warning!

apparently bloggers are being fined if using pictures from websites. i had to take down a few (even if they were official press pictures for people to use) just to be sure. fines can be as high as €10.000 for the use of one picture so i'd rather not risk it.

stevia?!

we have been using dried stevia leaves to sweeten our tea for about half a year now and slowly the food industry is catching up. so far we've tried stevia mints

(available at lidl supermarkets), stevia mate drinks and stevia chocolate. the one thing i'm personally waiting for is stevia gummy candy. haribo has stevia liquorice, but i haven't been able to get my hands on a pack of those yet. the problem i think is that stevia has quite a strong taste of it's own that doesn't go with everything.

organic? not quite!

some german beauty companies have come out with products that are hybrids between organic and irritant free.

what does that mean? 
they are not 100% organic and thus not as expensive as products that are because those need to be certified. these products are about 95 to 99% organic and irritant free: no silicones, parabenes, PEGs, mineral oils or other "bad" additives.

what's in it for me?
personally i don't HAVE to have a certified product that is 100% organic. my skincare being irritant free is far more important to me so now i get the best of both for a relatively low price.

what are they?
here are two examples for this sort of product...
#1 a very well known german cosmetics brand NIVEA

the good thing about this line is that it contains a lot of different products for face and body and is easily accessible at drugstores and supermarkets. the bad thing is that even though they are not 100% organic they sure are almost the same price as (drugstore own brand) certified organic products .

#2 a drugstore own brand BALEA

the good thing about this is that the products are considerably cheaper than the nivea ones, they are however only available at dm drugstores and there are only the three products available that are pictured above.

HARIBO favourites

all of these are vegetarian, but not vegan (they contain bees' wax):

black cherries
die schlümpfe (the smurfs)
mini mix

and then i discovered this on the HARIBO website...
stevia lakritz (liqourice)

i can't wait to try it!

gummy candy

i love gummy candy! but i've noticed that most of them contain gelatine which makes them neither halal nor vegetarian/vegan. so i have come up with a few options...

keep in mind that i live in germany, so the brands i mention might not be easily available to you :/

first of all germany's best known manufacturer of gummy candy and the inventors of gummy bears:

HARIBO offers a range of halal products, but not many explicitly vegetarian/vegan options.

KATJES is the second biggest company in germany to manufacture gummy candy and they have a wide range of vegetarian products. unfortunately most of them are yoghurt based so they might not be vegan.

BÄRENLAND is my favourite germany gummy candy company. they have little shops and most of their products only include natural ingredients. there are several options containing starch instead of gelatine which makes them halal and vegetarian.

RED BAND is a dutch company and most of their products are made from solely natural ingredients. however i am as yet unaware of a halal or vegetarian range, but if you take a good look there are products that are starch based. i included this company, because their candy is the tastiest by far.

how i stack bracelets

stacking bracelets has become quite the trend these days, so i have started my own project. i have specific ideas of how to do it, though. i like to mix (mostly natural) materials and textures as well as colours. here's what i am currently wearing:

the coloured wooden bead bracelets came as a set from "lust for life" - a (very tacky sounding) local department store.
the brown leather bracelet is by "bijou brigitte" - a nationwide chain of shops that sell costume jewellery.
the skull bracelet is made from some sort of rock or ceramic and i got it from "claire's".
the dark blue braided leather bracelet is from a crafts fair that i went to the other day.

what i am still looking for to add to my stack is maybe a thin silver chain link bracelet and also something braided with thread.

and then there is this (albeit quite pricey) option: noosa bracelets

french skin care

my bf and i are going to paris in summer. and while german pharmacists DO stock loads of french skin care, it's still very expensive over here, so i thought i would splurge at a french pharmacy instead ;) after having watched countless youtube videos and read numerous blogs about french skin care, i would like to let you know what i have decided on getting. it's mostly organic and if it isn't i made sure the products have no irritants in them. i have also decided to get products for every category of my skin care regime, so here goes:

1. eye make-up remover: bioderma créaline H20
2. cleanser: caudalie cleansing solution
3. toner: caudalie eau de beauté
4. moisturizers/serums: embryolisse lait-crème concentré, la roche posay hydreane légère, caudalie vinosource mattifying moisturizer, caudalie vinosource serum SOS
5. lips: nuxe rêve de miel lipbalm, caudalie chapstick
6. body: caudalie zeste de vigne line (bodywash, lotion, scrub, perfume,...)

