February Favies!

Hey guys! 

I showed you my February empties yesterday and today I'm going to show you my February favourties. My favourites depend from month to month but every once in a while I have a great product that is more often in my favourite posts.

  I think quite a few of the products that I'm going to show today, have been in other favourite posts as well! 

 

Okay so here are all the products that I have as favourites. I'm going to go through them really quick.

I have my Catrice All Round concealer palette, which I absolutely love for more than one reason. If you can get your hands on it, please do. First of all it's very cheap, you get five different colours and they work great! As you can see, the two colours on the right are gone already.

Next I have the "FIT me" foundation by Maybelline which is a new item. I don't like it as much when I just had an acne breakout because I find that my skin is hard to cover up then, but it's great when I have "good skin days".
Under it is my lipgloss. I have been sick this month and when you're trying to fake being healthy, it's great to use lipgloss (click here for all my tips and tricks when it comes to faking being healthy). This lipgloss is by Catrice and it's called "Nymph's Glow". Gorgeous peachy pink lipgloss.

Next I have my Paris Memories makeup palette in "Shade 29" (click here for my eye of the day).
I have also been loving my FM makeup palette (click here for a post on my FM palette). These palettes are easy to use, the quality of both palettes is great and I just totally love them. 

The other products that I have laying next to my palettes are my nail hardner by Miss Sporty (life saver!) and my lipbalm by Yves Rocher. I have been using this one a lot since February was a very very cold month and I really needed to take good care of my painful, dry lips.

You can also see my Fantasia highlighter by Essence, which -unfortunately- broke. I have a vanity with a few drawers and somewhere in December or January I pulled my drawer a bit too hard and everything fell out. This beauty was in it so it broke.
It's a shame, really, it was really beautiful (click here to see how it used to look), anyways, I'm not going to throw it away.

And last but not least I have my Catrice eyebrow pencil which I'm very happy with because I hate my eyebrows and now I can "touch them up" and draw them on if I want to!

Are there any products you loved lately? 

Have a good evening!

February Empties

Since February is coming to an end, I decided to make sure I got my February empties out on time.

I have emptied quite a few products this month

So I don't know if you remember these little jars/containers that I got to organize my blogging stuff better but here is my empties container. As you can see it's pretty stuffed.

So here's what I emptied: The first thing is a Biotherm 'Blue Therapy Serum'. I got this in one of my Deauty boxes. I used it a couple of times but it didn't really work for me, it's anti-aging and anti-wrinkles when I don't really have them yet.

Next I had a mini bottle of Schwarzkopf color freeze shampoo. I have red hair so hairproducts for dyed hair are important to me. I also have the full size bottle, I just wanted to finish this one before I started the big one.
Next to it, there's my Klorane extra gentle dry shampoo with oat milk. Again, I got this in one of my Deauty boxes and I was so excited to try it. When having red hair, you have to be careful not to wash it too much so it was great to have this. I'm actually really sad I'm out of it already because it worked amazing. I think I'm going to be buying the full size dry shampoo.

Then on the right I have my L'Oréal Professional Vitamino Color gelmask. I got this one way back, I think in October when I dyed my hair for the very first time (it was brown back then). It is a bit more expensive than "regular" products and you can only get it at your hairdressers but I think it's totally worth it. Also this smells amazing and I used it for four to five months so I'd say that's not too bad (it's also a product from my beauty/makeup challenge).

Below I have shower milk by Bee Nature, it cleans, moisturises and revitalises. It's a natural product with honey and plant extracts and it's 100% Belgian.
It doesn't contain paraben, phenoxyethanol or mineral oil. Also it has a symbol on it that says "organic cosmetic". Yay for Bee Nature!

Next I have a local drugstore mascara that needed to be replaced (makeup challenge empty!) and an empty sample of Estée Lauder "Sensuous Nude" perfume. I might end up getting this one because I am crazy about it, it smells amazing and I got quite a few positive comments on it.

What products did you empty this month?
Have a good day!

Nivea Lash Elastic Mascara review!

