B's Monki Haul

As promised, a little quick picture haul of a few of the items I picked up from Monki (and other random stores) during my week of holidaying in gorgeous Finland. I keep going on about them, but they truly are my very favorite brand, ever. Wish they did free shipping to Europe on their website, argh! Probably going to head to Utrecht or Amsterdam or Rotterdam one of these days to pick up a few more things, I am just too crazy about them not to.
One thing which I've mentioned before but will mention again as it's quite important, though: their sizing runs a little different than for most other stores, I find. I think it's great, as I actually think it's a lot more accurate and representative of real life, but basically their size XS is about a UK size 8, their size S is about a UK 10-12, their size M is roughly a UK 14-16, and their size L is more like an 18, so be careful not to buy anything too big! I, who sometimes struggle to find something that fits nicely in other stores because they run quite small (Forever 21 runs pretty tiny in my opinion), buy most of my Monki clothes in a size M (or wow, even the odd piece in S) and only get the L sizes when I deliberately want the item to be extra long, or extra slouchy. They also use average or 'normal' size models a lot of the time, which is really refreshing and is part of why I rate this brand so highly. Anyway, here goes: 

"Tough Love" print jumper, 30€ via Monki (love this, as it's very similar to the muuuch more expensive jumpers with prints and slogans by Wildfox Couture. This is such a steal if you compare the prices!) And I could really use a bit of a pop of such a bold color in my wardrobe, as it's usually 99% black and the odd bit of blue or white. This is also 100% cotton, which is great quality for this price.

All over kitty-print canvas tote bag, 8€ via Monki. I am and always have been a cat lady so I genuinely just couldn't resist this. I'm also obsessed with totes, so it's pretty much perfect for me. They're so cute!

Grey acid wash 3/4 length sleeve tshirt, 15€ via Monki. I love everything and anything acid wash, and grey is such a nice transition color to wear in late summer all the way to winter. So gorgeous tucked into some jeans with some cut-out boots and a piece of statement jewelry. Love the high neckline, too.

Did I mention I am genuinely obsessed with socks? Here's a few I picked up recently. The first ones are from a random store, but the chain and the pattern ones are from Monki, too, for just 3€ each!! 

Black and white patterned vest, 15€, via Monki. I love all things monochrome and rarely wear color, so this crazy patterns is a great way to include a bit of pop into an otherwise boring outfit i.e. jeans. 

And here a few other random things I picked up while in Finland: Moomintroll postcards, glass and keychains, because I really love them! Finnish postcards from the Design District, as well as the goooorgeous Monki payment receipt (it's got cute little birds and adorable figures printed on the back!) as well as the gorgeous plastic bag that my clothes came in. Did I mention I loooove that shop?

And finally, the velvet-y biker jacket which I picked up from H&M on the main shopping street in Helsinki. I actually just went in to buy a boring pair of black basic tights, but saw this, then thought it would be waaay to expensive, but had to get it when I realized it was only 19,95€. Genuinely one of the best bargains recently. Lovely material, I really love the shoulder detailing, too. It's also a perfect transition piece to wear on chilly late summer nights all the way til autumn and even winter!

So yes, that's what I picked up, sorry for going on and on and on and on forever about Monki, I can't help myself, it's become a little of an unhealthy (for my wallet) obsession. I keep and keep and keep buying more of their stuff! The quality is just amazing, and the designs so fresh and new and gorgeous. You can find all of the above items on their online shop: http://www.monki.com/

B ♡ Finland

Hey guys!

As I mentioned a billion times (I got a bit carried away, I was just so excited) I went to Finland on a holiday last week. Me and my boyfriend and his parents went on a little city trip: we flew from Amsterdam to Helsinki, stayed there for two days in a little flat which we rented (it had a sauna, what an absolute dream luxury, I went like 3 times a day). Helsinki is genuinely one of the best cities I have ever visited, and I have seen quite a few! It's such a gorgeous mix between a scandinavian sea-side city, but it also has many eastern european, especially russian, architectural influences. I would describe it like the best possible mix between Copenhagen and Moscow! The design district is pretty incredible - sleek, practical, gorgeous designs to be bought at every street corner. It's also the birthplace of the Moomins, a childrens tv program I loved dearly. Instead of making a whole big photo heavy post, I decided to do little snap-shot collages:

