Rome Photo Diary Pt. 1

Oh Rome. The eternal city. People say that if you've never been to Rome, you cannot fully comprehend how beautiful life can be; and while I've always dreamt of visiting the city that is pulsing with history and culture and life, I was not prepared for what it was about to hit me with.

Myself and a group of my friends and classmates spent the last week in Rome, and while I'm pretty sure I could write paragraphs on end about all the different emotions and thoughts our trip has left me with, I thought a photo diary will say more than a thousand words - I took almsot 1500 pictures after all!

I'm splitting this into two parts because there's just so many photos that squeezing them into one post would be a huge mess, so here come our first three days - Saturday to Monday!

DAY 1 - Saturday

Snapshots taken on the way to our hotel

The Imperial Forums at dusk - absolutely breathtaking.

DAY 2 - Sunday

The Colosseum - the queue was waaay to long as entry to the Colosseum is free on Sundays, so we ended up going back another day!

The Forum Romanum

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

Piazza del Campidoglio

The river Tiber

DAY 3 - Monday

Basilica de San Pedro from the outside

Basilica de San Pedro on the inside

Views from the top of the Basilica's dome

Vatican museum

Finally - my first gelato: watermelon, melon and Kinder Bueno; the best I've ever tried!


That wraps up the first half of my trip to Rome - if you're interested in hearing about what went down during the other four days - and believe me, it was a lot - stay tuned for part two, which will be up on Wednesday!

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June Favorites

Hear hear, Franzi went on a massive beauty shopping spree. How unheard of.
Well, if you look at the fact that I hardly wore any make up during the past three months - I actually explained why I stopped wearing it and how that affected me - , these few little sprees of mine weren't all that bad, right? It's totally okay to spend a little more in one month if you didn't buy any new products for the past ones?

As I felt like I missed out on some pretty nice new releases, I thought it'd be a good idea to give some of them a shot - which worked really well up until that point where I re-discovered some of my old favorites that were hidden away in my drawers and fell back in love with them.
Hashtag beauty blogger problems.

I feel like my favorite products from June are quite the accurate representation of all my new and old loves - so let's get into them!




Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss Matte Effect in '06 Soft Nude' (2,69€)

I actually bought this right at the beginning of the year when a lot of my friends were raving about these lipglosses, but it somehow ended up in the depths of my drawers and that was the beginning of the end.

However, I've been all about liquid lipsticks lately; and even though this technically isn't a lipstick rather than a gloss, it dries to a matte finish, thus looking like a matte lipstick.
Not only is this a very lovely dark rose shade, the quality you get for such a low price is absolutely outstanding - the gloss is super long-lasting and doesn't smudge or budge at all!


Marc Jacobs Splash Collection Pear Eau de Toilette (54,95€)

This was actually such a spontaneous buy, but I don't regret it one bit.
I was actually browsing the Marc Jacobs counter, debating whether or not I should re-stock on my beloved 'Daisy Dream' when I came across their Splash Collection. While all four of the perfumes were definitely interesting, 'Pear' stood out to me.

This has such an interesting scent.
It obviously smells of pear, as the name suggests, but it also has notes of other citrus fruits as well as teakwood and musk - it's both fresh and smoky at the same time, which makes it very unique.

I also like that it isn't too overpowering, so I don't leave a trail of the scent behind me everywhere I go. However, it is pretty long-lasting - some days I will spritz some of it onto my wrists and will still linger on my skin when I shower in the evening!


Essence 'Shape & Shadows' Eye Contouring Palette (4,99€)

This is hands down one of my all time favorite products I've ever come across in the drugstore - and it's also limited edition. Boo.

I adore this so much that I actually wrote an in-depth review about it if you want to know the whole deal.
If you want the short version - this is an eye palette which includes shadows that can be used either as eyeshadows or to fill in the brows as well as a brow wax and a highlighter. How neat is that?

Despite the low price, the quality of the products included is insane - they're so longlasting and give a great color pay-off.


Essence 'The Glow Must Go On' Bronzing & Highlighting Palette (4,99€)

This palette is from the same limited edition as the eye palette I just mentioned - whcih sucks, because this one is amazing as well.

It includes three shades of bronzer as well as one highlighter, and on top of that it also comes with two eyeshadows - one is a orange-y shade and the other is a medium brown.

While I haven't tried out the eyeshadows yet, I'm in love with the bronzers and the highlighter.
I like the fact that they've included a shade of bronzer that is fit for very pale people like myself, which is very rare to find on the highstreet. Gone are the days of orange bronzers!



Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 'Transparent' (5,27€)

If you're no stranger to my blog, you'll probably know how much I adore this powder.
It's an absolute life saver for someone like me, who has a rather oily T-Zone, especially during the hotter season when my forehead looks like it's permanently covered in sweat. Nice.

What I love about this is that it mattifies my skin without clogging up my pores and/or making my skin break out, which you don't get too often from drugstore powders.
Besides that, it also doesn't change the color of your foundation or concealer as it is, as the name says, transparent - that's especially great for very fair people like me who struggle to find a powder that matches their skin tone.


Have you loved any specific products this month?

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The Wardrobe Edit #4

It hasn't even been a full month at the time I'm writing this post - it's been written last week because while you're reading this, I'll be in Rome, drinking up the sun and the food and the culture - since I last talked you through the newest additions to my wardrobe. Whoops.

I was about to say that I can't even come up with excuses for how many clothes I've been buying anymore, but one just crossed my mind - technically, these were all inspired by the travels I have planned for this summer!

German summers aren't exactly the bee's knees - we get some really hot days and weeks, but not nearly enough to invest into a full on summer wardrobe.
However, with my trips to Italy and Spain this summer, I'll need a lot of clothes that are light and short so I won't melt away in the heat - so what did I do?

I went shopping, obviously.

How adorable is this playsuit I picked up from C&A? I'm in love with the salmon shade, it's unlike anything else I own! I can't wait until it's hot enough to wear it.
It's rather simplistic, which I like, but the lace detailling at the neck gives it a nice sophisticated touch - and the cloth it's made of is heavenly soft. For a price of  19€, this doesn't just look incredible but also is of very good quality for such an affordable price.

The top is from C&A as well - it's actually a little shorter at the front than it is at the back and thus is pretty much a crop top, so I'll have to wear this with some high-waisted jeans or shorts as I'm not too keen on showing off my belly.
I also like the quote on it - I'm usually not one to buy tops that have any form of writing on them, but I actually quite like "we're all made of star stuff" - I don't know why it's so inspirational to me, but it is nonetheless!

I might've cheated a little bit on this next clothing item - it's actually supposed to be a plus sized shirt, but when I saw it in Adler I at first thought it was a dress - so when I tried it on and it actually looked like an actual dress on me as well, I just decided to go with it!
Besides that, it was cheaper than a lot of the dresses I own priced at 25.95€.

Because it's technically not a "real dress", it's pretty short. However, that makes up for the fact that the material is a little thicker so I hopefully won't sweat as much when wearing it this summer.
This turquoise shade is also very unusual for monochrome me, but it's such summer shade while stilk being somewhat subtle - and the folkore-ish stitching near them hem is such a nice touch!

You probably thought that you were looking at a backpack in the picture above, am I right? Well, it can technically be used as both a backpack and a handbag!
This clever '2-in-1' bag can be folded to be used as a backpack as well.

I picked this up from Tchibo for 29,95€ for when I'm in Rome - I'm someone who always carries around huge, heavy handbags; however I wanted to only carry the bare necessities with me, and the rather small space in this bag will force me to do that.
Besides that. it also functioning as a bagpack will allow me to carry it in front of my stomach in order to protect my belongings from pickpockets, which my teacher has already warned me about.


I wasn't so sure whether I should include the last few pieces into this post, but then I told myself that all of us wear underwear, so it shouldn't be a topic I have to avoid.

I've been eyeing up Calvin Klein underwear ever since I got my first bra from them - which I'm absolutely in love with - but as one of the only places the brand is available here is at Urban Outfitters, and one of the normal slips is priced at 32€ there.

That's why I decided to order  from Zalando - I got CAROUSEL 3 Pack for 39,95€. That's three slips for a few Euros more than I would've paid for one at Urban Outfitters - how great of a deal is that?
Besides the fact that I got them for such a great price, they're such good qaulity as well - they're so incredibly comfortable!


Have you picked up any new clothes recently? If so, please let me know - you might know I'm always on the hunt for new clothes by now!

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Suitcase Packing 101

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person on this planet who loves packing for a holiday.
 Every time my friends and I travel together, all of them complain how tedious and mind-numbing the process of packing is while I'm bouncing off the walls in excitement. How can you not get super pumped for your travels while packing?

As this year definitely marks an all time high in travelling for me - I had a total of five trips planned out, of which two have already happened; in fact, I'm currently packing my suitcase right now as I'm leaving for Rome tomorrow - I'll have a whole load of packing to do, which made me think about some tricks that'll help me use the room in my suitcase properly and keep me from overpacking.

And because packing can be quite the nemesis for quite a lot of people, I thought I'd share my tips and tricks for how to pack properly - so you can get done with it quickly and dream of your holiday even sooner!

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1. Plan before you start to pack.

