I dream of Celine, but for now…

…  I keep myself satisfied with H&M dupe.

I probably would have never heard of Celine handbags if not for Laura from Buy Now Blog Later. This stuff is seriously out of my price range. But I fell in love with this bag the minute Laura blogged about it and I was determined to find something similar.

I wasn’t expecting miracles because I always find it so hard to get exactly what I’ve got in mind. Plus I am very impatient and when I want it, I want it now.

H&M must have listened to my prayers and made an awesome rip off just when I needed it! This gray/nude/beige handbag is such a great color for spring and summer and I believe it will go with my entire wardrobe.
The bag itself isn’t off course leather but feels pretty soft to touch. It is structured so when you stand it up it won’t fold (I can only hope you know what I mean by that).

Bag - H&M here
Pumps - H&M here
Jeans - Top Shop (from ebay :D)

I am little bit obsessed with Laura and her blog. I love her neutral and simple style and as strange as it seems I find a lot of inspiration in that simplicity. I hope she won’t think I’m some kind of an internet stalker lol

Have an awesome weekend my lovelies!

Sylwia x

Favorite Spring Nail Polishes

Nothing evolutionary and surprising here. My favorite colours for spring are pastels. But there is one bright and one dark shade too so I hope this isn’t going to be too boring :)

All of these apart from Inglot polish are cream finish and are completely opaque after two coats. No major problems with application although Minted can be a bit streaky so needs more precise hand to apply.

1) Revlon Minted – It doesn’t look the best against my skin tone on its own and because I have quite big nails it seems 'too much'. But I absolutely loved it just on the tips of the nails French style. It looks very subtle but still very Spring-y. Spring french nails here.

2) Barry M Pale Purple – It looks exactly how it’s called. It’s not too light or too bright. Perfect lilac. I like this one the best out of the bunch. I always get lots of compliments when wearing this colour.

3) Inglot 972 – This is a bit difficult to describe. It’s not peach and it’s not pink... Oh, oh! I know! It’s a salmon colour! It has a subtle pearly finish but nothing that would make smudges on the nail. I’m happy with two coats but three wouldn't hurt either to get slightly more intense effect.

4) Barry M Coral – So Mr. Barry’s imagination didn’t really go too far when coming up with these names. But apart from being boring they are very accurate. This is a true coral! Somewhere between red and orange, this shade seems to be perfect for my skin tone. I think this is the only bright polish I wear on my hands.

5) Nails Inc. Hampstead Heath – Here we’ve got deep raspberry colour that I find perfect for my toe nails. I got this polish with a magazine and thanks to it I steered away from red on my toes which used to be the only thing I put on them. This actually looks pretty opaque with only one coat but creates more depth with two.

What are your favorite polishes for spring? Are you a bright or pastel lover?

Sylwia x

It just didn’t work for me

I am sure that somewhere at the very bottom of a drawer in a place where no one ever looks, we all hide these. They just didn’t work for us and no matter how hard we tried we just couldn’t find a way to use them up.

I am talking about product failures.

I haven’t got many at the moment because if it happens that I absolutely hate something I bin it or give it away to someone who might like it.

I would like to say that I normally do a bit of research and think twice before I buy something. If something isn’t as good as I thought I do use it up anyway or try to find a different way to use it.
But the products I am showing you today were a total disaster and just did not work for me in any way.

1) Asda Regenerating & Strengthening Conditioner For Damaged Hair – if this conditioner didn’t do anything to my hair I would be happy. It costs £1 so no harm would be done. But this actually made my hair feel horrible! They were hard to comb through plus very rough and coarse looking. They have lost all the shine and health they had. I didn’t even want to touch them cause they felt horribly dry, stiff and rough. This bottle is going to the bin! I would not recommend it to my worst enemy.

2) Avon Foot Works Pedi-Peel Pads –I bought this after youtuber recommendation. Apparently it worked wonders for her. It didn’t do anything for me. I will stick with my simple and effective pumice stone.

3) Fade Out Day Cream – I have a few discoloration patches and spot scars on my face and I was hoping this product would fade them out as the name leads to believe. The effects were meant to be seen after four weeks of use. I used it for two and stopped. It broke me out very badly. It wasn’t even normal spots; more like under the skin bumps and little white allergy dots. My skin became very dull and tired looking. I didn’t notice any scar or discoloration fading at all but this is probably due to not using it long enough. It also stinks veeery badly.

4) Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm – Initially I really liked this product. It seemed to stay put on my lips for quite a long time and added balm was moisturizing my lips. I am not sure what happened but one day I applied it in the morning and after about two hours I noticed it disappeared of my lips. This wouldn’t be so bad if it completely vanished but it stayed strong around my lips (looking like a liner) and was gone in the middle. I didn’t take the product with me so I couldn’t re-apply it. It looked truly awful! I have not dared to wear it again. Plus the balm part snapped off after second use which was very disappointing.

Have you ever had a totally disastrous experience with a beauty product?

Sylwia x

Spring-y French Nails

I’m a copycat.

In my defense Makeup Savvy is one too! She copied this manicure from Zooey Deschanel after she posted it on twitter. Then I copied it from Fee.

*I am not able to provide Fee’s link at the moment. It seems that her site is down :(*

I used Essie Topless & Barefoot for my main colour and Revlon Mint for the tips. I really like the result. It looks simple, yet girly and stylish. And it incorporates that spring trend everyone (including myself) goes crazy for at the moment – pastels.

I am really pleased with the effect and pretty proud of my steady hand. Modesty aside, it’s not perfect but wonkiness of the French bits isn’t really visible from the distance ;) 

I have tried doing it with the cello tape but it didn’t really work for me. I couldn’t stick it properly and it ripped some nail polish when I was taking it off. It was overall too much work and mess for me. It’s kinda my fault because I didn’t wait for each layer to dry properly but I am very impatient when it comes to that.

I used Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat for super shine, better staying power and off course superfast drying time.

Let me add this – before I discovered Seche Vite I didn’t paint my nails at all! I could not be bothered to wait until it’s dry and I always managed to ruin the manicure. I have spoken with few people about this and apparently every possible nail polish dries ten times slower on my nails then everybody else’s.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Sylwia x

First Day of Spring and First Day without a Jacket

Weather lived up to its expectations yesterday and surprisingly sunshine is still brightening our days today.

This was a big day for me – it was warm enough to go outside without a jacket (lol) I am full of hopes that it will stay so nice outside all the time.

#forgetaboutit

For my casual day I wore Primark blouse which really is cream colour but always looks white in the pictures. It’s very sheer so I have to wear a vest top underneath it. My flats are from H&M and I bought them online with a promotional code for about £5 and had a free delivery with it too so a total bargain. Only thing that worries me with them is the soles. I walk quite heavily and if soles are too thin which happens a lot with cheap flats then my heels hurt a lot! We shall wait and see how they’re performing after a few outings.

Blouse – Primark
Jeans – Top Shop (bought on ebay for cheaps ;) )
Flats – H&M
Bag – TK Maxx (marc b.)

For my eyes I applied Sumptuous Olive eyeshadow from Mac all over my lid. This is one of these dual toned colours which look different depending on how you look at it. It created olive tone on my lids and transformed itself into brown shade in the crease. I smudged Revlon Sueded Brown pencil on the top lash line and added 124 lashes by Ardelle. Super quick and easy.

Rest of the face:

*Mac Studio Sculpt and Clarins Tinted Moisturizer mixed together
*Mac Studio Finish concealer
*Sleek Suede blush
*MUA Lip Gloss shade 3

What did you wear on the First day of Spring? How was the weather where you live?

Sylwia x

Random Favorites - Lashes, Clothes and Cocktails!

I am not one of the ‘monthly favorites’ people. Although I like to try new things and enjoy changing things up I mostly just stick to what I know and like. I can be very sentimental and loyal to certain things.

That said I decided I will post my random favorite things from time to time. These can be things I just discovered or loved for years. I hope you’ll find it an interesting read and maybe you’ll fall in love with something new ;)

1) Using up foundations I am not too keen on by mixing them with other foundations – Since my beauty obsession started I managed to accumulate quite a few bottles of different foundations and I only like two or three out of them all. I am determined to use them all up so to make the task easier I decided to mix foundation I don’t like with the one I like. It actually works a treat! Last week I mixed
Mac Studio Sculpt NW20 which is too thick, too powdery feeling and this shade is too light (dislike) with Clarins Hydra-care Tinted Moisturizer Blond which is light and moisturizing in texture (like). This combination created perfect coverage and color for me, plus it makes my skin look really fresh and healthy. I apply it with maestro 140 brush in size 18 – it’s a dense buffing brush designed for powder products but I found it works awesome with liquid foundations and it does not shed hair.

