Embracing spring

So spring has always been my favourite time of the year and I was really looking for a lovely day to be spent outside without a coat on and that time has finally come when I can put on a cute spring dress and let it show completely and not only through my jacket. This was exciting, and something I love even more about spring are flowers, lovely walks in parks and cute roads and a good old on-the-go lunch.

This week my boyfriend and I had a lovely day in Vigevano, a city near Milan I used to visit a lot during my childhood, which is the cutest place to visit when spring comes around. It has cute little streets to walk down, a pair of cozy gardens and I expecially love the old square which according to my boyfriend totally looks like you are on a set of The Borgias. We had a good old flat bread from La Piadineria (our favorite place) and picked up our usual zucchini, mozzarella and tomatoes vegetarian piadina, which was delicious as always, but it tasted even better eaten outside under the sunshine. 

We also had a pair of stops in the green areas of the city, in the Sforza Castle garden and the little park with a cute lake filled of swan, fishes and turtles that have always been there since I can remember. It was just a super lovely day and this kind of trips far away from the crowd, the shops and crowded malls, always makes me think nowadays we tend to forget we can have a lovely time even far away from a big city like Milan, from the shops and the caotic metropolis. This made me remember my childhood, and I know there's nothing more bittersweet than that, but it also made me think there couldn't be a best way to embrace and welcome spring this year. We definitely need to plan more trips like this and have a lovely time exploring cute places this year, as we never tend to do that.

Which is your favorite open-air place to visit when spring comes around?

DIY Coffee and Coconut Scrub

I've always loved the scent of coffee and can't deny I was pretty tempted for a while to try making myself a DIY coffee based beauty product, but I had way too many body scrubs and lotions to be finished and never really found myself putting together a few ingredients to create something. But a few weeks ago I came up with the idea of a coffee body scrub and as soon as I finished my beloved & Other Stories Sugar Crush Body Scrub (and my heart is still weeping for seeing this one going - may need to repurchase it soon), I washed the little jar it came in and decided to try an impromptu body scrub recipe.

This is what I used:

• 1/2 cup coffee (powder and beans)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

I used both coffee powder and coffee beans as I wanted to give my scrub a bit of texture and I needed for it to be very harsh on the skin as this is how I love my body scrubs to be. I of course chopped the coffee beans very finely before adding them to the mixture. If you don't love super harsh body scrubs, go for only coffee powder or just a little bit of beans but not half of it, if you are like me instead and love a bit of good exfoliating action on those limbs of yours, then use half chopped beans and half powder and your scrub will have a beautiful texture! I also added a bit of white sugar to add more texture, but you can go for brown sugar as well if you want it to be more abrasive. Once mixed together all the dry ingredients I added the oils, the olive oil first and mixed and the coconut oil immediately after. I used the coconut oil when still solid and melted it down with my hands a bit before mixing it with the other ingredients always using my hands as things can be a bit tricky with a spoon.

I know this is a mess, but once finished you just need to decant it into a big jar and wash your hands (which will be already automatically scrubbed at this time). This scrub smells absolutely amazing and if you love coffee I'm sure you'll love this too, but if you don't the scent could be a bit overwhelming for you, just warning. Also if you use too much coffee beans this can be a bit messy in the shower and leave you something to clean on the floor, but to me this is not too annoying as I love the scent and how good this is in exfoliating my skin, plus thanks to the olive and coconut oils it also leaves your skin pretty hydrated and soft. The coffee scent actually stays on you for a few good hours even after rinsing it out which I love, and someone says coffee helps in mantaining the skin young and elastic, so...

Will you try this recipe?

Easter Treats

Wether you are pretty orthodox or atheist, Easter is always the perfect time to spend a beautiful day with your closest people, eating way too much chocolate, and treating yourself a bit more. And so it was my Easter Sunday this year, with a lovely sun in the sky, my family visiting our place and bringing chocolate to celebrate. And after filling up that belly of mine, I actually treated myself to some beauty stuff, because, well, you know me...

Holiday to me is pampering time, so I had a lovely and relaxing shower with a good old homemade coffee scrub (sharing this later next week) and a face mask time immediately after. I went for two of my most loved face masks, the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask (£21,50) on the dry areas of my face, and the Soap and Glory No Cloggs Allowed Mask (£11,50) all over my chin, forehead and nose where I'm getting very spotty recently. Those two make the world of good for my skin and I always feel regenerated right after, with a fresh new skin replacing my usual dull one. And of course I went for the L'Oreal EverRiche Absolute Oil Precieux (£7,99) all over my hair, as this lovely product not only is amazing in giving a subtle shine and making your hair so soft, but it also smells heavenly with that jasmine aroma.

