I've talked about this before and I don't get tired of saying this: I don't like that whole movement of "It's OK to be fat". It's not OK to be fat. And when I say fat I mean people with obesity, not just a few pounds over. Obesity is a disease, and over eating can be an addiction. Obesity kills more poeple than tabaco does and you don't see people on the cover of magazines saying "It's OK to smoke" so why do you see them saying "it's OK to be fat". It's easier to accept that you are overweight than to do something about it. And for me, advertising this on the cover of magazines, showing that a unhealthy person is fabulous, just makes our society even lazier.

"I don't need to exercise or make healthier life choices. She doesn't and she is on the cover of a magazine. Why would I?" 

RANT | HBO Portugal

Finally FINALLY we have HBO in Portugal. And oh my god I've waited for this for a really long time.

HBO is a streaming service, much like Netflix, that produces a bunch of movies, documentaries, and tv-shows. Yes, the one where Game of Thrones, Westworld, and Sex and The City come from. Ever wonder why these shows aren't on Netflix? Well, it's because they belong to the competition. HBO works exactly the same way as Netflix does -- it's pretty much the same thing, actually. The price is 4.99€/month, and the first month is free. You can add up to 5 devices to your account but you can only watch on two screens at the same time -- which is actually better than the cheapest Netflix option! They claim to have 4500 movies and shows, including Game of Thrones, True Detective, Westworld, and the 90's classics The Sopranos and Sex and The City -- which I am dying to re-watch. 

And yes, the last season of Game of Thrones will be available on the Portuguese App at the exact same time as it is in the US, so no more spoilers and no more having to wait for the next day to see the new episode!

Sounds too good to be true? Well in fact, it is... But only if you are an iOS user. They don't have any app available on the App Store for iPad or iPhone and it is not possible to see the contents on the website trough safari -- if you try to open any content, it says that you need too download the app -- that doesn't exist -- and it has a link that does nothing. So yeah. So much hype for nothing. They even had an awesome lunch-party, with a bunch of famous people -- that probably all own iPhones and that can't see their contents -- ironic much? -- From what they say on their website they don't give you the possibility to watch on an iOS mobile device -- only android. I wanted to subscribe but now I won't because I am always on the go and I like to watch stuff on my iPhone. I subscribed anyway, and Ive been watching on my laptop. But if they don't come up soon with an app for iOS I will just stick with Netflix.

Heidi Klum #LETSWOW

As you’ve probably heard by now, Heidi Klum lunched a small fashion collection with Lidl. When I heard about his I was excited! I thought that this could be great! Heidi is such a fashion icon, she is stunning and always looks amazing! But this collection for me personally was very disappointing. The clothes look and feel cheap, they look poorly constructed, the patterns are tacky and the pictures online and on the box are really deceiving. I had my mind set on this blue long cardigan.. I had seen it online and. I thought that that shade of blue was stunning and perfect for my life. But I guess I misguided by the pictures and I really really don’t like this shade of blue — you can see from the picture how different the color from the box from the actual fabric... I was really sad and disappointed...

Primark thoughts

I am not a big fan of Primark. I don't like shopping there. I don't know what it is but I could never understand the crazy hype about it. But I've been seeing all the great stuff you people buy there -- make up, accessories, shoes, cloths, cute home stuff... So, once again I've decided to give it another shot. OK, so I went to Primark. I spent almost three hours there. And yes, my conclusion is the same. Although everything is super cheap, I don't think it's worth the money. Yes, somethings are cute, some patterns are just super adorable, but the fabrics feel and look cheap. I like to buy stuff that I know are going to last. I like to know that I can wash a shirt several times and that it's not going to look weird. And that's the feeling that I get with Primark cloths. They feel like disposable clothes. Like you'd wear it two or three times and than when it starts to look weird and worn out, you could just trow it way. And it wouldn't weight on you conscience because it was super cheap. I don't like living like this. I feel like this is super wasteful. It's a waste of money and a waste of resources. I understand buying there stuff for kids -- OK, they ruin so much clothing that buying expensive stuff is pointless.

While I was canvasing the store, I saw a lot of people with those huge baskets completely full, buying those crappy things, crappy plastic accessories, toys... And I think this is the perfect example how consumerism works: I feel like some people buy all that shit because it's just so cheap. "Oh, it's only two euros" "Oh a dress for 10 euros, so cheap". And they end-up buying too much crap that they don't really need. 

