January 2015 - Vesna en violet

Lifestyle

Liebster Award

31. 1. 2015

Hi there!

This post will be slightly different, as I have been nominated by fabulous Ellie from Belle Vie Tour for Liebster award. Thank you, Ellie, this truly means a lot to me! :) This is definitely something new, I haven’t discussed the beginnings of my my blog before. I guess this is the best opportunity to let you know a bit more about my blogging starts and other small details of my life.

Well, these are the rules if you are nominated:

Thank the blogger who nominated you
Answer the questions from your nominator
Nominate up to 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers
Create 11 new questions
Notify your nominees through their blogs or social media etc.

Here are my answers to Ellie’s questions:

1. Why did you start blogging?

I posted my first blog post in December one year ago, on December 24, 2013 more precisely. At that time, I was unintentionally having a year off after my graduate studies in order to sit my last exam. For the first time in years, I finally had time to do and read whatever I wanted to at any time, and that brought me to reading several blogs on a daily basis. I was always impressed by beautiful pictures bloggers posted and all the lovely texts they wrote, and after a thoughtful consideration and much needed support from my sister and my best friend I finally decided to start my own blog. I remember being so nervous at the start, but it turned out to be a wonderful hobby. :)

2. If you could have any pet/animal, what would you have?

I already have a pet, a seven years old maltese named Laq and he’s the only pet friend I need! :)

3. Is there a career you secretly (or not so secretly) wish you were going into?

I’m currently on the Master’s degree in translation in English, French and Slovene language and without any doubt, this was the best decision about my future I ever made. Yes, translation or anything else connected with languages is definitely a career I wish to build after I finish my post-graduate studies.

4. What is your favourite high street store?

Zara is probably my favorite!

5. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have three things what would they be?

Uff, this is a tough one. Obviously, the first choice would be my boyfriend, let’s say this counts as the first thing :P Then I would definitely need a good lip balm, such as the Body Shop Born Lippy with pink guava, a very exotic scent for (I imagine) a deserted exotic island. And the third would have to be a good sunscreen by Alverde, one needs a good UV protection on an island!

6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

I never imagine how my future will look like, because I firmly believe you have to live in the present and enjoy every moment of it. The future will come by itself, probably way too soon ;)

7. Do you have a fear/phobia?

I am afraid of walking around the house in the evening or at night, I always have a feeling someone is watching me :D Scary!

8. Favourite beauty product?

I would say a foundation, this is the one product that saved my confidence in high school when I was battling with skin problems on my face. They’re almost gone, but now I see a foundation as a perfect way to even out my skin tone.

9. Who inspires you?

I don’t have a particular role model, but I’m inspired by all the people who are successful in their own fields, worked hard to get there and share their advice that have helped them come so far.

10. How do you handle a stressful day?

The university has brought me a hell lot of a stress and at times I still feel completely powerless. However, I managed to handle it by a regular yoga practice and positive way of looking at problems. Whenever I have a bad day or I’m in a stressful situation, I say to myself This too shall pass, a very wise sentence that is 100 % true. Bad things will happen in our lives one way or another, there’s no doubt about that. Nevertheless, the one thing we have to bear in mind is that good moments will come back sooner or later.

11. What is your favourite quote?

My favorite quote is Luck is an attitude. It may sound a bit strange at first sight, but if you think more about that, it’s actually quite true. I do agree that some people are just born under a lucky star, but this doesn’t mean we cannot have luck in our own lives. Our attitude towards ourselves and our lives is the determining factor, be good to yourself, believe in your potentials and everything else will follow soon.

Now it’s my turn to nominate a few bloggers! I choose Beautysaur, Verity And Cakes and Heavily Crazed.

My questions for my lovely fellow bloggers are:

1) When did you start your blog and what was the first post about?

2) Tell us 3 random facts about yourself.

3) Do you write a journal?

4) Coffee or tea?

5) Do you prefer wearing skirts or jeans?

6) What is your holy grail skin care product?

7)) What is your favorite online store?

8) Are you an early bird or a night owl?

9) What is your favorite movie/series of 2014?

10) Do you prefer winter or summer?

11) What is your favorite quote?

