SOFT GRAY OUTFIT FOR DEPRESSING SUMMER WEATHER

Cardigan // Ullared.  Sweater // Moss Copenhagen. Skirt // Weekday.

The Swedish summer is currently claiming its reputation and it's fucking depressing.

I've been wearing this outfit so many times I've lost count but it's just really suitable at the moment since it keeps me warm,

yet manages to have some serious leg action. Not to mention how color coordinated it is with the gray skies :'(

Oh well, the forecast promises endless blue skies & sunshine this week, 

so fingers crossed there will be summer after all.

Nike Internationalist

MY FIRST ESSIE NAIL POLISH PURCHASES

I kind of feel like I've been living under a rock since I've never tried an Essie polish until now, 

but a few days ago I picked up two shades when they were on offer.

1. FUNNY FACE

A bright, cool toned pink that I'm planning to wear to my friends wedding in a couple of weeks. Not a typical me-shade, 

but I thought it will go very well with my wedding outfit and it's also a more edgy alternative to a classic red. 

2. PICKED PERFECT

Almost always you will find me wearing a neautral, earthy toned polish, whether it's a light beige or a pale pink. Lately I've been craving 

something a bit darker, like my exact skincolor when I'm a bit tanned. And THIS IS IT! This shade is everything. It might be a bit weird to some, but I really like how the contrast between my fingers and nails are blurred and how they almost become one.

THIS POLISH THOUGH <3 

What are your favourite Essie polishes? I feel like I might need some more... 

DOCUMENTATION OF MY GRADUATION COLLECTION

This last year I've been studying pattern making, fashion illustration etc, at Tillskärarakademin Malmö, to get a solid 

foundation for for my (hopefully) upcoming fashion design studies. For our graduation project we were assigned to create a collection 

inspired by a famous fashion designer, and I got one of the coolest ladies on earth; Vivienne Westwood.

As always when you're creating bigger projects, the process is really the most important thing to allow you to find 

a path outside *the box*. By constantly searching for inspiration and then let that lead your thoughts forward, instead of just 

thinking ahead makes such a difference. But it can also be scary because it leads you in directions you've never taken before and 

makes you create things you never thought you would create. Although, this is my favourite part of the design project since it's 

so challenging. I love to start of with a blank canvas & just one picture, or word, and then just build a world around it. 

So I thought I would show you some stuff from my research book, sketch book and also some of the more 

finished stuff from the presentation. Keep in mind that this is just a small extract from the huge work. 

Have you ever worked with larger amounts of inspiration & the processing of that? Pls tell me your stories!

MAXIMUM BRONZE // MINIMAL BASE

For that bronze: Maybelline Color Tattoo // On and on bronze & the bronzy shades from Sleek Storm Palette

I've always been a sucker for bold eyeshadow looks paired with a minimal base,

and you will often find me rockin a pink/orange/purple/light blue statement eye with just a touch of concealer. 

Now this is more of a toned down/neutral summer edit of that look; a slightly darker, bronzy eye with 

lots of lashes, bushy brows and hardly no face products. Right up my alley! 

What's your current favourite look for summer?

PRE-WORK OUTFIT

T-shirt & pants // Lindex

This set is like a sophisticated sweat suit = the best thing ever.

Dark gray & super soft. Paired with Birkenstocks & bright orange nail polish.

Oh, & remember to follow me on Bloglovin!

WAKE UP; MAKE BREAKFAST; KICK ASS; REPEAT

Ok, so I have had this blog for about a week and this is already my second breakfast themed blogpost - that's how obsessed I am.
I have always been an early bird and I really enjoy taking the time and effort to make nice breakfasts.

Today we had some left over hamburger breads as toast, topped with my all time faves sea salt butter, boiled eggs and
the classic Swedish Kalles Kaviar (described as a "delicious creamed smoked cod roe paste")

The best part of it all though is just sitting opposite my love and chat away over an extra cup of coffee and get giggly and weird of the caffein. Today it all ended with me trying to impress him with the knowledge of the lyrics from the old Haiducii hit song "Dragosta Din Tei".

Hope you have had a great start to the day!

COPENHAGEN

Yesterday we went to Copehagen cause I needed to pick up my application portfolio from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art 

School of Design where I have applied for Fashion Design. The admission letter will not come until the end of July so even though I was 

happy to show off the school and the surroundings to my boyfriend, it was kind of a nerve-racking and heart-racing experience to visit. 

Anyways, afterwards we walked along the water and pointed out where we would have lived 

if we had been millionairs and once again reminded ourselves that we need to come here more often since it's so close.

Sometimes we stopped to take some cute/cool couple pictures to post on Instagram.

Follow me on elin.berlin!

And Ninjo snapped away behind the camera fully enjoying his new job as my blog photographer.

It's a good 20-30 minutes walk from the school to the city and the breakfast 

from earlier that morning was long gone at 2 pm when I started to get hangry.

Well right there is the answere to my prayers, perhaps the best salad I have ever had! 

Smoked salmon with grilled kale, cauliflower and fresh apple, blackberries and raspberries. OMG.

And dessert, of course. Some kind of apple compote deliciousness!

And after we had our fair share of caffein/sugar for the day it was all about the shopping until we got super tired and went home. Great day! 

SWEATER WEATHER

#SWEDISHSUMMER

My favourite ATM. Perfect fit, 100% soft cotton and grayish green melange.

Bought it at the cheapest swedish store "Ullared" for 49 SEK // £5.

