Cherry Blossoms in DC

A week before Easter I went on a spontaneous trip to Washington, DC for a week.
We made it just in time for the Cherry Blossoms Festival, and had great weather with us, so I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

We booked our stay at Loewes Madison Hotel via Hotwire. It was our first time using the website, and while the concept sounded interesting, I must admit that I was a bit skeptic at first, especially after reading mixed reviews. But after a quick skim through Wikipedia I learned that that it was a daughter company of Expedia, which dampened my worries. 

Our deal was amazing and especially compared to the listed prices on conventional websites such as Hotels.com, Booking.com, etc.

I definitely recommend trying Hotwire out if you haven't already, but do proceed with caution. There are many websites and forums where people post their bookings and help each other guess which hotel it could be. After 10 min of research the services and characteristics of the deal I found was matched with Loewes Madison, which in the end was also the one I got. So I definitely recommend doing a little bit of research instead of diving head in if you'd like to minimize your chances of a unpleasant surprise. 

I think we took a stroll around the National Park almost every day we were there and I'm pretty convinced I found the best spot at the Lincoln Memorial...

The weather was just warm enough bare legs if you opt a coat, but around noon you could ditch that :-)

I'm wearing:
Top: Burberry coat, ZARA silk shirt
Bottom: Club L skirt (similar here)
Shoes: H&M ballet flats
Accessories: Michael Kors watch, Ray-Ban wayfarers

Gift ideas for him & her

Christmas is lurking just around the corner, and the stores are filled with so many people that just standing in queue will take up half the shopping, leaving you with less time to find the just-right pressies for your loved ones. But don't worry - I've roamed the internet for the best gift ideas that'll make you the best girlfriend/daughter/whatever of the year! Sit back, scroll down, and hopefully you'll get inspired by some of the ideas.

For her, if you're feeling...

... budget-minded

Jimmy Choo perfume £35/€44 / Noble Isle Bath & Body £29 /

ASOS clutch £18/€24 / ASOS scarf £16/€22

... generous

ghd hair iron £135/€168 / Michael Kors wallet €140 / 

Swarovski ring $70 / Warehouse dress £69/€93 

For him, if you're feeling...

... budget-minded

ASOS sunglasses £8/€11 / ASOS scarf £12/€16 / 

Giorgio Armani perfume £38 / Casio watch £35/€48

... generous

Ralph Lauren shirt £63/€87 / Daniel Wellington watch £179 / 

Bespoken tie €110 / Shiseido gift set £89

The tea tree miracle

Happy weekend, everyone!
I thought I'd start off the weekend by introducing you to something you probably have heard about before: tea tree oil - and if you haven't, it's about time you get to know this little beauty secret!

As you may know, I'm a fan of essential oils and this one is no exception. If you have problematic skin like me, this might just be the lifesaver you're looking for so read on!
Now, there's a reason that tea tree oil is often called a "medicine cabinet in a bottle" and here are some reasons why: it is effective against bacteria, fungi, and viruses and stimulates the immune system. Oh, and by the way, it's absolutely amazing at killing breakouts and acne! Studies have found that tea tree oil is just as effective in fighting acne as 5% benzoyl peroxide, which I have written a post about here. And did I mention that this is all natural?

Now I kow that lots of brand will carry a tea tree skincare line, but I particularily prefer The Body Shop because of their high quality products and corporate values - if you don't know about them, I hope you can find 2 minutes to spare and read about them here.
The Body Shop has so many different products in their tea tree line, but what I have found to work the best is this combination of tea tree face mask and the tea tree oil.

If you want to know the reason for why I prefer masks over scrubs, you can head over here and read my post about the pros and cons of both. The bottom line is that if you currently have breakouts, a scrub might rip the pimples open and transfer the bacterias over to the rest of your face.. can you imagine anything more horrible? I definitely can't, so that's why I'm sticking to the face mask camp.
My routine is to use this face mask once a week. It'll clear your skin up in no time! For the occasional spots you (I) can't avoid, dab a cotton pad with some tea tree oil and hold it over the spot for a few minutes and it should knock a good day or two off!


Have you tried tea tree oil? Any tips&tricks or other miracle workers you know about?

Must-have: Power bank

A few a months ago I was roaming through eBay for goodies when I came across this little cute lifesaver called Power Bank. It's a mobile charger that you can bring with you anywhere to charge your iPhone/iPod/iPad/Galaxy/whatever if you're on the road and run low on battery - don't we all hate that feeling?
When I saw the price ($6) I was completely sold and ordered one right away. It has since become one of those things I never leave my house without and I have to say it's saved me in many situations!

It's cute, lightweight, tiny and wins - in my opinion - the award for best companion when you're on the go! One full charge will approximately give you two full charges on your device - in other words, keep this with you and you'll never have to experience the feeling of a dead phone ever again!

