Etude House - Fresh Cherry Tint (Review)

I recently fell in love with the ulzzang gradient lip look when my Dongsaeng created it for me before we went to a party. Ever since I have been looking for a decent lip tint in local stores, but was disappointed at the lack of vibrance in colour of these products. So I continued my search on e-bay where I soon caught eye of Etude House's "Fresh Cherry Tint".

Together with some other products I ordered the Fresh Cherry Tint from my favourite Ebay seller iamlove-shop in RD301 Cherry Red for 3,45€. (At this point I would like to warmly recommend you iamlove-shop for Korean beauty products. Their service is fast and easy, all products are free shipping worldwide and they usually add tons of samples to your order!)

Moist and soft like milk & shiny like cherries
"With moisturizing ingredients like Shea butter and glycerin soften your lips and keep them moisturized for a long time. Apply to your lips and you will have clear and shiny cherry red lips! Berries add Vitamin C and minerals to this lip tint to keep them shiny and healthy for a long time"

5 things Korean culture taught me about friendship

When my interest for the Korean culture first sparked earlier this year, it felt quite lonely at the beginning. Here I was, lost in a world of BigBang, Kimchi and K-Dramas with nobody to share my excitement with. That was until I met a few members from the Language Cast initiative from our university, which soon turned out to be a community of Korean exchange students and locals who constantly visit each others homes, cook for each other, go out together or have picnic parties (with lots of Soju) in order to learn more about each other's language and culture. Here's what I've learned so far, from my Korean friends.

HeartBeats (Week 1) - Jay Park, Wilco, Orange Caramel

Jay Park - Joah 좋아
I was introduced to Joah by my friend Jiwon who kept singing/playing it a lot and incidentally it became my favourite song. I love how uplifting and sweet the melody/lyrics are. Not only did I fall in love with this song, I also fell in love with Jay Park's voice. 너무 좋아~

Studying Hacks - Personal Tipps & Tricks to survive exams

I love being a student at university. And as crazy as it may sound... I like exams. Yes you heard me right. Call me a nerd but there is something fun about sitting down with markers, a nice cup of tea and spending hours with expanding my knowledge. I seem to get a strange kick out of it ~ and the best part of studying well is always being rewarded with a good grade! As it is exam week at the moment I thought would be a good time to share my personal studying tips with you!

Milleneufcentquatrevingtquatre

Milleneufcentquatrevingtquatre – or 1984 (for those who don't like to fuss around), is the tongue-twisting name of a French designer label, which specializes in scarfs. Designer duo Amelie Charroin and Marie Colin-Mandan, stole many hearts with their individual designs and eventually, they have also stolen mine.

Fashion Haul - "Mademoiselle"

Black patent leather flats, 15 €, Gold Style

Catrice Nailpolish #690 "Fred Said Red", 2,95€

Set of rings, Sixx, 4,95 € 

Glossybox - April 2012 Review

Alright lovelies! I'm sorry it took me so long to post this review, but apparently there were plenty products inside which needed a longer period of testing in order to deliver you a proper report. But here it is, now, only for all of you to read - the Glossybox of April 2012 review. Out of all Glossyboxes I have received this is probably my favourite so far! It had the coolest samplers inside out of which three of five where full sized - amazing!

MusicLove - My top 10. Running/Workout tunes

There's nothing like a good tune that keeps you motivated during your running or workout routine! Here are my top 10 favourite tracks to run to:

1. Neon Trees - Everybody Talks
2. Naked and the Famous - Young Blood
3. Passion Pit - Sleepy Head
4. Supergrass - Alright
5. Edward Sharpe & The magnetic Zeros - Home
6. Hot Chelle Rae - Whatever
7. Florence & the Machine - Shake it out
8. Carly Rae Jepsen - Call me maybe
9. Frankmusik - In Step
10. Yelle - Que veux tu (Madeon Remix)

Littletips - How to be a good (best) friend

1. Be the friend you wish for yourself

Would you like to be friends with yourself? This is the first question to ask yourself if you would like to find out whether you are a good friend or not. If there are some points you wouldn't welcome in a friendship with yourself then maybe think those over and wonder what you could change in order to improve. You can also apply this simple little technique to other relationships in your life and offers a fantastic insight to your social life. Always be the friend you would like for yourself.

2. Compliment more than criticize

Don't you just love those people who criticize you all day and even if they find something good to say about you they again find something negative about it? No. Me neither. If you happen to be a little to critical maybe keep some of your viewpoints to yourself and accept your friend the way they are. Try to find things about them you like and point those out rather than the superficial once that simple make them who they are. Even if you are not critical at all try and be a little more complimentary (in an honest way) and tell your friend if you like their hair or maybe praise them for something they did well that day. Appreciation is one of the most important key points to show someone you care about them.

