Hello and merry christmas!
A lot of people all over the world celebrate christmas, but every country, region, family, has their own traditions. I wanted to share with you how my family does it for over 20 years now. Most of it is very typical for Germany.
The real christmas for me starts on 23rd in the evening. At that time my family and I put the tree up and my mom puts the lights on it. We always go for a real one, just because the fake ones are so... fake ;), and no, we don't have it up all through december like the americans do. We also do not decorate it. That does the Christkind. The Christkind (word to word translation: christ child) is something in between a child and an angel, and is the one that brings the presents. But that is everything we know. We don't have a story about northpoles and reindeers and stuff like that, we just "know" it exists. So when the kinds are in bed it comes to the house, decorates the tree and puts the presents under the it.
During the whole day of the 24th, the living room, so the room where the christmas tree is, is locked. That is so the Christkind has time enough to prepare everything for the evening, and to make the kids more excited about it.
In the evening we always go to church. I would not consider myself as being a very religious person, but I do love the festivness of it on that evening. Afterwards, when we come home, me and my sister go upstairs in our rooms and wait for the bell. The parents open the living room and see, if the Christkind was there, and talk with it about... well, I don't know, I never took part in it ;) . Then, they also light all the candles and things like that, and during all of that the ring with a little bell two times. Once they are finished they ring one final time, and that is the sign for us kids that the Christkind is gone, and we can now finally go downstairs and see the tree.
Now comes the fun part. We get to open our presents. Yes, on christmas eve. In most countrys you wait till the 25th, christmas morning, but in Germany the actual celebration day is 24th in the evening. So we get to open our presents, children first, then the parents, afterwards we have a lovely dinner and then we hang around, read manuals of presents or have a first look into our new books, we eat a lot of chocolate and then go to bed.
25th and 26th are public holidays as well, and are still christmas celebration days. Normally on one of the days we go and visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, but the rest of the time we just spend together, eating a lot of good food, and having a good time.
I hope you all had a wonderful, festive christmas with all the ones you love, just as I had. I probably will be back with a post about what I got for christmas in a few days. See you then!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Lush Magic Mushroom
To start with, I am definately someone who takes baths regularly. Regularly once a year, right before christmas. The rest of the year I am a bit to lazy for waiting till the tub fills up and then I sit in there and I am bored. In addition I am quite tall, so I can either be in the water with my top, my bottom, my left, or my right half. The rest is cold. Not the ideal situation...
Also, I basically never shop in Lush. Just twice. The first time I bought a present for a friend and the second time I bought the Magic Mushroom bubblebath for myself. Because if I take baths, I want bubbles. Lots of them. I want to be Pretty Woman, covered in white softness. And as everyone always raves about Lush stuff I thought I give it a go. I used one half of it a few days after and was not impressed to say the least. That was two years ago. And an hour ago, I decided that it was time for the second half, just in case I change my opinion, and just to use it up (I just realised that it probably went off during that time, but I feel good, no itching skin or anything ;) ).
1. It made the water red. I actually liked that. A bit gimmiky, but hey, the whole idea of a bubblebath is gimmiky ;)
2. It made the water soft and moistruizing. Normally, after I take a bath or a shower, I really need to put moistruiser on my skin because it feels so dry. Today I just used a little bit on the driest parts, my legs for example where completely fine!
3. Bubbles. Let's talk bubbles. It is supposed to make a whole lot of them, and they are the only reason why I spend money on a Lush product (btw, I can't remember the price, sorry). Where there bubbles? Yes. Where there more bubbles as if I had used shower gel? No. Very very disappointing.
4. Lastly, because I know others care, it is supposed to smell like vanilla and strawberrys. I did not recognised those scents, but I don't really care for scents anyways. However, I didn't notice a particuarly bad scent ;).
As far as I know this was limited edition. But even if not, I would not repurchase. Even more, I am a bit sceptical, if I will ever buy Lush products again (bath products at least). I think if you are just looking for something that makes a huge amount of bubbles there are a lot of cheaper alternatives around. But as it is a whole year till next bath time, who knows what happened till then...
