The Tuesday Book Club: The Goddess Experience

With December being around the corner and the weather being typical nasty winter cold, I thought I'd share this magnificent book with you:

Gisèle Scanlon - THE GODDESS EXPERIENCE

This is the ultimate bible on how to be happy, feel like a goddess and appreciate life. At least from my point of view. This book features hundreds of tips on how to enjoy the small things in life, how to enjoy life in general and how make yourself feel that little more extra special. The book covers cooking tips, fashion tips, travel guides, inspirational ideas, home ideas and tips, beauty insiders...EVERYTHING...just like the back of the book suggests: "..any goddess would be mad not to keep a copy by her bed." I think this book also makes for an excellent present which is why I also once gave this as a present to my bestie Nina. Plus the book looks just sooo pretty in the bookshelf..too bad though I spilled water all over it when I once carried it along in my bag together with a bottle of water...dammit!!

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: The Russian Phoenix

Today I most definitely present the nerdiest book in my series so far:

GERHARD MANGOTT - The Russian Phoenix

This book was written by one of my former professors from Bachelor's degree who happens to be the smartest and wittiest person I ever gotten to know...at least in my book haha We had to read this book in class as preparation for the exam in Political Systems of the East, where we focused on Russia in particular. Now what you guys probably don't know about me is that aside from fashion I am also hugely interested in political science and political systems, which is also why I majored in this area in my Economics Bachelor and wrote my second thesis within the field of political science. This book is so interesting that I actually read it twice which rarely ever happens to me regarding a university book and it was actually the first time every in my studying career that I got an effortless 100 out of 100 points at the exam as I just soaked up the book's content like a sponge. Basically this book focuses on Russia's post Soviet Union evolution and political but also social dynamics and how Russia came to be the Russia it is today. It gives a lot of insight into how politics work over there but also into the Russian mindset and I just think it's a brilliant book. I absolutely enjoyed Mr. Mangott's class and he definitely made me want to learn more about this fascinating country. I can definitely say there it more to this country than just it's presidents and I really want to visit this country one day...for the fact alone that one of the most amazing people I ever gotten to know (during my time in Sweden), the lovely Natalia, live there :-)

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: TASCHEN "Style" Books

You guys might have noticed by now that I am not only into fashion but that my heart also belongs to interior design. I always think that if I hadn't tried to get into fashion I would probably have ended up in interior design or decoration of some sorts. Today I present an entire line of interior books:

TASCHEN Icons - Style Books

This is a series of small books featuring typical interior style of different cities or countries. Whether it's Sweden, Parisian, Moroccan, Greek, Berlin...Taschen features them all. I always screen through Amazon as these books are very hard to come by and it is my dream that one day I own them all. So far only 2 have made it into my collection, those being Sweden Style and Buenos Aires Style. I just love to look at different ways of making your home and I find myself to be rather eclectic when it comes to styling my own home, I definitely do not have a distinct style and I like the messiness of my apartment, hence I soak up everything I can find on different national takes on home furnishing and decoration. Since these books are rather small they also come in very handy on travels or train rides. I just love them! And if anyone happens to know where I can get the entire collection of these, let me know :-)

What particular style of furnishing do you guys like?

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: Memoirs of a Geisha

 Today I present the book that goes along with my ALL-TIME favourite movie:

ARTHUR GOLDEN - Memoirs of a Geisha

I saw the movie about a 100 times and I am still in awe everytime I watch it. It is without a doubt the most visually appealing movie I have ever seen, blowing my mind every single time and it so deserved the Academy Award for best costume design! I saw the movie first but since most of the time I find the books to go along better I purchased this book and it totally did not disappoint. I also can say that this is one of the few times where the movie adaption does not disappoint either, though I do have to admit that the suffering of the main protagonist is more noticeable and evident in the book. Nonetheless, this is one that I've also read multiple times and I just love the story so so much! My favourite.

Have you guys seen the movie?

