Julia Speaks: October 2015

Detailed Pencil/Precise Shader/Angled Detailer

Blending Brush/Angled Shader/Classic Shader/Small Shader

I don't really know why, but I don't want to put too much money on makeup brushes. I understand some beauty products have to be on the more expensive side if you want quality (especially skincare and haircare), but I will never put 30€ on a single makeup brush. Honestly, except if you've got a horrible Poundland brush that loses its hairs all the time, every brush does the same job and you don't need to go for Mac or Make Up For Ever to find good quality brushes.

I spotted this Lamora brushes set on Amazon and I thought they looked quite nice and professional, so I pressed the 'put on your basket' button... And I was right to do so! This set is composed of seven brushes of all shapes and uses, this is everything I need to do my makeup. I've been thinking about getting a proper collection of eye makeup brushes for a while but buying them one by one was annoying, and this set was perfect because that's all you need.

It comes in a small box, quite handy even though the box in itself looks a bit tacky if you ask me - but it doesn't matter, I store my brushes elsewhere, but I'll keep this box because it might be very useful for travelling!

The brushes all have names on them so that you've got an idea of what they're used for. I was hoping that the brushes would be really soft and precise, and I'm happy to say they are! All the brushes are really soft and pleasant to use on the eyes, and the hairs don't fall at all when you wash them. My favourite brushes are the Angled Shader, that I use to apply eyeshadow on the outer corner and the crease of my eyes or to apply highlighter under my brows, the Blending Brush, and the Precise Shader for inner corner eyeshadow. The Angled Detailer is great to use under the waterline, I have yet to try it with eyeliner but it is quite thin and precise so I'm sure it'll work well too.

I am really happy to have given a chance to this set. Most of the time when you see a product that's from a brand you've never heard about and that isn't approved by all the beauty bloggers/YouTubers you know, and when it is a cheap product too, you tend to be suspicious and not go for it. But really you can discover cool products when you search a little, especially on the Internet!

This kit was £9.99 on offer, which is amazing considering its quality and the number of brushes you get. If you're interested you'll find the kit on Amazon (click here!), it is now on offer at £11.95. Believe me, these brushes are worth the try!

Did you know about this Lamora set? Where do you buy your makeup brushes?

Lots of love,

Julia x

October 28, 2015 3 commentaires

October 25, 2015 14 commentaires

When I was a child, I felt very uncomfortable around cemeteries and I was afraid that the dead would come and chase me because I disturbed their sleep. I know, I have probably watched too many films! Today, I can appreciate better the beauty of these places. I like cemeteries that are picturesque, full of greenery, and old - I enjoyed visiting the churchyards of Edinburgh a few months ago, fascinated as I was by the wonderfully carved tombstones.

The Père Lachaise is the biggest cemetery of Paris, and you probably know it because a lot of famous people - composers, musicians, authors, actors, and so on - were buried there. You can find them all by looking at a map at the entrance of the cemetery, because if you try to find them as you go along, you'll probably get lost as I did when I went there!

The place is huge, and you just can't see everything in one go - except if you spend the whole day there I guess. There are many levels and many small alleys: choose a path and see where it leads you! No matter which way you go, you'll find old 19th-century tombstones and more recent ones, stone and marble, flowers, beautiful statues. Some stones are real works of art! My favourite ones are the mock Greek temples, because how cool would it be to have a freaking temple as your resting place?

There are some guides that ask you if you want a tour of the cemetery, most of them are not officials hired by the city of Paris but just people who really know the place and can show you the most famous tombs along with anecdotes. I haven't done a guided tour so I can't tell you what it's worth, but I guess it can be interesting and can do no harm even though the guides are not officially registered.

The Père Lachaise is not what people come to Paris to see first, but take half a day of your trip to go there and discover something different, far from the bustle of the busy areas of the city!

