Insta-Roadtrip aka K is back!

Hello Sweeties, I'm back!

I have actually been back for a few days now, but I have been really busy until now. It is a traveler's dream to drive from New York to Los Angeles, there are so many wonderful places to see and enjoy on the way. On the map below you can see what our "exact" way was. (It sure wasn't on the mile exactly and stupid google maps doesn't show the entire way, the last bit is missing.)

you can find a more detailed view here

We took the southern route hitting places like Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Flagstaff and Las Vegas. We didn't miss the Grand Canyon or the Death Valley either! All places were breathtakingly amazing.
I will not bore you with the hundreds and hundreds of photos I made, and since I haven't made a selection of the most beautiful ones I will show you my instragram updates! (You can click to enlarge the photos)

New York City                              My first Mac Lipstick

 Philadelphia                                  Washington, D.C.

Super good Juices                              Sign on the road

 World of Coca Cola                           Georgia Aquarium

Pink hair chalk                                           Atlanta

On the road                                       New tote bag

New Orleans                                   Daily Breakfast

Pink Lemonade                               Doxie Necklace

Houston                                              Dallas

 Eldorado                                            Phoenix

Grand Canyon                                    Death Valley

 Amazing Frozen Yoghurt                       Venice Beach Walk

You can follow me on instagram here: instagram.com/kmhntz

I hope you enjoy my photos! What is your next destination?

Life Lately + Evening Routine

Hi again!

While I do love talking about fashion and beauty, I thought I would say a word or two about what's going on in my life at the moment before I move on to a little beauty bit. Not much, in reality, but I like knowing things about other bloggers lives, so I thought I'd do the same on this blog, too!
While I am currently still savoring the last days of (rainy) holidays in the Netherlands in my boyfriends' parents house, I am returning to Vienna to take up my studies (English and French Literature) again next week. Classes don't start til october, but this way I have a little time to look for a part-time job.
Partly, that makes me really excited (I get to see my bezzie Kym again who I haven't seen in 3 months!), but it also makes me sad as hell because it means that, for the time being, Brandon (the bf) and me return to our previous 'long distance' stage. That's only momentary though, as he is planning to move to Vienna for a few months at the end of november. That's all the major updates so far!

On a side note, in my introductory post I didn't mention that you can follow me on different social networking sites, so I thought I would include them here:

Tumblr:

Art, literature and personal blog: bianne-k.tumblr.com  

Fashion and wishlist blog: moodywoman.tumblr.com
Twitter:

@lastfl0wers
Instagram:
/lastfl0wers
Pinterest: 

/lastfl0wers
Polyvore:

 /lastfl0wers

On the body front, I'm still dieting (haha, when am I not?). I've had a few ups and downs during the summer (very hard to keep my weight steady when I was on holiday in Finland), but I'm back on track and have shed a few pounds again. I'm still hoping to lose 20 pounds before the end of the year, which should be doable, since I tend to be a lot more strict and consequent with my diet when I'm at uni and don't go out as much (damn you, booze!). As for my skin, that I've steadily been trying to improve lately, I think I've found a decent beauty routine that has really helped make it clearer and smoother. And since I promised, I'll include my evening skin-care / beauty routine essentials of the moment!

To start off, I brew myself a cup of tea, so that when I'm done with my evening routine I can cuddle up in bed and have a cuppa. My favorite for the evening is unsweetened green jasmine flower infused tea, which is really healthy, full of antioxidants that will keep your skin glowy and radiant. Mmmmh.
Then I wash my hands thoroughly with anti-bacterial soap to keep them safe and clean.
To take off my make-up, especially the heavier eye make-up, I use cleansing towels, like these by Simple. Once the thicker top layer of make-up is removed, I use an (organic or fairtrade) xl cotton pad and put a little bit of my Bioderma Eau Micellaire facial cleansing water (that my darling friend Emily brought me back from her recent trip to Paris) on it to get the last bits of make-up off and refresh my skin. Then I rinse my face with warm water, squeeze a little of the Garnier Pure Active Exfo-Brusher Wash onto my hands and rub it into my skin with a manual face complexion brush (I prefer to use that than the plastic bristle brush that you get with the wash). The circular motions of the brush help the product to penetrate my skin and deep cleanse, but it also helps my circulation and gives me a more radiant complexion. Rinse with cold water to close the pores. If I'm having a break-out, I will apply a thin layer of the Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask to further cleanse my skin, or the Neutrogena On-The-Spot Acne Treatment, which I dab on the spot or problem zone carefully. Even though I have combination-oily skin, there's still areas of my skin that get quite dry, so I use the tiniest amount of the Olay Firming Night Cream and rub it into my skin carefully. Finally, once I'm tucked into bed after brushing my teeth, I dab a little Carmex Lip Treatment onto my lips and then massage some of the Body Shop Hand and Nail Almond Cream into my hands for really smooth skin.
That might seem like a lot of steps, but I like to be very thorough, and only use small amounts of all products so that my skin doesn't get irritated. This routine seems to work quite well for me, as I can tell my pores have diminished in size and I've had less break-outs.... I'm sure my routine will change over the next few months, with the arrival of winter, but for now it works brilliantly!

