Showing posts with label About me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About me. Show all posts

12 Jan 2013

Beauty inventory 2012: a beauty year in review (Tag)

Recently, I stumbled upon an interesting tag on reviewing the past beauty year: the beauty inventory tag created by Paddy, Jettie and Valerie. Spontaneously, I decided to do this tag as well, because I enjoyed cosmetics and beauty a lot last year. Another name for 2012 would certainly be the beauty year of my life, because I never ever purchased so many cosmetics items (and also not that expensive ones) like last year.

In 2012, I bought a lot of cosmetics items, experimented a lot with colours, my eyebrow shape and anything related to beauty. Amongst others, nearly my whole makeup brush collection has been bought in 2012. In 2011 I only owned very few travel makeup brushes by MAC which I never used. In 2012 I bought a lot of high end brushes - I ended up with quite some collection of MAC brushes. However, I also bought a lot of other brushes. See my favorite new brushes below - this is just a small fraction of the amount of brushes I bought. Furthermore, I used skin care nearly every day (eye care, face care, body care, everything :-)) and discovered that skin care can do wonders to dry skin. I also wore makeup nearly every day (a complete set of products including several eye shadows) and discovered looks that made me look great. I was able to use up a lot of products (see my empties posts) and I also was able to use and experiment with all of my decorative cosmetics items during the course of the last year. However, due to the large amount, some items have been used quite seldomly, unfortunately.

Of course I still do enjoy beauty and cosmetics and I won't stop experimenting in 2013. Nevertheless, I also try to cut down a bit the fraction of time, space and attention that I invest into beauty and cosmetics. Maybe I have got a bit tired of the huge amount of items I tried and used up. As I also found a lot of favorite products, I don't feel like missing out anything when I stick to them for the most part. In addition, I feel the need to shrink the amount of beauty products I own in order to be able to keep enjoying them. More specifically, I need to use up, declutter and to not buy that much cosmetics anymore.

But let's take a look at my review of the beauty year 2012 that just passed. Here are my answers to the beauty inventory tag (Amongst others, I removed a couple of questions that don't fit (e.g. the question about the craziest PR message and the question about the favorite event don't fit because I am not a professional beauty blogger and don't get any PR messages or invitations to events.):

Which new experiences and insights have you been able to acquire in 2012? (concerning cosmetics and concerning the blog)
  • Cosmetics: I read about the season colour theory and realized that I am a summer in this colour theory and that this theory is particularly helpful and inspiring when aiming at shrinking a wardrobe and a beauty and makeup collection and it also helps to prevent mispurchases in these areas. Of course, it is just a theory and not each rule has to be followed religiously. Actually, none of the rules have to be followed. But in case you aim for an elegant and decent style that fits any occasion and a very small wardrobe and cosmetics collection, you should have a look at it because the principles are pretty convincing. They made me realize what I subconsciously knew before anyway. Most of my belongings did match my season colour theory type but I also had a couple of mispurchases. So, knowing what I should take care of is a great guideline for any decluttering endeavor and also helps to avoid mispurchases. Before that, I just had kind of a feeling and feelings sometimes are blurred or not trusted. ;-)
  • Blog: I started my blog in 2012 and when I started blogging I blogged a lot about beauty. However, I soon realized that I don't want to be a typical beauty blogger. This would cause me to hoard products and to purchase a huge amount of cosmetics items on a regular basis while already owning a ton of them. I realized that I feel too much attracted to minimalism and for me a beauty blogger cannot be a minimalist - each new product has to be swatched and compared to other products and hence, they all have to be kept and organized. Afterwards I was in a bit of a dilemma because I don't want to skip beauty on my blog altogether either as I still do enjoy experimenting with cosmetics. It still is a nice and beloved hobby even though I don't want to spend to much time with it anymore. So, I might try to blog about minimalistic beauty in 2013. Let's see. :-)
    Another great insight I got with blogging is that I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts with the online world very much. And I'm asking myself why I didn't start to blog years ago.

