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! :)

Bubble baths and baby powder.

Ever took the time to reaaallly work on yourself?

I just spent the last hour and a half pampering myself.
Now, before you read this post and say "Oh how self indulgent", keep in mind that I only get to properly pamper myself once a week. Meaning 45 mins in a hot shower scrubbing away all the impurities (as opposed to a 20 mins shower), tweezing, waxing, shaving of every stray and unwanted hair (TMI? Too bad.), and a relaxing self massage with my favorite essential oils afterwards. Ahhh feels damn good.

It's got me thinking about self image. In my opinion, everyone should have that one night a week (or every other week) where they cut off from the social world for a few hours and just indulge in whatever makes them feel good. For me, it started with a vanilla latte and 2 squares of Lindt 70% dark chocolate. Just a few hours ago I felt a little bit down and un-sexy. Now, damn, I feel like walking down a catwalk and booty shakin! It's the little things we should enjoy about ourselves.

Small things like this can make you feel good. And "once you feel good on the inside, it starts showing on the outside". Have you ever seen a woman or man who wasn't your typical drop-dead gorgeous model, but the way they held themselves up and their (excuse this term) "aura" was just so tantalizing?

It's because they feel good about themselves. Confidence, in other words (but not cockiness!). Some negative Nancy's say 'happiness is overrated', but these days I've been feeling happier than ever now that I've thrown myself back into art. I've even dropped a few pounds! All these little things can build up and make you stand up a little straighter, walk with a little more oopmh!, and make you feel like you belong in a catalogue!

Try it! Take one hour to really take care of yourself. Your skin, your hair, your nails, pamper them until you're as soft as a baby's bottom and glowing! You'll see how you'll feel and even how people will treat you!

Like I said, the way you perceive yourself is how others will perceive you. If you take care of yourself, that means you respect yourself, your body. Others will see that and will, in turn, respect you. Everything you think, say, or do will mirror back onto yourself. So would you rather feel sloppy? Or ShagTASTIC? ;D

Disclaimer: Yes, I AM writing this in my big fluffy robe whilst doing my nails and enjoying a cuppa tea. Try it yourself? ;)

Daily dose of beauty 2

If y'all have read my first post, you'd remember that I mentioned the skies over here and how they inspire me to paint. For today's daily dose of beauty, I'm posting up pics I snapped of an oncoming storm and how the colours danced across the sunset-sky :)

For something more beauty-related:

The hot hot hot colour for spring-autumn nailpolishes is mint-green or urban turquoise! I've noticed that lots of fashionistas have been sporting the colours as if they're holding on to the last few days of spring colours :)

I, myself, have adapted the urban turquoise (maybelline) polish with a stripe of "cracking" black nail varnish, another end-of-2011 trend. It's perfect for my short nails right now, not to mention they spice up an outfit like nobody's business!

Tomorrow I'll be posting about hairstyles and how a cut can totally change the way you feel about yourself! I'll also be posting some new paintings (if I get them done) so you can keep up with my artwork :)

For those who are asking, my make up tips and tricks are coming soon. I have a couple of uni things to get out of the way by the next and then I'll be free to whore out all of my make up know hows !

Keep sipping your cup of crazy!

Daily dose of beauty- 1

Hey everyone. For my firs blog post I'll be posting a journal entry I wrote the other day after painting my first abstract painting in years. It's a little something to get this blog going and I hope you'll appreciate the few words I rambled on about. Here it is (along with the painting).

Our lives mirror our thoughts. This is one of the secrets of the universe and how it plays a role in the events that occur throughout our lives. We search for perfect balance, but knowing that it is almost impossible to achieve, we lose ourselves in whichever direction we walk in. There will always be imbalances, but according to how you reflect upon yourself, life, love, family, those imbalances will remain minor or take over your life. 

Nowadays we skim through texts and videos, not appreciating the simple things that we once found beautiful. Whether it's poetry, photography, film, or nature, we live in such a fast pace that we don't stop and take in what once could turn our day around from an ok-day to a day with meaning.

During the past few autumn evenings I've stopped and watched the sun set. Not necessarily the sun, but the sky itself. The colours that play along the clouds the farther the sun sets, the way the blue deepens to an almost-purple. It made me think about change. Change is never in the style of cold-turkey. You can never just stop doing something or being someone. You'll end up on another end of the spectrum totally unbalanced. But if you choose to change bits and pieces of yourself, gradually, just like the way the colours slowly fade from pinks, reds, purples, and blues, you can find that who you thought you could become is entirely possible.

Give and take. Nothing is out of your reach as long as you believe you deserve it. What you think about yourself is what you think you're worth. Whether it's time, money, relationships, it all comes down to balance. Strive to be the person you want to be, but don't stress. Be there for those who need you, but not to the point where you neglect yourself. Love those who deserve your love, and open your heart to receive their love. 

Once you believe you deserve something, write it down. Almost like you were ordering a book on Amazon. Writing something down and set a deadline, an EXACT time that you expect what you want, and it's practically yours.

You never know how easily you can get it. Just think.