We Wear: A serenade to burgundy

I have to start this blog post with a confession. Burgundy, I adore you. You give me the same feels as my beloved black, but are just that tad less strict and hard, leaving room for some playfulness. Besides, you’re the perfect companion, complimenting black in every single outfit. Hats, knits, boots, bags, skirts, dresses… Honestly, burgundy anything makes my heart skip a beat. It has even gotten to the point where I regret February announcing the end of winter – and that really is no way of thinking for a summer child as myself. 

Coat: Sheinside - Beanie, shorts, necklace: H&M - Cut-out boots, cardigan: Bershka - Turtleneck: old - Bag: Sister (Hasselt)

I’m already trying to figure out ways to incorporate this deep color into my spring/summer wardrobe, but I’m failing completely in that department. It just doesn’t feel right as this color is – in my mind – entirely associated with the chilliness and general dark feel of January and February, right after the holidays have passed. So I’m slowly starting to say goodbye to my everthings in burgundy, which is approximately half of my closet at the moment. I exaggerate, I have been told to do that from time to time. Still, is it weird I feel sad winter is passing? 

 Currently listening to:

Groezrock 2015 playlist
Currently craving for (fashion wise or other):
More coffee

We Love: Inecto "Pure Coconut" Hair Repair Treatment

I will admit I'm no beauty blogger or connaisseur even but I had my share of hair adventures. Ever since I was a little kid I have this love-hate relationship with my hair, which in the early days was more of a hate thing which grew towards "kinda like" when I got older. My biggest issues used to be that my hair was really frizzy all of the time.

In my teenage years that resulted in buying a dozen different kinds of shampoos, conditioners, hair masks and after wash treatments. It drove my mom insane as I claimed all of the cupboard space in the bathroom for my newfound hair treasures. My theory was that I didn't want my hair to get used to a certain product so I always used a different kind, which actually makes sense. Kudos for teenage Lies!

And now I have white hair. Ever since I started dyeing my own ombre (about 3 years ago) I tried to get it lighter and whiter. It was really addictive and really bad for my already split ends. I always dreamed of having long white locks but I was too afraid to actually go through with it because I feared it would turn out all yellow or even worse: destroy my hair. But when I saw Naomi from Dress Your Life rocking her new blonde hairdue I got triggered again and made an apointment with her hairdresser the very next day.

My natural hair colour is a dark shade of brown. I have no idea what my undertones are (the hairdresser told me but I forgot...). So to obtain this platina look (sounds so nineties) my hair got bleached all over twice within a time range of a month. And I can assure you your hair does not feel nice afterwards. I will not fool myself or anyone else for that matter by saying it isn't all that bad for your hair, because it really, really is. So taking care of your hair afterwards is key!

My hair doesn't dry well of it's own, I learned that's typical for dry hair. Bleaching - of course - made that worse: more dry, more porous and hard to detangle. And that's where the coconuts kick in. Sidenote: before I wash my hair, I comb it out completely to get the first knots out already. My white locks need a shampoo to decrease the yellow tones so I use a silver shampoo I bought at my hairdressers together with this shampoo from Inecto. When I rinse out this mixture I can already tell if my hair is going te behave or not. It feels different all of the time. Afterwards I use the Inecto conditioner, my holy grail of hair products. I use quite a lot because I have a lot of hair to detangle. This conditioner literally melts through my hair and instantly makes it combable (is that a word?). I always let the conditioner soak in for a while before rinsing. After rinsing my hair already feels satin soft. Afterwards I towel dry my hair a bit and spray on the leave-in conditioner together with some Mythic Oil from L'Oréal. I also comb my hair because towel drying does tangle it up a bit.

As you can see in the pictures below I also own the Inecto hair mask but I prefer using the conditioner. The hair mask is a more thick substance and I don't feel it makes my hair as soft as the regular conditioner does although it does promise a "intense hair repair". So my advice: stick to the conditioner!

Et voila, my hair looks good as new afterwards! I mostly blow dry my hair because of the slow drying process and I always use a straightening iron afterwards.

