Hello summer!

Summer's here! Who's happy? *raises hand*
As usual, it's been several months since I last posted on this blog. I had so much to do both in school and out of it so I just didn't even think about it, honestly.
Anyways, I'm here today with something to say. I have to be out in about half an hour so I'll try to condensate everything in the smallest space.

Summer has come. Summer is usually the time of changes. Especially when you're in school. You don't see your schoolmates for three whole months (or two, depending where you from), and you have time to reinvent yourself or at least to start doing that. It's the right period to change your hair, go abroad, make new acquaintances, lose weight, gain weigh.. in short, it's the right period of the year to choose a new you and to work on the project, so that when you come back to school or work or whatever you can kind of start anew.
That's why I love summer. And also, you get to sleep more, get tanned, go out at night and have fun, which hey, who doesn't like that? (Sociopaths).
Anyways. I'm one of those people who changes here. Well actually, I'm not used to change hair every single summer, but this one I did. And I'm happy about it! I also have a lot of projects. Okay, a lot of them failed miserably but hey, what did I say about the three months? We've got time. And we can make new projects if the first ones failed.
To be precise, I originally had to go to London with a friend of mine, and spend the whole summer there. Then she got in a fight with her mother and poof! Summer gone, she had to stay here. So that was a major letdown. HOWEVER, I get to go to SRI FUCKING LANKA IN AUGUST! Yeeeesss. You heard that right. You don't even know where Sri Lanka is though, do you? It's a small island south of India, more or less. And I'm obsessed with Eastern Asia, in case you didn't know, so HURRAY!
Anyways, as you can see, there's always something you can do even if your original plans didn't go the way you wanted them to.

But what the heck is she trying to get to, you might be wondering. Well, what I'm telling you is that summer is finally here, so START MOVING! Don't wait around, don't waste time, God knows time is the most precious thing we have, so stop wishing and start doing. If there's something you've always been afraid to do, do it now. It's time. It's time for you to do it, and if you're no good at it, you can IMPROVE. You have three months to improve. Summer is the time of the year when we're-metaphorically speaking-invincible, so come on! I too have some struggles and challenges for this summer, and I'm going to work for them. So you should too! Make new friends. Go out. Celebrate. Get drunk, yes. Do whatever you want and remember that it's time. It's time for you to start acting so LET'S. DO. IT!

Happy Easter! (+ random weird accidental potential life lesson)

Helloooooooooooooo readers. :)
What's going on in your lives? Are you happy? Aren't you? Tell me about it.
And happy Easter!!
Don't know if you're religious or not, don't even care, happy Easter anyway. Sooo... I've been absent for almost two months from this blog. I'm such a terrible blogger, I know. The second-to-last post I wrote was dated November, and the last one February. Aaah. I just can't keep up with blog rhythms. But I'm trying. Because, you know, I like writing and talking to people and mastering the beautiful and marvellous art that is communication.
(no wonder I study languages)
Did I tell you? (of course I didn't) I went to England! Like, one week ago. Not to London, though. I went to a little cute town called Chester near Liverpool. It was a school trip so we stayed in a host family for a week and all in all it was a pretty cool experience. My family was a bit crazy but I liked them.
I fell in love with England even more than before, if that's even possible. I so want to go back there. And it's sad, because as things stand right now I don't have any trip abroad to look forward to in the near present. The next sure one is going to be in winter (my last high school trip :'( sigh, I'm getting old), so that's pretty far in the future. (for me, at least)
So yeah, I don't know what to do with my life in this period. I'm bored, and in need of a serious change. I'm trying to perfectionate myself, in the meantime. I read this book called 'Rules of Life', which you may find stupid and even useless, but to me it was helpful. Not gonna lie, and I'm not even trying to brag, but most of the things the book suggested to do, I already was doing, so I'm pretty happy on that side. (like, respect other people, don't ever do something you would never want to be done to yourself, try to always stay positive.. crap like that) But it also said things that I wasn't doing and that made me realize maybe I should try them out. Like, if on one side society tells us we need to be perfect, on another they're screaming at us that esteriority is not important. That how you're inside is what matters. So I've got my head divided in two and I don't know what to do.
But this book actually helped me, because it wasn't talking about society but it was talking about me. And it was talking about self-respect, and this glorious book told me that not for other people but for myself, when I get up in the morning I should think that this is a brand new day and I can do anything I want to, and that I should dress nice for it. I should take care of myself, of my face, my body, and yes, even my clothes. Because it's myself we're talking about, it's my body I have to take care of so I should always try to look as best as I can. You get it? Not for other people, but for myself. It's one of the basic rules for achievement. We can't be perfect, we all know we can't, but where's the fault in doing as best as we can?
So that's what the book said. I don't know if I made myself clear, I hope so. In any case, if you want to you can check it out and it's called The Rules of Life by Richard Templar. Now I don't honestly know who this dude is, so he could be a giant idiot known all over the world except for Italy for all I know, but what I know is that if you ignore the whole perhaps-he's-an-idiot-perhaps-he's-not factor, this book can really help you. Maybe you won't agree with every single advice in it, but you can still take something useful out of it. There's always room for improvement, and even in the most idiotic thing or person there's something you can learn, so don't forget that.

