Mirror, mirror on the wall...

I have been frequently asked by many readers about how do I manage to have healthy skin and what is my care routine. To be honest, at the beginning I was not sure about posting on this particular subject. 

I used to think that I had no big wisdom to share. 

'My beauty secrets? - I thought -  No big deal at all! '
 But then I started surfing the net to look for any tips from bloggers all around the world.

What I mainly wanted was comparing my own perception with some other people´s criteria.

And do you know what? We had diametrically opposed views.

I went totally perplexed when, after reading more than a dozen beauty blogs, I realized about (and this is just a personal opinion) the bunch of big mistakes they comitted. The most of them were focused on making reviews of semi-professional products which were supposed to be essential for daily skin care regime. From my point of view, there were too many of them in every single post, kind of a cosmetic avalanche. And I started thinking:

'This makes no sense. Why are those ladies so obsessed with getting every new product? This won´t make their skins healthier by itself'.

So I decided I could have something to share after all.

These are my tips for a pretty, young and healthy skin.

This can sound like an obvious principle, but we need to hydratate ourselves both internally and externally.
 The suitable quantity of  liquid to drink is around eight glasses a day, but they don´t need to be exclusively water: juices, infusions, softdrinks or smoothies are good options too. However, remember that drinks containing  caffeine, alcohol or big amounts of sugar do not count. Indeed, they contribute to dehydratation.
If you don´t feel like drinking that much, you can get a reasonable volume of water from fresh fruit. Watermelon, kiwis and oranges contain huge liquid portions. Water helps to eliminate toxins from our body and makes our skin to look younger.

In relation to external hydratation, big companies insist on selling really expensive and useless lotions to us.
Many scientific researches show that the most effective products are those containing big shots of C Vitamin. There are many good brands offering this type of treatments for no more than 10 euros.
Personally, I tried many different creams over the years (my skin is really sensitive) and I finally found the perfect one for me in an unexpensive body + face lotion from Kinesia. I get it in my current supermarket and it costs four euros. Yes, that´s right. Only four euros. The regular bottle lasts for two months or even more, (even if a share it with my man). And on the top of all it, it is cruelty free.
 I can assure that my skin feels young and fresh since I use it.

A good nutrition is as important as a good hydratation.

Anemia is a fast track to a bad look (and better not to speak about health problems).

Try to make your diet complete and well-balanced:

Do you eat fresh veggies three times a week at least? Do you have fruit everyday?

A recent research demonstrates that women who consume big portions of C vitamin show less wrinkles when they turn thirty. This substance is present in citrics, but also in strawberries, kiwis and blueberries.

Having a healthy diet can make us feel a little lazy, but there are simple ways to achieve success.

If you do feel really bored about cooking green stuff every day, well, you can try green smoothies. 

And the same is applied to fruit. One of my favourite smoothies right now contains freeze blueberries and soy milk. 

Really yummy! 

And don´t forget that you can get extra vitamins and minerals from pills. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that multi-vitamin pills do not substitute natural elements. Our body doesn´t synthesize a hundred per cent of artificial vitamins. Keep that in mind!  

Seriously, do you think you need those twenty five beauty bottles that you storage in the bathroom?

Skin PH is very sensitive, and the excess of chemical substances do not help.

If you want to reduce the impact of chemicals in your skin there are several things you can do: first and most obvious, do not saturate your beautiful face with lots of products. Think a little bit about it. 

Exfolitation followed by a mask, followed by hydratation.  

Really?

If you want to feel your skin softer you can eventually substitute your current chemical mask for a homemade natural product once in a while.

 Greek Yoghurt is a miracle, you can trust me.

My personal skin care treatment consists in three basic products:

1. Moisturizing cream (the one mentioned above).  Avena Kinesia Moisturizer.
2. Anti-oxidant Mask (I just apply it once a week). Gisèle Denis, Maque antioxidant au thé blanc.
3. Gentle scrub lotion for both, face and body (once every two weeks). Payot Paris Gommage Douceur & Sanctuary Warming Detox Mask.

Yes, every goth lady knows that.

Excessive sunlight contributes to premature aging. Of course I am not suggesting you totally hide yourself from it (we need it to synthesize vitamin D), but a good parasol and sunscreen on summer will help to make you look younger.

 

Of course it does!

So please, don´t forget to remove all your make up before sleeping. 

During our dream, skin regeneration process takes place. When we clean our skin, and help her breathe, we also remove dead skin cells, excess sebum and pollution accumulated during the day.

♥ My top secret product for a clean and healthy skin is Vichy Purete Thermale.

