Multicultural mood

I finally found a way to wear this, it had been hanging in my closet for at least 3 years!
Every time I cleared out my closet it survived because I really love it but never had an idea on how to wear it.
Now I decided to just wear it with a dark jeans and sport shoes with a sledge heel.
What do you think?

I found this necklace in a secondhand store a few days ago and fell in love at first sight.
I only paid 1,5 euro's and find it fitting in really well with my multicultural mood.

Something different

I'll let you all in on a little secret, I'm a real sucker for astrology...

I know a lot of people think it's just for entertainment and find it fun to read about their sign but, I just found out that the past few weeks Mercury was retrograde.

If this sounds like Chinese to you then you have to stick around and find out what it means, it may clarify some things that have been going on in your life the past couple of weeks.

Mercury is a small planet that is the nearest one to the sun.
He is a little bugger because he is the one that goes retrograde 3 or 4 times a year and always for a period from approximately 3 weeks.
Going retrograde means that it looks like the planet makes a stop and goes backwards, back to where he came from.

It's just an illusion of course, planets don't go back, they only move forward but look at it as if you are in a train, and another train leaves at the same time but yours is moving faster.
It will look like the other train is going backwards, the same illusion works for the planets.

Now, what so wrong about our little Mercury?
You know those days when everything seems to go wrong?
People misinterpret what you are saying, messages get lost, long waiting times, your computer breaks down or your credit card gets lost.
You've guessed it, that's our tiny planet going backwards.

Nobody knows why this happens but despite of all the little aggravations that we experience when this happens, there is an upside.
It's like a little pause in your life, a break from the rat race, a time to over think everything.

If you want as much advantage as possible out of this period, keep these things in mind:

DON'T:

- sign a contract
- accept a new job
- start a new relationship
- buy a car, house or boat
- move
- start an important project
- expect everything to go smoothly

DO:

- reexamen the facts
- rewrite (retrograde Mercury is indispensable for writers)
- change your opinion
- relive the past
- confirm reservations
- repair things
- do the jobs that you had put on hold
- correct mistakes
- organise
- catch up with your correspondence
- always carry a book or magazine with you (Mercury going backwards causes long waiting times and your cell might go dead on you, so, just to keep you busy and entertained)

Sometimes you barely notice Mercury going retrograde, other times he causes a stream of detours and roadblocks, what's the difference?
The difference is in where he stands, is it in your own sign?
Then you'll be bothered by it...

But as said in the beginning, his retrograde time just ended, we can all breathe again and carry on, with fresh hope and new perspectives.

Vintage sweater

Thin hair

I've been browsing around the internet and found out that I'm not the only one that is having trouble with her hair, modeling and what products to use, seem to be familiar questions other girls have as well.

I found out that my hair is defined as "fine hair", to be clear about that, "normal hair" has a diameter of 0,04 mm and "fine hair" has a diameter of 0,02 mm.
No idea if you can measure it with some tool, but you can recognize thin hair as well by the following 2 things:

* little volume
* easily greasy

The best way to take care of thin hair is to wash it every day, there are a lot of shampoos that are especially made for that, so you don't damage your hair.

The key thing you have to do when you have this type of hair is to get some volume into it.
You can do this by hairstyle (keep it short, a bob or a page heading are perfect).
Other tricks are:

* blow-dry your hair upside down, hanging your head at knee hight that is (not hanging on the ceiling or something)

* find products that boost your volume (like a shampoo from John Frieda called "Luxurious volume")

* ask your hairdresser to create a few highlights in your hair, it gives the illusion of thicker hair

       
I have it, tried it and loved it (you can find a blog about it on this page, somewhere) but if you don't like scrolling around, I'll give a short recap:

When you use it you can feel your hair getting bigger under your fingertips, so it immediately works.
You don't have to wait for weeks before you see any result (after drying it even my husband saw the difference).
With me, the only downside was that my heads skin is very sensitive and couldn't tolerate it, leaving me with an itchy head.

Another problem I usually have with my hair is that it doesn't stay in place, by noon it falls flat and loses all model, shape and volume.
A solution to that can be to use a special hairspray for thin hair, it makes your hairdo "looser" and resistant to wind gusts.

Another hair problem that is very common are split ends.
The horros of saving for long hair and having the hairdresser telling me that I had split ends when I was younger is still on my mind... I lost 10 centimeters of hair that day, it was a sad day...

What to do when you have them and want to save them:

* the best remedy is to cut them off... I know your pain but the sooner you do it the less extra damage you will get, and the sooner new hair can grow.

