2017 Favorites

A year is over, a year where I had the opportunity to test and try new beauty products, new fashion trends, but also to read new books and watch movies I have never seen before. And when looking back on my year, I think about my issues, I think about my progress, and all that happened, but I tend to forget how much did happen on the blog. So this post is the perfect occasion for me to write a typical blogger's post: a favorite. I already did that for some seasons, but never on a year. It has been a rather hard work not ending up with the longest list ever, yet I finally made a selection and presenting to you my favorite things of 2017. 

Beauty 

Beauty wise I have tried to be more bold this year, to try new styles and to wear a different style of makeup. It did happen, yet only for few months, and then I got back to my routine. That is why the two favorites that I picked for thus category are rather basic products. First of all, & Other Stories Chubby Lip Crayon in Bouilloné Truffle. I talked about it when I wrote a post about this shop, and since the moment I bought it I cannot stop using it. The formulae and the color are both so perfect, when I want to go for a classy but not too bold look, this is the one. I never hesitate, it became my go to, and definitely is now one of my basic. 

The other product I picked up is actually a mascara, one everybody have been talking about for years now, I know, but I only gave it a chance this year. And I kind of regret the fact that I waited for so long. It is the Better than Sex mascara by Too Faced. Too Faced is a brand that I love for its liquid lipsticks first of all, but this mascara is definitely my favorite from the brand product now. My lashes look amazingly fluffy and long, it does give a lot of intensity to the eyes and really valorize your look. 

Fashion

Regarding fashion, I feel like I do not have much to say since my tastes do not evolve that much. This year again I have been a lot about sweaters - even in Summer, when it starts to get chiller at night, how happy I am to throw a light knitwear over my swimsuit - and handbags. This is for sure an old obsession, nothing new with that. Yet every year I became a bit more specific. For instance 2017 was all about dark knitwear and tiny handbags. I believe 2018 is following the same path as I can witness for now, but we will see. In fashion my obsessions tend to last for decades, not solely for a unique year.

Readings

2017 has been a very productive year reading wise. I have been a real bookworm, starting a new book as soon as I have finished the current one. This category has maybe been the hardest one when it came to pick only two favorites. I tried to remember as best as I can all the books that I read this year, and one of them immediately came to my mind. It is a book I read this Summer and already told you about, being The Enchanted April. This book was a piece of heaven. So calm, so smooth, so simple, yet so beautiful. I couldn't believe how in describing such simple events you could create such a beautiful novel. Not a favorite solely for last year, but for my whole life I guess.
My second favorite book of this year I also read this Summer, and actually told you about in the same post as in The Enchanted April. It was A Room with a View. Those two books as I already told you there were pretty similar in the sense that not much what happening, but beauty was everywhere. A book about the quest for happiness, a book about love and its trick. A beauty in words, another favorite for life.

Music

Music wise I am not that interesting, let this be said. I do not make any cool discoveries, I never am the one who let other discover amazing artists. I am actually the one who sticks to the same things for years. But since my boyfriend is a musician, thanks to him, I am sure to be always a little bit ahead of everybody else, and to become the cool girl who listens to artists nobody knows yet. Last summer, my boyfriend was listening on repeat to the same song, and after being fed up of him always having to play music whatever we are doing, I took the time to listen to the song, and let him make me listen to the album more carefully. As soon as I listened, I loved it. This artist is Andy Shauf, and let me tell you, you need to listen to his tunes. The album "The Party" is for sure my favorite one, but I know my boyfriend will soon force me to listen to another one of his work and make me once again discover amazing things.

Shops

To live in Amsterdam is great thing for shopping, and I have been lucky to discover pretty cool shops there. The first one is not that original, but really did catch my eye in Amsterdam. It is the Swedish brand & Other Stories. I love this store for its makeup range and its accessories and jewelry mainly, but the clothing is also carrying this northern style everybody is about now, and in 2017 it became one of my favorite shop. 

Specific to Amsterdam, I also do have a favorite, being the shop Anna + Nina. This shop is lovely because it is a mix of everything, from clothing to home accessories. They do have an amazing jewelry collection as well, and it became my favorite local shopping place. 

Places

I have visited some new places this past year, and basically I moved to a different country. Yet I have realized that my favorite place was home. I love the place where I live, and whenever I am away I miss it. I miss the comfort of knowing everything about my town, I miss the comfort of my bed, my room, of my habit. My favorite place on earth for sure, and not only in 2017, it is simply the year where I realized that.
But to point to something more concrete than the feeling of home I would definitely say the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam. It really is a small Amsterdam, very similar in its constructions and architecture, yet how much more calm and chill this place is in comparison. We visited it last December to see the Christmas market, and I couldn't have dreamt of a cuter place to drink hot chocolate and buy advent candles. A city I definitely want to go back to soon.

Moments

This category is a different. Even if my blog is a lot about fashion, beauty and lifestyle, I also tell you about my own journey, sharing a lot of my personal life and of my pains and joys. This year, as I told you on the first of 2018, has not been that easy for me. It has been made of a lot of hard times, yet this does not make me forget about my favorite moments of 2018. I would like to highlight one moment in particular. Last summer, I spent three days and one night at my boyfriend's house. When went to visit the place where he lived before, and even if we did quite amazing things together this year, in amazing places, for me those three days were so very special. A moment that seems so simple but that will stay within me forever.

xo

Amy