Herbalism Review (LUSH)

Hi guys!

When I went to LUSH last month I was given two free samples of their products, and one of them is the face cleanser Herbalism. For some reason I hadn't used it until recently, and I thought I could review it!

First of all, the product itself. It's a kind of green powder that you put in your hand and pour just a little water into. Then, it becomes more fluid and you can apply it to your face. You only need a tiny bit (I was given a small pot for the sample, I've used it for a week AND I STILL HAVE SOME LEFT!) and you can cleanse your whole face. You can also leave it for some more minutes and use it as a face mask.

The product itself is unlike anything I've seen before, and I like it even though I applied either too much or too little water at the beginning so it didn't work as well. It takes some practice to get used to it, but once you get it it becomes very simple. It goes away from your face very easily as well.

You can feel the change even after the first time you put it on (I would add specially the first time you put it on). I find it works better if you wear it on your face for three or four minutes at least, and it leaves your skin feeling like a baby's behind. I don't think my skin has ever felt this soft! It has taken away spots I had, and every time a new one appeared, it would dry out in a couple of days. It does a really good job with helping your pores to breathe, and that's something I'm really thankful for in this hot Summer (it's over 30ºC every day, help me.)

As you can see, I'm verrrry impressed with this product. I don't have acne, only some spots here and there, so I can't tell you if it helps with that, but maybe someone can share their experience on the comments! It did a very good job with my greasy skin and I can feel some traces from old spots I managed badly starting to fade away, which is something I NEVER thought would happen!

Now, the price. When I went to the LUSH store, I thought "there is no way I'm buying this when I come back, it's way too expensive!" but I might change my mind. Yes, it is pricey, but it's handmade and, most importantly, it lasts for ages. I think the whole pot would last for maybe 3 months and it costs a little under 10€, so I'm fine with it.

Overall, I find it's a really good product and, honestly, it adds to the list of items I've tried from LUSH and I loved (which is every single one.)

Have you tried this cleanser or any other cleanser from LUSH? Let me know your recommendations in the comments!

A big big hug,


Acqua

Best Youtubers (less than 100k subscribers)

Hi guys! I've been trying to subscribe to more, lesser known youtubers recently and I'm really enjoying it! I've discovered different people that I like a lot and I wanted to share my favourites with you :) So without any further ado, here are my favourite youtubers with less than 100k subscribers!

1- Meg Says
51k subscribers - Meg is one of my favourite beauty youtubers ever. The best word I think there is to describe her is nice. She just is. I discovered her because she always reviews Zoella Beauty's products, and I really liked her videos, so I subscribed to her and she's become one of the only people whose videos I always watch! She was kind of too serious at the beginning but she's getting way more expressive and I'm really, really enjoying her videos right now. If you like Zoella I think you'll love her too!

2- BostonTom
63k subscribers - I love The Fine Bros and Tom has always been one of my favourite reactors, so when he started his own channel I just had to subscribe! I love his personality and I love being able to follow him outside of the TFB channel, also because he's one of the reactors who is exactly my age (he's barely a month older than me) and I've just followed him while him (and I) grow up. He has a really varied content as well! He's very funny, genuine and down-to-earth while daring to do the weirdest things and I really love that about him :)

3- Faye Singleton
16k subscribers - I discovered Faye recently and I enjoy her videos a lot. She is a beauty youtuber as well and she is way younger than all the others. She is such a fun, carefree spirit! Besides that, I absolutely adore her accent, which always adds to it. I truly believe she'll grow to be a big youtuber some day!

4- Jolien Nathalie
6k subscribers - She also has a blog called www.joliennathalie.com, which I recommend to you first and foremost because I really enjoy it! She also does beauty videos and posts as well as thoughts and lifestlyle. She has tried every single Essence product as well, so before buying anything, I always go to her channel and blog to see if she has done a video or post about it! And she's never wrong about the quality of the products.

