Julia Speaks: January 2016

January is often synonym of... Sales! In the UK it starts right after Christmas, but in France we have to wait until the beginning of the new year to get all the good deals and discounts of the sales. I've been shopping here and there during the past few weeks, and I have decided to share with you some of the items that I got! I left out some items of clothing that are only sold in France and that you couldn't fint in other countries, but this is about all I've found. Let's dive in!

~ Cream Cable Knit Jumper, Topshop (26€ instead of 52€): I couldn't find a link to the Topshop website for this jumper, because I got it from the Galeries Lafayette department store. I guess you can find it in usual Topshop stores. It is a cropped cable knit jumper, and I love it! It is just what I was looking for - a cream jumper with buttons on the shoulder. This is a timeless piece, that can be work with anything: a pair of jeans, shorts, or even with a skirt. A winter staple!

~ White Lace Cropped Top, Mango (17.99€ instead of 35.99€): I can never resist a pretty lace top... Lace is my favourite thing in the world, and I fell in love with this cropped top. It has a sort of flower pattern, and a really delicate detail on the bust area. Obviously one has to wear something under it, but it gives a sophisticated, somehow vintage look.

~ Brown Buckle Boots, New Look (29.99€): for years, I've only been wearing ankle boots, because I find them easier to style and more comfortable. I was actually looking for a pair of brown ankle boots when I saw these ones in New Look, I found them really pretty and decided to get them after all! It makes a nice change for me, and don't you think this pair is super pretty? :)

~ Orange Check Scarf, New Look (5€ instead of 12.99€): I got a new coat for Christmas (I'll probably show it to you in an OOTD post) and I really wanted a new scarf to match. As my coat is beige, I've decided to go for this burnt orange, red and greyish blue scarf. I love check prints on scarves, and this one is quite different from what I go for generally, in terms of colour. It is really long and warm, I love it!

~ Cinders and Yog Nog Bathbombs, Lush (5.10€ instead of 10.20€): after Christmas, the Lush Christmas range goes on sale, and that's always when I pick up some products - because after all, bath bombs are not a necessity so paying half price for them is always appreciable! There weren't many left though in my usual store, so I only got Cinders (which I love, it has a great cinnamon scent) and Yog Nog, that I've never tried before. They'll come in handy for hot baths these days!

These are all the things that have joined my collection in January. However there are a few beauty picks as well, but wait until February to read my first beauty haul of 2016! I still need to get one or two items that I've wanted for a while, this is happening soon! ;)

Did you find good deals in the sales this winter?

Lots of love,
Julia x

January 27, 2016 20 commentaires

Although I'm a big coffee drinker, one of my resolutions for this year is to try and reduce the amount of coffee that I somehow manage to gulp down every day. I've decided to switch for tea, which is a healthier drink to have when you want to have it in large quantities. I am not a tea addict, but I do like to have a mug once in a while, and as I had no tea left at home, I thought I would order some from a company that I discover last year and that I really liked.

Chantler Teas is a small Welsh tea company, that produces a variety of different loose leaf teas; produced regionally and that guarantee the best of quality. I discovered them last year at the Cardiff Christmas Market in the National Welsh Opera, where I got a bag of their Christmas Spice tea. All the teas smelled amazing, and I was not disappointed in my choice - I loved this tea so much that I got it again this time!

I chose three very different teas, because I wanted to explore more of what Chantler Teas had in store, and I thought I'd share these with you as I really like them all.

~ Chantler's Christmas Spice: this is my favourite tea of the three. It is a black tea in which orange pieces, cinnamon and cloves add a wonderful taste of Christmas, as the name suggests. I quite like strong teas, and this one does have a recognisable taste. The orange is what comes out the most in terms of flavour, and it is nicely associated with the cinnamon. I recommend drinking it without any sugar if you really want to experience its taste.

~ Winter Marzipan Rooibos: I was recommended this tea by a friend of mine, who got it in Cardiff too and loved it. I was right to pick it up! From the moment you open the bag, the smell of the almond is amazing. This tea is composed of rooibos (decaffeinated tea), almond pieces and different nut oils (almond, hazelnut and walnut). This is perfect if strong teas are not to your taste. I'd never had rooibos before, and I like how light it is.

~ Vanilla Spiced Chai: I was drawn to this one as I like the idea of vanilla and spiced together, it sounded like a good, comforting flavour for a winter tea. It is made with vanilla black tea, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper and clove. If you like spicy teas, this is for you! As advised on the website, I brewed the tea with hot milk, to make a chai latte - I'd never had one of these before, and I quite liked it. I think it is good to add a lump of sugar in the milk to give it the sweetness that may lack if you take it without anything. It is indeed really spicy, and I find that the vanilla is left behind all these spices a bit. You can of course brew it with boiling water, and in that case you can taste the vanilla a lot more than in the chai latte.

