» HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BROTHER

Today is my brothers birthday, along with the kings birthday (the Swedish king).
He celebrated his birthday with his friends in a children-play-thing-place; Busfabriken, and I went along! It was a really fun place, although I didn't play since I'm "too old" - pfft. Or the truth is that I didn't want to play since I didn't want to be the only "big sized human" to play among the small, cute little children.. I felt really old yesterday and that is a depressing feeling..

Anyhow, his birthday went on really good and all the children seemed to have fun! I wish that there was a place like that when I was younger - inflatable castles and cool jungle gyms (if thats what they are called).
Afterwards we (la familia) had dinner at one of my favorite places (or the place I tend to go to very, very often) - my brother picked it out though!

His gift from me? A movie of his choice - and I will go along :D How fun!


It's my birthday sticker for the birthday boy!


Pirate-themed room where the children had lunch. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of
the Carribean).


More pirates..


Dinner (or it was more like a late lunch). The thing that I like about it is that the meat isn't "meaty" - 
it doesn't taste like meat, if you know what I mean :P


 

» THAT TIME OF THE MONTH

Ladies, you all know how it feels during that time of the month.  You either feel very happy, very sad, depressed and what not. So I always follow a certain "routine" to make that week much easier!

1. Turn off the depressing music - listen to cheerful songs!
2. If you don't feel like doing anything during the first day of hell (exaggerating) - don't do anything! Walk around in your PJ's (at home only!).
3. This one breaks the second rule.. During days when you don't feel like doing anything - dress up in bright colors, wear RED or pink lipstick (as long as it is bright. It will make you feel much much better and happier!).
4. Watch a feel good movie or a good old chick flick. Who doesn't love Clueless or Bride Wars?
5. Have chocolate; it will make you happier. Try having dark chocolate though. For a healthier alternative, have berries.


» HOW TO - BELLA SWANS BRIDAL LOOK

Since I am obsessed with the Twilight Saga, and loved Breaking Dawn part 1 (the movie), I really liked Bellas simple "smokey" wedding look and thought that I would make an inspired how-to-post about it. I usually do that look on myself - on parties and so on, since it's very easy and simple!

Disclaimer: my "version" of her look might look a little bit different, since I'm only inspired by her look.



 
The eye makeup is really beautiful - and simple.     
        
After doing some research, I found the actual quad
that they used in the movie!

Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow
in Winter Nights

1. Start by applying a foundation primer (on clean and moisturized skin).
2. Apply a sheer foundation (or a tinted moisturizer) and hide any imperfections with concealer.
3. Prep your eye lids with an eyeshadow primer (I have a post about this. Click here).
4. Apply the pinkish shadow (the left one in the bottom) all the way to your brow bone to highlight your brow and to set a "base" for the other shadows. You can use any similar color to the actual quad - work with your own shadows!
5. Sweep the golden/shimmery color (the right one in the top) on your lids - only! Don't bring the color up to your crease.
6. With a crease brush, take a little of the brownish color (the left one in the top) on your crease - lightly! Don't go overboard with it. Use circular motions while applying it and start with a little color and add more later. A little goes a long way!
7. Use any black pencil and draw a messy line on your upper lashline, but draw it only halfway - from the middle of your eyes and outwards.
8. Blend the black liner with a black eyeshadow (the right one in the bottom). Blend outwards - we want the inner part of the eyes to stay clean. Repeat step 7-8 until you like the "smokeyness". I usually repeat it about two times since I like dramatic eyes.
9. Line your upper lashline with the black shadow (all over the lashline - but make a thin line!). For more drama - use a liquid eyeliner.
10. Curl your lashes and apply couple coates of black mascara - be careful with the mascara though, we don't want clumpy eyelashes.
11. Fill in your brows - I like to fill my brows with brown eyeshadow. Remember to go two shades lighter if your hair is dark and two shades darker if your hair is light.
12. Use a sheer pink blush on the apples of the cheeks and blend to the hairline.
13. Finish of with lipbalm and a pinktoned lipgloss.

There you go - an inspired Bella Swan bridal look!


