Top products of 2013

Hello everyone,

Today's post is the last post of 2013 for this blog and an annual tradition, I bring to you the top products of 2013.
I thought about doing the top 13 of 2013 but I didn't wanna limit myself this year. Instead, I thought I would do 5 categories of products : Make-up, nails, skincare, misc & non-beauty favourites.
Without further ado and unnecessary rambling, here are my top products for 2013!!!

Make-up
Yes, I am aware I am a make-up junkie...but let's be honest guys...you probably share a bit of my make-up addiction :p

Urban Decay Naked 2 & Naked basics palettes 

Laura Mercier Loose setting powder 

Sigma F86 Brush

Real Techniques expert face brush

NARS "Madly" Blush

YSL Faux Cils mascara

NARS e/s Base

Stila Convertible colour in Gladiola

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendez-Vous

Inglot Freedom system e/s in 330 & 107 R

MAC Face&Body Foundation

MAC paintpot in "Soft Ocre"

MAC MSF Natural

MAC "Legendary" Blush

Benefit Watts Up Highlighter

Sephora Mat 04 lipstick

Revlon lipbutters in "Sorbet" and "Juicy Papaya"

MAC lipsticks in "Chatterbox" and "Betty bright"

Nails

Rimmel 60 Seconds "02"

Barry M "Dusky Mauve" and "Lychee"

China Glaze "Flip Flop Fantasy"

Sally Hansen "Plum Luck"

Chanel "June"

China Glaze "Champaign Kisses"

Orly "Confetti"

Essie "To Buy or not to buy" & "Luxedo"

Skincare

Lush Lip Scrub "Popcorn"

Korres Watermelon sunscreen stick

Nuxe Reve de Miel lip Balm

Bioderma Sensibio H2O

Origins Ginzing moisturiser

L'oreal Ideal Glow 

Kiehl's creamy eye treatment with avocado

Origins "Drink Up" 10 minute mask

Avene Mattifying Fluid

MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel and Tonic Lotion with Camomile

MISC

Rituals QI Serum

Cativa Diva hand cream

Elnett Hairspray

Elizabeth Arden 8Hour Cream

L'occitane Shower Oil

Urban Decay De Slick Make-up setting Spray

Essence Nail Cuticle pen

Soap and Glory "Scrub 'em and Leave 'em" Body scrub

Fructis Miraculous Oil

Rituals Magic Touch Whipped Body Cream

Elvive Keratine Shampoo 

Non-Beauty Favourites

 Marc Jacobs Handbag

Lucille Sunglasses

Dream by Black Eyeglasses 

Double ring from Top Shop

Heart Pendant from Forever 21

Small wallet from Accessorize

Michael Kors rose gold Watch

Custom made gold serpent ring 

aaaand last but definitely not least....

MacBook Pro

AAAAAAAND that is my last post for 2013 (oh my...how the year has flown by...)

Now before the new year comes I wanted to say how very grateful I am for all of you and for your love and support. It sounds cheesy but it is true. 

I would also like to wish you and your families happy holidays(for the remainder of this festive season) and I hope ALL of your new years' wishes will come true in a jiffie!!!

Love you lots guys...!

See you in 2014!!

;) ;) 

xoxo

Athina

My thoughts on beauty blogging...!The good, the bad and the in-between....

This is one of the posts I have been wanting to write for the longest time but never got around to doing so because frankly I didn't know where or how to start. So I thought I would skip the prologue and start with some facts. 

Picture taken from: http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2011/08/why-i-blog.html

• I started blogging in January 2008 
• I "switched" to beauty blogging in May 2009
• My blog(in its beauty form) has already celebrated its 4th birthday (going on its 5th this coming May) which makes it one of the oldest greek beauty blogs on the block.
• I don't like self promotion and I am particularly bad at it

So, having said all that I would like to begin this post. 

Since my early blogging years I have , always, thought that blogging is a fantastic hobby that can sometimes be the bearer of rare opportunities for the hard-working, honest and creative bloggers. Now that was all bullshit. Excuse my bluntness but it was. There are no real opportunities for the hard-working, honest and creative bloggers. The opportunities are reserved for those who enjoy free items and a fake sense of accomplishment that comes with those. The opportunities present themselves, mostly, to those who are open to "selling" their blog and their opinions to any company that will send them products. 