I ended up buying only two things: a pack o socks and this cute pink toothbrush because I found it cute and I needed a new toothbrush to carry around (and who can resist a pink toothbrush with a pink case? )

My Life | Office View

I love the place where I work. I love my office. It is located on an awesome part of the city, it has an awesome view over the Tagus River. It's an amazing, creative, inspiring place to work. We don't have a fixed desk, we can sit wherever we want. We have free unlimited candy, apples, coca-cola (regular and zero!) and Nespresso Coffee. We have an huge lounge room, with massive fridges, and 20 microwaves, all ready for us to bring our own food from home, heat it up and eat it. We have dishes, and cutlery, and glasses and trays for us to use. And we have some ladies that wash all that! And on the tables? We have pepper and salt and expensive olive oil!

Everything is high-tech. The meeting rooms, all have Smart-TV's, for Skype meetings or presentations... or simply to work on a big screen. The bathrooms have automatic soap disperses, automatic paper towel dispensers. The toilets even have a plastic covering the toilet sit, that changes when you enter the stall. We even have a hand-cream dispenser in the ladies bathroom! But still, I feel like there are some basic things that are missing. Elevators, there are 4. But somehow, in the morning there is 10 min line for the elevator. No kidding. Because, apparently, they are not programmed properly -- ironic uhm?

Oh and those automatic paper-towels dispenser... they are placed way too far away from the sinks -- which means that we have to walk with our hands wet and of curse wet the whole floor.
And you know what I think is really missing? A little machine that dispenses (or sells) tampons, pads, toothpaste, floss! That would be so useful! 

These big companies are all about the show-off. The image that we pass to our clients is everything. We spend so much time looking for solutions for our client's problems, and we don't even see our own.

My Christmas is ruined

I don't know if I've ever told you, but a few years ago I accidentally discovered that I'm slightly allergic to chocolate. My uncle went to south-america and brought me toasted cacao beans, that I ate. And that made me go into the hospital with a closed thought. I made allergy tests and I found out that I am allergic to chocolate. But usually I need to eat a lot of really dark chocolate to have any sort of reaction. 

But in the last two weeks I've been extra sensitive -- every time I eat anything with chocolate I get rashes all over my body. Yesterday I ate an Oreo and imminently got a bunch of red spots on my stomach! How am I going to survive Christmas without being able to each chocolate?!

Review | CLONE Solid Shamppo + Mini Rant

Today I'm going to talk to you about a brand that is quite new to me... And I bet you haven't heard about it ether!

CLONE by Ana is a Portuguese brand, that sells all natural soaps, perfumes, bath bombs and shower stuff.  And they have a lot of stores all over the country, but mainly on the northern cities. It's basically the same concept as Lush.

A few weeks ago, I ran out of shampoo -- Usually I use Lush NEW Shampoo Bar -- and I was talking to a friend about it and she told me about this store and that she had bought a soap that had a sponge inside. It sounded super cool, and it got me so curious that I went to visit the store.
I ended up buying a shampoo bar, that smells super good. But that's the only thing I know about this green shampoo bar. I don't know the ingredients, or what is it good for. They had other options but the girl that worked there didn't really knew the difference. It's a really nice shampoo,  I'll give you that.  And hey, it's a Portuguese brand, and I like to support nacional brands!

This shampoo lathers really nicely and I just need to rub it a few times to have enough foam to wash my hair. It smells like super nice. Like fresh, clean laundry. It's super good! I was impressed. 

So I went back to that same store. The other time the girl told me that they have some argon oil soap that's super moisturizing and that is super good. And I wanted to buy a gift for my mom so I was thinking about getting that. So there I was in store, smelling all the super nice smelling soaps, when I noticed that a few of them had a little tag with ingredients and some other information. And there it was clearly written: Made in Spain. WTF. I was super disappointed when I saw this. I mean, there I was happy to support this brand, excited that I had found a Portuguese brand that I am actually enjoying, and that I could endorse, and their products are not even made in Portugal. By the name, I was picturing a lady named Ana making and selling soap on her free time, whose brand grew and grew...
I asked the lady and she said that they are in fact made in Spain and that they only re-sell them.

This was kind of disappointing. I mean, it's not even cheaper than Lush, Lush has more variety and their staff can actually help you. This doesn't mean that I will stop spending my money there, But for me costumer experience is really important for me. And to if am giving my money to a brand, that's not truly a Portuguese brand, I rather give my money to a vegan, cruelty-free brand, who's values I believe in.

