DiCaprio and the Oscar

6th time is the charm. Well done Leo, you finally did it! :) Congratulations!

Weird Habits | More Weird Shower Habits

Every week or so, I through my shower puff and exfoliating gloves in the washer, with my towels and stuff... It's just disgusting to clean my body with something that it's not actually clean. It's made of a net-like material. Can you imagine all the dirt, dead skin and yucky stuff that gets stuck there?... I don't even want to think about it!

Review | Lush NEW Solid Shampoo Bar

Hello everyone! Today I am bringing you a small review of Lush's NEW Solid Shampoo Bar, that I got a few days ago.

I think this product is so cool. It is completely different then what you would expect for something called shampoo. It is so interesting and so unique. I was dying to try it out! 

Lush has a lot of different Solid Shampoo Bars, with different smells and for different purposes. The one that I got smells like cinnamon and clove and it is suppose to help with hair-fall and breakage. 

It should last up to 80 washes, which corresponds to 3 bottles of liquid shampoo.  They are a little pricey -- 7.95€ if I'm not mistaken-- but if they really last that long, it's not that bad.

It comes with no packaging at all, so you do need to buy a little tin container as well and that costs 4€, You don't have to buy it, but it good to keep it in a container. I bought it because I travel a lot and it's useful to me. Oh, and that's another thing I love about it being solid! I can take it on a plane with me!

In the store they gave me a couple of tips on how to take care of  my bar to make sure it lasts as long as possible:

1) Do not submerge in water. Get it wet but don't completely put it under water. If it gets too soaked it will take a long time to dry and it may start to crumble.

2) Dry it in the sun or near a window. It should dry between uses, and the best way to do it is to put i near a window where it can get some sun. This will avoid the proliferation of mold and some other bacteria.

3) If you are getting one of the tins, get the squared one! It sticks a bit to the bottom and this ones are easier to get the out, without braking it.

They are very simple to use --  all you do is wet you hair and and you just give it a couple strokes all around your hair and it starts to ladder up immediately, creating a lot of a very small fluffy foam.  

It feels a bit different from regular shampoo. The baking soda really reacts and you feel like a lot of air is getting mixed into your hair, giving you a lot of volume. You hair feels immediately lighter. 

If you drop some of the foam in the water you'll hear a very satisfying fizzing, which is really cool. Something else that I've noticed is that I think my hair absorves less water, after rinsing it. I realized that it was so much easier and fast to blow-dry my hair, compared to what I am used to. It really feels like I've removed all the excess oils from my hair, and I love that feeling! 

The smell of the actual bar is really intense, but it just leave a subtil aroma in your hair, that lingers around for a couple of days. 

I've actually washed my hair on Sunday. Today is Friday and it still looks good, light, with a lot of volume, and it still smells like cinnamon! Super awesome!

I hope you enjoyed my review! I think you should all try this, I think it's so eco-friendly and that it will save you money on the long run! It's really awesome!

Stuck In My Head | Let Me Love You

I just stared to sing this song out of the blue! I think I haven't heard it in like 10 years, but I still remember all the lyrics! Anyone else? 

It's impressive the amount of crap my brain can retain instead of important stuff like birthdays, meetings and stuff to do.

"Baby I just don't get it,
do you enjoy being hurt?
I know smell the perfume
the make up on the shirt"

 "Be a macaroon in a cookie cutter world "

Have you seen those ads on TV either for vitamins or supplements where they say "This product is not sold in pharmacies".

Is that supposed to be a good a thing? Am I supposed do want to buy something that is announced as not sold in pharmacies? To be honest, it doesn't inspire me any confidence when I hear that... It just makes me doubt about how good -- and safe --  the product is.

My WTF moment of the day

I'm not writing this post to brag or to make you feel bad. Just to let you know that we all have job-search related struggles. 

It's not like I am avidly looking for a new job. But I don't want to work in the same place for the rest of my life. So once in a while I check some job platforms. So the other day when I saw that I big company was look to hire someone with my set of skills, I sent my CV.

Today I received a call. I couldn't answer because I was in a meeting but I called back 10 minutes later. A lady answered and I said my name and that I had a missed call from that number. She answered "oh yes, I called you to schedule an interview but now that's off the table. I'm sorry". 

