Portfolio – Page 11 – that lemon life

Coloring my hair with henna

Hola everyone.

Henna. You probably all know that paste we like to draw with on our hands to make them even more beautiful. But a few months ago I went into my local Lush store in Berlin and saw something really interesting. And I immediately got super curious.

Now you need to know that I usually never color my hair. I have extremely sensitive, thin and curly hair, so if I just do one little thing my hair doesn’t really like, it’s damaged. When I was younger I used to color strands of my hair – blonde, red, whatever. And then I just stopped damaging it until I completely colored it with a semi-permanent color two years ago. I tried a dark brown shade with some little red bits and I absolutely loved it.

I haven’t gone to the hairdresser since then and sooner or later I got really really bored of my hair. Just because I’ve literally looked the same for years now. I wanted a change, something to give my hair a little more excitement. And then I saw the block of henna hair dye in the store and got the immediate feeling of wanting to try this out.

Before that I’ve never had heard of henna hair dye and then looked it up to be sure what I was exactly looking at. And I now think henna is like the perfect way to color your hair without damaging it. It’s completely naturally and does the exact opposite to damage, it’s actually good for your hair. So after making sure the product was good, I had to choose the color I wanted. At the Lush store you can choose from four different colors:

Marron (chestnut)
Rouge (red)
Brun (brown)
Noir (black)

And of course I went for Marron, because I’ve always loved a little red touch to my hair and a delicate brown. But I’ll just let Lush tell you more:

“Deep sultry auburn – Made with all-natural ingredients, Marron is the perfect starter henna for those who want to go red, but aren’t quite brave enough to take the plunge just yet. Instead, Marron will ease you in gently with the perfect balance of daring red and a modest rich brown all while softening, conditioning and adding glorious shine. We blend fair trade cocoa butter with the finest Persian black and red hennas and ground coffee to darken the red of the henna and create a beautifully rich, traffic-stopping shade.”

Sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? So, after reading what felt like thousand different reviews and watching endless amounts of try-out-videos on YouTube, I thought why the hell not and went for it.

It is now two days ago that I colored my hair – with a little big help from my mum. And I have to say, I’m completely in love. But before I get to that, here’s my little description of how to dye your hair with Lush henna hair dye – or let’s say just what I did really:

First I broke the whole block into it’s already prepared pieces and then took half of the small blocks – so three of the six available – and put them in a small bowl.
After preparing my bathroom and making sure there wouldn’t be any stains afterwards, I put the bowl with the henna inside in the sink I had first filled with hot water and added some hot water to the henna itself too. Mum had broken the three little blocks into even smaller pieces so it would melt easier. Because as soon as you add the water, the henna begins to melt.
Then you just have to add more and more water until the whole mixture looks good enough to go onto your head. We first tried it with a batter-like structure, but as soon as mum put it on my hair, the whole thing crumbled away. So my tipp is to add enough water until it feels like usual hair dye, it’s just easier to apply then. Oh and the hotter the mixture, the better will your hair look afterwards. That really makes the colors look vibrant.
When the mixture is finally ready, the funny part is just around the corner – the applying. I think mum got a teeny tiny bit nervous, but after getting the mixture right I think it went on pretty fast and we were finished after like 10 minutes. Before applying it I put some Lush Ultrabalm, the nice saleswoman equipped me with, on my forehead and ears, so the henna wouldn’t leave any stains. But you can use common vaseline too, it really helps.
After my hair was completely covered in the brown mixture, I put on tin foil to keep the head and the hair warm (the warmer, the better the outcome) and a towel afterwards. Some people in the reviews said that the mixture smells quite badly, but I guess if you don’t concentrate on it, it doesn’t really matter. It smells a little like green tea and mud, so yeah.
And then you play the waiting game. On the package of the henna it said to keep it on for two to three hours, but I stuck to four hours, as most of the reviews said that was the best amount of time.
And theeeeeen it was finally time to wash it all out and let my hair surprise me. Personally, I thought that washing it out was pretty easy. I mean it took quite some time, I think half an hour with shampoo and conditioner, but it didn’t hurt or anything. As soon as the pieces were out and I could see my hair under the water I knew that I loved it. And it just got better and better while drying it and now I’m sitting here, not getting enough of it.

