Hi guys!

So, as promised, today I'm sharing our travel itinerary for Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in spring. We did a backpacking / roadtrip kind of journey and loved it. 😁 We booked everything as we went (except the plane tickets, visas and car rental). I made travel videos for each country (you can check them out here: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia). We spent a little less than 3 weeks there and I think we managed to see a lot. But if you have less time (or are used to a bit more easy going type of schedule), there are places I think you must see in BOLD and places that you can skip in ITALICS. 😊

So here we go:

Day 1: arrived in TBILISI
afternoon – walk between the old streets up to Narikala Fortress (great view), Mother of Georgia, botanical garden
evening – Trinity Chatedral (pro tip: go there just before sunset and you get to see how it changes colors – looks amazing)

Day 2: Clock Tower (pro tip: get there at full hour to see the it in action), Public Service Hall, Rustavelli Avenue, Rike Park
🚂 night train to BAKU

Day 3: 
morning – walk from Mini Venice by Carpet Museum to Baku Eye, Funicular ride, Flame Towers, Shahidlar Monument, Alley of Honor
afternoon – Fountain Square, walk by the sea to Baku 2015 Olympic Cauldron (pro tip: wait there for teh light show on Flame Towers)

Day 4: walk in the old city center (inside the city walls), Maiden Tower
🚂 night train to TBILISI

Day 5: 🚗 rent-a-car in Tbilisi – time for the roadtrip part 😜
David Gareja (great rainbow mountains on the way), Signaghi

Day 6: Shumi winery, Telavi, Alaverdi, Ananuri, Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument, Stepantsminda (night)

Day 7: Gergeti Trinity Church (dangerous drive), Mtskheta and Jvari Monastery (great view), Gori, Zestafoni (night)

Day 8: Katshki Pillar, Okatse Canyon, Zugdidi (night)

Day 9: Mestia and Chalaati Glacier

Day 10: Usghuli

Day 11: Zugdidi – Dadiani Palace, Borjomi

Day 12: Akhaltsikhe (Rabati Castle), Vardzia, arrived in YEREVAN

Day 13: Republic Square, Cascade Complex, Circular Park, Holy Mother of God Kathoghike Church

Day 14: Khor Virap, Noravank (pro tip: get there about an hour before the sunset – the lighting is amazing), Areni

Day 15: Halidzor – Wings of Tatev – Tatev (pro tip: outside the monastery walk up the road for a few minutes, you'll get the best view on Tatev Monastery), Goris, Shaki Waterfall, Yeghegnadzor (night)

Day 16: Selim Pass, Sevan Lake, Sevanavank, Parz Lake, Dilijan

Day 17: Alaverdi, Sanahin, Hagpat, arrived in TBILISI

Day 18: sulphor baths and relax

Hope our itinerary helped you and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments bellow. For more photos, check out my IG @elarosaria. 😉

xoxo
Ela

Hi guys!

Here we are, the last video from our roadtrip in Caucasus (first two are Azerbaijan and Georgia). This one is all about Armenia. We were there during the Velvet revolution, but it was still amazing. Loved Cascades the most, but not only because the art and architecture itself, mostly because the vibe this place has. Just amazing. 😎



Hope you enjoyed the video and stay tuned for the next post - I'll be sharing our itinerary day by day. Check out my IG for more photos. 😉

See you soon!
xoxo
Ela

Hi guys!

Time for part 2 of our Caucasus roadtrip - Georgia. We landed in Tbilisi, then visited Baku with a night train. Then we took some time to explore Tbilisi before renting a car and driving around. You can see all the places we visited in the video. At the end of this mini Caucasus series I'll be posting the exact itinerary, so stay tuned for that.

Enjoy the video 😊



For more photos, check out my IG @elarosaria 😉

xoxo
Ela

Hi guys!

Hi guys!

Since Halloween is just around the corner I decided to make a blog post about it. I just love dressing up and I think I'll never get tired of it or grow out of it. 🙈 I always try to DIY some kind of costume and of course I prefer scary ones, because it's so much fun, especially when it's time for makeup. If you like dressing up but don't have any ideas, keep on reading. I put together a list of costumes that you can basically DIY at the last minute and they still look great on the party. 😇

1. Satan's brides



We kind of made this one up but it looked incredible. We wore black and red dresses and accessories. We DIYed the masks (painted them black and added some red glitter just around the eyes) and bouquets (bought some fake red roses and used some black tulle as a base). We used some black tulle as a veil and wore our hair in a mohawk-styled half updo. The makeup was strong black smokey eyes (you can see a tutorial here) and red lips. And lastly, you need a Satan 😈 (ours is just wearing a red shirt, black tie, pants and mask and a wig with horns).

2. Ripped fabric dolls



This one is very simple. You just need some girly dress and some tulle for the hair bow. The main thing is makeup - make your skin pale, add a lot of blush and use a little eye-shadow. Draw some fabric patches on your skin ad line them with eyeliner. You can be extra and actually cut some pieces of fabric and stick them on your fake with glue for lashes (if you do, tell me how it goes, I bet it look amazing).

3. Black widows


We wore black dressed and made skirts using white tulle. To connect the look, we placed some of the white tulle also around our torsos and in our hair. The key in this look is again the makeup. I got the idea form a tutorial of Julia Graf (you can check it out here).

4. Pumpkin
You can see the tutorial in my video. It's a bit less scary and a bit more funny in my opinion, but it's a must when doing a costume ideas for Halloween. Remember sluty pumpkin from HIMYM? 😜


5. Skeleton 

Last one is the easiest. Just wear black and using a picture of a skull do the makeup. Start with white and then use black for the details. You can wear your hair like you want them, I just think the two buns look very interesting in contrast to harsh makeup.

