It’s been quite hot here in Belgium the last few days! Finally the perfect weather to use my summer-beauty-kit!

I’ve been using Babor’s Summer Blush for a few weeks now, and I love it! The colors are perfect for summer (a warm hot pink, a soft coral and a deep, slightly shimmery bronze) and it’s so versatile, I use it as as a blush, as a bronzer ànd even as an eyeshadow too!
Summer Blush Collection - €26 - Babor
http://www.babor.be/

My favourite summer-mascara this one from Maybelline. It’s waterproof, looks quite natural (despite its name) and it is easy to apply, essential for hot days at the pool!
Waterproof mascara Falsies Volum’Epress - Maybelline

Do you want to make a fashion-statement by using a hint of color on your eyelids at the beach or at the pool? This (véry) waterproof eyeshadow-stick takes you straight from a dive in the water to the beachparty. Or the other way around, if you fancy a midnight-swim.
Waterproof eyeshadow stick Ombre Blackstar - €30 - By Terry
http://www.cosmeticary.be/

Bumble & bumble is launching a fantastic new line of UV-protective products. The sulfate-free shampoo, the conditioner, the styling balm and the protective polish keep your coloured hair in perfect condition. I recently updated my hair colour, but now my hair feels a bit dry when I wash it with a ‘normal’ shampoo. So I’ve used this Bumble & bumble shampoo the last few weeks, and my hair feels soft en looks shiny again!
Sulfate-free Shampoo Color Minded - Bumble & Bumble
UV protective Styling Balm - Bumble & Bumble
http://www.cosmeticary.be/

My new favourite day cream: the Total Effects sensitive skin- moisturizer! This Total Effects-range of products is fantastic, combining anti-aging, moisturizing and sun-protection.
Total Effects Sensitive skin - €21,99 - Olaz

If you go on holiday, but want to avoid taking a big make-up bag with you, I suggest taking a ‘Flipstick’: Max Factor’s fun and beautiful duo-lipsticks! Soooo many possibilities!!
- Use the lightest colour only, for a subtle effect.
- Use the brightest or darkest colour as a classy evening-look.
- Apply the brightest colour on your lips, leave it on for a few minutes, and then take it off with a tissue. The colour has stained your lips, and it will last a few hours without fading, without you having the sticky lipstick-feeling! You can now add some transparant lipbalm to condition your lips.
- Use the two colours together to design your own lip-look! Use the red lipstick on the outer edges of your lips for example, and add a dot of coral in the middle part of your lips!
My favourite look is this one on the picture below: I used the lightest colour (coral) on the outer edges of my lips, and the bright pink/red on the inside! That way, you get the cherry-lips-effect (as if you just ate a bunch of cherries! :-P)
Flipstick (duo-lipstick) - €12,49 - Max Factor

Last but not least, a summer-kit item for easy beach-hair: the Ocean Spritz spray by Wella!
So easy: just spray it in your hair, massage it a little bit, and you have a beachy waves!
I also like to spray it in my hair before I make a braid or before I put my hair up in a messy bun (ideal for the beach).
If I take the braid / bun out after a few hours, my hair has beautiful waves! Ideal for summer-evenings!
Ocean Spritz spray - Wella

Summer is just around the corner, and the new nail trends are sooo cute!
Before you start experimenting, here are a few tips:

- Short, oval / square-rounded nails are trendy at the moment. Long, pointy nails are completely outdated!
- Always use a base- and topcoat. It makes the nailpolish last longer!
- Use quality nailpolishes to prevent your nail colours from chipping!

My top three nail polishes:

1) Essie - (soo many colours, and véry long lasting! Buy them here:) http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/essie/
2) Rimmel - (especially the ‘Pro’-range, it lasts for more than 7 days!) http://rimmel.rimmellondon.com/products/nails
3) Maybelline Forever Strong - (last for +5 days!)  http://www.maybelline.co.uk/products/117/nail-color/forever-strong-pro

And now, here are my favourite summer nail-ideas!

Ombre nails:

Glitter nails:

Funky nail designs:

Matte nails:

Colourful french manicure:

Caviar nails:

Polka dots:

Newspaper nails:

I’ve tried some of these trends…

Here is my version of the newspaper nails!

