Holiday in France part 2 ( final part )

Hello everyone!

I found some time to upload a new blogpost finally.
Today I'm talking about Claude Monet's house and garden in Giverny.

I used to study art, and I'm always fascinated by cultural and artistic holidays!!
I knew that Monet's house was in Giverny, but I didn't realize that it was super close to the place I was staying so that was really cool.

It's amazing to me that I was able to walk through the home and garden of such an amazing painter.

Sorry if these kind of cultural things are not for you, but trust me it is absolutely stunning!
I saw a lot of tulips in the garden which made me happy haha.

Before I show you the house and garden, I actually want to show you a small church in Giverny.

The cemetery also serves as a place to remember the people that fought for us during WOII.

Since showing a cemetery might be a bit dark, I just wanted to upload the outside and inside of the church.

P.s. sorry for the picture heavy post!! There's just so much that I want to show you!!!

Outside of the small church

 

I love stained glass windows! They add this sense of calmness to buildings which is really nice.

 If you have the time to visit Giverny and are interested in this nice little village, please stop by this church as well! It might not be as impressive as the Sacre Couer, but it's still really beautiful.

Now onto Monet's house and garden!

So here's the front view of the house! As you can see, there's already a lot of pretty flowers in front of the house, and the house is pink which makes it extra amazing.

I wish I had a nice little corner like this in my own house!
The curtains might seem tacky to you, but I would love to have this kind of decoration in my own house hahaha

Just look at this amazing view Monet had on his garden!
You can really tell that a lot of his inspiration came from flowers when you look at his paintings.

I was also really amazed by his work space.

Probably one of my favorite rooms in his house: the kitchen.
I absolutely loved the old rustic feel it had and I wouldn't mind having a kitchen like this myself.

In this picture you can see a reconstruction of his bed. Of course surrounded by paintings and pictures.

So onto the garden.
I won't show you too many pictures since it's pretty much flowers everywhere ( and I took WAY too many pictures of all the flowers....)
What was very special to me though, was being able to see the Japanese bridge in one of his paintings in real life.
Maybe you already know what I'm talking about, but I will show it to you later on!

Amazing arch that leads you straight to the front door of Monet's house.

Look at the variety in all these flowers! I didn't know where to look to be honest.

So here is the famous bridge you can find in Monet's painting!
If you google ' The Japanese footbridge ' you'll definitely find it.

Lastly a picture of the great man himself.

If visiting these kind of things are not really what you're into, Giverny doesn't only have Monet's house, it is also an amazing town in a quiet area where you can go for a short stroll or even enjoy hiking.

 I hope you enjoyed this post! I want to try to upload more reviews and such in the near future, but I need my wallet to allow that first....

Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you next time c:

❤ Iris

Holiday in France

Hello everyone!

It sure has been a while, sorry for that!
I had a lot of tests and well, it was extremely stressful.

Last week I went on a holiday in France and I did A LOT of walking and visited a lot of places.

Todays blogpost is about a place I have been dying to see: the castle of Versailles.
Words can't express how beautiful this castle is, and sadly I forgot my charger for my DSLR camera, so I took pictures with my phone.

I will probably upload another blogpost about another place I visited next week Tuesday or Wednesday!!

As usual, I will provide you with a link to the website so you can find useful information as well.

I do want to say that entrance to the castle, the big and small Trianon are FREE if you're a a European Citizen aged between 18 - 26 years old. The castle garden is €7.

Chateau website

So I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Golden gate entrance to Versailles

The front square of Versailles

The Royal Chapel

The ceiling paintings are so incredibly detailed

View on the side of the castle

My parents made remarks about how small the beds were at the time

My absolute favorite: The hall of Mirrors

View on the garden.
If you look on the top left you can see the 3.5 (!!!) kilometer long pond.

This gallery has 32 paintings that show the main battles of France. The last one being the Battle of Wagram in 1809

If you ever have the time and money, do visit Versailles.

The castle is really amazing, and puts a lot of castles I've seen in the past to shame.

The attention to detail is something you will find in every corner.

To be honest, I wish I could live in this castle.

The garden is also extremely huge, but if I'm honest, it's not really my cup of tea, because I prefer floral gardens over the ones with symmetry and hedges.

What's also nice, is that there's trains that can take you to the small & big Trianon as well as back to the castle and gardens. 
I tried walking to the small Trianon with my parents and it took us quite some time, but it also made me realize how ridiculously huge the castle grounds are.

The hunting grounds alone reach to an impressive 43 kilometers!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I am currently thinking about a make up look I could post anytime soon and another holiday post is on it's way!

