Health & Fitness: Worth Going Green?

I know some are still thinking that green make up doesn’t work as well as regular brands. These brands definitely prove all the doubters wrong. THey are amazing and so effective. Dr. Hauschka bronzer is my all-time favorite and Ilia and RMS have amazing colors.

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With natural make-up becoming more readily available on the mass market, it may be time to ask yourself – is it worth going green? I think you know what our answer would be! Health & Fitness magazine offers great tips for knowing what to look for when buying “green”.

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My Winter Scents and Color Palette

As it’s getting colder outside, most of us are going back to dark and cozy outfits, richer creams and heavier scents. These are some of my fall/winter beauty superstars:

I’m using the Chanel Provocation nail polish for a few years now and while I completely neglect it during the summer months, I love it during fall and winter. No, this is not organic. Compared to some US nail polishes this and other French nail polishes have much stricter guide lines… so maybe we could call it the good of the bad ones?

A scent defines a person. It can be comforting holding memories, of people, places and moments. NARCISO Eau de Parfum is a very elegant scent. When I put on a chunky sweater and spray Narciso on, I feel like I’m wrapped into a soft cloud.  By the way, don’t switch up your perfumes too much, I usually stick to one perfume maker and I don’t remember wearing anything else but Guerlain and Narciso Rodriguez perfumes.

I found that the Aesop Reverence Aromatic Hand Balm interplays perfectly with NARCISCO, maybe thanks to the bergamot scent in both. A combination of almond, cocoa, coconut and shea butter help nurture the skin. Other ingredients include essential oils and aloe vera. What I like about Aesop is that while they don’t claim to be organic, their ingredients are usually mostly natural, and there are never any parabens or other nasty ingredients inside. Absolute feel good brand!

My Berlin Summer Essentials: Mint Sunscreen by Aesop

It’s a neverending summer here in Berlin. Yes, I’m in Berlin: I moved from New York for the summer, back home 🙂 Arriving here in Berlin was amazing and while everyone here is much more relaxed, if you’d ask me now which city never sleeps, I’ll tell you it’s Berlin! Then apart from nightlife, it is super green with large recreational parks and lakes for swimming and boating just about everywhere around the city. My favorite is Wannsee on the weekends or Weissensee for an after work escape. And if you like the urban feel, there’s Haubentaucher, an open air pool club in an old warehouse or the famous Badeschiff, a pool floating on the river Spree. It’s not Ibiza or Mykonos, but if you lay down on the sandy beach and look up into palm trees and blue skies listening to electronic tunes, you’re almost there.

Beach bag essentials? Cool shades, a black swimsuit, and sunscreen! The Protective Body Lotion from Aesop is hands down the best sunscreen I know of. It smells like fresh mojito mint and it doesn’t feel like sunscreen but so much more like a light-weight, nurturing lotion. It’s packed with good stuff from lavender , lemon and spearmint leaf oils for the aroma to moisturizing aloe vera, avocado, jojoba and carrot oils. I absolutely looove the scent! It’s a body lotion, but I use it for my face as well and it feels great.

This summer I love black cut out bathing suits like the one from Alexandre Vauthier:

So pack your bags and enjoy the last days of summer! Berlin is techno, but this here is some other epic Berlin summer music, enjoy 😉

Eu2Be Skin Care: From Brazil, With Love

What’s better on a rainy fall day than a warm shower with Brazilian oils?  Using only carefully selected ingredients,  Eu2Be Skincare has drawn its inspiration from Brazilian culture. Essences of exotic Brazilian plants like Amazonian Babassu palm and Buriti palm top the list in Eu2Be’s Shower and Soak Soap, which, in its creation, was inspired by Carnival. Its exotic and earthy smell transports your mind from your bathroom shower to a tropical outdoor shower. No exaggerating, it really smells and feels that good!

The Enrich + Radiate Oil offers an exotic combination of passiflora and broccoli seed, as well as the Amazonian Babassu palm and the Buriti palm. It is wonderfully hydrating and non-sticky and it lasts a long time. Total winner for me.

The amazing smell is also present in the Nurture + Nourish Lotion, which I almost neglected since the shower soap and oil are already so fulfilling. But then I realized how packed with nutrient rich oils and essences this cream is. Babassu and other such interesting essences as Balsam Copaiga, Brazil Nut, and Nangai, as well as more common Almond, Maracuja, and Sunflower Seed oils make this cream a high potency body lotion.  $30 – $50 ♥♥♥♥

 

Juice Beauty’s Instant Eye Lift

Sometimes a girl needs a lift. An instant eye lift that is. Juice Beauty, the organic skin care and make up company, which  uses an antioxidant technology with organic juice extract as base, has a new fabulous product: the Stem Cellular Instant Eye Lift. During the research and development process Juice Beauty teamed up with San Francisco-based Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Carolyn Chang and they came up with a few wonderfully innovative aspects: instead of cotton, the base for the eye lift serum is made out of algae avoiding pesticides and instead adding the algea’s richness of antioxidants and photo nutrients to the mix. The serum contains refreshing cucumber, white tea and healing arnica, hyaluronic acid and chamomile, as well as its signature fruit stem cells from apple, grape and lemon which are infused into grapeseed extracts bursting with antioxidant-rich resveratrol.

