FIRST NAME MAR, LAST NAME CLOCK

After a long time of not wearing a lot of jewelry on my wrists, I finally decided it was time for a watch. It's not like I didn't have any watches, as a matter of fact I own three more. But one of them is totally not my style, the other one is broken and the third has golden details. I prefer silver coloured jewelry because they suit my skin tone better as I'm a summer type. This means that I am a cool and light person. When you wear a certain colour it has to be in harmony with your complexion. I might do an article about that so you guys get a better understanding of what I mean with that. I am a cool person and silver is the best colour for people with cool skin tones. I wasn't looking for a watch at all, one day I walked into a store and ta-da! There it was waiting for me! I've worn it every day since then and wanted to share it with you.

I really love the nude strap because it is a versatile colour and easily to combine with all your other jewelry. As you can see I paired the watch with a few bracelets that have cold ánd warm tones. This is a fashion rule meant to be broken! It actually works really well because mixing two or more metals actually adds a little oomph and grunge to your look. It doesn't always have to be matchy-matchy. The fun lies in the unexpected. Okay enough with the clichés. What do you think of my new watch? And are you a watch person or do you check your phone if you want to see what time it is... I would love to hear from you!

YOUR LIPS BUT BETTER

I've finally found a lipstick that actually does what I want. Not secretly visiting my teeth but staying within the lip lines. Sadly, it all started with me finishing my favourite lipstick ever, L'oréal Colour Riche in "Julianne's Nude". Only to find out it was out of stock and worse: discontinued (told you it was a sad story :( ). So I had to find a new one because I love having a little bit of colour on my lips but nothing too bright and nothing too nude either. I tried many lip products in the same colour range and I'm happy to tell you I found a worthy successor. Have a look!

The Super Stay Matte Ink liquid lipstick by Maybelline New York is my new favourite lip product. The colour I'm wearing is number 10 Dreamer.

I accidentally forgot to take it off the other day and the next morning it was as if I'd just applied a fresh layer of lipstick. This one truly is a 24 hour beauty product. To me this shows that with this lipstick you don't have to worry about your make up running out or having to reapply after every sip or bite. I tested this today. Lunch, dinner... even ice cream! The colour holds up really well.

A close up of it's applicator brush. It works pretty good but I used my fingers to help blend out because the brush was a bit too large for my upper lip. You also don't need a lot of this product to cover your lips nicely. I found out the hard way as I put way too much product on my lips the first time. A little bit goes a long way. What I love about this light pink/peachy color is that it isn't anything that is too in your face. It is perfect for every day wear. This colour is basically my lips but better!

I have a few tips for you if you want your lips to look soft and youthful. The smoothest result you get from prepping your lips by softly "scrubbing'' away dead skin cells with an old tooth brush. After this apply a deeply moisturizing lip balm, I always go for some good ol' Vaseline. If you do this before bed time, you will have plump and healthy looking lips the following morning. And after applying your lipstick it will look perfect. Trust me ladies, just like a good blow-out for your hair, with lips it’s also all about the prep!

MY INSTAGRAM TIPS

Who doesn't scroll through their insta once a day? Don't answer that. I know. We all do it. Some accounts we follow, be it travel, food, fashion, just seem to have their style ON POINT. And then you go to your own profile and think to yourself how can I make my feed look consistent and coordinated? These tips might help you in being successful on Instagram by cultivating your insta aesthetic. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. So how about a feed full of pictures that highlight each others best traits?

Choose your style
What is the look you're going for? Minimalistic? Colorful? Do you want to use a lot of bright colors in your insta feed? Then learn how to use both the brightness and saturation tool. Do you like to coordinate your photos to the four seasons? Go for a moody theme with appropriate color scheme in fall and find out which filters fit your style best. And stick with it. If you make sure all your uploads are somewhat consistent in style elements this helps tie the story together. No loose ends ;-).

Edit in the same way
Within the app of your choice experiment with all the available options. The best thing is to have a preset or sequence that you can apply to all your photos. Just open your phones notes and write down all the tools you use. Besides Instagram I use VSCOcam and sometimes Afterlight. On Pinterest you can find dozens of examples. Search for 'Instagram themes'. I personally like to have good quality photos, no grain, bright, no heavy colors. This is also something I keep in mind when choosing photos to upload. You don't have to post every photo you take so if it doesn't look nice, even after editing, just keep it offline on your phone.

Choose the same angles
Angles can have a lot more impact on the overall look of your feed then one would think. And I'm not talking about the 'same girl, different angle' type of photo. When taking food pictures for example, find an angle that works for you and use it time and time again. I like to shoot from the top straight down for a birds eye perspective. For your outfit photos, don't shoot just anywhere but pick 2-3 backgrounds in and around your house for you to stand in front of. If no one's around to take my photo I always fall back on the mirror selfie. Try it sometime! Do this for all your themes from tip 2 - tell a story, and you will see how much of a difference it makes to be consistent in the angle of your photo.

Tell a story
You need to ask yourself what it is you want to show on Instagram. You can upload everything you capture making your insta look cluttered or you can choose 5-8 themes. This can be anything you want such as outfit of the days, interior design, hair styles, pictures of your breakfast and your cat. You name it, it's your little place on insta. Not only will this help in creating a common thread, it also makes it easier for your future followers to know what they can expect if when they hit the blue follow button.

Plan your Instagram
It is quite contradictory to the name Instagram but it really works for me: schedule your feed with a tool. Always think about how one photo will look next to the other. Even better, think about how your last nine photos work together. This is the first thing a potential follower sees when he or she finds you. I use an app called UNUM which let's me upload 18 photos into the app. These photos I can mix and match to find the order in which I like to upload. It feels like you're making your own jigsaw and it's kinda fun. But most importantly, this allows you to look a few steps ahead and think about what and when you're going to post. Another thing I like to look at is my last and my third picture. Those are the photos my new upload will touch on the right side and below. If these photos already are quite detailed or busy, it will be more pleasing on the eye to upload a calmer photo. Are the last and third pictures of food? Then choose a non-food photo to upload next.

Archive your old photos
Maybe all of you know this already but I only found out recently this awesome new feature on Instagram. It allows you to hide photos you once uploaded by archiving them. This can come in handy if you want to conceal but don't want to delete a certain upload. For example old photos or photos that don't suit your current style. Simply go to the “...” menu on a photo, among other options such as edit and delete, you can find the option to archive the image. Your photos are now private and only for you to see. This action is reversible. Now you no longer have to delete your beloved memories from insta, simply hide them and magically make them reappear if you miss them.

These tips I personally use on a regular basis but sometimes I'm not worried about this at all and I just post, post, post. To me Instagram is a place where I can be creative and exhibit my art. It doesn't have to be perfect. I like it a lot when there are some quirky, original photos in someones feed. The last thing I want is for you to feel like there is a certain way in which we have to shape our feed. That is the beauty of it, you can do with it whatever you want :-). Happy 'gramming!