PS: these photos were taken in late August, that is why I was walking around in a sleeveless top and without tights, don't worry I'm not just casually going outside in summer attire under our mid-October weather! :P

I'd love to know if you too like to visit cemeteries, please tell me I'm not the only weirdo who finds it pleasant to wander around these quiet places! :D

Lots of love,
Julia x

October 21, 2015 17 commentaires

I feel like there is a noticeable increase in Lush hauls during the autumn and winter time. I see Lush hauls everywhere, on blogs, on YouTube, I dream Lush, I live Lush. I decided to place an order last week, because I had no bath bombs left (horror!). I went for products that I'd never tried before, to make it a bit more interesting. It turns out that most of the bath products that I bought are blue or white, hence the title of this post - it makes for a pretty picture, doesn't it?

~ BB Seaweed fresh mask (£5.63): I have recently finished my Love Lettuce mask (that I reviewed here if you'd be interested), and I wanted to try a new one. BB Seaweed caught my attention because it is supposed to cleanse and soften the skin. Because we're getting into the colder months, I want my skin to be moisturised and I try to stay away from exfoliating masks. I've used it once already, and the texture is amazing. I'll be reviewing it at some point, I'm sure!

~ Big solid hair conditioner (£4.96 for 50g): solid conditioners are a mystery to me, I've never tried one before. I decided to go for Big because it gives volume to the hair. My hair is quite thin (even though because of the curls you wouldn't think it is), so I hope Big will add shine and shape to my hair. I'll keep you updated on that too!

~ Frozen bath bomb (£3.29): this bath bomb (third picture, left) was part of the Oxford Street store exclusives, but I'm happy they decided to sell all the new products everywhere. It was inspired by the Disney film obviously (which I haven't seen yet, blame me!), I got it because I thought it would make a pretty bath - and it does! I've used it already, and it turns the water a beautiful blue, with silver glitter. It smells quite fruity, and has neroli and rose oil in.

~ Intergalactic bath bomb (£3.29): ever since I saw this one I knew I had to try it. It is also part of the new collection, and as you can see from the picture (third picture, right) it has glitter all over it, and it has pink and yellow around it. It does look like a planet somehow! It smells very minty, and I can't wait to try it in my bath and see all the beautiful colours mix together and whirl around.

~ Blackberry bath bomb (£2.79): I picked this one simply because I saw the visual on the Lush website, and apparently it makes the water all purple and sparkly - that is enough for me! As the name suggests it smells fruity, but it has a sort of sweet scent too.

~ Milky Bath bubble bar (£3.13): this is also a new one. I wanted new bubble bars, my favourite being the Comforter. I thought Milky Bath would be a good one because it seemed very light scented and 'neutral', but actually it smells just like the Aqua Marina cleanser - which is my favourite cleanser from Lush, the smell is just amazing. I'd read that the smell is quite light once you use the bubble bar in the bath, but I found that the smell was quite strong (in a good way), and I could totally recognise it in the bubbles. I highly recommend this one!

~ Bar Humbug bubble bar (£3.04): you'll notice that this bubble bar looks a lot like the Comforter (it is smaller in size though). But it has the advantage of being covered in glitter! It is part of the Christmas collection, and smells of lemon and has bergamot oil in it. It'll make your bath all purple and shimmery, and I intend on using it with the Blackberry bath bomb.

I also got a few samples of hair treatments: Roots, Superbalm and Retreat. This is quite nice as I actually wanted to try out their hair care ranges, that will give me an opportunity to see what it's worth!

Tell me if you've tried any of these products! Do you love Lush bath stuff too? Are you planning on getting a few items yourself?

Lots of love,
Julia x

October 14, 2015 22 commentaires

October 11, 2015 19 commentaires

I'm not a sporty person, and I was the girl that usually avoided gym classes in high school by finding excuses not to get involved - have you ever faked a twisted ankle to escape the running class? well, I have. But for some reason, a few years ago I started to think about what being fit meant. I am not fat. I only have, like many people do, areas on my body where most of my fat seems to be concentrated: my thighs, mostly, and my belly too. So I decided to start slowly working out, on my own, at my own pace, through pilates video. My goal is to have a stronger core and body, to (hopefully) lose some fat and stimulate my muscles in some specific areas of my body.

