07.11.2016: October Favourites

Well hello! Another long stint without any posts or updates from me. It's frustrating when all you want to do is document your thoughts, interests, absolute hates etc. but everything else gets in the way. I've started my third year of university which is notoriously 'the hardest out of all three, holy shit you have to write a dissertation alongside reading a million and one books, doing exams and other pieces of coursework' and all, yada yada yada. Summer was just a blur of working. However, I'm going to start looking at this blog a little differently. Rather than it being an obligation and feeling guilty whenever I take time away from it, I should look at it instead as being my down-time, because it's fun to write.

So, without further ramblings, lets have a nose at my October favourites. (October went super quick, didn't it? I honestly can't remember writing down month number 10 in my notebooks. Weird!)

Big

My hair is the bane of my existence. Why the heck does it go from flat as frick to a ball of frizz that won't budge? Now granted, it has gone through the old bleaching rigmaroll but can't it just adapt already? Anyway, I was nosing on the Lush website because payday got to me and I wanted bath bombs goddamnit. So I was going through and adding a Frozen and Snowfairy here and there, when I thought that maybe I should get something for the mass of blonde on my head. That was when I read the description for Big. 'To make you feel like a mermaid' - a tagline like that will always get me. Made from seaweed and seasalt, this stuff is amazing to just shove a big dollop on your head in the shower and smush into your hair. You instantly smell like the ocean and your hair feels weightless. I love it.

Nyx 'Bitten/Mordue'

Recently I've been going super boring on the old daily makeup routine. Usual Bourjois healthy mix, Nars Laguna bronzer, Sleek brow kit, Nars Orgasm on my cheeks. But wait, hold up. When Nyx hit boots several months back, I remember picking up a blush in the flurry of manicured hands swatting others' away to get to the matte lip cremes. Just so happens that this blush was a Nyx High Definition Blush in Bitten/Mordue. This deep plum colour can make you look like a clown if you go in too heavy-handed, but when blended looks very autumnal and flattering on the cheeks. It has a few little flakes of shimmer, but nothing too in-your-face glitterbomb. Also the 'Mordue' name reminds me of the evil guy in Brave and how they constantly say it in an intense Scottish accent. Just me?

OPI's Tiramisu for Two

image taken from OPI

A week and a half ago, my mum had us booked in for a 'full on friday', which included getting our brows, lashes and nails done at our local salon. I always love walking out with brows that look good, especially after making the last job take me through two months, at the end looking slightly walrus-esque. However, this time I was most enamoured with my nails. Now, I'm normally an Essie nail varnish lover, mainly because I like the colours and they're easier to get my hands on than OPI polishes. But at the salon, I had a choice of several OPI shades for my gel nails. Wanting a dusky pink colour, I chose the closest shade going which was Tiramisu for Two. It is the bomb. I've had so many compliments on it, and it just looks like the perfect nude for my skin tone. Definitely going to be picking up a bottle when I get the chance!

MACs Warm Neutral 15x Eyeshadow Palette

It took me ages to bite the bullet and buy this, simply because I've just got so many palettes that I just throw to the wayside as soon as I get a new one. Guess what? It happened again. After picking up this palette, I haven't touched any of my UD Naked's, my Gwen Stefani bombshell, not even good old faithful Sleek palettes. I was wary that I wouldn't use this much because of the ratio of matte to shimmer shades, as I tend to stick to matte shades on my eyelids most of the time. Turns out that I don't really know my own taste, as I've been shoving glitter upon glitter onto my lids since getting this. Amber Lights is definitely a stand out, usually pairing it with some Creative Copper and a dash of Dance in the Dark just to smoke it out a little bit. Another shoutout goes to Gingersnap, and the only shade that I've hit pan on is Brule. (I will forever be a matte lover.)

Hunted

image taken from Channel 4 Hunted

Over the past few days, my boyfriend and I have been glued to watching Season 2 of the Channel 4 show Hunted. I absolutely love it. If you've not heard of it before, the show focusses on 10 people going on the run for 28 days whilst a team of, yep you guessed it, Hunters, try to track them down. Whilst my boyfriend remains sceptical of whether or not it's fake (I don't think it is, however they do mention prior to the start of every episode that some aspects are recreated), I'm just sat in full-on hyper-alert hoping that the runners don't get caught. I'm not one for action, but this programme is just very interesting. I only managed to catch the back end of the last season, but this time I'm hooked. Just one more episode and we'll be fully caught up- so no spoilers please!

