New Zealand blog

Tauranga was always an amazing place to live: gorgeous beaches, relaxed lifestyle and a short ride to pretty much any…

There are so many reasons to love Christmas: family gatherings, delicious food you can eat without feeling any guilt, presents and, of course, days off work. But there is something else, that always makes us, girls, rub our hands gleefully. And that is limited-edition Christmas collections.

Welcome to the NEW theStyleJungle! I can’t believe it’s the third time in my life I’m typing this phrase already. 1 December, 2018 marks not only the day when we launch new design but also the day of the new theStyleJungle content-wise.

You know I’m the biggest beautyholic out there – I enjoy discovering new brands, top-notch products and extremely unusual, but highly effective ingredients. Sometimes I find something so cool, I really want to share it with you, but honestly, writing a traditional ‘beauty review’ feels a bit boring, don’t you think so? So, that’s how I ended up sitting in front of my laptop and three gorgeous little bottles of Tailor ‘Glow Pots’ recently. ‘What should I do with you, guys?’ I asked… And here it was! A funny solution that I personally absolutely love – if I can talk to beauty products in real life, why don’t I talk to them on blog? As if it was a real interview, only with a lipstick, perfume or face serum instead of a person. I can use my concerns and worries as questions and my honest opinion after using them as their answers. Seriously, so much fun!

Rachelle Duffy (founder of The Little Big Events) is one of those people doing incredible things for our community and our region. Weekend markets, annual festivals and even monthly magazine is what brings Tauranga to life. I first had a pleasure to talk to her about a year ago, while interviewing Rachelle for focus magazine. Though she just gave Birth to her second baby and was certainly extremely busy being a mum of a newborn, she found time for a long and very interesting phone talk. A year later, and we finally meet in person at the opening day of Our Place, new container village in Tauranga CBD, bringing old market favs and some new brands to the Downtown.

New Zealand is a pure visual inspiration. Bloggers across the globe travel to remote destinations to capture nature’s wonders in the most breathtaking ways, while we’re lucky to live in a country with epic views, lush greens, glacier lakes, black sand beaches, volcanoes and colossal mountains. Most often we don’t even have to go further than our own backyard to create content, causing major travel envy on Instagram.

I won’t lie, I LOOOOOVE busy weekends – with deadlines, photoshoots, scheduling, going out with friends… With the bloody FOMO syndrome, this iGen curse, hamster wheeling every single day feels like the only way to survive and not to fall behind the crazy life speed. But as winter season calls for blankets, hot tea and books, sometimes it’s just too difficult to resist. And I think, we all deserve this quiet me-time at home, just relaxing and doing nothing. But how do you make sure you take the max out of these two days without the guilt of waisting your time?

Let’s be honest, we all enjoy spending money on the person we love the most (ourselves!) every now and then. And when it comes to skincare or makeup products, even the most spontaneous investment is normally worth every penny. Because there is nothing like a soft, kitten-like touch of Giorgio Armani foundation, the ease and grace of applying Chanel eyeliner or the miracles La Prairie caviar creams do to your skin. But does it mean there’s no chance to find something decent in a cheaper category? I totally disagree! And these products I’m currently obsessed with, are the best proof. Affordable, but so effective, convenient and beautiful!

I honestly will never get used to winters with +18 degrees, outdoor dinners and sneakers as your warmest boots. No-no, I wasn’t a sleepy mama bear missing those freezing few days of the last week in her cozy warm bed, I do remember my teeth chattering few times in shower in the morning. But wasn’t the weekend’s sun just the best compensation?