Long time no see...

I know I have not posted anything here for a very long time but guess what I have been busy yeah I know easy one... But that is so true :) 
My life has gone from bad to good, then worst and finally over crazy good at the end of November. You may know that I had a short fixed term contract and that it was my first real job experience despite my advanced age. I am that exact kind of girl who did long studies believing it will bring her a dreamt job and it did quite well in the end. But trust me I was not so sure of my choice about a year ago when I was still unemployed. 

So here I am now at the beginning of December with a brand new long term job contract which allow me to plan things for my future like buying a flat, going on vacations far away and so on :)). But enough ramblings about my newborn life ^^ onto makeup and skincare.

Why do I start posting here again? Because I am also the kind of girls who take big (unbearable) resolutions each time she experiences a life change and I want to share some of my new "fully grown up" bites of life with you, my fellow readers who may come back here seeing a new post :p. That being said, signing my new contract may have been the worst week in my credit card's life. I indulge myself with so many treats I am nearly ashamed of myself (nearly). So be prepared to see all what I buy. They will be a Zuneta order, a Mario Badescu haul, some Stila and a very strange soap, some other skincare (nothing I am really used to so be prepared for review). I know I won't post on a daily basis here but I will try to do it weekly (finger cross I will try not to break this promise). So please stay tuned there will be one next week on Zuneta (I get it today and so far I am impressed with what I got). 

See ya :)  

PS: I think I will do a summary of my week posts (the ones of my French blog) with the most important pieces of information (if there are some after all it is just beauty).

My dreamt dress

Hello there! No I am not dead but my current work keeps me kind of busy so no time for regular updates on my English blog :s. They will be ten times more mistakes (if it was possible...) in this post than in the previous ones as I lack some practise in English but please bare with me.

You may already know that I live in Paris in a really wealthy district so they are a lot of cloth designer shops around my place. And this afternoon, sneaking around for some interesting sales (yeah it is summer sale time here), I discovered a brand new shop from a Spanish designer I have never heard about : Sonia Peña. I am totally out when it comes to fashion and clothes in general, maybe she is famous but it is not a big deal for me. 

Anyway, the shop was fully packed with amazing cocktail and nightime dresses and as wedding season is up for me I thought why not have a closest look. Yeah I am aging (sigh!) and all my closest friends are getting married this summer or next one.

I have to say the dresses are fantastic! I was a bit scared to look like a big fat cow trying to fit in something too skiny for her but it ends up looking OK I think (I hope?). 
The sale assistant who took care of me insisted that I tried a "mermaid" dress as I like to call them (a sheath dress I think is the real name) because it would emphasize my best curves and hide the "barely there" ones (so to say my big booty and my missing boobs). 

The fabric is really heavy (which means high quality for me), the design quality is stunning and the cut is perfect. They were hundreds of underlayers in there but the outcome was impressive. Not because I was in there but because it makes me look right, well-shaped and over-glamourous :).

Here is the pic of the one I tried even if mine was fuschia without the fluffy belt (as I stay away from black for wedding)

So what you think? Wearable for a classy wedding or not? It is pretty pricey yeah (600€ I think) but the quality is there! Maybe it will be a lil cheaper soon with the sales? I have to check with a guy friend what he thinks about me wearing this (men are rude but good advisors for wedding :) )

See ya :)

PS: I am not raving about the way I look, trust me there is absolutely nothing to rave about but if you want to give yourself a special treat with an amazing dress you'd better have a look to this Spanish designer :p

The little mermaid?

Long time no see! I am sorry but the past weeks have been kind of busy as I found a new job. Yeah thumbs up! I will start next Tuesday, yes the day after tomorrow and I am pretty excited as it fits exactly what I was hunting. Hope my new colleagues will be nice to me!

Anyway, I am dead sick since this morning and I am not so sure I will be much better on Tuesday's morning but I do not really care. I will be working again after the longest 8 unemployed months of my life. There is no word to describe how happy I am.

But enough babbling onto makeup. I have to confess I have been pretty lazy and into low maintenance for the past weeks but of course I have an excuse. First I hardly leave my place, I am a recluse :p. And secondly, my skin has been freaking out like never :s. I am really upset and I am sure my bad mood does not help the healing process. I blame the huge temperature steps for the past month, from freezing cold to boiling hot, to be responsible for this mess.

In order to cheer me up I came out with a lagoon inspired makeup that reminds me the colours of the Litttle Mermaid's cartoon. I forgot to do swatches but the colours are not that unique so I hope the description will be enough.

(sorry for the hair showing up but I was in a "natural wavy hair" day :p)

On a green turquoise base like the Turquoise gel liner from CS,
- the bare liner on the inner third
- on the outer third a deep blue-green teal colour like Birds&Berries from MAC (2010, collection Give me Liberty)
- on the middle third, a light metallic turquoise, ME600 from Shu Uemura
- to blend the colours towards the browbone, hydropowder eyeshadow H9 Glistening sand from Shiseido (light gold)
- same colours along the lower lashline
- in the lower waterline, blue turquoise gel liner, fluidline Blue Peep from MAC
- along the upper lashline, dark blue gel liner, CS gel liner Deep Blue
- mascara (Volume Collagene Waterproof from l'Oreal crap!)