These teas are all really good, and I'm happy with all of them. They are great for winter - and this is one of the reasons why I chose them. I couldn't hope for a better quality too, for a very cheap price as well! If you like tea, I really recommend you to check out the Chantler Teas website - they have so many different types and flavours, and because tea is obviously lightweight, the shipping costs are reasonable. This is not a sponsored post at all, but I wanted to speak to you about this tea company in case you had never heard about them!

Do you love drinking tea? What is your favourite flavour and brand to have?

Lots of love,
Julia x

January 20, 2016 11 commentaires

January 17, 2016 4 commentaires

January 13, 2016 17 commentaires

January 10, 2016 10 commentaires

I was really looking forward to writing my 2015 favourites post, it is a good way to wrap up the year in terms of beauty and lifestyle. Last year I focused on makeup (that was my first post ever on the blog actually, you can read it here!), but this year I decided to add some clothing and books to my favourites, because all of this represents me really well and I do love all of the items I'm going to show you! This is going to be a long post, so let's start straight away:

~ Makeup & Beauty Favourites ~

~ Real Techniques Dupe Blusher Brush (Amazon): I got this brush at the beginning of the year on Amazon, because it looked exactly like a Real Techniques brush and it seemed nice - and it is! It is the softest brush that I have, and it has not lost any hairs at all. Although I haven't tried the original Real Techniques brush which this is the dupe, I'm sure the quality of this one is the same - and for a much cheaper price!

~ Max Factor FaceFinity Foundation (in Boots or Amazon): I have featured this foundation in a favourites post a few months ago, and it is still in my favourites now! It is the best drugstore foundation that I've ever tried, basically. It has a medium coverage and you can build it up, it lasts the whole day and has a very natural, almost matte finish. I only have half a bottle of it left, and I'm dreading the day when I finish it because you can't buy it here in France haha. It will definitely be on my Boots list when I go back to England in April!

~ Make Up Forever, Full Cover Concealer (link): When I ran out of my Collection concealer, I decided to go back to this one, which I had bought a couple years ago (!!) but for some reason I did not really enjoy using it. Now it's been a few months and I've really discovered it, I love it! The coverage is great, and the texture is quite thick so you can really feel that it is working. A bit on the pricier side than the Collection concealer, but if you want a great quality, you should totally invest in this one!

~ Nuxe, Crème Prodigieuse (link): this anti-fatigue moisturising cream is my all time favourite! Around October time, my skin was feeling and looking awful, so instead of my usual Nivea cream I decided to switch with this one. I've had it a few times in the last years, and it is the cream that works best on me. It is really soothing and moisturises the skin without making it look oily. Plus the scent is wonderful!

~ YSL, Black Opium Eau de Parfum (link): do I have to explain this? I know it has been featured in a lot of blogs recently, but I've loved this perfume for years now and I'm not surprised to see it pop up everywhere! It has a deep, sensual scent with sweet notes beneath the main notes. The bottle is gorgeous as well, and I feel like this is a grown-up woman scent but that's not too strong like other perfumes can be, like some Guerlain and Chanel ones (honestly, Chanel n°5 is SO STRONG urgh).

~ Nuxe, Huile Prodigieuse Or (link): I often rave about the original Huile Prodigieuse, but this year I want to put this one forward. I've used it a lot this year, especially in the summer and around this festive time. It basically looks like melted gold, and feels so luxurious on the skin! It gives a wonderful shimmery finish, and you'll get so many compliments when you wear it, trust me.

~ Nails Inc. Nail Polish in Knebworth (no link): this is one of the shades I've worn the most this year, I always come back to it when I want nude, neutral nails. It is very hard to describe, a sort of greish beige, with pink undertones. It looks flattering on any skin tone, and I love adding some glitter to make it look a bit more sophisticated!

~ Mac Lipstick in Dark Side (link): this must be the makeup item I've mentioned the most on the blog this year, but damn I love it so much! It is a deep burgundy red, the perfect Autumn/Winter lipstick - but it works great at any time of year really. I've been using so much, and it is the first year that I actually wear it that much, before that I was slightly afraid to wear it because of how bold it looks. But I've learnt to love bold lipsticks in the past months, so this is at the top of my list!

~ Fashion ~

~ Harry Potter Hogwarts Sweatshirt, Primark: this is not the most original item of clothing, nor is it the most sophisticated, but I love it and I've worn it almost every week this year! I got it a few years ago from Primark so you won't find it there anymore, but you can still check out from time to time because they always come up with new Harry Potter themed clothes! I think this was actuallly a pyjama top, but I don't care and I always wear it out haha. It is super comfy and obviously awesome, y'all agree with me right?! ;)

~ Blue and White Tile Print Dress, TK Maxx: I fell in love with this dress as soon as I saw it, because this azulejos inspired tile print is one of my favourite things - it makes such a statement in your outfit, and this combination of white and blue is timeless I think. I love the collar of the dress as well! If you want to see how I style it, check out the OOTD I posted a few months ago!