For me, the whole coloring process was extremely exciting. I mean, it was a huge mess indeed and I had to clean everything afterwards (there were no stains, so now worries), but as a newbie to coloring, I just loved everything about it.

There was one funny moment when I was sitting in front of my laptop, doing some work for uni while waiting for the time to be finally up, when I felt something roll down my forehead. I grabbed a handkerchief and put it on my forehead, just to find green stains on the tissue. And oh my god, I got so scared. I immediately googled henna and tin foil, but before anyone gets scared, the tin foil doesn’t do anything to your hair or the henna. The substance that went green was the indigo, so if some of you guys ever color your hair with henna and suddenly see something green, don’t worry. Your hair won’t go green (my fear in that moment), that’s just the indigo and completely normal.

So, how does my hair exactly look now? To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. My hair is naturally a dark brown with a little golden touch. But I really missed the pep, something that tells me that my hair is alive. And now that I colored it, I got exactly that. Like it said in the description, my hair is now a beautiful shade of chestnut – bronze when it’s very light outside, in the sunshine, and dark brown with a nice red shine in artificial light. I know it sounds dumb to say that my hair changes shades according to the light, but it really does. I also read other people say that and I think that’s just amazing and so special (you can also see the differences on the pictures).

But besides the color, my hair also feels and looks so much better. My natural curls are extremely defined, they feel very soft and are shining all over. It’s just really healthy. And that’s why I’d recommend henna to anyone who wants to color their hair without risking anything. Even if the color of your hair doesn’t really change, it still brings some life back into your curls and waves. It really does. And I think I’ve already persuaded my mum to stick to henna from now on. Yes, it’s a little on the pricey side, but like me, I only had to use half of it, so at the end it comes to the same price as normal hair dye. With the huge bonus of not damaging any of your strands. So yey to henna hair dye.

I just did a little photoshoot with my new locks, so please enjoy the pictures down below. I’ve also included some pics of how my hair looked before. Oh and the pictures feature two other cool things – I’ve just bought some SuggLife merch, a wonderful khaki hoodie, which is extremely comfy, I think I’ll live in that one from now on, and my little pin I bought at Ed’s concert in Zürich, which I’ve since then worn every single day on every single outfit and I just love it, it makes every look special.

So yeah, there you go. That’s my story of how I colored my hair with henna hair dye for the first time and how I became a little redhead and fell completely in love with it. But have any of you ever tried henna? If you did, please don’t hesitate to tell me your story. Oh and please tell me what you think of my outcome, I’m very curious. And until then, I hope you enjoyed this post, and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Before:

After:

Zürich

Hola everyone.

As you know, I love photography. And as I just got to see Zürich last weekend, I just had to take my camera with me (of course) and take some pictures. And I also love sharing them with you, so I thought why not just do that today?

Oh and if you’re interested, I had an amaaaaazing birthday. Really. I went to a supercool restaurant with my parents and my grandma and then visited my cousin due to the fact that he and his family just got the cutest little puppy ever and I just wanted to spend my day with a puppy – because who doesn’t want that? And then the day ended with my mum and me snuggled up on the couch with a new tv series playing. Wonderful. But I have to say, being 21 doesn’t really feel different. I still feel young enough to swing myself around in shopping carts and roll down the aisles. So, here’s to feeling young.

Anyways, I’m doing really good at the moment – fantastic actually – and I just wanted to share some of my beautiful memories with you guys through my pictures. I hope you like them as much as I do. And please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. And as always, thanks for reading. x

Two Door Cinema Club Concert

Hola everyone.

So, like I told you in my latest post – yesterday’s post to be exact – I’ve just been to another Two Door Cinema Club concert. I know, exciting stuff, right?

I think most of you already know how much this band means to me, because I’ve pretty much talked about it everytime I mention it. And if some of you haven’t heard, I’ll just say it again. Also because I love this story too much. So, TDCC were my first real concert ever. Seriously. It was four years ago and actually my mum had to drag me with her kind of. I didn’t like the band from the beginning, I thought their music was kind of stupid. Crazy, I know. But a few days before the concert I started listening to their music and I completely fell in love with it. And the concert was soooo fantastic. I also bought my first band merch or concert shirt there, which I now have a huge collection of. So yeah, it all started with this band. And the rest is what we call history.