The Power Bank comes with a USB cable which you can plug into your pc/USB power adapter to charge. The LED light with turn from red to blue when the Power Bank is fully charged and voilà, you're ready to go!

You can get the Power Bank here for $6 in six different colors - so what are you waiting for?

eos

Hi guys! I hope everyone of you are enjoying your summer holidays :)
I just landed in Copenhagen last night after a little trip to Crete and Milan and on Monday I'll be flying out to Rome.
Anyway, today's post will be about the much-hyped eos lip balms! Chances are you've seen them before and chances are also that if you live in Europe, they might be hard to find anywhere unless you're willing to pay a ridiculous price for a tiny ball of lip balm.
If that is the case, I'm bringing you some good news! If you've been reading my blog, you probably already know my love for eBay by now, but in case you don't, I've recently discovered that you can get everything imaginable on there which of course includes the eos lip balms.

I got the Strawberry Sorbet which comes in a pretty pink ball. The smell is absolutely amazing and I think I might be addicted to this thing. It doesn't feel sticky on the lips like some lip balms do and they leave my lips smooth for hours.

You might think that it's still a lot to give for a lip balm, so let me tell you some things that makes these stand out from the crowd. eos lip balms are 100% natural and 95% organic. Also, unlike most lip balms out there today, these don't contain vaseline but instead they're infused with vitamin E, shea butter and jojoba oil. You can get them on eBay here.

How-to: Adele's Grammy 2012 hair

Hi guys!
This is part two of my previous post about the Sleep-In Rollers. In part one I introduced you guys to the rollers and in this one I'll show you the results of them and how I achieved it. The final result reminded me a bit of a softer version of Adele's Grammy 2012 hair, but I'll get to it and let you guys decide if that's just me ;)

So here's what I used:
- 20 Sleep-In Rollers Glitter Set (including the grips)
- Spray bottle with water
- Tangle Teezer
- Sleep-In Rollers Diamonte Tail Comb

Start by combing through your hair and then make sections using the end of the tail comb.
The first section you should make is a mohawk down the middle (the mohawk should be no wider than the roller itself). Start by rolling this section - I suggest using 6 rollers here. Give the hair a few spritz of water, comb through and put the roller in away from your face (if you like a more romantic look, roll the first roller in towards your face). Secure with a bobby pin.
The second and third section should be from the mohawk and down to each ear. I used 3 rollers for each front section.
Fourth and fifth sections are those in between the the front and mohawk. I used 4 rollers for each side.

Now leave the rollers in overnight or until your hair is completely dry. If you want to speed up the process give it a quick blow dry.

I slept on these rollers and although they're more comfortable than the traditional plastic rollers, I must admit that nothing beats sleeping on your pillow ;) I think they could've been a bit more squishy but after finding a good position I nonetheless had a good night's sleep. As I wrote in the first post, the glitter side seemed less squishy and this was also what I experienced after a night's sleep - something to take into consideration if you're not sure of which kind of rollers to get.

When you've taken them out after a few hours/next morning, brush your hair through with your fingers - don't use a brush! Then take a few front sections and tease them using the tail comb and smooth the hair over. If you wish, use a little hairspray (my favorite here).

As you can see, these rollers won't achieve actual curls, but rather a big bouncy hairstyle with some waves at the end which I think makes the hair look very natural and fresh with a little romantic touch.
Since my hair is really dark I had a hard time capturing the waves in the end, but they were there and made me think of Adele's hairstyle at the Grammy's 2012:

What do you guys think?

Introducing: Sleep-In Rollers

When I was a little girl I used to have these pink velcro curlers that I'd make my mom put in my hair before bedtime. I'd get a bad night's sleep but the next day I'd wake up with pretty curls, so well, it was worth it, right? Now fast forward some 10 years and the sweet people from Sleep-In Rollers sends me another kind of pink velcro rollers to try out. When I put them in it almost felt like childhood again, except this time, the rollers were made of foam instead of plastic which meant more comfort for me!
This post will be part one out of two, where part two will be a little tutorial on these pink beauties so stay tuned!

I received the Glitter Rollers Gift Set Including Fringe Roller and the Diamonte Tail Comb (get it here with free worldwide delivery). The set included:
- 20 Pink Glitter Rollers
- Pink Drawstring Roller Bag
- 20 Kirby Grips in a Velour Pouch*
- Fringe Roller
- Hollie Wakeham Tutorial DVD

* When I opened the gift set the grips were everywhere and only two were inside the pouch. I counted them to 19 so one must've fallen out of the box. But this is no biggie since they're just plain bobby pins, so easily replaceable.