Hi guys! Way before I started my makeup challenge in January, I made sure I got back up items for products that I used on a daily basis.
One of those products is mascara, I use it everyday and so I wanted to make sure I got another one before starting the challenge. 
The one that I got was one that I hadn't tried before, it's the Nivea Lash Elastic Mascara.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled out the wand is how long and skinny it was. Most of my used mascara's had a thick, short wand so it was a bit weird getting used to this again.

The packaging of the mascara is pretty basic. It's just blue with gold letters. It holds 8 ml I thought it would be interesting to mention there's a symbol on the tube which says it's okay to use in case you wear lenses.

I got a black mascara. I prefer black over brown, it makes my eyes pop more.

So like I said, the wand is pretty long and small. This is how it looks.

To be honest, I was surprised in a very good way with this mascara. I didn't think I would really see a lot of result but it turned out to be a very good lengthening mascara. It also doesn't clumb.
I like to apply three coats of mascara because I think that looks best.

Have a good evening!

EOTD: Champagne Showers

Happy Monday everyone! Time for an eye of the day post! Yesterday when doing my makeup I wanted to use an old palette of mine again. I have used it quite a lot last year and I loved it but then I got more and more makeup and I forgot about this old friend. I've hit pan already and the letters in the front came off so this palette totally looks gross but ahhhh I still love it! 

This is a pretty simple makeup palette by Paris Memories called "Shade 29" but it holds four beautiful colours that can be used for a natural look and I think it's just elegant!

  

 

I used the champagne colour (which I have hit pan on in the middle) on my lid and the taupe colour in my crease. The skin coloured eyeshadow worked great as highlighter under my browbone. I don't use the brown eyeshadow because I think it's a bit too dark. Why is there so much pan, you ask? Well some people (myself included) are clumsy and they drop things... Like eyeshadow palettes...

I finished the look with one layer of mascara and a thin line. I used Essence "Midnight in Paris" gel eyeliner for it.

I personally really like this look because it doesn't look "over the top", it's just basic but you still have something on your eyes.

Let me know what you think!
Have a good evening!

Weekly Diary!

Hi guys! Happy Sunday! As every Sunday I'm going to let you know what my week was like! 

I had a lovely week, I met a bunch of lovely people and got my report card from school, which was better than I expected. I hope you had a great week as well!

I've been reading a lot lately! Especially this little lovely book right here is one I want to finish soon! It's by J.K. Rowling and it's called "A Casual Vacancy".

I also got four of these trays to help organize my work. I have one tray with things I still have to test, a tray with things I have tested already but haven't been reviewed on the blog yet, a tray for empty and favourite items (for the posts at the end of the month).

I also finally found this book, it's called "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth. This is a dystopian book and it's part of a series. I have already read the first book, "Divergent" and I absolutely fell in love with it.

I can't wait to read it! 

Aaahhh how much I want this palette! I hear nothing but good things about it! Unfortunately I haven't finished my makeup challenge.

And last but not least. Snow. Again.
It is the fourth time it started snowing again and it's actually more than I expected. Holy moly.
I'm actually getting a bit tired of it because I was looking forward to spring! But oh well....

How was your week?

Makeup Starter Kit!

Hello you guys! 

Happy Saturday! Today I'm doing a bit of a "different" post! As you can read in the title, it's going to be about a makeup starter kit. I often get asked about makeup - more in real life than on my blog - and a lot of times people ask me what I like to use or if I have any recommendations for their "makeup starter kit". So today I have collected a few items that I think are important to have if you're starting out with makeup. Of course there are also items in it that you don't need, but that I personally do like and do use.

Here's a picture of the items I chose.

 

  

Here are all the products I use for my face (I use quite a few products but please note you don't have to use it all too, I just have acne problems and scars so if you have nice skin, don't feel the need to put all of this on): 

First of all I use some kind of daycream or moisturizer. Especially for people with dry skin this is important, but even if you have a bit of an oily skin you can still use it. When I started out with makeup I used to skip moisturizer and my foundation never looked good, there were always dry spots in my face that made the foundation look weird so please do use this.

