Leaving...

Happy new year everyone! Joy, happiness, love and everything you dream of... and of course plenty of new beauty goodies!!!

I am leaving for the mountains today to breathe some new fresh air. I will be back on Monday with my 2009 best of :p

Have fun for the last 2009 day. You will have plenty of time to be better next year ^^

See ya :)

Silver powder from Mario Badescu

My next to last review on Mario Badescu skincare line from what I currently own. This time I won't talk about acne treatment but something close to that, blackheads! Yeah yiiirk... So this stuff, the silver powder, is meant to unclog pores and treat excessive oiliness.
I have to say that I really like this minimum retro-looking packaging. It makes me feel like that I jump back in the past and shop my skincare in a old herbalist's shop :p

What do I think about it? It is a loose slightly hydrated white powder. You have to put a damp cotton ball inside the powdeer and swipe it on the affected areas. You leave it on for 10 minutes and wash it away. You'd better not breathe too heavily with that pon as it stays really powdery, it will make you snneeze. It does not smell anything and it does not tingle on the skin. You won't feel aything strange while it treats. It is safe for every skin type but only on oilier area with balckheads as it absorbs sebum. The active ingredients are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Does it work? Well yes. My opinion is less over the top than the ones you can read on the brand site but it is the best product I tried for blackhead treatment. The only downside I found concerns the removal of the powder. My nose stays stained with little white specks for a while even after toner but I do have really large pores in this area. So I used it at night before going to bed. After treatment, pores are really clean and seem to tighten a lil. With two treatments a week, I tend to break out a lot less.

Do I recommend it? Yes again. It is the first efficient blackhead treatment I use. But of course you have to keep using it to sustain the results.

Price: 13,25€ by HQHair or 12,50€ by Beautybay (online retailer).

I swear I am not sponsored. I'll let you know if so ^^

See ya :)

Xmas eyes...

Hi everyone!
Hope you have had fun for Xmas with plenty luscious food and a lot of beauty-related presents. I was busy yesterday and forgot to post my Saturday's FOTD (oops :p).
It will be the details of the make-up I wore in my storyboard (hard time combining the pics, I am computer-challenged). Hope it makes you smile afterall ;p
Just the eyes :

- on the lid and as a brow highlight, pigment Moon from Aromaleigh
- in crease, going thinner from outer V to tear duct Black Tied from MAC
- on the outer half of the upper lashline and smudged on the lower one, black Stila Smudge Pot
- black mascara, Beauty Tubes (raaaah)

If you are interested in the whole look, on my lips, I wore a matt red lipstick from Revlon (can not read the name anymore) topped with a sparkling red gloss from Bourjoirs. For foundation, I used the same stuffes as in my previous FOTD :). It was one of my first red lip trial and I kind of like it!

What was your Xmas makeup look?

See ya :)

Merry Xmas!!

Hope everyone is doing fun and plan to have the biggest meal ever :). Just for fun a lil storyboard picturing myself as a hero :p (click on to enlarge)
Merry Christmas to you full of joy, love, food and presents ^^

See ya :)

Drying cream from Mario Badescu

An other review on a Mario Badescu's product... This one is to mean to help with underskin breakouts. It is part of the Acne Repair kit you can find where Mario Badescu is sold and on the brand website here.

What do I think about it? It is a consistent cream with an intense herbal smell. It is slightly tinted in beige or light brown which helps to conceal a little the pimple redness due to the inflammation. I apply it to all my breakout-prone areas in a very small amount because it dries out the skin so much. You have to be very careful to dab it only on imperfections. It gives a greyish cast to the skin right after application but it disappears after a couple of minutes. The active ingredients inside are mainly sulfur, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
I personally use it mornings on my pimples under my make-up. It does not interfer with makeup which is great!

Does it work? Yes on more time... It works great but perhaps a bit too much for some of you. Spots dry really fast and does not evolve in hideous cysts. The downside is that foundation will stick a little more to the dry patches and you will have to be more careful with application.Anyhow, I prefer dry patches to nasty volcanos on my chin :p.
It is safe for every skin type. It is the perfect targeted treatment but for a single daily application (do not use it twice)

Do I recommend it? Yes ... Apart from the herbal smell and the greyish cast, perfect problem solver for me!