Now, some details and first-hand impressions of the rollers:

First things first. Why is there only glitter on one side? Man, what a huge disappointment. I've read some other bloggers who also received the glitter set, but how come no one's mentioned this? If I'd known this I'd definitely have taken it into consideration when choosing my rollers.. Anyway..

The one thing I was most curious about was how big these rollers were in diameter. We all know that the size of the rollers will determine the finished look of the curls, so it really surprised me that this information was missing on their website. I googled around a bit and checked some blog posts, but none of them had included this information. Maybe it only mattered to me? Anyway, if you, like me, are wondering about this as well, I can tell you that these rollers are around 47 mm. This means that if you're looking for actual curls, you're probably looking in the wrong place. These rollers will give you big bouncy hair and some waves at most.

How squishy are the rollers? I actually find the whole foam idea quite genius. I remember how uncomfortable it was sleeping with the traditional plastic ones so I was really excited about trying these. One thing I noticed though was that the non-glitter side was more squishy than the glitter side. It's probably due to the glue used to keep all the glitter on the roller instead of everywhere on your pillow, which is the plus side, but still.. another thing to take into consideration if you're thinking about the glitter set.

The fringe roller? A good idea if you have them, but as you might've noticed it's not with foam inside, so a few hours of your daytime or a quick blow dry is needed if you want any results.

I love this tail comb. I think it's a fresh design compared to all the standard black ones out there on the market. I used this comb for sectioning and combing (obviously) when I put in the rollers and although it's not necessary, I think a tail comb is a great help when putting in rollers. And of course, for teasing if you want some extra volume ;)


What do you think of the rollers? If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll answer as good as I can. 

Foltène update: 1 month

Hi guys!
Time flies and one month has passed since I started using the Foltène Eyelash & Eyebrow Treatment (original post here). I promised you guys an update and here it is! I personally see a positive difference after only this one month, which I find really impressive. I think that it is especially noticeable on my bottom lashes, and I feel so stupid for not thinking of taking a photo of those to begin with - I'll definitely keep it in mind in case I'll be doing something like this again :)
Anyway, enough blabbering..

I tried my best to take a picture like the first one so that it's easier to compare :) What do you guys think?

Beauty essential: face masks

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're doing well and have a great weekend ahead of you :)
Today I decided to do a quick little post about face masks. Why? Because I feel that when discussing beauty products, face masks are often overshadowed by scrubs - don't get me wrong, I know what a good scrub can do, but what I'm trying to say is that scrubs are more suited for some people than for others. For instance, face masks are better for me due to my skin type. As some of you probably know, my skin is very prone to breakouts. So if I use a face scrub while I have some zits I can easily tear them up and transfer the bacterias all over my face which equals even more zits.. So to prevent that I use masks instead.

I prefer either a good mud mask like these or peel-off masks which I find more easy and fun :)
These masks are from the brand Montagne Jeunesse which specializes in home pampering experiences. I really like their masks and I think they're great value for money. I got these 6 for £4.5 (Feelunique had a 10% discount campaign. OBS! Right now they have 15% off, use the code SUMMER15). I use the masks once a week and one pack lasts longer than what one might think. For me, one pack will last 5-6 applications, but of course, it'll depend a bit on how much you use per application.

What are your thoughts? Are you on team scrubs or team masks? ;)

15% off at Feelunique

So this morning I woke up to a delightful email: 15% off everything at Feelunique.com! If you don't know this site yet I suggest you go take a look. They have free worldwide delivery and the prices on most products are half price of what they are in Denmark - even cheaper when they do offers like right now! So in case you don't know about the site and don't get their newsletters, the code is SUMMER15 - but hurry, it's 4 days only.

Here are a few things I'm thinking about getting:

Tangle Teezer / Maybelline Rocket Mascara / ghd Tail Comb

Dead Sea Spa Magik Mud Mask / Bio-Oil / Móa The Green Balm

As you can see it's mostly hair and body products on my wishlist. I've almost used up my 60ml bottle of Bio-Oil (did a review here) and I really like it a lot so I think I'll use this opportunity to buy the 200ml one. The mascara is the Maybelline Rocket Mascara which I've been wanting to try for a while now, and speaking of which, I was thinking of doing a post on high vs. low end mascaras - what do you think? 

I hope you're having a great day and happy shopping! 

Cookie mania

Feeling like baking? I sure do! And while I was looking for the perfect recipe I stumbled upon this great, great collection of the 50 Best Cookie Recipes. I was literally drooling by the time I reached the 50th recipe, wait, make that 20th.. Anyway I bet you can't make it without drooling either.. Feeling like baking yet? If not, here are some pictures to spike your interest:

Admit it, you're dying to taste them! I'll personally be making The Infamous Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies today - I'll let you guys know how that went! If you're interested, just click on the picture and it'll take you to the 50 recipes. Let me know which one you'll be making and how it went!

