Summer beauty essentials

 

[icon class="icon-music"] DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime [icon class="icon-music"]

 

Sea, sun, salt and sand - we love them, we dream of them during the winter but, even in paradise we need to take care of our body (and mind but that is another story, although the linked song can help).

Taking care of our hair and skin during these summer times is as important as keeping them nurtured during harsh winter weather (of course, depending where you live). In Croatia, usually we have very hot summers and cold winters. Going to the sea side for vacation is the usual choice for many of us, and many are spending more than few weeks at the beach. To keep our hair nourished and hydrated it is important to protect it from negative impact from sun and sea.

Keeping our skin healthy and young is an imperative and whether you are going to tan or keep your porcelain skin as is, it is important to protect your skin from negative influence with good SPF protection. I have very, very light skin so tanning is not much of an option for me. I easily get sun-burnt or get sun allergies. Oh, how much would I love to have that beautiful bronze skin. In some other life, maybe.

Here I have listed several products I would love to get my hands on and use, even if just for trying (gotta win the lottery first).

My usual beach beauty routine is quite simple. Before and after are the same as any other season, I use micelle fluids for my face, combined with Clinique’s dramatically different crème and sometimes I give my face (and hair, elbows too) a big treatment with coconut or olive oil. For coconut oil I use organic cold pressed oil and as for olive oil, since I live in olive oil producing country I use organic and homemade. Delicious! When it comes to hair, I pay much attention to after care - rinsing it after swimming and nourishing it with coconut oil and deep treatment masks.

Summer is a great time to give your hair a break (from all the blow-outs and strengtheners/curlers) and let it just be. During these warm months I usually just wash my hair (let it air dry) and just put it in a bun (or a pony-tail). My failed attempt to go platinum resulted in very damaged hair that need less stress as possible. And it is going pretty ok for now.

 

What are your summer beauty essentials? How do you take care of your hair and skin during beach time? I would love to hear some recommendations.

 

To see all the product info please click on the photos below:

More Estee Lauder...

Free blog printables

I love planning. I love notebooks and lists. And who doesn’t love pintables? Here is a little list of handy free blog pintables for  organising and planning content of your posts.

Eliza Ellis has a wonderful set of organizers and planners for home and blog.

The thing about Joy helped me with her free weekly blog schedule.

My favourite blog content planer is from The Native New Yawker.

Erin from Vale Design has few wonderful pintables’ that motivate to plan and write even more.

Mecca of all free stuff is found at Fub n` free. You need it, they have it.

How do you plan your posts? Any secret weapons? Apps?

Choosing the perfect bra

    

36C. Padded, not padded. Push-up. Double Ds. Balconette. Wire or sport? Choosing the perfect bra has always been challenging and often felt like a quest of finding a holy grail or Higgs particle. Not once have I found the ONE.

All the bras currently in my possession are not that bad, they are mainly OK, but I guess they could be better. If they "fit" they are usually not very attractive, they end up being mostly in basic colour and design, which sometimes can get pretty boring. But the real problem is finding the one that actually fits. Perfectly.

Since that time when I was 13 and I got, well breasts I had hated the fact I am a woman. Of course that is strictly bra related issue. I have very narrow chest/back but relatively rich cleavage. So, finding the cup that actually is attached to very small band has been almost impossible. Wonder why? `cus that’s just the way it is.

Buying a bra is mostly very stressful experience for m. Not because I don`t feel comfortable in my skin and/or being (almost) naked in public (in front of the shopping assistant) but because I get irritated from trying on all these bras with no success. And usually shopping assistants know nothing more than me about sizes and types. When buying, or even considering of buying a bra, I opt for the trying on in the stor option rather than ordering on-line. Although on-line bra shopping is always tempting me with wonderful designs available, but there is just too much risk and too many variables in choosing a perfect bra.

I recently came across this intriguing on-line shop for bras called True&Co. that offers you a wide range of models and designs and helps you to a) determine which size your really are and what variables are most critical with your current bra b) choose the perfect one in size, type and design from a variety of bras offered. You just log-in, answer some questions and voila - there is your answer.

