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| The official logo of the conference
It's that time of the year again, when all Romanian fashionistas and social media gurus and apprentices get together in a celebration of female online presence, together with fine dining, networking and listening to inspirational speakers.
Yes, yes, I'm talking about Digital Divas, of course!
The event, which is currently now at its 3rd edition, will take place this year at the fabulous Ghika Palace, in Bucharest, on the 3rd of June.
And I'm in their army of ambassadors once again, of course!
If last year we marveled ourselves during the very insightful or inspirational speeches of powerful women such as Oana Pellea or Andreea Esca, or found the time to write the tips Ana Morodan or Mirela Bucoviceanu, this year's edition hopes to equal and surpass the high quality of the former. And the majority of speakers does promise quite a lot!
 
As last year, the 3 main elements of the session will be:
This year's categories are:
To be fair, I'm looking forward to this year's gala for various reasons, starting with the speeches of Andreea Badala, Maurice Munteanu and Vicki Nicola (who kicked ass last year and I want more!), as well as hearing specialist opinions from Alina Gavril Bortun, especially now, when I can talk like an actual PR student.
Besides all of this, I'm quite enthusiastic to see some of my old friends and, not to mention, catch up with the Romanian fashion environment, as I've been away for too long and I've had to turn down so many events.
And all is good, but I've just browsed to the old posts from last year ( here & here) and I've began going down on memory lane. I will certainly miss my dear Alina ( from Add some style), who will be doing her dissertation, but I'm happy to be going to see Adriana (from Walk with Ad) and Alina (from Alina Barbu Make-Up).
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Showing posts with label alexandra lazar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alexandra lazar. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 May 2014
#Digital Divas 2014: ambassador preview
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Prom is close!
This time last year, I was in an obsessive frenzy of getting myself a perfect dress for the most important (according to me) event in my entire high school life: my prom.
I had found the design on Pinterest and knew it was both perfect for me and unique, so I wouldn't face the misfortune of finding someone with the same dress. I asked a designer "friend" of mine about helping me and not charging me an arm and a leg and ended up crying on the day of the event because the amazing "designer" had managed to make a fool out of my dream-dress and my mom had to cut it and perform some last-minute alterations.
But don't be scared! I'm here to give you tips and tricks so you can look fabulous for your wonderful night and don't grow a handful of grey hairs in the process.
1. Timing is everything
I managed to blunder this big time when it was my turn to attend prom, but it shouldn't be yours! It might be a little bit too late for some now, but even if you have just a week before prom, take advantage of the moment and don't wait until D-Day to purchase a dress or try and make arrangements for hair, nails and make-up. You still have a lot of days to practice walking in that amazing pair of stilettos so you don't get blisters from simply sitting in those shoes!
2. Work with your body
Everyone might love that mermaid dress or that short bodycon, but let's face it: we're not all Victoria's Secret supermodels and those dresses will only make you want to frown the entire night. Instead of choosing a dress too short and trying to pull its hems the whole length of the party, go for a longer length that's still flattering.
3. Don't fear alterations
Going back to point 1, where I recommend trying to buy your dress as in advance as possible, you should always leave time for alterations. You might gain/lose weight or not, so you should take that into consideration. You might also find an amazing dress that just doesn't do enough justice to your butt, but you can always find a seamstress to take it in or loosen it a bit.
4. Prep your prom clutch
You've obviously bought yourself a lovely clutch to go with the outfit, but on the day you'll probably panic and have no idea what to throw in it, either making it a big bulge of sparkly fabric or forgetting something essential. The essentials you should put there are: some cash for unexpected expenses and maybe a cab ride home, mini make-up samples matching your own make-up and possibly a sample of your perfume, so you can freshen up during the magical evening.
5. Pe prepared
It might be summer and it might be hot, but you shouldn't forget to carry a blazer or a cardigan, just for when you're going to take your date out of the restaurant for some romantic star gazing. Also, after every picture's been taken and your feet just want to move to the groove, get a small bag with ballet flats you can comfortably jump around it.
6. Make memories
Don't forget to have fun! After all, you only get one high school prom and one chance to enjoy it with your dear high school mates. Take a million pictures, laugh the whole night and get yourself discussion topics for the 10-year meet-up.
There aren't that many opportunities to dress up in long lavish gowns, so why not take advantage of prom and get to dress yourself up in very luxurious long dresses, embellished with jewels or lace?
