Autumn Favourites 2015

Hello everybody!

Guess who’s back, back again, Sara’s back, tell a friend... It’s been around two months since I posted my last post and I feel like I totally isolated myself from blogging- since October I haven’t written a single post, read anyone else’s posts or done anything related to blogging.

So- is it too late now to say sorry? (I really have to stop with music references.) I don’t feel like I should apologise for neglecting my blog, but I feel awful, because not only did I stop blogging, but I also stop climbing. So since the school has started in September, I quit doing two things that I absolutely love doing- climbing and blogging. But school is something I really want to focus at the moment, especially since I’m in 3rd grade of secondary school (that’s like a senior year in American high schools) and is probably the most important grade after the 4th grade.

But I still want to focus on blogging (yay!), so I’ll try to be as active as I can during the Christmas holiday, January and then during the winter holiday. Well enough rambling about my boring life. As for my first post after ages I wanted to do a monthly favourites post. Because I’ve found quite a few things I love during September and December.

Lavera Naturkosmetik: Cleansing Gel

I bought this cleansing gel at the beginning of November and I’ve been using it twice a day ever since then. It smells so nice and it leaves my skin really soft. It’s probably my favourite product for facial care and trust me-I’ve tried so many different products because of my problematic skin. It’s also an organic and vegan product which is a big plus.

Essence: Pure Nude Concealer

I’ve just found out that Essence is also a cruelty free brand which is a great news, because their products are really affordable and of great quality. I got this concealer in 10 pure beige, because if people thought I was pale in the summer, they should see me now. I use this concealer for covering irregularities on my skin, but I almost don’t ever have to use it since I’ve started using Lavera’s cleansing gel, because my skin has really improved.

Maybelline New York: Baby Lips Electro

When I got my first Baby Lips lip balm I was not really impressed by it, but I’m absolutely in love with this one, which comes in Pink Shock. I’ve actually started using it instead of my lipsticks and everyone knows I love lipsticks. This shade of pink looks really nice on my lips, because the colour is a little less vibrant than most of my lipsticks, so it’s perfect for my everyday casual look.

Essence: Nail Polishes

As you can see I’m still obsessed with Essence’s nail polishes, because they’re really affordable and long-lasting. Lately I’ve been mostly using (from left to right) Colour&Go nail polish in Time for romance and The Gel nail polishes in Serendipity, Fame Fatal and On Air!. Especially the ones in Fame Fatal and On Air! are perfect for the time around Christmas- I mean glitters and red colour literally scream ‘Christmas’.

Candle

My cousin bought me this cute little candle that smells like Christmas. I’m a huge candle lover or should I say candle collector, since I love to collect candles on my shelf, but I almost never light one. But I’m definitely going to light this one on Christmas.

App: Wattpad

My favourite app (besides Tumblr of course) in the last months has definitely been Wattpad. I could say I’m a bookworm, but during the school year I almost never have time to read books beside the ones I have to read for school. But I love Wattpad, because I can read stories wherever I go and I don’t have to carry a book with me. I still prefer books though and I might also write a post about my latest book haul.

Music

Here is the list of songs that I’ve been listening probably way too many times in the latest months:
Anna Naklab ft. Alle Farben&YOUNOTUS-Supergirl
Catey Shaw-Night Go Slow
Halsey-the whole album Badlands, The Feeling (ft. Justin Bieber)
Hayley Kiyoko-Cliffs Edge
Lady Gaga-Til It Happens To You
Marina and the Diamonds-Blue, the whole album Electra Heart
Melanie Martinez-the whole album Cry Baby
Troye Sivan-Wild (EP)
Years&Years-Eyes Shut

I really hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you discovered any amazing products that you love, don’t forget to mention them in the comments! If I’m not going to post anything new for ages again (I hope not!), you can follow me on Tumblr, Ask.fm, Twitter, Instagram (sarawallflower) or add me on Snapchat (saralapachinka), because I’m most of the time active on these things (I really have no life). If you follow me on any of these things, leave your username in the comments below so I can follow you back!

Love, Sara

Keeping your Lungs Healthy│National Healthy Lung Month

Hello everybody!

As you may or may not know, October is National healthy lung month and because of that I was asked by a lovely Heather Von St. James to help raise awareness. At first I was a bit sceptical, as I thought how can a seventeen year old girl help to raise the awareness of such an important thing as keeping your lungs healthy and lung diseases such as cancer? Would people even take my words serious or would my voice just vanish in a crowd of more important voices?  