Thursday, December 13, 2012
German Drugstore Must haves
If you are anything like me, one of the most important things when traveling to another country is shopping for make up and skincare products that are not available in your country or just are a lot cheaper there than where you live.
Just in case someone comes to Germany: here is what you need to know!
Where to shop:
For drugstore products you want to look out for "dm", "Rossmann", or "Müller". All of them have a slightly different selection, but most things are sold in all of them.
For high-end makeup and perfume you want a "Parfümerie". The most common one is "Douglas", but there are smaller ones as well, most of them will have the word "Parfümerie" in their name.
Beauty stuff, high and low end, is also sold in some departement stores. Find "Karstadt" or "Galeria Kaufhof".
General information:
Germany is not the cheapest place to buy beauty. Especially when you are from the US or UK it is not worth looking for high end makeup or even things like Maybelline, L'Oreal etc. We also normally have a smaller colour selection. I suggest that you stay with the Germany-only brands. If you are from somewhere else in the world, it may be worth comparing the prices before you go. Anyways, I am going to concentrate on brands and products that are basically just sold here.
What to buy:
First of, the mustest have of all must haves: essence studio nails better than gel nails top sealer. Long name but THE best topcoat of all time. I never tried Seche Vite, but from what people say about it, this is probably a great dupe for it for just the tiniest fraction of the price. A quite gloopy, thick formula, super glossy, dries very quick and makes your polish last for up to seven days on me!
More from essence: Multi Action Mascara. This is one of my all time favourites and a best seller here!
The colour & go nail polishes are nice as well. Especially if you like girly colours... Lastly: the Smokey Eyes Brush. Basically a relatively big pencil brush with purple bristles. Very soft and perfect for blending out liner or shadow along your lashline.
One of my most favourite brands in the german drugstore is Catrice. Their eyeshadows are super pigmented and soft (there may be even some dupes...). The nailpolishes have a great quality and a very nice colour selection, for just 2,50€! I also really like the Lashes to Kill Mascara. The Defining Blushes have two shades, so you can do exactly this, define your cheeks (check out 030 Love and Peach!).
Next up: Alverde (dm only!). Best product is definately the Powder Blush in Apricot. Has a nice sculpting effect without beeing too brown, and not too much pigmentation so it is basically impossible to overblush. This is one of the very very few blushes that I actually hit pan on. Their eyeshadow quads are great as well, I use the brownish one a lot (Chocolate), and definately want to buy the Fairy Forest one the next time I'm there! The colours are pigmented enough to show up and look good with not too much effort, but not so pigmented they are hard to work with.
If you are looking for a good eyeshadow base, check out Manhattan. It has a bit of a weird texture, but I found it to be nearly as good as UDPP. Their Powder Rouges are very nice as well. What I love about them, is that they look more or less matt on your skin, but have the tiniest amount of shimmer in them to make them extremely flattering and more natural than a pure matt.
That is it for now. Hope it helped someone!
Note: I was not sure if I am allowed to put pictures of the differnet stores and products here. If you want to know how everything looks like so you know what to look out for, just google it! :)
Just in case someone comes to Germany: here is what you need to know!
Where to shop:
For drugstore products you want to look out for "dm", "Rossmann", or "Müller". All of them have a slightly different selection, but most things are sold in all of them.
For high-end makeup and perfume you want a "Parfümerie". The most common one is "Douglas", but there are smaller ones as well, most of them will have the word "Parfümerie" in their name.
Beauty stuff, high and low end, is also sold in some departement stores. Find "Karstadt" or "Galeria Kaufhof".
General information:
Germany is not the cheapest place to buy beauty. Especially when you are from the US or UK it is not worth looking for high end makeup or even things like Maybelline, L'Oreal etc. We also normally have a smaller colour selection. I suggest that you stay with the Germany-only brands. If you are from somewhere else in the world, it may be worth comparing the prices before you go. Anyways, I am going to concentrate on brands and products that are basically just sold here.
