Gimme gimme gimme..

As promised, I've got the pics from the EKWOS photoshoot with a BONUS!

Yes yes, Not only do I have the 2 looks from the shoot, I have the trial for my NYE makeup :)
And yes, I am still wearing the makeup, along with the dress and heels on. Who doesn't love dressing up?

For the first look:

I showed Shelby the "Monarch" look I posted in the previous blog and she loved it. But instead of doing an identical one, I put a retro twist (almost twiggy inspired) look with "Cleopatra" colours.

Super spidery lashes and black on the waterline complete the look!

Doesn't she look fantabulous?

Moving along.. The trial look I did for NYE came to me from an old look I did for a previous party.

I wanted it to be reaalllyy smokey, but sharp at the same time. And you know me, I love a dramatic eye :)

So instead of keeping it all black (as it would be too flat), I blended in the unique and rich colours of blue, purple, gold, and brown; inspired by the fantasticly festive colours you see in the New Years' fireworks.

THICK, bulky lashes and a really intense black gel liner on the waterline to pull the whole look together.

Because of the craziness of the colours on the eyes, I kept the lips natural and lipstick-free with just an almost-matte slick of balm on them.

As for the cheeks, again, I kept it simple and just a slight definition with bronzer.

Have you decided what you'll wear for NYE?

Love -S xx

Monarch

As I was trying out some different looks for tomorrow's shoot, I played around (as usual) and came up with a look that was inspired by the colours and architecture of the blue monarch butterfly. If you're curious as to what that looks like...

Although I'm only using one colour from the wings, I mixed it with some golden/warm tones to suit my complexion a bit more.

The accent on the edge of the eyebrow is meant to be part of the "wings" or the antennae. Spidery lashes for the dainty jet black legs of the butterfly, and the black liner cutting through the much brighter colours to make up the threaded wings.

It's always fun to experiment :)

As I mentioned, tomorrow I'll be holding a photoshoot in Minsk.

More details + pics will come as soon as all the editing/work is done.

Oh, one more thing...

It's snowing :)

Have a happeh (white!) xmas!!

-S

Hello hey ho

Just a quick pop in to tell y'all that I'll be holding a conceptual photoshoot tomorrow morning.

All the details will be given later :) and I'll be posting some links to my dA (deviant art account) where you can also see the rest of my older work.

Time to stretch my artistic fingers again :)

Hope you're having a lovely holiday time!

Lots of hugs and quiches xx
-S

Get ready for a long post!

Hey hi hello bloggy-type peoples!

Soo I have recently been hit with the sparkly stick of inspiration and thought I'd share a few ideas with you.
Oh, and also an update to my previous post "A pledge to my thighs".

FIRSTIES
Hi :) Yeah, I'm in a good mood. Why? Because I can be.
Yeah, that simple.

Secondsies:
I've recently gotten my normal sleeping habits back (yay for college life!). I now sleep before midnight and wake up around 7am all on my own! Gasp! I know! Normally I'd still be awake past 8AM and will catch a nap in the afternoon before pulling another all nighter.

To continue on that note...

That was one of the reasons I put on weight so quickly the past couple months. I never noticed how much sleep has an effect on how your body handles energy (I know, doh!). I just thought it was all mind over matter when it came to that. But no, Salma, you're just like everybody else and we all need our sleepies.

Sooo, yer. I had a lovely morning. Jumped out of bed (or should I say "jumped off of the couch"?) and put on my running shoes and winter coat (!!). It was mid-jog that it occurred to me that now would be the best time to go Sunday brunch shopping for whatever concoction I was planning to make.

The result? After searching for the perfect cut of lean turkey meat (minced), I "indulged" (so to speak) in a super lean and healthy turkey burger. I substituted mayo with some cottage cheese and mixed that with some good ol' Heinz, mustards, and seasoning to make a "secret sauce" for the buns.

I mixed in some diced onion, garlic, egg, flour, and a bit of steamed couscous and parsely into the mince to get a nice, light flavour going. Of course I salt-and-pepper'd it to perfection, and then lo and behold! Yummy, healthy goodness on my plate!

Needless to say, it was scrumptious! And for those who are wondering, I cooked it in organic coconut oil (doesn't burn and gives a lovely nutty taste; also super healthy for you!).

And you know what they say: Good food GOOD mood!