Of course I immediately asked why and she told me that she saw my CV in more detail, that she saw all the places where I've studied and lived and all my great qualifications and that she would prefer giving the job to some less qualified, maybe unemployed, or as she putted it : "that has had less opportunities". 

WTF. I was shocked I didn't even knew what to answer.  

It would be ok if they don't want to hire me but changing their mind about even interviewing me! It's insane. 

I understand that having a good CV  -- and being employed -- implies that I'm hoping to, I don't know, get more money or whatever. But that's not the case. I've said here on the blog many times that in my current place of work I feel like that the work load is not evenly distributed, and that I end up doing a lot more then I'm supposed to. That's why I was considering to change jobs.

What I don't understand is why they don't even want to meet with me. 

HAVE YOU ENTERED THE GIVEAWAY?

HERE

Must Watch | Lush Solid Shampoo Bars

I went to Lush today and bought their NEW Shampoo bar -- new is the name, it's not new, it's called new... It's actually the one she is showing in the video. I think solid shampoo bars are so different then usual! I have been so curious to try it and I finally bought one! Have you tried it? Should I review it?

Btw I went to Lush, bought two tiny products and spent 19€ -- It's freaking expensive guys!

Travel | Barcelona, Spain

Barceloneta Beach. That awful gritty sand and the Mediterranean Sea. I love this place.

A friend of mine just told me:

"On week days you look like a sophisticated business lady. On weekends you look like a 15 yo boy"

Welcome to my life.

GIVEAWAY | FIRMOO.COM [CLOSED]

Hey everyone!

Today I'm bringing you another awesome giveaway! This time, one of you will win a free pair of glasses (eye-glasses or sun-glasses, you choose! ) and one 10$ Vouchers to five of you to be used on Firmoo.com! How awesome is this?!

Firmoo is an awesome online shop that sells all type of awesome, trendy glasses! It's one of the most popular online eyeglasses store! It has a huge variety of models at a super affordable prices!  But the low prices are not synonym of low quality. NO NO NO! Firmo know that glasses are an a crucial accessory for some of us, that we have with us everyday and they understand that it needs to endure our busy lives!

To win one of this prizes, all you need to do is to follow my blog and to make a comment where you tell me the model you want! You have to chose your favorite from HERE!

Once again, I'm running this giveaway using Rafflecopter, so don't forget to sign up in the widget at the end of the post. It will end on Saturday 27th of February at 12:00 am. I will announce the winner shortly after!

Good luck everyone! :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Braces | Week #12 + Check up

Okey. So today was appointment day. 

First, the doctor made me wait a long long time for the appointment. It was supposed to be at 10:15 am and she only called my name at around 10:40 am. I hate when this happens. 

When I went inside, and I told her that next time I would prefer her to be on time because I may have important things to do after and that sometimes -- more like, all the time --  I'm on a tight schedule! And she said she thought I was still in High-school. Yup. Apparently I look 10 years younger that I actually am! It must the L'ORÉAL Paris Revitalif Filler face cream I've tried last week ;)

So, she changed my rubber bands (Rubber-Bands Color: Burgondy). For me it hurts a lot to remove and add the rubber bands. You know I haven't complained about pain a lot, so far. But this really hurts me.

She finaly glued the missing bracket. This time she placed a thicker wire. And this one is making a lot of pressure. I can defenitly feel it. It hurts a little bit. And it's making have a headache.

From my last update to today, not much has changed. It was basicly the same. Maybe the really huge changes only happen in the fist month... Anywho, I'm very happy with the result so far, although my smile looks kinda weird. It's sliglhty tilted,

Next month I will get my bottom braces! I'm so scared!! People say it hurts so much more than the top one. Is it true? 

Review [YOUZZ] | L'ORÉAL Paris Revitalif Filler

I have finally used this product for two weeks straight now and I think I'm finally able to give you my opinion! This product was sent to me by Youzz to try out and to review! Youzz is a website where you can sing up to try out new things that come in the market and report your experience in your blog or on your social media. It's not only beauty related products, but also food, stuff for around the house, even experiences like going to see a movie! A lot of different stuff! Click HERE to sign up and become a youzzer!

