A Girl in Holland

Honestly before I came to Netherlands, I do not have a regular facial regimen. When it comes to beauty regimen, I am the wash and wear type, if you can call it that. For hair care, I go for the shampoo and conditioner in one so that I don’t need to spent more than 1o minutes in the shower. I do apply lotions when I am not in a hurry to go to an event (which is seldom) and I do not go to salons for regular trimming unless I need my yearly rebonding. I have my hair trimmed twice a year (or when I go for the rebonding) and I don’t use hair products other than for the basic washing.

When it comes to my face, Im settled with Ponds products and rarely use other brands. I have been using foaming facial cleanser since I was 16 and just switched to a non-soap brand when a dermatologist told me after a peeling session. I eventually went back to Ponds because the other brand is a tad too expensive for me. I also do not use facial creams or scrubbing products on my face, for the basic reason that I am too lazy to spend that much time applying them twice a day. I would rather spend those extra time reading or writing and watching tv.

When I flew here, I didn’t bring my Pond’s facial cleanser so I have to look for another brand which is of course cheaper as I do not want to spend too much on these things. And because the weather proves to be an annoyance to my skin I have to look for products that will help this problem. My skin has became drier that everytime I step out of the shower, my face, especially my nose is flaking like after a sunburn.

That’s when I discovered Lidl’s Iseere products. I think I have enumerated enough reasons for loving them. And because they are so affordable, I do not mind buying the entire line of facial products, aside from the fact that they do helps keeping my face soft and smooth. Especially now that I am trying to erase all traces of the evil chicken pox from my face, I have regligiously follow a strict facial care regimen these days. I am sharing this to women who wants to maintain their youthful and beautiful skin but who doesn’t want to spend too much on expensive brands.

Facial Scrub - It’s only recently that I went to regular facial scrubbing. My choice of product for this is Iseeri Peeling Gel. It has Vitamin E and provitamine B5 which are known to be good for your skin. It has a very uplifting smell, simply adorable that I wouldn’t mind using it everyday. There are blue beads that scrubs your face off the deep-seated dirt in your pores. After applying this, you will notice that your pores are smaller and your skin clearer. I use it three times a week. EUR2,69/tube.

Day Cream - For this one I use Iseere Q10 Moisturizing Day Cream. It has only been 1 month and a half that I have been using this product but I am already convinced that it works for my skin. My skinhas remained soft and smooth despite the changes in the temperature and my skin doesn’t get flaky anymore. I use it every morning. EUR2,45/tub.

Facial Cleanser - Everynight I am mostly too tired to tae a shower or wash my face. So as not to sleep with all the day’s dirt hiding behind my pores, I use Iseere Facial Cleanser with Milk. It’s very convinient to use because you only need to apply it like a facial cream and take it off with cotton. You will feel a bit of stinging afterwards which for me proves that the product is working. You will notice that youre still is clearer. And because it has melk, you are sure it’s gentle on your skin.

Facial Wash - At the moment I am using Douglas’ Facial Foam in Frangini Scent. It works well with my skin and I love the scent. Best of all I bought it for only Eur3,45 which came with a facial toner and cream so there’s nothing to complain. Since at the moment doesn’t have in its stock an Iseere Facial Cleanser, Im sticking to this Douglas foam till it is finished.

So what about you dear readers, what is your facial care regimen? Is it effective from your point of view and how much does it cost you to remain beautiful?

If you have read about the Netherlands in tourist books and brochures, you must be aware by now that the country is famous for their windmills, tulips, cows, the red light districts, legal marijuana and herring. Those are indeed all part of the Dutch identity but I am going to talk about them another time.

In addition to these cultural symbols, the Dutch is also very well known to be people of extreme stingyness. The book The UnDutchables published by two expratiates in Netherlands tagged its people as the “tao of tightness”. According to the book, this trait of strict frugality came from a Clavinism point of view. They are very thrifty with everything and would not want to waste anything.

It is a surprise then why a lot of designer boutiques and very expensive brands are trhiving in this country. Well, the Dutch also have a love for beautiful things with very good quality. But since I chose to adopt the frugality, and also because I am not earning enough euros yet, I buy my clothes where the average Dutch will.

Every woman must at least buy one piece every month and I as a little lady make sure I follow that rule. There are a lot of clothing stores in Netherlands where you can buy affordable clothes as well as those stores you can only dream about if you’re purse is not thick enough.. It’s always tempting to step in one of these stores and cart away every time you are in the city center only for a leisure walk. So what I do to resist the urge to part with my hard earned euros, I haunt for affordable stores where I can buy clothes that are of good design but the cost of a Chinese lunch.

I would like to share with you some of the shops that I frequent in Netherlands, especially in Rotterdam. In these shops, you wouldn’t mind spending money like a millionare because even after you purchased three tops in one buy, you can still go home with a change from your EUR20.

1. Zeeman - I discovered the store in our little city in the south of Holland. I was looking for a pair of sunglasses when I first arrived in the spring. Zeeman is well known in Rotterdam for very cheap items, from toys to clothes. In this store I was able to buy a nice sunglasses for EUR1,99, a decent polo shirt for my boyfriend at EUR1,99 and a comfortable sweater for him for EUR8,99. I also got them some of my cosmetics which I will say is not very good. But I love their perfumes, the Moara Shira brand which sells for EUR2,99 ofr a 50ml and it smells so good. Well at least the one I got.

2. Kiki Riki - This clothes stores is located in Lijnbaan in Rotterdam. I was pursuade inside by big signs plastered in its windows which screams “Tops voor EUR5″. Since then I developed this principle of not buying a top more than EUR5. I had been coming back to Kiki Riki since that faithful day I bought my first long sleeve turtle neck. In my last visits I carted away another black turtle neck and a long sleeve for EUR3,99.

3. H&M - This store is probably known in the whole world for their quality but affordable clothes. And I am one of their millions of clients. I regularly check sales in H&M and already bought three items from them, a EUR16,00 white mail bag, a EUR9,00 blazer and EUR9,00 dress. And I am loving these items every moment I share with them because they look so good on me, sturdy enough to weather their (almost) everyday use and provides me with so much comfort as well.

These are just three of the stores that I can share for now. I will be coming up with more as this blog develops. I hope you will come back for more of my stories.

 Happy shopping everyone and enjoy! Continue Reading »