My Autumn Fashion Haul

Hi guys,

first, I know, you have not heard from me quite long and I'm very sorry for that. There were a lot of things going on and I hardly found time to sit down and write. I promise, I'll be better. :-)

Last week I found some hours for a shopping tour. Honestly, I have to say that I hardly own sweaters and cardigans keeping me warm during cold days. So I ran into the city, checking out the stores and I finally found a ton of stuff (Now, I don't have to freeze anymore, thank you God for that! :-) )

Starting my trip, I went to @TomTailor... And then it happens... the guy there told me that they have 20% off on every knit clothes (what the heck? Let's go and buy the store up!!!)
I was in the store (and mainly in the dressing room ^^) for around two hours (a huge thank you to my boyfriend having these patience :-D) and decided to buy two sweaters, a henley and a shirt. You see the clothes in the following pictures.
The two sweaters are so comfy and casual. They fit perfectly to jeans or a denim skirt. The week after, I wore them to work (and yes, I didn't freeze - yaaay) and I felt so so so good in them.

Some months ago I bought the henley in denim blue and I like it so much that I definitely wanted another colour. I like this kind of bordeaux colour so much, because it fits to a ton of different colours. You can wear it in a casual way to jeans with a scarf or a cardiagan, or to black trousers in a much more elegant way. The Ohio-Shirt was a present from my boy because he liked it so much. Thank u =)

Having finished the first stage successfully, I went to @VeroModa. Oh my gosh... I couldn't decide what I should buy and what I (have to(?)) leave in the store. I found so much stuff, because they have such a great choice of clothes. Finally, I forced myself to buy not more than two pieces (yes, I don't want to be poor, I just don't want to freeze^^). I found two cardigans that you see in the picture. How do you like them? I feel so comfortable wearing them. First I was afraid if the tissue is scratching on the skin, but definitely it doesn't #happy.

 Concerning accessory I found a really nice headband, that looks really Christmassy. At the moment I'm quite in a Christmas mood, altough there a still six weeks to go. But hey, in two weeks starts the Christmas market, so I think it's adequate to start feeling Christmassy. :-) Are you in a Christmas mood at the moment or do you think it's still to early?

Not to forget the feet, I found two pair of shoes. One pair is from @Esprit. The style is very similar to the @UGGs one. I have to confess, I don't like the style very much. With the shoes you look a little bit like a eskimo buuuut, they keep the feet so warm you'll definitely survive with them in the winter (especially when you'll visit your friend the eskimo =) ). I personally, will bless them going to the football stadium and fore sure, the christmas market.

The second pair is from @GilPeterson. These boots are very casual and it looks like you wear cuffs on your legs (what I like a lot). They keep your feet warm, not as warm as the eskimo ones but it's enough for all day shoes.

And... a little bit of make up should not be forgotten (I'm a woman, I need this stuff :-) ). I found some great nail polish, perfect for the autumn and winter days. At the moment, I'm in the mood wearing dark colours so I think these two colours fit perfect in my collection.

The nail polish from @Catrice is quite shimmery and beside using it as a nail polish you can use it as a top coat. I tried it as top coat with a nearly black nail polish and it looked amazing.
The nail polish from @Manhattan is a great dark red colour and I love it so much. I bought nearly the same colour last winter (and it's used up - so you see, I loved the colour :-)). I like the @Manhattan nail polish, because it's really easy to apply on your nails and it doesn't chip nearly a week (provided you use a top coat). I can say, nearly the main party of my nail polish collection is from @Manhattan.

Which nail colours do you prefer during the cold days?

♥ Van ♥

SLEEP-IN ROLLERS BRUSH

Hey guys,

there are a lot of blog posts concerning makeup and stuff but don't forget your hair! I like having voluminous, shiny hair but after blow-drying my hair with my circular brush from a drugstore my volume gets lost as soon as possible. =(
After checking out different brushes at feelunique.com I decided to order the SLEEP-IN ROLLERS brush. It's a big circular brush with a diameter of around 10 cm and it was delivered in a nice pink bag.