Price: 11€ by HQHair or 10,50€ by Beautybay (online retailers). You can order on the brand website but be aware of the shipping charges :s

Thumbs up for this one too... I have two more stuffes from Mario Badescu to go through! One fights painful undere-surface pimples and the other blackheads and open pores!
Stay tune...

See ya :)

The HG foundation

I know I am a lazy blogger but sometimes it is easier to give someone else some work to do :p. Yeah but on that particular point, ie HG foundation, I think extra pieces of advice are welcome. And here you come into play my fellow readers :p

Try to answer this easy question :

Which foundation does turn you into Eva Longoria or any other l'Oreal girls? Or let's say it in an other way, whais the name of your beloved foundation and why do you love it so much?
Yeah I know hard question! You can write whateveryou want but please give me the key to a perfect and beautiful made up skin^^!

Go go go :)))

See ya :)

Why I do my make up ....

...every morning in 5 points! Yes I know I am one of these silly girls who put make up on to go out food shopping :p

One of my fellow readers gave me this idea a while qgo but I forgot about it. Now that I am stucked in my coach with 2 broken ribs I have more time to think of all what I forgot.

Here we go :

1. Because I like being able to change style in a few brush strokes... Changing from a casual to a very sexy look that easily it is so fun !!!
2. Because it is the only way for me to express my artistic side. I am really bad at evertyhing else :p
3. Because I am a beauty addict and as my place looks like a beauty store I have to use some of them every morning to buy new ones :)
4. Because it simply makes me happy and that means a lot! Something as superficial can be useful...
5. And of course I will not have my vicious and discourteous weekly remark and I will miss it... or not :p (men can be such bastards...)

Your turn!

See ya :)

Young successful business woman

... looks for a well enough paid job and has so to wear not too heavy eye makeup.. Something nice and soft but still focusing on the eyes. Why can not I wear heavy eye makeup? Because my field of competences is not very feminine so Barbie or smokey eyes are not so welcome at the first interview. You have to get them slowly used it first :). For all that purpose, I always choose a classical brown and golden look with satin and not shimmery colours. It looks more subtle in my opinion with a satin finish.
Enough babbling, the pics. I did it with the 28 neutral palette you can find everywhere.
I applied everything with a fluffy brush like a 217, 222 or 224 to keep it soft and blended:
- 1 all over the lid
- 2 in large crease area
- 3 in outer V
- 4 from crease to brow
- 5 right under the brow to bring some light
- a brown liner on upper lashline and in both waterlines, Truffle gel liner from Coastal Scents
- black mascara
And you are ready to go!

I do wear a coloured lipstick with this eye look. I go for a beige-brown shimmery one sometimes to add some colour to my face. I will not go for a mat as it is often drying and also I am not into full mat look. Nude lips wash me out most of the time...

See ya :)

The beginner's mistake

I have to confess that sometimes I do not do things right on time when it comes to limited editions in make up range. Let me explain...
On my Christmas list, I asked for the Book of Shadows vol II but I had not been nice enough this year ;p so I won't get it. Sad isn't it?
But as you know children are capricious and now I want it real bad. But of course, it is not available anymore. I went into many Sephora where it was already sold out and online sale is over too. I had not look at all Sephora I know but it seems like my quest will not succeed. Jsut a pic of this marvel to remind me how perfect, gorgeous and essential it looks...
Raaaaaah I am dying... I am desperate, I thought I can resist but no I can not, I want it, I want it, I want it!!!!!

See ya :)

Drying lotion from Mario Badescu

Well I talked a lot about Mario Badescu skincare line but I still have not made any review. This mistake will be corrected tonight ^^. They will be three more on this brand as I own three other products in the acne range and have had the opportunity to test them for a long period of time as my skins is freaking out again (I am too old to still have pimples, damned!)
For the ones not too familiar with this brand, Mario Badescu is a US-based and sold for about 40 years now. According to the brand site (click here) many stars trust its efficiency. What makes me try this brand is its wide range dedicated to acne treatment. You can definitely find something for your skin as every skin type is accounted for. I think it is a quite unique offer on the market as most anti acne products are meant for super oily skin. An other good point is the minimalist packaging, which makes me think taht I pay only for the product's efficiency and not for a nice bottle (it may sound stupid for some of you but anyhow it is how I feel about simple packaging)

What do I think about it? It is not a classical acne treatment, it is a two-phased lotion : a pink powder that contains calamine and a alcohol liquid infused with salicylic acid. You must not shake the bottle, the wo phases have to remain apart. You simply dip Q-tip into the powder and dab it directly on the whiteheads. It will leave a pinkish mark on so it is meant for nightime use only :p.
This lotion is dedicated for whitehead treatment and nothing else. It dries it up overnight. Be careful not to apply it everywhere around as it is reallt drying (the name is not fake in that case). You could feel a slight tingling sensation when you put it on but it won't last. It is safe for every skin type which is kind of cool!

