MyLable Skin Care [YOUZZ]

Usually I'm a sucker for high-end products, BUT good skin care doesn't need to burn a hole in your wallet. I've been trying out these MyLable goodies and so far I'm really enjoying the experience. MyLable is the in-house beauty products brand for the Portuguese supermarket Continente. These are super affordable and very high quality. I have been using the Q10 day-cream on my face and it smells really nice and feels great. As for the gigantic tub of moisturizer, it feels really nice on my skin, it's not sticky at all and it makes my skin feel really soft and nourished. And OMG the Olive oil body lotion is just so luxurious! It is super smooth and just feels amazing on my skin. And do you know what the best part is? This double pack only costs 1.99€! 

I'm going to keep using these products and eventually write a full review about them. But in the meanwhile, tell me: Have you tried any MyLable products? What's your favorite MyLable product? What other products should I try?

#MyLable #LoveMeMyLable

REVIEW | ORIFLAME Giordani Gold Iluminating Pears

If have been around for a while, you probably remember that I had - a long time a go - a sort of partnership with an Oriflame Consultant. She was a super nice girl, help me set up a giveaway and gave me few products to try. And at the time, I chose the products I wanted to try, and I chose products that I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed by. And I remember that the products were good, but just OK. Not mind-blowing, not life changing, just OK.

And a while back, a friend of my mom's showed me the catalog, and she pushed me into buying this and honestly -- What a waste of money!

These are the Giordani Gold Iluminating Pears. For what I noticed from the catalog -- and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong -- this Giordani Gold line is supposed to be Oriflame's high end line of products. They look more fancy and are more expensive. These light-diffusing multi-coloured pearls are hand-crafted in Italy and ideal for accentuating and freshening complexion -- or at least that's what the brand states.

-- without flash --

They are in fact, really pretty in their little black and gold jar. The pearls are in 4 different shades -- like color correcting shades -- ice-white, peach, green, purple and a nudy-shade. And the idea is that you swirl your brush around, pick up some products and apply it as a highlighter or even as an all over the face powder. But here's the thing -- I don't think that the glow is enough for it to be used as highlighter, and I think that all over the face it's just too much... You can see from the pictures I took. The one without flash -- it just casts a super with shadow on my skin, and on the one with flash you can see that it gives a really light glow only on some parts. And this was really fully packed on my harm. I masked a small area of my arm with little hear sticker so you can clearly see the difference where I've applied the product, and even though the glow is really pretty in the picture with flash, I hate how it looks in person! It just makes me look white pale. 

-- with flash --

This was not a cheap product -- yep, this thingy costs 31€! And I feel that, for THAT amount of money I could have bought a much better product, with higher quality and much better performance. I was already kind of expecting this, but yet I gave it benefit or the doubt and bought this product. I thought that because it was from the more premium line, it wouldn't be a failure, but I guess I was wrong.

What do you think?

ZOMATO GOLD FOR 18€!

 

Zomato Gold is on sale!!
The anual membership is now costing 24€ which is a bargain! Plus, if you use my code CATYOL you get 25% off - which means you'll only pay 18€! I've just renewed my membership. Don't let this opportunity pass!

New In My Closet | My Furla Play

I absolutely love My Furla Play Metropolis with the super ornamented and intricate pink suede flap. It's just so beautiful, and detailed and I loved. These jewels were placed one-by-one by hand in Italy and they are just so stunning! However, I'm so scared that they might come off that I don't wear this bag as much as I would love to. I'm so scared to ruin it that I barley take it out of the house. You can see in the next picture how intricate the placement of this jewels are, and you can also see the little thingy that holds one of the big gems sticking out -- It got caught on my jacket and it just opened! Thankfully, I was able to push it down and it's like nothing ever happen!

So I decided to buy the plain flap, that matches the rest of my bag, because I thought that this way I would get more uses out of it... And yep, I've been using my pink bag all the time and I am so happy. Best decision ever! I only spent 60€ on the flap and basically now I have two bags. I can wear the simple one to work, or just going out with friend, and the very ornamented one whenever I'm feeling more fancy.

