Mini Travelling Date to Venice: Outfits & Where to go

My friends and I decided to go on a short trip to Venice for our reading week. The flight from London Stansted Airport took about 2 hours to Treviso Airport. I believe there are two airports in Venice, one being Marco Polo and the other Treviso. Treviso is the one that cheaper airlines tend to land in (we took Ryan Air). We took a taxi to the city centre of Venice, but later realised that there are much cheaper shuttle buses from the airport that takes you to the same location. Most hotels in Venice locate next to the river, so none of the buses or taxis can take you to the exact location. Instead, you can either walk to your hotel if it's not too far away or to take water taxis. Water taxis are one of the main transports for tourists but they are quite expensive. A short trip for about 10 minutes already cost us €50. (The taxi from airport was half an hour and about €70)

Outfit

Floppy hat from Dorothy Perkins
Dress from ASOS
Boots from Tory Burch

Peter-pan Collar Top from ZaraHairband from Salvatore Ferragamo 
Skirt from Topshop
Scarf from Burberry

Bag from 3.1Philip Lim

Where to Go

1. We booked a day tour in advance to three Islands in Venice: Burano, Murano and Torcello. The website we used was Viator. It was about £15 per person, and it was a half day (4 hours) excursion on a motorboat to the three islands with a big group of people. The tour guide speaks English, Italian and French. There wasn't a lot of touring, the guide tends to introduce you to the island while you are on the boat. I didn't take a nice picture for Torcello for it wasn't very special, we sat in the cafe and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate. The view in Burano and Murano was breathtaking, it was so quiet and peaceful that we want to stay there forever.

Murano

Burano

Torcello

2. Gondola (traditional rowing boat in Venice like punting). The weather was perfect when we went on the Gondola, with the sun shining and a small breeze. It was nice not only to be on the Gondola, but also listening to the histories of the Venetian buildings.

Rialto Bridge from the Gondola


3. Take a stroll next to the river

4. Shopping! All the best designer shops are located at the heart of Venice. Easily accessible, VAT free (much cheaper than London) and tax free if you're a tourist! Definitely do some research on Italian brands before you go!

Lots of Love,

Nat

Face Essentials

Because I have acne prone skin, I used to have terrible acne when I was a bit younger, I have plenty of scars on my forehead and near my nose. Face products are really important to me because I need a lot of coverage, but I don't want to look very cakey or like I have heavy face makeup on everyday. Here are some really good products that are light-weight on its own but can be builded up with high coverage when needed :) 

#1 Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

The Nars Sheer Glow Foundation provides medium coverage with only small drop! I use a small drop on a daily basis and it never seem to run out! On important occasions, I like to build another layer on my T-zone to give it more coverage. The colour I use is Fiji, but I think it's slightly too yellow for me (but it's alright after I've applied powder). This foundation has a wide range of different colours and there must be one that suits you. The downside of it is that it doesn't come with a pump like other foundations, and so it is very hard to control how much foundation to pour out or to use at each time. You can, however, purchase a separate pump from Nars although it's quite pricey.

Colour: Fiji

I like to use the buffer brush from Real Techniques to apply my foundation as the brush is so soft! It doesn't leave any strokes on my face and it can get to the nasty areas like the side of your nose as well! 

#2 YSL Touche Eclat 

Although a lot of people say this product is mainly for highlighting purposes, I still find it a really good concealer/highlighter for my under eyes. I use this product when I didn't get much sleep the other day. Sometimes I like to skip this step so I still have a little bit of dark eye circle and it makes my makeup looks more natural. This is the anniversary limited edition I got last year- same price but with leopard prints!

#3 Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick

As it's name says, this product is meant to be a foundation. However, I find it a bit too sticky and thick and so I use it as a thick concealer instead on my problem areas. It covers breakouts and dark eye circles really well! However, since the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation already provides a lot of coverage, I don't use this product unless I have really bad breakouts.