The Inecto range can be found at Essenza (or De Tuinen) and I have spotted it once at Kruidvat.
Price range:
Shampoo: €4,24 (500ml)
Conditioner: €4,24 (500ml)
Hair mask: €5,26 (100ml)
Leave-in conditioner: €6,99 (125ml) 

He Wears: Lumberjack

Since I've been stuck in bed last weekend fighting sinusitus combined with what seems to be the flu, I have no outfit of my own to show you as I have been wearing pyamas the entire time. This may seem amazing, but I can assure you it is not. Luckily Karolien and I discussed we should write about some men outfits too and luckily I already forced my BF into a photoshoot before the flu struck me.

His style can be easily narrowed down to some basic rules: skinny jeans, shirt, hoodie, Vans and depending on the weather, a coat or vest. The skinny jeans are usually black so what you see here is an exception to that rule and the Vans are replaced by desert boots. Simple, manly rules. Sometimes I really wished I was a man.

Personally I love the eclectic mix of colors in this outfit while he usually wears darker tones. Tell me, who doesn't love a man in a checkered shirt?

He's wearing:

Vest: Urban Outfitters

Hoodie: H&M

Shirt: H&M

Skinny jeans: Cheap Monday via Zalando

Desert boots: Asos

Scarf: H&M

We Wear: Shine bright

I recently joined forces with what is on a fast track of becoming one of my favorite basics: the black turtleneck. Actually, I was going to write that I rekindled my love for this piece, but that would be a lie. I remember being forced to wear turtlenecks all winter when I was in primary school and hating every moment of it. From the static electricity gluing my hair to my face to the tickling of the turtleneck and the constant feeling of not being able to breathe as I was supposed to when playing at the schoolyard. Yep, I hated turtlenecks, especially the dark brown one I was obliged to wear on what seems a daily basis (still a color I hate from the depths of my soul). 

However, with the recent 90s revival and a cold winter, turtlenecks are now finally welcome in my life, although I only have one at the moment (insert sad face) and that one isn't actually technically mine at all (thank you, mom!). Nevertheless, people never change on real fundamental aspects of personality such as not being able to stand tightness around the neck, so I must admit that every single time I'm putting on this blouse, I hate it for just that fraction of a second. Luckily I get over it fairly quickly and can now finally say: Turtleneck, I'm a fan indeed. 

PS: Turtleneck would be an awesome name for a pet, I shall call my future cat Turtleneck! 

Coat: Sheinside - Overalls: New Look - Knee boots: Anna Field (Zalando) - Necklace, beanie:H&M - Bag: Primark   

 Currently listening to:

Groezrock 2015 playlist
Currently craving for (fashion wise or other):
This headache to disappear

We Wear: The Lazy Weekend

Lazy weekends, aren't they the best? I sure as hell love them to death. Have a bite, grab a coffee, stroll and have a game night with friends followed by sleeping in on Sunday. Yes please, more of that and preferably on a daily basis (a little wishful thinking never hurt anybody).

Lazy weekends equal a comfy and easy outfit, so here is mine: skinnies, top, cardigan, scarf et voilà, ready to hit the road. I added my hat because rain was forecasted and some lipstick for a little bit of glam while being lazy. I'm also wearing my Acne boots, because I still love them to death and I don't want to "waste" wearing them to work, so I save them for weekends. That's a valid theory, right?

Because of the "angry-face-syndrome", I only selected a few pictures where you can actually see my face. It's Sundays, they make me feel eery.

 

I'm wearing:

Hat: H&M

Scarf: Asos

Cardigan: H&M

Top: H&M

Skinnies: Asos

Boots: Acne pistol boots

We Want: White kicks

With the holidays and January (aka most depressing month in the history of mankind - no, I do not have a tendency to dramatize) long behind us, I feel February is just launching us home straight to - dare I say it - spring. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been living with my head in the sand, I do realize it is BIT(ch)ING cold. But my experience tells me that spring will arrive sooner than you might think. Add with that a little bit wishful thinking, et voilà, you'll comprehend the topic of today's blog post.

