What to Buy this Week: White Dresses

There is nothing better than white dresses during the summer months. They look great on a tanned skin, flats or heels, and are perfect for the day and night. For all those reasons white dresses are a must - have for the summer.

White dresses can also be a transition piece from summer to winter, as by adding black tights, a jacket and a pair of boots or heels, the dresses will look amazing as well.

I hope you like this selection of dresses for all budgets!

 Johnny Was, $347

Mango, £24.99 (on sale at the moment)

People Tree, £65

Sheinside, $24.55 (on sale)

Zara, £29.99

Isabel Marant, £790

You can´t go wrong accessories these dresses, but my personal choice for the day is with a pair of white sandals, a hippy style clutch (like the ones I talked about in this post) and some colourful bracelets.

And for the night I would wear it with a pair of heeled sandals in a bright colour, a statement necklace and a simple clutch, as I would want all the looks to go to the necklace and/or the shoes.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and that you have your white dress ready for this summer!

Thank you for reading!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil - Review -

I needed a serum but didn´t want to spend a crazy amount of money in one, as I still need to be convinced they are as good as they claim to be. I read in some blogs that this Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil (I know, whomever thought of the name deserves a holiday!) was pretty good, and the next time I saw a Body Shop store after payday, went in and bought it.

From the outside it looks like a quality product and on the tag it says that it "replenish and recharge moisture", and promise to do so in eight hours, while you sleep.

After I clean my skin, I put a few drops on the palm of my hand, rub the two hands together to warm it up a bit, and then apply pressing my hands against my skin for a couple of seconds. I try to make sure I don´t forget any areas and put a bit more on the difficult ones.

So here is what I like about this product:

The Overnight Serum feels very light and not too oily (although a bit, as it is an oil).

It doesn´t have a strong smell, which is something important to me.

Two or three drops are enough to apply on the face and neck.

I also quite like the format, with the dropper to make sure you don´t use too much on just one go. I know some people think it is not very helpful, as you have to put the product on your hand and then close the bottle, but I think it is really useful, as you don´t really want to be wasting the Serum.


What I don´t like:

As I said on my previous beauty post (here) I have dry skin in certain areas, so I tend to need very hydrating products, that is why I thought this serum could help the difficult areas on my skin. I have to say I haven´t notice much difference on those areas, they feel the same as before.

I still can´t decide if the Overnight Serum from the Body Shop is making much difference. Sometimes I think my skin looks rested and brighter in the morning but other times I can´t see any changes. Maybe I need to use it for a bit longer, or maybe I need to start applying some moisturiser on top of the serum to seal it.

Conclusion:

I think it is a good buy if your budget is limited or if you just don´t want to spend a lot of money on a serum. It costs 12 pounds so I believe it is a good value for money, although don´t expect any miracles!

I will finish the one I already have however I don´t think I will buy it again, as I would try to find THE ONE, and this is not it.

I hope you found this review helpful, and please feel free to share any thoughts or opinions with me, I would love to hear from you!

Thank you for reading!

The Shore - Edinburgh -

The Shore is the new trendy neighbourhood in Edinburgh. It is full of pubs, restaurants, cafes and little shops, not far from the city centre but it offers a much more relaxing atmosphere. Some years ago all the area had a pretty bad reputation, as all Leith was considered the place where all the bad things happened.

Nowadays the Shore is a very safe area, with the prices of the properties rising by the minute, and a good range of Micheline star restaurants based there. Leith used to be the harbour of Edinburgh, and a very important one due to its whaling activity. If you walk near the water and pay attention to the buildings, you still can see some of the hooks used to lift the whales, ships or any other heavy things.

The Shore has that Nordic look to it, with old buildings painted in white and colourful windows. In fact Nyhavn in Copenhagen (see more here) reminded me a bit of the Shore in Edinburgh. For me it is just a shame about some of the new constructions, as they don´t look as good as the old bits. Although I have to say that while building below has one of the best views in town!

As I said there are three Michelin star restaurants in the area, The Kitchin, Martin Wishart and The Plumed Horse (I think this last one doesn´t hold one just now, but it used to and will again soon according to the critics).

There are also some other nice places such as Chop Chop, one of the best Chinese restaurants in (probably) Scotland, The King´s Wark (try the fish and chips, you won´t regret it), The Granary, Bond Number 9, The Ship on the Shore... To sum up, at the Shore there is a place for every taste and budget!

And of course Mimi´s. Mimi´s is amazing. They have the best cakes, cupcakes, banoffee pie and French toasts ever. Sometimes (quite a few times) we travel all the way from Glasgow to Edinburgh just to go to Mimi´s!!

One piece of advise, book in advance as it tends to be always really busy. Mimi´s has opened now a new venue away from The Shore. It is on the Royal Mile, it is smaller but the product is the same, therefore amazing!

If you are visiting Edinburgh, don´t miss this area, it is very special and different from the city centre. It has its own history, its own way of living, and it is a great place where to spend a day or at least half of it. And the best thing is that it is not full of tourists like the centre. Actually you nearly don´t see any!

Have you been to The Shore? What did you think of this area? Did you try any of the restaurants?

Thank you for reading!

What to Buy this Week: Ethnic Handbag

I have decided to create a new category on the blog: What to Buy this Week. Here I would like to show you what I think the must haves are, and give you keys on where to find them and how to combine them. I really hope you enjoy this new section, and please feel free to leave any feedback!

Now that the temperatures are higher and we can enjoy blue skies often, it is the moment to wear more colourful clothes and accessories, and also lighter fabrics.

