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www.instagram.com/officialnatalina

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Vogue 🌙

#aesthetic #vogue #vintage vogue #high fashion #aesthetics #luxury #luxe #old money #coquette

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Wishlist jewelry piece for 2023

I want to invest in a heavier gold necklace to layer with my other pieces. I’ve got my eyes on this type of medallion pendant. Not too big or bulky tho, just elegant and timeless.

We’ll see how it goes 🤭

Pic source: Pinterest

#aesthetic #self care #self improvement #wishlist #jewelry #necklace #gold necklace #luxury #goalsetting #level up #dream girl #dream life #fikadiaries #goals #2023 goals

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Get Your Morning Started 🤍

I bet you already read dozens of morning routines but maybe I can offer you a few different tips and tricks with my step by step morning routine.

waking up early is essential to make the most out of the day. If you aren‘t an early bird, try different kinds of alarm clocks (light, nature sounds, etc).

After waking up make sure there is some water on your nightstand and drink it. Start hydrating!

Try to avoid your phone as long as possible - no one needs your attention that early in the morning. Be considerate and put your attention on yourself!

Don‘t make your bed. Srsly! Open your window and air your bedding first. Making your bed right after getting up is a safe place for mites. While ventilating the bedroom you can go the bathroom, prepare your drinks/breakfast, journal or meditate. Make your bed 30 min after leaving your bed.

Meditate. Light a candle or incense sticks. Roll out your fitness mat and choose between guided meditations or non guided meditations (I recommend guided for beginners, you can find some on YouTube or Spotify) meditation is key try to stick to it daily!

Journal for organisation and personal growth. 5 to 10 minutes only (!!!) there are many journals out there, I personally use the 5 Minute Journal but any journal would do. You can use a plain notepad and look up journaling ideas on pinterest I really don‘t want you to spend money on stuff you don‘t necessarily need just for the aesthetic.

Move your body honey! Do a YouTube workout or go for a run. Walk your staircase up and down do whatever you feel like doing but try to ignore your lazy bum trying to make you skip this. Get stared on this one you can thank me later.

Breakfast, baby. Nutrition and hydration is non-negotiable! Have your vegetables and fruits, drink your coffee or matcha, don’t forget to drink your lemon water. Don‘t skip breakfast to loose wait angel. Your organs need the calories to function during the day so treat yourself with love and consideration.

Keep calm and moisturise. Quick shower or wash to get ready for the day. Skincare is everything. I’m currently investing (and testing) Korean skincare for myself but a few products are key: cleanser -> toner -> antioxidant serum (vitamin c) -> eye cream -> moisturizer -> sunscreen

Make up and dress up. Find your personal style you feel comfortable with and you‘re good to go. You can look up outfit capsules on pinterest for wardrobe ideas. In terms of make up I personally think less is more. Mascara, lip oil, some rouge on the cheeks and vaseline and you‘re fine. I personally prefer a sleek hairstyle.

Listen to podcast. This step is easily combined with breakfast or getting ready. I‘m currently listening to Confessions by Anastazia but I’ll probably make a playlist with my fave podcast episodes from various podcasts and share it with you.

Bisous!

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#aesthetic #makeup #fragrance #perfume #candles #dyptique #charlotte #luxury #self improvement #aestethic #soft girl #pink pilates princess #Instagram

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#aesthetic #luxury #candles #dyptique #soft girl #Instagram

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another list of ways i’m adding luxury to my life because i deserve to be comfortable

sleeping on a featherbed in addition to my mattress (game changer for your night’s rest)

investing in high quality nail polish (chanel, louboutin, etc., which costs half as much as going to the salon and painting my natural nails at home. i have beautiful strong natural nails that can grow very long and i am pretty skilled at nail painting, so this is an option for me. if your nails can’t do the same, i suggest still going to the salon. for me personally, i don’t like being at the salon for hours and having someone touching my hands the entire time.

i said yesterday that i wasn’t planning on drinking alcohol unless it was for a special occasion— but i only plan on drinking high quality wine or champagne only

using personalized stationary

buying fresh flowers whenever needed— even if they are flower delivery and i send myself a couple dozen red roses and chocolates because… why not?

stop buying mass-produced art pieces and find a local artist and commission their work which would be completely original.

buying high quality lingerie and wear matching sets underneath my clothes— making it a daily thing and normalizing dressing nice from beneath

adding a water filter to my shower for a more fresh and clean environment rid of any harsh chemicals, detergents, etc.

getting high-end candles for a lovely smell at home (there is definitely a difference in quality when it comes to candles and you get what you pay for)

when ordering online, select the “gift wrapping” option to treat myself a little more.

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CAN YOU MOISTURIZE YOUR SKIN TOO MUCH?

Moisturizer helps keep your skin hydrated and refreshed. It can also reduce the risk of many skin concerns, like extreme dryness or oiliness, fine lines etc. But is it possible to moisturize your skin too much? The short answer is YES, but not as you expect.

Why are we moisturizing the skin in the first place?