That's something I've been thinking about today. Food really does have an effect on how we are, how we act and behave. For example, I went "hunting" for this perfect cut of meat, prepared it all at home using fresh and (mostly) organic ingredients. Once it was done I was literally skipping to the table to sit down and THOROUGHLY enjoy every bite! 

The fact that I made this with "love" just put me in such a better mood. I cared about what I was putting in my body, ergo, making how I felt afterwards multiple times better!

There's one thing I've noticed about good food. I never crave any sweets afterwards. I'm so satisfied by the delicious and scrumptious morsels of joy that I nommed on that I don't WANT anything else.

Having said that, let's move on to something else that I considered:

-Fad diets-

Now, there are tons of those "miracle" diets out there that, in all honesty, we KNOW don't work in the long run, but since we ALL are looking for a quick fix (especially around the holidays), we tend to gravitate towards them thinking that "Oh it's just so I can lose a few pounds so I can fit into that dress I have hanging in the closet".

But NO NO NO!

Fad diets are one of the reasons I have such trouble keeping weight off!

It makes a yo-yo effect on your body and its metabolism so that you're basically screwed once you try to lose weight the healthy way.

Sure, they might sound promising, and the first few pounds you lose after starving yourself for a week and surviving on nothing but coffee and "one lump of sugar" might give you hope, but really, you're just setting yourself up for disaster.

It's not only healthier, but much MUCH more satisfying by changing your lifestyle to make healthier and better choices!!!!!

I know you'll be tempted to jump right to it and cut everything bad out cold turkey, but if you've ever tried quiting ANYTHING cold turkey, you know you're going to succumb to it once again after a struggle.

My advice? Well, what works for me is taking each day by day. 

PLAN EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO EAT.

That way, if you start wondering about that little snack in the fridge, you can smack yourself and keep your mind in check.

Just like today for example: I decided from the morning to make my yummy lean turk-burger, and even though it's over 10 hours later, I'm still not craving anything!

Long story short, I honestly believe that losing weight the healthy way is a lot better for you in the long run than any fad diet you may attempt for that quick fix. 

With that said, I'm going to make myself a lovely hot cuppa tea and organize my plans for an upcoming photoshoot :)

I'll try to keep the blog posts more regular. Now that the holidays are coming I'll have much more time on my hands to not stress on exams and enjoy the little things!

REMEMBER: Love your body the way it is, accept it, and only then will you be able to change anything you feel needs to be changed. You're beautiful inside and out no matter what the media states the standard to be!

Lots of love and Christmas-y hugs! (Mmm cinammon! :P)

-S

A pledge to my thighs.

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I solemnly swear that I will work towards a better and healthier me. I will not binge (and/or purge!!), endulge too much, be lazy, smoke(!), or do anything that will impair my journey to a slimmer, healthier body and soul. I will swap out salads from sweets, protein from pastas; I will not stop until I have finally reached my goal. 6 months from today, I shall be posting up a picture of success.

Signed,
Salma Othman

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We all know that winter and Xmas time is that time of year where everyone puts down their scales and picks up the hot chocolate. Ironically, my body has beat winter to the punch!

This post is my official oath to myself, my body, and my health, that I shall drop all of my bad habits and slim down to my goal weight once and for all.

No more munching on chocolate during the wee hours of the night, even if it's dark chocolate, no more "occasional cigarrette", no more putting off yoga/exercise because of stress or having a long day.

It's time to whip my butt back into shape as I was 3 years ago.

Goal weight loss: 18 kilos.
Time given to do so: 6 months. Very doable I think.

That amounts to 3 kilos a month. If I lose more that would be even better!

The point is to become healthy and fit again. I wanted to post this somewhere so that I won't have any excuse to give up. It's in the public now; on the interwebs.

Any of you who want to join in with the health challenge, go ahead, pledge! :D

Love, S

Heatless curls = result

So, one piece of advice.

1- if you have short hair, use wider strips of paper, or dont keep them in too long.

Here's a quick update with how my hair turned out using the heatless curls:

Keep in mind, it did start out looking like this: 

Haha, ridonkulus, I know.

I just brushed the curls out until they were softer and less...springy.

Like I said, if you have longer hair this will give you perfect Taylor Swift-esque curls, but because I have shorter hair and an afro doesn't really suit me, I brushed them out and now its super volumous like this:

And I loooove me some big hair!

