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 Long, pointy nails are completely outdated!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

Hello blogreaders! I hope you had a nice and merry Christmas!

We’ve had a few lovely Christmas dinners with our family (and with a lot of food - I cooked for 16 people-) and now we’re preparing for New Year’s Eve! We’re going to celebrate it with a group of friends, and everybody brings food, so I’ll be less in the kitchen and more partying this time!

And as promised, here are some inspirational party-make-up looks for New Year’s Eve! These are the holiday pictures from the big designer-make-up brands, by the way.

Chanel:

To create this look, use a matte foundation and apply a black eyepencil on the top eyelid and blend it out to get a subtle smokey effect. On the lower eyelid, use a golden eyeliner (or use a wet angled brush with golden eyeshadow). Then finish the look with black mascara and a shiny raspberry lipstick and nail polish.

Dior:

First line your eyes with a black eyepencil (top lid, bottom lid and waterline) and then blend it to get the smokey effect. After that, take a brown-bronze eyeshadow, and with a blending brush smooth the edges of the eyeliner, and create a soft transition from the black to the colour of your skin. A golden highlighter was used to highlight the browbones and cheekbones.  Black mascara and warm red lipstick and nail polish finish the look.

Giorgio Armani:

For this look, apply a iridescent silver eyeshadow on your upper eyelid. Then use a black gel-eyeliner, only on the top lid. It is important to use a very longlasting eyeliner! (I found one: read all about it in my party-proof make-up article)
If you are planning on using false eyelashes, this thick eyeliner is a perfect combination. When the lashes have a dark ‘background’, they don’t draw too much attention, and that way they seem more natural. In this picture, they also applied a nice dark ruby-red lipstick and an almost black nail polish.

Lancôme:

Kate Winslet is wearing a bright red lipstick with a soft dark-grey eyepencil on the top and bottom eyelids (and again: blend it to create a softer look). I guess you already know my secret for kiss-proof red lips: use a lipstain underneath your red lipstick!

Yves Saint Laurent

This make-up is ideal for a night of heavy partying. If it smudges, it becomes even more beautiful! So you first use a black eyepencil all over the moving part of your upper eyelid, and also under the eyes and in the waterline. Then you fixate it by sweeping over a dark grey eyeshadow. For a very dramatic look: blend the eyeshadow all the way to your eyebrows. When you wear a dramatic smokey eyemake-up, it is always nice to combine it with a neutral lipgloss, instead of a heavy lipstick. Oh, and notice the beautiful matte black nail polish! Instead of buying matte nail polishes, it’s a lot cheaper to just buy a matte topcoat! You can find the fantastic matte Essie topcoat here, on my favourite online beautyshop: beautybay.com!!

Which look are you going to wear for New Year’s Eve? I think I’ll go for the golden eyeliner!
Happy New Year everyone, and see you in 2012!!

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…?

I am always a bit reluctant to buy stuff in online shops. When buying clothes, you never know if they will fit, and with beauty products, I like to feel the texture and see the colours in real life before I buy something.

I make a few exceptions, especially when the beauty products are extremely cheap or extremely fantastic.

The webshop ‘e.l.f.’ (eyes lips face) is in the ‘extremely cheap’ category, and most of the products are even quite good! I like the nail polishes, lip glosses, some of the eye shadows and some of the brushes!

lipgloss - € 1
eye shadow palette - € 4
kabuki brush - € 5,80
http://nl.eyeslipsface.be/

Another webshop I adore is the Cosmeticary online shop. I LOVE the stores in Antwerp and Brussels, but when I don’t have the time to drop by, I order these fantastic goodies online!
You can shop hard-to-find brands here, such as By terry, diptyque, Laura Mercier, bumble&bumble, Duwop, dermalogica, Essie, … and more.
 

Rosebud salve (for chapped lips and dry skin) - € 10
Nail polish ‘mint candy apple’ - € 13,75 - Essie
Satin oil for hair en body - € 45 for 200ml - diptyque
http://www.cosmeticary.com/

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/

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