My Routine For Silky, Smooth Hair

Hello peeps :)

Hope you're all having a lovely week.

Today I really wanted to write about something I'm obsessed with and those who know me well, are more than aware of my crazy mind when it comes to hair. 

I have natural brown, short, straight hair with bleached ends. It's not damaged but I get really dry locks with oily strands at the roots. That's why I love to have my hair hydrated and smooth with as little washing as possible. The routine I currently have seems to work quite well so I thought it's about time to share it. Here's what I use on regular basis; 

Washing

I don't really have arranged hair wash days. They usually depend on whether I'm staying in or going out and what days I work-out on. But in general, I like to refresh my hair after every work-out with a no sulfate shampoo (Yves Rocher Low Sham-Poo), and then when my hair gets really bad, it just won't pass, I use the OGX Coconut Water Weightless Hydration, approx. twice a week. 

My method to it is very simple; I apply a walnut sized bead, massage into my hands and gently wash my hair, twice! I then move on with the TreSemme 24Hr Body conditioner (which is amaze balls at softening), hold on for 5 mins and rinse with cold water. 

Pre & Post Wash

Once a week, Sundays for me, I like to rub in some coconut oil into the ends of my hair, around two hours before wash for extra hydration.

 I also prepare green tea in a bowl, using old, used tea bags. I let it brew and cool down and rinse my hair with the mixture at the end of my shower (I leave this on, without rinsing with water!) This is very good to hydrate the scalp, prevent dandruff and hair loss as well as improve their growth. 

After every single wash, while my hair is still wet, I apply one squish of Pantene Split End Serum and allow them to dry naturally. 

Styling 

I am so not bothered when it comes to styling. My usual hair look is naturally loose or some messy up-do. However, I do like to straighten my hair from time to time and for this I obviously use heat protection (TreSemme Heat Defence- which I really love!)

If by any chance I can't be bothered with hair wash but I want my hair to look fresh, I use the Herbal Essence Dry Shampoo and always tie my hair back.

Other points I follow:

• Brush at least as possible and never do so when hair is wet!
•  Use low heat when blow drying
• Blow dry upside down for extra volume
• Avoid excessive use of salt sprays, hair sprays and dry shampoos
• Shake my hair out, up and down after wash to create volume
• Eat my veggies, protein, drink green tea and exercise  
• When going through hair crisis (usually during spring) I do take extra vitamins for strength.
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Do you use any of these? If so, how do you find them? Any other tips on good hair care? :) Reply down in the comments and have a super lovely day! 

Love,

-k,

Most Beloved Autumnal/Winter Vitals

Hello peeps,

It's almost November and I can't get over the fact it's getting so chilly outside! Yeep, I love winter, more than summer if  I'm being totally honest and layering up and staying in at home doesn't bother me at all. It is also this time of the year when my ''favourites'' take a big spin round from iced coffees to hot cocoa and it was just about time to share my ultimate necessities and things I'm just too obsessed with at the moment. Take a peak;

I can't exactly explain why, but the most appropriate book I thought would suit this season is no other than Harry Potter. I'm already on The Goblet of Fire and hope to finish the series before Christmas- the love struggle is real people.

Perfect outfit? Sweater, bright chimney scarf and dark booties (Oh and I obviously do wear bottoms as well, don't think I go around bare leg!)

Pistachios, pumpkins and oranges kind of took over my ideal snack understanding... perhaps entire meals, but I can't help it, it's Halloween!

With super frost came a super dry skin and I really love using pure almond oil for that issue. My favourite nail colour at the moment is this Tidal Wave blue, Sally Hansen gel nail polish and non of my meals do ever really go without a sprinkle of allspice :P

Let me know your current essentials down in the comments and have a super nice day! :)

Love,
-k.

On Replay...

                  Hello peeps,

today I figured it's time to share my current play list as being at home means only one thing; cooking, reading, writing my blog, doing fitness and in the mean time, pretending I can sing.

Having lots of free time and motivated spirits I completely updated and improved my play list the previous night and came up with the idea to share some of my all time and current favourite songs out there :)

🎵 Adele- Hello
🎵 Aerosmith- Don't Wanna Miss a Thing
🎵Bon Jovi- Living on a Prayer
🎵 Christina Perri- Human
🎵 Demi Lovato- Confident
🎵 Hans Zimmer- He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack) 
🎵 Imagine Dragons- Radioactive
🎵 Linkin Park- New Divide; Numb; End

🎵 Lorde- Yellow Flicker Beat
🎵 Maroon 5- Animals
🎵 Sia- Fire Meet Gasoline
🎵 Mulan Soundtrack- I'll Make a Man Out of You

And here we have it! Some of these I've been listening to for years now and some I downloaded only recently. I'm always very curious to know other peoples' favourite music artists, bands and song are so do let me know down in the comments :) I'll write again very soon and until that time have a great week guys!

