Day 33 of my 40 day new skincare routine and 2 weeks of being dairy free

7 Days to go.

Here’s an interesting thing that’s been happening to me…

Those who know me personally, could probably attest that I’m a complete sweet tooth. But almost immediately (24-48hours) after becoming dairy free, I’ve stopped craving sweets. I have had dark chocolate here (ever since Mothers Day) but I’ve only eaten one square of it so far (and gave one to my husband), but other than that I haven’t had anything sweet. Before I started this dairy free diet, I would’ve destroyed that bar of chocolate.

I’m 2 weeks dairy free tomorrow and I won’t go back to eating ‘normal’…Why? I tell you..

Day 27 of my 40 day new skincare routine and 1 week of being dairy free

Hello everybody,

I’ve been using my new vegan, german products for a week now, but more importantly I’ve been dairy free for a week now.

The reason I’m doing this new skincare routine for 40 days is that I wanted to reduce the amount of products I’m using and see how my skin could change during and right before my period.

If I’m correct, shark week should start tomorrow (maybe even today) and I can report that

Day 21 of my 40 day new skincare routine

Right, I don’t know how to say this, but I sort of ditched all the products (except for the Clarisonic Mia 2) I’ve been using for the last 3 weeks.

Maybe it was impatience, maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t able to follow the same routine when I visited my parents or maybe it was the fact that the Liz Earle and Philosophy products didn’t really do anything for me besides smelling nice. 

I don’t want to bash Liz Earle, 

Day 5 of my 40 day new skincare routine

I didn’t mean to update so frequently ( I was aiming for weekly updates), BUT I really wanted to update you on my progress.

So, for those who didn’t read my previous posts..

I’ve been using the following products in the morning:

Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Skin Cleansing System (on the low speed setting with the sensitive brush head)

Philosophy purity made simple 3-in-1 cleanser for face and eyes (reformulated version without parabens)

LIZ EARLE INSTANT BOOST SKIN TONIC

Liz Earle Skin Repair Light Moisturiser Combination/Oily

Liz Earle Superskin Eye Cream

And the evening:

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanse

LIZ EARLE INSTANT BOOST SKIN TONIC

Liz Earle Skin Repair Light Moisturiser Combination/Oily

Liz Earle Superskin Eye Cream

I also increased my water intake. I drink 7 glasses of water (300ml each) so, a little over 2 litres. 

Here is a photo of how my skin looked on Day 1 and how it looks today on Day 5

Day 2 of my 40 day new skincare routine

A short update from me. I don’t plan on posting updates daily (as I won’t have the time), but I just had to do a small post about my new morning routine.

I’ve just used my Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Skin Cleansing System
for the second time and I can’t describe how well it works with the Philosophy Purity 3 in 1 Cleanser.

It’s too early to say, if my skin will purge or not ( I’m actually hoping for it ), but for now I’m really happy with all the new products I’m using.

They smell nice, they feel nice and they work nice. I hope to see an overall

improvement of my acne scars, discolouration, pores and hormonal acne. Also, in case

March/April Challenge: Day 1 of my 40 day new skincare routine with before photos

As you know by now, I LOVE challenges and I love being a minimalist, hence why I’m doing a no spend year.

My new, additional challenge is about skincare. I want to try a new, more minimal skincare routine for 40 days and see if my skin improves.

Why am I doing this?

First of all, my current products are not doing it for me and I refuse to let my appearance get me down.

Second, I feel like skincare nowadays is over complicated and I’ve always looked for ways to improve my skin. I’ve been living minimalistic for over a year now and I really want to minimise my skincare routine and free my bathroom cabinet and bags from products.

Thirdly, I’m aware that you can’t physically shrink pores, unless you use laser treatment, but if I can make them appear smaller, because they’re clean and unclogged then that’s already a good result in my eyes. As for my oily areas, I’m not sure how these areas will change, but I’ll report on it either way.

I’m also aware, that it’s probably a bit extreme to try out all new products in one go instead of introducing them one by one.

About my skin:

My skin has always bothered me since the age of 14 and I’m now close to 33. I’ve been to the dermatologist and endocrinologist numerous times. I’ve tried numerous prescription only products, except for the pill. My mum had a stroke because of the pill, so that’s the only road I won’t go down.The only time my skin has been near perfect, was when I was pregnant, but obviously I can’t be pregnant for the rest of my life only to have nicer skin. I have too much testosterone and genetics also play a role. I have medium to large pores and a dry (cheeks and forehead) to oily combination skin (depending on weather). I have sebaceous clogged pores and I get spots (mostly) around nose and chin. Ugh!

A Year Of Not Buying Anything

Hello everybody,

First off…sorry for the radio silence, but I decluttered so much that I was too busy and eventually didn’t have anything to post anymore.

Overall, I’d say I got rid of a staggering 85% of my belongings and it feels so refreshing.

I spend less time cleaning the house and have more time to worry about the really important things in life.

I truly feel like a new person.

So, a couple days ago I decided to do a 1 year of not buying anything challenge

1 Month of no buying…

I did it…mostly.
In the last month I haven’t bought anything at all.
Well, except for some baby clothes for my child. I feel half accomplished because of it. But truth be told, small children grow faster than weed, so it had to be done.

Other than that, I’m extremely happy with my new lifestyle.
The constant decluttering and living a more minimalistic life is great and I can only recommend it.

No matter if you only want to save up money for something bigger or really change your life.
It’s so cleansing.

One month in and it’s getting a bit harder to find things to declutter.
But thanks to relatives, we always end up with new clutter (no one seems to take my new lifestyle serious, except for my husband).
I hope eventually they realise that

Less buying, more saving…

I’m a black or white person in my approach to pretty much anything. For me there are no grey areas. I either love or hate, I either spend a lot or nothing at all.
That’s why I have decided for myself not to spend any money at all this year. The only exclusions are food and if something I need breaks.

As you might know from reading some of last weeks posts, I went through my DVD collection and sold some of my DVDs.
I really wanted to sell my entire collection, because I just don’t need it anymore, but unfortunately I don’t have a whole lot of the boxes left. So, I will have to hang onto the discs for a bit longer and then decide what to do with them.

Anyways, while I have given away most of my clutter to charity (over 25 bags) I do find, that all of a sudden

The law of attraction…

In yesterday’s post I’ve mentioned the huge amount of Allen Keys that I’ve found in our toolbox.

Surely, this not so unusual collection must have started with just one tiny Allen key.
And surely we didn’t plan to have that many and give them a home for years without reuse.

But it happened. We’re guilty as charged.

Allen keys, like any other clutter, enter your home and that’s where  the law of attraction comes in and gives you more and more…and more.
If you’re not on the case, you end up with enough Allen keys to start a job at IKEA.

Jokes aside, it’s funny how we bring one item into our home, Allen key or not, and if we’re not constantly keeping an eye on it, they just