THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: My view on blogging

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while for a while, you know I have a full time job. I wouldn’t even call it a full time job, more of a 1+1 job, since it’s not unusual for me to reach 250+ hours per month. I also have different hobbies, a house, hubby and a princess kitty to take care of and quite recently, I added a baby to the mix. So it’s not like my life was boring before I started blogging. 

When I wrote the first post, I seriously doubted anyone will ever read anything I wrote. I didn’t know how to take photos (I mean, they are still not excellent, but looking back I will say that I’ve come a long way in the past two years), I didn’t know how to tag, how to address people, what information to include and so on.

Two years later, I don’t really care about blogging rules that much I like my photos as they are and I’m not willing to invest more money into new gadgets and aids to make them any better. I don’t buy subscribers on any platform. I don't really use GA. I know that people prefer shorter posts and more photos, but I don’t care about that – I will give you long, like super long posts most of the time. I love writing so that’s the way I roll – if you don’t like it, nobody is forcing you to read it.

2nd October 2015 – Early Christmas for Slovenian Beauty Bloggers

I already wrote a post about everything exciting that happened at the first Beautiful Bloggers Meetup in Ljubljana a week ago, but I didn’t want to go into all the presents that the wonderful sponsors and partners prepared for every blogger at the event. 

Most of us had problems carrying everything home, since all the bags together weight close to 20 kg. And let me tell you – the next morning when I was opening the bags, it really was like Christmas. Thank you to every one of the companies – I am super excited to try everything out and to include my reviews in my #blogvember project, which is just around the corner. 

Without further ado, here is everything I got in the bags (minus notebooks, pencils and similar), hopefully in alphabetical order of the companies. The reviews won’t come in the same order, though, since some products require more testing than others. But if you’re really anxious to hear about anything as soon as possible, let me know in the comments below. 

AFRODITA

Afrodita was the general sponsor of the conference. Bag included: Extra sensitive intimate wash – delicate care, Argan Oil – total repair (6 in 1), Sugar scrub for body (brown sugar and shea butter) and samples of Pearl Prestige skincare line. 

ALESSANDRO

Alessandro bag included: a nail file, Mini nail polish from the new winter line, Take Off nail polish remover gel, a lovely USB stick with PR materials and a Veggie nail cream. 

AUSSIE

Aussie provided us with full size Repair Miracle shampoo and conditioner. Everything was nicely packaged in a bag, but unfortunately, mine ripped somewhere in the schlepping process.

Top 5 moments from the 1st Beautiful Bloggers Meetup

Yes, the first Slovenian Beauty Bloggers Conference (#bbmulj) happened this Friday. I am still trying to process it all (and find my way through all the gifts), but nevertheless, here are my top 10 moments from the event! 

1. The venue

Grand Hotel Union has the perfect location in the city center close to the bus and train station. The staff was very helpful and  friendly and no little detail was left to chance.  

Source: Hotel webpage

2. The participants

I met all of my fellow bloggers for the first time and without exception, they were all very pleasant and friendly. I look forward to sharing more wonderful moments with them in the future. A special shout-out, however, goes to Nika from Beautyfull Blog who made the event happen, so go follow her and tell her I sent you :)

3. The refreshments

I was so busy stuffing my mouth I forgot to take any decent photos, but I will insert one here from my fellow blogger Simona from Beauty of a lemon. Everything I put in my body that day was healthy and delicious at the same time, very appropriate for such an event! 

Photo by Beauty of a lemon

One year of blogging recap + birthday giveaway

My dear low/high maintenance beauties. About a year ago, I wrote my first post and setup a Blogger account. I didn't think much about how it's going to go, what I was going to write about or if anyone will ever read my ramblings. And now, a year later, I'm looking back at everything and feel very thankful for each experience and every single one of you who read my posts, like, click, share and comment. You make my day – every day. 

I've also had some bad experience, but most of it was related to specific people behind specific brands. I still stand by the fact that I will not write a BS positive review, no matter what you offer me – be it products, money or something else. You can send me a product, yes, but I offer no guarantee that I'll be writing anything about. Some people were not happy about my position on this – I say it's their loss. It does make me sad, however, when I see some other bloggers posting over-excited reviews for such brands. But to each his own. I believe that with greater power comes greater responsibility – I wouldn't want people I trust deceiving me, so it's not my intention to be deceiving to you. 

