What’s in my beach bag?

Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, I’m either on my way to my well-deserved vacation or possibly already lying in the sun. Either way, I needed to do some packing and I thought I’d bring you along for the ride.



This is most likely just a part of everything I will be hauling to the beach every day (and by that, I’m sure you can tell I really mean that my hubby will be the one at risk of a spinal injury). I will add tons of books, magazines, some temporary tattoos, fruit and water, phone, tablet and other bits and bobs I pick up along the way. But in the beauty sense, these are the main things that absolutely need to come with me.

My bag was a freebie from Max Mara Weekend a couple of years ago and I love it. It’s a lovely boho-chic bag that doesn’t look too fancy and I don’t really care if it would get dirty (or worse, stolen). I can easily pack it away in the suitcase since it’s very soft.



Inside the tote, I always keep a smaller bag – this one is another freebie from Decleor and I really like it since it can be pulled out and sealed (see the pink part), but when tucked in, it can also act as a large wallet & phone holder when you want to go get a drink at a cafe whilst at the beach.



Of course, SPF is the bare essential when going to the beach. I normally keep two large bottles at hand. First one is for the first days when I’m still pale as a ghost – it’s the Nivea Sun Kids Pure&Sensitive lotion with SPF 50. The other one comes in handy when I get a bit of tan and I don’t risk getting sunburned as much anymore – that’s the Garnier Ambre Solaire with SPF 15.

Naturally, we mustn’t forget about the face. I got this Decleor Aroma Sun Expert with SPF 30 this year and I’m hoping it will do its job well. View Post

Avon Nutra Effects daily cream and Luck La Vie Perfume review

Avon Slovenija was very kind and sent me a lovely package containing a lot of goodies a couple of weeks ago.


Inside the package, I found the Nutra Effects daily cream, Luck La Vie Perfume and two of their new summer colors of nail polish in the Avon Glow Nailwear Pro+ line. These two, I’ll save for a separate review, since they absolutely deserve a post of their own (hint, hint), but today, let’s talk skincare first.

Nutra Effects is a relatively new Avon line with active chia seed complex, which certainly counts as an innovative product in my book. The line contains no parabens and colorings. I am drooling over some other products as well, like the Argan infused hair mask or the cleansing foam. But that’s a whole other story.

Anyway, Avon Slovenia sent me the daily cream from the Hydration line intended for dry/normal skin. It promises 24 hours of hydration and I can certainly appreciate such claims in the summer. Extra bonus – this cream also boasts an SPF 15.

If your skin is mixed or on the oily side, you can alternatively go for the Balance line which helps you face stay matte despite the raging heat we’ve been having lately.

I must say I absolutely love this cream. You get 50 ml, which is a good amount, for only 5,50 € (in the catalog valid from 29/7 onward), but it feels like the most luxurious and expensive cream on the planet. I’ve switched out my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel for this cream and I must say that Nutra Effects performs better, even if I don’t take the price: quality ratio into account. View Post

Bring out the sun! My guide to SPRING/SUMMER 2015 TRENDS and MUST-HAVES for the season

I am so excited for summer to finally roll around the corner – being a summer baby, I am also a summer babe and sun fuels me up like nothing else. But it’s not only about the hot days, beach and cocktails; it’s also about looking the part. Here are the biggest spring and summer trends for hair and make-up we’ll be seeing and wearing in the next few months.

SKIN


1. Healthy and fresh skin. For the season, forget tons of make-up and make sure that your complexion is happy and healthy on its own. If you have issues, rethink your routine and push it up a notch – I think it’s worth it, because having a beautiful skin will always be in trend.

Must have: Magnitone Lucid for a daily clean that will not only clean and wake up your skin, but also leave it looking gorgeous, soft and fresh! Get it here(for a fraction of the cost you pay to your cosmetologist every year).


2. Temporary tattoos. Yes, I’m putting this under the skin category, because obviously this trend is meant to draw attention to your beautiful tanned skin (disclaimer: go for fake tanners, don’t bake in the sun/fake bake). But we are not talking about the tattoos that you get with your favorite chewing gum – these tattoos are beautiful, elaborate works of art.

Must have: get your favorite designs here and rock as many as you possibly dare. View Post

April Favorites

Another month rolled by and I almost can’t believe that it’s almost been a year since I started writing this blog 🙂 Anyway, April brought some new, wonderful discoveries for me, and I also found some of my old friends lurking in the back of that closet that I keep mentioning all the time.



Quite a few were already mentioned in my other posts, so let’s start with those. First is the Lord&Berry liner that I received in the LookFantastic beauty box about a month ago. It’s been well loved but I’m determined to use the very last inch of it. You can read more about it here – and thank me later when you go and buy it 😉


Essence Longlasting Lip Liner in Yummy Berry


Another favorite that I only recently became acquainted with is the Essence Longlasting lip liner. I love quite a few colors, but as I already mentioned in this post, the Yummy Berry is my favorite. I need to go out and buy a few back-up’s in case it makes a disappearing act from the shelves.


O.P.I. Don’t pretzel my buttons

This O.P.I. Don’t pretzel my buttons featured in my Simple manicure routine post. It’s a really lovely beige nude and I’ve been wearing it a lot in the past two months, simply because it’s long lasting and – to be completely honest – doesn’t look terrible even when some chipping occurs. It’s the only nude polish I own and we have quite a romance going on at the moment.


Medex Elanosol lip balm

I don’t talk much about Medex cosmetics line and I don’t really know why – I love most of the products and use them quite religiously. But my favorite has to be the Elanosol lip balm that contains propolis, honey and bee wax. First of all, this lip balm really does smell and taste of honey, and secondly, it leaves quite a thick layer on the lips meaning that they are fully protected. That being said, it’s not really a product I use out of home, because it also leaves a little white residue which doesn’t look too appealing. But I love using it at home and it helps my lips tremendously. View Post

Product empties

I was under the impression that while hubby was away for two weeks, I would have plenty of time and would post something new every day. Well… that turned out well, now didn’t it? I’m sorry to have gone MIA for 20 days, but now I’m back and let’s get this party started!

I actually wanted to write some other posts before this one, but as it turns out, cleaning out your closets really makes the empties pile up – I found quite a few products that had only a tiny bit left and that’s now gone.

Pantene Aqua Light, Garnier Fructis Repair and shine 3, Moroccanoil, Goldwell Golden Spray
I used up the Garnier Fructis Repair & Shine shampoo and conditioner. Both contain three nutritive fruit oils: olive, avocado and shea oil. I liked them well enough, especially the fruity scent, but they did nothing really special for my hair. I would not repurchase them.

I also used up the Pantene Aqua Light shampoo (which went a bit faster since hubby was stealing it all the time). This served as a shampoo to get rid of build up in my hair – it really gave them a good wash and they got that squeaky feeling to them – do you know what I’m talking about? I would repurchase this, since it’s inexpensive and works really well. As you can see, I also had some samples of this conditioner lying around so those went as well.

Keeping up with the hair theme, I finished the Moroccanoil treatment. For some reason, this went really fast – I expected it to last much longer, but to be honest, I was using it twice per days just because it made my hair incredibly silky and healthy looking. I still think that this would last much longer if it was used with a pump, since I sometimes got much more out of the bottle than needed. So I will purchase the full size (after I use up my Keraste oil), but probably keep the pump bottle from Keraste and put it in there.

I got the Goldwell Golden Spray from my hair stylist as a new year present. I liked it well enough – it didn’t make my hair sticky and was easy to brush out at the end of the day. It used to be hard to find a good hairspray, but right now, there are so many good ones out there that I probably will not purchase this, but instead try something new. View Post