5- Petesjams
77k subscribers - This last spot was hard to fill because I had several youtubers in mind but none of them stood out from the others... but I finally decided I'd give it to Pete! You know my favourite youtuber (and one of my favourite people in the world) is Carrie Hope Fletcher, and Pete is her boyfriend. They're the cutest couple in the world! I really like Pete's personality too. He mainly does music covers and vlogs!

Shoutout: Sophie Louise (111k) Okay, when I first planned this post she had less than 100 subscribers! I really recommend her as well :)

That's all for today! I hope you have a nice weekend!

A big big hug,


Acqua

My Gardening Project (Part 1)

Hi guys! As I told you, one of my Summer goals is to put up a nice garden in my house. It's a project that has taken me a month so far and seemingly will last a lot longer, but I'm really enjoying it, so far so good!

This project has two parts, the first one being taking care of the potted plants. It all began when I was given a plant and my dad said "Why would they give you a plant if it's going to die?" On that exact moment, I decided that plant wasn't dying any time soon. I took care of it and put it with my mum's plants, but the other ones looked so bad I decided I would take care of them too.

The first thing I did was visit my grandma. She is 95 and loves plants, so she told me what I had to do with each one. She was really happy to help too, because at her age it's hard to feel useful if you need to have mostly everything done for you. So it was a win-win!

For some of them it was just getting rid of the dry leaves and watering them, but I had to put some in bigger pots, cut off many branches and refill some pots. The cacti were particularly hard! This process took me an afternoon and a morning, but I finally managed to fix all the problems and ended up with a promising selection of plants. Some of them are still damaged, but I think with the right treatment they will end up being as healthy as the otheres. Here's how it looks:

 

 

That's it! Have a nice week!

A big big hug,


Acqua

Happy, Happy, Happy

Do you know those days in which you are just exhaling hapiness? It's like you flow instead of walking. Like you fly instead of running. It's when you cry because laughter doesn't seem good enough to express what you're feeling.

Today has been one of those days and, honestly, I hadn't had one of these in a while. This Summer has started as a rollercoaster of emotions, from worryingly anxious and sad to happy. But not this. The truth is... I had forgotten how it felt.

I had two of my dearest friends whom I hadn't seen for some months visiting me in my house for the first time, and I introduced them to my closest friends home. We genuinely had the best afternoon. I walked them around the village. We played Dixit, which is one of my favourite games. Everybody clicked with each other as if they had been friends forever. Nobody was meant to stay for dinner, but we kept inviting people until they all said yes. We watched bits of our local production of A Fiddler On The Roof, we talked, we laughed... and we just had a great day honestly.

I don't know if this is relevant to you, but I'd really, really like it if you all could feel the way I feel right now. I know it won't last, and I genuinely think that's okay, but it's like I could do anything, like everything that troubled me is not as important as it was before. All my worries are still here, but they are not on the front row anymore.

These days remind you that even if you might not be in your finest hour, this is not how it's supposed to be all the time. You're not doomed to a life of sadness and worry. You can be happy too. And what's more important, you deserve to be happy. You are entitled to happiness, and even though you might think your life is going to be grey forever, you'll have one of these days. And then you'll cry, because you'll remember how it feels to be loved and cherished, and you'll just be able to be yourself even if you have no clue what that means.

I don't have the slightest idea of who I am, but I'm 100% sure I was myself this afternoon. That's one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Have the best weekend and I'll see you on Monday!

A big big hug,


Acqua

Looking Back | 50TH POST!!!

Hello lovelies! How are you today? I'm really, really excited for this post because I'll have the chance to evaluate these past months since I decided to start a blog, something that has changed my life quite a lot. We're celebrating that this is my 50th post, that I just got my 3999th view AND that I just got 50 followers on Bloglovin! I know many people have more, but it's a great deal for me and I can't thank you enough. And today, on this 50th post, I wanted to share my thoughts with you, and I'll do it by giving awards to different categories! You'll see how it goes :) Enjoy!