Does it work? Yes, yes and yes. I do not have a huge amount of whiteheads but when one of my pimple decides to evolve in this direction it becomes really big, ugly and most of the time painful. But with this lotion after a single night it is all dried up and with morning face wash it jsut leaves a tiny red mark! Yihaa! My skin is prone to scarring so it will always go trhough a stage with red marks that slowly vanish.
It can be use every night by oilier skin but maybe only once every other day for drier types. And be careful to only dab it on the whitehead not around otherwise you will have to fight deydration.

Do I recommend it? Of course... It is the best whitehead tretament I have come across. If I have to find some drawbacks, I will say that you have to use Q-tips every time which is not very environmental friendly and that it is not very travel-friendly either. You have to wait hours for both phases to separate when they get mixed. Just quibbling over :p

Prix : 16,50€ by HQhair or 16€ by Beautybay (for European reader). For US readers, they can be find in stores or on the official brand site (lucky you ^^)

It is way more efficient than tea tree oil on whitehead. And you use it really sparingly, mine is two month old I think and I have use it quite a lot as my skin was doing crap.

See ya :)

Where is Ken???

I am not even sure the name of Barbie's fiancé is the same worldwide but in France, it is usually Ken. Just to explain the post title ;p. As I was not able to publish my weekly EOTD, I do it today... I went for a pastel makeup and it really really came out Barbie-ish. But I still quite like it. It is very soft and wearable (especially if you wear glasses) and it changes a bit from gold and brown doesn't it?
So here we go, no full face pic as my skin is in bad condition once again.

I applied a golden gel base all over the lid, 24K gel liner from Coastal Scents :
- inner third Apricot Moose from NYX
- inside third, applied with finger by gently tapping on, Pink Platinum from MAC (collection Brushed Metal X- Metal Urge)
- outer third Purple NYX
+ same thing in same order along the lower lashline
- outer V Lucky Charm from The She Space
- along the upper lashline, Deep plum gel liner from Coastal Scents
- a coat of mascara

It can not look appealing for some of you but I found really funny how it turned out. I did not expect that result and it made me laugh to have Barbie eyes :p

See ya :)

Pause...

I leave for a couple of days. Be back soon, on next tuesday!

See ya :)

Vanishing cream from Lush

A new product review as I did not do any last week... I do not know if you have already entered a Lush shop but if they all smell the same than in Europe you have to do it at least one. It is a micmac of overpowing smells that to me are not appealing at all. Every time I step in there I go out with a headache and feel quite nauseous. But do not freak out, you can still order from the Web. Safe ordorless place :).

Do not take me wrong, most of the products do smell nice (very sugary girly smells). But as they are all strong smelled you have to take them separately. That being clarified, let's go...

What do I think about it? The packaging is not wonderful, just a cheap looking plastic screwable container, but you do not have to expect more from a company that surf on the green wave. The texture is fluid but not too liquidy as it does not leak. From a color and smell point of view, it is very classical : white with a light lavender smell nothing too pronounced. It is assumed to be for blemish-prone skin that tends to look oily and shiny through the day. For now, nothing to really complain about, except perhaps the very fluid texture that may not provide enough hydration to my poor quality skin...

Does it work? Sadly enough not really... First I am still waiting for the promise of keeping breakouts at bay after a full pot :s. Secondly I did a mistake, I did not use enough so hydration was really low and my skin started peeling. Yummy yummy :s.
Anyhow adsorption is really good as it sinks right into the skin. It also allows to put make up on without trouble.

Do I recommend it? No not really even if it is not a bad product. Maybe it would be more convincing for a man looking for light day to day hydration as the smell is not feminine at all. This summer, it was working Ok for me but not over the top, it is definitely not my HG moisturizer.