29 Dec 2012

2012 - a year in review

This post is a review of 2012. It was inspired by a lovely tag. I found a version of this tag on the blog Heart to breathe. And I found a really nice adaptation at Selbstbewusst leben. My version is a mixture of both. 
  1. Prevalent feeling 2012? Last year was quite mixed. Although I surely felt a lot of happiness in 2012 and now in retrospective it also turns out to have been a great year, I also suffered a lot of fear and anxiety due to my thesis. When I started to meditate in September, however, I found a great way to relaxation and slowly gained back control over my life and my time. So, for me meditation was one of the greatest discoveries of 2012.
  2. Done for the first time in 2012? Meditation, Qi Gong, Pilates (I mean real Pilates and not just some bums-tums-and-legs training called "Pilates" ;-))
  3. Done 2012 after a long time again? Yoga. But I didn't like it, unfotunately, because the Yoga teacher was not that great. I don't think that I'll give it a try again in 2013, but surely later in a couple of years.
  4. Unfortunately not done at all in 2012?  Knitting. I miss it a lot. Hopefully, I will be able to do it again in 2013.
  5. Learned lessons: Amongst others, I learned how to let go and this made a huge change in my life. But I also learned a ton of other stuff. 2012 was the year with the most insights concerning self-development, relationships and health and sports. Looking back, I feel so much wiser than before and although it was a year with ups and downs, I managed to make huge progress - even if it might not be that visible. I did a lot of foundation work and especially at the end of the year, it really paid off. :-)
  6. Insight of the year? I'm the one in control and attitude is everything.
  7. Word of the year? Unprocrastination :-)
  8. Gained some weight or lost some weight? Lost weight.

11 Dec 2012

11 things (part 2) /11 Dinge (Teil 2)

I have been tagged by Fräulein Kitsch to answer the 11 things tag. As it is a quite comprehensive tag, I divided it into two parts. Here you can read the first part where I follow the first rule of the tag and write 11 things about myself.

The following rules apply to the persons that have been tagged by the 11 things tag. The parts that are done are striked (klicking on the text leads you to the corresponding post):
  1. write 11 things about yourself (done, see here)
  2. answer the 11questions you're asked by the tagger to answer
  3. devise 11 questions and tag 11 bloggers to answer them (the bloggers should have less than 200 readers if possible)
  4. inform these bloggers
  5. tagging backwards is not allowed

Here are my answers to the 11 questions Fräulein Kitsch has asked me:
  1. What career aspiration did you have when you were a child? Would you still like to work in this area?
    Actually, I only started to think about having a job when I turned 12 or 13. Before that I didn't have any kind of career aspiration. ;-) As a teenager I considered two career options and both are still somehow accompanying me. Inspired by Bonnie from the TV series Knight Rider, I wanted to do something with Artificial Intelligence and to maybe create an artificial intelligence like K.I.T. Afterwards, I became interested in psychology and considered studying psychology - but I didn't have a proper vision about what exactly I would do with it. Both areas are still relevant in my life and I think that they are very much related.  

    Bonnie Barstow, PhD, here with Michael Knight ;-) via 1
  2. What was the most embarassing thing that happened to you (and that you are willing to share)? 
    I really don't remember (anymore?). I often blunder but I just don't feel embarrassed about it anymore since a couple of years. Shit happens to everyone, so why should we waste our precious time with feeling ashamed? ;-) 
  3. If you were reincarnated after death: how would you be reborn?
    I don't know whether I already deserve to get into the Nirwana but I'd like to go there. I'd also be fine with being reborn as a human again - but I think that this one life is enough. Maybe, however, it would be nice to be reborn as a human man. ;-) I definitely don't want to become some kind of animal or plant. This would be too boring for me as I wouldn't be able to have discussions anymore.
  4. Is there any protagonist of a book you can identify with?
    That is a difficult question because I prefer to read non fiction books. Maybe Fred "Bogus" Trumper from the Watermethod man by John Irving.
  5. Flower bouquet or potted plant?
    Flower bouquet. Unfortunately, I cannot take care of plants and they die very fast when I am responsible for them. And then I feel terrible.
  6. Do you wear sweat pants or jeans at home?
    Jeans.
  7. Have you ever got a really aweful present?
    Not really aweful but of course I also got a lot of crappy presents. I have decluttered them all this year. ;-)
  8. The UK or the US?
    That is a difficult question again. Probably the UK because it is not far away. But the US is a great country, too. For me, the only thing that matters is that I can speak English. ;-)
  9. If your friends had to describe you in 3 words what would they say?
    I just asked a friend because I wouldn't know what I'd say as a friend of mine. She said: balanced, curious and helpful. I just mention it uncommented.
  10. White or black?
    grey
  11. Do you believe in paranormal activities?
    No. 

