Eye Makeup With Eyeshadow Trio by Yves Rocher

Lovely! Lovely! Lovely! These Summer Collection 3 Pearl Effect Eye Shadows are! Actually they belong to 2014 Summer Collection by Yves Rocher, but I just recently bought this beautiful trio. The shades are ultra-pigmented and long lasting - simply gorgeous. The smoky blue is more on the matte side. The light bronze and golden beige are beautiful, ultra-shimmering colors though. During the application (and not only) they shine and sparkle like particles of gold in the sunshine. So wonderful! Another advantage is that the eye shadows are paraben free.

I tried them in different makeup options - using the blue eye shadow to crease or applying it to the eyelids. Both results were good - in the first case: the beige and bronze were exposed so nicely. The second way made the look rather bold but not too bold to wear it as an everyday makeup style.
The summer sun exposes the sparkling beauty of the eye shadows. The trio ($10) is perfect to create a sunny, holiday look.

1. Golden Beige - base on the eyelid. Bronze in the middle of the eyelid only. 

2. Golden Beige used as base. Bronze on the entire eyelid. Blue eye pencil by YR.

3. Golden Beige used as base. Smoky Blue on the eyelid. Bronze - crease. Blue eye pencil.

Hair Styling Time: Thickening Lotion 06 by Redken

This was my first try of any hair care product by Redken. Since my fine look better with some volumizing support, I decided to get this lotion.

From the manufacturer:
'Thickening lotion all-over body builder. Bodifying hair lotion that builds extra volume and texture for full, fabulous style. The formula of this volumizing hair lotion is enriched with proteins that will reconstruct and strengthen hair while adding extra body and shine.'

The lotion has actually gel consistency.  It is quite efficient: every time, after washing my hair, I used a drop of the lotion and applied it to the hair endings. Then I blow-dried my hair a little bit and styled with a hot air brush. The results were always quite nice: fluffy, thickened hair and a lasting hair style. Yet, whenever I happened to use too much of this thickening product, I ended up with stiff and glued hair strands. All in all, when I avoided the unnecessary excess, all worked well.

The thickening lotion contains also witch hazel leaf water, hydrolyzed wheat protein and hydrolyzed soy protein.
06 means medium hair control.

Things I Learned from My Mum

In quite a few countries Mother's Day is celebrated in May, however, not on the same day of the month.
My mum has always been a friendly, straightforward and  an open minded person, liked by most  people whom she meets on her way. Her life has not been easy but she never complained or got bitter. When she came back from work, she did all the housework, cooked, spent time with us, sewed and so on, and so on. The older I get, the more I appreciate all the things she did for us and what I learned from her.
Below you can read about some of them.

Standards

1. 'Want' means 'can' = if you want to achieve something means you can do it. If you do not succeed at once, do not give up, try again. It is one of mum's sayings - when I was younger I heard it often. It sometimes sounded annoying, especially when I was upset because I did not manage to do what I wanted. On the other hand, it encouraged me to move on and look for other ways to achieve my goals. 
2. Being responsible and reliable - you do not promise anything if you know you cannot keep your promise, if you promise something you hold your word.
3. Duties first, pleasures later - first do what is needed to be done (including paying bills), rest and play when you finish it. 
4. Looking good/nice means feeling good, looking untidy means feeling miserable. Mum has always taken care of her appearance, without any exaggeration though. She has never used much makeup (it is usually a lipstick only) but always found a nice look (hair/clothes) important and uplifting.
5. To look nice you do not need very expensive clothes. The key to success is the ability to match styles, colors and patterns.
6. A high price not always means high quality. Nevertheless, it does not make sense to buy cheapest stuff, if its quality is low/ something does not last long. Then you have to spend even more money buying things again and again.
7. Think positively. If you close that positive 'door', what else is left?
8. An intelligent person never gets bored - another of mum's sayings - there are always many interesting things you can do or learn. Mum has always been a very creative and resourceful woman who also enjoyed learning new things. At present, she attends computer classes among others. Anyway, I am not sure if it is a result of what I was taught, but I do not get bored. Just the opposite - I wish I had more time to do everything I would want to!