Price : 24€95 by Lush france (I know it is cheaper abroad)

I think this particular cream is not meant for my current skintype which is something close to dehydrated, sensitive & oily (yeah I know I am lucky). A last important point, Lush is not an organic brand (formulas include parabens) that being said for my organic-concerned readers.

See ya :)

Brewer's yeast : week 4 - the conclusion

4 weeks of rigourous pill-intake every morning have gone, here are the final results! And I think they are really noticeable.

Ready for a before/after pics? Let's go... On the left side, before and on the right side, after (click to enlarge). Both my forefingers have been filled a lot as they were really damaged with split layers on the end. I do not go for a full French manicure so I can not cheat with my actual nail lenght (I wonder if the white part of the nail got a name, does anyone know?).

So after 4 weeks, no more splitting, still some roughness but a lot less than before and the most important point, no breakage occured during the past month... Thumbs up! Extra length somewhere between 3 to 5mm depending on fingers...

You know what you have to do for your nails? Not yet? Come on! I can not do anything more for you :p

See ya :)

Tagged for a "knowing you better" kind of survey

I have been tagged by the gorgeous Tali to answer the following questions on my beauty habits. Well I will try to do my best and not to lie too much ;p...

1. What is your beauty style? (Natural, trendy etc.)
I would say that I have no style... Well I am definitely not natural or trendy, I am something closer to a chameleon, I can wear a very casual look and the day after bold barbie pink eyes.
Anyway I tend to focus my FOTD mainly on my eyes. I hardly wear lipstick and I am not good at contouring so all about eyes for me!!! I am definitely not colored-scared and can sometimes look over made up :)

2. Where do you get your beauty inspiration from?
From everything I see, beauty tuts on the web, clothes, landscapes, other girls (yeah I am a copycat).

3.What beauty products do you have the most of?
Eyeshadows, foundations and concealer.... If you had my skin you will definitely understand the two last points (pimples and dark circles are my everyday fight). For eyeshadows, well, I do not use half the ones I own but staring at them make me overhappy. And it is way cheaper that a all year long therapy :p

4.What's your favourite/holy grail color for:
Eyes: Purples & plums, yummy yummy! I love how it brings out the green undertones in hazel eyes like mine. And black liner of course, true jet black one of course :)
Lips: I am not a lipstick person as I tend to apply lipbalm every 30 min :s. But if I have to pick one colour, I will go for a shimmery light brownish beige kind of nude. Very precise and not confusing at all :p
Nails: Light pink... Anything not too noticeable as I am really bad at nail polish application. But I do love deep wine red or plum I find them over sexy...

5.Three favourite brands of the moment:
1. MAC - one of the best quality/price ratio out there... Especially for eyeshadow maniac like me :)))
2. Bobbi brown - for all their face products. If you have bad skin, give it a try, they have the best coverage out there without making you look cakey or overdone!
3. Benefit - I used not to like it so much as it is really expensive in France, but now I can buy it abroad I think some stuffes are worth to pay for them...

That's it
See ya :)

Oops!

I was about to forget to post my weekend makeup pics. I know I like my little blog routine to be well organized so saturday means makeup pics!!!
But I will cheat just a little as they are not pics of today makeup but of one I did earlier this week. My skin has to recover a bit from spots, dryness, cold and too hard water :s (drawback of living in a big city).

When I did this look, I randomly picked two shadows of my makeup stash, add a third coordinate one and it turned out cool from my point of view. It is very wearable without being too boring and I think it is suitable for daytime wear (at least I will wear it if I have to go to work). It is not matte, rather pretty shimmery but does not make you look like a disco ball. It is more evident on the full face pics (click to enlarge).

So here we go:
On the eyes : on a white base (Silk White gel liner from Coastal Scents), eyeshadows applied from inner to outer corners
- Melon pigment from MAC, Platonic e/s from MAC (Infatuating Rose, 2008 Christmas collection), Deep Feeling e/s from MAC (Infatuating Rose, 2008 Christmas collection)
- same order on the lower lashline+ même répétition le long des cils du bas.
- un thin line of Indigo gel liner from Coastal Scents along the upper lashline and in both waterlines.
- of course mascara (l'Oreal Beauty Tubes thumbs up!!!).

