A year in blogging - statistics

Thanks to my trusted friend Google Analytics I have some vague possibility to spy on my readers :). I do apologize for doing so but I just can not help myself - it's too interesting. Since January 1st 2010 I've had 23 187 visits by 14 519 wonderful unique visitors, some stayed longer and really took a lot of interest in  this blog. I feel flattered, thank you all for stopping by :)

	Country/Territory	Visits
1.	Estonia	8,265
2.	United States	4,702
3.	United Kingdom	1,014
4.	Finland	831
5.	Canada	690
6.	France	678
7.	Poland	657
8.	Germany	588
9.	Japan	564
10.	Italy	417
11.	Singapore	404
12.	Spain	392
13.	Australia	308
14.	Sweden	259
15.	Russia	246
16.	Brazil	188
17.	Belgium	163
18.	Turkey	145
19.	Netherlands	142
20.	Norway	141

These were the most popular keywords:

	Keyword	visits
1	i.r. pale	877
2	mineraalmeik	807
3	micabella	634
4	mmumaailm	220
5	tkb trading swatches	122
6	tkb trading	106
7	manhattan cosmetics	87
8	coastal scents australian amber	80
9	tkb swatches	79
10	archetype haul	68
11	elf mineral eyeshadow swatches	67
12	the conservatorie	67
13	how to find your foundation color online	64
14	i.d bare minerals	58
15	mica bella	58
16	ecotools brushes review	50
17	ilu sõnum 2010	50
18	mac nc15	46
19	tkb trading haul	43
20	kabuki pintsel	42
21	edm foundation	40
22	archetype swatches	35

And this years most popular posts:
E.L.F. mineral haul arrived today!
How to find your foundation online? & How to choose foundation color?
MicaBella jõudis Eestisse
E.L.F. mineral lipsticks - not bad at all
Lumene Natural Code liquid foundation in Vanilla
Ilu Sõnum 2010 / Beauty World 2010 in Tallinn, 8-10 October
Hair conditioners
TKB Trading, LLC : planning another haul
Everyday Minerals haul from June (been lazy recently)

Eesti linnadest on eelmisel aastal kõige rohkem Tallinna rahvast blogi kiikamas käinud. Päris paljud teavad blogi nime- ja aadressipidi ja tulevad otse läbi Google. Minu jaoks oli tõeliseks üllatuseks, et Ilu Sõnumit käsitlev postitus nii popp oli - seal oli vaid link flaierile ja veidi hädaldamist teemal, et nende blogi unustusehõlma vajunud on. Micabella osas peaksin vist mõne konsultandi hõlma hakkama ja puudrite nahaswatchid tegema, tundub kuum teema olevat - toob blogisse palju uudistajaid - aga konkreetne temaatiline sisu on ju täitsa olematu :S.

1	Tallinn	4,738
2	Tartu	1,868
3	Parnu	739
4	Rakvere	300
5	Viljandi	192
6	Voru	79
7	Johvi	74
8	Kuressaare	62
9	Haapsalu	56
10	Polva	55
11	Paide	35
12	Valga	18
13	Jogeva	16
14	Narva	10
15	Keila	8

EOTD with Conservatorie's purples

Why does one of my eyes seem bigger then the other?

Primers used: Manhattan's eyeshadow base, TKB Trading's Champagne on the brow-bone and under the eyes, Manhattan's eye liner on upper lash line.

Decided to try purples: Conservatorie's Lavender in outer corners and Elegant Gold in inner corners - looked too garish. So covered the gold with a touch of Periwinkle (a mistake, definitely not my color - very shiny pale blue) and then covered the entire mess with Lavender, again. Used Sparkling Violet to create definition in the crease and then had the help of TKB's Fine White (in inner corners) and Hilite Orange (just above the crease, to blend darker purple). Result - not stunning, but definitely not as bad as the one I came up first with.

Typical winter light, pic made with the soapbox.

e.l.f glitter Studio brush collection...

...is being sold by the e.l.f US store at 2/3 the usual price until January 3rd. Do not jump for this offer - first of all it's the same as the ordinary Studio set, only the handles are a bit glittery and secondly,  if you do crave it,  it would be wiser to wait for another -50% all Studio event. That'll come for sure (for theUS folks, US store).

Funny thing is - the powder brush in my glitter set has no glitter at all :D, it's totally ordinary. All the rest have glittery handles.

