The 7 most read posts of 2014!

The year has nearly come to an end, so it's a good time to have quick look into the past. Here they are: the 7 most read posts of 2014!

Festive glitter: Inglot Sparkling Dust.

What happens when you ask your parents to bring you a liquid highlighter? Right, they bring loose glitter. I barely ever use it, but for the holidays an exception is in order!

Journey to minimalist running: increasing the distance.

In the last update I'd reached 1k in my new shoes. Since then I've been slowly increasing the distance.

Books I'm currently reading.

Last spring I wrote about the books I was reading at the time. I still haven't finished one of them (Dali The Paintings), but other books have come and gone. Here's what I'm reading at the minute.

Christmas lips: Rimmel Lasting Finish matte lipstick.

Finally. Finally, last week I got that one lipstick I had my eyes on for a very long time. Ever since seeing it in Alix's (I Covet Thee) video in Autumn 2013. I decided I wanted it for autumn and Christmas a few montsh ago and last week I finally found it in the drugstore! Also Kruidvat had a good deal on Rimmel products: 2 for €13. So for only three extra euros I got to leave the store with both the Lasting Finish matte lipstick in shade 107 and the Glam Eyes HD eyeshadow in Brixton Brown

Journey to minimalist running: first steps.

I was very eager to get started with minimalist running, but wasn't quite sure with what distance to get started. I'd read a few different thing start with no more than 200 yards, start with 1/4 mile max. I went for 400m, which is about 1/4 mile. I did this twice after my regular jogs: once on my bare feet and once in my minimalist shoes. Here's how this went, what I learnt from it and how the following jogs have been.

A review: alverde deodorant.

A couple of days ago, my sisters and I went on a little shopping spree. We wanted to go to a few places and get a some Christmas presents. One of our stops was a small place in Germany which is actually very close to our home. There are a few shops there like Takko fashion and Deichmann and others of which I forgot the name. We only entered two shops there though: a shop with all kinds of very cheap stuff, and the shop we were really there for: dm. We'd heard this drugstore (Drogerie Markt) had a lot more natural products than our drugstores and that products there were considerably cheaper. I didn't really need anything but wanted to try out a few new things. So I left the store with two deodorants that are both free of aluminium salts, and a bag of banana crisps.

That's an awfully long story to start a review with, so let's get started!

An exercise update.

Since the last exercise update I only ran 5k's plus the short distances to get used to my new shoes.

Journey to minimalist running: preparation and shoe choice.

Since deciding that I want to transition to minimalist running, I spent a lot of time reading information on the internet. I found that there are two approaches to transitioning. The one you choose affects which shoes you'd want to get. But every source seems to agree on following point: you need to transition slowly and carefully to let your feet grow strong and prevent injuries!

Journey to minimalist running: the decision.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I plan to transition from running in classic trainers to minimalist shoes. I intend to share updates on that here, so I'll start with my jogging background and the decision to go for minimalist running.

An exercise update.

It's been a while again since the last update. As always there have been ups and downs.

Essence soo glow! highlighter.

One day I was strolling through my local Kruidvat. And there they were: two new humongous displays: one essence the other catrice. I wasn't planning on buying any more make up, but I did not leave the shop empty handed. I got the new soo glow! cream to powder highlighter by essence in the shade 20 bright up your life.

The Halloween DIY: Garbage bag spider web.

Today I present you with an extremely easy DIY! How to make a spider web from a garbage bag. It's the perfect Halloween decoration and it's very inexpensive.

The ghassoul clay mask.

Somewhere in September, my friend E. gave me an early birthday present. She knows I'm into natural skincare so she gave me a pack of ghassoul clay. Awesome, thank you E.!

An exercise update.

It's been a while again, hasn't it? There hasn't been an update because I haven't done much jogging lately. I couldn't go for two weeks and then of course I was back to square one. Here's the details:

Autumn nails: aubergine.

Autumn has definitely arrived now. Bring out the warm jumpers, fluffy socks and...dark nail varnishes.

Sport gear upgrade: the heart rate monitor.

Recently I got myself a heart rate monitor. I wear it to try not to push myself too far. That does not always work though, as I may keep on going with a heart rate of 183. I went to Decathlon and this is what I got: 

What you need to know about washing your hair CO.

Lately I've been washing my hair with just conditioner again. In the past I've done this on and off for rather extended periods of time. Here's what you need to know about washing your hair with conditioner only.

An exercise update.

It's been another week and a half or so since the last update already. I've done four jogs in the meantime. Here's how they went.

Fighting acne.

