What's in my bag 2016

Hi there!

I thought I'd be nice to share what I cary with me in my bag during summer. I love to see what other people have in their bag, so I hope you enjoy!

I got my bag ages ago and I recently started loving using it again. It's from Pieces and I really love it! The size of this bag is very lovely because it fits everything you could possibly need without being uncomfortably large. This bag has a leather look but obviously it's not real. But even being not real, the quality of this bag is wonderful! It doesn't have any protective studs at the bottom, but there still is no damage to the "leather". Unfortunately, you can't buy it anymore. 

The main thing in my bag is obviously my wallet/purse. I didn't do this on purpose, but again this is from pieces. I just really love their stuff, as you can probably tell haha. The only thing I don't really like of this purse, is that it's quite large. So if I'm wearing a small crossed-body bag or clutch, I can't bring this wallet because it doesn't fit. The positive thing about the purse being so large is of course that there's enough space for everything. The next thing I always have to have with me, is my phone of course. I just have the Iphone 6 in silver. Because I don't like to listen to music with my phone, I also bring my Ipod touch. This thing is so old and looks horrible, but I don't care. It still works perfect and it's nice to have something just for my music. 

I try to always bring my agenda, but if I'm honest, most of the time it's still at home on my desk. So when I'm out, I usually put important things in my phone and I write it down as soon as I'm home. I feel like this is such a basic thing, but whenever I'm out, I ALWAYS need my gum. I feel so weird and uncomfortable when I don't have the possibility to chew gum. Another thing I bring with me are my sunglasses. I got these in Prague and I don't remember the name of the store, but I love them. 

I don't bring makeup with me, but I do cary some other things such as lipbalm, deodorant, perfume, hand cream (and sometimes bodylotion) and handsanitizer. These are essentials for emergencies and make me feel like I'm prepared for everything. If I'm wearing lipstick, I'll also bring that to touch up a bit. 

That's basically everything I need to have with me. I hope you enjoyed.

Love A

Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream: review!

Hi there!

Here I am again with another review. This time I'll be sharing my thoughts about the Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream. I went ahead and bought this at the beginning of this summer because I didn't feel like wearing a full-coverage foundation when it's super hot outside. So, I found this and let me tell you; I love it!

Bourjois 123 perfect CC cream €12.99

To me, everything that was said on the packaging was very promising. Anti-fatigue, anti-redness and anti-dark spots? Yes please! It's also hydrating, and during summer, that is very welcome. When I first tried it, I wasn't immediately sure weather I liked it or not. But looking back, I think it was just my skin that was having a difficult time haha. So after using it a couple of times, I fell in love. Obviously, this is not full coverage and not great if you want a complete flawless skin but that's fine because that was not what I was looking for at all. I would say this is light/medium coverage and that's what I like wearing the most.  

Color 32: light beige

The consistency of this cream is very runny and I like that, especially for summer. I apply it with a brush, but you can easily use your hands or a BeautyBlender, anything you prefer. It feels great on the skin because it's so light. I don't even feel like I'm wearing anything on my face.  I do use a concealer with this cc-cream, because it doesn't really cover my dark circles or very obvious spots, but that's ok. 

At the end of the day, this cc-cream has faded a bit, especially on my T-zone. But nothing too tragical and it's definitely not a reason not to buy it. I highly recommend this cc-cream just for a natural, everyday coverage. It gives my skin such a nice, healthy look and I love it!

Love A

DIY room decor

Hi there!



Even though it's summer, today it was the coldest, rainiest and miserable day ever! Something I love doing when the weather sucks, is DIY-ing. Today I decided I wanted to make some room decor because I love adding new things to my room to change things up a bit. Changing up my room makes me feel so inspired and I love doing it. Another thing I love doing, is making collages. I think they're so personal and unique and they add just that little bit extra to your room. You can totally make them exactly how you like it and make them reflect who you are. 