 

I have a drugstore foundation, this is Maybelline fit me foundation in 115 (medium coverage). I like drugstore foundations because they're cheap, they last long and they give quite good coverage. Also, every brand has it's own foundation so there's choice enough. (I apply this with my hands but you could get a foundation brush or a beauty blender, it's up to you. If you decide to use your hands to apply this, don't forget to wash them before starting! - a lot of people seem to forget!)

I also use concealer, I think this is a product that everyone should have. It's great to cover up under eye circles and other blemishes you might have. I have skin problems so concealer has always been a holy item for me. In the picture you see that I have a concealer palette by Catrice. So cheap and so many colours! If you can get your hands on it, please take it home because it's amazing! (I apply this with my fingers but you could get a concealer brush as well if you wanted to.)

I also use a pressed powder to set my foundation - again, there are very good drugstore ones. I use a kabuki brush for this.

I use blush as well. If you don't like blush or you don't want it, that's okay, you don't have to get it for your starter kit. I do like it because I am quite pale and I don't blush naturally, so I look "dead". To apply this, I use my drugstore blush brush.

Okay, on to all the other products that have nothing to do with skincare.

First, I have an eyebrow pencil, this one is by Catrice and I just got it because my eyebrows are messed up so I like to draw them on a little bit better. If you're a lady with lovely eyebrows, you don't need this at all.

Next I have a mascara, this one is the Black Smoke Volume Mascara from L'Oréal but you could pick any mascara you like. Drugstores are full of it! I also have a makeup palette with three neutral colours in it - makeup palettes are always good for starters, there are no disadvantages. I really like drugstore palettes because the pigmentation is very good and the price is low, you don't really need to spend a lot of money on a high end product if you're a starter because you might end up hating eyeshadow. This is optional, you don't have to wear eyeshadow if you don't want to. If you do, you could use the brushes that come with most makeup palettes, but you could also get some other ones. On the right side of the picture you see two thin brushes. These are the ones I use for my makeup looks: a flat brush and a blending brush (I use that one to put colour in my crease but also to blend).

When I use eyeshadow, I also like to put on liquid eyeliner, it's my signature look so that's why I put eyeliner in the picture as well. You could also use gel eyeliner or pencil eyeliner - or you could skip it. It's personal preference.

And last but not least I have a lip product. You could get a cute lipstick or lipgloss, but I just chose for a lipbalm. The lipsticks or lipglosses (including one lipbalm because you need it more than you think) I prefer to wear are all in my purse.

That's it! A rather long post, but I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I helped some people with it! Thanks for reading and have a lovely Saturday!

EOTD: Caramel & Chocolate - Essence pigments!

Hi everyone! I've been meaning to post this look so many times but I just never got around to taking pictures of this look.
As you all know, Essence came out with pigments quite a few months ago. I got two called "Smell the caramel", which is a colour I can't really describe so I would say 'caramel' is a good description, and "Box of chocolate", which is a brown colour.. Don't you just love the names?
The colours are quite neutral, I agree, but all the other pigments that were left in my drugstore were orange or pink ones, and I'm not really a big fan of hot pink eyeshadow on regular days, I think it's just a bit too much.
Oh and I'm sorry for updating this late, my Internet is working against me today.

Okay so here are the products that I've used: my liquid eyeliner from a local drugstore (on the left), my highlighter from NYC in "Basic Instinct" (on top), two jars of Essence pigments - the one on the left is "Smell the caramel" and the right one is "Box of chocolate" - and below, the mascara I used, it's the Mega volume black smoke mascara from L'Oréal.

Swatches! No natural daylight so that's why it looks a bit ... Erm, crappy? Anyways, the left finger is "Box of chocolate", next "Smell the caramel" and last my highlighter.

So this is how it looks... At first I was doubting a bit about how wearable it would be but it turned out to be a fun colour. You can build up the intensity if you want; start light and make it darker if you want to. I ended up liking it a lot, I would just advice to be careful with applying - especially with the darkest colour.