And here are my questions:
  1. How and why did you start blogging?
  2. How much time a week do you invest into your blog and do you think that this is too much or not enough?
  3. What do you love to do most (except for blogging :-))?
  4. What do you cook when you come home after a tough day and you're very hungry? 
  5. Which book is your favourite book and why?
  6. Do you prefer to organize or rather to search for things?
  7. Do you have a pet? If yes what kind of pet (and what is its name?)?  If not, would you like to have one?
  8. TV-series or movie?
  9. What is the task you catch yourself procrastinating most often? How do you manage to get over procrastination then?
  10. Living means ... 
  11. What is the most annoying thing with other persons for you?


I ask the following bloggers and hope that they all are up to the game as I'm looking very much forward to read their answers. :-) 


    25 Nov 2012

    11 things (part 1) / 11 Dinge (Teil 1)

    I have been tagged by Fräulein Kitsch to answer the 11 things tag. This the first time someone tagged me. It's a pretty tough tag that involves a lot of work and also some honest personal answers but I'm very happy that I've been tagged and feel very honored! Thanks a lot Fräulein Kitsch! As it is the first time I've been tagged, I decided to post my answers bilingual in english and in german. For the german version, have a look below. Furthermore, I divide the tag onto two posts, because it is pretty comprehensive. This post presents the first part of the tag. Very soon, I'll post the second part. 

    These are the rules of the 11 things tag:
    1. write 11 things about yourself
    2. answer the 11questions you're asked by the tagger to answer
    3. devise 11 questions and tag 11 bloggers to answer them (the bloggers should have less than 200 readers if possible)
    4. inform these bloggers
    5. tagging backwards is not allowed

    There is no rule about breaking up the work. Hence, as mentioned above, I'll now first write 11 things about myself and afterwards answer the questions, Fräulein Kitsch asked me in another post and pose my questions to the bloggers I want to tag.

    Here are 11 things about myself:
    1. I am obsessed with anything related to good posture. This is why I am doing Pilates and Qi Gong at the moment in the first place and this also why I started to do horseback riding. Interestingly, however, I currently discover Qi Gong as something that has so much more to offer (but it indeed also is a really great training for the deep torso muscles that support our posture ;-)). But it was the same with horseback riding. It happens often that we start doing something with a specific aim in mind and discover new features of the activity that we appreciate as well and adds to the fun. 
    2. I have been a very unorganized person myself but I am currently working very hard to become organized and the more organized I become the less understanding I have for a lack of organization. I am a bit embarassed to admit that but sometimes disorganization can annoy me very much.
    3. It is not really something new (see my post on minimalism) but I am currently obsessed with striving after minimalism and I have managed to declutter half of my wardrobe in the last 12 months. Currently, I also try to shrink my beauty possessions and other possessions as discussed in my Minimalism post I recently posted.
    4. Through realizing what minimalism really is, I discovered my love for limitations. I limit space for item categories, I limit time for certain endeavours and I think very much about all kinds of limitations and start to appreciate them. Recently I even thought that it's great that even our life has a limitation. Yeah, I know, I'm becoming strange ... ;-)
    5. I cannot tolerate any alcohol and don't like to be drunk at all. This is why I discovered the world of alcohol-free alcoholic beverages. Today I am sucker for alcohol-free beer and alcohol-free cocktails and people who don't know me well easily think that I am hard drinker because I drink a lot of drinks that look like alcoholic beverages. Sometimes I even start at lunch. ;-) I have a lot of fun when I am admired for being such a hard drinker. :-)    
    6. I taught myself how to knit with youtube videos 3 years ago. I love to knit because it is is a really meditative and soothing hobby. Unfortunately, I currently don't have time to pursue this hobby at the moment and I really miss it. Here are a couple of things I knit during the last 3 years: bow scarf, bow scarf again, crooked cowl
    7. I'd love to learn how to sew and also experiment with carpentry. :-)
    8. I cannot watch horror films. Unfortunately, sleep is something that doesn't come easily to me anyway but when I additionally watch horror films, I can feel haunted for weeks. Years ago I saw an advertisement for a really creepy movie where something came out of the head of somebody who was showering. Afterwards I had a hard time showering for weeks.
    9. I love watching TV-series and enjoy doing it while cycling each morning on my bike ergometer.
    10. I love to ask a ton of questions and discuss things deeply. Some people get annoyed. Others think that I cannot manage my life on my own because I sometimes ask every bullshit that crosses my mind. ;-) But I also had really great discussions because I am not afraid to ask any bullshit that crosses my mind. Hence, everything has it's pros and cons. ;-)
    11. I drink too much. I might be the only person on this earth who does not need to remind herself to drink more. Each day, I drink tons and tons of coffee, tea, water, ... (1.5 liters of coffee and green tea and at least 1.5 liters of herbal tea and/or water and juice). I cannot sit anywhere with something to drink besides me. And this is why I also have to go to the bathroom all the time. Close friends even make fun of me having to go to the bathroom all the time. Therefore, I currently keep tracking what I drink and how much I drink of it in order to maybe shrink the amount a bit or to take care to drink more healthy drinks.

