Germany, Berlin.

December 15th - December 19th

Trip to Berlin

Everything.

You are not the inches around your waist
but the curves on your hips.
You are not the age you are
but the memories you’ve lived.
You are the symphony you hum to
and the melodies you play
You are the philosophy you understand
and the thoughts you cannot fathom
You are the countries you have voyaged to
and the places you have yet to yonder
You are the wrinkles on your eyes
and the dimples on you cheeks
You are the titter, snicker, chuckle
and the tears you weep
You are the ghost of your past
and the soul of your dream
You are the fleck and the speckle of this idea
and the total, all concealed, semi precious of it
You are the passion, the endeavor, the venture
and everything luxurious that slips in between it.

By:
Ka Yin Chau

Spring/Summer Mini Haul + Make-up repurchases

I'm starting to revamp my winter wardrobe (finally) since my favourite seasons are upon us. Spring/Summer fashion is ALWAYS my favourite and although my wishlist is endless I am slowly purchasing items that I feel are on trend this year. The following items are things I know are a hit this Spring/Summer:

- Lace: Although lace is not exclusive to this particular season and it has been displayed EVERYWHERE on the highstreet. I find places like Topshop/Zara/H&M/Primark dedicated an entire section to white garments, particularly with lace detail. It's definitely got my approval, looks really feminine and adds a nice detail to an otherwise plain outfit. Check out what's hot on ASOS at the moment: White ASOS Lace Dresses

- Border mini skirts: I am OBSESSED with this trend but still not brave enough to rock it. The skirts are knee length and create such a beautiful silhouette when paired with a dainty crop top. My favourite that I've seen so far is from Topshop (BORDER SKIRT FROM TOPSHOP). This trend reminds me so much of Sarah Jessica Parker in 'Sex and the City'

- Birkenstocks: I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with this trend but I have seen some people do it justice. I can admire the trend but don't think I'll be picking up a pair for myself (fashion coward). Watch one of my favourite Youtuber's Barbara from 'The Persian Babe' style them in her Spring lookbook, Persian Babe Spring Lookbook: How to style birkenstocks

-Pastel: Again, nothing new. Spring and pastel are married together so it would have been deliberately ignorant of me not to include this trend in. I incorporate pastel through accessories, although I am liking pastel coloured blazers. I have my eye on a few Zara garments such as this jacket that I feel the entire female population of Scandinavia owns

Now to what I have purchased recently... Not a massive haul for you, but I wanted to post things I look forward to styling and what I have invested in recently. 

 First stop: Topshop/House of Fraser/Space NK

 

This Topshop crop top was the perfect fit and subtle way to add a bit of lace to my wardrobe. I aim to add some more high waisted items in my wardrobe since my legs aren't very long and high waisted shorts, skirts, jeans are a good way to make them appear longer!

I then purchased a new eyebrow gel and I went for the Eyeko one, I tried it out in Space NK and instantly fell in love. It's got a small wand which is perfect for getting precision and also it is tinted which makes your eyebrows look fuller.

In House of Fraser I could not resist the Urban Decay stand. I have a very long wishlist but it is really not realistic so I went away with an all time favourite of mine which is the Magic Potion Original Eye Primer. I have full confidence when I say my eyeshadow does NOT crease for up to 8 hours when I apply this underneath - it's a beauty cult favourite for a reason after all...

As well as the trends stated above, items like blazers are timeless and definitely a piece I like to buy different variations of. I really liked this one from River Island since it reminded me of the Monochrome trend that has been around all year and also the shape of the blazer is very flattering. I have to quickly mention I grabbed this for half price, it was originally 50 so I was extremely pleased with the price also.

These cami tops are from H&M and they are a staple item I needed in my wardrobe. I can wear them under EVERYTHING literally. They were cheap and cheerful and I'm sure I'll be going back to buy other colours also. The back strap detail in the back adds a cool touch also, nothing complicated just a small playful detail. 

Also from H&M I picked up this super cute bikini. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed it! The little zip detail is what sold me! I haven't been to the beach in SO long so this has definitely got me excited for the momentous occasion. 

Ooo no... another Zara necklace to add to my collection. Here's the deal with this situation. They're not the most affordable pieces and I know you can get something similar from Primark or even Topshop. However, in other places they usually have small details that just ruin the entire piece for me. Zara, on the other hand, ALWAYS hit the spot with their necklaces and this one immediately attracted my attention. It's got the perfect balance of neon, pastel, jewels and pearl - it literally has SS14 written allllll over it!

