February Favorites | Beauty

I don't know about you, but February has been a so-so month for me.
Sure, some really cool things went down this past month, such as my birthday, spending a week off with my Mom and finally having some time to spend time with my friends, but on the other hand, it was a really gloomy, cold and rainy month, and those always leave me feeling rather depressed and not all too mighty-fine.

I think my favorite products reflect that, on most days, February wasn't my most glamorous month ever - but hey, my more practical and handy products should have their time to shine as well, right?

Essie Nail Polish in 'Cocktail Bling' (7,99€)

It's no secret that I'm a notorious nail polish horder. I always tell myself that I own plenty of polishes and don't need to pick up any new ones, but when it comes to Essie, I always give in.
I'm in love with the quality their polishes offer - they stay put for a good five days before they start to chip, their opacity is amazing and they don't take too long to dry! Judging by that, their price isn't all too high - there's plenty more expensive ones on the market.
'Cocktail Bling', the shade in question, is a blue toned grey that I like to smack on whenever I'm tired of all the dark winter colors and want something that leans a little more towards spring, which means I wore it almost all throughout the past month!

KIKO Infinity Eyeshadow in '241 Pearly Taupe' (4,90€)

I already owned three shadows from KIKO's 'Infinity' rage prior to purchasing this one, and I'm absolutely in love with them. They're so easy to apply, a few swipes and you're ready to go. Their pigmentation is also insanely good, and I hardly ever experience any fallout with them, even when I don't use any primer.

I picked up the shade '241 Pearly Taupe', a muted gray shade, on a whim - because it was half the price and the lovely lady at KIKO told me that it'd suit my eye color. Yes, I'm that easy to convice. No, I'm not proud of it.
But I'm still very much in love with this eyeshadow - whenever I'm in a rush and don't have any time to waste on my eye make up, I use this shadow because it takes as much as ten seconds to apply and blend!

Lush 'Don't Look At Me' Face Mask (10,50€)

I have very sensitive skin that breaks out often - about 80% of all beauty products will make my face light up with a rash. Cute.
That's why I always turn to Lush whenever I'm looking for a face mask - I've never had any allergic reactions to their products, which contain mostly organic ingredients.

As I already mentioned in my review of this mask, I struggled with a series of bad breakouts during February, and this was the one product that helped me fight those. This mask helps you to exfoliate your skin while also having a calming and rejuvenating effect. Within a week, this made almost all of the red patches on my face disappear - and believe me, there were many.
The only downside to this is that it can be drying on the skin if you use it every day, so you might not want to do that if you have dry skin anyways.

Zoeva 104 Buffing Brush (12,99€)

This vegan brush made of synthetic hairs came with a Zoeva set that my friends got me for my birthday, and I'm absolutely in love with it! I really don't know how I survived before I owned this, it makes the process of applying my make up so much easier.

I use this to blend my foundation as well as powder, rouge and the like, and it does the job really well. It solidfies my make up and gives my foundation a more natural looking finish, and it's great for getting rid of any excessive powder products. Other than that, it also manages to minimize the appearance of my pores, which is always nice.

Blistex Lip Relief Cream (2,69€)

The colder seasons are always problematic for me - my hair hates the static, and my lips are even worse. They're almost always dry and chapped, hurt or bleed, so I decided that an average lip balm is just not going to cut it for me anymore.

Funnily enough, I technically didn't purchase this lip cream - my Mom once forgot it at my flat, and when I tried it out for the first time, I was amazed by how great it made my lips feel!
The application of this is a little messy, not going to lie, but once applied to the lips, this lip cream sinks in very quickly, leaving my lips feeling insanley calm and soft.

Is there anything specific that you've been loving this month?

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Battling Problem Skin with Lush | Beauty

I've talked about my skin struggles on my blog before - I used to be a really bad case of acne, one that my doctor probably had to consult his colleagues about, from the ages of twelve to fourteen. It was a really hard time, and once I had overcome both the condition itself and the self-hatred that came with it, I thought that I would never face those kinds skin problems again.
Why do I always have to be so wrong?