» THETRUTHABOUT - RED AND BOLD

I LOVE gold accessories this spring - and I am obsessed with the featuring necklace; its GORGEOUS (from H&M). Since I'm wearing a similar blouse to the one in the picture, I thought I'd put a spring outfit together - inspired by my own outfit.
Red and bold

Red and bold by llalila featuring a floral shawl


» GIRLS NIGHT IN

Today I spent the afternoon with the girls - my cousin, the bride to be, her sister, and - of course - my sister. It was fun!

I know that this blog isn't meant to be about my life very much, but I took some photos that I would like to share - sharing is caring, right? :p


Moms delicious food.. and of course, my precious Ramlösa - for those of you outside of Sweden,
I feel very sorry for you, because you don't have it :/


Lets just say that we had tooooo much food.. All these delicious stuff are not good to have - graduation!


Kladdkaka and ice cream! (that my sister made - well done sis!). Kladdkaka = chocolate mud cake..
kind of.

I had a lot of fun today. And queen B - if you're reading this - THANKS FOR FORCE COMING (joking, I promise!) :P.

I just want to point out to all of the people that think that family is lame - they're not! Your family is always going to be there for you - they can't run away from you (they can, but you are somehow bonded to them). And lets just say that no one understands your silly humor as they do.


» HOW TO - CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES!

Imagine not washing your hands for a week - that's how dirty your brushes could be (kind of!).

I can't say how important it is to clean your brushes - specially the ones you use everyday! Since I'm not a professional, I have only experiemented with my own brushes with some guidence from different sources and so on and I have learned what cleansing methods work best (for my brushes).

I say that you should clean your brushes constantly - but not everyday! I think that you notice once your brushes are really, really dirty and needs to be cleansed.

Why is it important to clean your brushes?
Lets look at the concealer brush (although I use an eyeshadow brush as a concealer brush since I think that they work better) as an example. You use your concealer brush everyday to conceal any blemishes, dark circles and so on. And if you happen to have an active break out and use your brush to conceal it (along with concealer of course) and put it back in your brush holder to use it the next day, chances are that you might spread the bacteria in your active break out to other areas of your face - we don't want that! That's why you should cleanse your foundation brush and your concealer brush constantly.

Now there are two types of cleansing:
- Spot cleansing
- Deep cleansing


Spot cleansing usually works with a some sort of cleanser spray that you can buy at any makeup store - I get mine at Kicks. You lightly spray the brush that you want to clean AFTER you've used it, and dry with a clean towel (don't use any white towels, only use an OLD towel that you don't need and make it your "brush towel", if you know what I mean) . I recommend spot cleansing your foundation and concealer brushes after every use. It's also a good way to spot cleanse an eyeshadow brush that you've used for a certain color, so you can re-use the brush (after letting it dry!).

Deep cleansing can be a bit tricky. You have to sort of try different methods to see which one you like best - and which one that maintains your brushes original shape. I use a shampoo for this. It's recommended to use a baby shampoo, since they are very "unharmful" or any non perfumed shampoo (although I'm using a shampoo with a light scent in the pictures below).
It's very important that your brushes are tilted down - don't make them "stand up" - while you are cleansing them; or else the water could ruin the glue that the brush hairs are attached to, and your brush would be ruined!

Another important thing is that you wash them in a way that wouldn't ruin their "original shape". For instance, if you are cleansing a kabukee brush, you should stir (wrong word?) it in circular moves (using the shampoo) and keep stiring it until most of the dirt has been "released". Then you should rinse it (with water) without letting the water going into the glue of the brush - as I said, keep the brushes tilted DOWN. Let them dry - lay them down - on a towel.



The spray cleaner - from Kicks!


Some of the brushes that I cleansed - the shampoo - the towel (my "brush" towel).


How I laid my brushes to dry.


I don't know if this post helped you, or if it just messed everything up :P.


» WHEN I THOUGHT THAT I HAD HEARD IT ALL..

I proved myself wrong.. If you don't laugh when you see this, there is something wrong with you - hahah joking! (Am I? :O)


Cute women though..

» ONE SHIRT, THREE WAYS

With all these gorgeous pastel trends going on, and some other trends (maybe some that are not in for this spring, but that I am LOVING) I figured that I had to do an "outfit" inspiration.. And using my favorite shirt, I created three outfits, that are very "me", and that I would love to wear.
And, I got a request to do an outfit post (I think I might start doing an outfit of the day post!).


