORIAL.
That won’t go to waste.
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I’ve tried filming a makeup tutorial in which I used a few new products I’ve received.
I set up two cameras, one of which looked great and sharp, but the other one had a broken lens and I didn’t realise it – it wasn’t able to focus on what I was doing – resulting in unusable footage.
I’ve thought about saving the video, using the clips from my steady camera, even if a bit far away from my face, but after editing the whole thing, I figured just doing a blog post – since I wasn’t completely happy with it – would be a better option.
So here I am, talking about some makeup I’ve tested out!
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About a month ago I was sent these palettes by a company called Bad Habit.
The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous packaging, but soon enough I started using the eyeshadow palettes, especially the Inferno one.
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The colours make complete sense with the name, as they are all deep reds and flaming shades. I love it! Look at the metallics, they are so intense.
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I haven’t yet tested out the highlighting palettes, but wanted to show them as they look so pretty.
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The colours are very pigmented, and they are all shades I usually go for anyway, since I’ve dyed my hair pink – so I’m very happy to be owning these palettes!
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Another product I’ve been loving is the Bisou Bisou Lip & Cheeck Stick – a collaboration between Make Beauty and my friend LaMadelynn.
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If you haven’t seen her short movie introducing it, definitely take a look!
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It’s a beautiful brown shade with a slight tint of red in it, so it’s the perfect colour to double up as blush and lipstick.
It’s very easy to blend, and you can build it up for more intense looks.
I personally love dotting this across my lips and using my finger to work it in.
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The next product I’m showing up is another stick, this time from Hourglass.
You may recognise the packaging format, as I’ve talked about their foundation (which comes in identical packaging, just brown) and how much I love it.
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They sent me all the shades, but my personal favourite is this golden one.
It looks blinding, but you will be surprised at how easily and beautifully it blends into your skin.
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Final makeup product to cover is this EX1 Delete Fluide concealer.
This little thing doesn’t play around: the consistency is thicker than what I generally go for, but it has such a high coverage that you really need the smallest amount, so it makes up for the fact that comes in a small tube, and even the thicker consistency doesn’t feel too much on your skin, as long as you blend it properly.
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I would not recommend this for an everyday use, but if you are looking to cover some intense redness, spots, or overall need a flawless look for a certain occasion, this may be what you wanna reach for.
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Finally, I was sent a bunch of sunglasses by this brand called Topfoxx.
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I’ve never heard of it before, but I have so many glasses now that I felt the need to give away a few pairs.
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So here I am opening another giveaway!
You can pick between the GOLD pack or the PINK pack, by commenting the colour along with your comment. Please don’t spam.
These will of course include what you are seeing (NOTE: The highlighting sticks have not been used, but all arrived smashed on the top, which is why they looked like that) as well as a bunch of other goodies I’ve been saving for you. It will be a surprise!
Two winners will be picked at random and announced on this blog post tomorrow, Monday 19th, so please come back to check if you won.
Anyone can enter, open internationally.
Good luck!
Marzia
March 11, 2018
THE NEW BATHROOMS.
All re-done.
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I know lots of you are curious to see how I’ve designed each room of the flat I live in: you have seen the kitchen, in the past, and glanced at the bedroom, but here is how I transformed the bathrooms!
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A few months ago I posted this picture, saying that we decided to redo the guest bathroom as well.
This space, before, was not inviting at all: it is at the back of the building, and barely gets any light. Because of that, it’s quite dark throughout the day, and feels really cold.
It’s also isn’t very big, and before, it was in such a bad state: there was peeling wallpaper, old rusty pipes exposed and leaking (we actually found out they were so old they were dangerous), the water was either freezing cold or extremely hot, and there were stains throughout the whole room.
It just wasn’t nice, and felt a bit embarrassed to have our guests using it.
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So when we decided to redo it, we quickly realised that because of the limited space we had to work with, a walk in shower, right in front of the door, could work: we turned it into a wet room, using small glass tiles all across the walls.
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I didn’t want to crowd the space, but rather keep it quite minimal. In order to make it interesting, I played with patterns and textures that went well together.
I loved these floor tiles as soon as I saw them, and because I previously mentioned that this room is very cold, we put underfloor heating. This is particularly helpful because if you take a shower, it helps with drying the floors much faster; plus – of course – it is always nice to walk into a room and feel the heat under your feet.
We noticed that one of the tiles was put down incorrectly, so we will need to call back the workers to fix that, but hopefully it won’t be too difficult for them (did you see it as well, in the first photo?).
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For the sink, I didn’t want any chunky piece of furniture, so that it wouldn’t feel as tight in there when trying to move around or entering the shower.
I selected this wall hanging counter top, with handles on the sides, so that we can hang towels; it is also wide enough to put soap and other must-have bathroom utilities.
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We have two mirrors: a bigger one, and the little moveable one, as Felix really wanted it. I’m glad he asked for it, as I think it looks very sophisticated – like a hotel bathroom.
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We then added a big heated towel rail on the other wall, to provide extra heat and hold bigger towels.
