The 2016 Resolutions edition: #WILLPOWER with Alexis Vogel Ganesh

Best wishes from Birkinbagbeauty

So now we had the celebration, now it is time to get into #resolution action.

 I first want to share something that could be seen as holistic. My Alexis Smart Ganesh formula:

People who read my blog know that I can be quite sceptical about products. However, I have had several of Alexis Smart formulas for different types of emotional states, and I believe they help... (see here & here).

In September last year I started a new study. Age-wise, I am not the most typical student so I had to overcome quite some things. On the other hand, staying at the same place in my life would not have been a good option either. I had been struggeling with so much sadness and a dash of failure before, that I really wanted to achieve something new...especially with my brains.

Things were not easy, starting...But after taking Alexis Smart WholeHearted I could cope with some sadness issues of mine. Afterwards, I felt my mind was ready to accomplish new things and to achieve my goals.

Enter: Ganesh

 I have been taking the drops for over a month, and I am mid-bottle now. In that time, I have been able to write four hefty essays of a high academic level in one week. (Yeh, blame our professors for giving the students such short notice...). In September, I could hardly write one Essay of 1000 words in two weeks, and in December I was able to write four.

Ofcourse, getting accustomed to University is not merely based on flower remedies. However, I feel that these drops give me a better hold of how to achieve my goals without letting my doubts get in the way. Ofcourse, doubts have a healthy element, as long as they are reasonable and able to negotiate upon.

Alexis Smart has various formulas based on Focus. On her website she has a guide of how to pick the best one for you. Otherwise, you can email her for a more personal advise.

The good thing is that Selfridges in Europe is selling them too. They have free shipping from £50 right now (normally £15) so that might be interesting for picking up some other goodies like this Suqqu Christmas set (on sale)

But I guess shopping more was not on your #resolution list?

What happened to Last Year's Resolutions?

Last year I made a slightly ironic spin to some resolutions that were somewhat serious: 

An overview:

1. Taking my superfoods (here):

The superficial: I linked this resolution with a new eyecream from Nourish. I'll spare you the complete name but it has Kale inside. I really enjoyed this eyecream but somehow I have not repurchased yet. I think I will soon.

The deeper meaning: I was already on a good roll in the previous year but I continued taking my green juices meticiously. It might have been too much, which will connect to my next resolution.

2. Focus on Inner Beauty (here):

The Superficial: I've bought a holistic Flower Remedy from Californian blender Alexis Smart (more here). I love to repurchase but shipping costs are exuberant. Still debating...

The Deeper: getting closer to the big 4.0., getting single, photo/face-obsessed society & competing (sorry, but that sometimes how it is) with women who are becoming more & more 'flawless' can be a total B&*%. I'm not quite there yet so that resolution still stays in 2015.

3. Improving my French (here):

The Superficial: buying a buckload of French cosmetics: ✓, ✓ and another check. I refound my love for this online retailer who has sharper prices.

The Deeper: Another ✓ for improving language: I've lived in Barcelona for 2 months to go to a Spanish language school. Living in a metropole has always been a bucketlist thing and, though my Spanish kinda seeped down the last couple of months, I improved on it.

4. A New Cafeine Habit (here):

The Superficial: I think few people would say that they want to use more caffeine in the new year, but I'm talking anti-cellulite creams here. That's a serious business to stay perky upon.

The Deeper: I drank a lot of coffee and still do. I'm going to replace some cups with herbal tea to tone it down.

5. Cleaning Up (here):

The Superficial: Facial cleansing grains from quirky etsy-shops.

The Deeper: I always thought that getting closer to the dreadful 4.0 would include a sudden vigour into cleaning the house. In my case: not really (or really not). I just have to tackle this undesire with a sharper schedule and a good playlist on my headphone.

I'm gonna think of a new set of resolutions so you'll hear soon about them....

Ps: do you have some resolutions? Either superficial or deeper?

Cell-ing Out! How did my Vichy Cellu Destox Expert preform?

Another one from my Resolutions '14 list has been rolling around, or cell-ing out the fat-cells of my legs and other feminine curves. (see here)

 I'm sporadically on anti-cellulite potions: not because they work the wonders they claim to do, but just to get it a bit tighter and to speed up your post-workout circulation and it's detoxing flow.

Well, I just finished it after 3 months so I haven't been too consistent in using it. 