2) Natural looking fake eyelashes – no matter what makeup I’ve got on, it all looks so much better with fake lashes. I don’t think I have to explain the power of thick, long, black fluttering lashes, do I?! If you choose natural looking pair I can assure you that people will wonder why your eyes look so gorgeous but it won’t cross their mind that it could be fakesies.
I order Ardell lashes from this seller on ebay. I shopped there on sereval occasions and service was always top notch so I highly recommend it. Oh! And off course price is unbeatable.

3) Pastels – I know this isn’t really a surprise since the spring is just around the corner but nudes and minks are my thing so I am expanding that love a bit further into lilacs and mints. I don’t like baby blue and pastel yellow does not suit me so I am excluding these options.
I have a shopping trip planned with my friend so these items are on the lust list. I hope I will manage to snatch some nice Spring essentials :)
Bag - River Island
Skirt - River Island
Clutch - I think it’s H&M but I found this image on google
Scarf – Temporary Secretary
Trousers – River Island
Blazer – Top Shop

4) Lana Del Rey ‘Born to Die’ and Kimbra ‘Vows’ albums – Not much to say but amazing voices and great music. I’ve been listening to them two for about 3 weeks nonstop.

5) Mojito cocktail – So yummy and refreshing! As it turned out it’s very easy to make at home. I had a go on Saturday and first one didn’t really come out right but I have changed the proportions a bit in the next ones and they tasted a lot better. I have taken the recipe from here but I suggest to go easy on the rum as it is strong tasting :D

So that is it my lovelies. Hope you enjoyed my randomness and rambleness :D

Sylwia x

Sunday Share 18.03.12

Hello girlies!

It’s time for another portion of sharing the blogging love today. Hope you will enjoy as much as I did.

1) Lovely Annabella has pledged not to hoard! I know how hard it can be so good luck scrubbing lady :)

2) Many thanks to Cat from Outside beauty, Inside Health for Fitness Fridays – great tips just in time for me new healthy style of living.

3) Thanks to Makeup Savvy for introducing me to Naked Bodycare! I have ordered Sulfate-free shampoo and shower gel which hopefully will help me with my itchy scalp.

4) Kate Louise never fails to make me laugh – her Things I learnt series is such a great alternative to Monthly Favorites!

5) Recipe on Dreams That Glitter for homemade natural lip balm seems fairly easy – I think I will give this a go :) 

6) Lisa Eldridge – I have no words! This woman is perfect in every way! She is my girl crush :) She has done a great video on brands from French pharmacies. I shall be trying some of these products as a lot are designed for sensitive skin.

Hope you had an awesome weekend sweeties!

Sylwia x

Soap & Glory Thick and Fast mascara review

Back in February just like most of Brits I purchased a copy of Elle magazine purely for the free Soap&Glory mascara.

I had high expectations. Sadly this product isn’t for me which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not good.
Here’s the review:

What it claims to do: This false lash effect mascara creates amazingly, longer, fuller, fabulous lashes. Featuring SUPERFILL™ False Lash Fillers, SHINE AMPLIFIERS, NOFLAKE24 technology and super-fine no-clumps natural wax film formers. *While we don’t feel it’s ladylike to brag, we’re feeling particularly bullish about our mascara. (And hope after trying it you’ll agree that it’s absolutely marvelous.)

Formula: To me this is just right. Not too wet not too dry.

My Experience: Brush is humongous so not very comfortable to use on my tiny eyes. I end up with mascara all over my face (ok, I am exaggerating a bit here) each time I use it. Never the less it separates the lashes beautifully and gives them a lot of thickness and volume just like the promise. I did have couple more issues with application. There is mascara built up on the top of the brush and because I don’t twist my hand to apply it on my left eye I always end up with a massive clump in the middle of my lashes there. When it comes to lasting power this isn’t a winner. After 6h I noticed a bit of smudge and after about 8h I looked like a panda.

Price: £10

Where to buy: Boots

Final Score: 5/10 for me but… if you’ve got big eyes, not very oily lids and are able to apply mascara so that tip of the brush is always in the inner corner of your eye then this could be a winner for you.