My favourite post
This one is really hard for me. I feel like my favourite posts are the most heartfelt ones, and even after almost six months, I think I would go back to Little Me as my number one favourite (gosh, I've just reread it and I'm crying so much.) It was such an important post for me and I think it explains a lot of who I am, I poured it all into those words. Those early posts, when I had no clue what blogging was about and just wrote about whatever felt important, are all among my favourites. The second place would definitely be for QOTW #6 (Down Syndrome Day). Special mentions to Blank Pages, My Blessing, QOTW #1 (The Sun Will Rise) and QOTW #5 (Being Light).

My least favourite post
QOTW #9 Short Wisdom is THE LAZIEST post I've ever written. I was just too tired, so I gathered small quotes I liked and added pictures for all of them. I keep thinking I could have focused on a quote or two and write some thoughts about them. Maybe it would have taken me as long as gathering the quotes did, and the post would have something mine. Maybe that's what I regret the most. All my posts have like a print of myself, and that one doesn't.

Best thing about being anonymous
You can write ANYTHING you want. "Oh, I can't say this because my friend who reads it will know who I'm making a reference to and..." no. It's like a fresh start. And this freedom makes you take it more seriously. People here are getting to know you from scratch, so you better work hard for them. It's not like I hide who I am really, because if someone who knew me stumbled upon this blog they would absolutely know it's me, and I don't care that much to be honest. But right now... I'm loving being anonymous :) And if you wonder, I've told some people I write a blog, but I haven't told the name to anybody.

Worst thing about being anonymous
When something exciting happens, like when you get an incredibly nice comment, you can't share it with your friends or acquaintances. You feel like you want to say "Look how nice and awesome this person is!", but you can't. It's okay though.

Most mindblowing thing
THE WORLDWIDE REACH. It just... it's unbelievable to me! People from maybe 50 countries have read my words and that is craaaaaaaazy. When I had readers from 7 different countries I printed a blank world map and started to paint a country every time I had someone reading my blog from there. And look at this beauty. (1- I haven't finished the outline of the sea, I knoooow! 2- If you don't see your country coloured PLEASE let me know!)

It keeps getting more and more coloured. Shoutout to the 10 countries I get the most reads from, in the following order:
-US
-Spain
-UK
-Australia
-Philippines
-New Zealand
-Taiwan
-Poland
-Canada
-Bahrain

Most nervewrecking thing
When I'm about to post something really personal or my opinion on a controversial topic. You always feel vulnerable and exposed, right? It's okay though, because you're the best and are always so supportive :)

Most exciting thing
When I read certain comments, mainly on said personal or controversial posts and see people get what I'm trying to say 100%. Have I already said you're the best?

Most curious thing
It's always curious to see your reactions to certain posts. My beauty posts are usually the ones with the most views and comments, but the ones with the most saves and +1 on google are the thoughts ones, such as the quotes of the week. I sometimes think maybe there are too many quotes and you'll get bored, but then I see that even though not so many people find it interesting, they really help and they're really embraced by those who do. Something else that's really curious as well is how Easy and Happy, which is one of the most read posts, only has 4 comments (and 2 are mine!)

My favourite thing about blogging
It has to be all the people I interact with. You guys are the reason for what I do. Reading your posts, commenting on them, reading and answering your comments, taking what you say into consideration, emailing some of you... this is something undeniably awesome. Thank you, thank you and thank you for sharing this ride with me.

My least favourite thing about blogging
When I'm busy, posts and comments I owe keep piling up and they might become a burden. I want to comment on all of your posts and I carry the weight of my conscience until I do! I feel like I might put too much pressure on myself because of that.

Advice I would give to bloggers
Just have fun with it. Don't get too worried and pour your soul into your blog. If you're honest and natural, you'll find people who will connect to you. Write about what is important to you. Don't worry about the views. Interact with others, don't forget about people who comment on your blog and comment back. Just enjoy the ride alongside the people who are willing to take it with you :)

Thank you, all of you, for these past months. Blogging has become something key to my life and I feel like I've grown so much. I'd love to know your opinion on what you'd like to see for the following 50 posts and all the posts that come. What posts have been your favourites and you would like to keep reading. Just your general opinion!

I'll see you on Friday. Until then...

