Midsummer Newbies

Summer is still blooming around...perhaps it is more drying to skin than you anticipated. Or, when going city-tripping you can find your pores going congested like nothing else.

• For the occasional bout of dryness I gotten myself this cute Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin pill mask. I've been sheetmasking before K-beauty gotten mainstream and it's fun they have gotten easier available. 
• I've already gotten the Boscia Detoxing Black Cleanser in a sample size, and absolutely loved the warming effect on the skin. I love this liquid form of charcoal cleansing and I noticed it really helped getting to those pesky blackheads. Something not many products are effective off with my skin.

I also went on the bandwagon with Son & Park's Beauty water...

Ohh, I really love how the air in the water is looking in the bottle.

I had to decorate it with my Luxdivine (etsy) armband and the scarf is D&G summer collection.

I rediscovered cheeks with NARS Nars-issist Dual intensity blush palette.

 It is certainly a fantastic blending blush texture...I'm smitten. My cheeks glowwwww...

I have been upping up my foundation game with an oldie and a newbie:

• Mac Face & Body is and oldie but still high in the ranks of makeupartists. I've picked a darker colour for my body as I have some white spots that I need to even out.
• Nars Velvet Matte Skin tint is new on the market. I was not enterely sure as the colours tend to look a bit too yellow for my colouring, but they look velvety and real on (self-)tan skin. I still think the gap between Cusco and Annapurna is too large in colour dept.

One of the Sephora Beauty reward boxes contained Alterna. I love their Caviar Protein line but feel (and can see) that my hair might be healthy enough to alternate with moisture. So bring on the moisture with the CaviarAnti Ageing Replenishing Moisture line.

Ok, I say I'm team Alterna but I also have team Christophe Robin and I've been enjoying some other shampoos lately as well. But in the end Alterna would be my desert island brand!

Last but not least, nails. Since everybody and their grandma have been into nailart, gellnails everything etc, I have been neglecting my mani with a simple coat of strenghtener. Very sheer, kinda blah.

• I thought some Chanel could bring back my colour game: Turban looks bright enough for summer and classic enough for always.

• Another pretty one is the Damask Rose from & Other Stories. It looks so foiled on nails, incredible.

These have been some of my midsummer hauls. I'm already eyeing up some of the Autumn lines. Kose Addiction by Ayako has released these amazing new eyeshadows with names like Dancer in the Dark, Hazy Night, Volcano & Modern Nostalgia. The colours are as awesome to boot with their names and instagram is not holding too many secrets when recently renewed (just browse on the Japanese names). 

As for skincare, I think I will hold on on some new finds that I will review soon for it. I'm kinda behind my reviews: being stuck into the instagram picturing mode makes me kind of lazy on the writing front...It does make me attempt to make prettier photos : )

September's Used Ups

I have not been doing this for a while but I still like to share my September Used Ups: 

• Arcona Peptide Firming Complex: I absolutely loved this one. Natural and it packs a potent pair of ingredients on the face. 
•  Sunwarrior Fulvic Acid 'Immune Shield: Since Phylia's De M's Connect (read here & here) I have been intrigued in taking Fulvic Acid. Phyllia's version is a whopping £160.00 whereas this one is €31. Not sure if it works on hair-health but it helps to keep germs/viruses at bay.
•  Lierac Ultra Body Lift 10: Me and my anti-cellulite routine. I like this specific one in pink.
•  Yarok Feed Your Roots Hairmouse. Another favourite organic hairstyling tool that works even better than its chemical siblings.
• Antonia Burrell Creme Supreme: I had to get used to this cream but I loved how it smoothes my larger pores and made me feel I had actually good skingenes. Con: expensive!
• Skeen Intensive Revival Gel: One from team boys (review here) and so fab for puffy mornings! 
• Aurelia Revitalise and Glow serum: A staple when the season changes -> good at calming AND anti-ageing.
•  Tatcha Deep Brightening serum: How much I like Tatcha, I did not see a radical change.
• Kure Bazaar nailpolish in Rose Milk: a 3-free polish with the best milky pink base.
•  sample Leonor Greyl Volumising Shampoo: quite good at volumizing without drying hair.
• Makeup Forever Smokey Lash intense Mascara: I love this one a lot but I can only buy it in France or Spain. Oh well, good excuse to visit either country :-)
•  Eyepencils NARS & Marc Jacobs Beauty in Black: both travel size and both efficient & long lasting