One of the most important things in life (you know, superficial life, aside from peace, solidarity, the environment, equality...) are shoes. Especially when slowly sliding into early spring mode, these shoes primarily need to be warm enough whilst blending in with your spring wardrobe. Let me let you in on a secret, I think I have found this white raven (pun intended) amongst shoes: the white sneaker. Yes, it has already been making quite a few impressive appearances, but I predict that no self-respecting girl (or boy for that matter) will be able to live without these precious the upcoming months. They are the perfect transitional shoe from winter to spring, since you can already start wearing them as of now (at least when it's not snowing and your feet don't freeze like mine do when the temperature drops). Take a look at some stunners I'm thinking about purchasing. 

                       Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Adidas                                         Nike, Adidas, Adidas, Converse, Nike

And if that doesn't make you want to run to the website of Zalando and click some of these babies home, then you will most certainly feel this urge when browsing through these inspirational pictures below.

What do you think? 

Via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via

We Love: Healthy foods - Soy Dream Smooth

I promise I will not lecture about how you should never go to McDonalds (but please, don't) or how you should eat your daily amount of veggies (but please do) or how you shouldn't drink too much alcohol (but please, ignore me on that one). But I cannot deny that I love to eat and that it makes me happy when I know the foods I'm stuffing myself with, are also good for my body instead of making me feel guilty after devouring them.

I started drinking soy milk occasionally about ten years ago in high school, just because I thought it tasted good. Alpro had a banana flavoured drink which tasted exactly like a banana milkshake. But I quit drinking them after I read the ingredient list and felt they added too much sugar. Of course it tasted like milkshake, it practically WAS a milkshake :D It always bums me when I read the amount of added sugars. I'm no saint at all and I like my Chardonnay during dinner (practically liquid sugar), but I like to choose when I eat my sugars or devour my guilty pleasures, I don't want them creeping in my daily eating habits. Because I tend to eat a lot.

So when Karolien and I were invited by Media Mania PR for a breakfast at Maona Living in Antwerp where a new soy based drink was to be announced, we quickly accepted. I sometimes feel alone in the world, but I LOVE breakfast. This new drink is produced by Hain Celestial, a name that didn't immediately rang a bell. But after some google'ing I found it's the brand behind my favorite milk replacement drink ever: Coconut Dream. So I was very excited for their new drink as I already loved (almost) all of their other drinks. And you know what I love the most about them? Exactly, they don't add sugar, the drinks are mildly sweet of their own due to the use of rice. I want go all chemical on you (because I simply can't, I'm a chemist noob) but it has something to do with rice fermentation. To make a long story short: it's all natural. (Random fact: the word "fermentation" always throws me back to Japan where I ate - or tried to eat - "Nato": a local delicatesse made of fermented soy beans. I'm a big fan of tasting everything but I almost threw up in my plate. I was kind of disappointed in myself afterwards.)

 Last year I had this period where I made a bunch of green smoothies - I was unemployed and had way too much time on my hands - in which I already used a variety of their drinks. Mostly the Coconut Dream though, but I go nuts on coconuts. It's a love or hate thing I suppose. But all of their drinks can also be used for baking as a replacement of milk. A couple of weekends ago I used their Oat Dream to make buckwheat pancakes, and they were delish! Speaking of which, I should by myself a new blender, but my Acne boots came first.

iPhone quality pancake making!

Buckwheat pancakes made with the "Oat Dream"

And the new Soy Dream Smooth doesn't disappoint, I will definetely buy some more of that if my local supermarket will provide me :D And last but not least: we also met some fellow bloggers during the event! We didn't go to a lot of events yet, but it is nice to chat with like-minded people. I guess I'm just afraid everyone will be so "fake" but that seemed unnecessary :D Karolien did all the talking though, I will not take the credit for it. My ramblings will limit themselves to the blog.

But thanks again Media Mania PR for the lovely (yet early) morning!

Pancakes for breakfast!

Karolien talking to Maxime from The Frontrow Blog