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I’m in love with how this wet-room turned out, and since it’s right next to my office, I’m sure I will use it a lot more than I did before – not just as a guest bathroom.
It is a tiny room, but thankfully the ceiling is so high that it opens up the space.
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By the way, this is how little light comes in during the day time: to fix this issue, we decided to install 4 spotlights, which bring in lots of white light.
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Now, this one is our main bathroom, the en-suite.
It is a fairly big space, especially when compared to the other one, so we can store most of our stuff in here.
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We originally got this bathroom redone two years ago, but at the time I hadn’t studied interior design and so we let someone else pick everything for us. She did an alright job, but a lot of the things we asked for back then, she said she couldn’t do because her company didn’t supply them.
We mostly wanted a big, deep bath. Instead she gave us a very small bath with shower attached, which was fine, but because we decided to redo the other bathroom, we took the chance to swap this out with what we originally had in mind – so up here you see the new bath tub. And we love it!
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I also removed the tiles they used, which were cute but felt a bit dated, are replaced them for these small marble ones.
We asked our workers to put in a door – the one you see in this photo – as that’s the laundry corner, and we didn’t have anything there in the past (which brought down the whole look of the bathroom).
Up there, instead, we are lucky to have a massive storage space: it’s a bit inconvenient, because we need to get the ladder out each time, but we store Christmas stuff, and other seasonal things we don’t frequently need.
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This room has the exact same problem as the wet-room: it has a window, but very little light comes in as it’s covered by a building.
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I’m taking these photos in the day time, but you can see how you don’t get much light at all.
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Because of that, we made sure to install as many lights as possible, and this mirror turned out so well-lit that it’s where I apply my makeup.
The furniture piece built around it hides tons of pipes and a boiler on top, and it also allows us to store a bunch of stuff at the bottom.
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And that’s all! I think by now you should have a pretty good understanding of how the flat looks like. I haven’s shown you my office yet, because I’m waiting for a ladder and some finishing touches, but once it’s done, I will share some photos!
The ‘chill room’ stayed pretty similar, just new floors and fresh paint to match the rest of the flat, and the living room had a small upgrade as well, but it’s currently holding all the boxes and stuff we are selling so it’s in no condition to be shown – just yet. 
March 8, 2018
THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH.
We got some snow!
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It took more than 4 years, but finally we experienced actual snow in Brighton.
In this post I go through my week, in photos.
1st of March
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I started off the month by launching Tsuki – Felix and my unisex brand.
The support has been great, and we are so appreciative of it – the clothes sold out within 24h I believe (which is crazy) – but of course there were lots of comments asking for lower prices and more size inclusion; we expected it, and we are working hard on it. Felix and I already started to put down ideas for new products, and we are excited to make more stuff.
I snapped this photo up here when we left the studio we booked for our photoshoot. We took care of it by ourselves, no crew or help from others, so we drove to the centre, whilst snow was falling, and walked to the studio whilst carrying all the products and our prop-plant.
I was carrying stuff as well, following Felix, when I noticed how bizarre we must have looked, so I tried my best to take a photo while walking – busy holding stuff at the same time.
2nd of March
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This day brought more snow.
Maya was not too happy about it, but I sure was.
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On that day I had a meeting, which started off some projects I will be working on for this year.
I’m not sure I can say much – and I can imagine how annoying that must be, as I don’t mean to tease you – but some really cool things will happen. As usual, many of my projects take months to make, but if I’m allowed to talk about them, maybe when I’m further along, I will for sure fill you in.
Anyway, when I left the meeting, snow covered the streets, which made me very happy. It’s so cosy to stroll around, under the snow, and then go back inside to warm up with a cup of tea.
3rd of March
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Saturday Felix and I spent the day together, nothing new there!
Because it is a new month, a new set of ‘notes’ has started as well: I’ve set myself some goals, and even though I’m not really supposed to film or work on Saturdays, I did film a little bit, which will make it into the final ‘march vlog’.
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We went shopping by the Lanes, which resulted in me making a new friend! (this cute plant)
4th of March
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Did I mention that the workers are officially done with the flat? I will be sure to take photos as soon as things are how I want them to be, right now it’s still quite messy in certain rooms.
For the first time, on Sunday, I was able to fully ‘chill out’ in the flat, wearing sweatpants, cleaning up, and putting things away (yes, I’m still unboxing stuff).
It felt good to have some alone time in the flat, as it’s now starting to come together.
5th of March
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On Monday I got back into filming: the previous night I realised how I hadn’t shown Dogy on my channel for a bit, and you guys seem to like seeing him play, so I filmed a DIY that I’m currently editing and looking to post today.
Poor Dogy has had a small eye problem as well after we got back from Japan – nothing serious luckily – but we have been treating him by giving him 2 eyedrops a day (which is not a big deal, but it is tricky when it comes to spiky hedgehogs!).
6th of March
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On Tuesday I had a pretty uneventful day: paying bills, buying groceries, selling stuff on eBay, replying to emails. Nothing too exciting.
