Vacation

I'm on vacation till the end of the next week.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful following week! :) *hugs*

Credit for this picture goes to my lovely friends

Happy 101 Tag and How I failed my first EOTD lol

Thank you, Heather from Eyeconic for tagging me! :)

Rules:

• Put the picture of the tag in your blog
• List 10 things that make you happy, try and do one of them today and pass it on to ten people.

Here we go, in no particular order, I skipped my loved ones (hubby, family and friends) and makeup though, because these "things" are SO obvious :):

1. Sun, blue sky, white clouds and warm weather!
   
2. Animals, especially babies/cubs!
   
3. Delicious food! Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Cypriot and Lithuanian cuisines are my faves! A box (or two) of Rafaello will do also. lol
   
4. The moment I get a parcel! Don't you agree? :)
   
5. Good movie with a happy end.
   
6. Sleeping and dreaming.
   
7. When I find something that works for me (whether it's a makeup product, or clothes, or anything else).
   
8. Traveling! I try to get maximum experience when I'm abroad.
   
9. Home, sweet home! The moment when the plane lands is magical! :)
   
10. Sense of accomplishment I get when I accomplish something (whether it's just a book, or some kind of project, or even a makeup product!).
    

It is really difficult to track those bloggers who haven't done this tag yet! If you read this post and haven't done this tag yet, I tag YOU! Let me know in the comments, I'd like to read yours as well! :)

On to the FAIL! :) My first EOTD (aka Eye/s Of The Day) attempt. That was something really difficult! I admire you, if you are capable of making gorgeous EOTDs/FOTDs! You are my heroes!!! :) All the colours look so washed out (no wonder why though... crappy lighting and selfportrait feature! Couldn't use macro on my eye, because I was afraid of the flash! lol), I wanted to add a contrast but it just looked so unreal, that I gave up. :/ Anyway here it is, so called "neutral/barely there green look":

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Aromaleigh Aloe (Pure Eyes Frost) (lid)
• Aromaleigh Loden (Pure Eyes Frost) (crease, lower lashline)
• Maybelline Colossal mascara (it doesn't work for me, unfortunatelly! Colossal fail! lol)
• Lumene eyebrow Eyebrow Graphics pencil in Grey Brown 2. My HG! Without it I'm almost albino. lol

All the colours (eyebrow included) are much more vibrant IRL! This picture is a demonstration of my fail only! lol Gotta try taking decent pictures again! :)

Avon Haul

Normally I am not keen on Avon products. I think they're overpriced (lipstick for 10 EUR, foundation for 16 EUR? Body Wash for 5 EUR? No, thanx!) and not of the best quality. You can get a better product for a better price.

The only thing that "made" me order again was Avon Pro-To-Go lipstick in shade Nude Peach. I stocked up with a bunch of bullet-like testers last spring, but was running out already. Why didn't I buy the full size of my all time favourite shade before (I hear you asking)? The answer is simple: I hate the packaging! And you get much less product for your 12 EUR compared to their Avon Ultra Color Rich lipstick for instance. I'd rather have a bunch of testers than this ugly bulky tube! lol

Thankfully I decided to check Avon website in December. Imagine my "joy" when I discovered it would be my last chance to buy this lipstick as they decided to discontinue it! Man, I'm lucky with this "phenomenon". lol There was also a campaign "Buy Avon Ultra Color Rich lipstick in LE silver packaging for only 3,9 EUR (normal price 8 EUR) with any other item". I chose Pout shade from 5 shades available. Pout is among my favourites (had several testers as well). And I also got Marimekko (Finnish textile and clothing design house) for Avon All-over face palette for 5,9 EUR (it cost around 15 EUR when it was on sale, it's LE). I actually wouldn't buy it (because I have too many blushes already!), but I couldn't resist the discount and a pretty-looking poppy design! :) The pigmentation is really poor (you have to literally pack the colour on!). All you get is glittery/shimmery face, or glittery/shimmery rosy cheeks if you worked hard. lol

Last but not least, I got more bullet-like testers (got only 7 this time, because I already have my faves in full size! :) ).