Although I liked their approach and the story behind it all, how the store was opened and why. True&Co is an online boutique based around survey responses from thousands of women, separating out the data to create profiles of size and body types, and found that a lot of the product out there doesn't work for most women.

So, I tried that questionnaire out. And I am not really impressed, but only on the account of just one question - when asked which brand and in which size you currently own a bra I answered "other" for brand because mine was not on the list and 36C because that is usually my dress size and cup size. There was no question about measuring, so how can they take that number as a valid size when we all know that bra sizes vary even from model to model of the same brand.

I finished the test and they just listed bunch of bra models in "my" size.





The verdict? I really, really like what True&Co has to offer. I like so many of their designs that I would probably bankrupt. But! I would be very, and I mean very hesitant of buying any type of bra from any on-line store without first trying it on. I just don`t like the hassle of returning the product and hoping next one will be the one.

But, then again, maybe it really would be.

What is your experience with choosing the perfect bra?

Disclaimer: I was not paid or contacted in any way by the mentioned brand. I find the quest of choosing the perfect bra an interesting topic and since I found out about their page and method I wanted to see what they offer and share my honest opinion.

What Wordpress theme are you using?

If I got a penny for every time I asked myself that very question - I`d had a bag of coins I couldn`t use here where I live. But seriously, this morning I have stumbled upon (no pun intended) a blog that had an amazing theme (not WP apparently) and I wanted to know which was it.

Usually I would scroll down and read it in the footer, if such information was provided. And this time it was not. I was so disappointed. Well, I could always ask the owner, but then again, who wants to have the same blog design as someone else. Not really cool. Seems like stealing in a way, right? So I bookmarked her blog and left the premises.

As if the universe knew, an idea to visit Nubby Twiglet`s blog (which I love love to read, she is an amazing designer, full of inspiring advice and I would imagine a beautiful person /she is friends with Gala after all/) just popped in my mind only to find an article about how to find out what WP theme someone is using. I looked around wondering is this a joke. Exactly what I needed.

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a nifty little page with all the answers I needed. Or non as it turned out. So I tried few other blogs that turned out to have been using some themes not related to WP until I found one. Bazinga! What WordPress Theme Is That? is really a great source of information, not only because it gives you the answer about the name of the theme in question but it gives you information about all the plug-ins that blogger is using and if that theme is a child or parent theme, and which one.

The part about plug-ins was very helpful and valuable to me for many reasons (hello pinterest and instagram widgets), so thank you so much Shauna. Since I am "a bit green" in this whole WP & blogging world discovering articles like this one are of the biggest importance for me and make me very happy. I didn`t even imagine that it is possible for that kind of page to exist. But, considering the times and the world we live in - there are no surprises, if you can think it it must exist. I am sure of it.

I feel like I have discovered America.

Swimsuit season - pin up edition

1.Harrods 2.New Look   3.Harrods 4.Harrods  5.Nelly

6.Topshop  7.Zimmermann 8.New look  9.HLorenzo

Swimsuits. Each year we have the same struggle - which one to buy? How to pick between all these colors and designs? This year I am going retro - PIN UP to be precise.

Inspired by 1950s, pin ups and retro design I would pick a high waist swimsuit with ruffles, but it is hard to choose on the pattern. Polka dots or stripes? Hard decisions need to be made, so the only sane thing to do here is to buy two of them - one with dots and one with stripes.

Styled with a wide brimmed straw hat you are ready to go.

Which one would you choose? Is this a trend you would wear and if not, what is the best type of swimsuit for you?

#RADICALSELFLOVEJULY: instagram challenge from Gala Darling

#RADICALSELFLOVEJULY is THE instagram challenge this summer brought to us by lovely Gala Darling. It is fun and creative. Great for making new friends and meeting people, discovering new things around you and inside of you. Finding inspiration and beauty, feeling that push, that impulse to do something different today, to show it to the world, or at least to the people in instagram doing the same challenge :) ... can`t wait for the next one.