 

 

Giovanni Perfectly Platinum Shampoo (& Conditioner) is the organic answer to all those purple un-brassy shampoos. Soft and non-irritating and it has enough purple to keep the hair fresh.

Oh, by the way. My last blogpost said something about E. So (disclaimer:) I have never done drugs in my young years...just hanging or clubbing with good and lousy friends and the occasional wine/cocktail etc. But the pun behind the E numbers is that many people who are living so healthy these days have been quite naughty before. But that's life and generation amnesia, right?

 

Pots & a Pan

Spring is in the air, so what's cooking?

 Let me show you my new pots. And my domestic virtue is still slightly underscored by my love for makeup, but I still have a cute pan thrown in it as well. I mean, beauty and health also comes from the inside, right?

•  Top: Gressa blush/lipstick Radiant: I've gotten on the organic Gressa bandwagen and got both this blush/lipstick as the foundation.
• Right: RMS Illusive blush: I'm trying to get as organic as possible lately and I did not have a colour like this yet in the organic range.
• Bottom: NARS eye Paint in Ubangi: I know, not organic but still pretty & pot-like to feature.
• Left: Tata Harper Volumizing lip & Cheek tint in Very Sweet: Oh my, this is the perfect organic hybrid between liptint and cheektint. It has a highlighting quality without compromising on colour.
• Left Top: RMS lipgloss in Bloom: a GPW from cultbeauty and a sister of Tata Harper very sweet. This one is a true lipgloss instead of a hybrid.
• Middle: Stella-Marie-Maris Pure Shea Butter: I got this one for my flare-up skin as it is the most neutral of butters. It takes some work to get it working for you, though.

As for swatches [unblended], I'll spare you the NARS as it has been featured a-plenty. Let's go for my latest organic ones:

1. Gressa Radiant is one of the most pigmented and poppiest colours in my organic section. It is almost too pigmented for my liking. On young-n-pretty skins it would look like this (See Brittany). I'm slightly hindered by some earthy note of fragance: it's not my favourite scent.
2. RMS Illusive: I needed a perfect Mauve-nudish blush in my collection and RMS Illusive seemed to be qualified. I think it's slightly muddier in real life. I was hoping for the cream version of Surratt La Vie en Rose. It still translates as a neutral-slightly cooler blush on my skin but I think the formula is sorta hard during colder weather.
3. RMS Bloom: I've been most delighted by this GWP. It's a true lipgloss compared with Tata Harper's clingier formula, but you could still use it as a short-term cheekgloss.
4. Tata Harper Lip & Cheek Volumizer in Very Sweet: Tata Harper makes brilliant organic products and seeing her doing makeup makes my heart sing for joy. I think this balm bring out a volumizing quality on cheeks (& lips) without feeling heavy. Very Sweet has been a gorgeous peachy highlighter-esque colour and I hope she'll make more of them. Hint: in dusky rose?

I have not added any blended swatches yet. I will do and compare them later: for this post I just wanted to show you the difference in texture.

I've said this a couple of times, but *organic* is not some kind of magic word. As for my latest pots, there is a new love that could replace anything chemical [Tata Harper] and there is the one that probably is more difficult than I'd expected from the raves [Gressa]. In any case, beauty reviews are highly subjective and based on so many things: weather, hormones, age, fragance memory and I could go on.

Basically, just my 2 cents or that bit of herb in the cooking...

Tom Ford Lipstick to Boys Luciano, Michael, Cooper & Pablo

Ohhh, I've gotten giddy today for receiving my Tom Ford Lipstick to Boys. 

