Sketches of a Life

Lunar Quest

A random day in Mid-April. A girl publishes an Instagram story documenting her wanderings through an outlandish, yet oddly beautiful scenery. The story features photographs and videos filmed at a bright, moon-like surface, captured between the torqouise of the sea and sky. The Internet crashes.

Well, no, not exactly. Only her social networks crash.

But saying the Internet crushed seemed a more intriguing introduction.

Anyway, the girl's Inbox gets jammed with messages asking questions about this amazing place. So the girl decides to write a blog post. Go figure.

The girl is nevertheless amazed by how little people know about this place. After all, on numerous occasions it was proclaimed one of the most beautiful secret beaches in the world. Maybe the secret is in the word "secret".

The place is, of course, the girl's all-time favourite island of Croatia - the island of Pag. By the way, the girl had also mentioned this place in one of her previous posts, but you didn't pay that much attention, did you?

Furthermore, the place is actually two places. Two beaches. Situated near the village of Metajna. The village is easy to reach following the main road to Novalja and then following the road signs for another 12 kilometers. Unfortunatelly, the girl didn't take any photos as she was behind the wheel and unwilling to earn another ticket. But she's kindly leaving a Google maps link for you to easily find it if you ever wish to visit.

And the girl will now stop referring to herself in the third person. Because it's just weird.

The Ručica beach

This beach is situated about 1 km from Metajna and can easily be reached by boat or car. The pebbled beach is nestled in a barren bay and perfectly ridden of natural shade. The contrast between the white rocks and the turquoise water provides an incredible sight. You might have noticed this white/blue contrast is what I like most about Pag in general.

The only thing ruining this fully preserved natural landscape is the bar erected nearby. I pray to God someone would tear it down because it's just mincing. The existence of this object, in addition to the easy access, most probably signifies that there are lots of visitors during the summer months (I can't really tell as I went there in April and found not a soul in sight). So if you don't mind crowds, do visit this beach. But if you prefer quiet and are willing to make some effort, then certainly head to...

The Beritnica beach

Beritnica, on the other hand, is not accessible by car or by any other form of transportation except for boat. Alternatively, you can hike to the beach - like we did. The parking lot near the Ručica beach would have probably been the best spot to start the hike, but we chose (unintentionally :)) the more complex route, climbing the stairway someone had built of in situ material, leading uphill the Ručica beach. Eventually, the stairway got us to a building marked "private property", but since it was April and no one around, we turned a blind eye to the signs and somehow got back on the right track. My point is, this is not a recommended route whatsoever.

Actually, there are two parking lots where you can leave your car, depening on which beach you would like to visit. I'll try to explain using the map below.

Like I said, you can easily reach Ručica by car, so the best option is to follow the narrrow, but easily spottable and fine road from Metajina leading to the spot I marked "Parking for Ručica". However, there's a different, even narrower, dirt road leading to the spot where I think it's best to start your hike if you're heading for Beritnica, and I marked it "Parking for Beritnica". I also roughly marked in red the hiking routes to Beritnica so you could tell why I advise you to start from here.

However, I must warn you: I was amazed at how much water there is in this seemingly barren place! There are hundreds of streams flowing down the hills to the sea, and I have no idea where they come from and whether they dry out in the summer. Literary no article I have ever read mentioned these streams, and I was totally shocked to find them there. Anyway, the streams make certain areas around the parking lot swampy and the hiking route (which is not easily passable anyway) quite slippery – so wear a good pair of sneakers and mind your steps.

Once you start going uphill, all you have to do is follow the round, orange path markings on the ground. It's basically impossible to get lost. There are actually two routes, and we hiked one on our way to the beach, and the other on our way back. The first (closer to the sealine) is shorter, but steeper, and includes passing through some brownish canyon-like rock formations and leaping over the above mentioned stream beds. The second (further from the sealine) is longer, but not as steep, and mostly extends over the top of the hills and offers some amazing views. No matter which one you choose, the further you go, the scenery gets crazier and crazier. I'm so glad we took them both and would recommend anyone to do the same.

It took us about 25 min to reach the destination. Just to illustrate the dificuty of the path (at least its final part), it was a partly cloudy April day and we were all covered in sweat and out of breath. I can't imagine anyone undertaking this venture in July or August, except for early in the morning before the sunrise. But as soon as the view on the beach opened, we knew the trail was worth the effort.

What makes the beach distinctive and recognizable are its two natural structures: the three great rocks that had separated from the hill and slided in the shallow water at some point in history, and the great rock pinnacle, the "tower" of Stogaj overlooking the bay. The later is very popular with climbers (and if you look closely, you could see some in my pictures).