Full face pics rocking my summer waves :p :

For the base: camouflage cream palette MUFE + Unifiance Skin like foundation 01 from La Roche Posay (discontinued) + Météorites pearl powder in 01.
For the dark circles : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit
For the cheeks : Terracotta 00 make up artist from Guerlain (hollow and lightly everywhere) + + Embelliseur Abricot from Agnes B (on the apples) + Lustre Drops Sun Rush from MAC (limited edition, highlight)
On the lips: Rouge B Corail Soleil from Agnès B (light coral with a metallic golden sheen )

And you're done! Fun and summery ^^

A light and wearable summer look for me. So sorry about the way my skin looks. Hell, it is really disgusting but I do not want to fall into photoshopping. For me beauty blogging is pointless if you start to cheat on your own pics more than luminosity and contrast. That's my personal opinion :).

See ya :)

Bright lining!

Last FOTD I promised to do an other look with the UD Alice in Wonderland BOS but I was in a pigment mood so it was pigments :p. Morevover, it would let me talk about a mineral brand I really like : Archetype Cosmetics.
I ordered only twice from them and each time I splurge on e/s samples as they just cost 25 cents. Yes you read it well! To be 100% honest, the site is horrible to navigate and the shipping delays were really bad (about 8 weeks or so) but it is not the case anymore. I get my last order in about 2 weeks which is normal with the unefficient French postal service!
If you click on the website link you will notice that everything is purple and black so the goth inspiration is not hidden and the eyeshadow range reflects it so well. Everything to perform striking and gorgeous eye makeup :p.
For my makeup I used : Beetle Wings (grey-taupe colour with green flecks), Chubby Skeleton (purple-burgundy with red-pink highlights) & Corpse Candle (gorgeous teal blue with glitters). It turns out like that :

Yes only one pic as I was still fighting with my swollen finger at that time.
- on the whole lide : Beetle Wing applied foiled
- in the outer V blended inwards : Chubby Skeleton
- as a liner on the lower (smudged) and the upper lashline : Corpse Candle applied foiled on top of a turquoise pencil (fluidline Blue Peep from MAC gorgeous)
- on the bottom lashline : inner, Beetle Wing & outer, Chubby Skeleton
- as a highlighter, 10 Californian Blonde from Sephora
- mascara (Volume Shocking Brosse Exacte from l'Oreal which is not so fresh looking anymore)

On daylight it looks soft and subtle in my opinion:

(too much light for the second pic :p)

For the base: camouflage cream palette MUFE + Unifiance Skin like foundation 01 from La Roche Posay (discontinued) with a single drop of Lustre Drops Pink Rebel from MAC (limited edition) + Météorites pearl powder in 01.
For the dark circles : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit
For the cheeks : Fresh bloom allover colour Almond Blossom 03 from Clinique (hollow) + + Embelliseur Abricot from Agnes B & Blush MAC Fun & Games (on the apples) + Mineralize Skinfinish Soft and Gentle from MAC (limited edition, highlight)
On the lips: a random lipbalm. A no lipstick day for me :)

Do you wear bright glittery eyeliner? I think it brings back to life soft smokey eyes in springtime and makes them more wearable for daytime!

See ya :)

My e/s disappointments...

Does it happen to you too from time to time? I read so much about both the e/s I will talk about underneath that I was sure to love them but it fails. They wera one of my last mini haul and I am really disappointed.

I was lurking in Sephora with a sale coupon and thought about getting new shimmery highlighter for my brow bone. To me this little trick is the best invention since sliced bread as it lifts your eyes and also helps to hide lil tweezing imperfections when you suffer llike I do from bushy brows. Anyway, I do own Highlight from NYw, which is a pale mat yellow often compared to MAC Vanilla (and of course nothing alike) but I like it a lot. It matches pretty well my skin and brings some light. So my quest ws two new shimmery golden higlighters one with warm reflects ans one with cold ones.

Underneath the two I choose :

- Nanogold from MAC (repromoted with onhe Color Forecast collection): light gold with pink reflects (on the left)
- nd one of the new Sephora Colorful Mono n°10 Californian Blonde : light golden-white with silvery reflects (on the right).

Both are really so-so not to say worth but not for the same reason.

The Nanongold does not show up at all my skin!!! And I am so pale it is a pity. I have to layer it hundreds times and it shows up pink not gold at all. The texture is really hard to work with I am happy that I bought it for highlighting purpose and not as a lid colour :s.
For the Californian Blonde, the colour is really pretty more frosty than shimmery but I like it a lot. So what's wrong about it? The texture!!! OMG, when I went back home I decided to swatch it with my finger and the shadow is rough and bumpy to the touch. Urgh :(! Like if it has had an allergic reaction or a huge acne breakouts :p. It really annoys me. And I am really surprised not to have read anything about this point before (maybe it is just mine whoch suffers from this strange disease :p).

Quite a huge disappointment really happy not to have splurging on for more and not to have paid fulll price for them. I hate throwing money out of windows so I will use them but I am used to better than this (and considering one of this shadow is from MAC, argh!)