I don't know about you, but I've always loved feeling like a princess, and what better occasion than prom to do that? My personal favourite is the red lace one, I love how the lace seems to blend with the skin without even showing that much skin. Not to mention, the dress isn't too puffy, which makes it that more luxurious.
Though not for the girls that drank too much Pepsi during the year, this type of dress is certainly extremely sexy and can be very flattering. Choose either a simple uni one or a widely embellished one and you're guaranteed to get noticed!
But then again, this time of the year's hot and short skirts work great with high heels. Go for A-line short dresses that emphasize the waist and lengthen your legs beyond compare.
And just before I finish this post, I'll let you some of my very own photographic memories from last year, when I had my prom.
And just before I finish this post, I'll let you some of my very own photographic memories from last year, when I had my prom.
Saturday, 26 April 2014
Are you the ONE?
As you might have seen in my latest post, my blog's turning quite on the beauty side. Writing about beauty and make-up has always been on my mind, especially since I see this as a form of art rather than a mundane activity destined to hide details of a late night or a bad genetic inheritance (under eyes circles, I'm talking to you!!).
Yesterday I spoke to you about taking care of your nails and tomorrow I'm planning to let you in on the miracles of coconut oil, but today I'll be talking about the latest make-up range brought to you by the Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame: The ONE.
Wandering around beauty blogs, I encountered this amazing new collection that consists of 3 different make-up ranges!
1. Everyday beauty
Why I'm looking forward to seeing and trying this collection? High quality essentials are always a great thing to have and not worrying all day if your concealer is still in its place is very highly valued by yours truly!
2. High impact
3. Long wear
If you want to check out some more information about the collection or tips on how to use it, you can always check Oriflame's Youtube videos. My personal favourite is the one below.
I'm actually looking forward to trying the products and seeing how they look like on myself :)
Graceful nails
Long time no see! And I'm back with new forces, this time beauty-related! For those of you that don't know, I'm a great fan of gel nails and I've been sporting them for the past year. Sadly enough, as I now live in the UK, gel nails are quite on the expensive side so I've resorted to doing my own gel nails.
Recently, I've decided to take a break from the wraps and let my nails take a breath of fresh air for a change until I get back home and have Nico get my manicure looking as amazing as she always does. But when I finally removed the gel, my nails were amazingly brittle, paper thin and quite exfoliated.
So my first initiative was to raid Boots and find some hardening solutions. The products I found and used in this article are the following:
* Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps
* Essie Super Duper Hardening Top Coat
* Revlon Nail File (similar here)
* Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover ( though not in the picture)
* Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in Pink Pineapple
As you can see, my nails look awful in the pictures bellow, as a result of incorrect filling on my side. I removed the gel in 2 stages (more or less willing): I removed my tips and all gel residue by filling then I just made a gel overlay that lasted for a week. I didn't really use too much bonding agent for this gel overlay, that the wraps just came off in a week, so I didn't have to file the nails once more.
Now moving on to the steps I took with my brand new paper-thin nails!
1. Tiding it up the nails
Besides making sure there's no remaining gel residue on the nail, you should give them a superficial wipe with some nail polish remover, just to me sure you remove any kind of remaining natural grease. For this, I used the Cutix nail polish remover, as it is nourishing and specially developed for such damaged nails.
2.Filing
One of the main reasons I wanted to remove my tips and everything was the fact that the shape of my nails was going haywire on me and I really hated the leaning-tower-of-Pisa nails I'd ended up having. However, when the gel fell off, my nails chipped and I had irregular forms. Still, there's really no need for justification in filling your nails prior to taking care of them. The 2 things you should remember? Use a good quality file and only file in 1 direction.
3.Base coat
Paper-thin nails was the reason for getting gel wraps in the first place, together with a never ending cycle of doing my manicure every 2 days because the polish chipped. So getting back to that and trying to fix the health state of my nails was a huge challenge. I spent hours on end on Youtube trying to figure out what treatments to get until I discovered this Sally Hansen base coat. This promises covering the nails in a layer as hard as acrylic, thus protecting them until they grow back to their healthy state.
So far, so good, I've used this 2 times up to writing this article and it's actually done a much better job than expected. I'll review all the items here as soon as I get a better vibe of what they do.
4.Color me pretty
While searching for hardening base coats, I came over a 3 for 2 promotion running in the drugstore, so I took advantage of it an purchased a Revlon perfumed nail polish. I've never really liked how pastels react on my fingers, they never really get that color block look, but I gave this Pink Pineapple scented nail polish a try and I've yet to be disappointed!