Here's my ordinary set with some extras:

click me to biggify

NOTE: skunk brush aka stippler (6th from above) and the large angled blender (7th from above) are brushes you must buy separately, those are not in the kit although they are presented here on the photo. Skunk brush should be bigger and denser, right now it's more suitable fro blush and highlighter then liquid foundi application. You can apply foundation with it but it will take a lot of time.

Studio brushes are wonderful for beginners and makeup-enthusiasts like me. Even professionals get a kick out of them. Brushes in this set are either adored or hated and you can see glowing and devastating reviews on the same brush: i.e. blush brush (3rd from above) - "too small and flimsy" vs "HG contouring brush" - go figure. I do not exactly love this one, I use skunk brush (6th from above) for blush. 

IMHO the pointless ones are fan brush (no 1, too soft to wipe the fall-out) and the praised eyeshadow C-brush (9th, too bloody big! I use concealer brush (8th) on my lids instead). 

I do not use the foundation brush (2nd from above) cause I'm into powder foundation and it's useless for me but others get spare ones cause it's supposedly "fantastic for foundation" and contouring too (nose contouring especially). The only universally loved brush in this set is the powder brush (5th from above). The point is - you wont know which brushes you'll love until you get the set. 

PROS: it's cheap if you get it on sale, brushes are soft and do not shed; it's also virtually impossible to vuck them up when cleaning (important for beginners), expensive natural fibre brushes are much more vulnerable to abuse.

CONS: the ferrules tend to loosen - these are wooden handles! wooden handles swell when wet and shrink when drying - they will start to come loose in time. A bit of glue will take care of it.

e.l.f'i sünteetliste meigipintslite komplekt on algaja ja asjaarmastaja jaoks kui loodud - sünteetilised pintslikarvad taluvad nii mõndagi, mille peale looduslik kiud juba ammu vildiks ketruks (nagu näiteks niiskesse froteerätikusse puhtaksnühkimine, mea maxima culpa). 
Selle komplekti kohta on väga vastukäivad arvustused, ainuke kõigi poolt armastatud pintsel tundub olema powder brush ehk siis lame puudripintsel (ja sellele on leitud ikka seinast seina kasutust: põsepuna, kontuurimine, mineraalpuudri ja jumestuskreemi pealekandmine), üldiselt heaks kiidetakse ka complexion brush ehk jumepintsel (selle ülesandeks on tavaliselt pealispuudri õrn pealekandmine). 
Veel kiidetakse suurt C-kujulist lauvärvipintslit kuid mina ei kujuta ette nii suuri silmi, see pintsel katab vabalt poole mu laust. Seevastu põsepuna ja jumestuskreemipintslite arvustused lähevad juba kardinaalselt lahku. 
Sünteetilised pintslikarvad on pehmed, ei pudene ning ei aja värvi. Ainuke häda studio pintslite juures on varte ärakukkumine: puust varred niiskuvad ja pärast kuivavad ning tõmbuvad kokku, hakkavad loksuma. Surts liimi parandab selle vea.

TKB vs Conservatorie: browns

Australian Amber - warm medium brown, strong sheen
Luster Brown (Conservatorie) - colder medium brown
Super Brilliant Mocha (Conservatorie) - bright reddish brown
Sparkle Mocha (Conservatorie) - less sparkly reddish brown
Brilliant Mocha (Conservatorie) -  light cool (cooler then others) brown, great sheen
Moonstone - almost purplish brown, low sheen
Cupreous Brown (Conservatorie) - looks dark in the bag but actually high sheen medium warm brown
Brown Coco (Conservatorie) - matte dark brown
Dark Bronze (Conservatorie) - orange based bronze, high sheen
Chameleon Glitter  (Conservatorie) - orange base, blue sheen, silvery sparkle
Chameleon Fine - dark orange base, silvery blue sheen
Chameleon (Conservatorie) - same, just more sheer (the dark red base is missing, it's lighter and more salmon)
Deep Russet - dark wine red
Antique Copper - warm sheen, orange based dark brown
Swiss Chocolate - warm dark brown, tiny orange sparklies

with the cheap camera

Now all the "brown" browns together (excluded the reddish ones)

Australian Amber - one of TKB's best selling browns
Luster Brown (Conservatorie) - simple medium brown
Brilliant Mocha (Conservatorie) - medium brown with strong bronze sheen
Cupreous Brown (Conservatorie) - where's the copper? looks more like golden sheen to me
Brown Coco (Conservatorie) - cool brown
Sandlewood (Simply Naturals) - dark cool brown, unfortunately a bit too dark for my eyebrows
Cafe Satin (Simply Naturals) - adore this silvery taupe! it's just perfect

with the good camera