Rant | Dealing with Customs Authorities

I like to try new stuff. It's part of who I am. I love to get new products and shopping and new stores! And I am always so happy when any store or company contacts me and say "hey we want to sent you some things for you to try out for free!". I get so existing when I get these offers. But I hate having to deal with customs and with the post office to get my stuff.

Most of these stuff comes from China. And now portuguese customs authorities are really freaky about big packages arriving from China. If it is a small thing, like if it comes in an envelope, they always let it through. But if it is a package,  like if it needs to be delivered, they hold it. They hold it and they send me a letter asking for my personal information and for me to send them an invoice or a receipt for the payment with the price and description of the items. Well, if it's a gift I don't have any of that! I din't pay. But trying to explain this to the guys in costumes is really hard. So they told me to write a statement where I explained this, gave the prices and description and this work fine a few times. But last time, when I was trying to get my package from Gamiss, they did not accept this document. I called. They told me that the items contained tags and that the tags didn't match what I was stating -- that the values were higher. And they also told me that they had opened the packaging. I didn't knew what to do. They wanted an invoice. And couldn't give them that! So I had to talk with the person that contacted me. I asked the girl if she could help, if she could send me a statement with the prices and saying that i din't pay for anything. She sent me a document in really bad English, with prices waaaaaay under the prices that I'd sent before ( really, like 1 USD for each product -- it was just absurd and ridiculous). I sent that to the customs office,  and guess what? I got the exact same answer... the values don't mach, bla bla bla. At this point I didn't knew what to do. Then I had the brilliant idea of sending them the statement I created initially and a print screen of my order on the website. This had pictures, prices and everything they wanted to know. I wrote a small text on the email saying that this is what they told me the price was, and again,  it was a gift, because I have a blog... and it finally worked! This took me more than 3 months! It's so crazy. And when I finally got.the package I understood why they were all relutante and not believing what I was saying: one of the product had a 70€ tag (I posted the picture on the other post, you can check it out!) ! And I was saying that it costed 7 or 8€ ! I mean, it's logical that they would believe.

Now I know how to deal with this situation, and I wanted to share with you in case this ever happens to you! If you need/want the template for the statement I used, send me an email and I'll be happy to give it you! And don't forget, always attach a print-screen of your order!!

Click on the partnerships' links people! Let's all help each other out yes?

If you have been on blogger for a while, You know how partnerships with stores -- specially online stores -- work. 

Oh you don't? So let me tell you all about it...
They give you some products, you take some pictures and you write a post. In that post you add links for the products you are showing and in the link you add your own "sufixe". This helps them counting how many people clicked on that exact link -- meaning, how many people visited their website coming from your blog.

If you have a lot o people clicking it, you may get to keep on working with the brand. If you don't... probably they will not contact you any more!

Me personally, I open every single link that you guys post on your blogs, regarding partnerships. Why? Well, why not?! I know that this is helping you, and it doesn't cost me anything. I just wait for the page to load, and then I close it. I think it's something nice to do for other bloggers and I wish that you could do that for me too!

I'm an workaholic on speed | Rant

rant (rănt): To express at length a complaint or negative opinion

I'm sorry for the rant, but I just needed to take this out of my chest.

It's 1:26 am. 

And only now I'm get home from work. I love my job, I really do, but I have a problem. I actually work. When I have a task I try to do have it finished as fast as possible. And of course, as soon as I am done with task number one, of course there's already something needed to be done. And I do it. Fast. And then I get another task, and another. and another. In the meanwhile I see my co-workers doing nothing. Or working really slowly. Having breaks every 30 min, going out for a cigarette. And when I need something from someone to finish one of my tasks --  which happens a lot, because I'm always ahead of them, you know because I don't spend all day checking my Facebook --  they have the nerve to say "We are still working on that..". And you know what happens?! Because I want to get my job done, and because I want it to be well done, I end up doing their job too.  And this happens everyday, every week, every month. 

I feel like I end up working so much more than everyone else. And I'm so tired all the time. I know I love my job, but I'm starting to feel like I am a bit unappreciated there. 

Trying to have a relaxing afternoon when...

I have been having a really rough couple of weeks at work. I have been working a lot, even at home after leaving the office. So today I took today's afternoon off. I was -- still am -- in need of some stress-free quality time. We all need it sometimes.

I had a plan for today -- I decided that I was going for a run in a park -- something that I LOVE to do but I'm a bit to scared to do it at night which is when I have time to do it. After working out I wanted to pamper my self with a nice long hot shower -- it would be a bath but I don't have a bathtub -- and then go out to dinner, have some drinks, get a little bit tipsy and forget all my stupid work problems. This is -- was -- the plan.