So, if you want a heatless alternative to super curly hair, try this out! It definitely works!

Love, S

Conditioned plumped up lips!

Just because the cold weather is giving us all chapped lips, doesn't mean we have to chuck away our bright lipsticks!

Fight the chaps with a home-made lip scrub that's SUPER hydrating and yummy!

I mixed this up together tonight because recently my lips have always been getting dry and flaky regardless of how much water I drink.

In the spirit of the upcoming Christmas season, I've mixed up the ingredients that will make the scrub taste and smell just like minty candy canes! Mmm!

NOTE: Excuse the crappy photo quality. I was using my Blackberry because my sister was sleeping already and my camera was in her room.

Start off with a few spoons of a salt/sugar mix. For this recipe I'm making it jumbo portioned because I didn't have any smaller jars. I always measure the ingredients out by eye, so if you're making this for just yourself, cut down the portions by 3/4's.

Again, start off with a mixture (70/30) of sugar and salt respectively. I used fine grain.

This is great for exfoliating the lips and keeping them soft and plump.

Then, add a few spoons of extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil, depending on your preferance).

Again, if you're making a smaller portion, cut down the servings.

Mix THOROUGHLY together.

Then add cayenne chili powder, cinammon, sweet paprika powder into the mixture.

Again, I added everything in by eye. I added the cinammon for the smell and the chili and paprika is for helping blood circulation flow to the lips (and plumping).

REMEMBER NOT TO TOUCH YOUR EYES AFTER HANDLING CHILI POWDER

Once that's added in, spoon in some honey (or a teeny bit of molasses) and mix well together.

Finally, the finishing ingredient: Peppermint essential oil!

This gives the scrub a DELICIOUS and very Xmas-y smell and taste.

For the jar I had I used about 7 drops.

Mix everything VERY WELL together until it congeals into an almost clumpy mixture of goodness.

Take about a half-teaspoon of it onto your palm and with your finger, scrub your lips until you can feel the tingly sensation. I know it might taste pretty good, but DO NOT EAT YOUR SCRUB!

After you rinse it off, apply your favourite BALM (NOT LIPGLOSS), and let it set in before you apply your favourite lipstick. Or just keep applying lip balm if you're going for a more natural look.

Enjoy your lovely plumped up and conditioned lips!!

Love, S

Recycled curls?

Now that winter is settling in, we tend to use way too much heat on our hair.
Leaving the house with damp locks is completely out of the question. Especially for those who live in or around Europe where the temp is dropping down down down!

Lately I've been blowdrying my hair after every shower. That means about 45 mins of hot air every day! It's taken a big toll on my hair, causing oilyness, itchy scalps, and split ends.

(img from google.com)

Thankfully, there are ways to style your hair WITHOUT heat while at the same time RECYCLING!

Yup, smack me on the bum and call me Sally, it's true.

This technique is really good for those who want to curl their hair naturally without damaging it with too much heat, while at the same time using up those paper bags you have piled up in your bottom kitchen drawer.

Since I want a bit of a change from the usual straightened hair, I'm going to show you how I used the paper bag technique to get soft bouncy curls without the use of a curling iron.

Not to mention, the idea of any heat/steam kinda puts me off since I just recently got a nasty burn on my left arm from a bad cooking incident:

Yup. It's slowly getting better. I'm slathering it with aloe vera. Ick.

ANYWHO. I'm going to start off by tearing (or cutting) up some paper bags. I had an old Zara bag that did just fine:

Just about an inch thick and a few inches lengwise should be fine.

The thickness of the paper basically determines the curl style (wavy or tight curls).

Your hair should be DAMP, not wet, otherwise the paper will just disintegrate and become useless.

[Quick note: My mom just walked past and asked me what I was doing. "Heatless curls, mom" I said.

"HITLER'S CURLS?!" she replied. Needless to say, that gave us a good laugh!]

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I just finished tying up all of my hair. Took me about 50 minutes (I have medium/short and long hair in layers) 

                                   ^^^^ View from the top ^^^^


Once you've done that, you have to wait at least 4-6 hours (or just overnight like I'm doing it) for your hair to completely dry and form into the curls.

IF you're in a hurry, just use your hair dryer on a VERY LOW heat setting, or on cold blast, and dry up your locks.