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

❤ Iris

PinkyParadise Haul

Hey everyone!

Long time no see, I'm sorry!
I currently have a lot of exams going on since at the end of every semester we have an exam week :(

I got these items a while ago, and today I finally found some time to talk about them and the awesome service that Pinky Paradise has.

So to explain what this website is; It's basically a website where you can mostly buy circle lenses.

If you don't know what circle lenses are, they come in different colors and patterns and you can order them according to your eyesight!

The whole purpose of circle lenses is to make your eyes look bigger and almost dolly like.

The reason why I use circle lenses mostly is because my eyes are uneven, so when I wear them they look more even and I just really like the enhanced look.

You can also find make-up, beauty products and false eyelashes over there which is great!
You can find the website over here.

I also want to talk about their service before I start my haul.

I wanted to order a specific pair of lenses and lashes, but I got an e-mail telling me that they were sold out.

No problem of course! I'd search for different ones.

Now the cool thing is, that the staff that helped me didn't stop replying and helping until I found a product that I could order instead. And this is REALLY nice.
I got replies super quick through e-mail and oh man I was really happy that their customer service is so fast and great.

So if you ever have a problem regarding an order, be prepared that the staff will do anything to help you out!!

Now onto my haul.

As usual I will provide a link to each item!

The cool thing about these lenses is that they're all provided with free cases!
So you won't have to worry about not having one. Yay!!

From top to bottom: G&G Shinny Green, Vassen Jewel Blue, Geo Princess Mimi in Grey

I can't tell you much about the comfort yet as this is a haul, but I'm planning on doing makeup looks with these three colors. This will include the lashes as well.

P.s. You can also order all of these contacts with a prescription!

I'll start off with G&G Shinny Green 

These contacts I have worn for 8 hours and they were comfortable so I can give you that!
I really wanted green contacts, because I liked the idea of trying out a new color.

All of my contacts are blue or grey colored haha.

You might have noticed that there's a dark edge around all of the lenses.

It's to enhance your eyes, making them look bigger.

I have light eyes myself, so all of the colors look bright on mine.

I can't tell anything about the brightness on brown eyes, but there's reviews and real life pictures provided on the website!

Next up is Vassen Jewel Blue

These contacts are really really cute!
These I've also worn for 8 hours and no complaints either :)
The way these contacts look are also similar to the picture on the internet so that's nice.

Lastly I got Geo Princess Mimi in grey

I haven't worn these yet, so can't tell you too much about it.

They look A LOT like the Vassen Bambi Queen in grey which I actually own.

The Princess Mimi have a little more definition in them which is why I like them more.

I hope these are more comfortable than the Bambi Queen, because those tend to sting my eyes.

The prescription is written on the top!

So onto the containers.

If it's your first time ordering circle lenses, please PLEASE be careful when opening the caps.

I'm sorry if you can't see the three arrows well, but there's usually an indicator like that or a small triangle. This is where you're supposed to open up the cap.

Use scissors or a tong if needed, because it's difficult to open them.

I also don't recommend opening them when you washed your hands or did dishes, because your nails WILL break. 

Trust me I had to find out the hard way :(

Last up are my new lashes!

Like I said, I'll do make up looks and I will include these lashes as well so yay!

All of these lashes are from Diamond Lash, one of my favorite brands!
From top left to bottom: Glamorous Eye, Rich Eye, Nudy Eyes

Applying lashes can be a real hassle and I still haven't mastered the art of it, but if you want to practice, I recommend buying cheap ones. It takes a lot of patience!

So Glamorous & Rich eye are top lashes.

They're not really hard to apply, but what I usually do is start in the middle and then push the inner and outer corner. Use tweezers if you have to!

Another piece of advice I can give you is bending the edges a little, because the shape they are sticked on to, is not your natural eye shape.

Nudy Eyes are bottom lashes!

The trick to these is applying them UNDER your lower lashes. It's super tricky so take your time.

Also, lash glue is usually removable with some lukewarm water, so when you wear lashes, especially for the bottom ones, don't just rip them off if you feel as if they're stuck!!

I hope you liked this haul :)

If I have time, I'll upload my first makeup look! 

Otherwise I'm thinking about home decor things.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

❤ Iris

This is a non sponsored post

Jfashion stores

Hey everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about Jfashion stores and some of my favorites.

As you might or might not know, I absolutely love Japanese street fashion.

It goes so much further than Lolita or Decora.

