do it yourself: apple cider vinegar toner

I mix 1/3 apple cider vinegar, a few drops of tea tree oil and a few lemon drops with all together with some water to dilute it. This is important, otherwise it will be to concentrated. Here are the alleged benefits of these ingredients:

Apple Cider Vinegar: Has antibacterial properties that help prevent skin infections. Also helps balancing your skins pH levels so that it won't be too oily or to dry. When you wash your face it's very easy to strip your skin of its natural oils - ACV helps balance the pH level again. Can also help dimish scar discoloration.

Tea Tree Oil: This has antiseptic properties that help treat blemishes and its antibacterial properties control the formation of new ones.

Lemon: Help dimish discoloration caused my scars. Also has antibacterial properties to help prevent further breakouts. Can also slightly brighten the skin to show off a more healthy complexion.

Keep in mind that your experience may differ simply because we all have different skin that reacts differently. This toner gives me a smoother all over look to my skin.

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BREAKFAST SCONES

A long lovely breakfast with homemade scones and fresh orange, carrot, ginger, lemon juice. I love to put everything on the table for breakfast and just eat, like a buffé.

2013/11/04

Hello world! Sitting here by the computer - listening to The End Of The World by Skeeter Davis on repeat. Thinking about those darn packages that couldn't arrive in time. My sister and I took advantage of E.l.f.s 50% offer last weekend and gosh darn it, it couldn't arrive in time. Last night my boyfriend and I took the train back to his apartment, now I'll have to wait weeks before getting my hands on my stuff which I dislike very much. Grr. I'm also waiting on my package from iHerb to arrive, wont be getting my hands on that either for a while.. Sucks. Anyways, I'm scooping the internet for inspiration on how to decorate the apartment because in about a day it's off to IKEA. Hurrah! I am also reading a bunch of reviews at the moment - about a brand called Juice Beauty. Dying to try out this brand. Seriously. Iwanttotryitbecausetheysoundsogoodandtheyareorganic. There are a bunch of products I would want to try, but they are a bit on the expensive side unfortunately, so I won't be able to try everything. I believe I will have to keep some of their products on this years christmas wishlist. Have you tried any of the Juice Beauty products - if so, what did you think?

APRICOT OIL

This litte thing came with my second iHerb order ever, in January this year. So I've had this for quite a while, still I have about 2/3 left in the bottle. Why apricot oil? This is what NOW Foods says about this product: "100% Pure Apricot Oil is a rejuvenating natural oil that's ideal for softening fine lines and restoring a healthy glow to skin. Rich in essential fatty acids, this gentle oil has excellent restorative properties that promote soft, radiant hair and helt to soothe irritated skin. Similar in structure and function to almond extracts, oils derived from apricot kernels will naturally nourish and moisturize your skin". Doesn't that sound good? 

Well at first when I got it I was unsure about what I was going to use it for - I'm a bit yes/no on putting a bunch of oil in my face. But when my skin feels really dry, I can always put some of this on and it will feel soft again. My main use for this is as an eye makeup remover, it works perfect. As most oils do, really. Since this is supposed to make fine lines appear softer it's great to use under the eyes. I always feel moisturized in the under eye area afterwards, when using this. You literally need the tiniest amount of this to remove eye makeup. It's natural, no need for fancy and expensive eye makeup removers. This costs $3.18, I've had it for almost a year and I still have about 2/3 left - awesome. 

Get up to $10 off your first iHerb order with this code: CJN164

2013/10/09

A walk around the city a few weeks ago.

COCONUT OIL

Yesterday my hair felt really dry and therefore I decided to try usig coconut oil in my hair as a conditioning mask. Coconut oil works as a perfect moisturizer for hair and skin. It's a natural product so it will probably be better for you than a bunch of market brand moisturizers that don't even moisturize enough and contain a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. This is 100% natural. Well, it worked great as a hair mask. I put some coconut oil throughout my hair and left it there for about an hour. It looks very greasy, but then you wash it with schampoo & conditioner and let it dry for a while. When my hair had dried it felt so soft, I was in love. I will have to make this more of a routine. Apparently this will also help you hair grow longer, so no cons here.

Do you use coconut oil?