Throw on my favorite lace blouse, an oldie but a goodie which actually looks pretty similar to this Oasis top, and went for my minimal makeup routine for lazy days including only foundation, concealer (and I'm so happy I can now wear the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer again as my skin is a bit less pale) and eyeliner, I decided to go for my new favorite shimmery pink lip shade, the Maria Galland Color Pencil in 200 Pamplemousse Rosé*, which not only has the cutest name, but is also lovely as an everyday basic since it's the most flattering color on me with a tun of gorgeous golden shimmers in it, and you know how I feel about shimmers recently.

I actually decided to treat myself to some Cult Beauty products and placed a little order there as they are having one of their free worldwide shipping on every order until Tuesday. I'm not revealing what I purchased yet but I've just written a Mini Cult Beauty Wishlist, so you can definitely guess, and if not, I'm sure I'm going to talk about them super soon. But for the rest I just had a good time with my family and ate my chocolate eggs, and now I'm super excited for tonight's episode of Game of Thrones, my new addiction!

What about your Easter Sunday?

A Cult Beauty Mini Wishlist

I was on a very restrictive shopping ban - beauty version these past weeks, and now after a month and a half I'm craving some new beauty products so badly and have actually decided to treat myself to something new very soon. Cult Beauty is having a free worldwide shipping promo right now until April 22th with the code FREESHIP1 on every order, and since I've always wanted to buy something from there, I think this could really be the right time. Also this is maybe the shortest wishlist I've ever write on here, but is very realistic and these are product I've eyed up since a long time.

The Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads (£24,95) are actually the main reason I want to make a Cult Beauty order. This would be a very Jennypurr inspired purchase since, as soon as I read her review of the gentle version of these, I knew I had to buy these sometimes in the upcoming future, as she always is great in reccomending beauty products for acne prone skins. These are anti-acne and anti-aging pads containing BHAs in order to exfoliate over clogged pore and achieve a clearer skin appearance. These sound exactly like what I'm looking for right now, as if you read my Back to minimal feature you would know I'm recently fighting with a bad acne reaction to some skincare products. I'm sure these would do the world of good to my skin as BHAs are always well appreciated on my acne scars.

An item that has been in my wishlist since forever is the Sachajuan Ocean Mist (£18); if you know me and my hair issues, I'm sure you'd be already tired of listening to me saying my hair is so plain and flat and I want volume and texture, but this is how things go and I've always wanted to try this or the Bumble and Bumble version of this spray, but both are pretty expensive and I don't really know if they could ever work on my boring and wilful hair that doesn't ever hold anything really. This should be an hybrid of a hair spray and a salt mist, so it should give hold and volume while adding some texture. If any flat hair girl has tried it, please tell me if it really works, I would love to know!

Multi-purpose products always sound good to me and the Moa The Green Balm (£9,99) isn't an exception: it's a balm made out of green ingredients only such as coconut oil, sweet almonds oil, beeswax and tea tree oil, thought to sooth any kind of skin issue like eczema, dry patches, bites or even to be used after getting a tattoo or a piercing. It can also be used as a makeup remover or a cleansing balm, and it's perfect for sensitive skins too, so it really sounds as a wonder balm in a little pot!

Lastly the Omorovicza Glam Glow (£35) is a product that went in my wishlist only recently actually as when the temperature goes up I'm all about gradual tanners. I've tried a few last year and I wasn't truely impressed with any of them, but I read some amazing review about this Omorovicza offering that aims to very gradually build a nice and natural color on the skin, avoiding unflattering tide marks and being very easy to apply.

Also Cult Beauty is having its mid-season sale right now and I can't deny the Institut Esthederm Bronze Repair Body Lotion and the Stila Cosmetics Pertect and Correct Foundation are both very tempting too!

Let me know if you tried some of these products and what you think about them!

A pinch of pink

I'm always super excited about spring, my favorite time of the year, and when it comes to makeup I always love to go back in my drawers and pick up some products I've almost forgot during the winter in order to prefer some deeper colors, but spring and summer are all about bright shades, and pink has always been my favorite.

I definitely need to find a pink based but reasonably neutral cream eyeshadow, but for now the pink products I'm loving this spring are mainly lipsticks and blushers. I've always been very faithful to the Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 Healthy Glow (£7,99) as this immediately became my all time favorite blush as soon as I bought it a few months ago. This is a beautiful peachy pink which looks gorgeous on the cheek and gives the prettiest touch of color. I love the texture as well, as it is one of those cream-to-powder blushers which goes on very silky on the skin and looks always flattering. Another old favorite of mine is the NYX Cream Blush in Boho Chic* (£5,50), a very inexpensive product but a lovely barbie pink shade on the cheeks. It has a nice wet finish when blended and even though it could feel a bit sticky sometimes, I really like it for a soft touch of color. Lastly on the blushers front I have to mention another cream blush, the Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tint in Score which unfortunately is everyday more difficult to find, but these blushers really have the best formula as they are not too creamy but a sort of tint and are pretty sheer but buildable so that you can build up the color as you like. Score is a beautiful peachy pink with a tun of golden shimmers in it that brings a beautiful light and color to your face.