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: IN Fashion

Today's book was one of the first fashion books I ever bought, back when I was still in high school:

ANNEMARIE IVERSON - IN Fashion

This book is like the how-to bible for everyone that wants to break into the fashion industry. It not only features essentially important information for basically everything you need to know about this industry but also helps you finding YOUR part of the industry as it covers several areas such as Retailing, Writing, Designing, Runway, Marketing, etc. The book also features surveys to show you where you best fit in, has tips and stories from fashion insiders, lists of schools that feature the best education regarding whatever interests you in fashion but also adresses for finding jobs etc. To keep it short: If you want to be in this industry, get this book! And again, this one has a foreword written by the infamous Diane von Furstenberg.

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: I love your Style

Today's book is all about fashion and finding or improving your own style:

AMANDA BROOKS - I love your Style

This is also one of the books I purchased during my stay in Sweden and it is just amazeballs. This book not inly features some of the most iconic style icons of the past decades, it also has amazing tips on how to make the most out of YOUR individual style and features historic information to it but also shows iconic fashionistas that share your sense of style whether you're grunge, preppy or french classic. Also, as he title page reveals, this book contains a foreword written by Diane von Furstenberg, one of my favourite designers but also multiple pictures for those who do not like tons of reading ;-) Plus, it makes an excellent coffetable book as well!

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: The Swarm

Today I confront you with my all-time favourite science fiction book:

FRANK SCHÄTZING - The Swarm: A novel of the deep

This is one of the books in my collection i re-read the most. I think in total I read it four times and still everytime it totally blows my mind. The book takes place mainly in Europe but also North and South America and talks about how nature and it's animals mutate and basically strike back agains mankind that has kept on abusing mother nature for centuries. I don't want to give away too much of the content as I really think this is a book that one needs to read without a doubt...all I can say is, no matter how "science fiction" the book at times seems, in the back of my mind I always kept wondering "Wouldn't that be possible for real? Can this happen?" and it really makes you reflect on how much we abuse nature, especially with things such as a waste island as big as the state of Texas floating aroung the sea and it shows how much we actually depends of the sea and water in general. Now enough of my blabbing about the awesomeness of this book...now go out and get yourself a copy! 

xx, V

A little something from MAC

So a couple of weeks ago I got a coupon for MAC and there were some things on my list that I needed. First and foremost I went there to get a foundation pump for my Clinique Superbalanced Foundation and I was considering getting a highlighter. While there I stumbled across this lipstick and I think it is safe to say after YEARS of looking for the perfect deep, neither blue or orange toned red...I finally found it!! At the MAC Counter they had put it on Display as kind of a re-release. It is the Original MAC Viva Glam number 1. It is the most beautiful red lipstick I ever came across and I think this one is universal, meaning it fits all skintones, haircolors, eyecolors...everything. It almost has a brown-ish undertone and I absolutely love it. Ever since I purchase it I've been wearing it almost all the time. It lasts superlong and has a matte finish which is what I prefer in lipsticks. Another nice thing is the fact that all the money that I paid for the lipstick goes directly into MAC's very own HIV fund. AMAZING! The other thing I purchase was the Mineralize Skinfinish in "Soft & Gentle" which is of their permanent collection and I wore this every single day since I bought it. I love the finish it gives, like that dewy glow. I think this one will work fine whether I am tanned or pale. Even though at 27€ this was rather pricey I already know it will take me years to get through this as you only need sooo little when applying it. I also think it has amazing staying power, after an entire day of work it is still visible and barely vanished which is very good in highlighters. While I do love my Benefit "Sunglow" (more in the summer though) I do think that it doesn't last on my cheeks nearly as long as the MAC highlighter does. So again, kudos to MAC for making awesome products!

What highlighters do you use?