Do you tried one of them? Do you like them? Anyone who gives a go to the new metallic Sephora Mono maybe?

See ya :)

Hay fever and other spring-time allergies

Spring is here and that is great! But for many of us, including me, spring rhymes with hay fever and bad allergies. So this morning I thought that sharing with you some of my tips and tricks to make me feel better in this situation could be cool :p

What may happen? If you are lucky, your nose will just run a lil and your throat will itch. In that case, it is fine and you can survive with low concentrated anti-histamines

But in my case it can sadly go a step further... If you have strong symptoms, you have of course to go see a specialist. I am not anything close to a doctor keep that in mind... Anyway, here are some tips I used on myself when I went through a not too intense crisis :

Red, watery and itchy eyes? First you put your make up and your contact lenses apart. Above all, you do not switch for waterproof because it is even harder to remoce and your eyes are enough irritated. Same things apply to contacts, they are by nature irritant, and I've never heard about anyone who dies because of glasses' wear.
Then you have to "invest" (not much, do not freak out) on 2-3 products which will help you getting better. In order of appearance:
- eyedrops for irritation (like Dacryoserum which is a free over-the-counter medecine) you have to instil in your eyes.
- 2 soaked cotton pads with cornflower water to do eye compresses for your itching eyes at night
- and finally a repairing eye cream (SVR palpebral is meant to be used for this purpose).
And that's it.
Once your irritations have soothed, you keep rincing your eyes for 2-3 more days with physiological saline (you can find it in drugstores in the babycare alley). Then you can go back to make and contacts! Yeah...One last point you may not use highly active eyecream like anti-aging ones as they can further irritate this area

Eczema or tiny little red bumps on your face? First you forget your traditional routine and switch to something ultra mild for your skin.Same thing has above it won't cost you an arm :
- a solid soap-free cleanser (the Dove cream beauty bar or the green Aderma one are great)
- a soft cleaning water if you can not stand not putting face makeup (Créaline H2O fromBioderma)
- a source water or thermal water spray
- a soothing and healing cream from irritated skin
You soak a cotton pad with cleaning water and you clean your face. Then you wash with your soap free cleaner and pat dry (do not rub you skin!). Then you gently spray some water and remove excess with a tissue. Put some cream on the itching areas. My favourites contains zinc and copper which are known for their healing properties (Dermalibour and Cu-ZN cream from Uriage are great)
The main drawback of both these cream are their heavy consistency which leaves the skin greasy so putting makeup on is too hard but you have to choose what you want :p
That is it for my tricks, on me everything is gone in 2 to 3 days with anti-histamines as a co-agent.

If you suffer from cosmetic allergy, the second routine for face reaction works real good! You can apply a thicker overall layer of cream at night time and sleep in it. Next morning your skin will look so much better. I tested and approved it after a disastrous trial of the Iris Weleda face mask :p

See ya :)

Advanced night repair eye recovery complex from Estee Lauder

Quite a long time since my last post but guess what I am busy doing nothing. I even shut down this blog but a dear friend of mine sounded a lil sad about it so here I am back :p. I will try to catch up with my French blog posts and I am hugely late :)
So here is a review I made a while ago on an other eyecream. You may know by now how much I am addicted to these little creams. I think it is my favorite/most-wanted skincare piece right after spot treatment for stupid skin like mine. Anyway enough rambling, here we go!

What do I think about it? The packaging is the classical one you can expect from Estée Lauder, kind of plain glass pot with golden lettering. The cream texture is very ice, something inbetween a thin cream and a gel, but it comes in a pot which means you have to pour your fingers in unless you have a sparing spatula. From a company as pricey as Estée Lauder, providing the spatula would be nice I think :s. It sinks straight into the skin without any rubbing action which is great and leaves the skin smooth. I can not talk about make-up affinity as I used it at night time only but nothing weird happens to my eyes during this trial :p. No obvious smell and you need the tiniest amount to do the job as wiht most eyecreams.

Does it work? Neither better nor worse than all the stuffes I tried before. For the anti-wrinkle parameter, I can not say as I am wrinkle free for now. It helps a little with dehydration but not at all with dark circles.
Yes, it does provide hydration but nothing over the top in my opinion. My undereye area still feels over dehydrated the next morning. Neverthless, it is sweet to use apart from the non hygenical packaging and leaves a nice fresh feeling before crawling in the bed ^^. Apart from that, nothing to jump around about for something that expensive. But I have to reckon I am not the main targeted user :p.

Do I recommend it? Not really to be a 100% honest. I do not see why it is so expensice

Prix: 49€ for 15ml Estée Lauder France website. Also avalaible at Sephora

PS: I got it in a Christmas kit along with a cream, a serum and a face wash. It is still not empty and I used it for about 2 months so a little goes a long way but all in all, it is still not my long searched fr HG :)
PS bis: I just read you are supposed to use it morning and night!!! Crazy for something called night repair, doesn't it? Anyway it may explain my poor results. I should have checked that before. Maybe using it twice a day will perform better ^^

April's skincare routine : Clinique

You may not even remember but I asked you which skincare line you would be interested to see reviewed here. My French poll attracted way more people and Clinique was the winner.
I so had to desing a new face routine using mainly Clinique stuffes and see how my skin reacts to it for about a month. I tried my best without splurging extra money on new stuffes I do not really need. As you will see I kept my beloved sunscreen as my day moisturizer as I really like it :p.