I have to make a disclaimer first: this product is not really appropriate for my age. It is designed for more mature skins, so I'm not sure it worked properly. Anyway, I like to try new stuff so I gave it a shot. And I have a lot to say about it!

Let's start with it's appearance! I love the color scheme, and I think that the pot looks super nice. I like the gun-metal color on the outside of the pot and I love how simple it looks. No big labels and ingredients' list. I like it.

When you open the big lid, it has like a plastic protection cap, which I have no idea what it is actually for, but I always like when products have it. It give me an high-end feel -- because usually high-end products have this little cap and it just makes the product feel more luxurious to me!

The product it self is very creamy, and a little bit goes a long way. When you apply it it doesn't feel pasty or oily. It actually feels like a powder. It makes my skin feel extremely smooth. I like that. And I definitely felt like my skin is thither after using this product. Specially around my cheeks. I can't precise how tighter it felt -- like they announce in the box. But I definitely feel it.

Overall I think it is a super nice product! I have recommended it to several friends -- some older coworkers -- and two of them actually bought the product and told me that they are loving it!

This product is actually on sale now in Continente, with 50% off, and if you would like to try it go pick it up! I am sure that you'll be very pleasant with the results!

#youzz #youzzrevitaliftlaser #youzzrevitaliftfiller

Must Watch | Ex Machina

Have you seen this movie? You should! It's really awesome!

" I need to cut my hair"

- Something I've been saying for the past 3 months. Maybe I'll go this week. 

Valentine's Day

Valentine's day is not a date that I celebrate effusively. In fact, I think that Valentine's day is just a stupid day created to sell tacky stuff. Usually we don't make it into a special day. I don't buy a gift for my guy and he doesn't buy me one either. But I do make him something special. Like a cake or a desert that he likes. This is something I'd also do in a normal day! But only because society imposes that we should do something special this day and I have this idea so well engraved in my mind that I feel the need to do something. Last year, my guy bought us a couples massage on Groupon but it wasn't a surprise. He told me that he was buying that because it was cheap. And since we are always so busy, we only redeemed the voucher in the summer. We don't need a special day to remind us that we love each other. 

If you are single, you don't have to feel bad, sad or depressed! Before loving someone else you have to love yourself! The relationship that you have with yourself is the only relationship that you will have forever! So give yourself gift. Go to the spa or just go somewhere you love!
Don't worry about what other others may think. You are strong and independent, you love yourself and you are awesome enough to spend valentine's day with yourself.

Let's escape winter | HomeAway

The weather has been dreadful. Rainy and all grey. And I hate this. It makes me so depressed. When I look out the window all that my heart wants is to go away! To travel to a nice warm beach. And just lay in the sun and relax!

Let's imagine for a second that we could do this ok? That we could chose a nice warm sunny place and just leave our busy lives behind and go! Let's plan our trip shall we?

What do you think about Florida Panhandle ? The Sunshine State sounds awesome to spend some quality time! Yes, I can definitely imagine my self just relaxing on St. George Island, maybe going to Disney World! 

As for accommodation... Well HomeAway has so many great vacation places to rent, with so many price points that, tbh, I am sure that I would find there some great options! If you are actually thinking about you holidays and starting to plan them, don't forget to check HomeAway! It's cheaper then a hotel and you are renting a whole house, which gives you the freedom to have your won space, make your food, and have no schedules! Something that annoys me when going to hotels is having to respect the meals schedules -- like breakfast is only until 10 am or lunch only until 14h. And I just hate having to worry about that!  

But now, the hardest thing --  what to pack! It is always hard to decide what to take! But I have a few essentials that I cannot live without and that I have to take with me! Of curse I'm not showing you the obvious stuf but a few awesome things that I think are a necessity for some great holidays!

