The Style: Back to Black

 

1 & 2

Wearing all black is one of my favourite things to do. Everything goes together. And despite looking effortless it really is effortless to put together an all black outfit. One thing I always pay attention to is trying to incorporate different textures like thicker knits and silk like fabrics. I would love to include more leather into my outfits though!

3 & 4

5 & 6

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Life: 2015 Reading Challenge

I've set myself a reading challenge of 20 books for this year over on goodreads. By setting myself a goal I don't want to put pressure on myself, but to motivate myself to step away from the internet at night and grab a good book to relax in bed instead of scrolling through instagram and twitter. 

I'm a quick reader and really adore diving into books and loosing myself in another world. But whilst studying for my B.A. I always felt the pressure to read academic papers and lost the pleasure of reading a bit. 

So I thought I would set myself a goal of 20 books, which gives me two and a half weeks to read one book. Sounds like an insanely long time to me to read a book, but I will be busy with academical papers and writing essays nontheless, so I want to keep it realistic and achievable.

 

To challenge myself a bit more and to make picking a book even more fun I chose 20 types of books I wanted to read this year. Although I will probably end up reading +23 books, as one of my book goals is to read a trilogy. So far I've checked 4 books off of that list, although I've read 6 books. Some books just don't fit into these categories or have already been ticked off.

• a book with more than 500 pages
• a book written by someone under 30
• a book with a one word title
• a book a friend recommended
• a trilogy
• a book that became a movie
• a thriller
• a book set in a different country
• a book you can finish in a day
• a book set in the future
• a book published this year
• a bok with a number in the title
• a book from an author you love that you haven' read yet
• a book that came out the year you were born
• a book that made you cry
• a book that was originally written in another language
• a book you started but never finished
• a book with a colour in the title
• a book by an author you've never read before
• a graphic novel

I mostly read in german and english, but like to mix it up with dutch and swedish.

 

I may add that I also include audio books into my reading challenge. As I drive to work a lot I love to listen to audio books to have a better time. And for me listening to an audio book and reading a book is the same since both keep me from sitting in front of the computer way too long.

 

Would you be interested in a frequent update of my reads? 

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Beauty: Skincare from the web

Today I'm just pilling together all of the skincare advice I've found really useful from the web. My main go-to's for skincare advice are Caroline Hirons (of course..), ThatGraceGirl and FromRoses. But there are way more, so I've rounded up my favourites into categories focusing on general 101 and skintypes.

Skincare Tips 

thatgracegirl with 'skincare tips and advice' and 'building a skincare routine'

fromroses with 'a beginner's guide to cleansers' 

Jennypurr with 'a guide to exfoliation'

Ingredients

nouvelle daily with 'The Ingredients 101' and 'The Ingredients 101: part two'

cosmeticsinfo with informations on 'all skincare ingredients'

styleplayground with 'switching to natural skincare' 

Jennypurr with 'a guide to salicylic acid'

SPF

Carolin Hirons with an 'SPF cheat sheet'

Juliesdreams on 'Protected Sunkissing'

Masks

thatgracegirl on '15 minute facials'

styleplayground on 'the best of face masks' 

fromroses on 'clarifying masks to suit everyone'

Dry and / or dehydrated skin

Caroline Hirons on 'dry or dehydrated skin cheat sheet'

nouvelledaily with 'choosing skincare for dry dehydrated skin'

Juliesdreams on 'Quenching skin's thirst' and 'winter evening skincare'

Oily Skin

Caroline Hirons on 'Beauty Myths: If you have oily skin...'

Nouvelledaily on 'Choosing skincare for oily skin'

Blemishes or acne?

Caroline Hirons with a 'acne cheat sheet', a 'spots cheat sheet' and posts on 'sudden breakouts: what to do' and 'Beauty myth no6: having spots means you have an oily/combination skin'

Nouvelledaily on 'budget blemish skincare that actually works'

thatgracegirl with 'battling blemish scars'

styleplayground on 'how to get rid of that pimple'

fromroses on '3 skincare staples for keeping my skin clear'

Jennypurr with 'when acne comes back'

 Do you have any other good posts or recommendations about skincare you want to share?
Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Week's Nail #14

Oh I simply adore the muddy grey colour of Essie's 'fall in line'. It's the perfect change from my berry red winter shades and is way more interesting than a simple grey. Goes perfect with my light mint jeans, but also to 'perk up' an all black outfit.

The only downside is that it takes ages to dry. But I'm willing to sit down and watch an episode of my latest series and wait for it to dry so I can enjoy the beautiful colour.

 

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Instagram Roundup #9

I haven't done an Instagram Roundup since August! So this is summing up the last couple of months over on my feed. 

Harvesting Lavender // Beautiful church in Lucca, Italy // Rosermary outside my window // Light base - heavy lips // Relaxing in beautiful lighting // The day I bought some of my best beauty buys of 2014 (read here) // Winter Wonderland! // Hot Chocolate // At home with a heavy cold reading good books, watching netflix and sorting through photos

 

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Beauty: Volume On A Budget

Here in Germany it's quite hard to get hold of reasonably priced styling products that provide the look I like. I love me some volume, texture and grip in my hair, but also want them to stay straight and sleek. But over the time I've found some products that provide me with all of this and keep my hair looking fresh with 2nd day hair as well.