This post was so much fun, if anyone else wants to join, please do! And let me know so I can check out your post :)

Take care ♥

Vesna

2 Comments

Beauty

New in: Essence haul & swatches

22. 1. 2015

Me and my friend have been strolling around the city centre in the beginning of the week and “spontaneously” decided to take a look around the makeup section in Müller. What we didn’t expect is that Essence currently has huge sales on lots of products that will be discontinued soon. Imagine my surprise and childish enthusiasm when we saw that, haha :D You know, I just went for it, because all of these products cost only € 0,99 and I just didn’t feel the need to hold myself back, why would I! An opportunity like this doesn’t come around so often ;)

Let’s start with my favorite, shall we? This is the Sun Club All-In One Bronzing Highlighter and, according to the packaging, it suits best to blondes with lighter skin. I’m a brunette and have a medium complexion, but would nevertheless say it suits mine fairly well! I decided to show you the two separate parts and the blend of all of them together, because, let’s be honest, you can use it as, please, stay with me: a bronzer or a highlighter or as a bronzing highlighter. I love this product, it is so flattering to the skin and creates a beautiful shimmery&summery effect. I bet I will be using it a lot!

The next one belongs to the same category, it is the How to Make Your Face Wow make-up box. It is basically a palette with a bronzer, a highlighter and two different blush shades. And, of course, a little mirror inside. The bronzer sun date is fairly light and somehow similar to the blended All In One Bronzing Higlighter, whereas the highlighter is much lighter. The two blushes are quite interesting, the first one is think pink and is definitely something I would never go for if I was buying a mono blush. Now that I have it, I’ll give it a try, but probably not before masquerades in February :D The second blush peach babe is much more pleasant in my opinion, a lovely peachy shade that I’ve been trying to get for quite some time! It creates a wonderful look if I add just a tiny bit on my cheeks, I love it! Except form think pink blush, this palette is much more shimmery, but also intense. A lovely combination!

I’ve only had one Essence mascara until now and I didn’t like it very much, I had a feeling that it didn’t dry on my lashes at all. However, I decided to give another mascara a go and chose The Lash Curler volume&curl mascara.

I must admit, I’m quite impressed with this one. It obviously lenghtened my lashes, but it didn’t give them much volume. It’s not one the most longlasting mascara, but is nevertheless just fine if you need to apply some mascara very quickly.

I recently decided to start using more lipglosses as they are great by themselves or applied over a lipstick. I went for the XXXL Longlasting lipgloss in shade I love pink (4). Not much to say, a lovely pink shade with a pleasant texture and shiny finish.

I also got the Match 2 Cover! cream concealer in soft beige (20), very similar to the Catrice Camouflage cream, but still a bit more creamy. The pot contains two shades which are impressively similar to the foundation I use at the moment. A real catch, I say!

The next product is the Glam Style sparkling hair & body spray. I definitely don’t need that, but who doesn’t like a bit of a sparkle on her hair in summer or for any other special occasion! I find it really cute. Well, the glitter is pretty small and has a whole feast of shades, and it smells like cupcakes!! What’s not to love ;) Last but not least, I got the Studio Nails nail care pen with vitamin A&E, ginkgo extract, essential jojoba oil, avocado oil and almond oil. I have very dry and brittle nails and with one nourishing product more you just can’t go wrong.

That’s all from my part today, I’m glad I finally managed to get some of the Essence products on sales. And go to your nearest drugstore in Slovenia if you fancy some of these products, because I don’t know for how long they will be available! Everything in moderation, moderation in everything – I have to repeat this in my mind the next time I go shopping :D

Take care ♥

Vesna

6 Comments

Food

Sushi time

17. 1. 2015

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that me and my boyfriend love sushi. I tried it for the first time two years ago and I was 100% that I would hate it, but it turned out to be so darn good! A few months ago we started making it ourselves and we couldn’t be more impressed with the outcome. This time, we’ve really perfected it: just the right amount of rice, lovely pieces of salmon and avocado. A bit of wasabi and gluten-free soy sauce are of course obligatory, but just make sure that you don’t add too much of this green goodness, my nose almost exploded at one point :D

This was a lovely start of a productive weekend, if only weather was a bit better, at least some snow instead of lousy rain. On the positive side, days are getting longer now, which is an enormous plus for me. Spring must be here soon! I hope you’re having a great time :) Take care ♥

Vesna

Food

Spaghetti, Caramelized Onions & Olive Oil

15. 1. 2015

This recipe is for all onion lovers out there. I love pasta in every shape and form and it’s not surprising that I crave it every time I’m extremely hungry. I know there are so many healthier options, but you can’t resist every single time! And I didn’t even plan doing this post at first. But this dish is insanely simple, the only boring part is for the onions to caramelize – but it’s so rewarding at the end! For 2 people you’ll need:

corn/rice/regular spaghetti ♥ 2–3 large onions ♥ 4 tbsp olive oil ♥ salt

Parmesan cheese ♥ parsley

The first thing to do is to peel the onions, cut them in halves and slice them up. Then heat olive oil in a pan and add the onions. The most important part is to give them time, around 20 minutes or even more. In addition, you have to caramelize on low heat or they will get burned (and we don’t want that!). Don’t forget to stir occasionally and add some salt in the end.

