Two hour skirt

The fastest way to make a new skirt in a very short time is to cut up an old one that fits you well enough but that is too worn down to be of any use anymore. Lay down the separate parts of the skirt on a piece of fabric you really like and cut out the same shape. Stitch it and add an elastic waistband...finished! You can re-use the pieces of the old skirt any time for making new skirts with other fabrics.
This is not a skirt to make a big impression with, but if you've used a beautiful fabric it will be a nice daily asset in your wardrobe.

 

An evening at the Body Shop

I've just returned from a late night visit to The Body Shop. Every customer with a 'vip card' could stop by after 6 PM and get a 10% discount on top of the 10% discount they already receive with their card on regular days. There were free drinks, lots of candy and everyone received an appealing goodie-bag. I had waited especially for this evening to buy the skin products I needed, which is the wonderful Tea Tree line against oily skin. Works miracles for me! If I spent more than 20 euros, my vip card was used enough times to choose a free product worth 15 euros! All this meant that I ended up buying my skin products with amazing discount ánd getting an amazing amount of wonderful free products:

One the left: the Tea Trea products  
On the right: Monoi body balm,  miniature Love Etc..bodybutter, showercream and body lotion, heart-shaped soap with strawberry scent, Nutriganics test package (all for free!)

 

Earlier in the afternoon I had already received another free product at 'Kruidvat': a 0,5 liter bottle of Wella shampoo worth 5 euros. 

What a fruitful day!

One year of hair growth

This month it's been a year since I let my hair grow and below you can see the result. Not bah, eh? I guess I do really need a trim now, after staying away from the salon for a year. The ends of my hair are pretty dry and although it's hardly noticeable, I don't think it's a good idea to just leave it like this. I'm also thinking of getting side-swept bangs. I used to have straight bangs for quite some time, but they tend to make my face look very narrow. Side-swept bangs will make my face look less 'boring', but at the same time avoid the disadvantage of the straight bangs.

  

2010, with straight bangs:

                                                                             2011:

Then, I'm curious to hear your opinions on the color of my hair! I now have the lower layer of my hair dyed black, but it's not always very well visible because I have so much hair in my natural color covering it. Do you tink I should add some black streaks, perhaps? I've actually found an example of what I mean, after a long search. Avril Lavigne's old hair-style comes closest to what it would look like:

 

I would leave some blonde streaks at the bottom though, because when I'm wearing black (which is 90% of the time) my hair doesn't stand out anymore against the background. 

Some other examples, which show what it would look like with bangs:

[I couldn't find the second picture in better quality]

 

What I would also like a lot is to have some bleached streaks near the face, like this:

(I would leave the rest of my hair in my natural hair color, more like the second pic)

 

 What do you think would look best? I need some advice here! :)

Long hair care

If I ever want to succeed growing my hair really long (for me that would be 'classic length', reaching my buttocks - or perhaps just waist length) I'll need to keep it in perfect condition. Considering I tend to dye my hair once in a while (mainly black streaks), conditioner and hair masks are an absolute necessity. Of course I can't speak for anyone else here, but the products that work really well for me in keeping my hair healthy are:

- Jumping Juniper shampoo bar by Lush: this solid shampoo might appear a bit weird at first when you're used to washing your hair with liquid shampoo, but works great! You just rub the bar against your wet hair and it starts to foam considerably. I'm especially fond of this shampoo because it really combats oily hair; I can go by with one extra day of not washing my hair now, which is a great time-saver! Lush has shampoo bars in many variants, so there's always one that will fit your requirements. Another positing thing about the bars is that they last really long. Plus one doesn't have to throw away all those shampoo bottles all the time, so it's better for the environment too. I'm hooked now and don't feel the need to try anything else soon!

- Rainforest moisture mask, Brasilian nut moisture mask and Poppy seed oil reviving mask, all by The Body Shop. All three of these are great for giving your hair that extra treat every week! I don't really notice much of a difference between them, but I have only started using them for a couple of weeks now. They smell wonderful and leave your hair really soft. I'm usually very happy with products from The Body shop and its hair masks are no exception. Definately worth the money!

- Gliss Kur oil nutritive wonder-serum for long hair. This stuff is some kind of  leave-in conditioner and it protects the hair from damage. Personally I use it only to combat frizz and to add moisture to the ends of my hair.

- Guhl vochtbalans. A great spray to give a little extra moisture to your hair. It leaves my hair softer and healthier looking, at least for the day.  Also great in summer after a day at the beach!

