In March I've Loved...

March is already over! Can you really believe it?! I'm ready for the new month to come though, as April is by far my favourite time of the year; with Easter, spring coming to its climax, a few exciting opportunities ahead and my blog's birthday, how couldn't I be as excited as ever for it to come?! Springtime it's cheering me up (bye bye winter blues!) and this not only means I'm pretty excited for literally everything, but also that I'm trying as much as I can to improve my mood and positivity... and also that I started enjoying and appreciating everything I have around, both material or abstract. So yep, expect a huge list of favourites this month! Ready?

Stationery.
You might have guessed I have quite an insane obsession to stationery by now, but this month a pair of little treats has been added to my collection. No notebooks in sight (I have way too many, right?), but I've got that beautiful trio of colourful washi tape from Tiger last week, and I'm obsessed! The leopard print one must be my favourite! That adorable cat pencil case is from Petite Mila: made out of 100% organic cotton and the cutest designs, her pouches (which easily double up as pencil cases or whatever you want them to be) and tote bags are probably the most adorable things I've seen in a while, and the quality is amazing too!

Candle.
If it's not a mug than it's a candle that seems to always appear in my monthly favourites! But I love them! Ikea candles: sometimes they're lovely others not that much. They are super duper cheap, as cheap as a full size candle can get, but sometimes they don't really smell of anything really. That's not the case! This LUGGA Soft Vanilla Candle is one of the best I've got from them (especially on the vanilla department) and it won't last as long, but it surely makes my room smell intensely sweet as sometimes only expensive candles can do!

Kitchen.
No new mugs this month (I've been forbibben to buy any other!) but a new entry between the ceramic bowls (similar) was needed when I spotted this cute hearts bowl in a local shop. It's the cutest thing to eat breakfast in, and pastel colours make the whole experience even more enjoyable. I mean, there must be a theory of something that says colorful tableware makes people happy, right?

Style.
My wardrobe definitely needed a few spring new additions as everything looked a bit too grey and black and white and... woolly. I've got this Forever21 Coral Ruffled Dress on sale on a very impulsive online shopping session and I couldn't have been more right. I'm obsessed. I love the ruffled collar and neckline and the flowy skirt is the most flattering on me. I can already see me wearing it non-stop this spring!

Makeup.
I'm not one that mention makeup that often on here anymore, but I've been loving this Rimmel Scandaleyes Thick And Thin Liner - not sure where they are going with the "thick and thin" thing, but I surely like the waterproof formula and the thin felt tip for a fool-proof application. I seem to be able to make my eyeliner look almost identical on both the eyes with this one and it's something that rarely happens to me!

Drink.
Jasmine green tea, what a lovely invention! I've become quite the fan of green tea (only think I didn't like it at all and now I drink a cup practically everyday) especially when combined with floral or citrus flavours (I've rambled about tea flavours lately here if you'd like to read more on the topic) and I've discovered jasmine green tea is probably my favourite thing ever! The tea in the pictures is from RealTea which I think is only available in Italy, but the Jing Jasmine Silver Needle Tea is another favourite of mine.

App.
Believe it or not I'm quite over Instagram and that's all thanks to Steller (and the fact that Instagram pictures never come out as I like, arg!). Steller is a way like another (but neater and surely well-arranged) to tell a story. It allows you to put together a few pictures and phrases and displays them in beautifully disposed pages users can flip through like they're reading a real book. It's like a pocket-sized blog, where photography and writing meet into creative stories! I love reading and flipping through others stories as well as creating my own. I'm completely obsessed and have decided that would be the place where to publish all those never-seen blog posts I thought they weren't that relevant to appear over here (including never-seen recipes, I'm warning you!) - so if you like to have a peek or give me a follow type 'mielcafeblog' in the search bar of the app or check my stories out over here.

Workout Clothes.
I've treated myself to some new yoga clothes recently as I've been good and stuck with it until now! I've especially been loving these super inexpensive Striped Knit Tops from Forever21 as they're just the perfect material for moving into them without feeling too tight or too loose.

*

And that's a wrap! These are my favourite from March! I'm excited for the new month to come as for spring to completely flourish and to discover new places and things this springtime! So do let me know what you've loved this month! x

Best discoveries of 2014!