How to? Paint your nails in a light colour. Then take a piece of newspaper, soak it in alcohol (70%) and press it on your nails for 15 seconds. Tadaa! Finish off with a top coat.

I’ve also tried the polkadots. It’s a bit hard to stop when doing this, so I went a bit over the top.

How to? Paint your nails in any colour, then apply dots in another colour with a toothpick. Et voila! You can also add a glittery top coat.

What’s your favourite?

x Katleen

Hi blogreaders,

How are you guys doing? I know I haven’t been writing much lately, but I have so many things to share with you, so I’m planning on writing a lot of articles the next few days!

First I want the share my newest discovery: the ‘Fit Me’-product range from Maybelline! You’ve probably seen these products in the supermarket? I always wonder with supermarket cosmetics if they are any good, and don’t you just find it annoying that they don’t provide testers?
But in this case, I can assure you:
The foundation is one of the best I’ve used in years: it’s not too creamy but neither is it powdery, it is not translucent but not too covering either. And it adapts to your skintone, so it’s just perfect!
I also ADORE the concealer (it stays where it has to stay all day), the powder and the blushes. I looovee it! I personally use nr. 120 as foundation and nr. 10 as a concealer, but I’m quite pale so I think most people will need a darker one.

Check my blog soooon for more beauty-news, fashion ideas and tutorials!
xxxxx

Prices:

Fit me Foundation: €11,99
Compact Powder: €11,99
Concealer: €7,99
Blush: €9,99

I finally found the perfect eyeliner! I decided to do a subtle but longlasting party-make-up with it, as the holidays are coming up:

First I applied an eyeshadow base (urban decay primer potion), but you don’t really need it (the eyeliner is very very véry longlasting in its own). Then I applied the eyeliner (Gel eyeliner - Catrice) with an angled brush. The only disadvantage is: if you make a mistake, it isn’t easy to correct as the eyeliner dries quickly (and then it stays there… forever. or until you take it off with a good cleanser. You can even shower with it! :-D)

As a highlighter under my eyebrows and on my cheekbones, I used the M.A.C mineralize skinfinish in the colour ‘lightscapade’. I bought it today, and what a great product it is! A few years ago, M.A.C. had a beautiful pastel shimmery powder (called ‘Perfect topping’, and purrrfect it was!) and I really didn’t understand why they discontinued it. But now, they have this ‘Lightscapade’! You can use it as an eyeshadow, or to highlight cheeks / cupid’s bow on the lips / brow bone, or you can apply it all over your face to give you a nice shimmer.

The mascara I used, is the Rimmel ‘day 2 night’ glam’eyes. There are two ways to open the mascara, one to apply a lot of product, and one to have a subtle effect.

My lips, I first filled in with the Max Factor Lipfinity pencil, which I reviewed in this article. This lip stain stays on for sooo many hours (that way, if your gloss goes away, you still have some colour on your lips). On top of that, I applied the ‘Nice Kitty’ lipgloss from the M.A.C. Hello Kitty-collection. This pink translucent shade has a bit of glitter in it!

As a nailpolish I took the Rimmel Lycra Pro polish in the colour ‘312 Ultra voilet’. This nailpolish is in my top 3 of all time favourite nailpolishes, as it stays for days (sometimes up to 4 or 5 days) without chipping! And don’t you looove the colour? It has a super-easy brush too!

So, that was it for this subtle party-proof look! I have another (a bit more ’sparkly’) party look in mind, so check my blog in a few days!
A few of my friends said to me it would be fun if I’d make some ‘how to’-tutorials on youtube sometimes… but I am a bit camera shy… What do you, sweet blogreaders, think? Shall I…?

The holiday season is coming up, the puurrrfect time to go a little bit over-the-top with your make-up! So that’s why I’m going to write a few blog-articles about party-make-up!
First of all: Max Factor! They recently launched a few new products, and my favorites are:

The Smoky-Eye-Effect-eyeshadow-stick!
This stick has two sides, mostly a lighter/shinier side, and a darker one.

