vrijdag 12 december 2014

20 (slightly weird) Facts About Me

Heyhey lovelies!

A bit of a different post than I usually do on a Friday, but what the heck, I was in the mood for it.
One of the blogposts I enjoy reading the most is the ’20 facts about me’. I love reading weird and funny things about the people I follow, it gives me a warm feeling inside. 
So I decided to join in myself! Hope you like it!

o   I’m a ‘warmth addict’. I literally go look for warm places everywhere since I get cold very quickly and I absolutely HATE it.
o   I have very bad vision. I have a dioptre of -8.5 on my right eye and -8.0 on my left eye, which basically means I am blind as f*ck without my glasses or contact lenses. I’ve had bad eyes since I was 7, but I’ve been stable for almost 3 years now so I’m thinking of getting my eyes lasered in the next years.
o   My favourite scent ever since I was little is Vanilla. As a kid I always used to go sniff my mother’s vanilla powder bags.
o   I have a huge sweet tooth.  When I was little I sometimes used to sneak into the kitchen and put a whole spoonful of nutella in my mouth. (Okay. I admit, this still happens now. But not much. Like, one time a month maybe ..?)
o   I have agoraphobia. This basically means that I have a fear of wide, open spaces. I remember having a viewmaster as a kid (you know, those things you put round cards in and then you can see all kinds of scenes through the eyethingies) and me and my sister had some space scene cards. I just couldn’t look at them, not being able to see the end of something gives me the most uncomfortable feeling ever. I also HATE movies  or videos that are filmed under water because the sea is such an infinite, open space. I can’t swim in a pool that’s so deep you can’t see the bottom of it, I don’t like going to Sea Life because of the shark tunnel… pretty weird phobia, right?
o   I have Raynaud’s disease. It’s not actually a disease, it’s more of a syndrome.  Raynaud's disease causes some areas of your body, such as your fingers and toes, to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin narrow, limiting blood circulation to affected areas. My hands and feet then go blue, purple, orange, and eventually some of my fingers might turn white and numb. In response to warm temperatures the opposite happens: the arteries widen up and pump a whole lotta blood through, causing my hands and feet to swell and to turn extremely red. Raynauds also causes me to get cold very quickly (that’s probably why I’m such a warmth junkie!). I’ve had it for all my life and it doesn’t really cause problems, it’s mostly just uncomfortable and I have to wear gloves when the temperatures outside drop.
o   I could live in my pink dinosaur onesie.
o    I have the best boyfriend in the whole wide world.
o   I sleep with an Elmo cuddly toy every night. I got it from a friend  a few years ago and I’ve gotten so attached to it that I can’t sleep one night without it. I’ve always been the kind of person to get easily attached to stuffed animals.
o   I’m obsessed with things that scare me. Horror movies are my favourite although I can’t sleep for weeks after watching one. There was also a time that I was completely obsessed with the black humor cartoon series ‘Salad Fingers’, I just couldn’t stop watching it and wanted to know everything about it. The storyline is just so intruiging!
o   In my opinion, pugs are the most adorable creatures ever.
o   In my next life, I’d either want to be a cat or a lion. Seriously, cats and catlike animals are my soulmates. I just FEEL them.
o   I studied Latin – Modern Languages in highschool and did a year of Sciences of Arts at the University of Ghent before beginning my journalism studies.
o   I like to dip pickles chips in beer. Not just any beer though, it has to be Faro Boon (a Belgian beer). I call it ‘Farkles’. Hashtag noshame.
o    My favourite food EVER is Greek food.
o   I can’t listen to music without headphones on. I’m addicted to the quality of sound my Sennheiser brings me and songs just don’t have as much intensity when I hear them just from my laptop…
o   I’m a HUGE metal/metalcore fan.  Yup, I’m the girliest of girls, but bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Of Mice And Men, Amon Amarth  and Dimmu Borgir make my heart skip a beat. I also listen to metal to calm me down, which my boyfriend finds very strange (and sometimes annoying).
o   I danced from the age of 3 until I was 18 years old, then stopped when I went to Uni. Still miss it every day.
o   I have an inner emo kid that loves everything black and fangirls over Vanilla Sky, Simple Plan and All Time Low.
o   I spend way too much money on things to decorate my house, especially because I don’t really have a house to myself yet. But hey, never too early to start collecting!




zondag 7 december 2014

Heyhey lovelies!

Temperatures keep dropping here in Belgium and my skin definitely feels that. The corners of my mouth are getting dry, I have chapped lips almost constantly and my eyes water every time I go outside. Time to switch up the skincare routine, I’d say!

I’ve assembled a few tips that can help you treat your skin right during wintertime. With the cold temperatures it’s very important to pay a little bit more attention to your everyday skincare, just to avoid redness and/or dry skin. Bear in mind that these tips work for me and my skin but may not necessarily work for yours. If you have more or bigger problems with your skin, I’d recommend to go see a dermatologist.

What helps my skin to stay healthy in winter:

1)      Use oil-based moisturizer
This is probably my most important tip as I cannot emphasize enough that daily skincare, especially during winter, is very important. I use water-based moisturizer during spring and summer, but switch to oil-based when the temperatures drop as the oil creates a protective layer on the skin. I use the Yves Rocher Bio daycream with 99% natural ingredients. It consists of Acacia honey (a miracle worker for your skin), chestnut extract, oats extract and sunflower oil. I am just in LOVE with this moisturizer because it doesn't feel greasy on my skin at all, yet makes my skin feel hydrated and protected.  
I also make sure to use bodylotion because when I cover up all my skin I notice it gets dry super quickly. I get those white flakes on my legs that are just hideous so I try to prevent that as soon as the temperatures drop even the slightest.



