What's going on

Allow me to shake off the dust that has gathered along this blog..
Hello!

It's been a while. How are you? How's the family?
Pleasantries aside, let me tell you what's been going on.

Uno:
I recently left the university I was studying in for a few reasons I won't mention here, which then forced me to concentrate on work and taking a break. Those two things sound contradicting.. Yes, they were, but at the same time, I only had to work 3 days a week. So, not too bad..

To make a very long and twisted story short, I left Warsaw to return to my first home: Dubai.
I realized that in order for me to take time off and figure out what to continue studying, I'm going to have to get my hands dirty.
Of course, I'll have all summer to get my hands manicured first!

Dos:
I have found love again. I say 'again' because this man has been in my life for years. We had gone through the treacherous waves of the dreaded on/off long-distance relationship, and lo and behold! we made it through.
Nah, in all seriousness, the minute we saw each other again it was right smack in the same love spot.

So, there's another reason for me to be staying here. And a pretty damn good one at that!

Tres:
I've been keeping myself busy with some online courses nowadays, which is one of the many reasons why I've been so damn quiet here..
Another thing (relating to the aforementioned news), I didn't know I was leaving Wawa for a prolonged period of time until AFTER I got to Dubai. So, I left 90% of my make up there. I know. I cried.
I'm not kidding, I actually CRIED for my cosmetics. Tad bit of a drama queen.

So, that explains the lack of "makeup posts" all up in this bizznass.

If you aren't familiar with my FB page, you can check it out here:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/OiS-Makeup-Photography/116732945112881

Don't be shocked if it's a bit bare, I'm still working on it.
I'm planning to work on my portfolio while I'm here (I'll have some more time on my hands) allowing me to work on new looks and practice new techniques.
I also plan to take a few courses so I can get a fancy certificate saying you'll have to pay me big bucks to paint your face.

Just kidding, I want to get the certificate so that I can start interning.
It's about time, right?!

All in all, I left Poland because at the current moment, I've nothing to keep me there. Dubai will return to being my home for the time being, until I miss snow and cooler weather. Then, I'll fly back out to Europe to de-rust my Polish :)

For now, just relax. Enjoy the rest of the summer.
I'll be posting a short letter to my ex-fellow-students and friends soon.


xx

Pas-tell me more!

How very pun-ny indeed.

Since spring is here and now that we're having floral patterns and bright colours thrown at our faces, I thought I'd trade in my black-navy polishes for something a little more in the now:

Pastels.

Personally I've fallen in love with the mint greens and light corals (picture below). There's something so fresh about a bright colour after months of grey and dreary tones.

Coming from someone who's inner-metal-head always had me picking out the black clothes to wear (seriously, my closet it 99% black..like my soul), I have to admit that a bit of colour is actually refreshing.

Personally, I love corals. Reds in general are a main preference. But since this season calls for more  orange-y tones, coral is right smack in the middle for me.

As you can see, it's become my go-to accessory colour when it comes to spring.

No, I definitely did not hang my new earrings onto my glasses frames...*cough*

Anywho, my point is: It's spring. Get your ass out of the greys and blacks (apart from staple pieces of course) and spice up your wardrobe and make up with new colours.

Na przyklad (For example): Switching out black liner for a deep royal blue:

I have to say, for someone who loves a dark, dramatic eye, I've really enjoyed playing around with brighter colours to spice up my cosmetic bag.

What are your favourite, new colours for this season?

Love, S

BB?

So some of you may or may not have heard of BB. No, silly, I don't mean blackberry (cheeky grin), I'm talking about the new creme that has taken Asia by a storm and has finally reached Europe:
Beauty Balm creme!

In short, it's a mix of vitamins, mineral powder, and other goodies to do a whole 5 in 1 treat
-cover
-hydrate
-protect (with spf)
-illuminate
-even out complexion

I just bought the Garnier Miracle BB creme and I'll be testing out to see if the hype is really true.

I'll report back on this in a couple of weeks.

New finds

Hello my little limpets,

It's been a while, but I'm bedridden with nothing else to do and I thought I'd take advantage :)

Let's just jump right into this, shall we?
Recently I've found some products that have blown me away with quality in regards to price.
Bargain finds, you could say.
Beauty wins on a budget :)

The first one is something out of Sephora (surprise surprise).
Actually, it only cost around 10zl (roughly 3 bucks) and it.works.wonders.
It's the sephora face brush/scrub/awesomethingfromheaven.