Once they're dry and ready to be taken off, CAREFULLY untie them and roll downwards.
Apply a serum or mousse to plump up and style the curls to your liking.

I'll be uploading the pics to my curled hair in about 5 hours (when I'll be getting ready for uni) so you can see the finished result.

Let me know if you have any techniques that recycle household items for your beauty regime.

Lots of love and quiches
xx S

Eye see what you did there.

Eyebrows: they're one of the most underrated features of the face, yet one of the most important.

Our eyebrows are the key features that can frame our face. Making sure to keep them in check can ensure that even if you don't have any make up on, you'll look fresh, clean, and put together.

A new trend that has been hitting the catwalks this year has been bold, thick eyebrows.
Playing with masculine aspects while still maintaining a feminine look can be achieved very easily.

Note that thick, dark, eyebrows don't always suit everyone's facial structure and complexion. If it doesn't suit you, try playing it down and making it look more natural by using a lighter shade of shadow or pencil to fill them in.

I have dark hair and eyes and light skin, and my eyebrows are naturally thicker. However, I filled them in (concentrating on the inner half where my hairs are more sparse) and accentuated the arch.

Because this look is such a strong factor, play down the eyes and stick to a more natural tone. Maybe a layer of nude/light brown/gold eyeshadow all over the lid and then a few thick coats of mascara.

I love pairing plain eyes with a BOLD lip, and when put together with the strong brows, it has a strong, sexy look that is still very feminine. If you want the overall look to be very clean, sharp and smart, you should tie your hair up in a ponytail or a tight braid.

To show you the look, I paired the bold eyebrows with a dark-wine coloured lipstick. I applied a light gold all over my eyelid and swiped on a few coats of mascara.

Paired with a blazer, it can be a really smart look for the office.

HOWEVER! This look doesn't have to be only for a strong, masculine approach. You can play with other features (such as your hair) to acheive a glamorous look, along the lines of Jennifer Connelly's look:

Personally I wouldn't darken my eyebrows to the point where it's REALLY obvious that they're fake. Maybe for a photoshoot for editorials, but that's about it.
As you can see I just darkened my natural hairs with some black eyeshadow, just enough to make them a little stronger.

Would you wear this look? And if yes, how, when, and where would you wear it?

Love x

Cleo Eyes

As promised, a remake of the Cleopatra / Egyptian eyes.

This look is perfect for a night out. The use of golds, browns, blues, and blacks all play off to be sexy and classic without being over the top. However, that doesn't stop it from being a real eye-catcher!

In the black and white picture, I applied a dark-wine coloured lipstick to play off the liner on the eyes.

This look goes especially well with thick, arched eyebrows. I slightly exaggerated my arch with a little powder and an angled brush, but I wanted to keep them looking natural as possible.

List of products used:
MAC eyeshadow in Amber Lights - eyelid until creaseline.
INGLOT black gel liner- heavy cat eyeliner with inner eye flick and bottom liner + waterline.
INGLOT Soft precision liner 35 (gold) - used as a base for the eyeshadow, on bottom half of lid.
INGLOT Chocolate brown (pearl) eyeshadow - outer V and creaseline.
INGLOT Bronzer - scuplted high cheekbones
CLINIQUE High Impact mascara (2 coats, top and bottom).
BOUJOIS Metallise metallic eyeliner 54 Blue clinquant (aqua liner)- bottom liner.
BOBBI BROWN Shimmer Brick (Bronze) -Cheek and eyebrow highlights; accents on the eyelid.


No foundation of concealer was needed (but if you need some, or are wearing this out and want it to last longer, go ahead).

For the lips I just dabbed some of the BOBBI BROWN shimmer brick and coated it with Burt's Bees lip balm to add a teensy bit of shine.

More looks will be coming soon.

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As for the youtube account, I have taken down the uploaded tutorials and I have decided to not post any video tutorials until the future. The reasons being mainly that the quality of the camera isn't up to par, and my video editing skills aren't the best. I'm also not so comfortable having videos of myself up on youtube just yet. I guess it takes time getting used to the idea.

SO, until I master the editing and get a better HD camera, I'll be sticking to images for now :)

Thanks for all of you who keep motivating me. Y'all are the bestestest <3

Love x

Many many posts.