A big big hug,


Acqua

Top 10 Places I Want To Visit

If you know me, you'll know I love traveling (for instance, I plan on visiting Tuscany, Prague and Latvia these following months), and I can't have enough. I do get nervous before and think "maybe I should stay and not get in trouble", but once I'm away I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's hard to narrow down the places I want to visit to my top ten, but I think everywhere is worth visiting! In no particular order, here are the 10 places I'd love to visit.

1- Greece
I'm a huge fan of the Ancient Greek culture and I would be delighted to visit Greece. I went to the British Museum the first time I visited London and it all led to the Parthenon statues. I just stood there as if someone had cast a spell on me! I'd visit them all: Athens, Delfos, the islands... and I know it's technically in Turkey, but I have a fascination for Troy as my final project for high school which I spent a year working on was about the Iliad, so I'd love to visit it as well.

2- Israel
I want to learn Hebrew and I'd love to visit Israel as religion is something very important in my life and I would be able to go back to the roots, which I think religion really needs because it has gone off the rails in some cases. I think Israel, although dangerous right now, would be beautiful.

3- Scotland
I LOVE SCOTLAND! I want to see everything: the cities, the green wilderness, the smallest islands, the lakes and, of course, all the Harry Potter nerdy stuff. Being from an area quite different than the rest of its country myself, Scotland does hold a special appeal because I feel identified with them, it has this similarity which I think would make me feel even more comfortable.

4- Ireland
Okay, admission done: I want to see everything in the British Islands! I just love everything there. Ireland seems such an amazing place to visit because of the beautiful nature and beautiful people. Just bring it on!

5- Tuscany
I love Italy. I've seen Rome and I've been to the Piamonte area four or five times. And as a big lover of art, Tuscany just sounds like the perfect place. The landscapes are beautiful and the culture is too. I just can't wait to see it this Summer!

6- Versailles
Here is a place I really, really want to visit. I can't fathom how large that place is. It sounds like such an interesting spot, most importantly, with a lot of stories to tell; and, as you know, stories have always been my weakness! I'd love to see how it's organised and witness how big it is.

7- The Philippines
My love for Lea Salonga brought me to love the Philippines. I plan on learning Tagalog and visiting it one day! The landscapes are among the most beautiful in the world in my opinion, and the people and mixture of cultures add that cultural spice that you need when you visit something. I just can't wait until I can put a foot in there!

8- China 
I've studied Chinese for three years now, and I've had the opportunity to learn about China's culture and the most beautiful spots to visit. Contrarily to most of my classmates, I can't see myself living there, but I'd love to spend some weeks discovering as many things as I can. China is such a gem with so much to offer!

9- India
This is the one I've been the most hesitant about. I have a friend working with children in the streets of Bombay and she's really excited about it, and this is something I'd love to do. Moreover, I think India's art and culture are absolutely stunning, and its diversity mindblowing and really interesting. As with China, I feel like this huge country has a lot of hidden gems I'd love to discover.

10- New York
Musical geek, Broadway bound. You know me. You know Broadway would be a dream come true. I love musical theatre with a passion and now that I've seen three West End shows, it's time to get bigger. And, of course, who wouldn't like to visit New York? For this girl living in a corner of the Mediterranean Sea it would be unbelievably cool. Just you wait, NYC!

That's it then! I'm really fascinated about these places and I hate that I had to leave others like Australia, California and Austria out of it.

What's the place you'd like to visit the most?

A big big hug,


Acqua

June Favourites!

Good afternoon and happy 4th of July to all my American readers! (Okay, okay, this was meant to be published yesterday... happy late 4th of July?) I hope you have a wonderful day :)

I'm a little bit late for my favourites post, I know, I'm sorry! I wanted to post it last Friday but I didn't have time because I've started my July job and it's quite stressing. But I'm extremely happy because of the acceptance of my last post, Letting Go Of What Never Was. Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! I never thought so many people would relate :)

Anyway, let's get to my favourites because I have quite a lot this month!