That's all for now but I know my shopping habits will not be trained any time soon so I will be updating my blog with newer items I purchase for this Spring and Summer. As always, feedback is always appreciated and encouraged so feel free to drop comments, even if you don't agree with my opinions I'd like to know how readers of my blog respond to my ideas and fashion sense. Until next time though, ciao!

Lo xx

Post Card Collection: Duncan's private legacy...

I haven't yet fully understood my fascination with post cards. Old or new, whenever a shop has them on display I find myself looking at all the different pictures and imagining people in my life I would love to send them to. I guess I'm drawn to them visually. Whenever something bright and colourful is stood before me I show interest in it and post cards always have the most aesthetically appealing covers.   On a random afternoon I entered my local bookshop 'Black Gull Books' which have a chain shop in Camden and I didn't know they were connected because as a younger teenager working in Camden Market I would go into the book shop and always find something new to read, for example I was once enticed by a book about transvestite fetish photos. So this bookshop has some pretty random stuff in it and after looking at titles of books for what seemed like forever, I stumbled across an old leather suitcase and inside it were hundreds of old post cards just waiting for me to enjoy investigating. 

The bookshop was empty with the owner, a friendly man listening to Jazz music and reading a book sat  near the till point where the suitcase was beside. He had noticed me going through tons of post cards and eventually intervened in my visual discovery. "All of these post cards belonged to one collector, you know." he informed me and immediately I was quite surprised. I asked if he knew who and he told me a very interesting story about these post cards that really gave context and meaning to them. He began (and I am paraphrasing here):

These post cards belonged to an old man who lived on his own and family had moved away to start their own families and communicated with him through post cards. He was from North London and some post cards have his handwriting where he has dated a few of them 1969/1972/1975 and had been collecting them since the early 40's and 50's which explains why most of them were in bad condition. What was more interesting though is the types of pictures this man would collect. There were many post cards of men. Topless men, fully clothed men, actors, singers, models and he would collect hundreds of these amongst many other random ones (there was even one of young Margaret Thatcher). Anyway, sadly this man passed away and when his home was being cleared by his family his grandson found his diary journal and this suitcase full of old post cards. The diary, together with the post cards, revealed to his family that this man was actually gay. His sexual orientation was completely private and he had confessed about it in his diaries. 

Before knowing this story the post cards were just pictures to me that I contextualised through my own life story but now I looked at them in a very different way and saw someone else's life through the hundreds of beautiful pictures. I decided to take home four post cards with me and felt bad for dividing his collection but wanted a piece of his story with me so I took home the ones that appealed to me and depicted something personal as well. 

These were the most visually appealing cards to me so I got them.

These post cards were written by his family and the cards are addressed to 'Duncan' which was obviously his name. 

This post is extremely random however his story touched me and I wanted to share it with the readers so I hope you enjoyed Duncan's private legacy and I will definitely be visiting this bookshop regularly to see and learn new things.

Lo.

Workout out at home with Youtube!

Can't afford the gym? Or you're looking for a solid workout routine you can easily commit too? Continue reading...

So I am on a mission to reach my goal weight of 116 pounds by the summer and not only do I want to shed some weight, I also want to really tone my body (specifically leg/upper thigh area). I don't starve myself or workout constantly, I made a few tweaks which have weekly and sometimes daily impacts on my overall physical structure.

Before committing to a workout make sure you're eating clean. I have been avoiding junk food for a while now but that's not going to help me get rid of fat. There is no point in putting your effort into a workout and eating crap oily fatty foods before or after a hard workout so the two go hand in hand! I usually workout on an empty stomach in the evenings because I'm not a morning person so can't be doing squats after sleep. I have breakfast at roughly 7-9am then lunch from 12-2pm and workout whenever I get home from work or uni which is usually at 6pm-10pm, it varies. So, since I've set myself this weight loss challenge, I make sure I fit a 30-40 minute workout every single day, for me it's every evening. Make sure this time is convenient for you and you actually do it. Here's my workout and I don't skip any bits, I do every single move instructed by the videos: 