(1) A nice summery colorful flowy jumpsuit. Good for going to the beach but also nice enough to walk around with. And of course, super comfy! For me soft tie-dye pastel colors just scream summer and beach! Love it! -- HERE

(2) A nice backpack to carry  all my stuff with me! I think that the Herschel Classic Retreat Backpack in khaki is just amazing! For me it screams summer adventures! -- HERE 

(3) An amazing beach towel is also something that I need with me. This ones by Vertty are just the coolest ones I've seen! First they have a really unique shape! Also, they have a waterproof  pocket for you to keep your phone or keys always dry! I love the Coral one! -- HERE

(4) My JBL Clip+ Bluetooth Speaker is also something good to have on hand! It's great to listen to some music, in the beach -- since it's splash proof -- or in the morning when I am getting ready! -- HERE

(5) We cannot forget about sun protection! My favorite brand for sunscreen is from Vichy and I always use SPF 30 for my body and SPF 50 for my face. For my lips, I like EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm with SPF15 in Sweet Mint!

I hope you liked it! Let me know, in the comments, what would you pack for escaping the winter? And don't forget to visit HomeAway!

Partnership | Oriflame by Ana Dinis | Gift Ideas

OK. So we are three days away from Valentine's days. Do you already have everything ready for the big day? Have you bought a nice gift, made reservations in a fancy shmancy  expensive restaurante and prepared a super romantic evening for you special one? Have you? NO?! Well, me nether. No one has time for that. But anyway, society tell us that we need at least to get a SMALL gift for that person that warms our heart.

Even if you don't have a sweetheart, I think you should give yourself a gift ok? Just because, don't ever ever forget that you have to love yourself before loving anyone else!

So today I'm brining you 5 sugestions for her and 5 sugestions for him, all from Oriflame.

(1) Eau de Parfum Love Potion Secrets  

(2) 5 em 1 Lipstick Colour Stylist The ONE & Liquid eye-shadow Metal The ONE 

(3) Ultimate Lift NovAge Set  (4) WellnessPack woman  (5) Long wear nail polish The ONE

Parfume is the most classic gift. And oh my good this Love Potion Secret has such a cute bottle! Love it! Make up is always a good idea! A new lipstick, some eyeswhaodws or some high quality nail polishes are perfect as a small gift! As well as some face cream, anti-aging produts! This ones are awesome and can be bought as a set or separtalty. The weelneess pack is also a great idea, it's a food suplment that helps her feel good and younger, with more energy with perfect skin!

(1) Eau de Toilette Giordani Man Notte (2) Discover Icelandic Purity Set (3) Modernd Watch

 (4) WellnessPack man  (5) Eau de Toilette Be the Legend

For him, a perfume or a watch are always two classic gifts that never fail. Also some guys are actually a lot into health and skin care  -- although most of them don't want to admit it --  so I think that the Wellness Pack or this shower goodies pack can be a perfect gift!

Don't forget, if you want to get any of this products -- or any other Oriflame products --  talk with out lovely partner Ana Dinis and she will help you! She is awesome and she will make you a 10u% discount if you use the code girlygirl10!

Let me know what are you getting your Valentin this year? I'm super curious! ^^

This or That #4 | Coffee time

Costa Coffee or Starbucks ?

Another hard decision. I have to say Starbucks because I don't think there's a Costa Coffee in Lisbon! But I also used to go a lot to Costa. I can't decide! You?

Carnival thoughts

Did you know that Carnival is actually a Christian festive season? It is supposed to mark the beginning of a long period of abstinence and fasting that leads into Easter . Interesting no? Specially since it's is usually celebrated with half naked girls shaking their goodies on top of crazy looking cars.

I asks myself why the hell Portugal celebrates it the same way as Brazil... It's cold and rainy...! 

The venetian carnival is so much classier and magical. Why can't we have that?!

New In My Closet | Springfield & Pull&Bear

HERE

HERE

(these are the most comfortable jeans I've ever owned)

Weird Habits | Toothbrushing in the shower

I always brush my teeth in the shower. I've done this since I am a kid. I even have two toothbrushes - one is in my skin and another in my shower. 

It doesn't make any since to me to deep clean your whole body and not to clean you mouth as well.

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations Effy! You have own the giveaway! You have no idea how happy I was when I found out you were the winner!! I've sent you an email. You have one week to answer or I'll find another winner!