Blogging used to be a community, the size of a pool, made up of people who enjoyed reading each others' blogs, commenting, collaborating and who loved sharing opinions and ideas. Nowadays it is an ocean of badly written blog posts and of bloggers who will bend over backwards for some ill gained rise in their GFC numbers. 

I am aware that I sound bitter however I would like to make sure that you fully understand that this post is just my way of venting. I am sick and bloody tired of cookie cutter/ pre-written blog comments whose sole purpose is to increase traffic to the commenter's blog or website. 

Favourites posts that consist mostly of freebies (and also include sachet's or testers) annoy the hell out of me. And posts with a million and one grammatical errors make me incredibly angry. 

Now please don't get me wrong...there are great bloggers out there who receive products from companies and have the decency to pick and choose which products to feature and who write honest reviews, respecting their readers. Also, I am not saying that new blogs should not be created. Thinking that would be madness. However I am opposed to the creation of a blog that will serve as a means to an end (the end being , for the lack of a better word: freebies).
And ,of course, being sent products for consideration is definitely not a crime. It is a great way for our readers to learn about new products and to read reviews on those products before spending their money on them. However let's face it people...you are not helping anyone by saying that ALL the products are fantastic and flawless. What you are doing is deceiving your readers. Of course you are going to love some products, that is only natural, but you cannot possibly love every single product you are sent to review. We also have sponsored posts which, in my humble opinion, are fine provided that our readers are aware of the type of post they are reading so they can decide, for themselves whether they want to read said post.

Now let's discuss priorities...!Strangely enough (please sense the irony here) my readers are my priority. The people who have supported me , and still support me to this day, are the people that I aim to please with my posts. I have always respected companies with which I have been in contact with and from which I received products but bending over backwards to make every one of their products the "belle of the ball" when they are just another peasant, was never (nor will it ever be) my goal. 

I am, and have always been. an artist and I treat everything I do (including blogging) with love and integrity. I create original content, to the very best of my ability and I never take my readers for granted. I occasionally ramble and have my moments but never have I lured anyone to my blog under false pretences and that is what I believe, makes me an old-school blogger. All I ask of you is to not confuse me with people who have been deprived of other forms of excellence and/or social acceptance and who will do more or less anything to achieve what they consider to be "celebrity status" through their so-called blogs. 

I believe that's enough for a day's venting. Comment if you feel like it. I would love to hear what you think about all this. 

xoxo

A.

Belated November favourites

Hello Hello,

How are you today my dear readers? I have been sick for the past couple of days which, of course, sucks. And since I have been bed-bound I haven't really been in the creative mood. However, I really wanted to post my belated November favourites before the next post-mas. Now, November was my birthday month hence my favourite month :P. Having said that I didn't really have that many favourites this month. But enough with my usual rambling...Let's get on with today's post :)

Make-up

Lips

Revlon Lip butter in "Creme Brûlée"

Sephora Mat lipstick in 04

MAC lipstick in "Rebel"

Face

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (No2 "Light")

MAC Face and Body Foundation (C2)

Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder (Translucent)

Physician's Formula Multi-coloured blush in "Blushing Nude"

MAC Beauty Powder in "Pretty Baby"

Eyes

MAC Fluidline in "Dark Diversion"

MAC e/s in Vainglorious

Maybelline Master Smokey pencil in "Smoky Brown"

Inglot Freedom System Duo (107R on the left & 330 on the right)

Lipstick swatches

Skincare

From Left to Right

Korres watermelon sunscreen stick SPF 30

Origins GinZing moisturiser (AMAZING)

Soap and Glory Hand Food

Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream

MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

Clarins Toning Lotion with Camomile

L'oreal Ideal Glow Cleansing oil

I hope you guys enjoyed my Belated November favourites. And as always let me know what you loved this past month. 

xoxo

A. 