I know how it is to lose someone you love due to cancer. My grandmother died because of cancer before I was even born, so I didn’t get a chance to meet her. And it sucks that people lose their family, friends, neighbours etc. because of cancer. And that encouraged me in writing about Healthy lung month. Because it doesn’t matter how old are you, if you have survived cancer or if you know someone who has cancer... We all have the power to spread our words about anything we want and if those words can bring something good to other people or can help them in any way possible- then we shouldn’t remain silent.

You may ask yourself, why should we even talk about lung cancer?
Well lung cancer is the number one killer of women (and also men) and the lung death rate in women has more than doubled over the past 35 years. Here in Slovenia, the incidence of lung cancer in women has been continually increasing, and in 1998 (the year when I was born), the lung cancer represented 5% of all cancers.

And anyone can get lung cancer. Some people may think that they don’t need to care about lung cancer, because it hadn’t affected them or people close to them. But we shouldn’t just care about the things that are affecting us and we should do our best to help people that have survived cancer, have cancer and people that have lost someone due to cancer.

So how should we keep our lungs healthy and at least try to prevent lung cancer? Here are some of the causes of lung cancer and some tips on how to prevent it:

Smoke

I’ve just realised that this may turn into a total personal rant, but I hate people that smoke. Smoking is the main contributor to lung cancer and cigarette smoke contain at least 73 known carcinogens. That’s why I hate seeing people smoking, especially seeing young mothers holding baby in one hand and a cigarette in other hand.
And the most disgusting thing I find about smokers- people that surround them can get lung cancer too. Passive smoking causes about 3400 deaths from lung cancer each year in the USA.
So don’t smoke. Especially if you have children, don’t smoke. Don’t increase the chances of getting a lung cancer and don’t make them passive smokers. Smoking doesn’t only harm your lungs, but if affects nearly every organ of your body and also your overall health.

Radon gas and asbestos

Since I think that those two causes are more common in USA, I admit I haven’t known much about the affects of radon gas and asbestos before, so I had to do a little research. Usually, the time from exposure to onset of illness is long, as people fall ill after 20 to 40 years after exposure.
Asbestos can cause variety of lung diseases, including asbestosis and lung cancer- it can cause a rare form of cancer, called mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that most commonly attacks the lining of the lungs. Since mesothelioma is quite a rare form of cancer and not many people know about it, you can read about it here.
 Asbestos is used in many consumer and construction products and is not yet banned in the U.S. and Canada, but it is banned in Slovenia since 2003. Cigarette smokers who are also exposed to asbestos are about 50 to 84 times more likely to develop asbestos related diseases.

Air pollution

Outdoor pollution has a small effect on increasing the risk of lung cancer, but we’re breathing dangerously high levels of polluted air every day. I know we can’t do much to prevent air pollution, but we can at least ride a bike or walk to school/ work, work from home...

Genetics

Lung cancer can be genetic, in relatives with lung cancer, the risk is increased 2.4 times. If your family has a history of cancer, you should monitor your symptoms carefully.

It’s true that October is the National healthy lung month, but you should try and keep your lungs healthy throughout the whole year. You can do that by practising deep breathing exercises or any other breathing technique, by staying hydrated, because drinking enough water is important for your lungs and also for the rest of your body and by exercising.

And finally, in my opinion the most important thing to keep your lungs healthy, is laughing. Believe it or not, laughing is a great exercise to work the abdominal muscles and increase lung capacity, so don’t forget to laugh every day!

I’m really grateful to Heather, who really encouraged me in researching and writing about lung cancer with her heartbreaking story. You can read her story about surviving cancer here.

Here are some of Heather's photos:



Love, Sara 

Would I Survive The Hunger Games?

Hello everybody!

I was a bit bored today- actually I was supposed to clean my room, but let’s forget that- and because of that I’ve decided to find and take some funny and interesting quizzes. I found some quizzes I didn’t even realise existed, so I was definitely excited to see all of the questions and of course results.

Would you survive the Hunger Games?

I’ve been obsessed with The Hunger Games ever since I’ve read the first novel of the trilogy, The Hunger Games. At the time I decided to read the trilogy, there wasn’t even a Slovene translation yet, so I read it in English. And even though I was quite young back then and my English was definitely a lot worse than it is now, I still fell in love with the books and later also with the movies. I have to admit I haven’t watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 just because I want to wait for the 2nd part and then watch both parts together (if that even makes sense).

Before the quiz: I don’t think I would survive the Hunger Games, because a) I’m too lazy to run b) I wouldn’t be able to even find food or start a fire and c) I think the first three reasons are enough to get me killed in first five minutes.

