Music: "Beauty and the Beat", Bucharest 7th of May. Concert Notes

Hello my dear readers,

it is about time I write something about music. You must know about me that I love music: I breathe music, I sing music, I listen to music, I look at music[videos] and I go to music[concerts] ever since I can remember - I think I have painted a pretty convincing picture. But I love especially the unexpected music projects and one of these is Tarja Turunen's and Mike Terrana's "Beauty and the Beat" (it is pretty obvious who is which). I had the pleasure of going to their Bucharest concert together with the Bucharest Symphonic Orchestra and Choir on this Tuesday, the 7th of May.

I love symphonic music, Opera will always be my mistress and Rock music is their (sometimes) illegitimate child. What Tarja and Mike did was blend them all together and go around the world and perform with the local Symphonic Orchestras and Choirs. I think the courage alone to take on this last endeavor is highly laudable! To sing with new musicians such an extensive repertoire (from classical pieces to rock music and Tarja's own songs) almost every one-two concerts shows high professionalism and musical knowledge from all the participants at the musical act.

Even, if I knew that Tarja and Mike will perform various songs only with an orchestra and choir, on Tuesday I was amazed three times:
      Firstly by our amazing Symphonic Orchestra - we have highly talented musicians.
      Secondly by the great conductor, Florin Totan, who could conduct Mozart, as well as Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra or Tarja's own songs.
      Thirdly the funny moments provided by all the musicians on stage: the orchestra, choir, conductor, Tarja and Mike showed that you can still make music with joie de vivre.

The only downside was that the sound engineer could not harmonize Mike's drums to the orchestra at the first songs. Only from Rossini's "Barber of Seville" have they managed to blend his drums with the acoustic instruments.

This concert was delayed (for which she expressed her sincerest apologies at the very beginning of the concert), because in April, when it should have taken place, Tarja was very ill. Those who did not think this as true, should consider the fact that she was unable to sing "O mio babbino caro" and "Song to the Moon", both pretty difficult pieces with extensive parts in the high register, which require a stable voice in order to be able to perform the correctly. When you are recuperating from a laryngitis, your voice is anything but stable on the high notes.

I recommend you to go to this wonderful concert and experience Queen's "You Take My Breath Away", Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusic", Led Zeppelin's famous riffs, Tarja on drums while Mike seriously sings "Fly me to the Moon" complete with very funny moments provided everyone on stage. Needles to mention Tarja's performances on "Swanheart", "Into the Sun", "The Reign" and "Witch Hunt" will literally take you to places you've never been in a long time. All these complete with the classical Lieds, rock songs and Musicals pieces show a very versatile Tarja, with an amazing vocal technique few vocal artists achieve.

All in all "Beauty and the Beat" was a successful experiment and event, that took you away from this world for about 2 hours returning you fresh, happy and sad but safe, back to the world.

Have you also been to one (or more) of these experimental shows?

At the end Tarja promised to return within the tour to promote the new album, "Coulours in the Dark" on the 15th of October 2014 (more details on the album's blog).

Sing, it is great for the soul!
Alex.

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Behind the Mirror: Empties

My Dear Readers,

I think it is about time I presented to you some of the products I finished since I posted my last finished products post. It has been a very long time and for some products I don't have the packages anymore, because I had to get rid of them when I moved.
This is why the first products I will talk about don't have photos.

Goldwell Dualsenses Green Pure Repair 60 sec treatment
I haven't been using any conditioner in more than 1 year, because I was using this product. I got the big bottle (1.500 ml) in December 2011 and it lasted until about February 2013 - so yes, more than 1 year. I loved it because it was all natural, it had goji berries, argan oil and shea butter extracts an no parabens, no silicones and it smelled divine. This is a hair mask, which should be used for damaged hair. My hair felt smooth, flexible and very silky by using this. I managed to grow it very long. When I used this hair treatment after henna, my hair felt amazing. I used it 2 times a week and during all this time, I did not use it entirely alone.
I recommend it to everybody who wants to have naturally beautiful hair. It really works.