For honest reasons:

1. no boycrush: call me a hypocrite but somehow the prospect of getting toned for someone else is a bit more motivating than for yer-own-mirror-reflexion. And other girls? Ack, we all know we have lumps-n-bumps so that's about it.
2. No bikini-opportunity: Ok, that's the time I DO work out for other women as well, because there's always that bit of competition on the beach and I do not want to be the flabbiest one around in my teeny. As for men, they are often happy to see woman under a certain age in a bikini: so for the random guy being the voyeur, neither the effort worthy ;)
3. For the blog/research: oh heck, you guys prefer to read about more exiting eyeshadows than yer-old-boring-cellulite-lotion, right?

Then again, I've been using it consistently for 2 weeks and I did have some results into getting bits a bit more toned.

Reasons:

1. the Roller-ball thingy

Yes, you can have your vigorous roller-action when you cannot be bothered working your hands around too much. Ehm, that sounds somewhat like another device too?

 

2. Effective Caffeine 5%

Perhaps not as potent as my previous 10% Llerac (here), but strong enough to get those fat-cells celling out a bit easier...aka detox a bit faster.

3. Extraterrestal Blobs:

Read the full story why...[ok, just kidding]

Conclusion:

 

I really liked this anti-cellulite lotion: The rollerball effect helps to get a more effective massage that aids the formula, and feels kinda nice after you've been working out. I'm gonna repurchase if I'm not too curious for other anti-cellulite creams.

Alexis Smart Beauty Formula no. 8: a Post-Resolutions Update

Remember my delirious set of resolutions in '14? I thought it's time to give an update on these after the first 3 months have been 'resolution'-nised into 2014.

I just finished my Alexis Smart Beauty Potion no. 8: I blogged about it here.

Alexis Smart remedies are a type of Bach-remedies sort of drops that you can use according to your 'lack' or 'what's missing'. I intentionally placed these words into brackets as Flower Remedies do not believe too much into 'lacks' and 'negative', only into strenghtening the postive aspects of a person (read more in my previous article).

Now, did it work? 

Ok, the aspect of thinking of buying a 'beauty potion' and especially in the mystical sounding 'no 8' is that you might expect Beeaaauuutttyyy. Never mind my sarcasm because as a beautyblogger I won't strive for unpretty-ness, but I'm not one to be in the Oscar Wilde type-of-thinking that "beauty for beauty's sake" is enough.

Neither is the standpoint of this formula, as it focusses on inner-beauty and relaxation, that will help your outer features be more of "your radiant self".

In that aspect: It worked! 

I've been using the drops religiously every 4 times a day for a month, and felt more relaxed after that month. 

I had lapsed into a certain beauty-obession before the formula. For example: working out! I frequently went to a High Intensity Training to trim away my *hardly there* cellulite and I wasn't having that much fun with it anymore. Moreover, I didn't loose any fatty tissue, I started to gain again!

Not so unlogical as the H.I.T training made me really tired so afterwards I sank into the couch with food and didn't come out for a while.

Then it figured: I used to have a better body when I did my Zumba classes: they are not so high intensity, but I had heaps of energy and a zest for life afterwards. I wouldn't sink into the couch but had energy to walk frequently, cycle, etc. Basically, a lower intensity training but still with tons of fun has a better result on my body and food patterns.

This is just a body example but I have had a similar epiphany with my superfoods: I blended every powder, think spirulina, wheatgrass, barley, MSM, Acai, Baobab into my morning smoothie. Then at 10 am I felt I missed something nice tasting so I drank lots of sugary coffee. 

OVERCOMPENSATION!

I'm still not completely there of being obsessed: see my last hairstory-trauma.

Funnily, because I'm less obessed I will not repurchase an expensive bottle of drops. I do love her fomulas and am on another one I might blog about it soon.  She recommends taking one formula at the time and that one is a bit more important right now. See, it works!

Project lipstick

I still have a stash of lipstick around that are not used frequently:

 So I will do a #springcleanse: filter out some and dispose others. 

Ps: Happy Valentine's Day... My beloved will be my furry feline friend but I might spy upon couples in restaurants to see if they'll last for longer or if they're just there for Instagram's sake...:)

Resolution '14: Improving my French (read: using more French Products)

The "learning a new language" is often one of the more fun and advantageous resolutions a person can have. I mean, you only might meet one person in your life that speaks the language, but you'd always have the opportunity to really eavesdrop upon them, or *shock* reply them.

