Friday, October 28, 2016

The Rhodes Travel Diary 2016

By the time I placed my suitcase back in its storage place from my trip to Brighton and London, it was already time to pack for my next holiday: Greece! Although I really like to discover new cities nothing beats sunshine and relaxing on the beach. I felt really lucky that I got to go to a sunny country twice this year and hopefully I can do this in 2017 as well. 
My friend Michelle and I are very busy with our thesis at the moment so a holiday break was a big must for us. We decided to go to Rhodes, the biggest island of Greece. We went for a week which in the end wasn't long enough and the holiday blues immediately kicked in when our plane left Rhodes International Airport.
Besides relaxing, swimming and getting a tan -vampire girl is no more whoop whoop!- we also went to the city of Rhodes, visited the Greek island Symi and did a Rhodes Island tour. See those annoying groups of tourists who are following a red umbrella? Yup that was us. I honestly do think that's the best way to discover an island when you are there for a short period of time. 

Besides resetting my iPhone and losing all my old photos -I had a black out and completely forgot my password- I had an amazing time there. I had only been to Kos for one day so it was nice to stay in Greece for a week. Santorini is definitely the island I want to visit next, because that place is such a beaut! Rhodes and Symi were also gorgeous and I think the photos kind of speak for themselves. Queue the soppy insta pics here!
















Have you ever been to Greece? What is your favourite island?

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Freedom Pro Highlight Palette


Even though summer is slowly transitioning into autumn I still can't say goodbye to that lovely bronzy glow. Glowy make-up in general in one of my faves and it's safe to say I have to way too many highlighters to prove that. But ya know, a girl can never have enough glowy products in her stash, there is always room for more!

My eyes lay on this Freedom Pro Highlight Palette for a while and with the thought of ''I actually don't have any cream highlighters or a highlighter palette for that matter'' I made the purchase. And I think it's quite a good deal because for £6.00 you get 8 highlighters (!), 6 cream highlighters and two baked highlighters.
Not all the highlighters in the palette are suitable for me though. With my skin, even paler than Snow White, I can't pull off a dark bronze highlight on the cheeks. It would not make me look like I have been on a long holiday to the Maldives, but straight up makes me look like an Oompa Loompa and that's not really the look I was going for, I think.

The pale creamy highlighters on the other hand are really fab. They give a nice wonderful glow to the skin and blend very nicely. I like to use my hands, since that works best for me. I place it on the top of my cheekbones, on the tip of my nose and on the cupids bow for an all over glowy sheen. However the powders are my absolute fave. They are very easy to work with and add an amazing glow. All the products, creams and powders, are highly pigmented and just look so fab on the skin, besides the bronzy colours of course. 

I am really amazed by the quality of this pro highlight palette. I had never tried anything from Freedom before, but it's safe to say I will have a look at their counter to pick up more goodies. Bye bye money, hello gorgeous highlighters, eyeshadows and contour palettes!

What is your favourite product from Freedom?


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

My Purple ASOS Velvet Sock Booties


ASOS is one of the best things that happened to my wardrobe, but at the same time it's also the worst because I want EVERYTHING. Whenever I have some spare time I open up the ASOS app and start browsing their shop. This usually results in a shopping spree and spending all my money on sweaters, accessories and shoes. I can't remember an ASOS order where I didn't purchase shoes, because their shoes are the bomb dot com.

See here my newest wardrobe addition: purple velvet sock booties. I saw them on the website, saved them and after looking at them a million times a day -you are shoe obsessed or not- I made the purchase. Unfortunately I had to send them back, because they were too small, but luckily a bigger size came back in stock -which is honestly the best feeling in the world-. It was like ordering tickets for an Adele or Beyoncé concert, the anxiety of actually putting them in your basket and paying for them before somebody else snatches them away from you. But in the end I got them and I was so happy when my ASOS order finally arrived last weekend.

These booties are such an amazing piece for this autumn/winter season. They have that whole velvet, sock boot trend going on and I love it so much! The purple colour is so funky and so different from anything else I have seen. They are not the most comfortable shoes. I don't know what it is, but even though they are a size bigger than I usually am they still hurt a tiny bit when I walk for a long period of time. I am totally fine with that though, because walking in these awesome kicks is totally worth all the pain!

What are your favourite boots?

Saturday, October 8, 2016

NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Vintage



The leaves are falling down and the temperature drops, which can only mean one thing: sweaters and dark, burgundy lips! I have quite a few of these lipsticks in my stash but I decided to pick up one more, because it's not like the rest. Yes, my name is Marjolein and I'm a beauty addict, can ya tell?
I bought the NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Vintage when I was in Brighton and whilst I thought it was more of a brown colour it turned out to be a dark plum with a mauve undertone. Sometimes a swatch in the store just isn't enough. Besides the fact that I was a bit disappointed about the colour fail I still gave it a whirl.

The formula of this liquid lipstick reminds me of the Kat von D liquid lipsticks. It has a liquid consistency and because it’s a bold colour it can be hard to apply. The pigmentation is really good and one coat pretty much gives you the best matte pout in the world. 
It dries fast and that's where I started to not like it as much. The lipstick started to crumble on the inside of my lips. I tried to bite it away -I know it's not the best solution here, but a girl's gotta do something without the possibility of going to the bathroom to check her make-up- but that only made my teeth look weird, because there were lipstick crumbles everywhere. 
Besides this small detail I did like the finish. It didn't crumble on the rest of my lips which is a common problem for me and the lasting power is also quite good. Of course you need a touch up after a hot chocolate and some delicious nachos, -I had a catch up with a friend yesterday and that's what we had. Best combo EVER!- but every lipstick I tried needs a touch up from time to time, so I'm not too fuzzy about that.

For a drugstore liquid lipstick I think the NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick is really good. The Kat von D one still wins every single time, but you also pay a bit more money for that. For €8,80 I think you get a very good deal: it’s long-lasting, gives good coverage, but does crumble a bit. NYX also has a lot of fun colours for this lipstick, so I think I will pick up those next time, because what's life without a fun colour on the lips?

Have you tried the NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipsticks before?

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Milk & White Chocolate Cookies from Tanya Bakes



When I bought the book Tanya Bakes I knew that I would make lots of baked goods, so here I am with a new baking post! This time I am not making salted Nutella cookies or salted caramel brownies, but some delicious milk & white chocolate cookies. They really are wonderful and so easy to make. Also perfect for an ice cream sandwich!

What do you need?
200g white chocolate
200g milk chocolate
200g softened unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
1 large egg
325g self-raising flour

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/GM4 and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Cut the white and milk chocolate into small pieces and set it aside whilst you make the dough. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and mix again until you get a smooth mixture. Slowly add the flower and when you finally have a dough -it can take a while if you use your hands- add the chocolate chunks and mix those in as well. 

Although the recipe said 10 cookies I was able to make 12. I just grabbed a big chunk of dough, made it into a ball and pressed it down on the baking tray. Of course I could've made the cookies even bigger, but I quite liked how they turned out. Also make sure there is enough space between the cookies, since you don't want one giant cookie!

Bake them in the oven for about 12 minutes. They will be soft and gooey when you take them out, but when they set and cool down you will get a perfect crispy and chewy cookie. I couldn't keep myself from not taking a bite when they got out of the oven -that homemade cookie smell is the best!- so I had a nibble while they were still warm and ooh my gosh: they are sooo good. They are the perfect fall treat with a nice cup of hot chocolate or chai tea. Can’t wait to try more recipes from the book! Maybe next time I will make a pumpkin spice treat? :)

Have you tried anything from Tanya Bakes?


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