The Tuesday Book Club: Classy

Today's book is a rather fun read and contains some very cool tips on how to free the inner lady in us and say good-bye to the outer tramp haha...or something like that:

DEREK BLASBERG - Classy

Derek Blasberg is a fashion writer and Blogger (follow him on twitter!) and this book is probably his attempt to free the world of tramps once and for all. I bought this book ages ago and instantly read through it once I got it...now I did not remember everything that's in the book which is why from time to time I just love to pick it up again and screen through it. The book cover's fashion but also behavioural and lifestyle aspects of the ladylike life and everything Derek writes feels a bit tongue in cheek to me (whether it was his intention or not) but also convey's a good portion of sense of humour and that's why I like the book so much. This is not some old-school 50's wome's guide on how to behave in a men's society, it's just a fun read about how to make the best out of yourself whether it be at the airport or at a social gathering but also features some cool day to day tips for the extremely modern lady ;-)

xx, V

Sunday Tunes

Have a lovely Sunday everyone :)

The Cure...

...? I think before I start into this post I really have to give a huge shoutout to my former roommate in Sweden, May Ingvild, who is a worshipper of the Korres brand and basically introduced me to it. Don't get me wrong, I've known about this brand before but I always found it to be rather pricey to just "try out" stuff. Last winter May gifted me a Body Set from Korres and I totally loved it. About 1 1/2 months ago I came across this brand at my local drugstore, Müller, and I don't really know why but for some reason I was drawn to their hair shampoo section. I kinda liked that their shampoos did not contain silicones which I find to be quite damaging to the hair plus the worst ingredient when you have greasy hair...and I have very greasy hair! So I ended up buying their shampoo for oily hair which contains liquorice and urtica and I am ABSOLUTELY HOOKED! Out of all the tons of shampoos against greasy hair that I've tried, this has got to be the best damn thing I put on my scalp so far. I mean let's keep it real, I still can't go 3 days without washing my hair but when I wash it Monday morning I can easily go through the entire Tuesday and my hair doesn't look like an oily mess. Before, my hair was only nice on the day I washed it and the day after it already looked kinda gross and dirty. Now with this shampoo, my hair still has some texture to it and doesn't look greasy on the second day which for me is a MAJOR WIN! The instructions on the bottle say to shampoo your hair twice. So first I will just put this on my roots, especially around my face where I get oily very quickly, then I rinse and the second time I really lather it up and wash it down my ends...magic! I do recommend though to use some sort of hair oil for your ends or some conditioner because it doesn't leave your hair feeling super smooth, but that is exactly why it works! I just put my Macadamia Nut Hair oil or some coconut oil spray into my split ends and thats about it and then I shortly blowdry my roots and that's it :-) I really recommend this shampoo even though it is not cheap...

What do you use for your hair? And have you tried the Korres brand before?

xx, V

The Lady in Black

Dressing in Black makes mornings just so much easier...just pick whatever black garments you have and throw em all together and somehow the magic always works :-D I guess the fact that now that mornings get darker and darker and colder outside does influence my dressing habits aka meaning I just want to get dressed in a heartbeat. And I am definitely not the kinda "I am putting together my outfit the evening before" person! So that's why recently I find myself always grabbing clothes from the black portion of my closet (which is the biggest) and totally neglecting whatever colorful stuff I still have in there because I am just too much of a lazy ass to think about color coordination and stuff like that :) Oh and I have to mention I loooove these new Zara Boots. I needed new ones after I practically worn out my flat shiny ones I bought about a year ago in Sweden at Dinsko...I must have some weird shaped legs because the soles of my shoes tend to wear of in a very one sided manner if you get what I mean...anyways, these ones are super fierce and comfy and stylewise very reminiscent of a pair you can find at ACNE at the moment, but I just couldn't/didn't want to splurge on the real deal so I went with the obvious choice, Zara. I JUST LOVE THESE SHOES!!!!

