Monthly favorites (January 2014)

Last day of the month, so time for favorites! This month isn’t gonna go into the list of favorite January of all time. Overall, this month just sucked as I realized that I am a bit worse for wear than I had expected. I am still on the road to recovery and do what I can (which mainly involves sleep, watching TV series and lots of nice food) to make sure I get better. For every good day I still have 2 or 3 bad ones and anything I do still costs energy and concentration levels are at an all time low. Somehow I do still like coming on here and write something every other day. It adds a bit of positivity in my day. I have a little bit of everything for you in here so let’s get started!

Lush Dream Wash shower smoothie

I bought this pot ages ago but hadn’t gotten round to using it. And all I can say is: what rock have I been hiding under? The Dream Wash shower smoothie is made for sensitive skin and I like using this AFTER using a regular shower gel on a puff. I just take some in my hands, rub them together and lather it on. After I rinse it off my skin feels silky soft and nourished. And the best part: I don’t need a bodylotion afterwards.

Gliss Kur Hair Repair Oil Nutrive Wonder-Serum-Spray

Quite a mouthful, but this stuff works. I spray this on after I’ve washed my hair, right before I brush it. It detangles my hair, provides an extra barrier and keeps my dry locks just a tad more nourished. The 7 oils it mentions are actually in there and quite high in the ingredient list and include Argan oil, Macademia Oil and Almon oil. It also contains liquid keratin which is also known to nourish your hair. Just what my hair needs.

William Davies – Wheat Belly/ Brood Buik

I’m not one for reading books in Dutch, but when I saw this book at the bookstore at the station I had to pick it up. It basically tells you the story of why the wheat we eat now, is not the wheat our grandparents ate. It has been genetically modified and crossed to enhance features which help the crops as they grow and are simply assumed to also are beneficial to humans. The latter however, is not tested, and often uncontested. Because a slice of bread is about the healthiest thing on the planet right? This book claims that that’s what food companies want you to believe, while in fact many diseases that are so common can be prevented or at least curbed before they destroy your body completely (diabetes being one of them) if you cut out wheat and gluten from your diet. Seeing that I am one of those people who is wheat intolerant this book gave me tons of background information on why that might be and what you can do to skip wheat all together.

Urban Decay Vice 2 palette

It’s here, it’s here, it’s FINALLY here. I ordered this baby the weekend before Christmas and it was delivered on my doorstep only last Monday. I haven’t even been able to use it yet, but still it made it into this post. Look at how pretty it is! I still have to swatch everything but seeing I’m no newbie to Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes I know these shades will work like a dream. And in my 30 day make up challenge I’m coming up to the color pink (and I don’t have that many) so maybe I can use this palette when I start on that. Since I’ve had it, I just opened it every day to just stare at it. Yes, I’m an obsessive lune…

Rigoni di Asiago Fiordifrutta fruit jam

My quest for no added sugar foods continues and once in a while I find something I really like. This jam is all fruit and sweetened with apple juice. Still, not the best, but at least it doesn’t have sugar, high fructose corn syrup and invert sugar syrup all in one go like most jams do. These jams (I also tried the apricot one) are jampacked with fruit and taste great on a rice cake. It’s been a food staple all month.

L’Oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint foundation

Suddenly I find myself wanting to try foundations. Liquid foundations. Me! The girl who, until last year had never used a foundation in her life, currently finds herself being the proud owner of not one, not two, but 7 (!) liquid foundations and BB creams. And three of them I bought in the past 2 months or so. This is the one I’ve used most so far (it will be featured in a shoplog AND I am planning to write a full review on it as well) and I really like it. The first drugstore foundation that actually comes in my shade light enough for my skin tone (YAY!), has a sheer to light, i.e. natural coverage (double YAY!!) and doesn’t give me break outs/ itches/ rashes/ allergic reactions (can I get a hell yeah?!).

Pastel multicolored baggy knit sweater (Topshop)

One thing I did this month is go through my pile of sweaters. I ended up digging out this baby from the back. And what a shame that I hadn’t worn this yet this season. I quickly made up for it though: I’ve been wearing this non stop. I come home, chuck off my dress and throw this on. It’s big, it’s cozy, and it’s pretty. Best. Sweater. Ever.

The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil

Trying this stuff was long overdue. I was still using up my previous cleanser before I could try this though, but now that I have I love it! It’s soft and I like the oil on my dry skin. It not only cleans my face, but it also nourishes it at the same time. I simply squirt two pumps of this on a cotton pad and wipe my make up off my face. The best part: this oil cleanses better than my previous one.

There you have it! My favorites of January 2014. What was yours?