all organic?! not for me...

okay, so i stand reformed- not all organic cosmetics are actually good for my skin and hair. especially with my skin care routine i'm basically back to using local drugstore brands that aren't organic, because they are the only ones not to cause redness or make me itch like crazy. what really surprised me was that the famed lush "fresh farmacy" cleansing soap was the WORST thing i ever did to my skin :/ also the neutrogena visibly clear line is definitely too harsh for my skin. i have combination to oily skin in summer and combination to sensitive skin in winter btw. in case you're interested, here's what i'm using now:

for removing make up: balea young cleansing wipes (the pink ones)
for cleansing: balea med soap-free cleanser
for toning: balea face alcohol free toner for sensitive skin (the pink bottle)
for moisturizing: balea face moisturizing fluid (in the blue tube) come summer i'm gonna go back to my balea young mattifying moisturizer (the green pot)

as you can see it is ALL balea- all different ranges, but this is what works best for me ;)

and for my hair, well, it DID look horrible just after i'd switched to silicone free shampoo and conditioner, but it's getting better now. i am still using all sorts of products to test which i like best. so far my favorites are the body shop banana shampoo and conditioner plus my beloved lush "big" shampoo once a week. as soon as i'm out of those things (which is gonna be a LONG while yet as i got back ups in january) i'm gonna switch back to balea there, too. they have a professional line of shampoos and conditioners that are silicone free and also a deep cleansing shampoo called "pure fresh".


and if i ever feel like experimenting again, i have both a drugstore and a pricier option set up for my routines:

for skin care there's gonna be a new line called "my skin" by essence which sounds promising and i would also love to try the soap&glory range.

for hair i'm gonna test the balea professional line (plus the deep cleansing shampoo) and the body shop rainforest line.

saturday shopping...

i really tried to contain myself as i am planning to order some clothes online. so here's what i got:

a few things from the drugstore (dm)

a foot lotion to prepare my feet for "sandal time", a red lip liner to use instead of a red lipstick (it's really bright and i have to tone it down with a pastel gloss) and my first ever felt tip eye liner (we'll see how that turns out)

clothes and accessories from new yorker

a very nifty thing: stretchy mini skirts to wear under tops that are just that tiny bit too short for wearing on their own- pity they didn't have a black one :(



and yet another scarf- it's my favorite kind of accessory ;)

and finally two scrubs (the body scrub on the left from dm and the face scrub/mask on the right from douglas):

i used them both this morning and i love them. i really need to get more soap&glory stuff for my face. pity they are only available from douglas here and one tube is about €10 :/

dry skin in winter...

during this time of year when the weather is constantly switching back and forth between cold and wet i tend to get really dry, sensitive skin on my face. this is why i have basically gone back to my old (and approved) skin care routine:

left to right: lush "fresh farmacy", balea tonic for sensitive skin (no alcohol!), balea young mattifying moisturizer, balea young make up removing face wipes (remove even waterproof eye makeup without irritating my eyes!), alverde eye cream "augentrost" (the only one not to irritate my skin!), alverde face scrub apricot.

i really like the lush soap to cleanse my face with, but as soon as i have used that up, i'm gonna switch to a drugstore product there as well:

it's soap free and for sensitive skin (and only a fraction of the price of that lush soap bar).

i still have some left overs from the neutrogena stuff that i tried. right now i find it too harsh for my skin. maybe i'm gonna try to use those things again in summer when my skin tends to be more oily.

the body shop

some really interesting new stuff:

(pictures aren't mine of course)