Skincare

 I'm not a big trainer person, let's just put that out there. Trainers generally don't go that well with my personal style and I find them often too sporty and dressed down for my liking. However, now and then I fall head over heels in love with certain designs and trainer types. It happened with Converse a few years back (some may argue these aren't trainers to begin with but shush okay haha) and late last year it happened with Adidas Superstars and Stan Smiths. It's something about these Adidas trainers that doesn't just make them sporty for me, but that also gives off a classy and sophisticated vibe. It happens to be that I'm all for classy and sophisticated. It wasn't long after that I bought myself my first pair of Superstars and not long after that, that I got a pair of Stan Smiths. The Stan Smiths I will be talking about today.

I can safely say now that I prefer the Stan Smiths over my Superstars, although adoring them both! Why you ask? Well, I find they are just that much more comfortable. As a girl with pretty wide feet and a high arch I find that shoes can look quite bulky on me anyway and the fit can also be way off. Even though the Superstars fit me well, I do still find them quite bulky to walk around in and as a girl with big feet I don't want to emphasize that. The Stan Smiths on the other hand are the total opposite They hug your feet like a glove and the leather is less stiff as well, making daily wear crazy comfortable. Also not unimportant: they make my feet look smaller. All through summer I've worn my Stan Smiths a ton and not once I worried about if my feet were gonna hurt on a long day out. In June I went to Amsterdam for example and I wore them all day without even having broken them in back then. Result? No pain or blisters whatsoever. Yes baby, I'm hooked.


This particular pair has the most gorgeous pink flowery detailing, a limited edition for the summer months, which makes them all the more special. Gotten quite some questions on them, even from random strangers. I first saw these when my friend got them and I knew I had to have them too (copycat that I am haha). What can I say, she has good style. I'll surely be wearing these for quite a while longer and for autumn and winter I already have a new pair in mind. Rose gold Stan Smiths ladies, it's gonna happen soon eeeeek!!

Another favourites post, another month gone. Am I the only one who can't believe summer is almost over? As for summer, so far we've been getting the loveliest weather the last week or so, that's supposed to last for a while. The Netherlands is making a comeback with the summer weather, having me not in the autumn spirit much yet at all. The month of August was one with ups and downs for me, with the biggest up being my graduation last Tuesday. You can read more about what I wore here. Anyhow, let's stop the babbling and let's get on with these favourites.


This month has been filled with quite a few favourites, but the jewellery love has surely been substantial this month for me. Firstly I've been obsessed with this sleek and classy looking New Look watch I ordered off ASOS sometime during July. I've worn it daily ever since and can't seem to part with it. I love that it has both the rose gold and the silver in it as it ties together my other jewellery bits that are both those tones. Some serious love has also gone toward these cheap 4€ silver hoop earrings from ASOS. They came in a set with gold ones as well, but my love for anything silver is real. Love to wear them combined with chokers to give off that 90s vibe.
I have a new sunglasses love! I know I know, I have a new pair every month... BUT these ones are from La Moda, I got them earlier this month, and am obsessed. After looking for the perfect pair of rose gold mirrored sunglasses for forever I finally found a good quality pair. They haven't left my face since. Who can resist rose gold, am I right?

My go-to scent this month is this gorgeous perfume by Paco Rabbane called Olympéa (review on it here). I've gotten multiple compliments while wearing it already.


Makeup wise I've got quite some things to talk about. First off this STUNNING Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette that I've been using non stop. I thought the glow on the other highlighters I own was real, but this baby is from another world. It's been perfect to achieve that summer glow. You guys need this one in your life! Favourites in the palette for me are both Hemisphere (top right) and Equinox (bottom right). I love to mix those two together, as well as use them on their own. Also a favourite for my cheeks has been this Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso, the perfect glowy peach blush. For lips it's been all about MAC Fanfare (review here) and the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk. Love the latter so much that it's been in my favourites for the second month in a row! Last but not least I've been obsessed with using an Essie nail polish called Mrs. Always Right on my toes for a cranberry terracotta pop of color. I can see myself loving this as a transition nail color on my finger nails as well.

