Farewell and Welcome

A bit of bad news and a bit of good news.

I have decided to close ‘The BeautyFul World’ blog and open a new one. Why would I do this, you might wonder. Let me explain.

I like blogging. I like writing about beauty products, food or fun things I have done.
I feel however like the whole blogging experience was just ‘not me’. I see so many lovely blogs out there. Beautiful clean pictures, great writing, great outfits, all done by absolutely gorgeous girls. And I can’t help but compare myself to them all. I am really hard on myself, like always. I never think I’m good enough, I always think there are people so much better than me and whatever I do I just won’t be as good as any of them. This applies to everything – makeup, outfits, studying, career, you name it.

Now apply this to blogging. I have always tried to be like those girls. Post crisp, clean, gorgeous pictures of trendy outfits or great makeup looks, or shopping hauls. I always failed, my pictures just won’t ever be that good, I can’t dress that well and simply don’t have time to apply makeup for 40 minutes so that it’s perfect for blog pictures. I know I am failing because I don’t have many views, no comments and subscribers keep disappearing.

In the light on me trying to be me, I decided not to give up on blogging, I really enjoy it and I simply don’t want to stop. Instead I am going to try and make it MY blog. Post the way I am: geeky, definitely not perfect, not that pretty and not thin or fit. I don’t shop much, I like natural products, I re-use stuff because I care for the environment, I like making stuff. I want to share the things I love and don’t love with the world and I hope the world wants to see it.

So that’s that! I think the new blog will definitely be a lifestyle blog, just a bit of everything, lots or random stuff. Any ideas on what I should call it? It’s going to be hard to gain audience in this day and age where there is so many great blogs out there. But I hope to see you there. Stay tuned for the new link.

Double Tomato and Basil Spaghetti – Donna Hay Recipe

I have mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Donna Hay’s ‘Fresh and Light’ cook book. I use recipes from this book on a regular basis. I want to show you how easy, fast and delicious to make dinner with this book.

The book has breakfast, deserts, sides any many more recipes and I highly recommend it. I will definitely purchase more of Donna’s cook books.

Here’s the recipe:

Combine 1/3 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 250g quartered mixed cherry tomatoes (I used red as that’s all I had in the fridge), 1 cup basil leaves, 1 table spoon each white balsamic vinegar and olive oil, sea salt, cracked black pepper and finely grated parmesan. Toss through 200g hot spaghetti to serve.

 

November 2014 Product Fail - Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Dry Shampoo

Let me start by saying that this product is absolutely useless. In fact it made my hair look worse instead of better.

You can see in the picture below that this ‘dry’ shampoo is not so dry. In fact it just sprays out a thin liquid. This murky liquid goes everywhere when sprayed out. It ended up on my walls, mirror and everything that was around.
As you can imagine, the liquid did not absorb the excess oil from the hair, like the packaging promises. Instead it made my hair even greasier looking and they were horribly rough to touch afterwards.

I used it about 4-5 times and made sure I shook the heck out of that can before spraying it on my hair. The result was the same every time.

I have purchased two bottles of this (why?! oh why?!). Natural Topioca is in the picture and the other one is Limited Edition Scent Fresh Balance. The second one is just as bad as the first one so I rule out the ‘faulty/one off bad product’.

I am sorry but I have nothing good to say about this product. I am going back to my beloved Batiste or just simple baby powder.

 

Beauty favourites – November 2014

I’ve got super small post for you today. I have been really lazy when it comes to beauty this past month hence not much to share with you. However three products featured in this post, I did use consistently throughout the month. I shall explain why.

Bath & Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Body Lotion – First I mentioned it here, saying I wasn’t sure about the scent. Then I mentioned it here, saying I will make the effort of using it. And here I am talking about it again. Well, I love it! I got used to the scent, it doesn’t bother me at all. Most importantly though, it is a great body lotion. Makes my skin soft and keeps it moisturised for couple of days. The ‘moisturised’ effect does not go away after the shower which is rarely seen in body lotions.