Natural "light"

Ultra Color Rich in Pout (nude pink)

Pro-To-Go in Nude Peach (nude peach indeed!). Ironically, shades seem opposite in this picture. lol

Natural "light", flash

Face powder/blush consists of 4 shades (the main poppy is pink with golden shimmer, other colours look close to what you see from this picture) divided by black plastic dividers. Pretty design, but crappy quality!

Natural "light"

Overall, I'm quite pleased with my order, but very frustrated that my favourite shade is discontinued! I really hope that Avon heard my rants about ugly packaging and will repromote this gorgeous shade someday! :)

Have you tried Avon? What are your thoughts?

Essie Eternal Optimist

Natural "light", flash (this picture is the closest to the reality)

Natural "light", flash

Natural "light"

15 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 30 months after opening, made in USA.

From Spring collection 2009.

Contains Formaldehyde Resin.

Colour: peachy pink beige. Reminds me of the Indian red tea with milk. :)

Finish: creme. I would call it milky! :)

Application: very smooth application , 2 coats is enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: ranges between 5 -8 USD.

Pros: perfect coverage, easy application, nice brush, pretty bottle, nice shade, list of ingredients.
Cons: the fact that it's not widely available here!

PS Pretty neutral nude shade suitable for office. Can give "mannequin hands" effect if your hands (like mine nowadays) are a little bit on the red side. :)

Share the love: Blue Sky

I'm continuing my "tradition" of non-beauty related posts for the weekends.

This time I present you one of my favourite things to watch - blue sky! :) I enjoy watching the white clouds or just a simple blueness of the sky. Isn't it gorgeous? And it doesn't matter in which part of the world you are! :)

Sky in Lithuania

Sky in Lithuania

Sky in Helsinki (Watching Tower, Helsinki Zoo)

Sky in Cyprus

So true! Blue sky makes me smile! :)

Hope you enjoyed! :)

To be continued! Stay tuned! :)

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! :)

Fyrinnae Haul

I have so many things to write about. A bunch of pictures is waiting when I finally will be able to sort them out. And I still keep on getting my orders... from the previous year. :)

Here is what I got this time from Fyrinnae.

Natural "light"

Top row (from L to R): We're All Mad Here, Dragonskin, Dressed To Kill, Tyr, Dokkalfar

Middle Row (L to R): Boytoy, Polar Bear, Lucky Charmed, Hypercool, Biker Chic

Bottom Row (L to R): Hypnotize, Powder Primer, Velvet-Gel Silica Primer, Pixie Epoxy

Natural "light"

Top row (from L to R): We're All Mad Here, Dragonskin, Dressed To Kill, Tyr, Dokkalfar

Middle Row (L to R): Boytoy, Polar Bear, Lucky Charmed, Hypercool, Biker Chic

Bottom Row (L to R): Hypnotize, Powder Primer, Velvet-Gel Silica Primer, Pixie Epoxy

 Natural "light", flash, contrast added (to show the depth)

Shipping is max. 3 USD for US and 3,5 USD for International. Quite reasonable, isn't it? The best part - shipping is free on all orders over 20 USD WORLDWIDE! How cool is that?

Ordered on 17.12 (Thursday), order was shipped on 24.12, received on 4.1 (this Monday). IMO it's quite fast! Check their website for more details on their shipping schedules. They're quite busy and it takes time to CREATE product not just pack.

I had some difficulties when I tried to pay with PayPal. The payment just didn't "want" to go through. I contacted the customer service on 17.12 (Thursday evening). They replied that it's a common problem with PayPal and offered to send me an invoice. They also "discounted a bit for the trouble", i.e. I got one eyeshadow for free. Excellent customer service! :)

My initial thoughts:

I like the creativity of the brand: lots of different gorgeous shades with cool (dark mysterious gothic "tolkienistic") names. Great! All samples come in clear jars (blushes, eye shadows and face powders) or in "funny-looking cute tiny" jars (liquid products)! Great pigmentation! Generous samples! Eye shadow sample costs 1,75 USD, blush and primers - 1,5 USD.