Any products that you have been loving these days? Any major life events? I would love to know a little more about our readers, so do comment below!

B's Wishlist #5

So, this wishlist business is definitely starting to become a (both pricey and really enjoyable) habit on this blog! Sadly (or luckily for her) Kym is still on her American road trip adventure, so this week there might only be one wishlist, unless she manages to have a little quick one at a Starbucks somewhere! Anyway, without further ado, here my bi-monthly wishlist for the next couple of weeks:

Make Up Bag | Knitted Turban | High Waisted Jeans | Pore Minimizer | Camo Beanie |

 Eyebrow Pencil | Concealer Wand | Solid Perfume Stick | Liquid Foundation 

As I think I mentioned, Kym is so kind as to bring me quite a couple of make-up bits from the US, since they're much cheaper there than in most places in Europe. I'm deeeeead excited, so to honor my new little beauties, I'd love to get this Ted Baker Make Up bag - I have tons of other ones, but this gorgeous snake-skin one is just too good. It's on sale right now, too, and I've been wanting a Ted Baker one forever to replace my much less exciting H&M ones.
I mentioned in my last wishlist that I was seriously in love with knitted headband/turbans, and that hasn't changed. This one in black, white and orange looks classy but the pop of color makes it really stand out, which is great for accessorizing an outfit. So sad about the 70€ price tag!
Another thing I mentioned last time is the amount of jeans I have, so this really shouldn't feature on my wishlist. I have skinny jeans, I have acid washed jeans, I have blue jeans, and yet I still really want these. They're from Boohoo so they're definitely affordable, and anyone who knows me knows I just live in high waisted denim all year round.
Despite being a very regular and long time Body Shop customer, I have only very recently started to look beyond their body butters, shower gels and fruity lip balms. Lately I've gotten really interested in their skin care, particularly face care. Their face masks (especially Tea Tree and Dead Sea) are brilliant, so I've decided to pop in sometime in the next days to buy their Pore Minimizer with tea tree extract. I have slightly enlarged pores on my t-zone and would love it if this product worked, but I trust the Body Shop and look forward to using this.
Did I mention that summer is over, it has been raining non-stop and autumn has definitely arrived? I do miss summer already, but I'm beyond excited to get to wear hats, beanies, scarves, gloves, etc. This cute camo beanie by Monki matches my recent camo crop-top purchase... from Monki, too ;)
Even though I'm really quite happy with how my Catrice Cosmetics eyebrow pencil works, I am still keen to try out new eyebrow products to find out what works best for me and gives the most natural look. As I wrote in a previous article, I'm a big fan of thick, defined and quite dark eyebrows, so the quality of the pencil is essential. I've heard a lot of good about the Inglot pencils, so that might just be my next brow product purchase!
The next one is a product that Kym might bring me back from the US, if she finds it: the reviews on the NYX website are great, and I'm always on the look for a good concealer, so this might be worth a try.
While I do have my own favorite scents, I've been looking for a small, travel-friendly alternative perfume to easily carry around with me. I'm not usually that big a fan of Lush products because I tend to find the soapy smell a little overwhelming, but these small solid perfume sticks - perfect size to toss into your handbag - seem like a great, affordable idea to me. This scent, Karma, is described as "a powerful, spicy and unique patchouli and citrus perfume" which sounds pretty nice, especially for autumn.
Last but not least: the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation. The only reason I don't own this already is that NARS products are really pretty expensive, especially face products. But this has been raved about so much in the beauty world that I just can't resist it much longer and am starting to save up for it. 

