December 31, 2014

The Life: 5 Things I Love


Finishing my Bachelor Degree. Although you say 'the journey is the reward' this doesn't really count for me. I loved parts of my degree, especially learning a new language, but a lot of the time it was a real pain. But sometimes you have to struggle to get there. And I finally am! My Master is much more interesting and now I finally have the reward for working so hard.

Meeting new people and bond even more with old friends. I sometimes feel like I don't enjoy life as much as I should. Working had for your degree shouldn't mean that you're not meeting your friends and enjoy time on your own. I've really tried to live by that and have met a lot of new people. And I've taken time to meet up with old friends more often and show them that they really count. 

Travelling. Since I've really been trying to enjoy my life as much as possible I've been saving my money to make more short trips. It doesn't need to be abroad, but also just spending the day in a cute town a hour away. I've visited Malaga twice this year for just a couple of days and that soak of sun has been the perfect thing for me. And then beautiful summer holidays in France and Italy. I feel very spoiled and blessed when I look back at my holiday pictures!

Having my family around me. Every minute spent with my family is so precious and I'm glad that we're all somewhat healthy and happy!

My (Our) beautiful flat. Planting herbs and savouring morning light during spring. Sitting on the windowsill, sipping on icetea and talking late into the warm nights during summer. Watching the season change and admiring the beautiful red and yellow leaves of the big tree in front of our livingroomwindow during autumn. And watching netflix whilst drinking mulletwine snuggled up in bed or on the couch during winter. Our flat is beautiful and I enjoy it every day and every time I invite friends over to have a lovely evening at our long and always beautifully decorated dining table.

I'm wishing myself a lovely, enjoyable and relaxed 2015. May everybody stay healthy, merry and bright. And I wish all of you just the same! Happy New Year!
Lots of Love
Julie 


December 29, 2014

The Favourite: 2014 Beauty Staples

You might recognize some of these products from my 2013 Beauty Staples. I love discovering new products, but also really enjoy to cherish real gems over the years. 
2014 beauty favourites staples
Face & Body
I always thought that oils weren't much for my really dry but also combination skin. This year I've learnt the better. I've got more and more into skincare and have read quite a lot about environmental influences and eating healthy to have glowing skin from within. 
 
But nontheless I still suffer from eczema. Using the Alverde Faceoil Wildrose for dry skin every couple of nights (or mornings) under my moisturizer has really helped to keep dry skin at bay. 
 
Same for the Weleda Skin Food. This is a real gem for dry spots not only on my face, but also on my body. No itchy redness anymore!
 
To moisture my whole body I've loved the Rituals Honey Touch Indian Rose & Himalaya Honey Rich And Nourishing Body Cream. It simply smells divine and the texture sinks into your skin in a whim.
 
Nails:
Favourite colours on my nails have been this electric blue called Essie 'Chills & thrills' and the berry red Essie 'Bahama Mama'.
 
Hair:
Same favourite as last year! The Le Petit Marseillais Shampooing Nutrition Au Lait de Karite et au miel not only smells heavenly, but also moisturizes my hair amazingly. I almost never use conditioner, because this shampoo already enrichens my hair enough. It is really hard to get your hands on this product in Germany so I've bought a massive load whilst enjoying my holiday in France.
 
Makeup:
As I love my foundation to be sheer and glowing, but still with enough coverage to diminish any blemishes I've found the perfect match with the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in '53 Light Beige'. 

Second year in a row the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in 'Tipsy' has been my most worn blusher as it comes in the perfect peach shade for pale and tanned skin. 

If I'm looking a bit dull I slap on the The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in '03 medium matte' and it's also quite good to contour under my cheekbones.

To set my bushy and stubborn brows in place the Alverde Transparent Eyebrow Gel has come in really handy and at only 4€ it's a real keeper! 

Although I've recently discovered a even more affordable option (more on that next year!) I've been using the L'oreal Mega Volume Collagene 24H Waterproof Mascara almost all year. The waterproof formula holds a curl perfectly and really gives mega volume.