But that was also the day that our Tsuki orders started shipping out to people. I cannot wait to see photos of you guys wearing the pieces!
7th of March
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It marked the first week of March. As I often say, time flies by so fast.
Yesterday I snapped some photos for my friend Hila, who has a cool clothing line called Teddy Fresh.
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In the evening I watched this movie called ‘It’s Kind of A Funny Story’, on Netflix. Is not new, I believe it’s from 2010, but I hadn’t heard about it before and decided to put it up.
I knew most of the actors in it, and I really liked it – a lot. If you haven’t seen it, I would definitely recommend it. It’s about mental illnesses, depression and having suicidal thoughts, but it’s really not as dark or sad as it sounds; in fact, I found it quite funny and uplifting.
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I’m aware that now I’m going off-track, but another movie worth watching is ‘Lady Bird’ – I’m sure you have all heard about it, but if you haven’t had the chance to watch it yet… do it!
I went to the cinema with my friend Emma and I knew I was going to like it just by watching the trailer, but when I did actually sit in the cinema, I loved it way more than expected.
It’s interesting because I’m quite different, personality wise, to the main character, but I could relate to so much from this film. I get that it’s supposed to be relatable, but some things were so spot on, and made me see my life from a different perspective, in a way.
The very last scene, in particular (no worries, I won’t spoil it) struck a chord with me: it reminded me of when I, just turned 19 years old, moved away from home. How I felt when driving around in my car, feeling independent and like I knew where I wanted to go in life, all to be shaken once I actually moved away.
Today
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Moving onto today, I simply wanted to say Happy International Women’s Day.
It is a tradition, in Italy, to gift women with a bouquet of this tiny yellow flowers: they are fluffy and smell so good (called ‘mimose’).
I haven’t seen anyone doing it in the UK, but since I’ve left, my dad makes sure to get me a bouquet every year, that my mom then puts in my room. I asked her to send me a photo, so here is this year’s bouquet from my dad, which I want to virtually share with all of you!
Do you have any tradition associated with this day?
Marzia
March 1, 2018
TSUKI.
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After many months of working on this, today Felix and I release TSUKI, a unisex clothing and homeware brand.
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A little longer than a year ago Felix and I shot a lookbook video for my channel, in which we tried to match each other’s outfit the best we could. We didn’t have exact copies, but we noticed – at that point – how we definitely had the same style when it came to certain outfits.
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Shortly after, the idea to create something together came into place.
We wanted a small selection of minimal and oversized pieces that both of us could wear, and followed our favourite colour palette: black, white and pink.
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No matter what gender or size, everybody can find something they like on TSUKI, and depending on how you style each piece, you can create a certain look.
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To us, it was important that the items would have a specific fit, that would work on different body types.
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Because we are so passionate about Japan, we knew we wanted to incorporate that aspect into our brand.
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So the word ‘tsuki’ came into place, meaning ‘moon’ in Japanese.
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When I think about Japan, one of the things that come to mind are the clean, simple designs: often, if you look around the streets, or inside the buildings, you will notice how everything is clutter free, and each thing has a place and a purpose. It’s straight forward and organised.
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We felt that a simplistic approach was the way to go, especially because of the unisex nature of what we were trying to create.
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We selected various pieces out of our own closets, in order to make each of our clothes from scratch and make sure that the fit was exactly right.
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We didn’t just want to get basics and slap a logo on it; we felt the need to create something that may appear quite simple, but that was completely our vision.
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We made sure to also include more affordable pieces, for those that may like to support the brand but don’t want to necessarily splurge on a purchase.
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We understand that the prices are high, we are aware of it, but it is important for us to bring to life something we would want to buy ourselves, and of course stay away from producing our clothing under bad working conditions.
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But as I mentioned, there is more than just clothes. We have a few other products as well.
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Things that we enjoy using: a planner, to stay organised, and a candle – that smells like baby powder – to bring comfort and warmth.
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We also have these cute sake cups, that will come free with any purchase over $200.
Originally, these were supposed to be for sale, and after a long time of searching for someone that could make these for us, we came across a company that stated they would be manufactured in North America, but unfortunately only after putting our order through, we realised they were actually producing in China.
We could not bring ourselves to sell these, as that’s against what we believe, so we decided to have them as goodies instead, so they wouldn’t go to waste.
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After a year in the making, Felix and I are extremely happy with what we came up with: sure, it’s a small brand for now, but we are very excited to work more on it, and add more and more products over time.
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If you want to check out the products for yourself, head over to our shop.
And of course, if you would like to support us, following TSUKI on Twitter and Instagram would mean a lot!
Hope you like it.
˭̡̞(◞⁎˃ᆺ˂)◞*✰
Marzia
February 25, 2018
BACK TO NORMAL.
A simple day.
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Saturday just went by – the first one, after coming back from Japan – that Felix and I spent together.
We came back on Valentine’s Day, when I passed out for 12h straight after a 12h flight. And then the madness begun: Maya’s eye; Felix’s got sick; we were moving… there was no time to relax, until yesterday – exactly 10 days after.
