Review: The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream

 I recently came across this moisturizer while browsing my local branch of The Body Shop. I had been looking for a decent, not too expensive day cream to add to my skincare routine but was somewhat disappointed by most of the ones available in German drugstores.
My skin is more on the oily side with the odd dry patch, mainly on my cheeks, and it is quite blemish prone on top of that. (Well thanks for that..)
When I had a look at some drugstore products I was surprised how few products there are for my skin type.
Most moisturizers were either for dry skin, "normal" skin or suitable for all skin types (which I kind of doubt).

Obviously I haven't tried all drugstore moisturizers but the ones I have tried either were way to greasy, broke my skin out grrrrr....or didn't seem to do anything (neither for my oily nor my dry areas).

So by the time I came across the Seaweed line in The Body Shop I was already a bit desperate.

To cut a long story short, I picked the Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream up and after using it for some time now I can say that I really like it. The first thing I noticed was the very fresh and pleasant smell, which isn't always a given with face products. The product itself is more of a gel rather than a proper cream consistency which I like because it is not too heavy  and sinks in very nicely into my skin.

According to the packaging it "moisturises dry areas and controls excess sebum and shine" and I definitely think it does just that. I have to say though that I haven't tried it in winter yet when my dry areas are particularly dry, so I don't know whether it would be quite enough for my skin then, but for now I'm very happy that I bought it and I'm always looking forward to using it in the morning. :-)

Another great thing about it is that I only need to use the tiniest amount of it to cover my entire face which  makes up for the price of 14 € for 50ml. I'm sure it'll last me quite some time.

So there you go..my final verdict is that this moisturizer ticks all the boxes for me and I can't see myself falling out of love with it any time soon.

Have a great day xx

I'm back...and a walk in the park

Wow so I really haven't posted anything on this blog for almost a year have I ? I kind of got out of the whole blogging loop before I actually was properly in it but I guess that's what happens when life gets in the way.

Anyway, I want to start posting on a regular basis now and I thought I share a few nice pictures I took when I had a walk in the park several days ago for a start. :-)

 

I had a really nice afternoon in the sunshine that finally arrived in Germany and had a little stroll in the botanical gardens. There were not too many people about so it was nice and quiet and I got the chance to test my camera  as well as my non existent photography skills. I'm quite happy with how the pictures turned out so maybe not all hope is lost with me lol ;-)

Well anyway, enough for now. Have a great day :-)

My favourite Spring and Summer Nailpolishes 2012

I know this might be a bit late but the weather has been sooo rainy and grey that it didn't feel like summer at all. Today though it's been a gorgeous, sunny and quite hot day so I thought I'll get my nailpolishes out and get some colour on my nails :-)

The nailpolishes I'm about to show you are all drugstore products and were each less than 2 Euros. Unfortunately my camera doesn't always do the colours justice but anyway, here they are.

The first two polishes are from P2, a very affordable drugstore brand here in Germany.

P2 Color Victim No 043: Dream Lover:

A gorgeous pastel yellow whith a cream finish. I really liked that colour when I first saw it in the shop because it's just so summery. Unfortunately it doesn't provide the best coverage and several coats are needed to make it look at least a bit like what it looks like in the bottle.

P2 Color Victim No 590: Who cares?

I like this mint green because it looks kind of "retro" in my opinion and because it resembles Essies Mint Candy Apple a bit. It's easy to work with and provides very good coverage with only one coat. I find this a bit odd to be honest since it's the same brand as the yellow one, but then again they are very different colours so the difference in quality might not be that surprising.

Those two are from a brand called "essence" which is a European brand that is available in all sorts of countries such as Germany, Austria, Russia, Poland, France, Irland....only to mention a few.

Both colours are from their "Show your feet" range which offers all sorts of different foot care products and nailpolishes which are meant to be more longlasting than others and therefore particularly well suited for your toe nails (but that doesn't keep me from using them for my hands aswell ;-)).

Essence Show your feet No 15: Flamingo Rose:

A very trendy peachy-pink colour that applies very well and is very opaque with just one coat.

Essence Show your feet No 16: Miss Lavender:

I really like this colour because I loooove lavender and I think it is a very "lady-like" colour that looks a bit old fashioned aswell (but in a good way). It also has great coverage.

Next are those two bright pink colours. 

No 260: Drama:

This hot pink is a real eye catcher and looks great on the toe nails. Its very opaque and even brighter than it looks in the bottle.

Barry M: No279 Bright Pink:

This was my first Barry M nailpolish.They are not available in Germany so I bought it on one of my numerous trips to England. It's not quite as bright as the other one.It's and more of a bubble gum pink but it's just as gorgeous.