My biggest favourite has been my Kiko Clics Eyeshadow Palette. Like a mac palette you can buy single eyeshadows and put your favourite colours together in a bigger palette (but it's much more affordable than a mac system). The Clics System comes in a single pan, 3-, 4-, 9- and 24-eyeshadow palette. I own a quad (perfect for travelling) and the massive 24-eyeshadow palette that stays at home most of the time. Although I'm a real neutrals girl I've also got a small collection of vibrant colours (got two new ones for christmas!) to brighten up my look from day to day. The formula of the shadows is amazing and I will never want to look back to times where I used other shadows. They blend beautifully and have a great colour payoff.

You will have seen the Maybelline Color Elixir in '135 Raspberry Rhapsody' in my autumn essentials post and it truely has been an essentials during summer and still now in the winter. The Colour Elixir has a really moisturizing formula and looks delicious on your lips. When the gloss slowly wears off you will still be left with a beautiful berry stain.

What have been your favourite beauty products of 2014?

Lots of Love
Julie 


December 22, 2014

The Beauty: Christmas Makeup


With the holidays right in front of us (two days left, wow!) I've just planned out my christmas makeup. Since I will be eating cookies and a wonderful dinner I don't want to wear a bold lip and will just be applying a gloss. Coming to foundation I just love a dewy look winters and summers. So I'll apply a luminating primer and then a light foundation. As it's the festive season I will be applying a copperygold and a shimmering burgundy red eyeshadow to my lids. To not detract from my eye-makeup I will just be wearing bronzer and highlighter to brighten up my look even more.

Base
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation
Bourjois Happy Light Primer
Kiko Powder in a darker shade as bronzer
Essence Eyeshadow in '02 icylicious' from the 'Me&My Icecream' LE as highlighter
Kiko Concealer in '02' 
 
Eyes
Kiko Eyeshadows in '234 Pearly Wine' and '257 Metallic Light Copper'
Kiko Eyeshadow in '242 Mat Dark Brown' for my brows
Alverde Clear Eyebrowgel
Catrice Lashes To Kill Waterproof Volume Mascara

Lips
Clarins Instant Lip Perfector in '04 petal shimmer'

Do you wear makeup on christmas eve? And do you even dress up fancy and make the extra effort?
Lots of Love
Julie 


December 5, 2014

The Style: Cozy Scarves Making An Outfit

 1 & 2
3 & 4
Sometimes a scarf can really tie a whole outfit together or just make it stand out although you've just thrown on some basics. I like to pair unicoloured outfits (preferably black..) with colourful tartan scarves. Or just match it with colours from that day's outfit. I prefer scarves as big as myself as I really like to cuddle myself into it when I'm fighting against the cold wind and weather outside. I've found my favourite ones over at Zara and Springfield and have also knitted some myself! 

Do you have any unique wrapping techniques or do you just throw your scarves around your neck and are good to go?

Lots of Love
Julie 


December 3, 2014

The Life: 5 Things I Love


As I'm back from my little blogging break I thought I'd share my current favourite things with you.

Watching Netflix. The boyfriend and I have had some cozy nights in watching movies and series on Netflix. Netflix has just arrived in Germany and doesn't have the biggest range of movies just yet, but we're really enjoying watching old favourites and new discoveries. We've been catching up with Luther. Discovering Fargo. And I've binge watched Orange Is The New Black already.

Planning the next few years. As my boyfriend will be staying in Japan for 6 months coming up April we've been talking about our plans for the next couple of years. And I love our ideas and plans so far!

Trip to Sweden. Recently a good friend from uni and I have decided to do a little road trip through Sweden next summer. We've both studied nordic philology so we're lusting to discover Sweden a bit more. Going by train we will visit the bigger cities like Göteborg and Stockholm, but are also looking forward to enjoying the beautiful nature. If you have any suggestions for places to visit, stay or eat feel free to comment below or send me an email!

Stocking up on new interior. Me and my boyfriend have just celebrated two happy years in our flat. We've changed up some small interior things over the last couple of weeks and it's getting more and more perfect. Althought we've felt like home from the first second on.

Listening to the 'Weihnachtsoratorium' by Bach. I'm normally not the biggest fan of classical music, but my family has been listening to Bach's 'Weihnachtsoratorium' every year during christmas time and I've been carrying on with the tradition in my own flat. It just reminds me of very peaceful and happy times.

Do you have any christmas traditions in your family that always make you happy?

Lots of Love
Julie