My Holiday in Greece

Instagram:  @charlhxo

So on Monday night I returned from my 10-day holiday in the beautiful island of Corfu, Greece. Ten days filled to the brim with delicious food, gorgeous views, walks along the beach, visiting castles and forts, swimming in one of the most gorgeous swimming pools I've ever seen and walking through quaint little streets filled with restaurants and cute souvenir shops. It was amazing and I really can't even believe I'm back already. Time flew by so quickly while I was there and I would give anything just to go back.
We stayed in a little, but very beautiful hotel. There were only 40 rooms and just one pool, and there wasn't any animation whatsoever. I actually really liked that! The first few days were spent wandering around all of the little towns and visiting quite a few monuments, like the old and new fort in Corfu town. The last couple of days were spent chilling by the pool and reading a lot. I actually finished reading the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and am now starting to read the second book. It consumed me to the point where I couldn't even think about anything else- when we were climbing one of the forts, I couldn't help but imagine I was walking around King's Landing, haha. I've been obsessed with both the Game of Thrones tv-series and the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, but that's a whole different topic. I might do a blog post on it as soon as I've finished reading the book and watching all the seasons!
Our third day was probably my favourite. We rented a little boat to explore the Northern coast of the island. It was so nice to just lay in the sun whilst being cradled by soft waves, looking at all the beautiful views. I actually even jumped into the ocean once, but immediately came out because not being able to see the bottom of the ocean is something that scares me a lot haha. After a while, we came across a tiny little bay. There where four restaurants on the beach, and you could just boat there and people would tie up the boat for you (I'm so sorry, I don't know the correct English word for this, haha!). We ate in one of those restaurants, which had that typical Greek atmosphere. Both the view and the food where both incredible, and the people were so so friendly and nice. We ate with our feet in the sand, and after we'd finished eating we could just swim into the ocean and lay on the beach for a while. It was the most incredible day and just thinking about it makes me sad to be back home again.

I really love being back home again. I missed my own bed so much, and just the familiarity and even the scents of your own home almost feels as good as relaxing on the beach on an island in the mediterranean. Almost. With a lot of imagination.
Have you been on a holiday this summer?

Easter Day!

Now that the Easter weekend is well and truly over, I thought I'd share some pictures I took on Sunday.  My family has always celebrated Easter and when we were younger, we used to get some presents- it always felt like a second Christmas to me and my little brother, but in Spring! My mum always makes sure to make it a special day, so this Easter was no different.
We invited some family members and my mum made the hugest, most delicious brunch ever- complete with champagne and all! There was so much to choose from; bacon, pastries, chocolate, yoghurt, lots of little sandwiches, eggs, cheese, cake, donuts (check out the cool little donut man!) and even more! It's safe to say I ate until my little heart was content, and didn't get hungry until the evening. Everyone ate lots and we talked until the afternoon. My little cousins got some toys, including this beautiful pink My Little Pony, which I wish was mine! My little brother and me also got a few tiny presents and lots of chocolate. I got Divergent, which I was so excited about- I read 125 pages in about two hours. Call me crazy. I also got this delicious, huge Easter egg. We also did a little Easter egg hunt for my cousins, before the brunch and it was so much fun.
When everyone was gone, I decided to take a walk with my dog because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was beaming and everything seemed so much greener and brighter. I love nature, I really do. When I got home, I decided to go sit in the garden for a bit with a glass of green tea and a huge bowl of fruit to read Divergent.
We also went out for dinner that night (I forgot to photograph that oops, bad blogger!) and I had the best chicken salad I ever had.

I had an amazing Easter. This post might seem a little bit overenthousiastic haha, but I really love those little holidays where you get to spend time with your family. It really makes me appreciate life that bit more. What have you been up to this Easter?

I'm Back!