Ok, now I need to get dressed (in black I suppose) and then head off to work...

xoxo, V

The Tuesday Book Club: Cheap - The High Cost of Discount Culture

In this week's book club I present a pretty critical book about today's high consumption - low cost culture:

ELLEN RUPPEL SHELL - Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture

This book was featured in one of my courses for my Fashion Master's degree at the Swedish School of Textiles and boy was I happy that it was. This book is such an eye opener. It basically talks about today's ways of consumption of massively cheap products and how this negatively affects not only the environment but basically every aspect of life and that buying cheap comes at a very high ultimate price. The book covers all kinds of industries from food, to fashion all the way to furniture. It talks about sustainability and the quintessence of the book is that we as consumers need to drastically change if we want to keep on living on this planet earth. I highly recommend reading this book as it really subconsciously does affect shopping behaviour or at least the next time you find yourself in a store makes you question yourself if you actually need this and if it's really worth the money. I know this book is written in English but the language is very simple and easy to understand so I am convinced even people who aren't pro's at the english language can grasp the message of this book. An absolute must-read!!!

xx, V

Tea-licious

For all the tea lovers out there I might just found the best damn thing in the world..5 Cups and some sugar. It's a website where you can mix your own tea and the end result comes in cute packages like above, made from recycled paper. So you're doing something good for yourself and the environment...yayyy to that. The company ships to the entire EU but also mentions on their website (which is in german) that they could ship to other countries if required. When the weather gets colder outside, Tea is always a must for me. Plus, I try to find ways to cut back on my excessive coffee consumption so this website kind of is a godsend..and who doesn't like to customize stuff themselves?! I sure do. So for now I made 3 mixtures of tea of my own:

• Vacation in a Cup (u can name the tea yourself!): contains Rooibus Superior, exotic fruits mix, coconut, hibiscus, apple and rose petals....yummy!
• Autumn Deluxe: contains White tea, fennel, orange zest, cinnamon, sage, cranberry and cactus flower
• Autumn: contains Honeybush tea, liquorice, apple, jasmine, sweet cumin

I think these teas also make supercute presents! Check it out :-)

xx, V

Black from H to T

What can I say...black is just the best color for getting dressed! And the least complicated one cuz it gives you all the freedom for going overboard on the accessorizing side. My shirts is actually from the H&M menswear section. I talked about it earlier how simple T-shirts are just so much better in the menswear department, quality/price ratio wise and this shirt/blouse is no exception. Plus I really dig menswear proportions, I think they often fit me better.

Do you ever buy menswear for yourself?

xx, V

Just another crappy outfit post

 

I hate doing crappy outfit post like this just in front of my mirror but that's all I can give you now...I just don't have the time to go out on weekends searching for a nice location dragging my friends around and begging them to shoot my outfit...maybe the day will eventually come when I find more time to do this again but for now you have to bare with me :))

xx, V

The Tuesday Book Club: Bobby Brown Beauty

Another Tuesday, another book presentation. This time I talk about:

BOBBY BROWN - Beauty

I absolutely love Bobby Brown products (I have a couple of brushes which are totally worth the money and the infamous BB Shimmer Bricks) and when I stumbled across this book on Amazon it was a no brainer to purchase it. It is not only a book that gives great Beauty advice and how-to's but also features different Beauty Icons from the past to present and general insight on Bobby Brown's opinion on Beauty and also inner beauty, aka health and positive attitude. I can totally recommend this book to any Make-up lover but also beginner's in terms of using and applying make-up as it really has insightful, good tips on how to make the most out of your features but also on how to stay true to yourself. And absolute beauty read my fellow addicts :-)

What Beauty books do you guys recommend?

xx, V

Red Alert!

Last week I showed you my favourite nude nail polished, this week I show you my favourite reds that I wear year round. Typically if I am not wearing nude, I very likely will wear red on my nails as I find it superclassy and it goes along with all my clothes and adds a pop of color:

ESSIE "Fifht Avenue" has been the first Essie nailpolish I ever purchased and it may very well be my favourite out of all I own. It is a very bright, opaque red with an orange undertone which is why - for me - it is THE color for summer. Nonetheless I wear this all year as I just love how it pops against my clothes but also because it looks good on my skin color. This one is definitely an eyecatcher. On the plus side, this one is basically opqaue in just one coat, for my liking I always wear 2 coats anyways. Drying time is great also! A job well done Essie :)

Deborah Lippmann "Supermodel" was designed in collaboration with supermodel (duh!) Dree Hemingway and I am absolutely obsessed with this one. It is a jelly finish meaning it will never be opaque but lets your natural nail line shine through. Nonetheless it is absolutely gorgeous and the finish makes the color even brighter than it is. This is definitely the best red nail polish in terms of color I came across so far. The application and drying time is superb, the only MAJOR let down of this one is that it chips way too easily. A very good topcoat is an absolute must or this polish comes off withing hours. I know that this is a turn-off to a lot of people and I never wear it longer than 1-2 days but the color and finish is just too gorgeous for me not to wear it. I am thinking of purchasing the infamous Seche Vite fast drying topcoat and I hope with this one Supermodel lasts longer.

