At the beginning of this year, I picked out 3 New Year’s Resolutions to focus on.

Now that we’ve reached the mid-point of the year (gosh, how time flies!)… I thought it would be appropriate to come back to this subject and report on the progress I’ve made with each of them.

1) Reduce Sugar Intake

As far as reducing sugar intake goes, I’ve been really good about indulging in sweet treats only on rare occasions. Even then, I don’t tend to overindulge.

If you want to understand how sugar negatively impacts your skin, read my post on How Sugar & Inflammation Can Be A Recipe For Bad Skin.

When it comes to sugar, I do have one weak spot… I can’t NOT eat bread and croissant for breakfast!

Yes, bread counts as sugar. But in my mind, I’ve excused this habit of eating high-carb french breakfasts only because I’m not going to be living in France forever.

And I know that when I leave, I will always sigh and think back about those flaky, buttery croissants with wistful longing…

2) Take Better Care Of My Hair

Haircare has actually been my strongest point.

My hair is longer, softer and shinier now than it was at the beginning of this year.

And this has been made possible because I follow my own 5 Basic Hair Care Tips and use the help of some incredible haircare products. Like this one and these three.

3) Improve My Posture

I’m so glad I chose only 3 New Year’s Resolutions! I knew that they were going to take a lot of time and focused dedication.

This has been especially the case with my resolution to improve my posture.

Although there’s a wealth of skincare and haircare information out there, when it comes to posture, I feel like I’ve pretty much been left on my own to figure things out.

While it’s good to encourage others to improve their posture, I think people should do it constructively.

I had this grandma from the Philippines who would visit us and freak out about how awful my posture was. It just always made me feel terrible about myself. To the point that I now secretly suspect I have some form of scoliosis.

I say if you’re going to make people feel terrible about their posture, at least dish out some real advice on what people can do to begin improving their posture!

Here’s what I’ve worked out (so far)…

How To Improve Your Posture

- This is just a hunch, but I think the shape of your feet has a lot to do with the way that you stand. For example, if your feet have a good arch, it is easier to distribute your weight evenly and stay balanced. But if you’re flat footed like me, you have to work a little harder to balance your weight evenly across your heels and the balls of your feet.

- Don’t lock your knees. They should stay soft and slightly bent.

- There are six points to be mindful of along the length of your body, and they should be in line with each other. 

This picture shows five of them. 

- I say there are six points because you should also think about the point on the crown of your head.

- As my dance teacher once put it: imagine a string going through the length of your spine and out through the center of the crown of your head. Then imagine that this string is being pulled gently up.

- This means that you’re not tilting your chin up or forward. You are simply lengthening your spine through that imaginary string being pulled up along your spine and through the center of your crown.

- Your spine has natural curves built in. Having curves in your spine does not mean you have scoliosis! Don’t try to iron your spine flat.

- It’s very important to wear shoes that support good posture. High heels are not posture-friendly.

- We sit a lot and stare down at our computers. So take lots of breaks to stand up and stretch.

- Someday very soon, I am going to build myself an ergonomic workspace. This means, my computer screen will be at eye level, my keyboard will be at elbow level, and I’ll be standing instead of sitting!

Aaah! I can’t wait!

What about you, how is the progress of your New Year’s Resolutions coming along?

I’ve been looking forward to sharing the second installment of the Sunday Love, Link & Magic feature.

It’s a chance for me to showcase my favorite beauty-related discoveries and sum up a few things that happened during the week.

This week’s LOVE.

I get giddy with kiddy delight when I receive packages in the mail.

And it so happened this week that I received a little brown parcel from Berlin. It was filled with all sorts of goodies. Beauty products, chocolate, mint tea and a heart-warming note from… guess who?!

My dearest friend and fellow beauty blogger Luchessa!

Luchessa is always full of sweet surprises!

When I opened the package, I found… 

A darling array of goodies!

There were some german products and brands here that were quite new to me and that I’m eager to try. There were also some makeup products which had sadly been lacking in my beauty collection. I’ve wanted a good blush and brown eyeliner for a while now… how did she know that?

I must sincerely say thank you for this incredibly delightful and thoughtful gift, Luchessa!!

And as a fellow tea lover, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the yogi mint tea. Tea is tranquility and…

 “Tranquility is the essence of life.”

This Week’s LINK.

If you’re like me and you’ve been eagerly waiting for the sequel to Hunger Games, you can channel some of that excitement towards the Capitol Couture Tumblr.

Part fantasy and part reality, this site is an homage to the wildly colorful fashion that we see being sported in the film version of Hunger Games by the citizens of the Capitol. You can even get a glimpse of a day in the life of Effie Trinket, which details her activities as the stylish escort of District 12′s champions.

Of course, I’m pretty stoked that Capitol Couture focused a feature on Paperself Lashes, which they describe as a detail that must not be overlooked. If you don’t already know, Paperself Lashes are false lashes made from cut-out paper. And you can see Effie and Katniss wearing them in the film.

These lovely paper lashes really do exist and you can wear them in real life!

I myself am obsessed with them, and for a closer look you can check them out here. I also carry them in my Ziba Shop where you can browse and pick your favorite out of five different designs.

The Capitol Couture site even has a Wink Worthy Lashes guide that gives tips on how to apply your false lashes. According to their guide, “Less is NEVER more!” And if “you no longer have natural lashes due to extensive fake lash adhesion” which should never happen but… just in case it does, there are tips for that too.

*wink*

This Week’s MAGIC.