Thank you all for entering the giveaway! And stay tuned because we have another -- big -- giveaway coming up! :D

Stuck In My Head | Love Yourself

I'm not a Justin Bieber fan. Never was. But I have to admit this song is really good. The first I heard it I didn't realize it was Bieber's. But I think the message it conveys is really awesome. And the simple melody is really nice. We've all been there. We love some one that is just using us and keeps making us fade away, feel small and vulnerable. This song shares the message that you should not be with someone like that and that you are way better off alone! 

I read somewhere online, that he wrote this song when he was you really down, when Selena Gomes left him and broke his heart. And that the original title is Fuck Yourself. Which makes this song even more awesome! And now, that he is over her, we changed to name -- and the lyrics -- to Love Yourself -- because is like giving the other cheek. If this is true, my opinion of Justin Bieber changed completely.. A few years ago, everybody was making fun of him online. Having to deal with that, and a bad break up... it had to be really rough on him. To able to pick him self up when everything was just pushing him down shows an incredible will power and strength!  The video though, is not that impressive.

" Cause if you like the way you look that much

Oh baby you should go and love yourself

And if you think that I am still holding on to something

You should go and love yourself "

Braces | Week 10# + Lip Balm Addiction

10 weeks have passed. wow.

And overall -- since day 1 to now --  the changes are massive. My teeth are always moving. But the gaps that I had in my front teeth -- created by having braces -- have started to close. However, now I have more space between two teeth on the side, but it's not as noticeable as when the space was right in the front. Now my smile looks super straight! But... ... when I bit down, I feel like my top doesn't really align with the bottom. Which has been causing me some difficulties while eating. My jaw cracks sometimes when I'm chewing. This will be fixed when I get my bottom braces.  But since I have trouble completely closing my mouth, I have been sleeping with my mouth open -- very glamorous, I know! The problem with this is that I am always waking up super thisrty and with insanely chapped lips. I wake up with huge cuts on my lips, sometimes bleeding or with dryblood because of how dry my lips get. So now I need to have lip balm with me all time and I look like a maniac applying it every 5 min during the day.

Does this happen to you, or I'm just weird?

My No Poo Shampoo Story

You've probably red something about this somewhere online before or you've heard some youtuber talking about it. So you all know what it the No Poo Shampoo concept. Yeah, basically it's ditching shampoo for good. People say it's good to go No Poo. Why? Because shampoo is expensive (YEP!), and full of chemicals that can be harmful for your health and your hair and scalp. Our hair, supposedly, produces natural oils that condition and nurture our hair, so using shampoo messes up the natural balance and can cause us to produce more oil and have oily hair. That's the theory. 

I am a fan of this idea -- well, with some tweaks. But I follow this concept on my daily basis. I tried to go completely without shampoo, but I kept feeling dirty, My hair didn't look dirty -- I felt dirty. You know I have a thing with showering, and feeling clean, right? 

Anyway, I can stay one full week without washing my hair. I only wash my hair on Saturdays, And I try not to use too much shampoo, and only apply it near the roots, During the week I don't have time to deal with the whole process involved with washing my hair. Blow-drying, brushing, straightening... It just takes too much time. And before I started doing this, my hair was really damaged and falling a lot. And a few months after stop using shampoo so regularly, my hair improved a lot! Something else that I do is, in the middle of the week -- like Wednesday or Thursday --  I use some dry shampoo to kinda freshen it up and to give it some volume. But it doesn't look dirty at all! 

However, to get to this point I had to pass through some weird phases. When I decided that I was going to stop using shampoo, the next weeks were crazy! My hair looked super super dirty.  All oily and flat. I used dry shampoo, and baking soda to manage it -- but never washed with regular shampoo. But it was hard. After maybe the 3rd or 4th week it just stared looking normal. And that's when I washed again (just the roots, with a tiny little drop of regular shampoo). And since then I have been able to stay one week or more without shampooing it!

The next thing I want to try is some bar shampoo from Lush. I've red it is really good and it keeps your hair fresher than regular shampoo. So I really really want to try it!

Tell me, have you tried this No Poo Shampoo thing? And the Lush Shampoo Bars? 

This or That #3 | This one is super hard!

H&M or Zara?