Mid Weekly Quirkologies

The last couple of days:



1. Playing the tourist in my own country:

What is more quintessentially (in tourist's eyes) Dutch than the ol' windmill. Perhaps the cheese market, but I skipped that one. I still prefer to do the tourist thing in another country, though :D. But it is alright to see the quirky little things in your own country too.

2. Drinking a whole lot of green tea...

This one is infused with rose, so it is a softer blend. It is more of a health thing than that I really like it, although it starts to grow on me and I actually begin to like the teas...

The Romanticised Leather Cuff

Hey everybody,

This morning in my Mid-Quirkies I talked about being crafty.

Well, I can finally show you something I created in my spare hours:

Before the sceptical ones are going to say: "you didn't craft that yourself"(which would actually be a compliment 'cause that would mean it looks professional), let me show you my steps...

Step 1: the Gathered material:

I still had a pastel green leather cuff I did not do that much with. And I had the idea I wanted to create I posted over here, so:

Step 2: Mid-process:

Sewing on the buttons, roses, beads and leftover of earrings. The needle is especially for leather, btw, but you still need some muscles to pierce through the leather :D.

Endresult: better view from the other side:

I quite like the outcome....♥

Mid Weekly Quirkologies

The last couple of days had the official start of Summer. So, to keep things in colourful hues:

1. Crafting with the roses:

Someone asked me to post what I actually been crafting on. Well, I really want to make a romantic-inspired bracelet such like this one:

2. Looking for the perfect, confortable summershoes.

These are from Anniel, the Italian version of Repetto, who similarly started out as Ballet-shoes brands but upped their market for the non-ballet or ballet-aspiring crowd as well. I should visit a shop this week that retails these to try them out in real life because they look both cute and confortable.

3. Buying and sharing Pastel-hued macarons:

These are good for temporary friend-making potential, ;P...the effect might last longer than the macaron, or, based on the friendship-(un)match, as long as the macaron itself. But at least you have been sublimely coaching yourself into a more familiar and positive territory.

(Ps. that doesn't count when the person is sugar-intolerant/on-a-diet, or adverse to beautifully coloured macarons)

4. A beautifully bright lippy

'Nuff said...

How did you start of your summer, btw? And did the weather co-operate?

Spotted: Lunasol S/S 2011 Shelly Ocean & S/S Coloring Cheeks

Before I will hint anyone of 'where to find' the Lunasol S/S Shelly Ocean, I would like to disclaimer that I have no affiliations with the webshop, nor do I prefer to promote this webshop over others...it is just the cheapest deal available right now (that counts right) from a webshop that has proven to be reliable and fast.

Ok, Adambeauty is having the S/S Ocean Scene in Shelly Ocean up. The Vacation Ocean 02 has been sold out, booh, but you could get that one on gooddealer.com for a slightly higher price.

Pretty Polish of the Week

This week's polish crush goes to:

Kohl nailpolish in Bronzation 149

Bronze nailpolish is at risk of becoming a bit mature-ish on me.

But with that dash of multicoloured flakies inside, it has that hint of unexpected fun...

Any colour you were particularly attracted to this week?

Searching: Winner Giveaway

Dear Mary in Wonder,

You are the winner of my Sweet Summer Giveaway, so look in your spambox or mail me about your price at birkieblog @ gmail.com

Mid Weekly Quirkologies

My mid-weekly for this week is a day later as usual because I had to announce the giveaway's winner...

So, it is the-day-after-the-midweek-quirkologies

1. I spotted this supercute van with that hippy-esque vibe and the happy flowers painted upon them. It makes me nostalgic for a time before I was even born and want to put some feathers in my hair and go on a roadtrip through Europe with a guitar and a bucketload of floaty dresses.

2. That sentiment lead me to vintage shops...Well, I frequently visit vintage shops for some original items, but last couple of days I visited two of them. 

Winner Sweet Summer Giveaway

drumrolll...

No. 6 = Mary in Wonder

Congratulations Mary, I will contact you ASAP.

Reminder: Giveaway last day

Last chance to win something today ♥ (click) ♥

 

Winnetou meets Goldfish...

I'm slighly smitten with my new coral-esque Topshop sweater:

It taps in into the Native American feather-'n-fringes trend and has a high dose of goldfish mixed into it....

Wonderfully bright...for the cooler summer days....

Sweet Summer GIVEAWAY

Hello my dears...I think it is time for another giveaway:

What can you win?

