TRAVELS IN BERLIN // DAY 1

I have recently returned from a brilliant 4 day trip to Berlin, where I have done so much walking I can't even explain! It has been a really, really good city holiday with loads of friends, and I plan on sharing my trip with you guys through the many pictures I took.

We left on Saturday morning at ridiculous o' clock (3am), got a coach to Gatwick airport, and an early flight off to Berlin. I LOVE flying, and take-off gets me super excited which proved highly entertaining for my friends sitting next to me. Once we'd arrived we got another coach to our 5 star hotel... I'm kidding, we stayed in a hostel... But there's nothing wrong with that and we had a brilliant time despite the lumpy pillows!

We then when to one of the most famous memorials in Berlin; the Berlin Wall. Along the way we looked at a couple of other things such as a huge red bricked bridge and the river that runs through Berlin, but the main attraction was the wall. Some of the graffiti on the wall is relatively modern, in contrast with the original writings and art. For any people who have no idea what the Berlin Wall is, it was the wall that separated East Germany which was controlled by the Russians, and West Germany which was controlled by the Americans after World War II. It is interesting walking through Berlin and constantly crossing between former Eastern and Western districts, as you can see the difference in architecture in places. The wall itself definitely expresses the sort of feelings the people of Berlin felt about being split up from the other half of their country.

We then walked along some more streets of Berlin, before we were to look at the memorial of the holocaust from Nazi Germany in World War II. I must mention that all of the people I went on this trip with study History at A-Level, and so our tour of Berlin had a lot of relevance to our topic of Germany from the reign of the Kaiser Reich from the late 1800s to the end of the Nazi Reich in 1945.

The memorial for the holocaust was so interesting, from the surface it simply looked like lots of equal concrete blocks, arranged in straight lines and all the same height apart from some lower ones at the edges. The uniformity of these blocks for me represented the victims of the holocaust loosing their identity's and individual thought. However, as you walked into the memorial, the ground became uneven, and began to get steeper and steeper, meaning that the blocks became taller and taller, and you became more disorientated despite the fact that these blocks were still ordered in straight lines. We agreed that this disorientation seemed to represent the way in which the victims must have felt increasingly lost and isolated in their time as prisoners in concentration camps. The architect Peter Eisenman certainly did a fantastic job with this relatively new memorial.

The group and I then wandered along more streets in the centre of Berlin passing some other monuments that we would visit on other days of the trip such as the Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag government building.

Here you can see a traffic light you might not recognise. This green man is called the Ampelmann and is special as it was the green traffic man used by Russian East Germany, meaning that you can always tell whether you're in former East or West Germany due to the difference in traffic man. This guy looks so cute with his little hat right!?

We then found a place to eat frickin' huge burgers because we we're starving, and paid a quick visit to the Ampelmann store. Hell yeah, they have a store for the cute traffic man and a website. As you can imagine we all went to bed in the hostel absolutely exhausted from doing so much in one day, but its definitely worth doing as much as possible and making the most of it when you're only in a city for a limited amount of time.

I'll keep uploading days 2, 3 and 4 in separate posts once I've edited them (which takes forever), and thanks so much for reading!

P H O E B E. G R A C E //

GRATEFUL FOR #1

Many blogs I know and read do weekly updates of things that they loved or things that made them happy during the week. I love this idea, as I've always thought it good to look back and take note of the good things in your week, right down to minute details, so that you end up with a positive outlook on life. Although I won't do this weekly, I would like to make 'Grateful for' a frequent feature on Simplicity of Grace, perhaps monthly?

 

This blog is in fact titled 'Simplicity of Grace' for a few reasons, but one is because I love the idea of enjoying not only the big exciting adventures of life, but also the simple things. These posts therefore should be a reflection of that; and so here's a little mix of 5 things that I have been very grateful for recently.

 

 

1) The sunshineeeeee
Although it's still quite chilly in England, the sun has been out loads recently! It feels so good to finally get some Vitamin D and it's making me so damn excited for summer. The sun is also rising earlier and setting later, which means my mornings are brighter and sunnier and longer, all of that equalling a happy me.

 

2) Small gestures

Just little things that people have done for me, that mean a lot. For example, someone paying for a little jam donut that I fancied. It was only cheap, but I didn't have any change on me and their gesture just made me smile. Again, that vogue up there? I like to get vogue every month, and it may not seem like a particularly special thing, but my boyfriend picked it up for me whilst he was in London, and presented it to me with a perfect cup of my favourite Monmouth coffee. It just made me smile that a) he is willing to look a little odd buying a pink magazine with Cara, Georgia and Suki on it for me and b) he knows exactly what will make my day.

 

3) Going out

Its always nice to go out for meals, and I'm always so grateful that I'm in the position where I get to do this quite frequently. I'm such a foodie nowadays, and food + my favourite company means a great night. Most recently I was able to have a few meals with just me and my boyfriend, a huge meal to say goodbye to a couple who have moved to Australia for a while, as well as catch up meals with people we haven't seen in a while. I am so very grateful for friends and food!

 

4) Fresh candles

Many people may think that candle season has gone, what with autumn and winter practically over, and all the sweet cinnamon spiced scented things going off the shelves, and less night time hours to burn them in. However, for me spring is the perfect time to pick up some lighter scents such as 'Flowers' by The White Company, or the Open Window Candle, that make the room smell happier and fresher.

 

5) Mothers Day

This is a very recent one, as it was today, but I can't help saying that I am super grateful for my mum. She is always so supportive and lovely, and genuinely wants to help me in everything I do. One day is definitely not enough to repay her, but I hope that she knows how much she is loved.