LILY LOLO FOUNDATION & BLUSH REVIEW

A new found love of mine. The very lovely brand Lily Lolo. I have owned the full size mineral foundation once before, my shade is Blondie, and I liked it very much at that time as well. The reason why I didn't repurchase straight away was probably because I wanted to try other foundations at that time. But I got a little nostalgic and remembered how great it was when I was especially into giving mineral makeup another go. And I'm so glad I did, because I love the natural finish it gives me. I also decided to try a blush, the shade Clementine, which is a gorgeous color. It goes well with my green eyes *giggles*. Seriously, it's a pretty coral shade that really gives a luminous healthy color to my cheeks. I can't explain it, but it feels brighter and more colorful on my cheeks than other blushes that I've tried do, in a good way, definitely. Below you can see a picture of me without any makeup and a picture of me with the Lily Lolo foundation and Clementine blush. Hey there dry lips.

Before and after:

I think you can really see results in coverage - the skin look airbrushed in a natural way. It's like my skin but better, kinda. I don't have many problem areas when it comes to breakouts, but I occasionally get red spots and blemishes here and there. I felt it covered up the small red spots after buffing the product in my face and if I have blemishes that are a little harder to cover I take a small brush and dot it on the red spots that need extra coverage. If that doesn't do it and I want more coverage, I just use concealer first. But I can very easily use this foundation on its own - I love how it makes the skin look air-brushed. It's crazy good. I wouldn't recommend this to someone that has a lot of blemishes to cover - or well maybe I would, I'm not sure. It probably will take some work to get a full coverage. But at the same time maybe it will be better for your skin if you get a lot of breakouts. I believe this has made my skin breakout less in the last few days that I've used it, woohoo. What does it say about this foundation on their website? "Finely milled mineral foundation SPF 15 that buffs into the skin effortlessly, and allows custom coverage when applied in buildable layers. Made from natural ingredients to ensure the skin is kept clean and healthy, minimising breakouts and blemishes." I personally think it does all that. 

[Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation SPF 15 in Blondie, Lily Lolo Mineral Blush in Clementine, Maybelline Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara, NYX Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie]

What are your thoughts on the Lily Lolo brand?

MAKEUP ACADEMY MATTE FOUNDATION

I got this during a sale MUA had a while back and this has laying unused in my makeup bag until recently when I decided I have to start using my foundations. I have about four, five different foundations laying around not being used very much, so I decided I have to start using them if I want to buy any new foundation in the near future.

This blends really well into the skin and makes the skin look smooth and it also covers some red spots, but it probably wont cover everything. It has a bit of a matte finish if compared to other foundations, it's not as dewy. The shade Soft Sand suits my skin well at the moment, since it is becoming colder and my skin is getting brighter. This matches my skin very well but it does feel cakey - like a layer on the skin. Not very natural, but I have that feeling with most liquid foundations.

But I do use this as an everyday foundation because it evens out my skin to the amount that I am pleased with the result and covers some red marks and under eye circles. I personally like the BB foundation from MUA better though, because I think it gives a prettier finish. So it's next on the usng list.

Makeup Academy recently changed up their packaging and products - so I actually think this is on sale now for half the price. In their new range they have the Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation which I can only assume is a similar product. Overall I do enjoy using this foundation and the price is so great, you can't really complain.

WHAT I WASH MY FACE WITH..

Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Hemp Green Tea Castile Soap: I use this to wash of the makeup oft my skin every night. I recently decided to try and change up my overall skincare routine to try to incorporate more natural products. Dr. Bronner's soap was one of the products I wanted to try after first seeing it in a video on CloudyApples. It allegedly can be used in 18 different ways, I'll have to list them for you. It's a very versatile soap if I may say so. The soap is organic and it's a quite strong soap, it can make my face dry sometimes, but it definitely cleans the makeup off my face.

Avalon Organics Vitamin C Refreshing Cleansing Gel: After I wash off my makeup I use this cleansing gel from Avalon Organics to be sure that my face is really clean from any dirt or makeup. So I basically use this after washing my makeup off at night and in the morning I also cleanse my face with only this. Vitamin C is good for your skin because it helps your skin repair itself and gives skin its firmness and strength. I like this because it calms my skin over night, I can go to bed with red noticeable marks and wake up with them looking less red and less noticeable. It also feels gentle to massage into my skin after using the Castile soap. First off I was using the cleansing milk version, but accidentally picked the gel instead of the milk cleanser when I was going to repurchase from iHerb. Clumsy thumbsy. But it was just as great - even a little better for me as cleanser.

