Charleston Naturally - Skincare Review

- Sponsored post

Beauty and Aikido ©

I got some products sent over by Charleston Naturally and I tried them out for some month, so I am ready now to give you a review about them. All the products came in this nice little linen pouch:

Inside there were a number of nice products for me to test, peek-a-booo!

First one I tried out was the coconut butter cinnamon lip balm, it is yummilicious. It contains a few basic natural ingredients coconut oil, cocoa butter, organic beeswax, organic cardamon and cinnamon oils. I applied it for the first time in the office where I got the package and it just lit up my day. Tastes really natural, a lot more natural then the Japanese chocolate lip balm I purchased earlier from sasa.com. You can check that article here.

The next thing I tried out was the hand cream. I fist used it for the hands only. It is not too oily, very good consistency and gets absorbed in the skin really quickly. Then I checked the ingredients and realized I could sometimes use this as a night cream, like when I am travelling. It contains two basic ingredients: 

• Tamanu: restorative, healing, moisturizing
• Red Clover: soothing, nutritive, purifying

Other organic ingredients are: aloe gel, rose hip seed oil, cocoa butter, vitamin C, grapefruit, lavender and soybean oils, just to mention a few. It is also a vegan and gluten free product.

I was in the meanwhile using this eye cream too. I find it really soothing. I mainly use it in the evening, but sometime I applied it in the morning too under makeup. It absorbs quickly has a nice consistency and a really natural smell. I cannot talk about any regenerating effects as I don't really have any problems in my eye area yet.

Then as a wrap up, I would like to write a bit about the only decorative skincare item that I have received in the package. I was totally amazed by the ingredients and by the fact that these ingredients can give such a nice color (see picture on top of the post): fruit pigments of organic: blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, rosehip oil. Then loads of organic butters: avocado, cocoa, flax seed and also Vitamin C. All the pigments, butters and oils are certified by Oregon Tilth Certification Organic. Here are some pictures of the blush: 

For more organic skincare products, please visit Charleston Naturally.

Aikido Communication Tip

- Guest post by Greet De Baets

Aikido Communication Tip 1 - What do you need in a conflict?

Love. Show love for humanity, for our universe: you will find the power to deal with conflicts. This love gives you a broader view and, hence, energy and confidence.

Love is an important value, even in aikido (a Japanese martial art). Ueshiba Morihei, the grandmaster of aikido, called aikido the martial art of love and not the martial art of violence. Love is the basis for peace and harmony. Only when the aikidoka's attitude is peaceful and nonviolent, the aikidoka can conquer and bring harmony to the situation.

This aikido wisdom is universal. Feel free to implement it in any conflict at the office, on the floor, at home, ...

__________

Aikido Communication Tip 2 - Are you sometimes surprised about what is important in other cultures?

Are you surprised about what is important to the English, the Americans, the Dutch, the Germans, the French, ... Does it match with your ideas? Or not? 

Accept what is important to others. Show them that you take them seriously. And tell them respectfully that you see things differently. 

Consider: to accept ≠ to agree

Imagine the opposite: people from another culture take you seriously when something is obvious to you. They accept you, your ideas and your behaviour, even if they do not agree with you. A lovely perspective, isn't it?

The tatami link for the aikidoka: we take everything our uke does seriously. We accept every attack ≠ we do not agree with it.

If you liked these thoughts, please also visit Greet's website:  Greettraining

How to Get a Cute Hairdo - With Bangs

In this video, my friend Bella is doing my hair. The before and after are striking. It is damn hard to tame my wild hair. But she managed to do it. As we are good friends, I was at her place. We chatted a lot and we are planning to organize an all girls day, with many ladies. I could do nails, and maybe a bit of makeup she could do hairs. But we still need to find the people who would be interested in that and live in our area. So if you are and you leave in Budapest, please leave me a note!

She also has a blog:

http://www.itsbellatime.blogspot.com/

You can check there loads of transformations and before and after photos. It is amazing how different one can look with a good haircut and some decent makeup. She also does hair extensions and all the such. So if you live in Budapest and want to get your hair done by her, just leave us a comment here or on her blog.

Kuribayashi Shihan Aikido Seminar March 2013

This was the first time that I participated at a big seminar with so many aikidoka attending. I loved the silence of the mokuso and the swift sound of the hakamas as we were doing the stretching and preparing for the techniques. There was a variety of styles and approaches that I could see. I had to adapt to each new person, take the fall, execute the technique, take the fall again, switch, listen, concentrate, understand... or at least try to better understand. It energized me a lot. Gave me new perspectives and a lot of motivation, too. I do want to get better. When you train with people who have been doing it for 10 or 15 years, you feel small, but you also feel motivated because you see that people can hang on and follow this path. I find that great. I also had the opportunity to be thrown once by Kuribayashi Sensei. He was concentrating for a few seconds when I took hold of him, I think he even closed his eyes, and then I flew in the air. There were many associations present from whole Hungary and also from abroad. However, the associations in Hungary need to be more united and there is still a lot of work to be done. I am hoping for a brighter future!