Because of its big diameter I had first to get used to rolling up my hair for blow-drying. I really like the large area on which my strands of hair can lie so that a fast drying of the hair is warranted. The distance between the single bristles is so big that you don't get any tangling hair.

My hair has so much more volume after using the brush.
For heat protection I use the L'Oréal heat protection spary which gives the hair extra volume up to three days, like the packaging says. Concerning the volume effect of the spray I can't give any review, because I wash my hair every other day. Concerning the heat protection - I like the spray really much and I'll buy it again.
To fix the volume I use a volume hairspray from got2b which I really recommend.

You can see both products in the following picture:

How do you get volumonous hair?

♥ Van ♥

Fragrance PRADA CANDY

Hey guys,

today I want to write a little bit about my absolutely favourite perfume Prada Candy.
I got a tester last year before christmas at Douglas and I directy fell in love with the scent.
Since then I ran everytime when I was in the city to the tester, smelling this incredible fragrance.
Finally, at my birthday this year, my best boy offered me the perfume and my life was safed! :-))
It is a combination box with the 50 ml bottle of perfume and a body lotion what is packaged in a pink box like you see in the following picture:

It's a perfect box that represents the sweet, oriental flavour of the perfume. You open the box by lifting the top and tadaaa -  here it is - the fragrance and the body lotion.

 I still cannot believe that I'm really the owner of this stuff, but yes, I am and I appreciate it so so much! Thank you JP for this amazing gift!

The official description describes the smell as caramel. The first time smelling it, I thought at cotton candy from the fun park. Like this is sugar... yes I can certify the caramel smell.
The scent lasts nearly half a day until I have to refresh it. Honestly, I expected it to lasts a little longer because of the high price.
The body lotion is creamy and I like having it on my skin, smelling like I was the cotton candy myself. :-)

In general, I love the product and aside from the fact that you have to refresh the smell once per day, you get with the fragrance an amazing product. It's a fragrance you can use on special occasions like christmas, birthdays, holidays in general... The last time I used it for the wedding day of friends and the smell makes you and your outfit completely individual.

So, for the case you'll buy it... Have fun! =)

Do you know the scent? How do you like it? Do you recommend other fragrances?

♥ Van ♥

My Amsterdam Haul

Hey guys,

as I mentioned in my last post, I like to show you what I bought during my holidays in Amsterdam.

Souvenirs:

Perhaps some of you can imagine what's the first thing I bought.... It's a souvenir cup from Starbucks. I really love Starbucks. There's nothing like a coffee of it and everytime I vistit a city I HAVE TO GO THERE and buy a cup with the towns name on it. I like them so much because every cup shows the significant attractions of the city like in this case the high, small houses, the sewers and of course the bikes.

As second souvenir of the town I bought a magnet. I have several magnet boards at home and I always have too little magnets to hold all my stuff. I'm always happy getting a new one. I like organizing special notes, postcards or photos like a collage on the boards so, like the Starbucks cups, during every holiday I buy a magnet as souvenir for my boards.
This time it's a cow on a bike with tulips in the bicycle basket. Like I told you, there are so many bicycle riders in the town what's very caracteristic for Amsterdam, just as the flowers. The Netherlands in general are known for having so beautiful tulips ( Did I mention that there is a flower market built up on a sewer?) and whereever you go, you see so many cows. They rest directly on the meadows nex to to the streets, ignoring the traffic around them. In Germany you won't find that...
The sunglasses and the bikini are just for fun I think. :-)

Living accesoires:

My next stop was in the Yankee Candle Shop. I think Yankee Candle is not so well-known as the candles from Bath and Body Works, but the brand is quite international. They had so good-smelling candles, especially with autumn-smells that I couldn't decide which one to buy. The decision has fallen as I recognized the special offer of getting four Samplers for 10 €. I took Salted Caramel, Vanilla Chai, Red Velvet and Strawberry Buttercream. My absolutely favourite is the Salted Caramel (Oh, by the way, today I've ordered a Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks and it was so tasty.... Oh my gosh.... :-D), it's perfect for cold days when you prefer relaxing at home with a hot tea or a hot chocolat under a blanket... fantastic... =)

Food:

For food specialities I bought - guess - cheese -  yes ;) There are a lot of stores where you can taste the different kinds of cheese. They have natural ones, cheese with herbs, cheese with cumin, green pesto, red pesto, cheese from goats... everything you want. I decided to pick a natural one which is really tasty.

