2016 Overview

Hi Lovelies!


Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome 💕💕💕

So, as the year is nearing the end, I, like all of us, tend to reflect on the year on the whole and weigh in the good and the bad things that have happened.

Let's look at my 2016 blogging year in the retrospective, shall we? 

First of all, thank YOU so much for reading, supporting, commenting and liking my posts, without you my lovely readers I would be nothing! I care about every single one of you and the connection we build is priceless to me 💖 So huge thank you from the bottom of my heart! I just love serving the world by sharing ways to green and eco your life by being super honest about what works and what doesn't. I share my point from sensitive skin point of view. I don't make any money from my blog, but the rewards are different, intangible, I am overjoyed when someone tells me I helped them to make the switch to the green beauty or asks me for clean make up recommendations. I do get a ton of emails in regard to healing dermatitis naturally, so I will do a separate follow up blog post on that, promise. You might be surprised to know that most of my followers/readers come from America and Asia, Ireland being in the third and UK in the fourth place. Life moves in mysterious ways, isn't it? 

Most proudest moments

That would have to be my feature in No More Dirty Looks and Sophie Uliano telling me that she LOVES my work! If you don't know Sophie, you need to know, she is a heavyweight and a major player in a green beauty world as well as New York Times best selling author. So that is a major compliment my way if you ask me :) 

Most reviewed posts

That would be the following :

Hynt Beauty Duo Perfecting concealer review (older review here), the funny thing is, my review for this amazing beauty called Natural Dupe for CoverFX Drops received three times more views versus the one called straight up "Hynt Beauty Concealer Review". It goes to show that people want natural alternatives to the conventional make up stuff, and maybe I should focus more on these types of posts?

Dermatitis Be Gone

You can see the post here, and as I said, I will make the follow up post as it gathers interest. I am more or less 1 year dermatitis free, I am not out of the woods yet as I did have three breakouts where I accidentally glutened myself, but my day to day life is symptoms and itch free. Also antibiotics and steroids free. Stay tuned for this :)

Flying Wild Balms Review

This local Irish company quickly found a place in my favourites, and I never want to be without their products! This is a big claim, but I think this is my Holy Grail company when it comes to body care, I intend to purchase their products until I cease to exist. The balms and the body butter are to die for, minimal natural mostly raw and organic ingredients and the smell is out of this world gorgeous. Not only that, but they are also affordable and ship for free! I've been shouting about this brand from the rooftops, aka all over social media, and we recently collaborated for a giveaway, which I am super stoked about, as you guys can get a chance to try it too.

Nars Orgasm Dupes post

This was the item I clung onto the most when I made a switch six or seven years ago as it was the hardest to replace, there were nothing even remotely similar to it in the green beauty world. Thankfully the green beauty scene really exploded since, and I am proud to present not one, not two, but FOURTEEN natural dupes! Clearly, I worked really hard on this :)

DIY Master Multitasker

Clearly inspired by the iconic Master Mixer by RMS. I am happy to DIY what I can, and you seemed to enjoy this post too. If you missed that post, click on the link above. I plan lots of more DIY posts next!

and last but not least, my 

2016 Best Products post. 

Natural Beauties Series

This is recent addition to my blog, this Natural Beauty Series, where I interview the movers and shakers in the green beauty world. I have to say that I am very happy with this addition, as it gives you the chance to discover more green beauties if you don't follow them already :) Needless to say I am continuing these series in the new year too, and for now, you can check out my interviews with the lovely Sasha from Balanced Beauty Bristol, Vita from Vita Lives Free, Michele from BVGAN and Andie from Andie the Green Queen.