Morning : - Mild liquid facial soap from Clinique
- Clarifying lotion 2 from Clinique
- Dramatically different moisturizing lotion from Clinique
- All about eye rich from Clinique
- Cleanance SPF 30 from Avène mixed with the mositurizing base SPF 15 from Stila

Evening :
- Créaline H2O from Bioderma for the eyes and cheeks
- Sebactiv cleansing water from Roger Gallet for my oilier T-zone
- Dove Soft peeling cream beauty bar if heavy face makeup to remove last bits of make up
- Mild solid facial soap from Clinique
- Clarifying lotion 2 from Clinique
- Dramatically different moisturizing lotion from Clinique
- All about eye rich from Clinique
- Moisture Surge de Clinique

Masks :
- Purifying (every other day) : Atlas Moutain Clay Mask from Zakia's Morocco (= ghassoul) (online review already made) or Volcanic Ash Thermal Mask from MAC
- Moisturizing/nourishing (x1/week) : Argan oil from Zakia's Morocca or Nivea cream (yep the blue tin one) under a coton sheet mask from MUJI moisten with eye safe toner or floral water

Extra treatments:
- for spots: Lanvender vinegar from l'Occitane
- for shine control: T-zone shine control de Clinique (Pore Minimizer range)
- microdermabrasion (x1/semaine, on sundays) : Powerbrasion kit from Skin Doctors
- scrub (x1-2/week at night time) : Akno Natura from les Laboratoires Mascareignes

I will keep you updated with how the things go but for now it is fine. I try to use the less active other stuffes I know not to twist the results. You can not imagine how painful it was to leave my beloved Shu Uemura cleansing oil below my bathroon sink :))
If you want some extra information on the stuffes I used (except the Clinique ones I will thoroughly review at the end of the month) leave a comment!

See ya :)

So sorry...

I am truly and deeply sorry for the lack of updates. I do not know how I manage to get so busy being currently unemployed but well at last I find enough time to feed my French readers with my useless rambling.
Anyway I think I would not be able to update this blog as often as I used to but I did not want to close it so I will post for sure on a weekly basis. So please bare with me ^^!

Next is my last FOTD I was supposed to publish last Saturday :))

I did this look using the Alice in Wonderland BOS but it can be duplicate on purpose with the BOS vol.II. I am not very happy with the whole application and my poor looking face with just a bit of bronzer and concealer but I have a hard time with my right hand which is of course the one I use to make myself up. My middle finger has been swollen for about 2 weeks and it does not get better. My chemist told me it could be arthrosis as I broke my fingers several times when I was younger. Hope it is not that :s. Anyway it is not really painful, just bad looking and annoying as I can not bend my finger as I used to. But enough about me and my falling apart body, onto the makeup! First the eyes :
It is mainly neutral shades with a twist, a bright green underliner to be springish :))). So on top of a thin layer of Primer Potion I applied :
- on the whole eyelid : Mushroom (same name in permanent line)
- as an outer V blended inwards : Mad Hatter (Twice Baked)
- in the inner corner and to blend towards the browbone : Midnight Tea Party (Midnight Cowboy Rides Again). Be careful, glitter party time with this one ^^
- along the upper lashline not too extended outwards: brown liner (Coastal Scent gel liner Truffle)
- on the outer half lower lashline , a deep green liner (liner fluidline Shade from MAC)
- to blend this liner and to line the full lower lashline : Absolem (Homegrown)
- in the lower waterline, a lime green pencil (NYX Eye/Eyebrow pencil 927 Acid Green)

Some full face pics. Do not mind my hairs it was rainy and humidity makes my hair going frizzy fuzzy crazy. As I said, no foundation (too tricky to apply with my mad hand) and artificial light pics with flash as the sun had been kidnapped.

For the base: Absolutely invisible pressed powder from Too Faced and what was left from the bronzer after I had done my cheeks, my nose and my forehead.
For the dark circles & imperfections : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit (only on dark circles)
For the cheeks : Embelliseur abricot from Agnes Bresh on the apples + bronzer Snow Bunny from Too Faced (gorgeous but really really shimmery not the best choice for oilier skin type)
On the lips: Rouge B Corail Irisé from Agnès B (sorry I did not find the English match)

The next make up I plan to do with this palette will be duplicable with the Ammo palette in the permanent line. And I think I will be done with this one as it has been seen everywhere so many times that you may get bored ^^

Cleanance SPF 30 from Avene

Tuesday I wrote a post on how to care about your skin when sun is back. So I think that intorducing you my all time favorite sunscreen is perhaps a good idea. This is purely a sunscreen and not a moisturizer with an added SPF but its moisturizing properties are enough for summer. If not I add some random oil drops and I am good to go. Underneath the reasons why I am so convinced about it.