In these past years, I have tried so many different videos and pilates/fitness YouTube channels, and I have now an idea of what I like and what I don't like, what works and work doesn't. So I thought it would be nice to share my favourite workout videos with you, in case you're in the same boat as me, and you want to exercise without diving in the scary world of sports and gym classes!

Today I will share the videos I do to work on the specific parts of my body that I want to slim down. I'll class my videos by 'body part' workouts if that makes sense, so here we go!

| The Abs |

My ultimate goal would be to have a flat belly, and to achieve that means getting rid of the fat stocked there and to work on the strength of the abs. I love challenging videos that make my abs hurt a lot, because otherwise I feel like it is not working. However, my advice would be to be very careful when you do abs videos not to hurt your back. If you feel like your back hurts, stop immediately and think over how you're doing the movement!

Extreme Abs 2, Blogilates: you'll mostly see Cassie's videos in this post, because I just love her! She is so energetic and friendly, and when you work out to her videos it's like she's in the room with you. She addresses you during the whole video, and I like that because I listen to her and it helps me not to think too much about the pain and about how much I want to stop the move! This video is really intense, and will make your entire core work, from the lower to the upper abs. If you're beginning, this video is not for you because it is quite intense, but if you're used to do abs exercises you should check this one out!

5 Best Exercises to Flatten the Lower Belly, Blogilates: this video is all about lower abs, and it is useful to work on them because it is one of the areas where fat tends to get concentrated the most. This video is not a difficult one, it makes the abs work without being too much of a challenge if you're not used to working out. If you do this one, I'd recommand you do another abs video to complete it!

Abs & Flat Belly in 5 Minutes, Bodytime: this video has become my favourite abs video. It is from a French channel, but don't worry you don't need to understand what is said to do it! You just have to follow the exercises, you might want to watch the video once to see what it's about, and then actually do it yourself. This video is only five minutes, but trust me, it is hard! It is composed of five moves, and every fifteen seconds you switch exercises. That way, the body doesn't get accustomed to the move and it makes it work more. Honestly, this one can be hard to finish the first time, but it does work. You have to do it between three and six times a week, and during the summer when I had time to do this video five or six times per week, I could really see a difference after a few weeks' training. Don't be afraid of the French and just try it, it is amazing!

| Butt and Thighs |

This is the second area of my body that I like to work on. I try to focus on making my thighs thinner and lifting up my butt (that sounds reaaally weird, but you know, we all love a full round bum!). I find that thigh fat is really difficult to get rid of and I'm still struggling on that side, so I would say if you can you should first of all go swimming because it can really help for that (rather than running, which can make your thigh muscles bigger and is not the best way to achieve slim thighs - if that's what you want of course). Here are the videos that I use the most for butt and thighs:

What Makes You Bootyful Butt Challenge, Blogilates: another video from Cassie! But this is my favourite butt workout video. It lasts less than four minutes (well, just the time of the song) and it composed of a single move, but towards the end you can feel it burn! You might think you look ridiculous while doing this (and you probably do), but this works so well! You can do it once every day or, if you have time and are feeling motivated, twice a day - you'll see results, trust me! (and you'll work out to One Direction, and that is something I never thought I'd do!)

Drive By Inner Thighs Challenge, Blogilates: this video is from the same series as the one above, you'll work out to that famous song by Train in a single movement that will really help to get your thighs thinner. You basically do the scissors exercise during the whole video, and my tip would be to do the video two times, not necessarily every day but when you do it, make sure you do it two times in a row for more efficiency. This is the first pilates video I did, and I was amazed at how quickly I saw results. My thighs are a lot slimmer in their inner side than they were before, and I still do this video years later, to keep them in shape.

Pop Pilates Inner Thigh Insanity: another video for the thighs (but the first move does make your butt work too). This video is a hard one, especially when it gets towards the end... the last move will surely work your thighs! I love how the video is built because it gets more and more intense as you go and you really feel that you're working. It's an old video but a good one, if you want to work quite intensely on the thighs to have results quickly!

Do you work out? If so, what are your workout top tips or the YouTube channels you follow? I'd love to have your advice too!