SUMMER MORNING SKINCARE ROUTINE 2016

Hello everyone,

In the summer I tend to be very lazy with my skincare and use very minimum products. This summer, I only use three products on my daily routine and they really work.

• La Roche Posay EFFACLAR Purifying Foaming Gel: (Around the 20€ mark, but I always buy it discounted): It is a great everyday cleanser. It clarifies the skin really well without drying it out. It is very gentle, but very effective. It doesn’t irritate the parts of my skin that is more acne prone. Even a friend of mines with severe acne uses this one after her dermatologist’s recommendation. When you first pump it has a gel formula that foams up as you massage it on the face. I like using it in the morning to get rid of any makeup residue from the previous night or at night if I’m wearing no or minimum makeup. I wouldn’t really recommend it to people with dry skin, because it can be a little bit too intense unless you are using a very thick moisturizer. I always get the 400ml bottle, which is massive and since you only need the tiniest amount, it lasts for absolutely ages. It also has a pump which is a lot easier to use than the squeezy tube.

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream (14€): I actually got this one because it was very affordable and at the time I was pretty broke because of my vacation shopping. It isn’t the best moisturizer, if you are asking much from your face cream. It doesn’t help with my acne or brightens up my face, but it doesn’t claim any of these things anyways. The one thing that it is supposed to do is hydrate the skin and it does that amazingly. I have dehydrated combination oily skin and I find that this one gives the perfect amount of moisture to the different parts of my face. My dry patches look a lot better and my T-zone doesn’t get any greasier. I would highly recommend it to people that don’t have significant problems with their skin, but they do need a good hydrating face cream, especially younger people that are just starting with skincare.

• La Roche Posay ANTHELIOS XL ultra-light 50+ (around 19€): As you can probable understand I am a big fan of this brand and French skincare in general. Before I go to Santorini I got a new Vichy sunscreen, which I lost right when I came back. Yeah!!! So now I am using my sister’s one. It has a very runny consistency and I thought it would be a bit greasy, but it’s not. It is absorbed very quickly and it feels very lightweight, as well. I always wear SPF 50, because my skin has a lot of melanin and I end up tanning unevenly. It does a really good job protecting my skin from burning and I haven’t noticed any discoloration while using it, although I spend a lot of hours in the sun. Last but not least, it works great underneath makeup.

All in all, I don’t think that it is necessarily about the amount of products that you are using, but mostly about finding the ones that work for you.

xo, kathryn

15 things about 2015

 

2015 was quite a hard year for me, but it definitely has a special place in my heart. The first few months were very stressful and tiring but at the end everything turned out great. This year was my senior year in high school and freshmen in university, so as you can imagine, it was rather eventful. So in this post I will share 15 things that made 2015 special.

1. First of all, this year I gave my final exams to get into university. Although, from January up until May I was studying my butt off, I had for company good teachers, great friends and the amazing Ed Sheeran to keep me awake at night with his incredible concerts, in order to study (true story!!), so at least I was having fun. Thankfully, it was all worth it as I got surprisingly high grades and I could get into any university I wanted! And this leads me to number 2.
2. I said NO to my parents for the first time in my life. My father’s dream for me was to become a doctor, but I want to get into the cosmetics industry as a scientist. So after very mature discussions followed by a lot of yelling and quite some crying, now I am a pharmaceuticals student. I may regret it in the future, but I am very proud for my choice now.
3. On the theme of getting out of my comfort zone, I decided to start my blog. I am a person that could spend hours on bloglovin read posts about beauty, fashion or random life issues and although there was always in the back of my mind the thought of creating my own one, I never thought I would do it because I am very self-conscious about putting myself on public. I feel very uncomfortable taking pictures of myself and I don’t think I am the best writer in the world. But after taking such a bit decision for my life, I thought I would take it a step further and I have to say I love it. Maybe there are only a few people reading it and I do find quite a few technical difficulties I am very proud of my blog!
4. My best friend decided not to go to the university that she got into and follow her dream of becoming a doctor. She has to spend one more year studying in Corfu, but I couldn’t be prouder of her for taking such a mature decision and hopefully next year she will be here in Athens with me!!
5. Athens is another great thing that happened to me. At first I was thinking of going in Thessaloniki, but I decided to move in Athens because the university is better for what I want to do. When I very first came I was so disappointed but all of my insecurities went away when in my first walk Itried to get to knoe the city with a good friend of mines and I saw a big sign for “Billy Elliot: The Musical” (which I saw by the way and it awesome!). I just though “Here we go!!!”.
6. Moving in Athens means that I have to live on my own now. For someone like me that my parents are quite strict living on my own means that I am free to do thinks that I like without asking for permission for my every move and this is so liberating.
7. One of the things that I wanted to do the past few years was to learn French and that is what I did. Wanting to get into the beauty industry means that it is very possible to end up at some point of my life in France either studying or working so I want to be prepared. Plus, it is such a beautiful language and culture.
8. The word that describes the second half the year for me is SHOES. Although I love shoes, I am quite hard about them so I end up not buying a lot of pairs. But this year, man oh man, I bought more pairs than I have bought the past 4 years!!
9. I had my hair chopped on the beginning of the year and I love them. The past couple of years my hair had been so ridiculously long but it never used to annoy me until I started the very hardcore studying last year. I always had to have them up and this gave me really bad headaches and every time I was washing it, it took me forever when instead I could be sleeping. Plus I wanted a change and although I was scared to do it, I am very happy I did.
10. I saw my first live ballet. Dance is by far my biggest love. I have seen a lot of ballets on TV and the internet, I have even seen a live stream of Giselle from London’s Royal Opera House but I have never seen any live ones. Until my 18^th birthday when I saw the Nutcracker from the Bolshoi’s Academy of Russia and the best way to describe it is perfection. And this leads us to number 11.
11. I became 18! Wohoo!! It wasn’t exactly the celebration I wished it would be but I am an adult now!! I can legally drink alcohol, I have my own bank account and I can get a driving license.So yeyyy!!
12. My other best friend got accepted into a few universities. She is an artist and she wants to study fine arts in UK. The first university that she sent her portfolio she got immidiately accepted!! Hopefully she will get into Glasgow University too which is her dream one!! Words can’t really describe how proud of her I am.
13. I helped my parents with their work in the summer and although at the time I felt like this job destroyed my summer, it really wasn’t that bad and, when I realized how much I relieved my parents with my contribution, I felt great.
14. Getting out of the house in general and explore the city with new friends and old friends was something that really enjoyed this year. Meeting new people, trying new tastes, going to places I never thought I’d really go (like a proper rock pub and an underground hip hop club that tattoos where given on stage!!).
15. This Christmas was also very special as I spent a lot of time with my relatives that I love and I miss so very much.

2015 is definitely going to be one that I will remember forever and I can’t wait to create new memories for 2016. I hope you all have a happy new year even though it is kind of late to say that!!!!

xo, kathryn