So I've been drafting a ton of blog posts for various reasons.
Most of which that I'm slightly anal and a bit of a perfectionist that unless I really think it's worth posting, I wouldn't publish it.

So for now, until inspiration hits me and my Genie of Genius swoops in and hits me with some new topics to share, I'll be posting up various make up looks that a bunch of you have been requesting but I've yet to post.

The first will be an alteration of a previous look I've done. It was inspired by the colours of ancient Egyptian make up (golds, browns, turquoises, and of course, black!).

Here's a picture of the previous look:

Now excuse moi while I go finish up the rest of the looks :)

(also an explanation about the whole YOUTUBE video tutorials will come up too)

Love x

October Fest!

Ahh the leaves are turning golden and falling at your feet just to get to go "crunch crunch".
Autumn has to be one of my favorite times of year for two reasons:
1- It's perfect weather, not too hot, and just cold enough that you get to layer up your clothes.
2- It's just around time for my birthday! :)

This year, autumn trends never fail to impress me with new colour pallettes.
As expected, the trends seem to veer away from brights and pastels, and are more directed to the "burnt" colours. Almost like the palletes were chosen by the different coour leaves decorating the pavements of cities and towns everywhere.

My favorites for this season has to be the deeper colours. Burgundy, Auburn, Moss Green, Dark Plum(especially for a lip stain), Gold (beautiful colour that suits all skin tones!), Deep-sea Blue, Eggplant, too! Earthy tones are IN!

Personally I love a simple gold and plum eyeshadow with a brown kohl liner and a touch of deep blue on the bottom line for an Autumn night out.

I'll be posting pictures of some make up looks I'll be doing soon. It's getting a little late here and I've got a lot of work to do! Uni just started..

Regardless, I'll be strolling through some parks to get some beautiful snapshots of the colours. I'll also work on looks to upload here :)

One thing about video tutorials, I have a few people asking me about them and currently I won't be doing VIDEO tutorials. For a few reasons, but I won't discuss them right now.

Anyway, I'm off before I write out another post :P
Sleep well all you beautiful people!

Lots of love x
-S

SLIM-spiration!

Confession: I had chocolate today. And when I say I "had", I mean I had like 4 spoons of deliciously seductive Nutella. I KNOW I KNOW! Gaaah today was a splurge day. However, I plan to remedy my unfortunate binge with a yoga session and fresh-veggies-only diet for the next few days.

One thing I'm happy I've learned is that it's ok to fall off the good-wagon sometimes. Very few people know that in the past I've dealt with bulemia and a term of anorexia. Also paired with an obsession of at least a daily trip of 3 hours mins to the gym and pool. This was during the summer before my senior year in highschool and I dropped weight to a scary point. Once I came clean about that problem I obviously put on some weight and since then I've been battling to get it back down to a good level but in a HEALTHY way.

This is one of the main reasons why I'm so passionate about going green and taking care of one's self. When I was putting my body through that I was lethargic and unhappy all the time. Now that I'm slowly but steadily losing weight in the good way (proper food and regular exercise), I'm feeling better and better about myself. I also don't obsess over every single calorie I take in because if I want to enjoy a few sweets one night, I'll indulge. But the next few days I'll keep it light and simple just to balance things out.

I wanted to open up a little bit here because I know some people go through things like this and those who do keep quiet about it. Many people think they can tell what a person is like just by how they act in public, but from personal experience, appearances are not at all always paired up with what you see.

I've come up with a few tricks that keep me INSPIRED to work harder and to keep to my goal.
One thing is TIME!
IT.WILL.TAKE.TIME! I need to keep repeating that to myself because I can be damn impatient sometimes.
I've also gotten into the habit of watching cooking shows. Some people find this to be torturous, but along with learning new ways to cook up simple recipes, I can watch Chef John how to make a chocolate mousse cake and moan at the sight of melted chocolate being whipped. I enjoy it! It's what people call "food porn". If I imagine what the dessert tastes like and can imagine eating it, I somehow stop craving it!! Try it out and tell me if it works for you! Maybe I'm just a little weird that way :)

MMmmm :P

Anywho, the main reason for this post is to give you (and me) some SLIM-SPIRATION! Pictures of beautiful women who's bodies I hope to have someday soon.

Starting with the always lovely, and classic American beauty, Jennifer Aniston (ALL PICTURES OFF OF GOOGLE.COM)

Finishing off with the ever so classy and beautiful, Marylin Monroe (who by the way, was a size 14, did you know that?).