I'll take it easy and will try to improve my French:

L-R: La Roche Posay mineral water spray - Rene Furtherer Naturalia dry shampoo - Nuxe Lipgloss -Phyto Secret de Nuit - Rene Furtherer Laque Vegetale (hairspray)

I'd like to focus on Rene Furtherer's Naturalia Dry Shampoo. It has been Belgian Blogger Mostly Sunny who gave it major heads up. The Belgians are as lucky to get full access to most French cosmetics, the Dutch only partly. So she has the opportunity to try out the multitudes of French skincare and compare them to other brands.See her review here.

I really like it and I agree on it's grease-mopping cum volumising strenghts without leaving white residue:

Selfies with products are soooo 2014!

I also have the Nuxe lipgloss 02 Rose Legendaire. Nuxe is mostly famous for its buttery lipbalm; the lipgloss is the smoother & coloured sister:

It optionally plumps out lips and feels like a treat instead of lipgloss.

And something more common; my road-size La Roche Posay thermal water:

A nighttime hairbalm: Phyto Secret the Nuit (fr= Night secret)

I really didn't like this one first because it smelled like lavendel-on-a-chemical-trip and made my hair greasy and unglossy. Then I just added it in the dryer ends, SPARINGLY, which made a difference.  It couples up as a stylingcream if you opt for a braid -> waves on straight hair that last...

Are your 2014 resolutions as intellectually challenging as mine?

Resolution '14: Focus on Inner Beauty (with Alex Beauty Formula N8)

I kinda have a songtune in my head when writing about my latest 'gimmick':"I'm a believer". I'm too young to thought it was sung by 'The Beatles' (instead of the Monkeys) but too old to think of Justin.

So I bought the Flower Remedy concoction from Alexis Smart. Flower Remedies are tinctures based on alcohol [yippie, alcohol...missed it since NYE!] and a whole lot of distilled flowers and herbs inside. Here is a more nuanced description of what I totally cramped into one sentence. 

It is based on Dr. Bach formulas and have been sold since the end of the 1930s. So in a way it is something that 'believers' think they really help, and the cynics think they won't.

Smart compared to my oftenly used Bach Rescue Remedy

Alexis has been so smart (ofcourse, this pun!) to embed her Californian roots and the need for beauty into a formula. Botox is soooo 2013 or maybe sooo 2012 and relaxing the face can also occur by releasing inner tension: when you do not feel the need to frown, you don't have to paralyse muscles either.

It is not the only remedy of her; she's having a variety and I was really between choices. But most formulas cannot be mixed up or combined (except for First Aid):

So I picked beauty as I felt really unpretty in December, even if I took major effort to be radiant. But you know, sometimes it isn't happening and some inner relaxation about the [obsession with] beauty might help, and that is a part of this formula

And how superficial I might sound, it sure seems to work on ms. Smart herself, the beauty formula:

Right now I have been using it for a week...I am not so obsessed about beauty, layers of makeup and blowdrying hair as I was in December. I think the muscles in my face look more relaxed. But I might be a believer... (but if the placebo helps...)

Ah, the song from the Monkeys

Resolution '14: Better Cleaning the face; the house is a different priority

Do we need yet another resolution? Yes, when it's in the cutest bottle!

Cleaning up is one of the key-elements of healthy skin and I've never really skipped on that. I only wanted to stop using 'the chemical' and leap over to 'the organic side' to see if my flake-prone skin would improve.

Since I had gotten a sample of cultproduct May Lindstrom 'the Clean Dirt' I wanted to explore cleansing grains/clays. May Lindstrom is quite expensive and also quite potent with warming spices and cleansing clays. That is fine on some days, but when skin is sensitive...soothing is a better option.

 The Rose Cleansing Polish has been branded as their most gentle and still effective cleansing scrub:

 

source: FrenchGirlOrganics

This sounds really credible looking at the ingredients such as softening Rose Hip, Hibiscus, Lavender and the ayurvedic wonderpowders such as Neem & Tulsi.

French Girl Organics has gotten a couple of a good reviews on various blogs. And ofcourse I've gotten too enamorated on the cute packaging...

Hence, my new powder habit is a healthy one:

 

I have only used it a couple of times; too little for a full review. However, I will discus it when I have used it more oftenly.

I bought it over on etsy from FrenchGirlCosmetics (here).

Resolution '14: Superfoods with Nourish Revital-Eye Kale Biomimetic Anti-Ageing Eye Cream

Sooo, what's in a name again? 

Nourish is amping up the big names, formulas & even the superfoods for its latest eyecream. 

