First Impressions | Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette

Behold: Urban Decay's biggest and most colourful palette yet! Yes! The Urban Decay Full Spectrum palette has finally made its way to my eyeshadow palettes collection! And I don't think I am exaggerating when I say it's the brightest and the biggest one I own to date!

Let's have a closer look at what the latest lust-worthy palette from UD is all about. First things first, the packaging - it's very similar to other UD palettes in that there are the shades depicted on the outer box. However, it is much bigger than the other palettes - it contains 21 shades as opposed to the standard 12 shades that usually compose the brand's palette. You can compare the size of the palette here against the Naked Ultimate Basics.

The Full Spectrum palette comes in a black square layout palette with a magnetic closure. The ouside is just as beautiful as the inside (we'll get to that in a minute) with glossy parallel lines going all across the lid and down to the sides. The lid also features a multi-faceted rainbow coloured UD logo on the bottom right side underneath which is the name of the palette, also in rainbow colours.

On opening, there is a mirror as big as the lid and of course, there are the colours on the bottom compartment. The palette also comes with a small, double ended eyeshadow brush. The eyeshadows are arranged in a rainbow sequence of which there are three variations of the traditional rainbow colours. The last row is made up of grey, black and white - there really is a full spectrum of colours in there ;)

Urban Decay being Urban Decay, it is no surprise that most of the shades have a shimmer or frost finish. In fact, they only matte shade I can spot is Bump (white). Here are swatches and a description of all the shades:

Alchemy (deep fuchsia satin)
Gossip (bright metallic pink with subtle shimmer)
Paranoia (soft metallic blue-pink)
Warning (deep metallic copper)
Seize (bright metallic coral with subtle shimmer)
Jones (metallic orange with subtle shimmer)

Midnight Blaze (black matte with yellow-gold shimmer)
Calavera (bright yellow matte with subtle shimmer)
Goldmine (metallic yellow-gold)
Hundred (deep metallic forest green)
Hatter (vibrant green with tonal micro-sparkle)
Mean (bright metallic lime green)

Minx (deep navy matte with floating tonal pearl)
Blindsided (bright teal blue matte with floating pearl)
Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue with micro-sparkle)
Delirious (deep plum matte with subtle floating pearl)
Sketch (metallic medium purple)
Faded (lavender with gold shimmer)

Platonic (black matte with iridescent glitter)
Iced (oyster silver with shimmer)
Bump (white matte)

All shades are very pigmented and I find they last me all day (with the use of a primer of course) with no issues of creasing whatsoever and I only experienced fallout with the heavily shimmery shades. I have to point out though that the blue shades are a little patchy.

Would you give in to buying this palette? I got mine from feelunique.com for €49.54 with 10% off (usual price is €55.04).

Interviewing Claudia Faniello

I just parked my car opposite Costa Coffee in Balzan feeling nervous and excited all at the same time. Why all the fuss you ask? Well, in a few minutes I am to interview Claudia Faniello, a very well established name in the local music scene. One last look in my car's mirror and I'm out, walking towards the coffee shop. This was me last Wednesday afternoon.

I first met Gaetano, the designer in charge of Claudia's look for this year's Malta Eurovision Song Contest final which will be held on the 18th of February to choose the winner to represent Malta in the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest which will take place in Ukraine.

Gaetano is fast establishing himself as a household name when it comes to elegant dresses for women thanks to the 2015 edition of the Mercedes-Benz Malta Fashion Week and Awards which served as a springboard for him to launch his collections publicly. It was quite a chilly day so we ordered a cappuccino straight away to warm us up and for me to relax before Claudia shows up.

Designer Gaetano Busuttil and Claudia Faniello

A few minutes later, the singer waves at us from across the road and I immediately feel much more at ease once she greets us with her contagious smile. Turns out she is very down-to-earth, jolly individual and a pleasure to talk to! In fact, our interview quickly took the form of a chat between friends rather than an interview. We basically talked fashion and music of course as well as other random subjects as you do when you get to interview a very famous face in the local scene.

To start off with, I asked Claudia about her experience in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest and while she says it is time consuming, it gives her great pleasure in participating in such an event and this is her 9th year with the 10th song. This year, she is presenting a ballad entitled Breathlessly and she says ballads are her favourites when it comes to competitions as her singing abilities can really shine through - and I couldn't agree more!

Moving on to fashion, I was surprised to learn that shopping is not something Claudia enjoys doing yet she knows what she's comfortable in and her style changes from day to day depending on her mood. Skirts are her favourites as opposed to trousers for example. Claudia admits she is open to new ideas in terms of fashion and even though sometimes it may take quite a few tries for her to accept a new proposal, she usually complies. She immediately mentions fish-tail dresses as a case in point and Gaetano chimes in saying how much he likes such dresses and how it took him a little bit more effort to convince Claudia to wear one. Well, she succumbed to the charm of fish-tails and this is the result...