I've already swatched all the products. Have no idea why Boytoy is so much less in quantity (it spilled only a little bit) compared to the rest. Polar Bear looks much more golden on the eye (I thought it would be more light beige pink gold), and so does Lucky Charmed (I thought it would be more olive in tone). My faves are on the first row, especially We're All Mad Here, Dragonskin and Dressed To Kill. I am definitely a green lover! :)

Pixie Epoxy does make a HUGE difference! Colours become several times deeper! The only bad thing I've noticed so far is that it's too sticky (so be quick to apply eye shadow ASAP, otherwise you might end up with a glued lid lol) and it's very difficult to blend the colour when Pixie Epoxy is on! I guess it's better to use it after you've blended all the edges and just want to deepen the colour. Can't comment on the longevity yet, because I only tested it for one hour.

Tried Powder Primer with Sassy Minerals foundation and Fyrinnae Hypnotize (Glow Blush) yesterday. Worked really well! I'd even say that I'm impressed! I have yet to figure out was it the foundation or the primer, or the combination of these two "guilty" in the flawlessness of my skin. lol I currently suffer from really bad hormonal breakouts and have those terrible red scars on my chin, so it's usually easy to say I'm wearing a foundation on my face, but this time it looked really like my "second skin", the scars were still visible though, but the overall situation was not that bad. Began to crease very slightly (on my nose) in about 10 hours. And that creasing wasn't the one when you see your foundation sliding off! It was more of a skin oil "sitting on the surface" (sounds kind of gross, but it's not that awful IRL lol). Great! :)

I also wore Polar Bear and Ruthless (Sassy Minerals) yesterday. Lasted pretty good with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Begin to fade in about 9 hours only.

Have yet to try Velvet-Gel Silica Primer "in action".

Have you tried Fyrinnae? What are your thoughts?

PS Fyrinnae don't repackage!

Blog Award: 7 interesting facts

Hello again! It's been a while! I missed you! Hope you had great holidays and a joyous start of the New Year! :) I have so many things to post about (btw, juts got a package which was shipped on 24.11! :) ), but so little time! I'll try to catch up with everything! :)

Thank you, Kim from Dottie K for my first blog award! Btw, I managed to make those links, yay! lol

Rules:

• Thank the blogger who awarded you and link them
• Put the picture of the award in your blog
• Award 7 bloggers, link them and tell them
• Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself

The 7 Bloggers I'm Awarding:

It is really difficult to track those bloggers who haven't done this tag yet! If you read this post and haven't done this tag yet, I tag YOU! Let me know in the comments, I'd like to read your facts as well! :)

My 7 Interesting Facts:

1. I looove reading! Books, magazines, blogs, random stuff - I always read something when I have free time. My recent love "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë. MUST READ!
2. I'm all about healthy life style!.. especially in theory... lol
3. I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, Fringe, Hercule Poirot and... LOST (can't wait for the last season)! I'm also a fan of Sex and the City, Private Practice, Married with Children, Nip/Tuck and Friends. :)
4. I absolutely hate milk chocolate, coffee (I like the smell though) and plain water. I'm a green tea and dark chocolate (more than 70% cocoa) lover. :)
5. Traveling, foreign cultures and cuisines are one of my hobbies. I have tons of culture (along with healthy life style!) related literature. I collect it. :)
   
6. I’ve never had a "real" haircut. I only visited a hairdresser a couple of times for a party and wedding hairdos, and once for colouring. I’m a "happy" owner of long and straight silky "wheat blonde" hair. They are quite thin for my liking, and I usually wear a plait (can't imagine myself fighting with my a little below waist long hair when it's snowy and windy outside!) which looks a bit childish for a 26 y.o. but I love my hair anyway! :)
7. I get very tired of a real shopping after the first hour, but can spend the whole evening shopping online! lol

Thank you! :)