Home

1. Home is a place on Earth where you find love, peace, understanding and support of your family, no matter what has happened at school or at work. Just no matter what.
2. It is important for a family to have meals together, especially dinners - it gives an opportunity to talk and share what has happened during a day. It creates bonds and makes the family members be together, not next to each other.
3. The importance of dinner in general - when I started to work but was still living at mum's, coming home after a busy, tiring day was like coming back to a safe port. Dinner was waiting on the table, we talked, and all the annoying and stupid things which happened earlier, were no longer that important and upsetting as they had seemed to be. The meal was calming my hungry stomach whilst our talks and mum's presence was a balm to my soul. These days, when in a restaurant, it is sad to see people (also families) sitting at the same table but actually not really being together, as they do not talk to each other at all - they are busy dealing with their iphones instead.
4.  Money is important (we all have to pay bills, buy food, clothes etc.) but it is not more important than people. Mum has never said 'I am too tired/busy to talk you you'. She was always there for us when we were younger. Mum knew it would have meant: 'I do not care'. And she has always cared - even now, although we are all grown ups.
5. All family members take care of home - everybody has their duties to take care of. When we were little, we also had little things to do such as watering plants, dusting, taking the rubbish out or tidying our room. We were never paid for doing those things though, and we did not expect any money either. Some things need to be done, even if you are not paid for it.
6. The way she took care of us, our clothes and our home. When we were little, mum mended our clothes in the night, while we were asleep. In the morning we could find them next to our beds, refreshed and ready to be put on again. I was always amazed when I woke up - how it was possible that my tights looked brand new again. Mum used to say that a sprite had come during the nighttime and fixed them. Guess what, I believed it!

Skills

1. Reading.
Mum used to read us books when we where small which triggered our interest in reading. Later, when we got old enough to do it on our own, we did enjoy reading a lot. When we started elementary school, mum assisted us while we were doing our homework. She also explained us different topics and helped with learning things by heart (including the multiplication chart).
2. How to organize housework to make it efficient - since mum worked professionally, she had little time to do all the housework. However, it did not mean she could not do it well or do it at all.
3. How to do cooking and baking without turning the kitchen into a messy place.
4. How to style my hair on my own.
5. How to knit.
6. How to make clothes and sew.
7. How to redecorate things/walls, etc. at home.

I was very proud of the results of my work - redecorating our home and later my place too. It was quite a tiring job, not easy to do. But we always helped each other as much as we could, and that was how I learned painting the walls and ceilings, and doing quite a few other things too.

Other

Music. Mum has always enjoyed listening to music. A radio was most often on at our home. More often than a TV set. While listening to the radio you can do many other things, including eg. talking, reading books or working. Nowadays, I also listen to the radio most of the time.

How Many St. Patrick's Day T-Shirts Do You Have?

Krystyna, my friend, has gone on her life trip to China. I am very happy for her but I am also hoping, she will share her experiences on this blog when she comes back.

St. Patrick's Day has come again. At this time of the year, almost every store sells some Ireland related items. I like the idea of getting a special green T-shirt every year. Yet, I have had only three so far. How many St. Patty's Day Tees do you have?

A very interesting online store which offers all kind of goodies connected with, and made on the Emerald Island is ShopIrish.com. Looking through the things they have in stock, one can find gifts for everyone (from little babies to grandparents), including food and kitchen items, clothing and accessories, jewellery, home and garden pieces. Besides, they also sell special Celtic Christmas ornaments and gift cards. The prices at the store are quite reasonable, what is more, budget buyers can choose products under $25 also.
Another, but very different (including prices), place which offers genuine Irish products is National Geographic Store. I especially like the Irish sweaters and cardigans they have. Made of thick wool, most of them would not be very useful where we are, but it is nice to watch them and admire their textures and patterns.

One day, when I was doing a regular shopping, to my surprise, I came across quite an impressing St. Patrick's Day hat. It was made of a soft plush-like fabric with a gold, shiny clover pattern all over the hat. And that fluffy, feathery rim! Not only the quality of the hat surprised me so much. It was October, not the time of the year when you expect to find St. Patrick's Day items on the shelves. And the hat (the only one in that store) was simply lying there, like a green gem among the grayish winter hats. It really made my shopping time! Finally, even though I found a matching pair of green leather gloves, I did not buy the hat. I was simply not ready for that special green-and-gold treat. But trying it on was fun!