But why was I talking about Richard Templar? Oh yeah, I'm trying to improve my life. So I'm reading a lot again (I had this period recently where I could only concentrate on my feelings and didn't feel the need to read. I believe I was fancied myself in love, what an idiot), and I'm even trying to put make-up decently on my face (JK. I already did that. I like make-up. Lots of people say it's just fake, but to me it's a kind of form of art, but on the face instead of on paper or canvas or walls or whatever, which actually makes it all the more special. And also, make-up is not fake. It enhances beauty. And if you use good products, it also helps your skin and your face which is good) and I'm paying a bit more attention to what I wear. And you know what? It's FUN. I don't get why people find it stressful to dress nicely and have a decent make-up. I find myself quite at ease standing in front of my wardrobe and trying new outfits. It's relaxing. And it's nice when  you look at yourself in the mirror and you go 'hey, you look nice today', instead of 'oh god another day of work/school/shit/whatever' so why not try it?

So yes, improving is good. And even aiming at perfection is good. God knows you're never gonna achieve it, and you should in your heart know it too, but you can get as close as you can to it. It's kind of like with grades at school. If you point at a B, which is fair enough, you could get a C+, or a B- (or even a B if you're really good), but if you aim at A++++, it doesn't matter that it doesn't exist as a grade, you'll still get an A or an A+ which is as good as you can get in this freaking world and THAT'S good. Again, I don't know if I made myself clear but I hope so because I'm trying to tell you something important here.
So you get what I mean? You don't need to be perfect, but AIM at perfection. And aim at it positively, with a good spirit, not with the feeling that you won't be okay until you achieve it because otherwise you'll just be disappointed. Try to be as best as you can, and don't listen to people who try to bring you down and just follow your own lead. Be yourself, and be free and be awesome you know?
Aaand why did this post turn into this witty philosophical whatever speech? I really didn't mean to end up trying to give the cyber world a lesson. God knows we all hate those.
But.. I hope I helped you somehow. Because I like helping people (see? Rules of Life. Thoough I guess we all already know helping each other is good) and people are cool and.. yeah.
Let me know what you think!
Just.. tell me what you feel. If you want to. Or comment on the book, if you've read it. Insult Richard, if you want. (no, wait, don't. it's BAD) But tell me if you do know who he is!


Aaaand.. I guess that's it for today.
Thanks for readin! ;)

Personal beliefs (list of 'cruelty-free' cosmetics brands)

Hiiii! Wow, I haven't posted since November on this blog. Shame on me! I'm so sorry guys. Life's tough, you know.

So. Today I would like to talk about animals. That is, their treatment and their sufferings.
You may not know, but I'm a vegetarian. Or at least I'd like to call myself that. Actually, my parents are set against this 'diet' of mine, so they'll do anything in their power to object. Like not making me leave the table until I eat one freaking piece of meat. (which I don't, most of the time. Usually the things ends in an argument and me slamming my door)
But anyways. I started last year (March, if I recall correctly), but I haven't been a proper vegetarian. Between my parents, and me switching from one opinion to another, there were times in which I didn't eat meat (or fish) and other when I did. I officially decided a few months ago and I'm trying to stick to it. Yes, sometimes (although rarely) I do eat meat/fish, but that's because my mother obliges me. I believe vegetarianism is more of a let's call it philosophy. So I stick to those values and I totally agree with them. But sometimes if I really have to eat then I won't be like 'oh, the horror!'. I'll just eat the damn thing.
That has happened like, two times in six months, so it's not that bad, but still. I was just pointing that out.
So that's how I see it. I really don't like the idea of having animals killed to feed me. There are so many other things in nature that I can eat without anyone dying.
But anyways, with this post I'm not trying to convert you or anything. I'm just pointing out how I see it. Then eveybody gets to have their own opinion on the matter.