Of course, following the described endavour, despite the sea temperature being barely 13°C, it was nothing but logical to lose our clothes and take a swim. Or, for those less courageous, at least to try to.

Abundant with unique and unparalleled destinations, a trip to Pag is always a marvelous experience. I can't wait to discover what more it has to offer, but I'm certain it won't ever cease to amaze me.

Oh, yeah, and here's a short video I made:

As always, thanks for reading! I hope you'll like Pag as much as I do!

Kisses

9:16 pm
0 Comments

A Clumsy Girl's Guide to Bruise Cover Up

makeup

I'd like to preface this post with a disclaimer:

The objective of this post is not to provide guidance on how to use makeup to cover up for injuries resulting from domestic or any other form of violence. If you're being abused (either physically or emotionally), please seek support and report the abuser to the local authorities. Don't let anyone convince you violence is justified or acceptable!

I have already discussed a somewhat related subject in my #metoo post, but what I have never opened up about before is the fact that I had once been involved with a short-tempered, distrustful and insecure individual who put me through a lot of suffering. So I know what it feels like to be abused and I completely condemn any act of violence against women.

So what happened?

Several months ago, my brother got a puppy. At the time we were living together, so the little guy got really accustomed to me. In the meantime, my brother moved out. Last weekend, I came visiting and the dog got really excited to see me. Not paying much attention to him as I was in the middle of a discussion with my mother, he started jumping around me. Still talking to my mother and looking sideways, I leaned forward to pet him. At that very instance, he jumped to "kiss" me, but actually hit me with his nose directly above the left eye, earning me a huge bruise on the hood. On the plus side for the puppy, he's black, so there's no way to tell if his injury is any worse than mine. ;)

Why this post?

I was planning to write another kind of makeup post that weekend, but the injury obviously spoiled my plans. Initially, the bruise wasn't the only problem I had to face: my eyelid was swollen for a few days, looking as if it was melting down. Luckily, the swelling disappeared quickly. Two days after the bruise broke out, I had to show up for work, preferably not looking like an abuse victim or a drag queen. Also, as the bruise was changing colours each day, I had to come up with a different makeup tactics to use from Monday to Friday. And the nature of my job restricted me to using only light, daytime makeup. This was a huge challenge for me, but it turned out I did very well and no one noticed the injury - so I thought I might share my experience with you.

How I covered up the bruise?

Like I said, the most obvious solution - using dark, heavy makeup - was out of the question. I had to find a way to completely disguise the bruise, yet to maintain a soft, fresh and natural look.

The basic problem I encountered was the constantly changing bruise colour. The rainbow over my eye went from redish, to purplish, to greenish, and finally to yellowish. So the solution I applied one day certainly didn't work for the next.

So basically I applied several tricks, listed below:

instead of using concealer, contrasting colours or dark eyeshadows, I simply attempted to imitate the bruise colour on my healthy eye.
as the days went by and the bruise colour changed, I first used a lot of burgundy shades, then plum and pink shades, and finally earth and brown shades.
I used very bright colours on my upper lid and browbone, which significantly added to the fresh and soft look. I was able to do this because, luckily, my particular bruise only affected my hood, not the upper lid or browbone, allowing me to apply very bright shades on these parts.
on my injured eye, I only used small amounts of eyeshadow, mostly for colour correcting and blending.
on my healthy eye, I used way more eyeshadow, imitating the colour of the bruised skin above the other eye.
where impossible to nail the exact colour, I used small amounts of black matte eyeshadow.
I applied the rest of my makeup as usual.

By the way, if it means anything, the look I'm describing in this post was created on the fifth day of the injury occurrence (before and after doing my eyebrows), when the bruise went purplish and yellowish. You can probably tell from the photo below that my left hood is quite a bit more yellow than the right one, but I only fixed it after taking these photos.

The eyeshadow palettes I used are again some of those featured in my previous post, Testing Drugstore Makeup:

Kik: Nr. 2 Palette in Warm Nudes
Max Factor: Masterpiece Nude Palette in 03 Rose Nudes

And here's the final look (please excuse my messy hair)!

That's it! Hope you'll like the post and, as aways, thanks for reading!