After this concert and this tour they kind of disappeared, only to release one tiny EP in a matter of 3 years. And now that they’ve released their new album last autumn, another tour had to come. And of course I had to see them again. I mean I saw them live at Reading last year, but seeing them again, after 4 years, in the same venue, nearly on the same date, was just a must for me.

And to be honest, the concert was just mind-blowing (as expected). My friend and me were pretty early so when we got into the venue, there were about 50 people there. So I probably don’t have to mention that we got to be quite close to the stage, third row actually. But of course the place filled up during the first and the second support act. Oh yeah, speaking of them, the first one was called “Parcels” and it was like they had just used a time machine to get here but actually belonged to the 70s or 80s. Long hair, jeans up right to the stomach, disco music and the perfectly matching dance moves. It was so fascinating for me to watch them on stage. And the second one was called “Blaenavon”, a band from England where you could already sense their Englishness as soon as they got on stage, before even playing one note. They were more on the rocky side, so enjoyed them a little more than the first one.

And then we had to play the waiting game, as always. But after half an hour they finally got on stage. And the funniest thing was that before the concert I had told my friend that I thought they would be starting with their song “Cigarettes In The Theatre”, first because it’s an extremely empowering and motivating song, so the perfect one to start with, and second because they also started their set at Reading with it. And then they actually played it as their first song. So amazing.

Yeah and then the concert went on and on and it just got better and better (and hotter and hotter to be honest, I was a total mess at the end). The played so many old song which I had hoped for but also some new ones and for me it was the perfect mix. I loved that we were standing so close to them so I could really watch the expressions on their faces and their movements. Also the crowd was amazing, there was such an overwhelming dynamic and power in the small hall, I loved it. And you could really see how much they enjoyed playing for us which just makes a concert ten times better.

And after one and a half amazing hours it was over. I was hot, my voice and throat pretty damaged, as well as my ears. And I was craving for air. That’s when you know the concert was just perfect. And actually, it really was perfect. It reminded me why I love this band so much. For me they are the best indie band you could find, seriously. And I think that will never change. They really do have a special place in my heart and I can already see myself jumping around and screaming the lyrics at one of their next shows. Plainly because they and their music make me so freaking happy.

So yeah guys, there you go. That’s what I experienced last night. I had such an amazing time, I can’t wait for the next tour. I hope you enjoyed this post and if any of you were at the concert or know the band, don’t hesitate to say something. Oh and as always pictures of the concert are down below. Enjoy. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Fashion Week – Day 4 & 5

Hola everyone.

Today will be a very productive day. Due to what happened yesterday – I went to the cinema – and the fact that I can easily put day 4 and 5 of Fashion Week in one post, I’m going to not only gift you with one post today but with two. Yey.

Sooo, here comes the first one. I spent the fourth day of Fashion Week doing another interview and then writing my article about my whole experience and of course the three labels I did the interviews with. The label I met on the third day was Karin Fraidenraij, another really cool brand that uses lama and alpaca wool to produce their clothes. The wool comes from Argentina, like the designer and owner Karin Fraidenraij, who I did the interview with.

I found it really fascinating to talk to her and hear how much she loves what she’s doing and how she fulfilled her dream of combining her argentine roots with the german lifestyle she’s living now. And apart from that her clothes are extremely cool, seriously.

Link to her website – link

And right after that I drove back to work and wrote my article. And on the next day I finished it with a small video and pictures and to be honest, I freaking loved it. I loved writing about something. And just about something I liked, something I focused on for a whole week, something that I could get deeper into. That’s why I want to write for magazines. Because you can concentrate on your story. Get deeper into it. Discover it. Embrace it. It follows your for a whole month until the magazine is printed. And I really like that. Because that way – I know that – I can really work with my writing skills and get the most out of them. So overall this whole week and the finished article reaffirmed me in my career choice. I know that this is the right thing for me. And I will never ever ever forget this week. Never.