Sylwia x

Going Natural and Healthy

Slightly personal post today…

Recently I have experienced some bad physical and psychological changes in myself. I lack energy, keep gaining weight, my skin feels horrible, noticed some weird rash/eczema on my body, I am in a bad mood most of the time… and the list goes on. I have been like this for a few months now and visited a doctor not long ago. He said there is absolutely nothing wrong with me and it’s mostly stress that’s the cause of my problems.

I have had enough of all this and decided it is time for a change. Spring and summer are on its way so this is the best time to sort myself out!

I would like to change three things in my lifestyle. My aim is not just to look and feel good for the upcoming months but to be happy with myself throughout my life.

1) Eat healthier – I don’t eat too much junk food but my overall diet doesn’t include many vegetables or fruits. I like healthy food so I don’t mind including it in my diet. I just need to remember to always have some fruit and veg in my fridge. That way I can snack healthily :)

2) Exercise – I found that physical workout gives me a lot of energy and that is what I need the most. I don’t feel that I need to lose a lot of weight (maybe 4 or 5kg) but I would love to be fit. I don’t want to have dangly bits :(

3) Natural Skincare – I have to admit that I wasn’t convinced at first but I have changed my mind. I don’t have many natural products but the ones I’ve got are my absolute favorites. I know I said that Soap&Glory and Liz Earle HotCloth Cleansers are the same but after long term use I have to admit that my skin was in so much better condition after using Liz Earle one.

I have tried to optimize this lifetime task so that it suits my ‘bad habits’. What I mean by that is, I won’t say ‘I’m not eating anymore sweets’ because that will make me crave it even more. I will try to replace as many sweets by fruit and if I crave a chocolate from time to time I can just have it and don’t feel guilty about it.
I won’t throw away all of my products to the bit either because I’m going natural now. I will use everything I’ve got and be more conscious about ingredients in the next product I buy.

I have a few questions for you, my lovely readers:

1) What music do you recommend for a run/workout/gym ?
2) What keeps you motivated on the days when you just want to lay in bed all day and stuff your face with chocolate? (I’ve had a lot of those lately)
3) What ingredients in cosmetics should I stay away from?
4) What natural brands do you recommend?

Thank you for reading and I can’t wait to read your recommendations!

Love ya
Sylwia x

Modern 60’s?

Asos is a bit of a hit and miss for me. Everything looks great on the website but often clothes don't fit right. I suppose it all looks great on a size 6 model.

When I find something great then it really is great.

I am not a fan of bright colours but couldn’t resist this dress. The fac had something to do with it too.
Fabric is soft to touch and feels good quality.

I think this dress could easily be day or night time outfit depending on accessories. I am still in a process of finding my style but this is definitely my thing - simple, girly and elegant.

Please ignore random disgusting wet bit of newspaper in my garden :/

*Dress – Asos here
*Pumps – Top shop about 3 years ago J
*Bag – Zara, also about 3 years ago.

I have scheduled this post for Saturday so it is probably Saturday when you read it lol. It is Wednesday when I write it and it has been rain-sun-rain-sun all day long. I have motivated myself to go running so it better stay dry!

See you next time

Sylwia x

Empties #5

This post is a bit pathetic. I have used up some shampoos, body stuff and a few samples. Not much and not interesting.

I will show you anyway.

* Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner – nice stuff but I found it too much for me nowadays. Since I had my highlights done with a hair color instead of bleach this kind of stuff makes it really greasy.
* Asda Protect Sensitive Mouth Wash – just as good as branded stuff. Repurchased J
* Weleda Pomegranate Creamy Body Wash – click here for the review. Lovely product but I am not prepared to pay around £8 for a body wash
* Lirene Toner For Sensitive Skin  - didn’t dry or irritate my skin. It does what it’s supposed to do but I will buy something different now just because this is only available in Poland.
* Garnier Summer Body Lotion – will buy agin, and agin, and again J Smells like apricots and gives my skin light tan without faffing about with self-tanners.
* Boots Coconut & Almond Shampoo – I have recently noticed that it doesn’t really matter how much I spend on a shampoo and it works nearly enough the same. This was £1 and worked just fine. Didn’t dry out nor made my hair oily.
* Phyto Express Conditioner – This sample was enough for two uses so I can’t talk about long term results. But I got the impression that this stuff is supposed to make your hair feel super smooth after just one use. I didn’t notice much difference at all in my hair’s smoothness. It states on there to apply it and rinse it off immediately. It boggles my mind little bit because I was always convinced that it takes a few minutes for hair to soak up the goodness from conditioner. What do you guys think?
* Green People Gentle Cleanse – I got 3 or 4 uses out of this and I have to say it’s a really nice stuff. It’s a thick cream consistency so I used it like a hot cloth cleanser with muslin cloth. It costs £15.25 for 200ml which is just a bit more expensive than Liz Earle Cleanse&Polish. I might consider this when all of my cleansers run out J
* Pharmaceris Deeply Moisturizing Face Cream & La Roche-Posay Intensive Hydrating Care – I used these samples when the weather was really cold and my skin suffered from dryness. Both are brilliant. They give instant moisturizing relief that lasts throughout the day. I wouldn’t use it now as it would be too much for me but I recommend it highly for those of you with dry skin.
* Oriflame Beeswax Lip Balm – I’ve had it forever and I think it’s like a year out of date. Nicely moisturizing product but nothing special to me.