When the onions start to get golden brown, bring water to boil, add some salt and your preferable type of pasta, it doesn’t have to be spaghetti. Cook it according to the directions on the package. When it’s done, drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with onions. Mix it thoroughly and they’re ready to serve! Please, don’t forget to sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese as I did, it gives an extra something to the dish! And a parsley leaf on the top is, of course, obligatory. Bon appétit! :)

Take care ♥

Vesna

2 Comments

Beauty

Empties #3

11. 1. 2015

I’ve been pretty lazy with storing everything I used up in the last couple of months which is bizarre, because I do like to read empties on other blogs. This is why I dedicated one box to the products I used up a few weeks ago and now it’s time to share the products I’ve used up so far with you! :)

♦ The first one is The Body Shop Mango Body Butter, a rich and decadent body butter that sinks into skin quickly and leaves it extremely soft. I can’t get over the scent of mango, it actually smells like fresh fruit. I have to stock it up soon! Note to self: buy mangoes too! ;) Repurchase: A big yes!

♦ If I stay with The Body Shop, I almost used up their Tea Tree Pore Minimiser serum with tea tree oil. There is just a tiny bit left! I won’t say that pores are completely invisible after use, but it prepares the skin very well for the foundation. In addition, it mattifies the skin and the tea tree oil inside helps fight blemishes, which is definitely a plus. Repurchase: I’ll definitely repurchase it one day, but I’d rather try something new before that.

♦ I stopped using regular face creams as soon as I found the Balea Aqua serum. It moisturizes the skin and makes it much less greasy than other moisturizing products tend to do. However, I prefer using a primer before applying the foundation as the serum doesn’t mattify the skin the way I want. Repurchase: I already have! :)

♦ I’m a big fan of exfoliators and the Balea Creme Peeling is by far one of the best. The cream is full of tiny exfoliating particles that remove the top layer of dead skin. Despite making your skin fresh and soft, those with very sensitive skin should be careful using it as it can be quite intense. Repurchase: Definitely!

♦ One of my favorite mascaras is the Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express mascara. It lengthens my lashes and gives them lots of volume, basically everything a mascara should do. Repurchase: Yes, but only after I use up the ones I have at the moment! :)

♦ I finally used up the Eyes Lips Face Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, it really lasted for a long time. What I love about it is that it creates a great base for applying eye shadows. However, my eyes are hooded and everything starts to smudge in a while and this primer doesn’t make any difference. In my opinion, the Maybelline Color Tattoo eye shadows are much better as a base. Repurchase: Probably not.

♦ One of the greatest inventions must be dry shampoos. If you don’t have time to wash your hair, just spray a bit on the greasy parts, wait for a minute, then comb through your hair and it’s done! The Batiste Dry Shampoo is crème de la crème when talking about dry shampoos, they saved my hair countless times! This one comes with a lovely floral scent. Repurchase: I already have, I’m using the original one at the moment! :)

♦ The last two products are the Garnier Ultra Doux Heritage de Provence shampoo and conditioner with lavender and rose for hair without shine. I love these two, the shampoo makes my hair really clean and doesn’t make them greasy like lots of nourishing shampoos do, and the conditioner makes them a bit softer and leaves a subtle lavender scent. Repurchase: Yes!

Oh my, exams are approaching with speed of light and I don’t think I’m completely ready for them! The next two months will definitely be tough. Unfortunately, in stressful situations I tend to forget that our body and mind are all intertwined. The one thing I must keep doing in the following weeks is to practice yoga regularly and eat healthy food, lots of smoothies and such. But it should be fun :) Take care ♥

Vesna

Beauty

My favorite 2014 beauty products!