What do I think about it? First of the packaging is awesome. Do not take me wrong I am not a huge fan of cheapy ornage plastic but it comes with a pump that delivers the perfect amount of product to be applied on your face.
The consistency is perhaps a little too runny but it smells great which is surprising for a sunscreen. It has a high SPF and it is waterproof, sweatproff, hypoallergenic and non comedogenic!! I confirm it does not break me out. This particular one is designed for sensitive skin like all the Avene range but more specifically for acne prone skin. It can be used by everybody anyway without trouble. It is just a lil litter on the skin than traditional sunscreens.

Does it work? Yes of course, tried past summer, huge success for me so I repurchase this year. And it is so rare I buy twice the same product! I really enjoy the pump which keep the cream free of germs especially on the beach where sand tries to sneak in everywhere. I use it on a daily basis (to fight premature aging caused by UVA), even in town when sun is shining, it does not feel heavy (a lil heavier than lightweight moisturizers anyway), it does not make me shine like a disco ball, it does not slip into the eyes (great for contact wearers) and you can put make up on without getting funny stripes. You just have to wait 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile brush your teeth :p.
It mixes well with everything I tried, foundation primer and minerals to create your own tinted moisturizer if you are a mineral addict.

Do I recommend it? Yes. You can find many dupes for this sunscreen in France in drugstores and chemists. I like Eucerin and Uriage (Hyséac) ones too.

Price: less than 10€ in a random drugstore where I am :p

If you have a favorite SPF product let me know. And if you have a favorite fake tanner pop it in the comment section I may give tanners a go this year.

Last word : PROTECT YOUR SKIN! It is your biggest organ and the one that is the most exposed to environmental damages.

See ya :)

Alice in Wonderland - Urban Decay - first trial

Hi there! So sorry for the lack of updates but my French blog is taking me more and more time as it seems to attract a little more people everyday. I do not complain, I am really happy about that and it keeps me busy during my long seeking-for-a-job day. Enough rambling, straight to the post of the day.
I bought the Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows (BOS) last week and have not used it yet. I know it has been around the web for a really long time but it was not avalaible here in France. I decided to go for a simple look using colours that you can find in the first volume of the BOS. I personaly own all three volumes as there are afterall not so many duplicates in them. I gave a go to one of the glittery shadows so welcome fallouts and glitters all around your face but here are some tricks.

When using glitters in eyemakeup : you will ALWAYS have some fallouts. So you can try several tricks to prevent same the best : do your foundation after your eyes (I do not like it because I do apply shadows on my lowerlashline), pack on loose powder under your eyes and brush it away (maybe I am challenged but loose powder does not stay long enough for me :s) and finally use tape to remove the unwanted glitters. That is the trick I prefer : first stick a piece of tape several time on the back of your hand to "soothe" it for your eye area and then tap it on every glitter you see. They will stick to the tape instead of your face :p. After that I just blend everythingaway with my foundation tool (brush or sponge) and I am good to go ^^.

First the eye pics :
On the eyes : use a base on the whole eye area (UD primer potion) and a silvery grey cream eyeshadow (NYX Jumbo eyepencil Pots & Pans) on the lid and under the lower lashline
- on the lid and in the crease: Curiouser from UD (Grifter in the permanent line)
- on the outer third and outer crease : Queen from UD (Last Call in the permanent line)
- blend gently upwards with a dome shaped brush like the MAC224. Do it carefully because of the Curiouser's glitters
- on the lower lashline, in the inner third a silver liner (CS gel liner Platinum), in outer third Queen
- along the upper lashline: a thick line of silver liner (Coastal Scents gel liner Platinum) and a thinner black line close to the lash (Stila Smudge Pot black)
-mascara (Volume Shocking Brosse Exacte de l'Oreal)

Full face pics in bright day light (not so good looking, ugly undereye circles these days sorry :s):

Then with flash in order to make the glitters pop but it fails :

For the base: camouflage cream palette MUFE + Unifiance Skin like foundation 01 from La Roche Posay (discontinued) with a single drop of Lustre Drops Pink Rebel from MAC (limited edition) + Météorites pearl powder in 01.
For the dark circles : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit
For the cheeks : Fresh bloom allover colour Almond Blossom 03 from Clinique (hollow) + Cream colour base Crushed Bougainvillea from MAC (limited edition, on the apples) + Mineralize Skinfinish Petticoat from MAC (limited edition, highlight)
On the lips: Accord parfait from l'Oreal Blondes 235 Nude (discontinued I think) + Eau de gloss transparent from Bourjois (clear gloss)

I will try to do an other one which can be duplicate the BOS vol II. For the ones of you who are interested in the Alice palette but can not find it anymore (in France it is sold out everywhere I think) you can buy the Ammo palette instead. Most of the colours are similar to the ones in the new UD palette. Hope that helps!

Do you buy this BOS? Do you like it? Are you a UD addict?

See ya :)

Some basics about...

...good sun habits and how to have a safe behaviour regarding tanning. I know this post will not be funny but sometimes serious things need to be said too. As a scientist, I may know some interesting details you will be thrilled to learn, anyway I hope so... So on SUN EXPOSURE, here we go!