any thoughts on that? anyone? did you notice how many caudalie products there are in this list? ;)

also i'm still looking for tips concerning hair care products i might want to try. i have very fine hair that tends to have NO volume at all- also i have a sensitive scalp.

organic hair and skin care on a budget

that actually works for ME!

hair:
shampoo and conditioner - yes to tomatoes
(alternatively the eco awesome range by tigi)
deep treatment - the body shop rainforest moisture

unfortunately the treatment that goes with the yes to tomatoes products (yes to carrots leave-in conditioner) contains irritants :/ and the shampoo is sometimes kind of hard to come by (like right now!) which is why i have an alternative option to switch to.

face:
alverde by dm
alterra by rossmann
nonique by schlecker/ihr platz

body:
alverde by dm
alterra by rossmann
nonique/naturé by schlecker/ihr platz

i like to switch things up in my face care routine depending on whether it's summer or winter and in my body care routine, because i like a new scent once in a while. but the brands in general offer affordable organic cosmetics and there's a very wide range of products to choose from! IF you live in germany or the bordering countries that is, because the brands mentioned above are local drugstores' own brands :/ (anyone interested in a product swap, please message me!)

i might throw in the occasional product by lush or the body shop, but i usually stick to my staples AND save some money at the same time ;)

still on the hunt for organic alternatives...

i have found quite a few organic products that will work for me and aren't horribly overpriced, but for some of my staple items i have yet to find alternatives that are organic (or at least irritant free) and affordable.

so here's what i'm still looking for in terms of alternatives (in brackets what i'm currently using):

1. a toothpaste for sensitive teeth (sensodyne pro schmelz)
2. a deodorant stick - must be heavy duty! (hidro fugal sensitive stick)
3. a deodorant spray - mustn't contain alcohol and have a long lasting scent (rexona shower fresh)
4. make-up removal wipes - must be suitable for waterproof eye make-up (balea erfrischende reinigungstücher)
5. detangler spray (gliss kur seidenrepair)
6. a lipbalm that's also suitable for winter time (carmex tube)

in terms of skin care, hair care and body products i'm good ;)

just hope they didn't put parabenes in there...

all time favourites

as soon as i'm done using up all the stuff i bought to try out, i am going straight to this regime of hair, body and face care:

HAIR
shampoo: yes to tomatoes
conditioner: yes to tomatoes
detangler: frizz ease spray
treatment: frizz ease tub
deep cleansing shampoo: lush big

BODY
shower gel: creme 21 jasmine or lush snowcake bar
body lotion: creme 21 (biotherm for special occasions)
scrub: lush buffy bar
deodorant: hidro fugal (nivea pure & natural jasmine to touch up)
hand cream: soap & glory hand food

FACE
day cream: my skin purple
night cream: my skin green
eye cream: alverde augentrost
cleanser: my skin green
tonic: my skin purple
wipes: my skin pink
scrub: soap & glory scrub your nose in it
mask: my skin sheet mask

not all of this is organic, but it's what gives me the best results plus has a good scent ;)

update on my hair care issues

so it turns out the organic shampoo i bought makes my scalp itch like crazy. so i'm back to my jumping juniper lush shampoo bar *sigh*

i have however just ordered my favourite organic and irritant free shampoo and conditioner: yes to tomatoes :)

TIGI hair care products that I'm highly allergic to

#1 Tigi Bed Head Small Talk /Blah Blah Blah
#2 Tigi Catwalk Your Highness line (I used the shampoo, conditioner and hairspray)
#3 Tigi Bed Head Colour Goddess for brunettes line (I used the shampoo, conditioner and leave in spray treatment)

hair and body update

After a trip to the hairdresser's i suffered from a very bad eczema around my hairline AGAIN. I really must write to Tigi and let them know just how horribly allergic I am to their products :/ As a result I went back to all natural/organic hair and skin care products. It's actually doing me some good and my hair feels lovely. Here's what I have been using lately:

Santé organic shampoo with gingko and olive oil, Yves Rocher raspberry vinegar conditioner, Lush the olive branch body wash, The Body Shop spiced pumpkin body wash

And here is what my boyfriend has been using:

Schauma apple blossom shampoo, Balea pure fresh deep cleansing shampoo, Lush ro's argan body conditioner, Balea chai tea body scrub, Alverde amaranth body wash