Claudia wearing one of Geatano's creations

...doesn't she look ravishing! 

When it comes to trends, Claudia isn't one to 'fall into the trap' as she prefers to sticking to what she knows will suit her physique and style and she doesn't really commit to one trend or another. Turning back to music, however, her idol is Madonna but not necessarily in a musical way - more in an artistic way.

Wearing more of Gaetano's creations on various occasions. The last one has to be my absolute favourite!

I wish Claudia the best of luck with her MESC entry and I am sure Gaetano will have her dressed to the nines in one of his exclusive, fabulous creations. Speaking of which, you can participate in a competition on Gaetano's Facebook page by guessing the colour of the dress Claudia is to wear on the finals' night!

Follow Claudia's journey on her Facebook page and be sure to vote for her entry on the 18th of February!

What I got for Christmas & Munich Haul

I haven't done a haul post in a while but Christmas gifts and the things I bought in Munich provided the perfect excuse for me to finally sit down type such a post and of course take lots of pictures to show you the items in the best way I can :)

Starting with Christmas gifts, I got some of the best gifts this year, most of which had been on my wish-list for quite some time. Here I will be showing you the fashion and beauty related gifts as I don't think it's any use to show vouchers and such.

Going from left to right, first is the Tommy x Gigi small felt pouch in navy and white which my boyfriend got me :) This has been on my wish-list as soon as it was released and he had already bought it for me for Christmas. It also features a grey felt anchor and a navy pompom and of course the Tommy x Gigi logo in gold metal. The chain strap and hardware are also in gold. My brother also gifted me with a very chic clutch bag from Accessorize which features embellishments, embroidery and a satin lining on the inside. You will soon be seeing more pictures of these beauties in outfit posts I have planned.

My parents were kind enough to buy me a pair of new Dolce & Gabbana spectacles from Optika as I needed a new, stylish pair. You have already seen them multiple times of course. and I have gotten many compliments on them from friends, family and even people on the street.

Lastly, a pair of double stud of earrings from I AM thanks to my boyfriend who had to gift me a secret santa gift :P Here's the story behind all this...every Christmas, my boyfriend's family have this little secret santa 'do where each one of us gets the name of the relative they have to buy a gift to (the usual way this works). Anyhow, the names are drawn by an outsider (a colleague of his cousin) so they really don't know anything about relations or so and as luck would have it, my boyfriend had my name drawn :P Luckily for me, he remembered I had shown him these earrings and he got them for me like the fabulous boyfriend he is :)

Now, I shall move on to the things I got from Munich, starting with clothing. One of the first shops I look for when I am abroad is H&M just because we still don't have any of their stores open here in Malta. I was mostly interested in the beauty section (I shall show you what I got from there later) but of course, I did have a quick browse in the clothes' department. I bought mostly tops as it was too stressful to keep removing layers and layers of clothing just to try on the new stuff. Left to right, a basic green short sleeve top, black lace top (came with a black silk cami), grey merino wool mix sweater, ruffle printed blouse. I also got a pair of leggings to use during my pilates classes.

Next up is Zara, from where I picked up this super comfy pair of flat Chelsea boots, this green roll-neck knit and this printed pair of trousers. Lastly, for clothing, I have this Tommy Hilfiger blouse which my boyfriend bought me as a vacation gift. I just can't wait till summer to wear it!

Of course, I couldn't resist getting a few accessories seeing that most of the shops were already at 50% sale. I got the biggest scarf of all from H&M and the best thing is it was only €3! I love the colours and prints on this one - of course expect to see it soon in an outfit post ;) I also got some hair ties. From Mango I got this set of silver and marble bangles and from Accessorize, I got this gold clutch bag which will definitely come in handy when wedding season hits. Another one of my favourite stores abroad is & Other Stories. While I love their style, most of their designs fit me too big but their accessories section is to die for. I picked up this little pochette which I can see myself wearing with so many different things!

Finally, the makeup and beauty items! As I told you before, I really wanted to go to H&M for their beauty section. I had first tried their products earlier last year when I visited Barcelona and I found them to be of very good quality so I quickly compiled a list of the things I wanted to get. H&M nail polishes are some of my favourites around. This time I picked up Olive Grove, Rock Oyster, Tender Greige and Prismatic. Next I got two blushes - Cameo Brown (cream) and Cameo Pink (powder). I also got an Overnight Lip Rescue and a Clean Canvas Lip Scrub which smells absolutely delicious! I was really curious to try the Glitter Glue and the Do-It-All BB Cream Leave-In Hair Perfector so I got those too as well as this travel sized brush and some makeup sponges.