8:33 pm
0 Comments

Testing Drugstore Makeup

makeup

Recently I've been getting a lot of questions on why I don't do more hair and makeup posts. Apparently, people following me on Instagram have noticed I love experimenting with makeup, so I started receiving all these positive and encouraging comments, for which I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As for the real-life inquiries on doing your special occasion makeup, I have to say I have literary never done anyone's makeup but mine (except for Mardi Gras). Also, I don't think I would qualify for the job. Best I can do is show you how I do it and pray you'll be able to copy it :)

And without further ado... per your request, I'm finally doing a makeup post!

Most of the cosmetics I use on daily basis is either drugstore or catalogue bought. I own a ridicuously wide range of items in terms of both price and quality. The reason behind this is that I tend to buy things impulsively - if I like something at first glance, I'll buy it, regardless of whether it costs €1 or €50 (damn those colorful eyeshadows calling on me!). Need I say that numerous times I ended up disappointed with a widely publicized product, and thrilled by a cheap, no-name one? Of course, we all agree that same products work differently for different people. So my intention is to create a look with a bunch of drugstore makeup products I own and let you know how they worked for me.

But first thing's first. Below is a no-makeup photo of me. In my defence, this was a very bad skin day: my skin is usually not that problematic at all. However, as I didn't want to violate the purpose of the post, I refused to use filters or Photoshop in any of the featured photos. As you can probably tell, my greatest enemies are the dark circles under my eyes (I've been suffering from a sleep disorder for a very long time, and the consequences show). Also, I have milia under my left eye. Once a month, I get an acne on my chin. Other than that, my facial skin is actually perfectly fine. The tone is pale but even, as is the texture. And my most recent stress-triggered acquisition, the depigmentation that shows on other parts of my body does not - luckily! - appear on my face.

Now let's see what I can do to enhance my appearance using only drugstore makeup products.

The products I'll be using are:

FOR MY EYES:

Max Factor: Masterpiece Nude Palette in 03 Rose Nudes (shades 4, 7 and 8)
Kik: Nr. 2 Palette in Warm Nudes (shade 8)
Catrice: Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadow in 140 The Captain of the Black Pearl
She by DM: Mono Eyeshadow in Silver
Catrice: 010 Blossom 'N Roses Eyeshadow Palette (shade 1 for lighting)
NYX: Voluptious Mascara
Max Factor: 2000 Calorie dramatic volume mascara
Essence: Get BIG! Lashes mascara
Essence: Kajal pencil in 01 black
Trend it Up by DM: Ultra Black waterproof liquid eyeliner
Maybelline: Affinitone concealer in 02 natural

FOR MY EYBROWS:

She by DM: Duo Eyebrow set

FOR MY FACE:

Eveline Cosmetics: Magical CC Cream in 51 natural
Maybelline: Affinitone Mineral Liquid Foundation in 030 Sand
Catrice: HD Liquid Coverage Foundation in 020 Rose Beige
Catrice: Healthy Look mattifying translucent powder
Oriflame: Bronzing Pearls in Natural Peach

AND FOR MY LIPS:

NYX: Soft matte lip cream in 18 Prague (ok, not really a drugstore product)

Wow, that's a lot of makeup to use all at once :/

Fast forward to 2 hours later, and we have the final results:

Now, I am not going to walk you through the entire makeup application process. Instead, I'm just going to tell you what I though of the products used.

Considering the foundation, I must say I wasn't completely pleased with any of the products used. Catrice HD is too thick and heavy for my liking and I usually use it only to cover for my dark under-eye circles (unusessfully, though). Maybelline Affinitone, on the other hand, is my everyday foundation because it's much lighter, but I don't think I picked the right shade for my winter skin. I am most probably going to completely replace it with a CC cream some time soon.

If you look closely, you'll notice that none of the products completely covered up my milia and dark under-eye circles. I'm getting Dermacol Make-Up Cover, desperately hoping this legendary high covering make-up would finally work for my severe condition of looking weary.

Oh, I almost forgot. I didn't do any contouring 'cause I couldn't find my contouring kit. The perks of living in multiple places. I only used some bronzing pearls in place of blush (and even though it says above these are by Oriflame, I think I had mixed them up at one point with another ones, but I can't remember which).

Also, I my humble opinion, that Instagram eyebrow trend is just ridiculous. I wouldn't want my face to look as if someone had glued a pair of moustache onto my forehead so, although mine are sparse and uneven, I do my eyebrows just by filling them up where needed. The listed set works just fine for me.

Moving on to my eyes.