When do I have to put on a sunscreen? I will answer all year round, an SPF 15 for winter and upgrade to SPF 30 when sunnier days are in if you leave in a city. On the land or if you spend a lot of time outside, higher SPF may be better. And check that your sunscreen provides protection against both UV types A and B (it is normally written on the front part of the bottle)

I do not understand a thing to the SPF scale... It is a number calculated with a weird formula so it is hard to explain but the thing you have to remember is the higher the SPF, the higher the protection. Easy, hum? But do not assume that a SPF 30 provides twice as much protection as a SPF 15 that is so wrong. The protection is only a few % higher.

But I spend most of my time inside... As many people leaving in cities and working in office but you spend sometimes outside anyway to walk to your car or your bus... You have to know too that some UV rays can pass through windows so you'd better be protected. You will not get a tan in that case but you still need a protection from the part of the UV range that cause premature aging.

I hate sunscreens! They are sticky, you can not put make up on top... That is completely wrong, sunscreens have evolved a lot since we were children. You can find very light textures, even some that are specially designed for problematic skin and they can be used under makeup. Go have a look at your chemist or even in drugstore you will definitely find something that suits you.

It looks withe-ish when applied ! Some do and others don't. The "white" effect is due to the sun block agents in the formula. The mineral type ones which can be compared to tiny tiny little rocks are the ones who give this white colour because they are solids in a sense. Chemical sun blocks are less prone to that but on an other hand, they can be sensitizing to some skins, especially intolerant. Most sunscreen formulas contain both types of sun block agents

They prevent tanning and I want a tan! This is an other myth. No sunscreen on Earth can totally block UV rays. There is no 100% protection. You will tan slower and safer but you will tan! If you are not able to tan with a sunscreen, not putting one on will just make you burn not tan!!! If you really want that bad a tan check sunless tanning stuffes like Xen-Tan or St Tropez or even cheaper brands like Ambre Solaire or l'Oreal.

But I have to reapply it every 2 hours, how can I do that with make up on? Chemical sun block agents are slowly destroyed with time, but to do so they have to be exposed to a certain amount of rays or be wipped of your skin by perspiration or water. So if you do not spend much time outside, especially in winter, the sunscreen you put on in the morning will still be a lil efficient when you left in the afternoon. On the other hand, when skiing or sunbathing at the beach, reapply every 2 hours is mandatory. All the rays are emphasized by reflection on the sand, the sea or the snow.

I am still not fully convinced? Listen, the sun is good to synthetise vitamin D but for that no need to sunbath everyday, walking outside is enough. You have to bear in mind that sun is the main factor in premature aging, it takes part to 70% of it, way before genetics for instance. And if you are still doubtful, check "skin cancer" on Google Images, I hope it will prevent you from sunbathing with just monoï. And do not think it is too late to start protecting your skin it is never too late.

To sum up, you can find hundreds moisturizers with an added sunscreen around SPF15 on the market. They are great for winter but maybe a lil low for summer. Some foundations also provide an extra-protection which is cool. For summer, a real sunscreen lotion or a high SPF make up base (MAC, MUFE...) will be a good alternative.

In winter, I do wear a SPF 15 make up base from Stila (which I need to change as the brand is not sold anymore here) under my foundation and when sunny days are here, I switched to my beloved Avene sunscreen I will review soon.
A last trick, do not spare on sunscreen you have to apply a good amount of it to make it work.

So what are your sunscreen habits?

See ya :)

Polynesia

I read a French blog few days ago with plenty pics of a trip to Polynesia. It made me dream about sun, sandbeach and turquoise sea. As I can not afford this kind of journey right now, I first thought about putting my orchids collection in my bathroom with a water noise soundtracks and pouring some light blue ink in my bathtub. But the cleaning afterwards made me change my mind. So I ended up doing a Polynesia-inspired make up which I hope you will like.

For the eyes:
The pics do not do any justice to the brightness of this look. But do not panic it remains wearable! For once, I did swatch in daylight on my inner arm so you can have a better idea of the colours (no flash)
Both the UD shadows are used as liner (outer and inner) and the two other shadows I hope it is clear on the pics :p. I also dotted some sparkles in my inner tear duct with the glitter liner I swatched above.

Time for full face pics, hope you like my fancy dress ^^:

For the base: camouflage cream palette MUFE + Unifiance Skin like foundation 01 from La Roche Posay (discontinued) with a single drop of Lustre Sun Rush from MAC (limited edition) + Météorites powder for the face 01 from Guerlain .
For the dark circles : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit
For the cheeks : Fresh bloom allover colour Almond Blossom 03 from Clinique (hollow) + + Embelliseur Abricot from Agnes B (on the apples) + Mineralize Skinfinish Soft and Gentle from MAC (limited edition, highlight)
For the lips : random lipbalm

So what you think about my holiday beach-like look?