Designer Love of the Moment

Hi everyone, 

Sorry for the fairly long post-break, I've been busy savoring the last few days of holidays with my boyfriend before heading back to university.... The sadness of long distance relationships!!

And as you all know, Kym is still driving around in the US and shopping til she drops, haha!

Anyhow, today I thought I'd write a little about a designer brand that I love, which I thought might be interesting, as I tend to talk mostly about fairly cheap and affordable brands and not so much runway fashion. I'm sure you've heard of it: KENZO Paris, a luxury designer label that was founded in Paris by the japanese designer Kenzo Takada in 1970. Having been a little forgotten in past years, Kenzo made a huge comeback this season with an incredibly trendy new collection that has inspired many brands to copy them (I'm looking at you, H&M, stealing all the prints!!)
I have spent houuuurs looking at their gorgeous designs. The collection consists mostly of fairly abstract prints: Salvador Dalí inspired tiger prints, big, bold, black eye prints, dreamy cloud prints and bold letterings of the brand. I'm especially taken with their jumpers. One of them, the green Kenzo Tiger jumper, has become all the rage among fashionistas in past months, and I really understand why!
The color adds a statement to any outfit, the slightly street wear inspired design screams individuality and glams up any outfit, and the KENZO logo print insinuates luxury. I want one soooo bad, but at approx. 300€, these babies are just waaay out of my budget. You can check ebay, however, a few fairly good dupes are on sale up there for about 30 to 50 euros. Definitely worth it.

If you'd rather go for something less iconic than the green Kenzo jumper, there's plenty more gorgeous pieces in the collection. More printed jumpers, embossed boots, embroidered bags, shiny skirts, funky parkas, beautiful scarves. I am genuinely really in love with all of them. The only problem, once again, is the more than hefty price tag. At 300 to 600€ per item, all of these gorgeous garms at far out of my reach. For now, at least. In the meanwhile, I will continue swooning over the brilliant cloud-printed jumper in soft colors, the knitted logo jumper, and especially the tiger embossed leather booties.

If like me, you are really impatient to get your hands on similar items, there is plenty of fashion houses that have been, if not completely ripping off, then at least inspired by the Kenzo prints. Check out some of the items H&M has recently released, such as their all over eye-print leggings, the eye-print skirt, their dupe of the green tiger jumper (which I have to admit I own), or some of their eye-print tops. Seen this before, anyone?
While I do think it's shameless (and actually surprised that it's legal?), I am still grateful that I can buy similar prints for a tiny fraction of the price. Kenzo, make a cheaper line for poor girls like me!!

Any luxury labels that you are in love with? I'm thinking of making my "Designer Love of the Moment"- and where to find dupes, a kind of monthly article. Interested? Comment below!

B's Favorite A/W'13 Trends

Evening everyone!

First off, considering our pageviews are steadily increasing, I wanted to thank all those who have taken the time to visit our blog. It means a great deal, even if our audience is minuscule at the moment. If you do read and enjoy our blog, it would be amazing if you could follow, share, comment, etc.!
Now to the order of the day: my Autumn and Winter 2013/2014 trend predictions and favorites.
I apologize in advance for this post that is going to be lengthy, but there is a lot going on in the fashion and beauty world for the next few months, and I really wanted to take the time to make a little list of what I think is going to be really big these next few months! I mixed both fashion and beauty, to have a little overview of what this coming season is going to have in stock for us. 

Check Mate - Tartan, Houndstooth and other Patterns

Admittedly, I've always hated houndstooth - probably because until recently, I hadn't found any clothes where the pattern looked edgy and modern. Now, I'm crazy about it. Along with the traditional scottish tartan, it brings a great punk edge to any outfit and helps pick up a dull winter outfit. Absolute must-have this season!

Warm and Cosy - Fur Collars and Knit

Knits and fur for Winter? It might seem like an obvious choice, but I still wanted to stress this, because they're going to be important key-pieces this season. Wear your knits oversized for autumn and winter, with thick, crocheted beanies, super long and oversized scarves, and cosy (faux!!) fur or shearling collars to throw over any jacket as an alternative for scarves (instant glamour - and warmth!! - guaranteed). 

