vrijdag 28 november 2014

Fashion Friday: Winter Inspiration

Heyhey lovelies!

One of my favourite things to do is just stare out of a window and daydream about outfits. I know, sounds weird, right? But I just can't help it, it's too much fun! Today was one of those days where I just wanted to let my mind drift away, and I created 3 outfits in my head that I would LOVE to wear this winter. Hope you enjoy!

1) Collar Casual

This is one of my faaaave outfits ever. A jumper with a collar, some skinny jeans and boots. Perfect for winter when you have to make your way trough the snow to get to class! And that coat tho <3

*Jumper: Flannels.com
*Coat: Chicnova.com
*Jeans: Bernardboutique.com
*Boots: Couture.zappos.com
*Bag (Michael Kors): Neimanmarcus.com

2) Business chique
This is what I would be wearing if I was a successful business woman with lots of meetings and stuff (I can dream). White loose dress, black knee high boots, a big black coat and the pink satchel to give the outfit a bit of colour (and to store all my businessy things in). Simple and comfortable, yet classy!

*Dress: Lagarconne.com
*Coat: Farfetch.com
*Boots: Forever21.com
*Satchel; Spartoo.co.uk

3) Retro and cute
My second favourite outfit of all time: A retro dress, kneesocks and some heels! I paired it with this lovely brown-ish coat and a tiger clutch to give the outfit a bit more punch.

*Dress: riverisland.com
*Coat: chicnova.com
*Kneesocks: Pacsun.com
*Booties: Farfetch.com
*Clutch: Runway2street.com

What are you wearing this winter?

Lots of love,
LFR



dinsdag 25 november 2014

My Christmas Wishlist

Heyhey lovelies!

First of all, I'm sorry for the crappy collage. I'm new at this and school is giving me such a hard time with deadlines and papers that are due and some random last-minute assignments that the theatchers just HAVE to give us so I didn't really have the time to make a proper collage.. urhg. But anyway, I think you get the point here..

CHRISTMAS IS COMING. I'm actually one of those people that likes buying other people presents more than getting them myself, but let's be honest, I would be very dissapointed if I didn't get any presents (who wouldn't be, like, duh). I'm also one of those people that just cannot hide their dissapointment when they get something they don't really like. So that's why each year I make a wishlist, just so my family can choose from that what they buy me (this sounds so wrong and picky, but you know what I mean).

All I want for Christmaaaaaaaas..


1) The Too Faced 'Natural Eyes' Eye Shadow Palette
Confession: I never ever wear eyeshadow and I don't own any eyeshadow palettes (apart from a cheap one with two colours). I know, pretty bad, right? I just think I am not good at all at applying it so that's why I never bought any palettes. But practice makes perfect, and I really want to start wearing eyeshadow because you can create such gorgeous looks with it so I think this palette is a good starter kit (if not, definitely let me know). I've heard such good things about Too Faced so I'm excited to try out their stuff, and that packaging is just to dieeee for!

2) Too Faced 'La Crème' Lipstick
Another make up 'thing' I rarely use: lipstick! I don't know why I never wear it though, because I absolutely loooove it. I adore Too Faced's Bumbleberry, Raspberry Rose and Country Star colours so those are the ones I hope to get (or get for myself, because, why not) this Christmas!

3) Essie nailpolish
It's been a while (like, months) since I bought nailpolish and I need a few more colours to put in my collection. Essie is my go-to brand when it comes to nailpolish just because the quality of it is soooo good! I fell in love with the colours 'No More Film' and 'E-nuf is E-nuf'.

4) Rainpharma sugar scrub
With the weather getting super cold it's important to moisturize your skin, and getting your scrub on definitely helps to make the cream soke into your pores. Rainpharma is a Belgian brand of all-natural beauty products and I'm a big fan of everything all-natural (especially when it comes to beauty products) so I'm excited to try out their stuff!

5) 'How to Story' by Tom Rumes, Tim Verheyden and Andries Fluit
As some of you know, I am a student in Journalism. This book is actually written by one of my teachers (Tom Rumes) and gives tips on how to 'write a good story' as a journalist. I've been hearing a lot about this concept of 'storytelling' but I don't really get how it could help me to be a better journalist, so I hope that this book will give me some insight in the matter (plus the fact that one of my teachers wrote this book is enough reason to read it). 