Clothes Review - Coco Fashion

I was putting off this post because I wanted to give you guys fabulous picture quality on my renewed blog surface, and here it is. I went for a blog face lift and for a bright white background that will put more emphasis on the content of my blog. I hope you will love it too! 

Last year before Christmas I placed an order at Coco Fashion. I loved the styles I saw there because I am a big fan of Asian Fashion, so I went ahead and contacted them with the information that I am looking forward to write a post about them. They evaluated my blog really quickly and offered me a 30% discount on whatever I was about to purchase. So here is the list of the purchases I have made:

As you can see the prices are really good, and with the discount they got amazingly cheap. I was really happy with this, but in case you order from Coco Fashion you have to keep in mind that they do not ship for free. So there I was before placing my order, I saw the shipping fee...

I was like...ouch...Then I compared the to other online Asian fashion shops where shipping is free, and I ended up with the conclusion that their prices were higher and included probably the shipping costs. The prices of Coco Fashion seem lower, but do not include the shipping cost. In case you are as keep as researching and comparing as me, you may find it more convenient to order in the end from Coco Fashion, depending on how heavy your item is, because shipping is according to weight.

And now that we discussed the financial part, let me show you the actual items! :D

The Kuma sports suit that I love so much! It is the cutest thing ever and it suits me perfectly. It has also been featuring on my Giveaway because it is so cuuuutee!!!

Then comes my no. 2 fave, the furry hoodie! I got loads of compliments on them and I love it because it is warm and comfy! It is also one of the top selling items of Coco Fashion. I had a bit of a boboo with the inner zipper that got broken off the first day I was wearing it, but the outer one remained whole. I will have to get the inner zipper replaced, until then I used a paper clip to pimp my attire :P

Wohoo and now to the girly pink stuff!!!! Girly  puffy, fluffy, waaaaaaaaaaaa, I love it! And the lace detail is also beautiful, though on mine something went wrong. As you can see in the picture, one side is hanging and the other side is sewn up. But could be this is only the problem of this particular item. It dos not worry me too much, I am wearing it as it is.

I also ordered these pants for the cold days, because they are really thick and warm. However they are too short for me, so I will give them to my younger sister. The sewing here looks good in general, only one thread on the bottom was bothering me a bit, but it can be cut off.

And last but not least, a polka dot long blouse that I love. I wore it to a night out with some shiny leggings and everyone complimented me. They are unique and very feminine. Totally fulfilled my expectations. I added some close ups so you can see the extremely accurate work on it, the texture of the material and the good quality.

So in case you are interested to get some of these unique Asian Fashion items, head to Coco Fashion and pick your own style.

Winners of the GIVEAWAY!

Beauty and Aikido ©
Hoodie from Coco Fashion

Hi Guys! I was so happy to announce the winners of the giveaway this weekend. 

The Beauty Prize went to Katherine Donovan

The Aikido Prize went to Nicole Lancaster

I already emailed the ladies and got back really quick replys. Your prizes will be mailed really first thing next week. The Beauty Prize will be mailed by me personally to Katherine Donovan as I was sponsoring that part of the giveaway. The Aikido Prize will be mailed by Anne Marie from Aiki Trend.

Katherine, Nicole, looking forward to getting a feedback from you on how you liked the prizes when you get them, maybe even pictures of you wearing them. Would be awesome!

I also want to share with the rest of you  guys that I am actively looking for sponsors for future giveaways, so you most probably won't have to wait another whole year for the blog anniversary to win something!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Aikido on Saturday

Those of you who follow me on Tumblr. know that I usually post my training notes there. But this time as the event has a certain importance, I dedicate a whole post to it. We had a training camp in a town near by and it was awesome. Students from several different associations gathered and trained as one big family. It was great to see all the hakama students doing their flowy moves and swirling around in shiko dashi. The Senseis leading the demonstrations present there were the following: Elsner László Sensei (6. dan), Várszegi Rudolf Sensei (6.dan), Shidoin Pivony Attila Sensei (5.dan). 

We did all the five teachings in suwari waza, then some knife techniques and and the end our Sensei was demonstrating a few more intricate techniques. The camp had as a purpose the preparation for the dan exams. At the end we all gathered in a big circle, held each other's hands and did some breathing exercises. It was all very exciting. As for how it was for me personally, sometimes I got confused with the techniques, but then I asked for help. Before the whole seminar started I felt butterflies in my stomach, a feeling of uncertainty and eager to try out something new, it was all really new and intriguing to me. Each time the technique changed, we changed partners, too. This way we had the chance to blend with a lot people who were around and practicing. Somehow I felt connected to them through the fact that we all dedicate a big part of our life to this martial art. I hope this was the beginning of a series yet to come and the path towards a unified aikido in Hungary.