My Artdeco products

Before the Artdeco Dita von Teese LE came out recently, I only owned one single blush by Artdeco which is a bright orangey one (Number 11). I love this blush and it is very pigmented. The Dita von Teese LE has been very appealing and since I have read a lot of good reviews by different beauty bloggers of Artdeco eye shadows, I recently bought 4 eye shadows and a blush from the Dita von Teese LE (note that last month, I already bought the other blush that comes with the Dita von Teese LE).

These are the newly bought products in July (all of them are from the Dita von Teese LE):

The products are:

• Powder eyeshadows (bright to dark): 512 (von Fleece), 554 (Petticoat), 520 (Brunesque), 524 (Mink). All of them are matte eye shadows.
• Powder blush in 09 (Ingnue)

I also bought an empty palette, the beauty box magnum by Artdeco:

Here you can see all my Dita von Teese products in the beauty box magnum (on the right you can see the blush 31 (Starlet Pink) which I already bought in June):

I was thinking about buying 2 additional eye shadows from the Dita von Teese line since the colours are really lovely nude every day shades. But I don't like these matte eye shadows. They are too powdery and don't blend well. Actually, I wasn't able to blend them at all. They are also pretty expensive with nearly 5 Euro each and hence, I am really disappointed. It's really no comparison with MAC or Nars and even Catrice and P2 which are really cheap brands as well (a Catrice Mono eyeshadow costs a bit less than 3 Euro and a P2 matte Mono eyeshadow even less than 2 Euro), but still do blend better. I have heard that the non-matte eye shadows by Artdeco are not that bad and better blendable than the matte ones but I definitely won't purchase any eye shadows from Artdeco again since I am really very disappointed! However, I bought these ones and I of course try to use them up nevertheless. Maybe I will like them some day ... who knows. Some products have some hidden values that need some time to be discovered. Nevertheless, I doubt that I'll like these eye shadows some day since I own so many eye shadows that are a million times better. Let's see ...

I do like the blushes, though. Especially the colours that come with the Dita von Teese LE are really lovely and I am happy that I bought them both. The blush 09 is a great every day colour that just looks gorgeous and can be used to create a very natural and nude no-makeup makeup look. 

I also do like the beauty box magnum. It's a bit sturdy but also solid and since it is a freestyle palette and the magnet is also very strong, you also can put MAC eye shadows into it and carry them around very conveniently. I also like the huge mirror that is included. The box was indeed a good buy.

Below you can see the beauty box magnum with the Dita von Teese products I own and additionally the Artdeco blush 11 (orange blush) that unfortunately does not fit anymore into the beauty box. These are all Artdeco products I currently own (except for nail products - I do own a couple of nail polishes and nail care products).

If I take one eye shadow out, the third blush does fit into the beauty box. This is how it looks then:

Now I have to decide how I'll fill my beauty box: all Dita von Teese LE products and some single addional depottet eye shadow or rather all 3 Artdeco blushes and 3 Artdeco eye shadows? So many decisions to be made and so little time ... ;-)

In my ears

Obviously, I am completely SMASH-ed at the moment! ;-)

New in: Essence Blushes & L'Oreal Caresse Lipsticks

At Rossmann, there currently is a sales promotion of 20% for L'Oreal makeup products (until the 13th of July, so hurry up if you want to buy any L'Oreal makeup products!). Additionally, Essence has released a very interesting new limited edition called Ready for Boarding. Hence, I had to have a look and then also bought these 4 products:

The products are:

• Essence Lip and Cheek Creme in 01 sending you kisses (above in the picture, it is the pink blush on the right) and 02 beauty on tour (above in the picture it is the peachy blush on the left). These blushes are the only ones coming with the Ready for Boarding LE of Essence and at first, I only bought the peachy shade 02 - you might have read that I try to keep myself from buying blushes and especially LEs. However, these blushes have not been expensive (2,50 Euro each) and I have read great reviews on other blogs about them, e.g. this recommendation here. After having fallen in love with the peachy blush 02, I had to buy the other one as well and I really like them and have used them each day since I bought them. Nevertheless, I really do own a ton of blushes now - but the blush 02 beauty on tour is the first peachy cream blush I own. So, it was worth it.

02 beauty on tour is on the left and 01 sending you kisses is on the right

• L'Oreal Caresse lipstick in Rebel Red. I love this new lipstick line from L'Oreal. L'Oreal is also a company, I don't like that much and try to avoid, but this lipstick line is so great. The lipsticks are not drying and the more colourful ones like Rebel Red do look so great on the lips since they are not too opaque and they also do stain the lips a bit and hence stay much longer than other nurturing lipsticks. However, I still have to use a lip balm underneath because my lips are very dry. Rebel Red is a really lovely red that suits me and just looks great. 

• L'Oreal Caresse lipstick in Impulsive Fuchsia. This is a lovely fuchsia that again is not too opaque and looks stunning on the lips. Actually, it has even become my favourite lipstick at the moment.