3. Be grateful & trustworthy

Thank your friend for little efforts and if they complement you don't negate it. This point goes well in hand with the previous one because gratitude shows your appreciation towards your friends for their effort they put into your friendship. Show them that you are grateful that they are in your life. This also means to be trustworthy. NEVER share their secrets with others or talk behind their backs, even if it's just for being an entertainer. People who trust you enough to tell you their most intimate stories expect them to be in save hands. Once broken their trust it's almost impossible to gain it back.

4. Make some space

Try and make space in your day for your friends, even if it's just one or two hours for a cup of frozen yogurt and a chat. If you are really busy write a text message or call them to show you care they are alright and what they are up to. There is always time to care for your friends and if they are good ones they will respect you only have little time on your hands but appreciate that you took at least two hours only to be with them. Also even if your boy- or girlfriend is important never put them on a pedestal. They may be your significant other, but your friends and family are important too.

5. Choose your friends wisely

Don't be friends with people you can't stand. I guess everyone has had that one friend they didn't really like but still spent a lot of time with them not knowing why they even put up with them. Do yourself and the other person, who may feel completely different about you, a favour and don't be too tight with them. At the end they just end up hurt or you end up being annoyed with completely harmless phone calls and messages. Also only surround yourself with friends who are trustworthy. If people talk behind your back, criticize you all the time or are annoyed over the littlest things end it. Quitting a friendship is like a breakup but it's sometimes the best for you.

6. Little kindness goes a long way

Doing your best is always a good choice, but with friends it's just so much more worth it. If you have a great circle of close friends it can be a great support for your daily life. It's always good to know there are people who will have your back when you need someone to catch your fall, someone you can call in the middle of the night and who will drive across the city only to be there for you and give you a good time. So be kind. Love your friends and show them your respect, while separating out every once in a while. My best example for a good friend is of course my best friend. She always does all those little acts of kindness which show me she thought of me and cares for me. When she sees something we talked about earlier like a product I thought of buying for example she would immediately text me when she saw that mascara on discount in a shop. Little acts of kindness as such show me that she listens to me and cares and reminds me with that why she is my best friend.

A dress made of sugar

As I walked through the city with my best friend today I saw this dress at Demel's display (One of Viennas finest coffee houses and confectioneries). Consisting of sugar and modeling chocolate, the dress, flowers and shoes are all together edible - amazing!

Kiehl's - Rare Earth Collection

Having a Kiehl's store right next to my favourite Froyo spot in Vienna, I barely can walk past it without at least taking a look at the shop window. On one of my last visits I was looking for a product to mattify my skin and help me with my astronomic pores. The friendly salesman, who was really cute btw, recommended me the Kiehl's Rare Earth Collection. Now I didn't want to pick up the products immediately, after all the only product of Kiehl's I was familiar with was the classic moisturizer which btw did an amazing job. The salesguy handed me out some testers and as soon as I went home I tried them out.

The Kiehl's Rare Earth Collection formulated with Amazonian White Clay is basically designed to cleanse and minimize pores in order to achieve a mattified better looking compexion. With that said on to the products I tried.



Kiehl's Rare Earth Daily Deep Pore Cleanser 

The product itself reminds me a bit of seafoam which I find actually quite nice. It is white with an almost invisible greyish hue. It smells like nothing in particular, although it has a slight clayish scent, which most of the white clay products have to themselves - it is not too prominent though. Putting in on damp skin it spreads and lathers gently. You can massage it in without problems. The only thing that bothered me a little was that washing it of it foamed up a little. I recommend taking it off with a washcloth and then rinse it off again with water to remove the last foamy bits. After removing the cleanser the skin feels squeaky clean, firm and fresh. Testing the cleanser for a couple of days now, I noticed that my skin looks clearer, fresher and overall nice. My complexion seems to have brightened up and my blemishes reduced to almost none. It will probably take some more time to cleanse out the pore disaster on my nose but this cleanser definitely passed the first tryouts. I will probably go and get it.

Rare Earth Pore Minimizing Lotion
The lotion is quite fluid and very lightweight. The smell reminds me a bit of almond milk which I actually find quite nice. Putting on the lotion it sinks in within seconds leaving the skin soft and toned. Actually I quite like it. Having it tested for a few days also I find it's a great addition to the cleanser.

I actually quite like this line and would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone who wishes to clear out and minimize their pores :-) I'll rate it 4/5 **** withdrawing one star because of the foaminess which I read is also occurring with the Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Mask.

Spring Classy Basics 101 - The White Button-up Shirt

A classy tailored white shirt belongs into every wardrobe - at least in my opinion. It is timeless, versatile and elegant yet fresh. You can combine it with almost every other piece of clothing. Also it is very versatile when it comes to occasions. As casual day wear wear it along with skinny jeans and a wool cardigan. As formal wear dress it up with a preppy skirt, high heels and tights. At work, especially in office located jobs, it is an essential counter part to pant suits, pencil skirts and blazers. You can dress the White Button-up Shirt up and down however much you like. It is very light but still saves up some body temperature, therefore it is perfect for spring, especially if it's made of silk or cotton.






