My beauty rituals #1 – Miracle oils for hair growth and hydration

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Darlings, we all know how important it is to look fresh, healthy and young, no matter the age. At the beginning of the year I made a post regarding new trends in fashion, home interior and lifestyle where I mentioned that staying and looking healthy is very important for us women. Beauty comes from the inside, indeed, but our skin, hair and nails need a boost every once in a while, so that we could shine like a diamond and keep ourselves young. With all the external factors that are damaging our skin and hair as makeup, temperature changes, hair painting or the tools we use in hairstyling, we need to keep a balance in order to look healthy.

There are lots of tricks that I’ve learned and experienced and that I have been very satisfied with.  And now I want to share them with you. I will show you some general homemade tips for hair hydration and hair growth. Remember, I always experience new things, so I change my beauty routines every once in a while. And I suggest you do that as well. Each season our skin and hair goes through different changes and the products we are using must be adapted to our needs.

The best way to hydrate and repair your hair is by using natural oils in combination with good hair care products. Usage of oils is the oldest form of cosmetic, Egyptian men and women being the first ones who discovered that they could use different types of oils to clean and soften their skin, to mask body odor or to treat different areas as lips, hair or sunburned skin. 12.000 years later, we are still using them to repair the damages that other commercial products are causing. Irony! 🙂

As for the homemade treatments, these are few of my favorite combinations of oils for hair:

                      Hydrating Natural Oil Mixtures

Oil mixture coconut oil olive oil and honey for hair hydrating. oils for hair

Coconut oil, olive oil and honey mixture. I use this every week to hydrate my hair ends.

 

  1. Coconut Oil + Olive Oil + Honey
  2. Coconut Oil + Argan Oil
  3. Argan Oil + Almond Oil
  4. Olive Oil + Smashed Avocado
  5. Argan Oil + Honey + Few drops of Tea Tree Oil

 

How to use 

  • The quantities depend on each hair size and volume, so just go with your instincts, but try to add almost equal measures.
  • Do not add the combinations on your scalp. These combinations I use only for my hair, WITHOUT APPLYING ON THE ROOTS. They are very fat and will make your roots greasy.
  • Spread your hair in 7 – 10 parts, apply the combination and massage very gently on each part. When you are ready, tie your hair and cover it with a shower cap. This will help the oil get into your hair fiber, because oils are activated only in warm and wet environments.
  • Try to sleep all night with it and wash it off in the morning. If not possible, leave the mixture at least for 2, 3 hours and then wash.

There are so many combinations you can make between these oils, the important thing is that you apply a treatment every week.

                              Oils for hair growth

Years ago I used to have much shorter hair and I suffered really much because I wanted so badly to have long hair! The reason for that were the bad quality products I used before I learned more about beauty. Hair grows faster if you boost up the speed little bit with natural oils as castor and tea tree oil. I haven’t tried them together yet. Use castor oil once a week by massaging your roots and scalp with it. I also use it for my eyebrows and eyelashes! For an easy use, soak in a clean mascara brush! It is really amazing, and 100% functional! It gives volume to my eyelashes and it is a long term alternative to fake lashes.

 

Oils for hair growth

                                     Leave-in oils

Leave in hair oils Kerastase Elixir Ultimate Argan Oils for hair

 

Dried or broken hair ends need a special attention, if not the scissors. From my experience, if they are already destroyed, you can only use oils or treatments to prolong cutting them. But in the end, you’ll anyway need to use the scissors… To prevent damaged hair ends, use a hydrating mixture of oils on them every week, before bath, and every day a drop of any of the preferred cosmetic oils for hair. I personally use Kerastase Elixir Ultimate on my hair ends every day, because it’s not that greasy and for a thin, fine hair as mine, leave in oil is kind of destroying the hairstyle. In the past, I used also Morrocan Oil light blonde and Lee Stanford Argan Oil which are great, but I always come back to Kerastase. And my favorite of all is Liquid Crystal Oil from Technique System Repair, not sure that is the full name, I used to get it from my friend in Romania, she exclusive imported the products in the country, but once I moved to Sweden, I lost track of it. The coconut version of the oil smells incredible, it’s the least greasy and the effects on the hair are really visible after a few weeks of using it. The product is so much cheaper than anything else on the market, so if you find it anywhere, just go for it!