So I went ahead and grabbed some of the magazines I always keep and started looking for inspiration. Since I love fashion, I really wanted to use pictures of models, clothes and anything else that's kind of related to fashion. I wanted to keep it very classy and I only used black&white, gold and a pinch of red. I really like the way these colours turned out together. To be honest, there is no exact technique to make a collage. It's just trying different things and changing it up until you like it. To give my collage some extra dimension, I glued my cut-outs on a canvas with a cheesy quote on I've had for ages. 

If you don't have a canvas, you can also use a picture frame or maybe something else. Be creative! The key to having a beautiful collage, is to cut out as many pictures you can. You can always throw the spare pictures away, but this way, you can choose out of many more different pictures. I find this so calming and relaxing. Just put on your favorite tv-show, light some candles and enjoy!



Love A

RUN RUN RUN

Hi there!

Lately, I've been really getting into running. I used to absolutely hate it, but all of a sudden, I love it! Since never used to do it and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, I figured it would be helpful to find an app that would help me to keep track of all my running information. And I found the perfect app: Runtastic! 

This is a free app available for Apple, Android and Windows. This app tracks everything you could possibly need to know about your running experience. I just use the most simple version of this app, but there are so many extra gadgets your can add to track even more. I'm talking about heart rate monitors, watches, scales and many more! Of course this is just an option and you don't need it to get an amazing program. 

https://www.runtastic.com

"What does this app actually do?", I hear you thinking. Well, most important, it keeps track of your distance, speed, but also the increase of height your had during your run and the amount of calories you've burnt. If you connect a heart rate monitor, it'll also keep track of your heart rate during your run. Well all of these things are quite usual and you find them in almost every running/workout app. But there are some small things and options that make this app a little more special and more comfortable to use. For example, this run tracks your route, using your gps signal and it shows your speed at every stage of the run. 

Also, you have the option to add music to a playlist to listen while you're running and you can get motivated by a personal coach. These are the little things that make this app a little more likeable than the others. The thing that keeps me motivated to keep going for runs, is the fact that all your workout sessions get saved in your history and this makes me want to improve all the time. You can also earn medals for special achievements and they send you weekly reports of your workouts. What I also like to do, is ad a picture from my view every time I end my running session. Again, this makes it a bit more personal and inspiring. 


The amazing thing about this app is that it can be used for any sport you can imagine. I only use it for running and sometimes for cycling when I want to know how far and how quick I've cycled. I highly recommend trying this app out if you love sporting and you want to keep track of your achievements!


Love A

SOS CHAPPED LIPS!!

Hi there!

Summer... The season for sunbathing, beach walks and chapped lips... I'm that kind of person that suffers from dry lips all year round. And I hate it! I've had it for as long as I can remember, but over the years I've found some products that seem to help me and my lips. As much as I love wearing lipstick, I can barely wear it because my lips are always a mess. Not only does it look gross, it's also freaking sore. 

The most important thing I always have to have with me, is a lip treatment. I used to use a regular lip balm, but looking back, it didn't really do anything to my lips. I need something stronger and more effective. So I did some research and I found my life saver! For a couple of years now, I've been using these products. They give my lips the much deeper care they need. 

The one I absolutely love is the Labello lip butter. I use the one in Raspberry Rosé. First of all, this thing smells delicious. It's almost like I melted some candy and then applied it to my lips. De-li-cious! This lip butter is very thick and sticky so if you prefer something light, you won't like this. However I love it. It stays on quite long for a lip balm. I would say I apply it once every half hour. This might seem a lot, but applying this lip butter is a pleasure! It applies very smoothly and it immediately feels great on my lips. And to top it all, it gives a nice, subtle pinky shade to my lips. As you can see, the packaging is completely ruined and I've emptied the whole container which says a lot! I never empty products, so this one should be hella good!

Labello Lip Butter 'Raspberry Rosé' €3.99

The next product I adore is the Vaseline sugar coated delectable lip therapy. I switch up between these two products all the time. This one is not a lip butter, however it's also more caring than a lip balm. It feels a bit like a gel and it's amazing. This one does need a more frequent application than the Labello one but I don't mind that at all. To me, there is nothing nicer than applying a lip product! The color of this product is not attractive at all, and the smell is kind of weird in the beginning, but I've learned to love it. After applying it, my lips look shiny and most of all: healthy! And that's what we want, right? 