One thing I want to clear up is that I don't want a stick thin body. I don't believe beauty comes from looking like a 12 year old boy's body has been replaced with yours. I love my curves and wish to keep as much of them. I want to be slimmer, that's all. I "love" my "love-handles" (am I the only lady who does?) and I'm quiet proud of my badonkadonk (hey, at least I can fill out a proper pair of jeans!). Call me conceited if you like, I just have a positive outlook about my body and I know what to appreciate.
It's taken a while to get here, but I'm happy I arrived.

I want everyone reading this to please look at yourself in the mirror and name 5 GOOD things you love about yourself for every not-so-nice thing you see (because we all have those I-hate-my___ moments). So instead of focusing all on the negative, make up 5-times fold for it!

LOVE YOURSELF (insert innuendo here), but really, be happy with yourself. If you don't like something, simple as a pimple: CHANGE IT. Because YOU can, no one else.

Stay beautiful everyone! Lots of love :)

-S xx

Easy peasy, simple pimple?

Every girl (and guy!) has that time where they have to deal with pimples. Whether it's small whiteheads or an acne attack, pimples can be irritating and make you feel a bit "ick".
Normally I have clear skin with a slightly oily T zone. However, every month or so I get a pimple or two that are so stubborn no matter what I do to them!

Here are some personal tips on how to deal with stubborn pimples...

1- Make sure you don't play with them, this will only aggravate and spread them.
2- If you have oily or dirty hair, keep it out of your face. The oils from your roots might be causing some breakouts near the hairline.
3- DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE! All the germs and dirt of everyday life you have stocked up under your nails and on your fingertips will be put on your face and that just won't do.
4- Avoid using harsh soaps or chemicals on your skin. It could be very drying and damaging and can cause redness.
5- Stay hydrated! I find that the times I get pimples is usually when I forget to drink a lot of water.
6- Wash your face AT LEAST twice a day with a gentle cleanser and moisturize. Sometimes I don't need to moisturize, especially when I have a pimple or two because I find that when I slightly dry out my skin, the pimples are easier to get rid of (via my scrubs).

Which brings me to another thing.. I made a new scrub today specially for my pimples and (in this case) oily skin. It contains only 6 ingredients with the main ones being sea salt (no sugar, as this is a scrub for oily skin), coffee granuals, and some other secret things I'm not going to give away. Scrubbed and left on my skin for 10 minutes before rinsing and buffing away with warm water has left my skin baby smooth!

If you want to make a quick-fix, get some sea salt (or kosher salt) and mix it with a teeeeny tiny amount of water (and honey if you have some), scrub your face where oil and any redness/blackheads occur, and it should quickly fix it up.

There will be some exciting updates about my scrubs soon :) Stay tuned!

Cindy Cindy Cindy!

Needless to say, Cindy Crawford is a gorgeous, glamorous bombshell of a woman. I grew up watching and exercising to her "Shape Your Body" VCR tapes('91 baby all the way!) and reading her "Cindy Crawford's Basic Face" book that was a HUGE push for me to get into makeup and beauty.

My older sister had this book and I read it cover to cover so many times the silver was peeling off!!
I mean, how can you look at her and not want to know everything she knows??

Just looking at that makeup look alone makes me want to break out the brushes and recreate it. Maybe put on a ball gown and lay on a feathered boa and couch while posing seductively and thinking "I'm Fabulous"... ok there was a little bit of sarcasm there, but really, it and SHE is gorgeous. I only wish I will be as healthy looking and youthful at her age.

Ok, now I'm really going to bed. I just wanted to dedicate a post to the woman who started this all.
Gaaah it's time for zzzzZZzz's.
 Night, world.

xx -S

Echo echo eko!!

I am LOVING this new brand I found with my mom during an organic-market snoop out. It's called MyEcoLife (this isn't sponsored, so don't jump my bum for this), and it is fantastic!!
I've tried so many products from this company and I have loved loved loved every one of them.
They don't even stop at food! We bought dishwashing liquid and floor cleaner too (and they worked better than the industrial stuff, go figure, nature ROCKS!)

