Travel Diary: Vatican City

One of the higlights of going to Rome, was seeing the Vatican. The Vatican is a city-state, which means technically you're in another country.

We had quite a bit of trouble getting inside because even though everything was registered beforehand, they didn't believe it once we got to security. 

Anyways, after about one hour, we got inside. If you want to go to Vatican City, keep in mind that you need to wear clothes that cover your shoulders and legs. (My outfit of the day will be online in a couple of days ;) .)

Inside, there were tons and tons of statues, it was absolutely amazing to see all of that. It was forbidden to take pictures in some parts of the Vatican, so that's why this post is not in depth about some works of art.

This statue is a statue of Octavus, also known as Octavianus and later on known as Augustus. We've seen a lot about him in history class and I think it was so cool that we got to see the statue for real!

In the middle of the garden, you can see a huge globe, with on the inside a complex structure. It represents the problems that the world has to deal with. It's really impressive and quite worth to take a good look at.
You might have to wait a bit because the tourists are swarming around it trying to get a selfie! :) 

We came across a few hallways and rooms that were decorated with Egyptian statues. I absolutely love the Egyptian culture and their mythology, so of course I got excited about this! 

To be honest, I was completely overwhelmed by Vatican City.

There's something to see everywhere you look. The paintings are gorgeous, but you can't watch them in detail because other tourists will want to look around or because you'll get backpain.

We were actually asked to leave because they wanted to close for the day, so I'd give you the advice to go early! 

This painting.... So so gorgeous! Look at the colours! 

That's it for this post! It's a bit longer than most of my posts, but it's worth checking out, I think.

Let me know what you think!

Have a lovely day!

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OOTD: Sheer maxi skirt

Goodmorning everyone! How are you doing?

I'm on the verge of finishing my exams, so I couldn't be doing any better! My last two exams will take place tomorrow and my knowledge of history will be tested, so I'm very nervous! Especially because it's an period of time that I didn't know much about before!

The exams are a very stressful time for me, I often have no time to spare so anything is good enough, as long as it's comfortable.

Most of my exams have been oral, so just going to school with comfy jeans and a basic T-shirt hasn't been an option for me. I always try a little harder when I'm going to be talking to the professor face to face - I think being well dressed at an oral exam proves that you are well prepared and that you wànt to put effort in a good 'reputation'/attitude.

Even though I haven't had much time to make new pairings or think about my looks extensively, I've found an outfit that looks like I've put a lot more effort into it and is still very comfortable.

Take a peek?

This outfit has got to be my favourite outfit of the moment. The shirt with the sequin lips has been a favourite for over a year now, but the maxi skirt is brand new. 

It's safe to say it's already a favourite!

Pairing the shirt and the skirt was quite easy. Since the skirt is blue, I wanted to go for something a little more "neutral" for the upper part of my body. A black or white T-shirt was a little too boring so I decided to go for grey and sparkly! It draws attention, but not too much. It's a nice detail, but it doesn't take away from the pop of colour that my skirt provides.

In order to create a waistline, I tucked the shirt in my skirt.

For accessories I wore a bracelet that matched the blue of my skirt perfectly. It's a great eyecatcher. It's only one bracelet, but looks like a whole lot of arm candy. I also wore rhinestone earrings that matched the sequin lips on my shirt. 

I got the bracelet and handbag from a market in Barcelona and the earrings were a gift.

My shirt and skirt are by H&M, my shoes are by New Look.

If you're still in school, I'd like to wish you good luck! 

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

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OOTD: Grannie's darling

Good morning!  

Retro outfits are right up my street. I love retro, 1950's glam, all that jazz.

Recently, I got this new strapless playsuit at New Look, because I knew Rome was going to be extremely hot. Someone in the group I was travelling with, said the pattern reminded him of the sofa his grandma used to have.

Yes, I'm Grannie's darling and I love it! 

There really isn't much to this outfit. There's so much going on already with the off shoulder/flowy upper part and the pattern, that I decided not to accessorize too much.
I literally put on my sunglasses, some gold sandals from H&M and grabbed my favourite beige purse from Primark. Done.