Wear it with:
* Skirts
* Pants
* Jeans
* Blazers
* Cardigans
* Over Jumpers
* Shorts

Don't wear it with:

* Yoga Pants

* sweater jackets

Best worn with:
Black Blazer Jacket, Skinny Jeans & Ballet flats/high heels

Daywear

Office Wear

Formal Wear

Shedding all the pounds until September!

Being slightly overweight is actually nothing to be ashamed of. I've never been a person who complained about her weight and lived with it until it got to a point where I felt ashamed of wearing tank tops. Having lost 20 pounds last summer, I thought it would be nice to get back on my weight loss track!

In 170+ days I will go to London with my bff to show her my (hopefully) future hometown. As we are girls and are currently saving for major shopping sprees on Oxford Street & Co, I decided to set myself a goal. I will try to lose all the extra pounds until September to fit properly into all those nice clothes in Topshop, etc. and maybe catch myself a nice British boy.

That means quitting on all those delicious nasties like cake, cookies and pasta. Working at an Italian food chain pasta is all around me. Luckily I work at the salad station so instead of taking home a box of Rucola Ravioli. I religiously carry home salads and vegetable soups, engorge on veggies and fruit, drink a plenty of water and let rice be the only source of my carb intake. Changing my food habits is not a big deal for me. I eat quite healthy anyway and dread stomach torturing foods like pizza and doughnuts. Quitting on pasta, chocolate and bread was probably the worst for me. As well as quitting on cheese and dairy. But I am greatly on track having lost a pound already.

As I lost all the weight with dancing last year, I will start Hip Hop and Jazz again. Dancing is a great way to burn calories AND it's soooo much fun! I just have to kick my butt and get started :) 

I really hope that I will achieve my goals. Losing 1 pound a week doesn't seem to hard and for you sometimes lose more or less it's not too much of a biggie as a goal. In 25 weeks I should've shed all the pounds. Let's get this started! Wish me luck!

xx C 

Paul Mitchell "Awapuhi Shampoo" - Glossybox Dez 2011

Another great product in this month's Glossybox was the Paul Mitchell "Awapuhi Shampoo". For those who don't know what Awapuhi is (god bless you're not alone I had no idea myself) -- Awapuhi is a sort of wild ginger which is common in many tropical countries. The extract which Paul Mitchell uses is deprived from the plant's flowers which contain a liquid substance similar to Aloe Vera. It's effect on hair is said to be softening and that it adds shine.

The smell of the shampoo is very pleasant and actually reminds a lot of Aloe Vera and Orchid flowers luckily it is not too overwhelming. I believe the consistency is based on the original Awapuhi liquid. It is clear with a slight amount of bubbles in them. The way it floats and everything reminds me a lot of Aloe Vera too so I believe Paul Mitchell tried to copy the original Awapuhi liquid to make the whole product look more authentic.

Now to the effect of the shampoo. It is supposed to be hydrating and if you are me, you really don't believe in shampoos at all. And always had some kind of a prejudice towards them, especially when you had a series of bad shampoos which added extra frizz to your already stressed hair and all. Paul Mitchell definitely taught me better.

The product foams up pretty well and immediately while foaming up your hair starts to feel softer, cleaner, just -- better! When I rinsed my hair I thought if a conditioner was even necessary. After I conditioned, rinsed and dried my hair it felt so healthy and soft while the nice smell of the shampoo still lingered in my hair. I may try no conditioner today and see how that works, because usually my hair doesn't endure only shampoo without looking like a frizz ball.

Really pleased with Paul Mitchell "Awapuhi" which I also consider to purchase in full size because it is actually a really great product! Highly recommend it to people with slightly to very dry hair.

"Babor" Glossy Liplite (N.01) review - Glossybox Dez 2011

"Lipgloss with integrated mirror and LED lights - making application extra easy and comfortable" ~ 16,50€

Starting with this gorgeous lipgloss I must say, out of all 5 products I was most pleasantly surprised with this one. Glossybox has actually sent me the full size lipgloss. Considering that it would usually cost me 16,50 - it was really generous from Glossybox to put it into the box.

It came in this really gorgeous rosy-peachy-shimmery colour and to my very surprise it is not sticky at all! It glides on beautifully and looks really natural. Also it is not too glossy which I like very much. Smell and taste are both very neutral. What actually really surprised me was that the colour fit me so well -- which probably was due to the fact that Glossybox sends you only products which match your beauty profile you set up when registering. 

