May Favorites

At the risk of this being totally cliché - seriously, where has the time gone?

Tomorrow marks the first day of June, which to me basically means that summer is well on its way.

The days are getting warmer, the clothes are getting shorter and more colorful and everyone seems to feel a lot more happy and relaxed.

I seemed to have inital difficulties when it came to shifting my make up from the darker, cooler winter tones to something a little bit more light - but this month has been all about rosey shades and other springy new discoveries for me!

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream EdT (91€)

If you've read my "spring beauty wishlist", you will know that I have been admiring this perfume from afar for well over a year now, but I never really had the cash or the heart to spend so much on a perfume to actually purchase it. Now, I still can't believe it, but my Mom was generous enough to give this to me as a moving-out present!

I have been wearing this every single day without fail as it's a fairly light floral/herbal scent which is absolutely perfect for spring and summer!

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (47,99€)

I feel like I had been neglecting this palette for quite some time because when I got it in February, I wasn't feeling its rosey tones too much, but I found myself reaching for this a lot throughout May.
You all have probably heard several hymnes on Urban Decay's palettes by now, so please bear with mine - the quality of the shadows is outstanding, they stay put all day with next to no fallout at all and the color payoff is incredible.

Even though the majority of the eyeshadows included are rose toned, there are so many different looks you can create for both day and night time with this as well.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer in 'Sin' (full size: 18,99€)

Before using my Naked 3 palette, I always applied this sample that came with it. (By the way, those samples can last for up to one month.)
'Sin' is a champange colored eyeshadow primer which is supposed to make the shades you apply after it look more vibrant, prevent any budging and make them last for up to 24 hours.
This primer actually does all of the things it claims to do - well, I haven't worn make up for a complete 24 hours like, ever, but I did use this on several days when I wore make up for over 12 hours - and my eyeshadow stayed in place all damn day.
I don't know how Urban Decay did this, but they definitely did well. This is what dreams are made of, my friends.

MAC Lipstick in 'Brave' (20€)

Oops, I did it again. Well, technically, I didn't.
See, whenever I'm downtown, I spend a good twenty minutes swatching lipsticks at the MAC counter, adding new ones to my wishlist. Well, last time I was there, my Mom decided to add something to my moving-out present, and it was their lipstick in 'Brave'.

'Brave' is a rose toned shade, which is very simple without being plain in the slightest. That makes it a very wearable shade which goes with a lot of my outfits and make up looks - guess this one's here to stay!

Avon Super Shock Mascara (9€)

The one thing you need to know about me is that I do not have eyelashes, I have stumps. That is it.
Sadly, most mascaras I have tested only make my lashes look like the average person's ones, and I have been desperately trying to find one that added both volume and lenght to them.
This one is the first one to do both - the formula works to add an insane amount of lenght to my lashes - we're talking about more than double of their normal lenght - while also making them look thicker.

The only negative feeling I have regarding this is that the wand picks up way too much product, so I have to get rid of any excess product before applying it in order to keep my lashes from clumping together, which does take a few minutes.

What have you been loving this month?

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My Holy Grail Eyeliner | Beauty

When I first started out with make up, the one step I would never leave out is eyeliner.
Fast forward a few years and I haven't really changed - I feel like I don't ever leave the house when I'm not wearing eyeliner, it might have become my trademark.

My younger self, however, had no idea how this whole make up thing worked, and applying eyeliner confused her greatly. All the pictures that show me sporting panda eyes prove it. I cringe every time I see them.

I sometimes still struggle with doing a precise feline flick if I'm not using a eyeliner that makes its application easier for me - the only one that appeared to be doing that was my LR Colour's one, which recently dried out completely, so I was desperately trying to get my hands on a new eyeliner.

I read a few reviews on Maybelinne's "Lasting Drama 36h Gel Liner", which were mostly positive, so I decided to give it a go.

What I found especially interesting about this eyeliner was its applicator which is supposed to make applying the product a lot easier.

Before application, you have to twist the bottom of the gel liner to get the actual product to show up - it claims "only one click!" down there, but in reality I felt like it took me around twenty tries for the black liner to come up.

What I really love about this is the color pay-off. Once you have taken your fair share of time to get the actual product to show up, it and glides on very easily and goes on inky black, no pressure at all needed.

The only downside application wise is that after twisting up the liner once you've used some of it up, too much product might easily end up on your lid, making the application process really messy.