Or is it that intelligence lies in the eye of the beholder? But if you want to judge a book at its cover the box definitely gets a (pseudo?)intellectual one:

I still know some mimesis theories from social studies...so the idea of Biomimesis? Mmmm, the skin around my eyes will imitate a gorgeous dewy rosepetal leaf??
But the thing that got me into the eyecream this time was health, not intelligence: Kale, one of the hyped superfoods of our era...so how would this perform in an eyecream?

See, my Nourish contains Kale???

 Da Promise:

"Visibly reduces lines and dark circles for a brighter, rested look"

 What's really inside:

Kale [Brassica olerecea leaf extract] is ingredient no 2 on the list, which means it is quite potent.

Source & more info on ingredients here

 Verdict:

• The promise of 'visibly lightening dark circles' is true to an extend. I switched to Estelle & Child for a night and I found myself to me 'more shadowy' the next morning.
• The bottle really looks like my older love Pai Echium & Argan (see here)
• Softening Laughter-lines: the area around my eyes look more relaxed & less crepe-y
• I feel a slight tightening feeling after 1 minute
• Scent: neutral
• Diminishing wrinkles: I pat the extra lotion around my lips & the lines there seem soften too
• Diminishing puffiness: somewhat. Generally a cold chamille teabag works more effectively after really late nights (or emotional events) but it de-slackens when having normal activities/emotions.
• Nourish Revital-Eye is lotion-like, compared to Pai Echium slightly thicker texture
• Pricerange: mid.  £29.50 for 10 ml is relatively expensive, but the thin lotion means you use little for a larger area

Conclusion:

An intellectual health-boost for the eyes that makes them appear younger & fresher.

Availability:
On Naturisimo, BeingContent &  their own Nourish-site ofcourse

Resolution '14: a New Caffeine Habit with Vichy Cellu-Destock Expert

In the range of good intentions there is always room for some more 'gotta tone the thighs' and the usual 'gotta drink tea instead of coffee'.
 So let me introduce my new Caffeine habit:

I already had one during autumn '13 in preparation for a bikini-infused holiday (see here). Lierac had a whopping dose of 10 % Caffeine that was as last-minute to speed up metabolism as doubling up on any bootcamp and other muscle-teasing fitness classes. 

I can take it a bit easier this time and I will stick with Vichy Cellu-Destock's 5% Caffeine.

I'm on a roll

massage instructions in box

For the lazy bunch, and who isn't in the prime of January...those turkeys & doses of champagne gotten into the system, there is a rollerball system on the knob that will massage your cream into the thighs. 

various languages of how to...

It also helps you to remind that massage is a bit more effective than simple application. That's also handy after the holidays, a reminder?

So why do cellulite creams often look like Ghostbuster's Slimer's ectoplasma?

This film is so old that Americans are still allowed to smoke in films!! 

My last Cellulite-challenging Lierac was the odd one with a red gel instead of the green ones often used.

However, my voluntary 'sliming' will hopefully result into some extra-humane thinner thighs,

or maintain previous firm[er] results.

Before Resolution 'Spend Less'...

I have found some really interesting sales going on:

Selfridges has the cutest Takashi Murakami Collection palette from £60.00 -> £40.00 in both colours. I have found some swaches here & here.

The SA in Holland said that Laura Mercier's baked eyeshadows "Les Petits Bonbons' were a limited edition and really hard to get. Well, it's on sale now over here in the most gorgeous wooden box. 
While you're saleshopping, do not forget Selfridges non-sale-but-really-useful Suqqu range & the hyped Charlotte Tilbury too.

Harrods has a good deal on the pricy Chantecaille range and especially their palettes are tempting: The Bengali Tiger & the Shadow & the Rose palette are half price now. Karla's famous arm shows Bengali over here

Beautybay is having a fair discount on the Le Metier de Beaute range and I already caved and own the gorgeous Carnaby Street Kaleidoscope. Cultblogger Sabrina from TheBeautyLookbook has them swatched here.  BTW, isn't it strange that the so-called 'exclusive' Bloomingdales/Neiman Marcus palettes are often to be found somewhere else? Not that I'm complaining.
Another cult-LMDB is their dewy lip & cheek Fresh Tints.
 Beautybay also has Rouge Bunny Rouge on sale & Edward Bess, but mostly for about 10% discount

Liberty is having the spring-zesty/summery Jovoy Mojito candle on sale with a gorgeous glass bell jar: what a way to tone down your Holiday's alcohol habit and rejoice for summery times & mojitos. If you prefer your room to smell like cake (think Marie Antoinette), they have this candle without the jar.

Also, this Kenzo cosmetic purse is now discounted from £90.00 to £27.00 so you can be fierce about carrying your makeup around.