What is actually really cool about this lipgloss is that it has an integrated mirror (which is a fantastic idea in my opinion). Also and even though I haven't really understood yet why you would integrate them into a lipgloss -- it has integrated LED lights which looks actually pretty neat and definitely gives you some "Wow's" and "Aah's" from people who see you applying the lipgloss or open it and suddenly the LED's pop up.

Resume~ I must say I am very pleased with this product and the brand "Babor" seems very promising. I may purchase from them again because I am in love with this lipgloss and would love to try some more products of theirs!

ps: Another huge thank you to GB for sending me a full sized lipgloss :-)

xo

GLOSSYBOX - December 2011

Christmas is knocking on our doors and punctually half way through to Christmas -- Glossybox has sent me the first ever Glossybox available in Austria! Now -- for those who don't know the concept of Glossybox, basically it is just like Birchbox only that Glossybox is also available in Europe. Every month you can order a box for 10 € and will receive 5 high-end product samplers. And I can promise you one thing -- it really pays off! I would've never guessed I would get that much out of my 10 quid. (Taking the risk to sound like a late night informercial)

What I found really great about Glossybox is that right at the beginning when I registered, I got asked tons of questions. I had to choose my skin shade, whether I had dry/oily/mixed skin, my haircolour, if I prefered bold or natural colours, which kinds of products I would prefer, etc. With all of that information Glossybox then creates your personal box only with those products that really suit and please you.

Also the samplers sizes are really generous. This month for example I received a full sized lipgloss which usually would cost me 16,50 quid. I got it for 10 along with other amazing products and even a mini O.P.I Nailpolish. It is really that awesome! I now will stop my raving and will write my reviews :-)

Countries in which Glossybox is available --
UK, US, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and many more!

Just google and find your countries Glossybox website.

xo

YoutubeLove - Sophia Grace Brownlee - She's so badass & amazing :)

Celebrities at FW - Spring/Summer 2012

It's that time of the year again - Fashion week. Celebrities, beauty bloggers, fashion nerds and other important people have gathered to take a glimpse at designers newest creations. Again there have been taken many pictures of our well known lovely front-rowers leaving me sometimes happily squealing and sometimes gasping in disbelief. Many celebs sported the upcoming trends for Fall/Winter - some just updated a single piece, others trended up their whole outfit. There has been a lot of leather, chiffon, maxi skirts, neon colours, wedges, print mixing and ombre. Take a look and get inspired by my personal favourites!

Pixie Lott blacked out with this gorgeous bikerchic, glam-gothy outfit!

Olivia Palermo sported animal print shoes with chunky heels, leather shorts, python print satchel and chiffon blouse, everything highly trending this season! 

Douglas Booth wore a tweed blazer, with a white V-neck shirt and neutral oxfords!

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore a long bright red leather coat and leather pants with a camel brown top along with a  woven satchel.

Pippa Middleton wore this gorgeous light gold and black lace-patterned dress, alon with black tied ankle boots and classic clutch! 

Nicola Roberts and Cheryl Cole both sported this seasons top trend colours - olive green and dark red! 

Fearne Cotton wore this lilac maxi chiffon dress with leopard print sandals and her hair in a gorgeous wavy bob!

Pixie geldof wore this gorgeous folk patterned colourful skirt with a black top and nude lady flats along with a gorgeous red lip! 

Sienna Miller looked amazing sporting black leather pants, black wedge boots and an olive-green/yellow/black tweed purse!

Get happy people! - True words of wisdom by Jack Lalanne

Stylespired - Leighton Meester

We all know and love her as the invincible Blair Waldorf from the hit series "Gossip Girl". Unlike her character, Leighton is probably one of the sweetest people alive. She is fun, bubble and very nice. Her style is not too similar to Blairs but it's just as gorgeous. "The show (Gossip Girl) has done so much for me" Leighton admitted in an interview with Style Star. She also said that she feels much more confident now than she did back before Gossip Girl. Before Leighton would dress down more but now she is not afraid to dress up, sport high heels and edgier accessories. During the day, Leighton dresses comfortable, easy going but still very fancy. She loves to wear simple pieces but "oomph" them with accessories that reflect her own style. Her favourite brands are Moschino, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton. During the day and in private she usually wears comfortable pieces with a twist. She loves neutral but if she wears something colourful it has to pop! Bright blues, yellows, oranges, greens whatever. Leighton doesn't wear too much jewelry in private. On formal occasions however she loves bold jewelry, bold metallics, everything about her formal or red carpet wear is bold or flashes with colours. She loves to be different and owns whatever she likes. I really really adore her style. It's nothing too mainstream but also nothing too odd. If you want to dress like her you can go for the usual khakis or jeans and white t-shirt but maybe add something risky to it, like a jazzy bag or really colourful shoes. Here are some of her awesome candids!