Ever since puberty kicked in, I've been having acne. As I got older it has cleared up somewhat, but it has never completely disappeared. In the past year or so it has gotten better! So here's some advise on how you can fight acne!

An exercise update.

It's not even been a week since the last update, but I've made a lot of progress in that short time span though! This time around it's a very positive update!

Easy Peasy Recipe: Courgette chips.

So I saw a recipe for courgette chips floating about somewhere on the internet. It involved herbs and parmesean. As I had a courgette that needed to be eaten in the fridge, I did an improvised variation.

An exercise update.

It's been over a month already since I last did an exercise update. Back then, I said I needed to get my act together. In reality there have been ups and downs again. But I'm very happy with the up's, since that's better than the last time I wrote up an update!

London purchases part five: Books.

This is the last part of the London Purchases series. As the title suggests I got a few books. Two of them to be precise.

London purchases part four: Tea.

When in the land of teaophiles, there's no way around buying some tea. Okay, there probably is, but I got some tea anyway! There's a much wider variety of tea in the UK than there is here, so I got a few that I cannot find here.

London purchases part three: Victoria's Secret.

I couldn't not go there, right? It was a bit tricky to find New Bond Street. The map in Oxford Street said  it was the next street on the left, but it was not. Anyhow, after a bit of wandering around I managed to find New Bond street and the Victoria's Secret store. The store is beautiful, but quite busy. Even though they're famous for their lingerie, I went there to get a couple of fragrance mists.

Mission accomplished!

London purchases part two: Biscuits.

What to bring home from England for a family that never drinks tea? Biscuits! So I went to Marks and Spencer to get some shortbread - which is more of a Scottish thing though - and left with a few more biscuits than planned.

The packaging got jammed during the journey home, but here they are anyway:

London purchases part one: Boots.

A little while ago, I was in London. I'd saved up some cash to spend in my Adventure fund jar and naturally I visited a few shops. You'll be shown the things I purchased in this and the next few posts. Of course I went into Boots and picked up a few goodies. I got some affordable products that you cannot or not easily get your hands on here in Belgium.

The bedside table upgrade.

The 'decor' on my bedside table has gone through some changes in the past few months, but there was definitely more room for improvement. So I made a few more small adjustments and now I'm happy with it.

Two Brazil nuts a day keep the doctor away.

Lately I've been watching loads of videos on the YouTube channel IHealthTube. One of those videos has made me make a slight change in my diet. In this video it is said that, if every girl and woman in the United States would take a selenium supplement of 200 mcg every day, the incidence of breast cancer would be decreased with 82% in one generation. Dr. Glidden, the doctor that's being interviewed, goes on to argue that we should use supplements to stay healthy.

After seeing that video, I started doing a bit of research on selenium.

The summertime DIY: ombre shoes.

So I saw this idea of dying shoes ombre not too long ago, and was keen on giving it a go! This DIY is surprisingly easy and I love the result!

An exercise update.

It's been a while since I've done an update on jogging. Okay, a long, long while. And I wanted to do an update on the 30 day ab challenge as well. So here it goes:

Easy Peasy Recipe: Raw Italian sweet pepper.

Does anyone like raw peppers? I never thought I'd voluntarily eat that, but when I tried raw Italian sweet pepper, I was pleasantly surprised! Then I tried adding some extras to it, and I've been making this for lunch a few times lately.


It's so simple, I'm not even sure it's worthy of the name 'recipe'.

Beating the cold.

In the past weekend, a cold was working its way into my system. It started in my throat and managed to work its way into my nose and sinuses. Luckily I have a few tricks up my sleeve to beat it!

Distressed chest DIY.

On the same trip in which I got that fancy make up, I also found a small wooden box. Immediately I knew I wanted to make it look old. Here's what it looks like now:

Click through for before and all the steps in between.

New favourite jumper.

About a month ago I got this jumper, I thought it was rather cute. Since then it has grown on me a lot and it is my favourite! Even my grandma spontaneously commented I'd gotten a lot of use out of it!

The make-up find: €2.99 Calvin Klein make-up.

A little while ago, A. and I went out for some ice-cream. When our sweet treats were all gone, we went to stroll about in the town's centre. Whilst browsing through Blokker, we made an awesome discovery: Calvin Klein make-up, for €2.99 per item!

We figured it had to be genuine Calvin Klein make up since fake item are forbidden so a chain store wouldn't risk selling them. Turns out we were right! The make up is genuine, but it's cheap because it's an old collection. In any case, the products look beautiful in those little pots!

Easy Peasy Recipe: coco(a)-nut granola.

