Friday, April 29, 2011

Little Mori Girl Illustration

Today I have a little video for you! With a very important message!



Hugs to you,
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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Stawberry Nails Tutorial



I love strawberries! I figured that since it is spring we need a lot of them. So why not carry little strawberries on your nails? I hope you have fun with this little tutorial.

Many hugs to you!
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Monday, April 18, 2011

It Is Decided

Today I decided this:

But not only about the style. There is much more to it. It is a philosophy. It is a lifestyle (but not in the glam-magazine sort of way) and it is a way to think and act. Pdfs and mp3s to download. And for those who love paper I will self-publish it on lulu.

Right now I am really tired. This is my little secret for today. I will write a book about mori girls.

Wow. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

Many hugs to you!
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Friday, April 15, 2011

Mori Girl Makeup Tutorial

Hello lovely mori girls,

today I will show you how to do a very basic mori girl makeup. Nothing too fancy, as mori girls like to keep it natural. I am using earth-tones and a very subtle blush. You don´t actually want to look like you are wearing makeup, at least not lots of it.


I use my fingers to apply the make-up. I like it because it gives me more control over how much I actually put onto my face. Brushes and sponges are nice too, but I always get the feeling that 50% of the pigments go into the brush instead of onto my skin. For this movie I used my cam that is integrated into the MacBook Pro, so maybe not the best quality, but I guess you can see what I do.



Have fun with it! I would like to see photos of you wearing the mori girl style!

Many hugs to you,
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Bambi Pullover And How To Survive A Shopping Trip Without Nervous Breakdown

Hello my lovely mori girls,

today I am wearing one of my favorite new pieces: the bambi pullover. I am totally addicted to kawaii pieces that have a mori girl touch to it.



I am actually not a huge fan of shopping. It always makes me feel miserable, because somehow my brain tells me that in the changing room my "true body image" is waiting for me. As if what I see there rather reflects the truth than the mirror that I have at home. And mostly it is not to my liking. Thoughts rush through my head like "Oh my God, this is it, you are done with eating chocolate for this lifetime! I have to start working out, I look like pudding. Geez, I look different at home." Which is true: we all look different at home. We mostly have our light set to a mood that we like. That´s not the case in most changing rooms. The light there is rather blue-greenish and it makes you look sick and miserable. I have no idea why they do this, as I cannot imagine this to be good for selling clothes. You want to look good in them, not like some sort of freakish big slug.

I suggest: don´t go alone! It´s always better to have a more unbiased opinion than your own. Take somebody with you that has sort of the same taste as you have (take me!) and try to avoid being overly critical with what you see. If I am not exactly buying pants (which I hardly ever do, because I prefer skirts and dresses) I am avoiding the changing rooms completely. I somewhat know my size and I know what style fits me. I try things on at home and I never had the need to bring things back. But even if I would have to: that´s way better than coming out of the store with a head full of negative thoughts. Be kind to yourself, there is no need for war. Don´t give too much attention to the mirror. Rather go for feeling: do you feel comfortable in it? Give attention to the material. Prefer cotton to polyester, it is so much better for your skin.


Coming home I thought how hilarious this is: I make myself feel bad because of some bad light situation and a mirror. I must not be that harsh. I caught myself and stopped myself in that behavior. I don´t intend to ever go back. This is it with criticism. Back to the path of self-love and acceptance.






I absolutely love natural make up. I put on rather less than more, it should not make me look different. Maybe I should do some videos on mori girl make up and hair style? Would you be interested?











Hugs to you,
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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Simple Living and Inner Abundance

Hello my lovely mori girls!

Today I come to you with a book that I am reading right now.
It is called "A Different Kind of Luxury – Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance" written by Andy Couturier and I think that it is a must-read to every mori girl. The author traveled through Japan for many years, visiting men and women with a very different lifestyle and perspective on how to live a sustainable and fulfilled life.


Couturier leads us into the houses of 11 different men and women who have withdrawn themselves from the conventional lifestyle (and we all know how difficult that is in Japan, where your company is such a large part of everything. It provides your apartment, insurances and social status). Their lives are simple, yet they are surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, contemplation, delicious food and an abundance of time.