My results: “You have 25% chance of survival. You’re an expert of the arena in theory, but when Hunger Games push comes to Hunger Games shove, you may have a moral problem with hacking away at your competitors- not that we blame you! You’re smart enough to know your odds aren’t great, but your big brain may just save you in the end. (But probably not.)”

After the quiz: Well 25% chance of survival sounds quite high, right...? But still, the last sentence at the results is quite mean...

Who is your YouTube twin?

I guess I don’t have to explain again how obsessed I am with YouTube and I’m not ashamed to admit I did have taken a few YouTube quizzes in the past. Don’t judge me.

Before the quiz: I don’t know which YouTubers can come as a result in this quiz, but if I’d have to guess which YouTuber is my twin, I’d probably say Ally Hills. I don’t know why, but when I watch her videos I just feel like we’re the long lost twins.

My results: Miranda Sings- “You got Miranda (a.k.a Colleen)! You're a joker! You're so funny and you always make people laugh, however you take things seriously quite a lot of the time. You look down on things a lot but you know everything's okay in the end. You tend to shut out other people's opinions and mistreat people as a joke but it's all just fun anyway. You're very lovable and everyone adores you for your humor and sass.”

After the quiz: All I can say is that I’m honoured that Miranda Sings is my YouTube twin, and she was my second option after Ally, so... Haters back off!

What is your spirit animal?

Now I feel like I’m searching for the most dumb quizzes ever, but hey, it will be fun finding out what is my spirit animal, right?

Before the quiz: I wish I’d get a cat as my spirit animal, because cats are cute and fluffy and everyone loves them. But at the same time I feel I could get a sloth considering my laziness. We’ll see.

My results: Brown bear. “Your animal totem is the brown bear! What a wonderful result! You tend to be extremely honest, perhaps a bit too honest at times. But on the other hand, people with bear totems make excellent leaders and aren't afraid to take control! You are highly respected, or so deserve to be, and you are someone that people can easily look up to!”

After the quiz: Since I live in a town full of bears and I of course admire them, I feel like that’s a great result.

How would you die in a horror movie?

I don’t really like horror movies, so I don’t watch them that often. There was a period in my life a few years ago when I loved watching horror movies (I still don’t know why), but then I realised  that I’m literally watching movies that scare the shit out of me and that’s the only thing I get from watching them. So I stopped watching horror movies.

Before the quiz: I think that I would kill myself, because running from a killer isn’t my thing, getting in a fight with a killer isn’t my thing and killing a killer isn’t my thing. So killing myself would be the easiest thing to do.

 My results: “You’re going to die by being bit by a zombie. Everything that made you you is dead and all that’s left is a hunger- driven shell of a human. With time to say goodbye, and to reflect on your coming zombie transformation you decided to not to kill yourself and join the shambling masses.”

After the quiz: By saying I’d kill myself I didn’t mean I’d become a zombie! But if I think about it for a minute, zombies are kind of cool. So maybe becoming a zombie and then turning other people to zombies would be actually a fun thing to do.

Are you girlfriend material?

The only reason why I’ve decided to take this quiz, is because there was a picture of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling from The Notebook, and I love The Notebook. I guess for my last quiz I’m going to take, I’ll find out if I’m a girlfriend material.

Before the quiz: No. I’m definitely not the girlfriend material.

My results: “No, you’re not girlfriend material...yet. Sometimes the truth hurts, but you’ve got some work to do before jumping into a relationship. You tend to think of yourself foremost which suggest a lack of empathy. Your shyness could be an issue. Negativity is also a tough sell. Try to see the bright side of things! Remember to be yourself and have fun with people. Everyone is a little scared of meeting strangers, you just need to believe more in yourself.”

After the quiz: Ouch, that actually hurts. I mean, I knew I’m not a girlfriend material but those words were too harsh. And also- how can I be myself, if I can’t be negative and shy? Take that, quiz result!

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this post, I certainly did enjoy taking all of these fun quizzes. And if you take any of these quizzes, don’t forget to comment down your results.


Love, Sara Wallflower

Zagreb and Eurobasket 2015

Hello everybody!

A few weeks ago, on September 10th to be exact, we went on a school trip to Zagreb, Croatia. I’ve never been to Zagreb before, but I was really excited to visit it, since my mother went to school there and she told me so many nice things about it.

We first went to The Dražen Petrović Memorial Center, which was a vision of Biserka and Jole Petrović, Dražen’s parents. Dražen Petrović was one of the best basketball players in eighties and one of the best Croatian athletes in general. I really enjoyed exploring this museum and it was an amazing feeling to see all of his trophies, old photos, first basketball, video about his life... We had the great honour to meet Dražen’s mother Biserka, who told us some words about Dražen’s life and his passion about basketball.