Moisturizers help our skin in terms of reducing water loss and keeping irritants out, but isn’t that the job of our skin in the first place? The answer is YES, it is.

How does the skin do that?

Well skin the outermost layer is called the Stratum Corneum. It’s essentially composed of dead skin cells called Corneocytes. There are specialized proteins in between the Corneocytes called Cornea Desmosomes that rivet between them and, with time, degrade. Which allows for shedding of the Corneocytes and that’s what exfoliation basically is.

Microanatomy of stratum corneum depicting the layers of epidermis. From: Sehgal, Virendra. (2018). The impact of microanatomy and changing physiology of stratum corneum the skin barrier on evolution of atopic dermatitis. A visual representation to better explain how you can moisturize your skin too much.

Microanatomy of stratum corneum depicting the layers of epidermis. From: Sehgal, Virendra. (2018). The impact of microanatomy and changing physiology of stratum corneum the skin barrier on evolution of atopic dermatitis.

Now, when the water content of that outer layer drops, that can lead to dry heaped up skin cells. And ultimately impair the health of your skin barrier.

You’ve also got lipids that seal in water and keep irritating things out. Within that milieu, you also have hydroscopic factors that bind water and hold it in place. That’s referred to as natural moisturizing factors.

It’d be all well and good if we weren’t exposed to a lot of things that eat away at that protective layer. Detergent that we are encounter with washing our hands, cleansing cosmetics, makeup, dirt, impurities, pollutants, and all sorts of things settle on the surface of the skin. That protective layer can become more and more damaged, and you can start losing more water.

When our moisture barrier is impaired, we lose more water from the skin. Making us more prone to irritation, acne flares, redness, and all sorts of skin problems.

How does moisturizer work?

Moisturizers employ two strategies:

• The first strategy is to increase the water content in the Stratum Corneum (remember that outermost layer of your skin?) through the inclusion of hydroscopic ingredients. Namely things like Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid that bind water. This way, they kind of mimic your skin’s natural moisturizing factors.

• The second strategy behind moisturizers is to deposit a water-soluble oily substance on the surface of the skin. Which kind of mimics the skin’s intracellular lipids. That’ll trap water in there, and ultimately prevent water loss. Those ingredients are known as occlusives and one of my favorites is Petrolatum. Why? Because it can reduce water loss out of the skin by 99%.

Moisturizers help address the needs of the skin barrier and everyone can benefit from that, including people who have oily skin.

Can you moisturize your skin too much?

Can you have too much moisture in the skin? The short answer is YES, but it’s not likely because you are using a moisturizer.

There is a tipping point where you can have too much hydration in the Stratum Corneum. And there are quite a few conditions in which that occurs.

The first situation that comes to mind is diaper rash. You must think I’m out of my mind for even bringing up diapers in a blogpost about skincare but hear me out! Diaper rash happens because you have a moist environment in the diaper that overly hydrate the skin. Naturally, the end result is losing even more water and compromising your skin barrier. But there is another situation where a similar process takes place. One that I’m sure you’ve experienced, maskne.

Interestingly enough the remedy for both of these situations is to use an occlusive moisturizer to act as a barrier to water loss, and to prevent friction and further irritation so that your your skin can heal and recover.

The same thing can also happen in anywhere where you have skin on skin contact (e.g. under the armpits, abdominal folds etc.)

Can too much moisturizer make your skin oilier?

That is not true, too much moisturizer will not make your skin oilier. Oil production is governed by your hormones. Which means that it won’t be influenced by putting moisturizer on your skin.

How much moisturizer is too much?

I am hesitant to say that you can’t overdo it with moisturizer because I know there will be inevitably someone out there who goes overboard. Someone that will be putting on moisturizer every minute of the day. And yes that is excessive, and you certainly can always overdo anything. So I’m not advocating for the excessive use of moisturizer.

What I will always encourage people to do is use a moisturizer after cleansing. Because the cleansing action can disrupt some of the lipid barrier, and a moisturizer can help reduce water loss out of the skin. Naturally, if you wash your face twice a day, you should be using a moisturizer twice a day.

If you have eczema or some other dry skin condition. Then you may benefit from putting on moisturizer again at some other point in the day.

When it comes to hands, you can definitely get away with reapplying moisturizer more frequently. Because we wash our hands more often, we are constantly stripping them of moisture. So using a lot of occlusive moisturizer to the hands is recommended.

Conclusion

You can certainly moisturize your skin too much, but it most likely won’t be because of a moisturizer.

I hope you enjoyed this post! It’s an excerpt of this blogpost on my website ;) See you soon~

#skincare tips #skincare #skincare routine #beauty blog #skincare blog #blog post #blog

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Swatching the limited edition Dior Forever Couture Luminizer ✨

~she’s a beauty~

#aesthetic #makeup #dior #dioraddict #highlighter #makeup swatches #preppy #fikadiaries #limited edition

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Where are my old Hollywood girlies?

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Swatching the new Dior Lip Addict Maximizer in 024 Intense Brick ✨

#dior #lipgloss #aesthetic

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