Book Review: Ghost Child By Caroline Overington

This week I decided that my weekly book review should be a video!



Bisous

Nail Polish: Make Up Store - Elin

I am pretty sure this nail polish is the oldest nail polish in my collection, I think I bought it in 2009. I really like this type of red colour since it is more of a fun red colour than a dramatic one. I remember I really liked this nail polish but it has really come to its end.

The formula has become to thick and too gooey, the brush has as well gotten to messy. I remember that when I bought the nail polish it took forever to dry and that is still the fact. Therefore, it went into the trash.

I am not sure if I will buy any other nail polishes from them (or any make-up) since I'm not sure if they are cruelty free, and I wouldn't really know where to buy them outside Iceland!

Bisous

Weekly Weigh-in #6

I can't believe it has been a month since I weighed myself! The truth is that I am a bit afraid of the scale, I am so close to my nightmare number (80kg/176lbs) that I am afraid every time I step on the scale that I have hit that number. 

The Numbers:

Starting Weight: 78.4 kg (172.8 lbs)

Current Weight: 79 kg (174.1 lbs)

Last month -> This month 

Thighs: 63.5 cm (25 inches) -> 63 cm (24.8 inches)

Butt: 110.5 cm (43.5 inches) -> 109 cm (42.9 inches)

Belly: 112 cm (44 inches) -> 105 cm (41.3 inches)

Waist:  87 cm (34.3 inches) -> 86 cm (33.9 inches)

Boobs: 108 cm (42.5 inches) -> 108 cm (42.5 inches)

Arms: 34 cm (13.4 inches) -> 32 cm (12.6 inches) 

I seem to be losing some centimeters but I am not losing any weight, I am going to say that that is a good thing! Since I haven't really been focusing on my Battle Strategies I am not going to talk about my previous ones but only to focus on strategies for this week.

Battle Strategies (this week)

Walking: Reach 30 000 steps this week.

Sit-ups/Push-ups: Continue with the 200 sit-up challenge and keep on doing wall push ups.

Pilates: Do 10 minutes before work. 

My None-Scale-Victory

I will be starting my new job this week!

Bisous

Nail Polish: Chanel - 461 Blue Satin

This is the third dark blue nail polish that I have (the other two: Mavala - 269 Deep Blue and OPI - Yoga-Ta Get This Blue!). I will say that the one from Chanel has the best formula and is easiest to use. It doesn't mean that I like it the best (because it has some annoying flaws) but that their formula is the best.

However, even with the great formula this nail polish has the tendency to get damaged by the tiniest things. Today I put on my glasses and the nail polish chipped (more got a dent/hole), it didn't chip at the end of the nail but somewhat around the middle of the nail. Annoying.

I feel the Chanel nail polish is more of a nail polish when I am not planning on doing anything that day or touching anything since it will damage quite easily.

I will keep this polish and the other two since dark blue is one of my favorite colour.

Bisous

Nail Polish: Mavala - 269 Deep Blue

I didn't manage to do my nails on Thursday and Friday since I was working but I will just extend the week of  nail polish for two more days (or until next Tuesday). Today I am wearing Deep Blue (269) from Mavala. 

The bottle is almost empty (even if you can't see it from outside the bottle) and it is hard to get the final drops of the nail polish out. I want to finish this polish since I love it and it will definitely be in my next Empties post/video. 

I love this nail polish (and that is why the bottle is almost empty), the colour is fantastic and I just love everything about this nail polish.

I won't throw this one away (since I am about to finish it) but I won't repurchase it when it is finished since I already have this one from OPI, and they are just too similar for me to have both. I as well have another one from Chanel that is similar so I really don't need more of dark blue nail polishes.

Bisous

Book Review: Timeless by Gail Carriger

Another Gail Carriger book? Yes, I love her books! I have written about Souless and Heartless before and now it is time for Timeless. I really want to read Changeless, Blameless but they aren't available on kindle format, yet. I hope they will be one day and hopefully soon!

One funny thing, even when I am in full force with my 25 things before my 25th birthday list I keep on thinking about what will be on my 26 things before my 26th birthday. One of the things is I might only buy kindle book for that year. 

Back to Timeless, this is the last book that has been published in The Parasol Protectorate series. I don't know if there will be more books published in this series or if I should try to read some of her other novels. The book description is quite intriguing, which they usually are for these books.

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle. 

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

The story is hilarious (as always), and since I read Heartless shortly before I read Timeless the sheer amount of character wasn't as big of a problem as when you just start reading her books. I really liked how Alexia's daughter, Prudence, fitted well into the story and even had her own story line.

"It's bath night. You don't have a choice. Real ladies are clean ladies," explained her mother, rather sensibly, she thought."  Page 7

"If Alexia had not interfered, Lord Akeldama would have remained mortal, and Prudence a fanged toddler, until sunrise." Page 10

"Foo Foo," replied Prudence with equal gravitas. Then, after giving the lady dressed as a gentleman a very assessing look, she added, "Btttpttbtpt."  Page 108 

"There was a wastrel in black Alexia  first thought might be a statesman, until he whipped out a notebook, which made her thing he was that lowest of the low: a travel journalist." Page 130

I would say that Timeless is as good if not even a bit better than Soulless and Heartless, the only thing I find annoying is how expensive the kindle books are for this series.

Bisous

In other book news, I gave up on Timebomb by Gerald Seymour. This is a rare occurrence since I always try to finish every book I start on. Timebomb was just so extremely bad that I just couldn't carry on.

Nail Polish: OPI - Yoga-Ta Get This Blue!