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We had boxes to unpack in each room, and layers of dust to remove. Everything had been sitting there for so long, but yesterday it felt so good to move things around, clean up, and bring the flat back to a ‘liveable level’ (sure, the bedroom may look nice, but the rest was a mess).
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With all the cleaning and unpacking, and the sun shining, we felt like going out and treating ourselves to a nice lunch.
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We don’t want to leave Maya alone, so we picked a place that allows dogs.
She was so good, as she walked fine and then slept while we were eating.
Lots of you were asking about her, so thank you for caring! She is doing better and better, but as I said in the previous post, she needs lots of attention at all times, and the risk of her losing her eye is still there, unfortunately. But don’t worry, I will do everything I can to avoid that, of course.
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This is the place we chose: Libation. We usually come here during the summer time because they offer more vegetarian options compared to their winter menu, and they have a little outdoor space where you can eat; but yesterday the inside was quiet enough so that Maya wouldn’t feel stressed, and the interior is stunning.
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The best thing they do – in my opinion – is fries. I opted for sweet potato fries and a side of skinny fries yesterday. And none was left. They are just so good.
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And then finished my lunch with a popcorn panna cotta dessert, with salted caramel. Delicious.
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Here is my outfit for the day (from Olive clothing), by the way: I really like it, as it’s so relaxed, but I honestly cannot tell if it’s oversized, or simply too big on me. Either way, it’s very comfortable, and I like the red. I may end up taking in a few cm around the waist once I unpack my sewing machine.
Anyway, now that things are being put in place, the house is a little bit less of a mess and everything is cleaner, I feel like my mind is more organised too. Today the workers aren’t here, since it’s a Sunday, so I’m going to snap a bunch of photos for my Depop shop, and finish up a project coming out in a few days – can’t wait to show you!
What are you up to this weekend?
Anything fun happening?
Marzia
February 23, 2018
WE MOVED BACK.
An update.
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After many months of renovations, the time has come!
I’m not focusing too much on the design aspect of the flat just yet, but I am going to give you a quick update as I haven’t been on here as much as I would have liked, lately.
So here we go!
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As you know, I have been in Japan for about 10 days. We usually leave the dogs with a dog-sitter, and put lots of trust on her (she never gave us reason not to feel comfortable with her looking after the dogs) but unfortunately – this time – when we got back Maya acted strange: I knew immediately that something was wrong.
I was recovering from the flu, and Felix was about to get sick, but we went to the emergency and were told Maya had two eye ulcers and could easily lose her eye if we didn’t leave her overnight for intensive treatment. So we did, and picked her up the day after.
She was extremely nervous, and didn’t want to eat or move. She was in a lot of pain, and for a few days there I had a very hard time. I kills me to see her in pain.
But all I could do was follow the medicine schedule: every 1 hour and 30 minutes I had 6 different medicines to give her, all 10 minutes apart. All day and night long.
Life stopped. I couldn’t care about anything else at that time, and did my absolute best to look after Maya.
After the weekend we saw a specialist that told us on a case like this, surgery would be done right away, but because of her age, and the other conditions her eye has (which we were already treating), Maya isn’t the ideal candidate.
So all we can do is continue with the medicines – thankfully not as many as before, so I can have a life and get some sleep – and be extremely careful.
I’m happy to say that now she is eating as normal, walking outside (she is still a bit afraid, but it will get better) and she is very playful.
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Whilst all of this was happening, I had to keep up with work, but I’m so glad I have such an amazing team on my side that helps me every step of the way.
For my summer clothing line, we are currently sourcing fabrics. These up here are just a small selection of swatches, but as you can see, I’m looking for stripes, and a black/white/pink colour palette.
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BOX 1
Since moving back into the ‘new’ flat, I’ve been scanning through clothes and makeup, trying to cut down what I don’t need. I actually came across two small boxes I was putting aside to do a giveaway, so I’ve added some products to those, and now that they are fully packed, I can show them to you!
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BOX 2
There are far too many products to describe, but both have Tarte concealers, some Pretty Vulgar bits, a few skincare items, my pop sockets, and t-shirts.
GIVEAWAY
The giveaway is now closed, thanks to all the people that joined. You know by now that new giveaways will come soon!
February 16, 2018
TOKYO + OSAKA + HAKONE.
My recent trip to Japan.
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About 5 months ago Sanrio invited me to go to Tokyo to check out some of their latests products; they knew I am a big fan of Gudetama, and of course I couldn’t pass this opportunity. February approached, and so Felix, PJ, Sophie and I all got ready to go.
Here are some photos from my trip!
TOKYO
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We landed early in the morning, got to rest a bit, and then went to check out the Sanrioworld store in Ginza. This store was massive, and we ended up spending a while in there.
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The fact that we had stuff to do helped massively with fighting the jet lag. We all went out for dinner and then got to rest the entire night.
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The view from our hotel was stunning: we picked the Cerulean Hotel, since we stayed there in the past (the very first time we went to Tokyo) and remember how central it is.