What to buy:
First of, the mustest have of all must haves: essence studio nails better than gel nails top sealer. Long name but THE best topcoat of all time. I never tried Seche Vite, but from what people say about it, this is probably a great dupe for it for just the tiniest fraction of the price. A quite gloopy, thick formula, super glossy, dries very quick and makes your polish last for up to seven days on me!
More from essence: Multi Action Mascara. This is one of my all time favourites and a best seller here!
The colour & go nail polishes are nice as well. Especially if you like girly colours... Lastly: the Smokey Eyes Brush. Basically a relatively big pencil brush with purple bristles. Very soft and perfect for blending out liner or shadow along your lashline.
One of my most favourite brands in the german drugstore is Catrice. Their eyeshadows are super pigmented and soft (there may be even some dupes...). The nailpolishes have a great quality and a very nice colour selection, for just 2,50€! I also really like the Lashes to Kill Mascara. The Defining Blushes have two shades, so you can do exactly this, define your cheeks (check out 030 Love and Peach!).
Next up: Alverde (dm only!). Best product is definately the Powder Blush in Apricot. Has a nice sculpting effect without beeing too brown, and not too much pigmentation so it is basically impossible to overblush. This is one of the very very few blushes that I actually hit pan on. Their eyeshadow quads are great as well, I use the brownish one a lot (Chocolate), and definately want to buy the Fairy Forest one the next time I'm there! The colours are pigmented enough to show up and look good with not too much effort, but not so pigmented they are hard to work with.
If you are looking for a good eyeshadow base, check out Manhattan. It has a bit of a weird texture, but I found it to be nearly as good as UDPP. Their Powder Rouges are very nice as well. What I love about them, is that they look more or less matt on your skin, but have the tiniest amount of shimmer in them to make them extremely flattering and more natural than a pure matt.
That is it for now. Hope it helped someone!
Note: I was not sure if I am allowed to put pictures of the differnet stores and products here. If you want to know how everything looks like so you know what to look out for, just google it! :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The foundation problem
Problem No.1: I am so pale!
At the beginning of this year and did the splurge and purchased a Bobbi Brown foundation in Porcelain which is really light. Now, this one is already too dark for me, and winter has just started! You see the problem?
Most brands just carry make up for the big majority of skintones. But if you are lighter than that (or darker I suppose) you really get a problem. The border is around MAC NC/NW 20 for (german) drugstore makeup, and NC/NW 15 for higher end. I mentioned Bobbi Brown Porcelain above. This actually is about an NC/NW 10. BB used to do an even lighter shade, Alabaster, which would probably be perfect for me at the moment, but they discontinued it.
There still are a few brands that do sell very fair foundation shades. The Nars ones seems to go pretty light, Illamasqua as well, then there is Dainty Doll (the whole line is actually designed for very pale people). The problem here is that you can't get those brands here in germany. And with foundation, especially in this price range, I like to test it out before I buy it, just to make sure I really like it and to make sure it is the right colour. Pale-wise and undertone-wise...
Problem No.2: Undertones??
It sounds easy. You either have a pink skin untertone, then you are cool-toned, or you have a yellow undertone, then you are warm. More or less professional people said I have a pink undertone and therefore am cold. However, I found that I like foundations better, that are slightly more on the yellow side, just because I tend to have a lot of redness in my face and the yellowness counteracts that. Now that I really have a hard time finding a matching foundation I googled a bit (as you do) and found, that some of the very palest of palest beautys found their skin not to have a yellow or pink undertone, but a blueish one! Now, to clear that up, I am very pale, but not superdupersnowwhite pale. But when people matched me to a pink undertone it was spring or summer and I was not as pale.
The solution?
The one thing that I have that is light enough is the Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 13. However, after a few hours it looks a bit pink. Not so much you could tell from a distance, but enough to bother me. Which is weird as BB Creams generally have a very greyish undertone. Also, I am really into high coverage foundations at the moment. And even though this one has amazing coverage for a BB Cream, it is not quite what I am looking for.
