What NOT to have in your cosmetics

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Today I have another post for your health, in terms of which cosmetis to use and not use.
I have found this picture on Pinterest and it made me think and check my cosmetics for toxic ingredients.
I got to say, most of my cosmetics - which I mainly use because they are working very well - actually contained a few of the toxics mentioned.

I have not had the time to go shopping for surrogates, but I am planning to do so this weekend.

The ones in my picture are only a few of the toxic chemicals used in cosmetics, but there are many websites and articles about this topic.
For example, this website (The campaign for safe cosmetics) has a list of toxic chemicals to be concerned of. And the David Suzuki Foundation has also listed a lot of toxics to avoid.

I hope, this'll open your eyes a little - as it did to me - and make your live a healthier one.

Xoxo, until next week!

New addiction and pure deliciousness

screenshot of 2048

2048. Have you heard about it? It's a new online game, which is so addictive, that I only had to play it twice before it had me hooked.

Basically, all you do is move tiles in order to merge them. For example, if two 2-tiles touch, they will merge into a 4-tile. This goes on until you have a 2048-tile (hence the name ;).
Until now, I haven't been able to achieve that, but I had a 1024-tile twice already.

This game has been a revelation for me. I have been so bored with the usual stuff I spend my time on the internet with, that I happily let myself be infected by this game.

If you want to give it a try, here's the link: http://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/

sorry for the quality, but I couldn't resist long enough
to get the camera

Also, last week I made a few variations to a recipe I found on pinterest. I named them chocolate-marmalade croissants. Here's the link to the recipe.

I simply added some apricot jam to the chocolate spread in order to make it taste a bit more fruity. And they did taste heavenly - a little chocolaty, but also fruity and a little ! I almost ate all of them at once.

Also, they are super-quick to make, so if you get visitors on short notice, try making these! I'm sure your visitors'll love them!

Xoxo, have a great week!

20 ways to save water

Besides the air to breath, water is the most essential thing on earth for a human being. Full stop. And there are so many people around this world who don't even haven enough water to drink, let alone bathe or splash around in. That's why everyone should at least make an effort to conserve as much water as possible.
What most people forget is the fact, that for the production of almost every product there's a lot of water involved - water, that could have been used for other, more important purposes.

Now, here are 20 different ways to save water:

1. Turn off the tab while brushing your teeth.
2. Turn off the shower while lathering yourself.
3. Collect rain water and use it to water your plants and garden.
4. Don't take baths every day, shower instead (bathing requires 260 liters while an average shower uses about 30 liters per minute, which is 150 liters for a 5-minute shower)
5. Use a water-saving shower head.
6. Try to shower as short as possible.
7. Don't do the dishes with the water running. Fill the sink with water.
8. Use the save-water mode at your dish washer.
9. Reuse the water collected in the dryer.
10. Water plants only when necessary, some will grow even better with less water.
11. Don't let broken pipes and leaking faucets as they are - get them fixed as soon as possible.
12. Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap.
13. Don't defrost food under running water, but in a bowl of hot water - or even better, slowly and for hours in the refrigerator.
14. Convert your toilet into a dual-flush toilet.
15. Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while scraping them clean.
16. Reuse towels and clothes and only wash them when dirty.
17. If you drop or don't need ice cubes, put them in a house plant instead of throwing them in the sink.
18. Cook food in as little water as possible -  keeps the vitamins in the food too, because while cooking vitamins will be transferred to the water.
19. When shaving, plug the sink instead of running the water to rinse your razor.
20. Use leftover water from glasses or jugs to water flowers instead of pouring away.
And a bonus 21: Don't just buy stuff, because you want it. Buy it, because you need it. There is so much water necessary for the production of stuff - so much stuff that'll only lie around after a while anyway.

Xoxo, happy saving!

I plant a tree

I just found this great project, where this group of people plants a tree for your blog in order to make up for the environmental damage caused by blogs. You wouldn't think a blog can do any damage to our environment, but there are so many servers involved, that it sure does.

I have decided that this blog will plant an oak tree, because an oak is such a majestic, classic tree that can live for centuries.

The project is almost over, but maybe a few of you guys out there will still be able to also plant a tree!

Xoxo, happy planet saving!

20 ways... New series

There's a side of me that until a few years ago I didn't even know I had. I don't know what changed since then, but over the last two years it has become more and more important to me to live a sustainable life. The environment we are all gifted with is such an amazing miracle and we are well on the way to destroying this beauty.

As soon as I realized that, I felt like I had to turn my whole life around and live like a role model for sustainable living. But I'm not. And I didn't I still take occasional flights in my holidays, I don't take public transport all the time and I deny myself all imported goods. Nevertheless have I made a lot of little changes to my way of life.

Lots of people say they don't want to make an effort because it won't actually have an impact at all, but I believe, that if every person out of a big number of people makes a tiny effort, together they will be able to move mountains.

I am writing this series to inspire you to also make some changes. Every three weeks, there will be ideas on how to save water, save electricity, simply live a greener life and a lot more aspects - and all that without having to make big changes. And, best of all, most of the ideas will even save you some money.

I am sure there will be lots of little things that will be easy to integrate into your life. To me, this will be a big success, even if only one or two of you guys take up a few of my suggestions.

Having said all this, I want to ask you guys to remember what a beautiful, delicate thing our planet is and what we could do to save it from being destroyed by us.

Xoxo, let's save this world together!

Great Lent - Easter Preparations

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The 40 days of great lent are almost over and I thought I'd share share with you what I gave up on. Before waiving I had had this habit of checking my phone every 10 minutes to see if there was any news. Most times it would only be a newsletter or some other boring notification I weren't even remotely interested in. So I thought about it and decided to waive internet my phone for 40 days.

And it worked! I don't feel like checking my phone every few minutes and sometimes even completely forget about it. Which led as far as forgetting to switch it back to loud mode and therefore not being able to answering any calls for a whole afternoon.

I have to confess, the first two weeks or so I was bored out of my mind at times, just because I couldn't be on Facebook or play my favorite game. But that got easier every day. Also, I had to switch mobile data on a few times, because I had to use google maps and transfer some pictures. But apart from that, I have sticked to the plan and am very proud of myself!

Did you guys also waive something? How did you feel?

Xoxo, happy waiving!

RGRC Update #4

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It's update number 4 on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. So far, I haven't been working so hard on the challenge, but nonetheless have I read 16 out of 340 books. Aaaand, I've been reading a bit more than last time, but I have to admit, that Brave New World, The Wizard of Oz and The Scarecrow of Oz are quite short and easy to read.

The wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a colorful, exciting and entertaining story for children, which I will happily read to my future children. Except, of course for the scenes where the lion beheads some of their enemies.

Just as The wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz is a nice adventure tale for children, taking place in many wonderful, strange and fantastic places. Also, we get to meet a few characters again, that have been in the story about the Wizard of Oz.

A bit shocking, but definitely an eye opener was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. With all that's going on in Russia right now, it is more relevant than ever to think about what could happen if there was only one government that made all the rules and regulations for everyone - especially a government like the one they have in Russia.

And then there was Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, which is a book about a bourgeois woman's (love) life during the early and mid 19th century. The book gives the reader an broad insight, but is a bit lenghty at times.

Xoxo, happy reading!