2012 favourites & accomplishments

It took me forever to put this post together, haha!
2012 was an amazing year and this one will be even more exciting, let me tell you :). I decided to do a post about my favourite products/things, everything basically and some random rambling :).

Let's start with makeup.

Two most worn palettes were definitely Sleek i-Divine Au naturel and Storm. Can't go wrong with any of these colours.

I'm extremely happy Essence came up with pigments. I love Essence pigments.

I been using Artdeco All in one mascara for many years now, has to be my all time favourite mascara. I almost completely used up Essence gel eyeliner, need to buy a new one. For my eyebrows I mostly used Catrice Absolute eye colour 350 Starlight Expresso. Such a perfect ashy shade. I fall in love with Missha BB cream, been using it almost on daily basis. My favourite concealer must be Bourjois Healthy mix concealer to cover my undereye circles. For setting my foundation I really liked e.l.f. HD powder, sets foundation like a boss.

My 2 favourite blushes are Sleek Gold Rose and NYX Pinched. I've been loving NYX Taupe for contouring.

Most used lipstick were Revlon lipbutters in Tutti Frutti, Berry Smoothie and Cherry tart. I wore MUA lipstick in shade 15-Nectar a lot when weather was warmer. For colder weather I like wearing MUA lipstick shade 2. Other lipsticks I've been loving in 2012 are Bourjois Sweet Kiss in 49 Rose allure (discontinued), Catrice Ultimate Shine 090 Fox Now (pretty similar to Bourjois one) and Catrice Ultimate colour 100 Lobster Love, loving this red shade.

For brushes I've been loving e.l.f. kabuki brush, e.l.f. Professional Smudge brush, no named felted liner brush, BH cosmetics fluffy blending brush and Essence crease brush.

Nail polishes I've been wearing a lot throutout whole year were: Essence multi dimension 68 Perfectly true, Orly Glowstick, Avon nailwear pro Coral Beat, Catrice 070 Caught on the Red Carpet, NYX Girls Bermuda Triangle, Essence 38 Choose Me! and Essence special effect topper 08 Night in Vegas.

Other beauty products:

I started using Balea Oil repair at the end of the year and I'v been loving it so far. Best nail polish remover has to be Kiko Nail polish remover.

Afrodita Aroma hand and nail cream and 100% Pure Strawberry Lemonade Hand cream were in my handbag or on the desk all the time. To hydrate my undereye area I've been using 100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream. For lip balm I couldn't decide which one is my fave, worth mentioning are Alverde Vanilleblüte Mandarine, e.l.f. lipbalms and Hurraw! Coconut lipbalm.

 

Another Essence discovery of the year must be Essence parfume Like a Trip to NY. Best. Smell. Ever.
For skin care I've been loving Kahne Witch Hazel toner, Simple hydrating light moisturizer and Simple Replenishing rich moisturizer. I disovered new natural cosmetic range - New Dawn Patchouli healer Face & body moisturizer, been loving it! Also I really like Badger Balms, I have For hardworking hands, Foot Balm and Svolving Body Balm.

Whole range discoveries of 2012 must be MUA cosmetics, Fyrinnae, Simple and New Dawn.

My favourite fitness gear of the year must be my Sketchers running shoes, it feels like walking on clouds, unfortunately they are quite slippery to wear inside, but are perfect for walking and running. I also love my dumbbells :).

      

Source: Pinterest

Movies that I watched and loved, not necessarily released in 2012, were:
     21 Jump Street (still laughing when I remember of it :P),
     The Hobbit: An unexpected journey (I'm such a LOTR geek:P),
     127 hours (James Franco's best performance, no doubt).

 

   

Source: Pinterest.

Best TV shows:
    True Blood (can't wait for next season!),
    Six Feet Under (masterpiece),
    Losing it with Jillian (you can watch whole episodes on YouTube).
   

Amazing books that blew me away were:
    The Hunger Games trilogy (Suzanne Collins),
    Love life & The Widower (Kluun),
    Heal you life (Louise L. Hay),
    The Magic (Rhonda Byrne) and
    Unlimited (Jillian Michaels).

Song I listened numerous times last year (you can click on the song for listening):
     CunningLynguists - Darkness,
     Maroon 5 - Payphone,
     Marina and the Diamonds - Primadonna,
     Chester See & Andy Lange - Boyfriend (and I'm not Bieber fan :)),
     Joey Graceffa & Luke Conard - We're never getting back together (much better than the original in my opinion :)).

YouTube discoveries of the year must be Lean Secrets and Zuzka Light (both for health and fitness).

What I accomplished with my baby (my blog :)).
I had 1 year blogiversary in February, I started writing my posts in English, wrote 142 total posts in 2012. At the beginning of the year I had less than 50 GFC followers, now I have 301 GFC followers, over 58,000 total pageviews, 305 followers on Twitter and 97 likes on Facebook page. All I have to say is thank you <3 (nah, I've just shed a tear :P).