-  Andrélon perfecte puntjes. This creamy liquid is to be rubbed on the ends of your hair. I have to say it really works miracles for me. My ends are pretty dry and damaged at the moment, since I haven't visited a hair salon in more than a year. This prevents my hair from getting even more damaged, so I'm using it every day. Even though it's a creamy substance, it doesn't make my hair much heavier.

I'm thinking of getting a small trim soon, just for healthy ends. I also have many ideas about dying my hair again or getting side-swept bangs, but I need to make up my mind about what to choose first. I might post some of the options on my blog soon.

...and a new longsleeve!

Yesterday I finished another project I've been working on. Actually it only took me two evenings to make this top, so it's very easy for beginners as well! The (German) pattern can be ordered at Farbenmix. The original design doesn't have wide sleeves and one is supposed to apply a rubber band at the wrist part, so the sleeves will have a gathered look. I prefered to make them look a little bit more special and medieval-looking though. It's not that hard to just adapt a pattern a little bit and make it something that really suits your personal taste. I'm with the way the top turned out, especially since it fits me perfectly. (No, unfortunately that is not so common as one might expect, at least not in my experience ;) ).
I think I'm going to make many more shirts with the same pattern and simply use different fabrics!

I made a new cardigan!

I finally finished my latest sewing project, which consisted of making a warm cardigan. The design wasn't all that difficult, but getting the pattern on the fabric correspond with the sleeves and everything wasn't as easy as I had hoped. Fortunately I'm taking sewing classes, so my teacher was able to help me out there. I must say I'm quite happy with the result - the cardigan is extremely warm, comfortable to wear, it has a special crinkle at the back which accentuates the waist (not well visible in the picture unfortunately) and I love the grey color that gradually fades into black. There are a few negative points as well, which I guess was to be expected from a relative newbie: the sleeves are a bit too wide (the other girls at sewing class thought they would be too small for me and advised me to make them bigger, so I adapted them...it turned out to be wrong :( ) and at some places the ribbon that I used to finish the edges of the garment has started to fray, which I should have prevented. A good lesson for next time!

Cool new collection

The Dutch clothing company 'SPS' has some fabulous new items in its new Spring collection! I love the femininity of this brand, which often uses lots of lace and luxurious fabrics such as velvet and silk. Usually I only buy clothes here during sales, because it's quite expensive. Even though I can't buy anything there at all this year, I love looking at the pictures... Sometimes the best romantic clothes with a dark twist can be found in the places where you least expect it. One doesn't always have to search for the well-known brands in alternative (online) stores; if you know where to look, 'ordinary' shops can provide wonderful special items just as well. I even found a fabulous corset top once at the H&M!
The current SPS collection uses a lot of black and white:

Things I must resist

It turned out to be a lot harder to confine myself to the necessary items that I planned to buy during the sales. The silly thing is, I bought only one of them; new pants, at H&M. But then I continued to buy some things I didn't really need, like a very lovely lace tunic at a store called SPS (Superstar), which had a 70% discount. I did search for the other items on my wish list, but just couldn't find them for a reasonable price. Oh well, I'll survive without them. I also received an order that I had placed a couple of weeks ago at a postorder company called Large. Both tops are pretty basic (just what I needed!), yet lovely:

The hardest part of my challange has only just begun...resisting to buy any new clothing at all for an entire year! Since I've run out of budget for January, I have decided to already start the challange. Despite the sales, I managed to stay away from clothing stores during this first week and I'm starting to think it might not be as hard as it seems. I did find out that two of my favorite brands have the first items of their new collection in store though...and of course they're all so pretty, argh!

These are some of the clothes I will need to resist buying:

- Black/yellow dress by Pussy Deluxe. A really cool item for summer! It's black, but quite sunny as well because of the daring yellow stripes.

-  A longtop by Queen of Darkness. Speaks for itself.

 - A litte black dress by Queen of Darkness. I love the doll-like quality it has!

 - A really nice v-neck top by Queen of Darkness:

 - Flower dress in fifties style by King Louie:

Either I'll have to keep on dreaming or find a way to to make similar clothes myself.... I wish I had more time to do the latter!

Changes

 Happy New Year to all of you!!!

As you can see, I’ve decided to continue writing this blog in English. I guess it will attract more readers and I had my doubts about writing in Dutch from the start anyway. Since this blog is also about long hair (despite no entries about the subject yet, but I promise they’ll come!), long hair lovers from different nationalities can now read my blog as well.