Follow me on Instagram: @charlhxo

Super original title, but yes, I'm back! I haven't blogged since last summer and have to admit I really didn't feel like blogging anymore. I grew really tired of the whole blogging community and just didn't feel like doing it anymore. I started a new course at uni, which has been taking up a lot if my time. I've been really loving the course though, and I'm so happy I decided to do this! I've also been working, so you can imagine how busy I've been. Nevertheless, my love of makeup didn't fade away and I've been experimenting a lot.
I have a feeling this post is going to be all over the place, since there are so many thoughts in my head that I'm trying to write down. Over the past couple of months I kinda stopped reading (beauty) blogs en watching beauty related YouTube videos. I don't know why, but I think it was just a phase. I really think that you sometimes need to take a break from something you've been obsessing over for such a long time, and I definitely think it has helped me a lot. I feel more refreshed, and because I stopped blogging for such a long time, I now really can't wait to start again! I missed having a creative outlet.
As you can see in the little Instagram collage above, I got myself a Nintendo 3DS and I've been obsessing over it so much. I got the limited edition Animal Crossing one and also got Pokémon Y for Christmas, and I've basically played those games non-stop during my Christmas break. I think that's also why I kinda grew tired of beauty; I discovered the online gaming community and kinda converted to watching Let's Play's on YouTube. This probably sounds really lame haha, but I've always been a 'gamer' (I hate calling myself that, I don't know why!) and I enjoy it very much.
I've also been studying and doing uni projects non-stop. I've passed all of my exams so far (even Statistics!!) and I'm sooooo happy because of that. I guess you can say that I was really insecure about myself because I quit my uni course last year and I thought I just wasn't cut out for uni. Goes to show that when you really enjoy something and you work really really hard you can achieve anything you want! (It's pretty ironic that I'm procrastinating uni work while writing this... haha). Since the school year is coming to an end and summer is coming up, I don't have that much work to do for uni anymore and I have a lot of days off, so I now have more time to start blogging again!
I've also been trying to eat healthier and I've been really loving oatmeal with almond milk, bananas and cinnamon for breakfast. I also started to choose healthier snacks and I'm trying to stop having late-night binges- well, they're not really binges, but I always crave chocolate at night and can't restrain myself, which is not really healthy! I've also started to work out again and I'm feeling so much better for it.
So I guess that's all for now. I'm sorry this post was all over the place and not very interesting, but I'm really excited to start blogging again! I really need a creative outlet since my uni course is quite 'science-y' and not very creative. This blog isn't going to be all about beauty though, I also want to make it a little bit more personal. I think the biggest reason I stopped blogging was because I found it quite weird, and quite frankly a little bit embarrassing that people I know in real life read my blog. I don't know why but I still think most people think it's a pretty weird thing to do! One thing I'm working on is improving my self-confidence and not comparing myself to others, so I just thought I'd start this little blog up again. I like it, so why do I have to care about what other people think? I even un-privated (not quite sure if that's how you say it, but bear in mind that English isn't my first language!) my oldest blog posts because I really liked them and don't know why I put them on private.
Thank you so much for reading this post! I love and appreciate every single one of my readers. Hope you're all having a great day- I'm going to continue to do some uni stuff and then go out for a walk, since the weather is absolutely glorious today. What are you going to do today?

holiday diary- soaking up the sun

So as promised, here are another few holiday pictures of the beach, the temperatures there, what I had to drink and the SPF I've been using on my face all holiday long, which I'm planning on still writing a post about! Not too much pictures this time as I don't feel like putting my whole life on the internet though. I slept quite a lot the past few days so I've finally got rid of the post-holiday-tiredness, however I'm feeling a little bit ill at the moment! Possibily due to university stress. I start the 3rd already and am so scared! If you've ever written/read a post about going to university for the first time please don't be afraid to link me to it in the comments below, haha!

I'm not feeling my blog at the moment. I know, I know- I've said this a thousand times before, but I just don't think the layout goes with the 'feel' I'm going for- if you get what I'm trying to explain. My interests change quite a lot and I do find myself reading more and more lifestyle blogs instead of beauty blogs, so I want to try and make this more of a lifestyle blog with just a few beauty features in between! Don't hesitate to send me some links to good lifestyle blogs as I'm constantly on the search for new ones! Also don't forget to follow me on bloglovin!

