How to make your own Lipstick!

 Today I'm going to show you how to make your own lipbalm. There are so much ingredients in lipbalm we buy in stores that we will never know the meaning of. And if that doesn't bother you, it's always fun to make it yourself as well.

We will work with all natural ingredients here, such as:

- Cacaobutter, with many unsaturated fats and has a nourishing effect.

- Jojoba oil, to keep our lips silky smooth.

- Shea butter to keep our lips soft.

- Beewax, to protect our lips.

We see all sorts of tutorials on our world wide web from people who make their own lipstick with Vaseline, eyeshadow and even crayons. But those aren't natural ingedrients and it's better to do it the healthiest way possible, since we're not making lipstick every day.

So what do we need exactly?

* 1 tablespoon of beeswax (you can find it in hobby-stores or at an organic store. They also use beeswax to make candles)

* 1/2 tablespoon cacaobutter or sheabutter (you can also find them at organic stores)

* 4 tablespoons of almond oil (this contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and E. You can find it in a grocery store or at organic stores and it's also perfect as a massage oil!)

* max. 1 tablespoon honey (it's not necessary but it gives the lipstick a sweet taste)

* If you want a certain scent, you can always put in a drop of essential oils.

* We also need containers to put in our lipstick. You can find them in home depots, grocery stores or Ebay.

How to make it?

We first put the tablespoon of beeswax and the cacaobutter in a heat resistant bowl.Then we add the 4 tablespoons of almond oil and if wanted, the honey (for a sweeter taste). Put the heat resistant bowl in a pot of water and heat it up until the ingredients become liquid. Then take the bowl out of the water and if you like some colour, you can add some by putting pigment in it or maybe some essential oils for a certain scent.

Then you can put the liquid substance into the containers and wait for it to cool off.

Now it's ready to use!

Hope you enjoyed it!!

Love

♡

Book and Movie Review: Safe Haven

I must say that I've seen the movie several times (if not more than ten times) and since a couple of hours ago, I also finished the book. I must tell you that both the movie and the book kept me interested and they both got me drawn into the story. But if I had to choose, I'd pick the book because the book let us know more about the characters, gives us more details about what they think, how they are, what drives them into the things they do and somehow, Nicholas Sparks makes it possible to see the story in every perspective possible. He makes you look through every character's eyes.

I have to admit that the story in the book is different than the story on screen. There are moments in the book, that I thought would look nice in the movie, too. But I completely understand why they didn't put those moments in the film, it was already pretty hard to understand. But I can imagine that it's easier to write about the characters on paper, what they think and how they are, than to put it on screen, because then you actually see them, and there's no such thing as imagination anymore.

I enjoyed the book from the beginning until the end and I'm actually pretty sad that I finished it. I think at some moment in life, I will re-read it. That's how much I loved it!

Let me just tell you what the story is all about:

So Katie is a young woman who's on the run. She passes a small town, Southport, where she decides to stay. She meets the local shop-owner and widower, Alex and his two lovely children. 

In the beginning it's all hard and she's still fighting with her feelings about running away and not feeling safe, also she has to survive with the little that she has and she also needs a place to stay, a job, food, etc..

Katie gets closer to Alex, they're bonding, still she can't let go of the past, it still haunts her and at one moment it seems that it's catching up with her.

The story is superexciting, with a theme about the strength of women in general, of abuse and starting over. We should all think about the courage of this young woman (and there are many others on this planet) when we have a bad day, or maybe a worse day. We should believe in the fact that we can change all of it, that we just have to take a step in the right direction and start to believe in a better day. We have to believe that faith lays in our own hands and whenever you feel impossible to go through with your life, you have to know that you can just start over! We, as a woman, as an individual, have the right to defend us against abuse, insult, society! Both the book and the movie let these topics come forward!

About the movie, I can tell you that I was prejudiced by the fact that it is a movie based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks. And then the cast (hello, Josh Duhamel)!! After being Fergie's husband for all those years, he finally gets the chance to stand out on his own, next to the gorgeous Julianne Hough, in this amazing movie! Also, the always humourous Cobie Smulders, known from the series "How I met your mother", now shows her most vulnerable side. I would recommend both the movie as the book, but if you decide to do both, I would start with the movie and then read the book!

I bought the book for €15 (I know it still has the price on it *oops*) on the bottom shelf next to (2?) other Nicholas Sparks books, they should be sooo ashamed! But then at least I saw the book, bought it immediately and I couldn't care less about what the rest of the day would bring. I knew I had a long way to go to the car and it was raining outside but my day was just perfect ever since I found this book!

I will just leave this trailer behind so you would know what to expect:

Enjoy the book, the movie, or both! Let me know what you think!

Love,

♡

Wishlist: Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs

I need this SO SO bad!! Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs will be the scent this summer! This eau de toilette is now on my wishlist and will be on my make-up table by summer! I just got to have this. It's fruity, fresh, sparkling, young. It reminds me of a walk in a field filled with daisies (that's probably why they named it "Daisy"). I already wore it once, had the honor to smell it for a while until it was gone.. And I didn't bring the bottle home because.. I thought I would pass the store again when I went home, but I haven't so I feel really stupid right now and I still want to have the perfume! So that'll be the first thing I'll buy next time I go to the city. Until then, I'll just dream about walking into my field filled with daisies and be happy without the scent on my body.

 Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Eau de Toilette: €73,35 (Ici Paris Xl)

We all dream so much about summer, don't we? I will get really sad when the weather will be bad again. I hope it just stays sunny so that I'll be able to write about things linked to summer and good weather, flowers and happy stuff. Not that I won't write happy things when it rains or anything.. But anyhow. Is there anyone out there who owns Marc Jabos' precious Daisy? Because you're a lucky one!
Let me know what you think!

♡

Wednesday's Outfit: Emmy rossum's sweetness

This is the outfit that makes me want to run to the nearest candy store and just buy it all! She looks so adorable! Emmy went out in Los Angeles looking like an angel in Tanya Taylor's striped sweater, wearing a Ralph Lauren bag and a Rebecca Taylor lace skirt!Look how cool it is that it's a bit seen-through.
I'm totally in love with the bag, though! It looks a bit like the Cèline bag. I would personally, prefer a bit more cat-eyed sunglasses instead of those. But that's my opinion of course..
Pay attention to how she makes it even more girly by wearing floral-printed ballerina's.
I can't take all this sweetness, it gives me an instant summer vibe and I don't know if I'm ready yet! But I would totally wear it if it were in my closet. Pastels are such a go-go this summer and I will follow this trend for sure! There's no doubt about it, I just like the fact that I look sweet. Now we have to find a matching perfume. Maybe I'll tell you in my next blog post? What do you guys think about this outfit?
See you all later!!

Sun, beach and palmtrees

Oh wow, how I'm dreaming about summer again. It's Winter, I know, and I'm enjoying every day of it. But the sun in my hair, the glow on my skin, it just makes me dream about a summerday on the beach.

I know it's not for everyone, being in a foreign country on a wonderful beach, tanning. But it might not even be for me either. I wish I could go to all the cities in the world, watching the sunset every day on a different place. I know I can't, because let's realize it; we all have to work our asses off to get there! We have to work and be totally stressed out if we want our vacation we dreamt of for the past 2 years.
There must be something wrong, isn't it? We're built to go places, to travel and to be around the world 24/7. Ages ago, people didn't stay on one place, being sure that they still have their jobs at the end of every day, that their wife/husband will be still theirs and if you bring home enough money, the chances that their wife or husband will stay increases with, what, 30% maybe?

Society made us who we are today, just victims of politics, economics, people. Not being able to travel to anywhere we want, being happy with anything we want. Not being able to have everything there is.
I just want to be happy, to be honest. And even that's too much to ask for.
Last year, I didn't have a job, or a boyfriend. I had friends, fun, no money for expensive things but still a good time! Now, I seem to have it all, but I'm actually quite unhappy. Material things don't seem to make people happy. Real things are; love, friendship, trust. Don't get me wrong though, we all love material things, but it doesn't have to possess us.
Let's just all find peace, inner peace, at least. And let that be my resolution for the next year!

Greetings

xoxo

Meet Tao Okamoto

Tao Okamoto

Tao Okamoto is probably our next most popular model in town. She's already seen all over the internet and seems to make everyone love her with her Asian looks, her kind-of-grunge-style and her length of 1.77m.

Tao is born in Chiba, Japan on may 22th 1985 (which means she's now 28!! I mean, look at her!). She started her modelling carreer when she was only 14 years old. Tao made her international carreer moving right after she moved to Paris in 2006. She was seen on the runways of these huge designers: Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors,..

She moved to New York only three years later, where she was the face of various campaigns for Kenzo, Dolce and Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and Emperio Armani.

She's still working as a model and she's able te make people love her with just one look. She looks sweet, and she also is. She was part of a group who raised funds to help the people in Japan who were victims of the earthquake and Tsunami in 2011.

Also, she's seen in the movie Wolverine, next to Huge Jackman, so she's also working on her carreer as an actress.

Being so ambitious, and working her ass off to get where she is now, make me want to be like her. Tao made her dreams come true and she's now able to help other people, and she also does help them.

Sometimes having dreams, wanting to be something, be someone, and seeing someone like Tao, makes you realize it's all possible if you just believe you can!

Writing this, knowing her a bit better, makes me realize that I must do everything to make my dreams come true. There's no other way I would want to live my life, just living my dream. But don't forget, it takes risks, it takes hard work to achieve it, it takes hurt, pain, sweat and tears to realizing your dreams. But in the end, it will be so worth it.

So thank you, Tao, for just making my day today and show us what a wonderful, powerful woman you are!

Have a nice day

Xoxo

Lip Stain

Forget about shiny and ultra glossy, it's all about the lip stain this season!
It actually reminds me of a girl who's been stealing some cherries, or maybe a vampire movie starring Snow White.
Try the bitten vampire-look, the most popular one during Fashion Week. Make sure that you put on some foundation (or consealer) first, then put on some darker shade of lipstick and put it in de middle of your lips.
Try NYC, Smooch Proof Lip Stain.

Want something more? Try to put on a shade of lipstick on your lips and then put on some extra in the middle. This will make it look darker and intense. Just perfect this fall.

Maybe you're more into chopsticks and sweetness, then you'd be happier with Elf's Lip Stain. It's very girly and it makes your make up look sweet and subtle. It also has a glossy side on it, if you would like to make your make up even more girlier.

Enjoy the week end! Don't forget to look nice and be happy!

xoxo