Makeup and jewelry:

Not to forget the makeup... I bought my first MAC lipstick ever in the colour Candy-Yum-Yum.
Oh my gosh, I love this colour so much. At first I was unsure if the pink is not to intensiv for me but after looking in the mirror I was quite sure that I NEED this colour in my lipstick collection! Because it's the most expensive lipstick I've ever own in my life, I really appreciate it. I like the creamy formula very much and its really long lasting - it's definitely worth the money! =)

The ring I bought is from Brandy Melville. I heard a lot of this brand from YouTubers like @beautybaby44 or +missglamorazzi and was really happy to find a store in Amsterdam. The clothes they have are amazing. At last I decided to buy this ring which is golden and has a small white stone in it. For me it fits perfect on my ring finger. It's not a every-day ring, I prefer to wear it with glamorous clothes what, in my opinion, makes the ring more special. =)

Clothes:

Last but not least I bought... what every women buy... clothes, yes ! =)
I found two T-Shirts at Vero Moda. They are both from ONLY and they are casual, comfy shirts for every day. You can wear them with jeans, pants or a skirt. I like the prints on it that give the shirts its casual character. OK, I could have buy them in the german Vero Moda but I saw the shirts, liked them and ... bought them -  why wait? =)

So, that is my Amsterdam Haul! I hope you enjoyed it!  What do you buy as souvenirs when you are on holidays?

 ♥ Van ♥

Holidays in Amsterdam

Hey guys,

last week I was on holidays in Amsterdam. I really, really love this city (and I'm so sad that I had to leave) !!!!

Exploring the city, I got my first impressions of this impulsive, lively atmosphere. The streets are full of people (including a higher amount of bicycle drivers ;) ) and there are restaurants, cafés and bars side by side. You can choose your food of the nationality you prefer most, italian, chinese, argentinian, brazilian, american, english... (or you go to a Coffeeshop, if you prefer this - but I didn't ;) ). BUT.... the first most exciting thing I found was - a BEN and JERRYS SCOOP BAR! Oh my gosh! I've never been to one before because there's none in Germany so I HAD TO STOP THERE!!!! I've chosen Chunky Monkey and it was like a orgasm of taste!!! Please Germany, please, please, please open a Ben and Jerry's scoop bar!!!

On a monday evening there are so many people walking around as you don't see in Germany during the week. Everybody was enyoing the still nice, warm weather outside of the bars, talking, relaxing and just having fun.

Obviously, I cannot visit a city without checking out the shopping places ( you'll find a haul here on this blog during the following days) and I have to complain again.... ;) Germany, why don't you have such great stores like Brandy Melville, All Saints, Topshop, Forever 21 (ok there are one or two but still not enough ;) ), Abercrombie and Fitch and - did I mention - Ben and Jerrys ? ;)
In short, I really love the shopping places in the Netherlands, concerning clothes, shoes and makeup because you have such a great choise of whatever you want. Apart from makeup, which is much more expensive than in Germany, the prices of clothes etc are comparable.

One thing I have to tell you... I went to Starbucks several times (mainly for a pumpkin spiced latte because  -  yeah you can imagine - they don't sell it in the stores I vistit regularly) and ordered once a café latte. The guy behind the counter had his first time success creating a leaf on the milk foam and he was so happy and proud. It was so much fun looking at him because he was so excited and showed his colleagues his leaf that I had to take a picture of it! =)

There are a lot of small sewers in the whole city (here I should mention that Amsterdam is build on wooden piers) where you can book a boat trip by day or by night for sightseeing. I've chosen the trip at night because I wanted to see all the illuminated bridges which seemed so romantic.

