OOTD - GOTHIC QUARTER, BARCELONA

Top: Zara
Shorts: Zara
Trainers: Nike
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

I wore this outfit on the last day in Barcelona when we visited the Gothic Quarter, gatecrashed a random walking tour, went to the Picasso Museum and flew home. I like how it's a very simple outfit but the bright green top adds some colour to it instead of it being plain and monochrome. I don't think my feet would of survived without these trainers - they are the comfiest things to wear for a week of walking and as they are black and white it meant that I only had to take one pair of shoes to match with every outfit - perfect if you are trying to pack lightly!

BARCELONA PHOTO DIARY

Continuing on with my photo diary blog post series (check out my Marrakech photo diary and Berlin photo diary posts) which I have been doing this summer, here is my Barcelona photos. I went a couple of weeks ago with my family and we did most of the main touristy attractions, went segwaying, met up with Ellie and took (literally) 1,000's of photographs. Have a look through my photos to see what else I got up to whilst I was there -  I would definitely recommend Barcelona if you were thinking of going there, I loved all of the side streets which looked like they were something straight from a movie set and how it was right on the beach too!

LIFE UPDATES

I feel like I've not done an update type post on here in (literally) years so here goes! (ps I copied this blog post off of Ellie, go check out her blog!)

• I got my A level results back a couple of days ago and got an A in Business Studies, B in Geography and a B in Photography (which was one mark off an A - gaaaaaah!)

• I'm not going to university until next year, which I guess means I'm now on my gap year, wohoo! 

• I'm going to be spending the next six months doing a marketing internship, doing the Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification and working part time which I'm really looking forward to! 

• I think I've caught the traveling bug after visiting Marrakech, Berlin and Barcelona in the past month and I'm already looking at where to go next 

• Carissa and I have become obsessed with picnics, and any excuse for a picnic is a good excuse - think work lunch breaks in the park, outdoor film screenings, fish and chips at the beach, London Zoo and even a McDonalds picnic in London Victoria train station - yeah that really happened...

• I appear to of discovered a new love for winter coats - it's August and I have somehow already bought four of them which I can't wait to wear with oversized jumpers, scarves and ugg boots as dressing up as a fluffy snowman is apparently my favourite thing to do in winter.

 

 

 

What have you been up to recently? Do you have any exciting news?

YSL COUTURE EYESHADOW PALETTE IN SHADE 4 'SAHARIENNE'

The YSL Couture eyeshadow palette in the shade 'Saharienne' is a recent release from the new collection of YSL makeup. The Couture Collection is a selection of different eyeshadow palettes, each coming with five shades, and the colour selection in them varying from neutrals to brights, meaning there is something for everyone. 

First off, as with all YSL makeup, the packaging is absolutely beautiful - I love the classic bright gold exterior with the simple black interior of it, which compliments the colours of the eyeshadows inside. I like how they have stuck with the classic YSL packaging, despite it being a special launch as I hate when brands have a different packaging to signify different launches as it means that any other items you have from the brand don't match and co-ordinate.

The quality of these eyeshadows is so high, they are an absolute dream to blend together and they are so well pigmented. The shimmers in them are so finely milled that when you blend them you don't end up with any fall out onto your cheek which quite often happens with slightly darker glittery colours. There are no matte colours in this palette, only shimmers but as they are my favourite type of eyeshadow, that is fine with me. As there is a range of colours, you can easily use this for both everyday, or you can make it slightly more smoky to take the eye look into something more nighttime approriate, which is great as it makes the palette very versatile with what you can do with it. The colours are so well matched that even an eyeshaddow novice like me can easily put together a simple eye look with it, such as the one I have created below.

Overall I would definitely recommend the YSL Couture Eyeshadow Palette in Shade 4 Saharienne, they are some of the best quality eyeshadows I have tried and the palette is so versatile, along with being beautiful to look at. You can purchase it here from John Lewis and it retails in the UK for £39.50

*I received the YSL Couture Eyeshadow palette from

John Lewis for review purposes. I am not being paid

to feature it on islaay.com and all opinions are my own

BERLIN PHOTO DIARY

I spent four days in Berlin last week with my family, and as my recent Morocco Photo Diary post went down so well, I thought I would do a similar Berlin Photo Diary (with a Barcelona one soon to come too!) Sorry for the complete photo overload as per usual, but I think it's much easier to show a trip away through photographs, rather than explaining it! 

The highlights of the trip were seeing all of the graffiti which literally covers the city, visiting all of the random art galleries which are pretty much on every street corner and going up the Berlin Tower- the view is amazing! Plus, all of the people there are just so cool.

I used the Canon 600D with 100mm macro lens for all photos

 Thank you for taking the time to look through all of my Berlin photos, I hope you liked them! Are you off on holiday anywhere this year?