a still from a L’Oréal mascara advert featuring Penelope Cruz

This is my interpretation of her make-up. I do not think I look like Penelope Cruz, this is merely inspired by her and her make-up. My face looks lighter than my body in this picture but this is due to the flash! And my hair looks different because I put bobby pins in my fringe to pull it back

In close-up.

Products I used for this look:

• Manhattan eyeliner pencil on upper and lower waterlines, smudged using Sigma SS209
• Black eyeshadow from the Zoeva 88 warm palette, applied and smudged with Sigma SS209
• Peach eyeshadow from the Zoeva 88 warm palette, applied to the crease with Sigma SS219 and blended with the SS239
• Applied false eyelashes from Gypsy Lashes in 94
• The Falsies Volum’ Express Mascara by Maybelinne
• Dark brown eyeshadow from the Zoeva 88 matte palette to fill in my brows with Sigma SS266 (one of my favourite brushes)

on my face I used Face & Body foundation by MAC, Hema Wet&Dry Blush and Gosh lipstick in Darling.

The lashes I used here weren’t featured in my huge lash post, I thought they would be too wispy and dramatic but they proved perfect for this look! I really love them now.

Image courtesy of Madame Madeline. Lashes provided by Madame Madeline.

This is an everyday look, ideal for work. Very understated though enhances your natural features.

Products used:
1) Face
♥ Zoeva Concealer Palette
♥ Mac Face & Body Foundation
♥ Hema Compact Pressed Powder
♥ Hema Blush Wet & Dry in 02
♥ Hema Terra Bronzing Powder in 01

2) Eyes
♥ Mac Gesso e/s
♥ Zoeva warm shimmer palette, shimmery brown e/s
♥ Manhattan eyeliner pencil
♥ Eyelash curler by Hema
♥ Maybelline the falsies mascara
♥ Brown e/s to fill in lashes

I’m so in love with this look! It’s mint green, my favourite colour and it’s got sparkles, what more does a girl want!

What I used to achieve this look:

♥ MAC Gesso eyeshadow
♥ MAC Aqua eyeshadow
♥ Zoeva 88 matte palette
♥ Metallic Eyemousse by Hema
♥ Manhattan black eyeliner
♥ Maybelline The falsies mascara
♥ Manhattan X-ACT eyeliner pencil

This is a similar look to what I do most days, it’s very simple yet fun. So this isn’t for a special occasion, just a basic every day look. Though my boyfriend came over, that’s as special of an occasion as I need to make myself look pretty.

What I used:

♥ I started off with a day cream by Hema with SPF6
♥ Applied concealer from my Zoeva Palette under and on top of my eyes, around my nose and lips and on problem areas
♥ I applied MAC face and body foundation in the colour C2 with a foundation brush
♥ Compact foundation powder by Hema to set the foundation and create a matte look
♥ Catrice Bronzing mineral powder below my cheekbones
♥ Candy Kisses Very Cherry lipbalm
♥ MAC eyeshadow in the colour Gesso (matte white) under my eyebrows and the inner corners of my eyes
♥ A shimmery grey colour from the 88 Palette, in the outer corners of my eyes and in my crease

Even though it’s done with only two colours it looks really great and it’s very simple to do. You just have to keep blending!

A friend of ours, Peggy, is going to a wedding in a week and she came to seek some advice with me as to what she could do for her make-up! She’s going to wear a green and blue outfit and as she has green eyes I suggested using peachy and brown colours which make green eyes really pop. As she doesn’t wear a lot of make-up normally and as it’s for a day-time occasion, a wedding, I suggested keeping it very simple and neutral.

The steps I did:

♥ First apply a daycream or moisturizer (Hema)
♥ Concealer underneath the eyes and on top, around the nose and lips and on problem areas (red spots etc.) (Zoeva Concealer Palette)
♥ A liquid foundation or/and a powder (MAC face and body foundation)
♥ A small amount of blusher on the apples of the cheeks (Hema)
♥ An eyeshadow base on the eyelids (Homemade with bodybutter and some foundation)
♥ A highlighter colour (white) under the eyebrows and in the inner corners of the eyes (Zoeva 88 Palette)
♥ A brown eyeshadow across the eyelid (Zoeva 88 Palette)
♥ A darker brown eyeshadow in the outer corners of the eyes and along the crease, I also applied some dark brown with a very fine brush under her eyes (Zoeva 88 Palette)
♥ Here I used a black eyeliner pencil just above her upper lash line and black mascara on top and bottom lashes, I didn’t have brown, but I suggest using brown as that will make this look even softer (Pencil by Manhattan, Mascara by Maybelinne, the falsies)
♥ A slight dash of colours on the lips to make them pop(Candy Kisses Very Cherry Lipbalm)

A big thank you to Peggy and I hope she enjoyed this look and will be able to recreate it on the occasion!

I have two looks to show today, a make-up look I’m really excited about and a nail look I’m even more excited about!

Eyes are a pain to take a picture of, not everything is sharp and I only had a decent picture with my eyes closed but you get the idea! It’s a black and gold look, perfect for going out. I really love it! I made it with my Metallic Stones Palette by Zoeva.

And this lovely half-moon manicure. I know I’m a bit late with these, they are “so last year” but I still like them very much, even on my short nails.

They’re quite easy to make, if you don’t have a steady hand I suggest using paper reinforcements as a guide tool. First paint your nails white, I used a white french nailpolish by Hema, then place your stickers where you want your half moon to be, then paint your nails in a red colour, or any other for that matter. I used a red longlasting nailpolish by Hema. I didn’t use a guide I just painted the red on free handedly as I had some trouble with stickers in the past.