I think I'll leave it at that today, but rest assured there will be another post up soon enough. Let me know if there's anything that you've been loving recently, or if you've tried out anything from my favourites- or even if you're thinking of hitting any of them up since reading a little bit about my love for them!

04.02.2016: Beauty Bits I've Been Loving

With Christmas passing quickly and the new-releases of January flashing by, it's pretty easy to get caught up in a whirl with all of the new beauty bits you can acquire. I've managed to whittle these down into five things that I can honestly say I'm glad to have in my collection, and quite ridiculously have no idea how I dealt without. (Of course, this is an over-reaction. I could've done without spending the money but they were just so gosh darn pretty.) So, without further ado, I present to you the five things that I've accumulated over the past month or two and really freaking liked.

Told you they were pretty. Left: Viva Glam Ariana Grande, Right: Honeylove.

Is it a little more justifiable now? Every girl buys MAC, potentially because we flock like sheep towards anything that a pretty-lipped girl recommends. Nine times out of ten, she'll be speaking about the newest nude shade from MAC, or a pink that she believes offers the perfect 'her lips but better' tint. She'll be right. I'm not one to shy away from a lipstick, and matte finishes from MAC are my absolute favourite. So what if they leave your lips feeling like you're stranded in the Sahara? You'll look gorgeous battling the sand dunes.

Ariana Grande's shade is something completely different for me. I've tried to achieve this colour before, when purchasing Rebel (also from MAC) but sadly the satin finish left it looking too light for my taste. So when I saw Ariana rocking this colour in the ads on the side of my screen, I knew that it could be the one. It was matte, dark as hell and the packaging was pink so I was sold. Safe to say that I've been wearing this on my bolder days.

Honeylove is a repurchase for me- after a particularly heavy birthday rendezvous, my beloved lipstick was lost forever. So I bit the bullet and paid a stonking £15.50 for the privilege of having my fave nude back. Lighter than Velvet Teddy, but still matte. It's my go-to lippy to just shove on before I whiz to somewhere last minute.

Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay Blush Palette.

I am a peachy blush girl through and through. I've never gotten on with pinks- probably because I want to stray away from my naturally red-faced-ness. I can't remember where I first saw someone talking about this, but when I did, I couldn't have clicked onto the UD website quick enough. Turns out I was way too early and had to wait another week or so for it to actually be released (a painstaking week of debating whether or not I could actually afford to buy it). Eventually, I persuaded my boyfriend to buy it for me as a belated birthday present and voila. Although, I have to say that I wasn't impressed when we ordered it online and then two days later Debenhams had it in store. Luckily it arrived the day after- but still.

Anywho, my favourite shades have to be OC (furthest away on the bottom row) and Lo-Fi (the closest on the bottom row).  OC is a lovely matte peachy blush that makes me feel like it's the middle of summer as I'm battling against the January winds. Lo-Fi I'm using as an alternative to NARS Laguna bronzer, as it's more matte. I am very excited to try out Angel, too (furthest away on the top row) which is a shimmery, iridescent peach. I'll let you know if it's a third fave.

Don't worry, I bought this one myself. Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette.

A month before the blush palette, I caved and picked this beauty up. Look at all the neutral shades. Let's just ignore the 'slightly' garish Harajuku & Danger shades that are going on all up in that- they might be useful at Halloween or something. There are loads of pretty colours to choose from, so I've narrowed it down to my top five shades: Stark, Anaheim, Zone, Punk and Blonde.

Just a little outline of how I use these shades on the eye: I've been using Stark (bang slap in the middle) all over the lid with either Anaheim (to the left of Stark) or Zone (to the right of Stark) in the crease for an everyday neutral easy eye. When I want to make it a little darker, I put a little dab of Punk (furthest away on the top row) in the outer V of the eye. Finally, I finish up with using Blonde (top left) under the arch of the eyebrow, right on the brow-bone, to act as a highlight.

Photographing mascara is so difficult to do nicely. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. 