And that's how it looks! Let me know what you think!

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser and Ultra Facial Cream

Hi guys!

I got these two new skincare products a little while ago and surprisingly I never really told you guys about it. It's the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser and Ultra Facial Cream.

I only have one other product from Kiehl's, which is their lipbalm, and if you have been checking on my blog, you'll know that I have written about it a lot! I love the lipbalm, so I expected good things from these two face products as well.

Personally I don't like testing face products as much as makeup because I have quite sensitive skin and I break out easily. Testing is always a risk. That's why I tested this when I had a week off from school so that my skin would have enough time to recover in case something went wrong.

The facial cleanser holds 30ml and the facial cream holds 7ml.

The packaging looks like always: white, basic and with information on it. Easy!

The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser is a cleanser that is for all skin types. There's a lot of information on the tube and directions can also be found on there (which is always nice). I'm not going to type everything because obviously I don't think a lot of people really  need to know that there's Advocado oil in it, but I will type how Kiehl's describes this cleanser. "Gentle Liquid Formula that Cleanses without Over-drying or Stripping Skin." I find the over-drying part and the skin stripping part very important, since I have rather dry skin myself and I want to keep it moisturized and healthy.

What I always find very important when testing skincare products is the smell - some products really just stink, there's no other way of putting it. These Kiehl's products do have a little bit of a smell but it's not disturbing. It doesn't have any colour. Also the facial cleanser isn't a scrub or anything, it just reminds me of a gel that works very gently and a little bit foaming on the skin. Very nice.

After applying the cleanser and rinsing it off well, I apply the facial creme. It's a white-ish.
The jar looks very little but actually you really don't need a lot for your whole face. The cream is soft and gentle and I find that it moisturizes without feeling sicky or annoying.
Just like the cleanser, it has a bit of a smell, but I would say I rather like it than hate it, so it's not really disturbing.

Products I regret buying!

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to write about some products I regret buying. So far, I haven't really had many products that I 'hate', which is good. I love most of the products in my stash. But well, when getting new products to try them out or to review them, you can accidentally get products that aren't as good as you hoped.
Today I'm going to write about these products. So far, I only have five products I regret buying, and they weren't all expensive, so that's good.

The first product is a BB cream by Biocura, I got it in the colour "Sand" because it was the lightest colour. Still, it's way to dark. It's also quite difficult to blend in, I end up having brown/orange stains on my face, which isn't very nice.

Next I have a lipbalm by Sence (it's the pink lipbalm in the middle of the picture). I have two other lip balms by Sence and I enjoy using them, it's just that this one has a lot of glitters in it and it's so shimmery that my teeth look extremely yellow when I wear the balm. You can also have this problem with barbie pink lipsticks (unless you bleech your teeth, which I don't because I'm too young and it's too expensive).

The other pink lip product you can see in the pictures is by MAX, which is a product that you can both use for your lips and eyes. So it's a lipstick and an eyeshadow pencil. It's in a pastel pink colour. I think it's way too sticky for the eyes, it makes them look oily, and it's not really a colour that I like on my lips.

I have one other lip product in this post, it's a lipstick by Hema, which is a pretty popular shop here in Belgium and Holland (basically it sells stuff for school, clothes, makeup, baby stuff, home decoration and all of that stuff...)
I got it because I wanted a lipstick that would be wearable for everyday but I noticed it made my lips very dry. Also, after using it for a while, it also started looking (and feeling) very grainy. Not just on top, but on the sides as well. Pity! Now my Kate Moss by Rimmel London lipstick is the one that I wear on a daily basis. A lot less nude but at least it's good quality.

The last thing is a hair oil, I got it in one of my "Deauty" boxes (which I'm not subscribed to anymore now). I don't think there's anything wrong with the product, I just really hate hair oils because it makes my hair feel greasy and heavy and yuck.
It's not because of the product itself but I know I'm never going to use this, so I do regret buying this. Or in my case, getting it in that beauty box, but well... You can't pick what you get.