Except for the odd spot here and there, my skin looked really, really great for a few months - then came the end of January.
I have no idea what happened, I appear to have either used or eaten something that I didn't know I was allergic to and my skin instantly held it against me. It got puffy and red all around my mouth area and under my nose, not in a spot-ish way, it looked more like a rash. I'll not go into the ugly details, it was really bad.
As you can imagine, my confidence took a big hit back then. I'm still struggling to learn how to be completely confident with how I look and how I am, so looking like an experiement gone wrong wasn't the best thing to happen to my face.

I tried a lot, and I mean a lot of products, and nothing helped - some even worsened my skin's condition. Then I had the glorious idea to ask one of the lovely girls in my local Lush whether they did a product that could help me, and it was the best thing I've ever done.

Franziska, the girl who introduced me to the "Don't Look At Me" face mask - yes, we do have the same name! - told me that the ground rice included in this will help exfoliate my skin while organic lemon juice and grapefruit oil refresh it and rejuvenate it, while organic silken tofu softens it up.

And the incredible thing is, this face mask does actually manage to achieve all of  the things it claims on the pot!
The pot advises you to apply a rich layer of the mask all over your face, smooth it out and leave it there to dry up for 10-15 minutes - during that time, it tends to sometimes make my skin feel a little tingly and itchy, which is probably due to the lemon juice, but that's nothing too dramatic.
What I love, however, is that my skin instantly feels refreshed once I've exfoliated it and washed the mask off completely. I feel like it finally gets to breathe - and it feels so extremly soft as well!

I was also amazed by how much this improved my skin's condition in the long haul.
After using this every single day for one week, there was almost no trace of redness to be found, which made me so happy I could've cried. I didn't imagine it to work so well even in my wildest dreams!


Overall, I think it's safe that this mask is worth every single cent I spent on it. At 10,45€, it's a little more pricey than your average drug store masks, but it makes up for that with both the results you'll receive and the fact that you get so much use out of it!
I think this one's actually my favorite Lush mask that I've tried so far, it's definitely better than their Mask of Magnaminty and even my beloved Cupcake mask!

Did you ever discover a product that improved your skin's condition drastically?

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The Wardrobe Edit #1 | Fashion

Even though I don't talk about fashion on my blog too much, it's actually one of my favorite past times. I love coming up with outfit ideas and getting creative with my personal style - I've just always been a little to shy to share it with the world.

But as I told myself that I'd try to step out of my comfort zone more this year, I'm trying to take a step towards sharing more about my fashion on here by bringing 'The Wardrobe Edit' to you! I've seen a few bloggers share the newest additions to their wardrobe, so I decided to turn that into a little series myself.

So without further ado, let's get into last month's new purchases!

I've been really into my striped shirts lately. I don't know why I like them so much, but I feel like they are a wardrobe staple and pretty much go with everything. And because whenever I'm obsessed with something, I like to fuel my addiction as much as I can - so naturally, I picked up this cute, slightly flared shirt from ZARA for only 12.95€. Look at that price tag - buying it was totally justified even though I already have 254 stripped shirts hanging around in my wardrobe. Right?

The cloth, while rather thin, is super soft and feels great on the skin, so this is going to be great for when spring rolls around!

When I stumbled upon this sweater in Jovi Fashion, a small boutique near my school, I instantly fell in love. I've been looking for a V-neck like this one for the longest time now, so when I tried it on and it fit, even though it didn't appear to have a certain size , I had to take it home with me. For 17,95€, it's a bargain - and a really nice alternative to all the plain sweaters I own.

I'm annoyed that the pictures I took of it don't do this top from ZARA justice because in reality, it looks a whole lot prettier. It's made of black, ribbed cloth and much like that striped shirt, it feels so damn soft, I could stroke it all day. Again, I wanted to invest into a basic shirt as I feel like I tend to go for flashy pieces that sometimes end up not going with anything else I own - I feel like, at 7,99€, that was a pretty good investment.

My favorite addition to my wardobe this month must be the Nike Tanjun sneakers, which were a present from my Mom. I eyed these up when I was out and about with her once, but out them back on the shelf because I didn't have enough money on me - a few days later, I come home to find them sitting on my sofa! She's a damn sweatheart and I don't deserve her.
These are hands down the comfiest shoes I own. Wearing these is like walking on clouds! They're going to be a dream to wear when I go on a trip to Weimar with my class next week - so much walking ahead of me. Ugh.