June recap of fitness activities

A short recap of my sporting activities in June:

First June Week (06/04 - 06/10)

1. Weight training: 1.5 hours
2. Horseback Riding: 1 hour
3. Biking:

Second June Week (06/11 - 06/17)

1. Weight training: 1.5 hours
2. Horseback Riding: 1 hour
3. Biking:

Third June Week (06/18 - 06/24)

1. Weight training: 1.5 hours 
2. Mixed weight training (a bit of Blogilates (Calves/Thighs/Arms) + a couple of body weight exercises): 1 hour
3. Horseback Riding: 1 hour
4. Biking:

Fourth June Week (06/25 - 07/01)

1. Weight Training: 1.5 hours
2. Mixed weight training (a bit of Blogilates (Calves/Thighs/Arms) + a couple of body weight exercises): 1 hour 
3. Horseback Riding: 1 hour
4. Biking:

It is a pitty that I missed my aqua running course in June completely. I was very busy and just did not manage to go there. But I try to not miss the two last sessions of this course that will be held in July. Last week, I attended the session in the first week of July already and hope I can make it to the second one as well. Unfortunately, I have an inflammation at the moment and might not be able to attend the course next week. Wish me luck that it heals quickly! :-) It felt so great last week and I really love aqua running. Worst of all is that there might not be any aqua running courses anymore in the next semester at my University.

Altogether I am content with my sports activities in June. I was cycling for 5 hours each week and have also done some weight training (and mixed weight training occasionally enhanced with dumbbells) and this shows already. My body looks much better than before and most importantly, it also feels a million times better, healthier and stronger. But there is still a long way to go, I am still not there where I want to get concerning physical efficiency and vitality - and also my looks could still improve a bit. ;-)

Towards a stronger, healthier and fitter me

You might have noticed the goal bar on the right column of my blog. This post shall provide an explanation. With this bar I track my weekly progress with biking and keep myself motivated. Each day I update the progress and seeing the progress motivates me to keep going. Knowing that you guys might check my progress every day as well, motivates me too. ;-)

A recent status of my biking progress bar on the right border of my blog

Currently, I am trying to do a lot of sports in order to become more healthy and fit. Of course it is a very nice side effect that the body becomes slimer and more defined as well. There's no doubt that I am enjoying the improvement of my body shape a lot. However, at the moment my focus lies on the health and fitness issue. I want to become stronger and healthier and improve my posture and physical capabilities in general. I have never been a sports enthusiast in my whole life and just focussing on getting a better body with sports has never been enough to keep me motivated on the long term. Maybe it was because my body has never been in a terrible shape anyway. My fitness, however, is in a terrible shape! And it has gotten worse and worse over the last years.

In the last years I have experimented with different kinds of sports: Yoga, weight training @the gym, weight training @home, cycling, running, horseback riding, rock climbing, swimming and aqua running. I have also experimented with different times for the workouts: I tried to do sports in the morning, sports during the lunch break, sport in the evening or somewhen during the day. But I have never been able to keep a regular exercise schedule for a long time. It was rather a discipline issue. I had and still have severe issues with work life balance. Resolving these issues is a challenge for me but I am aware of these issues and I am dealing with them and it gets better and better - very slowly however (like all changes that affect your whole life, i.e. you habits and your belief system). Recently, I have managed to find a way to integrate regular sporting activities into my life, however, and it's working well for a couple of months already. That's longer than ever before. Obviously, the only way to integrate sports into my life that works for me is doing sports on a daily basis. When it becomes an every day routine, it just works without a second thought and I start to really need it and still can focus my mind on other things (because the sports routine does not involve any thinking anymore). If I am not able to do my sport routine, my day just feels incomplete. Additionally, it is important for me to make the time - whatever happens, I have, have, have to do it, unless I am  suffering from a cold or an inflammation. There is no other excuse. There are no deadlines or obligations that are more important than my sports appointments!

For a couple of months now, I cycle on my bicycle ergometer in my bedroom almost every morning immediately after getting up. On average I cycle for about 40 minutes each morning, sometimes less and sometimes a little bit more (since I have my progress bar on my blog it's rather more then less ;-)). Additionally, I also do aqua running once a week for 1 hour - at least during the lecture period of my University since I am attending a course at University. So, in good weeks, my weekly cardio routine has a duration of around 6 hours. Furthermore, I do horseback riding once a week for 1 hour. I also do 1.5 hours of weight training a week but not that regularly, unfortunately. I'd like to do more weight training and some Pilates and Yoga on a regular basis as well and have to find some exercise routine and schedule that's appropriate for me.

In order to motivate myself to keep up with my sporting activities, I'll write a monthly recap post summarizing my sports efforts. Such a recap would also help me to review why my fitness and looks have improved or not improved (either is possible ;-)).

During the last weeks I have managed to loose a bit of weight and my body shape has started to improve a lot. Although I am focusing on health and fitness, the looks of course are not unimportant at all and do count as well. Hence, I really hope to be able to wear some short dresses soon, e.g. the ones shown below are really lovely:

picture & dress are both from COS

picture & dress are both from COS