Blouse, blazer, belt - H&M

Necklace - Pieces


Blouse, cardigan (my sisters) -
H&M
Skirt -
Indiska


Necklace -
Forever 21


Belt -
H&M


Blouse, blazer -
H&M

Necklace -
H&M


Belt -
H&M

I'm starting to think that H&M should sponsor me.. I'm obsessed with their clothes for two reasons:
1) They are gorgeous.
2) They are gorgeous because of the lack of shops in Malmö.. Seriously, I need Forever 21!


Since it is my first "real" outfit post, I would love to hear what you think about it :P

» GOLDEN DETAILS

GOD! I am literally OBSESSED with gold and pearls.. It's sooooo pretty and I feel very feminine wearing them :p.

Since I JUST had an exam - I am incredibly happy! Now I am craving coffee, or chai latte or ANYTHING yummy - that won't make me feel bad for having (example? Cookies and chocolate...).


» SNEAK PEAK

My mom and sister have been planning my graduation party like crazy - they won't even let me help with the planning because of them wanting it to be a "surprise". It's very sweet of them though and I really, really appreciate it.. Then again, I guess that my mom is having the time of her life since she is obsessed with decor!

I thought I'd share a sneak peak of some decoration ideas that my mom has been working on (and that I helped with today!).


Inspirational, eh? :P

» HOW TO - PURPLE EYESHADOW

I've never liked purple eyeshadow.. Nor pink/choral or anything that isn't brown, grey, white, gold and so on. I have never really liked to put anything with color on my eyelids, until recently..

Since I have an expanding eyeshadow collection (because of my devotion to them hahah :P) I have been experimenting with color - without wanting it to seem very obvious. We don't want to have pure purple eyelids now, do we?

And to be honest I have been afraid of putting on pink eyeshadow since it can make your eyes look like they have an infection - and they tend to make them looking quite red(-ish). But when I was looking through my "mono" eyeshadows I found a pretty pinkish-coraly-salmony color - as you might guess, I have no idea what I should call the color, but it's really pretty. I mixed it with a light beige, almost white, color to make the pink tones in it seem less obvious - and to take away some of the glitter in it.. And oh my - it looked very pretty! (specially with high lighted inner corners!).

So when I was having a study break today, I thought of how to "transform" the very subtle day look (makeup artist wannabe, eh?) to a simple, easy evening look - and I found the answer! Why not use a purple eyeshadow to compliment the color?! (I'm wearing it now, since I tried it on myself before advising it to you guys hahah!).


These are the colors that I used. They are from the recent Maybelline limited edition collection (I'm
not sure that they are still selling them) and they don't seem to have any names or numbers :/
I reaaaally want to say that you shouldn't be intimidated by the very dark and scary purple color - or
any purple color for that matter!

I really want to know what you guys think about these type of posts - do you like them or should I get back to the older ones? (I'm asking because my readers seem to increase each and everyday - making me think why people would like to read my blog.. :') )


» THETRUTHABOUT - FLORAL ROMANCE

For me, this summer is all about florals, pastels and creativity. I will be wearing a lot of flowy blouses, pretty blazers, pearls and gold (the color!). It's all about the floral romance.

Floral romance

Floral romance by llalila featuring gold jewelry

The mint-ish blouse is from Monki, the necklace and the hat are from Zara and the ring is from H&M. For more details, you can click on the link above (floral romance).

» WELCOME TO MY SUNNY DAY

So I've realized that I haven't uploaded pictures from the trip to UAE, nor pictures from my cousins engagements (two separate engagements) or anything for that matter - except for some pictures of my regular life, that I also try to not share too much of..

As I'm looking through pictures at the moment, I came across this one, that my dad took - and I think that it is beautiful. Nice building, beach and sun - could I ask for more?


» A NEW PASSION FOR FASHION

Ok, I know that "a new passion for fashion" sounds cliché, but I just found out that I enjoy transforming my clothes. Exaggerating. I just "transformed" one shirt, and I am looking or literally digging through boxes of clothes that I don't use, but that I somehow like to keep, in my closet..