I also picked up these black jeans from Hallhuber for 50€ when I was at Inglostadt Village, a designer outlet, which is absolutely fabulous and had me spending a little too much money.
Jeans must be the trickiest item of clothing for me to buy, it's almost impossible to find a pair that fit perfectly! These, however, are the best skinny jeans I could've ever hoped for - besides the perfect fit, I'm also in love with their material, they almost feel like they're made of silk when put on!

So there we have all the purchases I made in February - a little more than I'd liked, to be honest, but at least there's a few versatile basic items in the mix that I'll try to make work for as many looks as possible!

Did you make any exciting purchases to your wardrobe this month?

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The Lip Product Tag | Beauty

A few days ago the lovely Yana tagged me to do the "Lip Product Tag" - if you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have realised that I have a serious weakness for lippies. They're my all time favorite beauty products and I will never stop adding more of them to my already huge collection.
Due to my undying love for anything lip-related, I've been really looking forward to writing this post - so let's just get into the questions!


1. What is your favorite lip balm or treatment?

I have pretty sensitive lips that chap really easily, so I try to make an effort to look after them as much as possible. As much as I love my EOS lip balm, Blistex's 'Lip Relief Cream' works wonders on my lips when they're worn out, it feels so calming on them.
I'm also looking to add a lip scrub to my lip care routine soon, so if any of you have one you particularly like, let me know in the comments!

2. What is your favorite eye-catching red?

I'm very pale so I usually avoid wearing red shades because they often wash me out and leave me looking like a vampire, but when I'm feeling a little braver I always go with the Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in '107', which is actually not a true red but more of a dark red with berry undertones - still pretty intimidating to me, though, so I definitely need to be in the mood for it!

3. Best luxury and drugstore product? Also, best MAC lipstick?

If you're looking for great quality drugstore lipsticks, KIKO and Rimmel are a good place to start - my two favorite drugstore lippies are KIKO's Velvet Mat-Satin Lipstick in '602 Natural Rose' and Rimmel's Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in '03 My Cool Nude'.
My favorite high-end lipsticks also happen to be MAC lipsticks - I just have to name two because chosing one over the other is absolutely impossible - and those are 'Viva Glam II' and 'Velvet Teddy', both of which are lovely nude shades I've had on rotation for a while now.

4. Most dissapointing lip product?

Much like Yana, I don't think I've ever tried a lip product I truly hated. Sure, there has been the odd lippie that I didn't particularly love, but no exceptionally bad ones. Except for all of my Mom's lipglosses which I used to snatch from her - and then put them back because I could just not deal with them.

5. Lip liner: yes or no?

A definite yes for me! I know that a lot of people can't be bothered with using lip liner, but I actually take my time to apply it on an every day basis. I feel like while you're not wasting a lot of time on applying it, it rounds of your lip look a lot!
Not to mentioned that I sometimes like to wear lip liners on their own because some shades are too pretty to be worn under lipsticks.

6. Favorite lipgloss?

I'm not big on lipgloss, up until a few weeks ago I actually really disliked it because most lipglosses are so impractical to wear, especially when you have long hair.
Then I discovered Essence's XXL Long Lasting Lipgloss Matt Effect and it really changed the game for me! As they dry to a matte finish, they feel more like a lipstick on the lips, meaning that they don't leave your lips feeling all sticky and that you don't get your hair stuck to your lips every 30 seconds. I especially adore the shade '06 soft nude', which I even reviewed here.


I'll now nominated these five lovely girls to do the lip porduct tag next:

1. Sarah from http://www.whatsarahwrites.com/
2. Georgia Hope from http://www.chasingbelle23.blogspot.co.uk/
3. Samantha from http://www.blendedtoperfection.co.uk/
4. Fii from http://www.littlemissfii.co.uk/
5. Kara from https://spreadthesparkleblog.wordpress.com/

What are your favorite lip products?

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The Range That Tamed My Hair | Beauty

When it comes to looking after my hair, I often feel like somewhat of a stressed out mother - I try everything to talk sense into it, but it just won't listen. The amount of products I have gone through hoping that they would tame my hair is ridiculous, and while they often helped me out with one of my many 'hair problems', I never found the one that would banish them all.