So yeah, there you go. Post one of two, one missing. Honestly, I loved my week at Fashion Week. And I never thought that I’ll get this opportunity to attend it this quick, this early. I mean, of course I dreamed about attending it one that but that I’d be attending it this quick… I would have never thought this. So I can’t even tell you how grateful I am. Anyways, I really really hope you enjoyed this little things, let’s call it a series, as much as me. And if any of you want to chat, I’m here and the comment section is waiting just for you. And until then, as always, thanks for reading. x

Fashion Week – Day 3

Hola everyone.

Soooo, the day has finally come to tell you what happened on the third day I attended the Fashion Week in Berlin. Actually, the day didn’t quite go how I expected. I mean, it was fantastic after all, of course, but started with quite a huge heart attack.

The morning went as usual, I got up, dressed and ready for another cool day full of Fashion and awesomeness. First I drove to a trade show called FashionTech, which was all about how technology can be combined with fashion. And there were some speakers at the conference there and one of them said something that still keeps running around in my head: “Today, every single day, technology does another step forward. We work on it. But why won’t we combine this technology with our clothes?”. And it’s true. Why don’t we do that? I mean, personally I don’t need to have a t-shirt that changes its color according to my mood changes. But just the idea is getting me so excited. And then the shock came.

I was listening to the speakers at the conference when I saw that I had gotten an email from my boss. And I thought it would be something about writing a second article about Fashion Week – because I told him that I could do that – but oh hell no, it wasn’t about that. The mail said that I should get back right now and write the article as quick as possible. And I got so damn stressed. Really. I thought “oh my god, how am I going to write an article if I still haven’t had all my interviews and if I haven’t even been to every trade show?”. So I called him. And then I called the online department. And I told them everything, just explained the situation. And to my big surprise they weren’t stressed at all. They were like “hey, chill, take your time and send us the article whenever you’re finished”. And I was soooo happy. I mean, I am a person that always sees the good things in everyone, I’m just happy and always hoping that everybody else is too. And when they reacted so smoothly and nicely, it just supported me even more in my opinion that this job, this field, is the right thing for me. And the way they treated me, not like just like I’m a little intern, but like a real journalist… That made me really happy.

Anyway, from that moment on the day was freaking amazing. After looking around at FashionTech and seeing clothes that can save data or send signals to other devices, which is pretty freaky, I went to the biggest trade show called Premium. I’m not quite sure how many brands it featured but there were eight huge halls, so I guess A LOT. It was really interesting to see all the different labels and styles and upcoming trends. The only thing that was bugging me was the amount of people who were there. There were just too many. And after pushing through masses of human bodies I just gave up and took the shuttle to the trade show I was looking forward to the most called Seek.

Seek was all about streetstyles and urban clothing lines, young labels and fashion for young people. Not to mention that Lazy Oaf had a stand there too and hey, we all know how trendy Lazy Oaf is right now thanks to all the YouTubers who are praising the label like crazy. But before I get to that, here comes the funniest thing. On my way to Seek, on the bus, I was sitting next to a guy, probably at the age of my dad, and we started chatting a little bit. About how I got there, about what he was doing and so on. Actually he flew to Berlin from France just to attend Fashion Week which was so interesting for me at that moment. And here comes the funny bit. We separated after getting out of the bus but ran into each other at the trade show about five times. Even another time after we had officially said goodbye. He looked at me and said “wow, that’s strange” and I just had to laugh. But so strange, seriously.

So that’s the story of how I learned how networking is done. Now let’s get to the most interesting part, the fashion part. Oh my god, the clothes there were amazing. I officially know now how the future pieces of Lazy Oaf will look like and I can only say – get ready. Seriously. Usually I’m not the type for bright clothes that crave for attention but it looks like I might buy one or two pieces of the upcoming collections. And besides that I just loved the athmosphere there. Everyone looked so cool (like every day), a DJ was playing music for the whole arena and the location was just straight up amazing. I felt cool. That’s how it was.

And then it got late again and I made my way home. With like 4 new bags full of stuff. That’s one of the cool parts of being a journalist. You get free stuff (hehe). The bad aspect of that is just that I went home with a close-to-falling-off shoulder and a hurting back like I’m a old grandma. But hey, when you had such a wonderful day nothing can spoil the mood.