Burt’s Bees Hand Salve – Ok, so I have a snotty nose. Like, constantly. This stuff is THE only stuff that keeps my nose from fully peeling off. Thanks to this, I still have a nose. So what I’m trying to say is that this stuff is amazing. I use it on any dry skin patches – elbows, nose, lips …

Barry M Natural Dazzle Bronzer – I get so pale in the winter, I sometimes scare myself when look in the mirror in the morning. This stuff is great for us stark white faces. Gives a natural finish, it’s matt, great for contouring and whole face bronzing.

Shopping my stash – December 2014

 1. Boots Botanics Hydrating Eye Cream – to be fair I just want to use this up. I have used it quite a lot before but didn’t really notice any hydration. I will try to use it every evening before bed to see if that makes any difference.

2. Organic Surge First Class Mask – I’ve had this for quite some time so just want to use it up. It’s a nice product, the skin feels nice and soft after using it.

3. Abi Soft Sun Self Tan – I don’t normally use self-tanners but I get so pale in the winter that I need a little tanner help during this season. This one is for English roses meaning that it’s very subtle and light. It only gives a hint of colour which makes me look healthy instead of ghost white.

4. Clinique 04 Totally Neutral Eye shadow Trio – I have been so lazy with make-up lately! I can’t remember the last time I applied eye shadow. It is so easy and quick to create a day time look with this trio. I thought it’s perfect to ease me back into using eye shadows.

5. Revlon Brown Eye Pencil – I don’t even know what pencil this is, all I know its Revlon. The writing rubbed off and most of it is used up anyway. This pencil is so old, I just want to use it up. I thought it will go nicely with the Clinique trio.

6. L’oreal Studio Secrets Primer – I did not get on with this at first. But I reached for it again in the summer and it turned out to work great. I don’t usually need to use primers in the winter because my skin gets dry. But the office where I work gets so hot and stuffy that my make-up needs a little primer help in order not to melt off of my face.

I will be reviewing all of the products featured in my ‘Shipping my stash’ series at one point or another. Not everything is worth a whole post but it might end up in my empties post, random faves or a monthly fail so stay tuned.

Product use up – November 2014 empties

Batiste Dry Shampoo – I have tried many dry shampoos and always come back to Batiste. Yes, it leaves white cast on the hair BUT apart from that it is the best dry shampoo I have ever tried.

V05 Firm Hold Hairspray – okish hairspray, left my hair little bit crunchy.

Neutrogena Multi - Defence Daily Moisturiser – lovely product. I will definitely re-purchase. It moisturises well, has SPF 15, soaks in well, leaves the skin feeling soft and smells lovely (its scent will forever remind me of the holiday in Tenerife cause that’s where I used it for the first time).

Avon Far Away Exotic Perfume – I didn’t really like the scent of it. I layered it with different perfumes just to use it up. That’s the problem with Avon, the page of the catalogue smells different to the actual perfume in the bottle.

The Body Shop White Musk Sun Glow - lovely summer scent. Shame it only lasts on the skin for a couple of hours.

Bio – Oil – I’m not really sure what to think of this. I feel like it is a great moisturizer but it didn’t really do anything with my scars. I have applied it every day for about a month but the scars (one on my leg scratched by a tree branch and on my arm – paintballing!!) still look the same.

Heart lip gloss – got this random little cute thing from a friend. Just a nice one to keep in a pocket, it was quite moisturizing!

Rimmel Bronzing Compact Powder – it’s a nice bronzer. It was a light matte shade so I only really used it in the winter when I normally get really pale.

DIY Organiser Dividers

My organiser is from Paperchase (can’t find it on the website anymore but it’s a simple black A5) and it came with an insert divided into six sections. After few months of using the organiser I found that I have only been using the Diary part of the insert. I couldn’t make the other sections work for me. So I decided to make my own dividers and customise the organizer to meet my needs.

I have traced Paperchase devider shape on a double-sided scrapbooking paper and simply cut it out. I punched the holes in the dividers using a single-hole punch. I have then found a random brown envelope that was lying around on the table and cut out the tags. Glued the tags on and stamped the section names on them.

The whole process was very easy and a lot of fun. But most importantly it allowed me to match the organiser to my needs and use it to its full capacity.

Cost:
Scrapbooking paper – approximately £1 per 12x12 inch card at Colemans (I used 3).
Stamps - £1.50 at The Range
Ink - £1
Single hole punch - £2.50 at Colemans (I use it over and over again when make my own inserts).