I've mentioned my hair problems on my blog before - my hair is really frizzy and usually pretty dry, it tends to get so tangled that I can hardly brush through it and my ends like to split. Sounds real nice, huh?
Looking at my hair's current condition, I was really intrigued by the "Envy Blow Dry Set"* I was recently sent because the company claims their products to "work for any hair type and have proven repair and protect ingredients throughout the range". They wouldn't be the first to fully repair and tame my hair, would they?

They would be indeed.

The Blowdry Set comes in very pretty box set which includes their "Dual Fix 12", "Gentle Cleansing Shampoo" and "Gentle Detangling Conditioner" - those three combined are supposed to help you create healthy, glossy hair.
The "Dual Fix 12" is a professional salon treatment which helps repair all hair types - on top of that, it also claims to rehydrate the hair, reduce frizz and the appearance of split ends as well as providing amazing shine and a weightless silk effect. It can either be used in the 'intensive use' method or a 'regular use' one. I went with the latter.
The shampoo claims to remove impurities while also strengthening the hair with a blend of keratin and silk proteins, whereas the conditioner (which is infused with the same blend) is supposed to provide superior detangling, leaving the hair shiny, soft and manageable while also reducing frizz in the progress.

Now, those claims to make the products sound like they could potentially work miracles and also walk on water, but after having used these for a couple of washes, I can say that they do actually do what is claimed on the tub as well!

The first thing I noticed when using these products was their smell - I couldn't quite put my finger on what they actually smell of, but they definitely smell citrusy. The smell lingered in my hair for almost a day after the wash, which is amazing because it added to the clean feeling I had after washing it!

I also like that Envy's products are fairly easy to use. The shampoo is a little more runny than others I have used, but that's nothing major. All three of them are insanely easy to work into the hair, which means that I no longer have to struggle to make my shampoo lather!

What I loved most about using this set, however, are the results I could see right after the first wash.
 I was actually shocked at how shiny my hair looked! It looked like silk, and felt as light as it, too, even though I have very thick hair. It was also so much easier to work with after I used this set - it was a lot easier to detangle and didn't get frizzy once! I might've shed a happy tear, not gonna lie, especially since my split ends, which I should really have trimmed soon, don't look half as bad now, either.

In conclusion, I have really stumbled upon some miracle products here. I'm insanely happy with the way they improved my hair's contidition! Sadly, they are rather expensive, being priced at £40 - definitely something for a birthday or Christmas list because even though it's pricey, the results you'll receive are worth every penny!

What is a miracle product of yours?

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17 On 17 | Lifestyle

 Guess who just turned seventeen? This girl celebrated her birthday yesterday. Yes, it's official, this is my last year as a wild teenager who couldn't care less about responsibilities, in one years time, I'll be an actual adult - well, at least in the eyes of the law, my Mom told me that I'm still pretty much a kid in her eyes.

Yesterday was a truly awesome day - I spent time with both my friends and especially my family, received some insane presents and ate what feels like my body weight in cake and Greek food.
I also took some time out of my day to reflect on my life, as weird as that might sound. Even though I'm still so young, I enjoyed sitting down and thinking about how far I've come at the end of the day -  and because of that, I decided to share 17 things that I'd learnt by the time I turned 17 with you guys!

1. Procastinating is never a good idea. It might seem like you still have so much time left to finish that task, but suddenly it's 2am and you're running on three cups of coffee and you still have to study for an exam you're taking the next day.

2. Good things don't come to those who wait, they come to those who work their asses off to deserve them.

3. Life can be a lot more fun if you decide to bend the rules just a tiny bit every once in a while.

4. The worst thing ever could happen to you, but the next morning, the sun will rise again, and you will get up, and you will eat your toast and drink your tea. Even if you feel like nothing will ever be right again, you will see that life moves on, and eventually you will, too.

5. When you are angry, be silent.

6. Falling in love with the idea of being with someone and actually falling in love with them are two very different things.

7. Just because you can stay up until 7am doesn't mean you should,

8. Family comes before anything, which might seem odd because I have fallen out with every single family member of mine so many times, but we always end up making up in the end. Even when I've had nothing, I had my family who always had my back and built me up. Blood really is thicker than water.