~ BOOKS ~

~ Joanne Berry, The Complete Pompeii (link): Ancient Rome is one of my main interests, so I was glad when I finally got a book just about Pompeii and its history! If you're into Ancient History, if you've visited the place and would like to know more, this is the best book ever. It is so complete (as the name suggests haha), it covers the whole history of the city and also speaks about how the rediscovery came and how excavations were made, which is something that I'd actually never researched before and that I found incredibly interesting. One of my best finds of the year!

~ Marilyn Butler, Romantics, Rebels & Reactionaries, English Literature and its Background (link): when I was at Reading uni, I had a course about the Romantic period in English literature. I really got into it, and I picked up this book in a British Heart Foundation charity shop because it was exactly what we were studying! This is a book that focuses on different writers of the period, from Coleridge and Keats to Austen - surprisingly!. Definitely not a light read, but if you're a literature student or only interested in the period, this is a good book to have on your shelf!

~ Katharine Reeve, Jane Austen in Bath: Walking Tours of the Writer's City (link): those who know me well could easily tell you about how much I love Jane Austen! This is not a topic that I choose to write about on my blog, but I could talk about her for hours haha. This little book is quite informative, with different walks to take in the beautiful city of Bath, along the paths that Jane herself took two hundred years ago. There are lovely illustrations and engravings to show you the way, and that makes you really feel like you're in the Bath of the 1800s!

So here are my favourites for 2015, very eclectic I have to say! I'll try to talk more about books this year, because I read a lot and I feel like this is something that I'd like to share with you alongside beauty and fashion. Please let me know if that would be of interest to you! :)

What are your favourites for 2015?

Lots of love,

Julia x

January 06, 2016 18 commentaires

So that's it, we are in 2016! I am always excited when a year ends and another starts, and I am usually full of new resolutions - that I actually sometimes accomplish, eh! - and motivation. This year, although I have great hopes that it will be a good one for me, I am not too sure about how I feel. I have mixed feelings, and I have decided to write them down and share them with you, so that maybe it will help my mind to clear up!

2015 was definitely a great year for me. The first six months were spent in England, where, to be honest, I had the time of my life. I knew even before I set foot in Reading that I was going to love it, and I surely did. Leaving was quite hard to get used to, and I've found myself, these past few weeks, dreaming about it again and feeling very nostalgic. I had the chance to visit many amazing cities, meet amazing people, and make so many memories that will never fade. And it also made me realise I do love France nonetheless - I was somewhat happy to come back to Paris and visit again the place where I used to go all the time before my year abroad. I live in a beautiful country, with family and friends nearby, and it is a joy to share some time with them after months of being apart.

This year, I've also started to feel more confident - although this comes and go - and to expose myself here on my little blog. This is truly one of the highlights of my year; I love that I really got a lot of comfort and happiness from blogging. I also read a lot, and learned a lot of new things - through books, through an online course about Ancient Roman architecture that I followed, and through documentaries and tourism. This is not something that I share on this blog because it is not the target, but I love History and Art and learning is one of the highlights of my life. Anyone passing an exam about Roman temples? I got you covered haha.

To sum it up, 2015 was very rich for me in terms of experience, discovery and overall happiness. Only, the past few weeks got me quite pessimistic I have to admit. Since the killings in Paris on November 13th, I have not been feeling the same, and I have no idea when this strange state of mind will pass. Not that I am thinking about it every day, but you know, there is this constant threat hanging over our heads, that tell us that things are not going to be right. At least this is what I feel, to me we have reached this state in our History when something has just happened, that will change the years to come in a way that we can't predict yet. It was bound to happen eventually, but that has made me feel less secure in my country. This is also why I'm really looking forward to the moment when I go back to live in England, because I feel so much at peace there, that it is the only thing that will make things better for me.

So, 2016, I'll just ask you one thing: let me go back to England. I am going to apply for a job there and if I am lucky enough, I will be living there again around September/October time. Other than that, I have a few other things to look forward to this year. Firstly, I am going back to Reading in April for a week of holiday, and it makes me so happy even just to think about it. I also have booked a holiday in Sicily in May, and I am super excited because I love Italy and have wanted to go back there for years.

I will try to make 2016 a good year. We never know what the future holds, and unfortunately I am not very optimistic society and world-wise, but in terms of myself, personally, I'll try to stay happy, motivated, focused and hard-working. I'll try to take new opportunities and spend some quality time everywhere I go and whatever I do. And obviously, I'll keep on writing on this little blog, because I always come back to it, even when everything else is going wrong!

What are your goals for 2016? Are you looking forward to doing some special things this year? ♥

Lots of love,
Julia x

January 03, 2016 10 commentaires

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