ESSIE "Wicked" is another very famous color by this line and for me it's the perfect autumn/winter red. It is very rich and dark up to the point that it almost looks black when in darker rooms which is why this one reminds me of Chanel's "Rouge noir". I think this color is super sexy but in an elegant way. It goes on perfectly in 2 coats and drys in a normal fashion. The only thing I highly recommend with this one is base coat as it can stain your nails plus it can get a bit messy when removing it. But that's all worth it because there is a reason why this is such a popular Essie nailpolish.

What are your favourite red nailpolishes? Any recommendation?

xx, V

Sunday Tunes

Enjoy your Sunday everybody :-)

xx, V

Where ur homies at?

 

Finally it is mine...the super duper fierce and ferosh Brian Lichtenberg "Homiés" Sweater. I've been dying to get my hands on it for ever with the sweater always being sold out on netaporter.com. So what to do? I just ordered it from Brian Lichtenberg's home page. I was already prepared to wait for this gem forever due to it getting stuck at customs and then having to pay shitloads of customs like I had to for my choies.com order but NAH!!! Got this one for just 79€ and no customs at all. The price on netaporter is 114€ I believe. Talk about (birthday) money well invested. Already know I am going to wear the shit out of this one...

xx, V

SALE

An all meine deutschen und österreichischen Leser, ich habe meinen Kleiderschrank ausgemistet und verkaufe einige Sachen auf Kleiderkreisel (unter anderem auch Nagellack und Accessoires), bei Interesse einfach mal reinschauen unter:

ItstheVworld SALE

Love, V

The Naked Nails

If you know me then you probably know I am a sucker for neutral, nude nails. Since I have what I consider "baby nails" - meaning they're supertiny and short - I love the effect nude nailpolish gives me as it elongates and most importantly enlarges my natural nails. Plus, it always goes along perfectly with everything I wear and whatever make up I put on my face. So I though I share with you my beloved nude nail polishes that I regularly switch between:

Manhattan "Sparkly Nude" is a very pale, almost withe-ish nude with veeery fine golden shimmer which is only noticeable in the sunlight. I like this one for the mere fact that it is a bit more "in your face" than my other nude nailpolished given that it is so light but bold in color. It takes me 2 coats to make it look nice which is what I commonly put on anyways and the only downside to this one is the rather long drying time which is why this one I wear the least out of my four faves!

Ciaté "Cookies and Cream" is my absolute favourite nail polish. This is pure nude perfection. I wear this basically all the time and it makes my nails look healthy and perfectly manicured which is exactly what I want to achieve when I put the effort into painting my nails. This one goes on very sheer at first coat so the first time I applied this I was almost shocked and feared I would have to layer up to 5 coats to get this opaque. But this is not the case. At the second coat this already gets a very good color pay off and for perfection I always apply 3 coats. The positive thing is that this one dries super fast and also lasts very long. LOVE!!

O.P.I. "Samoan Sands" is just as the name already reaveals a nice sand colored nude. I love to wear this when I have a tan which is why one can rarely see it on my nails during winter time. Nonetheless this is a majorly gorgeous color that I can highly recommend. I typically wear 2-3 coats of this, depending on how opaque I want this to be as the formula of this polish is very thin. Drying time I would say is pretty good as well, so is lasting time. I hope OPI never discontinues this one!