Although I missed few days and the month is coming to an end, I have to say that I really enjoyed this little challenge. It made me laugh, it inspired my days and made me think beyond just THE challenge and past the instagram photos - but really understanding some of the challenges and what they mean for and to me. Like totems and my idols, people I admire, what is really important in life and how to find positivity in ordinary sometimes fuck-uped life.

I am truly looking forward to remaining days of #RADICALSELFLOVEJULY and to the next one too. I wonder what will Gala surprise us with this time?

p.s. if you are inspired by (instagram) challenges, you should check out what The Every Girl is doing.

When blogging is hard

SEO. Content marketing. Keyword research. Anchor text. Meta something, or other. Meta description. Copyright meta. Speed optimization. And what the hell is PING?

I mean, I know what PINGing is and why it matters but, does this really needs to take over my blogging experience?

Last few weeks I have been trying to master the art of SEO and all the other stuffs every self-respecting blogger needs to know, and/or do if he/she wants to see their baby live. As much as I do understand the need of SEO maintenance for any site I cant help but feel this overwhelming and de-motivating sensation that has crept into my being. And my WP dashboard as well. When I first decided I was going to put more effort and attention to blog and writing I didn`t think my head was going to explode. It hasn`t yet but it is damn close.



That social networking, as well as good ranking on Google and other sites (if you ask me - what other sites?) is of utmost importance and a logical part of the process is something that has left me a bit ambiguous. As for spending time on social networks (I just found out about slide share and Dubble, shame on me) I have no problem with that, although it is time consuming and I truly hope that I will catch up. When it comes to all that SEO, ranking and other sorcery stuff, I have to say - I am about to give up. For now. For day or two. Just until my head clears. If it ever does.

What is the problem with SEO and all that super confusing terminology? It is just too much. I feel like Alice falling down a rabbits hole. There is just no end? Or maybe there is but no in the foreseeable future. My mind is just getting cloudier and more confused and my eyes blurry. And when I close my eyes, all I see are names of plug-ins I installed, terms on Google webmaster tool and Analytics I did not understand. Not even in my native language.

The imperative here is - I am not complaining. I am just stuck. And I know that there are so many people feeling like I am, and some give up, some don`t. Who knows what will happen with me in the end. The thing I know for sure is that I feel challenged although overwhelmed. Challenged but still willing to fight. Maybe for now I will put SEO sorcery to side, let it simmer while I use the things I can and do understand, and maybe in time it will all click. All will fall to its place.

What have I learned?

• I learned that Wordpress rules. Makes my life easier and my blog better. Use it.


• Research. Research. I will say it again - research. Whether it is for post inspiration, or SEO (damn you, leave me alone, already!) or content or how to write better (very important one) - research. Even for which WP plug-in haven’t you installed yet?


• SEO is tricky but I am sure it takes time. Our civilization is so smart and evolving each day more and more, and all that knowledge that is accessible for us can at times be intimidating. Just give yourself time.


• There are so many amazing and helpful tips available in just a click or two. And what is even better - people. So many people have gotten through problems like mine or yours and are willing to share the wisdom. Pinterest is your friend. And Pocket too.


• No amount of SEO witchcraft will make up for good content. No amount. Amazing content, good writing and inspiring approach to people and ideas will push you that extra mile to great blogging wonderland. I just hope I will find what it takes to produce that kind of content.

Blogging is what you want and make of it. No more, no less. And it should make you happy. And you do it only if you have a true honest desire to do it, not for all the other wrong reasons.

Don˙t be scared (I tell myself that so often). And remember, there are so many great people with amazing advice and great intentions and will to help.

Think You’re Ready to Reach Out to Bloggers? Read this First.

10 Ways to Make Your Blogging More Productive

3 Tips to Beat Your Fear and Finally Launch Your Blog

How to Write Magnetic Headlines

15 Tips on How to Generate Ideas and Write with Ease

 

I hope someone at least found this piece of my experience useful. Or at least not completely boring.
When blogging gets hard, reach out and just don`t give up!