Goodbye blogging

I never really got my groove on with this blogging thing. I could never find a good place between writing about what I have come to consider quite superficial things, and being much more serious.

In the last two years my life has changed inordinately and I no longer really feel the need to blog. I occasionally get the urge to write something, but I usually get halfway through a post and give up, knowing that my readership has never really crept above 50.

So I think I'll call it a day. I'm not going to delete what I've already done, it will all stay here. And who knows, maybe I'll return with a renewed purpose someday.

Thank you to everyone who has read this little piece of the world over the last 5 years.

Everything must go! I'm having a clear out of stuff!

Spurred on by a minor brainwave about my next tattoo last night, I am having a bit of a clear out of things. I have gotten rid of a huge bag of rubbish, and I am giving away the stuff that still has some life in it.

So... all I want for any of the remaining items is the postage money. I can either post from Austria or if you are in the UK and fancy something, I will be back there in 3 weeks, so can post things when I get there as it would be cheaper. For anywhere in Europe from Austria is 10 EUR, and for UK to UK postage it is £3.

The photos below show what I've been giving away - people on my Facebook have already had some time to snap up some goodies so not everything in the photos is still available. What is still available is listed below each photo.

Comment below if you want anything, it is first come, first served, and I will update both places this is up for grabs accordingly!

Still Available:

MAC Pigment in Emerald Dusk - barely used
B Never Glitter in Purple - barely used
MOX Lipbalm in Peppermint - moderate use
Fyrrinae Pigment Minis in Kureneko, Callpygian and Alchemist's Curse - barely used
Fyrrinae Pigment sample in Immortality - barely used
MAC pigment sample in Rich Purple - barely used
GOSH Smokey Eye pencil in black - used twice and sharpened
Butter London Cheeky Cream blush in Pistol Pink - used 3 times
MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Stormy Pink - moderate use with a brush

Still Available:

Simple Spot Zapper gel x3
Lush Enchanted Eye Cream - 2/3 full
i+m eye cream for sensitive skin - nearly full
balanceMe balancing facial moisturiser - almost full

Still Available:

Naked Gorgeous Curls - half full
Naked heat defender - half full?
Dr Bronners Lavender Hair Cream - 2/3 full
(not pictured) Dr Bronners Hair balancing treatment (for use after using Dr B's soap as a shampoo) - 2/3 full
alverde Argan Hair oil

Still Available:

Illamasqua matte eyeshadow in Stalk
Illamasqua matte eyeshadow in Intense
Fyrrinae pigment mini in Freya

Still Available:

Body Shop angled synthetic brush (5th from left)
H&M brushes (7&8 from left)
Zoeva blending brush (vegan) (9th from left)
Revlon blending brush (11 from left)
Ruby and Millie smudging tool (6 from right)

Ruby and Millie blending brushes x2 (4&5 from right)
Ms Mascara angled brush (3 from right)
Ms Mascara eyeshadow brush (2 from right)
Body Shop synthetic eyeshadow brush (furthest right)

Still Available:

1 x Ecotools blush brush (2&3 from left)
Ecotools concealer brush (furthest right)

Paypal for postage payment is preferred. Items will be posted as soon as payment is received! Happy shopping!

Trials in the oil field... more skin stuff

I feel like I've become a bit of a one trick pony, but I guess after 10 years of crappy skin, when you finally find the answers you want to share them with everyone!


I've been trying out some different oils with the oil cleansing method lately.
I liked the pumpkin/grapeseed/EPO combo I was using, but it wasn't quite right. I was still getting the odd little spot in places, particularly around my cheeks close to my nose. Turns out pumpkin seed oil here in Austria is much more balanced between oleic and linoleic acid, which makes it ok, but not optimal. Of course combining with grapeseed helped a bit, but it still wasn't enough. The way I see it for my skin, cleansing needs to be as LA rich as possible.

So I thought I'd give a sunflower/walnut blend a go. Both oils are really high in LA (sunflower can be a bit iffy depending on where it is grown and whether it is organic, but here in Europe it is rich in LA).

Unfortunately this didn't seem to work out too well. My face didn't exactly erupt, but it wasn't happy either. The reaction took time to build up. I'm fairly certain that it was the walnut oil as my day moisturiser contains sunflower seed oil and it is fine. Apparently nut oils can be sensitising for acne sufferers, which I did know, but I had assumed that the problem was that most nut oils are rich in OA. It appears the problem may be something else in the nut. The first batch of oil I did was ok, but it was mostly sunflower oil with only about 10% walnut oil. The second batch was where it went wrong, and that was 50/50 sunflower to walnut.

Oddly the worst of the reaction was on my neck and jawline, which tells me that it was some kind of sensitivity to nuts, as that is where I tend to get my food sensitivity reactions. So I've switched back to plain grapeseed and that seems to be doing the trick; my skin is calmer and no more spots are appearing (I'm also taking a few days off work, which will probably help a little; I'm convinced some of the spots were in part stress related!).

So, grapeseed it is. Nice and simple!