1) CARDIO: I start off with some cardio and I find running/star jumps/jogging soooo boring so I jazz it up with some Zumba! This is a great video for beginners that I used on my first week and explored on the rest of this Zumba channel for tougher routines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa2IWYs3ags


2) SQUATS: Secondly, while my blood is boiling from all that dancing around in my room I enter the world of squats... Now, if you know me, you will know I hate squatting. I think it's painful/boring/uncomfortable/I can't do it, but all of that has been revised since I found this video. It's such a straight forward workout and the trainee Casey/Cassie (w/e her name is) is sooo bubbly but sometimes when I'm in pain and she's being too happy it annoys me so that irritation motivates me to squat. Weird theory I know but just bare with me and try it yourself, you will see what I mean...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDpB8pWEjhk

3) ABDOMINALS: By now you would be kinda sweaty and legs would be in some sort of muscular pain, so this is the point where I let the rest of my body relax while I work on my abdominal muscles. For me, a toned belly and strong core shapes the entire body, it doesn't matter how big or small your legs are as long as your belly is looking nicely worked out. So this part of my workout is my favourite and most rewarding. I chose to commit to Laura London's Ab video despite the huge variety available on youtube because I think she has picked the best combination of ab exercises targeting lower abs, your core  strength, side abs (obliques) and even inner thighs. This is my favourite video here and I've been using it for a year almost not always constantly however I now use this every day and know the routine without the video but I just like to hear Laura's motivational words and routine count downs anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVU6HGmyVk

So that's everything for my home workouts! If you drift off towards the end of the workout think about the relaxing shower you're waiting to have after or that yummy tuna salad you're going to treat yourself to after working so hard. I haven't been doing this for long by the way, it's my third week and by using these three videos I have lost 2 pounds already which for me is an achievement and I am confident that my motivation is at a great momentum since I can already see some results. My abs are much more defined, I feel lighter/happier/youthful and love to end all of this with a short stretching session that really focuses on my breathing, mostly for relaxation purposes. 

Hope these videos work for you as much as they do for me, it's an extremely good time to start working  on your summer body now since time is on your side!

Let me know how you guys get on, 

Love, Lo. 

Zara Lookbook: #SALEHAUL

2014 Post-Christmas sales have been good to me this year. Take a look at how I style different items, I haven't worn any tights but for the winter seasons I will be wearing the outfits with simple black tights. The BEST Zara to shop in for sale items is the Westfields in Stratford (the sale is actually organised, I was so surprised). 

Outfit no.1: 

The sale item from this outfit is the light Salmon loose jumper. It is quite thin so I'd recommend wearing a plain strappy top/tank top whatever you personally call it. This is a simple jumper that I wouldn't have purchased at it's full price of £24.99 but the orange sale tag caught my eye!

Jumper: Zara, £7.99

Shorts: Levi's, £20.00

Boots: Vagabond, £80.00

Outfit no.2:

Both the black top and infamous 'skort' are from the sale collection. This outfit is based on the current 'Monochrome' trend that I haven't rocked enough this winter. You can make this look super girly or grungy as I have with messy hair and imperfect makeup. For jewellery I've kept it minimal with just a watch. The statement piece here is the skort so I didn't want to distract any attention from it. The top, although in my pictures doesn't look anything special, however has a long silver zip on the back which adds some detail to the otherwise extremely plain long sleeved black top. 

Top: Zara, £5.99

Skort: Zara, £9.99

Boots: (Vagabond, again!)

Outfit no.3: 

I love this outfit! It's smart and casual at the same time, extremely preppy and always on trend. The trousers are a neutral brown dog tooth check which has been a popular pattern this winter and is certainly not a new design. I have had my eye on this shirt for a while however always resisted buying it full price since it was just under/or was £39.99 which I can't personally justify for a white shirt you can pick up somewhere else for a lower price. However, as I said, the amazing sale offered it to me at an extremely good price. It drapes around you so it is quite loose which is perfect if I've had a lot to eat (bloated.com/thisshirtdoesthetrick)!

Shirt: Zara, £17.99

Trousers: Zara, £15.99

Shoes: Topshop (SALE), £30

Hat: Rokit, £12

That is all from my recent shopping trip in Zara and I definitely recommend visiting your nearest Zara before the sale runs out (which apparently is in under 2 weeks, hurry!)