Where many people seem to have a deep love for the body butters from The Body Shop, that's never truly been the case for me. I like them of course, but I find that they don't dry quick enough and leave my skin feeling too greasy for too long. So what do I apply to my limbs to prevent them from being horribly dry? Rituals comes to the rescue here. Their body creams guys, their body creams ahh! It's everything I need and more.

Like every summer, Rituals came out with a limited edition summer line, amongst which this delicious body cream. Truly, the whole line is delicious because of it's scent that completely enchanted me. The scent of the line, holy lotus and bergamot, is fresh, sweet and femine at the same time that lingers on the skin. Don't ask me how they did that, but Rituals managed it. The scents Rituals create always have such depth to them which makes them feel as such a luxury to use, another thing they have going for them if you ask me. 

The last product I swear by is a good bronzer. To be honest so far I only owned one bronzer that I truly loved to use: Hoola by Benefit. It's an amazing one at that. However, it was matte. For summer I wanted a more luminous look so I recently picked up this budget one from Makeup Revolution. So far I am completely blown away. More on this bronzer in an upcoming review.

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What are you guys's favourites to achieve that summer glow?

Perfume is something I can't go without in my daily life, there's not many things I enjoy as much as smelling amazing and spraying on perfume in the morning. Not only do perfumes smell nice, the scents of certain perfumes also make me feel more secure and good about myself. Weird as it may sound. When my staple perfumes were running out I knew I had to get a new one. As I'm someone who likes having a few options to choose from, I went on a little hunt for a new scent to call my own. In the store I quickly came across Olympéa by Paco Rabanne. This scent had honestly been on my mind for at least a month now but somehow I never got around to getting it, smelling it again reminded me why it had been for so long. I'm so happy it's mine now! Today I'll be telling you about what exactly it is that made me love this gorgeous scent so much.

Persoonlijk kan ik niet zonder parfum in mijn dagelijks leven, er zijn niet veel dingen waar ik zoveel van hou als lekker ruiken en het opdoen van parfum in de ochtend. Niet alleen ruiken parfums heerlijk, ook zorgen de geuren van sommige luchtjes ervoor dat ik me beter en zekerder voel over mezelf. Misschien klinkt dat raar, maar het is toch echt zo. Toen ik door had dat mijn gebruikelijke parfums aan het opraken waren, wist ik dat ik een nieuw moest kopen. Aangezien ik iemand ben die ervan houdt om meerdere opties te hebben om uit te kiezen, ging ik op jacht naar een nieuw geurtje. In de winkel kwam ik al snel op Olympéa van Paco Rabanne uit, Deze geur wilde ik eerlijke gezegd al meer dan een maand lang hebben en kon ik maar niet uit mijn gedachten zetten. Het opnieuw ruiken van deze geur herinnerde me eraan waarom dat nou precies het geval was. Vandaag vertel ik jullie wat het is dat deze geur voor mij zo geweldig maakt!


Not gonna lie, the first thing that drew me to this perfume was the STUNNING packaging! I mean, just look at it guys, isn't it the most gorgeous bottle you've ever seen? The shape of the bottle (inspired by laurel wreath coming from Greek mythology as the name of the perfume suggests), the rose gold detailing that matches the color of the actual perfume so nicely (!!!) and the fake diamond for a cap have me in awe (I can't even). It's so classy, sophisticated and girly. Come on, who isn't a sucker for a bottle like this on their dressing table. I sure am!