    3 Sept 2012

    Announcement

    Dear readers,

    I don't have that many of you but I appreciate each and every one of you and I am very glad that there are people out there that spend their precious time to stop by at my blog and read my posts about beauty, health and life. Thank you very much! I'm also very glad that my clumsy non-native speaker's english didn't chase you away yet. :-)

    My thesis deadline is urging me to adjust my priorities in favour of my thesis. This is why I will stop blogging for now. However, these 4 months that I spent in the blogosphere with you were great months and blogging was a lot of fun and changed my life. I made a great friend overseas (many heartfelt greetings to Jessica from Getting Cheeky) and I really enjoyed being part of the blogging community a lot. Hence, there is no doubt that - sooner rather than later - I'll be back!

    For now, however, I have to focus 100% on my thesis. I hope you can understand me and I am looking forward to hopefully meeting you all again when my thesis is delivered.

    Thank you for your understanding and warm greetings to you all!

    Tia

    14 Jul 2012

    10 little secrets (Tag)

    I have not been tagged, but I like the 10 little secrets tag a lot and think that the questions are very interesting. Apparently, it has been created originally by Beauty Crush some time ago - I believe somewhen in March or April 2012. Hence, me answering this tag now is not only cheeky but also belated. ;-) Anyway, here are my answers: 

    1. What is one product that makes you feel like a million dollars?
    I like to wear clothes and makeup that fit to the occasion I am in. Looking appropriate and well-adjusted to the context is something that makes me feel like a million dollars since everyone approving my looks makes me feel well. I don't like to rebel with my looks. That doesn't mean that I don't like to rebel - I love to rebel but rather with words than with looks. :-) 
    E.g. for days at the office/University/formal events, I prefer to have a natural makeup look with my Nars pure radiant tinted moisturizer (this is one of the products making me feel like a million dollars) and a nice not too overwhelming blush and nude eyes with a shimmery beige base and matte brownish colours in the crease and the outer V. When I am visiting a glamourous or party event, I of course use much more colours. As said: my look depends on the occasion.
    Another special products for me is my hair dye by Khadi (Khadi herbal hair colour in natural hazel). The colour looks like my hair colour but better (and more shiny). I love my looks the first one or two weeks after having dyed my hair. One could say that it makes me feel like a million dollars. ;-)

    2. What is your skincare secret? / A passed down skin care tip
    Do it regularly! Skin has a memory (not necessarily a very long term memory, but a quite a memory). My skin needs some time to adjust to regular creaming and starts only a couple of weeks later to shine from within due to the regular skin care.
    And don't do too much with your skin. With skin, my experience is that less is more. This holds especially for cleaning - I don't mean that it's better to not clean ourselves but we should rather do it with water and very mild products. At least for me this rules works. ;-)

    3. Share your hair care secret?
    I don't wash my hair too often. I do sports every morning and my hair is always full with sweat, but I only wash it every third day. All other days I just rather rinse it with water and conditioner. In this way I save time since I don't have to use conditioner when I wash my hair (the next day I'll use it anway) and my hair is always well-groomed because I use conditioner more often than shampoo. 