Overall experience

I am so glad and thankful to each and everyone of you who read my posts, liked and commented on any of my social media outlet and to the green beauty community who welcomed me with open arms! So glad to be a part of something bigger than me! In Ireland I am a still a lone soldier in a field when it comes to the all stuff natural. I mean there are a few shops that sell natural products, I don't know any other green beauty bloggers, and there are no expos that would be open to the public! So yeah, I don't have it easy here. I mean we don't even have Wholefoods or even Sephora. Thanks goodness for online shopping! Custom charges are whole lotta of other story, but let's not get into it here. At first when I didn't know where to look for natural products I shopped online pretty much for everything, but now I am coming to realise that Ireland market has changed so much and I can get many bases covered shopping locally (yay or what?) with the odd online order for make up. I also wanted to thank all the brands who worked with me this year, and if your review is not out yet, fear not, it will be out very soon in 2017. I have to say i discovered some amazing products this year, and I am hoping for more amazingness next year!

Goals and resolutions for next year

My previous sentence pretty much sums it up! More amazingness to come please! This was fun, let's keep it up, I mean I hope you found my blog posts helpful and informative. Your messages asking for help in making the switch to the green beauty or help with dermatitis/eczema and/or thank you messages for what I do is the best feeling ever in my mind it confirms I am on the right track! Blogging is my passion and I really enjoy doing it, even though I don't get paid to do so. I sat down the other day and realised I need to learn so much about blogging, of all these other behind-the-scenes things that blogger is supposed to  do, I mean it was only this year I heard about SEO and I realized I never asked you guys to like and share my posts! /Insert hand on the eyes and shaking head emoji here/ I clearly run on passion alone! So my goals for next year are to attend the bloggers conference, meet some fellow bloggers in person - if you are a natural beauty/lifestyle blogger visiting Dublin, drop me a line! Also I want to look into monetisation in non annoying ways. I see many bloggers who make their entire blog and IG feed shoppable, and while I can't blame them for wanting to cash in on their hard work (because it IS hard work, everything from testing the products to writing/photographing takes a lot time and effort) but at the same time I do not want to become a giant add myself, cash is not my goal, I want it to be a rather by-product of blogging and it is clearly not what i am in for! You know that honesty is what I am all about, and I've been told this is exactly what sets me apart from other bloggers, and I intend to keep it that way. So if you will see an affiliate link, it will be to only brands or online shops I believe in. I won't be attaching my name to anything that comes my way, much in the same way that I reject 90% of products offered for review. I also want to continue to host giveaways, I love when I get to share the products i love with you guys! I also plan to expand my content a bit, and introduce more varied topics, you can expect easy, healthy and quick to do recipes, maybe some fashion in a form of outfits of the day and a bit of shopping here and there, book reviews and who knows, maybe 2017 will be the year I will start my YouTube channel? It is something I want to do, but because of my insecurities I always take one step forward and two backwards about it. Another things I need to do is to make a blogger business card and media kit. 

So there you have it, my thoughts on the blogging business and the goals for the next year. What are your goals, please share with me?

 

With this I want to let you know I will be taking the rest of the year off, makes sense for the Holiday period, no? Try not miss me too much, and if you will, re-read any old post of mine, I wrote 80 posts this year, so you won't be short of topics, 2016 Best Products is a good way to start 😉

Wishing you all the best this Christmas and see you all here in 2017. I raise my glass of bubbly to you! 

Grateful heart is a magnet for miracles. Photo via Pinterest.

  

Lots of Love and Gratitude for you, my readers!

Renata.  

DIY Master Multitasker and Lip & Cheek Multiple

Hi Lovelies,

Cotton Candy Multiple and the grand Master Multitasker!

Photographed in the mid day light with zero filters. The colours are true to life.