During the holidays I’ve done a lot of reflecting on 2010, which I guess is what most people (are forced to) do…:) Since I still have very little money to spend, not having a job just yet and still working on finishing my studies at university, it’s really not a good idea for me to reward myself with new clothes from time to time. I’d better focus on my sewing projects instead and on finding cheap solutions for any purchases, whether it’s food, hair products or other things I really enjoy buying. I don’t think it’s going to make this blog boring now, but rather more interesting! So stay with me and read about my creative solutions, I’d say…:) In order to stick to my promise to stop spending money on things I already have aplenty, I’ve made a decision; I’m not going to buy any new clothes for a whole year! I’m starting my personal challenge in February, so I can still profit a little from the January sales and buy some things that I’m really lacking. But after that it’s going to be tough…I’m really curious to find out how I’m going to react to this. Will it be extremely difficult, or not as hard as I’m expecting? I’m hoping it will not only help me cut down my expenses but also avoid the kind of consumer-oriented behaviour that I rather dislike when I really take the time to think about it. I have a closet full of pretty clothes and really don’t need anything more. Perhaps I will also be forced to become more creative with clothes and accessories and that is a very nice and entertaining prospect. I will not include lingerie, shoes and accessories in this challenge by the way…but I’ll try to limit buying those things as much as I can as well. Wish me luck!

On my wishlist for the January sales are mainly practical things:

-         longsleeves

(I have a shortage of them and wear them a lot underneath sweaters and t-shirts)

-         pants!

(I have only 2 wearable pants. I do wear a lot of skirts, but they’re not always comfortable or warm enough. I don’t like skinny jeans much, so I’m hoping to find some pants or jeans in bootcut-style…unfortunately this is very hard with the current fashion.)

- a long, comfortable skirt

( to wear during my future trip to Morocco, since short skirts are not always appreciated there)

-         a red top

(I love red, but I have very few items in this color...maybe I’ll come across something nice)

Last week I’ve already looked around a bit and I saw the discount is about 50% now. Besides looking for clothes, I’ve also paid a visit to The Bodyshop since they always have major sales there! This is what I took home with me:

Two very large versions of the regular shower gel bottles (now 9 euros a piece); 'olive' and 'moringa'! I’ve never seen these so large before, so I guess it’s a new addition. Then a normal sized almond shower gel (now 4 euros) and a 'wild cherry' body butter that I got for free (for sale for 10 euros) with my ‘Love your Body’ card. Including the 10% discount with the customer card, I ended up paying only 20 euros for all this. Since I already have three other body butters, I’m not going to buy any shower gel or body butter from The Body Shop for another year as well. We’ll see if my stash lasts that long, but I’m also using a lovely Lush shower gel that I got from my friend Joyce and it seems to be very long lasting. So I’m positive that I’ll be provided for a whole year!

Yesterday's outfit

Gisteren ben ik naar een boekpresentatie geweest die belangrijk was voor mijn studie. Ik moest er dus een beetje netjes uitzien, maar wilde het niet overdrijven. Uiteindelijk vond ik mijn outfit wel geslaagd; eenvoudig, niet geheel zwart en dus niet te 'duister', maar iets dat toch helemaal bij mij past. Het topje had ik een paar dagen geleden op het station gescoord, bij de Vila. Normaal gesproken vind ik dat niet zo'n boeiende winkel, maar zo rond de Kerstdagen hebben ze overál kleding hangen die ik mooi vind! Veel zwart, kant en romantische details...need I say more. :) Toch hoort het topje niet eens bij de Kerst collectie; het was een afgeprijsd kledingstuk van de herfst: van 20 voor 10 euro! Wat ik verder droeg komt allemaal van de H&M, behalve de ketting die ik met Sinterklaas van de oma van mijn vriend heb gekregen.
Verder was ik voor de verandering eens tevreden over mijn haar. Dat is vooral te danken aan warmer weer want zodra het kwik onder de nul graden zakt, wordt mijn haar statisch, slap en heel snel vet. Ook heb ik nu eindelijk het gevoel dat mijn haar echt lang begint te worden. Vorig jaar viel het nog tot op mijn schouders, best een groot verschil dus. Mijn doel is haar tot mijn middel!

Outfit:

Haar:

Bijpassende make-up, Bourjois smokey eyes (roze, maar éen van de kleurtjes gebruikt):

Als iemand trouwens een tip heeft over hoe ik foto's náast elkaar plaats...? Dat zou toch gemakkelijk moeten kunnen, maar ik kan niet ontdekken hoe!