    4. What is your biggest diet rule?
    Sugar is evil. Nevertheless, I also eat sweets from time to time (due to socialization) but since sugar is highly addictive (the Guardian talked about this phenomenon of sugar addiction recently as well) and unhealthy, I try to hold off from it for most of the time. I don't add any sugar to my beverages, i.e. I drink pure unsweetened tea and I also drink my coffe only with milk. Nevertheless, I still drink some beverages that have sugar included (but not by myself - I bought them like that), like my Chai and sometimes also a glass of Coke (and here I prefer normal Coke and don't drink any diet Coke since artificial sweeteners are even worse than sugar - in my opinion at least). And I try to eat as few sweets and cakes as possible (an exception are my own home made ones where I have the control over the sugar addition and all other ingredients). But of course I cannot hold off from sweets all time and sometimes I break this rule. Rules always have to have exceptions! ;-)
    Otherwise, I don't have any diet rules except for trying to cook myself as often as I can with as many raw and fresh ingredients as possible, avoiding any kind of junk food as often as I can.

    5. Any workout tips?
    Just do it! :-) And do more than you think you can. It is very often the case, that we are too kind to  ourselves and our lazyness. Often it's possible to challenge ourselves more than we think our bodies are able to do. The harder it gets, the more we benefit from exercising. However, don't do it without good instructions! We can destroy our bodies if doing sports improperly.

    6. Which perfume is your secret weapon?
    I am a very self-centered person when it comes to perfume. When I use perfume, I most often use it solely for influencing myself positively. Lemony scents are my favourite scents on me since they wake me up and help me focus better. My favourite lemony perfume is: L'Occitane EdT Verveine. This one isn't available as EdP as far as I know. 

    7. Show us a clothing item of yours which always turns heads
    My bright pink blazer by Zara is sure to be turning a lot of heads. :-)

    8. What is your most treasured piece of jewellery?
    I am sucker for jewelry with some positive emotional meaning like positive reminders, motivational anchors and such things. I don't believe that meaningful jewelry can change something by itself but I like to wear it nevertheless and influence me positively as a reminder of positive emotional states. My favorite jewelry brand is Dogeared and I have several necklaces from this brand, a couple of them being favourites. One of them is the amethyst teardrop healing gem necklace by Dogeared. On the enclosed card it reads that the Amethyst stands for awareness, honesty and inspiration and is an ancient healer of the mind, body and spirit. And most importantly, the color suits me. :-) 
    The other necklace is a silver necklace from the discontinued mantra series by Dogeared.
    9. Who is your style crush?
    Kendi and Chelsea. :-) Look at these gorgeous looks from Chelsea: herehere and here. I love that her looks are stylish and trendy but still wearable and down to earth. And her looks are very versatile as well. Love her style (not all outfits, but most of them ;-)).
    And Kendi is a style goddess and my favourite source of inspiration. All of her outfits are great and some are really perfect. I especially like her more colourful outfits like this one, this one, this one or this one. Other examples of great outfits by Kendi are this one, this one, this one and this one. Actually, I should check Kendi's blog more often. Choosing these above linked outfits for this post was a lot of fun and now I am in the mood for creating great combinations from the content of my own wardrobe. :-) 

    10. Tell us something we don't know about you
    There is a lot you don't know about me. *evillaughter*  8-D
    Hmmm, I don't know what to tell you. The blog is in its infancy and there is nearly nothing you really know about me. You just know that I do sports and try to live healthy and organized and that I am kind of a beauty addict (but not that bad yet). ;-)
    The following new information might be of some value however: I am a science fiction and fantasy fan and love to watch SF or Fantasy movies or TV shows. From time to time I also read an SF or Fantasy book, but I prefer to watch SF and Fantasy rather than to read it. Usually I prefer to read non-fiction books as can be seen in my current to-read list and the book I am currently reading which is shown on the right of this blog. Nevertheless, writing my thesis at the moment does not leave me much time for reading. Actually, I shouldn't be writing this blog post either. :-P