The challenge

After reading Emma's (Magpie Sparkles) monthly challenges, I felt a bit inspired and thought about joining on a challenge that suits best my personal situation. As you guys know, my credit and debit cards have been stolen, and I will only have new ones issued when I come to Poland, which will be on July the 2nd.

Anyone guessed my challenge now? Yes, I'll be on a total spending diet from now on, which includes make-up, skincare or haircare, clothes and accessories. I'll only buy bare necessities, such as body wash or toothpaste (and food of course, duh!).

Some of the reasons for such a rigorous approach is that I feel like I already spend too much money which I don't own (I'm not getting myself into debt, it's just fiance's money) and this year is huge for us in terms of spending because of the wedding. Also, very practically, I want to use up most of the skincare I have now so I don't have to take it on the plane; that's basically my version of the famous "Project X Pan".

So yesterday I bought the last treat, a Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme (review to come as soon as I give it at least a week's try) and that's it. If I run out of toner or face wash, I'm going to use some samples I got from Clinique a long time ago. I already have two products on their way out, a Neutrogena lip balm and an anti-acne cream. I'll keep you updated on how I am doing, and also don't be surprised to see some hauls soon, they're either gifts or things I bought last month.

What is your challenge right now?

Quick tips and tricks from Shape

Since you liked the last post, here are the tips and tricks I liked most in the recent Shape; bear in mind that you guys get exclusive information, this is from the Polish edition, I bet you don't get all that in the British/US versions ;)

1. Take care of your tired, puffy feet by putting them into an aromatic warm bath for 10 to 15 minutes. Try using essential oils such as mint or eucalyptus (I'm going to try tea tree oil, it should have similar effect). Then massage your feet to relax them some more, or you can even try reflexology; apply some pressure to the sole of your big toe, this can help you get rid of a headache!

2. Hate your bum? Try rollerskating: it forces your legs to move to the sides, making your thighs and buttocks nice and firm!

I know, I know, I do look super hot in this helmet and kneepads...

3. Always remember to warm up your body before you start exercising and never skip the cool down stage at the end. No warm up may equal sprained muscles, no cool down means sore muscles the next day.

4. Never skip your breakfast... and lunch! The meals you have in the first half of the day are crucial for your diet and further calorie intake. Obese persons ignore lunch 30% times more often than the slim ones!

5. You only need to stick to your diet 80% of the time in order for it to be effective! The results you get will be as good as if you followed it religiously. Practically it means that for 1,5 days in the week you can allow yourself to get some more calorific treats, or skip the gym :)

Hope this was useful, my beauties :) Thanks for stopping by! xxx

Yummy Saturday breakfast

My mum bought for me the last month's issue of the Polish edition of Shape magazine, and I found this yummy little recipe for Blueberry Banana Pancakes; perfect for lazy summer mornings! The amounts shown serve 4 and you need approximately 25 minutes to prepare them.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 very ripe medium bananas

1 cup nonfat milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries (do not defrost)

4 tablespoons maple syrup or honey to pour over the pancakes

In a medium bowl, combine both flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a fork and set aside.
In a large bowl or food processor, mash bananas until mushy. Add milk, egg and vanilla and mix or process until blended.
Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and mix or process until just blended (tiny lumps should still appear; do not overmix or pancakes will be tough). Ladle 3 tablespoons of batter onto hot griddle for each pancake. Top each with 1/2 tablespoons of blueberries.
When bubbles appear around the edges of pancakes, after about 2-3 minutes, flip and cook 1 minute. Transfer pancakes to a warm plate and keep warm in a 250°F oven while you cook remaining pancakes.

I served mine with fresh strawberries, honey and yoghurt. Delicious! If you're concerned about your diet, one serving (3 pancakes) contain 384 calories, 6% fat, 83% carbs (that's why they're better for breakfast than dinner!) and 11% protein. They have quite a lot of calcium and a bit of iron too :)

I am thinking of doing a little post about some interesting tips and tricks I found in the magazine, are you guys interested? Thanks for stopping by! xxx

NYX Haul and a FOTD

Hiya again sweet pies, here comes the first haul of the three I promised you! All of these were bought before my wallet and credit cards were stolen, so now I am on a compulsory spending diet... I should probably take advantage of the occasion and start my own "Project X Pan", but we'll see about that :)

Here are the NYX goodies I ordered from cherryculture.com together with a solitary Starry Avocado Oil lipbalm; I actually got two of these, another one was with Almond Oil, but I gave that one to my mum. Not too fond of it, but it might have costed something like 50 cents, I'm not sure.

I got (top to bottom, left to right):

False eyelashes no. 101 and no. 104 (there are actually two pairs of these in the box; you cut each of the lashes in the middle and you get beautiful corner falsies!)

4 round lippies (details below)

Silver glitter liner - great stuff!

Starry Avocado Oil high shine lip balm

Blusher in Taupe and Angel

Single eyeshadow in White Pearl

Long lipliner in Deep Purple and Plush Red

blotting paper

Close up and swatches of the lippies:

L-R: Strawberry Milk, Tea Rose, Thalia, Rea

L-R: Strawberry Milk, Thalia, Tea Rose, Rea, lipliners in Plush Red and Deep Purple

I tried to do swatches of the blushers and eyeshadow too, but in my lighting they simply don't show up at all :( However the top photo does them justice, I think.

I quite like everything I got apart from Rea, which is definitely not a shade for me. It looks kinda greyish on my lips and if I try to sheer it down, my natural (and quite vibrant) lip color peeks through and ruins it... It might suit cooler skin tones better. Swapsie, anyone?