Finally I could buy something unswatched and slightly dangerous for not really knowing what to get. Normally you can see/read about all beauty with the elite/always-gettin'it-first likes of Temptalia and Wayne Goss. Temptalia still got it first but not like 10 months before. Seems Tom Ford has been democratic about his lippies!

Weather has been more than horrible today, so my apologies for the lack of light and goosebumps. I photoshopped a bit but I did not want to alter the original colour, so some might be not so light.

I picked four brights based on my earlier Tom Ford lipxperience. I adore Violet Fatale. I like my Spanish Pink as well but I think Tom Ford does the brights a bit better.

 * Violets to Orchids Pablo

 

Tom Ford Pablo looks like a pure colder Purple. I immediately thought of Bite Beauty Violet.

Also, my 1st Tom Ford Violet Fatale from the regular line & YSL Glossy Stain Violine Out of Control:

Tom Ford Violet Fatale looks so demure next to Pablo! It is a softer pinker hue compared to the blueness of Pablo. Bite Beauty Violet is even a more shocking Blue pink. TF Pablo is slightly sheerer than the other TF lipsticks, hence it wears beautifully sophisticated with the right kind of edge.

* REDS, Luciano

I figured Luciano would be a close sibling to Cherry Lush. In fact, they are family: Luciano is a hint more muted and rosier.

 

I added YSL Glossy Stain in Rose Tempura 13 for another reference. Rose Tempura is a deeper pinker hue. All of them are in the group of Rosy Reds.

* Fushia to Magentas: Cooper

  I have absolutely no dupe of this colour but Dior addict lipstick show 778 is slightly close. Cooper has more red in it and is more opaque.

Multifaceted flecks

TF Cooper: the lushious finish from another angle

 * Pop Pinks to Roses: Michael

 

Michael looks deceptively demure in murky daylight but wait until you swatch him with some other poppy peachy/pinks:

I've been comparing it with NARS Audacious Kelly, Guerlain Chamade (164) Rouge Automatique, Chanel Scintillantes 124 , Deliplus Mate 01 

Picture 1 shows how poppy pink Michael can look, and picture 2 shows his peachier side. I have no close due but Deliplus Mate 01, a Spanish supermarket brand, comes closest.

Conclusion: I love them all and they are all such originals in my stash. 

Ps: I've skipped the background story with the Tom Ford promotion about the fantasy about the threesome...I agree Tom Ford picked some handsome guys online to pose with the girls: if only they came with the lipstick! As for fantasies, a guy once wanted to include a girl but I guess the only threesome for me would me be pushing the other girl away, and perhaps hurting him too for suggesting. But a suggestive promo never hurt any cosmetic brand, right?

Newbies Time...

 Newbies I've gotten this month:

 

The Eyeko eyelash curler is a freebie with Instyle UK of this month

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The Givenchy ActiMine Primer in Mango: I had been eyeing this one up for a while but I hesitated between this slightly older primer or the latest Clarins Eclat Minute Base Illuminatrice de Teint in Rose. I think the opacity of this one is higher and I love the colour-correcting properties of the mango-orangy colour: it's perfect to mask some darker undereye circles and it gives a lovely boost to lacklustre skin. Thus, it's a CC before everyone was all about calling everything a CC.

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I bought a new Bobbi Brown Eyeliner because my older one had become half-empty and slightly dry

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A cute rose-gold necklace from etsyseller DelikatNY

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Finally, the NARS Gaiety. I hesitated for almost a year but have it now. It's wonderful as a highlighter without shimmer but a lot of freshness

BBB's Best of 2013 - Makeup

Welcome to BirkinBagBeauty's Best of 2013!

I'll be starting off with all pretty and functional 'paint': the warpaint, peacepaint, coverpaint, enhance-paint and the funpaint of makeup.

"eyes are the mirror of the soul" (and a dent in my wallet)

I have been rekindled in my love for makeup in 2013 and the eyes were the focus. I was one of the 1st to get Le Metier de Metier Bauhaus (see here) and I still love the boldness & versality of the palette.