SUNDAY FUNDAY

After a not so productive Saturday we decided to head south for Malmö & have a look at some museums we've been wanting to visit. 

It really is nice to just stroll around old castles and stare at chameleons. Just in time for lunch, the sky cleared up so we walked into town 

to get some goat cheese/walnut/balsamic vinegar pizza. To die for.

A couple of hours, shops and ice creams later we take the train and fall asleep as soon as we get on it. Back home it doesn't
take long until we're getting hungry again, so I make some chicken burgers we eat as the sunset colors the sky pink and blue.
Sundays are just the best.

LATE NIGHT PAMPER SESSION

The definition of a perfect post-midsummers eve evening: 

My boyfriend is swearing loudly over his video game and I'm just laying in bed being excessevily lazy. 

And due to my rather worn, hang over appearence I'm treating myself to a late night pamper session.

1. MANICURE. 

Is there anything more therapeutic than painting your nails? Especially when you're not in a rush and need to go somewhere, but when you can just relax and take your time. Tonight I chose a pale peachy color and finished it off with some Grape & Avocado Nail Oil from Depend.

2. LIP BALM.

My lips are always craving some moisture and Nuxe Reve de Miel is the best there is.

3. HAND CREAM.

Topping off that manicure with some hand cream is like taking it to the next level. 

Right now I'm using a lavender one from Panier des Sens which is nice but also kind of greasy, so I'm open for suggestions.

Any recommendations?

4. FACE MASK.

The star of the show! Tonight I used Lush BB Seaweed which besides the obvious seaweed contains ground almonds, 

honey, aloe vera and rose absolute. It claims to be cleansing and softening and I would totally agree to that. It does a great job at 

clearing up my skin, without being drying. Afterwards it leaves my skin feeling calm, super smooth and hydrated. 

To me, that is like everything I look for in a face mask so I would highly recommend it!

MAKING FALAFEL FROM SCRATCH

For some time now I have wanted to try to make falafel from scratch since hearing my friend Anna brag about hers. 

So the other day I gathered my ingredients and gave it a go.

First off I shredded my red onion and added the juice & zest from one lemon to make a quick pickle. 

The rest of the ingredients got chopped up and trown in a bowl with some different spices.

I used my blender to mix all the ingredients together and turn them into a nice falafel dough. 

After that it was time to get my hands dirty and create the actual falafel balls. This was A LOT easier then I thought it would be! 

Then I just fried them in a pan with some sesame oil on high heat until they turned golden and crunchy.

 For toppings I kept it fresh and simple with some green apple, halloumi, greek yoghurt, salsa and of course my homemade pickled red onion.

10 LAZY SUMMER DAY BEAUTY ESSENTIALS

1. LUSH EAU ROMA WATER. 

Refreshes your complexion and wakes you up in the mornings.

2. MAC STROBE CREAM + KICKS ILLUMINATOR. 

For instant luminosity and J-Lo glow.

3. MAC HARMONY BLUSH. 

Well loved as a bronzer/all over face-product for some added warmth.

4. MAYBELLINE COLOR TATTOO // ON AND ON BRONZE. 

Eyeshadow that doubles up as an excellent face bronzer.

5. APOLOSOPHY SPF. 

Protect the skin you're in!!

6. CLARINS INSTANT CONCEALER + MAC MINERALIZED CONCEALER. 

I like to mix them together for both shade & property reasons. 

I slap it on wherever I want some coverage and don't even bother with foundation.

7. SUNGLASSES. 

No eye makeup needed.

8. LOREAL BROW ARTIST PLUMPER. 

Usually I'm quiet fuzzy with my brows, but this time around I like to keep them more natural looking by only using this one.

9. SOAP & GLORY SEXY MOTHERPUCKER // NUDIST. 

Perfect glossy nude for sensual summer lips.

10. LUSH R&B HAIR TREATMENT. 

Smells like some far away tropical island and nourishes my hair while giving it some texture.

TUESDAY MORNING

I had quiet a rough start to my week I must admit... Let's just say it had a lot to do with oversleeping, getting late for work, dealing with bitchy costumers and finding out my credit card had been blocked (just in time for my upcoming London trip so that my hotel almost got canceled). 

On top of that my boyfriend have caught the worst summer cold ever, so at the end of the night I cried in his arms while he sniffled in my ear.

So Tuesday morning I'm happy that you're here! Now let's make this day a hell of a lot better than yesterday.

But with a champion breakfast like this, what could go wrong?

#1

ELIN BERLIN // 23 YRS // SWEDEN

WANNABE FASHION DESIGNER // ALL AROUND CREATIVE

When I was 9 years old I pretended to be sick so I could stay home from school and make tops out of my brother old sweat pants. 

Since then I've moved along to study different courses for fashion design and I'm also a qualified pattern maker. 

The dream is to get a BA degree in Fashion Design, a journey which I will hopefully begin in a very close future...

MUSIC LOVER // SINGER

Since being a kid and pretending to be Spice Girls I've also moved along in my music career. 

I've written a bunch of Swedish love songs, which most of them can be found on Youtube. 

I'm also part of the electronic synth-pop band Eternal Death and our debut album was released back in Feburary this year! 

As you might have figured by now I like a lot of things, and I like to have a lot of projects on the go.

I want this blog to be like a platform where everything I do can come together. During my teenage years I've had other blogs,
but this time around I feel like I have more/better ideas/experience and therefore (hopefully) better contet.
I havn't figured it all out yet which means that anything can happen so stay tuned!

XOXO BERLIN