So, why did I start talking about animals today then? Because. I'm all like 'killing animals is wrong', 'we should respect them' and stuff, but do I really do that?
Food is not the only aspect in which animals are cruelly treated. I'm talking about cosmetics. There certainly are a lot more things to talk about, but that's my topic for today.
I mean it doesn't make sense that I act like a vegetarian if then I'm gonna use products tested on animals. Even my mother agrees on this fact. So today I'll be writing down for you guys a list of 'cruelty free' and not-cruelty-free cosmetics brands, so you can decide what you wanna do.
It's hard to find cruelty-free brands because until not long ago (and it's still up in the US and Japan, I believe) it was actually law that products should be tested on animals first, for safety measures.
Now in Europe, as far as I know, a finished product cannot be tested on animals. But there's a loophole there, because the single components can still be tested on animals and then you just put the whole thing together and say it's not tested. But the ingredients are. So there you go. Don't trust the 'not tested on animals' signs on products because that just means the FINISHED product wasn't tested. But the ingredients might (highly probable) have been tested.
I've been looking for a complete and correct list of all the cruelty-free cosmetics brands in circulation, but on every website I visited I found different information (like on one website someone would say a product was cruelty-free and on another one they said the contrary) so I thought I'd post for you a sort of 'medium' for all those. The brands that I found in most websites, so I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) the info is correct.
Here's the lists:
(note: if you have any suggestions to make, like a brand is actually cruelty-free or another one is not, just tell me so I can update the list!)



Cruelty-free:

• Afterglow CosmeticsAvon Cosmetics 
• Barry M Cosmetics
• Clarins of Paris 
• D'aymons Naturalerbe  Derbe (Regenè, Speziali Fiorentini, Seres)  
• Dr Taffi  
• e.l.f.  
• Essence  
• Estée Lauder  
• Evan Bartholomew  
• Fitocose  
• Flora-Primavera  
• Gosh Cosmetics  
• Hawai (Hawai, Oris, Anthyllis)  
• Helan  Indica (vegan)  
• I Serafini  
• Kiko
• L'amande/Gavarry  
• L'Erbolario 
• L'Occitane  
• LUSH Cosmetics
• M.A.C. Cosmetics  
• Montagne Jeunesse 
• nyx   
• Officina Naturae  Pedrini (Lepo Line)  
• OPI Products  
• Pure luxe  
• Rebis  
• Remedia
• Revlon 
• The Body Bakery 
• Too Faced  
• Urban Decay  
• Victoria's Secret  
• Yes to Carrots  
• Yves Rocher  

Those who do test on animals:

• Aussie
• Aveeno
• Chanel
• Clairol 
• Colgate   
• Cover Girl 
• Dior  
• Dolce & Gabbana 
• Dove
• Garnier 
• Givenchy
• Gucci 
• Helena Rubenstein
• Herbal Essences
• Hugo Boss (perfumes)  
• Infasil
• Johnson & Johnson 
• Lancome    
• L'Oréal (Garnier, Maybelline, Vichy, Biotherm, Cacharel, Giorgio Armani, Helena Rubinstein, Lancôme, Matrix Essentials, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken, Soft Sheen)  
• Yves Saint Laurent  
• Max Factor 
• Olay
• Oral B 
• PanteneInfasil
• Procter & Gamble 
• Rimmel London  
• Oil of Olaz 
• Sunsilk Dove 
• Sally Hansen 
• Valentino (perfumes)

[you can find more at: http://www.peta.org/]


(note: Body Shop is part of L'Oreal but sells cruelty-free products. In fact, a fuss was made when L'Oreàl bought The Body Shop, since L'Oreal tests and TBS does not. So you can buy BS products, but you're giving money to L'Oreal!)

Again, if you know of other brands who do test on animals, or don't, please tell me so I can upload the list.
Now that you're aware of who respects animals and who doesn't go do some shopping! The choice is up to you.