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On the second day the Sanrio team brought us to Puroland, a theme park for their characters.
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The highlight was definitely meeting Gudetama, but also the show (which you will see bits of in my video) was lovely.
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I honestly had a great time, as there was so much to do and lots of chances to take fun photos.
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In the evening we had a Sanrio dinner scheduled – Sanrio booked an entire restaurant with something like 8 courses so we stayed out till late, eating.
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Then there was a big shopping day (although I only really bought a couple of things), starting off with Tokyo station.
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We had a couple of free hours in the morning, so we went there to check out all the cute shops.
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We also wandered the streets of Harajuku, checked out Kiddyland, and stopped by the hedgehog café.
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All the hedgehogs were so cute!
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Later that afternoon we went to the Sanrio Expo, where we saw some shows, the latest Sanrio products before they are available on the market, and got to meet Aggretsuko.
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This was so awkwardly hilarious!
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Unfortunately on my final day in Tokyo I lost 90% of my clips (which got corrupted whilst moving them to my laptop).
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It’s really a shame, because it was a super fun day: we met the creator of Gudetama – got a private lesson from her – and then went to Joypolis, where we spent an afternoon playing a bunch of games.
OSAKA
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The morning after we said goodbye to Hachiko, and took the shinkansen to Osaka.
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On the way there we spotted Mt Fuji, looking majestic.
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That evening we had tickets for The XX. They were amazing live, and made this trip even more special.
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We were pretty lucky with the weather, till our first full day in Osaka.
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It made walking around not so pleasant, so after going lost for a couple of lonely stations, we headed over to the aquarium in order to stay warm and dry.
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That was definitely our best option, and honestly the rain turned out to be totally fine as we were planning on coming here anyway, so it gave us the perfect excuse to take our time and stay inside.
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Here is a photo of me and a porcupine puffer. I will treasure it forever, wishing for the day that I can have one (which will probably never come).
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Also, take a good look at this photo. I did not see it at first, but maybe it’s quite obvious now.
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Once again, the rain actually made Osaka look very pretty at night, contrasting all the lights and creating a very interesting mood.
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The streets were illuminated by all the signs, whilst people were busy walking under clear umbrellas.
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The following day we decided to spend the morning in Osaka, since we didn’t get to see much yet due to the rain.
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The castle on the outside is absolutely stunning, and you can actually go up 8 floors to look over the city.
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While walking around, we came across a shiba inu!
HAKONE
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In the afternoon, we caught a multitude of public transports and made our way to Hakone, arriving after sun set.
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The hotel we were staying at had the cosiest vibe, sitting on a hill, surrounded by a snowy forest.
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We made the most of our only day there, even though it was absolutely freezing, and very windy.
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We first went to the Open Air museum; it was really great, not even the freezing weather could take away from the beauty of this place.
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We warmed up in the museum’s restaurant, and then found our way to the shrine by the lake.
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It took us a bit to figure out how to get there, but we did it, eventually. This place is so worth checking out!
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The white against the red looked so striking.
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The wind of course was against us, but we got our photo!
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This pretty much concludes our trip to Japan. We had one more day that we spent back in Tokyo, before catching our plane. Felix wanted to do some final shopping, and I wanted to meet with a few youtubers, so we did both!
I of course managed to get ill – I bet that doesn’t surprise anyone. I started getting high fever on the plane, and I’m currently home with the flu. Eh.
But hey, I had an amazing time, and I can’t wait to post my videos soon!
( ິ•ᆺ⃘• )ິฅ✧
Marzia
January 29, 2018
UPDATED SKINCARE.
Products I use to keep my acne at bay!
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Interestingly enough, not a single one of the things I use is targeted towards acne-prone skin, but this is what works for me.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I had been following a routine that helped a lot with my acne, lowering it to about 10% of what I used to have; although that’s true, unfortunately after the surgery – a few months ago – my skin has gone through some weird stages, from super oily, to very dry, to the combination of both, making it much more difficult to stay acne free.
That’s one of the two main reasons why I have been waiting to write about my skincare routine, as I wanted to make sure it was effective enough to share; the other reason is that I wanted to include some extra products, that are currently packed away in the other flat. I was hoping by now I would have moved back, so that I could reach for those things, but I guess for now I can focus on just the stuff I’ve been using for the past 5 months or so.
As I mentioned, my skin is trying to adjust to the shock that was caused by my surgery – and although my acne is not as controlled as it used to be, it’s still around 30%-40% better than the past, so I’m sure the products I’m using are still helping, as it could be much worse.
Alright – I wanted to get this disclaimer out of the way. Now we can go through everything!
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The skin around my eyes is very sensitive. I’ve tried eye drops and washes to try and help my itchy, dry eyes; I of course used many different eye creams, but most seemed to only worsen my discomfort. That all went away when I tried this Origins Ginzing Refreshing Eye Cream.
In the past, there have been other creams that I liked, but I find this one to be the best one so far, and I’ve recently repurchased it from Boots.