MUA MAKEUP ACADEMY EYESHADOW: SHADE 2 & 16

Recently I ordered two of MUA's single eyeshadows after reading such great reviews of them. Many of you have probably heard of how pigmented and creamy they are, and I cannot disagree with that. These are super great for the price of 1£ per eyeshadow. My favorite is the one on the left, shade 16, a light soft pink matte shade that looks pretty with my green eyes. This can really give you a bright and healthy eyelook, love it. The one on the right is a pearl eyeshadow, shade 2. I use this as a highlight under my brows - it gives a gorgeous shimmer. I really want to try out more shades, there are some great looking ones. If you haven't tried the MUA single eyeshadows you definately should! You won't waste your Money, seriously.

BLUSHER BY H&M: SWEET ROSE

On sale I bought this pretty kind of cranberry shaded blush from H&M. It was really cheap - about 2£. I have been wanting to try a darker shade in blush to see if it suits me, it would be so pretty now when autumn is here so I thought why not try it out now with this cheap little thing. It gives a nice rosy colour to the cheeks, but it shows up quite pigmented on my pale skin so I have to be careful with the amount I put on. It's a good blush for the price paid and a gorgeous colour.

THE BODY SHOP TEA TREE BLEMISH FADE NIGHT LOTION

My sister bought the Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion a while back and she recently repurshased it. Tea Tree oil is one of those things that are really good for keeping blemishes away because it's antibacterial. The product description says this a lightweight, soothing gel-cremé for blemished skin. It is supposed to replenish moisture overnight, leave skin looking matte, provide anitbacterial action and clinically proven to give clearer-looking skin. I have tried this a couple of times and I like it, I think it does improve blemishes over night. They look less red in the morning. But this doesn't improve my skin in the long run - that's why my next step is trying pure tea tree oil. Simply because it's less expensive than this lotion and hopefully more effective.

E.L.F. SHIMMERING FACIAL WHIP: LILAC PETAL

A current favorite in my make up bag is the E.l.f. Essential Shimmering Facial Whip in Lical Petal. This gives a great shimmer as I apply it on my cheek bones, as well as a little on cheeks. It gives a healthy looking glow to a natural everyday look and I think this adds a little extra to the look. I personally think this is easy to apply, but I have read that some find it harder. Blending it out with a brush makes it easy, lately I've been using the Real Techniques stippling brush.  This is what it says about the product on the website: "Multipurpose, on-the-go whipped colourant is vitamin B, C and E packed to instantly brighten and soothe skin with no greasy after-feel." I like that it doesn't feel sticky on the cheeks after applying it. I also like the little tube that makes it easy to apply the little amount of product that you need to get a lot of shimmer. I simply love this product just because of the nice shimmery look it gives me. At a price of £1.50 you can't go wrong with trying this product - if you like adding shimmer to your face.

MAC FACE AND BODY FOUNDATION C2

Last week me and my boyfriend spent the whole weekend in Copenhagen and I of course had to visit the mac department in the Magasin mall. After looking a little while I asked one of the MUA's to help and match me to a shade, and she chose C2. I'm not at all familiar with the mac products really. I bought it, but when I came home from Copenhagen I was scared when I realized that this might be too dark and yellow for me. So I didn't open this for several days and kept looking for reviews and swatches. Thank god this is a very sheer foundation and the color really blend well with the skin. So don't be scared if you happen too choose a shade darker or lighter. This color actually worked well for me, I have a yellow undertone to my skin but I'm still pretty pale. I love that this foundation gives a lighter coverage, it really feels light on the face and you almost forget that you're wearing foundation all over the face. This isn't a matte foundation so it gives a really dewy finish, which I like. It makes the face look fresh and natural. The coverage is build able and you can keep adding layers without it looking cakey. So you can really choose for yourself. This contains 120 ml so it'll probably last for a good while. Light yet build able coverage, dewy finish, I like it!

