Lush Christmas Picks

Christmas is coming closer and so it was definitely time to treat myself to some infamous Lush Christmas bath bombs. I´m a huge lover of taking a nice hot bath when it gets colder and the only thing to make that even more cosier is to throw a bath bomb in too.

To be honest I was really struggling to not spend a small fortune on them but in the end I managed to pick five gorgeous-smelling and looking ones. I genereally prefer those who contain shea or cocoa butter, whether it be a regular bath bomb or a foam bath.

My personal favourite is the Rudolph bath bomb. It´s just absolutely adorable and so detailed made with its paper antlers. It contains ingredients like rose oil and cocoabutter and it smells quite sweet but not too much, a bit fresh and flowery and really comforting, all in one a really simple scent so it could make a perfect gift for nearly everyone. With 5,50€ it´s the cheapest one from my order but definitely the most exciting one, haha.

Next is the complete opposite, it´s the foam bath bomb Yog Nog. Apart from it being a foam bath it smells very woody and spicy like the clove oil that´s in it. Normally I don´t go for scents like this but I think it could get very comfortable and soothing. It´s also very good for my skin as shea and cocoa butter are included. Apparently my bath water is going to be very glittery so I´m excited for that, especialy as I can use this bomb more than once.

The next bath bomb is absolutely huge! Like I was so scared to drop it when unpacking it cause I could barely fit it into my hand haha. It´s the Jingle Bells one, it looks really simple yet cute with the pink bow on top. This one is exciting though because when you shake it you can hear little crispy bath salt pieces in it, so I´m looking forward to bath it, I expect a colour explosion haha. It contains sea salt and brasilian orange oil so the scent is definitely more on the fresh/citrus-y side.

Speaking of being afraid to drop one of the huge bath bombs, of course one did have to get damaged and sadly it´s the Don´t Let The Bells End - one did end right after unpacking it as you can see above, haha. I didn´t know that the bells where a lid, so they slided off and one bell broke off...

Well I don´t have to anymore, but normally you put the lid away, and sprinkle the bath crisps in before throwing the whole bath bomb in, really cute idea. It contains ingredients like almond oil so again amazing for my skin and it smells gorgeous, fresh and soft.

Strawberries & Cream is the last bath bomb I treated myself to. It´s not part of the christmas range but I wanted to get another sweet scent one as I just love those sweeter smelling ones. It contains stawberrie powder, geranium oil and cocoa butter so all in one it´s a light sweet scent with a touch of floral. I love the look of it and it will be perfect for those nights where I don´t want to be clouded in heavier spicier scents haha.

Are you a fan of bath bombs? Did you get something from the Lush Christmas Range?

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Current Hair Favourites - Long Thick Hair

My hair has always been very thick, quite wavy and more on the dry side, so it´s taken me quite a while to find a good selection of hair products that transforms my hair into a shiny, lighter and easier to style state. I always thought I could get along with those cheaper drugstore products but that quickly changed when I once tried the more expensive products and instantly saw and felt a huge difference.

Maui Moisture Shampoo

The first "more expensive" hair care product I invested in was the Maui Moisture Shampoo. I´ve been through three different versions - the pink, green and blue one - and all have been absolute hits. Not only do they smell heavenly but they also give my scalp so much moisture and hydration that I can easily wash my hair after three days instead of after two days. You really don´t need a lot and it´s so easy to spread and work in as this shampoo doesn´t get too foamy. I generally look for shampoos that give me hydration and volume and this brand is just perfect for it, not too heavy but still keeps my scalp healthy and moisturized.

HASK (Deep) Conditioner

For my lengths I need a conditioner that gives me even more hydration as my thick hair tends to get dry and coarse so easily. To achieve shiny lengths I use the condtioners from HASK, so far I´ve tried the Argan Oil and the Keratin Oil version and both have given my hair a lot of strength and moisture so that even after styling them with heat they are still soft. When my hair needs some extra care, for example when I´m on holiday, I also love to use their deep conditioner, they come in handy pouches so they are easy to travel with. They also smell really nice and you only need a small amount to already feel a difference.

