Love your ink

Sun is out and I must admit that the weekend has been extremely nice to us. Four days of sun, nice temperatures and a bank holiday. Those lovely conditions tempt us to show some skin and show off our ink. And why wouldn't you? Thing is, you have to be careful and protect your ink when doing so. Sunlight is actually really bad for your tattoos. When exposed to sunlight unprotected, your ink can start to fade and lines can start to get blurry. Therefore it's of the highest importance that you protect your ink like you would protect your first born. Even when you're out and not sunbathing (sunbathing is also very bad for you, but we'll talk about that another time) you have to use protective cream on your ink.

I use the Tattoomed Sun Protection 50 and I'm in love with it. That smell, that texture... This product smells like summer and doesn't leave your skin all sticky like most sun screens do. I also use the Tattoomed Daily Tattoo Care on a daily base because really, I love my dinosaur ink.



What do you use for your ink?

Skindrink, also known as the love of my life

Skindrink is one of those products I've been wanting to buy since I've first discovered Lush, which was about 7 years ago. And just two weeks ago I finally got my sh*t together and bought the damn thing. The reason why I've never bought this before, really has nothing to do with the product itself, but with my state of mind.

Lush Lush Lush

And those three words, describe everything I wanted to say in this post. Thanks for reading. See you soon.
No, just kidding. Although this post is about Lush, Lush and Lush. And more specifically, their Easter products. Think bright colours and pink smelling bathrooms. Yes, fragrances have colours too. A few weeks ago, I came home with a golden egg, a fluffy egg and a big bang. All've been tested, all've been approved.




Lush's golden egg literally leaves everything covered in golden glitters. Just taking it out of it's package for pictures, left the cat walking around the house, shining bright like a diamond, all night. I will say that it was the cat itself that decided to roll around in the glitters left on the table, so I bet she just likes to sparkle. The golden egg smells like toffee and is filled with Fair Trade Colombian cocoa butter which leaves you with a soft, hydrated skin after soaking for hours. Plus, glitter everywhere baby. Have I mentioned the glitter yet?



A fluffy egg a day, fulfils your daily need for pink. Plus, it smells like you just entered a candy store and never want to leave again. Not much foam on this one though.



The Big Bang is a bubble bar that isn't a part of the Easter collection, but could just as well blend in effortlessly. It's pink and baby blue and smells like a fresh lemon. Energising if you need to kickstart your day. Bubble bars are used by crumbled a bit of 'em under running water. This will leave you with a bath in the brightest colours and the highest foam towers you've ever seen.





Have you tried any of the Easter products yet?

Gingerbread in the morning

So mornings are getting darker and colder and even though you don't realise it yet, you're skin is already suffering from this change in temperature. What better way is there than to treat your skin with a facial cream that smells like gingerbread? For real, I've had trouble refraining myself from taking a spoon and just dig in te jar. This Elemental Facial Barrier Cream by Aesop is already my favourite winter product. And winter hasn't even begun just yet.

If you didn't know Aesop yet, you're either new to my blog or haven't been paying attention much of late. I have been raging on about their products for quite a while now. Aesop is this Australian brand which uses mainly plant-based ingredients or laboratory-made ingredients and doesn't test on animals. So yes, most of their range is vegan, but let's support them and put some pressure to drop the beeswax as well.

This Elemental Facial Barrier Cream contains three main ingredients: Copper PCA, Bisabolol and Ginger Root. The Copper PCA will help your skin stay firm and works anti-aging, which is perfect since I've now officially reached the appropriate age for using anti-aging skincare. Did you know that most anti-aging products contain collageen, which is derived from fish? No, well this one is a perfect vegan substitute. On top of that the Copper PCA will also reduce inflammation which is perfect for my rosacea prone skin.
Bisabolol is derived from chamomile and takes care of your dry skin and prevents flaking, necessary during the colder months. Bisabolol also makes sure that all the other ingredients of this facial cream are absorbed better by your skin.
Ginger root is a miracle product. Drink it in your tea, use it in your bath or find it as a main ingredient in this cream. Ginger root prevents damage from free radicals, thus preserving the youthful appearance of the skin. It also improves elasticity, making the skin more firm and youthful. Plus, it tackles blemishes.
Aesop's Elemental Facial Barrier Cream is a very thick, nourishing cream. Plus, you really need a very small amount on a daily base. So this little jar will take you a long way down the road.



Available at Fin Du Jour in Ghent.

Let's talk ... deodorant

Once upon a time, I used to walk around with at least one deodorant in my bag. Preferably one of those shiny ones with the synthetic flower smell. You know what I'm talking about. Going vegan has changed a lot in that area. Not only do I tend to sweat less since I threw all animal intake over board, vegan deodorant seems to have the tendency to work better than regular deodorant. Nowadays I stil own two deodorants but that's because I stumbled across them both and was impressed so much that I couldn't decide which one to take home.



I go to work by bike. That means I drive 10 - 15 km before 8.15 in the morning. I'm a teacher, I walk around a classroom all day. I do not need to tell you that I'm an active person, so there are times where deodorant comes in rather handy. I use to stick to spray on deodorants only but after discovering both the Ultekram roller and the Malin+Goetz stick, I completely let go of my resistance towards anything other than a spray.