So yeah, there you go. That was my third day at the Fashion Week in Berlin. Another magnificent day and another hundreds of hundreds wonderful moments I’ll never forget. If any of you have any questions or just want to talk, I’m here. And until then I hope you enjoyed this post and the pics right down below and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Fashion Week – Day 1

Hola everyone.

Oh what a week it was. A week full of fashion, style, happiness, good looks and so much more. That’s right, it was fashion week.

And actually, so much happened throughout the past four days that I really had to plan how I’d give you guys all the infos. At the end I came to decision that I’ll just split it up on the days, so yeah, there will be three (with this one four) exclusively about the fashion week here in Berlin. Let’s start with day one.

So the first day was more like just really damn luck for me. Because the secretary at my internship place send me a mail that was actually meant for my boss but she thought it would be a better opportunity for me. It was an invitation for the yearly conference held by Zeitmagazin, a German magazine, and Vogue. You can probably guess what a big deal it was for me when I got the text. And even more when I got the mail that the people form the conference had reserved a ticket for me. Which is totally crazy, still. Mostly because so many exciting people were on the speakers list. For example, Christiane Arp, the chief-in-editor at the German Vogue. And you know what the Vogue means to me. It’s like the queen of the fashion magazines and like the biggest dream of mine.

Anyway, on the 16^th the time had finally had come. I made my way to the conference and was speechless the moment I got into the building. Beautiful people everywhere. Some of the coolest outfits I’ve ever seen. And they all looked to important. And the whole place was so gorgeous. To be honest, on the one side I loved it, but on the other side I was also intimidated as hell. I felt out of place. Thank god I had my camera with me, so I could hide behind my photography skills.

And then the conference started and god, it was so interesting. There were so many experts talking about one passion everyone in the room shared – fashion. One thing that I still have on my mind is probably the point about fast fashion and how today we just buy things and don’t really think about where they come from or if we REALLY want them anymore. And, like, it’s true. Like I learned there, according to studies 70 percent of all the girls on Instagram would be ashamed if they would be seen with the same outfit twice on the website. Like, how crazy is that? Don’t we all have something more important to worry about than wear the same outfit? I mean, lucky you if you don’t, but I think you get what I mean. Clothes are there to be loved. And yes, to be worn more than once. I know I also have a lot more clothes than I need, but not wanting to be seen with an outfit twice is a whole different level.

Livia Firth – yes, Colin Firth is her husband – said something at the conference that completely struck me. When she was young and she would see a dress or shoes or whatever she really wanted she had to save up for it and then buy it. In that way, she still remembers how much she loved that exact piece and where and when she bought it and how she stills wears the piece until today. And I think that’s what fashion is about. Seeing something, loving it with all you heart and wearing it until it falls apart. Of course that’s one extreme and the Instagram thing is another, but I think it’s important that we try to meet the middle of that. To buy clothes not just because the look is trending right now or because some else is wearing it too, but because we love them. I can actually take this as one of my late new year resolutions. To buy clothes I know I will wear and love.

Apart from that the conference was all about the future of fashion, the changes happening right now and about the aspect that fashion is everywhere. Fashion isn’t just clothing, it’s in the car we own, the furniture we have and the lifestyle we have. Fashion never ends.

I went out of the conference with so much new info and opened eyes. I had learned so much in those six hours and I took nothing of it for granted. Honestly, until today I still can’t believe I was there. So many cool people, so many interesting speakers, one even showed his cat over Skype (that was the funniest part of the conference, so cute) and for five minutes the whole room turned into a huge club when singer Alma made a little appearance and sang her new song “Colour my hair”. So overall, it was a freaking awesome afternoon and one I will never ever again, for sure. And I got an amaziiiiing tote bag that I will keep forever, I love it so much.

So yeah, there you go. That was the first day of fashion week. Already started up great and yeeees, there is so much more to come. Be prepared. Oh and don’t forget to check out the pictures, they are right down there. If any of you have questions or anything else, don’t hesitate to contact me. Oh and I’m really sorry for posting so late. And until then I hope you enjoyed this post and my pictures and, as always, thanks for reading. x