elemental Mayam Apricot oil
I used this oil on its own to massage it into my neck and necklace areas in the evenings before I went to sleep, after I did my cleansing routine - being a rather heavy oil for my taste - compared to castor oil it is light - and entering slower into the skin I could not use it during the day. I wasn't very happy with the scent of this oil, but I liked the results of using it. The skin was brightened and looked much better - it is great for sensitive skin, because it calms it down and keeps it hydrated. I also used this oil in a combination with other oils (Aloe, Macadamia Nut, Tea Tree, Raspberry seed oil) when I was on the sea side, to help regenerate and calm down my skin after being to the beach.
It is an oil that can be used mostly on all skin types (in massages, for its illuminating effects), but if you have an oily skin I would not use it during the day and if it is acne prone, I would not use it more than 2-3 times a week.

Balea Med Creme-Öl Körperlotion
I got this body lotion last winter, when it was really cold and I got a horrible cold allergy. I used products from Balea Med before this one. Especially the products for highly sensitive skin (which have no smell and no parabens and have helped me with this allergy), but I wanted a bigger bottle than the one available for the highly sensitive skin products - this one was 400 ml. I got this and was not at all disappointed. The product even thought it has a thick consistency, it is almost immediately very well absorbed by the skin. The skin was hydrated in a way in which only the body oils I made did, without the oily sensations.
In the summer however I don't think I'll use this product, because it is somewhat too thick.

Alverde Deo mit Acerolakirsche
It has a 24h lasting effect and smells divine. I got this because it leaves no marks on the skin and has no aluminium  I recently purchased it again. I recommend it, but in the high summer, I think this product needs to be reapplied during the day.

Alverde Feuchtigkeitslotion Quitte und Brombeere
I got this product with the idea in mind, that it will be good for the winter time. Unfortunately I got a very bad allergy to the cold and had to switch to non-scented products, because it irritated my skin very much due to the smell. Even though it is an all natural product, my skin was that affected by the cold that no perfume (natural or not) was tolerated.
Once the cold was over I could use this product normally and I really enjoyed it's perfume without being affected by it. It has a light texture and it was very well absorbed by the skin, however not as hydrating as I would have wished.

Vichy Normaderm Solution Mincellaire
This is a product I bought last summer, shortly before my horrible acne breakout and which I haven't used since. I wanted to use it at the gym to remove the make-up before I worked out. I must admit I did not like this product very much, mainly because it dried my skin pretty badly. I decided to finish this product so I started using it again until I finished it, but I did not find it especially good. I did not see a big improvement on clearing or soothing my skin - I used it on a cotton pad to remove the first make-up layer, before using a face gel to deeply cleanse the skin.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Gel Moussant
I got this 400 ml bottle shortly before last Christmas and I used it up just at the beginning of April. I must admit I got completely hooked by this product - no wonder since it has citric acid (which helps gently exfoliate the skin) and zinc (which helps restore the skin tissue and heal the skin marks). It cleanses my skin without drying and it also keeps it from getting too fat. I think this is the best face wash I ever used and I highly recommend it to all those who have sensitive acne prone skin.
When I started using this product, in December my skin was starting to heal from the acne outbreak, but it was very dried out because of the treatment I received from the doctor. This gel helped by not over-drying and also by preventing the appearance of other blemishes. I also like the package it comes with and that it is really good value for money in this 400 ml size. I already got a new bottle.

astellas Zineryt
This is one of the products I received from my doctor to help cure the acne blemishes. It contains erythromycin (an antibiotic which helps cure a large range of bacteria) and zinc acetate (which helps hydrate and restore the affected tissue) as active ingredients. However the whole mixture is in alcohol and after about 5 weeks the product loses its effectiveness.
It did its job in a decent way, however I got to use a better product along the way. In any case this product is used during the day after cleansing the face, as a toner and before the make-up. During the colder months it is recommended to use a hydrating cream above it and in the summer a cream with SPF (30 or above).
Is you feel you need to use this product, ask your dermatologist first, because it is medicine.

Alcon Opti-Free Replenish
This is another bottle of the lenses solution I have used up. More details, on this can be found in this post.

Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl
I think this is the 4th one of these rimmels I have used up. I still love it, the only thing that bugs me with it, is that they added a perfume to this product. This disappointed me, because I do not like all things scented and especially not on the eyes, because I wear lenses and they are pretty sensitive. Otherwise it still does its job, but I am wondering, if I should not look for something non-scented, in order to prevent a possible allergy. Do you have a suggestion for a non scented rimmel that gives volume and curl to your lashes?
You can also find a blog post on this product here.

M.A.C. Blot Powder/ Pressed
This is my first ever M.A.C. product I used up. It lasted me for about 1 year and I loved it all the way. I had the color "Medium". It was a really good product for my oily skin (as its name, it blotted the skin) and it is very translucent, so it blended very well with all the foundations I used. I would most likely get this product again.
When I got this product at the M.A.C. counter, the lady was very nice and she was very helpful and supportive. It made me go again to the M.A.C. shop when I needed a new powder an later when I needed a foundation and concealer, but more on this to come.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios AC, SPF 30
It took me a year to finish this product, mainly because I started using it when I got the acne breakout and then had to switch to a 50 SPF and I had to abandon this product. I started using it again ever since the sun started burning on the sky again this spring and I finished it out. Another blog post on this product, you can find here.

What are your empties?
Smile, it is good for the skin!
Alex.

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Behind the Mirror: Cremă de ochi „făcută în casă”

Dragele și dragii mei cititori,

voi continua seria de produse cosmetice făcute în casă cu o cremă de ochi, pe care am facut-o în aceeași perioadă cu gelul de ochi, pe care vi l-am prezentat anterior.
Toate ingredientele, rețeta și recipientele au fost și de această dată luate de pe site-ul elemetal.
Această cremă este mai hidratantă decât gelul de ochi și o folosesc în principal noaptea.
Conține:
ulei de orez (un ulei foarte ușor, care intră repde în piele și prin proprietățile sale este foarte bun pentru îngrijirea zonei sensibile a ochilor)
acid hialuronic (ajută la refacerea epidermei și astfel are un efect de „umplere” a ridurilor)
extract de acmella (foarte bun în regenerearea tenului și tratarea ridurilor)
ulei esențial de trandafiri (pe lângă mirosul foarte frumos, ajută la circulația sanguină în capilare) șâ
apă de albăstrele (ajută la eliminarea lichidului de sub ochi și decolorează cearcănele).

Textura cremei este una foarte fină și penetrantă, fără a lăsa urme grase. Am folosit acestă cremă inclusiv după ce mi-am facut masaj cu ulei vegetal și a intrat foarte bine și repede în piele.
Termenul de folosire al acestui produs este tot de 3 luni, iar cantitatea rezultată ajunge pentru această perioadă.
Produsul nu costă foarte mult, dar poate fi ușor mai complicat de făcut pentru un începător, mai ales comparat cu gelul de ochi. Totuși rezultatele obținute merită efortul depus.

Smile, it is good for the skin!
Alex.

Behind the Mirror: Self-Made Eye Cream

Hello my dears,

to continue my series of posts related to self-made cosmetics, here I talk about an eye cream I made.
Again, all the ingredients, the recipe and the recipient are from elemetal.
I made this eye cream shortly after I did the eye gel and it is slightly more hydrating, so I use it at night.
It contains
rice oil (a very light oil, which enters the skin fast and due to its properties is very good to care for the sensitive area around the eyes)
hyaluronic acid (helps regenerate the skin and has a "filling up" effect against the wrinkles)
acmella extract (very goon active ingredient to regenerate the skin and help fight wrinkles)
essential rose oil (besides its lovely smell, it helps intensify the blood circulation in the capillary) and
corn flower water (helps eliminate the accumulated liquid under the eye and helps diminish the pigmentation around the eye).

The texture of this cream is very light and penetrates the skin deeply and leaves it hydrated  but without leaving a greasy film.
I used this cream at night even after I already made a massage with some oil on my area around the eye and it was still absorbed by the skin.
This product must also be used within 3 months and it also lasts for this entire period.
It is not very expensive, though for a beginner, it might be a bit complicated to be done compared to the eye gel. Nonetheless the results are worth it.

Smile, it is good for the skin!
Alex.

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