So I went to a park near where my house. I ran for maybe 45 min and then I wanted to do some abs and squats. In this park there are those like outdoorsy workout machines -- you know what I'm talking about, right? One of them is to do abs. And I wanted to use that one. But one of the sides was broken and on the other side there was a lady sitting on it reading a magazine. Like that thing was a bench. Oh god that's when everything went wrong... I asked her politely if I could use the machine and she said with a very strong African accent "aaah, no I'm sitting here". Of course I answered very politely again " I am sorry but you are not using it for what is for so maybe you could just let me use it for 10 min and sit there in the bench" And I pointed out the bench that was right next to the machine, which had an old lady sitting on but it there was definitely enough space for the two. And she replied "All the benches are occupied". Yes it was true but that's not to sit on, and she could share a bench. I calmly explained her that. And she continued to say that she wouldn't get up.

In the meanwhile, a gentleman that was also running noticed the situation and stopped.  And was like in the background listening to the conversation, and he just got annoyed and started telling her exactly what I was saying but in a more assertive tone. The old lady that was sitting on the bench even offered to move to another bench so that the stupid lady could move. And still she was saying she was there first. At this point I didn't want to use the machine anymore,  I was completely pissed. So was the gentlemen. So he started to tell her somethings that I found it to be a little bit racist and rude. He said that she came from Africa and that's a jungle. They don't know how to live within a civilized society and that if she doesn't want to respect others she should go back to her country. And then he said -- I'm gonna call my son, he's a policeman. I don't know if she thought he was bluffing,  but he called his son. And it took him two minutes to get there. And even with the police there she was saying. "I was already sitting here reading my magazine,  I don't have to get up because they want to". And the police officer had the exact same talk with her that we both had. And he got mad with the lady's stupidity and asked her for her documents. And guess what.. she is an illegal immigrant. Her visa was a tourist visa from 3 years ago. So he took her. And he is going to press charges for public disturbance and refusing a police order!

This is just insane and stupid and It stressed me out so so much. If she had just get up for 10 min, this could all been avoided..

My stress-free afternoon did not had a good start. Let's see how the rest of the evening goes.

I hope you'll have a great Friday :)

Dry shampoo... Dry shampoo... where can i find you?! | Rant

I am going to rant a little bit again.. I feel like lately all've done is ranting on the blog! I getting kinda grumpy uhm.. 

Anyway..

So, today I tried to buy some dry shampoo. Oh I am a big fan of dry shampoo because -- let's face it, I am just too lazy and busy to wash and blow my hair frequently. And I also read somewhere that washing your hair very frequently is not that good, so dry shampoo is a very good option.

In the all the different countries I've lived in the past few years, I have always been able to find dry shampoo in the supermarket. From all different brands -- Dove, Tresemmé, Loreal, etc and my favorite Batiste. -- If you follow me on facebook you probably remember this picture.. See, I bought in a supermarket, with my Garnier bb creme!

But now, I am in Portugal, and I am gonna be here for a while. And it is impossible to find any brand of dry shampoo in any supermarket! I went to three different supermarkets unsuccessfully. And then I went to this shop called ibeauty in CC-Colombo. I asked if they had any and the girl handed me a can of dry shampoo from some fancy brand. 

I asked if I could try the powder on my hand -- she said no. I asked for if they had like a tester "oh we don't have any". I told her I've tried many dry shampoos and I wanted to see how this one felt like, if this one was any good. She said, "Oh yeah, this one is very good". I asked if she has used it or tried it before. She said no. ------ She had never tried it, how can she know if it's good....?! What a great employee! 

I thought "Ok, lets give this shit a try anyway". I asked for the price. It wasn't marked... So we headed over to the counter. As she was checking the price, I asked her if she knew if dry-shampoo was sold on any big supermarkets or like big chain stores... She said "Oh I don't know. This is a very new product. The supermarket brands don't sell this type of stuff. This is very exclusive". And then she told me the price.. 18 EUROS! I was astonished! Like, she is telling me that this is not sold on supermarkets when I've been buying this stuff for over 3 years on supermarkets... for under 5€ or 5$. And  she wanted 18€ for a 200ml can from a brand I don't know and I couldn't try!

What really bothers me is that she doesn't know what is saying. How can she say that stuff. It annoys me because I try to be the as good as possible at my job. I try to be prepared. And I try to know everything that I need to know about the stuff I work with. If I worked in beauty, you bet I would know everything about every type of product and where to find it. And if she is any bit interested by this field, she would have wanted to try out dry shampoo. It is just disappointing.