7. 1. 2015

It’s time to share my top ten beauty products of 2014 with you! :) This was a very hard task, especially because I love so many products I started using in the summer and later in the autumn. This is why I included some products I bought the middle of the year just because I’ve been pretty obsessed with them and probably will be until I find something even better :) Let’s go! ♥

I wrote about The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing powder a while ago and it’s still my favorite bronzer. This one is in the shade medium matte (03) and it’s quite fair, but still dark enough to contour the face. As I predicted, it is much more visible on my skin now than it was in the summer. On the plus side, it has a perfect mirror which is great if you carry it in your handbag. ♦ If we stay in the cheek area, I always like to complement the bronzer with a bit of a blush. The one I’ve been using the most is the Bourjois blusher in the shade Frosted Rose (54). The packaging is so darn cute, and the color! It is very pigmented and a bit shimmery, which is great because you don’t need to apply additional highlighter. However, the blusher is literally hard as a rock and it’s nearly impossible to apply it with a soft Real Techniques blush brush. This is probably why the enclosed little brush is so harsh, because almost none of my brushes is suitable :D I still love it, it leaves a lovely finish. ♦ The next one is my life savior when my skin gets crazy (which is happening right now!), it’s the Catrice Camouflage Cream in the shade Light Beige. I even hit pan last week which must be the best proof that I use it a lot. The coverage is insane for such an affordable concealer, and although I’ve been using it quite regularly over the year, the pot will surely last for another few months. ♦ As far as eye shadows are concerned, I use lots of eye palettes, but this product is the one I use as a base or just by itself throughout the whole year. It’s the Maybelline Color Tattoo in the shade Permanent Taupe (40). It’s so pigmented, long lasting and doesn’t smudge and although I use it practically every day, the majority of the product is still there. A wonderful product, big thanks to my best friend who gave it to me as a gift. Thank you, Anita! ♦ The last one from this series is the Rimmel Stay Matte long lasting pressed powder in the shade Silky Beige (005). Nothing special to say here, obviously a great mattifying and setting powder I use every single day.

I have two favorite nail polishes this time, the first one is the Essie nail polish in the shade Bahama Mama. I’ve used quite a lot of it, and how wouldn’t I when the shade is so gorgeous! The rich and deep plum color makes it perfect for autumn and winter, but I love to use it in warmer months too ;) Love! ♦ The next one is the Rimmel nail polish in the shade White Hot Love (703). I never cared about white nail polishes, but this one just does the trick! It really steps out in summer when my skin gets darker. ♦ The next one is my favorite lip stick ever, it’s the Revlon Colorburst lipstick in the shade Fuschsia (030). I used it in every season, it’s such a long lasting lip product in bright pink. ♦ I have to mention another lip product, the Alverde lip balm. I don’t completely understand in which scent it is, the packaging says Cranberry in English and Kirsche (Eng: cherry) in German, let’s just say it has cherry scent. It is great at moisturizing the lips and prevents them from chapping. I also adore the one with vanilla and orange, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere, it was probably a limited edition. Anyway, this must be my fourth or fifth lip balm so far, I can’t stop using it! You can get it in DM. ♦ Last but not least, we have the Catrice Liquid Metal Gel Eye Pencil in the shade Leaf The World Behind (040). It is in a bit smudgy form, but is nevertheless very long lasting. I use it instead of an eye liner and although it’s in dark green, it goes great together with almost any make up look!

These are my beauty picks of 2014, have you tried any of them? :) Take care,

Vesna

Lifestyle

Let 2015 be the best year so far!

3. 1. 2015

Christmas and New Year’s Eve are finally over and although these holidays are very dear to me, I am really happy that the new year is finally here. I hope you spent the night with your family or friends the best way possible. If you’re wondering what the heck me and my sister are we doing in this picture, let me tell you that this is our annual New Year’s missive! This has become our tradition, we’ve been doing it for the last four years and it doesn’t look like we’re going to stop soon :) Otherwise I had a great time, I was at home with my boyfriend and my little dog! We were watching Lethal Weapon (completely off-topic! :D) and Ice Age and had lots of bubbly wine ♥ Plus, we decided to make chilli con carne, and don’t say that it doesn’t look tasty! It was amazing, much better than it looks on the picture ;) I didn’t make any other pictures except from the chilli with my tablet, I didn’t feel like jumping around with the camera all the time.

These holidays always put me in a reflective mood and I cannot state enough how lucky I feel to have the best family, friends and boyfriend in the world. 2014 was great, full of amazing moments and memories. Let the new year be even better, take a step out of your comfort zone, you’d be surprised how much you can achieve and how many great opportunities you get this way. This is also the thing I have to remind myself throughout the whole year, not just in January ;)

What are your New Year resolutions? :) I rarely do any because sooner or later you forget about them and the saying old habits die hard describes this problem in detail. Decide to do the changes in your life when you’re 100% sure that you’re ready for the big step :)

See you soon! ♥

Vesna

2 Comments