The texture is a bit creamy, so it is véry easy to blend the colour on your eyelids to create a soft look. To make it last longer, I fixate it by sweeping over a bit of translucent powder, and then adding some more colour on top of it! Oh, and these smokey-eye-sticks come in beautiful colours!!

My second favourite product: the Miracle Touch Creamy Blush. I always prefer creamy blushes over the powdery ones, because the result is much more natural (and it gives you a healty shine too!).

Max Factor’s make-up artist Alex Valverde shows you in this movie how to do a smokey-eyes-look yourself, using these products! Enjoy!

Max Factor Smoky Eye stick - €13,99

Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush - €10,99

I’ve got a new addiction: argan oil. I was strolling around in Bruges this week, and there was a little artisan market where I found this:

Argan oil is one of the rarest oils in the world, as it only grows in one specific area in Morocco. In fact, all argan oil in the world is produced by a Moroccan women’s cooperative (which exists of 22 smaller factories), so by buying this oil you support these Berber women living and working in the south-east of Morocco!

So… now I can hear you think: this may all be very interesting and all… but what is this argan oil and why should I use it?

Well… because it has a véry large amount of vitamine E, squalane, omega 3 / 6 (anti-oxidants), carotene, etc… it moisturizes, protects and heals the skin, you can use it as a wrinkle treatment, it helps to soften and heal very dry skin (even psoriasis), you can use it on dry hair or nails, it even helps to balance oily skin types.
And on top of all that, you can use it in the kitchen: you can also consume this oil, on a salad or something.

I have been using it the last few days as a wrinkle treatment around my eyes, and I used it a few times on my dry hands and even on my lips (it’s getting cold here in Belgium!)… and I absolutely LOVE it.

I now understand why they call it ‘liquid gold’ in Morocco… (and also maybe because it’s quite pricey )
You can find this oil in different price-ranges. As it is produced in relatively small amounts it is obviously not cheap, but I think you can find it at a reasonable price if you look around a bit.

The brand that I bought the oil from, apparently has a webshop:

http://www.maison-du-savon.com

So dear blogreaders, are there any other argan-oil-addicts out there? I’m curious to hear about your experiences, because I’ve only been using this oil for a few days now. But I’m seriously hooked already! (Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!)

I’ve been testing some new products lately, including a whole lot of nail polishes! But first, here is my review of a new Babor-mascara:

I like the brand Babor. I was in Vienna last week, and they have a very big and luxurious Babor Store over there! I wish we had one too! (preferably in Antwerp! )
But now for the new Super Style mascara: It costs a little bit more than your average supermarket mascara, but is it worth it? Absolutely. It separates your lashes beautifully, and extends them at the same time. I like the fairly liquid and light texture of this product, which coats the lashes thinly and avoids lumps. The brush has two sides: a short side to apply mascara to the base of the lashes, and a long side to separate the lashes. It works like a charm… I found my new favourite mascara!

Babor Super Style Mascara - €22

Check my blog soon for the BIG Nail Polish Review!!!

Yes, I know, it’s been a few days since I’ve updated my blog… but I have been relaxing in the fantastic and charming Portugal! I always try to avoid packing a heavy beauty-bag for my holiday, but some stuff is always necessary! Even when staying in the middle of nowhere, in between vineyards and green, sparsely inhabited mountains, as we did in Portugal…

First of all, I took a sublime sun protection cream with me: the ‘Rituals Sun protection Face Cream SPF 30′. It smells heavenly (Organic White Tea & Ginkgo Biloba), contains a UVA ànd UVB filter, vitamine E, it works as an anti-age-cream, ànd it’s waterproof… perfection!

On my nails, I put a thin layer of Yves Rocher’s ‘Base for strong nails’, a translucent nail polish that protects your nails and makes them shine. I did this the day before I left on holiday, and for the whole 10 days I needn’t to do anything else to my nails! You can also use this nail polish as a base underneath a bright summery colour, of course!

When I swim and sunbathe all day long, my hair becomes even drier as hay. I then need something to nourish my hair, so that I can at least comb it after washing it… I took the ‘Wella Enrich Hydrating Mask’ with me this holiday, and it worked like a charm! I used it together with the Wella Enrich shampoo and conditioner. I’m so hooked to this range of haircare-products, I think I’m going to get me the Wella Enrich Elixir as well!