As for lipsticks, a pink shade I felt in love with last year is the NYX Round Lipstick in Paris* (£4), a lovely drugstore find in a shade I don't usually go for, but this very bright matte barbie pink really suits my skintone and create a lovely contrast against my dark hair, so it's the shade I usually go for when I feel a bit braver and want a bright touch of color on my lips. Two new lovely pink finds are the Paul & Joe Natural Lipstick in Pret-a-Porter (£13,27) and the Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight (£15), two super nice shades and formulas. The former I reviewed here and it's the lipstick I'm going for non-stop since I got it two months ago now, a beautiful sheer pure pink which goes on very creamy and super comfortable and brings a cute but elegant touch of color to my usually plain makeup. The latter is a more recent discovery, one of the UD Revolution Lipsticks everyone talks about, which has the best sheer formula that last a very long time once on the lips, and comes in a pretty peachy pink shade with a tun of golden shimmers in there. I think of it as a more shimmery lipstick version of the UD blush I mentioned above as they both have the same color and are sheer and beautiful. I must admit I sometimes apply this lipstick on my cheeks as well! Lastly the Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate (£8) is a product I purchased last year and I felt in love with last summer, but this still is a firm favorite of mine as I always love super comfortable and creamy lip products, and this ticks all the boxes with that lovely coraly pink shade that goes on very sheer and the hydrating properties my chapped lips always crave.

So this are the products I'm going to use non-stop this spring, but I'm probably going to buy more and more pink blushers and lipsticks before summer is over, so you can definitely expect an update sometimes soon, but for now this are going to fill the pink hole in my current makeup routine.

Which are your favorite pink products?

Black Cherry & Chocolate (Ben's) Cookies

Last month I was in London and of course I needed to give some Ben's Cookies a whirl for the first time. Fair enough I felt in love with them, and once I came home I knew I had to try baking them myself. A month later I came up with a pretty custom recipe very Ben's Cookies inspired and totally Luke Evans based (oh dear, check his channel out because he makes the most beautiful videos) and thought I could share it with you as I'm pretty satisfied with the result. I assure you, these cookies are delicious, my entire family loves them, and if you're looking for something easy to make but very impressive to offer to your family or guests, you should give them a whirl!

For 9 big cookies you're going to need:

• 300g brown sugar
• 200g unsalted butter
• 1 medium egg
• 325g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A lot of dark chocolate and some sour black cherries

As you can see the ingredients are pretty basic and the majority of them I'm sure you all already have in your fridge, the only thing you may need to buy are black cherries, but these cookies are very customizable and you can add whatever you want and make them as you prefer like nuts, almonds, white chocolate, everything really! They're also pretty easy to prepare, you just need to remember to preheat the oven at 220°C and having your butter at room temperature before proceding.

I simply beated all the ingredients together with a whisk as it's the easiest way: starting from butter and sugar, I wanted it to be very soft and fluffly so I beated those two ingredient together for a few minutes, then I added the egg and beated again. Once mixed flour and baking powder together, I added them to the butter, sugar and egg mixture little by little until the dough was formed and it was quite solid and firm and not too sticky. If you feel your doug is too sticky add a bit of flour and beat again. Then I chopped the chocolate and added it to the mixture with some black cherry as well and blended all very evenly so that all the cookies had the right amount of chocolate and cherry once formed. I created nine big balls with my dough, arranged them on a baking tin lined with parchment paper and flattened them a tiny bit with my hands. Keeping in mind these cookies will spread out, I placed them reasonably apart from each others. Then I baked them for 12/13 minutes in the oven at 220°C, and they came out very chewy and gooey, but you can definitely let them bake a few minutes more if you desire. Consider your cookies will continue cooking on the hot baking tin when you pull them out of the oven, so don't overcook. I left them rest and cool for 20/30 minutes before trying them.

I think the dark chocolate really compliments and balances the sweetness of the sour black cherries, but I can't lie, they are very sweet, and if you don't love super sweet things you may have to consider using a lot less cherries than I did. But these to me were perfection, and I'm really satisfied on how they came out, so I hope you can enjoy this recipe too and try them in the upcoming future! 

What is your favorite cookies flavor?