 

Hope you have all had good weeks, and that you all equally have lots of things to be thankful for!

P H O E B E. G R A C E //

EVERYDAY SKINCARE ROUTINE

Taking care of your skin is so important, and it can be hard to find out how exactly is best to do it. If I know anything about skincare, it is that no two people will find the exact same results from a product, because everyone's skin is so different. However I thought that I would share my personal skincare routine.

I don't have particularly bad skin, in fact I've been blessed with really clear skin when it comes to spots, and for my early teenage years I really didn't do much at all. As I've become a bit older however, I've noticed that my skin tends to get quite oily, and that if I don't treat it right I can get the odd breakout of nasty spots, and a super shiny face! I also noticed that in both winter and summer, my legs, elbows, hands and lips would get seriously dried out (nasty) as I neglected to bother taking care of the skin on my body too. Since those realisations I have tried to take a lot better care of my skin, and so this is what I generally use on a day to day basis.

 Soap and Glory 'The Righteous Butter' body butter

As well as the fact that Soap and Glory are great because they name all their products with body-related puns, they are also great because they make amazing body butter! This smells of the classic Soap and Glory scent which I love, and it is really good for my skin. I often think that scented body creams will irritate my skin, however with this product that is certainly not the case, and it is my go to cream in the mornings before I get dressed. As I mentioned, I used to have pretty dry skin, but when I started regularly applying this every morning, the results were soft, smooth and healthy looking skin where it had before been dry and crusty. In essence, its amazing, and I would totally recommend buying the huge 300ml tub of it because its that good.

Aesop 'Oil Free Facial Hydrating Serum'

As opposed to using moisturiser every morning, I now opt for this, a serum, instead. Aesop is quite an expensive and up market skin care brand but I love it so much, and it actually features 4 times in todays post! The scents of these products are not sweet like many, but earthy and basic, usually scented simply with Aloe Vera, which for me is much nicer than getting out the shower and putting something sweet and fruity onto my skin as I think it feel less fresh. The serum itself has a little pipet attached to the lid, and only a few drops are needed to spread it all over my face. I find that it has a much lighter and refreshing feel than moisturiser for the morning, and it  certainly does the job as my skin feels very plump and hydrated for the rest of the day. The 'Oil Free' part obviously leaps out at me, as it can sometimes be tempting to not moisturise at all when you have oily skin, but that is a big no! This is therefore the perfect product to make sure that my face is hydrated, but not oily.

No. 7 'Beautiful Skin Vitality Eye Roll-on'

Up until recently I wasn't aware how sensitive the skin around the eye is compared to the rest of the face. It is apparently very important not to use all the products that are for your face on these areas as it can cause irritation, and it is much better to use a product designed for eyes. No. 7's eye cream works well for me, as it hydrates and moisturises the eye area, and helps to reduce the dark tired circles under the eyes. All it takes it a squeeze of the tube, and a couple sweeps under each eye to make them feel revitalised and ready in the morning.

Vaseline Cocoa Butter

My lips get treated to many different lip products, as I never seem to have the same one on me! I wouldn't say I have found the miracle product for my lips as of yet, but Vaseline still seems to work very well, and of course who can resist the cocoa butter smell!? This particular tin is also worth noting as it is in a special 'vintage' design that Vaseline released and I had to pick up, its so pretty!

Garnier 'Express 2 in 1 Eye Make-Up Remover'

Moving on to night time skin care now, and one of the most important things to do to keep your skin healthy is to take your make-up off! This seems basic, but it is so tempting to leave make-up on overnight after a busy day or a late evening but I try do to this as little as possible. Leaving make-up on not only makes your pillow all messy but can really block your pores leaving your skin dry and prone to breakouts. Any sort of make-up remover will do the job, but I prefer to use bottles and cotton wool pads instead of wipes as it takes less rubbing and is kinder to the eyes.

Aesop 'Fabulous Face Cleanser'

These three products actually came in a set from Aesop that my wonderful boyfriend bought me for Christmas, and as with the serum, they are equally amazing. This cleanser comes with a pump..! Not very important but it made me excited so there we go. After taking off your make-up with the remover, it is good to cleanse and wash your face to ensure all of the make-up is gone and your skin will not be blocked over night. All these Aesop products do share the same great thing in that they make my face feel truly clean and fresh.

Aesop 'B & Tea Balancing Toner'

Toner is not an essential part of the skincare routine, but I like to use it after my cleanser to treat the skin and help the pores. Cleanser really helps to hydrate the top layers of your skin, and removes any last traces of makeup or cleanser left behind!

Aesop 'Camellia Nut Facial Hydrating Cream'

The final thing I do before I go to bed is apply a little bit of moisturiser to make sure my skin doesn't dry out during the night. As I mentioned before, I use serum in the day instead of moisturiser, and another reason for this is that when I go to bed I know that the moisturiser will have lots of time to sink in and I won't be putting anything else on top such as I would do in the morning with my make-up. This moisturiser is really nice and creamy, and makes my face feel super clean. I never put too much on to avoid making my skin oily, but enough to cover my face, and wake up with skin that hasn't been dried out in the slightest.

I really hope you have enjoyed this, and thanks for visiting my page. Hope you've taken some tips on perhaps products to buy, or how to care for your skin, or if you just enjoyed looking at what I use I'm very pleased. See you Sunday for my next post!

P H O E B E. G R A C E //