Maybelline claims that this gel liner can stay put for 36 hours without getting messy, which I haven't actually tried out as I always take off my make up at the end of the day (who doesn't?) but I wore this when I spent the entire day in Munich yesterday - I applied it at 7 in the morning and took it off at 9.30 in the evening, and the only part that had smudged a little was the wing - that's insanely good for over twelve hours of wear time on a really hot and humid day!

Overall, I'm really loving this, even though my clumsiness sometimes leads me to put a little too much off the product in my lid, which extends my make up routine by at least five minutes as this does take some time to get off.

This liner is an amazing product for people who rely on their make up to stay put for long periods of time as well as girls who are just starting out with eyeliner as it's fairly easy to apply.

What is your favorite eyeliner?

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7 Things I Want To Do This Summer | Lifestyle

The days are getting longer and warmer, all different kind of insects are making my life a living hell and ice cream has become a food staple - it's offical, summer is on its way!

For me, summer doesn't actually start until the 31st of July as that is my last day of school, but that doesn't stop me from making awesome plans to enjoy the warmer season nontheless.

Last year I had the idea to write down a few things that I wanted to do that summer and tick them off as my summer was going by, so I could look back at that lists and remember all the awesome things that happened back then.

As that worked out pretty well last time I did it, I decided that this year I'm going to share my lists with you guys - you might get some inspiration for some activities to try out this summer!

This summer I want to:

1. Go on a roadtrip

This one is actually going to happen as my parents usually take my brother and me for at least one roadtrip per summer - but I still wanted to include it as they're one of my favorite things in the world.

There is something really calming and freeing about driving for hours and blasting old rock songs that I am very much in need of right now.

2. Be more outgoing and open towards strangers

I tell myself that I'll do this exact thing every summer, but I feel like I'm improving by taking baby steps.
I might have a loud mouth, but I'm actually quite timid and scared of other people and their opinions - it's pretty stupid, I know, but it's also a part of who I am and I desperately want to work on that and become more happy.

3. Ride a rollercoaster

I've loved rollercoasters ever since I was around five or six years old - I love screaming on top of my lungs so I can't hear how other people are telling me to shut up and I'm addcited to that tingly feeling I get in my stomach when the coaster kick-starts.

4. Explore an unknown place

As I mentioned when I talked about my travel bucket list, I'm not the most well-traveled person ever, and I really want to change that.
I've planned a few trips with both my friends and my family and I can't wait to get lost in an unkown place and find its most beautiful spots.

5. Go stargazing

I live in a pretty big city, so I usually don't get to see too many stars at night, which really sucks as I love sitting on my balcony and watching all the different stars.
I'd love to drive out of town to some village and just sit on someone's car, looking at the stars with them.

6. Learn Spanish

I'm taking a seminar on Mexico for the next four semesters which is bilingual - English, which is fine, and then Spanish. Do you see my problem here? I don't speak a word of Spanish.

My teacher reassured me that that's absolutely no problem as about 98% of the seminar is in English,  butI still want to show her that I have the fight in me to teach myself the basics of a language.

7. Show someone how much they mean to me

Recently, I've had a lot of moments where it hit me how many people I have in my life that I'm utterly thankful for - and then I realize that I hardly ever show anyone how strongly I feel for them.
Because of this, I want to make at least one person feel all the love they give to me this summer.

What is something that you would love to do this summer?

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Mac Cremesheen Lipstick in Fanfare | Beauty

If you've been following me and my blogging journey for a while, you might've noticed that I have got an obsession. 

Not just a casual obsession with make up in general, but like an all out there obsession with lipsticks. Unless owning over thirty of them is normal. (I don't just buy those babies, I adopt them. I give them a home and lots of love. This is totally justified.)

One brand that is rather famous for their lipsticks is MAC, and if you've seen my review of their Satin lipstick in "Twig", you will know that those particular lippies are my absolute favorites.

Obviously, with a price tag of 20€, they're not something a student like me would just pick up on a whim, but when I spent a few weeks in the US in October - if you're interested in hearing about that trip, make sure to check this out! - I did the maths and as MAC products are quite a bit cheaper there, I decided to pick one of those infamous lipsticks up.

I went for "Fanfare", which probably wasn't too smart at that time as this shade's a more vibrant pink that looks almost coral-ish once applied - not the greatest color for fall/winter, eh? Trust me to make the greatest decisions.

But now that spring is here and summer is fast approaching, I started using it more again and I absolutely fell head over heels for the second time.