These last two polishes are unfortunately not available anymore because the orange one was from MNY ( a sister brand of Maybelline) which isn't for sale anymore in Germany, and the red one was from a Limited Edition last year. Nevertheless I like them both and thought I'll include them anyway. :D

MNY: No 205a:

I really liked this orangy colour because it has a bit of a golden shimmer in it and reminds me of a sunset.

What I don't like is its coverage.It is quite difficult to build a certain level of opacity with it which makes this polish a bit too hard to work with I think.

P2 Sun City LE: No 040 Fifth Avenue:

Last but not least is this gorgeous red colour. What I like most about it is its golden shimmer, which looks particularly nice with tanned skin, which makes it ideal for summer.

So these were my top 8 nailpolishes for this Spring and Summer. Have a great day :-)

John Frieda Full Repair Conditioner

 

Recently I've been looking for a new conditioner because I ran out of the one I've been using and felt that I wanted to try something new.

My hair is quite thin and long but damaged at the same time since I've been dyeing it regularly for several years now.

It's very knotty aswell after it's been washed so I need a good conditioner to detangle it without damaging it too much. I had seen John Frieda's new range in the shops for some time but only when Fleur de Force reviewed it on her blog, did I decide to buy it.

Her hair is just beautiful. It's long, thick and shiny and I really like it. I'm aware though that just by using the same product that she uses I won't automatically get such nice and full hair as she's got because her hair structure is probably very different from mine. But I trust her opinion quite a bit, so I thought I'll give it a try.

And so far I don't regret my choice.

The John Frieda Full Repair range is meant for damaged hair just like mine. It's supposed to smoothen and repair the hair, as well as give it more volume.

The conditioner has a rather thick texture and smells very nice and fruity. Whenever I use it I only need to apply a small amount to the "ponytail area" of my hair which makes the tube quite longlasting.

It leaves my hair smooth and soft and it doesn't weigh it down one bit, which I LOVE.  :D

I really really like this product and will definitely repurchase it.

Alessandro Hands up! Cream Rich Handcream

A few days ago my sister gave me a voucher for "Alessandro", which is a chain of nail salons here in Germany (and I think in a few other countries as well).
They offer all sorts of beauty related services like manicures, pedicures, hand massages and so on as well as handcreams, nailpolishes and beauty treatments.
The voucher came in quite handy as I had tried a great handcream out of their product range before but hesitated to buy it due to to its frankly horrendous price.

So I was more than happy to finally be able to purchase it without feeling like I was completely ruining the balance on my bank account. ;-)

The "Hands up!" handcream range comprises several different cremes. The one I chose is, as the name suggests a very rich creme, for dry and demanding skin.
It is supposed to help prevent premature skin aging and brightens up pigmentation marks.

The tube contains 100ml and costs 19,95 € which I think is quite a lot for a handcream.

I mainly chose this particular one because I really like its sweet and kind of fruity scent and because it is incredibly moisturising without leaving an oily residue on the hands.
So basically it has all I expect from a good handcream. I definitely recommend it although I'm not too sure I will repurchase it  myself which is only because of its price.
Nevertheless I wouldnt hesitate to give it as a gift to a friend because it really is a high quality product.

Floral Spring Tops

A few weeks ago I went to Primark, one of my favourite shops for basics such as plain t-shirts, nightware, flip flops and even the odd piece of jewellery. Although I've been quite familiar with Primark because of numerous trips to England, it's fairly new in Germany and certainly not yet a shop to be found on every high street.

The problem I sometimes have with Primark is that the quality and sizing of their stuff fluctuates. Anyone who's shopped there has probably come across that aswell at some point.
Since the changing room queues are usually waaaay too long for an impatient person like me I tend to not try things on unless I really need to make sure that the size I picked actually fits me. I find this particularly difficult with trousers because there doesn't seem be to just one right size for me... Most other things like tops are easier to find in the right size even without having to try them on.

Anyway let's get to the actual topic of this post. I was on the "look out" for some cute spring-ish pieces and I was lucky and came across these two adorable floral tops. I had been looking for something like this for some time so these two beauties had to come home with me ;-)

Although they might look a bit shapeless and creased on the pictures they both fit very nicely and I love wearing them. Also the price was quite good which is always a plus (I love finding bargains). They were both something between 7-9 Euros as far as I remember.

 So all in all I'm very happy with my purchases and I hope to find more cute pieces like this for spring and summer.

Hello

Hey everyone

This is my new blog. Here I will share all the nice things that I come across in life. I'm a very happy person who tries to enjoy life as much as possible. I love travelling, cooking and baking, shopping, nature and all sorts of other things and they will be the subjects of this blog.

So let's get started!