I also wanted to show you the blushers and eyeshadow in action. I actually copied this combo from MakeupGeekTV on YT, and I heart it! I use Taupe for contour (perfect shade for me), Angel on the apples of the cheeks and White Pearl as a highlight on the cheekbone and browbone. For my eyes, I used Prestige eyeliner in Powerful Purple (love, Jen!!!) and Illamasqua eyeshadow in Forgiveness in the crease, plus lashings of mascara. On the lips we have Illamasqua Medium pencil in Ascend paired with Avon plumping lipgloss in Nude.

How do you like it? :) Anyone noticed new blog background?

Neno's Award from Sarah

Sarah at If the shoe fits... (well, probably you ALL know how marvellous she is, but if not... clickety click!) gave me this cute little award some time ago, but I've been so late on everything recently :( Anyhoo, here it goes:

Thank you so much Sarah for rewarding me, all your sweet comments and constant support! You're the best, hun :) Good luck with choosing the winner in your contest, it must be super difficult!

Terms & Conditions for the award recipient:
1. Paste the Award Logo in your blog
2. Give out the award to 10 blogs that you feels the most inspired and most friendly.
3. Make sure you back linked the recipients' blogs to your blog.
4. Inform the recipients about the award by leaving them comments on their blog
5. Give some love to the person who give you this award.

I TAG (in no particular order):

1. Daisy from Cupcakes and Cherries

2. Marie from I Love... The Obsessions of a Shopoholic

3. Nadia from Love Lipstick and Lime

4. Jen from Mizz Worthy's Stuff

5. Ondine

6. Rebecca from Panda Does Makeup

7. Steph from STEPH STUPH

8. Hele from Hele Says...

9. Miranda from So Freaking Hyphy

10. Lazula from Lazula80

Thanks for stopping by, girlies! xxx

Mizz Worthy's prize package!

Good evening my beauties :) I have some exciting new make-up to share that arrived in the post just today; it's the prize I received from Jen aka Mizz Worthy for the Illamasqua contest look I did some time ago!

First of all, go check Mizz Worthy's blog if you haven't already, she's the most amazing, kind and lovely person you can imagine, and I always enjoy reading her posts! Now, on to the package - here it is in all its glory, perfect and intact...

Here are the contents after I ripped it open a couple of minutes ago!

In the photo you can see my two prizes, Illamasqua pencil and eyeshadow; however, Jen very generously added a Prestige eyepencil and a Barry M dazzle dust, as she explained, to compensate for the delay in sending the package - well, in my humble opinion, it really arrived very promptly! She also sent some beautiful Illamasqua promo cards with a lovely personal note and her own blog cards; so ingenious and pretty, I am going to use them as bookmarks!

The make-up I got from Jen is just gorgeous! I am so happy for the Illamasqua prizes: after a lot of debating and advice from Jen I went for the eyeshadow in the shade Forgiveness, which is quite a neutral brown with a purpley undertone and I plan to use it to accentuate the crease. When I swatched it for the picture, I was just amazed by the texture, it really feels buttery smooth against the skin. The Medium Pencil in Ascend will be great for neutral lips, I am thinking it would look great paired with just a bit of a lipgloss.

L to R: Illamasqua Medium Pencil in Ascend (matte), Illamasqua eyeshadow in Forgiveness (matte), Prestige eyeliner in Powerful Purple (shimmer), Barry M Dazzle Dust in 98 (fine glitter)

The drugstore items Jen threw in are sooo me! I am loving purples at the moment, so the Prestige eyeliner will definitely come in handy, it's such a gorgeous, shimmery color :) Well, for all you Brits this isn't anything new, but this Dazzle Dust shade is so unique, I think I have never seen anything like it, something like a dark grey/ brown with fine glitter that under certain lights can range from green to blue to purple. Simply beautiful!

I can't say anything more about these items for now, as I haven't tried them, but I just can't wait to play with them all very soon :) Huge thanks again to Jen for hosting the contest and sending the package; I'm properly chuffed!

Hope you all have a wonderful evening xxx

I'm back!

Hello my lovelies, I am genuinely sorry to abandon you for such a long time; it's been about 2 weeks since I did some proper make-up/ beauty/ fashion blogging. Yesterday I came back from Vancouver Island where I spent a couple of days with my parents camping and hiking, and I have to say I AM tired (probably more emotionally than physically). And yes, I'm sooo happy to be back and to have access both to the Internet AND to my bathroom, which means normal conditions for skincare and make-up obsessing... I actually burned my decollete again, and my skin is peeling off right now :( So, my parents are leaving tomorrow night, and from then on you can expect a regular blogging service to resume :) I still have about 3 hauls to share with you guys!

But for now, I just wanted to share with you some of the photos taken on the trip!

Waiting for the dinner in a pub in Port Renfrew

Hiking in the Cowichan River Provincial Park

A young deer on our campsite in Goldstream Provincial Park

Me and my dad next to a 600 year old Douglas-fir in the Goldstream Provincial Park

We saw amazing forests and wildlife on the trip (even a black bear!), but were not so impressed by Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia... I suppose that in terms of the cities, Europe is more spectacular after all. Also, the ferry ride from Tsawassen near Vancouver on the mainland to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island was one of the highlights of the trip, such beautiful views! Well, now I understand why they write "Beautiful British Columbia" or "The Best Place on Earth" on the licence plates here :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos and till next time!