Find out more more about Ireland and St. Patrick's Day:

• Ireland Guide by National Geographic,
• St. Patrick and his life - this website (seems to be extremely busy today) is all about Ireland, with not only history facts but also Irish recipes, songs lyrics, games for kids, pen-pal's section and many more,
• St. Patrick's Day traditions - if there is too much 'traffic' on the web-page and it does not open today, try to see the website later, it is really worth it.

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Leg Care: Goicoechea Arnica Body Lotion For Tired Legs

Our legs do tremendous work carrying us here and there every day. Sometimes (eg. because of the job we are doing) we have to stand or walk for many hours. As a result of that, our calves and ankles get really tired or even swollen. That is why they deserve a special care. Especially if we want to prevent any varicose veins problems or just need to improve the condition and the look of our lower limbs.
Myself, I usually treat my legs/calves twice a day - in the morning and in the evening, before going to sleep - with a special balm or cream, to prevent foot and calf cramps as well. Recently, I have been trying the Goicoechea Arnica body lotion. The brand, by Genomma Lab, has a line of balms which are aimed at leg care.
Despite the camphor being present in the lotion formula, it does not smell bad as some leg creams I used before. The fragrance of the product is actually quite light, yet not unpleasant.

From the label:

ACTION:

Reduces the appearance of varicose veins.

Thanks to its effective combination of NATURAL EXTRACTS:

• Horse-Chestnut
• Centella asiatica

which help improve the appearance of skin.

After applying the Arnica lotion to my calves and ankles, I can feel delicate, tingling sensations in these parts of my legs - the cosmetic 'is working'. Some of its ingredients improve blood circulation and help with minor pains relief (menthol, camphor, arnica montana flower extract, horse chestnut seed extract). Some other ones (including sunflower seed oil) nourish the skin too.

However, you need to be aware that sometimes they may be a reason of skin irritations or allergies.

All in all, I am really glad the Arnica lotion works fine for me. The big bottle lasts quite long, especially, if the balm is used only on the lower parts of the legs.

Found at Walmart ($7.47)

Read more about Arnica montana flower extract: arnica.

Makeup In Green

The black eye pencil used to be my no.1 makeup item in my teenage years. At that time I also enjoyed playing with various makeup styles. However, I never showed the results of my tries to the outside world. Once, I especially liked my 'green eyes' and decided to see how my neighbor (a girl at my age) would like it.  The girl was not at home and I only talked to her mum. The lady was a kind and polite woman so she sad nothing on my look, but I noticed it in her eyes - the impression my green and black makeup made. I could tell she found it rather surprising, if not improper.

Nowadays, it would be nothing very much unusual, but in the early 80s it was definitely not a kind of everyday teenage look. Anyway, I was quite happy with the effect of my 'ahead of time' makeup experiment then.
These days, I would rather use a green eye liner (along the upper eyelashes only) instead of the black eye pencil. I recently got a Kohl Duo, orange and grey black pencil, by Yves Rocher - also an orange line completes the green eyeshadow quite nicely.

Kohl Dou Eye Pencil is enriched with Cotton Oil. Both the green eyeliner and the Mandarine side of the pencil contain shimmery particles.

St. Patrick's Day is coming,  it is a good time to think of a special green or green-and-white look.

Luminelle Eye Pencil by Yves Rocher

What you need is: a green eyeshadow/green eye shadows, a white eye shadow, a green eye pencil/ eyeliner and a white eye pencil. To make it more colorful, you can also add orange shades to it, including the Mandarine eye pencil mentioned above. Play with various combinations of these  ingredients and choose your most favorite look for this year's celebrations. Have fun!

One of my tries...

For the nails: my choice is the matte green (seems to be discontinued by Sally Hansen) and pearl white (by Yves Rocher) nail polish.