Blue for You - All over Denim

This has been an ongoing trend during the last few seasons, too, but this winter, the all-over denim look continues, with gorgeous skirts, ripped mom-jeans, oversized denim jackets (especially cute with corduroy detailing on the collar or sleeves), denim vests for layering and other accessories. Denim looks amazing paired with pretty much anything, so layer this look with tartan and a chunky knitted beanie, for example.

Punk Kicks - Chunky Shoes and Boots

This last year, cut-out boots took over our shoe shelves (and hearts) completely. This upcoming season, they'll be getting chunkier, with thick soles and heels. Creepers, platform boots, Doc Martens and any boot with a punk vibe is an absolute must-have for this winter. Wear with knee-high socks and a black pleated skirt, for a touch of punk and schoolgirl chic. So cute, and so bad-ass, too!

Pile on the Bling - Layering necklaces

Absolutely self-explanatory: chunky chain necklaces will continue to be a big trend, but try layering two or more of them on top of each other for an even bolder look. Metal mixes are very in, too, so don't be afraid to wear silver, gold, bronze, rosé gold and anything else all at once.

Material Girl - Mixing up Textures

Layering is one of these trends that have been around forever and that's probably going to stay this way. This autumn, you can get a little experimental with it and layer different textures and materials (don't go too crazy on the colors, though) for an edgy look. Metallic, snake-skin, fur, boucle, suede, sleek leather, chiffon, silk, denim... Mix it all up! My favorites: PU sleeved jackets and furry jumpers with leather leggings. 

Oversize Love  - Outsized Dresses and Coats

This trend is right up my alley, as it is very minimal. The clean-cut, oversized dresses look amazing paired with a few layers of chunky necklaces, and also make a great autumn and winter wardrobe essential piece, as they look especially great when they are knitted or wooly dresses. After sporting cute and lightweight boyfriend blazers last spring, it's now boxy, oversized boyfriend coats that take over for the winter. I think they look loveliest when paired with a contrasting furry collar. Topshop has especially nice ones!

Goodbye Glossy - Matte Lips

I believe the bold colored lips trend from this summer will continue into the autumn/winter season, but the colors will become slightly darker: corals are going to get replaced with nudes, light pinks replaced with darker, richer reds, and purple shades are going to be really big, too! My favorite way to wear lip color for the upcoming season is very bold and very matte. I'm eagerly awaiting to try out the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams that Kym is bringing back from the US for me! Alternatively, you can use any lipstick and dab powder on your lips to mattify them, or you can have a look at these brands above that all have great matte effect lipsticks!

Autumn Radiance - Glowy and Fresh Skin

Recently, I've been discovering a ton of new ways to improve my skin, which makes me really happy as it's just in time for a new make-up season. I think a big trend for this coming autumn is glowy, radiant skin with rosy cheeks for a healthy complexion. Here a few of the best products to get the look!

Hello Brow - Thick and Defined Eyebrows

The last trend (which again has been ongoing for a while) which I believe is going to keep being big this season are strong, bold, defined brows. My favorite way to wear them is with a smooth and slightly dewy complexion, and either a smokey eye or a bold lip and really strong eyebrows. Here a few of the must-haves for well groomed eyebrows!

So that's it, these are the few trends that I think will be (or keep being) important in the fashion and beauty world in the next few months. Many of them have been ongoing trends, but redefined, and some of them I have just recently discovered and fallen in love with. All in all, I must say I am beyond excited to finally start the autumn season, as it's my favorite (especially the clothes). 

Any trends that you're excited to wear? Any ideas you wanted to share?

My next post will probably be a "Get ready with me" morning routine or "Good night" evening routine for skin care and make-up. Any preferences? Let me know in the comments below.
I'm also REALLY excited for Kym to come back from the US, as I haven't seen her in months. We'll make sure to post a joint article then (and we'll both be uploading US hauls!) Til then, love,

(all items via polyvore. You can get many of those by either typing keywords into polyvore, or just checking the Monki and the ASOS shop, as that's where I found most of those clothes!)