Went to the small town of Hulst in the Netherlands today, it’s only a five minute drive away from my house, as you know I live right on the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. Hulst is a small town but it’s got a busy shopping street, it’s open on Sunday so a lot of Belgians go there on Sunday, it’s always very busy then. There’s only a small range of shops there, so I don’t see why it attracts so much people, but it’s a very nice town and quite idyllic really.

I went to Kruidvat and Hema cause I needed a few things, amongst which I wanted a moisturiser or a daycream for young skin, but I didn’t want do spend €50 for a cream so wanted to find a drugstore alternative. I read somewhere that Hema has a few good daycreams, I thought I’d go and take a look. I was amazed at the range of products they had, there’s a huge range of day and night creams, for wrinkles, dry skin, sensitive skin, combination or oily skin. I only wanted to buy one if it had SPF factor, cause protecting yourself from the sun is very important for your skin. I eventually bought a soothing sensitive skin day cream with SPF 6, it smells really fresh and it makes my skin feel really soft.

Matte plastic packaging, it looks okay I think, I like the minty green. At €4,95, it’s really cheap, but I’m loving the texture, smell and overall how it makes my face feel, and it’s got SPF factor, what more can you ask for?

I also bought this GOSH lipstick, my never-ending frustration is the fact that whatever I do, I just don’t look good in red lipstick. Now I figured, I’ll just find a nice nude lipstick, cause I love the way nude lips look and it’s the only colour I can pull off without looking like a clown. This is the much raved about GOSH 134 Darling lipstick, it’s the best drugstore nude lipstick out there, it retails for €7,99 at Kruidvat.

Okay so here comes a lipswatch, I don’t like lipswatches at all, they always look a bit weird. Anyway, I wanted to show you so here’s Gosh Darling, the top image is without any lipstick on, the bottom is with lipstick.

It’s very subtle, a nice light pink tone. It’s a very creamy lipstick but it feels soft on your lips and not sticky at all. Thumbs up!

Oh, the magic of eyeshadowbase. For all you girls out there not using it at the moment: here comes a revelation! There is such a thing called eyeshadowbase, and it makes your eyeshadow last much longer, makes your colours more vibrant and prevents creasing! If you don’t use a base, after a few hours it cracks and gathers in the crease of your eyelid, that’s not a good look! So here’s how to prevent it, if you have the budget to spend and if you don’t! Cause even the homemade remedies work a treat!

The most “famous” eyeshadowbase is the Urban Decay Primer Potion which you can buy at Sephora, we do not have a Sephora in Belgium but you can order it online. It’s pretty pricey, $17 and I believe it’s €15 at Sephora shops in the Netherlands and France. (Do correct me if I’m wrong)

the bottle is pretty cute right? Think again, all the product gathers around the wider part of the bottle and the bottom, leaving you with wasting a TON of product and for that amount of cash that feels like you’ve been cheated. Lots of girls out there are cutting theirs open and filling an empty pot with what’s still in the bottle. I wouldn’t recommend doing that, try putting your UDPP bottle in a glass of hot water first, the eyeshadowbase will simply fall to the bottom.

The best budget alternative is L’oreal De-crease, and as for us Belgian girls, it’s available in stores pretty much anywhere. Do note that there is a specific way to use it, it won’t work if you just smear it on and then put your eyeshadow on top, you have to let it sink into your skin first, leave it to dry for about a minute or so. It will work a treat!

I have yet to buy this but I’ll try and get my hands on one this week or next.

The last alternative is making one yourself! Every home-made recipe out there says something different, one uses vaseline, the other body butter. I tried making one earlier with Body butter by Kruidvat and any old concealer or foundation you have lying around. Preferably a cheap one so you don’t waste anything.

I suggest using a white body butter, if you don’t have one lying around like me just use any you have. I used a slightly green one but it came out fine when I added some foundation.

Use about 1 part foundation/concealer and 2 parts body butter or if you have vaseline you can put a little bit in there as well.

Now, I showed you how to make your own, but does it actually work? Let me demonstrate.

I used a really cheap eyeshadow that isn’t very pigmented on it’s own. The MIDDLE swatch is NO eyeshadowbase at all, the TOP is the home remedy and the BOTTOM an eyeshadowbase from Hema which I really hate and don’t use at all. It’s sticky, it has nice shimmers but it gets in all the little creases and wrinkles of your eyes and now my hands. You can see it quite clearly in real life, on the photo not so much but even the home remedy works better if you’re trying to make your eyeshadow more vibrant.

As you can see, cheap doesn’t necessarily mean bad. I hope you will all try and make your own eyeshadowbase, it’s SO worth it! Let me know how you get on and I’ll let you guys know how it fares when you wear your eye make-up throughout the entire day.

As I’m waiting for my order to come through to do new nailart designs I’ll show you a few pictures of stuff I did a while back. It’s just the designs without a tutorial but I will be putting those up in the future!

This design I did during the holidays:

I used the Konad plate M15 for this and applied the same design twice to create a pattern. The nailpolish used is a 1 second nailpolish by Bourjois (application with the brush is great! it looks big but is very easy to use)

Using the Hawaiian Konad plate M29 and a tiny orange (though it’s got more of a red shine on the picture) nailpolish I got from a discount basket for 50 eurocent at Hema.