This is just a quick announcement; remember when I was whining that the new products of Apivita are nowhere to be found at their official website? Well at last, the brand changed and improved its homepage!!! I'm so, so excited about it- finally, all the new products are on display, I've spent almost half an hour browsing through the site and I'm not done yet!
What's more, under every product is a "SALES BEGIN NEXT WEEK" tag, which means that you can order products online if you live in the E.U. Yaaay!!!
To those who haven't heard of Apivita before, it is the second most popular (under Korres, of course) greek brand of natural skincare, and it offers great products for skincare, healthcare, aromatherapy, travel-friendly sachets and the unique Personal line of products- that I'm so fond of!
If you're interested about the brand, please pay a visit to the site- now I'm going to continue my browsing ;)
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
Children's Hand Dyed Rainbow Heart Tie Dye T-shirt
Hand painted pattern Heart earrings
Creepin Heart Earrings
Heart-O-Meter Spinner Necklace Brass Ox
Blue Gingham Heart Stud Earrings
My Silver Heart Ring
Heart Shaped Locket
Victorian Locket Poison Ring
Felt and Zipper Heart Brooch
Blooming Red Heart Pillow
Red and Black Hearts Cushion Cover
Tea Love Knit Mug Cozy with Heart
Hearts and Love Tea Cozy
Heart shape Cake Magnet
Mosaic Quilted Heart Pin
And this is my take on heart-y accessories...
Heart b/w polka dot earrings, Accessorize
Massive leopard heart pendant, Pull & Bear
Which ones are your favourites? Mine would be the yellow earrings from the first pic, but I'm not sure I would wear them outside the safety of my house :(
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
Lately I've been in search for the prettiest coral nail polish; it had to be not too light to be mistaken as an orange, not too dark to fall under the big "red nail polish" family, and it had to be... well, cheap ;)
Once again, I opted for the old favourite and trusty brand Seventeen. I went and literally studied each shade in the red/coral/orange family; I stayed for so long that I'm pretty sure the girls at the store shared a giggle at me... Hey, I couldn't help it- I wanted to get THE perfect coral! So, here it is. The perfect coral nail polish from Seventeen, #219!
You like? Me, I love it!!!
Seriously, my lovely greek readers; if you step into a cosmetics store, go straight to Seventeen's stand and get it with no second thoughts! You can thank me later ;)
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
For the last 5-6 years, I've been faithfully cleansing my face morning and night. No early morning grumpiness -or even a late night booze dizziness!- have made me deviate from my skincare routine. Nice habit, you would say. It's true- but today I realised I've been doing it all wrong!
The thing is, I've been using my face wash in a wrong manner; I was rubbing it quickly for half a minute, and then rinsed.
After watching this vid though, my routine changed:
Catalina, a lovely youtuber from NYC, shows how she cleanses and moisturises her skin every morning and night; the way she uses her face wash makes much more sense than my slacking half-a-minute business! She works the cleanser for a good amount of time, massaging her face in all directions, so that the product gets into the pores of the skin and unclogs those oily areas...
I decided to do this technique today with my Body Shop Vitamin C face wash. The results? Amazing! I couldn't believe how a couple of extra minutes working the cleanser all over the face does such a difference in my skin's texture! It was softer, radiant, less "bumpy", my pores seemed smaller... A squeaky clean face!
This particular cleanser contains tiny jojoba beads that help exfoliate the skin; with this new technique, it performs at its best! But I'm sure that a good gel cleanser free of exfoliating particles will do the trick- if used with the above tips. I would recommend the Garnier Pure Deep Clean foam wash, the Korres Thyme and Sage facial gel, or the Neutrogena Visibly Clear oil-free facial wash.
If you do this little trick, please let me know how it went ;) Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
I get so depressed when I accidentally drop a pan of eyeshadow and it breaks in pieces :(
These two got broken a couple of months ago and since then I haven't touched them at all- such a shame because the right one is my favourite! I couldn't postpone it any longer, so today I got my tools and tried to fix them. This is how I did it:
I used: - rubbing alcohol - an empty sample jar - some q-tips - a toothpick - a coin to press the pigment - some tissues
I broke the eyeshadow in pieces with the help of the toothpick...
I cleaned the sample jar with some alcohol and then emptied the broken eyeshadow...
I also cleaned the pan with some alcohol and broke all pieces of eyeshadow into a powder with the help of a q-tip (which has a flatter head)...
Then I added 5-6 drops of alcohol into the powder eyeshadow and mixed it thoroughly...
I emptied the paste into the eyeshadow pan...
I placed the coin in the centre of a tissue, folded it so that it forms a kind of pressing tool and pressed the pigment sooo hard that my hands ached...
And this is the end result! Ok, it's not perfect- you can see some cracks in the perimeter of the pan, but at least it won't leak brown powder in my make-up bag ;)
I used for the left eyeshadow more drops of alcohol, so the paste got less thick and the pattern of the tissue was printed on the surface.
No matter the result of a DIY project, at the end I'm always proud of it... Now I'm hoping I don't break another one and force myself to improve my skills ;)
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
I had previously done a blog post about the Materia Herba line by Korres, and to tell you the truth I was a bit sceptical about the whole concept. All products from this particular organic line are made in Switzerland, which probably ensures their good quality but it also boosts the prices up; that prompted me to make a list of some do's and don'ts about organic skincare:
DO - Invest in a product that "stays" on your skin- like moisturisers and serums. - Opt for the ones with the highest level of natural ingredients. - Buy a product that is fairly priced.