The first one in my collection is the Urtekram Eucalyptus Roller deodorant. I must admit, this one smell a little bit funny in the package but once it's applied to your skin you literally smell nothing. Half an hour bike ride in 35° outside? No smell, nothing. And no transpiration. Really this stuff is amazing! I already emptied one and immediately bought a new one.



The second one I own is the eucalyptus one by Malin+Goetz. I do have a thing for eucalyptus, don't I? Malin+Goetz is a high-end brand that doesn't test on animals and most of their products are vegan. This one smells amazeballs! Leaving just a little linger of freshness underneath those armpits. Plus, it does the job! No smell after you worked out and still doing that job after 8 hours of working. I love this one a lot.



If you'd ask me to choose between the two, I couldn't do it. I love them both equally and use them both just as much!
The Urtekram is available in most organic stores and the Malin+Goetz is available at Fin Du Jour in Ghent.
What deodorant do you use?

Lush Halloween and Christmas 2015

You now, when October comes creeping in, it's that time of the year brands start launching their annual Christmas collection. One of my favourites, of which I've been talking since August (I kid you not), is that of Lush. Year after year, Lush amazes us with these products that not only have the best names, but also look like you never want to use them and fill your bathroom with a scent that makes you want to hide in there like, forever. And, especially, for us Holiday lovers, their Christmas collection comes along with a little Halloween collection.

My morning routine!

Last week I had an interesting talk with one of my friends about skincare. She, admitting, that she doesn't seem to use any products due to a lack of time in the morning. That's when I told her to stop that nonsense and to start taking care of her skin. Okay, we're only 25 and no we don't need all those products to make us look pretty. But really? We do! Taking care of your skin on an early age will pay of once we're old and retired and lying on a sunny beach for the rest of our days (daydreaming is allowed now and then). Keeping your skin (and especially your facial area) clean and well hydrated reduces the amount of wrinkles and other elderly stuff you'll have to cope with eventually. Even if you're not wearing make up all day, you still have to cleanse your face. Our environment is so polluted that we are exposed to nastiness all day long. Please, take care of your skin. It's the only one you have!

Lush' Cup of coffee - Review

Lush has a new range of products in store. So if you have the time, go check them out because they are, as usual, awesome. I brought home this new facial (and body) mask called 'Cup of coffee'. For those of you who have been around here longer, this shouldn't come as a surprise. I am a coffee addict. So this mask should be my cup of tea (wink).

Stop the water while using me!

Packages, I love them. I love them even more when you can see that someone really put an effort in sending them out to you. Wander & Co is one of those companies that does care about you. If you never visited their website, you should. They sell everything to decorate your house, jewellery and skincare. When it comes to skincare they sell two brands, Cowshed and Stop the water while using me! I ordered a hand lotion from that last brand and here is my review:

Rituals protection face cream

So, summer is one month is and I am here to remind you to wear sunscreen. Seriously, wear sunscreen, all the time. Why? First of all because sunburns are a pain in the ass (excuse my language). Second of all, walking around (not even tanning) in the sun without protection will fasten up the ageing process of your skin and increases change of skin cancer. So please, protect your beautiful skin, especially during those hot summer days! Thank you!

One of the main struggles I've been having is finding a decent sunscreen that is both vegan and not extremely expensive. That's where this little tube comes in.


This is the 'sun protection face cream' by Rituals. This one is made especially for your face, although I do put it on my ink as well. It has SPF 50, smells really amazing, isn't sticky and is both cruelty free and free of any animal ingredients. I wear this one on top of my moisturiser but you can actually replace your moisturiser with this one if you find putting on cream after cream rather annoying. It leaves my skin hydrated and both protected.


Rituals also has body protection and an aftersun line to hydrate your skin after those long hot days.
The sun protection face cream retails for €15.
You can buy these at your local store/ rituals counter or online.

Forever - Sonya Aloe Nourishing Serum

Summer doesn't only mean Iced-teas, beach hair and bikini's. Summer also means taking good care of your skin, especially if you want to keep that (gained under protection) tan of yours. I have dry skin and even though summer is a bit kinder for my skin type, it is still necessary that I keep it well hydrated, especially my face. I have natural redness which only gets worse if I don't take care of it properly. Ever since I became vegan the quest for a good vegan serum has been a lengthy one. This included more dryness, more redness and even a rash. However, this serum by Forever has been my holy grail serum so far. Yes, the term holy grail has been used.

Urban Decay - Naked Skin foundation

A few weeks ago, ICI Paris XL announced that they would be selling Urban Decay from now on. Good news for us, Belgian people. No more London or Paris trips just to buy some vegan make up. At the moment, you can only buy Urban Decay from their webshop but news is that there will open a counter in their Brussels store and maybe even in other stores as well. So thumbs up!

Urtekram Shampoo

Me and my hair. We've never been best friends and at the moment we're in a 'get to know each other' fase. I finally embraced its volume and my hair has finally accepted that I don't want to look like I've just casually walked through a hurricane. Starting from that point I knew that I needed a new shampoo in order to make it work.