 

oils mixtures. oils for hair

 

These oils literally have done miracles for me. I am truly satisfied with my hair now, even though I still don’t have the hair of an oriental woman, as you can see in the picture above. My hair is thin, silky and very easy to damage, therefore it needs a high maintenance, especially since I love using the straightener and curler often. But with the help of these products I try to keep it healthy as much as I can. And of course, even though I feel so unhappy when I get a haircut, I do clip the ends every 3 months.

Take care of your hair and tell me if you tried these products and if you see any visible results in time, as I did. What other oils are you using that you are satisfied with?

Truly yours,

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New Trends in Fashion, Home & Lifestyle – Colorful and stylish 2015

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Hey beauties! I’ve had a “different” week, with fever, cold, much tea and sauna. This flu was so unexpected since I didn’t get cold not even once in the last few years. But here I am now, back to work, back to my passions and full of new trends informations! In all this time spent in bed, I have done research on this new post! Because I keep it relevant and I want you to get the best inspiration for the year ahead!

Every new year comes with new trends and this year’s are going to be awesome! I always get nostalgic when things are changing, but it doesn’t affect me long time because I like new beginnings, new years, new trends, new possibilities, everything new. New times gives us the opportunity to leave something behind and place a new order upon our lives. For some, trends and fashion are superficial, but I believe they define us. You don’t need to trash your garderobe, paint your hair in pink or blue because the trend says so, but I believe in staying updated. I follow my own rules in both fashion, life and business, but I still get inspired by others that are specialized in their field of work.

Enough with the talking 🙂 Let’s see what 2015 has to offer!

New Trends in Fashion

Retro Look – 70’s are back

Besides the well known Scandinavian minimalistic style, this season will be marked by the comeback of retro style. Flower power, playful prints, strong colors, are all back in trend. I’m not much of a fan, but some pieces can actually be wore in cool ways. For a classic retrolook, combine blue shades with cognac and camel.

 

Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2015 70's style retro new trends

Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2015

 

Flared, Oversized Jeans and Bell Bottoms!

This is absolutely my favorite from all the new trends! I am so excited about this!

Since the 70’s are back, the iconic piece of the era makes a comeback! Goodbye skinny, hello flared jeans!! Ever since last year, skinny started to lose it’s popularity, being replaced by the so called Boyfriend jeans, which are still HOT! Bell Bottom pants and jeans were so much loved by the 70’s diva’s. Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin made history in them! Flared jeans are pampering the silhouette, and create the illusion of long legs, which is why I adore them!

 

Must Have Jeans in 2015 - Collage by Lorellay.com

Must Have Jeans in 2015 by Lorellay

 

Converse & Other Training Shoes

Sneakers are still HOT and useful, of course, but this year is time for you to go out of your comfort zone and try other models than the trendy Isabel Marant wedges. Don’t get me wrong, they are still on, but trend setters in the nordic countries are more into the training shoes. The new Nike Air Max is one of the hot models right now. Converse is pulling a success ever since I moved to Sweden. Scandinavians love it, not only for it’s functionality but also for it’s accessibility.

 

hot sneakers in 2015

Hot Sneakers in 2015  by Lorellay

 

Color of The Year

According to Pantone, color of the year is Marsala! I love this color, it is so powerful, passionate and elegant. And I love wine! 🙂 If you want to know how to accessorize this color check the post I wrote about Olivia Palermo in Paris Fashion Week.

 

Marsala Inspiration - Collage by Lorellay

Marsala Inspiration by Lorellay

 

The Small White Bag 

Small bags are IN. One of 2015’s spring favorite is the small white bag.

Best-2013-Yves-Saint-Laurent-Chyc-Small-Travel-Case-311215-White-Bag-For-Sale-b0

 

New Trends in Home decoration

If you are planning a new home decoration this year, go for Copper Orange. This means you’ll be able to have a glamorous and elegant home this year! As in fashion, the 70’s are back, so you get to decorate your dressing room as the outfits inside! Since deco art is always in trend with fashion, marsala is a good choice for giving your home a warm, luxury and passionate look! Try combining Marsala with Copper Orange details as I made in this picture.