Hello my lovely green beauty lovers, l am excited to present my DIY today that l am really pleased with, l made three items in one go, but the main star in this post is the Master Multitasker, aka a long lost cousin of the grand Master Mixer of RMS! It didn't take long to guesd the inspiration behind it, did it? The second DIY that is not less exciting is the lip and cheek multiple that I named “Cotton Candy” after the mica used. I have been road testing these two products for the last week, and they work great! These last the same as RMS products on me, as in one hour on the lips and four-five hours on the cheeks. The ingredients are all nourishing for the skin, so you can really feel good about it! Please bear in mind that I don't have the Master Mixer (and no plans to buy it either) so I can't swatch them side to side, but in my eyes it is a pretty close dupe! I happened to have all the ingredients mentioned here, so this whole thing cost me zero euro, but even if you would have to buy the ingredients, it would cost you way less than one RMS product, and you would be able to produce loads of jars of finished products, enough for all of your friends and family. You can get shea and cocoa butters as well as the beeswax and the coconut oil in the health shops, and mica is easily available online, try etsy (I know for sure you can find it there). I myself got it from Voyageour Soap & Candle company - they are Canadian company that don't ship to Europe, but I sent them an email pleading to do so for me, and they agreed! I purchased four micas at that time, so still have loads to play with, and they are extremely beautiful and affordable. You can do the same, email them and ask nicely? I will link to them in my Instagram post.

So without further ado, let’s get down to business!

What will you need:

Shea butter

Cocoa butter

Coconut oil

Beeswax

Mica (or micas) if you plan to do more than one DIY

Glass or metal jar

Pot or bain marie

Sticks for mixing

Little pot(s) for finished product

(Don't forget the kitchen glove or towel too)

Master Multitasker Recipe:

0.5 teaspoon of shea butter

0.5 teaspoon of cocoa butter

0.5 teaspoon of coconut oil

1.5 teaspoon of mica (or 2 if you want the more intense colour) - I used Voyageur Soap & Candle Co Honey Beige mica (inci for those of you interested CI77891, CI77492, CI77491, CI77499) or I suggest any bronze mica with a golden hue

The method:

Put all the ingredients except mica into a glass of steel jar/container and melt them in a pot of boiling water or double boiler taking care not to burn yourself! Once melted, take it out using a towel or a kitchen towel and place it on the counter. Once cooled enough to the touch, stir in the mica and stir vigorously because it sets quickly. Scrape it into a little container and ta-dah, you have yourself your own Multitasker! You can try it now or you can wait for 1-2 hrs until it sets.

Cotton Candy Multiple:

0.5 teaspoon of cocoa butter

0.5 teaspoon of shea butter

0.5 teaspoon of coconut oil

1.5 teaspoon of mica, I used Cotton Candy mica by the same company, but you can use any colour of your choice (inci CI77019, CI77891, CI73360)

The method:

The same as above, the only difference is the colour of mica used.

My comments:

The beauty of this recipe is that it is not set in stone, if your skin can’t handle coconut oil, you can substitute it with another oil, and if you don't have one of the butters you can double up one butter in the recipe. The Master Multitasker turned out to be milder in colour than Cotton Candy Multiple, I guess that depends on the mica? I am happy enough with the colour intensity as it is, but if you want louder “in your face” colour, you can re-melt the whole thing and add more mica.

I think both of these beauties will come in handy in the upcoming spring and summer, the Master Multitasker can be used exactly like it's famous cousin, in a variety of ways, on your lips, cheeks, nose, on the eyelids (it makes a perfect cream shaddow if you ask me) and on top of other products to change their colour too. Once the weather will warm up enough to show some skin, I will try it on my shoulders and decolte area too, I made enough to play around like that, and if I will run out in the middle of the summer I can always make more, now that I know it only takes a few minutes and costs a few pennies to make. (the third pot you see in the photos is the hand balm, which is simply a leftover base).

I feel if I made a bigger quantity of this with more oils than butters (using bronze mica) it would turn out into perfect bronzing body cream, don't you think? Watch this space, l might do exactly that

So there you have it, my take on the DIY multiples. As l mentioned before, it costs little money and time to do it, and I hope you will give it a try. Let me know your thoughts on it, or tag me in your Instagram posts if you will make it?

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See you here next Monday

Lots of Love,

Renata.😁