It's weird but before I went to live in Paris in 2012, I wasn't into Zara. It's weird because right now I can't even fathom the idea of not liking Zara, but, there you go—never say never, and all that.

When I was in Paris, I was mildly curious as to why people love Zara so much, and by "people" I was also including my sisters who were too-regular customers of the high street brand. The Zara branches in Malaysia were popular enough but every Zara store in Paris particularly were constantly filled to the brim with well-dressed ladies, and I felt like had to find out why.

A little quirk, a little bit kitsch—always my cup of tea.

On a side note, I do love tea, addicted to it, actually. I also seem to have an addiction for impractical bags...

I was window-shopping in Shibuya 109 when I saw a chain white bag that has a print of a bag on it (Chanel-like, uh huh) hanging from a mannequin's arm in Avan Lily; it was pretty much instant love for me.

"Window-shopping", I mean, come onnn, that almost never happens, right? But on that particular day it did happen for me. Really. If I'm being honest, I was amazed at my own willpower! I walked away from Avan Lily but I couldn't stop thinking about that bag...as well as two clutches, one of which was in Laforet, which I went to before going to Shibuya 109.

But that white bag was like a magnet; I found myself going back to Shibuya to get it but to my surprise there was a denim version too, so I got this denim baby instead of the white one. As much as I wish I could take home both white and denim bags, I must say I'm happy I chose the denim in the end because I didn't already own anything like it. 

And, well, I guess my willpower isn't all that impressive...

It's odd, but this natural way to exfoliate was the one thing that I truly remember from the number of camping trips I took when I was a scout (or as we call it, "Pengakap") in primary school. I did learn a few other things, like: (1) I enjoy the occasional jungle-trekking, (2) I love bathing in river water, (3) I don't like sleeping in tents, and (4) I hate leeches. But if there is one lesson that I've taken with me from my camping experience to this day, it was to recognise river sands and beads as nature's exfoliators.

Whenever I get the chance to experience the delicious taste of cold river water, I take the opportunity to get some exfoliating done as well; I suppose the metaphor "Kill two birds with one stone" might just be appropriate here. This could be done at any nature's body of water that has sands and beads—even at your favourite beach—but shallow river is just my favourite, like the place I visited here.

It's so super simple to do that you simply must just give it a go the next time you're near some natural sands and beads. Here's how:

Pick up some of the sands and beads from the river bed. Please make sure there are no foreign object amongst them to be safe.

I've always been a little bit of a hoarder, in the sense that I buy clothes and accessories and store them away in my closet, only putting them to good use weeks and even months afterwards—actually, even years, come to think of it. I'm just one of those who like to "find the right moment" to wear something, especially when I really like that something.

Leopard cotton joggers against all the nature and green backdrop, I mean...

Hey, everyone repeat their clothes and accessories, right? Only we don't all like to admit it, especially if you own a style blog...

It was this outfit, consisting of the blazer with the faux leather sleeves, that I wore on Saturday. It felt like a really lazy perfect weekend (or is that perfectly lazy?) in which, unlike other weekends, I chose to not put too much thought into what I'm wearing, so on Sunday I just went for the same scarf and used the same clutch.
The third accessory? My glasses, of course; some days girl just don't feel like sticking contacts onto her eyeballs.

Throw a denim jacket over the shoulders for the tiniest touch of sophistication, and I'm pretty much ready for my fancy Sunday mocktail.

Blazer: H&M   |   Plain black t-shirt: H&M   |   Boyfriend jeans: Pull & Bear   |   Shoes: VKI

Hi guys,

So after the whole missing posts debacle, I had decided my blog should have a template as plain as possible; hence, the previous black and white look. I had contemplated leaving my blog that way but I just missed my old grey-red-pink look I had before so much, so what you're seeing is the new look that is very, very similar to the old pre-nightmare episode.

One issue I have is I have never, ever been truly happy with any previous blog faces. I have this tendency to compare my blog's appearance to other blogs; I'm always tweaking and changing things so I think I just have to accept that it is a little "condition" that I have—but don't worry, I'm vowing to keep this blog looking like this for as long as I could stand it.

I really hope I've done the coding for the blog's template better this time around, though! Here's to hoping there won't be another blogger's scary story of disappearing posts (or worse) coming your way.
If it does, I might have to consider calling in the pros...

Thanks for reading this, and  I hope everyone is having a stellar day—no Monday blues, I hope?

Liyana <3

My last day in Tokyo was a bittersweet one...can't quite explain why. Perhaps I was sad about leaving Tokyo at a time that was so near to the time of blooming sakuras, but I was happy when reminiscing the journey throughout my second Tokyo trip.

And maybe because I don't know when I will get to see Tokyo again, but I got to take these pink sweeties back home with me.

Two-tone top: Zara   |   Leopard joggers: Factorie (worn in my birthday outfit post)   |   Bright pink boots: Timberland   |   Lips print scarf: random shop along Montmartre, Paris   |   Coat: (borrowed from my Mommeeyh, better believe it)

Maybe I could say the varsity jacket is the boyfriend jacket and floral t-shirt is the girlfriend top?

And L is for Liyana, of course.

Varsity jacket: Factorie   |   Floral t-shirt: Zara   |   Cotton joggers: Cotton On   |   Fringed sneakers: Adidas

But, look, it's hard to say no to cute additions to my closet if I could afford it, plus Shah didn't help by commenting he liked the top while I was holding the top up uncertainly in the Zara at Roppongi Hills.

Barbie top: Zara   |   Frayed t-shirt: Zara   |   Burgundy pants: H&M   |   Pink boots: H&M   |   Handbag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

• Delightfully and pleasantly surprise as this toner fits my skin really, really well—so well that the existing little bumps that were already on my forehead are even slowly disappearing! (Can a toner be this magical?)
• Claims to remove acne scars so pretty hopeful that I will get to see that magic really soon
• Smells pleasant
• Doesn't sting the skin as some of my previous toners
• Doesn't dry out skin or result in flaky skin

 

Having the same initials as one of the major cities in the world does have its perks! It makes finding a cool sweater that coincidentally has my initials on it a lot easier.

 Sweater: H&M   |   Zebra print cardi: H&M   |   Jeans: Pimkie   |   Ankle boots: Forever 21