THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: My top Instagram photos in 2016 (so far)

I love Instagram. It's like having a small window in lives of so many people. I know we only share the pretty moments with each other but that's what life should be all about, right?

I went through my photos and found the five that you liked the most in 2016 so far.

#5: Sheet masks I've been trying out for the past few weeks - read the entire post *here*

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: Buzzfeed make-up?

If you don't know Buzzfeed, you probably live under a rock. The hugely popular website presents us with videos ranging anywhere from 1 minute to 15 minutes (but usually quite short) about various topics. I love watching a few before going to bed every night, they usually put me in a good mood and today, I want to share with you some of my absolute favorites that revolve around beauty.

#1 What's the best way to clean your Beautyblender?

We all have our own struggles keeping our make-up sponges clean so I think this is quite a useful video. I use my Freedom Brush Bath with good results, but I have tried a few of these before myself...

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: 6 things I hate about make-up

Never thought you'd see the day, right? Me - hate make-up? Well, it's not the actual make-up I hate, it's the occasional issues I have it. I'm sure you'll be able to relate, so keep on reading.

#1: Hitting the pan

The Balm: Mary Lou-Manizer

One day, you have this perfect product, and the next day, there is a HOLE in it, making it far less desirable. And why, oh why does the hole always appear in the middle???

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: My love affair with the summer

I really, really love two months in a year. December, since it means spending time with family, joyful experiences and good food, and May, because it brings the beginning of the summer. This year, I had to wait a bit longer for that, but now summer is really here and I couldn’t be happier. 

Here are ten things that make me happy in the summer, in no particular order. 

~ Long days. I am miserable during the months when I get to the office in half-darkness and leave when it’s pitch dark. I feel like a vampire and it drains all my energy. I love it when the days get longer and I can enjoy the sun for hours and hours after I get home from work.

~ The taste of great ice cream. I am super picky when it comes to ice cream and I often ask for a tiny sample before ordering my two scoops. I would say that about 8 times out of 10, it doesn’t cut it. I am quite partial to Zvezda and Lolita ice creams in Ljubljana but won’t say no to Carte D’Or, Haagen Dazs and Ben&Jerry.

~ My birthday. I am a summer baby and I always get the day off since I celebrate on the day that Slovenia won its independence. Special bonus: I can celebrate the day before with my friends and nobody has to go to work with a hangover :)

~ Wide selection of fruit for pennies. Tangerines, watermelon, strawberries and cherries. I can live off fruit for most days in the summer. I had to make some cutbacks this year because I have to think about baby M as well, but I still manage to get my fair share of the tasty fresh goodness.

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.

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: A world without hate

Let me start off this post by saying that I have a soft heart. I certainly don’t look like that, but those who know me well know this is true. I feel for humans and animals in need and I make a conscious effort to try and help in any way possible. I am lucky enough to have been born into a safe 1^st world country and a family that doesn’t struggle and if I can do a bit to make someone’s life better, I will do it.

The level of impact that sad stories have on me has multiplied by a hundred since I’ve had my little man. I feel much more grief for children who live in fear or poverty and for families that cannot afford what we consider normal everyday necessities. And above all, my heart breaks for parents who lose their children.

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: Some of my favorite online stores

I love shopping online. It’s quick, easy, and convenient and luckily I’ve never had a single bad experience with any stores regarding delivery, data protection or payment. I also find that I spend less this way since the amount of money adds up as we go and I am able to hold my horses a bit better than in a regular store. The prices are often lower and I can also get products that are not available in Slovenia. All of the above is why I figured that you might be interested in the stores I like the most.

Let’s start with the stores that I most commonly visit to check out their offer of cosmetics. As this is the category that I most often shop for, there are quite a few of my favorites. Where I can, I will do a price comparison for a couple of products among stores.

ASOS (*click*)

While it’s best known for their wide selection of clothing and accessories, Asos also holds quite a large beauty department (*CLICK*). If you scroll to the bottom you will find daily offers (for instance, today’s offers are 20 % off Barry M, Korres, Yes to and 50 % off Nip & Fab body lines).

Although they only ship some brands (like Benefit and NARS) only to UK and Ireland, they still hold a bunch of brands that I like (NYX, Bourjois, Lord&Berry, Maybelline, Pixi, Rimmel, Yes to etc.). The prices are not necessarily the lowest but they really stock up on new arrivals and you can get things here literally years before they hit Slovenian drugstores (if they ever even do). However, I rarely shop here for products I can also get in Slovenian drugstores where I can usually find a better deal.

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: Pregnancy Q&A

I know that many of you are still young and not really thinking about kids yet, but there are quite a few readers and bloggers who have been following me on this journey from the big fat positive to birth of my beautiful baby boy and I’m grateful for all the positive vibrations and nice wishes I got along the way. Since it’s my rambling day, I thought I’d do a Q&A tag about my pregnancy (I borrowed the questions from Beautifymeeh blog). Spoiler: my pregnancy was great so don’t freak out before you read through :)

1. When were you due?

I was due March 25^th (Mother’s day over here) but the baby decided to hang tight for a week longer and arrived on 1^st of April, making a fool out of both of us (we were hoping for April 2^nd since it’s also my hubby’s b-day and it would be a special bond for them to share).

2. Can different emotions from a mother affect the baby inside in any way? 

I firmly believe they do. I could feel him moving around a lot more when I was stressing out at work, even if I was just sitting behind my desk. Happiness and overall well-being are key to a nice pregnancy.

3. Exercise for pregnant women?

I did regular pilates until about 6 months. Then, I switched to pregnancy pilates. I also did a lot of Kegel  exercises and breathing techniques. Otherwise, I just went for walks as much as I could. Regardless of pregnancy, I continued with my daily life until about 36 weeks (out of 40 or better said, 41 for me).

THURSDAY RAMBLINGS: Health & beauty = smoothie

Since I lead a pretty unhealthy lifestyle with a lot of stress, lack of sleep and many skipped (and often not the healthiest) meals, I’m prone to compensating for it with supplements which are easy and quick to take and really do make a difference to how I feel and how I look.

I’ve always been attracted to supplements that also offer visible results and the one that really stands out to me is MSM. MSM (Methylsulfonymethane, if you care) is a natural form of organic sulfur. It’s beneficial for the formation of tissues such as red cells, muscles, skin, nails and hair, while it also helps regulate the hormonal balance and the immune system. Some also call MSM the mineral of beauty. 

So yes – skin, hair and nails. As I’ve mentioned in pretty much every post in recent history, all of these have taken the turn for the worse during my pregnancy and it’s time to get them back into shape! 

That being said, MSM doesn’t exactly taste great by itself, so I was excited to find out that a smoothie bar in Ljubljana in Bavarski Dvor, Zdrav’ko Dren (click!) partnered up with the online store Malinca.si and now offers a smoothie with Malinca BeautyMix that contains MSM and Camu Camu that is a great source of Vitamin C. 

The smoothie is based on rice milk and tastes great since it also contains raspberries, banana and goji berries. At 2,60€ for 0,3l and 3,5€ for 0,5l I find the price to be great for a daily boost of energy, health and beauty (not to mention all the great Instagram photos you’ll get out of it). It’s easy to get excited about getting better skin, hair and nails and at the same time enjoying something that tastes great. 

You can also buy almost all of the products from Malinca.si at Zdrav’ko Dren and save up on the postage and waiting for your mailman to ring. If they don’t have the product in stock, they will order it for you – you can check out their Facebook Page here and send them a message if you’re interested in what they offer. 

Until next time, stay beautiful!