Pomelo & Co. Hair Masks

I´ve never been a huge hair mask fan, until I came across this brand. Oh my god it works wonders! Before I bought these masks I saw them all over Instagram and thought well it´s just another hair mask but it´s just soooo much better. They are really easy to use, you put them in the fridge 10 minutes before using it, and then all you need is a table spoon-sized amount massaged into your dry lengths and that´s it. It says to leave it in for atleast 15 minutes, but as I put it into my dry hair I leave the mask in for easily a few hours with my hair up in a bun. The forumla is quite oily but it dries down really fast so you don´t have to worry about getting anything onto your bedding or cushions.
After washing it out you continue with using shampoo and conditioner, the real effect is noticeable after drying your hair. Mine was after the first treatment already a lot more shiny and more bouncy. I use it once a week which is perfectly fine. Of course the smell of both of them is sooo nice too.

Davines Oi Oil

This hair oil is an older favourite of mine but I´m already on my third bottle and could never ever live without it again. Ever since using it my hair has been so soft it´s just amazing. I use two pumps of it into my towel-dried hair, before blow drying them and not only is the process of getting my hair dry so much faster but as I said they just feel so much softer and are far less frizzy.
I do have one "bad" thing to say about it, I feel like they could make slightly bigger bottles. They get empty so fast when a second or third person is also using it, on the other hand it´s really handy to travel but a bigger size would still be quite nice haha.
The oil sinks in really fast and you can´t see it at all when my hair is dry. I normally don´t like oils as they tend to make my hair heavy or greasy looking but this isn´t noticeable at all.

GHD Heat Protect Spray

And last, a product that really everyone should use is the GHD Heat Protection Spray.

I love to style my dair nearly every day so a heat protection is definitely necessary. This one from GHD not only smells really good, it also sinks in fast, doesn´t feel heavy and it definitely protects my hair really good. Like I can actually feel a difference after styling my hair, as they still feel soft even when I´ve just curled them with a straightener (we all know how hot hair feels after styling them that way, haha). A huge plus I just have to mention is that it has a wide spray circle, like with two pumps I reach all of my hair as the product itselfs doesn´t only spread into one direction.

Again this is already my third or fourth bottle and so worth it.

What type is your hair? And what do you use to keep it healthy and shiny?

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Creating Your Media Kit || Where To & What Should Be Included

Ever since I started updating my blog more frequently, more and more amazing opportunities started landing in my inbox. That´s when I thought it was the right time to also start reaching out to brands I´d love to work with. Of course from my side it was important that the brands I worked with had products to offer that I´m hopefully going to enjoy using, from the brands side it´s important how many people they´ll reach while presenting their products through me.

To bundle all these important informations it´s really helpful to have a media kit to send with your email. I have to say, ever since I started sending my media kit out - the responses to my mails have been positive way more often!

Well at first creating a Media Kit sounded pretty much overwhelming to me, as I didn´t have clue how it´s supposed to look and what information is really important.

So, to make it easier for you I wrote down some tips:

Designing Your Media Kit

The easiest and free platform to creat your Media Kit is Canva!

You can basically create anything on this website - for the Media Kit though I´ve chosen the A4 Document. The next thing is choosing a Template, looking through it now it has taken me ages to find a template that looks very similar to mine, so as a little hint for you I searched for "Interview" and the fourth light blue one is really similar to the design I used for my Media Kit.
From here on it´s just really being creative and trying different things out.

I find it very pleasing to use the main colours from my blog, which are light pink, white and dark grey. As you can see I kept the whole design really simple with the background being white, the font is dark grey and column on the left side is light pink. If your Blog is on Blogger you can see in the Design section, which colour codes are used on your blog design, so that you can use these exact tones again.

Of course you can use as many pages as you´d like, but you´ve still got to use the space wisely. It should be easy to read, not overloaded and just give the brands a short overlook over your blog stats. Add a little personality by including a picture of yourself and one or two of your favourite pictures you´ve taken to show your photography style. What I also liked to do is add a little description of myself under my picture. Personally it´s always so much nicer to know a bit about your "business partner" and well it might give you some sympathy points, haha.
Just be creative and play around with different designs.

What Information Should Be Included?

Now that your Media Kit is all pretty, it´s time for business, haha.