Seriously, I don't know how it does it, but my skin has had NO pimples/redness/dicolouration in weeks!
(don't wanna jinx it, knock on wood). NOTE: that photo was off of google.

Going back to my point.. It's like the poor-man's Clarisonic (http://www.clarisonic.com/). It doesn't cost a buttload of cash (roughly 250$ apiece) but it still gives results almost identical to those who use Clarisonic.
You just scrub your face every night/morning after removing your makeup and it clears your pores and gets rid of all dead skin on the surface.

Not to bash on the 'Sonic, but in my opinion, a bargains a bargain.

___
I'm pretty sure you remember, (or probably dont since it's been so long since I've posted here), that I mentioned a new find from Manhattan. The Matte lip mousse is almost a perfect dupe of the oh-so-popular NYX lip mousses.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of all matte lip products. The preference might just stem from a deep hatred of getting my hair stuck in sicky shiny lipglosses growing up, then again, I just like how the colour can be really striking but soft at the same time.

Once again, since it was a drugstore product, it only cost me around 20zl (6-7 bucks?).

The thing I love about this lip mousse is not only do I get to call it a "lip mousse" and sound pretentious (like a madame), but it stays on for a lot longer than expected without drying out my lips (which is a big no no).
Sure, if you're talking a lot or eating lunch you'll need to reapply it afterwards, but for the price tag and the overall longevity of it? So worth it.
___
Now, the next item on my super awesome list of cool things to buy on a budget:

TAFT instant volume powder.
This experiment started from not wanting to wash my hair everday during the winter because it would get oily very quickly due to the severe cold. I tried out SYOSS's dry shampoo, which worked, but sadly ran out really quickly after only a few applications. It also gave me a bit of dandruff, which I hated.

My hair is really thick and heavy, so being a volume-freak, I found this product a bit of a life saver, especially when it comes to keeping the volume throughout a night of dancing!
This got a lot of mixed reviews when I asked around. The texture of this product is almost like a powdered wax. I have a joke with my friends by calling it "Cocaine for hair".

This works best if you already have some products in your hair (mousse, for example) because it has something to hold on to. I found that when I used it on freshly washed and blow dried hair it didnt hold up as well.

Another thing is that this is NOT a dry shampoo, so if you're expecting to have smooth hair after applying this, you'll be disappointed. As I said, it's almost like a powdered wax, so it does get a bit tough. However, if you want to have volume for hours, you gotta put your silky roots aside.
___
And last, but definitely not least:

Maybelline's One by One Volume express mascara in Satin Black. (Approx 35zl/ 12 bucks)

Most mascaras have to be a few weeks old before they start drying out a teeeensy bit giving my lashes that thicker, more mousse-like effect as opposed to a brand new mascara. I find that even a really good mascara such as Clinique's High Impact mascara (Roughly 19 Euros), I'd have to wait for the product to slightly dry out before I get the best volumizing results.

Although I love Clinique's mascaras, this is about the Maybelline's mascara.

Going back to it then, I found like right out of the packaging, it worked fantastically on me. 

In just ONE coat it gave me fuller lashes without any clumping whatsoever. 

Here's a picture of my lashes with and without the mascara

Excuse the lighting and pale face, it's almost 6AM here and I'm right in the middle of getting through strep throat..
But as you can see, one coat of mascara (on the right side) seperated my lashes and darkened them into a silky black colour. Normally, I'd pile on a few coats, just because I'm a firm believer in big big lashes (although I hardly ever wear falsies.. hm). I guess I'm more comfortable with just 4 coats of mascara than having fake lashes glued on my eyes.. Then again, I'm waiting on a bulk order of falsies from ebay so who am I to talk? :)

Alright, so there you have it!
A list of what I believe are pretty good bargain products that should be staples in your beauty bag.

I'm not going to "promise I'll start posting more" because with my current schedule, I have no idea when the next time I'll be able to sit down and type away will be.

I do have some new paintings that I'll take photos of and post up for you to see. I'm quite proud of them.
Lots of love from a temporarily-mute Salamander!
xx -S

BRB

I know the blog's been pretty dead for a while, but I'm caught up in a lot of shinnanigans.
I'll be back soon with more tricks and posts asap.

