Carnival is probably one of my favourite times of the year. I absolutely love dressing up and going all out, and in my country we celebrate in quite a fun way. Carnival in Malta basically means spending a weekend in a farmhouse in the beautiful Gozo (our sister island) with your best friends. It also means spending most of the weekend either drunk or hungover, but it's almost become a tradition now.

We went up on Friday and came back down to Malta on Sunday. On Friday night we had a party which didn't involve us dressing up - and yes, I was very disappointed about this. However, on Saturday we had an afternoon party where my friends and I dressed up as bikers, and I kid you not, I have never felt cooler in my entire life. We are all basically obsessed with the way we looked, fake nose rings and all (I apologise in advance for all the photos). We had pre-drinks at some of our other friends' farmhouse and played beer pong and lots of drinking games and all that fun stuff, and later on headed to the party which was pretty great.

Before we headed back to the ferry on Sunday, we stopped for lunch at this cute little cafe whose burgers are to die for. This cafe was technically a candy shop too, which to be honest is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. We were so lucky this year because the weather has been ridiculously sunny and just amazing in general. This made the weekend so much better since Gozo is such a beautiful island full of greenery and we could appreciate it much more with the sunny weather, and no one likes to be freezing anyway right? It was one of the best weekends of the year so far, and I'm glad I got to spend it with my best friends and my boyfriend too. It was a weekend full of love, fun, and no stress which was exactly what I needed!

xo

I honestly can't believe that January is over already. I don't think I will ever get used to the fact that time passes by so damn quick! Although this month has been a very stressful and hectic month for me (full of exams and assignments), I still managed to find some things that genuinely made me happy throughout the month. And I'm gonna share them with you, so let's get started!

Beauty:

My ultimate beauty favourite has definitely been the DIORSHOW mascara in black by Dior. I got this as a present for Christmas and I have been truly obsessed with it ever since. I had been in love with Benefit's Roller Lash for almost a year, but I must admit that I have actually found a mascara that tops it. Considering that it is Dior, it is a little pricey, but I definitely think it's worth the money. I'm trying to only use it on special occasions instead of on a daily basis, simply because I don't afford to buy it so frequently haha. This product basically has everything you could ever wish for in a mascara - it makes my lashes look ridiculously long and it literally looks like I have false lashes on. When you go to take it off, it doesn't leave your lashes feeling hard and clumpy, which is something that really annoys me with certain mascaras. It lasts for hours and it looks amazing even at the end of the day. This has without a doubt become my favourite mascara ever, and it probably will be for a long time.

Skincare:

This month I have been badly suffering with dry skin, especially on my T-zone. Every time I put on makeup, my nose ends up getting patchy and I always feel really embarrassed because it's so evident. I tried moisturizing and I was really doing well with my skincare routine, but I could barely notice any difference when it came to applying makeup. So I told my mum about it and she gave me a product which she sometimes uses when she gets dry skin, and it's pretty amazing! It is the Marks & Spencer Super Active Anti-Ageing Overnight Oil, and I apply it over my moisturizer before I go to sleep. I have definitely noticed a big difference when applying my makeup, and (although it is oil) it doesn't leave my skin feeling oily. I would recommend this for anyone with dry skin, however I would also like to try some new products and see which the best one for me is, so if you have any recommendations please let me know!

TV:

My favourite series this month is a Netflix original called Jessica Jones, and it's based on the Marvel character. I watch a crazy amount of series but this one is surely one of the best I've ever seen. It is super addictive and the story is just so gripping. I also really love the main actress who is Krysten Ritter so that's always a bonus. I started this during exams which was a horrible idea because I ended up watching the whole series in three days. There is only one season for now and I think it's going to be a while until the second season comes out, which sucks, but it's worth the wait!

Music:

Last but not least is my music favourite of the month, and this is probably my favourite thing of the entire month. It is Panic! at the Disco's new album Death of a Bachelor, and it is AMAZING. A friend of mine recommended it to me and ever since then I haven't stopped listening to it. My favourite songs on the album are Hallelujah and LA Devotee, but honestly there isn't one song that I don't like. I always liked Panic! at the Disco but I was never as obsessed with their music as I am now. If you haven't heard this album, please go listen to it. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea but you never know, you might love it.

That's all for my favourites of this month! I'm pretty excited for February to start because even though I'm going to be extremely busy throughout the whole month, I have some really exciting events coming up too! Let me know what your monthly favourites have been, I love discovering new things and hearing other people's opinions :)

xo

Starting off with the packaging; I mean, what more could you ask for? It's literally a chocolate bar. And, wait for it, it smells like chocolate. As soon as you open the palette, a whiff of chocolate fills the air and it is honestly the best thing ever. And let's not forget the names of all the eye shadow shades; white chocolate, hazelnut, triple fudge? Yes please.

I always find myself reaching for nude palettes, so I wanted to try something different for once. I didn't want to try anything crazy and get a palette with lots of bright colours cause I know that I would barely ever use it. However the Chocolate Bar contains a variation of both warm and cool toned shades which aren't too daring. 

The palette contains ten shimmery shades and six matte shades, which I think is quite a good balance. I tend to reach for the shimmery shades more often, however I have been trying to use more matte shades recently. I haven't actually had the chance to try out many of the shades yet, but I am extremely excited to play around with it and get a bit creative. The shades I'm most eager to try out are candied violet, black forest truffle, and amaretto, simply because they are very different to what I usually wear.

A few days before my birthday, I went to dinner with a group of girls whom I have known for years. We are quite a big group and we don't manage to meet as often anymore, but we always make an effort to see each other on special occasions, especially on our birthdays. These girls bought me the Humans Of New York Stories book by Brandon Stanton. I was so surprised with this and I honestly can't explain to you how much I love it. If you have never heard of HONY (humans of new york), please go look it up right now - you can find them on practically any social media - and I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

My boyfriend Jake got me a few cute things which showed me how well he really knows me haha. He was on holiday in Scotland sometime before my birthday so he got all these things from there. The main present is a woolen cardigan from Hollister; it's an amazing maroon colour which I love, and it's super soft too! He also got me a book called 'Me, You, Us' by Lisa Currie which is basically a whole book full of random things to fill in on each page. We're slowly filling it in together and it's so much fun; I think it's such an original idea for a present and I just love these things! The last thing he got me was a teeny tiny Peter Pan soft toy from the Disney store. You probably don't know this but I am the #1 Peter Pan fan. It is my favourite movie ever and I just love every single thing about it. So this is obviously a more meaningful present even though it is just something small, because he knew I would love it. And to me that makes things so much more special.