In and out the shower with Rituals

One of my favorite things to do is taking a morning shower to wake up my lazy skin. I am a morning person, I love sleeping, but when I wake up I am never ever groggy or cantankerous. So the greater part of myself that needs to wake up is my skin. Rituals has been one of my favorite bath and shower brands for a while now. I like the combination of fragrances they offer specifically in their bath/shower products. Though their products are pretty strongly scented I don't find it as disturbing as Lush (I love Lush, but not too much and also not all day). Rituals also has a line for sensitive skin which I thought about trying out since I've suddenly started reacting allergic to the moringa body butter from the Body Shop. Luckily the rash/eczema stopped appearing after I stopped using the moringa body butter and my skin also didn't react allergic to the other body butters.

New York City report!

In my previous blog I viewed a small portion of the products I placed in the bag to NYC. And now I will write about the products I've been carrying daily. Also this blog is a little about NYC, what I've seen, eaten and loved in the city. I've placed the pictures on Photobucket, scroll through them to see what I've seen. The highlights are written below.

USA USA USA USA

What's in the bag; The road-trip to NYC

This blog was supposed to be up the day when leaving for NYC. But things don't always go as planned. Especially when internet decides to stop working. Better late than never! Here goes:

I had a road-trip to NYC planned starting on tuesday. Driving from Chicago to NYC would take us (Diederik and I) about 12-13 hours on straight but we decided to go halfway tuesday and continue on wednesday. Road-trips are fun to do especially with fun audience. So I am (still) excited! We had everything packed; I baked chocolate chip cookies, made ice tea, bought carrots hummus pita-chips potato-chips and coke all for en route. That would do it I hope.
As for packing it's pretty difficult for me to narrow my luggage down to only the essentials. I wouldn't necessarily say cosmetics is the worse, because everything is a pain. But like I promised I was going to do a quick what's in the bag blogpost.

Yes I am trying to benefit

The day after I got to the US I found an advertising booklet in the hallway of Diederik's apartment. Ulta was the name of the shop it came from. The front page of the booklet was printed with bottles of shampoo so I grabbed it and took it to the apartment. I flipped through the booklet and saw some makeup labels I've read about in other blogs but are unobtainable in the Netherlands. So I knew I had to inspect this particular shop.

July 22nd the post-weekend humid haze

I've been reading status updates from people in the Netherlands complaining about how hot and humid it's been the past few days, knowing that the weather couldn't feel worse than here in Chicago. Friday was 100 Fahrenheit = 38 Celsius which calls in a stationary position in front of the air conditioner gasping for air. Temperatures above body temperatures are always disastrous; I biked a 10 minute ride from my home to Target ending up in a free bath of sweat.. I'm not joking, my legs and arms never sweat until the 100F + 100% humidity hits the summer. From what I remember summers in northern US are much tougher than we're used to in northern Europe so the fanciest things I've been wearing since I got here are hot pants and strapless. Fair enough not to perish from the heat.

So long farewell Sephora by OPI

The other day I made a stop at Sephora to check out the Bumble and Bumble curl conditioning creams. Unfortunately I didn't end up buying the Bumble and Bumble curl conditioning cream, but I did purchase some Sephora by OPI nail polish. I had never tried them before, since Sephora closed its operations in the Netherlands so I was really excited. The nail polish was 50% discounted and the rack was almost empty, but still I find some colours I liked.

Oatmeal Cookies with a little sumin sumin

I've always wanted to try making my own oatmeal cookies - though in the Netherlands I don't have an oven so I cannot bake things. I love oats, I have them for breakfast very often, but never have I made my own oatmeal cookies. I hit google search and with the help of +Allrecipes.com I was able to invent oatmeal cookies with additives I like.

How do I take my makeup off

I love the feeling of a clean fresh face. So whenever I come home from school or work I mostly immediately take my make up off. If the night is still young I sometimes wash my face twice, the second time with water only accept if I reapplied my make up. My skin is on the edge of being oily and acne prone, but the season of these conditions varies. During the winter my skin is dryer but a lot more acne prone, during the summer I have kind of oily skin or it's just an overflow of sweat ;)

MAC luscious kisses

Yesterday at Armitage avenue in Chicago I purchased my first Mac lip products. I've always wanted to try MAC lipsticks and we have them in the Netherlands but I never actually bought one. So I decided since I am in the country of MAC I might as well buy MAC here, agree? When I entered the MAC store I was welcomed by the lipsticks. Super happy and excited I started trying different colours out. Luckily the people were busy so I could play with all the lip-colours and the lipliners. I applied, removed, reapplied, removed, took pictures. Nobody cared. I was in my playground.