* if you're not up for cutting or you can't afford it right away there are some products that you can use to "patch" your ends back together but it disappears again once you wash your hair.
The key ingredient to these products are silicones, they make your hair smooth and soft.

It is proven that silicons are bad for your hair so please be careful and don't use them too long (also check your shampoo bottles) but I'll post an extra blog subject on that later.

You think that love's a show

This is an outfit from a few weeks ago, I always post my pictures on Lookbook first but I think I forgot about this one.

The dress, vest and belt are all vintage.

Tomorrow's outfit

The outfit I put together for tomorrow, what do you think?

Curious about my life? Follow me on Instagram!

You can find me under fashiondisaster, see you there!

Body types part 2

Today I want to talk about "the filled type" (I didn't come up with these names, the book did).

This is you:

You are guided by your instincts what allows you to react loosely and without problems on your fellows.
The filled type is very interested in people and reacts with a lot of love and is very empathic.
Because you have such a positive attitude, you often choose a job in social work.
And in your spare time you are dedicated to helping people in need, trough (for example) charity work.

You have a strong impulse to help others but sometimes you should listen more to your intuition, not everyone means as well as you do. Watch out that people don't take advantage of you.
Try to narrow it down to the people you like and love, when you need something they'll be equally helpful as you, and it gives you more time for for your own needs...

...like sports.
You hate jogging because it is so monotonous... But you need a bit of sport so why not invest in a fitness subscription, together with your girlfriends?
This way you'll have fun, being social, and sporting at once.
It will be a joy to go, and, it will keep you motivated.

Food that's good for you:

Fruits like pineapple, melon and berries are perfect for you.
You can never eat enough vegetables.
You love cream and spiced foods but they make your estrogen production go trough the roof... So, be careful with those!

The perfect outfit:

Your basics should be black and white because they are perfect to adjust your figure.
When you want to be sensual go for a leopard printed shirt, red lips and a scent of jasmine.
(I don't really agree with the leopard printed shirt, is that just me..?)
When you want to look amazing and slender invest in long necklaces and semi-high heels.

Your body-type:

The filled type has a classic female body with lush curves.
Extra pounds land on your belly, upper-legs and buttocks first.
You often have allergies en symptoms of fatigue.

Your muscles are easy to develop, especially your leg ones, it's harder to get your upper body in shape.

You have a slender upper-body and a heavier lower-body.
You have a great waste, your hips and buttocks are lush.

Red is a great color for you, don't cast it aside, combine it with black for a slender effect.
Don't be afraid to be noticed!
What other people can't wear because it looks "too much", you can make it look magical, thanks to your figure.
Remember Marilyn Monroe?
That's you!

The book says you should choose clothes that are loose but I disagree with that, I think you should combine.
Like a pants that fits really well around your buttocks (think J.Lo) and a loose top on top of it, that you tuck in a tiny bit (and when you combine that with a long necklace and high heels... I think that would look amazing!)
This way you cover up your belly and shine a light on your assets.
Maybe you don't think that your buttocks or thighs are an asset but believe me, they are!
look up some pictures of Beyonce, how sexy is she?

Always be sure to show off your waist, you can do this by using a big or wide belt, or trough a slightly centered shirt.

Body Types

A few days ago I found back a book (I'm still cleaning), that I bought years ago and it holds a lot of useful tips on how to dress for your body type.

If you don't mind I'll start with my own, the very skinny one.
I know I am the envy of all those girls and woman who are on a constant diet, and I know not a single one of them will believe this but it isn't that much fun to be as skinny as I am.
People always assume that I am anorectic (which I'm not, never have been), also I always have problems with finding a pants that fits (sounds weird right?).
Most of the time the waist from the biggest kiddy-size is the right one but then the legs of the pants are too short.
So, I have a few brands that I know about that the smallest size fits but it are just a few and since I love bargains It's not always that easy (luckily, you'd say, vintage pants are very tight but they are too tight...).

If you are "The slender type", like me, then this is you:

Deep in your heart you are very romantic, you often think the daily life isn't colorful enough.
You solve that problem by using your imagination, you live in your own world and this makes it possible for you to stay concentrated when everything else is in chaos.
This is something that serves you very well in your job.

The people you love are very important to you , the ones that are the closest to you will know your every mood and feeling while outsiders will often think of you to be introvert or reserved.
You are sensitive -especially with your head- so you often miss out on the signals your body is giving you.

Sport isn't your thing, being in a gym and sweating isn't something that appeals to you.
When you do decide to follow a fitness-program you often have to speak firmly to yourself to convince yourself to go.

