Good morning! I felt like sharing some of my not-so-secret Beauty Secrets on this beautiful Sunday. Nothing that will rock your world probably, but I’ll try to rock your world another time in other ways okay? Okay, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean. Enjoy!

• There is no beauty product that has such a spectacular effect on my hair as cold water does. I always, always, always rinse my hair with cold water after I wash it and it’s instantly shiny and soft. It’s worth the fifteen seconds of shivering!

• I use coconut oil for everything. I use it as a hair mask every now and then (takes two to three washings to get rid of  everything though, make no mistake), as body lotion when my skin is dry and when my face needs a pick me up, I slather it in coconut oil before I go to bed. It may not be for everyone as I’ve heard some people experience break-outs because of coconut oil, but for my skin it’s a miracle worker.

• All I do with my hair is spray in a little John Frieda Volume Spray, let it dry naturally and then spray in some dry shampoo: It gives my hair a little extra messy ‘oomph’ or you know, the Hurricane Hair I really like.

• On the voluminous, oomphy note, the best shampoo I’ve ever found for that is the Lush Coconut shampoo bar. Nothing else has ever come close!

• I love love love Rituals body stuff. If I use one of their body butters I don’t wear perfume because the scent is enough for the day. My favorite is the one with rice blossom and jasmine.

• I wash my face with cold water and one of those creepy dark Lush soap bars that makes my face all black, both in the morning and at night. Good way to wake up and has helped my skin.

• When my skin is not at its best, I occasionally also remedy it by rubbing Vitamin E Oil on my face before going to bed.

• My signature scent is Jil Sander’s Eve, although I’ve recently made a few exceptions for Chanel’s Mademoiselle, which I also really like.

• Almost all the eyeshadows I have and use have sparkles in them. I’m like that fish in Nemo with the bubbles, except with SPARKLES.

• Most of the make-up I use is Chanel. I wrote why in this post. 

• But I got two Sisley lipsticks that are rocking my world as of late: Perfect colors (one very neutral, one very red), soft, smell nice (is it weird that I care about that?) and stay on for at least half a day, especially the red one.

• I like to take care of my appearance because it makes me feel good. Some days I just cover the basics, other days I feel like putting in a little extra effort, just for the heck of it. In this article, I explain why.

And that’s that, folks. Go out and enjoy this amazing (and unexpected) weather! Cheers!

Confession time: I personally am still coming out of a beauty&fashion-hermit phase. Last year I wrote my Master Thesis, and did yoga. That was pretty much what I did most of my days. Sit behind a computer and panic over data or stand around in weird postures in a hot and humid room.

As you can imagine, that did not inspire a lot of enthusiasm for make-up. Nobody would give an absolute fuck that I created smokey eyes for my day of statistical analysis. Also, the slightest hint of eyeliner meant I’d look like The Joker after yoga. Same with clothes. Wearing heels after bending in all different directions, only to sit down behind a computer once again; not really worth dressing up for.

Now don’t laugh, but another reason for me not giving a shit about how I looked for a while was the new-found belief that I am pretty on the inside. I was always kind of worried about secretly being a huge bitch. Turns out this was just a teenage fear and I grew into a nice, inner-beauty type person. Awesome (I bet there’s a few high school people just as shocked as I am). I still believe this matters more than my beauty on the outside but for a while, I also thought this ‘excused’ me for not putting much effort into my appearance.

But then I graduated and got a job. How I look is definitely less important than what I do and say, to both myself and my students, but I realized I felt more comfortable during my job if I spent a little time and effort on my appearance: Mostly with basic, casual clothes, some favorite knitted dresses, lots of whites, comfy jeans, sneakers, big blue eyes behind glasses and my favorite sort-of-exploded hairdo. Nothing spectacular, just looking on the outside how I feel on the inside.

And that’s where I realized a few things.

• One: It feels good to match the outside with the inside. I am the casual self-help junkie with a love for hipster-items. I might as well look the part best that I can, because if I do, I feel more inspired to act upon the person that I believe to be on the inside.

• Two: Taking care of how you look sends a signal to yourself and about yourself.. It’s like ‘Hey. I’m worth dressing up. It’s fun. It makes me happy.’ To me, it’s a form of self-love and self-expression.

• Three: Not only does that little extra time and effort results in a well-groomed you, it also creates a more confident you. And it helps to be a more confident you in all sorts of different situations. You’re bolder, more outspoken, more adventurous and more awesome. If that needs a new pair of jeans and a layer of lipgloss, I don’t really see the crime in that.

• Four: People like looking at pretty things. It makes them happy. It sounds simple and slightly superficial, but it is true and it is not superficial: happiness is one of the most important thing of all. So, if I can influence someone else’s mood in a positive way by simply putting on lipstick in the morning, I might as well do it. Trying to be a positive force in the Universe and all that.

• Five: Whereas my appearance is only a fraction of the impression I leave on another human being, it is the first thing they see of me and who I am. I like that first impression to be inviting and pleasing to the eye: it helps with further contact.

Rest assured, I am no walking crazytrendy fashion statement with perfect make-up. I am still horribly incapable of the perfect winged eyeliner, I still need to learn to walk in high heels (again) and I don’t look very spectacular or special — which is fine.

But I did learn how to make a fishtail braid, becauseI think it’s so lovely and intricate. I like lots of eyeliner, smokey eyes and bombshell hair. I sometimes create a sleek hairdo, sometimes an exploded one. I even wear red lipstick every now and then, because I think it’s sexy. I know what clothes and colors are great on me and I love going out the door knowing I look nice.

Basically, I implement a little fashion and beauty stuff in my daily routine because it honors who I am, because it makes me feel good and because it can be fun.

Loving clothes and putting up make-up in the morning does not make you a shallow or stupid person. You can be a positive influence in the world just as easily with crazy-messy hair, dramatic eyes and wearing your favorite shoes, maybe even better. So you might as well.