9. Investing into travels is always money well spent because the experiences you will make while on the road are truly worth a mint.

10. Being an educated, intelligent woman will always make you way more attractive than dumbing yourself down just to appear more likeable.

11. Falling in love with yourself first doesn't make you vain or selfish, it makes you indestructable.

12. It is better to be loved deeply than to be loved widely - when it comes to friends, quality over quantity. It's so much better to have a handful of people you could trust your life with than a room full of so called friends who don't even know a single thing about you,

13. Being alone doesn't always equate being lonely - in fact, it can be insanely calming and cleansing to spend some time with yourself every once in a while.

14. Even when you're scared out of your mind, speaking your mind and standing up for yourself will always be worth it. When you're experiencing injustice, never keep quiet.

15. When you are old and grey, sitting on your porch in a rocking chair, you probably won't remember what happened after you said 'no' to an opportunity, but you will remember next to every opportunity you said 'yes' to - so be more open, and be braver and make some amazing memories!

16. 99% of the things that keep you up at night are not worth losing sleep over because most of them will never actually happen.

17. If you find something in life that makes you truly happy, you should never give up on it. 

What's an important lesson that you have learnt over time?

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January Favorites | Beauty

Wait up - how is it the first day of February? I feel like January somehow slipped through my fingers, it went by that fast. Dominated by dark, rainy days, it wasn't exactly the greatest of all months, but nevertheless, it was the month for huge sales and due to those and also all the nice things I got for Christmas, I had a lot of new make up to try and test this past month, so there's a whole lot of new favorites this month!


To be honest, i didn't really wear all too much make up in January, mainly because it was so dark and gloomy that my bed was a lot more appealing in the mornings than my dressing table ever could be, but when I did manage to get up extra early, Urban Decay's Naked Basics 2 Eyeshadow Palette (30€) was my go-to for eyeshadows this month. It includes five matte, neutral shades that are very easy to work with and help you create a nice nude look - and they also are of outstanding quality! I expected nothing less from Urban Decay.
I loved this palette so much that I actually dedicated an entire post to it, which you can find here.

Whenever I fancied a more extravagant eye but couldn't be bothered to deal with endless blending of multiple shadows, I used the KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow (6,90€) in the shade '07 Golden Beige', which is, as the name suggests, a beautiful gold shade with tiny specks of glitter running through it.
I didn't expect to love this as much as I do, but once again KIKO exceeded all my hopes and expectations. Because it is an eyeshadow stick, the application is insanely quick, easy and fuzz-free. The brand claims this to last for up to 8 hours after application, and I can definitely grant you that! I've worn this for ten hours at a time once and only experienced minimal fallout.
Such great quality for a really affordable price!

Lip wise, I have two favorites this month. One of them obviously has to be  MAC's infamous Velvet Teddy (20€), which I have literally worn non-stop ever since I got it for Christmas. I found it to be the ideal nude shade for me, so it quickly became my "when-in-doubt" lipstick! Due to its matte formula it can be a little drying on the lips, but that's nothing a lip balm before application can't fix - however, the longevity of this is great - it sits in place for up to four hours and survives even heavy eating and drinking. If you're interested in reading a little more about the most hyped lipstick of all time, you can find my review here.
Staying with the nudes - and in my comfort zone - I also really loved using an old favorite of mine, the LR Deluxe Longwear Lipliner in '01' (10,99€), which I usually use with MAC's Viva Glam II because those two are an almost perfect match, but I found it to work really well on its own as well! It's pretty creamy and not at all drying on the lips, however it obviously doesn't last as long on the lips as a lipstick would.

The one area where I hardly ever branch out is perfume - I know what I like and I usually stick to it. But when I received a sample of Lancôme's La Vie Est Belle (110€/100ml), I instantly fell in love, even though it was so different from my usual flowery scents.
My lovely Mom actually got me this for Christmas, and I have not worn any other perfume ever since! I love that while it's quite a sweet scent, it also has some floral notes to it - it has notes of vanilla, pear and pralines to it, just to name a few.
And, to be real, wearing this makes me feel like a million dollars - and isn't that what perfumes are for?


What products did you love most in January?

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