Something a little bit different that I purchased lately is the Barry M Foundation Creme in White. You do not want to use this on its own, no matter how fair you are, you are supposed to mix it with foundations that are to dark to lighten them up. And as the Bobbi Brown Porcelain seems to have the perfect undertone I think mixing those two could actually work (but I have not tried that yet).
Concealer: I use the MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW 15 on and around my nose (rudolph!). Even though it is darker than my skin it seems to work. For undereye I really like to use the Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer in the lightest shade, it gives coverage but is also illuminating! The Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 1 is also light enough.
I actually really like being pale, at least in the winter time. I like how it looks against the darker colours in clothing and lips and my relatively dark hair.However, the hassle that comes with it is just annoying. And I am definately not the only one that struggels to find fair shades, so I do not understand why there is not more available for us. I am looking forward to go to UK or US the next time to pick up a good foundation that matches, I heard lots of good things about Nars Sheer Glow and Laura Mercier Silk Creme!
At the beginning of this year and did the splurge and purchased a Bobbi Brown foundation in Porcelain which is really light. Now, this one is already too dark for me, and winter has just started! You see the problem?
Most brands just carry make up for the big majority of skintones. But if you are lighter than that (or darker I suppose) you really get a problem. The border is around MAC NC/NW 20 for (german) drugstore makeup, and NC/NW 15 for higher end. I mentioned Bobbi Brown Porcelain above. This actually is about an NC/NW 10. BB used to do an even lighter shade, Alabaster, which would probably be perfect for me at the moment, but they discontinued it.
There still are a few brands that do sell very fair foundation shades. The Nars ones seems to go pretty light, Illamasqua as well, then there is Dainty Doll (the whole line is actually designed for very pale people). The problem here is that you can't get those brands here in germany. And with foundation, especially in this price range, I like to test it out before I buy it, just to make sure I really like it and to make sure it is the right colour. Pale-wise and undertone-wise...
Problem No.2: Undertones??
It sounds easy. You either have a pink skin untertone, then you are cool-toned, or you have a yellow undertone, then you are warm. More or less professional people said I have a pink undertone and therefore am cold. However, I found that I like foundations better, that are slightly more on the yellow side, just because I tend to have a lot of redness in my face and the yellowness counteracts that. Now that I really have a hard time finding a matching foundation I googled a bit (as you do) and found, that some of the very palest of palest beautys found their skin not to have a yellow or pink undertone, but a blueish one! Now, to clear that up, I am very pale, but not superdupersnowwhite pale. But when people matched me to a pink undertone it was spring or summer and I was not as pale.
The solution?
The one thing that I have that is light enough is the Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 13. However, after a few hours it looks a bit pink. Not so much you could tell from a distance, but enough to bother me. Which is weird as BB Creams generally have a very greyish undertone. Also, I am really into high coverage foundations at the moment. And even though this one has amazing coverage for a BB Cream, it is not quite what I am looking for.
Something a little bit different that I purchased lately is the Barry M Foundation Creme in White. You do not want to use this on its own, no matter how fair you are, you are supposed to mix it with foundations that are to dark to lighten them up. And as the Bobbi Brown Porcelain seems to have the perfect undertone I think mixing those two could actually work (but I have not tried that yet).
Concealer: I use the MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW 15 on and around my nose (rudolph!). Even though it is darker than my skin it seems to work. For undereye I really like to use the Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer in the lightest shade, it gives coverage but is also illuminating! The Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 1 is also light enough.
I actually really like being pale, at least in the winter time. I like how it looks against the darker colours in clothing and lips and my relatively dark hair.However, the hassle that comes with it is just annoying. And I am definately not the only one that struggels to find fair shades, so I do not understand why there is not more available for us. I am looking forward to go to UK or US the next time to pick up a good foundation that matches, I heard lots of good things about Nars Sheer Glow and Laura Mercier Silk Creme!
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