I started doing separated makeup looks posts, reviews, started writing more recipes, I've shared some personal posts, other tips and tricks, beauty, health or anything in between and other random ramblings. I also had 3 giveaway and did my first blog banner.

I've participated in 3 makeup/nail challenges:
    the penguin challenge,
    three nail challenge (but I did makeup;) click) and
    four elements challenge (click).
 
I did 8!!! full face and costume Halloween looks, without buying anything new. You can check them all out here: click, I'm so proud of them all! And I posted one post per day in October.

I started participating in weekly makeup tags, which are always fun to do! (click)

Favourite food of the year must be apple pie (recipe here: click) and my famous not-so-famous cabbage wraps (recipe here: click). I could eat both of them every single day :).

... And many other crazy and not-so-crazy stuff :).

Best accomplishments in 2012 (there were many more, but I'll just point out 5, so this posts won't be too long, which already is ;)):
    I quited my job, I didn't enjoy it anymore,
    I started reading more books in general, and read many books that helped me grow as a person,
    I completely stopped drinking alcohol,
    I started drawing again,
     and of course highlight of the year: I got Lasik eye surgery! :) (about my experience: click).

Thank you for reading, commenting and sharing the love with me ❤. I love you.

How to have an amazing year/life

Perfect time to write this post! :)
I think we have all reached a rock bottom at some point when nothing seems to be going according to our plan, we become grumpy, people around us are unhappy, we are unhappy, stressed, we start hoping for better life. Today, my friend, I will introduce you some ways how to be a happier person and how to attract good things in your life.

Source: Pinterest

1. Start your day right: count your blessings. Feeling of gratitude is one of the most powerful practices you can do. When you are grateful with what you already have (family, love, friends, health, money, work, relationships, passion, happiness, love, life, nature, material goods), no matter how small it may be, you will see those things increase in your life. And this will lead you to happiness. When you are happy and positive, people around you will be happy and you will attract only good things. Start your sentence: "I'm truly thankful/grateful/blessed to have _(what?)__ because _(why?)__". Try to really feel it - you can write it down or just go through them in your mind, I recommend doing that in the morning, so you'll start your day right :). And one more thing, there's no such thing as too much gratefulness.

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2. Love yourself. Not in a narcissistic way - there is a HUGE difference between confident/feeling good in your own skin and "egoistic lovers" (everyone has 2 aspects of themselves: Soul and Ego, but that could be long discussion, maybe next time :)). Once you accept yourself the way you are, other people will start falling in love with you AND because I'm such a fitness freak, loving yourself is a good point when your body is more capable of changing (great, ay? :)) It all starts in your own head actually. The longest relationship you have to have your whole life is with yourself, if you can't stand yourself, no one else will. That's why is so important to have healthy relationship with yourself. Exercise you can do: start repeating in your head "I love myself" and "I appreciate myself.", try to really feel it. It really doesn't take any time, since you can do it wherever and you can do it up to 300 times a day (constantly repeating in your mind). And work on yourself, maybe meditate, go for a walk, talk to yourself ... Just be kind to yourself.

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3. Never do anything you wouldn't want to happen to you. In other words: dear friend, karma is a bitch, because what goes around comes around. Be a good person, be good to other people, and most importantly be good to animals and nature, they need love too. Don't steal, lie, litter, gossip, fight and other bad stuff ... So we will all end up in heaven :P

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4. Another good point is, don't sweat the small stuff ... and it's all small stuff!! Just stop worrying so much, calm down, slow yourself, enjoy the moment, don't stress, inhale deeply, exhale fully, just relax ... It's not even that hard when you stop being so stubborn and stop telling yourself you can't control your life. Guess what, you "wear" your brain, you are not on an autopilot! Life is (pardon my French) f*cking beautiful, don't waste it being worried and stressed. Be happy <3. You can try to meditate, go for a walk, dance, sing, clean ... try to do anything that relaxes you and calms you mind.

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And remember - man becomes what he thinks about.

Make this year the most amazing year of your life ever!! Enjoy life! Happy New Year! :)

My cheesy New Year msg

I've been a lazy blogger lately, but I have many many awesome exciting posts to write in new year!! Including 'tips how to lose weight' (you'll thank me later :P), '2012 favourites' and I have planned 2 makeup series.

I want to say thank you for being part of my team, commenting, reading, encouraging ... I can say I've made many friends during this year, I am so thankful and grateful for each and everyone of you! I love you!
Year 2012 was amazing, I bet 2013 will be even more awesome!

I want to finish this year gracefully, remembering only good things, so I would like you to write 3 best things you did/happened to you this year.
My turn: I quit my job, I started writing posts in English + started posting more regularly and I got a Lasik surgery. :))

I wish you all the best in upcoming year. Love people around you and most importantly, love yourself. Happy New Year!! ❤

Kisses ^^