- Tea Tree Water liquid tonic from LUSH
I went to Lush, I bought a lot and I've loved every single thing so far. But speaking about favourites for the month, I thought this was better because I've used it every single day for the last weeks and it's worked amazingly. I have oily skin and it has been really nice and gentle to my face. It's lightweight and really, really easy to apply: you only have to spray it and let it dry! It's hard for me to keep routines, so this has been really useful. I highly recommend it!

- Anti-grease Dry Shampoo from Schwarzkopft
I had wanted to try a dry shampoo for quite a long time and I was really impressed! My hair doesn't even look a tiny bit greasy after applying it. It's amazing!

- Summer Glow Self Tan nourishing lotion from Dove
I was looking for a self tan from Nivea, but I found this one instead and I'm really happy with it! If you take your time with applying it and letting it dry, after a couple of days you'll have a very natural tan a little bit darker than your usual skin tone. I've been using it on my legs because the rest of my body gets tanned quickly while my legs stay snow white... and I love it!

- Barely there! (shade 06) lipstick from Essence
You'll know that the only cruelty-free makeup brand that sells in my village is Essence, and I really like their products. The last time I went to the store I only picked up things I had seen recommended on blogs and youtube videos, and it was the best thing I could've done! I loved them all and I actually have most of them in my favourites today. Barely there! is a favourite in the blogging world, and I can totally see why. It's the perfect nude lipstick, a little dark but not too much. I never wear lipstick if I don't have a special event, but I've been using this one on several weekdays and I love it!

- XXXL Velvet Matt lipgloss (shade 06 Soft Nude) from Essence
I also bought this the last time I went to the store and the same thing has happened: I have worn it a lot this month, even on weekdays! It's a light nude, and it goes really well with bright, corally t-shirts (and let's be honest, I wear quite a lot on Summer, it's one of my favourite colours!) The only downside is that it smells a little funny... like something being burned. But the consistence is really nice on your lips, it sits down amazingly, and it's quite hidrating too. An absolute win in my book!

- 07 Cute Pink lipliner from Essence
Essence lip liners are considered by many their best products ever, so I had to buy one. They are really affordable and now I can say they are very good! The one I own is a really nice pink shade, and you can wear it as a liner or use it to fill your lips: it looks good either way! It's easy to apply, not drying at all... I can totally see what all the buzz was about!

- The Kingkiller Chronicle saga
I told you this is one of my favourite books because I used a quote from it for a quote of the week... but it had to be here. I'm in love with this saga. The Name Of The Wind and A Wise Man's Fear are among the best fantasy books ever written. I wasn't prepared for how much I'd love to reread these. I absolutely wasn't.

That's it! Quite a lot of favourites this month... what have you been loving? Thanks and I'll see you on Friday!

A big big hug,


Acqua

Letting Go Of What Never Was

And I say goodbye to everything we could have been.

Sometimes, people, or situations, or moments that we yearn for are long gone, and it just takes us a little longer to get used to the idea. We create a future in our heads, everything that could happen, and fall in love with that future. We fall in love with every single detail, we imagine the good and the bad it will bring, just to believe it will eventually happen.

But sometimes, this future was never meant to be. We just don't want to accept it.

So we keep on waiting for that future to come, until our brain finally accepts what had been in our subconscience for a long time: it's never going to happen. And we cry, not only because of that particular thing we wanted, but because of what we hoped it would bring, this life only in our heads. We grieve that lost life.

It's really, really hard. We write songs about it, we write it down, we think it through, and we listen to music to make us feel we are not alone.

Then, finally, we let go. We accept it's not part of our future and let it go. We feel nostalgic, sad, a little empty... and relieved, and free. Because when we let go we see all the new possibilities that lie ahead. And start creating a new future.

We know it could have been beautiful. That's our blessing and our course at the same time. But we can't help it.

Unfinished stories are quite bad, but even though unstarted ones may be even worse, there's a beauty in them. There's this hope we created. There's this memory of something that never happened. This beautiful paradox.

As Éponine says... Why regret what could not be?

A big big hug,


Acqua