After a few days in Helsinki, we took the ferry over to Tallinn, which is the capital of Estonia. Tallinn looks a lot more like some of my austrian neighbor places, such as the Czech Republic (especially Prague). The old town is gorgeous and quite medieval looking, but sadly it's floooooded with a bunch of (especially Australian actually!) tourists who come to get drunk on the very cheap alcohol. Great hotel though, with a Spa and sauna area once again. Definitely a wellness holiday for me! I really needed it, too - I recently took a break from my birth control (I try to do it every six months or so to give myself a little break from hormones) which has made me gain a few pounds and my skin break out, so I've felt a bit horrible during my holiday :( The sauna has helped a little though, and I'm back on track dieting and exercising with my old annoying pal Jillian Michaels.

After two nights in Tallinn, we got the ferry back to Helsinki, where we stayed at the most breaaaathtaking hotel: the Glo Art Hotel Helsinki which is sooooo modern, sooooo gorgeous, suuuuch great food, and it looks like this. The next day we hopped on a train and went to Turku, for our last two finnish nights. Turku is the old capital of Finland, further on the western coast. It's really cute, too, but it definitely doesn't come close to Helsinki. I also bought quite a few Moomintroll items, like a little printed glass, a key chain, plenty of post cards, a hair spray and tissues haha. Couldn't help myself, they are just the cuuuuuutest! Secretly wish I could have gone to Moominland hahaha.

Admittedly, one of my favorite parts of the trip was to get the chance to finally go into the Monki shops! Since they're a scandinavian brand, they're a bit hard to come by in central Europe, so I went a little nuts and shopped quite a bit. I bought a canvas tote bag, a printed tank top, an acid wash tee, a semi-transparent swing dress, some funky tights, two pairs of patterned socks, a red knitted light weight jumper in red with a slogan (very similar to the wildfox couture ones actually) and a crop top. Went a bit mad, as I said! I am currently shooting pictures of all the items to upload soon, to bear with me!

Mini Haul

Hey everyone!

I got back from Finland on tuesday night (so sad to have had to leave Helsinki, I absolutely fell in love with that place)... I will be uploading a couple of pictures of the holiday really soon to give you a little idea of how it's been! In the meanwhile, I thought I would do a brief little picture post of a couple of things I bought before I left for Finland. Nothing special, just a couple of drugstore beauty products and jewelry. 

This lipstick in a dark red-ish / purple is from Hema, a Dutch kind of department store that sells all kind of stuff, including a few bits and bobs of cheap make-up. My brow gel is from there and it's really pretty decent, so I picked up a few more pieces of make-up the other day. The formula is very moisturizing but the color is also quite pigmented, which gives a nice sheen to the lips. The lasting power isn't overwhelmingly good, but the color is just what I was looking for, a dark, velvety purple/red, and for only approx. 3€ it's quite a bargain, so I picked up a second one:

A creamy peach color, which is sort of a summery version of most "your-lips-but-better" colors. Moisturizing, cheap, average lasting power, gorgeous color, so all in all, another catch.
Then I went on to the nail varnish section, where they had a sale for the long-lasting ones, which only cost between 1€ - 1,50€ so I snapped two up that actually match the lipsticks really well!

The dark color looks nearly brown-black in the bottle, but applied it's more of a very deep, dark red/purple with a hint of brown sheen and very small sparkles. Surprisingly great lasting power! I haven't tried out the other color yet, but on the tester nail it looked like a nice, shiny nude tone.
The last couple of things I bought were a ring set from Hema, and a Moon-ring from H&M which just matches my moon tattoo perfectly...

Voilà! If you live in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium or Luxembourg and know about Hema, I suggest you go have a look because some of their make-up is actually quite surprisingly good and just sooooo cheap!
As for my traveling stories, I will get on uploading my photos soon and posting a few more articles, as I am excited to say that I got to go into the Monki Stores in Helsinki and went a little mad! It truly is my new absolutely favorite brand. Will be posting another little haul soon :) I hope you've had a great summer - let us know if there's any things you bought that you absolutely want to share. If you have a blog you want us to check out, leave your link in a comment below!