MAC do that thing where they lure you in with their simple, yet very classy and chic packaging and the faint smell of vanilla all of their lippies have - I adore both of those things.

"Fanfare" is a Cremesheen Finish which means that it goes on buttery soft and moisturizes your lips, while also having a sheen finish.
As lipsticks of this finish do, "Fanfare" doesn't last as long as a matte lipstick would, but from my experience, you can wear this for about three hours until you will need to touch it up.

(I know, I know. My hair is an absolute mess in this picture. I'm truly sorry.)

The pigmentation of this lipstick is, considering its finish, outstanding. I found that even after the lipstick had slightly vanished from my lips, it left a pretty strong stain so the color would still be very visible.

Overall, I think it's safe to say that this lipstick is making its way into a lot of my summer make up routines. It's a very pretty shade, especially for daytime, that works well for my fair skin tone, unlike many other vibrant shades which tend to wash me out.

What is your favorite MAC lipstick? Feel free to share them with me so I can check them out - and probably add them to my never ending wishlist, haha.

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What To Do When You're Stressed Out | Lifestyle

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I feel like the subject of stress and anxiety has been appearing on my blog a lot recently - I also spoke about it in Wednesday's post - and I guess that's because how much stuff that I'm not going to bore you with has been going on in my life for the past few weeks.
Basically, I'm a stressed out wreck right now.

I've always had a few ways I dealt with stress, not all of which were all too healthy, but I feel like I have developed and figured out some great techniques regarding stress-relief and as it's final exams season right now, I felt like sharing them with you - and if you're not a student anymore, they might still help you unwind after a tough day!

1. Take A Bath

This one's a classic - but come on, there is nothing more relaxing than a hot bath with a bath bomb of your choice - I usually get mine at Lush, but there's plenty of places that sell them!
 Closing your eyes for a couple of minutes and letting the warmth of the water relax your muscles and the scent of the bath bomb feel the room can work wonders when you're feeling stressed out.


2. Make A To-Do List

I often find myself feeling very overwhelmed by all the things that I should be getting done when I'm stressed out, which, of course, stresses me even more.
You can avoid that by writing down all the things that you have to do and ticking them off one by one - that way, you'll be even more satisfied when you've gotten something done and you will see the list getting smaller and smaller!

3. Give Yourself A Break

I know that this might be the last thing you would want to do when you feeling like there is a million and one things to do, but try to find ten minutes to just sit down, put up your feet and take a deep breath - maybe make yourself a cup of tea or a small snack.
You're not going to feel any better if  you keep hurrying from one thing you've got to do to another, so why don't you just give yourself a teeny-tiny amount of "me" time? Those ten minutes certainly aren't going to make a difference to your time schedule, but they will for your health.

4. Reward Yourself

If you've studied really hard for your final exams, it's totally fine to reward yourself with a little something like that cute shirt you've wanted for a while or even some coffee or a donut by the time you're finally done with them - same goes for all kinds of things that stress you out.
You've done good kid, it's okay to reward yourself for getting through this tough time.

And, as always:

5. Remember That It'll Pass

Even though you might be feeling like this period of stress will never end and that you will never be able to breathe freely again, remember that like everything in life, this too shall pass.
Work might've been horrible this week or even the past month, but remind yourself everyday that the future is unwritten and the next one will probably be better, and the one after that will be even better than the last, and so on.


How do you deal with situations that stress you out?

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You Are Not Your Scars | Lifestyle

It's that time of the year again where I should really be studying for my final exams but instead of doing that, I just sit in my chair, staring off into the distance with so many thoughts and no thoughts at all in my head all at the same time.
Doing that, something fairly important popped into my mind that I just had to share with you guys.

I feel like in today's society, there is so much pressure on every single one of us.
No matter if you're still in school, college or university and expected to both get excellent grades and achieve great things in your after school acitivities like sports or drama, or if you have a job and are expected to fulfill everyone's expectations there, or if you're a parent of two kids and completely stressed out - it seems that all of us have to carry a massive burden around with us, and instead of encouraging us that it's okay to have flaws and to be overwhelmed at times or all the time, if you're like me, our society likes to promote the ideal of a flawless human being that can manage their workload, their family and their social life while looking like an absolute god/goddess.


But that just isn't the truth.

Have a look around - we're all so broken. If you picked one of us up and shook them around, you would hear the rattling of all their broken pieces - pieces they mainly broke themselves.

Because even though I like to blame society for next to everything as much as the next person does, I have to admit that even though we do get influenced by the society we live in, we still get to decided what we let get to us.