Hope you liked my ideas. If you recreate any of them, tag me on IG (@elarosaria). Let me know in the comments bellow, which one is your favorite.

xoxo
Ela

Hi guys!

Today I finally have the apartment makeover video for you! Me and my boyfriend moved in over a year ago, and we're finally ready to share what we've done with the place. Still have some changes planned for the near future, but for now, we are happy with it.

As you can imagine, it's full of my DIYs, so who can guess (or count) how many are there? Leave it in the comments bellow!

Enjoy!



If you loved the video, subscribe and check out my IG @elarosaria for more content.

xoxo
Ela

 
Hi guys!

I have a new makeup tutorial for you guys. It's my go to for a night out and I want a dramatic look. I concentrate on bold dark eye-shadows and emphasizing cheekbones. For the lips, I usually just use a nude color, because there's so much going on elsewhere on my face :p

So let's start :)


Start with a clean face. Apply primer (I use Garnier Pure Active Matte Control Anti Blemish Face Moisturiser) and lip balm (mine is Classic Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm).

Next I go straight to the eyes. I prefer doing them before I apply foundation when I go for bold eye-shadow. This way I can properly clean my skin if I get any eye-shadow on it.


So fist I go for the lighter base (Treasure from Revolution Mermaids Forever palette). Then I apply darker color (Kingdom form the same palette) in my crease and in the outer corner. Next I use very well pigmented black eye-shadow (the best I've tried so far is Kiko High Pigment Wet and Dry  Eyeshadow Matte Black) only in outer corners of my eyes and swish the brush up my crease a bit. At the end I blend all the harsh lines and move on to the foundation.


I use Garnier BB Cream Combination To Oily Skin (it's not very high coverage but that's what I use on daily basis). Then I put on the concealer (Maybelline Affinitone Concealer in shade 02 and Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in shade 20) under my eyes, on my nose (it tends to get a bit red usually) and on any blemishes. Using a beauty blender I blend well. Now it's time for powder. I start under my eyes with very light-colored one from Essence Shape Your Face Contouring Palette. Then I go in with the bronzer from the same palette under my cheekbones. Last powder I use is Essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder and I apply it all over my face to blend any harsh lines. At the end, I use Kiko Radiant Touch Creamy Stick Highlighter on my cheekbones.
After I finish the foundation, I go back to the eyes. I line them with Maybelline Eyestudio Master Graphic liner, curl the lashes and put on my favorite mascara (Deborah 24 Ore Mascara Absolute Volume in color Extra Black).


To finish the look up, I apply a nude lipstick and I'm ready to party! 🎉

Hope you like the look and if you recreate it, please let me know in the comments bellow or tag me on IG (@elarosaria).
Also thanks Staša Gašić Photography for amazing pics - check out her work on FB and IG and give her some love ❤️



xoxo
Ela

Hi guys! 😊

Since school is starting soon, I decided it's time to share with you how I made my bullet journal. When I was in high school, I would always buy expensive journals and then end up using them only for the first few weeks. My preferred layout was different every month - sometimes I needed more space, sometimes the pages in my journal were empty. So when I discovered bullet journals, I was over the moon! I first started using just a regular notebook, but the result wasn't very nice and I figured I needed a real bujo. When I found some online, I realized they were waaaaay too expensive and decided I could DIY a bujo for much less. 



So here we go - it's very simple to make and you can customize it so it looks just like you want it. Let's do this! 😇

Step 1: MAKE THE COVERS
It's time to get creative! You can use a wrapping paper, maybe some fabric, or do a nice drawing if you love to draw. For my covers, I stamped a plain white paper with gold polka dots, but you can use potato stamps in any shape you like. Check Pinterest for ideas - it's your best friend when DIYing, trust me. 😜
Now it's time to figure out what the base for your covers will be. I took apart an old box, because I love hard covers. You can use thinner cardboard or plastic if you prefer it (take apart an old folder you have laying around, for example).
Next decision is what the binding method you want is. I love the spiral, because with it, the journals pages don’t get in the way when you’re writing. You can also go for stitching and gluing the pages together. For the spiral you'll need two covers (one for the first page and one for the last), for stitching and gluing you'll need one big cover (like the first and last page together plus a connecting piece that should be as thick as all the pages in the journal combined).
When you've made all these decisions it's time to put the covers together. Wrap the wrapping paper / fabric / drawing, ect. around your base. Make sure that the front of the first page and the back of the last page look as neat as possible. The inside can be a bit messier, because you can cover that up with a coloured paper like I did. When you are happy with how your covers look, wrap them in clear self-sticking plastic foil and you're done.


Step 2: PRINT OUT THE PAGES
For my pages I chose paper with very thin, barely visible grey dots. I love this pattern because I can draw on the pages and the dots don't bother me, but at the same time they are very helpful when I draw monthly calendars. You can use the same pattern (download here), or you can choose blank paper or whatever you prefer. When you have your pages ready, cut them in half for A5 size of bujo.


Step 3: ASSEMBLE THE BUJO
The last step is to put everything together. I first went to a photocopy store and asked the assistant to bind the journal for me, but the machine couldn't make holes in the covers, so I took the covers and a sample page with holes to a shoemaker. Then I took them back to the photocopy place and they bound it together.
If you decided for stiching or gluing the pages, just follow the tutorial here.

That's it, your bujo is done! It costs much, much less than it would in a store, it's unique and completely customizable. I just love it and can't wait to make a new one!





If you liked this post, subscribe and follow me on IG and Facebook @elarosaria.

Talk to you soon 😊

xoxo
Ela

Hi guys!

It's finally here! My third and last video of our backpacking trip through Southeast Asia . Hope you enjoy.



Check out the first two here: Singapore and Malaysia.

xoxo
Ela

For more pics follow me on Instagram @elarosaria.