Ole Henriksen bargain

If you've followed my blog you probably already know that I'm a huge fan of Ole Henriksen. I've talked about some of his products in my skincare routine post here. I think his beauty products are some of the best out there on the market so I thought I'd share with you guys that Lookfantastic is having a great offer at the moment where you can get 3 for 2 on his products!

Truth Serum Collagen Booster / African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser / Fresh Start Eye Cream

These are the products that I already have, and I absolutely love them! They all smell oh so fantastic and I know they all contain some kind of powerful combination of anti-oxidants, vitamins and other exotic things like African red tea ;)

As you may know, Ole Henriksen products has quite the reputation for being a miracle worker on problematic skin, which was the reason I tried his products in the first place. And after having used the African red tea cleanser for a few months now, I can definitely see that my skin has improved.

Normally, Ole Henriksen products are quite expensive, especially here in Denmark - which is ironic, seeing as he's actually from Denmark - so I usually wait for some kind of offer or campaign. This way I got these 3 products for almost half price each! If you're interested in trying his products or already love his products, here's your chance try it out/stock up. I already took up on the offer and bought these 3:
(and as you can see, working towards building up my very own Ole Henriksen spa ;))

Herbal Day Creme / Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil / Aloe Vera Deep Cleanser

The Estée Lauder face cream I'm using now is running empty and I've heard so many great things about this one so I thought I'd try it out.

The Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil is the newest Ole Henriksen product, and I honestly can't wait to try it out! It contains 100% organic rose hips seed oil, which is a natural source of vitamin A, C, E, and Omega 3, 6 and 9. Bam. Can you imagine what this combination can do to your skin? I'll definitely keep you updated ;)

Color your iPhone

A few posts back I wrote about my new found love for eBay and I promised to keep you guys updated on other little goodies I've found there. Well, here's one I'm really loving:

The iPhone cover sticker! I've always wanted to switch up the color on my phone once in a while but covers have never been a hit for me - my phone feels too clumsy and big with a cover around it. I know that there are also little shops around Copenhagen where you can change the actual color on your phone, but that always seemed too risky for me, plus I didn't want to lose my warranty. So when I scrolled through eBay and found this for $0.99 I ordered two right away - one for me, and one for a friend of mine who's wanted to change her iPhone to pink for a while now, but also found it too risky (she loved it, by the way!)

There are tons of colors to choose from but since I'm all about pink lately, I of course went with that. The stickers were really easy to apply, I needed a few tries to get the hang of it in the beginning (the front one was especially hard in my humble opinion) but you can peel it off and try as many times as you need and it doesn't leave your phone sticky or anything.
I really think this is a great alternative if you want to switch it up once in a while and it makes your phone a bit more accessory-ish rather than just a phone in either black or white like everyone else's. If you're interested you can get it for iPhone 4/4S here and iPhone 5 here.
Ps. I've of course done my best to search eBay for the cheapest ones available, but as things change so fast on eBay (offers end, things gets relisted, etc.) you may want to do an extra search :)

What do you guys think? Do you prefer your iPhone with cover, these or au naturel? ;)

Foltène - Eyelash & Eyebrow Treatment

Given my short and sparse Asian lashes, it should come as no surprise that I've been passively lurking for eyelash enhancing products for ages now. But most them are ridiculously expensive and as far as the reviews go, they are never too positive.. However, a few weeks back I stumbled upon this product named Foltène. It's reasonably priced and has gotten some fairly good reviews so I decided to give it a try.

Damn, what I wouldn't give for those lashes on the box.. sigh. Anyway, as you can see, the product promises stronger, thicker, longer eyelashes and eyebrows. If it's true I can't wait ;)

The product itself looks like a mascara and the wand has a long and short side. I'm not sure what the point is but I use the longer side for my lashes and the shorter side for my brows. When I first opened it, the first thing that hit me was the smell. It didn't smell particularly good - a bit chemical, if my nose didn't deceive me. The product has been ophthamologically tested, and it's safe for sensitive eyes and those who use contact lenses.

So, enough product description and onto the mandatory before picture:

I was really having a hard time taking this picture, but I tried my best!
You're supposed to apply the serum twice a day, morning and evening. Some people use it as a primer before putting on mascara in the mornings, but I find that it doesn't work too well for me as it weights down my lashes after I've curled them - just as non-waterproof mascaras. So I just apply this, wait till it dries and then curl my lashes and put on mascara. I've been using it for a week now and I'll come back to you guys again in a month or so!


In the meantime, has anyone tried this product or any other lash enhancing products? If yes, how did it work?