Here are some of the things I bought and arranged in my little "organics shelf"

There's my delish honey and my absolutely scrumptious blueberry jam. Also have my wooden basket of Kohlrabi, raw beetroots and onions :)

These two are some delish tomato sauces we found. Don't let it fool you though, they don't taste store bought at all! Because they're not. They're as tasty as if they came right out of mama's kitchen :)

Time for tasty treats! On the right there's a couple of slabs of yumm-oh dark chocolate. On the left are some chocolate snippet cookies with nuts. The dark chocolate was divine, the cookies, not as much, but once I dunked it in my latte it was yummy yummy in my tummy! One thing you do have to remember though, they may be organic, but they're still sweets!! Enjoy, don't indulge! Unless it's your day off :)

One thing I use to sneak in to some "Healthy junk foods" is ketchup, so imagine my surprise when I found DELICIOUS organic ketchup that really tastes a million times better than the store-bought stuff! I think I went through one jar in 3 days it was so good!! MMmm!

And this pot of goodness right here is a home-made, all-organic turkey leg stock I put together after we cooked some juicy turkey legs for dinner the previous night. A tip for those who like to recycle: Don't throw away your meat bones!! If you simmer them with veggies and herbs for a few hours you get a beautiful, aromatic, and delish stock as a base for future soups/sauces. This one was a little fatty so I had to skim off excess fats when I was making French-style onion soup today (yumm!), but all in all it was absolutely gorgeous! Make your own stocks and you won't regret leaving those bones out (innuendo here?). Not to mention it's perfect for the changing seasons now :)

Speaking of changing seasons... This is my thuper cute breakfast table ensemble :) Lots of fresh fruit and nuts. I already devoured that pink grapefruit on the left and it was to die for. Yes, all organic, as usual :)
It looks so beautiful I almost didn't want to eat it!

Now more than ever I've noticed that beautiful organic GREEN food does so much for you. Beauty is really from the inside out. I'm a true believer that if you take care of yourself well enough through diet and exercise, everything else like hair, skin, nails and weight will all fall (off) and into place.

Something I like to think about when I'm cooking up some new scrubs or masks is, if it's good enough to eat, it should be good enough for my face! Don't ever put horrible chemicals on your skin (like chemical peels or useless creams). I'll write out a blog post about natural ways to tighten and/or clear your skin and face that don't require any trips to the clinic!

I'm signing off now, it's past 2am and I've got uni in the morning.. Thanks for tuning in! Keep me updated about your favorite recycling habits and how you like to keep your life green :)

xx -S

Scrub a dub dub.

Sorry for the long break between posts. I've had to study for exams and had some schtuff going on that made me not-really-in-the-mood-to-write. Ever have those days?

Anywho's, I recently made a friend of mine a couple of scrubs as a thank you gift and she loved them. For those who didn't know, I experiment with different home-made organic scrubs to see what fits my (and my friends') skin types and what can make it all soft as a baby's bottom. I've basically gotten it down to a main base of salts/sugars, herbs/spices/teas, ORGANIC HONEY<--VIP, some essential oils (including olive and coconut).

I'm not going to post out my recipes because they're secret hush hush fantastic scrubs :P

Although, I will show you a couple of pics of beginning and finished versions of the scrub.

This is around step 5, when I'm mixing in different salts and sugars and spices. In this one I mixed in a bit of beautiful pink Himalayan salts that are jam packed with minerals.

Aaannd this baby right here is the final result.

All filled with organic honey (mmmMMM) and my secret mix of beauty spices! It's like a marinade for your face!!

I feel like someone has transplanted a baby's bottom onto my face. Although after typing that out it just sounds wrong.. You get my point.

For those in Warsaw, Poland, I sell my scrubs and cutomize them after consulting with whomever wants to buy them, so if you're interested, hit me up :)

A little something on my mind.

A few of my girlfriends and I were having a conversation the other night. It was a typical "girls talk" moment and we were on the subject of how looks affect the way we feel (refer to my previous post on 'pampering oneself'). One of my friends , let's call her M, kept comparing herself to Megan Fox. Not in a "I'm a gorgeous celebrity with a I-know-I'm-hot attitude" comparison (no offence to MF), but in a "Why is it that she's so perfect?" kind of way.