And really, we let too much get to us. We let too much bother us.

Who cares if someone thinks I'm dumb because I failed my Maths exam? I certainly don't and as I mentioned, it is my exam we're talking about, not theirs, so they should in no way be able to influence the way I think about it.
Who cares that I'm crying on public transport? Come on, we've all had those rough days where everything goes wrong, from pouring milk over yourself during breakfast to losing a bunch of important papers to getting into a fight with someone at work over a stupid little thing. And then you put in your headphones and want to chill out to some music, and the saddest song in your playlist comes on - how can you not have a breakdown?

And believe me, while there surely are quite a few people who love to torture and torment you for those things - mainly to forget about their own insecurities, the majority of them will know exactly how you feel in the situation you are in and want to pat your back and tell you that everything is going to be fine and all the things that seem huge and horrible now will eventually pass.

The point I was trying to get across here is that yes, you have learnt that all of the situations I mentioned above (and a lot more) will make you come off as a flawed, scarred human being - but that is what we all are.
Even Beyoncé has days where she would like to hide underneath a blanket, and I'm sure not everyone is fond of the ways she lives her life, and hey, that's okay.

I think we need to remember that even though we might think that we are the only ones who feel like this, we're not.
I don't think that there is one single person on this planet who thinks that they have it all figured out, who is so confident in what they do that what everyone else thinks about them doesn't get to them in the slightest.
And that's what makes us all the same, the doubts, the insecurities, the darkness - they make us human, because to be human is to feel every emotion, even those.

It's okay to feel this way, to sometimes feel out of order and completely overwhelmed, we just can't let it take over our lives. We can't let our scars define us.
Because even though they are part of who we are, they aren't us.

Battling Breakouts With Lush | Beauty

Having oily/combination skin, something that I have to put up with a lot is sudden breakouts.

Now, I have tried and tested a whole bunch of different products to help improve my skin - different kinds of cleansers, toners and serums. But the one thing I keep coming back to are face masks - I'll always pop them in my basket when I'm shopping downtown.

Something else that I simply can't resist is having a look around Lush whenever I pass the store - there's just something about all those scents and pretty colors that always lures me in there.

But even though I keep paying visits to Lush, I have never gone further than buying their bath bombs - shocking, I know, but I was never really brave enough to try out one of their skincare products as I'm really, really fussy with what I use on my face due to my past experiences.

But the last time I was in there, it was different - I was going through a phase of extremely oily skin and bad breakouts, and to say it plainly, I was insanely desperate, so I had a look at all the face masks Lush has to offer and decided that their "Cupcake" mask had to come home with me.

What I love about Lush is that I can trust their ingredients to be natural, so I know that I'm not going to put anything toxic on my face.

Ingredients in this face mask include rhassoul mud, which helps with cleansing and softening your skin, linseed infusion, which acts protective and nourishing as well as cocoa powder, fair trade vanilla absolute and fresh mint, which give off the most amazing scent.

The "Cupcake" mask promises to draw out all the dirt and impurities and give you a deep cleanse, while the fresh mint is supposed to stimulate and tone your skin whilst cocoa powder and linseed soften and moisturise it.

I could already see all of those effects after my second use.

As this is a fresh face mask and you're supposed to keep it in your fridge, this feels insanely cooling and fresh on your skin when you first apply it.

What I also like about this is that while it's on your face for the recommended 5-10 miutes, it smells of fresh ingredients, especially of cocoa powder and mint - because in my opinion, there is nothing worse than a face mask that smells like chemicals.

After I rinse this of with warm water after the recommended amount of time, the majoirity of my blackheads are gone and I feel like my skin can actually breathe again.

Even though this mask is supposed to keep your oily skin at bay, it still moisturises it so it doesn't feel all dry and tense, but very soft instead.

The day after I use this, my spots are a lot less red and visible, some smaller ones even seem to dissapear completely over night.

Overall, I would highly recommend this face mask to everyone who is struggling with oily skin or with bad breakouts.

As it retails at 10,45€, it's rather pricy compared to your average drugstore mask, but the effects of this are a thousand times more visible and you also get a lot more uses out of this than you would of a one use face mask as it's a 45ml pot.

What is your favorite Lush product?

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Beauty Advice I Wish I'd Listened To | Beauty

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There are quite a few things learnt best through trial and error, and I wholeheartedly believe that make up falls into that category.

