Rainy Day Playlist

 Photo: Tumblr

It's officially autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, and with that comes, inevitably, the rain.

i. Oceans - Coldplay

ii. Give Me Love - Ed Sheeran

iii. Missing You - Imogen Heap

iv. Skinny Love - Bon Iver

v. Start a War - The National

vi. Mykonos - Fleet Foxes

vii. Comes and Goes (In Waves) - Greg Laswell

viii. Towers - Bon Iver

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Vacation Beauty Haul

Revlon Lip Butters in Red Velvet and Strawberry Shortcake - CoverGirl LipPerfection Lipstick in 305 Hot Passion

The supermarkets at the Dominican Republic have a lot more makeup stands than most department stores here (CoverGirl? Milani? A whole stand of Revlon? Count me in!) Needless to say, I went a bit crazy and had to be restrained not to buy everything in sight. And I know I'm late to the lip butter bandwagon, but here they're ridiculously expensive and only four colours are available. 

 

 CoverGirl Lashblast Mascara - Milani XL Bronzer in 03 Radiant Tan

 OPI Nail Polish in Do You Lilac It?

Rubinesque Paintpot - MAC 217 Blending Brush - Rebel Lipglass -MAC Cleanse Off Oil

And last but certainly not least, I did some damage at MAC. Now, this is more than I've ever spent in makeup, but I justified it because MAC is ridiculously expensive here and in the DR the prices were as near as the US ones that I could get. I actually wanted to get Rebel in lipstick form, but the lady at the counter said that they hadn't been stocking that for a long time.

Do you tend to spend more money on things for yourself when you're on holiday? (I know I do!)

x Monica

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My Travel Makeup Bag - Caribbean Edition

So I just came back from my two week vacation. I went to the Dominican Republic to visit my parents - we moved there 10 years ago because my dad got a job there, and 5 years ago I came back to Chile to study and hadn't been back since. 

Now, even though I went in the middle of "winter" it was still horrendously hot, so that's what I kept in mind as chose what to bring with me to the trip.

What I brought with me:

-Lancôme Quad
-MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20

-L'Oreal Mega Volume Collagene Waterproof Mascara
-ELF Eyelid Primer

-Essence Eyebrow Designer in 02 Brown

-Esika Kohl Eyeliner in Turquesa Vital

-Arens Blush

-Cyzone Clear Gel

-Esika Colorfix Maxtime Lipstick in Fuscia Express

-Lip Out Loud Super Shiny Gloss in 04 BFF

-Avon ColorTrend Lip Crayon in Rojo Sexy

-Oriflame Lipgloss in Feel the Love

Tools:

-Four brushes: one eyeshadow brush, another one for concealer, one for bronzer and one for blush.

-Eyelash curler

-Pencil sharpener

What I wish I'd brought:

- Some powder. My Rimmel translucent powder is too flimsy and that I don't think it would've survived the trip.
- A perfume,which I didn't pack because I thought my luggage was going to be over the weight limit.
- Less lip colours. I barely wore anything on my lips other than my lip balm, so those were a waste of space.

Overall, I was please with the majority of the stuff that I took, except for a few items. 

Are you going on holiday sometime soon? Where?

Monica x

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What I've Been Up To

As always, I'm very sorry for not updating more often. Right after I finished my internship I took I plane and came back to a place that I didn't think I would ever come back to - the Dominican Republic. I lived here for five years and vowed to never come back. And yet, here I am. How things change.

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Fanmix Yourself

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The Mortal Instruments Movie Review

The official movie synopsis (from IMDB):

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.

Let me start by saying that I love the book series, and I was really excited when they announced that they were turning the first book into a movie and launching a possible franchise. I thought that the casting was on point - Jamie Campbell Bower was exactly as how I envisioned Jace to be. And the fact that Cassandra Clare was really involved in everything made me think that they were going to make good choices, plot-wise. 

What I liked:

-The scenes at the Institute. Visually, they were beautiful. 

What I hated:

-That they didn't turn Simon into a rat.

-Magnus didn't appear as much.

-The music. In my opinion, the scene where Clary and Jace in the greenhouse was completely ruined by the cheesy song choice. 

-The runes. They looked weird. 

-Small inconsistencies, like the fact that Luke shouldn't have been able to grab the Shadowhunter sword.

I guess I understand why it didn't do very well, box office-wise: it lacked, for me, the charm of the book. The moments that make you want to throw the book out the window (the ones who have read it know what moment I'm talking about) are really downplayed in the movie - I actually would've missed it if it hadn't been for the audible gasp that my friend (who knew nothing about the series) made.

Overall, I was really disappointed with this movie. It just lacked charm and ran too long, specially the battle scenes. I actually regret going to the cinema to see it, I should've just waited until it appeared online. 

Have you seen the movie or read the books? What did you think of them?

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Beautiful Chaos Review

Beautiful Chaos by Kami García and Margaret Stohl is the third book in the Caster Chronicles. It continues the story of Ethan Wate and his Caster love Lena Duchannes after her Claiming disturbed the Order of Things. Here's the overview (from Barnes & Noble):

"Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?"

My opinion:

There's no nice way of doing this, so I'll just say it: this book is boring. Incredibly boring. As in, I only finished reading it because I feel bad when I don't finish books I've purchased myself. It took me a long time to read, mainly because I really felt it was going nowhere.

I bought the first three books on Amazon a while ago (it came in a really beautiful package), and I really regret spending that much money on them. I thought I was getting a really good deal, but that was based on the fact that I was going to actually like the series. I really liked the second book, so it's disappointing that the third one went back to the same slow-paced dullness as the first one. There's a fourth book in the series, but, needless to say, I won't be buying it. 

Have you read the series? What did you think about them? 

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