 

Marsala and Copper Orange home decoration

Home Inspiration

 

 

For a while, I noticed a new appearance on the lighting market that blowed my mind! It’s totally insane since it’s just a simple…BULB! These pieces are very trendy in Scandinavia and if the trend didn’t arrive to your country, then this year will sure be in highlight! According to a friend of mine, Terese, swedish interior designer, illuminated letter signs are getting more attention, so if you want to send a message to your guests visiting, now it would be the moment! They are so chic and artsy, just loved them! I hope I’m going to get the chance to redecorate this spring! I would love having one of these lights over the bed!

 

 

Trendy wall lights and bulbs in 2015

 

Other new trends in Lifestyle & Beauty

Eat, Train and Stay Mentally Healthy

You have it on your resolution list, don’t you? If you haven’t started already, then now you are forced too. The hottest thing is to take care of you, look healthy, stay young and fresh! No matter which brands or clothes you wear, if your body is tired, you’ll never feel comfortable with yourself. Start your year with a juice detox, make a gym card, start drinking green smoothies for breakfast, replace goodies with fruits, walk more, drive less, eat less out and learn to cook your favorite dishes. We are humans and we make mistakes, we can’t control maybe everything we eat, but try to keep a healthy lifestyle as much as possible.

 

yoga picture regarding healthy lifestyle

 

Stay Natural

In beauty, I mean. Even though this is not new, throw away hair extensions! Believe me when I tell you that it can be seen it is not your hair, it doesn’t help you at all, is not sexy, nor elegant and it doesn’t make you beautiful. You know what’s chic? A haircut! If your hair is short and probably destroyed from the hair extensions, now is the perfect time for you to get a cool, fashionable shoulder or masculine haircut.

No more “drew with line” eyebrows, let them grow naturally and just clean them up.

In both cases you can use oil masks for a faster growth. Ricin oil is the best hair growth activator oil that I’ve ever used and it really gives long term great results! It helped me really much!

The most fashionable thing in 2015 is self confident, independent, happy women. So if you’re not there yet, it’s time for you to work on that.

I will be pleased to show more of my findings during the year, these being just few of the highlights.

I think my favorite of all is the Flared Jeans. Due to my mignon silhouette, these jeans make me look tall and fit. And the best of all is that you can wear them in so many ways, in different occasions: work, party, business meetings, dinner or casual. I’ll show you how in a different material, soon!

If you want to find the products in the pictures, check my Polyvore

Lorellay Signature

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My mood for today – lazy snowy Sunday

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Press play on the song first 🙂

First snow this year.. What a beautiful view on my window, but still…I don’t get the mood to go out of the house. I rather stay all day in bed, listen music and start reading the book I got from my friend Raluca, The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Safak. And share this with you.. This song made my day! It express so much erotism and passion, it’s a mix between lounge and erotic music.. Just play it, close your eyes and relax… “Can I go with you?”

Have an awesome Sunday!!

Love,

L

DSC02632

 

Friends, music and a good time

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Few weeks ago, when I was on my way out for a nice dinner in Jönköping, my boyfriend and I got a last minute invitation to a local event where the swedish singer Paulina Starborn was going to have a concert for the night.

So after our delicious dinner, we attended to the event for an hour, and then we finished our evening in the hotel’s Spa, where the singer and her team were accommodated by the event’s organizers. I love having a good spa time and to be honest, it was the first time for me to be in a spa in the nighttime. But that was a great experience, since the place was closed and open only for the star and her team, so it was quiet and private with no other people around. I can say I’ve had VIP treatment haha!

A few pictures from the event, taken by the talented Armand Dommer.

Paulina Starborn event in Nässjo, Jönköping

Pulina Starborn event in Jönköping

I was wearing an H&M dress accessorized with a Stefanel black belt and Rachel Zoe python pumps

A new beginning – New Year’s resolutions

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Hi everyone!! This is the first post of 2015! How exciting!!

First of all, I want to say that I hope 2015 will be YOUR YEAR, that all your plans and resolutions will be successful, that even the most naughty dreams you have will come true and mostly, that you will find the happiness you’re looking for! And love…lots of love!! Kisses, embraces, touches, passions, dreams, warm emotions, laughs, tears of happiness, excitement, surprises, these are the feelings I want you to go through this year!