Vaseline sugar coated delectable lip therapy €2.99

Love A

Maybelline 'The falsies push up drama'

Hi there!

I've had this mascara for a while now, and finally I'm ready to do this review blogpost. 

Packaging

To me, this packaging is gorgeous. It's fancy, unique and most of all dramatic, and that's exactly what this mascara is about! The packaging is the perfect size. It's not too big, but you can easily just throw it in your bag and it will be fine. You don't have to be scared that it'll be ruined or it'll open. It's also very handy and clean. I like it!! 

Brush/Application

On the bottle, the brush is described like this: "A push up drama brush with cup-shaped bristles". Sounds promising doesn't it? Well... I'm not really a fan. It's a plastic brush, and that's something I usually try to avoid. The bristles are very short, which makes it very hard to apply the mascara evenly on all of my lashes. Therefore, the result is that my lashes all stick together. It's very clumpy. Some people like that, however I normally don't. I found that if I wear it with a cat-eye, it does look quite nice. But for a natural, sweet or romantic look, I wouldn't recommend it. 

Permanence

I'm soooo pleased with the lasting power of this mascara! If I apply it in the morning, it stays perfectly on throughout the whole day. It doesn't smudge or fade, AMAZING! Even when I'm taking off my makeup, I kinda struggle to get it all off. It's not said to be waterproof but it definitely doesn't come of from walking in the rain. However I don't know if it will last when you actually go swimming. (But of course that's why actual waterproof mascaras exist, right?)

The final look

So this is the way my lashes turn out after using one coat of the maybelline 
falsies push up drama mascara. I definitely like it, but I wouldn't use it as an everyday mascara. 



Love A

Packing up for holidays!

Hi there! 

So it's finally that time again where I can start packing for holidays. I'm so exited for the trip, not so much for the packing part... This year I decided not to wait until the very last moment like I usually do. Here, I will share my holiday musthaves and how I pack. 

 First of all: makeup! On holiday, I don't really wear that much makeup, but I like to bring some stuff for when I'm going out in the evenings or something. Something I do to make sure I have everything with me, is packing a couple of days in advance. The days after I've packed my makeup bag, I do my makeup only using the products that are in my makeup bag. This way, I'll notice if there's something that I've forgot to pack and I still got time to add it to my makeup bag. 

Makeup bag: Hema €3.50

Kruidvat moisturizing dagcrème €2.29
Victoria's secret 'Love Spell' €16.22
Kruidvat cleansing gel €1.69
Kruidvat Moroccan argan oil € 2.49

The next thing I need is skincare. To me, this is very important because my skin gets super dry from being in the sun all day. I do try to limit the products I pack, because otherwise there won't be enough space in my suitcase. A bodylotion is certainly a musthave. At the moment I'm really enjoying the Victoria's secret Love spell body lotion. It has a very runny texture and it smells delicious! To keep my face healthy and soft, I also bring my moisturizer. My go-to moisturizer is the Kruidvat moisturizing dagcrème. This is the cheapest moisturizer ever, but I love it! It's amazing. The last skincare product I bring with me is my cleansing gel, again from Kruidvat. 

For my hair, I just use my regular shampoo and conditioner, but for extra care, I also bring a bottle of argan oil. This is literally a lifesaver. I apply it to my hair for about 20-30 minutes on my hair before I take a shower. This keeps my hair from getting damaged and keeps it healthy. I also add a few drops to my moisturizer for extra care for my face. I highly recommend trying it out! 

Now the hardest part: clothes... I find it sooo difficult to pack the right amount of clothes and every year I find myself packing waaaay to much. That's the real struggle of living in Belgium, you can only wear your cute summer clothes on holiday. Luckily these playsuits and bikinis don't take a lot of space so I can bring even more 😏




I. Can't. Wait!!!! 

Love A