Hope you’re all well.
Sylwia x

About my eyebrows…

Couple of my readers said how nice my eyebrows are and asked how I maintain them.

Thank you for your lovely comments :)

I don’t really do much to them but I will write about my few simple steps and maybe this will be helpful to someone.

There is just one thing I would like to address before I start and that is eyebrow shapes. Remember that the shape you were born with is the one that suits your face the most. Instead of trying very hard to make it look different, embrace what you’ve got and you’ll save yourself a lot of work.

Onto the routine:

I pluck my eyebrows with tweezers and do it myself at home. I have fast growing eyebrow hair and there is a lot of them too (talking about monobrow here). I would have to see a beautician every week or so to keep it nice. I don’t do waxing because I can’t stand that ‘waiting period’ between treatments. When I see a hair I need to get it out straight away.

Here's what I use:

1) Random tweezers from the drugstore. I don’t own Tweezerman tweezers but will invest in a pair one day. I have heard great things about that brand. Hope it’s not overrated.
2) Max factor eyebrow pencil. Well loved.
3) Elf Eyebrow Kit in Medium (this really is a lot darker than this picture) . This costs £3.50 and comparable to Benefit or Urban Decay kits (so I’ve heard)
4) Inglot 17TL angled eyebrow/eyeliner brush. Thin and soft - perfect for me.

Here's what I do:

This is how my eyebrows look ‘naked’. They were thicker in the past but I over plucked them few years ago when non-existent-super-thin eyebrows were in fashion ha ha

I use little brush that cames with Max Factor eyebrow pencil to brush the hairs down. Using light, small strokes I draw the top shape and fill in the main gaps.

Using angled, soft brush I mix both wax and powder from elf duo and fill in the whole eyebrow. I try to be very gentle with this because this duo is in shade medium which is a bit dark for me.

Ta da!

I never used to do anything to my eyebrows apart from tweezing them. I am really glad I have started to. I think it frames my face and makes me look little bit more grown up.

Hope these pictures weren't totally pointless.

Take care sweeties.

Sylwia x

Sunday Share 04.03

Hello my sweeties!

It’s Sunday! For a lot of you it probably means that the weekend is ending. The weekend is starting for me so yeey to that. I have a few post ideas so I will work on them during my days off.

Today is the day of sharing the love so here are my favorite posts of this past week:

1) Amanda from Beauties in bloom did a review on Maybelline Color Tatto eyeshadows. She got two in Tough as Taupe and Pomegranate Punk. They both such gorgeous colours! Such a shame I can’t get them in the UK :(

2) Blogging is not only about reading but also about pictures plus inspirations and Erica from Retro Flame shows us all things she loves at the moment. I particularly love the quotes and picture of the mint dress in the old room.

3) Kate Louise writes about something that a lot of us suffer from which is low self-esteem and lack of confidence. Sometimes people seem like they love themselves but really they struggle to survive the day without putting themselves down.

4) I am a new fan of Pinterst. It really is so awesome to create my inspiration and ideas boards. But I also enjoy looking at boards of other people. Arielle showed us hers and Kristen’s boards and I love their simple yet girly and pretty fashion style. Repined loads :D

5) 10 pairs of eye lashes for 99p! All I can say is OMG and thank you so much for sharing this VIPXO!

6) This video is hilarious! I love when people are able to take the piss out of themselves :)

Love ya
Sylwia x