Besides, let your skin to breathe with no make up on it once in a while (I do it every time I stay at home, specially on the weekends). When I stay at home and I want to keep it simple, I just wash my face with water and a natural Shea Tree soap which has ultra-hydratation power. 

This makes the skin healthier.

 Yes, having good rest also helps to be pretty.

I am sure you notice the difference between a dream session of seven or eight hours to another one of five or six hours. When you don´t sleep properly not only dark circles appear, but also skin feels dry and tense.

Make a favour to yourself and have sweet dreams every night.

Okey, lovelies, this is what I basically do for keeping my skin healthy and young.

I´d like to know what do you think about this.

Is my routine very different from yours?

Born under a Bad Sign

Do you know those days when you realize how lucky  you are?

Yesterday was one of them, The Gentle One was turning thirty two.

 Yes, you guessed: he shares his Birthday with Edgar Allan Poe, so maybe that constitutes a clue about how special he is.

I thought about posting a few pictures of my outfit for such a lovely night, but then I reconsidered the whole situation and decided to keep it in the charming zone of the little impressions.

So there you have just a couple of snaps of our lovely date in a romantic restaurant, as well as the post-celebrations-Sunday-breakfast.

♥ Adorable detail of the lillies in our dinner table last night.

  ♥ Sushi is alway too good.

♥ I am trying not to eat too many treats this year but, who can say no to clover-shaped waffles?

I hope you are as happy as I am, sweethearts! ♥

Late Christmas Loot Post

I dont´know if you think the same about yourselves, but sometimes I feel like a terrible blogger.
I mean, I seriously try to keep clear that very attractive post schedule that I continuously delineate in my mind, but it looks like, somehow, there´s always something trying to frustrate my golden plans.
Call it whatever you want: seminars, deadlines, job, academic reading timeline...
And finally, at the beginning of 2013, I decided I had enough of this.

I am not the kind of person who makes too serious New Year´s resolutions, but If I was, one of them would be stop complaining about the conspiration of the faerie of bad luck and start doing what I really want to.
In this case, honouring myself and my ideal post schedule (which would include, at least, one post a week).

So, in order to begin doing so (and after finding the perfect inspiration in Bella Morte´s lovely blog), I am going to tell a little bit about what was under the Christmas tree this year.
Because I have the cutest family ever, and even though many days passed through since Christmas´ Eve, it hasn´t been so long since 6th of January (which in Spain is another oficial date to be given presents) ♥

♥ This beautiful spiderweb necklance is one of my favourite gifts ever, not for its big value, but for it was given to me by my youngest sister. She is just thirteen years old (her birthday was last week) and she deeply knows my personal tastes and always does her best to find something genuine.

♥ Here you can see the precious ringstone that forms the body of the spider a little better, as well as the precious Venetian mask that The Gentle One bought for me. A girl cannot posibly have too many masks. Ok, I know I say that every single time about opera gloves, shoes and dresses but what?
Raise your hand if you don´t have one several personal fetishes. Shoes, pencil skirts, bags? Yes, then you know what I am speaking about. My man also got me a new blouse and a fake fur shrug. But I´ll show them to you in some future outfit post.

♥ Continuing with my legendary little sister´s contributions, she also got me a huge Yves Rocher Christmas pack. It basically consists on three awesome body milk lotions (vanilla, raspberry and Malasyan coconut) and three matching fragances. Once again: she is totally amazing! She knew I do love Yves Rocher organic products, not only beacuse they are free of any potential animal ingredients, but also because they leave a soft fresh touch in your skin.

♥ My mum, meanwhile, gave this great skin care regime products to me.
I have to confess that I am not a big fan of  L´oreal bussiness politics right now, however their products are still awesome and though I won´t be giving more money to them myself, I cannot reject a present like this from mum, right?

♥ This gorgeous pearl tiara is another gift from mummy.
She is always giving tiaras to me, mainly because (as she says) I am still a little princess to her eyes. Yes, my mum has to be the only one in the world for whom a grown up gothic lady is nothing but a little princess.
Yeah, you´re right, she´s the best!
Daddy contributed with a pair of wellies and a good quality vaccum bottle. Because if mum sees my like a little girl, for dad I am the girl with the eternal cold.
And do you know what? Damn, it´s true!

♥ Going back to The Gentle One he got these two second hand books to me. They are special because Anne Bronte´s works are really hard to find in Spanish, and the edition of Those Little Women is the one of my childhood, so many emotional memories are connected with it.