Now that 2014 is done and dusted and we're all ready to welcome 2015 in, I have one last post to honor a few of the things that made my 2014 a very nice year. These are the best discoveries I've made the past year, that really needed to be shared: some of them are smart, other revolutionary, other just pretty damn cute, but just in case you weren't aware of their existence, I have a small list of things you should know about!

In 2014 I've discovered chai latte, travelled to beautiful London and found out it's my favourite between all the cities I've visited so far, tasted macarons for the first time, gone for my first ever road trip, made lots of day trips to beautiful Milan to see it flourish in every season of the year, bought pretty things, wore pretty dresses, eaten lime infused dark chocolate and a lot more chocolate, spent countless hours sipping tea of every flavour, discovered new favourite recipes and enjoyed it all until the end! It was a good year after all - it's easy to say 'this year was not as I wanted it to be', it's more difficult to see what was good about it after all!

Below you'll find a few of the material objects I've discovered the past year that are definitely worth to be shared! Others that are not pictured must be: my beautiful ASOS Scallop Stitch Satchel Bag, my cozy IKEA Gurli Throw, the ingenious Interstellar and Masters of Sex and the fascinating Game of Thrones!

Yankee Candle Vanilla Lime Scented Sachet // Harrods Pocket Shopper Bag //
H&M Sweatshirt // Diptyque Baies* // Kikkerland Scented Tea Erasers

Lush  Let The Good Times Roll // Dior Creme de Rose Lip Balm //
L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash Effect Mascara

Lindt Excellence Dark Lime Intense* // Ladurée Macarons // IKEA ENIGT Mug //
Clipper Tea Zen Again // Yogi Tea Black Chai 

Carrying with me (travel essentials)

This summer I'm not going anywhere fancy really, but I'm spending a pair of weeks at my boyfriend's place and this made the perfect excuse for packing and showing what I like to carry with me when I'm travelling. Not that these are all essential for real, I've a bit overdone being that I had no limits of space or weight, but beside skincare which is my weakness and I just feel like I need to bring it all with me wherever I go, I tried to keep it quite light and minimal.

BODY & HAIR

For my body and hair I packed everything in my Muji TPU Large Pouch which is also super handy if you're flying but which keep everything very organised and waterproof especially when you're carrying bath or shower essentials. The REN set smells delicious and fruity and it's tiny and compact which makes everything easier since you don't have to carry a big shower gel or moisturiser and it's perfect for flying, while the Lavera shampoo and the Breeze deodorant are becoming my favourites and I simply can't go without them. Not a huge fan of the La Saponaria hair conditioner though, but I have to finish it (even though I'm actually stealing my boyfriend's conditioner a lot)...

What I brought: REN Neroli Duo, Lavera Basis Sensitive Mild Shampoo, La Saponaria Balsamo lino e mandarino Breeze Neutro 24h Deodorant.

SKINCARE & OTHERS

As I mentioned I went a bit crazy with skincare and found out that actually not all that stuff was useful, however my skin can be crazy in summertime and I need to feel safe when I'm not home and know I won't have to hide my face for a week. So I brought a few options between my Eczema Treatments as well as all the oily skin essentials I'm using lately now that my skin is oilier. Some of them are the perfect size for travelling which is good as it means they fit in tiny rooms in your bag, and in general all of them are not bulky at all. Other than that I can't live without my cleansers, my eye creams and a few products from my Makeup Removing Routine, but I also brought a self tanner and body SPF just in case...

What I brought: Bioderma Sebium H2O, Lush Let The Good Times Roll, Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+], Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5, Botanics 80% Organic Hydrating Eye Cream, Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Cream*, Caudalie Polyphenols C15 SPF20 Anti-Wrinkle Protect Fluid*, The Body Shop Honeymania Eau de Toilette*, Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Protective Sun Lotion SPF 15, Little White Lie Wash Off Darker*, Kiko Self Tanning Applicator

MAKEUP

Makeup-wise I'm sticking to a very simple and minimal routine of which you can read more on here; I brought a few options just to switch things up a little bit and went for a face powder because my skin is super oily recently and I need everything that could help me with that situation. But in general I'm being loyal to these same products which require only a pair of brushes.