xoxo,
Charlotte

holiday diary- into the twilight

So I'm back from my twelve-day long stay in one of the most beautiful (but alsomost abandoned and sometimes very dirty) country I've ever been to- Tunisia. I've had a great time, walking down the beach with my feetsies in the ocean, sniffing the air and floating on the waves, jumping into the pool and just reading a good book with a cocktail in my hand whilst listening to one of the most beautiful sounds ever- the sound of water and land colliding. I ate the most gorgeous foods and most definitely gained quite a few pounds, but it was all worth it. I've mastered the art of healthy eating and will most definitely try to hold on. As much as I loved it there and miss the hot weather-it was 50 degrees yesterday, we checked when we were leaving at 5pm-, I'm also happy to be back at home. My own bed never felt so good and I'll be the happiest person alive when I'll finally be able to jump into my boyfriend's arms after having to miss him for the longest time we've ever been without each other. I missed my dog so much, and being away made me even more appreciative of my home. These are all pictures taken on the same evening, when we went to take a walk on the beach. It got dark very early there- 7pm, but we didn't mind. I'm sorry it are all almost the same pictures, but I'll be uploading part 2 of my holiday pictures and then maybe a 'what did I eat' related post somewhere this week. Let me now if you would like to see such a post!

I'm leaving for uni at 3 September (which I'm sooooo nervous about!) so I'll have one week left before I'm going to live on my own. Exciting times ahead!

xoxo,
Charlotte

a little holiday treat

When we had a little spare hour left at the airport before boarding our airplane, me and my mom naturally decided to check out the little shop in the tax-free zone there. It's a very small airport, so they only had the basics there- booze, cigarettes, books, magazines, perfume, a little stand of OPI nailpolishes and just a tiny little bit of Chanel and L'Oréal make up. I had never smelled the Bronze Goddess Capri fragrance before, so I thought I would give it a try. It smells so lovely, it's the perfect light summer scent and it already has become one of my favourite perfumes. I love Estée Lauder and this has got to be one of their best perfumes, ever. I always have a thing with holidays ant scents- when I take a product with me on holiday, the scent of it becomes the 'scent of that holiday' and whenever I smell that scent somewhere else, it always does remind me of that holiday. Last year I had that with the Chanel Vitalumière Aque foundation and L'Oréal rose skincare line, and now I'm having the same kind of 'experience' with this perfume and my Origins A Perfect World cleanser, haha! The only downside of this perfume is the longevitability. Yes, yes- I know that it's an Eau Fraichen, which is basically the perfume with the shortest longevitablity and the lightest smell, but still. I feel like it disappears after 20 minutes!

The other product I bought is a very well-known, almost famous product; the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse (the normal version, although I would looooove to own the gold one!). It can be used on your body, but also on your skin and hair and I've been using it for all three purposes- it gives my arms a nice glow which is perfect for summer, it makes my hair feel al soft and smooth and leaves it frizz-free (haha) and mixed with my nighttime moisturiser I feel like I wake up with skin as soft as a baby's little butt. I've wanted this for quite a long time now, after my mom pointing it out for me in a magazine and seeing it on quite a few fair of blogs, but they never had it in my local pharmacies. So when we saw they had it in stock in the airplane, me and my mom were pleasantly surprised! She uses it too and loves it.

Sorry for the bad quailty of this picture! I've just quickly taken it with my phone because I couldn't really be bothered to get my 'proper' camera out (oopsies haha!) and also didn't really had the time!

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think about them?

xoxo,
Charlotte

sunday thoughts #1

001. I did originally want to do a little update on my life once a week, like maybe every Saturday of Sunday, but I did have some great news that I'm very excited about and that I would like to share with you all! As you might or might not now, I'm going to University in September to start my Psychology course! I've been very excited about it but also so, so nervous because I'm really not that good with new people, so I'm a little bit afraid that I won't make any friends when I'm there, which kind of sucks, but luckily, a very good friend of mine is joining me and we're going to live together! After searching for a home in our futur uni town for a very, very long time, we've finally found a great place! We have our own little kitchen and a brand new shower, there's a supermarket on the corner of the street along with two drugstores, a lot of cute, tiny little restaurants and a bus stop very nearby. There's a bus every 15 minutes, which is a huuuuge difference to my home town, where the buses do only drive every hour (in the weekend even every two hours!) or so! We're both so excited and I just can't wait to head to IKEA to buy some lovely bits and pieces for my room. I do already have quite a few! The room is already furnitured (it has a big, ugly brown closet and brown cupboards in it which I'm not allowed to paint white or something, eek!) but I'm planning on making it look beautiful. The matress is also very, very hard but I'm going to try to sleep on it first and then maybe get a new one/change it with the other matress in the house! We're living with the sweetest old lady EVER (she lives on the first floor, whilst we live on the second floor) and I can't tell you enough how EXCITED we both are!