Sorry for the zit on my forehead but mosquitos are back in Paris and I can not stop scratching bites to blood :((

See ya :)

Konad or the nail art for the dummies ;p

Ok every girl a little interested in nails will have heard about this stamping system. I do own one for a pretty long time now and never find the time to experiment with it. But as you guess, this time is over. Just in case you are not familiar with this stuff, you replicate a design from a plate directly onto your nail. Here is the kit I own:
Inside you find a design plate (top left corner), a scrapper to remove excess polish from the plate (top right corner), hidden under the scraper is the stamper to transfer the design to your nail and 3 polishes : 2 "special stamping", the black and the white and a top coat to prevent the design from chipping.

How to use it? Theoretically, you put on a base coat (Yoga-ta get this blue! from OPI), you let it try while choosing the image you want. You pour some special polish on the image (I go for the white one and a butterfly) after that you have to be quick scrap the excess, stamp on the plate and then on your nail in a single eyeblink.

And from a pratical viewpoint? Well, here is what my first try comes like (with a frightening close up) :

I know no comment (I am still really bad when it comes to apply polish).

So what? To be honest, I am not convinced. You see only my left hand which is the most successful and it already does not look that cool. The butterflies look kind of drunk, right :p?
My first issue was to find a design small enough to fit on my tiny nails. I was so suprised about how big they all are!! The second one appears when you stamp to pick up the design. You have to press hard but not too much and be quick but not too much either. Taugh time for me. It may explain why I got asked to repeat a year at school when I was four : I am stamping challenged!!!
Transfering on the nail is way easier as long as you do it firmly without shaking.
Afterall, I do not like the final outcome : it looks mmore dirty than cute to me. Maybe it is due to my bad base application and my inaccurate stamping.

To conclude, I will say that maybe Konad is meant for dummies but not for someone as dummy as I am. I think of giving it away right now. Or maybe I need to practise more to perform. I am in the horns of a cosmetic dilemma.
What you think?

Do not forget my poll (here)

See ya :)

Imperialis from Lush

Ok ready for the weekly review. It will be about an other Lush moisturizer as the first one I tried, the Vanishing cream, ended up being quite disappointing. This one is suposedly designed for combination skin like mine. So why not giving it a go afterall?

What do I think about it? First it is scented with lavender and orange blosson and it is not what you smell, the smell is weird not really unappealing but not appealing that is for sure. The texture is really thick for a combination skin-prone moisturizer but once you heat it up between your fingers it goes on Ok and sinks into your skin. It does not interact with foundation which is great. But in my personal case, there is a huge default, it does not go well with my skin chemistry or one of the other stuffes I used on my face... The smell turns rancid for 10 to 20 seconds which is really annoying. Not cool at all even if it does not last. I checked the best before date and it was Ok, moreover I kept it in the fridge for most of the time :?

Does it work? First I have to say that I am always sceptical when you find moisturiser for combination skin. I do not think it is possible for a single cream to provide moisture to dy area and sebum control to oilier ones. It sounds way too good to be true. For this particular one, the hydration power is too low for dy areas and I am not so sure of the oil breakout control efficiency. If you use a blotting sheet in the middle of the afternoon, it will be slightly greasy.

Do I recommend it? Well once again no. I throw mine away last week and it was half full. The smell and texture seemed to have changed a lil. And above all, after 3 weeks I could not stand the rancid smell anymore. It so frustrating to wash your face clean and put something back on that stings :x

Prix: 16,95€ by Lush French website

I think it concludes my trials of the Lush facial skincare range. 2 trails, 2 huge disappointment. They are not super cheap and not at all efficient on my skin. I would rather buy some Embryolisse big bottle instead. I still like their soap (especially the ones they discontinue but that is an other story) and their solid shampoos when I travel but that's all I wil ever buy again from there. I do own a facial soap that I need to test but have to erase my memory from my Lush disappointment before :p

See ya :)

Poll time!

You may have noticed that the core of this blog is product review. I really enjoy doing them and I hope you find interesting pieces of information in them. But it is obvious that many time you are not even interested in what I review for many different reasons.
It explains why I decide to ask for your opinion this time. I plan to switch my skincare routine as the one I am using right now does not blow me away. I already own many many (too many?) from many ranges so I need some help to pick one and try thouroughly for the upcoming month.
Drum roll....
I will use the stuffes you pick (perhaps match your choice with my French blog too :p) for a month and report on them in the beginning of April. You can vote everyday and for multiple chocie if you are interested in more than one brand.
Let's get it started.... GO!!!

See ya :)

A disappointment

due to a famous place where to buy cosmetics here in France and abroad I know that :) (check the pic for a clue to know what I am talking about).
This post will not deal with how creepy can be the testers in the stores of this group... But it will be about the quick and unpredictable death of some brands that I really like from the aforementioned shops.

You want names? Think Stila, Laura Mercier and Shu Uemura not to say anything less. I know many people will not understand what I complain about, I live in Paris so I will defo find other places to buy these stuffes but guess what Paris is not the center of the world!!! I remember when I was living by my parents on the land I was really happy to be able to buy good quality and not so common cosmetics from this group website. But this time sadly seems to be over.