I haven’t had any issues with my eyes since using it, which is kind of a miracle, and I like its consistency: it’s a pale pink cream that absorbs nicely into the skin, but you really do feel the moisture. When you apply, it leaves the area a bit dewy.
I find that, often with eye creams, you either get:
a moisturising one, that tends to be greasy or heavy, making the under eye makeup crease faster;
too light, making it feel a bit dry.
With this particular eye cream, the skin around my eyes feels moisturised, but doesn’t cause my makeup to crease.
So I highly recommend it, as it really is the best one I’ve tried so far.
Note that if you are looking for something that has SPF protection or anti-age properties, this may not be ideal for you.
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Now I’m gonna move onto moisturisers.
My absolute favourite is the Origins Original Skin, a matte moisturiser, which is something I’ve never seen anywhere else.
I remember when I received this, and tried it for the first time – I wrote about it on my blog, and liked it right away.
This thing is what I had been looking for, as a girl with oily skin, for many years. It turns my skin from greasy to matte, feeling smooth and soft, within seconds. It’s incredible!
I’m running out of it soon, but for a while I felt like this was one of the key products that was clearing out my skin: because my skin was less oily, I didn’t feel the need to powder my face often, resulting is less clogged pores.
I love this stuff, but as I mentioned recently, in the past month my skin has gotten really dry, and this would over-dry it; so instead I’ve switched to the Derma E Vitamin C Concentrated Serum.
I say switch when really, I have been using this for even longer and always liked it; I believe vitamin C is supposed to help with acne scars. This product is technically not a moisturiser, but a serum; I still apply it in the morning, on its own, as it has a gel-like consistency and absorbs well into the skin.
This tube up here is a new one, as I have already gone through one.
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Now let’s focus on cleansers: I have 3 to talk about, which all have different purposes.
The Fresh Soy Face Cleanser is my most used one, as I can use it for both morning and evening; it’s a clear, light cleanser that leaves the skin feeling clean but soft. It’s very gentle, but cleans really well. Again, I’m about to run out of this, so I will soon get another one.
The Ceramic Slip Cleanser by Sunday Riley is what I prefer to use in the morning, as it gets rid of any oil I’ve built up during the night, and visibly reduces the size of my pores.
I’ve discovered this quite recently, but was impressed with it right away! I better get myself the full size.
And finally, to remove my eye makeup, I found this one last week, called Well Off by Origins.
I was at Boots to grab the eye cream, and came across it: 3 weeks ago I got eyelash extensions done, and was told to opt for an oil free makeup remover to avoid losing too many of the eyelashes (as the oil would melt the glue). I was recommended to try Simple, which I did and truly hated – as I stated, my eyes are very sensitive and Simple stung, and didn’t fully clean my eyes properly without me needing to rub them – which is not good.
I knew I had to try something else, so I gave this a try, and now I think I won’t change to anything else for a while: it simply removed my eye makeup so quickly, and doesn’t bother my eyes at all. I use such a small amount, and within second the makeup is all gone. I love it!
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So now it’s time for some night skincare: my go to product is the Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Face Serum. Anything from Fresh is great, but this one specifically is something I really use a lot.
In general, I find that rose infused products work well for my skin, as they avoid for my acne to get angry and red. Any time I use this (which is almost every night), the morning after I can see a significant different with the redness.
But of course, now that I’m in my mid-twenties, thinking a bit about wrinkle prevention seems like a good idea, so I like to mix in, every now and then, this Plantscription serum by Origin.
To be completely honest, I have not used this enough just yet to give an in depth review, but so far, I’m liking it, so I wanted to mention it briefly. Plus is Origins, which I’m noticing just now – writing this – my skin seem to get along well with many of their stuff!
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Whenever I need some extra help, these two products by Derma E has proven very helpful.
The Overnight Peel is something I’ve talked about a lot in the past, but in case you missed it, I like to use it the night before events or when my skin is acting up, especially when cystic acne is forming; any time I’ve used it, I could tell it made a big improvement on my skin, but I do not use it every night.
The Anti-wrinkle scrub leaves the skin feeling extra soft and smooth. If I’m dealing with peeling, dry skin, I use this in the morning and it gets rid of all the bad stuff, allowing my makeup to go on much smoother.
I realise it sounds like almost every scrub – that’s just what they do – but again, it doesn’t upset my skin, as it’s gentle, and the fact that it has Glycolic Acid is a bonus for younger looking skin.
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Alright, now – if it really has to come down to it – I will sometimes use spot treatments.
In the past I used to apply them every single night, but in the past few months I felt like it would be better to not be too harsh to my skin, so I use these when I really need it.
The Evanhealy Blemish Purifying Serum is a spot treatment I used for years; it’s the most gentle one, yet super effective, and would definitely recommend it. It’s one of very few that doesn’t even sting when you apply it, and feels oily and moisturising, rather than drying.