In general all buildings are very high and narrow, constructed of brick stones that gave Amsterdam it's characteristic appearance and flair.

Because there are so many bicycle drivers in the city, you find chained bicycles whereever you look. But the drivers are not very pedestrian friendly and you really have to pay attention not being knocked down by one of them. ;)

Mentioned the lively character of the city, there's the Vondelpark where you can relax and avoid all the trouble if you'd like. Large, green meadows invite for reading a book outside, having a barbecue with friends, jogging or just having a walk.

One big disadvantage of the city are the overpriced park fees. There's really no place where you can park for free. You have the best parking situation when you chose a P+R for 8 € per day, instead of paying 20 € per day on regular parking places. 

One day I went off to the beach near Zandvoort. The sun was shining and it was such a perfect day there! From Amsterdam it was only around half a hour by car. I really miss having the opportunity to go to the beach here in Germany where I live. You can rest there, calm down and just relax. (Later in time, when I've grown-up, I want to have a holiday house near the beach - absolutely!!! ;) )

Summarized, I loved the city and I really can imaging living there. I enjoyed every minute I had in this great, gorgeous town and I can't wait to visit Amsterdam a second time.

Have you ever been to Amsterdam?

 ♥ Van ♥

Maybelline BABY LIPS

Hallo ihr Lieben,

endlich, endlich, endlich sind die Maybelline BABY LIPS in Deutschland angekommen. Wie oft habe ich sie in amerikanischen YouTube Videos gesehen und hätte sie selbst gerne gekauft um sie zu testen. Warten lohnt sich, hier sind sie in den Variationen INTENSE CARE, HYDRATE, PEACH KISS und CHERRY ME (von links nach rechts):  

INTENSE CARE (gelb) und HYDRATE (blau) liefern beide farblose Lippenpflege mit LSF 20. Maybelline verspricht eine Feuchtigkeitspflege von rund 8 Stunden durch pflanzlische Reperaturkonzentrate. 
INTENSE CARE bringt keine grosse Duftnote mit sich, während HYDRATE sommerlich, frisch, leicht zitronig riecht. Beide Pflegestifte verleihen den Lippen beim Auftragen ein cremiges, feuchtigkeitsspendendes Gefühl. Zwar dauert dieses nicht die versprochenen 8 Stunden an, dennoch waren meine Lippen nach Anwenden der Pflege danach weicher und geschmeidiger als zuvor. 

Die beiden Produkte PEACH KISS (violett) und CHERRY ME (orange) bringen als einzigen Unterschied im Vergleich zu INTENSE CARE und HYDRATE einen Hauch Farbe mit sich, welchen sie den Lippen verleihen. Während PEACH KISS nach Pfirsisch duftet und die Lippen einen leicht apricotfarbenen schimmern lässt, riecht CHERRY ME nach Kirsche und lässt die Lippen leicht rötlich glänzen. Die Farbnuance der Stifte ist eher dezent, sodass sie sich gut im Alltag verwenden lassen. Leider ist der Farbschimmer bereits nach etwa einer Stunde verschwunden und ein mehrmaliges Auftragen nötig, wenn die Farbe beibehalten werden soll.

Meine beiden persönlichen Favoriten sind PEACH KISS und HYDRATE. Ich mag den Pfirisischduft und den Farbschimmer, den meine Lippen erfahren, sowie die erfrischende Duftnote von HYDRATE. 

Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass sich die Maybelline BABY LIPS hinsichtlich der Pflege und Duftnote nicht sonderlich von bisher bekannten Lippenpflegestiften unterscheiden, sondern sich vielmehr durch das bunte, kreative Design von alternativen Pflegeprodukten abheben. Ich persönlich mag die BABY LIPS und würde mir meine beiden Favoriten wieder kaufen, einfach weil ich generell regelmäßig Lippenpflegestifte benutze und gestehen muss, dass ich Wert drauf lege neben der Qualität auch optisch ansprechende Produkte zu benutzen.

Habt ihr die BABY LIPS schon ausprobiert? Was haltet ihr davon?