I mean, we've all gone through phases of wearing sticky lipgloss, smudged eyeliner that made us look like pandas and concealers that left us looking bright orange - and that's normal, right?
Please tell me I'm not the only one who has those phases documented in family photos. I cringe every single time I look at them. Why.

While I definitely started figuring this whole make up thing out over the years, I feel like there are a few pieces of beauty advice that would have saved me a lot of hassle had I listend to them - but no, my twelve year old me was obviously a lot smarter than that. 

1. Suprise, suprise - you can actually ask the lovely ladies at the counters in stores to match your skin to a shade of your desired concealer or foundation. Months and months spent looking orange could've been avioded.

2. Just because a certain skin care product works for someone else, it might not necessary work for you - in fact, it will probably make your insanely sensitive skin break out in a rash that'll keep you company for a while. Just ask an expert - they'll certainly know what they're doing more than you ever will.

3. Make up shouldn't be something you hide behind - it should be a way for you to express yourself and to highlight all those little things you like about yourself.

4. You can't just smudge your eyeliner into your eyeshadow and call it a "smokey eye". It's not a smokey eye, it's simply a mess and certainly not a good look.

5. Having a good diet will show in your hair, nails, but most importantly, your skin.

6. Wear sunscreen. This is so, so important. I don't know what I was thinking when I purposely exposed my skin to the sun for hours on end. That my extremely pale skin would magically get a glowing tan? Well, it certainly didn't. In fact, it often peeled off completely.
Don't do this to yourself, friends.

7. Do not use make up wipes to remove your make up. Like, ever.
They will not remove the majority of your make up, but what they'll do is help you spread all kinds of nasty germs across your face - and you wouldn't want that, right?

8. Simply washing your hair every other day just won't cut it in a few years time - if you don't look after it and keep damaging by using heat on it frequently, you will leave it being dry and damaged, and if you're really unlucky, it might even fall out. You don't want to go throught that. Believe me.

9. This kind of goes hand in hand with number three - never wear make up just to impress someone else. If they really are worth it, they will love you with all those small imperfections you cover.
Wear make up for yourself, and only for yourself.

10. Bold lips can be really scary - they're hard to apply and if they smudge or end up on your teeth, you will feel like crying out of sheer frustration, but all that fuss is so worth it.
A bold lip definitely is an eye catcher - and lets be real here, it makes you feel really kick ass.


That is only a few of the thing that I have swarming around my head when I look at those disastrous old photos of myself - I bet there's a lot more things I could've covered, but let's be honest, none of you would've had the nerve to read all that.

What is some beauty advice that you wish you'd listened to?

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Travel Bucket List | Lifestyle

I'm definitely not what you would call a well traveled person - to be honest, I haven't even been to the seaside before. My parents have always worked a lot and never got a lot of time off work, so family holidays haven't really been an option in the past.

Now that I'm older, though, I feel like something has changed.

I've been to France, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republik before, but the first time I travelled really far away from home was went I went to America last fall (you can read about that trip here), and that sparked my interest in travelling.

I've managed to put together quite a list of places I want to visit over time, and as summer is nearing and we're all craving sun bathing, coctails, the beach and exploring the unkown, I decided to share them with you.

1. New York City

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I have been wanting to see this place with my own eyes ever since I was a kid - back then I was dreaming of moving to New York and starting a singing or acting career, but now that I'm older and have accepted that no one will ever appreciate my talent - dramatic sigh - I just really want to be the typical tourist.

I'd love to just watch the time square and all the people passing through there, I want to go up the Empire State Building even though I'm insanely afraid of heights and might faint, take a nice walk through Central Park and take an iconic selfie in front of the statue of liberty.

And who knows, maybe I'll even stumble into a talent scout there? Who am I kidding here.

2. Rome

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Now, five years of Latin class shouldn't have been taken for nothing, right?
I'm joking, but Rome is another city that I've been day-dreaming about for a few years now - notice a pattern here?
There is so much history to see in that one city, and if you put the fact that Latin is a horrible subject to take at school, the Roman times are actually really, really interesting.
I'd also love to visit the Vatican at least once in my life as I'm a catholic Christian, and I feel like that place is just something that every single one of us needs to experience in their life.

3. Maldives

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As I mentioned above, I have actually never been to the beach before, and how much more extravagant and breath-taking can a beach get than the ones Maldives have to offer?

I know a few people who have been there before and the pictures they showed me are absolutely incredible.

Also, I couldn't imagine anything nicer than swimming and enjoying ice cream in the sun right now to escape my finals.