The other one, called the Super Spot Remove by Origin, is another new find of mine (I got it a couple of months ago, but only used it in a few occasions) and it’s the strangest and most interesting spot treatment I’ve ever tried: it’s a clear liquid, and when you dot it onto your skin, it dries instantly into a thin film, to fully cover the spot, making the top layer of skin feel smooth. I can see this being extremely helpful when you have an open, angry spot, and you don’t want to get it infected, and keep it clean from bacteria.
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Oh, and lastly, I should probably share some lip balms I like. These 3 are probably my top 3 (well, the Fresh sugar treatment would be, instead of the Jouer one, but I already run out of it!).
The Glossier Coconut balm dotcom is the one I like the most, at the moment, as it’s thicker, incredibly moisturising, tasted and smells great.
The Kopari lip love is also really good, the scent is lovely, and makes my lips look very pretty even with just that (it kind of has a gloss finish, but it’s not sticky at all).
Very much like the one above, the Jouer one has a clear finish, and does basically the same thing as well, but it does not have a nice taste or smell, so I use this mostly when I travel (since it’s so tiny).
So these are all the products I use, as of now.
You may have noticed that my skincare routine is based around 3 brands, mainly: Origins, Derma E, and Fresh. Although I am lucky enough to receive free products from these brands, every once in a while, I am not writing this or including products as a promotion – none of the things I talked about are paid for.
I take skincare seriously, as I understand how much of a struggle it is to find things that actually work and help with skin conditions. Of course, what works for one, may not for another, but I do hope you can try out some of these things for yourself.
If there is anything I’ve learnt, for my skin type, is that there is no point in hurting my skin with harsh chemicals, as it will simply upset it; so I prefer to stick to something more gentle, and avoid switching out too many things too frequently.
Also, keep in mind I’m nowhere near being acne-free, but I’m certain that the things I’ve mention do help me, so I hope they can help some of you too.
If you have any recommendations for me, feel free to share them!
Marzia
January 24, 2018
TIME.
Where does it all go?
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Whenever I write a blog post I generally come up with a title quite quickly, as in my mind I already have an idea of how – more or less – it’s going to play out.
That’s not the case today, so as I’m typing this, I’m not too sure where this entry is going to go, but I will just allow myself to write whatever comes to mind.
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January – so far – has been a great month.
I set myself goals which I’ve managed to accomplish; I kept myself busy with work, yet told myself it was okay to take time to relax. I read books, I caught up with TV shows, but I also had some very busy days, which I don’t really know how it always happens as I try my best to stay as organised as possible but there is always something new adding up, which takes more of my time, resulting in me finishing work late in the evening.
I don’t mind it at all, it’s just a bit strange, because if you ask me what I’m up to, I can’t even really say it.
I just know that my time goes and by the time I look away from whatever I’m doing, the sun has gone out, and it’s time for dinner.
My parents always tell me not to overwork myself, yet most of the things I do are not a burden to me, but things I’m excited about and look forward to. That’s why time passes by so fast, without me noticing.
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I guess one of the things I’ve been focusing on is my summer clothing line: for the first time, I really struggled to pin down what my idea for it is, but I finally did it!
This is a doodle that will appear in some pieces, and carries the meaning of the line, but there is of course more to it than just this image. The colour palette will be nude/blush + white and black, with stripes and asymmetric edges, cuts, and colour blocks.
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I’m extremely excited about it, I’ve been putting lots of thought into this specific line and won’t settle for anything that isn’t the best I can offer.
Now that I’ve decided the theme and designed each piece on paper, it’s time to source fabrics, which is always fun, but thought as well as most of the times, the fabric that would fit my vision the best, ends up being too expensive. We shall see!
Since I’m already sharing this much, here is a technical sketch about one of the pieces: the idea is to create lines and sections to contrast different colours or fabrics. One side of the dress will be white, whilst the other will be nude, and the ribbons will be black. Or at least this is where I am at – but who knows, things always change after fabric selection.
I hope you are liking my ideas this far!
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Another thing that took up my time is taxes. When you are running a company, lots of days feel wasted in front of the computer, writing down invoices, dissecting bank statements, sending out payments, and when it’s VAT time – oh boy, those are the best days! *sarcasm*
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This evening I have a work meeting, which I’m looking forward to as I primarily work with a handful of people I’ve gotten close to, but live in Canada. It’s always nice to meet in person and go over our projects, it helps to track everything we do and stay on schedule.
So this afternoon I wanted to make cake, so that I could offer it to my guest.
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I made lemon cake, using this recipe and turned out incredible.
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I wish I had some self-control (I usually do!) cause I ended up eating 3/4 of it and now my belly is yelling at me for it. But it was so good. And now the two slices left look so sad that I won’t even bother putting it on the table, but will keep it for my breakfast tomorrow.
Anyway, I’ve completed my 3 monthly goals, which I filmed for my ‘notes’ and will start to edit everything tomorrow; as the month passed by, I filmed short clips using my Super 8 to insert in the vlog, and I sent the footage off to develop. It’s the first time I do it, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I did it correctly. I haven’t heard from the company that develops it just yet, but hopefully soon I will.