 It’s time for a new beginning!

Thank you for being part of my 2014! I promise 2015 will be full of surprises! The last couple of days I worked in planning new projects, but two of them are concrete already and soon I will be able to let you know about one of them, which is sooo exciting!! Beside this, I have few more things going on for the blog, that will happen during this year! It’s all about time! 🙂 Stay tuned!

I also decided that this year will be a year of changes, inside and outside myself! So you will probably see a dramatic change of hair one of these days! 😛 I made a huge list of resolutions and I’m very determined to respect it and to follow up each one of them! One of the most important is that I want to help more! No matter in which context. Also, I am determined to spend less, invest more! Maybe it’s the age, or the experience, or I suppose maturity.. I understand better the value of money invested smart, than wasted. It is going to be a hard one, but I must make smart shopping in order to make successful business.

Another promise I made to myself is that I will visit my friends as soon as I can during the year. In all the corners of the world! Friends are like family, you must always cherish and nourish them, feed them with your love and attention, praise them for their beautiful homes and wise decisions, and since I moved in Sweden, I feel that my friend duties were disregarded. So I must take action and show my friends I’m still here for them. 

Ok now I’ll stop and maybe I will share other resolutions later during the year 🙂 In the meantime, check out my 2014 accomplishments on my Facebook page !

I am so curious in hearing at least two of your resolutions!

Video

Get Ready for New Year – Video

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Hey girls!! I added few more info in the post that I haven’t been able to add in the video!

New Year caught you unprepared? You are not the only one. Maybe you’ve had projects with short deadlines to finish until the end of the year, or didn’t have a plan on where to spend the New Year, or simply planning is not your thing. You realized it’s few days left and no time for you to book you hairstylist, make-up artist, or even buy a new dress.

Been there, done that, and I have few easy tips for you that you can apply on the last hundred of meters, in order to look stunning and sexy and beautiful in the night between the years. So don’t panic! We will fix it!

Get Ready!

Hands

First thing to do is to make sure your nails look good and clean, so if you didn’t succeed to book a time on the last minute to manicure, you’ll have to do it by yourself! I m ust mention, this is hard and it can get Dirty!

At least in my case, which is why I never make it by myself. If you are one of those lucky girls whose left hand can paint the right hand, go ahead and do it! If you aren’t, one fast option would be to use foil nail stickers, which you can buy from almost any beauty shop in your area. My New Year preference would be something glammy, but classy: Silver. Not bad would be also black matte and gold. Your choice!

The Dress

No worry, look again into your wardrobe, you sure have something over there that you haven’t been seen into. We all have an outfit that have been missed! If not, the easiest way to make yourself remarked, is by attracting people’s eyes from the dress to you. In this case, you should give value to the dress, and not opposite! My suggestion is that you use the outfit in which you feel at your best, of course, respecting the dress code of the party you attend. Or simply wear a very sexy black dress that you have in your garderobe. Pencil shaped dresses with stilettos rocks, don’t forget that! This way, you’ll feel self confident, sexy, beautiful and you’ll turn peoples eyes into you, not your clothes.

Tips: Add on accessories: an statement necklace can do as 10 new dresses, believe me!

Hair

Even if you are a brunette, or a blonde or a redhead, the most easy but glamourous trick for your hair is weavy hair. Or big curls. Every girl has to a have a curler or a straightener home, now it’s time for you to use it! Depending on how long or thick your hair is, curl only half of it, so that you create the volume effect but not look like grandma in the ’60. Don’t get me wrong, retro is chic and fashionable, but you’re not planing to go to a masquerade are you?

Face

Smokey eyes and nude lips are a perfect choice for an occasion like that, with a dress like that and a hair like that, but you can also chose to wear a pin-up make up: black touche and red lipstick.

I hope these few informations are helpful and don’t forget that the ultimate accessory is your smile! It’s only few hours left until New Year, so go get ready!

Happy New Year full of prosperities & love!