Lastly, I have two products which I picked up from KIKO - Glossy Dream Sheer Lipstick 206 and the Unlimited Double Touch Lipstick in the shade 119. I'm really curious to give these a go and see how well they last of course.

I really enjoyed shopping in Munich especially with the really good sales they have going on at the moment but I am really looking forward to visiting Milan in two weeks from where I hope to bring my first pair of designer shoes home :)

Which were your favourite items?

Review | Pupa Milano Contouring & Strobing Powder Palette

Pupa Milano have just launched their own line of Contouring & Strobing Powder Palettes. All makeup junkies know about these two techniques that are meant to structure the face and further enhance our best features according to our face shape.

I had the chance to test this new palette for a good few weeks and now I am here to share my thoughts with you all. First of all, a word about the packaging. I have yet to find a Pupa Milano product for which I have something negative to say about the packaging. I think we all agree that this palette looks very sleek, stylish and elegant with black and silver casing. It is slim enough to carry around and yet it contains everything you need to achieve the perfect #READY4SELFIE look. In fact, I took this with me on my recent travels. The palettes comes in three different shades to suit every skin tone. The one I have is 002 Medium Skin.

Inside the palette, there is a highlight shade, a light contour shade, a medium contour shade and a dark contour shade as well as a nice-sized mirror. If you're unsure how to use the palette, Pupa has that covered too for there is a pictorial right at the back of the outer box which guides you to contour and strobe according to your face shape!

I find that all four shades in the palette, are very pigmented yet they are very easy to blend to achieve that flawless contoured look and highlight to slay all day ;) Here are swatches and a makeup look where I have used this palette.

The Pupa Milano Contouring & Strobing Palette really has everything you need and at €19.90 for four products, I think it's worth a try.

You can find Pupa Milano products at various pharmacies and authorized stockists around Malta & Gozo.

PR Sample

The Best Of Me with CHIC Med-Aesthetic Clinics | Spider Veins Laser Treatment {Review & Third Treatment Session}

I hope the new year is all treating you well so far - mine has been very good till now as I started this new chapter in Munich. I see the first of January of every year as an opportunity to better myself, thus for one of the very first posts of 2017, I thought of updating you all with how my laser treatment of spider veins at CHIC Med-Aesthetic Clinics has ended.

I had my last review appointment a little more than 6 weeks after second laser treatment session. I am elated to say the least, that I can finally wear a skirt with confidence again! Yes, my unsightly spider vein is now almost completely gone and the treatment sessions have thus proved successful. Dr. Bonello suggested we treat what was left of what was possibly the origin of my spider vein just to eradicate the vein completely and only 18 pulses were needed to treat the area (bear in mind I started at 79 pulses).

First course of treatment

Now, at two weeks after treatment, all I have left is a small bruise without any redness or swelling whatsoever and that will highly likely be the last of my spider vein. Have a look at the results in these photos which I took every week to monitor progress.

Second course of treatment

Two weeks following last treatment session

You've seen the results for yourselves, now it's time to pick up the phone and call CHIC to book your appointment today! Thank you CHIC Med-Aesthetic Clinics for restoring my confidence!

You can view all the posts covering my journey by clicking the links below:

Consultation

First Treatment Session

Second Treatment Session

All opinions and experiences are my own and are in no way influenced by CHIC Med-Aesthetic Clinics.

Travel Look | Cold, so cold!

Welcome to 2017 beautiful people and welcome to my blog for another year :) Just last week I was in the beautiful but cold cities of Munich and Salzburg so of course, I had to pack a luggage full of practical winter clothes. The holiday was a very welcome break to ring in the new year with our friends and it was jam-packed with places and things we had to see and do.

I put together one of the most comfortable outfits to travel in without compromising on style of course. Luckily, I convinced my boyfriend to take pictures of the outfit before we departed Malta so I can share it with you guys.

I already owned most of the items I am wearing so I'm afraid you won't be able to find the exact clothes I am wearing in the shops. However, the coat, beanie and bag are still available as they are all new stock items. The boots have been in my collection for two years or so and they never let me down! They keep my feet warm and they never get wet inside so it's the perfect pair to travel to colder climates in. I really enjoyed wearing this Zara coat and River Island bag all throughout my holiday and they proved to be very good investment pieces.

Coat, Zara | Denim shirt & Embellished v-neck, H&M
Denims, Tommy Hilfiger | Boots, Indigo at Marks & Spencer
Backpack, River Island | Beanie, Peacocks | Glasses, Dolce&Gabbana at Optika

I shall be traveling to Milan for the first time this month so do let me know if you'd like me to shoot outfit pictures there too :)