4. London

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My Dad and I have been meaning to go to London for at least two years now, but there was always something more important going on that was keeping us in Germany.

I've heard quite a few people who visit London frequently talk about how they actually don't like it that much, but I feel like I would love a busy, packed city like it.

Also, going shopping on Oxford Street is on my bucket list, so that is something that I'll definitely want to experience as well.

Well, those are four of the cities that I want to visit some time.

What places would you like to travel to?

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Glow In Three, Two, One... | Beauty

Do you ever put off repurchasing a product because you think yours is going to last you for at least a few more weeks?

That's what happened to me when it came to the one and only highlighter I was using which was by Manhattan, I kept telling myself that I'd still get some use out of it, but by the time I had to face the fact that there was nothing left and went to buy a new one, I found out that it had been discountinued.

Nonetheless, I was obviously still in need of a highlighter, so I wandered around the drugstore, searching for an alternative.

That's when I stumbled upon Essence's "soo glow!" highlighter, a cream to powder product - which I was very skeptical about, but more on that later.

As it was only 2,79€ for medium sized product, I decided to check it out.

There are two shades to choose from, but I went for "bright up your life", which appears to be a rosey shade at first, but actually shows up as more champangey, which I feel compliments my skin quite a bit.

Now, I have never used a cream highlighter before,

Actually, I haven't used any cream products on my face before - I'm not entirely sure why, but I somehow always stuck with powder ones.

Application wise, this is okay - not great, but also not completely bad.

I use my fingers to apply it to the desired areas, which is all good and well, but it takes quite a while to blend into the skin to get more of a natural looking glow - if you don't blend it in sufficiently, you might end up looking greasy in the sunlight.

What I really like about this is that it doesn't feel heavy on my skin, which I had expected from a cream product - it actually feels like I'm not wearing anything at all.

The longevity however, is really neat.

I usually apply my make up at around 6 in the morning, and this always stays on until around 11 or 12, which I find outstanding for such a affordable product.

Overall, I think this is a really nice, affordable highlighter, but definitely not for someone who is looking for something more subtle - especially people with darker skin - or someone who doesn't have a lot of time they can spend on their make up in the morning.

I actually have a lot some time to do my make up in the morning - I mean, I don't get up at 5.30 for nothing - so this has become a set step in my make up routine!

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An Ode To My Mom

Judging by the title of this post, you might've thought that I wrote this as mother's day is this Sunday, but that is actually not the case.

I had an idea for this kind of post as today is the birthday of just about the most important person in my life - my mother.

Now, you can't see her face here as she doesn't like being all out there on the internet for everyone to see, but instead you have an impression of what we do best - enjoying delicious food.

I know quite a few people who have a friendly, but kind of neutral realtionship with their mother, but in my case, it's anything but that. I feel like my Mom and I have a very deep bound, and as I feel like through writing, I can express my feelings and thoughts better, I wrote this letter.

Dear Mom,

thank you so much, for all the great things you do for me, but especially for all the tiny gestures, like remembering that I talked about that one chocolate bar and buying it for me, or encouraging me before an exam.

I feel like when I was younger, I didn't really realize how much you sacrificed for me, my brother, and our family as a whole, but now I do, and it leaves me without words.

You're the most selfless person that I know, always putting everyone before yourself - even though I keep going on about how important it is to be selfish sometimes and do what's best for you, and only you.

I know that both of us are stubborn little humans with quite a bit of temperament, so sometimes we tend to lock horns with one another, but I also know that we always end up making up at some point or another, and I guess that's what makes us not only mother and daughter, but also best friends.

Thank you so much for all the things you've taught me, not only stuff like baking and cooking and sewing, but also really important thoughts and ideas, like "There are only two things in life you won't need to chase - true love, and true friendship." and the fact that if I want to live life the way I want to one day, I have to give my best every single day and try to make the most of academic career as possible - even though it might seem horrible most days.

To refer to those "great things" that you've done for me I mentioned earlier, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have done all the unbelieveable and incredible things that I got to do over the past year.
When I got the chance to go to America, I hesitated because I knew how much money (and nerves) that would cost you, but you didn't even take a second to decide that I should, because you knew that that was a once-in-a-lifetime sorta deal for me.
Not to mention that you helped me renovated and furnish my own apartment - I mean, what sixteen year old gets to live in their very own place?

You might not think highly off yourself, or think that you're anything special, but to me, you're a star, Mom.