Last but not least, this mascara. This mascara. It was totally an impulse buy, I'll admit. Everyone had been raving about it and I was bored of my L'Oréal False Lash Wings mascara, so I forked out £19 of my own hard-earned wonga and bought it. I'm glad I did, but I still wince at the price for 'black stuff that make my eyelashes more pronounced'.

It does make them a lot more pronounced. I've been sick recently, so I've not managed to do anything to my face other than put this mascara on my lashes and wipe my nose. Good for the skin, bad for the people that get to see my face. Either way, my lashes looked long and full. Score.

Let me know what you thought of the bits I've mentioned, has this swayed you on delving into your purse and buying them or completely turned you off?

More on me being sick, to round this post off. It's just a cold, but honestly I am very much over it. I'm currently sitting in my room, feeling very sorry for myself. I have a lecture to head off to in a minute and I'm really not feeling it, but alas, I will attend for the sake of my education. Another blog post to come in the next day or so.

My Essie Nail Polish Collection

Essie, the nail polish brand that has every girl gawking at the selection of pretty colours that they have on offer. Imagine the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Charlie stares longingly at the chocolate bars in the shop window. Now replace that with the Essie counter in Boots and a nail polish addict, such as I and you have a bit of an addiction. Over the past year or two, I've really fallen in love with the colour selection that Essie keeps adding to. I'd gladly go in and spend a fortune on the pretty pastels, the deep reds and the ocean-replicating blues if I had the money- but at £7.99 a pop, a girl is limited on just how many she can buy. 

I've built up a pretty varied selection of 10 polishes, so I thought that I could let you know a little about the ones that I love and recommend, the ones that don't quite reach my all time favourites and the ones that I was just plain disappointed with.  

"After School Boy Blazer", "Fiji" and "Mint Candy Apple" are definitely my top three Essie nail polishes out of my selection. 

ASBB, a dark navy, often has me glancing at my nails and wondering if they're black or blue. I love how different it is and that I can just about get away with it whatever the weather! Recently, I bought a navy playsuit from Topshop and goes perfectly with this colour. Love, love, love it.

Fiji is the lightest out of all of the colours, being a cute baby pink colour that looks stunning with a tan (the picture does not do it justice). I'm sure you've all seen it before, being one of the most popular Essie nail varnishes on offer within the beauty community. This was one of the first nail varnishes from the brand that I bought, after I'd heard so much about it and it definitely hooked me to them!

Mint Candy Apple. I hardly think I need to go into this one, as I'm fairly certain everyone knows about it. The bright pastel mint green that everyone knows and loves is beautiful and is perfect for the summer time. It's been allocated as my 'holiday nail' colour and will be topped up all throughout my trip to Magaluf this year with the girls.

"Chinchilly", "Bikini So Teenie", "Russian Roulette", "Sand Tropez" and "Nice Is Nice" make the 'pretty, but not the best' list for various reasons. 

Nice Is Nice was a polish that I received in a Glossybox last year. I'd never actually seen the shade prior to finding it in my box, but I was pleasantly surprised by the shade. Purple isn't a colour that I'd usually find myself going for, but this lilac shade had me quite interested. Definitely for the spring/summer seasons, this one!

Bikini So Teenie (such a cute name!) was a shade that I'd heard a fair few beauty bloggers and vloggers rave about. I thought that I'd never find it when I was searching through the Boots selection at my local store- but low and behold, I got my hands on the last one! It had shimmer in it, which surprised me. I'm more of a solid colour kind of girl, but that doesn't discard this as a lovely shade that looks good on every skin tone. 

Chinchilly and Sand Tropez are very similar in colour, the only difference being that Chinchilly is a darker shade. Both colours are lovely on the nails, but are just that little bit on the boring side. Depending on the number of coats, Chinchilly can also come across a fair bit darker than in the bottle- so beware if this is a shade you're thinking of buying!

Russian Roulette disappointed me. The shade itself is just your basic red and looks lovely on the nails. It does leave a little bit of staining on the nails, so if you're lazy like me and sometimes skip out on the base coat, I wouldn't recommend this polish as you'd have tinted nails for a week or so afterwards! Besides the staining, my major gripe about this polish is that it chips so easily. The only redeeming factor is that its a lovely shade and doesn't require more than two coats to have it looking perfect- but just remember that you should take it with you, otherwise it'll look like you've been washing dishes 24/7!