Let me know if you guys enjoy these types of blog posts or not, I personally enjoyed it and I have to give a shoutout to my younger brother Roni who took these photos with crap room lighting and iPhone 4s camera (kudos to you my friend!)

That's all for now though,

Love, Lo!

Recent favourites: MAC/Loreal/Gucci/Breaking Bad/Martial Arts

Greetings dear readers, today's blog post will be on my recent things in life basically, lips/eyes/hair/perfume/tv

These are my favourite products to use over the last month or so.

1. Loreal Paris Elnett Satin heat styling spray - To be honest I'm not entirely sure if this product protects my hair from heat (despite claiming that it does) but I enjoy using it for other reasons. I use it mostly for the soft finish and it leaves my hair smelling supahhhhh nice :)


2. Gucci Guilty (au de parfum 50 ml) - I LOVEEE this perfume sooo much. It is quite strong but I use it every day and it smells quite musky and the base scent is amber. According to the Gucci website scent description it smells of 'pink pepper and red fruits' (wtf is pink pepper?!). I purchased Gucci Guilty at the airport to receive the duty free perks however it's sold wherever perfume is sold so it's not hard to find.

3. Loreal Paris True Match 'Touche Magique' Illuminating Concealer -  I've been recently loving a bright concealer for under my eyes. It makes such a big difference to my entire make up look, makes me appear healthier and adds dynamic to my face instead of having a monotone foundation bare face. 

4. MAC prep+prime Translucent Powder - To set this illuminating concealer I use a translucent powder from MAC which lasts all day and does not look cakey AND doesn't crease my concealer which is one of my biggest annoyances when it comes to make up!

5. Flormar Lip Pencils - I have been lining my lips almost everyday with any make up look because I find it helps my lipstick last all day and does make my lips look slightly bigger than they really are. These lip liners are particularly good because they are incredibly cheap but so so amazing. They don't dry or flake your lips (if you exfoliate and moisturise pre-lip lining of course) and the colour range is crazyyy they have so many different colours. 

6. Breaking Bad - Dammnnnn! I am SO late with this so please forgive me but shit this show is so good. I'm really into my romantic comedies (Woody Allen films dominate my life) so this was a dramatic change in my recent preferences. It's full of drama with small bursts of comedy and quite explicit and twisted. I'm just absolutely addicted to it and try to get my younger siblings to watch it with me because I find it sometimes a bit too scary to watch alone (idgaf if that sounds lame). 

7. Muay Thai - Martial Arts? Me? HA! Funny joke. No but really, I'm signed up to my University's (Queen Mary) Muay Thai Society and the team trains 2-3 times a week in an East London Gym. Luckily I have a friend who wants to do the same activity so we'll go through this together. This will be a great way to have fun, exercise and even meet more University students. I am treating this as a leisure activity not a competitive sport, just want to learn new things in 2014 and not let my youth slip away from me while I watch shit on Netflix.

Soooo now that my ramble is over, what are your favourite things to do? Or what other interesting sports/tv shows/make up products can you recommend me to try?

Last note: Happy belated new year from me and I hope you fulfil your aspirations and remember if you want to start anything new, there's no better day to start than today! 

Love, Lo.

Beauty Haul No. 3: Make up/Hair!

I don't really plan what I'm going to buy, I always have my eye on products because I watch a lot of Youtube videos and read lots of blogs so some of my purchases are pre-thought and some very spontaneous. I have purchased all of these products throughout the course of three weeks, I didn't just go wild in one day, so here's what I got...

Maybelline Colour Tattoo's are extremely hyped about and even that seems like an understatement for their popularity. I have one eye shadow palette which is my every day saviour (by MUA) however I wanted to try paint pots because the concept is quite appealing and personally wanted to test them out myself. They're creamy however personally not as easy to blend than eye shadows which I prefer over these. I'm not a massive fan of the colour range so I only purchased one, this one is called 'Permanent Taupe' and it's a lovely neutral brown which looks great in my crease when blended out (I wear this look almost every day). The price is very good at just £4.99 which is extremely cheap compared to other paint pots I've used which were from Benefit, they were more than double the price and are exactly the same thing.