And 18€ for 1 bottle --  I can order my favorite from Maquillalia for 3.99€ !

Do you buy use dry shampoo? Do you have any idea where I can get my hands to some?! 

And also, who has a promocode for Maquiallila? xD 

Dentist Rant !

rant (rănt): To express at length a complaint or negative opinion

Today I went to the dentist. I went just because you should go to the dentist once every 6 months so they can clean your teeth and see if everything is ok. Yeah, but I hate it! 

I really hate it! The drills, the lady with latex gloves in my mouth, the suction thing, bahh I just hate it! 

It's not like it hurts, because it doesn't! It is just the vibration of the drills that really make me feel bad! And I always end up with an enormous head ache. I also hate the way me teeth feel after they clean it. When I rub my tong on the inside of my bottom teeth it looks like there is gigantic holes between each one of my teeth. I hate it so so much!

And also, my doctor, she is not very nice or friendly. I like her because she does what she has to do, and that's it. She is fast and efficient and doesn't talk to much! But sometimes I ask her something and I don't get any good answer, and that kinda annoys me! 

I have a spot where I always have a bit of tartar -- no mater how well I brush my teeth -- and I asked her what could I do to prevent it-- and because i hate the drills and would do anything to avoid them! The answers that I got was "Nothing -- that happens to everybody, just deal with it". And I asked if there was any special tooth past or mouthwash just to prevent it -- and she kept saying that there was no need for that. But after I googled a bit I found a million products and tricks to prevent it! Argh!

Oh and she found out that I have a "baby cavity" --  her words! So I have to go fix it asap before they grow --  so I guess am going back next week -- for more drilling -- this time to make a fucking hole!! ARRGH!

007 Die Another Day (2007) Rant !

rant (rănt): To express at length a complaint or negative opinion

Last night I felt like watching a 007 movie. I really love James Bond movies, and I always try not to be too analytical about them -- I try to enjoy the show and don't really think about the details of the plot -- but this time I got some issues. It is not the first time I have seen this movie and the story it self it is awesome-- but this time I have to rant about it! I guess I have been working so much that my brain has started to analyze everything! This is the last movie that features Pierce Brosnan and he is great as always! And Hale Barry -- omg she is awesome!

If you haven saw the movie and you don't want me to run it for you, please don't read more! I am not telling you all the movie plot but just some parts that I felt like ranting about it!

So, the movie starts with Bond pretending to be someone else and he goes to North Korea to give them diamonds in return of weapons! Rant: it should be the other way around, no?! North Korea would never sell guns!
Then is cover is blown and he ends up killing the son of the General and the other guy who I guess has something to with security -- Zao, who gets diamonds stuck in his face due to an explosion. They fall of a waterfall or something similar. Bond survives but he is captured and made prisoner for 14 months, where it looks like he is tortured every day. After the 14 months he is traded to Zao who after all survived! Rant: When they show Bond after the 14 months he doesn't look like someone that was a prisoner in North Korea -- ok he had long hair and beard  and he looked bloody and dirty but he looked very and strong! I mean, North Korea must be the hardest place to be a prisoner, they would starve him for months!

 

When back in his world, Bond sets off to track down Zao. Bond gets caught up in yet another scheme which sends him to millionaire Gustav Graves who is super famous. Bond is invited to a presentation held by Graves about a satellite found in space which can project a huge laser beam. This Gustav guy is the son of the general that went thought a gene therapy and changed his looks and doesn't look Asian any more.
 

Now, the big Rant: So the general son pretends to die, but in only 14 months he is able to undergo intensive gene therapy while he is creating this fake company. Gene therapy that changes the structure of the face, hair and eye color? Meh doesn't bother me that much.

 But the solar ray -- this kind of technology costs billions of dollars to develop -- where did he got the money? Yeah, the guy had diamonds but you need a lot of diamonds to have billions of dollars! Don't forget he had to pay for the gene therapy (which was done in Cuba with some fancy and crazy doctor -- I bet it was not cheap). Also, It takes much much more than 14-ish months to develop something like this! This just looks to far fetched! And I not going to even start on the adaptive camouflage technology on his car! When Q explains the technology, It doesn't make any sense! Also the special effects are weak -- but the movie is relatively old.


Have you ever found this type of problems with a movie? Something that bothers you so much that you can't ignore it?

Have a nice friday!