1. Etude House "I Can't Stop smiling" face powder, (aka, the pastel balls)

Such a sweet and girly facial powder to brighten up and highlight your complexion:

I told you, pastel coloured balls (no time for puber-esque jokes, though):

That's not all: I will also throw in the Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB cream in 25 and a China Glaze polish in Something Sweet:

 Also, Two Magic Fairy facial masks in Vanilla and a Catrice eyeshadow in C1 Fairy Dust I blogged about here 

Moreover, a Mac mineralize eye duo in Sea and Sky, A Go Baked eyeshadow in green and a Prorance Diana Blush in 02.

Last, but not least, a Gosh Quattro eyeshadows in 48 Grand Passion:

How do you make a chance to win it all?

1. Make a comment or say something small in the comment section

2. I should be able to contact you, so either leave your email behind, or, if you have it listed in your profile, I can contact you that way.

3. I do not want to oblige you to follow the blog just for the giveaway, so you can join even if you do not wish to follow my blog.

4. Contest ends on Wednesday, 15th of June 2011, 15.00 hrs European standard time, GMT +1)

5. You are only able to make one comment, so no cheaters who would like to double (or triple) their chances.

6. Winner will be announced in a new post after randomly being selected by random.org

7. Please contact me with 2 days to claim your prize or another winner will be selected!

 

8. Prizes will be shipped by airmail WORLDWIDE within 3 business days after winner contacts me!

 

So, try out your luck and you might be the person who wins this sweetly coloured lot!

Topshop makeup Cheeks (stick) in Ray

It seems I have a find-a-dupe-a-ton as a theme for today.

In my search for cheaper alternatives I posted something about ArtDeco this morning, and now I will do a mini-review on the Topshop Cheeks(stick) in Ray.

Most people know Topshop for their clothing, and I think it is quite reasonable to say that their fanclub reaches beyond the country where it all started, the UK. I think it is right to say that H&M is a bigger name on the international field of affordable clothing, but Topshop is the trendier variety.

Are they able to make makeup? Honestly, as with a lot of companies that specialises in makeup, they have their top (no pun intended) products and their 'mehs'. But for a clothing company they are not too bad.

I do not have a lot of Topshop makeup, btw, but this is based on various reviews and some testing when I actually was in a real brick-and-mortar shop in the UK.

Oh, the Dutch people had their Topshop launch this week. Well, not completely, just a small section in a other shop, but still, it is good to see the stuff in real life.

I seem to disgress again...back to the review. I talked about finding a reasonable, and hopefully better dupe for the NARS multiple sticks. I have St. Barts in my collection as a sort-of-bronzing stick, but I believe I could do a find a more natural and convincing bronzer than St. Barts. I like NARS for some of their products, but they seem to love to add their multiples with lots of metallic sheen.

So, how does Topshop Ray look like:

Topshop Cheekstick in Ray

Mmm, I was not too enthousiastic when looking at the colour. It looks like a coppery metallic stick and it is not that perfectly natural brown I had in mind.

Swatched on my skin you can see it is true to its tube colour:

What is not really obvious in this picture it that there are some silvery specks scattered through the stick, and the swatch.

Honestly, it would be a fun shimmer-stick for the evening or clubbing, when you want to add some serious (and not too natural bronzing) to your face. But as a natural bronzer/blush it actually fails colourwise. At least, for my skintone: I think it could be a gorgeous highlighter tone on darker skintones, btw.

I am not too negative about this product, because when I sheer it out and add some powder on top of it, it can look a bit natural. But I find that a bit too much work for a type of product that aims to be effortless and quick. On the other hand, it looks quite stunning on the body for highlighting/bronzing so it will not be completely a waste of money.

I did not test its longevity that much, because I sheered it out a lot. I think it last for quite some time, depending on the manner of application.

You can purchase this in a topshop or online at topshop for £ 10.

Eye Deco with ArtDeco summer 2011

Good quality eye-makeup doesn't have to be expensive.

This sounds odd from me who has been declaring her love to her latest Armani Cosmetic acquisition in the form of the highly coveted Mediteranean palette (here), but I seriously can appreciate other brands as well.

One of the brands that have been blogged about oftenly, and are quite hard to get for the international crowd, except Germany, 'cause it's a German brand, is ArtDeco.

ArtDeco eyeshadows 12 & 59

They have a simple concept of sampling separate eyeshadows and you can place them in a palette box of your own choice...In this way you can create your custom made colour palette for the type of eyes or effect you want to create.