-S xx

Mini haul and review

Online shopping is evil.. You just don't know when to stop!

Speaking of shopping, I bought a couple of products when I ran into Rossman's for a few things.

One is a lip product,
One is a hair product.

Both are absolutely fan-freakin'-tastic.

The MANHATTAN 'Soft Mat' lip cream in 45H.
 -->   http://www.manhattan.de/en/products/lips/product/Productline/details/soft-mat-lipcream/40025543576052/

I've been on the search for the perfect lip stain for years now, and I have to say this has taken the cake.
Not only does it have a vibrant, red colour (Love.), but it also smells like the most delicious cupcake ever made. The ONLY downside to it is that if you apply too many coats over the course of a day then it might get a little dry (cold weather is to blame), but other than that it's perfect.

As you can see, bright, beautiful, RED.

Love it.

The second product I bought is Taft Instant Volume Powder.

http://wizaz.pl/kosmetyki/produkt.php?produkt=47098

This product is definitely the most effective volume powder I've ever used.

It's almost like a super-intensified dry shampoo. 

You pour a dash or two of the powder onto your hands and then rub together. The texture here is a little odd. Almost waxy in a way.

Then, you tuft up your locks by fluffing up from the roots.

It's fantastic and works everytime! 

And you know you can count on my word because I'm a girl who has damn thick hair that falls to gravity and I have to fight to keep a little volume.

This stuff WORKS!

If you want I'll upload a before and after picture later on because I just got out of the shower and my hair is still wet.

Until then, I'll update again soon..

Lots of love, -S xx

A few things

Over the course of the past two days I've made a few decisions I feel great about.

Yesterday I pledged to go vegetarian/vegan for a month (if not longer).

Technically I was, what you would call, a "flexitarian". A little silly, but you're an almost-vegetarian. You are still just flexible enough to eat meat/fish every now and then.

Not anymore! I've always been aware of what the food industry does to animals, and it's horrible.
Which is why IF I do eat meat, I go for the organic produce. That way I know that the animals were raised and treated fairly.

If you haven't seen any videos or if you don't know what food you're eating I suggest you go to:
PETA.org

or watch FOOD.INC
Food.inc is a documentary all about the food industry and how whatever we buy at the grocery is a vote to what the manufacturers mass produce.
trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0

I don't mean to preach, but YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE EATING!
Everything you eat dictates the way your body grows. I mean, think of it, if you give your pet shitty food and pump it full of hormones of course it's going to get sick, and soon!

If you wouldn't do that to your pet, or your family member, why would you want to do that to yourself?

And by the way, just because someone chooses to be vegetarian or vegan doesn't mean you lose out on all the "good stuff". Trust me, I'm picky when it comes to food and this is coming from someone who THOROUGHLY enjoyed steaks.

HOWEVER, my new favorite dish is something I came up with a while back while tinkering in the kitchen :

Couscous with onions, garlic, and mushrooms stuffed into tomatoes and steamed.
Oh, deary me. Really, I'm making it as a side dish for a dinner party I'll be holding soon and I'll report back to how they all liked it :)

here's a picture of it

 It may not look like the most appealing thing, but trust me, the flavors are magnifique!

Enough boasting..
My point is is that vegetarian food doesn't at all have to be bland or boring.

And another plus side is that you automatically make healthier food choices, so weight loss is almost a garuntee!

The other choice I made is a something I pledged to do a while back.
Quitting smoking: probably the best thing I've done.
Honestly, this is coming from someone who used to really smoke. A lot.

And don't get me wrong, I didn't quit cold turkey either. I've done that and just fell right back onto the wagon.
I took about a month to get used to the idea that after December 31st, I wasn't going to have a ciggarette.
Once I got the idea stuck in my head, I found myself smoking a lot less than what I was used to.

Now, I pass by smokers on the street and crinkle my nose at the smell (was that really what that cloud of smoke surrounding me smelled like?!) gah!

Realistically though, I know I might have a drag off of someone or maybe a social cig once in a blue moon, but I'm going to try not to.

It became almost like an "I've gotten this far, I don't want to screw up now!" kind of thing. Competition with myself, you could say.

Anyway, I mentioned I'll be busy with exams for the next week or so. I'll update with a beauty-related post ASAP.

Lots of love,
-S xx