 

For texture and volume I love the L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT EXCESS Volume Texturizing Spray (ca. 5€). It's really light weight and doesn't feel stiff or strange in your hair. Depending on how much texture you want you can just keep spraying without it getting tacky.

To add some extra volume to my roots I like to spritz some of the John Frieda Luxurious Volume Blow Dry Lotion (ca. 4€) onto my wet roots and blowdry my hair with my head down.

For second hair day (to combat the greese...) I love the Batiste Dry Shampoo in 'Coconut & Exotic Tropical' and 'Cool & Crisp Fresh' (ca. 3€). I also like to spray them onto freshly washed hair to add some texture as well.

If you're really in for some volume I recommend getting a Backcombing Brush (2€). I always carry this with me for some instant volume at my roots.

Do you have any budget products for voluminous hair?
 

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Outfit: building a wardrobe - colour palette

After reading Anuschka's brilliant post about 'how to choose a versatile colour palette for your wardrobe' I've been looking through my wardrobe, searching pinterest and making collages about my own colour palette. 

I'm quite sure I am a 'warm deep autumn' type of person and therefore prefer warm autumnal colours on myself. During the last year I've also discovered that some dark greys also really suit my complexion. I've been doing all of this to begin a streamlining process of my wardrobe. I don't particularly own too many clothes or dislike them, but there are just clothes I never really gravitate towards or a standard uniform I tend to wear every day and I would like to define my style a bit better.

Although I haven't streamlined my colour palette as much as Anuschka suggests I'm really happy with it. I wear navy and dark grey the most and combine the two with black, light grey and softer nude or white tones. Depending on the season (and level of tan going on) I reach for brighter or more autumnal pops of colour.

I will turn this into a little series showing you my process of streamlining and working on my wardrobe.

Interesting Reads on Colour Palettes:

Anuschka on "how to choos a versatile colour palette for your wardrobe incl 36 colour palettes"

Anuschka on "colour analysis part i: finding your type"

Byrdie on "4 Genius Hacks For Figuring Out Your Skin's Undertone"

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Interior: H&M Home - Again!

My boyfriend and I have been living together in our apartment for just a bit over two years now and we simply love it to bits. And finally it's all been coming together. At the beginning of December we got rid of my boyfriends old carpet (we're talking light green and white check here..) and got a new one that perfectly fits into our living room. 

I'm going for a white - grey - black - wood - beige colour range in there with some pops of oceancolours, used gold and copper. I love the cozy, but clean look these colours give. 

And although I think we really got everything now from pictures to pillows, I always crave for more. The H&M home section has been a true heaven and I really want some new additions now. Especially some candles that aren't only targeted towards autumn and winter. And I really want some cute place mats to go along with our furniture and that save our wooden table from spillings.

How is your current living situation? And are you also always on the hunt for home decor?

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

The Beauty: Shower Yourself To Soft Skin

I've been sick for the last two weeks so I've either been in bed, in bath oder under a hot shower. To maintain soft and nourished skin whilst showering I've found my perfect companions. They haven't just done a great job since I've been sick, but already weeks back in 2014.

Most important has been the Rituals Summer Bliss White Lotus & Bergamot Caring Shower Oil. Since I've just run out of this I've switched to the Rituals Shanti Shower Indian Rose & Sweet Almond Oil Soothing Shower Oil. Despite the different (but divine!) scents they're both the same to me. One or two pumps of the oil foam up on your skin as it comes in contact with water. The formula is simply amazing as it nourishes my skin so much that I don't feel the need to moisturize afterwards. I've also been putting 8 - 10 pumps of the oil into the water whilst running a bath.
 
If I really want to have a lot of foam I use the The Body Shop Loofer to creat some extra bubbles and gently exfoliate my skin.

For exfoliation I've also been using the The Body Shop Shea Butter Body Scrub. Being really gentle to my dry skin it takes care of any flaking patches whilst leaving my skin feeling really soft and moist.

Do you have any holy grain shower products? Or do you prefer a hot bath whilst watching netflix as I do?

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest

2014 On Juliesdreams

I've gotten more into blogging this year and have put quite some love and effort into every blogpost. So I wanted to show you my 14 favourite blogposts of 2014 today to celebrate a good start into this new year! 

The Beauty: Skincare Additions Winter // The Current Favourite #4 // The Beauty: Perfect Summer Base Enhancers // The Beauty: Travel Makeup Bag #CampingAddition // The Favourite: 5 Brushes // The Week's Nail #11: Berry Nails // The Beauty: Quenching Skin's Thirst // The Beauty: Travel Makeup Bag

The Life: Study Hard and Enjoy Life // The Music: The Music Tag // 5 Things I Love (+Soup Recipe!) // The Life: 5 Things About Camping

The Style: 5 Autumn Staples // The Outfit: Day in Lucca // The Style: 11 Summer Staples

 What's been your favourite read this year?

Lots of Love

Julie 

bloglovin // instagram // twitter// pinterest