 I really like this concept, because the pre-made palettes I normally buy often have one or two shades that you are never going to use, in my case that is probably the glitter-bomb shade :). With my latest Armani I am quite sure that I will use all eyeshadows, but realistically, most palettes aren't that perfect and always have one shade you do not use oftenly.

I am not the only one that appreciates this brand. Makeupalley always gives high ratings to their eyeshadows (here), and their eyeshadow base is brilliant for the people who consider UDPP to be too drying and pasty for they eyes. I really like that one as well, because it is the grown-up woman (aka, woman who is ageing naturally) type of eyeshadow base.

I picked out two colours from their Summer 2011 range. I skipped the bronzers, because lots of cosmetic companies still think bronzers should have that burned reddish tone I always consider quite fake-looking. I really liked their eyeshadow pens as well, but I picked those two eyeshadows right now:

ArtDeco Eyeshadows 12 & 59

The quintessential reddish taupe colour I truelly think is stunning on all kind of eyecolours and a real summer turquoise with a greenish undertone.


At home I realised that the ArtDeco 12 might be a dupe for the ever-famous Mac Patina. So I swatched them, and although they are not dupes, they are sisters, but not identical twins.

Mac Patina, ArtDeco 12 & 59: WITHOUT primer.

ArtDeco 12 has a more metallic lustre that is more vivid than Mac's. Mac is also a tad browner and in this formula you can see the redness a bit more (because the metallicness is more muted).

Mac Patina is that typical neutral for my eyes that gives me a no-makeup look. ArtDeco 12 is its more upfront sister, although she is still classy. I like them both and will wear my Mac patina for those days I fake naturalness and ArtDeco 12 for the polished neutral look.

As for ArtDeco 59, yeh, that one is always visible as a fun and bright makeup-colour. It is really a happy colour as a liner or as that pop of colour over a large part of the lids.

Overal, fantastic colours, super pigmentation (those swatches are on bare skin WITHOUT primer) and a good price under 5 euros. Also, a reasonable backup for the Mac Patina.

BTW, they make some awesome dupes. Check out Delicate Hummingbird's post on the 206 and how it compares to NARS Fez (here).

Mid Weekly Quirkologies

This week's quirkies:

1. Enjoying my latest Giorgio Armani Summer 2011 palette...

I have read a couple of reviews online and was amazed about the neutral colour composition. I love colours on my eyes, but neutrals are like the little black dress of eyeshadows, they never get out of style and you can wear it at almost every occassion. So I splurged on a more expensive quad for its colours and pigmentation.

The beautylookbook compared the colours of this palette to Chanel Spices quad (here), so the colours are dupable. However, I do not own the Spices and I am not too fond of Chanel's eyeshadow quads for its texture so Armani was my first choice. So when I found out I could get it online from parfuma.com, I knew I had to have it...

2. Crafting

I bought some new crafting beauties to decorate my clothes. This brooch-like stone will find its match soon on a piece of clothing....

the Luxe, Niche and Snobby hauls

This week I felt really sad for myself...

I miss the company of my best friend, who is actually living overseas (remember the last posts about  the overseas sisters lipgloss, yeh, that is me as well).

I thought I could do better than feeling sad and lonely, so I perked myself with some really luxe, niche and snobby goodies...

The Luxe

A too-expensive body oil...

I just know I could replicate this with a nice melon-oil carrier oil and some neroli essential oil...but my dear...it is Tom Ford Daaahhhling...and too expensive for its 61 euros...still, I needed it!

I could order it online from Belgium webshop Parfuma.com...and I didn't only order the body oil...

The Niche

High end makeup that is really difficult to get, either online or in brick-and-mortar store...

My dear readers...FINALLY, I could order Armani Cosmetics ONLINE!

I ordered the supergorgeous Medittereanean palette...And yes, it is probably dupeable with the eyeshadows I have, but ohhh...♥♥♥ itssoprettyitsoprettyitsopretty ♥ ♥ ♥

They were really generous with samples. I could write down my preference of samples. And yeh, I wrote down Armani Cosmetics. They gave me the Skin Fabric in 04, the Primer, and a gorgeous and niche perfume sample from Armani. The shipping was in two days, so that was instant anti-sadness gratification for me.


The Snobby

Any order from Colette.fr

Last year I was able to visit the store in real life...Well, they are one of the snobbiest bunch around, although there were some moody, too-fassshionable girls that asked me moodily if they could help me (OH WOW). Anyway, did not buy anything that moment, but wanted to return for a Diana camera.