The keyword for you is: nutrition.
Food, to you, is often a periodic phenomenon, for me that is certainly true... When I get closer to my menstruation I take on an all-chocolate diet and I know it's not good for me but... I just need it.
I have horrible periods where I get depressed and feel really sorry for myself, chocolate is the best remedy. Well, chocolate and feel-goodmovies.

Figure type and body shape:

You are slender, you have long and slender limbs and you are small.
If you have this type of figure you can keep this teenage-body up to an high age (I can testify about that, I'm 26 and people still think I'm 16).

You have soft bones, developing muscles is hard and your upper-body and hips are equally wide.
Your waist is long and little pronounced.
You have small hands and feet but often a relatively big head.

Your best colors:

A lot depends on your color-type (you can read about that in one of my earlier topics) and your mood but in general you can wear all colors with this body-type.
The one thing that looks very good on you is Happy Colors!
Go for bright red, pistachio green, cobalt bleu, lemon yellow, turquoise or orange orange.

All powerful and happy colors (don't wear them with black but rather go for a ton-sur-ton, black is too hard) that make sure that you are noticed, that you look taller and very distinguished.
If you have a pale skin, like me, bright colors can be too hard on your face.
The best way to solve that is to get a little tan with a self tanner.

What clothes should I wear?

If you are looking for someone famous to be your role-model then Katherine Hepburn is your lady!
Everything that looked good on her will look good on you.

Some ground rules:

- the empire line will make you look taller, this is when the waist is higher then usual, you can find this in jackets, pants and dresses.

- skirts that look dowdy on other types will look great on you, for example: plaided skirts in college style with on top a twinset.
The A line in skirts looks amazing on you!
It's when the skirt falls in an A kind of shape, you can find pictures on the internet, the skirt falls just above your knees.

- You can wear almost anything just watch out that you don't wear things that make you look smaller (I'm only 1m64 so I really have to be careful about that), don't wear three quarter pants or leggings of that kind, it will make your legs look shorter.
Always wear short jackets, preferably one that you button up just bellow your breasts, this makes you look longer.

- When you buy sweaters go for the small kind that is fitting.
You know, the extremely comfortable ones, the baggy ones where you can crawl up in and disappear... I have a few of those myself (wearing one right now, in musterd-yellow, knitted in grandma style) and they are so cozy. I'm keeping them.
So feel free to break a rule or two yourself if you don't like the advise that is written here.

Reach for the stars

The result of my new hairdresser, what do you think?

YES!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited, I still can't believe it...
We went to Antwerp yesterday and I found a new hairdresser, they are called "Yes!", sounds promising right? But I, of course, still had doubts... After all the recent hair-disasters, can you blame me?
But I decided to go in and first ask (!) if they could help me before I got something done, my husband told me that I should only get in the chair if I'd really get a good feeling with it.
Without knowing, I got the highest in rank there, and she just looked me straight in the eyes and said very firm: "of course we can, It's no a coincidence that we are called: Yes!".
And from that moment, I trusted her, blindly.

When I got in the chair she couldn't believe that my previous hairdresser had let me walk out the salon like that, when she inspected the back of my hair she found spots of different colors all over (I never saw, It's my back...) and she was stunned. I felt so understood! Everybody kept telling me that my hair looked great (and that was very sweet and all meant so well) but I could really tell that it was crap...

She got started and it was like she could read my mind... She made my hair darker, making it match to my skin color, how long had I been looking for a hairdresser giving me advice? And she did it, without me even asking! She knew I wanted it blond but she didn't recommend going all blond because it would be too much, so she suggested highlights but all very natural.
She saw a picture of Jennifer Lopez and told the trainee that it should look like that, I loved it and it was the hair I always wanted (come on people, Jennifer Lopez).
Even tough she let the trainee do al the coloring I felt completely save because she kept checking up on her work, correcting where she needed, before something went wrong!
I felt so well looked after that I could completely relax and really had a wonderful time at the hairdresser, reading magazines and drinking tea (they keep asking if you want to drink something, not just once).

And the best part was when I had to pay, you won't believe this...
For coloring, highlights, washing (with conditioner and a head-massage!), cutting, brushing and drying I paid... 73 euro's!

Here is their price-list:

Dry-cutting and finishing: 15,-
Washing, cutting and finishing: 20,-
Brushing: 20,-
Washing, cutting and finishing: 35,-
Mask-treatment (including a Wella mask that is worth 15,- to use at home): 15,-
Color shampoo or semi-coloring: 20,-
Up to 10 highlights: 20,-
All-you-can-color (unlimited coloring and highlights): 39,-

They have a website and are located all over the world so if you want to find one near you go to:

www.yes-salons.com

Why are you still behind your computer? Get your but over there! And enjoy.