Do you have any products that you regret buying?

Have a good day!

Nivea Gloss Wonder Balm Review

Hey everyone! Today I'm reviewing another lip product, another lipbalm, since I have needed it this last week, I don't know if you have, but okay...

This lipbalm is the "Gloss Wonder Balm" by Nivea. It has SPF 15 in it. The label says there's also argan oil, mango butter and cacao butter in it. This little balm holds 14 ml.

This is how my lips looked without anything on it. I had put on lipbalm that morning already but after eating lunch it came right off.

 

And this is how my lips looked after applying the lip balm. As you can see, it's a tinted lipbalm, there's colour in it. I believe this is the lightest colour that was available in my drugstore.

 

 

I like the packaging, it makes it easy to apply the lip balm and you can get the perfect amount. It's also much more hygienic than a lipbalm tin were you have to put your fingers in it and rub it on your lips with your fingers. 

The lipbalm is a little bit sticky but then again, I only have one lipbalm that's not sticky, every other one is.

Have a lovely evening!  

How to look healthy when you're sick

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great day today!
If you've read my Weely Diary, you'll know that it was my first day going back to school since a one week break. I am still sick, and that's why today I thought of doing a makeup look in which I "faked" to look healthy. I'm going to tell you what I do to prevent looking ill.
Oh, and I also want to thank those of you who left me a sweet 'get well soon' comment. I appreciate it.

 

So here is what I look like right now even though I'm not feeling well at all. I don't have a "before" picture, simply because I forgot to take it this morning.

 I know the lighting probably isn't the best but you can see that I made sure I had nice and pink cheeks, also I'm wearing a lipgloss by Catrice in this picture, it's called "Nymph's Glow" and it's a peach toned lipgloss. Honestly, I think it's the most beautiful colour in the world!

Okay so there are a few things that I change in my makeup routine, when I'm sick. Your foundation routine is still thesame but the only thing you have to pay attention to is the area around your nose. Don't put too much foundation or powder over there because you will blow your nose and if all the foundation and powder comes off, you have the risk of looking a bit weird.


Often when you're sick, your skin also looks a little bit more pale. So that's why, when you do your blush, you can add a little bit more if you want to.
I am very pale all the time (even if I'm not sick), so I love my blush, but now I even apply a teeny tiny bit more.

The next thing I do is to apply a highlighter. Normally I only wear it in summer when there's bright sunlight to reflect the highlighter, or I wear it to a party, but when I'm sick I also like to use it because it gives you a bit of a healthy glow - and that's exactly what you need when your skin isn't looking very well.
You could also mix a liquid highlighter with your daycreme before you apply foundation, it's all up to you, just get that glow.

The highlighter I'm wearing is from the Essence Fantasia collection.

The last thing I do is to make sure I'm not wearing lipstick. Since you want a healthy glow, you can go for a lipbalm that looks like a transparant lipgloss, or you can just go for a pink or peach toned lipgloss. Even though I love lipstick, I can't deny the fact that it's a no- go when you're sick.
Personally I really love the Kiehl's lipbalm, it has been one of my favourite lipbalms of all times!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention! I have a YSL lipstick that feels AND looks like a lipbalm. It's the Volupté Sheer Candy Glossy Balm. Of course you could use such lipsticks as well, because they're actually not lipsticks.

As for my eyes, I just went with my signature look, which is the winged eyeliner!

I hope you liked this post and I hope I helped other people who are sick!
In case you have somewhere important to go to, don't forget these tips!

Have a lovely evening! 

Weekly Diary

Hey everyone! As usual on Sunday, I'm going to show you what my week looked like. I didn't have to go to school this week, which was nice, it gave me some time to do other things.

Unfortunately I got sick this week so a lot of the plans I made were ruined. 

 

 

Drinking green tea. Some people told me it was great to help you get healthy again but yuck! I really don't like green tea, haha!  I do like the mug!