Mini nail polish by YR gives a shimmering, light coverage. The green shade by SH was found at Dollar Tree

About Color Me Happy Shampoo by Herbal Essences And Roses

I chose this shampoo for color-treated hair because it contains Rosa Centifolia flower extract. Both rose water and rose oil are known for their great properties, beneficial for the skin. They soften and smooth it, and make it look nice. That is why they are commonly used in skin care products such as lotions, toners, creams and others, including shampoos. Another good reason to use rose flower extracts as components of beauty products, is the amazing scent of roses which makes the cosmetics smell beautiful.
Rosa Centifolia, one of the ingredients of Color Me Happy Shampoo by Herbal Essences, is grown in Morocco. Some of the other ingredients included in the shampoo composition are corn silk extract and passiflora incarnata (known as maypop or purple passion flower) fruit extract.
Color Me Happy foams and cleans the hair quite well. I like it and I am glad I bought it.

This shampoo reminds me my visit in the Rose Valley located south of The Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. The area is famous the Rosa Damascena plantations and industry.  When the roses bloom, the valley is full of beautiful flowers and sweet, fragrant smell.
While visiting a small local rose distillery, I learned also a bit about the rose oil production process. During the picking season, rose petals are collected by hand (mostly by women) very early in the morning, before the dew touches and moistens the flowers. It is quite amazing that to make 1 kg of rose oil, 4000 kg of rose petals are needed. Can you imagine how many hours it takes to pick four tons of flowers?

Rose petals in the distillery - Rose Valley, Bulgaria

Anyway, at that time I purchased all kind of cosmetics containing rosa damascena in one of local shops of Kazanlak - the center of Bulgarian rose oil industry. The products were surprisingly very inexpensive there, so I got a supply of rose goodies for family and friends, not too much for myself though. I wish I could get those facial toners and body balms for the same price right now! I would get much more for my own beauty shelf this time ....

Rose distillery, Bulgaria

Each year, during the rose season, the festival of roses is held in Kazanlak and other towns of the Rose Valley. The celebrations include rose parade, beauty pageant (choosing the Queen of Roses) and many other attractions. If you ever happen to have a chance to visit that region, go there when the roses bloom!

Part of Rose Parade - Rose festival in Kazanlak

Hand Care: Hand Creams

Winter seems to have no end this year, at least in this part of the world. When it is so cold outside, it is good to remember that not only the face but also our hands need to be taken care of. Especially, if we happen to forget or skip wearing gloves. The hands skin exposed to the winter weather conditions dries out and gets damaged easily. Besides that, since I usually wash my hands often, doing all the housework at home, I need to support them with a hand balm all year round.
The creams which I have tried recently are:
 1. Fragrance free hand cream by Neutrogena - good treat for very dry, cracked and chopped hands, elbows and knees also (it contains glycerin which has moisturizing properties). If you are looking for a moisturizer only, the rich formula of the cream may seem to greasy. However, it can also be used, from time to time, (like a mask) as a special treatment to improve the hands/skin condition. Price: $4.99

2. Udderly Smooth Hand Cream - it does what it is expected: softens, smooths and moisturizes the dry skin. Its formula is quite light and non-greasy. The cream has a light and pleasant scent and it is easily absorbed by the skin. It contains (among others) glycerine, allantoin (which has healing properties) and lanolin. It stays on the skin even after washing the hands with a soap. Quite good for its price which was $1 (at Dollar Tree).

3. Nourishing Hand Cream - Honey & Organic Muesli - by Yves Rocher.
It is a very rich but also non-oily cream, good hand moisturizer, with an intense honey and acacia scent. Paraben, colorant and mineral oil free.
Organic ingredients:

• acacia honey - softening properties,
• honey and organic muesli - nourishing properties,
• chestnut extract - protective properties,
• oat extract - reperative properties,
• sunflower oil - nourishing agent.

 Regular price: $7 (sometimes available with a 50% discount)

4. Long Lasting Moisturizing Hand Cream by Yves Rocher - I did enjoy using it. The tube had a very convenient, removable top (the same as the cream described above) which allowed using the product till the last drop. The cream moistened my hands really well without leaving a greasy film on the skin. It is paraben free.
Some of its ingredients:

• glycerine,
• coconut oil,
• rapeseed oil,
• arnica chamissonis flower extract,
• carnauba wax,
• allantoin.

Regular price: $7