002. Does anybody else sometimes get that horrible feeling that they're not allowed to feel excited? That something just can't be that perfect, that something horrible is going to happen? Yeah, I get that feeling pretty often (pretty much every single time I'm happy! If something good happens, that is) and it just really, really really really REALLY really sucks! It just causes me to have so many panic attacks. Reading this post written by the lovely Zoe has really helped me though, it's just so informative and I've already bookmarked it! It's actually more informative than some internet websites.

003. I've finally bought some Origins skincare which I'm literally SO excited about, I've always wanted to try some things by them but I always thought it was quite expensive as a brand, but now I do finally have some money I decided to take the splurge and invest in some skincare! I'm going to try everything tonight (does anyone else get overly excited by the thought of fresh, brand new skincare and pampering themselves?! I most certainly do!) and I can't wait to share my findings with you! I've also bought some lovely and gorgeous make up items (I did already tell you this in my last blog post, uh oh haha) and I'm already loving them so far.

004. I'm going to see Bon Iver in November! Eeeeek! I do already have the tickets for a month (this month has gone by so quickly, aah!) but I just thought I should share it with you, since it something I'm very, very excited about (if I didn't already shared it on my blog? I can't seem to remember!). I'm actually so honoured that I'm going to see such a talented, incredible, perfect and gorgeous musician live. I've been a fan of Justin and his music for almost 3 (!) years now and when his show in my country got sold out last October, I was pretty sad. So when I saw that he was coming back this November I literally called my dad the instant I saw it on Facebook and he ordered me the tickets! I'm going with a very good friend of mine which I haven't even talked to in ages, so we're going to have so much fun since we do already have so much stuff to catch up on!

How's your week been going? I hope everyone's been doing okay!

xoxo,
Charlotte

YouTube obsession?!

I love YouTube. I just think it's such a great medium to share your opinions, experiences, thoughts etc. with the rest of the world, not only on beauty, but on everything. Just one simple click and everyone can see what you have been up to. YouTube makes people laugh, cry (with happiness), eager to try something, happy and even hungry sometimes, haha. It's such a versatile medium which brings people together through a lovely community. People can be rude sometimes, but most of the time people are lovely, and that's why everyone does it, right?
Well now, do I still need to say that I just looooooove watching YouTube videos? I'm being obsessed with them, I even watch them in bed. I fell asleep watching someone's April Favorites video on my phone last night, so that should say enough, now doesn't it? I'm not much of a YouTuber myself (as in: make videos and post them on there) but I would love to get in them. Only three small problems:

1. I don't have a decent camera.
2. I don't know what to talk about, since I'm very shy and I would probably be shivering with nerves.
3. I'm Belgian and therefore my English accent/grammar is very poor, so poor that it's almost funny haha.

Since I'm not on youtube myself (I do have an account, however, but just so I can keep up with my favourite YouTube guru's and like/comment on the loveliest videos), I thought it might be a good idea to make a blog post of my favourite ever YouTubers! Most of them are quite well known, but I thought I would share them anyway for the people who don't know them already/need to get reminded that they need to watch a video of them! A little disclaimer: I prefer watching English YouTube videos over American ones. I just like the accent better and they're a bit more calmer, no offense! I watch them from time to time, but I just love British videos more. Is that rude/shallow?! So here they are, not in any particular order:

ViviannaDoesMakeup

Gemsmaquillage

FleurdeForce

Sprinkleofglitter (the most inspiring woman EVER!!)

Zoella280390

Gh0stparties

Whatihearttoday

Beautycrush

Meganisobel

Essiebutton

Thepersianbabe

Voussontbeauetbelle

LisaEldridge

Pixiwoo

So give them a look and maybe you'll become just as obsessive with YouTube as I am! I even watch more YouTube videos a day then I watch tv, isn't that insaaane? I know right! And if you already are a YouTube obsessant, maybe you will discover some lovely babes throughout it :) well, I'm off to watch some other YouTube videos haha!

xoxo,

Charlotte

My make up journey!