5. Seal it in
In the same theme as the rest of the products, the Essie top coat is indeed Super Duper. This one's hardening as well, and it gives the nails a good seal, making the manicure lasting a little bit longer and have a better luster.
All in all, I'm carefully nurturing my nails back to health with both drugstore products and natural ones. I'll post soon about my love for coconut oil and the close relationship it has with my beauty regimen!
Friday, 28 March 2014
French Diary
Packed with a lot of memories and mementos from my latest trip to France, the Provence-Alpes- Côte-d’Azur region to be more precise, I decided to let you in on some of the photographic evidence of the beautiful moments I’ve witnessed for a week or so.
Friday, 14 March 2014
On the job
10 a.m. Preparing myself for a Journalism seminar when I casually check my e-mail, waiting for the delivery date for a Body Shop order. Looking through the unread file, my eyes stop upon a response, “ RE: Lincoln Promo”.
I quickly open it to see if my job application had been successful and realise that if I am the first to reply to this e-mail, I’m actually getting my first real job.
And I do.
Read More
I quickly open it to see if my job application had been successful and realise that if I am the first to reply to this e-mail, I’m actually getting my first real job.
And I do.
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Finding the perfect concealer - a matter of knowledge and luck
Given a random thought, cosmetics and philosophy don’t really go together. One’s about appearance, while the other is about essence. But what happens when the two meet and intertwine in the mind of an over thinking 20 year-old?
I was in Boots a couple of days ago, desperately trying to figure out what concealer to buy in light of my imminent EYP trip (e.n. they involve quite little sleeping time) and realizing it looked like it was shaping up to be Mission Impossible. I went through all the stalls, from Bourjois to No.7 and to Guerlain, but the only thing I succeeded to was confusing myself even more.
In less than 10 minutes I had managed to try a dozen shades of concealer in a variety of textures, all on the back of my hands, as well as reaching a record amount of walking in and out of Boots trips, in order to test the shades in natural light.
By the time I had found one that seemed to resemble my skin tone, all the creamy stuff had blended into one patchy mess on both my hands, so there was no way to know if the lovely color was actually my ideal shade or just a made-up one which I could never reproduce at home.
I was running out of time (and patience) so I decided to go with my gut and pick the nuance most similar to my skin tone, despite fearing it might have just been a work of the hazard. And it also had the cutest puffy applicator (see, design sells!): bonus points!!
I went home, removed all the make-up from my face and tried the little quirky and puffy concealer. It blended in perfectly; it had the most comfortable texture and the exact color of my skin.
Yes, that’s what I said.
I’ve researched all possible types of cosmetics, from high end to high street ones, looked up tips on how to choose them and how to apply them, but this real-life straight down boring situation proved that even heaps of knowledge can be, at some point, easily set aside.
So come to think of it, I might have made an educated guess or just gotten lucky. To be fair, I just think that sometimes luck hits you straight in the face, no matter how much research you’ve done to discover that perfect concealer. Or the perfect university degree for that matter.
It applies to all sorts of things, from trivial lunch choices to life-changing decisions.
Though the main lesson that should be learned from this isn’t that you can always count on luck, you should always treasure it and be grateful for those moments when karma decides to send some your way and be thankful for them. Maybe give some of it back.
Read More
I was in Boots a couple of days ago, desperately trying to figure out what concealer to buy in light of my imminent EYP trip (e.n. they involve quite little sleeping time) and realizing it looked like it was shaping up to be Mission Impossible. I went through all the stalls, from Bourjois to No.7 and to Guerlain, but the only thing I succeeded to was confusing myself even more.
In less than 10 minutes I had managed to try a dozen shades of concealer in a variety of textures, all on the back of my hands, as well as reaching a record amount of walking in and out of Boots trips, in order to test the shades in natural light.
By the time I had found one that seemed to resemble my skin tone, all the creamy stuff had blended into one patchy mess on both my hands, so there was no way to know if the lovely color was actually my ideal shade or just a made-up one which I could never reproduce at home.
I was running out of time (and patience) so I decided to go with my gut and pick the nuance most similar to my skin tone, despite fearing it might have just been a work of the hazard. And it also had the cutest puffy applicator (see, design sells!): bonus points!!
I went home, removed all the make-up from my face and tried the little quirky and puffy concealer. It blended in perfectly; it had the most comfortable texture and the exact color of my skin.
“Wow.”
Yes, that’s what I said.
I’ve researched all possible types of cosmetics, from high end to high street ones, looked up tips on how to choose them and how to apply them, but this real-life straight down boring situation proved that even heaps of knowledge can be, at some point, easily set aside.