P.S: you get a popsicle afterwards and they must be really good because our dog stole them out of my purse and ate them... I got two, one for me and one for my husband. The looked so good, shaped in a heart... I'll get one next time.

Very excited about my first guest blogger! The very lovely Chelsea Knuth, enjoy!

Hey, everyone! For those who don’t know me, my name is Chelsey Knuth and I run a fashion blog called “A Second Love for All.” It focuses primarily on creating unique looks with inexpensive pieces found at thrift stores! However, there is another aspect of my life that is even more important to me than my love for fashion, and that is water skiing. From May until October, I spend as many days as I can slaloming and wakeboarding both recreationally near my house, and building pyramids while performing with a nationally ranked water ski show team called Badgerland. Since I do love fashion and beauty so much, it is always a high priority of mine to stay pretty both on and off the water! Here are a few products I have to stay in style on skis!

Our stereotypical beauty look for competitions includes bright red lipstick, glitter eye shadow, and black cat eyes. I’m currently wearing Beyonce’s Red lip stick by L’Oréal Paris, Cover Girl volumizing black mascara, and someone else’s eyeliner and glitter, so no specifics. Whoops! As terrible as this sounds, we actually apply hair spray over our eye make-up to make it last longer (through sweat and water). What?! Yeah, it’s true! We also apply hair spray to our hair. Our signature hairstyle is an upside-down fishtail covered by a messy bun.

While performing, we have bright, shiny costumes, so it’s really important that our entire look is eye-catching, too! This is the ideal (I’m in the middle):

As a skier, I go through swimsuit like nobody’s business! And while they all become gross and grimy after a while, it’s still extremely important to pick flattering, unique suits that make you feel confident! This one is a really flattering mix of pink shades:

Finally, I need some reliable, pretty skis and boards to support me!

Thanks for reading and best wishes!

Chelsey Knuth.

ASecondLoveforAll.Blogspot.com

Twitter.com/chelseyyknuth

YouTube.com/chelseyyknuth

LookBook.nu/chelseyknuth

Stylight

Do you know the feeling when you buy something new, let’s say a jacket, and you are really thrilled about it but the next day you find it somewhere else but so much cheaper then what you paid?

It happened to me a few times and every time I felt really gutted and guilty because I had paid too much.

When I searched the Internet for a solution to this problem (you have sites to tell you where your groceries are the cheapest, why wouldn’t there be one for fashion, right?) I found one big site that originated in Germany but is busy concurring the Netherlands as well. It’s called: STYLIGHT and you can find it here: www.stylight.nl.

What I find so great about it is that it integrates a lot of online sites together, making it possible to compare prices, but you also do mayor findings in online stores that you never heard of before.

But I do think that the most incredible thing about the whole site is that it was founded by, don’t fall from your chair, four bakers!

These guys right here:

Unbelievable, I know.

They came up with the idea because every possible thing you can think of has a “search platform”, except fashion.

They came up with that whilst they were eating cupcakes!

The sugar did them good because they started in 2008 and already got tons of awards for the technologies they used and, off course, for coming up with the idea, amongst them was an award for “the most innovative companies in Europe in 2010”.

All I can say is, check it out and be surprised!

You’ll love it (maybe all the hearts have something to do with that).

Color advise

I took an online course on color advise, I'm not convinced because the pictures they used in the course were pretty rubbish but I don't want to keep it from you so here is what I've learned:

They divided the colors in four types to have a clear view about them, you can be:

- A wintertype
- A summer type
- A springtype
- A fall type

A wintertype has deep contrasting eyes, they are dark brown or grey-bleu.
The hair is usually very dark: dark brown or black, also grey or silver-gray is possible.
The skin is grey/beige, pink-colored, olive-colored, deep and dark tones (Spanish-Italian types) or exotic brown.

If you recognize yourself in this then your best colors are dark, cool and clear.

Good combination-colors are:

* Black and cobalt-bleu
* Black and bright-red
* Black and fuchsia
* Dark-grey and purple
* Navy-bleu and white
* Dark-brown (very dark) and grey-beige

A summer type is a soft and light type.
Hair color, eyes and skin are in harmony.
The eyes are bleu, grey-bleu, grey-green.
The hair is light (white) blond, grey-brown, ash-color.
And has a clear pink skin, pale, transparent with light summer freckles.

If you recognize yourself in this then your best colors are light, cool and soft.