I do understand that money rules the world in that case but as a fellow customer I will be happy to be informed that some of the brands I love will be discontinued, just to stock up :p.
I live close to their main shop, the one that is supposed to carry all their brands like a display case and each time I go there all the beauty corners have changed. Everything is reorganized so it is hard to notice at first glance if something is new or in my case has disappeared. And like it happens to me today, you will notice it when you need something :s.
I know I will end buying something else perhaps as good as or perhaps not but I am a bit sad all in all to see that some of the brands I like will disappear for most girls not leaving in Paris. Some of these brands were sold there and only there, some are still avalaible on the website but I am sure it won't last long. No more stands in the hypest store, not more online sale, that's the rule I guess.

I really hope it will not happen in all the stores around the world. I assume not as some brands are sold abroad and not in the French stores but to conclude I think the customer policies have to be revised especially for "gold" customers as they like to call us.

See ya :)

Carrot?

Hi girls, how are you today? Hope the weather is sunnier where you are. Only gray sky here :s. So I decide to put sun directly on my face instead of waiting for it to shine outside. Only coral and bright orange for this springish-summery look. Hope you'll like it!
The eyes first: In order of application:
- on the whole lid area, a very light shimmery coral, Apricot Moose from NYX
- in the crease only and blended upwards with the coral colour, a very strong and bright orange with golden sparks, Africa from NYX
- in the outer portion of the crease on a very fine line, a metallic burgundy, ME 160 from Shu Uemura (Cranberry from MAC will be good too)
- on the bottom lasline, the two first colours from light to dark going outwards.
- in the waterlines and on upper lashline, a dark brown pencil, Dark Brown from NYX
- the upper line is blended upwards with a dark brown eyeshadow, Fashionista pigment from Bare Escentuals
- plenty layers of mascara to awaken the eyes and not look sick drunk, Volume Shocking Brosse Exacte from l'Oréal. And you are done!

Time for full face pics:

For the base: camouflage cream palette MUFE + Unifiance Skin like foundation 01 from La Roche Posay (discontinued) with a single drop of Lustre Sun Rush from MAC (limited edition) + Météorites powder for the face 01 from Guerlain .
For the dark circles : Select Cover up from MAC NW 20 + Powderflage from Benefit
For the cheeks : fesh bloom allover colour Almond Blossom 03 from Clinique (hollow) + Beauty Powder Blush Fun & Games from MAC + Embelliseur Abricot from Agnes B (limited edition, on the apples) + Mineralize Skinfinish Soft and Gentle from MAC (limited edition, highlight)
For the lips : Rouge B Abricot rosé (=pink apricot) from Agnès B + Eau de gloss transparent from Bourjois. Badly applied. I still need to practise lipstick application :p

In the end I like this look, it does not wash me out or make me look sick and it is very wearable even for work! I am quite happy because the orange is so bright it scares me a little to use it as a main eye makeup colour. Before I forget, would you be interested in swatches of the eye colour I used in order to compare them with things you already own?
As you can see I am on a lazy day, funky tee shirt and wild hairs but guess what I am not going anywhere :). For the full face pics, so sorry to look that haughty and pretentious I promise I am not. I'd better hide instead my skin is going on the messy side again. Have to go back to anti pimple routine I think :(

See ya :)

Lash injection from Too Faced

I already have moaned a lot about this best selling mascara so I decide to make a full post on it to explain why I am so unhappy. First a pic of the guilty guy on the left. The packaging is average, black and girly pink with a syringe drawn on. It does not look that scary now but be aware it really is.
I got a mini version but it normally does not change the characteristics of the mascara inside but who knows? I heard many people complaining about the mini Hypnose from Lancome which seems to be very bad compared to the full retail size. Maybe this one suffer from the same curse? But enough rambling, the test. First my bare eyes with a tiny bit of foundation to hide redness and then after 1-2 coats of Lash Injection which is meant to be lenghtening and thickening.
I do have natural long and thick eyelashes so I may not be the best girl to try mascara but you can definitely see that the thickening ability is quite good afterall. Volume has been added to the roots without clumping, liner is not really necessary anymore... So good point on that. And what about lenghtening? Same conclusion, really good on that too. Look at the pic right under. The view is a lil strange but it shows the lenght best and that it does not clump at all!
So why do I dislike it so much as it looks really good? Mainly 4 reasons that make it awful to me...
1. The brush is too big!!! I do have big eyes but it is hardly impossible not to touch your eyeball with it. I enclose a pic to show you that it is nearly as big as my pinkie!
2. I hate the formula. It is the most vscous mascara on Earth right after the solid waxy kind. And it tends to flake through the day!
3. The smell... I was so surprised when I first open the tube that I thought mine was past. It is a cheap fragrance like a mixture between a low hand citrus dishwasher and rancid chemical orange juice. And it is not at all discrete, you can smell it during your whole mascara application. I look for testers and they smell the same. Gross!
4. It is not really safe for sensitive eyes. Mine tend to water and itch a lot more when I wear this one. It is not an allergic reaction but a little intolerance, maybe it has something to deal with the fragrance :p

You will be able to discover all these by yourself for 20€ by Sephora in France. I hope it is cheaper abroad.
Are you willing to try it now?

See ya :)