The funny thing is, M is one of those girls who you see walking down the street looking absolutely gorgeous even in a pair of sweatpants and a GAP jumper. This isn't the first time I've heard a friend or two complain about their looks when they're in no place necessary. Sure, one could always lose a few pounds and tone up, or fix their eyebrows to better suit their face, but why on earth would you compare yourself to someone who has a personal trainer, stylist, hair stylist, and makeup artist following them at all times? Throw in millions of bucks and we'd all be pristine!

Coming from someone who used to read through her older sisters magazines as a child until the pages were all crinkly and all the make up and perfumes samples were used and abused, I've done my fair share of gazing at the "beautiful people".
Even to the point where I'd be sitting in a cafe enjoying a hobby of people-watching and mentally comment about what passers-by are wearing. From clothes to hair styles to makeup, I sometimes find myself listing out things I see that I love and some I feel like screaming out "What were you thinking?!". Then again, I've never admitted that before. For two reasons:
1- That's just bitchy.
2- Even though I know almost everyone else does it, it's still "inappropriate".
...3- And it's just mean, I'm holding myself back from it now! ... As much as I can anyway, how can anyone still wear purple lipliner with orange lipstick?! GAH!

But the sad thing is, you know people are doing the same with you!
I was talking with a male friend last week who has a habit of noticing ladies' legs (common), and he personally admitted himself that he's held himself back from yelling out "GYM TIME, LADY!". This almost made me snort out my capuccino from laughing, but it got me thinking:
Has the media set the standard for beauty so high that we judge everything below the belt as "tasteless, lazy, or ugly"??
We all know the photographs in the magazines have the shit Photoshopped out of them, but do we filter that factor out when we look at ourselves?

Has it gone so far that we think that the slight difference in eye shape makes us look cross eyed? 'LOOK OUT, HERE COMES THE CROSS EYED MONSTAH!'

Geez. I honestly believe women and men need to stop worrying about being that person in the magazine and just work to being the best version of themselves. (Prepare for cheesey over-used line) No point in trying to be anyone else, they're all taken! (oh lord, I just typed that..)

Point being, be yourself, but not where you say "oh, ok" and spend a week in the same sweatpants pitying the fact that your face isn't clear or that your ass is a little flabby(But squeezes with fix that right up). Got a problem? Fix it.

What are your little cons you want to change about yourself?
Mine? Reach my goal weight by March. I started out wanting to lose 20 kilos, I'm already 5 kilos down :)

One more thing for those dealing with weight: IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME, DON'T LET IT DRIVE YOU NUTS WHEN YOU DON'T LOSE 4 POUNDS EVERY WEEK!

That's something I needed to repeat to myself every day so I don't just sit back down on my ass and give up! Not this time, Nutella jar! ;)

Anyway, I'm off to get back to work. Let me know what your naughty habits are and what you're planning to do to change them for the better!

Salamander

Perfect red lip & PERFECT STAY ASTOR REVIEW

Hey everybody. 3rd post in under 24 hours, proud of me? :)

So I'm getting ready for a brunch/movie day with some friends and I'm sporting a red lip to go with my outfit. I recently bought the Astor "Perfect Stay" lip pen (lip stain with lip balm attached; I bought 151'Blushing Rose' shade). I have to say:
DIS-A-PPOINTED.

I love my lip stains, and I know a good one when I try one. However, this one just doesn't cut it. It claims to have a 24hr "transferproof" tint but mere minutes after (proper) application, I could take a sip from my coffee and boom, lip smears all over the brim of my glass! I'm just glad I didn't spend any more than 15$ on this thing.

However! I've found a way to use this stain to my advantage. I'd first apply it over clean, freshly buffed and dry lips. Then I'd let it sit for a minute or two to completely dry. Put a second thick stain on, wait for it to dry again. Then I took my favorite lipstick at the moment: N.7 Moisture drench lipstick in Tulip(105), apply a coat of that and rub it in with a clean finger or a lip brush. Blot, and then another coat and then LIGHTY BLOT EXCESS, so it's slightly mattified.
I assure you that even though it's without lipliner, this colour won't budge for hours (unless you sloppily eat and/or drink).
Upkeep is simple, just carry the N7 lipstick (or your lipstick of choice) and touch up in the ladies room :)

(Left to right: ASTOR Perfect Stay, N.7 Tulip, MAC Russian Red{didn't use it, but it's another fav})

What are your favorite lip colours for the season? And can you not live without lip liner?
Let me know in the comments! :)