You know how they say "diamonds are a girls best friend?", well let's just say that they are not my best friends (I wouldn't say no to them though - so if you want to send me some diamonds, I will post up my adress.. Lame joke.).

Pearls are a girls best friend - I love pearls! (Real pearls though, not the faux ones :P).
So, I've recently bought a shirt/blouse (I don't know what to call it) and it is perfect once I wear it. BUT, it looks very empty.. And it didn't look good with necklaces, so I decided to 'bling it up'.

It was extremely fun to do! (the pearls on it are faux pearls.. we don't want real pearls to be falling off, do we?)


I just hung it to my closet door, since I don't know how to show it to you otherwise - but I actually
like the background! I might even do some "outfit inspiration" photos - fun! :D
And the shirt looks hideous like this.. Btw, I forgot to set my camera on flash on this photo..


The pearls! :') I'm proud of the result, and the shirt looks so much better now. I can actually wear it!

xx
PS. I'm back - and I'm probably going to blog soon! ;)



» IF HAPPY EVER AFTER DID EXIST

This is a song I'm currently loving - it's very catchy and who doesn't LIKE Maroon 5?


» WEDNESDAY

I'm on my way to school in this lovely weather and I snapped a picture that turned out to be gorgeous!

I hope you all have a good day! X


» FORGIVNESS

"I don't forgive people because I'm weak, I forgive them
because I am strong enough to know people make mistakes."


- Marilyn Monroe


» HOW TO - EYESHADOW PRIMER

I've been thinking about writing makeup-related-posts, since I've got a thing for makeup - specially eyeshadows.. and blushes.. and mascaras!


Don't you all just hate it when you have put your heart in working on your eyeshadow, and wearing it with pride and joy, when it suddenly starts creasing or fading away? Sometimes, the colors of the eyeshadows that you use won't even show because of it not being very pigmented.. That's where my tip comes in handy (and I bet that many of you have heard it!). Eyeshasow primer.

That one product, that usually comes in small containers, can be very pricey.. And if you have just started to build up your makeup, you don't want to spend that much money on an eyeshadow. The good thing is that you can make your own eyeshadow primer! Although it won't be as good as real eyeshadow primers, its better than not wearing any "primer".

You need:
- An empty container
- Concealer (preferably liquid)
- Body butter (NOTE: not body lotion!)

Measure up the same amount of concealer and body butter, mix them together in your little container and VOILA! (how do you spell that word?) You got yourself an eyeshadow primer!


» THE TRUTH ABOUT LIFE;

I believe that we don't like mondays because they can feel a bit too long, too slow and it is the beginning of the week, after the weekend (obviously). This means that we need something extra to manage to not completely dislike mondays, but to enjoy them. I find motivation and inspiration in quotes (and other things). So I thought I'd share tomorrows motivation with you guys.

"We can throw stones, complain about them,
stumble on them,
climb over them,
or build with them".

- William Arthur Ward

» MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR

I recently came home from the cinema with my sister. We had a "sisterly" day and it was very needed. We watched The Hunger Games, a movie that I feared to watch because of my affiction to the books.

The first time I came across the books was in a book club (I believe I've written about them here) two (or three) years ago. I loved them from the beginning and saw "a movie" in my head as I was reading the books. I felt very nostalgic while I was reading them because they kind of reminded me of The Twilight Saga - even though it's only been a couple years since I came across them (I read them in 8th grade - something I've been very proud of hahaha. Lame, I know).

Anyhow, before I decided to watch the movies I read the reviews, watched the trailer (which I btw hated) and heard my friends say how good it was. Thats why I thought I'd give it a shot, and hoped that it wouldn't dissapoint me, as Twilight did. And to be honest, I would've probably watched it sooner or later since the books are AWESOME! (the geek inside me is showing up...)

Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job as Katniss Everdeen and the other actors and actresses were great too. I can't say it enough, but I think that you should all read the books because they are really good. You kind of feel like you are a part of district 12 and the hunger games as you read it. That is a feeling that many authors fail to capture.


» JUST A TESTER

I'm freaking out since I don't know where I have written the sources of some pictures I've used for my project work, and I thought - why not post the pictures on the blog and see if I can find the original link. Clever, right? :D