Love,
-k.

Mid Season Downtown Shopping

Hello peeps :)

Today I wanted to share a teeny weeny shopping spree I did a week ago. Along with my BFF we agreed mid October was the perfect time to travel 40 minutes down to a bit bigger town and have a total girls day out, shopping around just for fun! Here's a peak of what I bought ^-^

Booties: New Look (40euro)
Shampoo: OGX- coconut water for weightless hydration (Boots approx 8euro)
Mascara: Benefit roller lash, travel size (Boots 12euro)
Hand sanitizing gel: Soap&Glory hand maid (Boots approx 1.50)

The Roller Lash was something I wanted to purchase for way too long and was so glad Boots had them in a mini size for 1/2 of the original price! 

Hand Maid gel is a must if you're still attending school or travelling the train daily, and its scent is just a-m-a-z-i-n-g, unlike all other antibacterial products. 

I haven't tried the OGX shampoos before and since everyone is raving about them (and they were on sale) I obviously grabbed one.

 I'm in love with ankle height booties since last fall and adding another pair to my collection wasn't that much of a surprise. I haven't thought I'll ever fall in love with this exact colour but they are just so beautiful and comfy!

And now that almost all my saving are spent and new purchases were made, I can honestly say I'm satisfied for the next two months.

Anyone else on their mid-term break? It's so good to be able to sleep in for the next week ahead.... I can really feel the winter coming now ^^

Love,
-k.

Invisible- Book Review

 by James Patterson & David Ellis

When it comes to crime I am definitely the most picky one out there. Despite my absolute over excitement to read a piece of thrilling mysteries and rather certain blood baths, it is quite a challenge for an author to really draw me in. And since previously Patterson did quite well on this task, it was not inappropriate at all to take a novel filled with brutal murders, raging fires and quite graphic descriptions on a peaceful ''by the lake'' vacation (yes, that's how long I've been procrastinating this post!)

Publisher: Arrow Books

Publication date: 2014

No. of pages: 468

Genre: Crime, thriller, mystery

Main Character: Emmy Dockery- FBI researcher 

Setting: All over USA

Recommendation: Women, aged 25 +

Cover Rate: 4/10

Story Rate: 6/10

Emmy Dockery, a workaholic FBI researcher, has for the passed year been obsessed in one particular subject; the connection between her sister's death and dozens of other ''accidental'' fires happening all over the US. Everyone thinks she's crazy, and her suspense from work doesn't exactly help in proving her point. A serial killer is out there, carefully choosing his next victims, victims that have things in common and Emmy is the only one who spots the pattern. It's just the matter of convincing her colleagues to search down the bad guy, but how can she when non of them believe her?

Likes

In certain cases of my novel lists it's quite impossible to state why I liked a certain lecture. Some just seem to drag me in naturally, as if they exist out there for this purpose only. Of course I could ramble on about the amazing techniques, that make reading a hell lot easier; super short chapters, brilliant writing skills and ability to make any fiction become a reality. All which are an obvious characteristic and recognition sign to Patterson's works.

But what really made my enthusiasm and enjoyment to grow, was the fact that Invisible not only gave the perspective of the ''good guys'' chasing a person who's portrayed as evil since the blurb, but also the mischievous mind of the killer itself, really making the entire plot come to life. 

For the first time, not only have the characters find themselves tricked and played-on. It would be fair enough to say the reader is technically lied to throughout the whole book and once the last pages start to turn themselves, the Oh My Gods just flow out for endless hours. Of course I felt like a damn proud FBI worker when I figured what was going on before anyone else. Obviously, this reaction was intended, and certain details have been put in for the purpose of the readers' excitement of the discovery, but let's face it, this is the part why we love crime. 

Dislikes 

One that always chops of my head and flushes remains down the drain before I even begin reading is the use of present tense. I don't think I'll ever stress out enough on how much I hate this style of writing. Whilst reading, I really do love to feel as a psychologist, listening to the problem my patient has been through and his amazing story that happened in the past. Reading books set in present gives more of the''I'm in a mental house, my dinner buddy is talking to herself pretending she's out and free'' feeling, if you get what I mean.