Images all courtesy of weheartit.com!

My blogging inspiration has been under zero the last few days. I was thinking about what to write about when I came up with a nice idea; why not write about my make up experience? I've always been fascinated and interested in make up, so why wouldn't I share all my greatest downfalls and epic peaks (that might just be a little bit exaggerated, haha) with you lot? I really love to read about other people's experiences, so I thought I should share my make up story with the rest of the world ;)

My first ever experience with make up was in primary school, when I was only 11 years old (I know). A friend of mine had brought a black kohl eyeliner pencil with her, and we were both eagerly excited to try it. It looks so beautiful on other people, so why wouldn't it make us look a little bit better? We rushed of to the toilets and my friend first attempted to apply it on her eyes. Then it was my turn, and I was really scared to put it on my waterline; I was afraid my eyes were gonna fall out or something like that. But I carried on and there it was; a really smudged, thick line under my eyes which we thought looked great! In retrospect, it made us look like two starving kids who hadn't slept for a week straight, and one of our classmates told us exactly the same thing back then, but we just wouldn't listen. They were all freaking out like; what will your mom say? Won't she be mad at you? But my mom wasn't mad at me at all! She was okay with it. We didn't do it again, though.

Then, almost two years passed without being interested in make up anymore. At the end of my first year at secondary school, I tried kohl eyeliner again though and this time it looked a lot better. People even told me that it looked great, but I was wearing glasses back then so you couldn't really see that. Half a year later, I think I was 13 years old, I started trying liquid eyeliner after seeing it on one of my best friends at the time. I drew a giant, thick line above my eyes and it went all over my eyelids and even on my glasses (!). It was waaaay too over the top, but I didn't see it back then (emo period, anyone?). A few months later, my mom came home with an Estée Lauder sample of a mascara and concealer in one. I thought the concealer was a foundation, so I applied it to my whole face. I looked so orange and the smell was AWFUL, but I felt more confident haha. I also wore mascara every day back then.

So when I was 14, I bought my first powder. It was the mineral one from maybelline, and I loved it! I suffered from acne a lot back then, and it gave me so much more confidence just because it concealed my spots. But after a year or so I started to find that it didn't give me enough coverage and didn't last throughout the day, so I introduced myself to the wonderful world of... foundations!

My first foundation was a cheap drugstore one. It didn't even reach the €5 mark. Looking back, I realise that it must have looked awful (I'm a bit of a make up snob when it comes down to foundations, lasting- and ingredients wise. I just think that high end foundations do a lot more and are so much better for the skin!). I used that for a while, and then, I discovered the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and I fell in love. The smell, the coverage, the finish, just everything about that foundation was great!

I didn't use a setting powder/bronzer/blusher back then, simply because I didn't know I could, haha. My knowledge of make up wasn't so high as it is right now! I've only started using more high end foundations since last year. A list of all of the foundations I've tried (including some drugstore bits); Estée Laurder double wear, Chanel mat Lumière, Chanel perfection Lumière, Chanel Vitalumière Aqua, Maybelline Dream Mat Mousse, the L'Oréal Equivalent of that, Bourjois Healthy Mix, Bourjois Healthy Mix Sérum, Clinique Supermoisture Make Up, and know I'm using the Estée Lauder Double Wear Light foundation, which I really love. I contour my face everyday, I use a nice blush, liquid eyeliner (which looks A LOT) better on me now haha, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick, lipgloss, eyebrow powder, primer, a setting powder, you know the drill.

So that was my kind of make up 'journey'! I am make up and beauty OBSESSED. I don't leave the house without just a hint of mascara and a nice lipstick on. I do not only think that make up can bring out the best out of everyone whilst concealing your flaws and enhancing your most gorgeous features, I also loooooooooove applying it, not only to myself but also to other people! (A skill which I need to improve an awful lot, but I will learn.) I can only dream of having stashes of make up like in the pictures above, but with €50 euros a month you can't buy much, now can you?! Poor student alert, haha. I would love to work in the beauty industry (even though I'm going to university to study Psychology in November, haha, but a girl can dream, right?!).

I would love to see others make up experience, so if you have a blog post written on it, feel free to share the link in the comments! I'm such a nosey person haha, but aren't we all? ;)

xoxo,
Charlotte