Even if you don’t have any wrinkles or lines yet, you should still try and prevent them. And who doesn’t sometimes wish for an instant lift when waking up with tired-looking and puffy eyes after sleep-deprived nights? After one application of the Instant Eye Lift the delicate skin around my eyes was remarkably brighter, lighter, and smoother and because my eyes already looked more awake and open, I didn’t need to wear my usual under eye concealer for the following days. The product lives up to its name: it does wonders instantly lifting up your face’s appearance (and your mood!).

Eminence Organics Red Currant Exfoliator and Mist

If you’d asked me 20 years ago which fruit I hate the most I would have said red currant. I grew up in a house with a huge garden with uncountable bushes of red currants carrying millions of berries on them, so all year round all I got to eat was red currant as jam, in a cake, over ice cream, over a pancake, and on it went… I was just hoping I won’t turn into a currant myself some day. 20 years later I’m still a human being and it turns out that I was again on the lucky side, because these small sourly berries contain a large concentration of macro- and micronutrients, Vitamin A, K, and C, Iron, and antioxidants.

Like all other Eminence products, the Red Currant line perfectly scents and looks its fruity name. Eminence Organics Red Currant Mattifying Mist  is wonderfully refreshing and contains  an exclusive Youth Shield Antioxidant Complex which hydrates, invigorates and promotes the look of elasticity. Other ingredients are Elderflower and Magnolia bark. ♥♥♥ $38

The Red Currant Exfoliating Cleanser exfoliates with olive seeds which have the perfect level of scrubiness and gentleness that it can be used on sensitive skin all over face and body. Also equipped with the Youth Shield Complex, Elderflower and Magnolia, it contains Tea Tree Oil to prevent breakouts. ♥♥♥ usually $65, but I found a deal on Amazon for $37.95

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Fight the Snow Storm with Water Music Bath Salts

In this never-ending snow storm-ridden winter, what better escape is there than a hot bath? Water Music‘s bath salts are made with hand-harvested salts from an island near the Brittany region of France which makes them naturally rich in such minerals as potassium, magnesium and zinc. You can chose five different organic scents: fig, gardenia, sandalwood, grapefruit and vanilla. Fig, for example, has a heavenly soothing and sweet smell which stays long on your skin and in your bathroom. ♥♥♥ $ 22

Elizabeth Dehn for One Love Organics

Happy snowy Tuesday… in these frosty temperatures the skin needs lots and lots of moisture and my very lucky skin has been pampered with Elizabeth Dehn for One Love Organics lately. When I met the fabulously looking Elizabeth Dehn in New York a few months ago, I just thought to myself that I have to use what she uses. She told me all about her then newly launched line for which she collaborated with OLO, et voilà:

The Vitamin D Time Release Moisture Mist contains the finest ingredients such as extract from alpine roses and shiitake mushrooms. I spray it on twice a day and my skin feels fresh and nourished. ♥♥♥ $ 39

The Vitamin C Serum contains Vitamins A,C and E and the ultra rich in everything sea buckthorn oil which not only provides the well-known and health promoting anti-aging Omega 3, 6, 9 fatty acids, but also the rare fatty acid Omega 7. My skin certainly feels nourished, soft, plump and bright – ready to fight the snow storm outside. ♥♥♥ $ 68

Looking for a present? Get the mist and the serum in a cute Winter Glow gift bag with the super soft Kabuki brush with anti-bacterial Taklon fibers and the Skin Perfecting Treatment  Powder containing hylauronic acid and kaolin clay. $ 159

butter LONDON Nail Polish Topcoat

butter LONDON is best known for its colorful range of non-toxic nail polishes with such referring names as Artful Dodger, Brass Monkey or Hen Party. The Topcoat from butter is one of the best I’ve tried: it applies easily, dries in seconds and leaves a shiny healthy glow which makes my nails look better manicured than if I get them done in a nail salon. It perfectly prevents the polish from chipping off for a week. And of course, it’s non-toxic, leaving out parabens, phtalates, Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP. ♥♥♥ $ 19

In Deutschland billiger im Set: € 19.95

Spa Day: O’Live Organic Spa New York

I have been travelling to Europe for the holidays enjoying time with family and friends (you can see photos on my instagram). Just before I left New York I was able to get a wonderful organic facial at O’Live Organic Spa – a perfect place for New Yorkers and visitors to get pampered between the holidays. My friend Julia found this cozy and friendly gem of a spa which is situated close to Madison Square Park.

O’Live exclusively uses the Hungarian organic skin care line Éminence and the lovely Gosia fed my curious mind with information about the products she was using. Éminence products are all plant based and can be mixed together to perfectly target all needs of the skin. Starting the treatment with the Mimosa Champagne tonic consisting of grapes and orange oil not only set the right mood but also hydrated and detoxified my skin. One of my favorites was the Hungarian Paprika masque which had a spicy twist and gave my sensitive cheeks a tingling sensation without irritating them. The Eight Greens Youth Serum, which Gosia applied after cleaning up my face, smelled healthier than my kale juice and I could sense how it cooled and relaxed my skin instantly. It actually calmed down my skin so much that I didn’t have any red spots after the treatment. The Strawberry Rhubarb Serum smelled deliciously while nourishing and hydrating. Finally, a mix of calming Lavender and soothing Calendula oil with a vitamin-bursting Açai Berry Moisturizer, gave my skin enough hydration, vitamins and antioxidants to feel pampered throughout the day. ❤️❤️❤️ $148

The spa is small but cozy, drink some green tea before or after the treatment and comb through some organic lifestyle magazines. At the front desk you can buy Éminence products and Jin’s own beautifully made soaps which I haven’t tried yet, but which look as if they were made with lots of love for little details:

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