Overpacking is never a good idea, especially when you're going somewhere by plane and have a certain weight limit you have to stick to - but even when you're not dragging huge, heavy bags or suitcases around with you isn't exactly a great time.

What I do to avoid packing things I won't really need is writing a list of all the essential items I'll need for my time away - toiletries, make up, medicine, clothing.
Clothing wise, it's wise to pack specific outfits. What I mean by this is laying out the pieces of clothing you want to take with you and combining them with other pieces - by putting together outfits and only packing pieces that go with other things you're taking, you'll avoid bringing unnecessary clothes that you cannot match to anything else you've taken with you.


2. Heavy and spacey things at the bottom.

Something I'll always do is placing heavy or big things I'm taking with me right at the bottom of my suitcase.
By doing that, you will stop heavy items from crumpling very delicate and soft cloth - because who wants to walk around in wrinkly clothing on their holiday?

Besides that, putting very spacey items like shoes at the bottom of your suitcase will force you to work - or pack - your way around them, for example by rolling clothing to fit into small spaces next to those large pieces.


3. Wrap any fluids in plastic bags.

Besides wrinkled clothes, something else you absolutely do not want to see when you open up your suitcase upon arrival is fluids that have spread all across the entire content of it.

To avoid that, always remember to wrap any form of fluid - be it perfume, shampoo, foundation, nail polish, medicine - in a small plastic bag. It's always better for them to leak into a seperate bag instead of onto all of your clothing.

Also, to keep fragile items like perfume from breaking, make sure to cushion them properly by putting the bag they're wrapped up in inbetween soft items like towels or clothing.


4. Never carry any valuable items in your suitcase.

I think a lot of people would've thought of this themselves, but it's still very important,
Always carry important items, such as your purse, passport, keys and other things you cannot lose under any circumstances in your carry on bag.

It's not unusual for suitcases to get lost on the way to your destination, especially if you have to switch from one plane and/or airline to another.
Most of the time, suitcases will show up eventually, but it wouldn't be the first time for one to dissolve into thin air.


Do you have any tricks that you cannot go without when it comes to packing?

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How to Become Better at Mornings

I feel like the characters in almost every single movie or TV show I've watched are the ideal morning people - they get up as the first rays of sunshine hit their face, stretch a little and then literally jump out of bed while whistling a joyful tune.

I don't know about you, but I hardly have days where I get up like this - usually it's only the case when I'm going on holiday and bouncing off the walls in excitement.

But no matter how much I hate it, there's no way to avoid my alarm clock ringing at 5.30am four days a week; and because of that, I've developed some habits that help me become a little more of a morning person and make me feel a little less dead while I wait for my coffee to be done.

[source]

1. Whatever you do, don't press snooze.

I know just how inviting that damn snooze button is, but pressing it again and again will only make you feel worse.

Not only will you keep falling alseep only to be jerked awake after ten minutes , which can really screw up how tired you feel - even if you were to get nine hours of sleep yet keep pressing snooze, you'll find yourself unable to be fully awake.
On top of that, you're a lot more likely to be late for work, school or any appointments awaiting you, and who wants to run and break a sweat right after getting up?


2. Wash your face with cold water.

I know just how harsh or downright violent it can be to splash your face with cold water right after getting up - you'll be insanely cold for a few seconds, and you'll also wonder how much you must hate yourself to do this - but after you're done you'll feel insanely refreshed and a lot more awake!


3. Do some light exercise.

I've found that introducing some really light excersise like yoga or even meditation can really change the way I feel throughout the day.

It gives me those ten minutes to take a deep breath and clear my head in order to start the day with a refreshed mind.
Besides that, my body always feels so great after a short exercise in the morning and on top of that, I feel energized and ready to seize the day!


4. Take a few minutes to plan out your day.

This might not be for you if you're a super spontaneous person and often make spur-of-the-moment decisions, but if you, like me, love yourself at least a little organisation you should definitely include this step into your morning routine!

What I do is sit down with my bullet journal during breakfast and plan out or go over my tasks for the day - this helps me concentrate, even though the task isn't too demanding.
Besides that, it also helps me prepare for the day - by going over my to-do list every morning, I'm less likely to forget to do something important.


5. Prepare a good breakfast for yourself.

Something that I do every morning without fail is make breakfast for myself - whether it's eggs, pancakes or simply cereal or toast (let's be real, mostly the last two because I ain't to four star cook).

I feel like by preparing my food myself, I avoid eating anything too unhealthy or skipping breakfast altogether - it truly is the most important meal of the day. If you eat poorly or not at all, you'll struggle to come up with energy all day!



What is the most important step in your morning routine?

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