Salmon bruschetta; simple, easy and according to my diet.

I had salmon bruschetta once in Italy and I loved it so much I decided to try preparing it myself.
Bruschetta is easy to make, and mostly served as an appetizer. Although, since I started this diet it feels as if my stomach shrunk drastically; I can eat bruschetta as a meal.

Armitage's shopping monday and David's tea

 

There's a street up north in Chicago, Armitage with a few small shops and restaurants. I had driven and biked past this street, but never took the time to walk around the block. Fortunately I have more time to actually see places and area's in Chicago this year, because last year was all about work.
I wanted to purchase a specific lipstick from MAC which is actually what brought me to Armitage avenue. This shopping street is super cute, with all sorts of small shops like for example Arteffect.

Searching for hair care..

When it comes to my beautiful natural curls I am a narcissist. I absolutely love my curls. They are easy manageable, just gorgeous and I can throw whatever cheap stuff in them, they would still sit great. Although my hair becomes a little dry and brittle during the summer when the sun is out there and I go to the Chicago beach very often. Also I dyed my hair, so it's even more vulnerable. So I it is necessary to find good products for my hair, which brought me to Ulta a semi drugstore in the US.

Radiant skin with essential oils; acne prone skin

A friend of mine went to Hamburg, Germany this spring and got me all of these essential oils. I didn't know what to do with them for a long period so I left them in the closet but did take them with me to Chicago. I decided essential oils are such a hype these days, there must be something good about them, and took a look into their uses.
This blog focusses on oily and acne prone skin.

Today is in white and pink

It's funny how my blogs come about. I have a list of things I want to blog about and promised myself I will check these subjects off. But somehow I always find myself writing about something different. Todays subject is not on my list of things to write about. It's about my choice of colour today.
I sorted out a colour combination I actually never wear. White and pink...
I know there is nothing special about this, but I tried to find the meaning of the colour combination white and pink. I found: "in the language of flowers, a bunch of pink and white roses together means enduring love"
I could live with this definition.

Beautiful blooming bright bare feet

When I search in google for "foot care blogs" I mostly find blogs about diabetes foot or other foot diseases, written by people who refer to themselves as doctors. It is difficult to find information about foot care for people who do not suffer a foot disease, and the beauty blogs I read almost never write about foot care. Such a pity.
I believe that when beauty has your best interest foot care should be part of your interest as well.
Healthy feet are easy to maintain when you have a pedicure or go to Dr. Fish every month. But not everyone would regularly opt for such treatments, since they are really expensive and your feet would still require maintenance over time.

A healthy habit

I previously mentioned I was changing my food habits and exercise routine to get in better shape. It feels and seems as if I am getting to my goal. It's a shame I don't have a weight scale to weigh myself, but I do have clothes and hands where I can measure my size and feel my muscle weight growing with.  I love seeing progress in whatever I am doing. It makes me happy I didn't give up and stimulates me to keep on going.
What drives people to adjusting their food habits. Most people would say health considerations some would say appearance. In either way, the habit of eating whatever you want whenever you want is not longer in vogue.

Greetings from Chicago-land

After a full day traveling, transiting, being bored at the airport, being bored in the airplane, sleeping, watching movies, eating and carrying my luggage I finally arrived at my destiny - Chicago land. Since I already lived here, for a short period I knew what to expect. But I have never been so excited to be back. I was not surprised the weather in Chicago was much better than in the Netherlands.. I just hope it stays like this and doesn't become as hot and humid as it was last year.
After diner, a shower and a long talk, I went to bed and of course woke up way too early. Jet lag, I dislike you! But it's all part of traveling.

A lovely summer with Bourjois

The other day I went to the local drugstore to purchase some lipsticks from Bourjois after I had tried their Chubby stick. Bourjois had definitely become my favourite drugstore brand and I think this preference will continue. I love the colours they use to attract my attention and the quality of their products is worth the money.