OSCARS 2013

(Sorry I've been so quiet the past couple of days. I have been very busy with working for school. I'll try to get more regular updates on my blog again!)

Past Sunday The Oscars were presented. I was really looking forward to it, especially because a Belgian short film "Death of a shadow" was nominated. Matthias Schoenaerts a Belgian (hottie) actor had a role in the film. Unfortunately it didn't win, but in our small Belgium country a nomination on its own is already remarkable.

As you might know already the Oscar for best movie went to... Argo. I think it is an earned one, though I liked the movie Life of Pi even more, I was secretly rooting for Richard Parker & co!

Now to the Oscar for best dressed! I liked a lot of the dresses and thought there was a lot of diversity on the red carpet. The ladies (and stylists of course) stepped it up a notch for the most important night of the year in Hollywood. My favorite looks were...

 10. Jennifer Garner - Gucci dress

9. Zoe Saldana - Alexis Mabille Couture

8. Jennifer "Best Actrice" Lawrence - Calvin Klein dress

She earned the Oscar for Best Actrice, and she even looked like an Oscar at the after party! I also loved her dress she wore during the show, but after her adorable trip I understand why she wanted to change in something more comfortable... 

7. Naomi Campbell

6. Miley Cyrus - Azzaro dress

5. Britney Spears - Michael Cinco Couture

Britney looked so good!! She looked classy, young and shiny! A look she should always be striving for. I am a fan of the brown locks too, so much more healthy looking hair than the bleach blonde!

4. Amber Heard - Versace dress

3. Serinda Swan - Michael Costello dress

This was definitely the most sexy dress AND lady of the night...

2. Halle Berry - Versace dress

1. Charlize Theron - Dior dress

Charlize Theron rocked the red carpet with her white hot dress and short blonde haircut. She gets my Oscar for Best Dressed!

Btw, did anyone think Miley Cyrus and Charlize Theron looked very similar? Just some age and tattoo differences!

Do you have a favorite dress?

x x x

DIY ZIGZAG NAILS

Another nail tutorial today. I saw this technique for the first time in a youtube video of Evelina Barry (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnnColRvFKM) and it inspired me to make a post about it. It is definitely a fun and creative way to style your nails.

What you will need:
file
nail polish remover
2 nail polishes (preferably at least 1 that covers in one coat)

tape

zigzag scissors

tweezers
top coat

1. Start off with clean nails. Remove leftover nail polish and file.
2. Paint your nails in the color you like. I applied two coats of a white polish. Let your nails dry.
3. Take a pair of ZigZag scissors (don't know if it has another name!) and cut out pieces of tape. You can make these as thick/thin as you want.
4. Make sure your nails are completely dry. Put on the piece(s) of tape on your nail as wanted. Put a coat of the other color on your nail (over the tape) and take off the tape carefully with tweezers while it's still wet.
Let it dry and put a top coat on your nails.
Finito!

White & blue

Nude & gold

Red Glitter accent nail

x x x

MENU MONDAYS

Hi everyone! 

Another week, another monday, another day I show you what I ate! 

I had a pretty busy day, so I didn't have time to snack, but I did eat three meals that I can show you.

Breakfast

2 portions of low fat yoghurt (250 grams in total) mixed with frozen blueberries and some light grenadine, finished off with rice krispies

1 cappuccino

Lunch

2 soft boiled eggs

2 crackers

1 cappuccino 

Dinner

noodles

peas

coconut milk

mushrooms

pineapple 

slices of chicken

I also ate a bowl of chicken soup with some crackers after I went to the gym in the evening but I forgot to take a pic, sorry for that! I drank besides the cappuccinos also 1 liter of water and 1 Coca Cola Zero! 

x x x

GRAMMYS 2013

Last Sunday the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was hosted for the second time by LL Cool J.  Amongst the winners were Gotye for Record of the Year, Kelly Clarkson for Best Pop Vocal Album, The Black Keys for Best Rock Performance and Jay Z and Kanye West for Best Rap Performance.

I loved that Justin Timberlake finally took the stage again. I have always been a fan of his music and I'm definitely excited for his new and upcoming songs. I also enjoyed Rihanna's performance of her new single "Stay". I thought it was a very emotional and intimate moment, especially because of Chris Brown sitting just meters away from her! 

But of course the fashion was the true highlight for me. I gathered my five favorite looks of the night. 

5. Kelly Rowland

Kelly Rowland opens the top 5 with a Georges Chakra Couture gown and Lorraine Schwartz jewels. I love the shape of the dress that accentuates Kelly's curves and the cuts that give her the dose of sexiness she always seems to rock.    

4. Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé stands out from the crowd with this creation of Osman Yousefzada, a young British designer. Her stylists certainly took a fashion risk with the two colored jumpsuit, but Beyoncé's voluptuous curves make all the difference.

3. Jennifer Lopez

According to E! News JLO wore jewelry worth a total of 5 million dollars at the Grammy Awards, but in my opinion she would have looked as beautiful with some basic bling from H&M. She opted for an easy and fresh hairdo that goes perfectly with the sexy black dress that showed off her gams. 

