Acqua for Life - Giorgio Armani

wa·ter  (wôtr, wtr) = A clear, colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid, H₂O, essential for most plant and animal life and the most widely used of all solvents. 

Antoine De Saint Exupéry, a French writer and aviator, once said: 'Water: you are the greatest treasure in the world.' Isn't he right? If there's one thing we ALL need, it's water. I couldn't live without it, that's just impossible. But there are people who have no choice. Some people out there don't have access to it and some of them even die, primarily children.

whitezine.com

Together with Green Cross International, Giorgio Armani promotes the access to drinking water. They both want to raise awareness of this issue, which is actually very important! But that's not where it stops... He also supports the Unicef Tap Water Project. Luckily two fragrances by Armani are in harmony with this theme: Acqua Di Gìo and Acqua Di Gìoa. With every bottle sold, Armani donates 100 litres of drinking water per year to children and communities. The whole operation begins in Ghana, where they support the Smart Water for Green Schools project. The goal of the 'Acqua for life' challenge is to donate a minimum of 40 million litres of drinking water to populations in need.

Water is an essential need, for so many things: drinking, eating, guaranteeing hygiene and maintaining your health. I was very pleased with the press release and I thank the L'Oréal Belgilux group for the free perfume, but I feel so awful that I didn't pay the bottle myself and that I thereby didn't really help someone myself.

Did you know that...

65% of the human body is made up of water;

4/5 of our planet is covered in water;

only 3% of this is fresh water and much of it is inaccessible;

when water is dirty or contaminated it becomes a threat and everyday 4000 children die from water-borne diseases.

Marc Jacobs in the rain

The rain may have been absent these days - hello spring! - but it will come again, that's for sure. We're used to it in Belgium, whether we like it or not. But being used to it, doesn't always mean we're brave enough to step out of the house to walk in the pouring rain to our bus stop. With these Marc by Marc Jacobs babies I definitely am! They're edgy but yet so cute! Who knew rain boots could be so fun?

When I saw them at Francis Ferent, they reminded me of the Vivienne Westwood for Melissa booties. Those cute ones with the ribbon on it! Then I saw the pricetag... only €150! I was surprised. Since I didn't get any gift from my sister for my past two birthdays, she bought me these gorgeous babies! Thanks sis, I know you also wanted them ^^

P.S. They may look uncomfortable at first, but man... when you put your feet in them, it's like walking on a cloud!

Forever 21 in Belgium

As some of you may have heard, Forever 21 will hit Belgian ground this june/july/august. Not one, but two stores will be added to our shopping streets. One will be in Brussels as of june and the other one in Antwerp the following months. I was very excited to hear the news and they asked me to help them a bit... They're recruiting for both shops this monday 28th of march in The Hotel (which used to be the Hilton). Still looking for a job in the fashion industry? Got some retail experience? Great customer skills? What are you waiting for?! 

Everybody loves Marc

Yesterday, when window shopping through Avenue Louise, I came across this doll at Francis Ferent. The first picture was me at Francis Ferent's bloggers night, where I could put an outfit together as I wanted to. I chose some good old Marc Jacobs garments because they were kind of my style. Did I inspire the FF team to put the outfit in their window shop? I feel flattered even if I didn't inspire them :D

Iron crystal

Zara scarf, H&M bag and leggings, Brandy&Melville tank top, Berschka knitted sweater, All Saints boots

Hey guys! You might have noticed a very small changement to the blog: another font here and there... I'm actually busy with a new wordpress blog, which will then be switched to a .com one. Busy, busy, busy but stay tuned! These pictures were shot two weeks (?) ago by my lovely bf when we went out to dinner near the Atomium. This explains the title: iron crystal. That's actually with the enormous thing in the middle of brussels with the huge balls is :) It's an iron crystal that's been magnified 165 billion times. I think it's nice to take some shots there, every now and then. This outfit was very comfy (me again!) though... 

See you soon!

New in: some beauty products

Volume Million Lashes - Extra Black by L'Oréal Paris

Cream Blush - Velvety Peach by Yves Saint Laurent

Daisy Eau de Toilette Spray by Marc Jacobs

Hey guys, long time, no posting. But I've just been so busy with school and friends... But, I'm here now and I wanted to share these new beauty products that came into my life recently. Let's start with the mascara. My previous mascara was really bad and I didn't know which mascara would fit my long eyelashes. My sister has the Volume Million Lashes but without the extra black so as you can guess now, I used hers when I could! But it was time I got my own et voilà. It's really good and I can recommend it!

Then there's my new baby: cream blush by YSL! You may not know it, but I'm not really the type of girl who wears a lot of make make up. I'm quite naturel in that area. The things I use? A pencil eyeliner by Chanel, my new mascara and a blush or bronzer. Since I don't use any foundation, this cream blush is good for me. I'm happy with it and I can guarantee you that it sticks to your face as if it was glue (which is a good thing in my opinion)!