What surprises me the most is how far even such a small blog like mine can reach and how many doors it can open. Not every single discussion came to a positive conclusion, but still, they were priceless in my eyes because of the experience they offered. 

I said that I'll evaluate what I'm doing after a year and do a self-review of a sort. I think that I've improved on the writing and the precision of thought, the photos have gotten somewhat better (let's all take a moment to admire the first ever photo I published - below) and I'm also a bit more consistent at posting new contents. 

LOL at the composition, background, focus.

I do however need to work more on providing better swatches and really do some make-up looks as well. Also, I need to concentrate a bit less on make-up and start doing more posts in other areas as well. Possibly start translating everything into Slovenian as well? What do you think? Is there anything I need to put on my list of things to improve?

Anyway, enough ranting, let's get to the fun stuff, right? Again, I have to prizes for two lucky ladies (or gents). Each includes some must-haves, some of my favorites and some things that will help you be on point with the spring-summer trends that I talked about in my previous post. 

1. ICONIC PACKAGE

• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 1 palette
• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 2 palette
• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 3 palette
• (yes, all three of them)
• Makeup Revolution Focus & Fix eye primer
• Essence Longlasting eye pencil (Tu-Tu Touquoise)
• Essence XXXL Nude lipgloss (Just nude)

2. FLAWLESS PACKAGE

• Makeup Revolution Flawless Matte palette
• BH Cosmetics 12-brush set (Berry)
• Makeup Revolution Focus & Fix eye primer
•  Essence Longlasting eye pencil (Tu-Tu Touquoise)
•  Essence XXXL Nude lipgloss (Taste the Sweets)

You can enter through several possibilities, all listed below in the Rafflecopter. I wish you good luck in the giveaway - thank you for celebrating with me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Decluttering like a pro: everyday cosmetics (a long post!)

Every single time I bring home a new product, I feel the need to use it right away. It doesn’t really matter if I already have 3 hair sprays opened, or 5 body lotions – surely, this new one will be so utterly superior to them that I will throw the old ones away and only use the new one for the rest of my life. Sounds familiar? If it does, then you probably have seen something like this before. 

Every once in a while, I reach a point when everything starts falling out, I have no place for new things and I really, really need to clean stuff out. So I did something similar as with nail polishes – got everything out and went through it. Here are the results with small reviews on each of the products and whether I tossed or kept it. I suggest you get a snack, since it’s going to be a long post!

Let’s start with hair products.

L’Oreal Elnett de Luxe – strong hold which also offers extra heat protection. I don’t like the pump, would prefer a spray, but it’s a good hold, and I don’t really use hair spray all that much. Keeping.

Taft Cashmere Touch Power Spray.  This was sitting in the back of the closet for about 2 years and I distinctly remember why I stopped using it – it made my hair so hard that I had problems combing through it after I used it. Trash.

Aiko Styling Heat Protecting Spray. I did not know it was a Müller brand until this very moment. Did not care for this product – I didn’t see any difference in how my hair behaved or how good it looked whether I used it or not. Trash.

Syoss Anti-Grease dry shampoo. This smells like lemon, which I like a lot since it makes my hair smell fresh. It does work to give second day hair a bit of volume, but I wouldn’t necessarily use it instead of washing my hair after that. Good value for money – lasts a long time. Keeping.

Nivea Volume Sensation Styling Mousse. Number 4 (out of 5) – extra strong. I normally put it into wet hair before washing to give it a little extra volume around the base. There’s not really that much left, so I am keeping it.

In my previous post about hair botox I talked about the frizz in my hair and their general dullness. I have quite a few products to combat that, not including the Morrocan oil and Keraste oils I just purchased.

Spring giveaway!

My lovely, beautiful readers, I’m so happy I’m able to do another giveaway for you. We’re quickly approaching 100 Facebook subscribers (reason for another giveaway?) and I’m so happy that I’m able to reach out to so many of you. I know that it may not seem like much, but I really love my blog and every one of you :)