I genuinely liked all of the eyeshadows that I applied. They are all highly pigmented and blend nicely. Mind you, the KIK one I got for approx. €3 and found that it contains the most beautiful bugundy shade I have ever seen. Also, the Captain of the Black Pearl is the blackest matte eyeshadow I have ever owned and I regularly use it in place of eyeliner because it comes off more easily. However, when applying it, you'll notice it is prone to heavy fallout. Too bad these photos do not show the eyeshadow colours faithfully: for the purpose of keeping it real, I was using only natural daylight. But I promise they are beautiful!

Speaking of eyeliners, I didn't really like the Trend it Up one. I found it lacking precision, leading to clumsy and uneven application. Also, taking it off was a real struggle: it reminded me of taking off black eyelashes glue. Come to think about it, I really liked H2O Proof Liquid Eyeliner by Wet n Wild (which I didn't have at hand when doing this review). As for the mascara, I regularly use 2000 Calories for the first coat, and Get BIG Lashes! for the second. I must say here that the later was a revelation for me: following a recommendation by a friend, I bought this mascara (for €2.50!) and got stunned. I swear to God, this is the best mascara I have ever used. Just look at what it did to my lashes! I'm buying a 100 pieces stash and finding a formula to preserve them for when Essence decides to cancel this amazing product.

Finally, the lips. NYX's soft matte lipsticks are my favourite, and I keep repeatedly returning to them. Prague is a beautiful, bold shade, perfect for nights out. For everyday wear, I prefer shade 11 Milan. They do come off easily, though.

In general, I am quite happy with the way my look turned out. Drugstore makeup - thumbs up from me!

To wrap it all up, in case you were wondering, my hair colour is a mixture of too much bleach and many, many hair dye products, but the last one I used was B98 Silver by Annyer. And I'm absolutely in love with this colour!

Do let me know how you liked this post and whether you would like me to keep similar posts coming.

As always, thanks for reading!

12:49 am
0 Comments

DIY Scorpio Costume

tutorial

You must have noticed I have a thing for costumes and makeup, right?

Last Tuesday Mardi Gras was celebrated in my country.

I must say this occasion is the only reason I don't absolutely, utterly, purely hate Winter. I had had the idea on the costume about a month beforehand, but only managed to start working on it the weekend before the carnival. And not only on one, but on two costumes (but that's another story).

Anyway, a bunch of my friends and I decided to go as the Zodiac this year. Although I am a Libra, I opted for the Scorpio, solely because a few years ago I went as Lady Justice - which is quite similar to Libra, I think. And I hate repetition.

Now, if you would like to know how to make a costume like this, or simply need some costume inspiration, read on!

I must warn you right away: creating this costume was one of the most demanding and exhausting tasks I have ever undertaken: considering I was on a tight schedule, I literary spent four full days with scissors and a needle in my hand. Every little detail of the costume was handmade: hand-cut, hand-sewn and hand-painted. At a moment, I was seriously considering going as a crippled Scorpio: they tend to lose their extremities duing fights, don't they? Sewing machine would have made it a zillion times easier. But I guess I like to suffer.

The first detail I made were the claws. I made them by cutting some silicone sponge sheet into a claw-like shape (later regretting for making it by rote, and not by thoroughly investigating the scorpion anatomy), covering it in black polyester fabric and sewing it onto a pair of black gloves. Now I wish I had made them bigger, thinner and sharper.

Then I proceeded to the body. The abdomen, tail, venom bulb and walking legs were made out of black polyester fabric filled with silicone sponge sheets cut into small pieces. I used a white chalk for marking the cutting lines, which proved much helpful. For accentuating the stinger and the claws on each leg, I used red organza fabric.

After the arachnid body was all done, I sew it onto an old T-shirt and added some faux leather and stud rivet details on the shoulders to make it look more like an armour. I also wore a black corset above the T-shirt in order to prevent the costume from pulling my T-shirt backwards (luckily I had only sewn the costume onto the top and bottom of the T-shirt, completely forgetting about the corset!). As for the final touch, I painted the Scorpius Constellation with gold acrylic paint on the black leather pants I wore.

As for the makeup, I completely messed up this time – again, owed to getting dressed at the last moment. But for the purpose of this blog post, I decided to recreate the original idea I had. It's just an outline created using only regular beauty products - eye pencils and eyeshadows, but I hope you'll like it!

Did you dress up for Mardi Gras this year? What did you go as?

P.S. sorry for the poor photo quality; all were taken in a rush with my cell phone.

6:19 pm
0 Comments

Sketches of a Life

Lunar Quest

A Clumsy Girl's Guide to Bruise Cover Up

Testing Drugstore Makeup

DIY Scorpio Costume

About Me

Follow Me on Instagram

Like My Facebook Page

Contact Me

Blog Archive

Popular Posts