I´ve got different "categories" of stats that I want to present to brands, such as Blog Stats, my Social Medias and the brands I´ve worked with before.

My Blog Stats are on the very top as they´re obviously by far the most important numbers. There are a few informations that should definitely be included, such as Unique Visitors, Page Views and 

Average Comments Count per Post and Where your Readers Are From, these are the ones I have on my Media Kit but you can also include stats about the average age of your readers or if there are more females or males for example, it all depends on the brands you want to work with and the content you produce. It´s just so important that you please use all these numbers from Google Analytics and not from Blogger itself. I have to be honest I can´t tell you the reason why Blogger shows you different numbers than Google, but those from Google are (sadly) the real ones haha.

Following are my Social Media Followers, please just include every social media channel where you are present or have a presentable follower count, haha. I have for example every channel included besides Facebook, as I basically only have 4 followers there, so nothing to show.
You can find these little social media icons simply through Google, I think I got mine from there, but normally they should be easy to find.

On my Media Kit, the last category is Brands I´ve Previously Worked With. Let´s be honest we´re all proud of previous collaborations so why don´t "show it off"? I also have a category on my blog where you can see my collaborations, I think that way other brands can also see how I a possible collab can look like and what ideas I´ve had to display different products.

Now it really depends how far you´ve taken your Blog yet, but one more possible point you can include in your Media Kit are your Prices. I guess it´s by far easier to just show which price ranges you have in mind instead of waiting for the brands to make the first move or not knowing how to tell them what price you have in mind. That way they know right away if they are willing to pay that amount for your work, before you write lots of emails back and forth only to get nothing in the end.

So that´s how I´ve created my Media Kit!
I try to update it in the beginning of each month, so that it´s ready to be sent out right away with the newest stats.
If you have any further questions I´m very happy if I can help you! Xx

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Three Transitional Lipsticks

I´ve been stuck on my nude tones from the summer time for a very long time now, but as the last warmer days and even Halloween did pass now, I guess it´s time to atleast update my lipstick choices to some darker earth tones. I guess the typical autumn lipstick shade is still a berry tone, but to be honest I´m not really feeling it anymore, I definitely prefer a nice settled brown tone or a red is also totally fine. That´s what my choice are inspired by, and I think some of you might like these shades aswell:

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Always Red

Let´s start with the brightest lipstick choice. It´s my very first liquid lipstick from Sephora and I´m loving it! It´s highly pigmented, feels very comfortable on my lips and the colour is pretty much the same as it looks in the tube - a nice bright red. It slides on really easily and stays in place so well, like I went out clubbing with it and it nearly didn´t budge at all. Even with being quite pale during the winter months, this shade still suits me quite well and isn´t too much or makes me look even more pale. What I also find really good and important is that it´s really moisturizing and the first layer of it is thick enough to cover dry lips, but it doesn´t feel to heavy on your lips, actually you barely notice having anything on.

Sephora #LIPSTORIES in Labyrinth City

When I first opened this lipstick I was a bit suprised by how deep red it looks, it even put me off a bit first cause I thought it didn´t suit me, but when I swatched it I completely changed my mind. It´s a stunning purple-y brown shade that can even be worn everyday. For a lipstick it´s unbelievably high pigmented, very creamy and dries to nice matte finish. Again this is also my first lipstick from Sephora and honestly I´m so pleased by the quality of both of these lip products. When it´s dried down to it´s matte finish, it doesn´t make your lips look nor feel dried out but rather very moisturized,. I do have to say, the packaging isn´t the most luxury one, but still quite cute. All in one it´s a big hit for me.

Illamasqua Lava Lipstick in Vixen

The most natural red lipstick is definitely this one. As you can see its very unique and beautiful design has different shades of red in it, so after applying the lipstick it gives you a nice light red/rose semi-matte finish. I do have to say though, it does need a few more layers to get a strong pigmentation and the lipstick itself feels a bit heavier than the other lip products. I still really enjoy using it, cause it´s just a gorgeous shade and it stays on pretty well, and only for the design it´s something nice to have in your makeup bag. I´ve also used this on Halloween on my eyes, so if you ever need a base for a more red-toned eyeshadow look, this is the one for you, haha.

What is your favourite lipstick shade for Autumn and Winter?

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