These type of ethnic handbags are great to take to the beach or the swimming pool, and the clutches will give you an extra special touch for those summer nights! I think that (if combined properly) these bags can lift any look.

As they are very colourful, always remember that less is more, and try wear them with some basics. Any of these ethnic handbags will look amazing when combined with just a pair of jeans or shorts and a white tee. For the night, a dress in a light fabric like cotton or silk, in only one colour will make the bag stand up.

There is a wide range of prices for these handbags, and of course those high quality handmade ones are going to be more expensive than the ones you can buy in places like River Island or Accessorize.

Or if you love travelling the best thing is to buy them in India, Mexico, Peru, Kenya... This way you won´t only have an ethnic handbag, but a great souvenir to carry around with you.

These ethnic handbags are all gorgeous, practical and perfect for the summer months. I hope you like them!

Adamarina

Antik Batik

JAUNT

Miss Mochila

Monsoon

Thank you very much for reading!

Barcelona has Gaudí, beat that!

That Barcelona is a beautiful city full of good restaurants, nice beaches, and amazing shopping we all know. But what makes Barcelona special is Gaudí. Without Gaudí Barcelona wouldn´t be Barcelona, no wonder why they are so proud of having his artwork in the city!

When you see his work it is difficult to imagine it came from a person who lived at the beginning of 1900. All his work looks so modern and current, it is mesmerising. The colours, the structures, the curves and the mosaics, every single piece is beautiful on its own and a masterpiece as a whole.

When you first arrive to Park Güell you know it is going to be special just by looking at the first buildings you see. Rooftops only seeing before on Disney films, peculiar materials and amazing shapes.

Park Güell has plenty of places to sit and enjoy even a whole day there. From time to time you can hear people playing music, from Spanish guitars to violins. If the weather is as beautiful as the day I took these photos, don´t worry, you can find benches on the shade!

But a great architecture is not all Park Güell has to offer. From here you can see some of the most amazing views of the city.

And from here it is possible to spot the Sagrada Familia, the most visited monument in Spain.

The construction of the Sagrada Familia started back in 1882 and it is not finished yet. It is considered a minor basilica as there is no bishop (Catholic church hierarchy, but for buildings!) and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The queues to get in are awful, I am not going to lie. So if you want a piece of advice, buy the tickets online and pick them up from the office, much much faster! 

The basilica project keeps going thanks to donations from people from all around the world, and hopefully it will be finished by 2026 - 2030, so maybe we are lucky enough to see it complete! 

These two places are not all you can visit from Gaudí in Barcelona, but to me there are two of the most special ones. One of the good things with Gaudí is that you will recognise one of his buildings when walking along the street. The design and the style are impossible to miss.

Thank you very much for reading!

A Stroll in Sarajevo

Around five years ago I decided to change my life in quite a drastic way. Found a job, packed my stuff, and a month later I was in my new city: Sarajevo.

Did I really think much before taking the decision to move there? No. 

Did I know what I was going to find? No. 

Did I care? No.

For me it was the first time living in a country outside Western Europe, and I was 50% surprised in a good way, 50% surprised in a bad way to what I found there.

Living in a certain place is not the same as going on a quick holiday. When you live there you face reality, and for me reality in Sarajevo was not finding Danone yogurts, sliced bread, bacon and even certain medicines. You may think this is stupid, but when you try to go shopping and can´t recognise any of the products you buy, go back home and the next morning try to drink what you thought was liquid yogurt and head to work without any food in your stomach and with an awful taste in your mouth, in that precise moment is when you realise how much you are going to miss certain things.

I was shocked by the little amount of things supermarkets had, plus quite a few things out of date as well. 

That and going to the balcony on the first day of my new life and seeing the building on the right full of bullet holes. I mean, I knew there had been a war and that it was really bad, but I can say now, without a doubt, I wasn´t expecting it to be THAT bad.

I can talk for hours about my experience in Bosnia, the things I learnt from it, the things I rather forget but I can´t, the good, the bad, the really good, the really bad... I stopped counting the number of times that I asked myself if it was a good decision, and don´t take me wrong, everything that opens minds, teaches things and broadens horizons is great. But, and this is a big but, with the information I have now, I wouldn´t have gone on the first place.

To me, the number of bad experiences was bigger than the number of good ones, even nowadays when I try to recall only the good ones. By saying this I am not trying to convince you not to go. If you are looking for a weekend away I will totally recommend Sarajevo. If you are planning to live there... I wouldn´t.

Sarajevo has plenty of things to see, it is the city where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed, and his dead led to WWI. It is the city of the three religions, muslim, catholic and orthodox. It is surrounded by mountains, from where you can get great views of the city. It is the city where West meets East.

And it is also the city of war. The war in Bosnia was one of the first to be on TV all the time, and the images we could see, and the information provided where so awful, Sarajevo will always be linked to it.

But it is a pretty city. When you learn to forget about its scars, you can see its traditions and modern ways mixing throughout the city. I loved having traditional Turkish coffees in some places, and cappuccinos in others. When I was there, MacDonald´s and Burger King where not there yet (I think there is a MacDonald´s there now), which made the city even more appealing. 

Ok, I stop now. I just wanted to show you guys some photos of Sarajevo before I write more in depth posts about it. I hope you enjoy the images!

The men in the last photo were always there, under the rain, the snow, the sun... always playing a never ending game of chest. Even today, this photo is one that warms my heart. I will never forget their eyes, their faces, their expressions...

Thank you for reading!