Anyway, the doorman said it was closed, but I saw quite a crowd inside...I probably did not have one of those big, so-called trendy glasses on (that I actually think are quite unflattering on every person, although the rest of the world think they are sooo trendy). Anyway, I actually said I would never buy anything from them, but they had a wicked sale and I wanted a Pat Falcäo necklace for such a long time...

The postman who delivered it to me is not so snobby (just sometimes, when he knows I want the parcel really bad, LOL), so yeh, hurray for online ordering...

The whole necklace:

I got it on sale from 57 euros, but it is now back at its original price from 85 euros (check to see if I am blagging or not here).

The designer is a Brazilian woman who was an engineer in sciences first, but went to cultivate her creative side...I really like that...

That is my Brazilian heart to conclude my luxe, niche and snobby hauls for this week.

Oh, wait...I actually forgot my hair-haul that includes my niche Oribe Signature Cream, but I will write about that later...

Lipbalm for Soulsisters

Today I wanna share you my latest lipbalm purchase from 'mother nature at the vegan disco', or Elladean.

I have been buying lipglosses from Elladean since 2008 or 2009 (eg. post here), and although I love to buy other kind of lipbalms for different reasons, I have these lipbalms as one of my favourites.

Simply:

* they just WORK for me: they moisturize, aren't too waxy, and have a delicious scent.

* I love the hippy-esque vibe

* The sweet messages behind them (and the sweet seller)

* Nicely priced

(I could go on a bit...so yeh, I like them a lot)

When I spotted the Wanderlust Sisters collections on Ella's new website I just know I had to have a couple of those.

So I did:

I ordered three of them, but regulars from Elladean know that she is always so generous to toss in another one ♥

I got the Rock Star Sisters, the Oversea Sisters and the free-flying sisters...The soul sister one was a gift.


I like the level of personal service she provides....

I haven't tested them all, but I went for my favourite one: The overseas sisters! For memories' sake :D

I love the description, ofcourse.

It is actually a tinted lipbalm that gives a hint of colour on my mouth.

She still sells on etsy in various theme-based shops (eg this one), but you can find this collection on elladeansnaturalproducts.com. They are $3 each and a pack gives you a bit of discount...

So, sisterly pucking up...:D

Bold inspiration

I like buying glossy magazines.

It is just that I normally stick to the trusted UK ones, because for the language that I can understand.

Sometimes I step outside my magazine comfort zone, for...simply the superficial reason of the cover that promises me...inspiration!

Vogue Italia...the dramaqueen of all Vogues in the Fashion department...but their beauty edition is quite bold as well:

But it is not only theatre-esque makeup. This makeup on the eyes, for example, is something that I would not  consider myself, but it looks quite stunning on green/hazel eyes. Oh, and the eyeliner is perfect!

I like the rest of the look, although I would not think of matching an orange lipstick with peach eyeshadow...

But then again...it is good to step outside of your confort zone. After all, it is just make-up and you can wash/take it off at the end of the day!

So yeh, I might try that look (although I'll skip the curls...I had my crimping days in the 80s, LOL)

One of the more classic looks is this one:

 

It is the typically smokey eye with some copper red eyeshadow underneath...

Quite normal, except for that waterplant on her head...

By the way:  

Do you experiment with makeup a lot? And what was your boldest move lately?

Mid weekly Quirkologies

Quirky stuff for the last couple of days:

1. Buying some American Apparel and getting hit by the American Apparel effect...

Somehow, when buying American Apparel, I seem to think that I'll transform in a kind of person who is worthy to advertise her stuff in a fashhhhionesque pose and so...

Realisation hits when I see the actual picture and even the fantastic photo-editing cool-I-fiers do not seem to be able to make me at least 1 % as cool as the people you see on....ehm...lookbook.nu, chictopia.com or ...whatever...

I call it the AA-effect which is as similar as the AA from Alcohol Anonymous group: You think you look really hot in that pic until you sober up. Aka seeing the result and are not even able to quirkify it with photo-editors...
Or ---> just cannot be bothered by showcasing yourself online: I'm already frazzled about facebook, so let alone 'do the fashion blog thing'.

But I still like my purchases and they make me look fashionably enough on my own terms...So no need for a long photosession for me ;D

2. Coincidently matching my nails with the flowers...

My noteworthy China Glaze Tantalize Me are a good match with these flowers..!

Sooo, seems I have a nature-meets-culture theme of the last couple of days...