DON'T - Buy organic products that are rinsed off your skin- like face washes and milk cleansers. - Opt for the products that their ingredient list is full of chemicals, but contain at the last lines one or two ingredients of organic farming. - Buy an organic product that is outrageously expensive. It's probably just a marketing trick.
Since my first post on Materia Herba, I switched my moisturiser and got the one for oily/combination skin. For the reasons mentioned above, to me it's the only product (along with the moisturiser for normal/dry skin) worth getting from the Materia Herba line.
I can't stress enough its high quality; 99,8% of the ingredients are of natural origin, while the 17,47% come from organic farming, it's non-oily but it has rich moisturising properties- which means that it will last me for a long, long time. Its price rates to aprox. 25 euros, and despite the fact that I loathe the "made in Switzerland" reminder, I'm willing to pay for it again and again!
By the way, Korres has added 18 organic essential oils and 5 organic plant oils to the Materia Herba line. I'm thinking of doing some DIY projects like scrubs and masks and massage oils... Any suggestions?
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
I'd like to share with you something "personal"... My Apivita milk cleanser!
I was getting sick of my make-up wipes; yes, they're easy to use but eventually I felt they dried out my oily skin. So this time I opted for a milk cleanser for taking off my make-up (I cleanse my face morning/night with this fabulous Body Shop gel cleanser).
Apivita's Personal range consists of seven fragrance-free basic formulas rich in natural composition to a level of 96%. Isn't that amazing? They are:
- Moisturising day cream SPF10 - Day&night cream - Cleansing milk - Tonic lotion - Gentle shower gel - Moisturising body milk - Moisturising body cream They can be used as they are, or you can add a choice of Apivita's organic essential oils according to your skintype or your current mood- hence the "personal" tag.
So I went to Apivita's counter at Hondos Center; you should see it, they have a special working area where they mix the formulas with an array of 24 essential oils! I wasn't allowed to take a picture, though :(
The sales assistant asked for my skintype, looked at my skin and fixed me the milk cleanser. My recipe? 8 drops of geranium and 6 drops of lemon.
At this point I should warn you: as the products are fragrance-free, they get the scent from the added essential oils. And I'm not talking about artificial scent, it's the real thing in all its heady glory! Surprisingly, this milk cleanser's composition smells like a turkish delight- and it's so intense that it almost gives me a headache! As for its cleansing properties, it's ok- a bit "runny" for my taste but nevertheless it performs well.
So, what do you think? Have you bought anything from Apivita's Personal range? Would you consider the addition of essential oils as a novelty or an unnecessary step?
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
Back to normal posting again; I've got some exciting news to share with you- exciting for me, that is...
I got Creme d' Nude! And I love it!!! Oh, I feel like celebrating!
So please excuse the following pictures, I know you've probably seen it everywhere but they only serve the purpose of my own thrill...
Yes, I happily joined the Mac craze, I've jumped into the Mac b(r)andwagon, I'm a potential Mac wh**e; however you want to call it, I did it.
It became impossible of me to miss that purchase so I got it. A few blogger comments actually aided in my decision of breaking my lipstick ban, notably the girls from All The Vanity and This Is Me (you little devils...), but ultimately I blame only myself. And you know what? I don't care!!! I'm still trying to finish some of my old lipsticks, but a little "spicing it up" now and then with a new purchase isn't bad either!
P.S.: I'm storing it in its sleek black box, I'd like it to remain a luxury and a "special" treat for as long as possible- because I probably won't be getting any other Mac goodies soon... That's all for this season. Keepin' it austere, right?
Group hug, Mac fans ;)
Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
This post stands in contrast with the rest. I was planning to share with you some of my last purchases; but considering today's news, my heart couldn't allow it.
I'm speaking of the tragic, uncalled-for death of three bank workers caused by suffocation after the bombing of the building they were working, located at the heart of Athens.
It would be unfair to say that these incidents are unknown to us all, we've seen it happening before so many times- a peaceful mass demonstration that a certain group of people with a twisted sense of justice succeed in turning it into a series of ravaging riots. But today we've been witnesses of a criminal assault to our very senses, an unjustified attack by a violent flock of wolves who wreak their adrenaline by spreading fear and rage to all citizens.
Despair. Being unable to react, feeling completely useless like a disabled person that stares at the world and cannot move his finger against such inhumane and cowardly acts. These are my thoughts at this tragic day. The only thing that rolls around in my mind is a phrase from "Apocalypse Now", a great film by F.F.Coppola:
"the horror... the horror..."
Please excuse my irrelevant post, in all modesty I felt the urge to speak my mind. Peace to us all.
I was away at the countryside, celebrating the 1st of May during an expanded weekend. Like the photo I took of the scenery?
So I returned yesterday, sat in front of my computer to update on blogger posts and youtube videos I missed during my absence, a run-down that lasted aprox. 6-7 hours... I read all posts published since last Wednesday but I didn't have the time and courage to comment much- because you know, I love giving comments as much as receiving them!
Current randomness:
- It's official; I came to realise that diet is among the things that control my state of mind. All this time I've been eating loads of junk food- but now that I'm taking care of what goes through my stomach, I feel much more relaxed and less stressed!
- I'm still thinking about Creme d' Nude. I'm sorry to admit it but I begin to feel that this particular shopping urge is bigger than me...
- The news about the austerity measures concerning the Greek economy get me so depressed- but ultimately, the only appropriate thing to do is to look ahead and adapt to the circumstances. By the way, did you notice that nowadays it's ok to openly talk about saving money? 15-20 years ago you would be considered a cheapskate...
Share your randomness, too ;) Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!