So come to think of it, I might have made an educated guess or just gotten lucky. To be fair, I just think that sometimes luck hits you straight in the face, no matter how much research you’ve done to discover that perfect concealer. Or the perfect university degree for that matter.
It applies to all sorts of things, from trivial lunch choices to life-changing decisions.
Though the main lesson that should be learned from this isn’t that you can always count on luck, you should always treasure it and be grateful for those moments when karma decides to send some your way and be thankful for them. Maybe give some of it back.
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Open-mindedness
My entire life I’ve been annoyed by the way I look, by the frizzy curls I naturally have and by the other completely insignificant details that made my life awful, while others wouldn’t even notice them.
As I grew older and started meeting people from different backgrounds and with different mindsets, I started understanding that I should be more laid back and more pleased with who I am, though I never truly liked myself and always strived to change it.
I’m guessing that some parts of it have been embedded in my mind by the society I was raised in and cannot be as easily removed. It is a sad society, where the “perfect shape” is so coveted and so many people fall into a trap with no return, but it is, nevertheless, a much more productive one.
This type of society brings competition to the table: competing to look the prettiest, competing to be the smartest, competing to be the best. It motivates you and it helps sift the best from the average.
Coming back to the self-image issue, there’s something I noticed since I first arrived in the United Kingdom and it’s been bothering me. A lot.
This idea of “everyone is beautiful” and “everyone can do it” is sincerely bothering me, mostly because, at its roots, it’s the global equality desire everyone strives to obtain misshaped to please the majority.
But to see a 19 year-old girl taking up 3 bus seats and having, at the same time, the necessity of wearing see-through leggings is simply appalling! And before anyone comes with the “maybe she’s having hormone issues” reasoning, let me just clear that as long as you have a problem with your weight, especially not being your fault, you will not spend your free time munching on king size McDonald’s menus.
But this type of society tells her she’s pretty no matter what.
Flash news. She’s not!
On a more sensitive note, which will probably bring me tons of hate (yes, strong word), some people with special needs develop this self-entitlement that just doesn’t suit them. I understand their sorrow and I am sorry for them, but having a problem shouldn’t make you develop a worse personality. On the contrary, it should make you more understanding.
This comes in response to a little incident while I was on trip and had been waiting, with my 30 kg bags, to get the elevator from the 5th floor. When it finally happened, I was stopped at a 1st floor by a girl in a wheelchair demanding me to get myself and all of bags out so she could go downstairs then and not wait an additional 2 minutes.
In the end, it all comes down to one as an individual. Why choose to be something people don’t like?
Read More
As I grew older and started meeting people from different backgrounds and with different mindsets, I started understanding that I should be more laid back and more pleased with who I am, though I never truly liked myself and always strived to change it.
I’m guessing that some parts of it have been embedded in my mind by the society I was raised in and cannot be as easily removed. It is a sad society, where the “perfect shape” is so coveted and so many people fall into a trap with no return, but it is, nevertheless, a much more productive one.
This type of society brings competition to the table: competing to look the prettiest, competing to be the smartest, competing to be the best. It motivates you and it helps sift the best from the average.
Coming back to the self-image issue, there’s something I noticed since I first arrived in the United Kingdom and it’s been bothering me. A lot.
This idea of “everyone is beautiful” and “everyone can do it” is sincerely bothering me, mostly because, at its roots, it’s the global equality desire everyone strives to obtain misshaped to please the majority.
But to see a 19 year-old girl taking up 3 bus seats and having, at the same time, the necessity of wearing see-through leggings is simply appalling! And before anyone comes with the “maybe she’s having hormone issues” reasoning, let me just clear that as long as you have a problem with your weight, especially not being your fault, you will not spend your free time munching on king size McDonald’s menus.
But this type of society tells her she’s pretty no matter what.
Flash news. She’s not!
On a more sensitive note, which will probably bring me tons of hate (yes, strong word), some people with special needs develop this self-entitlement that just doesn’t suit them. I understand their sorrow and I am sorry for them, but having a problem shouldn’t make you develop a worse personality. On the contrary, it should make you more understanding.
This comes in response to a little incident while I was on trip and had been waiting, with my 30 kg bags, to get the elevator from the 5th floor. When it finally happened, I was stopped at a 1st floor by a girl in a wheelchair demanding me to get myself and all of bags out so she could go downstairs then and not wait an additional 2 minutes.