♥ And finally, my boss gave this cute box of handicraftsman soap just before holiday.
They smell SO good which is hard of define (strawberry, vanilla, lavender...).
I am still trying to avoid to eat them!

I have to say that I received an extra gift last week from my mother-in-law.
She got me a great coat with furry neckline, but ey, you´ll see it here someday, so no worries!

So tell me darlies, were you in Santa´s nice list?

Another Year in the Jar

Now the candles are extinguished and the golden days and nights full of champagne, roses and treats are over, I can sit down and think.

It looks like magic how fast this 2012 has flown away.

Sometimes I wonder if, by some dark spell, I am sleeping in a high tower as the time goes by. 

But ey, that would mean that I am not getting older anymore (and unfortunately I am, that´s for sure darlings).

No regrets, though.

Glancing back,I can see how many things I´ve done this year without even noticing:

• I passed some tedious exams, so I am really close to get my degree now (in the past some subjects were pretty much a bunch of Horror Cruxes to me). 

•  I found a great job that helps to mantain this gorgeous apartment and my quiet lifestyle together mith my better half.

•  I met new friends. It´s so nice when you are able to connect with people who are just your cup of tea.

And what do I wish for this new 2013?

Good question, indeed. I´d like to think that I will be totally finished with my degree and my academic research by the end of this year.
I also want to find a good opportunity to move to the UK (my boyfriend and I have several projects about this).

Adulthood is a funny moment in life, because basically you never know what you are going to find in the path, right? I hope all of you find your own destiny this year.

I send you all my love.

                                                               

Please, don´t forget to check charming Victorian Kitty´s blog as long as she is organizing a month event about New Year! 

My life lately (and giveaway winner)

This is a very vague testimony of my few last days this week.

As they were full with lots of twists I just could capture a couple of little impressions.

Be sure you fasten your seat belt! 

♥Last week has been kind of a madness since many changes burst into my life. 

The plans that I had built around a new job position collapsed, but a new (and unexpected) project showed up. 

Tarot is always a lighthouse in those ocassions.

 Well, I don´t trust it like an infallible orable; however, it always help to meditate about all my options.

♥As a consequence of those crazy news, now I have to deal with a narrower schedule 

which basically means a series of racing all through the city to be on time both at job and university seminars.

 On a practical level this means less time for lunch, so I try to ensure I have vitamins enough in my diet.

♥My seminars have already started but I refuse to admit that summer is over, so I keep

 reading child books just for pleasure.  

The Wind in the Willows is one of my favourite children´s literature classics ever.

Someday I´ll make an entire post about it! 

 ♥Beside all this, this week I started my pre-Halloween annual research.

 What does it consist on? Good question!

Every year at the beginning of the month I put my comfy shoes on and wander around the city

 in the want of cute stuff that I can use as Halloween stuff. 

At the moment I have been sneaking a peek at candy stores.

                 ♥I also tried to improve my origami skills with no success (the beautiful butteflies above are 

my friend Elisa´s old creations), and made lots of smothies for an extra energy dose. The smoothie in the picture was made of frozen blueberries and raspberries (no chance to get them fresh here). 

 ♥ And finally: the very expected winner of the Giveaway event.

Corresponding with the original order of participants the lucky lady is (drumroll, please):

Aoife

Congratulations, dear!

And to the rest of you, Thank you so much for participating.

I am sure you´ll have more opportunities in the future.

Blue eyes say, Love me or I die; black eyes say, Love me or I kill thee

After a couple of weeks that I only can describe as killing, I am free again. 

Well, quite free as long as I had to go back to my classes and seminars, which started on Wednesday.

I hardly survived to my September exams and it could be said that I did it pretty unharmed considering the circumstances. 

Do you know that kind of annoying period when you seem touched by the faerie of bad luck? Oh, I am sure you are laughing, but don´t think I am joking. The faerie of bad luck is somewhere out there, and I won´t stop until I catch her (or until I can take a good picture of her to demonstrate her physical existence to the whole world, at least).

What happenned to me for speaking like a lunatic?

Get ready to smile (or cry, not even sure indeed):

• Little day-to-day tragedy #1: I made a mistake with one of my exams by thinking it was a different day. Inmediate consequence: yes, I missed it! However, the teacher was very comprehensive and let me make it three days later. But I had lots of linden tea in between. And when I say lots I really mean it. I think some linden tea maker is really rich right now.

