Author: thegothicshollow

Hello, few readers of this blog! I don’t know if you’re still there and if you still follow this zombie website, but if you are, thank you for your commitment!

I was just passing by and thought about writing a few lines about what’s up and whether I’m ever going to post here again about any of the topics I dealt with in this website.

The answer is: maybe, but probably not in the same way. Here’s an update on my main three topics: DIY cosmetics, zero waste kitchen and art.

Read more: Long time no see…

DIY cosmetics

I have stopped making my own cosmetics since two years by now, basically since when I started my current job. The reasons were mainly lack of time, but also skepticism about the microbiological stability of homemade cosmetics, and last but not least, I was fed up with the (Italian) green/DIY cosmetics world.

To give you an idea of how bad the Italian “bio-cosmetics” world is, I just found out that a blog/Facebook page I collaborated with in the past (notably, it was actually the company of the admin and we were basically unpaid employees who created content for their company for free under the mask of helping with a blog/page) keeps posting on their social media my own old Facebook posts, with my own photos and artwork, without my permission. They even sell gadgets with my artwork printed on it. That’s not a smart thing to do with the content of someone working in intellectual property, you’ll say, but the owner is definitely not one of the brightest minds I’ve encountered in my life, indeed.

Anyway, while I sort out this copyright problem with this blog/page, if you see the formulations or the artwork I posted here on my blog somewhere around in the web/social media, feel free to report this to me, as I have currently not given any permission to anyone to use my content for their websites or shop.

Back to DIY cosmetics, while I am not making elaborated formulations anymore, I have been experimenting with various approaches in skincare, from a very minimalistic and mostly DIY one first, to the full power of the 5 step routine by Paula’s Choice, and now I’m going back to a minimal skincare with very few (and rather cheap) products, which however I do not make on my own. When I’ll have found my balance, perhaps that’s something I might want to share on this blog.

Henna is back!

I also went back to dyeing my hair with red henna after a rather long break and a dramatic haircut to get rid of all the black indigo dye. My temporary rejection for henna was again due to my revulsion for the Italian bio-cosmetics world, which is full of crap and scientific ignorance (sorry but your “pinch of baking soda” won’t make your 500 g of henna paste alkaline – and it’s better this way!). Now I took a different approach and forced myself to forget all the weird beliefs of the bio-fellows and I started from scratch: I have started reading and learning about the chemistry of henna, thanks to the wonderful work of Catherine Cartwright-Jones (which you can find here) and finally I understood why I was so skeptical about what I have always read on the Italian henna-related blogs. It was simply the chemist inside me reacting to all that bullshit and begging me to be reasonable!

Long story short, I’m back into henna but with a clearer mind, no pressure on having to post anything on social media about it, and hair that is becoming longer, healthier and redder. This might be something I may write about in the future in more detail.

My job has forced me to give up my original zero waste project, too, which involved a lot of making basic preparations from scratch. For a while I went back to a „normal“ life and to buy grocery at the normal supermarket, but then I found my deus ex machina: there is a delivery supermarket called Alpakas, which deliveries groceries you buy through their nice app to your home in a completely plastic-free way and with returnable (!) bags and jars. They deliver only in Berlin and Munich as of now, so don’t rush in looking for them in your city, I am just lucky to live in a city where they are present.

Thanks to this system and to a strict meal plan and meal prep organization that I developed with my husband, now we are back on track and our kitchen is plastic free for the major part. We manage to always cook our meals (both lunch and dinner even during the week), although we both work very long hours, which not only allows us for less waste, but also for healthier meals and, well, it saves us quite a lot of money. My recipes are now very simple and I do not make basic ingredients from scratch, therefore I do not plan to expand this section of my blog. Maybe I’ll write something about our organization strategies, which may help those who, like us, work more than 10 hours a day and have limited time to dedicate to cooking and to the household.

Another thing I almost gave up completely is drawing and graphic design. I have a plan on taking some courses and improve my technique, but who knows when I will have the time and the mental energy to do this! I am in the middle of preparing for the (many) exams to become a patent attorney and therefore my evenings and weekends have a pretty tight schedule (or I am simply too tired and all I can do is reading a book). I am not even playing the piano right now, but I hope to get back to a state in which I can do at least one creative activity again.

I think that’s it for now – sorry for the long story of my life but it has been a long time since the last time I posted anything and I know there are some fellow readers out there, I just thought about giving you some updates.

One last thing: I am still without public social media account, but you can always contact me via email!