PostMas 2: Christmas nails (ideas & designs)

Hello my lovely readers and welcome to PostMas number 2!!!!!!
Last year I attempted to create some Christmas nail designs and dare I say it was a success?! I had fun doing it anyway so I thought I should repeat it this year with some "new" designs and ideas for you. If you want to refer back to last year's designs you could do so HERE.
Without further ado here are the ideas and designs for this year's Christmas Nails.

On the left: Simple and easy Santa's Hat.

On the right: Snowman's Face

On the left: A simple french tip with some silver stars and a fine holographic glitter top coat)

On the right: A beige/french manicure base with a mixture of glitter polishes over top)

On the left: Easy christmas tree with gold and rose gold glitter dots, gold star and glitter detail around the design.

On the right: Black and with bow design with a fine holographic glitter, top coat and rhinestone.

Now since there are 6 designs/ideas here I thought that a DIY for all of those would be a bit much so I will commit to a DIY only if you guys want one. So if you do please comment below and let me know which of these is the most appealing to you and which one you'd like to see a DIY for. 

xoxo

A. 

PostMas 1: Christmas Giftguide

Yep from this day forth PostMas as an actual thing....!At least it is on my blog....:P
Much like Vlogmas I shall be posting some Christmas related stuff during the month of December starting today. Now the first PostMas is a gift guide. I decided to do a one-fits-all this year since I bailed on the "for him" one last year...!I have 3 gift categories to share with you today: For Her, For Him and Stocking stuffers.

For Her

Top(left to right)

The Body Shop sparkling ginger gift set (I'd rather not say how much I love this....it is kind of depressing to say that I wish someone will buy this for me...)

Oysho slippers and slippers in general are a great gift especially when they are cosy, fluffy and stylish

Inglot Freedom System is the perfect gift for the make-up enthusiast in your life. 

Sigma brush sets is another great present for a make-up junky. They are great value for money and the brushes' quality is amazing. 

Bottom(left to right)

Apivita natural serum line consists of 4 amazing products that are quite luxurious and will be much appreciated by any woman. 

Diptyque candles are incredibly luxurious and the scent pay-off will knock your socks off...!

Neil's Yards Remedies Bee Lovely Head to Toe gift Is the perfect all-in-one gift set. You can pick this up for the female in your life you wants to venture into the world of great quality organic cosmetics.

All of the above products are available in Greece, either to purchase in store or to order online 

Stocking Stuffers

Lip butters(Korres is widely available and their butters are phenomenal)

Lip balms(Apivita's lip balms are fantastic)

Hand creams (Bioten makes great and affordable ones)

Sets of mini shower gels/body lotions etc (L'occitane would be my personal choice)

Socks (Oysho make amazing socks)

Gift Cards are a great way to allow someone to purchase something of their choice, with your contribution and without the awkward part of giving them a tiny envelope with cash in it. 

All of the above products are available in Greece, either to purchase in store or to order online 

For Him

Clockwise starting at the top left corner:

A gift card for DON (an amazing Barber and Groom place in the centre of Athens/Kolonaki). I know this is awfully specific but the general idea is that you can purchase services like haircuts, grooming etc for the man in your life who needs some pampering. 

The North Face ETIP gloves that are taking the internet by storm. These gloves allow you to use your smartphone while wearing them...*Mind Blown*

Skull Candy Headphones are stylish and pricey so one often doesn't spend the extra money on them so it is a great gadgety present.

Moleskin Star Wars notebook for the geek in him(or her...) who still loves watching Star Wars ;) 

Neil's Yard Remedies Men Skincare Essentials is a great gift for a guy who is concerned with his skin and would like to take care of it more. 

All of the above products are available in Greece, either to purchase in store or to order online 

So these are my gift suggestions for your loved ones. I have included some links for your convenience ONLY.  I hope I gave you some ideas or even helped you decide.
See you soon for another PostMas. Next on the list iiiiissssss CHRISTMAS NAILS!!!

xoxo
A.

Disclaimer: I own none of the individual pictures shown above. If any of the owners would like them removed please contact me and I will remove them immediately.