When I'm travelling, I love one pieces and especially if they already have enough detailing, that way I don't have to do too much work myself (I mean, hello, I'm on vacation ;p) and I can't lose what I don't put on.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a lovely day!

Travel Diary: Colosseum

If you've been following my Travel Diary series, you've probably been wondering why I haven't written anything about the Colosseum yet - the Colosseum is one of the most important buildings in Rome.

Well, today, I'm going to write about the Colosseum (but of course, I wanted to focus on other spectacular sights as well)!

When growing up, I hated history. I thought it was boring and annoying and I didn't understand people who liked it. I actually remember telling my sister that I thought history teachers were losers. It's now ten years later and I, myself am in training to become a history teacher.

Learning about the gladiators, the Roman empire, the kings (...) was actually one of the things that got me interested - or should I say - fascinated. I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard what the Roman empire was like and what they were capable of. I still can't, sometimes.

I hope that in the future I can be the teacher who tells the stories in such a way, that my students look up to me with big eyes.

I love sitting down on a desk and teaching history like it's story - I remember my own history teachers doing that and I never forgot about the two of them.

They were the only history teachers that could keep us quiet for a whole hour. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be where I am today. I would have never discovered my passion for history. I don't think they'll ever read this, but in case they do: thank you.

Another person to inspire me that day was this very nice local painter.

I actually got a painting for free from this very nice gentleman. I was asking about his art and he offered to give me one because he thought I was nice. Such a sweet thing to do, it absolutely made my day!

He was so kind and he actually spoke a little Dutch! Not so much though, so we continued talking in French.

Thanks for reading!

Limited edition Catrice eyeshadow quattro - "Zensibility" + make-up look!

Last week I was trying a new make-up look when I realized I always, always, go for warm tones.

I use gold, yellow, bronze, brown, but I rarely ever use silver or blue (unless I'm putting on kohl eyeliner, but then the eyeshadows that I use in combination are warm toned as well).

Today I'm changing up my old habits, I'm going for a cool toned make-up look. 

How do you know if something is cool toned/warm toned? Well, it's actually quite simple:

http://fashiondesignlist.com/fashion/cool-and-warm-colors-in-makeup

 

Someone told me to think of hot things when I'm looking for warm tones. She said "a fire is orange, red, yellow, and sometimes brown" and that's how you know those colours are warm tones. Then she made me think of something cold, ice, for example. 

Ice is white, blue, very light pink... 

I will never forget this example because I thought it was so great. Of course there's more than just pink and orange in the world, so that's why I inserted an easy guide (and link to more examples).

I found this limited edition Catrice palette with cool toned eyeshadows, which was a perfect opportunity: I got to try the cool toned look and I got to buy a new palette!

 

Before we get into the look, let's see if this palette's any good. The first thing that immediately struck me is the palette. Reminds you of something, beauty lovers? A brand called MAC, for example?

This palette is the exact same one as the small ones you can get a MAC. I love these palettes. They are small enough to fit in beauty cases but big enough to hold four colours (- and there are a lot of looks you can make using only four colours). They're simple but don't look cheap, I like them! 

I'm always a bit sceptical with very light eyeshadows. It happens often that dark colours have a lot of pigmentation, and light colours barely show up on the skin. 

As you can see in the picture with the swatches, these colours are very well pigmented. I was actually quite surprised. To be honest, Catrice has surprised me more than once in these last couple of months.

Here's the eye look! As you can see, the colours are very soft (which is something completely different than what I'm used to), but I like it.

My dad - who is also influenced by my blogging ;) - noticed it as well and thought this look was nice as well. 

I think this palette is such a nice palette for everyday. The texture is nice, I didn't have any fall out and the eyeshadow palette isn't very expensive either. I paid €4.99.

This palette is especially nice for you girls (and boys) who love wearing make-up but don't like to go too overboard. Or maybe if you're just getting into make-up, this palette is one for you! 

A tip I can give you is to keep the palette after you've used the eyeshadows. You can get the eyeshadow pans out and fill the palette again with individual eyeshadows from MAC.

Normally if you go to MAC, you'll pay both the palette and the eyeshadows. If you take this palette with you, you'll be one step ahead (and a few euros richer)!

Thanks for reading!