Ajda Sitar /

I would say at least 80% of questions I get in my mailbox are hair care and colour related. Therefore I decided to share with you some of my hair tips & tricks once again, this time focusing on after summer treatments. I’ve written about hair before, you can read the posts here and here, if you are interested.

CUT & COLOUR
My hair is probably in the worst condition right in the summer months due to sun exposure and my laziness aka seldom brushing aka bedraggled wavy hair look. In the summer, I get my roots done less regularly and go for a complete treatment in the end of August every year at my favourite hair salon Lasek. They always use Redken professional haircolours on my hair, this time they cut my split ends (I always allow them to cut at least 3cm off), did my roots and added some darker beigey highlights. My natural hair colour isn’t severely different from the one I am coloured with, only a hint darker (a mousy blonde would be the best description). Danica (the owner of the Lasek salon) is a true master of creating amazing blonde shades, especially gradient effects (discover more at their Facebook page here) and I am more than happy with their service.

OLAPLEX
At my latest hair dresser’s appointment, I also tried the famous Olaplex treatment for the first time. For all those, who are wondering what on Earth this is, let me explain: Olaplex is a revolutionary new product designed for professional use during colouring treatments or as a stand alone treatment. It can be added to lighteners or hair colour or after colouring on rinsed hair (in my case). It aims to dramatically reduce breakage and protects hair from damage during the colouring process with its active ingredients. I am telling you one thing: it works and it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re going lighter/blonder.

HAIR CARE AT HOME
You might come home from the salon with a pitch-perfect hair but after a few washes you won’t get anywhere near the »salon look«. Every »good hairdresser« will tell you the importance of the right, high quality hair care at home. I’ve decided to treat my hair with Alterna products once again. After trying the Caviar Moisture shampoo and conditioner a few years back, I in fact haven’t found a cheaper alternative that provides the same result. This time, I went for the Caviar Color Care Blonde line; the shampoo and a conditioner are a splurge for sure (you’ll pay over 40€ each). It’s a lot, I’m not going to deny it, however you will get a few months of use out of them (conditioner lasted me 6 months, shampoo 4-5 months) and most of all – you will get amazing results. The shampoo is sulfate free; they are both paraben free and they refresh blonde tones, eliminate brassiness and protect the colour. Golden Micro-Prisms improve the appearance of natural or colour treated blonde hair. The final result is heavenly soft, shiny and nourished hair. You pay for the luxury and a magnificent result, but at least with Alterna you know what you are paying for. A supreme quality! Shopping advice: find the nearest salon that sells Alterna products or buy them online (here).

View Post

Ajda Sitar /

When it comes to foundations, I try a lot of them and I mean a lot. In the past few year I’ve found some that I really love, two of them being Vichy Teint Ideal in cream version (ideal in winter) and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation (a budget choice). And then something unusual happened. I found another two in a short period of time that blew me away.

Matis Response Teint Quicklift (44,50€ BUY HERE) was love at first buff. The thing that really stands out about this one is the fact that it looks stunning all day long, the lasting power is amazing. A lot of foundations look gorgeous and glowy when applied but you can hardly see the effect 6 (or more) hours later. Well, this one you can – it gives my rather dry skin a dewy and healthy look with medium coverage that can be built up. It’s supposed to work for all skin types, I’d say it’s a winner for normal, mixed or dry skin, if you love the glowy finish (I wouldn’t recommend picking it up if you have oily skin). It’s actually a dual product, acting as a serum and foundation, it treats, smoothes and plumps the skin while imparting a luminous glow (without any shimmering parts!) and providing hydration (it contains hyaluronic acid filling spheres). There are only three shades available, the lightest one (Light Beige) fits my skin tone perfectly – it’s not a super pale shade, however pale enough for me (it has a wonderful neutral undertone). There’s not a single downside to this product, it’s more on the pricey side, however totally worth every cent!

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick is my second favourite at the moment. We haven’t had a Bobbi Brown selling point in Slovenia until a few weeks back, it’s now in Mueller in the centre of Ljubljana, good news for beauty lovers, bad for their credit cards. Enough said, this foundation is amazing. Not only that I found multiple shades that actually fit my skin tone (a lovely Bobbi Brown coach helped me with matching), I’ve madly fallen in love with the formulation. It’s my go-to pick when I need a full coverage base (however you can achieve light coverage as easy as the heavier one) and I must stay that I totally understand the hype. The finish is extremely natural, the texture is creamy, weightless and blends seamlessly. At that point I could go for 4 different shades, which all work for me. I was contemplating between the shade 1 (Warm Ivory) and 2 (Sand), I decided to opt for the lightest one, since I can always bronze it up a bit (and I just came from the seaside with a bit of a tan, which is a rare thing with me). To sum up, the foundation is photo friendly (perfect for photoshoots, parties and weddings), would suit any skin type (and tone, since the shade range is large) and I highly recommend it. It’s a splurge with amazing packaging and velvety feel on the skin. And I shouldn’t forget to mention – it works nice as a touch-up concealer as well.

View Post

Ajda Sitar /

You may (or may not) notice, this time I am wearing the same skirt as I did in my last blog post. We’re renovating our bathroom in our flat, and we’re currently not living there (I’ll reveal more when it’s finished), which is the main reason why my wardrobe choice is rather restricted. On the other hand, you can now see how to style this midi skirt in two completely different ways. This time I’m featuring a jeans shirt wrapped around my waist, aviator sunnies, my favourite lip combo at the moment and another gadget I am testing. Huawei P8 is doing a great job competing with my iPhone, especially the superb camera quality. You never know, I might switch to Android…

wearing:
skirt from H&M
shirt from NEW YORKER
sunglasses from ZEROUV
lipliner from ESSENCE (06 Satin Mauve)
lipgloss from BOURJOIS (Sweet Kiss, 04 Incogni-rose)
phone HUAWEI P8

photo: Domen Blenkuš

View Post

Ajda Sitar /

Zoeva brushes are definitely one of my favourite brushes of all times (they are of amazing quality and competitively priced as well) and right after my Zoeva-brush-love, there comes the Zoeva-eyeshadow-love. After Smoky and Rose Golden, the Cocoa Blend Palette (17,50€ BUY HERE) made its way to my makeup stash. It is, my dear friends, a true stunner!

The packaging is cardboard, nice and slim; it may not look like, but you actually get a decent whack of shadow weight in there (10×1.5g). 10 totally stunning warm-toned bronzey shades have won my heart in their first try-out. As usually with Zoeva, the formula is creamy, easy to blend, they are amazingly pigmented and have good longevity. There’s actually not a single shade I wouldn’t fancy (well, maybe the Infusion is not my cup of tea, however it’s still lovely). A smoky eye makeup look is super easy to achieve with the chocolately matte and metallic hues, while the shimmery highlights come handy especially in the evenings. The shades are not natural nor anything »wild«, but still unique. Talking favourites: Bitter Start is a lovely light semi-matte beigey base (and even a browbone) shade; Sweeter End a stunning everyday shimmery gold with a hint of pink; Warm Notes is a rich, cranberry metallic red similar to MAC Cranberry; Freshly Toasted is a muted reddish brown with a matte finish; while the Beans are White is a matte blackened brown that works great along the lashline. The year 2015 in my eyes is definitely The Year of eyeshadows, Zoeva did a remarkable job once again.

View Post