6) Sacconejoly calendar
Last but not least and SUCH a guilty pleasure: I really really really want the Sacconejoly's calendar. If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about: The Sacconejoly's are an Irish youtuber family living in London. There's Jonathan and Anna and their two adorable kids Emilia (2 years old) and Eduardo (8 months old). They also have 6 Maltese dogs (Sina, Albi, Bianca, Nivea, Theo and Nuvola, can you just see how excited I am talking about this) and basically they upload vlogs about their life every day. Their videos never fail to make me happy, Emilia and Eduardo are just the cutest kids ever. They recently made a calendar with suuuper cute and funny pictures and I really, really want it. I want it so bad that I asked my sister to buy me this OVER the TooFaced makeup.. That's how much I love them. #noshame

So, what do you want for Christmas?

Enjoy your evening!

Lots of love,
LFR

dinsdag 18 november 2014

Berry Vanilla Smoothie Recipe

Heyhey lovelies!

I am a very big smoothie fan. I just love thinking of which fruits go well together and what other things I can put in them. Plus, smoothies are delicious and so so so healthy, so therefore they are the perfect breakfast and/or afternoon snack. Today I tried out something new and I turned out to really like it, so I thought I'd share it with you guys!

You will need (I'm not going to put quantities here since I just make my smoothies how I think they will taste good, and then add some more things in them if that's necessary):
   * Strawberries
   * Blackberries
   * Low-fat vanilla (or any flavour you like) yoghurt
   * Almond milk or regular milk
   * A tiny bit of honey (optional)


And now for the easy part: Blend all those things together until it's nice and creamy. If you like your smoothies to be a bit sweeter you can put some of honey in it, I have a huge sweettooth so that's what I did!


Tadaaa. I just love this purple colour!

Hope you enjoy!

Lots of love,
LFR

zondag 16 november 2014

Heyhey lovelies!

'T is that time of year again: The nights get longer, the weather gets colder and the streets turn into festive lanes of Christmassy coziness. Another specific of this time of year: Lips get dry and chapped. Yup, it is lipbalm season again!
I just cannot live without lipbalm during the months of November to February. My lips are usually fine in Spring and Summer, but Autumn and especially Winter are HELL. My lips get chapped so easily and they hurt like crap. You can imagine how annoyed I was when I went visiting my boyfriend in the Netherlands last week and forgot to bring lipbalm. Fortunately we went shopping at Bataviastad so I could pick up some. We went into the only beautystore there (which turned out to be Beautyheaven On Earth, with lots of famous makeup brands at half price) and there I bought this Gérard Brinard Vitamin E 'Lip Plumping' lip balm. There were a lot of different versions of this lip balm but I picked this one up because it contains vitamin E (although I have absolutely no idea what vitamin E does to my lips, but I figured it can't be bad).



And I turned out to really love this one! It says on the container that it's highly moisturizing and softens the lips, and that it does indeed. When I first applied this lip balm I actually felt a slight tingling in my lips, almost like I could feel them repairing (this sounds weird, I know, but I swear to God I felt a tingling) and after one day my lips already felt and looked a whoooole lot better. You only need to apply one thin layer of the lipbalm, and it feels light and not greasy at all. I also like that this lip balm doesn't smell or taste like anything, I just prefer my lip balm that way. Another bonus: the lip balm comes in a tube and not in a pot so you don't have to get your fingers dirty to apply it.

Overall conclusion: I'd recommend this lip balm to anyone who hates having dry and chapped lips. It's my new favourite skincare item and I will definitely buy this one again, maybe even try out the different versions of it.

Have a good evening!

Lots of love,
LFR

zaterdag 15 november 2014

Fashion Friday: Retro dress and kneesocks

Heyhey lovelies!

Another outfitpost for you today. I've had this dress for aaaages now and it's already a bit outworn, but I still wear it. I just love it too much! I bought it in a little store in Ghent that doesn't exist anymore, sadly enough.
This is one of my faaaavourite outfits ever, cute and classy but still a bit sexy with the kneesocks!

What I'm wearing:
Dress: Monsoon
Cardigan: Boohoo
Kneesocks: H&M
Shoes: Sacha
Bag: Bershka






Sorry for the lack of posts the last weeks. I'm not feeling too great and doubting every aspect of my life, including my blog. But I'm planning on giving the blog a total makeover to make it look a bit more professional so hopefully that will bring back my motivation to blog. I'll keep you posted!

Lots of love,
LFR

zondag 9 november 2014

Heyhey lovelies!

Yesterday I finished the 27th and last episode of my ‘Start to Run’ podcast. I have now been running for 9 weeks, three times a week, and I can run for 30 minutes (5 km) without stopping. Since the only exercise I have had the last two years was taking my bike to go to school, this really feels like an accomplishment. I felt so inspired yesterday that I thought I’d share my running experiences with you and give some tips for those of you who also want to start living a healthier lifestyle.