2. Rihanna

All three of her dresses were fabulous. They were all very feminine and accentuated her gorgeous figure perfectly. I also LOVED her hair and make up. Very simple and girly with the loose waves, yet classy and sophisticated with the red lips. 

1. Solange Knowles

Beyoncé's little sister stole the show with her afrolicious big hairstyle. Combined with a high slit green fitted dress and hot pink pumps she rocked the Grammys red carpet and makes it to the number 1 spot in my list. 

Did you watch the Grammys? And who gets your Grammy for Best Outfit of the Evening?

x x x 

MENU MONDAYS

Hi guys!

From today I will include a new weekly food/diet update on my blog. It is called "Menu Mondays" and it basically shows you everything I eat on Monday. I want to start sharing this information to start my week in a healthy way and also because I know a lot of people like to see what others eat (at least I do)!

Monday is often recommended as the day to start a new diet. It is the beginning of a new week and often feels like a fresh start, like you can forget all the mojitos, pizza and croissants you had in the weekend. Good intentions are very present and new beginnings are always exciting and motivating.
Personally I feel like this little tric works very well for me. If I make it through Monday healthy, diet and exercise wise, I am motivated to hold on for the rest of the week. If I don't start off my week in a good way (snacking on chips, cookies and chocolate) I will be saying on Tuesday: "Oh well, let's just start over next week, yesterday was a disaster anyway". Does anyone know what I mean?

This is why I came up with "Menu Mondays". I think it will be motivating for myself to eat healthy because of the audience... And I promise I won't be cheating and I will show you guys everything that passed my mouth!

Lastly, I am not a dietitian and I don't want to pretend I eat all the perfect foods, I just want to inspire you to start off the week healthy so you might too get a better and healthier start of your week.

So here we go!


Breakfast

2 eggs (scrambled with some butter)

3 slices of low fat chicken filet

cherry tomatoes

2 slices of toast

1 cup of coffee with milk 

Lunch

2 portions of low fat yoghurt (250 grams in total) mixed with frozen blueberries and some light grenadine, finished off with rice krispies

1 banana

Snack

1 apple 

cinnamon

oatmeal

Dinner

salad

cherry tomatoes

cucumber

avocado

100 grams small shrimp

 olive oil

 ketchup

2 puffed rice cakes with chocolate

1 cappuccino

I also drank 1,5 liters of water and 1 can of Coca Cola Zero.
I try to maintain a nutritious diet through out the week and not to indulge too much. I always try to eat 3 meals and 1 snack, this way I never feel like I'm starving (which leads to binge eating).

I hope you will find the future "Menu Mondays" posts interesting!

x x x

ASOS HAUL FEBRUARY

Hi everybody!


The last couple of weeks I haven't been shopping a whole lot. Well.. at least not in the offline world. The ONLINE world is another story..

Because I lock myself up in the house during exam and test months, I spend a lot of time on the computer. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr are great entertainment during short breaks. But during the longer ones I like to check out sales! Online window shopping is the best break I can imagine. It makes me think of all the occasions and parties I will be able to wear these clothing items. And because I can't always control myself, especially when there are sales up to 70%, I got a haul from asos for you today!

And these final two items were actually presents. I bought this snake purse for my sister and the Las Vegas T-shirt for my boyfriend. 

I bought all of the items on sale, except the snake purse for my sister which was € 38,00, full price.
If you are interested in buying on asos you can always visit their website www.asos.com.
They offer a lot of different brands and styles, everytime I visit the website I always find something I like. AND another big plus: free shipping! :)

x x x

MAGNETIC NAIL POLISH ESSENCE

Hey everyone,

Have you ever heared of magnetic nail polishes? I hadn't until recent when I got some as a gift. I was very excited about this product, I didn't know how it worked or what effect they would bring. 

I did some research and found some more information about these polishes. 

Magnetic nail polishes are developed with metallic particles. When these get activated, by holding a magnet close to the freshly polished nail, the iron powder in the formulation gravitates to the magnet. A pattern on the nail will appear. It is possible to use different magnets to get different effects. 

Some examples:

These are the two Essence magnetic polishes I got, a red and a dark blue color.

I also got the Essence magnet with it, that you put on a finger to hold it over your polished finger. You need to paint every finger individual and hold the magnet above it right after. So don't paint all your fingers and then use the magnet, because when your nails are dry it won't work anymore. 

These are the effects I got:

Uhm yeah, not much effect... You can very slightly see some faded stripes, but not how I expected it to be. That's why I wouldn't recommend this product because the magnet doesn't do the job it promises. I think it's not strong enough to attract the particles in the polish. However I do like the colors and textures of the nail polishes. Especially the red one which covers in one coat completely. 

Would I buy this product? 

Yes for the nail polishes, which are € 1,89 or $ 2,50. But no for the magnet, which is the same price. 

x x x