♥ Van ♥

IAA 2013

Hallo ihr Lieben,

gestern habe ich die IAA in Frankfurt/Main besucht. Ich liebe Autos und Autofahren und interessiere mich stets für die neuesten Automodelle und Designs, vorzugsweise für meine Favoriten Audi und Mini. 

Es war die erste IAA auf der ich war und demnach war ich super aufgeregt und gespannt, was mich erwartet. Durch die großen Menschenmengen war zwar mancher Blick auf die verschiedenen Modelle etwas getrübt, dennoch habe ich versucht, so viel wie möglich an neuen Eindrücken und Informationen zu gewinnen. Hier möchte ich euch meine persönlichen Highlights vorstellen.

Mein erster Anlaufpunkt war Audi. Beim Betreten der Halle wird man überwältigt von dem super coolen Design der auf dem Kopf stehenden Stadt mit einer verspiegelten Hallendecke.

Es beeindruckt mich jedes Mal aufs Neue, wie durch das Design der Halle der gewünschte Flair und Charakter des Autoherstellers betont wird. Bei Audi wirkt alles sehr modern, lebendig und einen Hauch hektisch, bewirkt durch die eingespielte Musik. Von den Modellen war mein Favorit der Audi A8L 4.0 T quattro.

Optisch gefällt mir der Wagen sehr gut. Seit der Fahrschule (ich hatte die große Ehre das Fahren mit einem Audi zu erlernen), liebe ich die Marke, ich mag das Design, die Ausstattung und generell das gesamte Fahrgefühl, welches einem beim Fahren widerfährt.
Die Innenausstattung ist hoch modern, unter anderen mit mehreren Bildschirmen für Fahrer und Mitfahrende zum Film-/ Fernsehen gucken. Die Bedienelemente liefern die optimale Voraussetzung für lange, bequeme, angenehme Fahrten.

Auf MINI habe ich mich ebenso gefreut. Mein großer Wunsch ist es zeitnah einen solchen zu fahren. Im Vergleich zu Audi ist die Innenausstattung wesentlich spartanischer, aber nicht weniger komfortabel. 

Weiterhin überzeugt mich auch hier das äußere Design. Die Halle war sehr bunt gestaltet und die Atmosphäre ist sehr modern und dynamisch, ansprechend für jüngere Fahrer. Mein Liebling war hier das Mini Cabrio. 

Optisch am Besten designed fand ich den Infinity Q 30. Bisher war mir persönlich der Autohersteller nicht allzu bekannt, dennoch war ich, vor allem als Frau, beeindruckt von dem rosegoldfarbenen Design des Wagens.

Selbst die Innenausstattung ist geschmückt mit rosegoldfarbenen Blickfängern, wie bspw. der Lüftungsverkleidung und verschiedenen Bedienelementen.

Dieser Wagen hat mich vom Design einfach am meisten begeistert.

Zusammenfassend konnte ich, neben den hier vorgestellten Modellen, viele innovative und kreative Ideen der Automobilindustrie kennen lernen und freue mich, irgendwann selbst ein solches Modell unterm Hintern zu haben. :-)

Seid ihr interessiert an Autos und habt ihr die IAA besucht?


♥ Van ♥

 

Who is Van ?

Hey guys, I'm Van:

 I'm 26 years old german girl. I've studied physics and I've finished university in summer 2013. At the moment I'm working on my PhD thesis in medical physics and - what nobody knows - I love beauty and fashion! 

In this blog I'm sharing my thoughts and expericences of make-up products and fashion with you. 

You can get to know me better reading my lifestyle posts, delivering insight in my exploration of the world. 

Additionally, I pay heed to healthy food with that I like to experiment a lot. So let's also share some food-ideas together! 

I hope you have fun reading my blog and I would be very happy if you leave any comments on my posts. :-)

Kisses, 

Van

Small Declaration:
I'm no native english speaker but I try to do my very best to avoid grammar mistakes. Since I'm a human being, I'll make grammar and / or expression mistakes. I'd be happy receiving feedback if I do so. I'm always working to improve my english.