Well – as I expected – this blog post is all over the place. But I find that sometimes coming on here and just write, is really calming.
I hope January is going well for you too!
(ᵒ̴̶̷̤́◞౪◟ ᵒ̴̶̷̤̀ )
Marzia
January 19, 2018
ROSY & GLOWY.
Trying out some more makeup.
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Yesterday morning I’ve received some PR boxes packed with products for me to test out.
I wasn’t able to use everything at once, but I did try lots of new stuff, so here I am, sharing my opinion on them.
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Derma E is a brand I’ve used a lot in the past and still currently use. To be honest, I had no idea they offered non-skicare items, so when I received the two hair products on the right, I was surprised.
I’ve used the Vitamin C concentrated serum plenty of times, so instead I’ve applied some of the face oil, followed by the day cream.
I’ve been dealing with dry skin, that even peals in some spots, so I wasn’t afraid to get this much moisture onto my face. Even though the cream feels much thicker than what I would normally apply in the morning, I found that it absorbed quite nicely and just left me feel a bit softer, making the makeup go on smoother. So far, so good!
But, I did try the dry shampoo, and unfortunately I have to say I wasn’t impressed: it comes in a powder form, which I’m not a massive fan of (I prefer a spray, as it’s easier to control) and I wasn’t able to completely blend in into my roots, leaving some white dust here and there.
On the other side, I loved the 3-in-1 Hair Protection Serum, mostly because it smells just like amaretti (or at least I think that’s what it is)!
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Revolution is a brand I’ve never tried, but always see at Superdrug.
It’s a much cheaper brand – compared to the brands I usually go for – but to be fair, lower end products sometimes hide some gems, so I was very excited to try it out!
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As soon as I opened up the palettes, I fell in love with the colours.
I think if you are starting out, and are unsure about what tones suit you, or simply want to experiment with new looks, why not give this a try!
The palettes do feel a bit cheap, but you get tons of selection for what you are paying.
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Tarte, of course, also sent me some nice new things.
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I’m already familiar with the shape-tape concealer, but I was happy to see they brought out a similar looking foundation, and in both matte finish, and hydrating formula – I find this to be so smart, as you can change it up depending on what you need that day.
I tried the hydrating one, because – like I said – my skin is pretty dry at the moment (which is strange, I generally have oily skin). The application was nice, it felt smooth and blended very well. No dry skin got caught in the product, which is a huge plus (but may be due to the serum and moisturiser I applied earlier) and overall gave me a nice, very natural look, perfect for the daytime.
If I had to compare this to my favourite foundation at the moment – the one by Hourglass – I would still go for the Hourglass one, as it gives me a bit more coverage, and it’s buildable whilst looking natural; this one, though, would be perfect for those barely-there makeup days, instead. Maybe I simply applied too little of it, and that’s why I didn’t get that much coverage, but I will definitely be using it again!
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I also think I found a new favourite thing. Do you see that white, sparkly shade up here? When I looked at it, I was intrigued, but when I actually applied it to my eyes – OH MY.
I instantly fell in love.
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Here is the eye look I created: for the base I’ve used colours from the Revolution palette, applied with my new Tarte brushes (even the wing); and on top I dusted some of that sparkly eyeshadow all over the lid, that created this stunning effect.
I seriously used the smallest amount, just dotting it with my finger, and within seconds this eye look turned out gorgeous. I’m super impressed, and after I applied that product, I went to the Tarte website to look if they had it in a pot by itself, cause I know I will be using it a lot. Sadly, they don’t, but I’m very hyped about this find anyway!
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The final brand of the day is Too Faced, which as always has the best packagings.
I apologise for the blurred photo, I did not realise it was this bad whilst taking it.
I’ve used up a full tube of their Hangover primer in the past, and found it to be light and moisturising, so I’m more than happy to have the matching setting spray – you know how I love my face mists!
The foundation is so pretty, but way too dark for me (I didn’t swatch it, but I can tell) so I’m giving it away.
I’ve wanted that blush for the longest time, it reminds me of when – as a kid – I would play Polly Pocket. It did not disappoint: it is pigmented, and overall adorable.
I’ve tried the eye primer – which, you may have noticed, is not something I usually apply when doing my makeup – and definitely noticed a difference (I’ve tested it on one eye only and compared them at the end of the day). So I will for sure start using it for those days that I know I will be wearing makeup for longer, or want my eyeshadow to really pop.
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I forgot to mention the highlight from Revolution, which as I was applying it, looked underwhelming, but as soon as I stepped outside, it was actually very glowy. Plus, I liked the colour selection the palette had to offer.
Oh, and I’ve also applied their lip-kit: it went on fairly smoothly, but it did feel a bit tacky on the lips, and felt like it was making my dry areas more obvious. Having said that, the lipstick did not move, did not fade, did not peel, and stayed in place all day, even after eating; so, it may not be the best, but it was pretty good.
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———————-EDIT
The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all the people that joined, there were over 500 comments, so I will be sure to do another one fairly soon.
Here is the winner:
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Have a great day everyone!
Marzia
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