V.
The Ocean. One of my favourite summer motives. A seemingly endless place, confined only by the horizon, its surface.. nightly kissed by the light summer breeze, its waves.. accentuated by their soothing sound as they make their way to the beach. Oh, the Ocean. (Wow, I actually just surprised myself- turning into an amateurish yet highly romantic poet right here and there.. Should I change my career paths? Well, one thing at a time.)
What I was trying to say with this picture of an ocean up there (that I took at a beach near Venice) and the emotional words I chose to describe my endless desire for it, was, that I am really longing for a typical beach/summer vacation this year. Every year I've managed to see at least some small part of an ocean, however, this year I am not going to be able to enjoy an incredible view like the one up there. (I know, I can call myself very lucky to be able to travel every year and also often see and enjoy the beautiful ocean water!) Next summer though, I might travel to Greece again so I'll be reunited with my biggest summer love. ❤
Furthermore, here's a wonderful and highly profound little poem about the ocean I found on the internet:
COME ON IN! by Anonymous.
Come on in,
the water's fine.
I'll give you 'till
I count to nine.
If you are not
in by then,
I guess I'll have to
count to ten.
Alrighty, let's now turn our heads to one of my favourite things to talk about during summer time:
Summer-style inspirations:
Lately, I'm totally falling for bright colours (especially since I've gotten a little bit of a tan), so the orange colour of Ashley's fabulous dress that she wore to the CFDA Awards in 2009 really inspires me to buy myself a similar one or at least more blouses or trousers in that colour!
Also, -and this outfit actually is one my favourite ones- I absolutely adore Ashley's look from top to bottom on the second picture. She's wearing an embroidered olive/gray-ish looking long dress, combined with a thin black belt, messy hair that's yet tied together and a dark red lipstick. LOVE! IT IS LOVE! That look's like a hundred years old, but my love for it will never die! I do however think that it only works so well because Ashley's really tanned in that picture, which makes the whole ensemble flawless. If she were super pale, for example, I would might not even like it that much.
For me, Blake Lively is the perfect example for young women that I think have an extremely positive presence. She always looks summerly fresh, cleaned up, has a big smile on her face.. the typical Californian Girl. Whenever summer arrives, I literally start my annual Gossip Girl Marathon, (I've never watched it for the content or the dialogues, mainly just because of the fashion), since Blake's summer looks totally get me in the mood to clean out my closet and buy new stuff. The pics you can see up there show 2 of my favourite Blake looks. One shows her on the Red Carpet where she's wearing this beautiful Marchesa dress at Fashion's Night Out in 2010. And one depicts her during her cover-shoot for VOGUE as a surfer girl in June 2010.
And of course, my all-time-favourite Jennifer cannot be missed on my list of inspirational looks! I swear to god, everytime I look at those two pictures up there that show Jennifer at her VOGUE cover shoot in 2002 I'm going 1) 'Oh my God, she is stunning' and 2) 'Why the hell am I not that tanned?'. Every summer I try to get at least a little bit of her sun-kissed gorgeous tan, but I'm not even in that skin-tone-neighbourhood! Not even close! I can only remember that one time when I was in Spain for a week in 2009, only lay in the sun, 24 hours a day and when I came back I actually could compare my skintone only a tiny little bit to Jennifer's up there! It was fantastic! Sadly, as all good things in life, it didn't last for long and 1 1/2 months later I was back in the neighbourhood of goat cheese. It's tragic, I know...
Well.
Another thing I start obsessing about during summer time, besides fashion, is Make-up. Or better said- not wearing lots of it.
In my eyes, the big advances of a tan are:
1) The optical illusion of slimming down your body without actually losing weight
2) A brighter, fresher and more healthy looking appearance
3) Most importantly- a tan covers up most of your blemishes and skin irregularities
At least all 3 points are working for me! So long live the summer time!!
As I already said, point 3 makes me feel more confident about my face, (believe you me, I've got a million irregularities there) and therefore I'm only applying a light layer of foundation on my skin before I leave the house but ALWAYS a good amount of bronzer. I also stop using items like liquid liner in the summer time, for one thing because I always get smudges on my lid due to the heat, but also because I like the natural not-trying-too-hard-to-look-good look much better.
For the nails I prefer a light colour in the summer time, so a simple chic nude colour would be the perfect pick for me.
Yesterday I bought myself this rose-couloured nail polish at H&M (I must say, their nail polish quality is quite alright) and I'll try it on tomorrow.
Okay.
And now to my favourite summer items so far this summer! What items need to be packed into my bag before I leave the house to go enjoy the wonderful sun?
1) TONS OF WATER! That's obligatory! I never leave the house without a bottle of water.
2) 'GOOD' (and by that I mean BAD READING) like Intouch magazine etc.. Let's be honest guys, we all pretend to only buy ELLE, VOGUE or INSTYLE all the time, but when nobody's looking, we're going right for those trashy yet highly entertaining magazines like Intouch which will definitely brighten up our half hour or hour in the sun.
3) SUNSCREEN! Never forget to use it! Never! Ok, enough with the pretended precaution requests on my part,- I've gotta be honest.. I don't think I properly treat my skin before and during sun exposure, like others religiously do. One of the things I usually do (and that's a trick someone who has Caribbean-like skin told me) is to use NIVEA cream. I mainly apply it on my legs, and seriously, only 15 minutes later I am more tanned than before. I guess that's because NIVEA consists mostly of water, so the skin can absorb more of the sunlight. Or something like that. One of my favourite sunscreens that is also an tan accelerater is PIZ BUIN Tan and Protect Oil Spray!
4) NUTS AND FRUITS! Can't go anywhere without them. You gotta be careful with the nuts though, CARBS, CARBS, CARBS. :)
5) A light PERFUME! Even though you should better take a shower anyway after taking a sunbath- if you live in a city like Vienna you're normally bound to take the subway back to your home and confront other people with your body smell, therefore try to freshen up by spritzing a small amount of perfumed water (like Yves Rocher's Lavender/Lilac/Citrus Perfume) on you! I personally prefer the perfume smell of Lilacs as it is light, yet sweet and refreshing. Since it only costs 15€ the smell evaporates pretty fast, however, at the time you use it it is quite lovely! :)
6) A PICNIC BLANKET!- to make your day in the sun even better! :) You can get cheap yet very cute ones at IKEA for example..
And last but not least:
7) Your IPOD! At this time and age I hope that everyone who's reading this blog also possesses something like that, even if it's a Walkman! Music definitely lightens up a wonderful day in the sun! Or in the shadow! Or in the Wintertime! It doesn't matter! (In my case, music is one of the most important things in my life- I could not step outside the apartment without making sure my Ipod is properly charged and ready to go with me.. :)
Alright guys. Now, that's all I have to say for today, .. and I guess it's enough for you to read! So, I wish you all a nice day, wherever you might live, whatever weather you might experience! :)
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