"If you have time, a lot of things are enjoyable. Making this kind of woodblock, or collecting the wood for the fire, or even cleaning things–it´s all enjoyable and satisfying if you give yourself time." (Osamu Nakamura) 

This is so very true. How often do we think that keeping a household is so tedious. I especially experience that with cleaning up. I often think that it is a nonproductive work, meaning that I am not developing any skills by washing the dishes.
By thinking this way I can hardly wait until I get finished and move on to the "real stuff". But what if I actually get to enjoy it? What if washing the dishes becomes my new time for meditation? The need for rushing would simply cease to exist. This is how everyone can create harmony. It is that simple.


"One of the books Nakamura has bound comprises a few photocopied pages on how to weave sandals from rice straw. Paging through it, I see how much my way of thinking about "craft" has changed over the period I have known him. Instead of craft being a "nice" pursuit with which to fill some unoccupied hours around the house, I have come to understand it as one of the most fundamental and ancient ways that humans have to meet their needs. (…) Craft is something that every person needed before machines made everything we use. "

Nakamura also talks about the "Beauty of the Usefulness". I had goosebumps when I read that. This is where arts and crafts come together, this is why I like Art Noveau so much: bringing beauty into our daily lives. What use does beauty have if I am not confronted by it every day? What joy I receive from a piece of pottery that I have made and decorated myself?



This is what I feel is so necessary in my life: creating things with my own to hands. It gives me the most satisfaction imaginable. Learning and teaching, both things are so close connected to each other. I wish for a little house somewhere in midst of nature, growing my own food, making tea on a stove heated with firewood (can you hear the sound of the boiling water already?) and literally being down to earth.





I guess in the future those who know to be self-sufficient and live sustainable on as many levels as possible will be the true kings and queens of this planet. I want to teach as much about that as my time here allows.

And I would love to have this ring by InMostLight.

Many hugs to you,
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Monday, April 4, 2011

How To Cheer Your Plants

Hello my lovely mori girls!

Those of you who keep indoor plants surely have those glasses, where you store your little babies in fresh water, for example small branches of a green friend that has accidentally broken off or that has grown too big. Some of these babies were quite happy in that glass, but they did not grow any roots. I waited for good 3 monts now and still nothing. This is why I think it is time for another Masaru Emoto experiment. If you don´t know who Masaru Emoto is, you might check out this video:



I know, the video is somewhat wishy-washy with that experiment at the end (it works, but I think it is more professional if you use the same jars and put them into the fridge rather than let them stand somewhere outside) and the woman is creepy somehow, but I still think that there is something to what Emoto says about resonance with water. I have read his books since I was 10 years and his methods are so simple, they just have to be true (and it also explains why people in doubt will not experience any change through this water … I would say they do not resonate, i.e. "sing the same song").

Now what has all of this got to do with my little plants? I want to motivate them to grow, so I can put them back into a pot without being worried that they will just die. (no roots, no nutrition, right?) So I took an empty jar and wrote a message for my small babies on it.


I put them back in there and I will watch closely what will happen now. This brings me back to the time when I would very often write cute little messages onto a small piece of paper for my friends. Let´s bring cute small messages back, I´ll come up with something. Maybe you want to participate and make somebody smile today too?


Of course I´ll give you an update on what happens to my plants! I´ll bet that within 2 weeks we will have a change happening! Cheer your plants! They deserve it!



Hugs to you!
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Saturday, April 2, 2011

The little secret


When it comes to dressing in mori girl style then one big part of it is the hairstyle.
I don´t think that mori girls use something like a straightening iron. The hair should look natural, preferably a bit weavy. Today I had this hairstyle. It is really easy to do and trust me: braids are your friend. I just took a small strand of hair next to my ear, braided it and then laid it over my head. The perfect finish is the little vintage hairclip, that you use to fix the braid. Voilá! That wasn´t too difficult, right?

Happy hairday!
Hugs,

Natalie

We need to see the world


Mori girls like to travel. The journey is not about distance. It can be to Sweden or to your front garden, it does not matter. We get our cameras ready and set off to see what meets our eye. And this might not be what meets the normal eye. Little magical mysteries reveal before us. We know they are there and they are waiting for us. It is sunny today, so lets see what this day has in store.

Hugs,

Natalie ♥