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

I bought myself a brush holder Saturday, well basically it’s just a big glass jar used for decoration, to put a candle in or something like that, but I thought it’d be really fun to use as a brush holder. I filled it with white stones to keep the brushes in place. Most of my brushes are in there, my Zoeva brushes and a MAC eyeshadow brush, there are a few missing, I have a few double sided brushes and I’m not risking putting them in there I don’t want to damage the hair.

I think it looks very fun, it’s in my favourite colour, minty green! It’s so much more easy to use them regularly like this instead of just having them lying around everywhere.

Glass jar and stones from Life & Garden.

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.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! THEY ARE HERE! MY PALETTES ARE HERE! I’ve been craving for these for so long, 12 days to be exact. As I mentioned a few days ago, I ordered quite a lot more than I intended to at first, but I figured, order everything I want now and have no regrets later. I’m SO not paying 11 euro shipping costs again. That’s just a bit too much for my likings. Anyway, less chattering, here are the pictures!

What I ordered:

(right click and open to view larger, this applies to all images btw)

(you can see me giving a thumbs up, if you look carefully! haha!)

(colours look better in this image, it’s the same as above but the wrong way round, sorry!)

From left to right and top to bottom: Metallic Stones Palette, 88 Warm Shimmer Palette, 88 Matte Palette, Rouge/Contouring Palette and Concealer Palette.

They all look amazing! The concealer palette is crazy good, gone be the hated bags under the eyes and spots! The crazy colours on the left, are for covering up tattoos in case you were wondering, the orange especially, the pinks are for dark circles and the green for red areas. The Matte Palette is more a mix of matte and shimmery colours, but that doesn’t really bother me. The possibilities are endless. The Metallic Stones is a perfect palette for party and evening looks.

And the set of 12 brushes. It includes several eyeshadow brushes, a face and cheek brush (for blush and bronzer and the likes), a foundation and concealer brush, double-sided brow brush, eyeliner and lip brush. The foundation brush is a bit wonky (you can see it in the picture, the third brush, it’s got a dimple) but I hope that will even out when I wash it. Other than that tiny error, the brushes are AMAZING, the softest I have ever felt in my life and such a dream to work with. Very dense and springy which is what you need to look for in a brush. I can really recommend this set to anyone, it’s a great starters kit, it has everything you need and you won’t be able to find better ones for such a cheap price, a mere €20.

I ordered together with a few friends to share the shipping costs, this is what they ordered:

225 Eyeshadow Brush (this one looks SO amazing, very dense and great quality), Metallic stones palette, 88 Warm Shimmer Palette, 78 Eyeshadow/Rouge palette and a Concealer Palette. Good luck to them with their make-up, I’m sure they’ll love them to bits and a huge thanks for ordering along side me to share the shipping!

Today me and my boyfriend shared our 1 year “anniversary”, so we went for dinner together with my parents at this lovely Greek restaurant in Sint-Niklaas, called Kavala. Had a great evening, the chef was eyeing me up a bit and kept saying “mooie madaaaaam” (means pretty lady, in a funny Dutch/Greek accent) and tutting to my boyfriend on how lucky he was, very amusing though! I think he was a bit jealous my poor man.  Bless him. Anyway, this is was I did for my make-up for the special occasion:

I used the Metallic Stones Palette and a matte white eyeshadow by Mac for my tear ducts.

I can truly say I love my new palettes and brushes. You can find everything on the website of Zoeva, they have a splendid service, you can track everything from the moment they recieve your payment (paypal or regular bank transfer!) until it arrives on your doorstep, which saved me a great deal of stress and put my mind at ease.

I just placed my order at Zoeva, instead of the two palettes I mentioned earlier I ordered five and a set of 12 brushes. I’m so excited! I’ll be sure to make a huge entry about it when it arrives which will hopefully be next week. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday I discovered while showing the mens briefs by American Apparel to my boyfriend (he didn’t like them, aww) that they also have a line of nail polishes! And my god are they beautiful!

They even have a mannequin nails colour in their collection! Remember my article? I still haven’t found my perfect mannequin nail polish. I think I might go for this one!

Office – Coney Island – Cotton

As for  the Belgian ladies, there is an American Apparel in Antwerp, go check it out! Bottles are €7 a piece or €17 for a pack of three colours like the image above. I’m LOVING those three and will try and get my hands on them as soon as I can. I read some reviews and the quality seems pretty good, cheap nailpolishes in pastel colours like those never show up, sometimes it looks okay in the bottle but when you put it on it’s just clear, I hate those. These aren’t like that, and for that price I’m very happy!

Don’t you just love that mint green colour on the left? It’s very similar to Chanels Jade & Macs Peppermint. Seen on the Chanel runway for 2009 ready to wear. I think it’s gonna be big in the summer and all over the magazines, Alexa Cheung the IT-girl and girlfriend of Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and Rachel  Bilson have been spotted wearing it.

I absolutely love it! Thoughts?