Even though I am still a bit sick, I did some shopping yesterday. I hopped in the bookstore because I love spending my time there, just looking at all the new books,... And I picked this book up, it's called "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth and it's part of a series. I already have the first book, I've read it and I loved it so I can't wait to start reading this one! 

I also got these for little jars, they were very cheap and I thought it might come in handy. Especially because there are four of them, which means I can use one for products that I still have to review, products that I have reviewed and products that I emptied and loved (for the articles at the end of the month). I'm very excited about it!

 

 

And then Valentine's Day came.... I woke up that morning with no voice and fever so it wasn't really the best day of my week. I did, however, get this bag of chocolate hearts from my sister, yay!

 

 

The rest of my days weren't really interesting, I worked a bit for school, watched a J.K. Rowling documentary and read some books. That's it!

How did you spend your week? Did you have a good Valentine's Day?

MAX natural lip care lipbalm!

Hi everyone,
I think I have mentioned in my post yesterday that I got a little bit sick and that I lost my voice.
One of the annoying things about being sick is the fact that your lips can get really dry and painful - at least that's what happened in my case.
Yesterday I decided to try out one of my newest lipbalms. I got it in December I think, but it was still in the packaging, and since it was a good time to test it out (now that I'm sick I would see if it really made a difference, if my lips really were less painful and dry), I opened it.

This lipbalm is by MAX. I don't remember how much it was but it really wasn't much. The jar holds 15g and the lipbalm can be used 12 months. It doesn't have a particular smell or taste.

This lipbalm actually surprised me in a good way. It's not sticky at all. I own quite a few other lipbalms and I only have one other lipbalm that is not sticky - all the other ones are.
Also it's very moisturizing, I apply about two layers and then I let it sit for a while. My lips are a lot less painful now. I do re-apply this lipbalm after a while, just to be safe.

Also the little jar is really easy to take in your purse or to take to school with you.
I am absolutely in love with this balm! 

Schwarzkopf Professional expert mousse - vibrant red hair!

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday! Today I'm doing a review on my newest red hair product.
It's by Schwarzkopf Professional and I got it at my hairdressers the other day. The bottle says: "Igora expert mousse 5-88". It's a semi permanent mousse color. I don't dye my hair myself, but I did want to try this mousse. (I also heard that, when you dye your hair yourself, it's best to use a semi permanent product.)

Okay so to start off, a little update on my red hair. If you really want a bright, vibrant red, you have to continue to dye it very frequently (which means it's quite expensive). Red hair is hard to keep and you have to change a lot of things about your hair routine. Now, I'm rather happy with the results I've had with my red hair, it's almost been one month since getting my hair dyed in a brighter red colour and my roots are barely visible.

This picture was taken a week ago.
The reason I didn't take one today is because I'm sick and I look aweful.
Please excuse me. Anyways, this is how my hair looks now.

I'm convinced that it also has to do with this mousse I've been using. Let me tell you, it's only a little bottle and it's pricey, but if keeping my hair vibrant red and nice means using this (and only having to dye my hair once a month or maybe once in six weeks- which is exeptional for people with red hair), I will continue to use it. So far, I have used it two or three times.

It's simple to use. You wash your hair, dry it a bit with a towel, shake the bottle and then apply this mousse.
If you leave it on 3-5 minutes, it'll act like a colour refleshing and conditioning mousse. If you leave it on between 15-20 minutes, it's an intensive colour treatement. Please do be careful. I noticed that my hands look really red after applying this, so don't touch anything if you want to avoid stains. I wash my hands right after applying the mousse and leave it in for about 15 minutes. Also, make sure not to wear your favourite clothes. Even if your hair is towel dried, it might still drip a bit and you don't want to get stains all over your prettiest shirt.
After the 15 minutes, I rinse until the water runs clear.

I am really happy with this product (of course I do use other products like red hair conditioners and such to protect my hair colour). I do admit that it's a bit expensive, but I knew from the start that red hair needs to be touched up often and that I was going to need more pricey, special products.

The bottle is almost $25,30 (which is around €19)


Have a great day!