After visiting the museum, we then got the chance to wander around the city and our guide told us some interesting things about Zagreb and its sights. But we were all excited to see the basketball match between Slovenia and Macedonia, so we just couldn’t wait to finish our city tour.

Before the match we went to the big shopping center near Arena Zagreb and my friend and I wanted to visit every store we saw. But unfortunately we hadn’t got enough time and we had to go to Arena Zagreb. Our guide gave us Eurobasket T-shirts, so we were all able to support Slovenia basketball team. We were all screaming encouraging words to the players through the whole game and they did an amazing job. Slovenia won 62: 51 and we couldn’t be happier.

Unfortunately we had to go back to Slovenia, but the ride back home was anything else but boring. We talked about our day and the match and I really hope our professors will soon organize a similar trip.

I also really hope I’ll be able to visit Zagreb as soon as possible, because it’s a beautiful city, full of amazing sights and interesting people.



Love, Sara Wallflower

Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award

Hello everybody!


Not long ago a lovely blogger styleccentricfashion nominated me for Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award, for which I'm extremely thankful! I was really excited and I couldn't wait to write this post, so here are the questions I have to answer:

How did blogging change your life?
Since I've first started blogging I feel like I've gained a lot of confidence. I posted three or four outfit posts and for me this is a really big accomplishment, because before I wouldn't let anyone even take photos of me. And during those months of blogging and growing I've slowly stopped caring about what other people think of me, my work, my appearance and I've learned to only care about what people who actually know me and most importantly what I think of myself.

How do you describe yourself and your blog?
I'm the worst at describing, but I'd usually describe myself as a mess. I like so many different things, I always change my mind and my interests, so I think that is probably shown in my blog, which is also a mess. A mess of beauty, lifestyle, travel, fashion posts, so I'm not sure how to describe my blog other than 'a lovely mess'.

What is your best single post?
The best post to me is actually my first real post DIY: Summer Candle Holders. I don't know why, but I'm really proud of it and I had so much fun while making those candle holders with my sister and mother.

What are some of your strengths that really helped you in blogging?
I'm not sure if this is considered a strength, but before I started blogging I wasn't following any bloggers beside Zoe Sugg and because of that I was able to be creative, to write the posts however I wanted... I was also able to create my own style of writing, come up with so many different post ideas without the feeling I'm stealing someone else's idea, which now happens quite often.

What type of social media do you think is better to enhance your traffic to the blog?
The main reason I've started blogging and I'm still doing it, is to express my feelings and not to gain more followers or enhance traffic. Most bloggers use Twitter, but I always forget to tweet (I know, I'm the worst blogger).

How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently?
My main priority during the school is definitely school work and I mostly try to write new posts, take photos, reply to comments on Saturday and Sunday. But I'm really bad at managing my time, so I mostly wait to the very last minute to do anything.

What is your greatest achievement outside of blogging?
I think every achievement in my life is important and helps me grow in certain area.

How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
The main thing that motivates me are all of the nice comments I get, in general I appreciate any nice feedback whether it be in a form of a comment on my blog, as a message on Twitter or as a question on Ask.fm... All of that motivates me.

Are you trying to make money through blogging?
The last thing that's on my mind while I'm blogging is money. As I said before, I blog to express my feelings and opinions, and also meet new people, find new products to try, improve my writing and not for the money.

What do you find the most frustrating aspect of blogging?
To me is the feeling like I have to keep my blog running. I sometimes feel like I have to write a post even if I don't have any inspiration and when I look back I can tell which posts were written while I felt like that.

My nominees are:

lisaxbeauty // beautycandyloves // stylishpatterns // themayden // the-not-so-girlygirl // thecollectionofknowledge // wildvagabondss // crazyinlife // aredlipandlove // minaleme

My questions are:

Where do you find inspiration for blogging?
What was the main reason you have started blogging and what is the main reason you're still blogging?
Do you sometimes think about quitting blogging and if so, why?
Is there any post you feel really proud of?
What do you think are some pros and cons of blogging?
Do you read all of the comments and what do you think of them?
Is there any particular blogger that has encouraged you to start blogging?
What are the three things you can't imagine living without as a blogger?
What is your advice for the bloggers who have just started blogging?
If you could choose again, would you choose blogging?

Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award recognizes the unique voices of women bloggers around the world.

To accept this award, here are the rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
Put the award logo on your blog.
Answer the ten questions they have set you.
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Nominate ten people.


Love, Sara Wallflower
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