You're the reason that I grew up to be the person that I am today, and I couldn't be more proud to call you my mother.

I love you to the moon and back.

15 Very Real Girl Problems | Lifestyle

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Being a girl - or woman - is hard.
There, I said it.

Whenever I drop that sentence, just about every single male human being around me seems to groan and have a good five reasons on hand as to why being a man is even harder.

Well, lovely fellow male citizens, I put together a list of very real problems that I, and probably a lot of other females, face almost every single day to enlighten you.
And if you, like me, are a girl who struggles with what feels like just about everything, let's just laugh at how miserable we are together.

1. Desperately wanting a new haircut, thinking about what it should look like for months, and once you actually take the plunge and get half your beautiful locks cut off, you end up absolutely hating it - hating yourself as well, because how could you be this stupid?

2. The one day you actually make the effort to straighten or curl you hair, it's raining like there's no tomorrow. 

3. You are very good at applying eyeliner - but only on one of your eyes. You're always sporting the perfect cat eye on that one, but the other eye just ends up looking like a black, smudge mess.

4. Same goes for eyebrows. You might as well just give up now, one of them is always going to look weird.

5. Your skin looks pretty decent for around a month or so - but only until you want to go out one evening. Then you'll have your entire face erupting in a rash.
Excuse me, I thought my early-teenage acne days had gone?

6. Guys always think that we know nothing about sports, especially football.
I mean, my Dad is a huge football fan, and I sometimes feel like I get more into it than my brother does.
Leave, and please take your stereotypes with you.

7. Expecting your nails to have dried around fifteen minutes after you've painted them, only to smudge them somewhere.

8. Realizing that with spring and summer comes the need to shave at least every second day. Oh, the pain.

9. "I'll only pick up some cotton pads and toothpaste." - Leaves an hour later, having spend 40€ on make up that's absolutely unnecessary.

10. Having a different clothing size in every single store. There is no way that in one store, an XS shirt seems to fit just fine, and in another I will have to get an M.
What is this.

11. Chosing an outfit in the morning is impossible. Changing two or three times before you leave the house in the morning is considered normal.

12. Creepin' really hard on someones Instagram and accidentally liking a photo they put up half a year ago. Don't pretend this hasn't happened to you.

13. Losing hair grips and bobbles all the time. Like, one time I purchased twenty of each, and I have managed to lose all of them.

Were did they all go? I hope they are okay.

14. People assuming that it's "that time of the month" when you're acting snarky.
Nope, sorry. That's just my moody personality.

15. Feeling like you own a dog, or a cat, or both because you keep finding hair absolutely everywhere. And I mean literally everywhere. Why am I losing this much hair at the age of sixteen. I'm scared.

Dear male readers, I hope you didn't take this one too personally. I didn't write this post to offend you or play the things you struggle with down, I just wanted to point some, admittely quite hilarious, daily struggles of us females. Maybe you even got a laugh out of it too, as this is what I mainly tried to achieve.

And if you're one of my female readers, please tell me that I'm not completely alone with my struggles here and just completely failing at life.

Stop Being So Damn Scared | Lifestyle

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It's Sunday, which means it's the perfect time for me to have another heart to heart with you guys, because let's be real here, finals are nearing and I have more issues than Vogue nagging at me that I could tell you about.

Some of those are my fears. There's quite a few things that I'm afraid of, things like heights, snakes and Physics exams.

But there is nothing that makes my stomach turn or my thoughts take a really dark path at 3 in the morning like the sheer thought of death.

Now, I don't know what provoked my insane panic regarding that topic, it might be the fact that, starting from a really young age, I've lost a lot of family members and people that are close to me, but the thought that I could just get hit by a bus any minute without having accomplished anything literally leaves me breathless.

When I tell my family about that, they either tell me that I should stop acting up or they just give me weird looks - but I can't be the only one this is happening to, right?

I think death might be scarier for me than it is for other people because I'm very cautious, reserved and plainly afraid most of the time.

I'm too scared to tell people how I feel about them, and that might be weird to you, but to me and others, this is just the way we think - because what if they think we're weird? What if we ruin a friendship by telling someone that we love them more than that?

And to be honest, I use the phrases "You make me happy", "Thank you for being my friend" and "I love you" way too little.

Something else that I do is immerse myself in work, simply because when I know that there's stuff that I need to get done, I can't get rid of that guilty feeling inside of me until I finally sit down to do it, and then I work for hours on hours, until I feel burnt out and need to take a break - but not without still feeling guilty as heck, because there's always something else that I could do.