I love learning about the role of beauty and fashion in history! And this week, I learned something really nifty. While it’s not exactly magic, it IS pretty cool.

How did the women of ancient Rome get their intricate hairstyles?

The intricacy of their woven hairstyles have led many historians to believe that they put on fake hair and wigs. But in fact, they did something more ingenius than that.

Can you guess as to how these women managed to style their hair into such intricate patterns?

Janet Stephens, who is a hair stylist from Baltimore as well as a hairstyle archaeologist, solved the mystery of how women in ancient Rome and Greece wore their hair.

The hair patterns that Janet saw on ancient Roman statues’ heads reminded her of rugs. So she tried to recreate the look by using a needle and a thread to “weave” women’s hair and get that woven pattern. And voila, the mystery was solved!

It turns out that the women of ancient Rome and Greece literally sewed their hair into intricate patterns!

Watch the short video on BBC: Hairdo archaeologist solves ancient fashion mystery.

Maybe we should bring back this style of hair and play around with it!

What do you think?

Is it possible to become addicted to your cleanser? Because I would say that I’m addicted to my cleanser. Like crazy.

I’ve gone through a lot of cleansers before. So when I say that Alorée’s Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk is by far my favorite, I am not exaggerating. After that horrible experience I had with the Alorée CC Cream Second Life, I’m so happy to shed a positive light on a different Alorée product.

This cleansing milk proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Alorée truly is a top notch skincare brand.

Alorée, Le Safe Spirit

Alorée is a young and promising organic french skincare brand.

The brand launched in 2011 during the Beyond Beauty Expo in Paris. That year, Alorée won the Beauty Organic Award for its innovative use of chlorophyll as an active ingredient in its products.

The main active ingredients in Alorée products are in fact a complex of anti-oxidants, which includes chlorophyll, polyphenols, oligo-elements and omega-3. These ingredients work to slow down signs of aging by reducing the level of intracellular oxidation induced by UVB rays. In short, the anti-oxidant complex of ingredients help to boost cellular metabolism and oxygenation in the skin.

Abiding by “Le Safe Spirit”, Alorée products are made with a high content of natural ingredients. They are free of preservatives and synthetic perfumes and are therefore suitable for even the most sensitive of skin types.

The Sweetest Cleanser, Ever

The Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk by Alorée gently removes makeup and impurities from the skin’s surface. At the same time, the main active ingredients work to oxygenate and detoxify the skin. It is suitable for all skin types, especially for normal to dry skin.

How To Use It: You can apply this directly on your face or with a cotton pad, then rinse with water. It’s gentle enough to use for both mornings and evenings.

My Experience:

Let me tell you! I have been using this cleanser for a month. And oh my goodness, I am positively addicted to it!

I think it’s mainly the scent that I’m addicted to. To me, the scent is so sweet to the point that it’s intoxicating. It’s a very natural scent actually, like green apples. And whenever I catch a whiff of it, I want to run to the bathroom and wash my face!

I also really love the soft, milky texture of this cleanser. When I apply it to my face, it feels incredibly soothing. I don’t hesitate to use this over my eyes, as it never stings. This cleanser also works well with my Clarisonic.

But what I really love to do is to give my face a massage with this cleanser. I swear I was lost in the bathroom for what seemed like hours, just enjoying the scent and the feel of this cleanser while massaging my face!! Okay, granted, this was while I was in Amsterdam and I may have been under the influence of a few things…

Really though. This cleanser always makes me want to take my time and give my face a therapeutic cleansing massage.

By the way, if you don’t know about the benefits of massaging your face or you don’t know how to go about giving your face a massage, I highly recommend watching this DIY Face Massage video by Kristen, an esthetician and founder of Holistic Vanity skincare.

The Results: Clean, soft and pampered skin. Howerver, this is not the most powerful of cleansers. So whenever I wear makeup, the only way I feel like my skin is sufficiently clean is if I use a l’Eau Micellaire beforehand.

What I like about Alorée’s Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk:
- The sweet, intoxicating scent!
- The gentle, milky texture
- Feels very soft and soothing on my skin
- Does not sting, gentle enough to use on my eyes
- Effective at removing light makeup
- Natural and organic ingredients
- Oxygenating properties of chlorophyll

What I don’t like about it:
- I can’t rely on this cleanser alone. I usually have to use it with a l’Eau Micellaire beforehand. Or in conjunction with my Clarisonic brush.

How Much: €16 for 125 ml at Mademoiselle Bio

Would I Buy It Again: Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times YES!!! I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get back to the U.S. and will no longer be able to find this cleanser (T_T)

Ingredients:

HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) SEED WATER*, AQUA (WATER), SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM LEVULINATE, HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) EXTRACT*, SODIUM ANISATE, CITRIC ACID, PHENETHYL ALCOHOL, HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) LEAF EXTRACT*, CI 75810 (CHLOROPHYLLIN-COPPER COMPLEX).

*Ingredients sourced from organic agriculture

Certified organic by ECOCERT
100% of total ingredients are from natural sources
59.6% of total ingredients are from organic agriculture

Concluding Thoughts

For such a gentle cleanser, I’m rather surprised at how well the Alorée Cleansing Milk works at removing makeup. But if you tend to wear heavy stubborn makeup everyday, it’s best to use this cleanser with another makeup remover.

I would highly recommend Alorée’s Cleansing Milk if your skin tends to become inflamed and irritated. This cleanser will gently clean your skin while giving you a sweet and soothing experience!