I try my best to avoid using my fingers to dab on the stick and then doing it again after I've touched my skin because I'm worried that the germs will go on the stick. I will either use a brush to do so or to dab it on the back of my hands first and apply it with my fingers or with this Bobbi Brown concealer brush. 

#4 Laura Mercier Powder

As previously mentioned, the foundation I'm using now is a bit too yellow for me, so I will use this Laura Mercier Powder to lightly set my makeup. Since the colour is quite light, it evens out the yellowness on my skin. I use this product quite a lot, but to be honest I prefer the Laura Mercier Invisible Translucent Setting Powder because it's even more light weight! However, this powder does allow you to give your skin an extra layer of coverage when needed!

I don't use all of the products everyday, I tend to pick and choose 2-3 products depending on the condition of my skin that day. On good days, I only apply a bit of concealer and that's it! Hope you've enjoyed this post! Let me know what your face essentials are! :) 

Lots of Love, 

Nat

OOTD: Outfit of the Date

Sharing with you all what I wore to my girls date  ♥ 

Jacket from Macy's (USA)

Top from I.T (Hong Kong)

Shorts from Zara

Clutch from Celine
Ring from Tiffany & Co.

Flats from Tory Burch


Lots of Love,
Nat

Mini Travelling Date to Greece: Travel Diary

Hi everyone! Long time no post! As summer approaches, I thought I'd share with you all one of the best travelling locations in Europe- Greece! I went to Greece last summer with my friends and spent about 9 days in Mykonos, Santorini and Athens. Greece is definitely the PRETTIEST country I've been to in my life! Little houses, beaches, seafood and everything in white and blue.

Mykonos

Mykonos was the best part of my Greece trip, the hotels were much cheaper than those in Santorini, but the scenery equally beautiful. The hotel we stayed at was called Myconian Ambassador Hotel, the staff were incredibly friendly with great quality service. Our rooms had a balcony looking at the beach thats about 5 minutes away from the beach. The hotel has their own swimming pool and sun beds, as well as free sun beds exclusive to hotel users at the nearby beach.  There was also a market in Mykonos where they sell a lot of postcards and souvenirs.

Seaside

Balcony View
Yellow Top: Forever 21
Black Skater Skirt: ASOS

Streets of Mykonos

Yummy Seafood!

Santorini

After spending 3 days in Mykonos, we took a ferry to Santorini- the most famous part of Greece! Santorini is really pretty, but things are very expensive and it can be crowded with tourists in the summer. A random pasta dinner in Fira (city centre) is about £30. The hotel we stayed at was Panorama Boutique Hotel, at central Fira which makes travelling and getting food very convenient. However, the hotel was much more expensive compared to Mykonos and Athens, with simple and relatively small rooms. The hotel pool was also located at another area- I believe it was another part of the hotel's corporate group, but it was still amazing! We later realised that most people lived in Imerovigli, further away from Fira but the hotels are much cheaper and with bigger rooms. The must go place in Santorini is Oia, it is a much older area but where most of the typical Greece photos are taken. There are cheap buses in Fira every 20 minutes that takes you to Oia.

Sunglasses from Chanel
Dress from Forever 21
Bikini from Jack Wills
Bag from Rebecca Minkoff

Hotel Pool View

Oia Sunset

Athens

After 3 days of Santorini, we took the flight to Athens, the largest city of Greece. Athens wasn't as exciting as the other parts of Greece as it wasn't about looking at the ocean and houses, but the history of Athens. We stayed at Melia Athens, and the rooms there were much 'grand' with gold and wood as the central colour. The hotel has an amazing rooftop bar, pool and jacuzzi. Although it was a bit weird to see buildings nearby, you can still see the Acropolis by far. We later spent a day at the Acropolis and Plaka (market). A lot of the Acropolis was under construction so we were slightly disappointed.

Alcohol shop in Plaka

All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Greece. I think one of the downsides of Greece is that there wasn't anything very exciting to do or visit, but it's more about relaxing and sight seeing. Although it was a bit crowded (in Santorini especially) and things are quite dear, the trip was definitely worth it!

Lots of Love,
Nat