Last week I stumbled upon an amazing recipe of grain free granola. A few days later I managed to make a batch and absolutely loved it. It tasted great and kept me full throughout a busy morning.

As I was working with the ingredients I had, mine is slightly different than the original recipe, but it is definitely my new favourite breakfast!

PerBlan tooth powder review: mint vs lemon.

One hundred, that's the number of this post! Since the most viewed post of all is the PerBlan tooth powder review, I figured it be nice to make the 100th one related to that.

Recently I repurchased the tooth powder, but I got the lemon version to see if there's any I like better.

So here's a comparison of the two.

A week's worth of food.

Never in my life have I kept a food journal, but I figured I could write down what I eat every day for a week or so. It may help me eat better for I know I'm going to write it down! I always start the day with loads of water and I drink more of it throughout the day, but I haven't written down every time I drank water. Everything else is written down.

The longest lasting lipstick: Barry M Touch of Magic.

I'm a fan of bright lispticks, but when I spotted this one I was intrigued.

Adventure fund jar DIY.

I got inspired by Carl and Ellie and wanted to make an adventure fund jar of my own. I'd been looking to buy a jar for making this, but couldn't find one that I thought to be ideal. On Saturday I was browsing around my stuff in the attic and there it was: the perfect jar!

The next day I gave it a good wash and got started!

Challenge accepted.

Last week I wrote about the 30 day challenges. And not much later my sister A. and I decided to go for it. We weren't going to wait for the starting date of the Facebook event though, so we started on the 30th of May.

Here's how it's going:

New makeup stores.

On Saturday, my friend A. and I spent the day in Leuven. and we made a few new beauty store discoveries that day. She mentioned something about MAC coming to Belgium, but I said they're already here. I knew there are MAC-stores in Antwerp, Wijnegem and Brussels and Ghent, but then we spotted a shop window with a giant sticker saying that MAC is coming soon. Apart from this I made a few more discoveries of beauty stores that have opened recently in Leuven and Hasselt.

The 30 day challenges.

A bit of ab training won't hurt as summer is coming up. In the past I've tried doing ab exercises, but I always simply forget to do them and then gave up in less than a week. And yesterday I say this picture passing by on Facebook:

Home-made iced tea.

Frizzy drinks aren't exactly healthy, but I like to have something other than water at least once a day. To have a better option I've been making my own iced tea lately. It's a great refreshment after going for a jog, and less-sugar laden than soft drinks are. Here's how I make mine.

Rita Ora for Rimmel London: pillow talk.

Since rediscovering a pastel green polish a little while ago, I've been wanting a pastel blue one too. So when I saw the Rita Ora for Rimmel nail polishes pass by on the internet, it was the shade pillow talk that caught my eye. I decided to pick up and here's a review.

Easy Peasy Recipe: pesto.

I've been wanting to try and make pesto instead of buying a jar for a while. So when M. mentioned making pesto of his own whilst we were jogging, I figured I should definitely give it a try. Since I already had fresh basil from making spinach lasagne, I just got the other ingredients and gave it a go.

Outfit: the tea dress.

Adorable. That's the best word I can find for this dress. It's cute and a bit dressy, but not too dressy. I like to wear it with red shoes, bracelets, earrings and if it weren't for it being Easter when these photos were taken I'd have painted my nails red too. 

Instead I opted for the chick nail art of course.

Dress, tights, and midi rings - Primark
Bracelets - unknown

Ring - New Look

Shoes - Avance

Sincerely,
R.

Favourite fake tan: St. Moritz Mousse.

It's this time of the year again in which we transition from trousers and tights to shorts, skirts and bare legs. I like to apply a fake tan to my legs as not to blind anyone with their light-reflecting properties. Okay, it's not that bad, but you get the idea.
My favourite fake tan is is St. Moritz Mousse in medium and I decided to show its effect by tanning one leg and keeping the other as a control so you can see the difference in the same lighting conditions.

Henna hair: results.

So after going through the hassle of henna-dying and waiting for my hair to dry up already, I was eager to see the results. Before showing all the photos you should know that your hair will smell a bit like henna for a while. The scent was less strong this time than it was the first time - when I used double the amount of henna. And I assume the scent will disappear faster if you wash your hair more frequently. Now let's move on to the photos.

Henna hair: how I hennaed.

In this post I'll tell you in detail how I hennaed my hair. The way I henna is sort of a combination of a full application and a gloss, meaning that I use a lot of henna, and I leave it in my hair for a long time, but I add conditioner to my mix as well. Because of that my method is not an all natural one, but you could simply leave the conditioner out if you like. Anyhow there are three sections here: mixing, applying, and rinsing.