THE REAL TECHNIQUES BRUSHES

I've been craving the Real Techniques brushes for a long while now and last week I decided to order them from iHerb. They have been raved about in the blog-world and they seemed really good, I also have been watching a lot of videos on the YouTube-channel Pixiwoo where the creator of these brushes, Samantha Chapman - along with her sister, posts great makeup tutorials. I was in definite need of new makeup brushes, my old ones weren't that good. So I've been checking the mailbox frequently this week just waiting for my new brushes to arrive, so I could try them out with my new foundation as well. Today the package arrived and I tried them out instantly.

The brushes are first of all, so soft. I tried them all out and I found good use for each and every one. A lot of people don't like the pointed foundation brush, but I find it works great to apply concealer around the eyes because of the pointed tip. The buffing brush was so soft on the face when I applied my foundation. I felt you could really blend the foundation well and use the brush in different ways, and you also got great coverage. The contour brush will be great for applying blush and bronzer because of the shape of it, you can either use the tip or the sides. I used the detailer brush to apply concealer on red marks and when I first used the brush it picked up a lot of concealer, even though the gentle stroke. It's a small and compact brush, great for detailing. I also decided to buy the stippling brush because what the heck. I tried it on my Illamasqua cream pigment and it picked up a lot of product. I'm not used to using a brush when applying creamy products so I wasn't very gentle, that's probably why it picked up so much product. A little is enough, now I know. I will also want to try applying my foundation with this brush after I've heard it's great for lighter coverage. Overall I am very pleased with these brushes, I'm so happy I got them. I probably won't be needing to purchase makeup brushes in a while now.

If you would like to order from iHerb use this code: CJN164 to get a discount on your first order.

ILLAMASQUA CREAM PIGMENT: ANDROGEN

The Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Androgen is a well spoken of diversity product in the blogworld. It goes well on eyelids, cheeks and lips. A lovely peachy pink color that I think suit a lot of people. I really like the shade and I know that I'm going to use this much on both lips and cheeks. Maybe I'll try it on the lids as well. Illamasqua's product aren't cheap, but I think this will last me a while so it'll be worth it. It goes really nice on the lips and stays on for a while. I really recommend trying this little thingy.

MAYBELLINE COLOSSAL VOLUM' EXPRESS MASCARA

After trying a few new mascaras, I now end up coming back to Maybelline's Colossal Volum' Express Mascara. Years ago this was the only mascara I used, but since then a few mascaras has come in between. But none of them worked as well for me as this one. My lashes become so long with this mascara and also stay that way, which is important. I use the waterproof one because I personally think it stays on better and keeps my lashes more bended. I'm so glad I ordered this again, I've missed it. This only costs £5.71 at feelunique.com.

VICTORIA'S SECRET BODY MIST: LEMON ESCAPE

I received a little parcel in the mail a few days ago containing another body mist from Victoria's Secret. I've really fallen in love with these, in no time at all I went from owning zero to four. This lovely mist is in Lemon Escape and smells sweet. I read in Musings of a Muse's review of this that it had a "sugary cakey scent" which pretty much sums up the scent. Really!

NIVEA LIP BUTTER: VANILLA & MACADAMIA AND RASPBERRY ROSÉ

I bought these two luscious lip butter from Nivea once I found out they were sold where I work. I saw them on a few blogs a few days earlier and instantly wanted them. They smell so good, especially the raspberry one. And they come in cute little round packages. Yum!

MAC CREMESHEEN LIPSTICK: PURE ZEN

Mac is a great makeup brand, we all know that. We all know the makeup costs more. When you're a struggling student you don't get much money left over to spend on makeup even though you really want to. But when summer arrives it's time to work and earn money, also celebrate my birthday, woohoo. I got my first ever Mac product for my birthday, a pretty pretty lipstick. It's a Cremesheen lipstick, which seems to be the range that people like the most from Mac's lipstick collection so it felt like a safe pick. I got it in the shade Pure Zen, after hearing ThePersianBabe talk about it on her YouTube-channel. It's a really pretty nude pink shade with a bit of a glossy finish - but it stills sticks to the lips for a long time and isn't that sticky. I love this lipstick, really much. Now I feel like I have to expand my Mac makeup. Their makeup have such good quality and loads of different shades which is fun. I will definitely have to buy more from Mac in the near future.