Sally Hansen "Choco Latte" is the darkest nude in my collection but not less gorgeous. I wear this one year round and it is one of my favourites out of my huuuge nail polish collection. It dries superfast, is opaque at only 2 coats and stays on forever. I put this one whenever I feel like wearing nude but wanting more of a contrast to my skin color. I think it looks so chic and classy.

Which one's are your favourite nude nail polished?

xx, V

The Tuesday Bookclub: Design Sponge at Home

Since my Blog is supposed to be not only about fashion I thought I start a new section, called the Tuesday Book Club. This decision came after a period of major lack of inspiration and unwillingness to take care of my Blog and post anything for that matter (you might have noticed haha!) and when I thought my Blog was losing quality in content and basically got really boring...just to be clear, the books I will introduce each Tuesday are not all about fashion, some of the are about design, some of them are super NERDY, high in content, bed time reads...and so on...just books I love and thought I should share with the world. So without further ado, here's the first one to start this column:

GRACE BONNEY -  Design Sponge at Home

I bought this book during my stay in Sweden and I absolutely love it!! It's an interior design book featuring all kinds of insights into different homes all over the world and how the home owners styled it. It further features lots of tips for your own home and in the back of the book there is a major DIY section which basically made the decision for me to actually purchase this book. It really gives me so much inspiration as to how to decorate my own apartment or what my future apartment will look like should I ever win the lottery...you know! Plus, the book actually looks super fancy, hence it makes an awesome coffee table book...WIN WIN if you ask me.

What Interior/Home Design Books do you love?

xx, V

An old friend

Today has been the first time in like forever that I made use of my beloved Cambridge Satchel again. I had it on my shelf as sort of decoration and even though I'd practically look at it every day it never came to me to actually use it ever since I got back from Sweden. Kinda stupid heh?! Anyways, today I decided to go for it and add some color to my typically rather bland and monochrome outfits and wearing the bag reminded me of how much I actually love it. It is super practical, I can fit in all my stuff and it just looks so cute. The only thing to keep in mind with bags like those is that they do not like bad weater, meaning rain or the very severe cold. I unfortunately had to experience the latter myself like 2 winters ago when temperatures very untypically fell 25 below zero degrees and the leather of my bag actually started cracking which is why - if looking closely - you can see the damage caused by that...stupid me! When I came home almost crying my mum was just looking at me like "..but honey, isn't it like common knowledge that true leather doesn't like ice cold weather?!" ...well it wasn't too me! Btw, tomorrow I start a new section on this Blog called "The Tuesday book club" so stay tuned for that :)

Happy Monday's
V

Shabby Shic reloaded

Gotta love cleaning out your closet and finding gems like these cropped jeans. They're so comfy and kinda effortlessly cool! Not to mention I've been having these for ages but barely wore them...stupid me :-D

xx,V

Sushi Heaven

If you want to get Vienna's best Japanes food and end up in food coma...I can 200% recommend Kosu restaurant. Soooo yummy, so delicious, so heavenly. Basically everything off their menu is to die for but if you're there first time I can recommend the Luxury menus that contain a mixture of sushi, sashimi and salmon or bulgogo or duck. Definitely worth a try folks!!!

Wenn ihr Wien's bestes Sushi probieren wollt (duh!!!) dann kann ich euch zu 200% das Kosu Restaurant empfehlen. Das Essen dort ist göttlich!!!! Im Grunde ist echt alles von der Speisekarte traumhaft aber wer das erste mal dort ist dem empfehle ich ein Luxusmenu bestehend aus einer Mischung von Sushi, Sashimi, diverser japanischer Beilagen und entweder Lachs, Rind oder Ente. Als Vorspeise gibts dazu ganz traditionell Suppe aus dem Teekännchen. Probiert es auch :-)

Fall wear

 

I guess it' safe to say fall has arrived...a bit too early and eager though! 17 degrees, cold wind and rain...me definitely NOT likey :-O

xx, V

Coral Red

One of my fave Combos right now...if only the weather would allow me to wear it more often...it's been a total snoozefest ever since last weekend and I have the feeling summer is officially over and on vacation until 2014...someone has a tissue?! I think I might wanna burst to tears :-( 

xx, V