Your combinations are the best when they are from the same color in different tones (ton-sur-ton).

Good combinations are:

* Heavenly-bleu and soft-bleu
* Light-grey and bleu-grey
* Soft-purple and lila
* Grey-green and grey-brown
* Mouse-grey and light-yellow
* Jeans-bleu and broken-white
* Lila and pink
* Aubergine and grey-pink

A fall type is a soft and dark type.
The eyes are gold-brown, hazel, brown-green or light-green.
The hair is dark-brown, golden-brown, red-brown or coper.
Your skin should be dark-beige, gold-beige or gold-brown often with freckles.

If this sounds like you then your best colors are dark, warm and muted.

Good color-combinations for you are:

* Moss-green and ocher-yellow
* Bordeaux and old-pink
* Petrol-bleu and orange
* Rusty-brown and olive-green
* Stone-brown and ecru
* Brown and khaki

A spring type is a contrasting light type.
Hair-color, eyes and skin are contrasting.
The eyes are bright-green, bleu, light-brown.
Your hair is light-blond, golden-blond or golden-brown.
Your skin is creamy, yellow-beige, peach-color or golden-beige.

If this sounds like you then your best colors are light, warm and contrasting.

Good combination-colors for you are:

* Orange-red and kanarie-yellow
* Turquoise and lime-green
* Chocolate-brown and salmon-pink
* Purple in different bright tones
* Red and ecru
* Rusty-brown and yellow-orange
* Grass-green and heavenly-bleu

According to this I should be a summer-type and my husband should be a spring-type but we both feel that it is incorrect... How is yours? Let me know your thoughts please.

Day out

A few pictures from a day out with the kids this weekend:

Me making friends

The kids making friends

Feeling rich with this view

Fashiondisaster

I have been getting a few compliments about my style and even my hair, and people often ask me why I call myself a "fashion disaster" because they think that I look very well.

Off course I am very flattered with this kind of compliments and I feel like I ow everybody a bit of explaining about why I chose the name "fashiondisaster".

When I was younger I dressed very boyish and I always chose things that nobody else was wearing.

I remember that I was begging my father in a shop to buy me a men's shirt (striped in red, bleu and white) but he thought I was crazy, it was a men's shirt, too big and he hated the colors. I loved it and a friendly gent (who was fitting clothes next to us) stood up for me. He told my dad that it was absolutely cool for a young girl, a big shirt and that he should let me have it. I was very grateful for his interruption because it got me the shirt.

My dad always told me that I was weird in my fashion and at school I also got a lot of bullying because I dressed differently.

One day I went to school with a long vest that looked just like an Indian one, with a hood and all, when I arrived at my class, half the group started laughing.

I always acted like I didn't care but it was hard, I didn't fit in and spent a lot of time with the "geeks" from the class.

They were always more mature, they read books, told interesting things about computers and Syfy things and I felt more at home there.

There was a guy who still wore t-shirts from The Simpsons (we were 14) and he really got teased about it but it looked pretty cool because it was so contrary.

He was a total computer nerd and his way of thinking was very different from other people.

My best girlfriend at that time wore orange and purple pants, she was very hippie-like and smart. Nobody liked her (she was chubby as well and got teased for that a lot) because she was considered to be weird.

My favorite jacket at that time was a black one and completely hairy, everybody hated it, except my grandmother who helped me in my clothes and being different. She didn't mind when I wore pants with elephant pipes or one that was made out of pieces of different jeans. When family complained about the clothes she stood up for me and told them that they shouldn't be so negative.

My father was the most negative of all and he never liked anything of what I wore.

It was frustrating to never get a compliment and it made me have a low self-esteem and a quit attitude where I minded my own business and kept myself happy with reading, writing, listening to music and drawing.

I started to rebel (like most teenagers) but it had a bad effect on me because I didn't take care of myself anymore and so I never learned how to do my make-up, I didn't even know what conditioner was...

When I met my husband I slowly learned what all the beauty products were for.

I must confess that I didn't have a mother anymore, since I was eight, and normally she teaches you a lot of this stuff but I didn't have that. My father's girlfriend never made any effort and I grew up between men and what did they know about it? Exactly, nothing.

So, that's the reason that I chose to call myself a "Fashiondisaster" and actually I wear that name with pride because I hope that one day this blog can be a light in the darkness for other girls, girls who have trouble with curling their hair (like me) or who still wonder what the difference is between a day cream and a night cream.

There are are still a lot of things that I don't know about and I want to write down everything I find, learn and read, even when it goes wrong (like orange hair) so every girl can feel good about herself and that she can be proud of who she is, always.