The story has also been really 'only-one- problem' centered. I haven't really found another issue develop in the middle, it was just based on who the killer is through the whole script. Even though I liked to see into the real side of work at the FBI, I feel like there might have been a bit too much focus on that aspect. The book, in my opinion, would have benefited a lot from having more ''out off office and non police talk'' chapters. 

  

Overall 

I won't lie, it really was a self page turner. It drew me in, I felt some kind of connection with the characters and definitely was a nice thing to spend time on during boating. It's a good crime novel, with realistic plot and interesting story line, one worth reading. 

I would not re-read it, I would not think about what happens next before going to bed and I've clearly not grew some deep, long-lasting affection to it. However, as a one night stand it is definitely recommendable and a simple piece of some damn good thriller. 

Another Drugstore Beauty Craze

Hello peeps,

so for a number of days/weeks back I've been to some ''little'' shopping sprees down town and happened to actually gather quite a collection of drugstore beauty products. It isn't quite a haul post, I suppose, as I didn't really go out and scoop it all into my bag at once, it just so happened that in a duration of a month my bathroom shelf filled from half-full to overflowing, and I'm just treating this as a short post of few new things that you could find in my room :)

1. Ziaja Active BB Cream (I'm liking it so far)

2. Garnier Micellar Water (always & forever ultimate no.1!)

3. Garnier Moisture Match Goodbye Dry (repurchased just for the season of dry skin and hot chocolate :D)

4. Pantene Split Ends Serum (enjoying using it after wash on wet hair but we'll see about the long term effects yet)

5. Rimmel Oh My Gloss *Stay My Rose* (not my favourite tone but nice hydration)

6. Garnier Neo Deodrant (really love the texture!)

7. Bourjois Volume Glamour Push Up Mascara (used it aprrox. 3 times and it disappointed me.... not worth its price :/)

8. Bourjois  1 Second Gel Nailpolish *Meli Melon* (love at first sight which happened to be deceiving. The colour changes once on nails to this rotten looking orange and it takes absolutely ages to dry properly! It does last for long though)

9. Eveline Diamond Hard and Shiny Nails Conditioner (OMG... This saves my nail life over and over again! I use this for over two years now and I can't stop raving about it and repurchasing it!)

10. Eveline miniMax Nail Polish *935 (light purple-y shade)* (had it on for the last four days. The colour changes to pink but it's so easy to apply, dries quickly, seems long lasting and is actually so damn pretty!) 

11. Golden Rose Express Dry Nail Polish *(Vibrant Red Shade)* (didn't really use this yet, I do admit it was the 'impulse buy' case scenario as I was desperate for red at the time ... too bad I no longer am...oops)

And that is all for today! Fingers crossed that some of these will find themselves in monthly favourites soon enough :D Do let me know if you tried these before and what do you think (especially about the ones I'm not too pleased with as of first impression) and I'll write again very soon :)

Love,

-k.

My Insta Gurus

Hello peeps,

I so badly wanted to write this post for such a long time now, I can't believe I finally put my mind to it! 

It probably is one of the most popular posts that exists out there, but at the same time one of my favourite excuses to avoid business homework on Saturday mornings. And so, it is quite obvious that I wanted to share my own absolute fave instagram profiles that I love to follow, which add a bit of beauty and life to the typical Irish autumn weather..bohoo :'(

1. DAYOFREST

An awesome corner of art on the internet with an equally creative blog which I recently discovered :)

2. CAY_MAE

Simplicity, creativeness and minimal touch of joy in every picture <3

3. NIOMISMART

One of my favourite bloggers/youtubers out there; fashion, food, travel... this girl has it all.

4. CRACCOLA

First of all, totally unrelated maybe in a slight bit, question; anyone else is freaking the hell out of excitement for Vampire Diaries to air back on next Thursday?! Yeep...

And just while we're at it, Candice's insta account in which she literally makes every day-to-day life look like a pro photo! 

5. MEGHANRIENKS

Unquestionable queen of instagram-ers AND my definite make-up guru ^_^

6. LILYJCOLLINS

Before I say anything else, can I just ramble on about how much I admire her as an actress? My no.1 selfie pro under the 'sophistication' category <3

7. KENDALLJENNER

An obvious thing but when it comes to fashion, here's the place where I'll always search <3

8. IRISHDOODLER

My motivation and inspiration during times of crisis when art homework has to be done for the next day!

Leave me links down below so I can check out the people you love to follow out there and just before I wrap this up, I do apologize for not updating in such a long time! Gosh, I missed this :)

Love,

-k.