I love this colour, and that is probably why I have this exactly same colour from Mavala and Chanel. I think this one is my favorite out of the three, I just like the formula better. But I want to focus on this one and I will write about the other ones later this week!

As I said, I love this colour. The formula is great, it is a bit thin and I probably should have but two coats on but I just couldn't be bothered today! Because of how thin the formula is you can see the imperfections of the nail even with the polish on top. Since I have quite bad nails sometimes that annoys me. The only thing I don't like that much is how messy this polish is compared to my other nail polishes and it is super hard to get it off my skin.

Still, I will definitively keep this one.

Bisous

Nail Polish: H&M - Fashionista

I am trying to talk about one nail polish ever day this week since I want to go through my stash and throw out the ones I don't like (you can read more about that here). I'm still following the rules of the challenge and I don't find it to be any hassle at all. But I want to finish writing about all the polishes I have and throw the ones I don't like out (because I like doing that).

What can I say about this nail polish. Well, it is from H&M ( I am still boycotting them) and I have another nail polish from Essence that is exactly the same colour. I love this colour, it is purple and shiny with out having glitter in it. What I don't like about it is that it doesn't stay on the nails at all. It lasts about 2 hours before it starts chipping. The formula is great, I only need 2 coats for it to look perfect but again, it doesn't even last for a long lunch.

I am quite torn, I hate polishes that don't even last a day but I love the colour and the formula is great. I think I  will put it in the maybe pile with Mikado from Astor and see when I have gone through all of my nail polishes if it is worth keeping or not.

I might do a post about all the nail polishes and which one I decided to keep and which ones I decided to throw away when I have gone though all my polishes.

Bisous

100 Days Of Decluttering - Where do I go on from now?

I have wanted to write this post for some time now but I wasn't really sure how I could put all my feeling about my "100 Days of Decluttering Challenge" into words.

I feel that I am still reaping the benefits from being on a spending ban (as you can see by my empties #1, #2 and #3). Finishing all these products feels great! My stash of stuff is getting smaller by the day and by using up these products that aren't cruelty free I have managed to replace these items with cruelty free items. An overall success!

Another positive point that I have realized during the 100 days is that owning many things doesn't make me happy. Clutter makes me unhappy and it drains my creativity. I never really realized how much stuff I have until I started going through it all and let me tell you, I was overwhelmed by all the things that I have.

Getting rid of stuff felt amazing and very liberating. I want to keep feeling that way, I don't want to live in clutter! I want to be clutter free!

The problem that I used to have (and probably still have) is that I keep on buying things I want instead of just the things I need. No one really needs four different dark blue nail-polishes, I definitely don't. I don't need more than one blush, mascara, or pretty much anything. I don't need more than one red lipstick or lip gloss. And don't get me started of the amount of purple eye liners I have. I don't need that much make-up!

Therefore, I plan on keeping up my decluttering and avoid buying anything that I don't need and keep up this attitude.

You might wonder how I plan on keeping this blog going if I am not going to be buying new stuff frequently. Well, I am going to keep on doing things as I have in the past. I don't believe beauty blogs have to be about all the newest stuff when it comes out or relentless reviews. I believe in writing a review of products that I use, that I love or even that I hate (I'm writing one like that at the moment). I want to start focusing on cruelty free products since they will be the only ones I will buy.

Overall, I want to write more about many different things and I won't feel guilty about doing so because I have make-up related products lined up to be written about. I am also rearranging the bedroom so I can easily take outfit pictures in there and I have finally decided what I plan on sewing out of my gigantic fabric stash.

Hopefully, I will be able to manage this task and finally be a clutter free person one day (this year).

Bisous

Nail Polish: Astor - Mikado

I am quite torn about this nail polish, it looks great but it takes too many coats for it to look opaque. But when I used it over blue nail polishes it looks great with just one coat! I think I will keep it.

The formula of the nail polish is great, but as you can see on the pictures even after 3 coats it wasn't really opaque. I think I will keep it and see how it works as a top coat for some of my other nail polishes.

Bisous.

P.S. Check out some of the other nail polishes I have written about.

Empties #3 and a Project Pan Update

Another video from me today, strangely it is another empties video. I have just been finishing so many products recently.

Bisous

Tales of a Tortoise: Introducing Óðinn

I haven't been blogging for a while and there is a good reason for this! Mr. Handsome and I decided that it was the right time for us to get a pet. We have wanted a tortoise for such a long time and finally we took the big leap.

I wanted to take a break from blogging so I could focus on our little boy hundred percent. I really wanted him to adjust to his new living situation before I would start focusing on other things as well.

With out further ado, I would like to introduce you to Óðinn (or Odin if you are like Mr. Handsome and don't speak Icelandic).

He is such a happy tortoise, he eats well, poops on a schedule and is learning to love taking baths. We are super happy about having him as a pet and we are looking forward to spend the rest of our lives with him.


Bisous

Blog Every Day in May - 5 Lines

Some blogs that I love to read (Lullaby For Pies, Futures, The Sparkly Panda and Love, Tilly) all wrote about the Blog Every Day in May challenge that Elizabeth over at Rosalilium made. It sounded so intriguing so I decided that I wanted to be a part of it as well.

Today the subject is to introduce yourself or sum yourself up in just 5 lines. Include a photograph that you are proud of.

My name is Katrin and I am from Iceland and Switzerland.

My favorite colour is purple.

I love knitting and all needle crafts. 

I haven't eaten meat in 10 years, I find it just super gross.

I used to bite my nails since I can remember myself, when I was about 15 I just stopped.

Bisous