That Luxurious Feeling – the 1st Year!

Hi Guys! If you all could see me now, you would probably witness a girl with a smug, happy smile. You know me: I like to celebrate the small things in life. Not with huge gestures, but still – you know – at lest pay attention to what’s good in life.

This will not be a regular thank you-note. Or a beauty article for that matter. I thought I would list some of the things I’ve noticed and learnt over this year. I hope it will bring smiles of recognition to your faces as well!

♥ The amount of scented candles one seem to have or accumulate is ridiculous. Either we love them and light them, or we just simply need them for that perfect Instagram picture. I know I’m not alone here?! (And a sponsorship from Diptyque is definitely on the Xmas wish list).

♥ The Local Flower Shop/Market/Stand/Neighbours garden. If you don’t know botanical names of flowers when you start out, you’re about to be a PRO 1 year in. Especially when you know the names in your own language, but can’t figure it out in English and is forced to draw pictures to describe what you want to order. My deepest apologies 800 flower for the lack of Latin.

♥ The sheer weight of makeup and skincare. When you start to ship liquids overseas and need to pay shipment fees on the weight. Yes, it is extra sensitive when you happen to love Toners. It’s like shipping water on a global arena. And happily be paying for the insanity. Thank you Cult Beauty for the fixed shipping fee!

♥ Everyone who loves makeup seem to be Crazy Cat ladies. Or, they own dogs. Basically: I’m laughing at myself, being such a Cat-moma, because everytime I find a site or an Instagram feed I like, the owner soon starts to show the cat(s). It’s like the two interests attract each other. I’m loving it!

♥  It’s a family affair. Everyone who lives with or just happens to be related to a person who writes about beauty on a daily basis is about to learn a thing or two even if they don’t need to. I swear, there can’t be any other male, age 60+ who knows this much about lipsticks in the world! Thanks Dad for reading all my articles without exceptions.

♥ The huge mountain of GWP makeup bags one seem to gather up! Yes, they are all so lovely so I’m not complaining. But when you purchase beauty in the same way others do grocery shopping (at least once a week) then you are bound to hit all the special promotions in the world, by brands you love and others you simply knocked over on your way out of the store. SAs recognise you as a loyal customer and love to allure you with their special gifts. Can we please make the beauty companies come up with an alternative GWP than I makeup pouch? My lovely Mom will soon be having one bag for each of her makeup items if this thing continues.

♥ Picture this: we are about to head out to dinner at friend’s and I want to bring a small hostess gift. My husband then turns to me with the thing saying: ” do we have any suitable bag to pack this in? Imagine my stare. Owning a beauty-related site means everything that enters the home comes in pretty, lush, extravagant shopping bags! How many of them do I save? Do I want to count?!

Yeah babe, I think we can find a bag in our apartment.

♥ The elephant in the room: storage. In our wonderful community we talk about almost anything and everything. Not always beauty-related. But there seems to be one thing that we don’t really share (and I’m dying to know). All the major Youtube’s or Bloggers (Temptalia excused as she does share) how do you store your full collections?! It is not only about having products locked away in plastic boxes. One like to be able to find and use the products, have a good overview of the collection and also deal with the fact that those products given to you for review consideration also needs a place to sleep. No discrimination in my home lol. All beauty that enters the door need a proper space to rest. But where. Can we please start to share the secret?

♥ The thing with Limited Edition collections. Skincare is one thing. We know that the bottle/tube/jar will get a pretty packaging. It photographs well but the product itself will most likely have a very short shelf life. Then for makeup I absolutely dislike the new trend where the “limited” part is a special embossing in the product; which rubs off the second you want to use the new item! Please, can we have the limited edition design on the packaging! And by that, I mean the makeup item itself and not the paper box. Yes, I’m looking at you, Burberry and Guerlain.

♥ And when we are on the note of paper boxes and packagings: lets face it! We need a storage solution for those as well. Hardcore makeup enthusiastic nerds know that they can’t throw away these as they a) might be a part of a limited edition collection and valuable at some point later in life or b) the damn INCI-list is printed on the box and it’s kind of important. Raise your hands, all who have storages with empty paper boxes sitting around your house!

♥ And finally a note on how this passion and interest rubs off on the loved ones. Hubby have been kind enough to come with me to master classes, walked every beauty floor there is from here to Sunday, learnt all the brands by default, been through so many duty-free shops on his business travels and kindly lets me perform facials on him on a weekly basis. He knows to ask for deluxe samples all by himself but sometime it can all be a little too much: as when I had a makeover with a Guerlain and he came to pick me up. My husband is very polite and always have something kid to say to the MUAs. He looked at my face, turned to this one and said: “wow, that’s really great contouring”.

Awkward silence. None of us knew how to really respond to that statement hahahaha. Bless him.

I think this is what I had to say for today. The first year with That Luxurious Feeling in this format has been a dream and so much hard work. It is a privilege to have so much fun at work every day, all year round and to meet such inspiring and talented persons because of it.

Huge hug from Dubai and thank you for reading, for all comments and emails and friendships. ♥

Love,

M

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12 Comments
    1. Hey Pav! Thanks for believing in me and being my nutty, crazy, beautiful sweetheart! Love you till the moon and back! xoxo

    1. Fiona my love, you are amazing! I’m truly happy to have you in my life, you always makes me laugh and you inspire me! Have a wonderful weekend and let’s enjoy another year now! Kisses, M

  1. Haha I loooved this post! My blog is brand new, but hopefully I can relate most of these points next year. I’m also curious how people store their things and what their vanity tables look like. My storage system isn’t secret, I show my Instagram props and brushes to everyone who dares to walk in haha. But I agree I haven’t found a way to store all those precious boxes I don’t dare to throw away (if I need it for a photograph……)

    Big congrats for the 1st year anniversary dear! xxx

    Laura / @laurantaina from http://www.lauraloukola.net/blog

    1. Awwwe Laura, I promise you in you that one year from now you’ll be able to recognise it all, and make your own list! I will be happy to read it then, I gathered all of these things throughout the year LOL. Thank you so so much for all your kindness! Kisses, M

    1. Hi wonderful Winter! Hahahaha, yeah I had hopes for it, that you would all get to recognize the behaviour lol. You are amazing and I’m so happy to have you to talk beauty with. Kisses from Dubai, M

  2. My dear, firstly am sorry for being late to find the right time and read this wonderful post. It’s written by your heart and thank you for making me smile duringt a lot of moments.
    I’m really happy to find you on IG and being able to read your post (I’ll try to follow your father and read all of them).
    It’s a real pleasure to go through your blog, see all your wonderful pictures and find out some incredible brands like Natura Bisse.
    I wish you the best for the next year and again Happy Birthday to you.
    Big hug,
    Mar

    1. Beautiful Mar! You always makes me so happy with your comments and the way our friendship develops is quite amazing! I wish I had your stunningly beautiful skincare collection but I get to enjoy it via your pictures and learn a lot on the products along the way. Thank you for everything, we will have such a fun year moving forward!! Kisses and Hugs, M

    1. Dear Dom, you always makes me smile and feel like I’ve done something good. I want you to know that I truly appreciate your sharp mind and warm heart. You are a true friend. Lots of hugs from Dubai. xoxo M

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