-- Bag -- Suede flap with the Jewelry -- Simple Flap -- 

EAT | Hottie, Lisbon

American junk food ... You know what it is? Of course you do... Of course you've all seen in every single american movie all these wonderful things like Mac'n'Cheese, Ribs, Chicken Wings, Nachos... Yeah, but what about actually trying out one of these calorie bombs? Have you ever had the opportunity to tasted it any of it? No?! Well, but now you can try all these and more at Hottie!

On Rua de Santa Marta, Hottie is the most American restaurant in Lisbon! Forget those fake diners out there. That's not American food. Hottie is American food.

This space is very small - emphasis on the small! - but very interesting. It only has place for 15 people, divided among two tables and 3 seats over the counter. The decoration is very simple and it is clear that they tried to maintain the original architecture of the space that used to be an old style bakery - the counter, the window, the marble walls are all very charismatic ! But what really draws your attention is the red neon sign with the name of the restaurant, casting a reddish light at the door, as if we were entering a super naughty place.

I called in advance, trying to book a table, but when we arrived there was no table for us. Let's face it, with only 15 seats, I do not blame them for trying to serve as many people as possible. The guy who greeted us was super super friendly and invited us to sit at the counter, where we waited about 10 minutes for our table. These 10 minutes gave us opportunity to explore the menu and really choose what we wanted to eat. The menu is totally 'MURICA, and although the descriptions are in Portuguese, the names of the dishes are in English. It's just junk food. It's not too big but it has something for everyone. As a starter, we had some Cheesy Nachos, we also asked for Chicken & Waffles and BBQ Ribs. As side dishes we opted for  Mac & Cheese and French Fries. And of course, no meal is completed without dessert, so we ordered a Lemon Meringue Pie - my usual favorite dessert. Despite being junk food, all dishes come with carefully plated on little tin plate with the restaurant logo. Super adorable and what a nice touch.

Cheesy Nachos. Tortilla chips with melted cheddar cheese and guacamole. This dish is not necessarily American, but has been adopted by American culture and is much appreciated as snack. The chips were crispy and had lots of cheese. I liked it. I also liked that the chips did not have that typical triangular shape - they were kind of rounded - which makes me think they home-made and not store-bought!

Chicken & Waffles. Fried Chicken. Yes, chicken fried on top of a sweet waffle, with maple syrup to drizzle on top. This is a typical dish from the southern states, and is included in the so-called Soul Food. I was crying for more! The chicken was super well fried, super juicy and full of flavor. And the waffle, OMG,  was super tasty, crispy, well cooked. Really Delicious!

BBQ Ribs. Two ribs, topped with handmade barbecue sauce, perfectly well cooked. The flesh was falling from the bone and it was just delicious. And I'm not even the biggest fan of BBQ sauce! But this one was divine, it was not too sweet nor too acid.

Mac & Cheese. It was very good.  VERY GOOD. The dough was al dente and you could taste the cheese but the flavor was not overwhelming. It was very good. Guys, it's noodles with cheese. You can never go wrong with noodles and cheese. 

French Fries. These were so good. Just out of the fryer, sprinkled with salt and rosemary. Really simple but perfectly done. And the perfect side dish for the BBQ Ribs, to  help you clean out that yummy BBQ sauce from your dish!

Lemon Meringue Pie. I love lemon meringue pie! It's my favorite dessert. And this one was so good that I'm considering going back there and just to have a coffee and a slice of this pie! The center of this tart was creamy, with an intense lemon flavor, perfectly balanced by the base which was slightly sweet. And on top,  slightly chard meringue, gooey and lovely. It was the perfect end to a wonderful meal.

I absolutely loved Hottie and I'm dying to go back there.! Loved the space, loved the simple but modern decor, and absolutely loved the food. It's cheap, it's good, the staff is friendly and you will leave feeling like a ball.

I'm going to make Hottie my new canteen!

New Nespresso Barista Creations [YOUZZ]

I am the type of girl who loves a nice warm latte or a yummy cappuccino in the morning. There's something just so heart-warming about the combination of coffee and milk, don't you think?