To finish 2 pathetic full face pics of me trying to smile :))). Make me look really stupid but guess what I do not really care (one of my French reader was wondering why I never smile on pics, here you had the evidence :p)

foundation : correcting palette MUFE n°1 + Unifiance crème de poudre n°1 (discontinued product from LRP) + MAC Select Cover-up concealer NW 20 + Météorites from Guerlain.
blush : Mineralize Skinfinish Petticoat overr cream color base Bougainvillea (both limited editions)
lips : shimmery coral lipstick topped with golden lipgloss

Blue and orange combination can be tricky for daywear but as these colors are muted it is kind of wearable I think.

See ya :)

My facial routine n°3

It has been a while since the last time I talked about my facial routine. Even if I still have a few ugly bumps my skin has greatly improved in texture. So now I have to find the perfect balance between spot treating and good moisturising because the cold weather dehydrates quickly my skin.

Morning : to sum up quickly, eyecream, basic 3 time, acne serum and local spot treatment. In order of application :
- Liquid facial soap mild formula from Clinique
- Clarifying lotion 2 from Clinique
- Acne serum from IQQU (Michelle Phan's skincare line, if you never heard about her have a look on YT)
- Dramatically different moisturizing lotion from Clinique
- Vanishing cream from Lush
- Drying Cream from Mario Badescu on spotty areas
- Line smoothing eyecream Inositol vegetal from Yves Rocher

Night:
- Liquid facial soap mild formula from Clinique
- Clarifying lotion 2 from Clinique
- Acne serum from IQQU (Michelle's Phan skincare line, if you never heard about her have a look on YT)
- Dramatically different moisturizing lotion from Clinique
- Vanishing cream from Lush + a few drops of Kalahari's melon oil
- Buffering lotion from Mario Badescu on spotty areas or tea tree oil from Body Shop
- Advanced night repair eye recovery complex from Estee Lauder + a drop of argan oil from Natessance

Masks :
- Radiance (1 x a week): Taï-Chi from Herborist (everywhere)
- Purifying (3 x a week): Refining mask from Proactiv Solution (T zone)

Blackhead treatment :
- Silver powder from Mario Badescu (2 x a week)

Whitehead treatment :
- Drying lotion from Mario Badescu (every night if needed)

That's it
See ya :)

Night out look?

Well as you may know I am currently unemployed (things look a little better now but still no interview :s) so I have a lot of time to play with my overgrowing makeup collection. And watching my MAC palettes I discovered two things : 1. they need to be better organized (eyeshadows are just thrown randomly in there) and 2. there are some shadows I hardly ever used. Bad bad bad me. I needed to do something, I then picked three of the hardly used shadows and came out with this look :
In details, I go for an extended almond shape (be careful if you have smaller lid it can close your eyes). I like how it accentuates my natural eyeshape. So from the inner to the outer eyelid, I applied :
- Mary Jane from Urban Decay
- Greensmoke from MAC
- Black Tied fromMAC
+ same order on the lower lashline
- a thick line of black lliner & mascara (still and for ever I think l'Oreal Beauty Tubes).
I was thinking some black in the lower waterline would look great but I liked it without so I left it bare.
Et voilà!

For a night out or a dinner it looks great. It brings out the green in my eyes in a nice way. But I do understand that it may be too bold or heavy for some of my few readers.

That's all folks :p
See ya :)

Brewer's yeast : week 3

Well they keep growing... Yeah I know it will be frightening the other way round.

I think I will not let them grow any longer. I do not really like very long nails as they are not handy for me. Typing on a computer, doing laundry or even opening a can is impossible for me with longer nails (I am kind of ungifted). The most scaring stuff is to put on contact lenses, eyes are so painful I can not imagine getting a scratch there...

To summarize this experiment, before next week before&after pics, I will say that my nails are longer (wahoo surprise, surprise), stronger with less splitting even if that last point is not perfect as I do not feed myself with the best food (lazy lazy...) and finally less striky which is great for polish application as I am really bad at it.
For hairs, hard to tell are mine are naturally healthy.
And for the skin, well no effect but I am a weird case :). I heard about cutting down milk-based food to improve skin prone to breakout in the chin area but if I o so I will starve to death... Need to find an other option I think ^^.

Finally, the nails of week pic :
I just opened a new jar of 150 pills so I have to end it up because it absorbs ambiant moisture which is not good for preservation. After that I will give my body some rest. Taking pills all year long is not a good habit if you do not really have health issues. Normally, you can find everything you need in your daily diet (well if you do not eat like I do :p)

See ya :)