In the end, it all comes down to one as an individual. Why choose to be something people don’t like?
Friday, 7 February 2014
Old habits die hard...
… or how I realised that no matter how hard I try, I am still a procrastinator.
… or how I realised that procrastination can lead to amazing things.
… or how I realised it’s so easy to postpone writing a post by writing mindless sentences to complement the title.
I’ve known the tasks involved in creating this blog for more than 3 months now, though I haven’t started writing the actual posts until I actually heard that most of my class mates had started. And even then, I spent the first weeks perfecting the layout of the blog (which does not account for any points in the mark, so it’s kinda useless on that side of the deal). But what I’m saying now isn’t a one-time occasion. Oh, noooo! It’s one of those things that you try to quit but you never get around to actually doing , albeit promising yourself time and time again that you will start/stop doing it tomorrow and making mental notes of “this time’s different”.
But let me introduce myself a bit, just before I dive in into my “Procrastinators Anonymous” confession.
I am Alexandra, 20 year-old Journalism and PR student in my first year at the University of Lincoln. I’m born and bred Romanian, though this year I followed my dream of moving to the UK. Random trivia about me would include my avid desire to travel, my passion for everything style and the fact that I am almost tri-lingual.
Now moving on, I have to tell you that all this can-do, bubbly personality of mine has got me into heap loads of trouble. I’m that person that each New Year’s Eve makes a new “New Year , New Me” list and never abides by it, though always goes on about how “this time it’s actually different!!” (Secret of the trade? It never is). I always promise, at the beginning of each term, that I’ll do all of the studying at the proper time, but I always end up cramming it up for the last week. Which, to be honest, is a major improvement from high school.
However, I am not encouraging procrastion in any possible way! I’m just saying that, among those days when you actually screw it up big time, there are some times when it’s actually so much better that you’ve waited so long to do something.
It might be the little things…
Like when I needed to buy tickets for a trip with some friends and I postponed it so long that it got ridiculously expensive. However, if I would have booked them then, I would have totally secured the wrong dates.
Or the bigger things…
Such as huge exam session I had to pass when I finished high school, that I passed with a whooping 9.65 out of 10, without even bothering to read anything before 2 days before the exams.
In the end, it’s mostly up to you, whether you are a procrastinator and you hate it or you love it. For me, it’s one of those things that I can never quit, but in which I find such forbidden pleasures.
Read More
… or how I realised that procrastination can lead to amazing things.
… or how I realised it’s so easy to postpone writing a post by writing mindless sentences to complement the title.
I’ve known the tasks involved in creating this blog for more than 3 months now, though I haven’t started writing the actual posts until I actually heard that most of my class mates had started. And even then, I spent the first weeks perfecting the layout of the blog (which does not account for any points in the mark, so it’s kinda useless on that side of the deal). But what I’m saying now isn’t a one-time occasion. Oh, noooo! It’s one of those things that you try to quit but you never get around to actually doing , albeit promising yourself time and time again that you will start/stop doing it tomorrow and making mental notes of “this time’s different”.
But let me introduce myself a bit, just before I dive in into my “Procrastinators Anonymous” confession.
I am Alexandra, 20 year-old Journalism and PR student in my first year at the University of Lincoln. I’m born and bred Romanian, though this year I followed my dream of moving to the UK. Random trivia about me would include my avid desire to travel, my passion for everything style and the fact that I am almost tri-lingual.
Now moving on, I have to tell you that all this can-do, bubbly personality of mine has got me into heap loads of trouble. I’m that person that each New Year’s Eve makes a new “New Year , New Me” list and never abides by it, though always goes on about how “this time it’s actually different!!” (Secret of the trade? It never is). I always promise, at the beginning of each term, that I’ll do all of the studying at the proper time, but I always end up cramming it up for the last week. Which, to be honest, is a major improvement from high school.
However, I am not encouraging procrastion in any possible way! I’m just saying that, among those days when you actually screw it up big time, there are some times when it’s actually so much better that you’ve waited so long to do something.
It might be the little things…
Like when I needed to buy tickets for a trip with some friends and I postponed it so long that it got ridiculously expensive. However, if I would have booked them then, I would have totally secured the wrong dates.
Or the bigger things…
Such as huge exam session I had to pass when I finished high school, that I passed with a whooping 9.65 out of 10, without even bothering to read anything before 2 days before the exams.
In the end, it’s mostly up to you, whether you are a procrastinator and you hate it or you love it. For me, it’s one of those things that I can never quit, but in which I find such forbidden pleasures.
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