So when the time for buying a new Nespresso machine came I opted for one that would allow me to make this drinks at home. But even tho Nespresso has a couple of machines that let you heat or froth your milk, they don't have specific cups to use with milk. Well, they didn't have!

Nespresso just launched a new line called Barista Creations that allows to fix a latte, a cappuccino or a macchiato like a pro! These three new cups are going to be part of Nespresso's permanent offer --there are not just a special edition! -- and these were specially developed to be mixed in with milk!

- Chiaro: Inspired by the baristas of Brooklyn who value the natural sweetness of lighted roasted coffee, this smooth blend of Arabicas from Kenya and Indonesia, has a natural caramel and sweet biscuit notes.

- Scuro: Taking inspiration from Melbourne baristas -- the masters of robust, but perfectly balanced tastes -- Scuro combines Arabicas from Colombia and Ethiopia roasted in very contrasting manners, to create an intense roasted coffee taste that balances perfectly with milk.

- Corto: This one was inspired by Spanish Baristas and their love for serving expresso with milk! It has a very strong flavor and a dense and creamy texture, perfect for those who prefer just a little bit of milk in their coffee.

Youzz sent me these to try, and I've been obsessed with making cappuccinos and cute lattes ever since. My machine heats up the milk to the perfect temperature -- hot but not too hot to the point where you can't drink it -- makes the most perfect foam and the coffee is just so tasteful! My favorite is the scuro with some sprinkles of coca-powder on top! Takes two minutes and makes me feel like I'm have a breakfast at a nice coffee-shop!

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. Yes, they send free stuff to try! Click HERE to sign up and become a Youzzer!

#Youzz #Youzzer #ManhasBaristaCreations

REVIEW | FLORMAR Color Palette Eye-shadow 006 Pink Desserts

I'm not very adventurous with eye-shadow. I usually don't go for very bold eye-shadow looks. I honestly like to keep things simple and in the neutrals.

I only own two eye-shadow pallets -- one from ColourPop and one from Zoeva. I love them, they are great and beautiful but they are both in the same color ranges. And I felt like I needed a pallet with more color to complemente those two that I already owned. But I also didn't want to invest a lot of money because I know that I'm not going to use it a whole lot. So I thought I would give Flormar a shot. Flormar products are usually very nice. I own bunch of their stuff, and nothing has let me down so far! But I had never tried any of their eye-shadows before. So, I picked up this little 5 shade pallet to try, with a range of pink colors. I always think that pinks look really well on my skin.

So this is the Color Palette Eye-shadow in shade 006 Pink Desserts. It's an eye shadow pallet, with 5 different shades. In this case, it has all the shades you would need to create a look -- a base shade, mid-range shades, and a really dark shade! Every shade is pearlized, they are shimmery, but not glittery. It has light reflecting pigments in its formula to add extra shine, and yes, you can totally notice those.

The pallet it self is nice, it has a nice weight to it. The box is made of a cheap plastic, much similar as their blushes and bronzes. 

The shadows are really nice, but not super super pigmented. But it's buildable. Even the white shows up really nice. I didn't really noticed any differences in the formula among the shadows, they all work pretty much the same... they are all easy to blend. However, the lighter shades have a lot of fall out! I mean, a LOT! 

The shades don't have names, but I've swatched them by order on my arm. I have the shadows fully packed on the stars, and then on the side I did try to kinda blend them and fade them so that you can see how they work in both situations. The color payoff is really nice, and I love the range of pinks. My favorite are definite the two darker ones! They are just lovely and I think they go really well with my skin tone. Also, I was really surprised how well the wight shows off! Gives a nice ice-y shine to a look and it can even be used as an inner corner highlighter. You can really see the pearlized shine of these shadows and how beautiful they are.

-- BTW, how adorable are these swatches?! I'm so proud ahah --

Overall, I feel like this is a really nice eye-shadow pallet, that I can get a lot of use of. It was fairly cheap but the quality of the shadows is far superior to many others of this price range that I've tried before. Totally recommend.

More on Flormar:
-- Extreme Matte Lipstick -- Terracota Blush-On -- Contour Trio --

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