• Little day-to-day tragedy #2:  To step aside from all the hard stress produced by the little day-to-day tragedy #1, The Gentle One and I accepted the invitation of our friends to spend last weekend at their place. They live in a pretty small place by the sea (literally, their house almost touches the sand of the beach), so I decided to get rid off my sun aversion and put my bathing suit in the case. Right, exactly as you think: on Sunday morning we had the coldest day this month.

•  Little day-to-day tragedy #3: In the top of all this I was clumsy enough to rip three pairs of tights. Besides I lose one entire pack of hairpins, spilled coffee on my favourite skirt and an entire bottle of eau de toilette on my bed (I have to admit that now it smells like heaven. Like having a too big piece of heaven at home).

 Shirt : Zara  / Skirt : H&M  / Tie : Random shop/ 
 Brooch : Handmade/  Tights : Calcedonia/  Boots : Gift from The Gentle One /
 Handbag : Gift form my sister (bought in Tokyo)

As you can imagine, at the end of the past week I was a pale-shaking-tiny-thing that only prayed for no more accidents. But ey, better halves are true heroes in that kind of occasions. They always know how to make fun of gloomy days and take you out for having some tasty white tea with mandarin and a funny photoshoot.

God blesses anonymous heroes! 

Oh, the winner of the give away will be announced very soon!

Be sure to enter the event. 

First Anniversary Give Away

I cannot truly believe it´s been a year since I started updating this blog.
I began thinking I would probably get easily bored of it, but through these twelve months I met really charming and interesting people out there and this place eventually became one more facet of my life.
I have to confess that, for me, posting here is kind of relaxing. A therapy against stress. And do you know what? Besides it is cheaper than a psychoanalyst!

Now seriously, I want to thank everyone in the blogosphere by giving a little offering.
The give away consists on a handmade flower ring, a couple of polka dots vynil hair pins, a handmade key pendant and a beautiful black lace handband (that can be also used as a chocker).

All you have to do for having the chance to get the prize is being a follower of this blog (if you are not a follower yet, you can become one) and leave a comment below. The comment must contain a suggestion about what kind of contents you do like here or would you appreciate me to add to my blog.

You can get an extra participation (I´ll put your name twice in the raffle) if you leave a link to this give away in your own blog. 

The contest is internationally opened!

Good luck, everyone!

Someone special

Happy Sunday everyone!

The most of the week I´ve been away, I am sad to say that my September exams are the ones to blame.

But in the middle of this boring and consuming study routine I visited Victorian Kitty´s place ( Check the place of this charming lady) and she proposed a blog event for September feating someone who is really special to us. And as I am such as predictable sweet person, I have chosen The Gentle One for this occasion.

This picture belongs to the only existing professional studio photoshoot of us together ♥

(Credits to: Jose Gutierrez Carou)

We have been together for almost eight years now and I am glad to say that if soulmates exist, well, we rocked it to find one to each other. I could spend the whole day telling you the most crazy stories about our relationship; how (for example) I deeply hated him in our first meeting. Being a big fan of Jane Austen our story had to begin like the first impressions between Elisabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. But ey, life is not always drama and we fixed it soon (just like Austen´s characters did). And besides, Regency fairy tales are even funnier if they are set in a gothic ball background.

So this ornery bookworm, tea addicted and cat fanatic met that second-hand-books-maniac and cheerful insomniac and, after some amusing plot twists that could have made laugh to any sitcoms friend, the moved in together and started a second season of a glorious imaginary tv series.

Now you have your own chance to join this beautiful event at Sophistique Noir.

Just follow the instructions and let the world know who is special to you.

Do thou snatch treasures from my lips, and I'll take kingdoms from thine.

 Birthday presents have an interesting connotation, because they reflect the way in which we are perveived by our loved ones. Additionally they symbolize all the affection, respect and consideration about the honoree. And of course gifts always will have that kind of magic aura capable of transporting us back to childhood and transforming a reasonable grown-up in a laughing toddler.

This year (because I am always such a good girl) I have received lots of stunning treasures, those includying a luxury beauty treatment that I could probably not afford myself at the moment (thankie mum), a sparkling tiara, earrings, broochs and bracelet (yes, I am as a magpie fascinated by shinning stuff) , and a dinky customized ex-libris showing my name and a bunch of Art Noveau flowers ( I need to sign all my beloved books with a decorative sign).
Everything is so lovely!

The Gentle One gave me a long-term wanted set of straightener and curling irons. So yes, as you guessed lots of funny (and disastrous, I am sure) hair experiments are coming.

I also was gifted with an exquisite Elisabethan corset, a dainty lace top and a gorgeous silk scarf but I thought those would be better portrayed in many future outfit posts. 

This way all fun is not wasted, is it?