After nearly two years from the last time I went short with my hair, last November I decided I was tired (once again) of my long, shape-less locks and that it was time for me to finally go back to a shorter haircut. I was pondering the idea since the beginning of Summer, but really my hair grows so quickly that haircuts shouldn’t scare me anymore!

Short hair has always been my thing, and ever since taking the plunge I remembered why I love it so much: styling my hair is now the easiest of things and to me, all those telling me shorter hair is high-maintenance, don’t really know what they’re talking about! Anyone with straight, plain, flat hair will get what I mean…

Yes I totally put a bit more effort into styling my hair when I wash it, but it’s not exactly a bad thing in my case: I was so bored with my long hair that I used to just leave it do its own thing (aka being a flat boring mess), while now I like to take time to style them in different ways, with it staying voluminous and light for days.

With my hair being oily and with a tendency of going flat, I still love my trusted Garnier Lavender Shampoo a lot, with no silicones and parabens and always leaving my hair oil-free but still hydrated and super soft (and smelling like a Provence lavender field, which is not bad at all). I really don’t use anything else on my hair at all, because I’m too afraid of products that can add extra-weight and make it look even more dull.

However, if you’re after some 100% natural haircare suggestions for oily hair, I have a whole post about it over here!

I was never able to “master” a blow-dry before, but ever since having my hair at a shorter length, I’m finding it all very easy, actually! And a straight blow-dry with the ends slightly curled inwards is surely my preferred choice when it comes to styling, just because it’s so easy, it looks put-together, but I only have to worry about it on the day I wash my hair and then it’ll keep looking nice until the next washing!

This way I also avoid big sources of heat on my hair, however if I’m feeling very lazy, I can still be partial to flat irons to straight my hair and curl the ends in, or to create a messy wavy look (especially on second-day hair).

Not a complicated hair routine, isn’t it? I can’t suggest going for short hair enough, if you’re pondering the idea!

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Any suggestions on natural hair products I should try? x

If there’s one thing I love, is getting pampered! And we all know that already, thanks to the endless list of ‘how to pamper yourself‘ guides I’ve written for this blog… But let’s be honest: there’s a reason why we keep trying to recreate the perfect spa at home, and that is because the most of us can’t afford spa treatments, facials, massages and hairdresser touch-ups on a weekly basis.

So yes, today I’m sharing another pampering guide, yet again, but this time it’s for anyone who loves to treat her/himself but has an attention to her/his limited budget too. What if you could afford the random spa weekend a bit more often than you think? 😉

Your SPA at home

This is probably foregone and obvious, but I couldn’t do a budget friendly pampering guide without encouraging you to do it all at home. Because yes, if all you need is an evening for yourself, a hot bath, some relaxing music and some aromatherapy, that’s totally something that shouldn’t be expensive at all and that you can do yourself at home.

Of course this would still be quite far away from massages, saunas, muds and all that jazz, but I can assure you sometimes it’s just what we all need. You could buy yourself fancy bath salts or oils that, although might be a little pricy, will last you a really long while; and then maybe enjoy a face mask or two but only after having lit your favourite relaxing candle(s).

Any long term reader might remember our daytrip to the lake from last Summer – in that exact occasion we decided to spoil ourselves to 5 hours at Sirmione’s beautiful spa thanks to a great deal we found on Groupon, and, now that I think about it, I should plan another day just like that for the two of us only! As well as a proper haircut for yours truly… because it has been a while… ops!

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Would love to know how you pamper yourself on a budget and if you ever use Groupon too! x

This post is sponsored by Groupon. All opinions and love for the service are 100% my own!

Whoa, May has been HECTIC! I know I say this basically every month, but seriously, I can’t remember one single time I stopped for a moment this month. It was full. So full of events, work, things and also favourites! So here are a few things I’ve loved this month…

I’ve eyed up Frank Body scrubs a little while ago but having so many scrubs to go through already, I decided to give them a go only recently. Being my first time with their products, their The Grind High Club kit sounded so appealing to me, giving me the chance to try out four different mini coffee scrubs at a great price! I love their brand ethics and their vegan non-chemical products: the smell of each of the options in the kit is simply sublime (!) and, although it can be quite messy, I deeply enjoyed the experience of getting dirty covering myself in coffee grind.

If you’re a reader of this blog, you’d know I’ve been avoiding parabens in haircare products since a couple of years now. Finding good quality paraben-free shampoos haven’t been difficult to me at all, and I’ve grown a deep love for the Garnier Ultimate Blends range, the lavender and rose shampoo in particular, especially great on my oily locks. But recently I’ve been wanting to have a backup shampoo to rely on and to alternate my usual shampoo of choice with, to avoid my scalp getting used to a product in particular and start working against it – since I’ve been using the same shampoo for a very long time now.

When the new Garnier Ultimate Blends Delicate Soother shampoo was launched I knew I wanted to give it a try – probably mainly made curious about the scent (which is really amazing and sweet, just how I like my shampoo to be!) and the fact it’s meant to work amazing on sensitive scalp, and yes, I deal with that too. And I wasn’t wrong in the slightest: this shampoo leaves my hair extremely soft and clean, but it’s gentle in its scent but also formula. It’s a such a special treat to use!

I’m not the biggest fan of bright lips on myself, I usually go for nudes and hardly try to be the centre of attention by popping some colour on my lips, but this month, aided by the fact that summer is literally around the corner, I got tired of natural lip shades and went “shopping” into my makeup drawer to find and rediscover some nice bright shades I’ve wore twice and then hidden in the back corner of said drawer for months.

This time I’m back in love with my NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Lodhi, a slightly orange-y warm coral shade that looks so appealing to me right now. I remember now why I love this lip pencil: being so long-lasting on my lips, I hardly have to worry about if my lipstick has gone somewhere inappropriate even when eating, plus it adds a pretty but not too eccentric pop of colour even to the most simple of makeup looks!

I’ve talked about these in details in a recent post, but I couldn’t not mention them between this month’s favourites, because I have thrown them on as soon as I got them through the mail and haven’t stopped wearing them ever since, if not when I sadly needed them to be in the washer. I call my Topshop Pretty Blue Mom Jeans the perfect “#Girlboss jeans” just because they really are my favourites to wear everyday while working from home, being so comfy but looking pretty smart in the meanwhile!

I bet you’ll be tired to see me wearing them in each of my Instagram pictures, but I really can’t help…

I’ve talked about Namastey already in my Rome city guide, but this last month I’ve quickly built a love for their Genmaicha Green Tea. I can honestly say I’ve tried a whole lot of teas in my life but this is different from anything I tried so far: it tastes deep and nutty with puffed rice and toasted corn, definitely something a little bit particular but because of that it has quickly become my favourite thing to drink in the middle of my afternoons! I’m so glad this has been suggested to me by the girl at Namastey, she was so right!

And lastly but not at least, how couldn’t I go without mentioning Games of Thrones between my favourites this month! I’m kind of up to date with the new episodes now (although I struggle to find time to watch them lately, I’m always way too tired in the evening to hit the bed and stay awake for more than 5 minutes!) and I’m loving Season 6 as much as I’ve loved all the others! But this season is feeling less static and more eventful already, which is so great!

I won’t go into details just in case any of you hasn’t watched just yet, but if you haven’t just know you totally should!!

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And that’s a wrap! Would love to know what’s been on your May favourites list this month! x