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 I refound an older love too: Coffret d'Or Shine Accent Eyes in 01 Orange Spring I bought here.

It is like a more subtle version of my latest Charlotte Tilbury palette in Golden Goddess, and has peeeeeaaach in it.

“Lips are the fingerprints of love.” 

~Tyler Shields

Lipstick:

Givenchy Le Rouge in Rose Boudoir is the one I reach for the most: often after experimenting with newer colours/textures in the shops. It is velvety without being too matte; it doesn't compete with a strong eyeshadow, but isn't too boringly neutral either. Overal, a nice pop of flush for the lips in that sublime Givenchy texture.

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Lipgloss:

I loved YSL Rouge Pur Couture before most-famous-face-of-'13 Cara became face of that brand too: actually seeing a tomboy-type glam up with the right lipgloss is a good salepoint for me. I really like how the lipgloss glows without going into tacky territory; how it last long enough without feeling obtrusive; and the way it fades into a pretty stain. As for the colour: This reddish pink is vibrantly present when I want to have a stronger definition on the lips and a softer focus on the eyes.

“As beautiful as woman's blush, as evanescent too.”   

 ~Letitia Landon

This has been a difficult vote, as my infatuations in blush is as evanescent as described in the quote above. Good thing I could nominate the different textures...

Blush/Bronzer hybrid Michael Kors Bronzer Powder in Flush 02 has already gotten my stamp of approval in December (here) and it has gotten the top vote for this category. Runner up is Rouge Bunny Rouge at Goldcombe Bay for a contouring bronzer hue without blushtones.

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For days that I love to have everything organic, I vote for Josie Maran Cosmetics Color Stick in Petal Pink: it is slightly shimmery and in a rosy hue. It blends quite nice and the scent is delightful.

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I haven't forgotten about my early 2013 blush-infatuation Kose Addiction Cheek Polish in Tadzio 06 (review here). It is a fresh & cooler pink that lightens up the face and I love it when all other features (lips/eyes) take a step back.

Yes, and a special mention for cheek/lip multitasker 

 

Rouge Bunny Rouge Decadent Duo in Rumba Cubana:

This one has been my purse-favourite. The blush-side is always the right colour with a multitude of lipcolours and wonderful for the mid-day perking up. The lipgloss has the quality to plump lips without too much drama, and feels like a dream. The above Rumba/Cubana is as good as empty and I have a backup for future uses ♥ 

"The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural"

~Calvin Klein

Full Cover: Rouge Bunny Rouge Time Defying Foundation in Wheatgrass

I'm a complicated person about my base foundation: I'm often too sensitive for the likes of Chanel or YSL (hello fragance), I have to cope with winter-patches and I want to look younger. Enter RBR latest foundation: scentless, with plenty of goody ingredients and I get "your skin looks good"-compliments when wearing it. My only pet-peeve is the colour: it looks dark in the swatch but applies quite light: But it's a good match when not on selftan.

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Light Cover: Koh Ren Do Maifanshi in 123

Revieved here: a perfect colour and dewy complexion. Now if it only was sold at more places than Barneys.

“Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”   

~Aaron Levenstein  

yes, that's the Game of Thrones actress (the one with the white wig)

So we're not talking bikini's yet, the ones in Australia and Brazil probably are, but a good concealer should be as invisible as it wizardy strengths to what it has to conceal. So the same story about my skin, [problematic], and I get the occasional pimple between what we  the lovingly can call 'living lines'.

Eyes:

Givenchy Mr. Light in Mr. Toast 03  is as buttery as you need for under your eyes. It diffuses dark circles in a wonderful way without getting topsy-turvy panda look. It photographes nicely too, without flashback. It doesn't settle in the lines and it is wonderful for shadows around the nose, and that bit of extra light to optically plump lips.