Finally, the two polishes that I was unimpressed with. "Tart Deco" and "Bahama Mama", whilst both having really cute names, didn't quite make me jump for joy when I was wearing them on my nails. Right now I'm wearing Bahama Mama and it's not making me fawn over the colour like I should.

Tart Deco is another raved about colour from the brand. It's a peachy/corally shade that would normally make any girl race home to try it out. That's exactly what I did, removing my last shade with vigour and swiping this over my nails. Afterwards, I was left quietly disappointed with the shade. It just didn't suit my skin tone and just looked far too bright. I even tried it out with a matte top coat and it still didn't look as nice as it does in the bottle. It might just be my opinion, as lots of bloggers tend to love this shade, but I won't be painting my nails this shade for a while. 

Like I said, Bahama Mama is currently on my nails. I painted them yesterday and left them to dry, doing pretty much nothing for roughly an hour so that they would spoil. Thinking that they'd be all dry after having such a long time to settle, I went on a little bit of a cleaning spree and was left with a huge indent on three of my nails. When I bought this colour, it came in a box set with Chinchilly and I didn't really pay it much attention, so I'm not completely dismayed about it. But still, it was very irritating. It's also chipped on a few of the nails, so I'm not impressed by this one.

I hope you liked reading about the different shades in my Essie collection and that it's inspired you to try a few out. Also, turns out Essie is now in Superdrug stores around the UK. If you want to check out Boots, Superdrug and also Essie's website for the different shades on offer, make sure to click the links.

Are there any shades that you really like? Any that you wouldn't recommend? Comment below, as I'm always up for trying new colours in the name of blogging! (Good excuse, right?)

2014, yes please!

Well, it has been a rather long time since I've posted anything, hasn't it? Last year has been hectic, to say the least. I've been battling with exams and coursework, non-stop reading and trips back and forth here, there and everywhere. I learnt how to drive and now have a lovely little car that I can poodle about in. I passed all of my exams with decent marks. I even turned 18 and for my birthday had a little trip to Disneyland, but there's something else that I'm proud of myself for.

I devoted 2013 to getting fit and healthy. I managed to lose a total of 3st 10lbs (and only 7lbs was gained back at Christmas- result!) by eating less junk food and exercising on and off every month. I'm so proud of myself to sticking to it and I feel so much better in myself. If you're thinking of shedding a few pounds, maybe a few stone like I did so that you can feel 10/10, do it! I can't stress enough that losing weight is a confidence-booster

This year is going to be much the same diet-wise, but I thought that I should start up blogging again because I enjoy it and love getting to know you guys. I'm even going so far as to create a posting-schedule, so every Wednesday and Saturday starting next week, new beauty/fashion-related posts will be up. Times are a changing, as they say! 

Can't wait to get back in the swing of things. I hope that last year was fantastic for all of you and that 2014 will be even better!

My Most-Used Perfumes!

Every morning is routine for me, which always ends with a spritz of perfume to just freshen myself up a little bit. I never go anywhere not wearing any perfume, so it's become as natural as brushing my hair. Throughout the past year or so, I've been changing up my perfume collection and getting rid of some of the ones that I've gone off and adding a couple that I just couldn't let go of in Boots!

Recently, I've seen lots of YouTube beauty guru's making videos on their perfume collections- so I thought I'd hop on the band wagon and let you all know what perfumes I absolutely couldn't do without. Instead of showing you all of my perfumes, I thought I'd just show you the ones that I use the most often and adore more than the others!

My most casual perfume that I wear regularly is Zara's own-branded 'White' eau-de-toilette, which I got when I went to Portugal at the beginning of this year. Although I've not had it for a very long time, I've gotten into the habit of spraying this much more than my other ones. I love the smell of this perfume- it's not as fresh as the other perfumes in my collection and has a slightly more musky hint to it, even though it's typically a floral scent. According to the Fragantica website, it features magnolia, freesia, jasmine and amber.  It's a very wearable scent which I tend to just chuck on before heading to school or out shopping. It's quite a long lasting scent, which often leads me to finding that using only 2-3 sprays in the morning lasts on the skin for the whole day.