2)      Keep scrubbing
You might feel like not scrubbing in winter out of fear it might damage your skin, but it is important to keep doing it. Scrubbing not only removes the dead skin cells but also makes your moisturizer sink in your skin deeper and more easily.
For your body I’d recommend using a sugar scrub because these are less harsh to the skin and are (in my opinion) nicer to use. For my face I use the Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator  (after my cleanser) and I LOVE it because it’s a very light, creamy scrub that doesn’t feel harsh at all.



3)      Stay away from the superhot baths
I know, it is SO tempting to climb into the bathtub and soak in it for a few hours after a long, cold day but intense heat is not gonna do your skin any good, au contraire. The heat might make your skin crack and feel itchy. Ofcourse you don’t have to take cold showers but just a normal, warm temperature should be fine.

4)      Don’t forget the lips
I’m not the type of girl that pays much attention to her lips, but recently they have just been chapped almost constantly so I invested in some quality lipbalm. Unfortunately, I thought that I just had to apply the lipbalm until my lips were healed again but with this cold weather that just doesn’t work and my lips got chapped AGAIN. So now I have added lipbalm to my daily skincare routine and as for now my lips seem fine. Same as with the moisturizer it is important to find a good oil-based lipbalm, that will create a protective layer on your lips.

5)      Eat your way to a healthy skin
As important it is to use the right skincare, all those creams and scrubs just ain’t gonna work if your eating habits are bad. Fill up your grocery basket with foods full of healthy monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, olive oil, flax, sardines and avocados.  Your skin will thank you. (source: http://greatist.com/health/healthy-winter-skin-hair)

I hope these tips help you, and let me know what you do to keep your skin bright and glowing during wintertime!

Lots of love,
LFR





dinsdag 2 december 2014

The Blogger Christmas Tag

Heyhey lovelies!

So I've been seeing lots and lots of bloggers doing The Christmas Tag lately, and I have never done anything like this before so I decided to join in. I'm in my dinosaur onesie, I've got my vanilla candle burning, my Minnie Mouse cherry pit pillow at my feet and a berry smoothie by my side, all ready for this! Hope you enjoy!

1) What is/are your favourite Christmas movie(s)?
I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas movies, so I don't really have an answer to this question. What I can say however is that one of our biggest tv channels here in Belgium always shows one of the Astérix & Obélix movies on Christmas Eve, and it has become some sort of tradition to watch it together with my family. I absolutely adooore these movies, they are so funny and the French cast is just incredible. My favourite is probably Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cléopatre because of the funniest scene EVER with one of my all time favourite actors Jamel Debbouze. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I recommend to watch it on Christmas Eve with your family! Lots of laughter guaranteed.

2) Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
ALWAYS on Christmas Eve. And if it were up to me, all presents would've been opened before dinner was finished. I'm just always wayyy too excited to wait! Not only for the presents I get, but to see the look on my family's face when they open their presents I gave them! So much looove in the room, I'm addicted to that atmosphere.

3) Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
Okay, it's not technically a Christmas memory, but I have one memory of me and my sister watching a movie together and decorating the Christmas tree after our last exam before the Christmas Holidays. I don't remember which movie it was but I think I was around 16 years old and she 14 years old. I don't know why, but this is something I never forgot. It was a fun sister moment :)

4) Favourite festive food?
Anything my mom makes. She's the best cook ever and every year she slaves away in the kitchen to make us something super nice for Christmas Eve. I am so grateful for having such an amazing mom.. *cheesy alert*

5) Favourite Christmas gift?
As much as I love beauty or clothing presents, I always prefer the ones that my sister makes herself. Those could be a photo holder out of cardboard or a coupon for 10 nail painting sessions (because I'm rubbish at it). Those gifts are just more special to me!

6) Favourite Christmas scent?
Cookies baking in the oven.. hmmmm.

7) Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
As I said before, watching an Astérix & Obélix movie together has become a Christmas Eve tradition. Another tradition we have is me and my sister making some little toasts as fingerfood. Don't know why, but we do it together every year.

8) What tops your tree?
Most of the time: absolutely nothing :p We have a fake (but beautiful) Christmas tree that we use every year and the top is too weak to hold a star or a heavy ornament. Sometimes we hang a big red bow on it, though.

9) As a kid, what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?
In Belgium, giving each other presents on Christmas Eve is not that big of a thing. In my family we only started that tradition a few years ago. Here we do have Sinterklaas (the Belgian/Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus) who comes down the chimney the night from 5 to 6 December and leaves presents for the kids. The night before, all kids place their shoes at the Chimney with a carrot in it for Sinterklaas' horse Slechtweervandaag (literal translation: bad weather today) and his buddy Zwarte Piet.
One gift I really really really wanted but never got from Sinterklaas was a Baby Born or Anne Geddes doll. Too bad :p

10) What's the best part about Christmas for you?
The loving atmosphere in the house and seeing everyone happy. And the food. Always the food.

I tag the following bloggers to do this post:

Silke over at A Life Lounge
Ana Célia Wanderley over at Oh My Louboutin
Theodora Hinds over at Island MYST
Vicky Xialina over at LifestylebyVix
Everyone else who would like to take part in it!



Lots of love,
LFR