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Organic:

I discovered NVEY Eco Foundation thanks to blogger Emma. I love organic products on days when I want to detox from the non-organic stuff I put on my face. It is somewhat similar as RMS uncover, only without the heavy/pasty feeling RMS has. Peach 875 is actually a bit too light for me, but it works wonderfully on red/flaky patches as the creamy consistency smoothes without irritating.

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Pimples & Eyes

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla is my multitasker for eyes/pimples. I think you've encountered several raves and I can only say that I love it as well.

That is my Best of '13...Makeup-list for now: I could extend by listing the pencils etc, but I wanted to focus on the ones that really stood out for me in 2013, not the whatever rotation ones.

So, what have been your faves and why?

Blush-Crush: Michael Kors bronzer in Flush

What does it take to become my latest blush-crush?

Glamour 

Size 

velvet 

softness 
performance

niche 

perfect colour 
the right kind of glow

Glamour:

 

 Michael Kors as a brand stands for Uptown New York glamour so its makeup is on par with the fashion aura of the brand. A white packaging and golden letters, and inside a golden grande compact that could easily been mistaken as a small palette.

Size: 

I was secretly thinking 'how American' to have the blush/bronzer being supersized to this generous compact. My British Burberry is laying on top (still in dominating mode, who said size matters?) but the idea is clear.

All of this gotten me slightly cynic about its performance. I loved the latest launches of Fashionbrands going makeup (waves to Burberry and a nod to uncle Ford) but Michael Kors has never really appealed to my clothing aesthetic. And then the grandeur of it all.

 Thus: colour, performance & velvety texture:

Flush was my colour of choice after hearing it being described as a sister of NARS Deep Throat. Honestly, they are more distant cousins but I liked the few swatches online enough to indulge.

I picked up some other bl-onzers (blush/bronzers) that could have been siblings:

I omitted Bobbi Brown Antigua (too pink) & Maquillage (too much mixing) from the next swatches. I also mixed the 2 shimmery shades of the Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope & the two topshades of NARS Soulshine.

Swatch winter-daylight (3 pm)

 

 At first glance:

•  No twins out there.
• Banila Co Copacabana is the closest match, only slightly paler & a bit more mauve
• Michael Kors has the most delightful & complicated shimmer of them all
• NARS Soulshine & Le Metier de Beaute have a pinkish hue when mixed
• Sofina Aube & Armani Sheer bronzer 2 are reddish compared to MK
• NARS Soulshine & Le Metier de Beaute are quite similar when mixing them in the right amount.

And now for the shimmer time: *FLASH*:

• my blush-crush is totally justified: look at the delicacy of the glow of Michael Kors...is it cool? Is it warm? Not sure, but it is gloooowy
• Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope also flashes up in a complicated glowiness
• Banila Co. Copacabana has been a favourite for a long time, and for a good reason
• I sure love bl-onzers a lot!

Conclusion: Can you justify a crush? Yes, I just did...

Using, Used, Gonna Use...

Just a quick round and a insta-photo for this week 'Using...' (etc etc)

Using: Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom and Honey Cologne

A counter-weather fragance: I was not too fond of this one in the beginning but I like how the zesty flowerness gets me through the rainy mornings...

Used: Ren Keep Young & Beautiful Eyecream

Ahh, how smart Ren has been to avoid the word 'anti-age'...or have they? Because those words are still under the more positive sounding 'keep young & beautiful'.

This cream has been wonderful and light enough for summer, and still creamy enough to counter out beach-dryness. I think it qualifies for beginning lines, for people in their early 30s, or if you have been partying too much-> the (middle) twenties, and if you have been organically healthy bladibla -> your late 30s/40s. Beginning lines, that is. For the heavier ones I would suggest more potent eyepotions.

Used: S5 Replenish Serum sample for dry & scarred skin

Organic serums often surprise me that som of them are actually oils. This one too: or, it feels like those dry-oils they have for body-products. In general, a lighter oil that penetrates in 10 minutes. However, I prefer to layer it with a daycream to speed it up and to get more beneficial extras from the daycream too. I like this serum/dry-oil hybrid but I prefer an actual liquidy & non-oil based serum for personal reasons. However, if you are short on time it is a good hybrid between serum & oil. As for the de-scarring: I should try a larger sample to find out. Londonmakeupgirl has reviewed this one more detailed over here.