Leave in conditioner that leaves your hair super soft and smelling nice and fruity! Ticks all the boxes really, it's great and light. I don't like washing my hair then bombarding it with tons of products so I just leave this in till the next time I wash it! It's by Herbal Essences from their 'Bee Strong' collection with Nicole Sichiesinyejkrt :)

So I've had my eye on all of the Real Techniques brushes since the start of watching youtube videos so my collection is slowly expanding. I'm currently trying out brushes and seeing what I like to use them for, this one will actually be used to apply my loose powder because the brush is so big and soft. Sorry the picture isn't so great, it's called 'Blush Brush' by Real Techniques.

My favourite blushes EVER are from Benefit. They're always so perfect and I'm always spoilt for choice when I try to purchase one. This time however, instead of re-purchasing my all time favourite blusher 'Coralista', I wanted to try something new. This time round, I bought 'Sugarbomb' which smells soooo nice (that's not the only reason I got it) and the four colours combined together create the perfect peachy tone that has light undertones making it look like I'm wearing highlighter also. I took advantage of the Christmas discounts and instead of paying the full price of £23.50, I got it for £19.95 (15% off).

As you can see, I've hit the bottom with this one. Second time I've purchased it and it lasted me almost a year which is very impressive! I usually buy them at the airport where I can get duty free shopping so it costs around £19. 

                                                I don't need a powder but I've heard great things about the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder so I thought I'd try it out before all my money runs out on sushi (my new addiction). All of my favourite Youtubers use this so I wanted to jump on that band wagon! I'm constantly pleasantly surprised with Rimmel products and since it's coming to the end of the year I have to crown it my favourite make up brand of the year! My top three products for this year from Rimmel were: Kate Moss lipstick collection (which I have previously blogged about), Apocalipcs Lip Laquer and the 24 Hour Lasting Finish Foundation. Perhaps this powder will be an addition to my favourites... we shall see!

Re-purchase alert! Thanks to Fleur De Force's videos a couple of years ago this concealer blessed me with it's existence! Forget all the high end brands with their ridiculous price tags and invest under a fiver for this high coverage, long lasting concealer. I'm quite lucky to have clear skin most of the time, however I do have freckles which some people like but I do not so I use products like this to give me coverage and hide them (only a few of the more noticeable ones, not my entire face :O). This is in fact my 4th time buying this product and I don't think I'll ever stop. My only problem, important word being 'only', is that sometimes, if I've got too much foundation on, this concealer does crease beneath my eyes which is annoying but most of the time for me it means I haven't blended it in properly or like I said, I am wearing way too much foundation underneath it. With a smaller fluffy blush, I always set this concealer with powder just to properly seal it for a long day at Uni or work. 

More Real Techniques brushes! The more I am learning about make up, the more importance I place on the application and not just the products themselves. I decided since I purchased a new powder, I would purchase a powder brush to go with it. The stippling brush though, was for experimental purposes. I wanted to try it out for myself since the buffing brush I'm using currently is leaving brush streaks that take extra blended time in order to get rid of which is time consuming (aint nobody got time to blend!). Also, because Boots is just amazing, it had a deal so I got the stippling brush for about £6 normally it is priced at £11.99. 

I always complain how my skin doesn't look illuminating enough or youthful, I find sometimes just foundation and powder doesn't satisfy me enough so I needed something extra to add some glow all over my face and after doing some online blog reading and Youtube video watching, I came across this  gem (literally). It's MAC's Strobe lotion and I've already tried it out and I love it. It does exactly what I was looking for, giving my face shine and vibrancy. I wear it under my foundation but because my skin is slightly dry I moisturise before using this so my skin looks nice a soft when my make up is finished. I wasn't too keen on the price of this, but I know I will make full use of it on a daily basis, it was just over £20. For night's out, I would mix this with my foundation so my skin really is glowing and looks nice :) The lotion is white/pearly and makes an instant difference to my skin when I apply it. 

FINALLY! I purchased an Urban Decay 'Naked' palette, I have had my eye on them for a long time and after looking at the pictures of the Naked 3 palette I decided I preferred the Naked 1 palette. The colours are amazing, super wearable, easily blendable (is that a word?) and just perfection. Debenhams had a 15% off sale so I managed to get this from £37 to £31 which I was very pleased about. I was actually disappointed with the brush it came with, I don't think I'm going to ever need it. However, as well as the amazing colours, this palette came with a mini eye primer which was much needed and I have heard some great things about it and they're all true, it really does work. My eye shadow doesn't crease and it actually stays perfectly in place until the end of the day which is what every girl wants.