There are some cool websites where you can view street snaps!
TokyoFashion & JapaneseStreets

So as you might know Takeshita Dori & Shibuya have A LOT of amazing shops and since there are so many of them, I'm sorry that I can't cover them all.

Instead I want to talk about a few shops that are cool and have webshops as well.

It is actually possible to buy from these websites by using an agent called Tenso

I will explain about Tenso a little more later, or if you are curious, just click on the link and the website will explain itself as well.

The first store I want to talk about is 6%DokiDoki

The reason why I'm doing this, is because the website comes in English as well, and you can place orders yourself!!!

6%DokiDoki is a brand made by Sebastian Masuda.

His aim when he came up with this store, is to make the Harajuku culture something that is known worldwide and that shows.

The items in this shop are super happy and bright and definitely worth a check.

I must warn you that the items are not cheap though.

 Next up is Candy Stripper

Now Candy Stripper is a little less bright and still pretty expensive.

It's founded by Yoshie Itabashi and Chiharu Kikuchi.

Most items cost around a 100 Dollars :(

If you look at Japanese Fashion magazines such as Zipper you'll find people explaining they wear things from Candy Stripper. This is because it's a really popular shop in the Japanese street fashion scene.

Candy Stripper has a lot of rock & roll influences in their designs, making them loud and playful.

Another really cute store is Katie

Katie is super girly store founded by Taki & Linda.

It originally started out as a private label, but became an official label in 2012.

Since the items are pretty particular, you might feel down when you hear a lot of items are really expensive. Probably around 250 dollars.

The quality however is amazing and if you feel like saving your money for an expensive piece of clothing, definitely save for Katie.

 The store I have here is called Shibya109.

Characters from left to right: A, KA, SA, TA, NA, HA, MA, YA, RA, WA

It's not necessarily somewhere you can buy clothes online, but the website itself futures the stores they have available in their building.

Meaning that some of them might have their own websites, so you can browse for those yourself.

 Another store that I really love is Swankiss

All of their items are SO adorable it should be illegal.

Swankiss is made by Saaya Hayashida.

This brand is really popular with the so called 'Gyaru' and 'Himekaji', because it's girly but still has an edge to it.

I do want to say that the sizes run in asian sizes, so measure yourself very well before you want to order anything, to avoid disappointments. 

Next up is Spinns

If all the expensive things scared you away, I'm sorry!

A store that is fairly cheap compared to the others is Spinns.

This store has items priced from 15 Dollars to more expensive prices.

Spinns is funky and well known within Harajuku.

Sadly I haven't had the chance to go, but the store in Harajuku has over 3000 square feet of shopping fun. WOW!!!

What I also love about Spinns, is that it embraces young fashion designers.
Meaning that a lot of labels that they carry are made by said students. How cool is that??

Next up is Ayano Ruban 

The style in this store is more casual. But that doesn't make it less expensive sadly!!

This store can be found in Shibuya and not Harajuku, hence the difference in style.

Ayano Ruban is made by Ayano Fukuoji.

The fashion point you will find in this store are ribbons.

Lots and lots of ribbons!
The interior of the actual store will remind you a lot of Versailles, giving it a really cute look.

 Lastly I'd like to talk about AYMMY

AYMMY has some ''cheap'' and some expensive items.

This brand is founded by Ayumi Seto.

Maybe you've noticed that a lot of the clothes are inspired by America in the 60's & 70's.

I think it looks really different from a lot of items I've seen in many stores.

It personally reminded me of old diners meets skater.

If I'd own a diner, I'd definitely let my staff wear AYMMY clothes as their outfits, because I think it's absolutely perfect.

Since it's different, it livens up the street style image.

So here I'd like to end it with a small section about Tenso.

The reason I trust this agent is because Spinns actually recommends using it when you order from their website.

I haven't been able to order via Tenso yet, but I will do a review once I did!
The website is super self explanatory.

I'm sorry if I didn't cover a lot of stores, but trust me I could go on and on and on because there are a lot of independent labels and brands in Takeshita Dori & Shibuya.

Hope you've found this post helpful!!

See you next time.

❤ Iris

This is a non sponsored post

Monthly favorites

Hey everyone!

It's the end of the month, which means it's time for my monthly favorites.
This months I will be focusing on make-up products I have been using.

All the links I've used to refer the product, will lead you to the product itself!

I will start off with my cute looking items.

From left to right
My Castle hand cream, Lovely cookie blusher, Labello lip butter, Dear my wish Lipstick, Secret beam highlighter

I take my lip butter and hand cream with me everywhere I go.