As for make-up, I only took a few basics with me.
I brought the new Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara with me, a mascara that gives length ànd volume to the lashes: ideal for a little glam when going out for dinner and cocktails at night.
(Max Factor is available in Belgium at the Kruidvat-stores)

To enhance the soft glow on tanned skin, it’s always nice to use a bronzer. I am especially a fan of liquid or cream-formula-bronzers, such as the MAC Surf Baby Skin Sheen Bronzer Stick. They are easier to blend (and thus easier to correct if you put too much in the wrong place :-P). The colour ‘Tan Tint’ is a perfect multi-purpose product by the way. As I didn’t bring a lot of make-up with me, I also used this MAC Bronzer Stick to contour under my cheekbones, to give depth to the crease of my eyes (in a natural way), and I even used it (with a small brush) to define my eyebrows! (Although I would only advise this if you have a copper-brownish haircolour, like me). If you want it, you have to be quick though, because the MAC ‘Surf Baby’ collection is a Limited Edition!

Finally: my lip-routine!
First, I applied the New York Color Lip Stain, a fan-tas-tic product if you want a long-lasting lipcolour-result. It kinda looks like a pink magic marker, but it works: the lips absorb the colour pigments. After a few minutes, I usually took the remaining product off again with a tissue, for a subtle effect.

As the lip stain only applies colour, not shine or care, I used a gloss afterwards.
I took my ‘DuWop Lip Venom’ with me, the famous, very first lip plumper on the market. It tingles and makes the lips swell a little bit, as well as moisturising them. In Belgium, you can find this product in the ‘Cosmeticary’-shops, in Brussels or Antwerp.

That was it, my holiday-beauty-routine… And now, back to work, I’ve got some busy weeks ahead!

http://www.rituals.com/nl-en/
http://www.yves-rocher.be/control/main/
http://www.wella.be/en-EN/home.aspx
http://www.maxfactor.nl/
http://www.maccosmetics.be/
http://www.newyorkcolor.com/
http://www.cosmeticary.com/

Happy Easter, everyone!

What a great easter weekend we had here in Belgium… Sunny weather, perfect for easter egg hunts, barbecues with family and working in the garden! Hmmm lovely, I feel like I’ve been on holiday or something…
Anyway, back to business!

I’ve been wanting to write about my favourite moisturizing day cream for a while now, but didn’t find the time. So here it is:

I ADORE Louis Widmer’s Emulsion Hydro-Active!! Instead of all those supercreamy day creams, this is a non-greasy moisturizer: it hydrates the skin, without giving it that sticky feeling. And I have a very ‘thirsty’ skin, so it absorbes the emulsion immediatly.

I found the active-ingredients-list online:

I use this emulsion as a day cream, and in the evening I use Louis Widmer’s ‘Crème Nutritive’, which is a bit richer. That way, the dryer spots of my skin can absorb all the nourishing ingredients, all night long.

Oh, and I also like the fact that there is a ‘no perfume’-version as well as a ’slightly scented’-version.

Highly recommended!

The cosmetics-brand Babor is known for their fantastic skin-products, such as my favorite cleaning oil in the world: Hy-Ol + Phytoactive. But I had never tried Babor’s make-up products, so I was quite keen on testing them!

Finding a perfect lip gloss can be quite the challenge. Most lip glosses are very sticky, and leave your lips (and mouth) feel dry after the gloss has gone.
The Babor Ultra Brilliant Lip Gloss is an exception: It’s a very transparant lip gloss, and it makes your lips feel hydrated, soft and smooth.  I has almost no taste, has a nice fruity smell, and it doesn’t stick at all. My new favourite!

I tried the Babor Ultra Performance Nail Colour in the colour ‘Nude Brown’. This is a cute little bottle of nail polish, in a grayish-brown colour. What I especially like about this nail polish, is the fact that you only need one coat to have an opaque, pigmented effect. This nail polish dries quickly, and stays intact on the nails for about 2 to 3 days.

You can find these products online - http://www.babor.be/ - and at several beauty salons.

Babor Ultra Brilliant Lip Gloss - €14,50
Babor Ultra Performance Nail Colour - €9,50