Gonna Use: Nars Soulshine blush

The 80s Jerry Hall style of the box kinda did it to me. Also, more blush!!! I basically thought I would go for Realm of the Senses but was so happy to see both of the blushes in real life. Soulshine has that hint of mauvy rose inside that feels more like me.

Using, Used, Gonna Use...

Happy Friday!

 

About a year ago I had a regular column for each wednesday called 'Midweek Quirkologies': it was a way to counteract the midweek blah's, and I hope nobody had them this week. If you did, this friday will probably feel more anticipated which is a good thing. So I hope you will have the Friday Jitters and the anticipation of a good weekend, which might be rewarded with a good weekend in reality.

Using:

Easy one: NARS Riding up the Moon has been my favourite for eyes this week! I love Argentina for highlighting and Isolde for the peachy lid colour. I shade my crease with Fez but I use some of the bottle-green Night Porter for the edges of my eyecrease too. 

Used:

I finished my Personalised MyCodage serum  some weeks ago but I forgot to mention it until now. I think it has been wonderful in targeting some priorities I have listed: * Improving skin comfort and * combatting signs of ageing. One sidenote is that it is quite fraganced. I have switched to another serum again: I prefer to alternate my serums so my skin doesn't get too used and lazy to its ingredients.

Another staple during summer is my Jurlique Purely Bright Night cream. My 1st time using it was in 2011 during holidays and I noticed that it did a good job at brightening the odd pigment spot at my right temple. I try to avoid new pigment spots, but summer & high sunscreens does not always guarantee a no-sun exposion. Hence, a good brightener can step in to avoid new pigment spots to reappear.

Gonna Use:

I haven't gone for Asian BB creams for a while and the few Western BB's I tried were either organic (see here) or samples that I didn't like that much. Sharlynn from BlackMentosBeauty recommended her readers the The Face Shop Power Perfection BB Cream. I think she has one of the glowiest complexions out there, even without makeup, so I gladly took this recommendation.
(ps: I 'm trying it today and *gosh*...it has high coverage! As I said: I haven't used Asian bb's for a while so this one even covers more than my Armani foundations/etc)

Ok, again a happy weekend!

Palet-tific NARS: Ride Up to the Moon

Once in a blue moon I get enthousiastic about a palet.

I didn't expected it to be NARS but the combination of colours, size and name got me:

These are the kind of facebook messages nobody dares to respond upon until the first one starts, and the rest follows. Also, it might be mysterious why I would connect it to dancing, and what he heck are moons? 

Well, my dears...once upon a peach moon [Isolde] I discussed that my lack of cleavage curviness is being well compensated by my anti-cellulite-potioned  booty. Hence, the moons refering to everything that is feminine, aka the yin/yang of the sun/moon dictomy or the fact that I still have some cellulite?

Then again, I had a friend who convinced me to go out dancing:

You guess, we met some friendly-cute guys, we danced with them...people dance closely these days so there goes the reference to the palette's name. Nothing really naughty, actually.

Palettes often last longer than the average 'dance-soiree' at friday or saturday-night so here is mine:

The size of the palette is something of a smaller wallet:

The colours inside are stunning:

Mind that I do not have too many NARS eyeshadows so this composition has a lot of colours I do not have yet. The mixture of neutral and nature-like colours are exactly what I crave at this time being and I have been quite amazed by the quality of the eyeshadows, which are better than the average duo of NARS that I have:

In general, I am over the moon with this palette and it will be a cute 'n attractive accompany during travel and at home. 

I am considering to follow up with 'Fairy's Kiss', but I wasn't too enthousiastic about another set of burples, purples, and mauves but for €37 and the quality of the eyeshadows I might change my mind.