The hand cream is from Etude house and comes in four different colors & scents

Pink wish Fruity & Floral

Ice frozen Icy & floral

Sweet cookie Sweet & Vanilla

Forever Rose Rose & floral

I have pink wish myself, because I wanted something that smelled fresh and not too overpowering.

Whenever I open the jar I can't help myself but smell a little, because I love it so much.

It has also helped a lot for my hands and cuticles that tend to get dry.

For the lip butter, it's Raspberry Rose by Labello.

It smells like a raspberry milkshake and makes my lips incredibly soft.

No matter what season it is, my lips always get chapped so having this product on me that not only smells amazing, but also does its job right is great!

This product also comes in the original scent & vanilla & macadamia

Now this is a product I've been searching for for quite some time.

It's a blush called Lovely Cookie by Etude house

Ever since I found out about the wonders of Etude house Global, I'm hooked to this website and I literally want to buy EVERYTHING.

I got this blusher in shade #4 and even though on the picture and in real life it seems a little orange, it turns pink on my skin and my skin is very pale.

I love to use this blusher because it's not an overwhelming color and I can make my looks cuter.

Also look at that adorable bow and fluffy applier. How can you not love this?

I never really knew what to buy as a highlighter until I stumbled upon the Secret Beam highlighter which is also by Etude house

My skin is pale so I chose the pink & white mix option.

Unfortunately this product is sold out, but I can see why!

It adds an amazing glow to my skin which brightens up my daily look.

If your skin has a more yellow/darker undertone I recommend the gold & beige option.

Lastly in my cute products section, I have Dear my wish lipstick, also by Etude house

Now what I like about this one, is the fact that it has a cream base, making it super easy to apply.

The shade I chose for this lipstick is RD302.

I chose a darker color, because I like darker shades of lipstick on me personally.

This lipstick has an amazingly rich color and lasts for quite some time.

I did found it a bit weird that there was a scent added to it, but you can't smell or taste it when you apply it, so if you're not fond of scented things don't worry!

From left to right
Naked 3 Palette Urban Decay, Catrice lipstick, Oh M'eye eye liner, Bobbi Brown foundation

This is my favorite eyeshadow palette EVER.

I received it as a Christmas gift and it's from Urban Decay

I must admit it's pricy, but now that I own this palette I understand why.

The colors are amazing, they apply really smoothly and stay on all day.

Sadly I can't show you a picture of what it looks like on the inside, because my dad dropped it on the floor so some of the palette containers look a little wobbly.

However, even though it fell, all of the palette colors are still intact and there is no crack to be found!

Next up is an eyeliner that I got from Etude house

I bought this product in November last year and I've been using it almost every day since, and it's still working perfectly. I had to get the hang of it in the beginning, because my previous liquid eyeliners had a thicker brush.

Now that I've used this one I prefer smaller brushes, because I can apply my eyeliner more precise.

I love the font they've used for this product. It adds cuteness in my opinion.

Next up is another lipstick. This one is from Catrice.

This one is Ultimate Color 310, Red my Lips.

Catrice is one of my favorite lipstick/nail polish brand, because it's super affordable and the colors are really rich and nice.

They also tend to add puns to their product names which I really like.

I also think this lipstick is super easy to apply, even though it's less creamy than the Dear my wish.

I must admit that it doesn't look really nice when your lips are chapped, so I advise you to put some lip balm or chapstick onto your lips before applying it.

Lastly there's my favorite foundation by Bobbi Brown

It's extremely hard for me to find a foundation that matches my skin perfectly since it's so pale.

Bobbi Brown foundation is the most amazing foundation I have ever bought in my life.

It can get pretty pricy, but I think it's totally worth it.

It works with a pump which is nice, because you can moderate the amount you need more easily.

It also has an SPF of 15 so you get protected by the sun a little. Please still use sunscreen if you get sunburnt easily like me.

The color I use is the lightest they have: Albaster #00.

I've used the foundation stick before this one, but found that it didn't really work well on the dry areas on my skin. It just made it look flakey.

I've been informed by a Bobbi Brown shop assistant however, that they've recently changed the formula in the foundation stick, so if you want to try this product you can always give it a try!

A little fun fact about Bobbi Brown & Etude house.

Both have make up tutorials!

I hope you've found this useful.

I sure do think that you do not need high end products to look your best by the way!!

I own a lot of drugstore items that work perfectly fine.

Etude House is still pretty affordable, but I just happen to throw a 1000 items in my basket hahaha

I will see you in my next post!

❤ Iris

This is a non sponsored post