Paris, Je T'aime

Sooooo I was in Paris this weekend.  I know.  It's insane.  I still haven't processed it.  

Now, I was there for just under two days and running around like a headless chicken the entire time, so I'm not gonna give many travel tips because I literally just did the stuff you'd think to do (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc...).  The two things I would say to do would be to buy the 'youth' metro pass on weekends--it's like 3.5 euros and you get unlimited metro use for the day, which is great when your hotel is on the outskirts of the city and it's too cold to walk outside for extended periods of time.  The other thing I'd do is go to Sainte Chappelle.  It's the king's private chapel from the 1200s, it's 5 euros for students, and it looks like this:

Yeah.....you should go. 


What I am gonna talk about is Laduree and my little French pharmacy shopping trip.


So I dragged all my friends to the Laduree on Rue Royale with me.  The line was ridiculously long, and surprisingly full of French people (and not tourists!), and the store was just too cute for words.  It's all white and bright pinks and mirrors, and the tiniest, most colorful little macaroons.  They also have baked goods, but I didn't see anyone order those.  The macaroon situation is basically that they have 15 or so flavors, and you pick the number of macaroons and flavors you want in order to full up the box you want (they have tons of different boxes in different adorable shapes, sizes, and colors).  I got a variation of the round box on the right, but in a different color and less cutesy, filled with three chocolate macaroons and three salted caramel macaroons.  The chocolate macaroons were delicious, just chocolatey enough on the outside and nice and fudgy on the inside.  But the salted caramel ones...oh my goodness.  I have no words.  HEAVENLY.  I think they have a store in Manhattan now, and while they are ridiculously overpriced (about 2 euros each!), it's so worth at least one trip.

Caudalie Lip Conditioner, $12 at sephora.com, Bioderma Créaline H2O, $28 for 250 mL at amazon.com: I went into about 5 pharmacies looking for Embryolisse lotion, and NO ONE HAD IT.  Cue epic sad face.  I picked up this lip conditioner partially because I needed to break a 50 and partially because France was so, so cold and the air was so, so dry.  I've been craving a clear lip conditioner that's not as greasy as Aquaphor for a while now.  I got this for about 4.5 euros, about half the price it is at Sephora.  It's 99.5% natural and full of happy ingredients, like natural plant oils.  I really love the lipstick format--it feels very classy and chic.  It goes on smooth and not at all waxy--it has a bit of a matte finish but feels both light and deeply moisturizing on your lips (like it sinks beneath the surface and gets work done).  It has a subtle vanilla scent/taste that I really like.  My only critiques would be that it doesn't last the longest time on my lips, so I have to reapply more than I would with, say, Aquaphor, and it doesn't have SPF.  The other thing I picked up and smuggled through TSA was the Bioderma makeup remover.  I've heard such raves about it that I had to try it.  I got the 100mL bottle for 5 euros.  It comes in that cute little pink bottle and both smells and feels just like water.  Seriously.  My usual Neutrogena makeup remover has a bit of an oilier feel and can sting my eyes, but this could literally be water and I would not know the difference.  On a cotton pad, it gets rid of the makeup on my face in seconds. It takes a bit longer to get rid of my waterproof eyeliner/mascara, but just as long as it does with any other remover I've tried.  In short: I totally get the hype, and would definitely buy this if it was easily available in the US.  It's easy to use, great for sensitive skin, and extremely effective.

Oh, and one last thing about Paris: if you're looking for somewhere affordable but nice to stay, check out the Maison Bacana.  It's not right in the middle of things, but it's about 10-15 minutes on the metro to Notre Dame, which is pretty darn decent.  We paid about 25 euros a night for two giant double beds, an adorably and quirkily furnished room, cookies and coffee on check-in, home-made and giant breakfast every morning (even to-go when we had to run to the airport), French-themed DVDs and a giant flat-screen in our room, and the most helpful hotel owner I've ever talked to.  Seriously.  STAY HERE.  Do it.  We struggled so much to leave the hotel room in the mornings.  It was so cute and cozy!



Images via: fatallyfemininedesigns.blogspot.com, msdbelleza.com, beautyhabit.com, sephora.com.

Hair Dye Adventures in Espana

I know, I know, I'm a bad little blogger.  To be fair, I have been traveling a lot and my internet is so slow it takes 3 hours to upload an album to Facebook.  Excuses, excuses, I know. (I also have to read all of Don Quijote, parts 1 and 2 for class.  Please, kill me).


I don't have that much news, but I did dye my hair!  Again.  So long story short, it's naturally a dark blonde/light brown.  Then I dyed it brown for year, and for about the first 6 months of the year it was red.  Like red-red-red.  But I got tired of it, and I wanted it to go back to brown.  So I dyed it medium-dark golden-brown literally 3 separate times.  It was still red, and worse than that, it was strawberry blonde on the bottom half because I have too much hair for one box of dye and the color on my ends had faded away.  This made me very frustrated.  So one day,  I freaked out and grabbed 2 boxes of a neutral dark brown and dyed my hair.


It's dark!  Dark dark dark.  It also looks like I have highlights because now my hair isn't taking dye evenly (damn you, red hair dye), but I guess that makes it more natural looking?  Either way, I really like the dark.  I had it this dark when my hair was way shorter--just over chin-length--and that felt a little harsh.  I think the extra length softens it up a lot, and I feel much more Spanish now!  Haha.  But no, really, the red hair + epic paleness was getting stares and comments from creepy old men on the street.  So.  Oh, and I slept with it in braids last night and attempted to make it wavy today.

I've been bouncing around Spain quite a bit since I got here.  So far I've been to Madrid, Toledo, Cadiz, Sevilla (obviously haha), Huelva, and Granada.  Here are some pics I took of the Alhambra in Granada--the last Moorish palace built in Spain in the last city conquered by the Catholic Kings.  Sigh.  Isn't it gorgeous?  It was abandoned by centuries and random squatters lived there before it was reclaimed and restored by the state. 

And on a totally random note, I've been doing a lot of online shopping in my downtown.  Being in Spain without being able to use my beloved iPhone and being stuck relying on my stupid little Movistar piece of junk has gotten me thinking about watches.  I'm normally that girl that walks around clutching her iPhone in a death grip so she always knows what's going on.  But not being able to do that has gotten me thinking, and honestly...it's a little obnoxious.  I'd like to be able to have a watch so I'm not constantly playing with my iPhone.  The one problem is that I HATE how watches look on me.  So when I found these bracelet-watch hybrids from La Mer, I got really excited.  La Mer Collections Moscow Braided Chain Wrap Watch, $110 at lamercollections.com, Brown Leather-Copper Motorcycle Chain Watch, $120 at lamercollections.com:

I know these are basically the same.  I really like the combination of skinny watch face, long brown leather straps, and chunky chains mixed in.  The watch face is so delicate and lady-like, the leather adds an equestrian/slightly preppy-aristocratic feel, and the chain brings it all back down to earth and gives it some grit.  The basic dilemma is between silver or gold.  I think I like the silver one better.  And all the rest of my rings/bracelets are silver too...hm...And momma, if you read this, I may or may not be asking for this for Christmas.  Love you! 

That's all for now, darlings.  Hasta luego!

Images via lamercollections.com.