Ah, Chance. Out of all of my most regularly used perfumes, this one has to be hands-down my favourite. Apparently, the main ingredients are- 'Top notes are lemon and cedar; middle notes are pink pepper, water hyacinth and jasmine; base notes are teak wood, iris, amber, patchouli, vetiver and white musk.'. So there you go- hope that meant something to you! I can vouch for the lemon and cedar- it's a very fresh scent that stays on your skin throughout the whole day so not many spritz are necessary for you to smell fresh and fabulous all day. As you can see, I've gone through almost half the bottle- which has lasted me pretty well for a year and a half since purchasing it. The eau fraiche comes in green (funky, right?) and smells just as nice as the parfum- so if you're debating on it and like the smell of the fraiche, save yourself a few quid and go for it. 

Miss Dior Eau Fraiche. This one is a million miles away from the delicately sweet yet sour tones from Chanel's Chance and still I adore it. It's safe to say that I'm not sure where my nose lies on the scale of scents. This one is definitely an evening scent- quite overpowering if you use too much of it! I tend to wear this more in the evening in the summer/spring. I absolutely love this scent- which is floral but definitely not as fresh as most. I got this perfume as a gift last Christmas and use it very sparingly- hence not much has gone from it yet. 

This is the newest addition to the group. This was a little gift for myself bought with my Superdrug points that I'd been saving for absolutely ages. Especially Escada - Delicate Notes is a very cute scent. It's based on the initial Especially Escada, which is a very rose-based scent. This perfume definitely screams rose when you spritz it. The only downside to this perfume is that it doesn't last as long as the previous three, sadly. After about four hours, the scent is normally unnoticeable, so I often find myself having to re-spray this in the middle of the day. It can be a bit of a pain, but it smells so nice that I deal with it.

I hope that you found this post interesting. What are your favourite perfumes? Are any of these in your regularly-used perfumes? Let me know in the comments! 

Natter, Natter, Natter!

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I feel like I'm constantly making excuses as to why I've been failing to post regularly ever since creating this blog. I absolutely love blogging and would adore to be able to just sit down at the computer every day and write a beauty-based post, but sadly school life takes the wheel and hobbies need to take the back seat.

I've recently been cramming like mad for what feels like every exam under the sun and at the same time having thousands of driving lessons to get my skills up to scratch. It's been mega stressful, I must say. I've also been trekking around all the Uni's that I could potentially be going to, so there goes all the weekends that I could have spent blogging! Luckily, that's mostly over now.

It's safe to say that I've passed my driving (first time, yippee!) and I've also completed all of my exams and met all my deadlines for coursework. Thank goodness. Still a few more Open Day's to visit- need to find the perfect Uni for an English Lit course.

Anyway! Onto the more blog-related information. As a mini-celebration for passing my driving, I fancied a change in my appearance. So, out with the brunette and in with the blonde! I'm still not sure if I love the transition, but it's growing on me. I think it's a bit too Gold in tone at the minute, so I'm regularly using an Ash toner shampoo to get it a little more natural-looking. 

Another good thing that's happening is in 60-ish days, I'll be going to London and having a bit of a splurge with my mum on clothing and re-vamping my wardrobe (it needs it- seriously!) all ready for the new school year and a holiday to Florida! 

I think that I'll definitely be posting all about the upcoming holiday throughout every post until November (when I go) because I absolutely positively definitively adore Disney!

A bit of a nonsensical post, I know- but I felt like after months and months of nothing that I should give you all a little update. I'm hoping that I'll have enough time throughout the summer to be able to start back up with blogging again about all of the beauty and fashion bits that I'm loving.

Let me know if you've got any of this stuff going on in your life at the minute! Also, any posts that you want to see from me? Let me know!

Spring Beauty Haul

First off I have to apologise for my lack of posts over these past four months. I feel like everything has just piled up and I've not had any time to update my blog in between revision for SO many tests. Enough excuses, I'll just get straight into today's post.

The other day, I ordered a cheeky purchase from Debenhams because I was a) almost out of my go-to foundation and b) in the mood for spending money on cosmetics! I didn't go mad because I have to start saving for November when I'll be going to Florida. I also placed a small order from Elf Cosmetics during their 50% off sale last week and I thought I'd share what I bought with you all!