Het eerste wat me toch wel naar deze parfum toe trok, was het PRACHTIGE flesje! Ik bedoel, hallo jongens, is het niet de mooiste flacon die je ooit gezien hebt? De vorm van het flesje (geinspireerd door de oud Griekse lauwerkrans, zoals de naam van de parfum wel suggesteerd), de rosé gouden details (!!!) die de kleur van de geur in het flesje zo goed aanvullen en de neppe diamanten dop maken het liefde op het eerste gezicht. Het is zo klassiek, elegant en meisjesachtig. Wie wil zo'n mooie parfum nou niet op zijn kaptafel hebben staan! Ik in ieder geval wel.

Of course the bottle isn't the only thing that I love about it, as the scent itself is stunning as well. In all honesty, no scent from Paco Rabanne has ever stood out to me before and I associated the brand not exactly with anything great. However, they sure proved me wrong with this one and truly outdid themselves if you ask me. Olympéa opens with a combination of green mandarin, water jasmine and ginger lily, but it's keynotes are vanilla, sandalwood, cashmere and ambergris... I'm sure all that may say as little to you as it does to me (haha), so let me translate that for you. On first spritz this means to me that Olympéa is quite fruity and you can sure smell the mandarin in there. Within a minute or so this transforms into a much deeper and warmer scent where the vanilla and sandelwood stand out and the other notes lessen a bit (which I personally love). The combination of both makes it delicious and stand out from other perfumes. To me it is the perfect summer scent, it's a sensuel and sweet fragrance with a certain floral-y muskiness to it (right up my alley as other faves of mine are Chloé and Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf). However, it also has a sense of freshness to it. Many say it's comparable to Thierry Mugler's Alien, but sweeter, to give you an idea. This stunning perfume lasts on me all day as I can still smell it lingering on me when I go to bed.

Natuurlijk is het flesje niet het enige dat ik zo geweldig vind aan deze parfum, want de geur zelf is ook al zo lekker. In alle eerlijkheid had Paco Rabanne tot nu toe nooit echt een goede indruk bij mij achtergelaten, geen enkele geur sprak me aan. Ik associeerde het merk dan ook niet met lekkere geuren. Echter, het merk heeft alles goed gemaakt met deze parfum, als je het mij vraagt zijn ze zichzelf te boven gegaan. Olympéa opent met een combinatie van groene mandarijn, gemberbloem en jasmijn, maar de hoofdnoten van de geur bestaan uit vanille, Kasjmir hout en grijze amber.. als dat alles je al net zo weinig zegt als dat het voor mij deed (haha), laat me dat even vertalen. Als je de geur net aanbrengt ruikt Olympéa best fruitig en sterk en kun je de mandarijn er goed in terugvinden. Na ongeveer een minuutje veranderd de geur naar iets veel diepers en warmers en springen de vanille en het Kasjmir hout meer naar voren (waar ik persoonlijk erg van hou). De combinatie van beiden zorgt ervoor dat deze lekkere geur zeker goed te herkennen is. Voor mij is het de perfecte zomerparfum, het is sensueel en zoet, met een zekere diepere muskustoon (echt iets voor mij aangezien mijn favorieten Chloé en Flowerbomb van Viktor & Rolf dit ook hebben). Ook is de geur toch wel heerlijk fris te noemen. Menigeen zegt dat de geur vergelijkbaar is met Thierry Mugler's Alien, maar dan zoeter, om je een idee te geven. Deze heerlijke parfum blijf ik bovendien heel de dag lang ruiken, zelfs wanneer ik naar bed ga ruik ik hem nog lichtjes op mijn pols. 

Als je na dit alles ook graag Olympéa aan je parfumstash wil toevoegen, of de geur even wil ruiken, ga dan zeker even langs bij Douglas of ICI Paris XL. De 30ml wordt voor zo'n 52€ verkocht, de 50ml voor 77€ en de 80ml maakt je portemonnee zo'n 100€ lichter. Echter, een kleine tip: kijk eens rond op de google shopping page, waar vele websites de parfum voor veel goedkoper aanbieden. Zo heb ik mijn 50ml fles voor slechts 58€ kunnen kopen!