What I brought: Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, Rouge Bunny Rouge Tinted Moisturiser Sketches On Water*, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Soap & Glory Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder, Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 Healthy Glow, NARS One Night Stand Blush Palette, Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight, L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara, Real Techniques Buffing Brush from this set, Sephora Classic Mineral Powder Brush #45, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

What about your travel essentials?

My Summer Makeup of Choice

I'm not being a huge makeup girl recently, I only wear makeup once or twice a week and always stick to the same products. I'm not even buying new ones since a while which is a shocking news but true, I just feel I already have everything I need and being that I don't wear makeup all that often, I like to stick to some faithful products I know they always work wonders and won't disappoint me. Also now that the temperature are rising I don't really like to apply way too much stuff on my face, and this is why I'm sticking to this minimal routine religiously...

I wouldn't wear a foundation at all if only I had clear skin, but unfortunately having acne prone oily skin in summertime means I need to cover a lot of bad skin situations. I try to keep it quite light and simple though, and for that I'm loving the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (£9.99), which is a super lightweight offering with a great coverage and three different pigments to cover fatigue signs, redness and spots. These is a great base for summertime, very lightweight but with a nice coverage, and I really like the finish and the texture it gives to my skin. For any touch up on spots and acne scars, but also to cover those bad dark circles of mine, I'm back in love with my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (£22) a very creamy offering which goes on super smoothly covering everything up and leaving a nice natural texture, this never ever creases on me and it lasts a really long time on as well.

As for blush I'm a fan of cream formulas all the way in summertime as I find they last a lot longer on the cheeks and look better: I'm loving the Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 Healthy Glow (£7.99), which is a super lovely peachy shade that give a nice healthy look to those pale cheeks of mine. This Bourjois blushes have the best lightweight cream-to-powder texture and give the most natural glowy look out of all the cream blushes I tried. On my lips I'm building a love affair with the Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight (£15), a beautiful sheer peachy colour containing tons of golden shimmers which just look so nice, natural but shiny on my lips this summer. I love the hydrating formula which always feels rich and smooth on my lips, and the subtle pink/peachy color which simply pairs with everything I wear and it's never too much. As for my lashes I love a good waterproof mascara all the year around but especially in summertime when I don't want anything to smudge around my eye area: I'm a fan of the L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara (£10.99) waterproof version, which is great to separate and blacken my lashes and hold the curl perfectly which is all I can ask from a mascara!

What is your makeup of choice this summer?

In May I've Loved...

May was a long long month, a bit boring and not that exciting, passed working from home and which reserved me a few unlucky surprises. Now it's finally over, and even if in April I decided to skip my monthly beauty favourites post, I thought I could make it come back this month as I do have some beauty products I'm loving right now to talk about this time.

Makeup-wise on the rare occasions I went out this month I only wore one between the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (£32) and the Perfection Lumiere Velvet (£33). Both of them are only little samples which are actually lasting me a very long time and I still have a few applications left until I'll have to make a decision between the two. Unfortunately (for my wallet) I'm in love with both of them and I really can't decide which one I love the most. The Vitalumiere Aqua is a lighter and luminous, perfect for summertime, while the Perfection Lumiere Velvet is very matte and impalpable on the skin, such a wonderful foundation for any bad skin days. I think they both have a decent coverage and my sensitive skin doesn't react badly to them. I'm completely sold and can't really decide between the two!

Since when I finished my beloved & Other Stories body scrub, I'm trying the Soap&Glory Flake Away Body Scrub (£8) which is not the same but still has a nice thick texture and a lovely sweet scent which makes my showers so relaxing. Probably not my all time favourite body scrub but for sure the one I'm enjoying right now and for being so inexpensive this really is a good product. Another shower favourite this month must be the Lavera Basis Sensitive Hair Conditioner (£5.95), a natural and organic hair conditioner containing honey and almond oil which aims to leave your hair shiny and easy to comb still providing added volume. I don't think this is the best hair conditioner if you have hair that gets knotty super easly, but if your hair is standard like mine, this still makes a good job while smelling so deliciously - oh how many times I would have eaten it! It also is not like other very detangling conditioner that tend to weight your hair down, and this is the major reason why I like it, as my hair always needs a bit of added volume.