My beautiful girls in Sweden

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The preparations for the Christmas holidays occupied all my time the last week and I haven’t been able to post here about the visit of my beautiful friends in Sweden. They have been here for only 4 days but we had such an amazing time together!!! They came all the way from Zurich and Bucharest. We all needed this “girls reunion” at the end of the year, since we all had such a busy year, full of projects and private matters. We first thought of meeting in Bodrum to an amazing detox center, but I had a last minute project to finish so instead they decided to surprise me with a visit here in Sweden. How lovely friends I have! We had 4 days full of discussions, laughter, drinks, joy, and they got to Continue reading

My Christmas Wishlist

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Dear Santa, since I’ve been an awful good girl, as the song says, I’m expecting that you make my dreams come true! And here’s my Christmas wishlist:

 

Shoes for home

Christmas Gift idea

The incredibly sexy Loleata Mules footwear from Agent Provocateur – perfect to warm up the atmosphere in the cold winter evenings.

Tickets to Lenny Kravitz in summer

Lenny Kravitz concert in sweden

He will perform in Sweden in august 15′ in both Stockholm and Gothenburg

 

Fav items in Lingerie

Bondage Angela dress from Bordelle Christmas present

Bondage Angela Dress from Bordelle

Latex Body from Atsuko kudos for christmas present

Restricted Scallop Latex Body from Atsuko Kudo

 

Zaharah set from agent provocateur as christmas gift idea

Zaharah set from Agent Provocateur – I simply adore the color!

 

Messina shelf bra bordelle for christmas gift idea

Messina Shelf Bra from Bordelle

 

A piece of a chic heaven – St. Barts

St. Barts vacation for christmas

St. Barts view from a Spa hotel

New In Net-a-Porter – Sneakers

Isabel Marant Wila wedge suede sneakers - new season update to the classic Bekett sneakers

Isabel Marant Wila wedge suede sneakers – new season update to the classic Bekett sneakers

 

 

Laura8 earrings

Laura8 earrings

Laura8 Earrings

Best hair tool ever!

Babyliss pro curl hair tool

Babyliss pro curl – best tool ever for curls. Tried it, loved it!

 

Lucia in Sweden

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Today is Lucia day in Sweden, one of Sweden’s favorite holidays! When I moved here, I didn’t know what this day is about, but then I understood is the same celebration of Saint Lucia as in Italy. There are 2 versions of the story here, one of them is that Lucia was a female martyr in the beginning of the christianity around year 200 a.C and this is a Christian tradition as in Italy. The other one is that she was the mistress of the devil and this is a scary tradition, as the legend says that during lucia night animals gets possessed and bad spirits arise. Lucia is celebrated in Italy, Malta and Scandinavia.

Lucia Traditions in Sweden

Everyone eats and bakes Lussekatter – saffron buns – and pepparkaka, and enjoy them with glögg. More about glögg and pepparkaka, here.

Procession of Santa Lucia. Children dress up in white gowns, wear candles on the head and sing Lucia traditional songs.

This is a very funny video about Lucia Day in Sweden. Enjoy!

 

Mykonos – The place where you get it all

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The Christmas holiday spirit and the coldness outside made me think these days on our last trip this summer, in Mykonos, Greece. Of course, I wasn’t thinking that summer is close, but with nostalgia in my heart and heavy breath I’m thinking how long is left until I’ll be able to touch the waves of the ocean again, the sand, the warm weather, the smell of the fire on the beach after a long walk and a bath in the middle of the night?!

This December we didn’t plan yet our holiday vacation and maybe it will be somewhere in Europe anyway, so I decided to remember the wonderful feeling of summer by writing about my most amazing vacation in the whole life! I’ve stayed there 2 weeks and I really enjoyed everything that is possible to enjoy in that tiny but amazing island! And I suggest you do the same if you ever wish to have it all in a vacation: fun, wild fun, beach, relax, romance & great food, all in the same place! I will probably need more posts to write everything amazing about Mykonos so I will spread it in a few parts: Food, Restaurants & Partylife; The Town & Shopping; Beaches, Hotels & Culture. So, stay tune! Mykonos 2016 will be awesome if you follow my lead!

On this topic: What I wish I knew before travelling to Mykonos – Tips & Tricks

Lorellay in Mykonos

Lorellay in Mykonos port

Saint John Hotel Mykonos water

Little Venice Mykonos

Mykonos best restaurant in chora

Jackie O Mykonos