Because of that habbit, I often miss a lot of opportunities, like getting to spend time with my family and friends, having some me time or working on cool projects.

For some reason, I feel like I'm constantly under-achieving, even when I'm not, and it's taking me away from things I'd love to do and things that would help me become a better version of myself because I feel like I'm too incomplete to even begin with.

I don't even know where I'm going with this topic anymore, but I guess I just had to get this off my chest - maybe someone else is feeling this way too, and if I only made one person feel less alone and more understood, then it will have been enough.

You may know that at the beginning of this year, I promised myself to be more open, to say "yes" more, and I think, in a way, I'm starting to do that.

Because we never know when we see a beloved person again, we never know if we're turning down a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We never know when the bus is coming.

April Favorites | Beauty

This year is seriously flying by so fast, it's scary. It's May 1st already, and soon I will start my exams, and soon after that, I will be walking 'round in summer dresses and eating ice cream while on my summer holiday.

Back to present day, though. April has been a so-so month for me.
The first two weeks were really nice - obviously, I was on spring break and as care-free as one could be, but the second half of the past month has literally left me feeling stressed burnt out and just really, really tired.

I also decided to put myself on a spending ban halfway through April because I realized that in around two months, I will be off to Berlin - which seems to be incredible for shopping from what I've heard.
But you know me, I still managed to purchase a few new products, some of which I ended up using every single day without fail, along with some products that have been in my make up collection for ages.

Soap & Glory Flake Away Body Scrub (14,99€)

As I mentioned, summer is fast approaching, so the season for bare skin is almost here!

I'm a little conscious about my legs - it's not even the fact that I'm not really thin, but my really pale, dull skin annoys me- so I was incredibly happy when my Mom suprised me with this!

Using this body scrub once or twice a week has made my skin look (and also feel) so much better - it feels a lot softer and also looks way more healthy. Plus, the scent of this is absolutely heavenly.

If you want a more in depth review on this, I have one up here.

MaxFactor Creme Puff Blush in "Nude Mauve" (8,45€)

MaxFactor's Creme Puff blushes have probably been one of the most hyped drugstore products over the past few months, but it was only until pretty recently that they were released here in Germany.

"Nude Mauve", which is the shade I own, is a light pink that gives you a natural, subtle glow due to the slight shimmer it includes, which works great for pale skin like mine.

The longevity of these is insane - I have gone up to four hours until I had to touch my blush up!

LR Deluxe Longwear Lipliner in "Nude Line" (10,95€)

Lip wise, there weren't a lot of changes this month - when in doubt, I still went for a nude lip.

In fact, this product isn't new to my collection, either. To be honest, I got this last summer, and I've been using it on and off ever since.

This month, however, I actually made the effort to line my lips every single morning, and I'm really glad that I rediscovered this in the process.

This really does what it promises - this lipliner stays in place all day long, there have been days when I came home at around eight, and even though my lipstick had long gone, the lipliner had stayed in place!
Another thing I love about this that the shade "Nude Line" literally goes with every single nude lipstick I own, so it's worth the investment.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (11.27€)

If you've read the post I wrote on this (you can find it here), you will know that before I got this product, I haven't been much of a foundation-wearer. In fact, after some past experiences, I didn't wear foundation ever.

Rimmel's "Wake Me Up" foundation, however, lured me in with the fact that they actually acknowlege the fact that there are people with really fair skin, and because this foundation promises a healthy glow - something I was definitely lacking.

This has to be my favorite discovery of the past month - the shade "Light Porcelain" is a perfect match to my skin tone, the foundation feels insanely light on my skin and it makes me look like I've had either a full night's sleep or at least three cups of coffee.

EOS Lipbalm in "Vanilla Mint" (12,99€)

My lovely friend Lisa, who I stayed with when I was in America, sent me this as part of a parcel for my birthday, and I was so happy to find this little gem in there because even though we do have EOS in Germany, this particular one hasn't been released here.

I'm seriously obsessed with this.

I have pretty dry lips, so I'm always looking for a super hydrating lip balm, and this one is definitely one of them. It keeps my lips feeling super soft for around two hours, and it tastes and smells a lot like vanilla, which I love.

So, there you have the products that I've been enjoying the most all through April - and even though I'm really not proud of the fact that against my spending ban, I picked up some new stuff, I can now say that that money was definitely worth it.

What is something that you've been loving this past month?

Thank you so much for reading!