This month I've cultivated a deep love for the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask (£21.50): containing manuka honey, avocado, vanilla, mandarin oils, this all natural mask aims to moisturise, cleanse and be an anti-oxidant treatment all in one, but this is actually a lot more. It has the most delicious scent of all as you can imagine, which makes it so relaxing to be applied and left on for 10 to 15 minutes of peace, but it's also very hydrating without being oily or a bit too much so that it's great even on my combination to oily skin, and can also be used on spots and blemishes overnight to help them heal faster having anti-baterrical properties as well. Another favourite of mine will come with no surprise if you read my A Week in Skincare feature earlier this week, but it's the Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Cream* (£26) which I only use on my under eye area but not only for its anti aging properties: as a matter of fact this is super hydrating and I have the most sensitive and dry under eye area I've ever seen, so this is seriously miracolous. I don't know about its anti aging properties and if it works or not, but if you have a super dry under eye area and can't solve with anything, try this! Last skincare favourite must be the new Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster (£15.80), a self tanning serum to be mixed with a few pumps of your usual moisturiser which gives the most natural and gradual of the colors and not only it's super easy to use, but also make a self tanner application without marks possible.

What's on your May beauty favourites list?

Lightweight Bases Galore

Recently I'm all about lightweight foundations and bases as when it comes to makeup I don't really like anything too heavy going on there, and I have to admit lightweight bases are always been my first choose - I seriously can't remember an single time I decided to went for a full coverage foundation in my entire life. I went through a lot of tubes actually, but today I want to show you the ones that still have a firm role in my makeup life...

I don't know about you, but I'm super sick of the whole BB cream kind of thing and I tend to steer away from every new BB or CC cream release, but I still have some noteworthed in my little "lightweight" drawer. The Gosh BB Cream* (€13,99) is been in there for a while now, but this is the base I go with in summertime usually as I have a slightly too dark shade for my pale winter skin which pairs amazingly with the light tan I get in summertime instead. This super light and impalpable base aims to be a foundation, primer and moisturizer all in one but I actually am really impressed of how easly it sinks into the skin (pretty reasonable as it's water based) and how comfortable it is to wear even in the warmer months. The Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (£6,50) is the most recent entry in my foundation stash, and I'm super impressed with this at the moment: it contains apricot pigments to conceal fatique signs, green pigments to contrast rednesses and white pigments to cover dark spots - this really has a very nice covering power but still being pretty natural and light on the skin and leaving a luminous complexion. This is my first choice on days when my skin looks a bit dull and I need to uniforme it and create a smooth texture.

Another water based foundation I really like right now is the & Other Stories Triple Moist Foundation (£15) which aims to have a super hydrating formula and leaving a very natural finish. I don't know about the hydration - I'm not a dry skin girl so I rarely notice if a base product tend to keep my skin hydrated, but this for sure doesn't make my skin oilier - but is really nice in keeping things pretty natural and light. It is slightly fragranced though, and if your skin is very sensitive like mine, you should consider wearing a primer underneath (not my favorite thing). It's still very creamy but blend and absorb super easly.

My "top of the class" lightweight bases are two though, the Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water Tinted Moisturiser* (£34,58) and the L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint (£9,99), both water based foundations but with opposite finishes. The former is one my skin didn't love at first as it caused a terrible breakout as soon as I tried it, but which is now super well loved as it leaves the most beautiful wet finish and smooth texture to the skin. This seems super thick when you apply it but it actually sinks into the skin pretty soon and gives a beautifully radiant complexion. It never looks cakey or feel sticky and it looks amazing in photos as well. The latter has been my go to winter foundation, which I actually still use if I'm looking for a super matte finish; it has the messiest packaging ever but a super nice and unique formula. It's very lightweight and never feels too heavy on the skin, and once blended it leave a silky and matte finish I really love. This combination and oily skin friendly foundation applies better with the fingers, helps in uniforming the complexion, is truely buildable and goes on super easly as well.

One thing is for sure: I can't go wrong with water based bases and I have a good stock now, but they still are my first choise when I have to buy new foundations. However these were my favorite lightweight base finds so far.

Which is your favorite lightweight base?