I took advantage of the sun and snapped a few pictures of the products outside!

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation SPF 15

From Debenhams, I purchased two MAC products. One was my usual Studio Fix Fluid Foundation with SPF 15 in the shade NC15 (my fourth bottle! I go through this stuff way too quickly!) because I was running low on it. I absolutely love this foundation because it's generally known for being a bit matte when on the skin- but not so much that it looks cakey. It's the perfect in between foundation for me and is generally a medium/high coverage. 

MAC Peaches

The second MAC product I purchased was the Sheertone Blush 'Peaches' (on the left), which (as the name implies) is a peachy-pink colour for the cheeks which just brightens up your complexion. I only own two MAC blushes- the second (to the right) being 'Fleur Power' which is a Powder blush that I use almost every day on my cheeks because I think that it's a simple blush that doesn't look too bright but still looks like you've got some colour to the cheeks.

From Elf, I bought the Kabuki Face Brush, an Eyeshadow "C" Brush and the Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara just to give it a try. Since I received these about four days ago, I've used all of these products in my daily make-up routine and I think I'd feel a bit lost without them now!

Elf Kabuki Face Brush

The Kabuki Brush is normally £6 from Elf, which although is considered quite cheap in comparison to the ridiculously expensive £36 MAC Kabuki, I never really wanted to spend that much on a single product from Elf. I've always found Elf a cheap make-up cosmetics company and anything over £4 just seems expensive from there! So when I got an e-mail saying that they were having a 50% off sale, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought myself the Kabuki brush. Elf brushes from the studio line are surprisingly soft considering they range from £3.75 to £6 and since using the Kabuki, it has yet to malt on me! It's very soft and comfortable on the skin and I use it daily to apply my Stay Matte powder from Rimmel.

Elf Eyeshadow "C" Brush

The Eyeshadow "C" Brush was a bit of an odd purchase. I just wanted a good brush that would pack eyeshadow onto my lid before applying eyeshadow in the crease and I thought that the shape of this brush would allow that nicely and easily. Again, it's a nice soft brush but it's much more dense (obviously!) than the Kabuki so it allows a lot of eyeshadow to be picked up by the hairs. I'm pleasantly surprised with how good this brush is and I highly recommend it for anyone that wants a decent eyeshadow brush without wanting to fork out a lot of money for one!

Elf Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara

Finally, the Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara. Now, I have to admit, this was only a last minute decision to add to my basket. I'd seen a few beauty bloggers speak about this before but nothing 'ground-breaking' was mentioned about it. So far, I've only used this product on my eyelashes before applying mascara and it actually seems to lengthen them greatly. After applying this to the eyelashes, I put on my Clinique High Impact Mascara and it seems to make a great deal of difference when it comes to length. It doesn't curly the eyelashes much and it definitely doesn't volumize them- but if you're looking for a lengthening product for the lashes, then this is your ticket!

I hope that you have all been well these past four months! 

Did any of you take advantage of the 50% off offers from Elf? If you did, what did you buy that you'd recommend?

Trip to Paris!

Recently I went on a little trip to Paris, as I'd always wanted to go to see the amazing sights that such a beautiful city has to offer. The weather was less-than-perfect, I must say. If you plan on going to Paris, try not to go towards the end of November- the rain is not to be desired, especially if you're planning on taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower! Thankfully, as the day wore on, the rain subsided and we managed to get a good ol' look at the beast.

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It was a tiresome day, speed-walking around Paris so that we could get back to the ship on time. We did manage to see all of the main sights though. We even had enough time to venture up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower- which was magnificent. If I ever go again, then I'll definitely take the long trip up to the top! Another thing that I managed to get done was to go on the Metro (essentially the French version of the Underground that we have in the UK), which was entertaining to say the least. We saw a man do a puppet show for the little kids sat behind us, which was very cute.

Paris fascinated me in only a way that London has before. I've always loved cities and I'm planning on one day moving to either London or Cardiff- whichever the most affordable! I hope that you don't mind that this isn't at all beauty/fashion related.

Leave a comment below if you've ever been or would one day love to go to Paris, or if not- why?