I started running 9 weeks ago just because I felt like I wasn’t exercising enough. I have never been overweight (I am 1m72 or 5 feet and 7 inches, and always weighed about 60 kg or 132 pounds) so losing weight was never my motive, but when I stepped on the scale last week after a year of not weighing myself, I noticed that I now only weigh 55 kg or 121 pounds. Although it wasn’t my intention to lose weight, this was of course a nice benefit from the running and my new habit of eating healthier. I also notice a lot of changes to my body. Not so much in terms of appearance, but definitely in terms of condition. My body has become addicted to the running. I run three times a week, and when I don’t run for 2 days I feel my body becoming ‘impatient’. It needs the running and the exercise. Since I also started eating healthier I noticed that my body doesn’t react as well to greasy food as it used to. I get nauseous a lot easier after a night of greasy eating so it’s almost like my body rejects the greasy food.

While I’m still not the best or fastest runner there is I think I can now call myself an experienced runner and I am very happy with that and the results I got from it. I feel better in my skin and body and have an overall healthier lifestyle. If you’re thinking about starting to exercise yourself, I have listed some tips for you below. 
Disclaimer: I am not a personal trainer, fitness instructor or professional athlete. All these tips are based on my own experiences and do not guarantee success.

o   Find a good podcast or program to follow.  No one can just start exercising without help. Podcasts are a cheap alternative to a personal trainer, most of them are even completely free. These programs are created for beginners by professional trainers and are therefore perfect to start with. You’ll find it a lot easier to get yourself to go outside and train when you have someone to help you, whether that person is running next to you or is only there on your iPod. Dutch speakers can download the Start to Run podcast with Evy Gruyaert, English speakers will find all the information they need on http://www.start-to-run.com .

o   Find a good running area or route. Running is perfect to clear your head, but when you’re running in the middle of the city and you have to stop for cars and other obstacles you will not get the best out of your exercise. I prefer running in a park or on a path with lots of green around me and most of all: without any cars. It’s just a lot more enjoyable and comfortable to run in a peaceful and quiet area.

o   Invest in some quality running gear. Good running shoes are important to avoid injuries. You’ll also find it a lot more comfortable to run wearing a sports bra and clothes that repel rain and have ‘odor control’. It’s easy to just put on some shorts and a top when you go training, but most ‘regular’ clothes are made out of cotton and that fabric sucks up sweat like a sponge. You’ll instantly feel wet and discomforted. I personally also advise to buy an armband to put your phone or Ipod in. It’s a lot easier to wear a device around your arm than holding it in your hand or putting it in your pocket.
Running gear I advise beginning runners to get:
§  Quality running shoes
§  A sports bra
§  A pair of running leggings
§  A running top
§  A running hoodie (for colder days)
§  A running jacket (for rainy and windy days)
§  An armband for a phone or Ipod
All my running clothes are by the brand Kalenji and I am very pleased with them, but there are a lot of other awesome sports brands with good running clothes and most of them are not as expensive as you may think.

o   Treat your body well. You’ll notice that your body will evolve a lot faster if you eat healthier. Find some recipes with ingredients you like and learn about calories, carbs and fat. I am not at all a health junkie myself but I do try to eat as ‘clean’ as possible. However, not a day goes by that I don’t eat a cookie or a piece of chocolate. But don’t forget that that is a good thing: you should treat yourself for the efforts you make. And not a lot of people are able to cut out all the sugar out of their lives, that’s just almost impossible.

o   Persevere. There will be bad days, days you feel like you can’t possibly get yourself to go outside for a run, but the only way to achieve something is to work for it. Running in the rain may seem horrible, but if you wear the right clothing it’s actually not that bad. Also, try to keep up with the program you follow. You’ll have days where you just want to stop the exercise before it’s finished, but again: perseverance is key. I noticed that it helps me a lot if I repeat a mantra in my head. I usually go with something simple like ‘I can do this’ or ‘this is nothing’ and it helps me a great deal when I feel like quitting.



There ya go, those are my tips for people that want to start running! I hope they help, make sure to let me know if you use these tips in your exercise and I wish you all a very nice day!

Happy running!

Lots of love,
LFR



zaterdag 1 november 2014

Fashion friday: Black and White dress

Heyhey lovelies!

I have a new outfitpost for you guys! I know it's been a while since the first one, but with school and homework and life in general it's not always easy to find someone who has the time (and the camera) to shoot an outfit with me. But last week I dragged my sister out to the woods nearby and we shot three outfits, so there's two more to come!

What I'm wearing:
Dress: Boohoo
Jacket: Zara
Boots: Steve Madden
Necklace: Bershka 






Oh and btw: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Lots of love,
LFR