A new perfume steps into my life every year around valentine. I wanted to try something new and not go for any familiar smells. I kind of did. I hadn't had the Daisy before, but my sister and friends did. I loved the smell and the new fragrance is also good, but it was too much of a summer feeling, which we don't really have in rainy Belgium. I also bought a mini spray to carry in my bag in case I forgot to spray some at home. Very handy indeed!

P.S. The blush is €38, the mascara €15 and the perfume €66. I was lucky enough to receive a gift voucher from my best friends with which I bought the blush, mascara and the mini spray. And I have to thank my lovely boyfriend for the good smell ^^

Francis Férent Bloggers Night

 last three pictures by F. Debatty

Another way of meeting up with bloggers at Francis Férent! At first some drinks and snacks and of course catching up with fellow bloggers. This all followed by some models showing us a few outfits put together by two buyers. But then there came something unexpected: we got to style the models orrrr.... we could put our own outfits together! I was kind of shocked and suddenly all my styling skills went away. I was kind of desperate and I went to the most familiar corner: Marc by Marc Jacobs! Then I found a fun playsuit from D&G and these two outfits were perfectly finished by the beautiful Prada heels!

last two pictures by F. Debatty

Outfit - Sony Bloggers night

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to a Sony event: a bloggers night! I was quite surprised and it sounded like fun. At first, there was a presentation about the new Vaio laptops and notebooks, followed by dinner and a visit to the showroom. The food was excellent! We got a usb stick and some blue ray dvd's. Thanks to Arne Van Ongeval and the rest of the Sony team for giving some attention to the bloggers amongst their costumers!

I didn't take any pictures of their products because it wasn't that fashionable. I did take a picture of my outfit though...

Legging by H&M, Tshirt and knitwear by Zara, Shoes by ASOS and some good old Ray-Ban Wayfarers!

Bloggers unite

Yesterday, I had fun with some fellow bloggers at the Francis Ferent event, which I'll post about soon! They had told me about a certain article about bloggers in a Belgian "glossy" magazine called Feeling. When someone asks me to describe the magazine, I'd say: a magazine for 50 year old housewives who aren't really into fashion. 

But Feeling has changed... A young man, whose name doesn't deserve to be on this blog, wrote about fashion blogs. You're probably thinking: oh, sounds like fun! No, dear readers, not at all... In this article he describes bloggers as narcistic snobs who misspell every word on their blog. But let me tell you one thing: we're human, just like everybody else. It's clear to me, that he hasn't really seen the best blogs yet. This article is just pure jealousy and frustration towards bloggers.

Thanks to Kym for scanning the article! Read Stéphanie's opinion too, it's quite good!

Let me sum up his four complaints:

1. Bloggers are mindless narcists

He complains about how a blogger takes 'having your own opinion' to a whole other level. Which basically means: we talk too much about ourselves. I quote: 'Dear bloggers, having an own opinion doesn't mean that you should be constantly talking about yourself. Announcing to the world what you've taking out of your closet that morning, is really not that interesting.'

Let us begin with what a blog really is: 'A blog (short for weblog) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.' 

Personal, huh? Well, what do you know? What a coincidence that most bloggers talk about themselves in their own personal online diary...? That's so weird :o (I hope you're sensing my sarcasm here...). Not all fashion bloggers personalise their blogs because they write about fashion in general but so what if they do?! I started my blog to gather all the things that I liked on one platform. I think my blog isn't that personal sometimes although I think some of my readers would like it to be. Conclusion: don't generalise every blog out there.

2. Content is often an unnecessary luxury

It bothers the writer that everyone could start a blog as easy as drinking water. Well, okay, that also bothers me. But why? Because most of the people who want to start one now, do it for all the wrong reasons. The digital age, where bloggers mean something is a fact. Most of the people surrounding us don't even know what a blog is and other think that bloggers get free stuff 24/7. Let me tell you one thing: we work hard to write about a certain piece and  we are surprised with every invitation we get. I personally never thought my blogging skills would take me this far but I take what I get and enjoy every moment of it!

3. Bloggers are inveterate snobs

A few accusations towards bloggers

- thinking their opinion is as important as the ten commandments;

- writing about catwalk fashion only;

- showing off their clothes while name-dropping.

Again:

- a blog is something personal, so don't accuse us of having our own opinion.

- STOP generalising blogs. We don't talk about the same thing every day!

- not every blogger is financially capable of wearing high fashion brands.

4. Mispeling dusn't hurd

Apparently every blog misspells a word. Yes, we do that sometimes. We don't have someone correcting our mistakes before they hit the rotary press. Do you also see, dear readers, that this man is generalising every blog? What's up with that. I've got the feeling that he has seen one of the worst blogs ever and made his conclusion about blogs in general.

Only the best survive...

This young man is a step ahead of us. He's already seeing the end of the tunnel, which means: bloggers out of the picture. I'd say: let's not play psychics too soon and let's keep on blogging until we drop dead!

P.S. Sorry for the pictures being so big! I had to because otherwhise you couldn't read the article.